Between the cafeteria and the main building was a roofed walkway, a path that was thankfully more dry than the alternative walk through the open rain. Thanks to this, the light cascade of droplets remained off of the traveling students, of which there were several. Ferain was hardly ever alone while at the school, which was understandable, seeing as there were several hundred students in attendance at any given moment. She didn’t know the exact numbers, but there were definitely more than enough to prevent any real form of privacy. Still, despite the people, she felt soothed as she walked between the buildings. The soft pattering of the rain striking the metal roof above her was calming, and as she looked out at the fields of grass and winding pathways of concrete to her left, she took in a breath of fresh, rain-scented air.

“It’ll be odd going back home when the year is done.” she mumbled, raising a hand to twirl some of her hanging brown locks with a finger. It was a sort of habit of hers, one that was like any habit in the sense that she never really took note of doing it. It was like how Anita always put a finger, or whatever she was holding at the time, against her cheek while she was thinking about something. “I’m going to miss this place while on break.” she continued, before pushing onward along the walkway.

It was a thought she’d been having recently, her desire to not leave the school. But, no matter how much she was against it, the moment December came marked the end of the school year. December 1st would be their last day at Olirian Academy, and that would be the boarding day to go back to the mainland. After that, they would spend the rest of the month on break, before reboarding the ship on January 5th, just like they had at the start of this year. It was now midway through August, meaning she didn’t have much more time at the academy before the inevitable departure arrived. Until then, Ferain was determined to make the best of the time she had left. There was another event coming up soon, one that she had planned to enter with Anita, seeing as it was another team event.

Besides that, she had this murder situation to figure out, and even if she was undecided about how much she wanted to get involved, she knew she wanted to do something to help. As she entered the main building of the school, Ferain made up her mind to talk to Mana the next time she got the chance to. Mana still wasn’t as open about what was going on as she would like, but maybe a little bit of offered help would convince her to reveal something. Fera continued down the main hallway, eventually coming across the entryway of the school, where there were quite a few rows of lockers set up for the students to use for swapping out shoes from their outdoor pairs to the loafers that they wore inside or while traversing from one building to the next.

Some pairs shared lockers while others, like Fera and Anita, had their own, though this was actually rare and might even be up for change, apparently. There were a few groups of students around the lockers, some dripping wet from the weather, and others staying dry as they joked and laughed at their soaked peers. The sight brought a smile to Fera’s face, even if they might not share the expression if they noticed her walking by. It was when she saw one student in particular that this smile melted away. There, standing in the doorway and watching the rain outside, was a black haired boy that she knew possessed cold eyes the color of bones. They were creepy in their own right, and it didn’t help that the loathing she saw in them grew worse every time they met her own yellow irises.

He was a thin boy, not particularly strong looking, but in this place, looks could be deceiving. Just a month ago she had surprised the entire school when her tiny body managed to send the school’s largest boy flying across the arena with a single hit. This was only due to her lightning-infused attack giving her the added strength, but that was the case for most of the strongest students. As for this boy, it wasn’t the strength of his powers that scared her, but the fluidity of them. Well, there was also his recklessness in which he would use them if they ever crossed paths. As Fera quieted her steps and started towards the stairs to her right, fate intervened.

“Prodigy.” came a snarled tone, stopping her in her tracks just as she was climbing the first step.

“Damn it.” she muttered under her breath, before taking her foot off the step. She turned and was about to speak but instantly felt herself deflate. The sight she saw was enough to break her heart, even if he was technically her enemy. He had tears running down his cheeks, so much so that if he hadn’t been dry as a bone, she would have thought he was standing out in the rain for hours. Besides those, however, there was also the grief-stricken pain in his eyes that caused her to hold a hand up to her heart. “Marrow, are you okay?” she asked, unable to stop herself. She took a step forward, against her better judgment, and saw him recoil from her. He was like a cornered animal, beaten and abused and untrusting.

“Okay?” he asked, and when she heard something crinkle, she noticed the paper that was tightly strangled in his clenched right fist. “Okay?!” he shouted. His nostrils flared, now making it Fera’s turn to retreat a pace or two.

