"Ezekiel Slater, Yang Xiao Long, detention."

Huh, that was the first detention I had gotten since I started at Signal. I looked at what was supposed to be the series knock off Super Saiyan and found myself disappointed, one because from what I remember people always hyped Yang up to be physically imposing, a true amazon of a woman, luscious hair and unstoppably confident. From what I could see this "Yang" had a dorky haircut and looked about as confident as a barn mouse. And I guess that I was in a genderbent universe or something, because, "Doesn't Yang Xiao Long normally have long hair?"

Blowing up in a corona of energy and launching herself at me I launch an overhead punch- but both of our starts abruptly end as Mr. Henderson lifts us both, palming our heads as if they were basketballs. And I again notice that I am being forcefully held as if I am being glued to his palm.

Lifting me to eye level, Blue simply says, "Don't antagonize her."

So this Yang was actually a girl? Well, it didn't matter, it didn't change anything that I ultimately needed to do which was figure out my aura. And at the very least, if I was in detention then I would have all the time I needed to ask Blue as many questions as I could.

"... and you Slater, you should know better, you've been better about avoiding disruptions in class since you graduated Spotlight, I would…"

I'm just going to ignore that.

As Blue dragged us back inside whatever activity had happened in the hallway fell silent as Blue Henderson marched Yang and I towards the principal's office, his hands firmly gripping our shoulders. The other students parted like the Red Sea, their eyes wide with a mix of shock, curiosity, and a hint of fear.

Whispers began to ripple through the crowd as we passed, growing in volume and intensity with each step.

"Did you see that fight? Yang just went off on him!"

"I heard Ezekiel took her down with some kind of secret martial arts move."

"I bet they're gonna get expelled for this."

Honestly if it weren't for the fact that I would get in more trouble, I would be laughing at half the stuff I was hearing. Again I might not physically be an adult but in every way that mattered to me, I was. Yang, on the other hand, seemed to shrink under the weight of the attention, her earlier bravado evaporating like mist in the morning sun.

A group of girls huddled together by the lockers, their eyes following Yang with a mix of sympathy and schadenfreude.

"Looks like the golden girl finally messed up," one of them said, her voice dripping with false concern. "Such a shame."

Yang's shoulders tensed, but she said nothing, her eyes fixed on the floor.

As we rounded the corner, a group of boys blocked our path, their arms crossed and their faces set in cocky smirks.

"Yo, Ezekiel," the leader of the pack called out, "didn't know you were into beating up girls. Not cool, man."

Who even were these people? They definitely didn't try to talk to me on a normal basis. But as far as beating up girls goes, well, aura was definitely a greater equalizer than a gun was, and while Yang was definitely nowhere close to being able to beat me she had gotten closer than anyone else ever did.

Which by that metric made her better than anyone else here.

Blue stepped forward, his presence instantly commanding the attention of the crowd.

"That's enough," he said, his voice calm but firm. "This is a serious matter, not a spectacle for your entertainment. Everyone, back to class. Now."

The students scattered like leaves in the wind, the hallway clearing in a matter of seconds. Blue gave us a gentle push, urging us forward.

As we approached the principal's office, I couldn't help but notice the look of trepidation on Yang's face. For all her tough talk and aggressive demeanor, she seemed genuinely afraid of what was to come. She was definitely nowhere near the rough tough girl that I vaguely remember.

It honestly was funny trying to remember that for all the bluster that these kids had and all the power these kids had they were still only kids. But that was the issue, looking back at Yang I could see that she was nervous about all this, definitely a child through and through and yet in a few years time with more training she would be a part of a catalyst that would ultimately cause the end of the world.

All because her and her friends thought they knew best.

The foreknowledge of what she could be capable of left me more cautious, and curbed the sense of amusement that seeing all these juvenile reactions brought about. It wasn't that I cared about these people, it was just that I happened to live here and seeing the collapse of two kingdoms in the span of two years wasn't something I wanted to deal with.

Regardless it was basically 4 kids that brought the world to its knees. Because nobody else could apparently tell them that their plans were trash and would get people killed.

