The building was in sight; just a mere five hundred meters away, but it might be five hundred meters too far.

A dark hooded figure was currently pressed up against the bark of a tree, breathing shallowly even though her lungs were screaming for oxygen. She couldn't make a sound, not when that thing is still in earshot. Her hands were stuck to her sides, shoulders tensed up and feet placed firmly together. One wrong step might mean she wouldn't get to see the sun rise just a few hours later. The growl was getting closer and she could hear the leaves rustling as the damned creature approached. She closed her eyes and did a silent prayer. The growl was now right behind her and this tree was the only thing left between her and this deathly beast. 

The figure was trapped. Out of time, out of options. 

It was either now or never. She heard the leaves crunch as the creature placed a tentative paw forward, and then another. She raised her right hand and clenched it into a tight fist. The temperature in her enclosed palm started to rise as the creature got closer. Her eyes were full of desperation as she focused on the left side of the tree where her predator was lurking, not daring to blink.

As soon as she saw the paw appear from behind the bark, she swiftly turned her body and stepped out in front of the creature and brought her right fist up to face the creature. Bright orange flames blasted straight into the wild mutt's face as soon as her fingers uncovered her palm and the creature let out an agonizing roar of pain and stumbled back on unsteady paws, smoke curling from its burnt face.

There was no time to think about the damage she had done. She immediately her heels and pushed herself to run, only looking back when she safely passed the gates of the building. 

Her legs gave way as soon as the metal gate slammed shut and she fell to her knees, heart thumping loud and hard against her ribcage. She watched from a safe distance as the creature continuously banged against an invisible force field, trying to pass through. It would never get through and would probably kill itself if it continued to ram head first into the shield but it didn't have to know, it was better off dead anyway. The hooded girl looked down at her hands which were still trembling on her lap from the shock and terror. She knew she had to find someone in charge of this place and report in to the office or some sort. 

Deciding that she had rested enough, she gripped the gate for support and pulled herself to her feet. Dusting her jeans, she took a deep breath before she started towards the double doors of the stone building. 

She was about to rap her knuckles on the door when she saw that instead of a door knocker, there was a black disc right between the two doors. There were no instructions anywhere but the girl knew exactly what it was for. She placed her hand over the disc and summoned the flames. The disc glowed red under her palm and tiny tongues of flame escaped from the sides of her hand. She stepped back and watched as the flames branched out from the black disc and flowed through the carvings on the door. When the flames reached the edges of the door and died off, the double doors shuddered before swinging open. 

The girl proceeded into the building and removed her hood, revealing her copper blonde hair that fell a little over her shoulders. She looked around the main hall of the building which was pretty impressive. There was an atrium right in the middle and there were two sets of stairs that led to the floors above just behind the atrium. A simple chandelier hung above the atrium and there were a few wall mounted lights to help light up the big space. The floor and stairs were made of mahogany boards and the lower halves of the walls were plated with polished mahogany with squares carved into them while the upper half of the wall was a shade of alabaster. There were red carpets with golden patterns sewn onto them in between the two staircases and in front of the arches on both sides of the room, giving the place a very classic Victorian look. 

Taking in her surroundings, the first thought that came to her mind was 'I need to find someone in charge here', but the problem was, how? She had no idea which way she should go to find the main office of whoever was in charge and there was certainly no floor plan of this place at all. She was about to follow her gut instinct when someone walked down the stairs. 

The newcomer watched as the light brown haired girl walked down the stairs, completely oblivious to her presence by the door till she reached the floor and looked up. The girl jumped at the sight of the copper haired girl who was standing motionless at the entrance. 

The two girls just stood there and stared at each other in silence, unsure of what to do when the dark figure decided that she should probably speak up first to end this awkward silence. 

'Hey uhm.. I'm new here, like really new. I just came in about three minutes ago and I'm kind of lost. Well, not really lost but I need some directions, so uh.. May I know where to find the main office? Or the person in charge here?' the newcomer said and the other girl just looked at her with these pair of big, innocent eyes. 

'I'm the person in charge here. Come, we'll head to my office.' the girl said and tilted her head as a gesture for the newcomer to follow her. The two girls walked though the arch on the left of the entrance and turned right down another corridor. 

'I'm Jihyo. Park Jihyo. Leader and guardian of this place. This is Grand Ridge Academy, also known as the Safe house, if you'd like to address it this way. There are only a few others that live here and they're all asleep upstairs at the moment.' the girl with the light brown hair said as the pair walked towards the office.

