Erina hears the whispers on the way to the classroom but she wasn't about to believe any rumors until she saw the proof with her own eyes. The new ballerina doesn't look like much to her, nervously flitting about the practice room alone. But again, she wants to see what this scrawny girl can do.

"You're the new girl?" Erina asks.

"Qua-!" Duck yelps before turning around and laughing, anxiously swinging her arms to and fro. "Ah-ha ha ha, yes. Yes I am."

Erina looks her up and down. "They say you're here on scholarship."

"Well only kinda," Duck admits, putting her fingers together and twisting them. "I mean, I'm still not that good but my balance is better and I'm really excited to learn so..."

Erina cants her head to the side when Duck trails off. "So?"

Duck takes her turn looking Erina up and down. This girl, does Duck know her? Beautiful brunette hair, golden eyes, she's not any relation to Mytho and Rue, is she?

"So what's your name?" Duck finishes.

"...Erina."

"Erina?"

She nods once. "And?"

"And- and I'm Duck! So...so you wanna be friends?" Duck asks, jutting her hand out to shake.

Erina has to hold back a laugh. It's a good thing Fakir isn't in the class anymore. She can't see him standing this girl's company for very long. But everyone deserves a fair chance, right?

Why does that seem familiar?

She gracefully brings her hand out to take Duck's.

"Miss Duck," Mr. Felidae admonishes.

"Quack?!" Duck exclaims, wondering if he's about to propose to her.

"You seem to be paying a lot of attention to the door instead of the lesson. Are you expecting someone?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping..."

"I assure you everyone is in class, so please focus more on your posture and not the door," Mr. Felidae says, returning to his task of helping Delia improve her third position.

Duck tries to concentrate only to hear some familiar whispers behind her.

"I wonder if she's looking for Fakir," Pique quietly asks.

"Oh, I wonder if she's an acquaintance he met at that wedding and she just had to transfer here to see him again only to learn he dropped ballet!" Lillie gushes back. "How wonderful! A rival!"

The redhead jerks around and shouts, "He dropped ballet?!"

"Miss Duck!"

As Mr. Felidae scolds Duck again, a few others turn their heads. How does this new girl know Fakir?

Erina decides she's going to find out. From both of them.

"Hey Duck?" Erina calls just as Duck finished cleaning the practice room as punishment for her outbursts.

Some things never change, she supposes.

"Huh? Oh, Erina!"

Erina's never seen anyone smile so quickly after one of Mr. Felidae's punishments, even if it is over. "Hey, do you know Fakir?"

"Oh! Um...well, kind of," Duck stumbles, unsure of how to explain that connection. "I mean, we're good friends. Or I thought we were. Unless you don't want us to be!" She starts waving a hand in front of her. "It's really not a big deal so you don't have to worry about it at all!"

"It's not like that," Erina goes, somewhat boggled. "Fakir and I are friends because we were both in the advanced class. He recently left and I want to know more."

"Then we gotta go find out!" Duck declared before grabbing Erina's hand and dragging her along.

"Hey!" Erina says. "I was going to say that!"

But at least it got them moving.

Fakir scratches out the last sentence in his essay, grumbling at himself. Maybe he needs to start writing in the library like Autor's always suggesting instead of coming out to the duck pond. But the duck pond was the closest he could come to keeping his promise.

"-and he used to come here all the time with his pet duck, so he still hangs around," he hears Erina say.

Fakir stands up, ready to tell her off, only to find Duck with her.

Everything is achingly still for half a minute. It might as well have been fifteen. Erina steps back, unsure what to expect but ready to observe.

"Why did you come back?" Fakir begins.

"Didja think I wouldn't?" Duck asks back. "This's where I live! An' I may not be too smart but I can figure things out, too, ya know!"

"And what did you figure out?"

"That it was like the way things were before! That I needed to be here so I could know for sure what I really wanted. And that you did the same thing."

Fakir looks away from her. "Some things won't change."

Duck takes a step closer. "What d'you mean?"

"I mean look at yourself. You're still the way you were when I left. And I assume you can still dance?"

Erina looks from one to the other. The more Fakir talks, the less sense he's making.

"We're still as good as stuck in it," Fakir continues. "I've messed things up for both of us."

"But we can fix them," Duck says. "If we work together, I'm sure we can-"

"No," Fakir interrupts. "I can't fix this. No. I don't want to fix this. I'll just make things worse or take something away from you. Haven't you already lost enough?"

"Fakir..."

Duck steps even closer as Fakir turns, ready to walk away.

"Why're you doing this, Fakir? Why don't you wanna talk to me?"

"Duck, stop."

"No! I wanna know!"

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Fakir snaps, twisting his upper body around and making her gasp. "Why won't you just go back to Mytho?"

Duck frowns in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

Fakir scowls, the regret instant as he searches for something to explain his outburst. Now that he thinks about it, wouldn't that hurt just as much if not more than leaving?

"Look, forget I said anything," Fakir says, dismissing what he told her before and turning around again. "Forget what I said here and forget what I said the night I left. I wasn't myself then."

"But I know that now," Duck protests but too late, Fakir already walking away.

A strong hand surprises the redhead. Erina frowns, deeper than even Fakir was. She knew she would be right but, after what she saw, she didn't want to be.

"I never did ask him why he dropped ballet," Duck realizes too late.

"He told me he can't dance anymore," Erina tells her. "I don't know why. He even asked me to help him fake an injury so he could drop."

"But why not?"

Erina shakes her head. "I don't know. But it looks like you'll have to ask him another time."