Kiana
'It's so quiet…'
Sunday mornings were supposed to be loud. But it's so quiet that she can't help but feel uncomfortable.
Kiana stood in the center of the living room, a broom in her hand that she was gripping a little too hard while she stared at the couch.
'Wendy…'
Twelve hours ago, that couch had been a fortress of pillows and misery. Now, the wool blanket was folded into a square, and the couch was cleaned so it looked as if no one had ever slept on it.
Wendy had packed her things and vanished before the sun came up. She hadn't said goodbye. She had just… left.
'You spent the last three years in a wheelchair!'
The memory of her own voice ricocheted inside her skull. It was the kind of thing you said when you wanted to hurt someone when you had nothing else to say.
Kiana squeezed her eyes shut, holding herself back from smacking herself hard in the face.
'Stupid. You're so stupid.'
She dragged the broom across the floor.
Swish.
Why did she say it? Wendy had tried to cover her mistake and protect her. And Kiana, with a cramped leg and embarrassed on the factory floor, had decided the best thank-you gift was to weaponize a girl's trauma against her.
Very mature…
Swish.
Mei was inside her room. She barely went out of it after the mission, only doing so to make some food. Though Kiana was too hesitant to ask her to make anything, given that she gets irritated easily by the sound of cooking.
Kiana wanted to comfort her. She wanted to burst in, hug her, and do… something, anything to make her feel better.
But she couldn't. She felt like a disease. If she went in there now, she'd just be another loud noise and bother Mei even more.
Swish.
Kiana kicked a pile of dust into the pan. It wasn't like the dorm was dirty. She was cleaning because she needed to do something. Even if that thing was house cleaning.
She dropped the broom and limped over to the coffee table. Her left leg still hurt from the cramp, but she ignored it. She deserved it.
She started stacking the scattered books. Combat Theory. Advanced Physics. A stack of Kenji's old training manuals that he always left lying around.
He never knew why he preferred books. They had datapads and phones. She always preferred reading from a screen rather than a book.
She shoved them into a pile, moving too fast. Something fell out from between the pile of books. It fluttered down, hitting the floor with a soft clack.
'Huh?'
She bent down, wincing as her bruised knee protested, and picked it up.
It was a small photo frame.
She turned it over.
The air left her lungs.
It was an old picture. A window into a time that felt so long ago, a picture at the old dojo Mei volunteered at.
In the photo, the three of them were a mess. Kiana was leaning heavily against Mei, her face beet-red and drenched in sweat. Mei looked tired but serene, a shy smile touching her lips. And behind them was Kenji.
He had a towel draped over his neck, his hand resting on top of Kiana's head to piss her off. He was grinning.
That stupid, confident, annoying grin that he accused her of having.
Suddenly, a more recent memory resurfaced in Kiana's head. A memory of her and Kenji training together in one of the simulation rooms.
________________
"Yup, I'm beat. I can't beat your endless stamina."
Kiana collapsed onto her back, spreading her arms wide.
"Oh, come on, you can do better than that."
"Easy for you to say!" Kiana shouted, sitting up and wiping sweat from her forehead. She looked at him with an annoyed stare. "You can freaking regenerate, I need to take time to heal you know."
She grumbled, "It's not fair! You and Mei are total powerhouses, even Bronya has her smartness! Sometimes I feel like I'm being left behind..."
While she wasn't actually that worried about it, the thought had come up many times when she was with everyone.
Mei and Kenji were the strongest in their team. A picture-perfect example of elegant strength and overwhelming power. While Bronya added some finesse with her intellect.
While she just had her guns. There wasn't anything that was eye-catching about her. It felt like everyone else was running ahead while she was just stuck.
Kenji seemed to notice her shift in mood and stopped wiping the sweat from his neck. He looked at her, blinked once, and then actually laughed.
"You? Left behind? That's funny."
Kiana pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hey! I'm being serious here!"
"So am I," Kenji said, walking over to crouch in front of her. His grin faded into something more thoughtful.
"Look, Mei and I might be faster. We might hit harder right now. But you have this… annoying habit of forcing yourself into the middle of everything."
"I do not!" Kiana protested.
"You absolutely do," Kenji countered without missing a beat. "Even if we tried to run ahead, you'd just scream and barge your way back to the front until we had no choice but to follow you."
Kiana opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off by tossing his damp towel right at her face.
"Hey, gross!"