I didn't know why this girl tried to fight me and honestly the reasons don't even matter. Since at the end of the day I didn't want anything to do with her.

"Alright you two get in there and wait."

And wait we did. We passed by a few figures that I had hardly been paying attention to since I was more focused on replaying the fight, even as I collapsed into the uncomfortable wooden chair.

During the fight I had primarily been concerned with keeping up and reacting but there was something interesting about that fight and something I wanted to improve on.

The interesting part had been how I had been moving as if everything had been premeditated, now it could have been better, but I am confident that those moved would have been a few choice gotos if I had the ability to do them earlier, like the kind of thing one could practically feel themselves doing but not quite actually able to execute.

The thing I wanted to work on was actually using the defensive property of my aura. I hadn't noticed before because I had been hopped up on adrenaline, but I hadn't actually used the shielding aspect of my aura, whereas Yang did.

I spared the blonde a brief look and she still looked troubled by being here. If she had her aura then it was likely that she had her semblance, the next time I wanted to beat her I would need to suffocate her if I wanted to win. A protracted fight with her was a bad formula since over time all that she would need is a single good hit and she would reverse everything I sent her way, twice fold.

Maybe I could try to get her trapped in a zero momentum area, maybe some kind of mixture between gravity and ice dust.

From behind I heard the door open, disrupting my reverie and I decided to take in the principal's work space.

The office was small and cluttered, the walls lined with dusty tomes and faded photographs of graduating classes. The air was thick with tension, the ticking of the clock on the wall the only sound breaking the heavy silence.

Principal Evergreen, a stern-faced woman with graying hair pulled back into a tight bun, stared at us over the rims of her glasses. "This kind of behavior is completely unacceptable," she began, her voice sharp and disapproving. "Brawling on school grounds, disrupting classes, endangering your fellow students... I expected better from both of you."

I kept my face carefully neutral, my hands folded in my lap. Yang, on the other hand, seemed to sink lower in her chair, her eyes fixed on the floor.

Blue Henderson stood to the side, his arms crossed over his chest. "Ezekiel, you've been making such good progress since graduating from Spotlight. I thought we were past this kind of disruptive behavior."

I blinked dryly. It wasn't like I had started the fight.

Taiyang Xiao Long, Yang's father, stood next to Blue, his expression a mix of disappointment and exhaustion. The scent of alcohol, though faint, clung to him like a second skin.

"Yang," he said, his voice heavy with weariness, "this has to stop. You can't just go around picking fights whenever you feel like it. There are consequences to your actions."

Yang's head snapped up, her eyes flashing with defiance. "But he started it!" she protested, pointing an accusing finger at me. "He was making fun of my hair!"

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. I had barely said two words to the girl before she came at me swinging.

Principal Evergreen's eyes narrowed. "Is this true, Mr. Slater?"

I met her gaze evenly. "No, ma'am. I didn't say anything about her hair. She attacked me out of nowhere."

Slowly bringing my gaze to Blue I can't help but wonder why he didn't refute anything, I just said. While I didn't say anything in the initial exchange I did say something that could be construed as me starting the second clash.

But it was entirely this problematic girl's fault for reacting like she did.

Yang's face flushed red with anger. "That's not true! He said... he said..." She trailed off, seeming to realize that she didn't have a leg to stand on.

Taiyang's brow furrowed. "Yang, did you start this fight?"

Yang's silence was answer enough.

Principal Evergreen sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Miss Xiao Long, this is a very serious matter. Unprovoked attacks on fellow students are grounds for suspension, if not expulsion."

Yang's eyes widened with fear. "No, please! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"I think," Blue cut in, his voice calm but firm, "that detention for both of them is sufficient. Ezekiel may not have started the fight, but he still engaged in it. They both need to learn that violence is not the answer."

We are currently all on a death world which has no easy solution to its problems except violence, Blue, what the fuck are you talking about?

It's a trial to keep my face neutral but I manage to do so while Principal Evergreen considered Blue's words for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Two weeks detention for both of you. And Miss Xiao Long, consider this your final warning. Any more incidents like this and I will have no choice but to take more drastic measures."

Yang nodded meekly, her earlier bravado completely gone.

