Yena opens her eyes groggily, the ceiling painted with the orange hue of the afternoon sky entering her view. Thick covers envelop her body, the familiar scent of strawberry with the hint of oranges, probably the detergent the school uses to wash the students’ sheets mixed with Yuri’s favorite perfume that has slowly grown familiar to her, enters her nose. Flopped damp on her forehead is a light orange face towel. Yena slowly peels the soggy folded towel off her head before sitting up on the bed.

Her eyes slightly widen when she suddenly remembers the duel she had with Yujin before she passed out. Yena promptly pushes the hefty sheet off her body and clutches the hem of her cotton shirt, pulling it up to her chest. A wall of thick bandages is wrapped around her waist. The pain, however, isn’t present at the moment, and she feels brand new. Cautiously, Yena brushes her bandage-covered abdomen with her fingers. 

No sensation of pain follows.

Yena wonders if someone had cast some sort of magic on her since she’s quite sure she broke a few bones when she got the wind knocked out of her. Broken ribs take at least more than a month to heal. At least according to the comics she used to read back home.

She tears her gaze from her torso when she hears the door unlock. The door swings open, revealing Yuri with a book bag slung on her shoulder. When her eyes meet with Yuri’s, her eyes seem to widen a bit as she walks swiftly into the room, shutting the door behind her. Yuri throws her book bag at the side before standing before the bed, her eyes a bit softer than usual.

“Are you okay? Do you feel sick?” Yuri asks, roaming her eyes at Yena's sitting figure from head to toe.

Yena blinks at the unusual reaction from her before slowly nodding. "I think so," she says, twisting her body from side to side, inciting a small panicked look from Yuri. “Yep, I think I'm totally fine now. How long have I been out?”

Yuri’s eyes dart to a random object to the left as she thinks, lightly chewing on her bottom lip. “Well, it’s been three…? Wait, is that right?” she mumbles, the rest of her words indecipherable.

“Three hours?” 

Yuri shakes her head. “No. Three days,” she clarifies, sitting on the chair by her desk. 

Yena almost chokes on her saliva, coughing a few times before looking back at Yuri. "Three days?!” 

“I thought you wouldn’t wake up anymore. You had a high fever along with your injuries, and you looked like you were in pain just last night.”

Yena chuckles. "You almost got your wish of summoning a new familiar,” she jokes lightheartedly. However, she receives a wordless sharp glare from Yuri, like a knife piercing through a stack of papers, and she can't help but recoil a bit. “...Sorry, that was a joke. Thanks for taking care of me, my lady.”

Yuri lets out a small breath before sliding the cloak off her shoulders and walks across the room to hang it on the clothes-hanger standing by the doorway. “I just watched out for your condition. Professor Kwon routinely comes every morning to apply healing magic. And the maid, Chaewon, was it? Your friend? Yeah, she drops by once in a while too,” she says. “The school staff are worried about you.”

Yena smiles before bashfully scratching the back of her neck. “Really? There’s nothing to get worried about.”

“You were out for three days. There’s plenty to worry about,” Yuri points out exasperatedly as she carefully takes out the golden badge from her uniform blouse, placing it on her desk like she always does after school.

A smile crosses Yena’s face. “Were you worried?”

Yuri’s hands briefly freeze at her question. She looks back at Yena, a forced stern look on her face.“It’s only my duty as your master to look after your wellbeing.”

“So you were worried.”

Yuri’s lips turn up into a slight pout before she continues undoing the ribbon of her blouse. “Anyway, you didn’t tell me you can fight like that. Were you hiding it? Were you some sort of swordswoman back in your world?”

At her questions, Yena’s eyes shine as if she suddenly recalls the whole fight. “Wait, yeah, now that you mention it, I don’t know either. My body felt so light, and I began seeing things I didn’t normally see.”

“Wait, was it magic then? But you don’t even have a wand… that’s strange,” she begins searching Yena’s face for any signs of lying. “I remember your eyes that time though.”

“My eyes?”

“Yeah, they were a different color, or I don’t know, maybe it’s just the lighting,” Yuri crosses her arms as if immersed in thought as she stares at her. “When I arrived during the duel, you look like you’re getting beaten up.”

Yena’s eyebrows crease before mumbling. “I wouldn’t call it ‘getting beaten up.’ It’s just…”

“You were getting beaten up,” Yuri repeats with a deadpan look, inciting a pout from Yena. She then caresses her chin as she frowns in thought. “So what happened back then… oh right! The sword! Was it the sword?”