'Mina. Myoui Mina. This seems like a really big place.. How many others are there anyway?' the copper haired girl asked.

'There are only eight of us. With you it's 9.' the leader revealed which shocked the new member.

'Nine? In such a grand place?' Mina widened her eyes in surprise.

'There were more in the past but as time went by, went by the numbers dwindled. Don't be fooled though, this isn't the only one in Korea. There is another of such a safe house or school, to put it in a nice way, in another province and also more around the world. We mainly work with the Korean based mutants, special people to be nice, to handle creatures that are out to attack us and also of course from the rebel mutants.' Jihyo explained and Mina nodded. 

'I was chased all the way here by a mutt.' Jihyo widened her eyes. 'I burned him in the face.' Mina added and the girl just laughed. 

'Not too bad. So I'll take it that you have the affinity of fire?' Jihyo asked and Mina nodded. 'We have a new power to add to our collections then.' the shorter girl said and stopped in front of a wooden door. She opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for the other girl who have a meek nod of thanks.

'Take a seat.' Jihyo said as she sat on a brown leather chair in front of a small fireplace. Mina took a seat on the red couch beside Jihyo and unshouldered her bag before looking around the room. 

The entire room was just like the main hall except that the ceilings too were plated with polished wood. A simpler four bulb chandelier was suspended in the middle of the room. Diagonally behind the couch was a heavy desk with papers strewn over the surface. There were built in bookcases on the walls that stretched from the floor up to the ceiling beside the desk and a full length glass door to the right of the couch with dark gold curtains draping down from the sides. A painting of the school's coat of arms; a large shield with an symmetrical talon-like cornered top and a symmetrical narrow curved bottom is supported by two panthers. All of which rests on a path with grass on either side. A simple crown of diamonds rests atop the shield. On top of the coronet sits a coppergate helm which supports the crest; a eagle with spread wings. The coronet and crest are decoratively bound by a roll of fabric, which carries the main colors used on the shield; neon magenta and apricot. The two colors were painted in a vertical, assymetrically striped pattern and a ribbon, partially wrapped around the supporters, carried the academy's motto, which read: 'One in a million' was framed up above the Victorian fire place and two indoor plants were by the front corners of the room to give a finishing touch to the classy look. 

'So, tell me more about how yourself. From the start.' Jihyo said as she got up to fetch two glasses of water before taking her seat again. 

'So.. I'm from Japan. I first discovered my powers when I was about five? I had no idea how I did it but it was my mother who told me how my powers came about. Supposedly when I was out in the backyard for a small barbeque and the wind extinguished the fire so my dad was striking another matchstick to rekindle the fire. Me and my five year old imagination thought that I had some secret powers so I snapped my fingers and the charcoal in the pit relit themselves. I initially thought that it was my dad playing with me trying to trick me into thinking I had special powers but he told me otherwise and yea.' Mina paused and took a sip from her glass and saw Jihyo smiling at her. She placed her glass down on the side table before resuming her story. 'From then I just started messing around with fire which worried my parents even though they knew I couldn't get hurt since I was invulnerable to fire. Then I decided to come to Korea since I heard there was a place especially for people with abilities so I told them and they agreed since it was better to be under the care of someone who could guide me on my powers. The first few months here were pretty uneventful but as time passed, I would have hellhounds or other weird mutts chasing me and I barely escaped each time so I decided that I should come here as soon as I could before I get killed out there and yea that's basically it really.' Mina finished and Jihyo nodded.

'Well I'm glad you made it here. Just a quick question, have you mastered your affinity?' Jihyo asked and Mina looked at her with scrunched eyebrows. 

'I.. Don't really know what is your definition of mastered but I would say I have good control.' Mina said.

'Do you know anything at all about your affinity? Like the history of it?' Jihyo asked, looking a little concerned which made Mina curious. 

'No not at all. I came with the thought that maybe there would be someone here to guide me with my powers as my mother said. Is there something wrong?' Mina asked and Jihyo walked to the bookshelf and pulled out a red hardcover book. She sat down beside Mina and flipped to a page which had the emblem of fire on it and moved it towards Mina. 

'Fire is the rarest affinity out of all the powers. The closest person we have here to guide you is someone with the affinity of frost. I think we haven't come across a fire user in the past three decades. You certainly are a rare one to find.' Jihyo said looking at Mina with amazement in her eyes.

