Jessica’s hold on Yuri slackened only after she guided Yuri to her bed, and even then she couldn’t leave the latter’s side.

“Kwon Yuri…”

Yuri’s brows shot up. Jessica sounded like her mother just then.

“Do you mind telling me what happened earlier?”

Yuri understood the question but her mind was elsewhere, swaying along with the feeling of Jessica’s arm around her shoulders and the stillness inside the almost-empty room. “Hm… Yoona isn’t here yet.”

Jessica’s arm slid down from Yuri’s shoulders, down her back then toward the mattress. “I’d be surprised if she was. It’ll take her a bit longer to process things again.”

“Yeah. Out of the three of us, anything that has to do with Sunny affects her the most.”

“They were pretty close—Hey, wait a minute! Don’t change the subject. I asked you what happened earlier so spill. Now.”

Yuri shrugged. There wasn’t much to tell. She had just come back from her usual spot by the school gate, where she often wandered around to think and to throw punches at tree trunks, and there Sooyoung and Hyoyeon were at the courtyard. She was already losing patience with them back at Mountain Glenn and it was just icing on the cake when they still kept ranting about not getting any ‘action.’

“I just lost it.”

“You’re frustrated over our fight with Sunny. I get it.”

“No, you don’t.” Yuri shook her head then pressed both hands to her face. “I couldn’t do anything. I was weak. I even thought of using my semblance. How desperate was that? But I didn’t because I know I can’t control it. I just thought that maybe, just maybe, I could’ve stopped Sunny with it and we would finally get some answers.”

“Yuri-yah, you saw what happened. None of our attacks worked. Even if you did use your semblance, what would you have done if it still didn’t work?”

“Then I’d try again!” Yuri spoke through the spaces in between her fingers, still covering her face as if in shame. “Again and again until it hits her.”

“You’re being reckless as usual.” Jessica cupped the back of Yuri’s hands against her palm and slowly pulled them downwards so she could meet Yuri’s eyes, but the contact lasted a mere second before Yuri turned away. “You really should change that attitude of yours. It’s having a negative effect on Yoona, too.”

“Yeah, I should,” Yuri admitted, still facing away from Jessica. “Besides, I can’t do any of that unless I learn how to control this.”

“I thought Professor Hyun Bin was helping you with it before. Wasn’t he training you to control it?” Jessica shifted her position on the bed when Yuri appeared to have been trying to lie down. “Oh wait. Here.” She waited for Yuri to lie on her back while she willed the air above her palm to phase into an ice cube. “You were limping a bit earlier. Are you bruised anywhere?”

Yuri raised her uniform top, revealing the elongated bruise caused by Sooyoung’s axe handle. She watched as Jessica ran the ice cube along the bluish gash. Jessica had done this to her palms with her fingertips before but this was a far larger bruise and she guessed that the ice cube would be more effective. “Anyway, you’re right. Professor Hyun Bin was training me. It was going well, actually. But I still managed to screw things up. There was an incident, remember? The one with… the one with a casualty.”

Of course Jessica knew. Everyone in Beacon knew.

Beacon had just descended into the void and so had the rest of Vale. Everyone was caught off guard when the Grimm suddenly came in the thousands. The professors tried their best to usher the students to all of the available airships but there wasn’t enough time and most of the students decided to stay and fight instead. Things took a turn for the worse when members of the White Fang started dropping in to add to the chaos.

Yuri, Jessica, Yoona and Sunny didn’t even try to board an airship. They rushed to the front of the school and fought. Taeyeon and Seohyun showed up not long after while Sooyoung and Hyoyeon stayed behind with the other professors near Emerald Forest.

“We’re surrounded!” Yuri heard her teammates scream. She could no longer tell which was Grimm and which was White Fang. She only saw her friends and she knew she had to protect them. “We’re surrounded!” she heard them scream again—

And before she knew it, they weren’t anymore.

The Grimm had disappeared. She and her friends remained and so did something she didn’t recognize. She crouched down next to it and ran her then-bare hand down its length. It could’ve been an arm or part of a torso. She didn’t know what it was, only that it had once been a person.

“After that, we found out that Professor Hyun Bin had disappeared. I was at a loss. The professors said it wasn’t my fault. Professor BoA even encouraged me to continue training with her, but after that incident I just didn’t want to use my semblance anymore. I was still shaken up. It was then that I decided that I would make things work with just my strength and my speed.”

“But it really wasn’t your fault. It was an accident—”

“It doesn’t matter. A life is still a life. That was a person, Sica. A person who had a future. And I took that away.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think that you were still beating yourself up over this. You seemed okay. You were your usual cheerful self a few weeks after that. But I guess you were just pretending. I’m not in a position to tell you what to do but I hope you’ll start forgiving yourself soon.”

Yuri turned her head to the side to avoid Jessica’s gaze once more, her cheek now resting on her pillow. “I don’t know if I can. Maybe…”

“Just look at it this way. Once you learn to control your semblance, you can help ward off the Grimm attacks. Right now, that’s all we can do for everyone who’s still here. They’re the ones who still have a future. If there’s anyone that you should feel compelled to protect, it’s them.”

