It was sometime during the night that Jinri woke to see Kai in wolf form, curled up next to her. The poor guy had been so shaken yesterday she certainly didn't blame him. She slowly got out of bed and slipped downstairs to find a snack. She hadn't eaten that much at dinner and her protesting stomach was what woke her in the first place. 

Chanyeol was still on the couch when she passed through the living room. He seemed to be less pale than he'd been earlier, but his face was drawn in a scowl. Someone had already redressed the wound and she hoped he would at least be awake tomorrow. After settling on a bowl of ice cream, she returned to the living room and sat on the floor next to the couch. 

"I heard you kicked Hadrian today," she said, even though he couldn't hear her. "Good job; but next time, don't get yourself all slashed up. Everyone was scared to pieces." She could only hear his light breathing in reply. 

"I'm glad everyone is safe," she continued, stirring the ice cream as it melted. "I'm afraid that I won't know what to do when it's my turn to protect you all. It's only been a week and you guys have been there for me this whole time. We still barely know each other. I'm grateful that you've accepted me, so I'll try my best." She fell silent with that final admission and finished her ice cream. She gave Chanyeol a chaste kiss on his forehead and cleaned her bowl before trudging back upstairs and into bed.

Kai was still snoozing soundly, so she just slipped back beside him, wrapped her arms around his fluffy torso and returned to sleep.

*

“KIM JONGIN! What in the world do you think you’re doing right now?”

Jinri blinked slowly, and tried to clear the fog from her mind as she heard a voice shouting. She tried to hold onto her fluffy pillow, but it was being pulled from her sleepy grasp.

“I didn’t do anything weird, I swear! I didn’t even realize I fell asleep!”

Jinri groaned in frustration and tossed her other pillow at the voices. “Shut up, will you?” She growled, and the voices fell silent. She rolled over and peeked at whomever it was in her room.

Kai, who had apparently shifted once more back to human, was being held in a headlock by Chen, and both of them had startled looks on their faces.

“Chen, let Kai go,” Jinri ordered and the elder boy released Kai as if he were a diseased rat. “He didn’t do anything to me, so don’t get all huffy. Why were you coming to wake me up, anyway?”

“Well, we just got a call from the University saying that classes for the rest of the week are cancelled,” he explained a bit sheepishly. “Something about a water main break, I think. Kris took the call so he knows the most.”

“Oh. Well, can I just go back to sleep then?” Jinri asked. Not waiting for an answer, she brought the covers back over her head and snuggled back down. “Sheesh; I thought it was something important.”

She heard the door close a moment later and she knew that the two had left. Back to sleep for her.

When Jinri woke again, the space next to her was empty and the house silent. A quick time check told her that it was nearly 10, and she was officially late for classes. Why hadn't she woken up with Kai, and why would everyone just leave like that? Mumbling and grumbling, she got out of bed, only to find a note on her desk. 

Jinri,

The campus has shut down for the rest of the week due to a water main break. We've gone for a run and should be back before you wake. D.O. made you breakfast; it's in the fridge with your name on it. See you soon :)

Lay

Jinri smiled and placed the note back on her desk. She’d almost forgotten about Chen’s explanation earlier. Still, it was nice of Lay to leave a note. She felt a little guilty that between last week and this week she was missing so much class, but at least this time the school was responsible. She ate and took her time with a shower and getting dressed, and sure enough, by the time she was finished, she heard the clamor of voices from downstairs.

“You’re awake,” Kris commented as she came down the stairs to the living room. All twelve were gathered, in various states of exhaustion, and draped over the sofas and chairs.

“Thanks for letting me sleep in,” she said with a smile. “I see you’re looking much better, Chanyeol.” It was true – the fire-wielding boy still had his wound bandaged, but the other minor scrapes and cuts had healed, and his smile was as big as ever.

“We heal quickly,” he chirped, but still winced when he moved his shoulder.

“Since classes are done for the week, or so it seems,” Suho began, “Was there anything specific you wanted to do?”

“Actually, I was thinking of going to the hospital to check the birth records there,” she told them, with only a bit of hesitance. “I… wanted to start searching for my brother. Or, you know, double check to make sure Sena wasn’t lying to me.”

The living room was silent. It was obvious most thought she would say something like go play in town, or just hang around the house. They weren’t expecting something so serious.

 “I said before that I would help, right? So we can go after we eat some lunch,” Kris said with finality. The others looked as if they wanted to argue, but he swept out of the room and into the kitchen before any protests could be voiced.

“What are you going to do if you find out about your brother?” Sehun asked, ever the curious one. Jinri shrugged.

“I guess I would try to find him,” she replied. “But I don’t really know. I guess either way, I’d eventually go and meet him. Re-meet him? And there are so many other questions. Does he even remember me? Has he been searching for me, too? Does he know about Tamers and Hadrian and Ulrica? Is he a wolf or a Tamer too? Does he remember more about our parents? It’s a lot to deal with. I’m hopeful for the information they’ll give at the hospital, but I doubt that I’ll get very far today.”

“Here’s hoping for the best then,” Baekhyun chirped with a pleasant smile. “I’m going to go help him in the kitchen. I have a feeling he’s going to blow something up.” At that comment, D.O.’s eyes grew wide and he rushed ahead of Baekhyun.

“In the meantime, I’m going to out in the garden. Anyone care to join me?” Jinri asked. Chanyeol gave her a beaming smile and followed her out back, leaving the others to do their own thing. “This is the second time you’ve come to the garden with me.”

“I like the fresh air,” Chanyeol told her. “And I need to make sure you don’t attack any of the actual plants again.” Jinri shot him a sheepish grin.

“That was an accident of anger,” she protested. She lay out on the grass in front of the small patch of flowers and other plants. “I don’t think it needs any weeding today. I’m content with just laying out here and relaxing.”

Chanyeol lay next to her, making sure not to aggravate his wound. “It is nice to be able to sit and relax like this, isn’t it?”

“Mhm,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “I’ll probably be a sobbing mess by the end of the day, so I should probably relax right now, right?”

“Do you have any memories of your parents or brother?” Chanyeol asked quietly, turning his head to look at her.

“I have some vague memories of my mom and dad, but none of my brother,” Jinri confessed. “Sometimes, when I dream, I have some flashbacks of a sibling, but it’s just a dream and I tend to forget them as soon as I wake up.”

“It must have been a shock to find out then.”

“I mean, if I wasn’t also being kicked out of the house at the time, it probably would have been a bigger deal.” Jinri gave a wry laugh and let out a sigh. “I’m just glad that I know now. For all I know, I could have met my brother by accident and not even know.”

“Your aunt sounds like a foul woman,” Chanyeol scoffed. “Who just abandons a child like that and then hides it for years?”

“She’s a bitter woman,” Jinri explained