The next couple of weeks passed like a blur, though it wasn’t without it’s highlights. On the 81st, Yuriko trudged up to the Wild Oak dormitory for boys to visit Kato. The wait at their lounge for permission felt a bit uncomfortable, what with near a dozen boys ogling her from behind. She could feel the heat of their stares at her bottom.

Her hips had started to widen, and it felt as though they jutted out conspicuously. The way Sharom’s uniform skirt fell on her body didn’t help. Other than looking, they didn’t try to do anything which was quite the relief. She didn’t want to break anyone else’s arms today.

“Yuri!” Kato waved when he came down from his room.

“Happy Birthday, big bro!” she grinned, presenting a small box to him.

“Thanks!” he laughed. “What’s this?”

“Open it!”

“Oh, alright!” He fumbled a bit with the ribbons and gaped when he saw the contents, “Ancestors, Yuri, how much did you spend on the chocolates?”

“Not much,” she giggled, “I asked Braden to buy them for me.”

“You did, huh?” Kato’s eyes narrowed. “I heard you’re dating him.”

“Huh, no, no. Well, only for the Daffodil Cotillion.”

“Why him?”

“He won the coin toss.”

Kato blinked and stared at her for a long moment before bursting out in laughter. “Oh, Yuri.”

“Ehehe.”

“Well, thanks for this, I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome! Hmm, what are you going to send Rami in a few weeks for his birthday?”

“Probably some flower seedlings,” Kato said. “Give me what you wanna send and I’ll arrange the postage.”

“Sure.”

The two of them, and Kato’s lady friend Caera, had dinner at the Bistro Ilvain before they shooed Yuriko off afterwards.

The weather continued to grow colder with each passing day and by the time the last week of the Season of Air had come, almost all of the trees in the planar capital, as well as the trees on the mountainsides, had grown bare. Save for the evergreens, of course.

A cold weather cloak was added to Yuriko’s closet. It was something provided by the Academy and it was in Sharom’s colours. Yuriko added a long purple scarf and some wool mittens to her ensemble, though she didn’t wear them unless it got really cold.

Even then, her body wasn’t that affected by the chill, with her Anima absorbing as much of the sun’s heat as it could. All she had to do when it got too nippy was to release her control over her Anima enough that a sliver of it covered her, then she was warm. Granted, that probably meant she could wear her sundress and it wouldn’t matter.

By the time the 88th had come around, the skies had dropped an inch of snow that morning, though it quickly melted by the time the sun rose near its zenith. She and Krystal fitted their dresses and Madame Fortuna’s skill was such that it only required minimal refitting, mostly for Yuriko. Her bosom had grown bigger by half an inch and so did her hips. And she grew another half inch of height, too. She was taller than Heron again, she thought gleefully.

The dress came as a set, with dress shoes, a diaphanous veil, and a set of jewellery made of burnished bronze and some silver. Yuriko’s ears weren’t pierced so she couldn’t take the silver studs tipped with a sapphire. Instead, she used the silver necklace, a bracelet, and an anklet to go with the pale blue confection that was her dress. It was a halter top style, cinched at the waist, with the skirt flowing down in tasteful ripples. It left her shoulders and arms bare, as well as half of her back. It also had white gloves that covered her hands only up to the wrist.

“Wear your hair up and to the side,” Madame Fortuna instructed. “You’ve got to show off your back.”

Krystal’s dress, on the other hand, was a bright, burning red, had a plunging neckline, and butterfly sleeves. Her jewellery was mostly gold bangles, a pair of earrings, and a simple jade pendant. The jewels were to be returned though, as five hundred Sovereigns wasn’t nearly enough to pay for them.

Sure enough, Yuriko’s prediction that they wouldn’t be able to book a hairdresser on the 91st proved true. As a result, all of the girls congregated in Yuriko’s suite since it was the roomiest, and they helped each other fix their hair.

For Yuriko, she had her long tresses curled into large corkscrews, which were actually reminiscent of Gwendith’s style. The curls made it so that her hair fell only until her waist instead of her bottom. Millie pulled it up into a complex braid and high ponytail, which did keep her back exposed. The diaphanous shawl, light purple and almost completely see-through, didn’t do much to cover her back and arms but it did enough so that she wasn’t cold.