“I know that. Of course I do. It’s just that there’s something inside of me that keeps me from using my semblance. I think I grew scared of myself.”

“Well, what if I help you with that? I can train with you until you sort those feelings out. Maybe then you’ll finally be able to control your semblance.”

Yuri faced forward again, curious as to why Jessica would say such a thing. “You have too much faith in me. Why is that?”

Jessica bit her lip. Because it’s you. “Because you’re my partner! I believe in you… even though you don’t believe in yourself. Just please think about it.”

The distance between their gazes seemed to lessen even though they were as still as the room they were in. Yuri saw her reflection in Jessica’s eyes and it seemed to meld with the image of brush against her abdomen and flashes of red every time a twinge of pain formed around the bruise underneath Jessica’s fingers. The ice cube had long since melted but the tips of Jessica’s fingers were moist enough to duplicate the sensation. Yuri closed her eyes as she imagined the large, bluish bruise disappearing under Jessica’s touch—

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Jessica drew her arm back, her fingertips wet from the ice cube that had already melted minutes ago without her noticing. She quickly made another one and left it on top of Yuri’s bruise. “Here. I think you can do this on your own. I’ll go prepare some coffee. That always helps you clear your mind, right?”

“Right,” Yuri mimicked. This time, she didn’t understand the question. The flashes of red that flew past her eyes earlier seemed to have moved to her cheeks which were now tinted crimson at the thought of how Jessica’s fingers lingered on her stomach. A beat passed then a sigh escaped her when she found an ice cube in their stead. Jessica seemed to have heard her and was waiting for her to say something. “Uh, yeah. I think I can do this myself. And coffee would be nice. Thanks. I’m the one who usually makes it for you guys, though.”

“Like I said, a lot of things have changed.”

Yuri watched Jessica exit their room. The ice cube had melted again – faster than the first one did. And all Yuri could feel with her moist fingers was the same tingling spot where Jessica touched her last.

+

“Welcome back, Soonkyu.”

“I told you to call me ‘Sunny.’”

How many times had she corrected him? This surely wasn’t the first.

The inside of his tent reeked of dried mud and burnt wood shavings. He gestured for her to sit down next to him on the carpet but she declined. She didn’t want to be here longer than she had to. She stood before him with both arms behind her back, her left hand clasped around her right wrist.

“’Sunny.’ Of course.” His smile came out crooked. It was almost menacing. “I see you’re still hiding behind the name you use around your… friends. Tell me. Were they happy to see you today?”

Sunny’s grip tightened around her wrist while she bit back her anger. He didn’t deserve to see her break now. “Probably not since they couldn’t beat me.”

He laughed at that like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. “Oh my. But why would they fight you? Aren’t you their friend?”

She could’ve thrown her buckler at him – right in between his eyes. That would’ve shut him up. But she didn’t.

“So,” he continued, still with that smile that made her loathe him, “now do you believe me? They will never understand you. They will never understand us!” He got up from his seated position and approached.

Sunny did her best to remain still. It took everything in her to refrain from bashing him in the head with a heavy fist as he spoke into her ear from behind: “You’re a traitor. And they will never forget it.”

She knew that he was provoking her but she wasn’t going to fall for it. She turned her head toward his voice, her cheek coming into contact with his before she whispered slowly into his ear: “I’ll decide whether that’s true. Thank you for letting me see them today.”

He laughed once more and she left.

The evening chill greeted her the moment she stepped out of the tent. She might have hated him but she loved his taste in location. A few meters from where she stood was the edge of a mountain cliff. Below it was a steady stream that was loud enough to lull her to sleep when she needed it to. This was one of those times.

“So it was all a ploy?” went a voice from behind her. She didn’t turn toward it and instead she walked forward toward the edge and sat down. She heard footsteps coming from behind her and the cloaked figure emerged by her side seconds later. “You just wanted to see them?”

“Yes,” Sunny answered. “But I don’t think they were too happy to see me. At least, now I know that they seem to be doing fine even after I left.”

“Who are they exactly?”

“They used to be my friends.” Friends. Sunny smiled at the thought. “Well, more like family.”

“Friends like family, huh? You’re lucky. Not everyone comes across people like that. I envy you. I wonder if I’ll ever find something like that.”

Sunny had heard the sentiment before. And she did feel lucky. At least, she did before she left. “The time I spent with them gave me some of the best moments of my life.” She recalled the seemingly endless bantering. Yoona’s teasing. Yuri’s infectious laugh. Even Jessica’s resting face. Taeyeon’s jokes. Seohyun’s lectures. Sooyoung’s incessant craving for snacks. Hyoyeon’s pranks. The rest of the academy was just background. “It’s just too bad that we don’t share the same ideals. I’ve come too far to give up on mine and I won’t let them get in the way.”

The cloaked figure hummed in response, probably still imagining what it would be like to have such people in her life. “Even though I don’t understand the things you believe in, I respect the fact that you believe in something. I may not be a friend like family but if ever you want to talk again, I’ll be here for a little while longer.”