"That's why when people look at our team, they don't think of the 'monsters,'" Kenji said, standing up. "They think of you, Kiana. You don't know how to stay in the background, and honestly? You're the person best suited to be a team leader."
At his words, Kiana was actually stunned into silence. She hadn't expected such a… sincere response out of nowhere. Especially from Kenji's smartass mouth.
A soft smile formed on her face, "Thanks, Kenji, that's—"
"Though you need to mature a LOT more before you can be a leader."
"You just couldn't say something nice without a snide comment, can you?!"
_________________
Kiana sat on the floor of the empty living room, clutching the frame softly on the edges.
She stared at the girl in the photo. That Kiana looked tired, but she looked hopeful, so unbothered by the world around her. She looked... held.
"You're so annoying," Kiana whispered to the picture, a watery smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I can't believe your words actually stuck with me…"
Now that she really thought about it, they never really decided on the actual captain of their team. But she knew that everyone unofficially put Kenji in that role.
He was just someone who met the criteria for a leader. The one who made everyone closer, made everyone want to push harder.
Even if he didn't realize it, he had been the one leading them.
But Kenji didn't lead them because he was stronger. He led them because he always wanted everyone together.
If he wasn't here, who was going to do it?
Mei was hurting in the dark. Wendy was hiding in a teacher's apartment. And Kiana was sitting on the floor feeling sorry for herself.
'Oh, come on, you can do better than that.'
It wasn't about being the strongest or having the flashiest powers. It was about how far she was willing to go.
After all, she has always been the one who forced her way to the front. That fact won't disappear just because she was in a tough spot.
Kiana wiped her face with the back of her hand. She stood up, placed the photo back on the table, and propped it up against a vase so it faced the room.
"Come on, Kaslana," Kiana said aloud. Her voice was scratchy, but it didn't crack. "You can do this."
She wasn't going to mope. She wasn't going to let her family dissolve because she was too insecure to fix it.
She turned toward the door, eyes narrowing. She had an Aunt to annoy and a team to put back together.
/ — /
"Auntie! We need to talk!"
Theresa didn't even look up. She was almost invisible behind a fortress of paperwork that was stacked precariously on her desk.
She looked like a child playing office, except for the very real aura of exhaustion radiating off her.
"Kiana," Theresa sighed, aggressively stamping a document with a red REJECTED seal. "If this is about the cafeteria menu, I am busy. If this is about you wanting to skip remediation classes because of your leg, the answer is no. And if this is about the unauthorized mission you pulled…"
She finally looked up, her blue eyes sharp and dangerous. "...then you should probably start running."
Kiana flinched, and a small part of her wanted to run back to the dorms to avoid her Auntie's wrath. But she held firm.
She limped forward, planting her hands flat on the desk, leaning over the piles of reports.
"It's not about the mission. Well, it is. But not the fighting part." Kiana took a deep breath. "I… need a favor."
Theresa raised an eyebrow, leaning back in her oversized chair. "You went on an unauthorized mission with Himeko, nearly got impaled, and now you want a favor? I swear you got this attitude from—"
"I need a jet," Kiana stated flatly.
"..."
"..."
Theresa blinked. Her expression shifted from confused to exasperated, before turning to irritation.
'Oh crap.'
"N-now hear me out!" Kiana stuttered, her voice gaining speed. "And I need a day pass. For me, Mei, and Wendy. I want to take them to Nagazora for a quick trip."
Theresa stared at her for a long moment, silence stretching between them. She looked like she was contemplating whether to yell at her or beat some sense into her.
Kiana hoped it was the yelling.
"First of all, why on earth would I let you three loose when you can barely walk without wincing?"
She gestured to Kiana's leg. "You're hurt. Mei is locked in her room with a migraine. Wendy is… well, Himeko told me she's sulking. You need rest, not a field trip."
"Rest isn't working!" Kiana snapped.
The outburst echoed in the office, actually causing Theresa to flinch. Kiana didn't pull back. She looked Theresa dead in the eye to make sure she knew she was serious.
"I know things aren't looking the best right now, but we can't just sit around doing nothing. It's not working for any of them." Kiana's voice lowered.
She looked at Theresa, who stayed silent. "...I want to try and cheer them up. I-I think I know how, but I need your help..."
"What if Mei doesn't want to go on a trip?" Theresa questioned, "How about Wendy? Aren't things pretty tense between you two right now? What's your plan if they say no?"