“Oh, you’re smart. It might be,” Yena says, raising her head in realization. “Is it because of a weapon?”

Yuri then pulls out the small drawer from the right-hand side of her desk, rummaging through it. She then pulls out a beautiful butterfly knife. “This. Try holding this, Yena.”

“And why do you have a knife?” Yena asks, an eyebrow raised.

Yuri shrugs. “A gift from my older sister. I use it to sharpen my pencils when I draw.”

Getting out of the sheets, Yena stands up and walks over to Yuri, who is holding out the knife in her hand, the handle turned to her to avoid accidents. After grabbing the cold hilt of the knife, Yena expects the rush of energy she felt during that day, her duel with Yujin Ahn.

Nothing.

Yena sighs before shaking her head. “No, there’s nothing. I don’t feel anything, “ she says. “Now that I think about it, I should’ve felt it when I was chopping vegetables in the kitchen.”

“Maybe because you’re not thinking of it as a weapon?” Yuri suggests, “Just a hunch.”

“How do I even think of something as a weapon?” Yena mumbles to herself. 

Maybe she should focus on breaking something, like targeting in games. She quickly sweeps her eyes across the room before her eyes settle on Yuri’s oak closet.

She wonders what it would look like if she slices it in two with the knife she's holding right now. Ha, as if it is possible.

Suddenly, the familiar pool of energy starts spreading from her left hand throughout her body. Her senses also seem to have become more sensitive as the sound of night crickets from outside the window becomes a bit louder and more precise in her ears.

“There. That’s it,” Yuri then looks at her in the eye before inhaling sharply. “I knew it... Your eyes look different.”

Yena looks back at Yuri. “Different how?”

Yuri holds out her hand towards Yena’s forehead, brushing her fringes to the side to take a better look at her eyes. Since her senses have been upped, the slight touch from her master sends a small tingle down her spine. 

“They’re bright orange…” Yuri says, her voice a few decibels lower than usual as she observes Yena’s eyes with interest.

Yena swallows a lump that she didn’t know formed in . “...yeah, I also see things differently than usual.”

“What do you see?”

“I see weak spots highlighted in orange,” Yena explains the best she can. “I saw them too when I looked at the golems back then. It’s thanks to those that I managed to take them down.”

“Weak spots, huh?” Yuri says, mostly to herself. “Well, do you see them on me?”

Yena looks at her properly from head to toe. “Yep, I see them,” she holds out her arm towards Yuri before tracing her fingers lightly along Yuri’s left collarbone. “Here, then…” she then drags her finger from Yuri’s chin down the middle of her torso. “There’s a long one there, and also…” 

Yena then shifts her focus to the back of Yuri’s left ear and traces down to her neck before Yuri grabs her wrist, her face now a deep shade of red. “I get it!”

“Oh, sorry!” Yena pulls her hand away from her, a flustered look on her face. “I got carried away,” she says a bit sheepishly.

A few knocks come from the door. Yuri clears before fixing her blouse as she steps toward the door before opening it. Yena shifts her weight on one foot to take a look at their visitor.

“Good evening, Miss Jo,” Chaewon bows at Yuri before her jaw drops at the sight of Yena. “You’re awake. You scared us for a second there.”

“I’d be harder to kill than that,” Yena says with a grin. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’ve always been sent by Sakura to check on you every dinnertime, just in case you woke up,” she says before politely facing Yuri. “If I may ask for permission, can we borrow Miss Choi for a bit? The head chef wants to see her.”

Yuri sighs before looking at Yena. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t given you permission to have another employer.”

“Really? You’re gonna stop me now?” Yena rolls her eyes before ruffling Yuri’s hair as she walks past. “I’ll be back before curfew, my lady,” she gives her one last jaunty smile before letting go of her head as she goes on to put her shoes on quickly.

“This girl just does whatever she wants,” she hears Yuri say under her breath, a tone indicating exhaustion with the long huff that accompanied her words. Yena just chuckles, pulling the door behind her close just when her master shoots her a look of disbelief. 

Yena and Chaewon walk side by side on their way to the kitchen. Chaewon lets out a small contemplative hum, getting the attention of Yena, who blinks in her direction questioningly.

"You know, it's still astounding how you can act in such a carefree manner around them like that," Chaewon tells her, her face riddled with a more serious expression than