“They’re hiding something,” Lito scowled, glaring out the window of his room at the night sky.

“Who’s hiding something?” Changsun asked, looking up from his textbook, “and shouldn’t you be focusing on your school work? Won’t your sister be upset if you start failing your classes? Your cousins would probably be upset, too.”

“I already got my stuff done,” Lito shrugged, “Ravi offered to help, so……”

“He just doesn’t want you to hate him like you do Kris,” Changsun scoffed, “he’s totally buying your support.”

“I know,” Lito laughed, “and he doesn’t need to. But if he’s offering…..might as well take advantage.”

“Right,” Changsun chuckled, “so who’s hiding something?”

“Sori and the others,” Lito explained, “they’re hiding something.”

“I don’t follow,” Changsun frowned, “how do you know that they’re hiding something? Have they done anything weird?”

“I heard Suho talking to Kai a few days ago,” Lito explained, “he was telling him about training for something. As soon as Kai noticed I was there, he hushed Suho really fast and they started acting like they hadn’t said anything.”

“Ok,” the dragon nodded slightly, “so they’re hiding something. How do you know that Sori is in on it? And the others, too.”

“I see them all whispering about stuff,” Lito explained, “and whenever people outside of their group of friends comes close they shut up.”

“Weird,” Changsun sighed, “but it also could be nothing. Not like they’re close to a lot of people outside of the group. Heck, Sori avoided most people. Same for Kris, Hyuna, and Yuri.”

“Fine,” Lito sighed, “that’s fair. But you know what is something? The fact that I saw a couple of them sneaking off into the forest from the balcony two nights in a row.”

“Alright,” Changsun nodded, “that is a bit weird.”

“I think that there’s something big going on,” Lito frowned, “I…….I think it might have something to do with all those attacks on the school grounds.”

“Oh,” Changsun also frowned, “so……you think that the shot fired at Kris, the attempt on Yuri’s life, and the dorms going up in flames are all connected.”

“And the attempts to kill my sister,” Lito hissed, “the council brushed it off, acted like it wasn’t that important. I knew something was weird with that.”

“My council upped the security on all members,” Changsun said, “and their families and all potential new members.”

“Seriously?” Lito scowled, “that…..that says something, don’t you think? Something’s going on. Something big.”

“Can’t argue,” Changsun shrugged, “but what do we do about it?”

“I’m going to confront Sori about it,” Lito decided after a moment of thought, “I’m going to demand that she tells me what’s going on. I want to help and I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

“Good luck,” Changsun smiled, however he knew Sori would probably just shoot him down.

There was a reason she hadn’t told Lito anything already. Whatever was going on…..it was probably big. And dangerous. Very, very dangerous. If she hadn’t told Lito anything, she probably wanted to keep him safe and no matter how much he demanded to be let in on what was going on, she wasn’t going to change her mind.

--

“Sori,” Lito said, grabbing Sori’s arm and pulling her away from Ravi, “I want to talk to you.”

“What about?” she questioned, falling into step with the younger, “something important? Or school related?”

“Just…..come,” Lito glanced at her, “it’s important.”

“Alright,” Sori glanced back at Ravi who was trying to secretly follow the pair.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who had a bad feeling about what Lito wanted to ask.

--

“What is going on?” Lito scowled, finally coming to a stop behind the dorms, knowing that no one would be there to over hear them at that time of day.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sori frowned slightly, “a bit more context please?”

“The attacks on Kris,” Lito growled, “the attempt on Yuri’s life. The……the attempt on your life.” In the shadows, Ravi winced as he recalled that moment. Sori bit her bottom lip, recalling that moment as well.

“What about them?” she finally asked, regaining control of her emotions.

“They’re all connected,” Lito said, “aren’t they? And the fire at the dorms isn’t just some random thing either, is it? So what is going on?”

“Nothing,” Sori said, “is that all? We’re missing class.”

“You’re lying!” Lito cried, “just tell me the truth!”

“I’m not,” Sori growled.

“Yes you are!” Lito glared darkly at her, “tell me what’s going on. I’ve hear you and the others whispering about something. I’ve seen you all sneaking off into the woods at night. I’m not stupid, I know that something is going on.”

“It doesn’t matter what you know,” Ravi said, stepping out of the woods, “you aren’t getting involved.”

“What do you mean?” Lito scoffed, “of course I’m getting involved. Whatever is happening…..it almost killed my sister, I’m not going to just sit back and watch.”

“People could die, Lito,” Sori snapped, “and I refuse to let one of those people be you.”

“But it’s fine if it’s you?” he countered.

“Sori,” Ravi said, stopping her before she lashed out with something she’d later regret. Something he didn’t want to ever hear her say. “Calm down. Take a breath and calm down.”

“You aren’t getting involved,” Sori said after a moment of calm, “and that’s final. I’ll even bring our parents in on this to force you to stay out of it if I have to.”

“They’ll force you to stay out of it, too,” Lito pointed out.

“They aren’t my legal guardians,” Sori shrugged, “they can’t force me to do anything.”

The three fell silent for a long moment after that.

“Sori,” Ravi finally said, “why don’t you go back to class. I want to talk to Lito for a minute.”

“Fine,” she nodded after a moment, turning on her heel and leaving the pair alone.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Lito asked once he was sure Sori was long gone.

“Sori is just worried about you,” Ravi sighed, “she just got you and she’s scared that she’ll lose you.”

“Isn’t she scared about losing you?” Lito countered, “But she’s letting you fight.”

“It’s different,” Ravi explained, “I knew about everything and was getting ready to fight before we got together. She knows that she can’t force me off the battle field now.”

“She could if she really wanted,” Lito scoffed, “if she asked, I bet you’d back off and stay on the side lines with me.”

“No,” Ravi rolled his eyes, “as much as I love your sister, I won’t back off from this. I need to fight.”

“I need to fight, too,” Lito frowned, “maybe not for the same reasons you have, but because I…..I need to fight!”

“I wish I knew what to tell you,” Ravi sighed, “but……for now? Just forget about it.”

Lito just sighed before nodding in agreement. He didn’t want to forget it, he wanted to help.

“You should focus on your training in class,” Ravi suggested after a moment, “If you’re anything like Sori, I know you’re going to turn out to be really strong.” He paused before adding anything else, “maybe, if you prove to be strong enough, Sori will reconsider letting you fight.” Ravi didn’t think she would, but maybe saying that would make Lito feel better.

A/N: aww, poor Lito just wants to help. But I can totally understand Sori not wanting him to get involved.