“Marrow, I’m sorry if I said anything wrong. I–”

“I’m getting a new partner.” Marrow said, cutting her off. The look of grief and agony in his eyes turned to something worse, something that resembled insanity. A choked laugh escaped his lips as he stepped closer again, causing her to draw back more. Fera nearly fell as her heel clipped the step she had been close to climbing a minute before, but she managed to catch her balance. “You murdered my best friend, the only person I cared about, and now he’s getting replaced. Isn’t it funny, Prodigy?” he asked, grimacing so wickedly that Ferain genuinely felt terrified.

All around them were quiet mutterings from not only the students that had taken shelter in the entrance hall, but also the passing ones that had stopped to observe the scene as it played out. Undoubtedly, they were curious about whether this broken boy and the murdering Prodigy would fight it out in the halls, just like how she fought Copper months before in the cafeteria. Similar to that fight, Ferain was unsure she could win if a fight did break out, but this time, it wasn't because of her personal skill. Instead, she was more concerned about her determination to see the fight through, the ability to fight with everything she had in order to win. The truth was, she felt so… sympathetic to Marrow, she had no will to fight him in any way, seriously or not. Judging by the look in his wild, bone-white eyes, a confrontation almost seemed inevitable now.

Ferain readied herself to flee the moment she saw any hint of danger, but she didn’t want to retreat unless it was necessary. This was her chance to deal with Marrow non-violently, to try to fix what had been broken before they even had the chance to get to know each other. Would they ever be friends? No, Ferain didn't think so, but there was always a chance that this hatred between them might be dissolved.

“I had nothing to do with his death, Marrow.” Ferain said as quietly as possible, and while taking a step towards him. “I’m upset by it too. I can only imagine how it feels for you, and I’m sorry. I’m sure if you talk to the headmaster, he might reconsider assigning you a new partner. I have a friend that he made an exception for. Have you tr–”

“Shut up.” he snarled, before grinning and holding up the crumpled paper. “This is from Headmaster Hakamura. He called me into his office and gave it to me personally. I’m sorry, Prodigy, but we’re not all as special as you and your little flock of outcasts. And you say you didn’t kill Copper? You bitch. You might have not done it with your hands, but your actions surely didn’t help. You drove him to go out that late, you drove him right into the hands of the murderer. You might as well have done it yourself.”

“Marrow, I–”

“Don’t say my name!” he screamed, and at once, water began bubbling around his arms.

Ferain cautiously put a foot on the step behind her while keeping eye contact with the boy ahead. The water surrounded his flesh and extended to the ground as long tendril-like whips. This was Marrow’s power. He could not manipulate large amounts of water, or any water really. Instead, he could create water around his limbs and use them like whips. They were easily broken and not all that powerful in terms of raw strength, but they were quick and when they struck somebody, they could leave large gashes on their victims. Fera imagined that if he learned even more control, his powers could potentially become something very deadly in the future.

“I’m done with your games and your lies.” Marrow snapped. Fera rose up the step, preparing to run before he had the chance to strike. “Are you going to run away again? I should expect that of you at this point, Prodigy. All you do is run and lie, isn’t that right?”

“I don’t want to fight you, Marrow.” Fera shakily said, growing more unnerved the longer this was drawn out. Rapidly, she saw the chances of this ending peacefully dwindling into a point of nonexistence.

“I’d rather be expelled than treat Copper like an object that can be thrown away. And if I’m going to be leaving anyway, might as well take out the headmaster’s favorite bitch while I’m at it.”

“Don’t do this.” Fera pleaded, taking another step back, her eyes starting to glow to match Marrow’s own illuminated pair.

“Too late for begging, murderer.” Marrow hissed, before swinging his right arm to send his liquid whip slicing through the air.

