Hello everyone, and thanks for your patience with this update! I've been very busy finishing up my last semester of college, as well as working a full-time job, so I had a lot to juggle! I'm so happy I finally finished this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. I'd also like to take a moment to pay my condolences to Jonghyun's family, friends and fans. The world lost a kind soul today, who had nothing but love and talent to give. We were lucky to have him for twenty-seven years. 

___________________________________

Akari led the group of four girls to the front of the school quietly. They’d have to make it out the front gate, which was being guarded by double the amount of security as usual. The guards were strictly ordered to make sure no one beside the professors left the school until JYP returned. They’d have to get past them somehow, and without Mina’s power of hypnosis, the task would surely prove to be difficult.

Though Akari was powerful, stealth was never really her forte. She could easily teleport to the other side of the fence, but the other three girls couldn’t do the same. That left the task to Jeongyeon to get Jihyo and Nayeon to the other side of the fence, past the stationed guards.

“Can you do this?” Nayeon asked, looking at Jeongyeon with a bit of concern. “I know the last time you did this with just me it took a lot out of you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jeongyeon brushed off, then she turned to Akari. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

Akari simply nodded, took a few steps and disappeared into thin air.

Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Nayeon crept up to the front gate as closely as they could without being spotted. “Okay, we’re all gonna have to make a run for it because I won’t be able to pause time for that long with all three of us fighting against it.” Jihyo and Nayeon nodded.

Jeongyeon looked between her two closest friends and took a breath, then she snapped softly before she felt the usual stillness of time coming to a halt. She moved swiftly, tapping both Jihyo and Nayeon, causing them both to spring into life. “Come on,” Jeongyeon instructed, forcing her left foot forward and feeling the usual resistance.

The two other girls followed, both struggling to lift their feet with every step. They moved as quickly as they could past the guards—two professors and some students they recognized—who were frozen mid-conversation. Once they rounded the corner of the gate enclosing the school grounds, Jeongyeon snapped again and the world erupted into sound and movement.

They found Akari waiting nearby with her arms crossed. “Alright, let’s head out. It’s gonna be a bit of a walk, but the HCA is much closer than you’d think.” The girl her heel and began walking down the long drive which led up to the school. Nayeon gave Jihyo a look, but quickly moved to keep up with the girl.

“So you think she’s with the HCA, at one of their headquarters?” Jeongyeon asked Akari a few minutes into their walk.

“No doubt,” Akari assured. “They’d most likely not take her very far. She might be here, but she might not. We’ll see.” Akari was blunt and to the point. The friendliness she oozed only days before seemed to have been from her. Jihyo could feel the girl’s discomfort and insecurity from where she was standing a few paces back. It’s funny how things had changed so quickly over the course of the past few weeks. Akari had gone from enemy to friend, and now she was something else entirely. Something in between.

“What’s the plan?” Jihyo asked. They hadn’t exactly discussed how they’d be breaking Tzuyu out. They’d risk facing the gas that nulled their powers temporarily, and they knew the HCA had their hands on heavy-duty weapons.

“Haven’t thought of it yet,” Akari shrugged.

Nayeon shot Jihyo a look of “I told you so.”

“I’ve never really been one to make plans. I get there and I do whatever feels right. That’s how I always completed my missions, and I still made it out alive every single time,” Akari continued.

That wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing to say, but Jihyo knew the girls had a much better chance of saving Tzuyu with Akari on their side.

“It’s kind of weird how Jihyo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon are all ‘asleep’ right now, isn’t it?” Dahyun observed, looking puzzled at the message Momo showed her on her phone. It was a text Nayeon had sent her recently, telling her she was tired and was heading to bed early tonight.

Momo simply shrugged, but looked slightly worried. “Nayeon’s been taking all this pretty hard.”