Sunny finally turned to face the woman she had been talking to and flashed her a smile. “Thank you. It’s a bit comforting to have you around… pink pig.”

“YAH! Don’t call me that!”

“Seriously, though, thank you Tiffany. But enough about me. When I found you fighting Grimm all by yourself, how exactly did you end up there?”

Tiffany leaned back, supporting her weight with her palms. “Hm… I was just sort of drifting by. I try to look for part-time hunting jobs from time to time to make money but now that everything’s so chaotic, I can’t find anything decent. That’s why I took you up on your offer when you said you’d give me free lodging and a paycheck.”

“I see. But don’t you wanna go home?”

A distinctly feminine giggle escaped Tiffany, the kind that she would use to flirt. “About that… I don’t think I’m allowed to go back there yet.”

“O-kay? What does that mean?”

“It means… I was a spoiled brat.”

The Hwang family wasn’t filthy rich. They had enough and a little to spare. Tiffany grew up thinking their family would always have something in excess. It was too late to teach her otherwise when they were only left with enough. And even then, she chose to believe that nothing had changed.

“If you won’t listen to us then you’ll just have to find out on your own how hard it is to survive in this day and age!”

She thought her father was just bluffing until her mother brought out the suitcases and asked her to pack her things. She was used to getting into arguments with them so she rode this one out and left, thinking they intended for her to still stay in Atlas but in a different house. She waited for them to reveal where they intended for her to stay and immediately regretted asking when they handed her a travel ticket.

“Vacuo? You can’t be serious!”

Her parents must have been beyond pissed at her because they didn’t bother to explain. They didn’t even see her off.

The stream rumbled below them. Tiffany stared down at it and it reminded her of when she looked down from the passenger airship that took her to Vacuo. But instead of a stream, she saw a wasteland.

“It was a desert,” she told Sunny. “My parents sent me to a ing desert.” She let out a strained laugh. “The first thing I did was look for a place to live. After I found one, things were a bit okay. Then I ran out of money for the rent after two months and I was kicked out. Sometimes, people let me stay over at their place for a night or two, but nothing really lasted for more than that. The others that agreed to let me stay longer wanted something in exchange and… well, there was no way I was letting myself get into that kind of trouble.”

“So you haven’t heard from your parents? Like, at all?”

“Nope. Not even after the Grimm invasion. Civilians were being evacuated from the city and there was an announcement that only huntsmen and huntresses should be left behind to fend off the Grimm. Since I’m not a huntress, I was shipped out of there. Once we got to the airship terminal, I said I wanted to go back to Atlas to see my parents. Then I was given a chance to call home so I did. I figured they wouldn’t pick up. It was chaotic after all. So I left a message. I left a ton of messages. No one ever called back.”

Sunny placed a hand on Tiffany’s shoulder, recalling that this is what friends do when one of them is upset.

Tiffany smiled in response. “So here I am just living my life. At least they were right. I did learn how hard it is to survive.”

“No one’s stopping you from going back to Atlas, though. You can do that any time and tell them that you’ve learned your lesson.”

“I thought of that. But I’m still a bit angry at them. When I do decide to go home, I want to feel like I’m really coming home. Not just returning to Atlas. In the meantime, I have the rest of my life to live wandering around here.”

Sunny’s hand slipped down Tiffany’s arm and found its way over Tiffany’s hand, trapping it against the grass. “You said that you envy me for having friends like family… when in fact, I’m the one who envies you. You’re so free. No responsibility. Or duty.”

Tiffany blinked, unsure of what Sunny meant. “Why? Do you have to bear the burden of those things?”

The stream roared beneath them as if answering in Sunny’s behalf. Sunny’s eyes ran along its course and nodded. “Yes, I do.”

+

She didn’t notice her heel tapping against her desk in time with the ticking. She looked up at the ceiling. Stories beyond it was Hyun Bin’s office – the clock tower. No one has entered it ever since the Grimm invasion. That night, after the first wave, she swore she saw Hyun Bin board the elevator going up to the clock tower. She followed him, hoping that he knew how to save them all like he usually did.

“But you were gone.”

She whispered it to herself as if it were a secret. Tic-toc went the clock.

She shook the sleep from her eyes and got back to work. The military informants from Atlas came through with their promise and sent over the files that she needed. Most of them were surveillance footage from the city before the Grimm invasion. She had a hunch after Sooyoung and Hyoyeon encountered the cloaked woman. She just hoped that this wasn’t all for nothing.

“16:00, Terminal 9—“

She zoomed in on the woman standing near the platform. “Well, well…” She kept the footage running while she placed a call. The ringing seemed to go on forever—

“Yes? Who is this?”

“Hwang, I’m sending you a screencap.”

“A what—BoA, is that you? What do you want at this hour?”

“I was just reminiscing and I remembered little Miyoung. Have you received what I sent just now?”

“Yeah, it’s here.”

“I see she’s all grown-up. She has her mother’s eyes. Do you mind telling me where she is?”

There was a half-minute pause before a deep sigh reached BoA’s ears from the other line. “What kind of trouble has she gotten herself into this time?”