Chapter 7

“Minju, stop pacing already,” Nako said irritably. “I can’t think straight with you moving all over the place.”

“I can’t help it.” Minju was one step from being a ball of mess. As the oldest of the members made to wait, the responsibility fell on her to keep a brave face, but she was failing at it terribly.

“Come here, Unnie.” Wonyoung, who’d been huddled with Yujin, reached out for Minju’s hand as she paced by them and pulled the older girl in to join them.

Yujin smiled at Wonyoung for her kind gesture. The three of them held hands as they looked at the closed door in front of them. She willed for it to open and for someone, anyone, to come out to tell them everything was going to be okay. “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Shouldn’t someone come and tell us what’s happening?”

Hitomi shook her head from where stood, also watching the door with intense interest. “Her meridian points were already injured from before back in Japan. Just transferring qi to her won’t help. They will have to be careful not to further exasperate her existing injury and that will take some time and patience.”

“Shouldn’t we get a teacher?” Yuri mumbled out loud. She was still in a state of shock as kept opening on its own.

“I don’t think they can wait. If they don’t stabilize her immediately, the qi deviation within her can… hurt her really bad,” Nako said, while going over to join her roommate. She was regretting being snippy with Minju and she could see that Yuri was in just as bad a state.

Yuri heard Nako’s slight hesitation over what could happen to Sakura and knew that the Japanese girl was hiding the worst that could happen. She reached over to hold Nako’s hand partly to comfort the girl and partly to be comforted herself. “She’ll be fine, won’t she?” she asked, her voice cracking a little.

“Yuri, she’ll be fine,” Hitomi replied this time as she also went over to join Yuri and Nako. The three of them, along with Minju, were born in the same year. With each other, they felt they could drop formalities and talk as if they were real sisters.

Yuri nodded at Hitomi while sniffling quietly, too ashamed to cry out loudly. If any of the girls should be bawling it should be Nako and Hitomi. Once again, she found herself admiring the two girls. “You two are always so strong. I feel like all I can do is cry when bad things happen. Even when Nako was placed in the lowest group at the start of the exams, she never cried.”

Even though Nako and Yuri had been on the same team during one of the trials of the exam, they didn’t really talk about that time much. Nako was famous for being in the lowest ranked group initially and then placed in the highest ranked group, whereas Yuri was infamous for doing the complete opposite. “It’s okay to cry sometimes. I think it takes a lot of bravery, more than I have, to cry and show people you love how vulnerable you are.”

“Yeah,” Hitomi agreed with Nako. “And I think it’s more important how you deal with the bad things after you have your cry.”

“I think that’s just it. I don’t know what to do other than sit here and feel sad. They wouldn’t let me join them in helping her heal. My cultivation level is pretty high. What use is it if I can’t use it to help a loved one that needs it?” Yuri asked, feeling frustrated.

“Yeah, why can’t we help?” Wonyoung asked as she had been listening into her group members’ discussion. “Mine and Yujin’s cultivation level is pretty good too.”

“Like Hitomi said earlier, they will need to be very careful when transferring the qi so that they don’t make it worse for Sakura. The best way to do it is through skin to skin contact which will connect Sakura’s flow of qi with their own. With their qi connected, their hearts and minds also become connected. They can thus get a better and more precise control over the flow of qi within Sakura’s body. But the danger is that everyone who is connected to Sakura will also be subject to her strong thoughts and feelings. If they’re not careful, it could result in them going crazy as well. That’s why it’s not really about how strong your qi is but more about how mature and disciplined your mind is.” Nako had disagreed with their leader on that point, but Eunbi was adamant that only the older girls would attempt it.

“Didn’t you help me last time control my qi deviation?” Yujin asked while blushing. She was still slightly ashamed to show such an unsightly side of herself.

“We only helped you for a moment. They will be connected to Sakura for hours. The longer they stay connected using their qi, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“I’m the same age as Chaewon,” Minju spoke up. “I could have helped.”

“Minju, you were hysterical earlier,” Hitomi said bluntly. “Your mind needs to be focussed when you attempt what they’re doing.”