Blue lightning arced around Fera’s body as she jumped and flipped backwards, rising up the remaining steps to reach the higher landing. She and Marrow locked eyes for a moment but not even a breath’s length of time passed before she was running. In a flash of blue light, Fera jumped back to the wall, kicked off, and shot herself to the next floor up. When she landed, she looked back and saw a soaked gash in the concrete wall, water oozing out as if it was blood from an open wound. Marrow was quickly skipping up the steps, bringing her back from her gawking in time to roll out of the way of another swing of the whip. It cut deeply into the floor where she’d been crouched, but she didn’t pay any attention to it. Instead, Ferain hurried down the hall, her hair blowing around her as she side-stepped, ducked, and jumped over the dozens of students that occupied the corridor.

She spared a single look back to see Marrow racing after her, shoving people out of the way with one dry hand while the whip around the other slashed out at any who refused to move. Breathing heavily, she returned her focus to where it needed to be, ahead of her, and she saw the entrance to the next flight of stairs that she was intending to take upwards. There were three stairways in the main building, one on both ends of the corridors, and one in the center. The center one was the widest while the end stairways were narrow and hardly used.

“Fight back!” Marrow screamed from behind her, fury spilling out with the demand. “Coward!” he howled, his voice breaking slightly.

Maybe it was this break, or maybe it was just another pebble on an already teetering pile of unbalanced rocks that caused Ferain to feel a sharp pang in her heart. She truly felt for him, because she knew how it felt to lose somebody close to you. Not only that, she also knew how it felt to be betrayed, and for some reason, she guessed that Marrow knew this pain too. He said that Ferain’s actions as good as caused Copper’s death, and upon thinking about how this could be, she thought an answer had finally presented itself. Something she did caused him to go against something Marrow suggested. There was no other thing she could think of that would make sense in that scenario. Without looking back, she shoved through the metal door that led into the stairwell, and then launched herself up towards the next landing. Instead of actually touching the ground, she flipped so her feet struck the wall, and then went to the next wall before finally heading for the third floor. Behind her, a zig-zagging path of blue light followed her trail, leaving it visible for a few seconds before flickering and dying out.

Fera flipped forward, planted her feet on the ground, and slid to a stop. She had to use her hands to stop herself against the opposite wall, but finally, she managed to come to a complete halt. She pushed through the door and entered the hallway, noticing several people that had stopped, turned, and started staring in her direction. Struck with a sudden bout of indecision, she couldn’t move. This was growing more dangerous the longer it continued, and it would only continue if she kept running from what needed to be dealt with. She didn’t turn around when she heard the automatically closing door creak open again.

There was a powerful yank on her collar and without resisting, she was thrown back-first into the wall. In front of her was Marrow, breathing heavily as he eyed her with fury and curiosity and confusion, all intermingling in those bone-colored eyes. He was probably wondering what sort of plan she had, but… there was no plan. Ferain did this on a whim, and even if it cost her pain and agony, she did not have any intentions of going against what her gut told her to do. He stepped away from her, and despite the freedom to move again, Ferain remained still, feeling the eyes watching them from everywhere else in the corridor.

“I can’t say that I’m sorry enough times to make you believe me, can I?” she asked, still refusing to look back at him. “Can you at least tell me what happened that makes you blame me? I won’t fight back. If you want to hurt me, do it, but at least tell me why you’re doing it.”

“Don’t act like you care, Prodigy.”

Ferain reached a hand down to lift up the hem of her shirt. She only lifted it enough to reveal the jagged scar that was an old bullet wound near her stomach. It was something that she had only ever shown Anita, and the few doctors that dealt with her after the incident ten years ago, but for some reason, she felt like it would help now, in this situation.

“I’ve been hurt too. I’ve suffered a similar loss, I know what it feels like.”

“You killed your family, it’s different. That was your choice, whereas Copper was taken from me. I went to bed worrying about him that night, and the next day, I found him strung up like some display at that damned checkpoint. Our situations, they’re nothing alike.”

“You think I chose to kill my mother?” asked Ferain, stepping forward. Just as she did, Marrow lashed out with his whip, striking her shirt near her stomach, tearing the fabric of it. Just above the bullet wound, a new thin lash appeared and blood began bubbling from it. The shirt she was wearing started staining red as the crimson fluid blossomed from the cut.