'If you don't mind me asking.. What is your affinity, Jihyo-ssi?' Mina asked as she scanned through the pages. Only about five hundred thousand mutants out of the billions that ever existed were documented fire users since the first mutant was discovered almost ten thousand years ago. 

'I'm a telekinetic. I can read minds and control people and objects.' Mina heard clearly in her head. She looked up with widened eyes to Jihyo who had a small smile playing on her lips.

'You can hear my thoughts?' Mina said in her mind.

'Yes. I can also feel that you are very amused and intrigued by this.' Jihyo's lips spread to give a toothy grin.

'That's so cool.' Mina clapped her hands together like a excited child at a magic show which made Jihyo laugh. 

'So.. What would this mean for me?' Mina said after reading the last sentence on the page.

'I don't mean for this to cause alarm to you, but I think it's best that you know now so you will take more precaution in the future.' Jihyo her lips. 'You, as compared to the other affinities, are way more valuable and thus this places you in great danger. I'm sure you know that like humans, we too have a couple of power hungry mutants that want to rule the world. They have somehow managed to form an alliance with those underworld creatures and would not hesitate to kill us good mutants. Since you have a powerful and rare affinity, it is no surprise if they would want to capture you and force you to work for them. Please Mina, just be careful.' Jihyo said and the atmosphere in the room became a little more solemn. 

Jihyo's words had placed a sudden weight on Mina's shoulders. She could be held captive, forced to use her powers to turn against these new friends she was about to make. 

'What if.. I don't cooperate with them?' Mina asked, slightly fearing the answer. 

'As far as I know, they have a council of alchemists that have apparently mastered black magic which gives them some way to extract your power and transfer it to their leader. If that happens, you'll be left with no more power. Just like a normal human being.' Jihyo pursed her lips. 

Mina's mouth went dry and felt like a ball of hair was stuck in it. She could be used as some lab rat. 

'But please, this is of course the worst case scenario. They have no way of getting to you here and we of course would do all we can to protect you. I'm sorry if you feel burdened by my words.' the older girl said. 

'It's okay. It's actually kind of expected for the evil to use power for their own benefits. I just didn't expect myself to be the person they'd be getting power from.' Mina smiled. 

'Well, I think we should talk more tomorrow. You should get some rest; you're probably tired out from the journey here.' Jihyo said as she looked at the grandfather's clock at the corner of the room. As if on que, Mina let out a yawn and she quickly slapped a hand over . 

'Come, I'll show you to your room.' Jihyo said and Mina shouldered her bag and stood up, handing the book to Jihyo. 

The girl had wanted to lighten the mood a little so she decided to show Mina her powers. 

'Watch this.' Jihyo took the book from Mina's hand and she released her grip but the book floated in mid-air above Jihyo's palm. The girl looked at Mina who was watching wide eyed as she stretched out her arm and the book glided across the room before tucking itself back in its original position. 

'Woah that was so cool!' Mina exclaimed.

'You'll see more cool things tomorrow when you meet the other girls.' Jihyo opened the door and the two walked back the way they came from. Jihyo led led the way as Mina followed behind. 

The second floor was much like the first except that simple wall lamps mounted between each door lined the corridor, giving it a ambient glow. The floor was carpeted and reminded Mina of the hotels she had stayed in when travelling with her parents. 

'Here's your room.' Jihyo spoke in a hushed tone since the other members were sleeping. 

'Do I have a roommate?' Mina asked and Jihyo shook her head.

'If you were here a few years back you would have but now we have just enough members to fill the nine rooms so each member gets one room to herself. My room is just beside the washroom which is just down this corridor.' Jihyo pointed at the last door down the same corridor that Mina's room was situated. 'Each member has the room number and their name on the door so it's easy to locate them since all the doors look the same. Our shared shower area is right here. The washrooms are connected; two rooms to one but me and you will use this one since our rooms are connected through this. Weird layout I know but blame the architects of the first generation.' Jihyo said and Mina sniggered.

'Okay. Thanks Jihyo-ssi. Goodnight.' Mina said.

'Jihyo will do, I'm just a month older than you, let's just drop the formalities.' the girl said and smiled before walking briskly back to her room. 

Mina twisted the brass knob on the mahogany door and entered the room. 