“I... I guess I was and I still am a little emotional even now,” Minju admitted in the face of Hitomi’s direct statement. Over the course of the last few months, while she loved it when she got praise from the other members, she had also come appreciate Hitomi’s harsher brand of truth.

“But I think you can still help, now that you’ve calmed down a little,” Hitomi offered at the sight of the depressed girl. There was a sliver of an idea that she had while desperately thinking of ways she could help her senpai. “Of all of us, your divine skills are the most diverse and the strongest. Could you tell us how Sakura and the others are doing from out here?”

“Usually I need to touch their head or we both need to be directly looking at each other while projecting our minds,” Minju said shaking her head.

Nako looked at Hitomi and caught on to what the girl was suggesting. “We talked about how physical touch and qi allow those connected to feel each other’s thoughts. But your skill is psychic in nature, so you shouldn’t really need to touch someone or even look someone in the eye in order to do it.”

“Usually people’s minds are guarded, but with the qi transfer that’s going on, their minds will be more open. I think if you can focus your mind on their thoughts, you should be able to pick them up. One of the meditation techniques of the Forty-Eight schools is designed to focus the mind on to a singular task.” Hitomi had been thinking of ways to integrate her former school’s teachings with what they were currently learning for a while, but it took a crisis for the ideas to start bursting out of her.

“Oh, I see.” A light seemed to turn on in Minju’s head as she thought of how her divine skills could be applied if she were able to focus her psychic abilities.

Yuri watched as Hitomi, Nako, and Minju immediately sit down together putting into practice what they just thought up. Now’s not the time to be crying, she thought as she brushed away her remaining tears. “Qi deviation could cause the mind to go crazy. I think if we do something that will calm her down, they will have an easier time.”

“Sakura Unnie always wants you to play music for her after practice because she loves it and it helps her unwind after a long day,” Wonyoung said, thinking back to everything Sakura did to relax in their dorm.

“She’s been helping me see how I could use qi arts to enhance and use my music in my martial arts. I think I can use qi to enhance the music so that it can reach her.” Yuri started to get excited at the thought of being able to do something.

Chaeyeon felt shy as she sat in the circle from the top up. The five of them sat in a circle with their right hand on each other’s back. Sakura sat in the middle of the circle where each of them had their left hand placed somewhere on her body. Chaeyeon was seated in front Sakura, so her left hand was placed over her best friend’s heart. Yena, are you are sure this is the way to do it? This feels weird, she thought towards the so-called qi arts expert.

I have the strongest qi out of all of us and I have experience with this sort of thing, so I think you can trust what I’m saying, Yena replied somewhat truthfully. She was a kid when this was done to her and she didn’t really remember it all that much since she was a little delirious at the time.

I can feel us connected by our qi, so I think it does seem to be working. Sakura seems to be fighting us off though. I can’t grasp the flow of qi within her. Eunbi was the least experienced with qi arts so she was feeling even more weirded out by the whole experience than Chaeyeon was. But it was a good kind of weird.

Unnie, snap out of it, Chaeyeon projected toward Eunbi. Their leader was getting high off of the massive amounts of qi that was flowing around and around in a circle among them.

We’re only at the surface level of the qi flow. We need to go deeper, Hyewon thought to the group.

Hang on, Yena projected as she then opened the floodgates of qi through her left hand in order to connect more deeply with Sakura. Her left hand was on the small of Sakura’s back and she could feel the Japanese girls unstable inner power rush out of her. Here it comes. We need to keep her qi stable as it flows between all of us.

Yena felt everything go silent as she was suddenly enveloped in darkness. She then saw the image of a large cat chasing a tiny mouse. The cat did not seem to understand how much larger it was than the mouse as it ‘played’ with it by pouncing at it with the full weight of its body. When the mouse stopped moving, the cat seemed sad as it meowed loudly. The cat desperately at the mouse as if it could revive it that way. Surprisingly, the mouse did get up and bit at the cat’s tail, enraging it. And the cycle began again. Over and over the cat and mouse fought and made up with each other.

Yena found herself entranced by the imaged before her, but something told her that they were only images. She shook her head trying to clear her mind and before Yena knew it, she could see the other girls again. Did you guys see that?