“Don’t move.” he ordered, and Ferain took another step back, her eyes flickering between brightly illuminated and typically dim repeatedly.

Crackles of sporadic electricity were coursing around her, and she knew that her anger coupled with the pain was starting to chase away her control. She wasn’t angry at what he was doing, in fact, she understood it, but she was angry that he wouldn’t listen and understand her. Every voice involved deserved to be heard, as there is always more than one side to any story, but Marrow was so narrow minded at the present, she might as well have been talking to a brick wall.

“Fine, I won’t move.” she said, wincing slightly as the warmth of the lightly trailing blood slipped under her skirt and began traveling down her left leg. “I just want to know what happened.” she continued, but Marrow only laughed in response.

He shook his head as he slashed his whip against the ground, slicing into the concrete, this time deeper than any time before. “You don’t deserve to know anything about him. I’m going to hurt you, and that’s all there is to it.”

Marrow raised his whip and that was when everything exploded. It wasn’t the fiery sort of explosion. It was more like being caught in a category-5 hurricane. People screamed and everything went dark as the power in the corridor flickered and went out completely. Wind was blowing everywhere, whistling as it passed around any object in the vicinity, and Ferain had to use both hands to keep her hair out of her face. Marrow was blown aside, as most of the gales seemed to be aimed at him, and at once, Ferain had an idea of what was happening. Had she ever seen this power used to this extent? No, she didn’t think so, but she still knew who caused it.

A toppled over Marrow growled furiously as he raised his arm and lashed out at Ferain again, who was now too distracted to defend herself even if she wanted to. This time, a blade of wind flew down the corridor and cut through the lash of water. It splattered everywhere but the separated water did not touch the ground. Instead, it was pulled into a sort of miniature waterspout that then broke apart before running directly into Marrow’s limp figure.

“Hide in your corner!” came Anita’s voice, much angrier than Fera had ever heard it before.

She looked down the hall and saw Anita walking through the darkness, her gray eyes glowing brightly in the poorly lit corridor. As she neared, Marrow dared another crack of his whip, which surprisingly found its mark. Anita’s left cheek was hit, causing her to wince as blood instantly started running down her pale flesh. The winds picked up around Marrow and he was lifted into the air before slamming back into the ground. He was faintly hoisted up once more and was tossed back in the direction she’d come from, making it so she was between both him and Fera. His short flight sent him crashing into a group of three stunned onlookers, causing all of them to retreat or fall.

“Anita.” Fera said calmly, putting a hand on her partner’s shoulder.

“Quiet, Ferain.” Anita growled, before stepping forward.

“Anita, enough.” Fera said, taking a step forward and stumbling into her partner. At once, the winds died down and Anita turned to catch her.

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“You’re bleeding.” Anita gasped, pressing a hand to Fera’s stomach. When she took it away, it was covered in partially diluted blood, which ran down her hand as it was unusually thin for any normal wound. “It’s the water, it’s making your blood thinner. Fera, are you feeling lightheaded?”

“A bit dizzy, that’s all.” Fera replied, before looking down to see that she had bled much more than she thought. Her leg was drenched and a pool had already started forming at her foot. Fera looked up and saw that Anita’s cheek was similarly wet. “You are too.” she quietly muttered.

“And that is why you two will be going to the nurse’s office right away.” came a new voice, but one that Fera recognized.

It belonged to a short woman by the name of Sara Yakuma. She, like quite a few of the students and teachers, had black hair, though hers was about as lazily done as her style of dress. Her suit was always left in a much looser style, as the shirt was always untucked, there was no tie to be found, and some of the top-most buttons were left undone. As for how she got there so suddenly, and without anybody noticing, her power was the ability to teleport anywhere else in an instant. Ferain didn’t know the limitations of her power but in all honesty, it was never important enough for her to even be curious about it.