This place sure has a thing for mahogany, Mina thought to herself as she stepped into the dark room and closed the door. She switched the lights on to reveal a medium sized room. The walls were pure white and the bed sheets were blue, much to Mina's delight. There were simple white curtains to match the walls and what seems to be a built in closet beside the bedside table. There was a simple floor lamp by the corner directly opposite the door and an armchair. 

Mina walked over to the closet and began unpacking the few clothes she had brought with her. A little crumpled from being tossed and bounced around all day but it's nothing a little ironing couldn't fix. She took the towel hanging in the closet and proceeded to take a quick shower and the usual night routine before returning to her room to get a few hours of sleep before the sun rose. At least I managed to live to see the sun rise, was her last thought before succumbing to slumber.

Mina woke instantly at the sound of a knock on her door. She herself was surprised by how fast she got up as usually she would roll around for another fifteen minutes before finally tossing off the blanket. Must be the nerves from the news I got yesterday, she concluded.

She quickly walked to the door and unlatched the lock before opening it to reveal a blonde haired girl who was a little taller than herself. 

'Uh.. You're the new member right? Well you have to be since I haven't seen you around before. It's uh breakfast time now and Jihyo asked me to come get you. You don't have to since she said you had slept really late last night but if you feel like it you're welcome to join us.' the girl rambled and Mina rubbed her eyes. 

'Yea sure, I'll be down in a few minutes. Thanks..' Mina said as the girl bowed slightly before walking towards the stairs. Mina closed the door and yawned. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she took her phone from the nightstand to check the time. 

9 am

Damn, they sure are morning people, Mina thought and placed her phone back on the nightstand. She only had four and a half hours of sleep but she'll live, she had stayed up on multiple occasions to play her computer games anyway. She got up again and to freshen up before going downstairs. 

, I forgot to ask for directions, Mina slapped her face the moment she reached the ground floor. She was about to attempt to send a distressed call to Jihyo when she realised something. 

Yesterday I took the corridor on the right and there was another turn at the end of the corridor. The second floor is purely for living quarters and it was in square structure. That should mean this building is shaped in a square and the kitchen should be directly opposite or down the left corridor, Mina thought and walked towards the other corridor. There were three other doors that lined the corridor but she didn't have to look since she already heard the sound of utensils being set and excited chattering. 

True enough, she arrived at the end of the corridor and met with a group of girls in the kitchen-slash-dining area. Jihyo was the first to notice her presence and gave a big smile as she made eye contact with Mina.

'Hey, you're up. I thought you would have slept more.' Jihyo said as she walked to the stove but not before pointing Mina to an empty seat by the end of the table. The girls took their seat as Jihyo carried two plates in her hands and telepathically lifted the other seven plates which made their way slowly to the table and then gently set themselves down in front of each member. Jihyo placed one plate in front of Mina before sitting down with her own plate at the head of the table. She picked up her fork and tapped her glass for attention.

'This is our new member, Mina. I believe you'll make her feel at home. One more thing, after breakfast I need Sana to come with me for a moment.' Jihyo said and Sana nodded. 'Alright then, let's eat.' 

It was a simple breakfast. Not too fancy and not too light. Two fried eggs, two sausages and some bread. There were a range of spreads at the centre of the table to choose from and some ketchup which Mina immediately snagged to put on her fried eggs. Breakfast was filled with small talk among the members but Mina mostly listened. She had most of her attention on the blonde two seats diagonally across the table. The girl was currently chewing on her food and she reminded Mina of a squirrel with puffy cheeks. 

It wasn't long before breakfast was finished and Mina and Sana helped Jihyo load the dishes into the dishwasher before heading to the practice hall. 

'You guys feel awkward?' Jihyo asked as the three walked out of the kitchen in silence.

'Uh.. I'll just do a mini introduction. My name is Myoui Mina but Mina is good enough. Or anything you'd like to call me.  I just arrived last.. Ah no.. Early this morning so I'm very new.' 

'It's alright. Sana can take you on a house tour later. Is that alright?' the blonde nodded. 

'Japanese?' the girl asked.

'Hai.' Mina replied on instinct and gave a small smile at her blunder.

'Ah.. I'm from Osaka.' the girl said and Mina nodded in understanding. 'Sana. Minatozaki Sana.' the blonde introduced with a smile.

'I'm from Kobe.' Mina replied. 

The three girls walked down the stairs which Mina missed when coming to the kitchen and descended one level to a smaller room which had a few computers on a long table in front of a glass panel. The wall had a few meters, gauges and switches which Mina knew better than to poke around. 