Yena felt the confusion of the other four girls and knew that only she had seen it. Sakura Unnie’s mind is very strong and highly disciplined. Unlike how we can all hear each other’s thoughts, Unnie’s mind is more structured and compartmentalized. You’ll be alone so be careful and try not to get lost in her thoughts. After you open yourself up to her, you’ll have to open yourself up to the rest of us.

Yena steeled herself as she as prepared to open herself up to the rest of the group as Sakura’s qi whirled itself around her. She then increased the amount of energy that flowed out of her right hand and into Hyewon.

Hyewon found herself looking at a little girl who seemed to be bedridden. The girl was frail and sickly looking but had eyes that where bright and full of life. “Hyewon, it’s your turn,” the girl said in Yena’s husky voice. She smiled with a wane smile when Hyewon hesitated. “We all have things we don’t really want to talk about. I’ll tell you about it later, I promise.”

Hyewon shuddered as she felt the influx of energy enter her through Yena’s hand. Somehow, she managed to stay sitting upright as she fought to control the flow. She turned her head to look at Yena and she could see the image of the little girl superimposed with that of her friend. She gave the girl a wink to signify that she was okay and then turned her head to look at Sakura. As soon she saw the pale girl’s slender form, her mind went blank.

Another little girl appeared to Hyewon. This one was beautiful beyond reason, ethereal and perfect in every way. At the feet of the girl was a stray cat. The cat meowed pitifully seeking attention which the girl obliged.  Hyewon found herself envious of the cat. She longed to have the girl’s lithe fingers run through her hair. Just a moment would be okay wouldn’t it?

Hyewon found herself lowering her head onto the girl’s lap. Time seemed to stand still as an indescribable feeling came over her. The only feeling that Hyewon could think of was that it was a feeling of being ‘home.’ Reluctantly, after a time, Hyewon got up to which the girl gave a slight pout. “I have to go and it’s my turn to save you,” Hyewon said as she opened her eyes and herself to the next girl in line.

Chaeyeon gasped as the qi flow enlarged. In her minds eye, she saw the image of a little cat lazing about in a brightly lit meadow. She immediately knew she was seeing Hyewon’s image of herself. She then saw a little bird flit by and fly around the cat and she knew that it must be Chaeyeon herself. The cat suddenly became alert and eyed the bird with predatory eyes. The cat pounced at the bird while it its lips lasciviously. Hyewon!

Hyewon snapped out of it at Chaeyeon’s rather alarmed thoughts. She blushed as her inner thoughts became exposed. Sorry.

Chaeyeon sighed with relief as the link between her and Hyewon stabilized. She then also followed Yena and Hyewon’s suit and opened herself up to Sakura. Her eyes glazed over as images flashed before her. She found herself seemingly back in time during the first days of the exams when they were placed in their initial groups.

A short haired girl sat by herself as she stared off into space. She gave an impression of loneliness, but not many of the other girls could speak Japanese fluently or they had their own problems to deal with. Chaeyeon walked up to the girl and offered her help. “Hi, I’m Chaeyeon. I’ll help you learn the formation.”

“Uh, I’m Sakura. You can speak Japanese? I mean, um, thanks.” Sakura looked at Chaeyeon with a mixture of awe and disbelief. She suddenly launched herself into Chaeyeon and gave the girl a body crushing hug.

Did it really go this way? Chaeyeon asked herself, confused, as Sakura unabashedly showed her appreciation.

The image swirled again and Chaeyeon once again found herself in another moment in the past. Sakura had just managed to convince the teachers that she should be the one to lead all the examinees in the new martial arts formation designed for the school.  “Congratulations, Sakura. You did it.”

Sakura shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears as she grabbed Chaeyeon once again in a big hug. “I didn’t do it by myself. I could never have done it without your help.”

Chaeyeon panicked as Sakura gazed at her with adoring eyes. Again, she didn’t think it went like this before. She squirmed in Sakura’s bear hug, but the girl was not letting go at all. “What’s this? Aren’t you always saying I like you more? It’s like you like me more right now.”