Kiana flinched and looked down, "E-even if they don't want to come, I still want to try… And I think I have a way to convince them."
"..."
Theresa said nothing for a long while. She continued staring at Kiana's eyes, and she tried her best not to break eye contact. Even if it felt like her Aunt was staring holes into her soul.
Finally, Theresa sighed, the tension draining out of her small shoulders. She reached into her drawer and pulled out a black card.
"You are exactly like your father…"
"Huh?"
"My private transport jet is fueling on Pad 4 for a supply run," Theresa said softly, sliding the credit card across the desk.
"I will have someone drop you off at Nagazora on the way. I will also let you use my credit card—"
"Yes!"
"—And I expect you to use it responsibly." Theresa finished with a glare. "Understand?"
"I promise I will be very responsible!" Kiana said, snatching the card before Theresa could change her mind. "I'll make everyone feel better soon enough!"
"Get out of here before I come to my senses," Theresa grumbled, picking up her pen. But as Kiana turned to bolt out the door, her eyes softened.
/ — /
15 Hours Later
Location: St. Freya Academy // R&D Department.
Kiana
Kiana wiped grease across her forehead, leaving a black smear over her eyebrow.
"Are you sure these specs are right?"
The R&D technician, a sleepy-looking guy named Miles, adjusted his glasses. "For the tenth time, yes. The active noise-cancellation algorithm is tuned specifically for Raiden Mei's sensory profile."
He held up the headphones. They were sleek, matte black with violet accents, bulky enough to be effective but light enough to wear all day.
"Give me the soldering iron," Kiana demanded, holding out her hand.
"I can finish it, Miss Kaslana," Miles said nervously.
"No. I'm doing the final seal."
Kiana took the tool out of the man's hands. She carefully fused the casing shut, sealing the custom circuits inside.
She wasn't an engineer—Bronya was the tech genius—but she had spent the last six hours harassing, bribing, and begging the tech department to help her design these.
She set the headphones down next to the other item on the workbench: a pair of gloves.
They weren't the standard issue combat gloves. These were lined with thermal micro-coils. They were designed to maintain a constant temperature of 37 degrees Celsius, combating the unnatural cold that the Gem of Desire leached from Wendy's body.
It definitely wasn't enough to keep her entire body warm. But she remembered how Wendy kept complaining that her fingers couldn't do anything, so this should be something she would like.
Kiana picked up the gloves and tested the material. It was soft. Flexible. It wouldn't restrict Wendy's fingers as the thick parkas did.
'This should do…'
She was exhausted. Her leg was throbbing with a dull feeling of pain that kept her awake, and her ribs ached every time she leaned over the table.
But she looked at the gear, the two things that should hopefully help convince the two Herrschers to go on a day trip with her. And she felt that it was going to be worth it.
"Thanks, Miles," Kiana said, packing the items into her bag. "You're a lifesaver."
"Just try not to break them immediately," Miles asked, yawning.
"No promises!"
Kiana threw the bag over her shoulder and limped out of the workshop. The hallway was dark, illuminated only by the emergency lights. She was running on fumes, caffeine, and pure Kaslana stubbornness.
'Hopefully things are going to go well tomorrow…' Kiana thought, before quickly shaking her head. 'No, I'll make sure it goes well!'
/ — /
The interior of the private jet was nicer than their actual dorms. It had cream-colored leather seats that smelled like expensive polish, a mini-fridge stocked with a variety of drinks, and soundproofing that cut the engine roar down to a polite whisper.
Kiana sat in the middle aisle, her knee bouncing nervously. She looked to her left.
Mei was sitting by the window, wearing dark sunglasses to block the glare of the clouds. She was pressing her fingers against her temples, her body rigid.
Every time the jet hit a patch of minor turbulence, Mei flinched, her jaw tightening as the vibrations rattled through her sensitive nervous system.
Kiana looked to her right.
Wendy was curled up in her seat, knees pulled to her chest, arms crossed tightly. She was staring at the floor, wrapped in her thick parka. Her expression was a mix of boredom and defensiveness.
'Don't get discouraged,' she thought, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. 'You convinced them to get on the plane, but they're not going to go along with it easily.'
The air was thick with the things they weren't saying. The tension between Kiana and Wendy. The sensory overload that Mei is constantly experiencing.
Kiana took a deep breath. She reached into the canvas bag at her feet. She felt the cool metal of the headphones and the soft fabric of the gloves. She had stayed up until 3 AM for this.
