A new day came and the chirping of birds awoke Yuki from his sleep. He shivered a bit, the open window letting in a small draft of cold air, and pulled the blanket that covered him higher. Something stirred beside him and he felt a warmth beside him. He glanced to his side. Akira was there, sleeping soundly, gripping his arm tightly.

“Time to go to school,” he said quietly. 

He gently pried his arm out of her grasp, and swung himself out of the bed. Then he adjusted the sheets so that they covered Akira.

‘Good luck, Akira,’ he thought as he stared at her sleeping figure. ‘Maybe I can change.’

His hand went to the drawer and he snapped his watch onto his wrist. He made his way to the kitchen, yawning. His eyes flickered about until he decided on what he wanted to eat that morning.

‘I’ll just go with something easy. I don’t really want to cook this early in the morning.’

Once he finished his breakfast, he walked into the bathroom and prepared himself for the day ahead of him. He brushed and washed himself before heading out. As he opened the door, he felt someone and turned his head. Erica had woken up and was dragging herself out of her room. Her eyes landed on him and they lit up.

“I didn’t make anything today,” Yuki said to her. “So if you want to buy something or whatever, go ahead.”

“Alright,” she yawned. “Going to class?”

“Mhm. I’ve had a long enough break. I’ll back,” he replied. “Get something for Akira while you’re out.”

“Will do. I can’t guarantee that she’ll like it though,” she smiled.

“Akira will eat almost anything. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be going now.”

“Have fun,” she waved.

Yuki nodded and closed the door behind him. He checked the time, tapping on his watch. It was 7:30. His arm fell and took his time to walk to the station. The entire time he walked, he watched the people around him.

‘I think I’m fine.’

The people around him no longer raised any panic in him, his stomach no longer tightened. His hands no longer clenched. 

‘Zoe was right. I just needed some rest.’

Twenty minutes later, he was at the Academy. He made his way to his homeroom and sat down on his seat, ignoring the glances the other students in the room gave him. As he waited for the class to begin, he stared out of the window, watching the green meadow outside. Then he felt someone and turned his head. Yuna was right next to his desk.

“Hmm?” he asked.

“Where were you?” she asked, frowning slightly. “Yesterday. Did you actually get sick?”

“I guess you could say that,” Yuki shrugged. “If you wanted to know, you could have just messaged me.”

“I thought about it, but if you were really sick, I didn’t want to bother you,” she said. She sat beside him, her worried eyes scanning his face. “You look okay right now. Did you go to the doctor?”

“No, the doctor came to me,” he said, remembering that Zoe had came to check on him.

“House call, huh. Did you get medicine or did they do healing magic?” she asked. “I’m guessing magic if you healed so well so fast.”

‘She seems really worried about my health.’

“Rest is wonderful magic,” Yuki replied. Yuna tilted her head. “I wasn’t sick with a disease or anything. Anxiety attack would be a more accurate description.”

“Anxiety? I didn’t think you would be the type to get those,” Yuna frowned. “What triggered it?”

“People. And just some unfortunate timing,” he said. “I’m fine now though and should be fine for quite some time unless something comes up. You know, you can message me anytime. I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yuna, I don’t mind. As long as you don’t message me every five minutes, I’m fine with it,” Yuki said. “Have you exchanged messages with someone before?

“Um, no. Not really. I can give reports,” she said brightly, as if the two were the same. 

‘She didn’t have many acquaintances, huh. I need to read her profile. I forgot about that.’

“You see how you’re talking to me right now?” Yuki said out loud.

“Yes.”

“That’s how you write messages. It’s just like talking, just using written words.”

“I know that. You didn’t need to tell me that,” she said. 

“Maybe, but you’re treating them differently. You can approach me here without a worry, but you’re scared to write a message to me.”

“I was worried that you were sick and that I would be bothering you.”

“In the future, just don’t be scared to write a message. Or really, don’t overthink what you’re going to write,” he said. Yuna flinched and her eyes flickered away.

‘I thought so.’

“It’s just a conversation, Yuna.”

“I’ll try my best next time,” she said, nodding.

“No, don’t try. Just do it.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Class is about to start.” He glanced at his watch. “Want to talk about the tournament during lunch?”

