Butterfly

Eirin could not move and her mind went blank out of confusion. She could not resist, and she could see Shade's red eyes looking at her as if watching her every move.

'D-Did he just—"

Shade pinned both Eirin's arms to the ground. His grip got tighter as he plunged for another kiss.

"H-Hey! Stop i—"

Eirin could not continue talking after Shade forced her into another kiss, cutting off her words completely.

'What's going on?'

She tried to keep her lips shut, but the young man pulled both of her arms up and pinned them with one hand while using his other hand to force open the teenage girl's lips. Eirin felt Shade's tongue inside her mouth, causing her to wriggle as she could feel something tingling in her stomach.

'What is this sensation?'

Her first kiss tasted like blood. The squelching sounds filled her ears and the heat coming from their bodies made Eirin's heart go crazy. She could not distinguish if it was because of fear of getting killed, or because a total stranger snatched her first kiss.

Eirin could not move and could not even catch her breath. It felt draining like Shade was sucking her energy out of her.

The moment Shade stopped, Eirin panted as their eyes met, but before she could even speak, the man loses consciousness and ended up falling onto Eirin's body, causing her to grunt.

"H…eavy."

Eirin gasped for air while feeling Shade's weight on her. 'Who the hell loses consciousness after kissing someone like there was no tomorrow?' she thought while sighing in defeat after not being able to move the young man.

"I told them we'll be taking a while with this—"

Eirin looked up to the door. She saw Link and Cali staring at her as if seeing something spectacular.

"Uhm, help?" Her voice sounded repressed.

Link rushed to her aide and moved Shade away. "How? What?" He could not find the right words as he walked left and right with an expression of confusion on his face. Eirin's face felt warm, but her back was chilly due to the cold and hard ground. She sat on the floor and leaned against the wall while catching her breath.

"How did you two end up in such an odd position?" Link hesitated.

"Maybe they were making out."

"We're not!" Eirin could not control her voice because of what Cali said. Her face heated up despite her freezing hands. "I-It was an accident," she said.

"Accident?"

"He suddenly lost control and then his eyes turned red. Then he charged at me and almost bit me, but he bit his arm instead."

"So that explains all the blood here," Link said as if only witnessing the mess, making Eirin grimace. She then realized that her uniform was stained with blood. "Are you okay? Did you get an injury?" the man asked.

"No… the blood belonged to him." Eirin pointed to Shade.

"Why would Shade Cromwell bite his own arm?"

Eirin's eyes landed on Cali's hand as she treats Shade's injury. She could not answer Cali's question, as she only stared at them. Despite already witnessing it before, Eirin still could not believe her eyes as she once again watched those snowflakes coming out of Cali's hands.

"I need answers."

Link and Cali looked at each other after Eirin said that.

"Answer to what?"

"I… don't know where to start." Eirin stared at her uniform, painted with blood. "What do you need from me?"

"It is simple. We need you to go with us, back to the academy."

The teenage girl's eyebrows furrowed. "Academy? What academy? Where is that academy?"

"That… I cannot answer as it will only lead to more confusion," Link said.

'As if I'm not confused enough.' Eirin sighed. "What's the academy's name, then? If you're allowed to say it."

"It is called Senerra Academy," Link said. "It is not from here, so it's understandable if you know nothing about it," he said after the obvious reaction from Eirin. "Also, we cannot bring you there without your grandmother's permission."

Eirin took a deep breath, as she could hear nothing but silence after Link said that. It was still confusing, and more questions popped out inside her head instead of getting answers that satisfies her curiosity.

"Then why do you need me to go to your academy?"

"That's… I also don't know the answer to that," Link said.

Cali then stood up and walked towards Eirin with no emotion in her eyes and said, "It is because you might also have an ability that they have." She placed her hand on Eirin's bruised elbow.

"A flair."

"Hey." Link called out Cali in desperation. "We cannot answer your questions. That's why you must ask Madam Eleanor instead of us. She probably knows more about your situation."

Eirin left the auditorium after hearing the sound of the school bell, indicating that the classes were about to start. 'I couldn't ask anything about what happened to that other guy,' she thought as she walked into the empty hallway. However, she soon noticed her appearance reflecting on one window along the way.

"Shoot!"

