Anya had learned a long time ago not to tell anybody her secrets - and she had a lot of secrets…
She learned when she was two years old that having telepathic powers only brought pain. When she was four (maybe five? She didn't really know), she learned to lie about her age. Loid explicitly told her that she was never to mention her orphan status, and that she was adopted.
And then there were the secrets of her parents, and her immediate family; Loid Forger, a masquerade for Westalis' best spy; Yor Forger, whose assassin alias was the Thorn Princess; and Yuri Briar, who worked for the secret police.
Of course it was a lot to take in, but Anya was no ordinary child. She knew the value of knowledge, and above all, she knew that the one who holds a secret also holds the power. Afraid of being abandoned, she wanted to keep a hold of that power for as long as she possibly could.
When Anya was a lot younger, and a lot less mature, she sometimes let it slip to her classmates what kinds of things she had been up to over the weekend, or the day before.
As a child, she stopped an assassination attempt on a cruise. She saved her own mother's ife by making a bomb from kitchen ingredients. She foiled several robberies - both attempted and successful, and let the adults in her life none the wiser to her true nature as a telepath and an undercover spy-in-training. It was a mistake for her to try to boast to her classmates about her incredible accomplishments since none of them believed her anyway, but unfortunately Anya didn't learn this lesson until she reached double digits. (It was tiring having friends that stopped believing her stories because they had become too fantastical for even children to comprehend.)
As a teen, Anya's secret 'missions' didn't get any easier. In fact, it was just the opposite - it seemed that with age, came missions of increasing stakes and complexity that Anya found it increasingly more difficult to keep her secret life under wraps from both her friends and family. She no longer tried to boast about these to her friends at school, but they had never really forgotten Anya's attempts at standing out, and many still thought she was strange for this (among other things).
Honesty was a luxury - she knew this in the core of her being, and long ago accepted that secrets were a normal part of growing up.
The kinds of secrets that are normal was not something Anya had ever really grasped.
Really, it was too much for any one child to bear, but Anya was determined to keep control.
She had too much to lose if any of it got out.
—
Eden College was famous for its academics and extracurriculars, and for mass-producing future CEOs and politicians.
But it was also widely known that Eden was a place for preparing its students to be upstanding citizens, CEOs, and politicians, and that included having lessons focused on some very specific topics.
"Genealogy," started Professor Henderson, "is the study of families, family histories, and the tracing of their lineages. It goes without saying that for those at this school, families and family histories hold particular importance for our students, which is why it is part of our curriculum that you will make a presentation about your own family and lineage."
Professor Henderson sighed heavily in a way that suggested he thought that this was an elitist practice that was a complete waste of time, but he couldn't say it out loud. This was Eden College after all, and there were some efforts to set the school apart from all the others.
Out loud, he added: "You will all have two weeks to complete interview histories with members of your families, and you will be expected to present it to the class."
There was a murmur of interest throughout the class, and even Anya perked up. She still didn't know that much about her parents - maybe this could be an opportunity to get to know them better?
"To achieve full marks, you must demonstrate knowledge about at least three generations of your family," Henderson read dully from the pages in front of him.
Anya's heart dropped. Three generations?
Suddenly the classroom was alive with whispers from every student.
"Ah, that's easy! My family keeps a very close eye on its lineage, I can talk about how my great-great grandfather founded the Blackbell company," Becky whispered excitedly. "My Papa says that he had to bargain with the loan shark who said he had to-"
"Damian-sama! We can't wait to hear more about your family!"
"Yes, well, my grandfather did thwart the previous leader of the party who-"
Anya couldn't listen to any more of it. A cold dread trickled into her skin and settled in the pit of her belly, and she shrank into if she were smaller, no-one would notice her trying to hold her tears in.
What could she talk about? What could she say? Hi, my name is Anya Forger and my whole family is built on lies. Not even our surname is real. Of all the things that she needed to do, talking about her family history was one of them?
Not for the first time, Anya wished she was at least a little like the other students from Eden College, and not just a commoner. She bet that others like her in normal schools didn't have to do entire projects on their stupid family lineages.
If Becky noticed Anya's withdrawn state, she didn't say anything as they left the class. Anya barely registered anything outside of Becky's presence next to her while they walked. Becky was likely still talking about her ancestors, and Anya couldn't bear any more of it.
Before she knew it, she was seated in the unmistakably uncomfortable wooden seats of the library. Out of habit, she got her books out and started studying, until someone tapped her shoulder with a pencil from behind.
"Hey, shrimp," said a familiar voice. "I asked you if you were okay."
"Uh," said Anya. Suddenly, she realised that she was not alone at the table with Becky, and that they were joined by Emile, Ewen, and Damian. "Where did you guys come from?"