“Caswell, Hirigaya, I’ll take you to Ita before I deal with this dumbass.” said Professor Yakuma, looking down at Marrow, who was frozen on the ground, staring up at the trio with fear and shock.

Sara grabbed their wrists and in an instant, both girls were left in the care of Mr. Ita, the school nurse. Sara was gone without even bothering to explain the circumstances, which was fine enough. Ita didn’t have many questions, and decided that focusing on the wounds was more important anyway. After they were patched up, both were left with new mementos of the occasion. Ferain now had a white lash above her aged bullet wound, and Anita’s left cheek, which was once perfect in every way, now carried a diagonal white cut between her ear and mouth. It wasn’t large, and it didn’t seem to bother Anita all that much, but to Ferain, it was an unforgivable act. She accepted the possibility of being hurt, but for Anita to be caught in the crossfire, it was a terrible crime against her closest friend. It was enough to make her momentarily forget that pain she had in her heart for Marrow’s situation, though she assumed that this would return in time and she would pity him again soon enough.

Both girls were sitting on the edge of a bed while Anita poked her newly acquired scar, apparently amused by its existence. In her other hand, she held a compact which showed her reflection in the tiny mirror it possessed. Ferain was pulling a new shirt down over her head, the one that belonged to her gym uniform. She had already changed from her skirt into the shorts she wore for the class as well, seeing as the rest of her uniform had been soaked in blood, her tights included.

“You know, it’s actually cool to have one I can be proud of. The ones on my arm make me a bit sick, to be honest, but this one is pretty cool. What do you think, does it make me look more awesome?” she asked, looking at Ferain for the first time since arriving here.

“You shouldn’t have it.” Fera said coolly. “How did you even find out about Marrow chasing me?”

“Some other first-year came running into the cafeteria yelling his head off. ‘Prodigy is about to kill another student! Hurry, hurry!’ It was kind of stupid, but it got the message across clearly enough. Honestly, I was considering whether I should even intervene, but I thought that I better go just in case.”

“You should have stayed out of it.” said Ferain.

“I would’ve… if I knew that you would defend yourself. I told you before, you’re blameless for Copper, but you just won't listen to me. Keep that up and he might actually kill you one of these days. Marrow is serious about this, you know that, right? If you don’t fight back, you…”

“I know.” Fera said, not needing Anita to repeat herself again. It was bad enough hearing Anita’s concerns on the matter once, let alone a second time. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“Promise?” asked Anita, looking up at her.

“Promise.” Fera said, holding out her pinkie.

“A pinkie promise?” asked Anita, sounding disbelieving. “It’s a little childish, don’t you think?”

“I think it fits you perfectly.” Fera stated, wiggling her finger. Anita sighed, shook her head, and wrapped her little finger around Fera’s. “I promise I will defend myself from now on.”

“Not good enough, Hirigaya.” said Anita. “I want something more from you now.”

“What, that I won’t die?” she said jokingly, but by the look on Anita’s face, she knew she hit the mark on the first guess, even if she had not been serious when suggesting it. “Really?”

“Really.” Anita affirmed, sounding as serious as possible.

“Fine. I promise that I won’t die. Happy?”

“Extremely.” Anita said, beaming brightly.

“Might be a bit extreme, if you ask me.” Fera muttered.

“I think it’s just about right, and before we break apart…” Anita said, squeezing Fera’s pinkie even harder. “I also promise to not die. There, now we’re even, and now we both can’t die.”

“Still pretty outrageous for a pinkie promise.” Fera said.

Anita stuck out her tongue playfully. “Just making sure no there’s no loose ends or loopholes, you know? Now, onto more important matters.”

“Like what?” scoffed Ferain.

“Dinner plans. I want some pizza tonight, I think.”

“Not ramen or something else microwavable?”

“Nope, just some frozen pizza.”

“Frozen?” gasped Fera, before nodding her head. “I should have seen that coming.”