"So," Kiana said.
Mei didn't move. Wendy didn't blink.
"Since we're stuck in a metal tube for two hours," Kiana continued, unbuckling her seatbelt and standing up. She ignored the sharp pinch in her left quadriceps as she put weight on it. "I got us some gear."
Mei finally turned her head, peering over her sunglasses. "Kiana, please. I'm really not in the mood for games."
"No games," Kiana promised. She pulled the headphones out of the bag.
"Here," She said, holding them out to Mei.
Mei looked at them skeptically. "Headphones? Kiana, adding music to this migraine isn't going to help."
"It's not for music," Kiana corrected softly. "It's active noise-cancellation. I had the tech guys tune the algorithm specifically for you."
Mei paused. Her eyes lingered on the device. She noticed the custom casing, the way the padding was shaped to seal perfectly without pressure.
She quickly realized it wasn't something Kiana had just randomly bought. It really was engineered specifically for her.
Hesitantly, Mei reached out. Her fingers brushed Kiana's as she took the headset. She slid them over her ears and flipped the small switch on the side.
Click.
Mei's shoulders dropped immediately. The low thrum of the jet engine, the recycling air, the blood rushing in her own ears—it all vanished. The pressure behind her eyes dialed down from a scream to a manageable throb.
"Better?" Kiana asked, offering a nervous smile.
Mei blinked, adjusting the fit. She finally looked at Kiana, and the irritation was still there, but the edge was duller.
"It's… quiet," Mei murmured. She leaned her head back against the seat, a small sigh escaping her lips.
She didn't smile, and she turned back to the window, but she didn't take them off.
'One down,' Kiana thought, feeling a spark of hope.
She turned to Wendy.
Wendy was watching them from the corner of her eye, trying to look disinterested. Kiana didn't waste time. She tossed the pair of gloves onto Wendy's lap.
Wendy stared at them. They were black, made of a flexible, high-tensile fabric.
"They're thermal," Kiana explained before Wendy could ask. "But not the bulky kind. There's a micro-cell on the wrist—see that little light? It keeps the fabric at a constant thirty-seven degrees. I know your fingers get stiff when you use your powers, so…"
Wendy picked them up. She ran a thumb over the fabric. It was soft.
"I didn't ask for these," Wendy said, still guarded.
"I know," Kiana shrugged, leaning against the armrest. "But I noticed how you always complained about your hands. And if we're going to hang out, I can't have you turning into a popsicle."
Wendy hesitated. Her pride was still stinging from yesterday. Accepting a gift felt like accepting an apology that hadn't been fully articulated yet. But the cold was biting into her joints, making her fingers ache.
Slowly, she pulled the gloves on.
A gentle, pervasive warmth wrapped around her hands instantly. It seeped into her knuckles, loosening the stiffness that had plagued her since the mission. It felt like holding a mug of hot tea that never cooled down.
"They fit," Wendy muttered while flexing her fingers, tucking her hands back into her lap. She looked up at Kiana, her expression unreadable. "They're… fine. Thanks."
It might have still been awkward, but she didn't take them off. That was a win!
"Awesome," Kiana beamed, ignoring the lukewarm reception. She sat back down in her seat, satisfied.
The cabin was quiet again, but the tension had shifted a little. It wasn't gone—Mei was still in her bubble, and Wendy was still defensive—but the air felt a little less suffocating.
Kiana rubbed her throbbing knee, wincing slightly as she adjusted her leg. She looked out the window at the passing clouds, a tired but stubborn smile touching her lips.
Time to see this plan through.
/ — /
Mei
For Mei, stepping into Neon Plaza was like stepping into a blast furnace of sensory torture.
The arcade was an expanse of synthetic joy, a sprawling labyrinth of flashing strobe lights, vibrating floors, and the dizzying swirl of screens fighting for dominance. With her current state, the sheer wall of sound would have been enough to make her vaporize the entire space in an instant.
However, the world was mercifully muffled.
Mei stood near the glass entrance doors, hands buried deep in her pockets. She reached up, brushing the smooth, matte-black casing of the headphones Kiana had given her.
'These are… a lot better than I expected.'
They were a miracle of engineering. The chaos was reduced to a distant hum. It was peaceful, in a detached, observant sort of way. Like watching heavy rain through a window.
Mei wanted to smack herself in the face. She should have thought of doing this sooner. She was so overwhelmed by everything that she didn't even think of it.
But Kiana did.