'Very briefly, we're here to test out what you can do. Sana was the one with the affinity of frost. She's here because of what I told you last night and also to help with damage control in case things get out of hand.' Jihyo explained shortly as she sat on one of the chairs. 'I'll explain in detail later on. Just go in and show us everything you know.'

'Really? Is it okay?' Mina asked, sounding unsure. She was afraid she would destroy the place with her flames but Jihyo nodded with such affirmation in her gaze that immediately washed away Mina's doubt. The girl stepped out into the large arena and walked to the circle. She looked into the room and Jihyo shot her a thumb up. Mina took a deep breath and counted to three. 

She took a step forward and threw a punch, shooting flames out of her knuckles which curled up into the air and dissipated. She then turned swiftly to do a spinning kick, sprouting flames from the heel of her foot in a perfect arc before she grounded both her feet. Mina's confidence grew bit by bit and she started to give everything she knew. Blades, bombs, daggers, lashes, streams, whips, repetitive jab and burst of fire balls. 

'So she's a fire user?' Sana said in awe as Mina performed trick after trick.

'Yea. Seems like we're lucky enough to meet one.' Jihyo replied. 

Mina had one last trick up her sleeve but she didn't know if she should use it since she only used it once and it destroyed pretty much everything in a five hundred meter radius. 

'I don't know about this last one Jihyo.' Mina said and Jihyo's voice echoed around the room through the stereos. 

'It's okay, Sana can put the flames out, that’s what she's here for.' Jihyo said. 

Mina then kneeled down and placed both hands on the floor beside her. The two girls in the observation room held their breath as they watched in expectation. Mina placed her weight on her hands as she swept her legs in front, using the momentum to spin and keep her legs above the floor as she used her arms as support. As she picked up speed, she channelled the flames and they burst from her heels. The flames surrounded her in a circle as she maintained a steady speed and the flames grew gradually grew in width and height, creating a small fire tornado. 

The two girls watched in amazement as the fire swept across the walls and ceilings. 

Mina brought her foot down to the ground and dragged it to bring her to a stop back on her knees and she stood up. The floor had a perfect circle scorched onto it from the heat and the metal plating on the walls had steam curling off it. 

'We'll try target practice now.' the wide eyed girl announced and Sana walked to the panel of switches. She pulled a lever and target boards dropped from the ceiling boards. 

'There should be a black and yellow line near this room. Stand behind it and try to hit the targets without missing.'

Mina walked closer and spotted the slightly charred line. Whoops. She stood with both feet shoulder width apart and waited for the cue. They spent the next fifteen minutes going through precision and aiming tests and also a agility and reflex test by having Mina blast flames at the targets that will drop at random locations as fast as she could. By the end of the fifteen minutes, the temperature from the training hall could be felt even in the observation room. Jihyo and Sana were starting to sweat. 

Jihyo beckoned Mina back to the observation room where she told Mina to take a seat and have a rest while Sana went out to cool the room. Mina wasn't sweating or panting one bit so Jihyo assumed that her stamina must have been great. Pyrokinetics are the most powerful ones anyway, the shorter girl thought.

Mina watched the blonde stretch her arms out with her palms facing forward as gusts of white winds sprayed from her open hands, kind of like a fire extinguisher. The thought of it made Mina chuckle a little. 

There were a few white dots which Mina thought of it to be snow as Sana blew the frosty winds over the four walls of the room. The metal walls now had a light coating of frost and the glass had condensed from the sudden cold air. Mina got up to wipe away the water droplets just as Sana returned to the room.

'Sorry about that.' Mina said sheepishly and rubbed her nape. 

'Don't worry about it.' Sana smiled sweetly as she snapped her fingers and the temperature of the room got a little colder. 'There we go.' 

They took their seats before Jihyo started her talk. 

'I was right about my choice last night. The best person to offer you advice on controlling your powers is Sana. Frost and fire obviously don't mix but these two elements are each other's greatest strength and weakness. With the powers combined, you two could become an indestructible duo.' Jihyo explained and the pair looked at each other. 'I know it sounds crazy but trust me, as long as you work together and practice on that teamwork, you two will be the aces of this place. But first, baby steps. I'll let you two warm up to each other. Sana can give you the house tour now if you'd like. Take the chance to get to know one another.' the leader said and Mina nodded. 

'When will we begin practicing?' Mina asked.

