“I’ve been waiting for you, younger Krehn,” a hoarse voice says from the direction of the wind. “I challenge you!” A boy with spiky orange hair points his finger at me with a smug grin on his face. 

My eyes lock onto the intricate white shirt and red tie he wears. It looks almost like a white version of Reimel’s uniform, if our uniform had any thought put into its design. Any person over the age of five would know where this boy comes from: the main branch, Isaac’s Aetherial Academy. Founded by the man that created modern aetherism as it’s known today, every noble attends and graduates from the main branch. 

“Wh-why is someone like you here?”

He presses his lips into a thin line. “Were you not listening? I said—” He points at me again. “—I’m here to challenge you!”

His words sound crazy, so I take a step back and break eye contact. “Challenge?” I should turn him down, but if he’s from Isaac’s; he’s probably someone important. Plus, he seems really excited about the idea, and I’d hate to ruin that for him. “A-alright.”

“Oh, really? Yes! Prepare yourself, younger Krehn—” He steps toward me and begins to raise his hand.

Instinctively, I shut my eyes and cover my face.

“Would you knock that off, that's not what we're here for,” a new voice says somewhere from behind the spiky-haired boy.

I recognize the voice instantly. Only one person in the world can sound so firm, and yet kind at the same time. My eyes open to a tall boy with smooth silver hair grabbing the other boy by his ear.

The spiky-haired boy leaps free. “Gah, Leorio. How did you know where to find me?"

"We were headed to the same place, nimrod." Leorio’s purple eyes narrow. “Now get out of here. You have something more important to attend to.”

The other boy twirls around. “Fine.” He waves and starts to walk away. "I'll meet you back on the ship.”

Leorio sighs. “Seriously. I take my eyes off him for one second…”

My voice finally comes back to me. “What are you doing here, Leorio?”

He wraps his arms around me and a sense of safety washes over me. “I came to check how my dear little sister has been doing after her first month at this academy.”

“Jeez, you really came all the way from Isaac’s just to check on me? That’s so—” My eyes lock onto a student that stands in the door of the dorm building, staring at us. Several students watch us from different places. Their glares send a shiver down my spine, so I focus my attention on my brother instead.

As if sensing my discomfort, Leorio releases me and glances around at the students. “What a crowd we have here. It looks like you have lots of fans, little sis.”

“They’re here for you. No one wants to see me.”

“Well, unfortunately for them, I came here to see you.”He glares back at the crowd. “If you all would please get out of the way, I want to go somewhere we can be alone.” He takes my hand and pushes through a wall of students that clearly didn’t respect his request. 

We follow the eroded path that leads to the main building of the academy but veer off before we reach it. Our destination is a large tree that has nearly fallen over. It looks like one good push would finally fell it, but the tree remains standing as if by sheer force of will alone. Most students avoid it, afraid that it will give out while they’re resting underneath it. Normally, I would share their fear, but as long as Leorio is here, I know nothing bad will happen to me.

Leorio sticks out his elbow, preparing to lean on the tree, but thinks better of it at the last second, and instead swings his arm around to make a strange pose, imitating the tree. He chuckles at himself and maintains the pose. “So, how is the academy life treating you? Are you at the top of your class like you should be?”

I break eye contact with him and mumble, “If you flipped the standings upside down, I would be.”

“Little sis… You’re better than that.”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t find the motivation to study knowing that it’ll be useless in a few years.”

He stands up straight. “Sorry, I didn’t think about it like that. I’d probably do the same if I were in your shoes. Uh…” He scratches his head awkwardly. “But who cares about scores? Those are just made up numbers. How about friends?”

“Joshua?”

“Oh?” A mischievous smile creeps onto his face. “The first name that comes to your mind is a boy’s? Is it like that, then?”

My brow furrows. “Like that? Oh—” I shake my head frantically. “No, no, no, it’s not like that at all. He’s a good person, I think, but he’s… how do I put this kindly?”

“He’s ugly?” Leorio suggests.

“No, I don’t think he’s ugly. It’s just… I don’t think he’s attractive.”

Leorio bursts into laughter. “It’s good to see we’re on the same page. I also find men unattractive.”

“That’s not what I said,” I say, chuckling with him.

“Well, joking aside,” he says, still laughing. “It’s probably for the better that he’s not special like that to you, right?”

As much as I don’t want to admit it, he is right. The century ends in four years, and with it, my time in this world. It would be cruel of me to get close to someone, only to leave them a few years later. I don’t want anyone to suffer because of me.

I try to open my mouth, but no words come out. 

“I really soured the mood with that, didn’t I?” Leorio asks. “Changing the subject to something that should interest you—did you hear about the commoners in Dyril that revolted against the nobility? Apparently it got so bad that the High Council had to send the Second and Third army divisions.”

A revolt against the nobility does interest me, but I don’t want to talk about anything involving the High Council. My father, along with the rest of the High Council, are the ones that made me be the sacrifice, without even explaining what it’s for or why I have to do it. As much as I would like to question my role, there’s no point. The High Council was founded as a group of the strongest and most influential nobles to help keep the peace, but now they’re basically the rulers of this world. They make the laws to benefit themselves and use the excessive might of the Noble Aether Military to enforce them. Trying to question their will is completely pointless.

I nod to feign interest, so Leorio doesn’t feel bad.