"Whoa! Look at this! They have Dead Walker IV!"
Kiana's voice cut through the silence, clear but softened. She wasn't checking whether they were following. She was already ten steps ahead, drawn toward the flashing lights like a moth to a flame.
Mei exchanged a glance with Wendy. The Wind Herrscher was leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, but she wasn't shivering.
She was obviously still cold if her paler than usual skin was any clue. But the thermal gloves Kiana had made were doing their job. She looked a lot calmer.
Wendy rolled her eyes, but pushed herself off the pillar. "She's going to spend all our tokens in five minutes, isn't she?"
"Probably," Mei replied, a ghost of a smile touching her lips.
They followed Kiana deeper into the neon jungle. They found her standing in front of a massive, gun-metal grey cabinet, clutching a blue plastic rifle.
"Let's try this one first!" Kiana announced, slotting tokens in.
She didn't even ask them to play, and immediately dove in. Mei and Wendy both raised a brow as it seemed that Kiana was having fun playing on her own.
As the game started, Kiana slipped into a trance of kinetic energy. She ducked under imaginary projectiles, laughing when a jumper scared her, and unleashed streams of digital fire.
They saw through her plan quickly. She was trying to egg them on to play too, subtly pushing them to play the games.
Sadly, it was kind of working.
Mei found herself stepping closer.
"Left side," she murmured, pointing at the screen.
Kiana didn't look back, but she grinned. "Got 'em!"
For a moment, it felt normal. Kiana was the chaos, and Mei was the calm eye of the storm.
The game ended with a fanfare. NEW HIGH SCORE.
"Boom! Zombie apocalypse cancelled!" Kiana cheered, wiping sweat from her forehead. She turned to them, beaming. Not a fake smile, but a real, blinding grin.
"Easy! Who's next?"
She scanned the room, noticing Mei blink rapidly against the screen's flashing lights. Kiana's changed almost instantly after noticing her discomfort.
"Actually, shooting is boring," Kiana declared, grabbing Wendy's arm. "Come on, Whack-A-Critter! It's literally just hitting things. You love hitting things!"
Wendy's eye slightly twitched at the comment, and Mei held back a snicker.
She dragged a surprised Wendy to the goofy, colorful machine near the wall. Kiana quickly inserted the tokens and grabbed a mallet.
The timer started quickly, and cartoon moles popped out of the machine. Kiana gleefully started smashing them.
"Come on Wendy, grab the other one!"
Wendy hesitated. She picked up the second mallet, eyes tracking a blue mole on the left. She swung.
Thud.
The mallet hit the plastic casing a fraction of an inch from the target.
Wendy froze, surprised that she could actually miss. Even if she wasn't taking it seriously, actually missing was embarrassing.
"Ha! Missed!" Kiana laughed, slamming another mole. She shot Wendy a challenging, shit-eating grin. "Too slow, Wendy! I'm gonna lap you at this rate!"
Wendy's eye twitched. The irritation flared hot in her chest—not at her body, but at the audacity of the Kaslana next to her.
"Watch me," Wendy hissed.
She didn't try to be careful anymore. She stopped worrying about the lag and just unleashed.
Whack. Thud. Whack. Whack.
Wendy's arms became a blur. She was swinging faster than Kiana—faster than the machine could even spawn the moles.
She was missing plenty of them—hitting the casing, the edges, the empty air—but for every miss, she landed two hits purely on volume and speed. The thermal gloves kept her fingers loose, and her pride kept them moving.
Kiana's eyes widened, her grin stretching wider as she scrambled to keep up. "Whoa! Okay, okay, no mercy then!"
Non-stop whacking noises echoed as the two raced to pulverize the machine. It wasn't graceful, and Wendy's coordination was still a mess, but the sheer aggression was cathartic.
Mei watched them, her heart feeling lighter than it had in days. She could see a little more fluidity in Wendy's fingers, no doubt due to the gloves Kiana gave her.
But then she noticed the slight hitch in Kiana's rhythm.
What the…' Mei narrowed her eyes.
Every time Kiana leaned left to hit a far target, there was a small flinch. A tightening of the jaw. A blink that lasted a fraction of a second too long.
'Her leg is still—'
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The sound signaled the game's end, and the final score showed that Wendy had actually won.
"Take that!" Wendy yelled out, but her expression quickly changed when she saw Kiana's smug look, and she bashfully turned to the side. "I-it was fun, I guess."