“Look, it was only five dollars for a pretty big pizza, and it’s got all kinds of things on it. I was talking to Kiko about good brands the other week and he…” Anita droned on for a while about the differences between several different pizza brands, and all the while, Fera pretended to be interested. She felt bad about it, but frozen pizzas were definitely not something she was passionate enough to talk about for hours on end.

After quite a long time, in Fera’s opinion, Mr. Ita finally seemed willing to release them. The school day was about over now, and to her surprise, she had not seen Headmaster Hakamura at all. She was sure that he would come to pay her a visit to make sure she was okay, or to at least question her about the fight, but she then assumed that Professor Yakuma already filled him in about everything. Knowing her as well as Fera did, she had a feeling that even if she was on her deathbed, Sara would make it out like she was perfectly healthy, meaning that the headmaster would not know how seriously she had been injured. Still, their stay in the infirmary was apparently not going to be without its little surprises. While Anita was shrugging on her bag, both girls heard a knock come from the room’s entrance.

“Mr. Ita?” came a girl’s voice, one that was much more mature sounding than she expected out of a highschooler.

“Ah, Ms. Label, it’s a pleasure to see you, and quite the surprise.” said Mr. Ita.

Ferain recognized the name ‘Label’ at once, having shared a class with a boy that had the same surname. Their beds were hidden behind a screen that was pulled around them to give some sort of privacy while they recovered, so Ferain shifted it enough at the seam to peek out into the room. Ita was a round-bellied man with a trimmed blonde beard and a head of long flowing blonde hair that was partially dirtied by darker highlights. In front of the nurse was a girl wearing the typical school uniform, a dark skirt and a white button-up shirt. A hoodie was tied around her curvy waist and hanging on her back was a bag that was in the shape of a cat, as if the tiny creature was strapped to her by a black harness.

She had messy hair that was primarily black, though some blue streaks had been dyed in at some point. Her bangs were swept aside to reveal the olive complexion of her face, as well as the different colored eyes she possessed. The left iris was a bone-colored white, just like the other Label she knew, but the right one had a greenish hue to it, almost like seafoam. It was an odd contrast, but on this girl’s mature face, it actually accentuated her beauty, which was already a stunning sight. Her body also helped in that regard, as it was very well filled out, almost perfectly so. Ferain saw Mr. Ita laugh while Ms. Label put a hand on her hip.

“I’m assuming you’re here to see the girls,” said the nurse.

“If I can, sir. I feel partially responsible, after all. Are they still here?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, you came at just the right time. I was about to discharge them in a minute.”

“Then I’ll consider myself fortunate. Would you mind if I have some privacy with them as well? I know it’s your office, sir, but–”

“Ah, say no more, Ms. Label. I’d be perfectly fine with standing in the hall for a few moments. In fact, I might take the opportunity to go grab a bite to eat, if you wouldn't mind watching the office until I get back?”

“Sounds like an excellent deal to me, sir. Take your time and enjoy your meal, I won’t leave the place unattended.”

Mr. Ita rose and patted his belly. “Good, because this extra weight won’t keep itself, hmm?”

“Are you kidding? I thought you might have even lost some. If you’re not careful, it might all run away on you.” said Label.

“Nonsense, but I do appreciate the lie, my dear. I’ll be back shortly.”

“Bye, sir.” said Label, waving as Mr. Ita left the room and closed the door on his way out.

“Who is it?” asked Anita, poking her head out next to Fera’s, which of course gave them away at once.

Label smiled at the pair of them and took a seat in the wheeled chair that was Ita’s normally. She set her bag down and crossed one leg over the other while relaxing into the seat. “Come on out, don't be shy.”

Ferain and Anita both came out from behind the curtain and saw a pained expression on the older student’s face. If Ferain had to guess, this girl was probably in her fourth year here, her final year before graduation. To Ferain, this was an odd thought, graduation, that is. Four years of living here just to pack it all up and say goodbye forever. She wondered what was going on through this student’s head as she came up to her final few months of attendance. Perhaps she would ask her if they had the time, but judging by Label’s expression, there was something more important to discuss presently.

“Who are you?” asked Anita.

