“So when I was talking to one of my friends, Sarah, she noted how her stuff would always show up missing after she would finish basketball practice. She also noted feeling she was being watched whenever she was alone in the locker room, or when just another teammate was in there, but she never felt that way when others were around. I know this could just be explained by just being paranoid but a lot of other girls have had similar experiences.” Iris explained.

“Okay but that doesn’t mean it’s someone with a Deviation, I mean the chance of someone else having one is almost impossible. Our school only has around 1500 students.” Bryce responded.

“Yeah I know that… but it would make it easier if they had a Deviation, like something like invisibility… or maybe something else I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility. But, I know I’m not crazy, and I keep having the feeling of being watched. It happened around the first time I met Jaye’sun, and keeps happening ever since, and I never had this feeling before coming here.”

“Actually, I think Iris has a point Bryce, remember earlier this morning we felt like someone was watching us, and I did have that experience with Iris.” I interjected.

“That was odd, but even so what motive would the guy have for targeting us, he clearly seems to mostly focus on targeting women, so what reason would he have to follow us?” Bryce questioned.

We all sat there trying to think of a good reason but nothing came to mind, it was odd though, there cleary is some sort of stalker around the school, but assuming it’s someone with a Deviation is kinda bold, and isn’t a good look if it turned out to be a Deviant.

“Well… if is a Deviant what should we do, making this known could be bad, and would only reinforce the fear people feel towards us to begin with, maybe we can try contacting G-” but before I could finish my sentence Iris cut me off.
“DON’T even finish what you were going to say, I'd rather solve this ourselves then involve them, I don’t even want to think about what they would do if they got involved, and from the sound of how they were talking on the news, it probably wouldn’t be too good.”

“Okay fine, how should we tackle the issue?We need to do something about it, people should feel comfortable going to school, but we also don’t want to cause panic.” I responded.

“Let’s just solve this ourselves guys, it shouldn’t be that hard, to be honest the school not being able to figure it out doesn’t really say much. But outside of that, we have other things to focus on at the moment, so we can come back to this later. How has everyone's training been coming along?” Bryce said.

“Uhm… to be honest, I haven’t made too much progress when it comes to training. I have a pretty good control of my Deviation, I’ve been using it my whole life. I feel like I hit a wall when it comes to my training, I just don’t know how to hit my next level. I have started doing more research on different plant life though, and hopefully something comes from that!” Iris stated.

“Honestly, I don’t blame you. I felt the same way, like I hit an unmovable wall in my progress. I never thought about my next level. How could I go even further beyond? My Deviation is great but it’s limited, I have about a 5-15 second cool down between every cloud I can create depending on the size, and density of the cloud. That leaves me open to barrages of attacks, or being hit from my other side.So in order to take my power to the next level! -”

Bryce created a cloud in the middle of the room, which then split into 2 smaller yet decently sized clouds around the size of a large bookbag. 

“Now I can block attacks from both directions, and have to worry less about my cool down, at the moment I’m only able to split the cloud into 2 after summoning it, but when I was practicing I was able to summon 2 separate clouds on demand, but there was a huge difference in size. So for now this is the best I can do, I also have one more technique I’m working on, but I have it saved as a trump card, if I can master it though!” He clenched his fist tight. “I’ll be stronger than ever before.” Bryce said with a sense of determination in his voice.

“I guess that means it’s my turn now right? Well I can’t really showcase the improvement I made towards my Deviation, but I can explain my thought process. I read in a book that I found that Deviations are biological almost like a muscle right?” I stated.

“Well duh, of course we know that, it’s one of the first definitive discoveries about them, around 26 years ago, when scientists noticed a change in people's DNA.” Iris responded.

“Well, exactly so, just like how through repeated use and working out of any muscle it can get stronger, and you can gain more control of the muscle. In our fight against Overdrive when Iris was in danger I ended up using my Deviation in my legs which I never did before, instead of using it to throw a punch, I used it for a burst of speed to dash in, and grab Iris before hitting the ground.”

“Yeah, we get that Jaye, but what does that have to do with anything?” Bryce interjected.

“Since I used all the energy I had in my legs, I couldn’t use any energy to deliver a strong blow to Overdrive, because of my decision we couldn’t stop him sooner. But I realized something. I didn't need 100% of my energy to close that distance, but I used it anyway. If I can learn how to release that energy in percentages I can take my fighting to a whole nother level. I know in every fight I might not have the chance to store up enough energy to hit my maximum output multiple times, if at all. That’s why it’s important I learn how to use it wisely and not waste an opportunity the next time I have one.” I finished speaking before pausing for a second. I didn’t know if my idea sounded ridiculous but it made sense in my head. If I could apply basic logic to my Deviation there would be no way I’m not able to evolve it.

“You know that’s a really good idea actually, and makes total sense, when I first started to focus on my Deviation I couldn’t really control it, it was just something was always on passively, It wasn’t super strong, but plant life, and crops would grow faster and stronger when I would be around. But after that day with those bullies, and they destroyed all the plants that I was taking care of, I dedicated hours everyday to understanding my Deviation. It wasn’t like I had much else going on anyway after people stopped talking to me” she laughed.

“I tried focusing harder on one plant instead of multiple, I paid attention to the radius my powers would affect plants, and how much of an acceleration in growth would occur. Then one day I had a breakthrough. By only using my Deviation on one plant, I could cause a freshly planted seed to fully blossom, and bloom in a few seconds. It wasn’t something crazy, but it was a chance to learn more about me, and what I’m capable of. So keep pushing Jaye’sun you got it, and if there’s any way we can help you can count me in!” 

For the first time in my life, I realized I wasn’t truly alone. I knew Bryce, and my mom cared about me, but sometimes I felt like it was out of obligation, one being motherly love, and the other a feeling of being trapped. Like he didn’t want to leave, because he would seem like a bad person. But it was today I realized Iris, and Bryce were there for me because they enjoyed me as a friend. They wanted to help me no matter the cause, and I was willing to do the same. I knew no matter what they would always be there.

“That seems to be everything then, I guess we can just finish up here. Let’s head home for the day, unless anyone has anything else they wanna talk about?” Bryce said.

“Nope! That’s all I had to say plus, I have some errands I need to run anyway, so actually if it’s okay with you guys, can we leave early?” Iris responded.

“Yeah of course! You can head out for the day, me and Bryce will handle everything else by ourselves! Right Bryce?” 

He looked over at me kinda annoyed before sighing.

“Yeah we will, so just head out for the day, we’ll see you later okay be safe!” Bryce said with a sigh.

“Thank you guys so much!” She grabbed the both of us pulling everyone into a hug.

“I appreciate having people who I can be myself around, I owe you guys for this! One day you guys can come by house once we finish getting everything settled!” 

Iris grabbed her things before heading out, waving goodbye towards us.

“Really Jaye, you just had to rope me in, we could have all just left.”
 

“Come onnnn, but it won’t be that bad, and we can get some sparring in afterwards” I said with a smile.

“You’re so annoying, but you have a point, let’s hurry up so we can do something fun” Bryce responded.

“Bet, I just can’t help but worry about Iris with all that’s going on, I hope she gets home safe!”