"Its not fair! You were hitting everything without trying to be accurate. Thats just brutish!" Kiana playfully argued.
Wendy looked away, hiding the small smirk tugging at her lips. "Skill issue."
It wasn't long before she started to look for the next game to go to. But Mei's attention was still on her leg.
"Kiana, maybe we should—" Mei started, stepping forward.
But Kiana was already gone. She sprinted toward the basketball machine at the back, quickly followed by Wendy, who was flushed with the thrill of victory.
She grabbed a basketball, spinning it on her finger, completely lost in the high of the moment.
"There's only one machine, so I'll go first, and let's see if you two can beat my score! Which I doubt you can!"
She wasn't trying to show off. She was just caught up in the joy. In true Kiana fashion, she couldn't just shoot the ball normally. She faded back, eyes on the rim, and launched herself into the air for a jump shot.
Buckle.
Kiana's left knee collapsed under the explosive force of the jump. She didn't even get the ball off.
Her body lurched sideways, violently off-balance. She slammed into the metal cage of the ball return, her hands scrambling to catch herself before she hit the floor. The basketball bounced away, rolling mournfully across the carpet.
Mei flinched behind her sunglasses. She saw Kiana's face in the reflection of the glass backboard.
Kiana's eyes squeezed shut, her mouth twisting in a silent scream of white-hot agony. She gripped the metal cage so hard that she nearly tore it off.
"Kiana!" Mei took a step forward.
But before she could reach her, Kiana inhaled sharply. She forced her eyes open. She forced the corners of her mouth up, even though they trembled.
She shoved herself upright, putting all her weight on her right foot.
"Whoa!" Kiana laughed, though the sound was breathless and thin. "Slippery floor! Man, they really need to put a sign up, huh?"
She waved them off, rubbing her hip like it was just a bump. "I'm fine!"
She was smiling through gritty teeth because she refused to let her pain ruin the day. She refused to be the reason they stopped having fun.
Mei stopped. She looked at Wendy.
Wendy wasn't rolling her eyes anymore. She was staring at Kiana with a look of realization.
Kiana looked at the unplayed basketball game. She looked at her leg, then at them. The light in her eyes didn't go out, but it softened into something apologetic.
"Actually," Kiana said, wiping her palms on her pants. "It's getting kind of stuffy in here, right? And the lights… probably bad for the headache."
"Let's go to the park," Kiana said, her voice bright but strained. "I bet the cherry blossoms are nice. We can just… sit. Yeah, sitting sounds good."
'Kiana…'
/ — /
The transition from the arcade to the park was quite jarring.
The air here was cool and smelled faintly of cherry blossoms. The aggressive neon assault of Neon Plaza was replaced by the gentle rustling of trees.
It was quiet enough to hear the gravel crunching under their boots.
It was also quiet enough to hear the uneven rhythm of Kiana's footsteps.
Kiana was walking ahead of them, leading the way to a secluded bench near the pond. Her walk had lost its previous chipper.
She was walking slower than before, her left leg stiff as a board. Every time her weight shifted onto it, Mei could see her body tense up.
"Here should be nice," Kiana announced, collapsing onto the wooden bench with a little too much force. She let out a shuddering exhale as she stretched her bad leg out in front of her.
She patted the empty space beside her, beaming up at them.
Mei and Wendy sat down. A sense of awkwardness settling between them. They couldn't focus on the park's scenery or the ducks in front of them. Their eyes were locked onto Kiana.
Up close, in the natural sunlight, the exhaustion was undeniable. Kiana's face was pale, sweat making her bangs stick to her forehead.
"So, what should we do next? There's a crepe stand near the station, or we could—"
"Kiana, stop."
Mei's voice was soft, but it was enough to make Kiana stop talking.
She blinked, her smile faltering. "Stop what? I'm just brainstorming what we could do after this…"
"Stop trying so hard," Mei said. She reached out, placing her hand gently over Kiana's thigh.
Kiana flinched, her muscles seizing under the contact, but she didn't pull away. She looked down at Mei's hand, then up at Mei's face.
She opened her mouth to make a joke, to say 'It's just a cramp' or 'Slippery floor,' but the look in Mei's eyes stopped her.
Kiana's shoulders slumped. "It's not that bad… It just stings sometimes."
"I know," Mei said. She didn't move her hand. "You hurt it in the simulation last night, didn't you?"