“You’re Marrow’s older sister, right?” asked Ferain, in place of the oncoming answer the girl was about to give.

The student gave a somber sort of grin as she nodded her head. “Yes, my name is Mamane Label, but my friends call me Mae.”

“Like the month?” asked Anita, taking note of how the girl had pronounced it.

“M, a, e.” Label spelled aloud. “But yes, it’s said like the month of May. Something an old friend came up with and it stuck. Anyway, you would be Ferain Hirigaya.” This wasn’t a question. Without having ever met face to face, Mae knew who she was by sight. “I saw your fight last month. It was pretty good, if I say so myself. I was impressed by how well you fought.”

“I taught her.” Anita pointed out suddenly, which almost caused Ferain to jump from the surprise of it.

“Well, you did a good job, Anita Caswell.”

“You know my name too?” asked Anita.

“The partner of the lvl-4 prodigy, how could I not?”

“It’s just Prodigy now, no lvl-4 to be found.” Ferain softly stated. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but why did you want to see me? If it’s about Marrow, I didn’t mean to antagonize him today, I just…” Ferain paused for a moment, and in the brief period of silence, Mae found that odd, sad grin again.

“It is about my brother, but I didn’t come here to rage at you, Hirigaya. In fact, I came to do something I should have done a long time ago. I came to apologize for his actions.”

“You what?” asked Anita, nearly choking from the surprise of it. Ferain was stunned too, as she never expected this, not in a million years.

“Marrow doesn’t talk to me anymore, hasn’t since your advancement test, actually.” said Mae. “You see, after seeing your fight, I was swayed to your side, for the lack of a better phrasing. You convinced me, as well as a bunch of other older students, that you really do deserve to be here. I wasn’t inclined to let somebody with your results or your background into the school, but I am one of the ones that were proven wrong. Since then, Marrow hasn’t even looked me in the eyes.” Mae continued, swapping which leg was crossed over the other one. “He… he’s going through a lot at the moment, so I want to apologize for the way he’s been treating you, and I would also ask that you forgive him, if possible.”

“Forgive him?” asked Ferain. It wasn’t in a malicious tone, it was a curious one that she spoke with. She was honestly intrigued by the idea, and a little touched that his older sibling would stick up for him like this.

“If possible.” Mae repeated, looking at the new scar on Anita’s face. “He did that, didn’t he? Such a pretty face too.” Mae then leaned forward in her chair and planted both feet on the ground as her hands found her lap. “Look, it’s not really my place to say this, but he had a thing for Copper. Nobody knew, but I suspected it for years now. He finally opened up to me about a few weeks before Copper was killed. He was… planning to tell him. He’s in a lot of pain, and now that the headmaster is inclined to give him a new partner, I think it just dug the knife in deeper. Anything he said or did today, I want you to forgive him for it. I know that’s a selfish thing to ask, but… It’s just that I know what he’s really like. Really, he’s a nice kid.”

“Ferain’s been through a lot too.” Anita said, sounding a bit aggressive, which took Fera by surprise. “I assume you know her story. Everybody at this school seems to be aware of it.” Anita added, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yes, I have heard. I don’t know the full thing, obviously, that alone rests with you, Hirigaya, but I know enough. I’m not trying to take anything away from you, and I would understand completely if you refuse my request. This is just something I have to do, as his sister, as the last person that really knows who he is. He might hate me now, but I can’t leave him alone.”

Fera looked to Anita, who gave a contemplative glance back. Ferain didn’t know if they were both thinking the same thing, but she suspected that they were on similar wavelengths about this situation. A grin creased her lips and Anita gave a brief nod before both girls shifted their focus back to Mamane.

“We forgive him.” both said in unison.

“I can’t forgive him for everything,” Ferain was sure to add. “But for today, I can let it go. Also, I accept your apology, though I would like to hear one from him at some point too. Maybe then… I’ll forgive it all.”

“I’m with Ferain. I don’t know your brother that well, but he has been quite a thorn in her side.” Anita stated coldly.