“Where do you think Tzuyu is?” Dahyun asked Sana, who was laying on her bed beside her. Chaeyoung had been spending all her time at the hospital with Mina, only stopping back to their room briefly to grab some clothes and toiletries. The room felt violently empty without her presence, and so Dahyun had invited Sana and Momo to try to fill it.

“I don’t know,” Sana answered honestly, turning her head slightly to look at Dahyun’s side profile. “Somewhere bad.”

“You think?” Dahyun replied, feeling her stomach twist. “The HCA must have her. They took her somehow. How did none of us see her at all?” Dahyun’s voice was coated with worry. Sana lifted her arm up and gently traced Dahyun’s cheekbone with her thumb and forefinger.

“We’ll find her, okay?” Sana assured. “As soon as JYP is back from the hospital he’ll send out search parties.”

“And the police are looking for her too,” Momo added without taking her eyes off her phone screen.

“What if something happens to her?” Dahyun asked, sounding very small and afraid. Sana engulfed the younger girl in a hug, and could feel the slight tremble of Dahyun’s body in her grasp.

“We won’t let that happen,” Sana assured. But a flicker of doubt crossed her mind. She’d barely survived a stabbing, Mina had barely survived being shot...how many more lives could be saved before their luck ran dry?

After about a fifteen minute walk, the four girls stopped in front of a warehouse looking building a few blocks away from the school. “This is like deja-vu,” Nayeon muttered. “We’re not walking into another trap, are we?” In the darkness, Nayeon shot Akari a pointed glare, but Akari didn’t seem to notice.

“It very well could be,” Akari responded as she scanned the building ahead of them for any signs of activity. “But I believe they have other plans for Tzuyu. They want to isolate the gene that makes mutants different from humans.”

“There’s about twenty people in there,” Jihyo guessed, mapping out each person she could sense inside the building with her powers. She could hone in on their energy, like an aura. “And it’s Tzuyu...I can sense her. I know she’s in there.”

“Now...how do we get her out?” Jeongyeon asked, crossing her arms.

“Jihyo...can you sense where she is exactly in the building?” Akari replied.

“She’s in a room in the basement...there’s no one else in there with her but—”

“Stay here,” Akari commanded, jumping forward into nothingness and disappearing into it.

Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Nayeon cried out. “Dammit!” Nayeon cried. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“She went in alone?” Jeongyeon sighed. “Well, this .”

“We wait...like she said. I can sense her...she’s in the room next to Tzuyu. She must be scoping out the place,” Jihyo informed her friends. A minute later, Akari appeared before their eyes again.

As Nayeon opened to start screaming at Akari, the older girl held up a hand and smiled smugly. “Relax. I went in to get a look at the place. I had a feeling they’d be keeping her in a room that nullifies powers and I was right. They had rooms like these back in the facility I was trapped in.”

“Is she okay?” Jihyo asked, eyes widening. “Did they hurt her? Was she—”

“She seemed okay to me,” Akari interrupted. “But they’ve clearly been running tests on her. We need to get her out, now. And that means we’ll have to take out everyone in the place first.”

“Take out...as in…” Jeongyeon trailed off, looking concerned.

“Kill them,” Akari finished. After the three girls standing beside her looked at her in shock she rolled her eyes. “These are bad people, okay? It’s not like we can just make them all sleep,” Akari snapped. “We’d need Mina for that.”

The four girls stood in silence, contemplating their next move.

“I have an idea,” Jihyo finally replied, and all girls looked to her in anticipation. “It’s going to take all of us to save her and no one will need to get hurt.”

The plan went like this:

Jihyo, Nayeon, Akari and Jeongyeon were to stick together, moving in a pack toward the room Tzuyu was being held in. Jihyo was to map out where everyone in the building was, alerting the other girls when someone was drawing near. Akari would take people out, non-lethally, as they approached the group. If anything went wrong, Nayeon would immediately turn back time to just before they entered the building. Once the girls got close enough to the room Tzuyu was being held, someone would go in and get her out while the others watched and made sure the coast was clear. They’d travel back in a pack until they were out the door safely.