Kiana looked away, obviously guilty. "I mean, Kenji does it too…"
"Kenji can regenerate, Kiana."
"Fair point… I-I just wanted to catch up with everyone. You're all getting so much stronger, so I wanted to do some extra training. But, then the mission happened, and... yeah."
"And then you spent two hours jumping around an arcade for us," Wendy spoke up. She was sitting on Kiana's other side, staring at the thermal gloves on her hands. "You idiot."
The insult lacked its usual venom. It sounded more like an observation.
"I don't like that everyone was so angry," Kiana murmured. She picked at a loose thread on her jeans. "I just couldn't handle the silence anymore…"
She took a shaky breath and turned to Wendy.
"I'm sorry," Kiana said, nervously twiddling her fingers. "About the wheelchair thing. It was cruel. I didn't mean it. I was just... I felt weak. You guys are so strong, and I was getting tossed around like a ragdoll, and I hated it… I'm sorry."
Wendy looked at her. For a long moment, the Wind Herrscher just sat there, flexing her warm fingers in the gloves Kiana had made.
"You were right, though," Wendy said, her voice quiet. "I was in a wheelchair for three years. I am rusty."
She looked up, meeting Kiana's eyes. "I was defensive because I knew I wasn't as skilled as I used to be. My pride couldn't handle the fact that I'm not the A-Rank Valkyrie I used to be."
Wendy let out a small huff. "So... I guess we're both idiots."
"Yeah," Kiana managed a weak smile. "I guess we are."
"And I'm sorry too," Mei said.
Kiana looked at her, surprised. "What? Mei, you didn't do anything. You were just—"
"Even so, I shouldn't have acted the way I did," Mei interrupted firmly. She tapped the side of her headphones. "I was overwhelmed by my current condition and lack of control that I lashed out at you. I yelled at you and left you alone when you just wanted to keep me company."
Mei looked at the headphones in her lap—the custom molding, the violet accents.
"You spent all night making these," Mei said, her voice thick with emotion. "You were in pain, and you were tired, and you still made sure I wouldn't have a headache today. And I barely even said thank you."
"You don't have to thank me. Besides, I had to bribe the other department to help me make it," Kiana said, leaning her head on Mei's shoulder. "That's what squadmates do, right? Take care of the team."
"Well," Mei whispered, resting her head on top of Kiana's. "The rest of the team shouldn't just let one person take the burden."
The three of them sat there on the bench, watching the ducks drift lazily across the pond. The tension that had been strangling them finally loosened its grip.
It wasn't a magical fix—Kiana's leg still hurt, Wendy was still recovering, and Mei still had a headache lurking at the edges of her consciousness.
But the silence wasn't heavy anymore. It was just quiet.
"How much did it even cost to make these?" Wendy suddenly asked.
"Oh, don't worry about it."
"Kiana, if it costs—"
"No, it wasn't my money that I used." She grinned and pulled out Theresa's credit card from her pocket.
"You actually convinced the Principal to give you her credit card," Wendy muttered, both impressed and surprised.
Kiana nodded proudly. "So… does this mean we can still get crepes?"
Mei laughed—a soft sound that Kiana had missed dearly.
"Yes, Kiana. We can get crepes."
/ — /
"Ahh~ We're finally back," Kiana said as she stretched her arms.
The flight back to St. Freya had been quiet, but it wasn't the suffocating silence of the morning. It was a comfortable, tired silence.
They reached the fork in the road. To the left lay the student dormitories. To the right, the winding path led toward the faculty housing blocks where Himeko lived.
Kiana stopped. She shifted her weight off her bad leg, leaning slightly against a lamppost.
She looked at Wendy. The girl was still wearing the thermal gloves, clutching a bag of leftover crepe wrappers.
"So," Kiana said, hooking her thumbs into her pockets. "Are you going to come back to our dorm? I can help you grab your stuff from Himeko's. It's cleaner now. I swept."
She offered a hopeful smile. "It's... quieter, too. I promise not to yell at the toaster before noon."
Wendy looked at the path to the dorms. Then she looked at the path to Himeko's.
"Thanks, Kiana," Wendy said, and for the first time, her voice lacked any sharp edges. "But I think I'm good."
Kiana felt a pang of disappointment, but Wendy quickly clarified. "Not because of anything weird! It's just that Himeko's place is actually pretty nice."
Both Kiana and Mei blinked, unable to process the words that came out of Wendy's mouth. The mere suggestion that Himeko could keep her place tidy was impossible for them to comprehend.