'As soon as you're ready.' the leader said and Mina hummed. 

'We'll take our leave then.' Sana said before turning for the stairs.

'Don't worry. Everything will fall nicely in place.' Jihyo told Mina who gave a hesitant smile before jogging up to Sana who had held the door open for her.

'Thanks.' 

'No problem. That was practice hall one. There's an identical practice hall just one floor down but that's for the less dangerous powers.' Sana explained as they climbed up to the ground floor.

'Less dangerous?' Mina raised an eyebrow.

'Those like flight, healing, telekinesis and teleportation. They have a different set of equipment from hall one. Hall one has targets because it's for the members who wield elemental powers like water, earth, air, frost and fire. Down below they have shelves of items and plants and all sorts of stuff for training.' Sana explained as they reached the top of the stairs. They walked around the first floor, starting from the right side of the stairs; entertainment room, Jihyo's office, the hidden stairs, kitchen, another flight of hidden stairs, the library, the toilets and finally the meeting room behind the stairs. before going up to the accommodation level. 

'There's nothing much here but I'm sure Jihyo has told you about the names and numbers on each door.' Sana said as she looked around the doors. She saw that Mina seemed to be looking around for something. 

'Finding someone?' Sana asked.

'Yea.. Where's your room? I mean, not that I want to creep on you or anything but you know.. Just in case I need help. Since we're partners too so.. Convenience.' Mina explained quickly before she caused a misunderstanding and the latter stared at her, processing what she had said before letting out a laugh that was music to Mina's ears. 

'My room is over there. The fifth one.' the taller girl pointed at a the door in middle of the hallway on the opposite side of Mina's room. 'This is kind of by order of how long you've been in the academy. Jihyo is first, followed by Jeongyeon, Nayeon, Momo, me, Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Tzuyu and you.' Sana said and pointed at the room doors of each member. She scrunched her eyebrows for a moment before turning to face Mina. 

'Do you want to come to my room?' Sana asked and Mina shrugged. 

'If you feel comfortable in letting me enter your private space..' Mina trailed off. 

'It's alright. A little visit won't hurt. You could let me into your room too if that makes things fair. Come on.' Sana said and tugged at Mina's wrist. Unlike her affinity, Sana's hands were warm and soft.

'Alright alright..' Mina said as she let the other girl drag her to the room. The blonde twisted the door knob and entered, gently pulling Mina inside. 

The room was similar to Mina's just that it was more filled with things like decorations and other miscellaneous items; a sketch of the eight girls was stuck on the wall above the bed and there was a baby blue lava lamp on the nightstand. There was also a shelf of perfume bottles beside the closet and a full body mirror. Those must explain why the room smells amazingly sweet. A pair of swords were placed on a wall mounted rack beside the bed caught Mina's eye.

'You afraid of intruders or what?' Mina asked as she nodded towards the swords.

'Oh, it was a gift from my father. It was to protect myself while I was still learning to control my affinity.' Sana said and smiled at the thought. 

'I see..' Mina hummed. 

'Come sit.' Sana sat on the edge of her bed and patted the spot beside her where Mina hesitantly sat. 'I don't bite you know.' the girl giggled.

'I know it's just that I feel like I'm intruding somehow..’ Mina frowned and the girl patted her shoulder. 

'It's okay; I'll intrude your room later.' 

'Why are we here again?' Mina asked and the blonde scratched her head.

'Good question.. Let's just sit for a while before moving on.' Sana said and leaned back onto the pillows, stretching her legs out beside Mina who had turned to face her.

'So.. How do you feel about being partners with me?' Sana asked and Mina kept silent in thought. She wasn't sure how she felt. Happy? Excited? Afraid? A mixture of all? She barely knew the girl in front of her and she barely knew anyone at all. Sure she could trust them but she was still at a phase of warming up to her new housemates. Sana didn't seem like a bad partner. She was cute, pretty, charming, smells good, has perfect hair and features, the list could go on. Maybe everything just needs time to settle down. It's not every day that you get chased by a monster for half a day, come to a special academy and find out that you are one of the rarest kinds of mutants that ever existed.

'Happy and worried?' Mina said carefully after collecting her thoughts.

'You seem to have a lot of worries.' Sana pointed out. She had noticed this since they stepped into the observation room of the practice hall; hands kept by her sides, not touching anything as if the girl was afraid she would break something,  worrying about intruding when Sana herself invited her to her room and now worrying about what is going to happen in the future. 