Krystal’s hair was short enough that gathering it into a bun and decorating it with an enamelled butterfly was more than enough to compliment her outfit. Millie’s dress was quite short compared to Yuriko’s and Krystal’s, falling only until her knees. The dress was off-shoulder and came with a red shawl.

As for Maryn, and Ishika, the two of them wore halter tops like Yuriko, with the hem falling just above their ankles. Maryn wore white while Ishika's dress was black. They couldn’t do much about Danika’s short hair, so they left it as was. Her dress was quite modest with long sleeves and skirts that fell to her ankles. The skirt was made up of multiple layers of fabric with each layer of a different shade. The whole thing combined to look like she had the Chaos streams on her skirts.

Krystal broke out a pot of red lip tint that she carefully painted on her lips. She offered it to the others too. Ishika produced rouge to lightly powder their cheeks. Yuriko refrained from using the make-up, though Krystal convinced her to put a little on her lips.

After they got ready, the six of them headed out to Aneurin’s Fontex Dome, where they would congregate into one of the building’s ballrooms. They agreed to meet with their partners at the grand entrance.

The evening skies were clear, showing off the colourful Chaos Streams. Midnight would be the start of the Celestial Refraction, a day that belonged neither to this year nor the next. That entire day was quite…something. After that, the Fifth Day of Water was when the Empire had been  founded so there was that bit of celebration to look forward to after the Celestial Refraction’s ordeal.

By the time they arrived at Fontex Dome, every first-year student was in full regalia. Girls in their flowing dresses and boys in their neat long coats and dress slacks. Men’s fashion in the Empire had barely changed in the three thousand years of its existence. Formal wear forced them into tight-fitting slacks and suits that showed off every muscle and curve. Well, those who weren’t in the best of shape were given leave to wear roomier clothing.

Heron and the twins looked quite dashing in their formal evening wear. All three chose dark grey slacks which showed off the shape of their calves and thighs. Heron was the most muscular, and Orrin the skinniest with Braden falling somewhere in between. The twins’ coats were a nice green shade with silver buttons, while Heron’s was pristine white. Again, Heron’s upper body physique was the most aesthetic of the lot.

Braden walked up to her with a triumphant smile and offered his arm for Yuriko to hold. She smiled and obliged, keeping her touch light lest she inadvertently bruise his fragile flesh. The past week she managed to apply the Golden Silhouette’s version of Strengthen Physique, or Body Forging as Damien called it, and she was still adjusting to her newfound strength.

Mikel and Zeyn partnered with Krystal and Maryn, while Heron and Orrin had asked Ishika and Millie. They had already partnered up with boys in their class though, as did Danika for that matter, so the two boys wound up alone and would be partnered randomly if there were still girls unescorted.

Yuriko felt a pang of guilt at that. If she didn’t take so long to decide the other two boys could have selected their partners instead of being alone.

All the students gathered at the grand entrance. Music was in the air, a group of musicians were playing a merry tune with wind instruments near the centre. Over the weeks, the entire Social Studies class had rehearsed what they were to do. They’ve gone over the schedule every class time so that Yuriko could recite it by heart.

First was the Grand Entrance, where the couples would line up to enter the venue. If they didn’t have a partner they would be at the back. Yuriko didn’t know who they were parading around for, but she expected the students’ parents and other family members?

Afterwards, would be dinner, a seven-course meal where they were expected to show off formal dining etiquette. Afterwards would be the formal dances. Yuriko looked forward to that part, actually. She didn’t expect it, but she had enjoyed dancing with Heron back at the Harvest Festival. That and the amount of practice she had to go through the past Season would have been a waste if she didn’t at least do it well. She’d partnered with the twins, Heron, Emyr, and Tatsuhiko during class, so she didn’t anticipate any problem there. There were seven pattern dances set for the evening, each for a hundred participants.

They practised all seven sets, but she and Braden would only dance on one. Which one it would be she didn’t know, and would only find out once their table was called.

The two of them headed to the registration tables and signed off on their names. Yuriko picked their corsage and boutonniere, both bearing yellow lilies. She pinned Braden’s on his left lapel while he slipped her corsage on her left wrist, just above the white glove.

