I am, so, so sorry that this chapter is ridiculously short. I was on top of all my other chapters and now, after this, I have nothing. I had to force myself to write the rest of this chapter. T_T I keep getting distracted by ideas for fanfics for REPO! The Genetic Opera. Forgive me. /3 That being said, I hope you all enjoy this anyway. I hope.


"Near?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

The white-haired boy looked up from his puzzle and shrugged. "I could ask you the same."

Fera bit her lip, hugging the bear close to her. "Oh, I, uh…" She didn't want to admit that she was being picked on – that only happened to weak kids, right? She didn't want to appear weak, especially not in front of Near. After all, Near was always so calm, so cool-headed…strong, maybe. She wasn't sure. (Come to think of it, she wasn't sure about much of anything as of late.)

"Hm?"

"I-I just couldn't sleep, that's all," she lied. Eyeing the cushion he was sitting on, she asked, "Um, c-can I join you?"

"…Okay," he said, moving back a little, hugging his knee to his chest. Fera took a shy seat on the edge of the squishy red cushion.

"So how come you're up so late?" she asked again.

Near shrugged again. "Same as you."

"Oh." She brought her knees to her chest, squishing her bear in between her legs and her chest. "…How can you solve that puzzle in the dark?" Fera inquired, shyly brushing back her brown hair.

Near once again shrugged, taking his free hand and twirling a lock of hair with it. "I dunno. I just can."

'Oh…That's cool," she replied, smiling.

His dark blue eyes finally looked up at her. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I know I couldn't do that."

"Hm." He looked back down, expression unreadable, and began putting his puzzle together again. Fera simply watched him, the rest of her face hidden behind her stuffed bear. It was fascinating, watching him put those puzzles together with such ease. He barely had to look at the pieces. He just put his fingers around the edges and knew exactly where it belonged.

"…So, um…" She adjusted the bear so that it would hide her face a little more. "Wh-what kind of classes do you take?"

"Hm? My classes?" he asked. "Well…Algebra, Statistics, Logic, Intro to Deduction…Things like that."

Fera's mouth hung open, so much so that she tasted some of the synthetic fur. "Those sound so hard!"

"Not really. I could probably be in Advanced Logic if I wanted to."

Her eyes were open wide as saucers. Had her bear not been snug and safe between her legs and chest, she probably would have dropped it. "Gosh…I could never do that."

"Really? Most of those are standards for Wammy students."

"S-standard?" she repeated, incredulous. "No way! I can't do things like that!"

"Hm." He shrugged again (he had a habit of doing that when talking to her, she noticed) and put another piece of his puzzle in. "Well, I suppose you're just not used to the Wammy life yet. That's all."

"…Yeah. Maybe that's it," she replied, somewhat convinced. "I've just gotta get used to it."

A few more moments passed when they heard loud footsteps on the floor. Fera gasped, inhaling the fake fur. "I-is that one of the grownups?"

Near nodded silently, quickly putting his puzzle away. "Good night," he whispered, getting up and going back to his room.

"N-night," she replied, dashing back to her own. She leapt under the covers and slammed her head into the pillow pretending that she had been asleep all this time, shaking a bit. Roger poked his head in and she closed her eyes as tight as she could. She heard a light metallic clinking noise, then the door closing. Internally, she breathed a sigh of relief and fell swiftly asleep.


The next morning, after breakfast, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder on the shoulder. "Hm? Oh, good morning, Roger," she replied, sounding tired.

"Good morning," he replied, more like an instinctual response than an actual greeting. "We have to choose your classes."

"O-oh, ok," she replied shakily. She hopped down from the chair and followed him as he left the room. Nervously, she pulled on one of the bear's paws as she walked. After following him down the dark hallway, Roger stopped in front of one door, one without any lettering, which set it apart from the others. That, or it's a closet, she joked with herself.

The office was fairly plain. A carpet on the hardwood floor, a bookshelf behind his desk, a chair behind it for him and a smaller one for the students in front. Very simple. Roger sat down in the armchair and Fera sat in the one in the front. She adjusted her weight awkwardly and looked up at him shyly. Roger sifted through a drawer for a moment before pulling out a book.

"Pick your classes from here," he instructed, opening to a page that read "New Students" at the top. Fera took the book and read through it, her eyes widening.

"U-um, excuse me," she squeaked.

"Yes?"

"A-are you sure these are for kids my age?" she asked, looking through the list one more time. "I don't know any of this at all."

"Oh, I assure you, this is a normal curriculum," Roger replied, not looking at her but instead looking through a file. "Just pick what you like best."

Fera bit her lip, feeling unsure, and asked, "H-how many do I have to take?"

"Hm? Oh, five at a minimum. I'd encourage you take more, though."

Five, ok…what're the five easiest ones here? She took the pen he offered to her and circled five exactly – she just knew she couldn't handle more than five, nor could she handle any hard classes. (Or, a part of her nudged, was she just too lazy to try?) After finishing her circling, she handed it back to Roger, he read her choices aloud.

"Intro to Algebra, Basic Communications, Intro to Technology, Intro to Analysis, and…Creative Writing?" Roger seemed surprised by the last choice. Fera stared back at him emotionlessly. It had been the first one she had circled – how could anyone fail Creative Writing? "Well, I suppose we all need a hobby," he muttered. Fera flinched a bit.

Roger filled out some papers and then stood up. "You'll begin your classes tomorrow, Fera. For now, you're free to go."

"Th-thank you," she said, promptly getting up and leaving. Closing the door, she buried her face into the bear. "I dunno about you," she asked it, "but I'm really scared right now."


Once again, I am so sorry about this chapter. D: It's ridiculously short and has so little substance, it's like I threw you guys a bone with a few muscles on it and expected you to eat it. Gah, I promise the next chapter will be much better.

-Winter Poison