My body is still shaking from that last emergency dose of adrenaline as I slowly back away from the giant cloud of smoke and dust. The sound of a lot of distressed people becomes noticeable as the pain in my eardrums starts to fade.

“NovaaAAAAA”

Loud yelling cuts through the ruckus behind me. I turn to face the noise and brace, just in time to be hit by a tackle and a face-full of very recognizable, very ginger hair.

“Myla!?! Wha-“ I sputter as I inhale hair.

My vision then becomes laced with luminescent pink as another body slams into me.

I recognize that color just as much as the last “Mimi!? Why are you-“

“Are you ok?!” Myla’s worried voice strikes my eardrums.

Just as my ears are recovering, a pair of hands begin to poke and prod my sides “I don’t think she’s hurt anywhere…” Amber’s softer, but just as concerned voice comes from behind me.

 Immediately distressed, I protest “Ahh! No! That tickles!!”

*I need to get out of this before she-!*

I squirm and wriggle in an attempt to escape, but it doesn’t work. Between Myla reducing the size of my chest cavity, Mimi constricting my arm, and Amber poking and prodding for injuries, there is almost no room to move. I squirm a bit as I feel their bodies press against mine and even more as Amber’s hands approach my sides. In a desperate attempt to avoid Amber’s touch I fight against Myla’s vice hug. As my small frame fights her well-maintained muscles she starts to loosen up.

*Please!*

I put all the stamina and strength I have left into my arms and break out of the duo hug trap. Slipping under Amber’s arms and backpedaling puts a little bit of distance between the three of them and me. I hurry to replace my glasses as I turn to face my former captors.

Standing in front of me are a few of my closest friends and members of what I like to call “The Nebula Group” (Although I forget where I got the name). Closest to me is Amber, a girl a couple of months older than me and about a head taller. She seems wholly unconvinced that I’m ok, judging by the worried expression plastered all over her adora- totally normal face. I am forced to look away as she tries to bore through my sunglasses with her staring. Standing to her left, with arms crossed, is Myla, who is giving me an annoyed and similarly soul-entering glare, probably for not letting her hug and lift me like she usually does. The constant feeling of protective determination that burns behind her eyes seems to be concerningly larger than normal. To Amber’s right, Mimi also has her eyes locked on me. Her stare, however, is a large deviation from the other two, shining with boundless energy and excitement from the action that just took place. In the shadow of surrounding buildings she seems to be literally glowing from her fluffy pink hair which is… new and interesting...

Offput by all the stares and glares, I place my palms out in a light pushing motion “Easy you guys, other than some adrenalin, I’m fine.”

Backing up further and continuing to try to convince my friends that I’ll be ok, I turn to look at the newly collapsed building. Most of the dust cleared while I was hug trapped, revealing that the poor road has been turned from a mess into a crater. The top few stories, including my own, are half buried into the road. I note that the structure is bent, but still mostly intact, with a small number of people picking through the debris, finding important belongings, and assisting each other. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice my friends follow my gaze.

My heart sinks a little at the sight, and I sigh “This is, not great. Where will I live now…?”

“Well…” Mimi has a smug look on her face. “Why don’t you stay at Amber’s place?”

My lips and eyes thin out into a suspicious glare.

*She’s planning something, isn’t she…*

Mimi continues “You two are the closest in our group and work really well together, and I think you’d do great living together.”

“I-” My mind blanks out, I’m at a loss.

Annoyingly, I can’t seem to find a way out of Mimi’s logic checkmate. I know she has some scheme planned but I can’t prove it or get out of it without seeming rude.

A few months ago Mimi suddenly got really good at roping people into her plans and has been using her ability to great effect, especially against Amber and I. I’m not a fast thinker and Amber is bad with excuses, so we always get cornered. I look over to Myla for help, but her expression tells me that she’s somehow in on it…

I cautiously look back at Amber “Is it alright with you?”

She giggles lightly “Yeah, I’m fine with it.”

My pulse stutters, surprising me.

*I swear my heart did something weird there… But besides that…*

“Thank you.” I softly reply.

Myla catches my attention “By the way, what’cha got in that pack love?”

I think back for a second “Expensive and sentimental items, but no essentials…”

*Almost everything is still inside my… hmm…*

I survey the collapsed apartment complex a bit closer.

“Hey Myla, do you think I could get into my apartment again?”

She places a hand under her chin “Mmmm- worth a shot.”

“Alright, I’m gonna go see if anything of mine survived the fall.”

Myla pats my shoulder “I’ll join ya lass.”

I take off my jump pack and walk up to Amber “I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to carry this around the entire time, are you ok with taking it?”

Amber smiles and grabs the top handle  “Of course. I guess I’ll meet you back at my place once you’re done.” Her eyes turn from the pack to me “Oh, and… please be careful...”