"Anya," Becky sighed and shook her head. "They've been walking with us this whole time!"
"Oh," said Anya stupidly, and because she didn't know what else to do do, she brought out her books and started to study.
Damian and Becky looked at each other in confusion. Did Anya just start studying without them having to nag at her?
"Has she been like this all day?" asked Damian.
Becky shrugged. "You must have done something to annoy her."
"Hey! That's not-"
"I can hear you, you know!" Anya snapped, then whirled to face them both. "Sy-on boy didn't annoy me, there's nothing wrong with me, and everything's fine!"
Anya's pencil snapped in her fist.
"Right," said Becky and Damian together, disbelieving. Then Becky gave Damian a look that said something to the effect of 'You need to back off right the fuck now Desmond or I swear to God I might actually have to physically hurt you'.
Damian rolled his eyes, but joined Anya at the table anyway, and pulled out his own books. After exchanging glances, Emile, Ewan, and Becky did the same, trying to ignore the lingering tension in the air.
—
Damian fought to draw his eyes away from Anya. He couldn't help it. Her presence was just so magnetic, he could feel her pulling him towards her somehow. It was even worse after their not-a-date at the cinema, and he often stared at her hands, not realising that he was trying to recall the memory of her soft touch from when they held hands. Damian's heart sped up as he remembered what had nearly happened when he had walked her home, and he wondered if Anya had even noticed that he…
He flushed. Idiot! Why do I think like this? Stupid, stupid!
Wanting to prepare early for the presentation, Damian started to draft the picture of his family tree. There was him, Demetrius, his father and mother and…
After a while, Damian noticed that Anya had abandoned her books and had also started to draw her own family tree. Damian's breath caught in his chest as he realised just how little he knew about her and her family. It was easy to get access to the Desmond lineage since much of it was publicly available, but he wondered how commoners other people kept track of their own family line.
Anya put her pencil down.
Damian furrowed his brow as he realised Anya had stopped at only four figures. "Where's the rest of -" he started to say, but stopped immediately when he saw the quietly distraught look on Anya's face.
Ah, of course. He realised. It's just her and her parents.
Guilt swept over him in a rush, and Damian cursed himself for his stupidity and selfishness. He had been so busy thinking about himself as usual, he didn't stop to wonder how other people might be experiencing life. He didn't bother to notice her pain.
I'm not a very good friend.
"I'm… I'm gonna go home," Anya mumbled, and packed up her things.
Even with her hair hanging over her face, Damian noticed the almost imperceptible tremble of her lips.
Damian shot up in the air, startling everyone at the table. "I'll walk with you!"
"Oh no, it's okay Sy-on boy! I don't want to trouble you…"
"The last bus has already left, right? And it's dark out, so, a girl shouldn't be out by herself in the dark." To drive his point further, Damian packed up his books in record time, and even slung Anya's book bag over his shoulder. "Come on."
—
As the two left the library, three students stared after them with their mouths open.
"You guys saw that, right? He didn't even stutter?" said Becky, almost breathlessly. Was Damian finally getting his act together? (She very pointedly avoided thinking about how attractive suave it made Damian look.)
The two nodded. "We saw it."
"What does it mean?" said Ewen. "And how does he even know where she lives?"
"Well I imagine he went home with her last week, after the cinema-"
"He did WHAT?" cried Emile.
"Hold on a second," Becky pinched the bridge of her nose. "You don't know?"
After they exchanged blank stares, Becky sighed. It was always up to her to carry the group.
"Okay so," she took a deep breath. "Anya cancelled on her date with Bill at the last minute, and Damian valiantly took her to the cinema to see Spy Wars, and then I can only assume that he walked her home and then maybe something happened because she hasn't said a word to me about it and it's nearly been a week! I mean I'm her best friend, right? So that means she has to tell me everything, but I've been so good and barely questioned her about it but I'm seriously dying to know because all of a sudden he's not as flustered with her as he used to be I mean I know you guys saw that right?"
"Uh…" said Emile.
"Wait," said Ewan, piecing it together. "If Forger went to the cinema with Damian, what happened to Watkins?"
"Well he, um, he obviously found something better to do! So you don't need to think about Bill, ha ha ha!" Becky cursed herself for her telltale high-pitched laugh, then barrelled ahead before they could ask any more awkward questions.
"Anyway, this is progress, right? He's not being a total idiot anymore-"
"Hey! Don't call Damian-sama an idiot!"
"No, Emile, she's right, bossman is an idiot when it comes to Forger."
"Oh."
"As I was saying, if he's not being a total idiot anymore, we can actually make some progress!"
"Wait what do you mean by 'we'?" said Ewan.
Becky sighed again. Did she have to spell everything out for them?
