Emery was having a good day.

It had started off rough, what with her alarm refusing to go off again. Luckily for her, she woke up on time and managed to rush around her dorm to get ready, leaving at her usual time to head to class. Each of her courses was mostly studying and doing work in class, meaning she already finished all her schoolwork for the day so far and had no homework for the evening. This left her in a pleasant mood. It was a nice feeling of accomplishment when one finishes their work before it’s due – at least, for Emery it was.

Now, as the lunch bell rang in her class, she grabbed her bookbag and slung it over her shoulder casually before heading toward the cafeteria. Her stomach growled as her steps echoed through the hall, and she realized at that moment just how hungry she was. She’d been so focused on schoolwork for the past few hours that she hadn’t had time to listen to her bodily functions, specifically her stomach. Rubbing it at the thought, Emery walked a touch faster and sped her way through the busy student crowds.

As usual, the lines were long and the food was a wide variety of various assortments. Emery stared in though. What did she want today?

Ultimately deciding on the healthy choice of a salad and bottled water, she waited patiently in line till it was her turn to be served, choosing her toppings carefully before grabbing the tray and heading out of the cafeteria. Turning down a few different hallways, Emery found herself standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs leading up to the rooftop: her favorite lunch spot. It was much less crowded than the cafeteria, and the breeze from the roof was often peaceful when the weather was nice.

Climbing up the stairs, skipping a few steps along her way, Emery eventually reached the top and pushed the rooftop door open with her back, still clutching her tray in her hands. As she thought, it wasn’t very crowded. There seemed to be a group of people hanging out along one wall, chatting amongst themselves with pleasant expressions on their faces. She walked past the group and further on the roof, glancing around before spotting a bench with a single boy sitting on it, a lonely expression sketched across his features. She frowned. Emery hadn’t seen him up here before, and decided to take it upon herself to make sure he wasn’t lonely. She knew it wasn’t her responsibility, and if she was a bother she would leave, but she couldn’t just stand idly by. It simply wasn’t her way.

Walking over toward the boy, Emery put a small smile on her face and stopped in front of the bench, looking down at him thoughtfully. “Is this seat taken?” she asked politely, pointing to the spot beside him on the bench.

“Nah this seat is free for the taking,” he replied.

“Thank you.” Emery carefully set her bookbag down beside her feet and sat down on the bench, keeping her food tray in her lap. Her stomach growled again, and she felt her face heat up in embarrassment. Time to eat. Taking a forkful of her salad, she took a few bites and enjoyed the silence between the two. He didn’t seem like he wanted to talk, which was fine – she wouldn’t push it. Instead, she’d focus on eating her lunch, most of which was easily consumed within minutes. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was.

Letting out a soft sigh signaling she was full, Emery took a sip of her water just as his voice spoke up, apologizing for being quiet. She put her drink down and shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I just had to finish my food,” she responded, turning to face him. Getting a better look at the boy, she noted his brunette hair and soft brown eyes, grateful that he was easy to look at. His appearance told her he was of Eastern origin, but she could be wrong. It certainly wasn’t her place to ask a stranger something like that.

When he mentioned his recent transfer, Emery’s eyes widened. “How do you like it here? I’ve only been here a month, so I’m fairly new as well. It’s my first year at Aurora Academy despite being a second year, so I’m at a bit of a disadvantage. I don’t know many people.” Way to tell your life story, Emery. She shook her head, realizing she’d probably been talking too much. She doubted he was interested in her tale, but she figured it was something they had in common.

He began introducing himself before fumbling over his words, backtracking to say his name was Ty. She bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing – he was awfully cute. Ty proceeded to explain how he was from Japan, and it suddenly made sense to Emery that he was trying to introduce his surname first. While she had never personally been to the country, she knew a bit about their culture from her coursework. “Japan’s pretty far. Do you miss it?” Thinking to herself a bit more, she decided to add in her introduction. “My name is Emery, by the way. Emery Elwood.” She held out her hand between the two for him to shake as a friendly gesture.

Emery, realizing she had been sitting awkwardly with an empty tray on her lap, decided to move the tray over on the empty bench beside the two. She really should be more aware of her surroundings. She had remote viewing, for god’s sake. Although, granted, she was still getting used to her abilities, even after years of knowing her abilities. Especially the pyrokinesis. She shuttered at the thought, remembering all the times she’d gotten in trouble with her mother over her friendly ball of fire she would summon as company in her closet.

Realizing that would be a friendly question, she turned to Ty and asked politely, “If you don’t mind me asking, what powers made you accepted to this academy? There’s so many I’ve learned about since being here, and I was just curious if I’ve heard of yours before.” It was a simple enough question she didn’t think she’d have to apologize for later on. It wasn’t intrusive, after all, considering the school they attended was built for special abilities.

Ty went on to talk about his experience so far at the school, and Emery silenced herself to listen intently. When he was done, she nodded in a matter-of-fact way. “Yeah, the school is rather large so it’s easy to get lost in. Most of the teachers are very welcoming, though. They’ve been a big help with my studies.” She tilted her head, thinking, before asking, “Are you doing okay with your classes here? If you ever need a tutor, I’m good at most of my subjects. Well, except math…I could use help there.” She laughed at her awkward ending, realizing she probably revealed too much about herself yet again. Ty just seemed easy enough to talk to.