Akari circled the building until she found a side entrance. It was locked, but Akari quickly froze the door knob and kicked it off swiftly. “There’s no one close to the door,” Jihyo confirmed. “But I can feel someone nearby.”

“You ready girls?” Akari asked. Everyone nodded. “Alright, time to see what you’re all made of.” Akari slowly pushed open the door and peered inside. She looked left and right at an empty hallway. “Okay, it’s clear. We need to find stairs to get down to Tzuyu.”

The girls followed closely behind Akari. They tried going to the left at first. Akari peeked her head around the corner. The building looked somewhat like an office or school. The hallways were filled with doors leading to dark rooms. Luckily it appeared a lot of people had gone home at this hour, leaving the place relatively empty.

“There’s someone coming from behind us,” Jihyo warned. The girls began moving faster.

“There,” Jeongyeon hissed, pointing to a door marked “stairs.” Akari quietly opened it and the four girls shuffled inside. Nayeon quietly shut the door behind her and huffed as she chased after the other girls.

“There’s a few people down here. Scientists actually,” Jihyo replied. “Tzuyu’s room is just ahead.”

“Remember once someone steps into that room, their powers will no longer be usable,” Akari warned in a hushed voice. They stopped outside the door, which had a small window. It was too dark on the other side to make out anything through it though. Jeongyeon tried the door handle. It was locked.

“Should’ve seen that coming,” Nayeon muttered. “Dammit.”

“Jihyo, can you figure out where the key is?” Jeongyeon asked. Jihyo tilted her head slightly, as if she was tuning into an inaudible radio frequency.

“I need to get closer to these people...maybe then I can figure it out,” Jihyo responded. The group of girls moved forward slightly. “There’s a man a few rooms down, let’s stop outside and see.” They moved to the door Jihyo pointed out, making sure to stay out of the view of the window on the door. Jihyo’s brow furrowed as she concentrated on sifting through the man’s thoughts.

Suddenly Jihyo’s eyes became wider. “There’s two men coming from behind us, and they’re going into Tzuyu’s room,” Jihyo whispered. The four girls turned to face the opposite direction.

“Perfect,” Akari replied. “We’ll let them open the door for us and break her out that way. As soon as they get the door open I’ll take them out.”

Jihyo shot Akari a look. “Temporarily, I mean,” Akari clarified.

“You don’t need to take anyone out...I’ll just steal the key from them so we can get in once they realize they don’t have it anymore,” Jeongyeon added.

“Fine, but that’s no fun,” Akari whined.

The girls scrambled into the room adjacent from the one Tzuyu was being held in. Luckily this one was not locked, as the room was almost completely empty. Akari ducked down but stayed high enough to peer out the window on the door, so she could see the two men approaching. They were chatting about something, most likely a baseball game.

Jeongyeon watched in anticipation as one man began to fish through his pocket. She snapped her fingers, causing the girls beside her to become as still as statues. Jeongyeon pushed forward, opening the door into the well-lit hallway. She swiftly reached her hand into the man’s pocket and fished out a traditional looking key, which had to be it. Jeongyeon quickly moved back inside the room across the hallway and closed the door behind her, snapping again.

The man whose key she had stolen continued to fish through his pocket. “Where is that damn thing?” he muttered to himself.

“Minseo, how many times do I have to tell you, let me hold onto the damn key!” the other man exclaimed. “Then this would never happen!”

“I swear it was right in my pocket just a second ago!”

After the two men bickered for a few minutes more, they headed back in the direction they came from, searching the floor for any sign of the lost key.

Once the coast was clear, the four girls stepped into the hallway. Jihyo quickly moved forward to enter the room Tzuyu was in.

“Make it snappy,” Akari told Jihyo. “We don’t have time for a long reunion here.”

Jeongyeon handed Jihyo the key and, with trembling hands, Jihyo unlocked the door and stepped inside. She squinted into the darkness and felt the wall for any sign of a light switch. Luckily, after a few tries she found it and the small room she was in illuminated with life.