Mae’s face lit up as she leaned back in her chair again. “Thank you both, you don’t know how much this means to me. I’ll keep trying to talk to him in hopes that you might one day get that apology, Hirigaya, but for the time being, you’ll have to make do with my own.” Mae then looked at a clock that was hung on a nail above the door. She crossed her left leg over the right and smiled. “I won’t keep you two a moment longer. Classes are about over so you might as well just go home for the night.”

“I don’t know if the headmaster will approve of that,” said Ferain.

“A little secret between us three,” said Mae. “He doesn’t really care. Mr. Hakamura is a pretty free soul, actually. I’m sure he won’t mind you two slipping out a bit early. I would leave too if not for my deal with Ita.”

“Which reminds me, why does he trust you with the office?” asked Anita.

“I’ve studied under him since my second year. You’ll learn more about it next year, but students can choose a teacher to study under as an elective. I wanted to be a school doctor after I graduated, so I’ve been following his training in the subject. My hope is to come back here and help him after I get a few more years of schooling under my belt. Now, you two really should be going. Have a good night now.” she said, waving kindly as Anita and Ferain left the room.

“Kind of odd, huh?” asked Anita, as they were walking back towards their dormitory in District-B a few minutes later. “I never expected such a level headed person to be related to that maniac. I actually liked her a bit.”

“Yeah, and it’s weird how she felt responsible. Remember? She said that to Ita when she first walked in. Now that I think about it, I believe she was the one that told Marrow about me. I recall him saying something about her helping a teacher with the applications this year, and that she came across mine while going through them.”

“Eh, I still don’t blame her. A lot of people hated you because of all of that. It isn’t fair, them judging you before even getting to know you, but it’s understandable. Not just that though, I also can’t blame her for Marrow’s actions. She didn’t walk around howling out insults to your face. That was all Marrow's and Copper’s doing, not hers. She shouldn’t feel at fault in any way, not for any of it. If anything, I feel bad that she holds her brother’s shame on her shoulders so heavily. It almost makes me glad I don’t have any siblings to feel responsible for. Anyhow, enough of that subject, yeah? We have a pizza to eat. Then, maybe… if you’re up for it… we can…”

“Spit it out already,” said Ferain, growing annoyed by the frequent pauses and the sly, teasing grin on her partner’s face.

“Don’t get so testy. I was simply going to offer you the honor of taking a bath with me.”

“Uhhh, no.” Fera said, without any hesitation. “Sorry, Anita, but I don’t think I’d be all that comfortable with, you know…”

“Being naked around me?” asked Anita, finishing for her.

“Yeah… that.”

“It was a joke, pup, relax a bit.”

“Pup. Again with that nickname. What’s with that all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know,” said Anita. “I thought it was cute. You’re like my adorable little wolf pup, with your messy hair and your adorable little eyes. It’s too hard to not think of you like a little pet sometimes. Do you not like it?”

“It’s not that. I don’t know… maybe it will take some time to get used to it. Are you going to keep using it?”

“I might.” answered Anita, grinning playfully. “Or I might not. We’ll see.”

Ferain gave her a light shove to which Anita responded with a nudge of her own. Both of them laughed as they continued down the sidewalk, enjoying the peaceful walk back home. In Ferain’s mind, however, things were working harder than ever. Now she had Marrow to worry about too, on top of everything else. If he was in love with Copper, and he blamed her for Copper’s death, things might get really out of control in the near future. She would have to keep that in mind while going around the school from now on, and she might have to watch out for Raven as well. She was friends with both boys, and she had a sinking feeling that if a side had to be chosen, Raven’s decision was already made.

One on one, Ferain might be able to take them, but if she was ambushed by the pair of them, things might not go so well. That was when she made another decision. On top of talking with Mana, she was going to see the headmaster as well once she was able to spare the time. She thought that if it was her asking, maybe Guji would allow him to remain on his own, like Lilipa was. With her decisions set in stone, she put on a smile for her partner’s sake, and finished the walk home with a feigned glee that she did not entirely feel.