When he went on to talk about Japan, she found herself nodding in agreement. “That’s an adventurous way to look at things,” she smiled. “And I’ve heard Tokyo is beautiful. Especially with the cherry blossoms.” She didn’t know much else about Tokyo other than the scenery, to be honest, so she found herself growing silent after awhile, not knowing what else to add.

After her introduction, her hand held out was awkwardly ignored. Emery carefully placed her hand back in her lap, assuming Ty either didn’t notice or was too nervous to shake her hand. That was okay. She didn’t want him to do something that bothered him. What she did do was blush profusely when he complimented her appearance. He thought she was pretty? Emery tried to contain her smile. That was the sweetest thing she’d heard all week. “T-thank you,” she replied nervously, tugging at a strand of her hair in embarrassment.

The wind suddenly picked up speed on the rooftop, and Emery shivered. The temperature seemed to drop a touch, causing her to develop some goosebumps on her bare arms. Thankfully she had knee-high socks to cover her legs. Another gust of wind blew through their area, and she rubbed her arms to bring more heat to her skin. “This wind came out of nowhere,” she huffed, feeling her face get hit with another cool breeze. It ruffled through her ponytails and forced her to fix her bangs, hoping her hair wasn’t out of place in front of Ty.

Emery watched in amazement as a blue light appeared in Ty’s hand as he agreed to show her his ability, only to widen her eyes in surprise at the knife appearing moments later. Weapons made her nervous, as they had the potential to lead to conflict – one of her greatest fears. It was all her mother’s fault for instilling a fear of conflict into her brain. If she hadn’t grown up afraid to make mistakes, she might be a normal high school girl instead of constantly walking around on eggshells.

“I’ve seen similar teleportation abilities,” she admitted, keeping her eyes on the sharp blade. “I didn’t realize there were limitations to the ability. Erm, if you don’t mind me asking, why would you summon knives and swords? Do you fight people with them?” Emery looked uncomfortable, hoping he wasn’t a violent person. Ty certainly didn’t seem like the type, but looks could be deceiving.

After she offered to help him in any classes he might have troubles with, Emery was surprised when Ty broke out into a fit of laughter. Did she not look very smart or something? She didn’t think it was that strange of an offer. Things fell into place, however, when he explained he made straight A’s, and she let out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t making fun of her. “That would be helpful. I also make good grades, but math is just the one class I often struggle with.” She felt herself blush at the omission.

Ty then suggested she take a trip sometime to Japan to see the cherry blossoms. She smiled thoughtfully. “I should. I’m sure it’s beautiful there. And Japan has so much culture, I’m sure it’s very different than it is here.” It might be so different that it would be a culture shock, but Emery was always willing to try something new. She did have an adventurous side, as small as it might be. Maybe someday she would take his advice and visit the country. She made a mental note to put it on her bucket list of places to go during her lifetime.

Suddenly as the wind picked up, she watched as Ty stood up and took off his jacket. Startled, she felt a sudden warmth as he placed the material around her shoulders, commenting on the wind as he did so. Her cheeks flared up, and she was sure her face was a light shade of pink by this point. “Are you sure this is okay?” she asked, placing her arms through the jacket sleeves to warm herself up. The jacket was slightly big on her, but she didn’t seem to mind. “Won’t you get cold without your jacket?”

Emery watched as the knife disappeared from his hand and she let out a sigh of relief. The weapon had been making her nervous, truth be told. Suddenly a new object appeared in Ty’s hand: a bamboo sword. She stared at the object in wonder; she’d never seen this type of a sword before. Emery supposed it was a Japanese-styled weapon, and when Ty mentioned he practiced with it in kendo she instantly recognized the term as a sport.

She used to look at sports as only a means for violence, but recently a certain blonde-haired girl had taught her otherwise at the archery range. She now understood there were lessons to learn in sports. “Kendo must be tough,” she finally answered, staring at the bamboo thoughtfully. “To be honest, sports and violence make me nervous. I don’t like conflict,” she admitted. “But I understand learning it for self-defense. That’s smart. Maybe you could teach me some moves.”

Emery was surprised with her suggestion. It just rolled off her tongue so naturally. This was the first time she had ever considered learning about a sport – well, second time if she counted archery.

She nodded at his suggestion to hang out for math schoolwork. “That would be helpful. I might take you up on that offer,” Emery replied, giving a faint smile. Ty was acting exceedingly helpful. She was honestly surprised he was eating lunch by himself when she first came out on to the rooftop. He seemed like the easygoing type that would have several friends surrounding him, not the loner type. Just one more thing about him that surprised her, she supposed.

He nodded to her question if he would be okay without his jacket and she smiled knowingly, tucking herself further into the warm material. It was a really nice gesture for him to share his jacket with her. She was impressed.

Suddenly, her eyes fell on his exposed arms and – aside from lightly blushing at his slight muscles – let out a gasp at the sight of his bruises. She reached her hand out to touch one but quickly realized that would be rude, instantly putting her hand back in her lap and frowning in his direction. “Are those from kendo?” she asked, pointing to the bruises on his arms. “You should be more careful. Do you need some ice or anything? Want me to take you to the infirmary?” She was genuinely concerned for his well-being, realizing in the back of her mind she might be coming across as overbearing.