'No.. It's just.. New? I know there are others out there with powers but I guess it’s a change. Coming to live in a house full of people with powers and going to start practicing using these powers that I have usually kept a secret.. A cultural shock?' Mina pursed her lips and ran a hand through her hair. 'Also I could possibly hurt you and of course that's not something I want. I feel like keeping my distance so that you won't get hurt by me in any way.' she rubbed her hands on her thigh.

'It's okay. I'm not made of glass, and hey, I'm tougher than I look okay. No one believes this face at first and think that I'm a easy person to push over but then I'll kick their when they challenge me to a spar. Besides, you can hurt me just as much as I can hurt you.' Sana sat up and scooted closer to Mina. 'I say we put aside our worries and fear. If we can co-operate, we won't be able to hurt each other at all. The more we practice the better our coordination and teamwork will be and that will largely reduce the chances of hurting each other by accident. Our affinities were meant to be so it will be easy for us to click. Give it a shot hmm? What do you say?' the blonde patted Mina's knee. The newcomer nodded.

'I guess I could try. Sounds like a plan.' Mina said as a smile slowly broke out on her face. 

'Awesome! Now let's get to know each other better so we have a good base when we start training tomorrow.. Or whenever you're ready.' Sana leaned back into her pillows.

'How 'bout we just do like a twenty question sort of thing just that we keep the questions going until we have nothing that we don't know about each other?' Mina suggested. Games were her favourite and what else is better than playing a game to break the ice, literally.

'Sounds good. Loser starts?' Sana raised a fist behind her head and Mina mirrored the action.

'Jjang gem bong!' Mina counted and raised a fist while Sana raised an open hand.

'Ugh, I'm bad at this. Okay, age?'

'Nineteen.'

'Oo same, are we friends?.' Mina wiggled her eyebrow and Sana nodded with a laugh.

'Favourite color?'

'Purple and indigo.'

'Purple, pink, white, black, and beige.' 

A barrage of questions were tossed around and the ice was clearly broken since Mina was now smiling and talking a lot more compared to a few hours ago. Having warmed up to each other, they decided to head over to Mina's room to continue their little interrogation session. Running down the hallway like little kids, Mina reached her door first and quickly darted in. 

'First.' the copper haired girl said with a grin on her face.

'No fair, you had a two second head start..' Sana whined and slumped onto the armchair by the corner.

'Fine fine, you can have a head start next time. Hurry, let's continue.' Mina hopped onto her bed and hugged her prized penguin plush.

'Well you're a neat person.' Sana said as she looked around the room. 

'I just got here yesterday with only one sling bag, of course this room is barren. It'll be filled up with something soon, hopefully.' 

They spent another half an hour throwing questions and random thoughts back and forth before they got tired and decided to just bask in each other's presence. Mina had never gotten so closely attached to someone that she just met before and it kind of scared her at how fast Sana had been able to carve a mark in Mina's life.

Mina wasn't complaining though, she never had friends that stayed very long because of her pyrokinesis. They would be scared either way, be if after Mina tells them about it herself or they find out by accident when getting carried away while playing. Society just wasn't as accepting as they claimed themselves to be. Now that she was in a place full of her own kind, she didn't have to worry about being accepted which greatly relieved Mina. 

'Are you worrying again?' Sana asked which pulled Mina out of her thoughts. 

'No.' 

'But your eyebrows were scrunched up.' 

'I was just thinking of some other things. God damn it Sana, I'm not a worrywart.' Mina tossed a pillow at Sana who caught it before it could hit her face. 

'Good to know that you won't be getting wrinkles earlier than me. Wouldn't be nice to have a wifi signal up there.' Sana sniggered and the other girl frowned. 

'Is something bothering you?' Sana asked in a more sombre tone.

'Nah.. It's just.. You're scaring me. Not like in a way that you might hurt me, no, I've put that aside already.' Mina quickly said to prevent a misunderstanding. 'Maybe it's just that I never had someone bring down the walls I'd put up around myself so quickly before. Normal people got scared when they knew I was a pyrokinetic. Flames are always associated with bad things and catastrophes so I just decided to keep this a little secret to myself. Now that someone managed to break these walls like it was made of sand is just a little.. Weird. Again, just need to get used to this.' Mina confessed honestly and Sana nodded. 

'It's alright. You can take your time, no rush.' Sana smiled. 'Want to take a look outside?'

'Sure.'