There, on a steel table, wrists and ankles restrained in leather straps, laid Tzuyu. She looked as though she were sleeping, but her face looked troubled, as if she were caught in a nightmare. Jihyo quickly moved to release her restraints, fumbling with the leather straps with nervous hands until she was able to rip them free. She gently touched Tzuyu’s forehead. “Tzuyu,” Jihyo called out to her. “Can you hear me? Wake up!”

Tzuyu’s eyes shot open and her chest heaved as she shot up. She squinted at the sudden light over head and nearly jumped after seeing Jihyo beside her. “Jihyo?” the younger girl asked, as if in disbelief. “Don’t tell me they got you too.”

“I’m here to rescue you, c’mon!” Jihyo urged, taking one of Tzuyu’s hands and yanking her toward the door. Tzuyu did as she was told, not hesitating to get off the steel table.

“How did you—” Tzuyu began, but Jihyo quickly shushed her.

“There’s no time, c’mon.” As Jihyo re-entered the threshold of the hallway, feeling her powers return to her, she immediately was overcome with a sense of panic. “They’re coming back!”

The two men were headed this way, and they both weren’t happy—that much Jihyo could tell.

The four girls headed back for the stairs, footsteps pounding on the laminate floor.

“Hey!” they all heard from behind them. They’d been spotted!

Jeongyeon threw open the door to the stairs and they all raced inside the stairwell, climbing the stairs two at a time.

Akari shouldered the door leading to the first floor, the one in which they first entered, and stumbled into the hallway. The four other girls raced to keep up with her. Tzuyu could barely walk, but Jihyo was holding her up. The taller girl leaned against Jihyo as they ran forward together.

“There’s someone—”

A bang rang out, ricocheting through the hallway and causing everyone’s ears to ring. Jihyo and Tzuyu tumbled to the ground, face first, nearly taking out Jeongyeon and Nayeon with them. Nayeon snapped her head around to see a woman running at them with a pistol raised and aimed. Nayeon clicked the neuralyzer she’d been holding in her hand this entire time, just in case, just as another shot rang out.

Nayeon almost tripped when she landed back at the bottom of the stairs. As Jeongyeon and Akari made there way up she yelled out: “There will be a woman with a gun coming from the left! We need to be ready for her.”

Akari and Jeongyeon looked back, seeing Nayeon holding the neuralyzer in her hand, and nodded. “Alright, looks like we get to do things my way for a change,” Akari said, smirking slightly.

The five girls made it to the top of the stairs, and Akari stood holding the door as the girls shuffled into the hallway. “Start heading toward the door,” Akari instructed. “I’ll take care of her.”

Jihyo opened to protest but Akari held up a hand. “Go, I’ll be right behind you.”

Jihyo opened to argue but then took one look at Tzuyu, who looked like she might fall over at any moment, and simply began heading for the side door in which they entered. Jeongyeon and Nayeon followed behind.

Akari turned back to watch the end of the hallway carefully, getting ready to deal with someone as soon as they appeared. 1. 2. A figure emerged around the corner and Akari extended her hand in its direction. 3. 4. The woman collapsed to the ground in agony, gun clanging to the floor with a thud. Akari continued to extend her hand toward the woman as she ran forward and collected the gun off the ground. The woman screamed out in pain, clutching at her head. Akari’s hand began to shake as she contorted her fingers to increase the pain the woman was feeling.

“Akari!” a voice called from the other end of the hallway. “Akari, stop!”

