Aiko stood up from the chair and made his way next to Solaris. He put his arm around her shoulder and leaned against her for warmth. His height made it perfect for him to get enough heat from her hair, he stood about 2 inches taller than Solaris. "Okay let's go now." Aiko then dragged Solaris while still holding her in the same position and walked out the door. Solaris was a bit bothered and smacked Aiko's arm so he could get away from her. Aiko flinched at the feeling of being hit and stepped away from Solaris.

"Ouch! Why did you do that?!" Aiko yelled out while he rubbed his arm in pain. He faked a tear and pouted, Solaris didn't find it charming and started walking away. "I'm not a walking heater! Shouldn't you be resistant to the cold?" Aiko ran to catch up to Solaris and rapped his hands in her hair.

"Ya but your warmth feels nice, plus you shoved your potato in my face, shouldn't you be resistant to the heat?" At Aiko's remark Solaris turned to glare at him before speeding up away from him. She shouted to him due to the distance.

"Of course I am, but it's not the same!" Solaris and Aiko were polar opposites, their powers can help them be resistant to things, but not everything. For Solaris, she can be resistant to the cold if she just emits heat from her hair to spread throughout her body, but that would be a time consuming process and could give her headaches. She is also resistant to heat, but if she touches something hot with her bare hands, she can feel the heat burn. It's the same with Aiko, wintertime doesn't bother him, but when he is actually touching ice that's not his own he can feel the ice freeze his fingers. Then during summertime, it's quite a trial to produce his ice, he doesn't get headaches like Solaris, instead he gets a similar feeling to frostbite on his fingers.

Aiko caught up to her and walked by her side and laughed at her attempt at running away. They both didn't live too far from Nym so as they walked slowly, they soon reached their destination.

"See you tomorrow!" Aiko shouted as he grabbed Solaris into a hug before going inside his house to avoid a jab from Solaris. She watched as Aiko went inside then went inside her own house.

Luck and Yuno were still breezing in the air, their villages were quite far from Nym’s house and the school, however Yuno and Luck knew about Nym’s family ordeal since young. They were both a bit surprised to see her at school a few days after her father's disappearance.

However, after they got to know Nym and her mom, they didn't ask her any questions regarding the situation. No one talks about it anymore now that Nym is in class S, it's almost as if speaking about it was taboo.

Laputa had tried to make a few predictions for Nym in the past, but Laputa was never able to see Nym’s future, almost as if Nym had no future to see.

Nym and Laputa were the last ones in her house. They lived in the same village so Laputa wasn't in much of a rush to leave.

"Could I have another sweet potato?" Nym widened her eyes at Laputa's question. "Did you wait for them all to leave to ask for another?" Nym asked while laughing. Laputa smiled and rigorously nodded her head up and down with no shame.

"Okay hold up then, we might even have some leftover cinnamon." Nym and Laputa were common foodies, although Laputa didn't eat as much as Nym did, they both did eat quite a lot. Laputa became ecstatic to hear there was leftover cinnamon for her sweet potato.

Nym walked to the kitchen, her mother no longer there, and took two sweet potatoes and looked for the cinnamon. She spotted the cinnamon in the shelf full of sugar and salt that were properly labeled, and took the small vial with her to the dining table and sat with Laputa.

They both sprinkled some onto their potatoes and began eating once again. The potatoes were warm now and didn't almost burn their fingers. As they both took a bite, the smell of the caramelized potato mixed with cinnamon entered their nostrils, making them crave for the potato even more. "Have you heard what the upperclassmen have been talking about?" Laputa asked when she finished the bite that was in her mouth.

Nym finished her bite before answering, "Ya, I was walking to the bathroom when I heard them talking about something called 'White Day'. Do you know what it is? I've never heard of such a holiday." Nym gave Laputa a questionable look as she took one big bite of her potato.

Laputa answered very enthusiastically, "I heard that it once snowed in Zyla, it was during this time of the year, and many people were amazed that they made a lot of hot chocolate and watched the snow together. But after that day it never snowed again, so they called it 'White Day' hoping for it to snow on that day again. The upperclassmen then said if you make hot chocolate on White Day and make a wish, it will come true." Laputa finished speaking and finished her potato in three more bites. Nym nodded her head like she understood, but still wondered if what Laputa said made sense.