He coughs awkwardly into his hand, perhaps sensing my discomfort. “I’m not doing a very good job of picking a subject. What do you want to talk about?”

My voice returns to me, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Muffins!”

He raises one eyebrow and chuckles. “You want to talk about muffins?”

“I always want to talk about muffins. They remind me of mom.”
With a silent nod and kind smile, he crosses his legs and sits down against the tree. “I wouldn’t be a very good big brother if I refused to listen after hearing that.” 

Leorio really is too kind. Even though he doesn’t enjoy it, he’s the only one willing to listen to my rants about the superiority of muffins. He’s smart, extremely talented, and the only person who has ever tried to protect me. If I only heard stories about him, I would never guess that he’s a noble, much less a Krehn. I’m more than glad that he’s my brother, and I’m happy that I was selected as the sacrifice instead of him.

We converse about muffins, although I do most of the talking, and when I finally finish, Leorio stretches and lies on his back.

"Uh, oh," he says, pointing up at the sky. "We may have talked for a bit too long."

My eyes follow his finger to the sun near the top its arc, meaning my first two classes have already ended. "Oh no, I did it again," I say, hanging my head.

Leorio jumps to his feet. "This is completely my fault, I should have been paying attention. I'll go with you and explain what happened."

I shake my head. "It's alright. I can handle it myself. Besides—" Our eyes meet. "—you have something more important to attend to, don't you?"

His eyes widen for a moment. "I can never hide anything from you, can I?" he says with a smile. "I suppose I need to get going, then." He hugs me briefly. 

I nod. "Good luck, and goodbye for now." I begin to run towards the academy's main building.

"Hey!" Leorio shouts, stopping me dead in my tracks. "You should be more confident in yourself. You're more amazing than you give yourself credit for."

His words freeze me. If any other person were to say that, I would ignore it as a lie, but Leorio never lies to me. However, just because it's not a lie, that doesn't make it the truth. I'm not amazing. My father has made absolutely sure I understand that.

I shake my head and run away from Leorio without a word. I run to the building, through the decrepit halls, past the rats in the corner, and into the classroom. Angry and confused stares from my classmates follow me as I walk to my seat. Meister Gen scurries over and explains the day's assignment to me. I apologize for my tardiness, and unfortunately, she doesn't punish me for it.

Even with the late start, I speed through the assignment to use water aer to put out small fires and write a report explaining how it's done. As fast as I get through it, I'm still the last one to finish. I apologize once again to Meister Gen for forcing her to wait for me and leave the classroom to go to lunch. 

Students from all three years fill the courtyard, their various conversations creating a sea of white noise. A small girl with fluffy hair lies asleep on my usual bench, and not wanting to disturb her, I wander away. There are no benches available, and while a few students wouldn’t mind if I sat by them, I haven’t spoken much with any of them, and I don’t feel brave enough to try after being this late. 

I make my way across the grass to the back of the courtyard where Joshua sits on a slanted bench, staring at the ground. I approach him, unsure of what to say, and stand silently in front of him.

My shadow alerts him to my presence and he glances up. His eyes widen and he sits up straight. A smirk etches onto his face as he slicks his hair back. "I knew this day would come. That one day you would approach me and ask to share this bench. And now that the day has finally come—" A single strand of hair breaks free and lays over his eye. "—I must say I am completely unprepared!" He motions to me. "So, if you wouldn't mind, please come back tomorrow. No, I still won't be ready then, so how about we try for next week?"

Still unsure of what to say, I reach down to touch Winry’s crystal and connect my mind to hers. “What is he talking about? What should I do?”

“Dunnooooooo. Maybe just sit down?”

Disconnecting from Winry, I kneel on the warm grass and dig through my bag for my lunch.

“I know I said I wasn’t ready to share the bench today, but I wasn’t expecting you to sit on the ground instead.” Joshua sighs. “More importantly, what happened this morning? You were so late you may as well not have shown up at all.”

My lunch eludes me, so I dump the contents of my bag onto the grass. “I got distracted while talking to my brother and didn’t realize what time it was.”

“Leorio Krehn was here? The supposed frontrunner for the next strongest aether? It’s hard to believe you’re related to someone as grand and incredible as him.”

I agree, but for some reason, his words strike a nerve in me. “Yes, yes, I’m a disgrace of a Krehn, aren’t I?”

“That’s not what I meant. I can see, talk to, and even touch you, but Leorio Krehn is like someone you hear about in fairytales. He’s not someone I ever imagine meeting.”

His words go in one ear and out the other. I finally find my lunch, and my focus immediately shifts to the muffins.

“What is that?” He points at my box of muffins. “Your lunch is all muffins?”

“Muffins are the greatest food the Goddesses ever created.” I pick one up and offer it to him. “Do you want one?”

He pushes my hand away. “No, thank you. Muffins are just an inferior form of bread, so I—”

My eyes snap to him. “Can you say that again?” With Eren’s help, the earth beneath me begins to rumble as my blood boils.

Joshua falls off the back of the bench. “C-calm down. I didn’t mean to offend you, I’ve just never had a good muffin, so…”

“Oh, is that all?” I relax and the rumbling stops. If he’s never had a good muffin, then there’s a very easy fix. “Give me a day and I’ll change your mind. I’ll make you the best muffin you’ve ever had.”