My heart softens at her concerned expression “I will be. See you soon!”

Amber’s looks at me with a bit of doubt, but still waves goodbye as she walks off. Mimi does a far more energetic and excitable wave as she follows closely behind.

Both Myla and I wave back, walking towards the ruins in hopes of finding some of my lost items.

-A Few Hours Later-

After Myla and I scrounged together whatever items were left we threw them into a few duffle bags and walked the (somewhat short) distance to Amber’s apartment. I’m lucky that Myla was with me, her strength is a factor or two above mine. After a quick call to Amber, Myla and I met her outside of her building and split up. Myla heading to Mimi’s house to update the rest of our group while I follow Amber to her apartment.

Breathing heavily (There was a lot of stairs…) I set down the duffle bags and sit on the floor next to them.

Amber sits down in front of me, her hands thumping against the floor “So, what did’cha find?”

Confused a little by her sudden change of speaking styles, I look around “Let’s seee...”

I’m now sitting on Amber’s living room floor, taking stock of reclaimed belongings. Sitting in front of me, Amber stares at the bags with excitement. Urged on by her mood, I begin to open the bags one by one and start taking things out of them.

On a side note, while Amber lives in a similar building, her flat is very different from mine. Instead of a large main room branching out into several smaller ones, Amber’s apartment is a single room studio. I have to admit that I get a little jealous every time I visit her; I have always wanted a studio, but the building I wanted to move into only had 1 bed, 1 bath flats. Although, she always seemed envious of the corner space I got, only having the luxury of a single picture window.

The aforementioned window is now letting only a trickle of photons by the time I have pulled together all my belongings and main room is getting darker by the minute, but neither of us really care, except for one fact…

“Hey, are you sure you want to wear those sunglasses? It’s a bit dark…” Amber raises an eyebrow and tilts her head a little.

My hands freeze in place as I try to remember my usual excuse.

“Well, you remember right? Eye infection. I’m not really comfortable showing my eyes when they look like this…”

“Still? It’s been like that for two weeks. Are you sure everything’s ok?”

“Yeah, I’m taking the right prescriptions, nothing hurts, and I can see just fine.”

I nervously look away when Amber’s expression doesn’t change much.

*I gotta change the subject fast!*

“Anywayyy! We recovered a few items, but not much...”

Amber leans in a little “Your right, that isn’t a lot. Where are most of your clothes?”

“Unrecoverable, the dresser got hit pretty hard and they were all shredded by metal and glass…”

“Nooo! All of your cute sweaters and oversized pajama shirts!”

“At least your bear hoodie- wait.”

I stop for a moment “Huh? I know you liked the sweaters, but I didn’t know you cared so mush for those shirts.”

 “Of course I do. Remember the last sleepover we all had, you wore this big shirt and comfy shorts combo. I loved that look on you!”

*She… did!*

I get a little jittery as a thought crosses my mind.

*Wait does that mean she would like me in just a- no!*

I mentally shake off the thought before it can get any further and continue to pull out items, neatly stacking and laying them out. Some of my books, charging cables, and protected equipment are mostly intact. I check my storage of random electrical components, all of which survived with minor damage. Unfortunately, most everything else was irreparably damaged by the force and falling debris generated by the impact, although I have the significant urge to go back there and scrap broken things for parts.

“Oh, seems like a decent amount made it.” Amber commentates over my sorting.

I sigh “Not really, this is just what was protected or simply in a safe spot. I still lost quite a bit...”

“What about your backpack?” She points behind me.

I look across the room at my backpack, crawl to it, grab it, and bring it back. The pack contains what I consider to be the most precious items I have. A PS6, laptop, tablet, and two plushies.

Amber grabs one of them “Aww, you kept that really old Monika plush I got you for your eighteenth!?”

“Of course, I love her, it’s a cute plush from my best friend, why would I let it stay in there~?” My chuckle and soft tone seem to change the mood of the room as me and Amber turn to one another.

We stare at each other a moment before I turn away, feeling my face getting unusually warm.

I hurriedly take a second look through all of the bags to see if I missed anything.

“Welp!” I get up and dust off my hands “That’s everything, I’m going to set up a little area for myself and shower this dust off!”

-A Little Later-

I hear Amber walk up from behind me, possibly to inspect my little work corner. Shoved into a back corner of the apartment is a simple desk she lent me, a chair, and a small side table, all made of wood.     I found it a bit odd that she had these though, given that most people these days buy metal, glass, and composite furniture. Unfortunately, after today, I’m way too tired to think about it any further than that, or even much at all…

“How are things going?” Amber walks up beside me.

I look up at her, smiling “Pretty good, I’m just about-“

Amber’s eyes widen and I hear a strange noise of surprise. A bit concerned, I ask “You ok?”