“Nervous?” she asked Braden.

“Haha, yeah.” He tapped his fingers on his wrist. “You look absolutely gorgeous, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Yuriko said brightly. “You look wonderful as well.”

“Ahaha. Thanks.”

The line moved forward slowly, as each pair was let inside. It took about half a minute to walk from the entrance to their seats. Yuriko couldn’t see much inside the ballroom, there were lights on the carpeted walkway but the rest was covered in shadows. The interval between each pair being let in was ten seconds.

It was ten minutes before it was Yuriko and Braden’s turn. He took a deep breath, and with Yuriko’s right hand on his left elbow, the two of them entered the great ballroom and walked down the aisle. Immediately, she could feel numerous eyes focusing on them, on her. She could feel curiosity, boredom, idleness, a little bit of hostility, and a great amount of interest. She did her best not to shiver.

There was sweat beading on Braden’s forehead. The room wasn’t that cold. Yuriko walked with her back straight, head held high. There was a point when she felt him slow down but a subtle tug returned his attention to what he was supposed to be doing. It was a long half-minute with all the eyes on them, before an assistant instructor motioned them to a table.

It was a round affair, fancy table cloth and place settings. Braden helped her to her seat while she made sure that her skirts didn’t get caught on anything. Once they were out of the light, Braden heaved a sigh of relief. They were the last pair on the table.

Afterwards, they had nothing to do but wait for the rest of the students to enter. Now she could actually hear the soft and soothing melody played by another group. Now she could see far more tables, with a different coloured cloth covering at the edges filled with adults.

They did their best to avoid fidgeting but it was almost an hour before everyone was seated. As soon as it was, servers carrying trays over their shoulders whisked plates of delicate food and placed them in front of the hungry students. Another poured some kind of amber liquid into a fluted glass, while another was filled with water.

Yuriko waited until the entire table was served before they dug in. Truthfully, Yuriko was too focused on performing the correct dining etiquette that she could barely recall what she ate or drank.

Whatever was in that fluted glass went down her throat quite easily and gave her a pleasant heady sensation afterwards. The server kept the glasses full as soon as her hand left the stem, so she didn’t know how much she actually drank.

Chaos, the things they feed kids these days!

Damien’s voice intruded into her mind but she barely paid attention. At the end of dinner, the first set of dancers were called to the clearing. The band played a rivetingly swift tune, and the dancers went into the pattern.

Yuriko and Braden’s table wasn’t called until the third dance and they easily made their way to the dance floor. That drink made her a bit careless but her easy grace made sure that she didn’t disgrace herself. Braden was red-faced and giggly.

They spun around in the pattern dance when the music started, making their way from one end of the dance floor to the other. It looked a bit awkward when the shorter boy whirled her around, but Braden was skilled enough that she didn’t need to hold herself back. She felt herself smile a silly smile, face bright and cheeks flushed by the time they finished. They stood a pace back from each other and Braden gave her a bow while she returned a curtsy. Afterwards, he took her hand and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

And that was that. What was left of the evening was to watch the rest of the dances then it was time to observe the Refraction.

After their table was called, they were free to stand and mingle with the other students, and the guardians and patrons. Yuriko felt a bit hot so she made her way to the balcony that opens out into Aneurin’s central garden, where the breeze cooled her down.

She stared up at the skies, at the perfect Half Moon and at the Chaos streams that dominated everywhere else. A melancholy mood came over her. This marked the first Refraction that she spent without the company of Rami and Da.

“Yuri?” Braden called out behind her.

“Oh, Braden.” She answered softly.

“Are you? Oh…”

Yuriko reached up to her eyes and wiped the single tear that fell down her cheek. “I’m fine.”

“Yuri…”

“Yeah?” It was then that she was caught by surprise when Braden suddenly hugged her from behind.

“It’ll be fine. He’ll come home.”

It was nothing but platitudes, honestly, but…well, his head against her bare back was wonderfully warm. She leaned against him, letting him bear some of her weight. It was fine to put her burdens down, if only for a minute or two. She would pick them up afterwards and move on. But for now…comfort.