Then Nym thought about how she needed to buy more cocoa powder.

"I still don't get why it's a holiday? It's not like it's celebrated around the world." At Nym's remark, Laputa went deep in thought.

"Well it was celebrated all around Zyla? Callista is pretty independent so it's countries are able to have their own holidays." Laputa nodded in affirmation as she spoke to Nym.

Nym nodded her head like she understood again but the information was still a bit confusing for her so she didn't think too hard anymore and finished her potato. Laputa still had a few more bites left on her potato and decided to take her time eating it.

Nym stood up from the chair and placed the empty vial of cinnamon back in the kitchen. She would have to get more later. She grabbed her list of 'need to buy' and wrote down the word cinnamon, then placed the paper on a counter. When she walked back to the dining room, Laputa stood up to leave.

"See you tomorrow Nym!" Laputa walked up and squeezed Nym into a hug, Nym encircled her arms around Laputa's waist to receive the hug. After a few seconds passed, they both let go of each other and Laputa left Nym’s house.

***

As the sun rose, dyeing the sky a light orange, a strong breeze blew by and Zyla slowly woke from its slumber. There was lots of wind that day, the trees violently swayed along to its marionette, the leaves that had tried its best to grow flew away leaving the trees empty once again.

Nym opened her eyes and stretched, it was quite early as she got out of bed and went towards her mother's room to wake her up. "Mom, wake up, it's time to practice." Nym softly shook her mother awake until she sat up and nodded her head at Nym.

"Alright, alright. I'm up now." Pandora shifted off the bed and stood up, walking slowly towards the door. Each step she took felt heavy, and she slowly came to a stop a few steps away from the door.

"Um, m-maybe we can practice tomorrow Nym? I sh-should take a bath! How about you get the water for me?" Pandora panicked and tried to persuade Nym to skip practice for today.

Nym shook her head, not accepting her mother's reluctance, "How about we get the water together? You promised we would go out together today Mom!" Nym whined as she tried to pull her mother near the door. Pandora didn't budge as she tensed up and stayed rooted in her spot.

"W-well I've changed my mind, today I don't want to practice!" Pandora huffed and crossed her arms.

Nym stared at her in disbelief. It wasn't new for her mom to change her mind once she saw the door, this happened yesterday morning too, and Nym thought it would be okay for her to not practice. It wouldn't harm her to skip practice once a while right? Except Pandora hasn't even stepped outside to practice yet, and Nym wanted her to start already.

The local doctor came over and mentioned that Pandora should try and go outside once a while and practice how far she could walk. It was okay if she stayed outside for just a second before going back inside, but she had to at least attempt to go outside.

The doctor also mentioned it would be best if Nym didn't use her magic to force her mother to go outside, pushing her out would also do harm as she needed to be relaxed for the treatment to work.

"Mom, please? Just open the door, that's all you have to do! I won't force you to do anything else, I promise." Nym clasped her hands together as she begged her mother, the pleading look in her eyes tugged at Pandora.

It's not like she wanted to cause shame to her daughter! She just has her fears that she can't overcome, even with her daughter's cute begging, she tries to look away and feign ignorance.

However, Pandora doesn't wish to upset her daughter, so she swallowed the bile that she felt come up and nodded her head. Nym smiled brightly, which made Pandora feel a bit calmer and she slowly took a step forward towards the door.

Nym excitedly watched as her mother slowly got closer to the door, she stayed in her spot for about 20 seconds before slowly taking another small step. Nym thought that her mother would finally be able to open the door today, which got her feeling giddy. She followed behind her mother as she stood about 2 steps away from the door.

By now Pandora started panicking again, this was the farthest she's gotten, she sort of felt like she could go further, but the thought of being outside scared her and she stayed rooted in her spot, not moving even after 20 seconds causing Nym to worry.

"Mom, it's just a little more, all you have to do is open the door for a second, that's all, then you can close the door and walk back to your room!" Nym pleaded and slowly got closer to her mother. She didn’t get too close, so as to not let her mother feel claustrophobic.