"Ok, her place might be slightly messy."
"Slightly?" Mei questioned.
"Ok, really messy. But she has a fridge full of beer that she doesn't count, and she passes out on the couch by nine, so I get the whole living room to myself."
Wendy shifted the bag in her hands, looking down at her boots. "Plus, I'm her assistant now. Staying with her is a lot more convenient, and I can train more with her."
"Okay," Kiana said softly. She reached out, giving Wendy's shoulder a gentle bump with her fist. "But please don't pick up her drinking habit."
"I won't… Probably. Thanks for the gloves, Kiana."
Wendy gave a small, awkward wave to Mei, turned on her heel, and walked down the path toward the faculty housing.
Kiana watched her go until the green of her parka blended into the shadows of the trees. She let out a long breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Are you okay?" Mei asked.
Kiana turned. Mei was watching Wendy's retreating figure, and there was an unmistakable look on her face. It was… relief?
"Yeah," Kiana said, bumping her shoulder against Mei's. "I'm okay. Are you?"
Mei turned to her, and the tension that had been lining her face for two days finally smoothed out.
"I liked today," Mei admitted softly. "But... I'm glad it's just us tonight."
Kiana felt her heart do a little flip in her chest. "Yeah. Just us."
/ — /
Kiana
The dorm was quiet again, but this time, it was the kind she liked.
Mei had retreated to her room an hour ago to take a bath, leaving Kiana alone with her thoughts. And unfortunately, Kiana's thoughts were loud.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her pistols sitting in the corner. Her left leg was throbbing with a dull, persistent ache, begging her to lie down and sleep for twelve hours.
But the Kaslana instinct was itching under her skin.
'I can't believe my leg started hurting from just walking around. If that had been a fight…' Kiana thought, clenching her fist.
She stood up, ignoring the protest from her knee. She couldn't sleep. Not when she felt this weak.
If she went to the simulation room now, just for an hour or two, she could work the stiffness out. She reached for her workout bag, shoving a towel and a fresh shirt inside.
Knock. Knock.
Kiana froze. "Mei?"
"Can I come in?"
Mei's voice was muffled through the wood.
"Yeah! Of course!" Kiana quickly kicked her pistols under the bed, trying to hide the evidence of her impending bad decision.
The door opened.
Kiana's breath hitched.
Mei was standing in the doorway, bathed in the soft yellow light of the hallway. She was wearing a loose, silk sleep shirt that hung off one shoulder, and her dark hair was damp, smelling faintly of jasmine and steam.
Her skin was flushed pink from the bath's heat, glowing against the room's dimness.
She looked beautiful.
And she was looking at Kiana's workout bag with narrowed eyes.
'Uh oh.'
"Where are you going?" Mei asked, her voice dropping dangerously low.
"Uh," Kiana stammered, caught red-handed. "Just... the gym? I thought I'd do some workouts. You know, for the leg. Loosen it up."
Mei stepped into the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
"Kiana," Mei said, walking toward her. "Your leg is still hurt."
"I'm fine!" Kiana insisted, puffing out her chest. "I might not be Kenji, but I heal fast. I just need to move around a bit, get the blood flowing..."
Mei stopped right in front of her. She reached out, taking the bag from Kiana's hand and dropping it onto the floor.
Thump.
"Mei?" Kiana blinked, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Mei didn't back away. She stepped closer, invading Kiana's personal space until Kiana could feel the heat radiating off her skin.
She looked up, her violet eyes dark and swimming with an emotion Kiana couldn't quite place. There was an intensity in her gaze that made Kiana's limbs feel weak.
"A-are you feeling ok—?"
"You've done enough work for today," Mei whispered, her hand coming up to rest on Kiana's chest, right over her beating heart. "You did so much to make everyone happy. To make me happy."
Her fingers traced the line of Kiana's collarbone, sending a shiver down Kiana's spine.
"Mei, I..." Kiana's brain short-circuited. The smell of jasmine was overwhelming. "I just... I don't want to fall behind."
"You aren't behind," Mei murmured. She leaned in, her lips brushing against Kiana's ear. "You're right here."
Mei pulled back slightly, her face flushed a deeper shade of red now.
"If you're so insistent on tiring yourself out," Mei said softly. "I have some special training that will knock you out cold."
Kiana's brain completely flatlined.
Safe to say, no actual training was done that night. But Kiana would finally get the rest she needed.