Akari turned back to see Nayeon standing there, eyes full of accusation and panic. It was almost as if Nayeon was waiting for Akari to kill the woman, to prove her theory right: that Akari was a deranged monster who was not fit to be a student at JYP’s school. For a second, she almost gave Nayeon that satisfaction. How nice it would feel to end this woman's life—this woman who hated her and wanted her and her kind dead. This woman who belonged to a group that nearly ended Mina's life. Mina. Mina wouldn't want this though, would she? What would she say if she was here now, watching Akari bring this woman to her knees. Surely she'd beg Akari to walk away. Akari looked back at the woman, tisked, and dropped her hand, freeing her from the excruciating pain. Akari spun around and began running toward Nayeon, much to Nayeon’s surprise. The two girls made it to the side door, in which Jihyo, Tzuyu and Jeongyeon were standing next to. Jeongyeon opened the door and the girls ran outside into the chill night air.

They could hear shouts from the building as they grew farther from it, not slowing down until they were at least a half a mile away. Tzuyu’s legs nearly gave way and Jihyo cried out as the younger girl almost collapsed. Jeongyeon came to Tzuyu’s other side, pulling her up by putting Tzuyu’s left arm over her shoulder.

“Hang in there,” Jeongyeon said. “We’re gonna get you home.”

Tzuyu weakly nodded as her eyes fluttered closed. The five girls traveled forward again, this time a bit slower, sticking to the shadows as they traveled through the empty streets.

When they made it back to the front gate of the school, the girls didn’t even bother sneaking back in. If they got in trouble, so be it, but at least Tzuyu was safe. That was all that mattered.

When the guards saw them approach, their mouths nearly dropped. Among them were students volunteering as security. A boy with blonde hair and round glasses—Jihyo knew him as Jae—stepped forward and quickly helped Jeongyeon and Jihyo with Tzuyu.

“We’ll explain everything later,” Nayeon assured. “But Tzuyu needs medical attention now.”

“How did you manage to save her?” Another boy, a bit taller than Jae, asked.

Nayeon tilted her head toward Akari. “It was this one,” she admitted. Akari looked surprised but didn’t say anything, she simply shrugged.

The group brought Tzuyu inside and quickly got her to the room used for medical emergencies. It seemed these emergencies were happening more and more frequently lately.

Mina’s wound should’ve taken weeks to heal, if not months, but Suzy recovered from the effects of the nullifying gas and her own bullet wound fast enough to exponentially speed up her own healing process. Nurses and doctors were baffled as after a few days of being a patient at the hospital, Suzy was on her feet as if she hadn’t just been the victim of a terrorist attack. With the help of JYP, Suzy visited all of the wounded mutants, speeding up their healing process until they were like brand new. As Suzy placed her hand lightly on Mina’s chest, Chaeyoung held her breath as she watched in awe as Mina’s face suddenly grew more colorful and rejuvenated. Mina could finally go home.

“Here’s what you asked for,” Chaeyoung replied as she handed Mina her metal chip which she’d left at the school. Mina smiled at Chaeyoung gratefully as she placed it gently behind her ear. She hadn’t had to worry much about her hypnosis getting out of control with being isolated in a hospital, but with being back at the school, seeing many more people, she wanted it on her just in case.

JYP had a troop of vans come to pick up the mutants from the hospital to take them all back to the school. As the group exited through the front doors, they were immediately bombarded by a wave of press flashing pictures and shoving microphones in their faces.

“How will this attack affect your school moving forward?” a reporter shouted at JYP.

“It will continue to be a safe haven for mutants. Our only wish is to be treated with respect and as equals. Until then, we will continue to keep to ourselves.”

“How is it that humans were able to stand a chance against mutants? Is it true the HCA developed a weapon to nullify your powers?” a woman shouted, nearly bumping into Mina. Chaeyoung took Mina’s hand and squeezed it as they continued to push forward through the crowd. Chaeyoung could tell the mob was stressing Mina out, and the last thing they needed was for Mina to shift with a camera pointed at her, broadcasting her every move.

Once they made it to the van Chaeyoung let out a sigh of relief. “We made it,” she said, sinking into the back seat.

Mina looked out the window at the roaring crowd. There were protesters at the outskirts, holding signs that read things like “Mutants are not people” and “Identify all mutants and keep our children safe.”