"Okay, I think I can do it." Pandora took 3 deep breaths before taking another step forward closer to the door, with this distance, she would be able to turn the knob of the door. But she couldn't do it, she felt the bile in her mouth again and ran towards her room, leaving Nym with a sad expression.

Regardless, this was the farthest her mother has gotten towards the door, she felt optimistic about her mother's recovery and went out to the water pump to get the water needed for the bath.

In the middle of the village there were 10 water pumps, Nym held two buckets and got closer to the pumps, there were already a number of people there waiting for others to finish filling up their buckets.

Once Nym saw Laputa, she got closer to her and decided to tell her the good news. Laputa noticed Nym walking towards her with a smile on her face, but before she could ask what happened, Nym spoke first, "My mom got near the door!" Nym proudly boasted about her mom, even though she wasn't exactly satisfied with her improvement earlier.

Laputa widened her eyes, she could not believe what Nym was saying, but seeing how Nym was smiling widely, she had to believe it whether or not it sounded believable.

Laputa gave Nym a forced smile and they both went to fill their buckets, Nym had two so she used her magic to carry them once they were filled. "Well I hope she gets better, should I try and predict her future?" Once Laputa finished filling her bucket with Nym, they walked in the same direction for a bit. Their houses were on opposite sides of the village, but Laputa walked in the same direction as Nym and then stopped.

"You don't have to, she probably wouldn't like that." Nym shook her head before sighing. "I also hope she gets better." She sighed again before turning towards Laputa who struggled to carry her bucket.

Laputa was an only child, so she was usually the one helping her parents around their house, just like Nym.

"Well see you later Nym, my mom's expecting the water at home already." Laputa waved at Nym before turning around to walk back to her house with the bucket.

Nym watched as she walked away, she was a little sad at how fast Laputa left, but she also didn't want to keep her mom waiting, so she also walked to her house, the buckets were floating next to her.

Once Nym got home, she found her mom sitting on her bed crying softly. She already poured the buckets into the bath so she was getting her mother so they could bathe.

"Mom, I'm not mad at you, you don't have to cry. You did good today!" When Nym saw her mom, she walked to her and gently cheered her up, she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and drew her close, patting her back to comfort her.

"I'm sorry Nym." This was all Pandora could say as Nym led her to the next room and they bathed.

When all preparations were done, Nym flew to school with Laputa who was quietly sitting behind her, making Nym a little uncomfortable.

When they all met at the entrance, Solaris ran towards Nym and embraced her. Nym accepted as the warmth from her hair slowly engulfed her.

"My gosh it's really tiring to be the only girl in my house! Not to mention when my mom invites Aiko's mom and then more boys come into my house!" Solaris whined as she clung to Nym.

Aiko stood by laughing, he then gave Solaris a pat on her head before going inside to class. Yuno followed behind him reluctantly, he also wanted to be warm, but Solaris was talking to Nym so he let them be.

Laputa quickly walked with them while Luck was watching Solaris and Nym, he bounced up and down, waiting for Solaris to let go of Nym so he could also have a warm hug.

"Me too! Me too!" Luck bounced on them both and warmed himself up, as if him bouncing the whole time didn't warm him up. Nym and Solaris felt a static shock when Luck clung to them, but they couldn't break free from his grasp.

"Luck, let go idiot! It'll be warm in class so let's go!" Solaris tried pushing him off and only succeeded when Nym also tried to push him.

Once Luck released the both of them, Solaris grabbed Nym’s arm and linked it with hers before walking inside. Luck followed behind them as they went to their classroom, but got stopped by someone in their year.

"Oh hey, I was told to tell you guys to go to the meeting hall." The girl looked at all three of them as she talked, letting them know that they were needed.

Solaris and Nym thanked the girl, while Luck bounced in front of her and patted her head, then calmly walked with the other two towards the meeting hall.

When they got there, Aiko, Yuno and Laputa were already standing in the back so the three walked towards them to stand next to each other, and Solaris unlinked her arm from Nym.

Once a few more students showed up, one of the professors up front started speaking. "I gathered all of the S classes today because there is something very important to discuss." As professor Seal spoke, Nym looked around and noticed that all of the students gathered were part of the S class. She stood still awaiting the professor's announcement.

***

🌸 Zanna