The teenage girl quickly covered her clothes with her arms, but they did not cover much. She ran through the corridors and towards the girls' locker room. "Lucky! There's no one here," she said as she entered and locked the door.

Eirin changed her clothes and felt conflicted if she should keep the stained uniform or just throw it away. 'Do blood stains disappear after being washed?' she thought while changing into her gym clothes. The teacher would scold her if they saw her not wearing the proper uniform, so Eirin decided to stay in the girls' locker room, waiting for the lunch break to come.

She sat on the chair near the window and looked outside. There weren't any students since it was a class hour, giving Eirin a sense of tranquility.

'If only every day could be this peaceful,' she thought.

After hearing the awaited bell that concludes the lunch break, Eirin stood up from her seat and went to the classroom. There were tons of students in the hallway, playing and joking around with each other. But when Eirin arrived in the classroom, it was quiet. She immediately saw her best friend with her head on her desk.

"Ava!"

Her head is stuffed with worries about her best friend, thinking that she might need to go to the hospital again if she feels sickly.

"Ava? Wake up." Eirin nudged Ava's arm with her heart beating so fast as it reminds her of the incident back in middle school.

It was exactly like this scene. Eirin saw Ava sleeping in the classroom, but no matter how much she tried to wake her, she had lost consciousness. That was the start of Ava's deteriorating health. Everything happened so fast. The next thing Eirin knew, Ava already has her nose bleeding nonstop.

'I fear for that to happen again every time I see her like this,' Eirin thought as she heaved a sigh while watching Ava get up from her desk. "Are you feeling fine? You're looking pale again. Do you want me to go with you to the infirmary?"

Ava shook her head and said, "I'm starving." She then yawned while looking at her best friend. "Where have you been? You missed the morning classes. And what's with that getup?"

Eirin sighed out of relief after seeing her best friend pout while pointing to her clothes. "I just got lost in time." She patted Ava's head, making her giggle.

"Don't lie. You probably took a nap somewhere." Ava stood and picked up her bag. There were only a few students in the classroom eating their packed lunches. "Let's go to the rooftop and eat lunch," she said, with twinkling eyes and a huge smile.

'She must be planning something. It's unlikely for her to want to eat on the rooftop in this chilly weather,' Eirin thought but still followed her best friend as they walked hand in hand. Regardless of how wide Ava's smile was, she looked paler than a white sheet of paper. 'It's worrisome,' Eirin's thoughts showed on her face.

"You have that forehead crease again," Ava said and poked Eirin's forehead. "I'm really fine. Also, I'm so excited today."

'I wonder what's making her feel that way?'

Despite the confusion in Eirin's head, she did not want to ruin Ava's mood, so she decided to keep quiet about it until they arrived on the rooftop. The air was chilly, but some other students were also eating and laughing together.

"I brought something really important for this special day," Ava said as they sat on the bench near the potted plants in the middle of the rooftop. The chilly wind did not bother the girl, and the loud laughter of the other students has no importance for her.

"What is it?" Eirin took a bite of the sandwich Eleanor made for her while staring at Ava rummaging through her bag. "Is that why you brought your bag here with us?"

Ava nodded and said, "That's right." She brought out a familiar small pink box, making Eirin's forehead crease as she glanced at the ring on her finger.

"What is that?"

The wind blew, making Ava shudder due to how chilly it was, but her smile stayed. "I was supposed to surprise you, but I just couldn't wait to give this to you," Ava said while looking into Eirin's eyes. "I bought it with the money I earned part-timing in my mom's studio."

Eirin's mouth went agape. "You worked for this? In your condition?" She could not believe her ears after receiving the mysterious pink box. "What is this for?"

"Open it. I'm sure you'll like it," Ava said while giggling and sniffing.

Eirin gulped and took a deep breath while still worrying about Ava's condition after learning that she worked for that. As soon as she opened the box, she saw two identical silver chain bracelets inside with halves of butterfly wings each. One is in pastel pink and the other is in pastel blue.

"Do you like it? See this design. If we put it together, we make a whole butterfly wing. It's a cute friendship bracelet. It means we're complete when we're together," Ava said as she picked the pink bracelet and wore it on her wrist, and decided to put the other one on Eirin's wrist.

"I know how much you love the color of the sky. That's why I chose this one for you."

Ava held Eirin's hand and giggled.

"Happy Birthday, Ei."