“I like to think the feeling is mutual,” Sakura said while continuing to look into Chaeyeon’s eyes. The girl kept her vice like grip on Chaeyeon as she brought their faces closer together. It definitely didn’t go this way. No way I’m losing my first kiss to a fake dream, Chaeyeon thought and opened her eyes. She was greeted with the sight of Eunbi’s beautiful and her hand pressing hard against it.

“Ohh,” Eunbi moaned with relief as Chaeyeon released the pressure she was inflicting on her back. She turned her head to see what had happened with the other girl. A younger version of Chaeyeon looked shyly back at her.

“Um, get ready, Unnie. You’re the least experienced with qi transfers and this will be more intense than anything you’ve every experienced before,” Chaeyeon said timidly.

Chaeyeon, you’re no longer that little girl you know. Eunbi sighed and knew that she would have to give that girl a talking to after this was all over. She then turned her attention to Sakura. It was time to get this over with.

Eunbi blinked. She was lying in a bed with a single sheet covering her. She peaked under the covers and noticed she was . Lying beside her was a blushing Sakura. What is going on!?

“Unnie, I’m scared,” Sakura whispered.

Eunbi could not control her body as her hand cupped Sakura’s chin. “Don’t worry. Unnie has a lot of experience.” I do not! Eunbi wanted to scream.

“Am I just another one of your conquests?” Sakura asked shyly.

Dream Eunbi brushed dream Sakura’s cheek. “Baby, you’re my favorite.”

“My heart is pounding like crazy. Can you feel it?” Sakura asked as she sat up and the blanket covering her fell. She grabbed Eunbi’s hand and raised it to her bare chest.

“Unnie…” Sakura started to say before falling silent. “Where’s that music coming from? It sounds nice.”

Eunbi breathed a sigh that was mixture of relief that it was over and disappointment that she couldn’t see the end of it as the image before her wavered. Soon, she was able to see the girls and the room again. Qi arts are scary!

Unnie, what happened? Chaewon asked as Eunbi shouted her thoughts across the channel. Her question was met with silence as it became quiet around her. It was then that a little toddler waddled up towards her. She reached down and picked the tiny girl up. She could tell the girl wanted to say something, so she placed her ear near the girl’s mouth.

“Chaewon, it’s your turn. I think the other girls are doing something outside to help us, but still be careful,” the girl said before suddenly disappearing. It took all of Eunbi’s limited skills in qi arts to send that short message to her junior.

Images flashed before Chaewon’s eyes until the scene settled before her. She was sitting in class watching as the teacher demonstrated the technique. She had the distinct feeling that she was being watched. Turning her head around the class quickly, she caught sight of Sakura peeking at her over the top of her martial arts book before ducking her head quickly behind it.

Chaewon thought it must have been her imagination, but the feeling of being watched remained. Every time she looked around the room, she found Sakura’s large eyes staring back at her. This could not be a coincidence. After class finished, Chaewon walked over to where Sakura was reading her martial arts book. “You have a problem with me,” she asked glaring at the girl.

“Yes, I mean, no, I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sakura answered, flustered at being called out.

“You’ve been staring at me all class. Did I offend you somehow?” Chaewon asked directly. What kind of scene is this? Why am I talking to Unnie so casually? Is this how Unnie sees me?

“No, I… I just thought you were pretty… good at martial arts,” Sakura said while looking down.

Wait are we the same age? Chaewon was becoming bewildered at the scenario that was happening in front of her. Unfortunately, they didn’t really have time for Chaewon to watch to the end. She shook her head clear of the images and opened her eyes seeing Sakura to her side and Yena to her front.

Minju opened her eyes and tears immediately flowed out of them.

“What happened?” Wonyoung asked, dreading the answer.

“She’s okay!” Minju cried out after stifling her sobbing a bit.

Yujin rolled her eyes at Minju but was too happy to complain about how Minju had once again done something that was misleading. She raised her hands and cheered loudly.

“Minju and Yuri, thank you,” Nako said simply.

Author’s note:

It was a struggle this week not to write Sakura’s AU idea from #sakumail. A scene of it may have shown up in snippet of this chapter. Hopefully it’s purged out of my system.

Let me know what you thought!