“Yes. We need to prepare,” she nodded. 

“Alright.”

The bell rang and the class quieted as Mabel walked into the room. Her eyes flickered toward Yuki and gave him a small nod before beginning to address the class.

“Welcome back,” she said with a smile. “Today is Monday and the start of the new week. Well pick up from where we left off last week.”

---

 

The school day went by as it normally did. Like the last time he was out, most of the instructors didn’t seem to particularly care. The only one who really acknowledged that he was there was Mabel. Then lunch came by. He went to the mess hall as he usually did and picked up his lunch before settling underneath the tree that he always ate under.

A few minutes later, Yuna met up with him. She held a sandwich in her hands as she sat beside him under the shade of the tree. They ate in silence for a bit before Yuna spoke.

“So the tournament,” she said. “I know I was the one that asked you to join my team, but I don’t actually have a plan for it.”

“That’s fine. You know the format of the tournament, right?” Yuki asked.

“Of course. Well, just what was told to us.”

“Since it’s a team tournament, there’s probably going to be some sort of team based objectives. So I think the  first thing we need to do is work on our teamwork,” Yuki suggested. “I already know some of the things that you’re capable of and you know some of what I can do. If we work together and create a few tactics, we’ll be able to have an advantage over the other teams for sure.”

“The official format should be announced about a month from the start of the tournament,” Yuna mused. “That’s how it usually is for special formats.”

“Then we’ll adjust our training when that announcement is made.”

“Okay. When do you want to meet up to train?”

“Just drop by. You know where you can find me.”

“Oh right. Aren’t you busy though?” she asked.

“As of right now, I’m not busy. There may be a few things in the future but they aren’t pressing issues. Uriel is dealing with those.”

“So I can come by anything and not disrupt anything?”

“Mhm. Besides, don’t worry about disrupting something as long as you have a good reason to. No one is going to be mad at you.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll remember that next time.” 

“Can you come by today?” Yuki asked. “The quicker we start preparations the better.”

“That’s perfect, actually,” Yuna replied. “I, um, wanted to ask you a few things. I just couldn’t find the right place to do that.”

“You can’t ask them right now?” 

“I don’t have time.”

“Mmm. So it’s those types of questions,” he nodded. “You know that if you messaged me, you could have set up a time we could meet up before and I could have answered those questions.”

“I know that now.”

“Drop by anytime. I’ll be at our main hangout,” he said. 

Yuna gave him a nod and the two focused on their meals. Later, the bell rang and they split apart with a wave, heading off to their respective classes. In his support magic class, Mabel spent the first minutes interrogating him about why he was out again last week.

“Your health is more important than school so I’m fine with you being out,” she sighed. “But please make an effort to maintain your well being. Being sick back to back can do a lot to a person’s body.”

“I understand,” Yuki said.

“By the way, did you join the tournament yet?”

“I have.”

“Good,” Mabel smiled. “Who’s your teammate or mates?”

“Currently it’s only Yuna,” he said. “But I doubt any more people will join our team.”

“Do you need help finding people?”

“No. I don’t want anyone else on my team besides Yuna.”

“I see. As long as you have a team, I don’t particularly care. Let’s get on to class then,” she said with a clap of her hands.

The class passed by with no notable events. They practiced spells and discussed theory together until the bell rang and Mabel dismissed him for the day. Then he returned to Fenrir and home. When he opened the door, he saw Akira and Erica playing a game together, a towel around Erica’s neck and both of them in loose clothing.

‘They went training.’

The two greeted him with smiles before returning their attention back to the game at hand. Yuki walked by them and went into his room.

‘Yuna. I guess it’s time for me to read her profile. I’m curious.’

He removed his blazer and hung it on a hanger before sitting on his bed. He crossed his legs and tapped the screen of his watch.

“Uriel, bring up file “Yuna” and include everything about her gathered from the LIA database,” he said.

“On it, boss,” Uriel replied, her voice coming out from his watch.

A holographic folder appeared in the air and as Yuki watched, it began to become filled with paper. He waited until a ding rang out.

“The file has been compiled. Have fun, boss,” Uriel said.

“We’ll see,” he replied.