“I can’t wait to be back,” Mina replied, “away from all this.”

“I should tell you now, that something happened to Tzuyu,” Chaeyoung blurted out. Mina’s head snapped to Chaeyoung, eyes full of alertness. “She went missing, but she’s fine now. Jihyo got her back, she texted me the good news.”

Mina let the news sink in, taking a ragged breath.

“I didn’t want to tell you while you were recovering. You had enough to worry about…” Chaeyoung explained apologetically.

Mina remained silent, expression a hard mask. “They took her, the HCA, didn’t they? It wasn’t Akari...she had nothing to do with this, did she?”

Chaeyoung shook her head. “No, it was the HCA. Akari actually helped Jihyo break Tzuyu out of one of their hideouts.”

Mina looked out the window again at the chanting, red-faced mob. Her features began to shimmer and flicker, the familiar sign of her shifting. Chaeyoung took Mina’s hand and the older girl turned her face away from the window. In the short time it took her eyes to find Chaeyoung’s the shift had already occurred: she now looked like Tzuyu. “Is she okay?” Mina asked in Tzuyu’s voice.

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened slightly but she quickly recovered. “Yes, she’s fine. Just a little shaken up.” Mina breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Chaeyoung’s hand in hers.

She looked at Chaeyoung again and noticed the girl’s hesitant expression. “I shifted again, didn’t I?” Mina asked, and this time she heard the difference in her voice. She closed her eyes and squeezed them shut, thinking hard, willing herself to change back. After about a minute she was back to normal again.

“You’re you again,” Chaeyoung confirmed. Mina opened her eyes and sighed again.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered to Chaeyoung, looking embarrassed.

“You have no need to be sorry,” Chaeyoung assured, gently reaching out and tucking a strand of loose hair behind Mina’s ear. “When we get you home we’ll figure this out.”

A professor trained as a nurse quickly helped to make Tzuyu more comfortable as she laid in a cot with her head propped up. Her wrists were red and raw from pulling at the restraints that had held them down, and there were dark shadows under Tzuyu’s eyes that made her look five years older than she actually was.

Tzuyu was weak from getting minimal food and not being allowed to stand at all during her time with the HCA, but she’d be alright. Jihyo sat near her bedside, remaining after the other girls had retreated to bed even though it was now the early morning.

“You know you really scared me, right?” Jihyo said, looking at Tzuyu’s tired eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Tzuyu murmured. “I wasn’t strong enough to fight them off…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Jihyo scolded. “They took away your powers...how were you supposed to fight against a group of adults with weapons on your own?”

Tzuyu looked away and shrugged.

“I’m so happy you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Jihyo replied. “You know that I care about you...right? So, so much,” Jihyo emphasized.

Tzuyu’s breath became shaky and rapid. “Of course,” Tzuyu assured. She squeezed her eyes shut, biting her tongue and trying to hold back tears. She wasn’t successful, however.

“Tzuyu?” Jihyo reached out and gently wiped a tear off of the younger girl’s cheek. Tzuyu put her face in her hands and began to cry softly. Jihyo stood up and pulled the girl’s upper body into her arms, embracing her in a hug. Tzuyu let herself be pulled into Jihyo, feeling slight comfort in the girl’s closeness.

Eventually Tzuyu removed her hands from her face and returned the hug Jihyo was giving her, burying her face into the crook of Jihyo’s neck. Jihyo could feel the dampness around Tzuyu’s eyes, and it made the older girl’s heart ache.

“I gave them exactly what they wanted,” Tzuyu mumbled into Jihyo’s ear. The vibrations of the closeness of Tzuyu’s lips made Jihyo tremble slightly. “Jihyo, they took something from me.”

“What do you mean?” Jihyo asked, lightly the girl’s head, running her hands through Tzuyu’s thick, purple hair.

Tzuyu paused, gears turning in her head as she thought about how to phrase her next words carefully. Of course, Jihyo could already hear them loudly in her head—Jihyo couldn’t help herself from listening in, making sure the younger girl was really okay—but Tzuyu didn’t have to know that.

“I think...my powers are gone.”

She appeared like a wisp of smoke, standing on the edge of the threshold between the hallway and the bedroom, as if she were unsure whether or not to enter the room or to remain an observer—watching silently.

But Akari sensed her presence immediately, looking up from the book nestled in her own lap. At the sight of the other girl, Akari’s eyes widened and she let out an instinctive release of breath.

“Hey,” Mina said cautiously, as if she were asking permission to come closer under the guise of a swift hello. She remained still like a marble statue, but her eyes were sparkling with something hopeful.

“Hey,” Akari responded back, sitting up slightly straighter and flipping her book down on her mattress to save her page.

There was a painful pause that Akari took advantage of to observe Mina’s appearance. It had been days since she’d last seen the younger girl, who had been lying on the ground breathing heavily as blood soaked through her school uniform. Now, here she was looking healthier, though heavy grey circles remained underneath her curious eyes.

“You’re okay,” Akari stated. She let that statement echo through her brain, letting it soak in. Mina is okay.

Mina nodded, smiling a tight-lipped smile. She remained in the door frame but leaned forward slightly.

“I’m sorry,” Akari breathed out, tearing her gaze away from Mina’s face. Akari adjusted the blanket wrapped around her and pretended to look busy.

“You saved me,” Mina replied, allowing her right foot to move forward into the room.

“Maybe,” Akari sighed, “but if it weren’t for me you would’ve never gotten hurt. I told them all about this place. I showed them the facility with the nullifying gas. I practically gave them the keys to our destruction.” Her voice broke slightly and she gripped tightly onto the edge of her blanket. Mina watched the girl’s knuckles turn white.

“Why?” Mina took another step forward. “Why did you do that?” There wasn’t any accusation in her voice, just curiosity, and a little bit of pity.

“I wanted to get to you and I thought that would be an easy way to do it. They were just pawns to lure you off campus. I knew I could get rid of them when they were no longer useful but...I guess I underestimated them. I guess I underestimated you,” Akari locked eyes with Mina once again.

“I tried to give you a second chance,” Mina said. “No one deserves to go through what you went through. If you hadn’t been taken when you were young—”

“—if I hadn't been taken, then what? I would’ve lived in hiding somewhere like this? Barely living a real life, terrified to be who I was born to be?” Akari’s voice was rising, causing Mina to flinch.

Noticing the slight look of fear in Mina’s eyes, Akari shook her head. “No, no, no, I’m sorry,” Akari apologized again. “You tried to help me, I see that now. You could’ve killed me but you showed me mercy. You could’ve killed me but you took me in instead. Why?”

Mina swallowed and clasped her hands together tightly in front of her. “I felt sorry for you.” Her voice was uneven and quieter than normal, but she continued to stare at Akari.

A strange sound escaped Akari’s throat. It was one of bitterness and appreciation. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Then Mina was moving toward her gracefully, like she was walking on clouds, and all Akari could do was watch in awe and unsureness. Mina was standing in front of her, reaching out for her hands. Akari let Mina take them, feeling the softness and warmth of the other girl’s skin against her own.

Pathetic, isn’t it, that after all this I’d still care about you? Pathetic, isn’t it, that after all I’ve done to you that you’d still care about me, too?

“Of course.” Mina said it like it was nothing—like making the choice not to kill Akari was as simple and easy as choosing what to wear in the morning. And she smiled at Akari, really smiled, and Akari could feel her chest tightening and her heart felt like it was exploding. Akari had almost ran from the school after the chaos that happened only days ago, but seeing Mina standing in front of her now, alive, made her stay worth it.

“You gave me these powers,” Mina replied, image flickering and changing in front of Akari’s eyes, “and I’d like you to teach me how to control them.”