As we were dismissed, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the girl. She clearly had some issues to work through. But I had my own problems to worry about, namely figuring out my Aura.

Detention would be a good opportunity to pick Blue's brain about it. I just had to make sure I didn't get dragged into any more of Yang's drama in the meantime.

I was glad that it was pretty much the end of the school day at that point and that meant that I could finally ask about the questions that I had been having about aura

The detention room was quiet save for the ticking of the clock on the wall and the occasional rustle of paper. Yang sat in the far corner, her head down and her pencil scratching away at the lines she'd been assigned to write. I, on the other hand, had other plans.

I approached Blue Henderson's desk, a list of questions clutched in my hand. He looked up as I neared, his eyebrows raised in a silent question.

"Mr. Henderson," I began, "I was hoping I could ask you a few things about Aura."

Blue leaned back in his chair, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Always seeking knowledge, aren't you, Ezekiel? Alright, shoot."

I glanced down at my list, choosing my first question carefully. "What exactly is Aura made of? Is it a form of energy, or something else entirely?" I already had a decent idea but I wanted to know how exactly someone who fully matured with this system thought of it.

Blue's brow furrowed in thought. "Well, it's not quite as simple as that. Aura is... it's like an extension of our soul. It's a manifestation of our inner strength, our will to live and fight."

I nodded, jotting down a few notes, I figured that Aura was simply an expression of the soul, or maybe more aptly a fruit of the soul given that I already knew it wasn't the full thing, but the substance, the substance of the soul eluded me. "But is it purely metaphysical, or does it have a physical component as well?"

Blue scratched his chin, looking slightly unsure. "There are theories about that. Some say that Aura is a form of bio-electrical energy, others that it's more akin to a spiritual force. The truth is, we don't fully understand it."

Bio-electricity didn't make any caloric sense, especially given that from that perspective someone like Yang simply couldn't exist. At the very least the act of activating her semblance at levels I knew it could, would leave her rendered to ashes.

I frowned, moving on to my next question. "What about the process of unlocking Aura? Is it purely mental, or are there physical techniques that can help?"

It was a bit redundant now, but understanding the awakening process for a typical Remnantian would hopefully give me a better grasp of knowing how what I did was different from the normal process, if it was different.

Blue's eyes took on a distant look, as if he were remembering his own experience. "It's a bit of both, I think. The mental component is key - you have to have a strong sense of self, a clear understanding of your own soul. But there are physical practices that can help you get in touch with that. Meditation, martial arts, things like that."

A sense of self made sense, no one knew you better than you did, even when you lied to yourself. But Blue's answer did tell me one thing, there was supposed to have been a threshold that you needed to cross over before aura would unlock itself.

At least that was the conclusion that I was starting to reach given that Aloe had said hers unlocked during a spar.

I scribbled furiously, trying to capture every detail. "And what about age? Is there a point where it becomes harder to unlock your Aura?"

Blue hesitated, looking slightly uncomfortable. "That's a tricky one. There are cases of people unlocking their Aura later in life, but it's rare. Most Huntsmen and Huntresses have theirs unlocked in their teens or early twenties. After that, it gets harder."

…

"Is there any way to tell if someone's Aura is... I don't know, atrophied? Like a muscle that hasn't been used?"

Blue shook his head, looking apologetic. "Not that I know of. Aura is such a personal thing, it manifests differently for everyone. Some people have a lot of raw power, others have more finesse. It's hard to say what's 'normal.'"

I sighed, realizing that I was reaching the limits of Blue's knowledge. He was a skilled Huntsman and a good teacher, but he wasn't a scholar of Aura theory.

I thanked Blue for his time and returned to my seat.

Overall, I don't think that I really learned anything new but it was always good to retread old ground, to make sure that you didn't miss anything. I had ample evidence to believe that if I hadn't had that break through with Aura then I may have not gotten it unlocked for sometime.

And honestly it was getting to the point where I was going to try to fight a Grimm. If the humanity of this world had their inner light come out when faced with darkness then I would simply have had no choice but to follow up on that.

It would've been supremely dangerous but it would either die then or die in about 6 years or so when Beacon falls. And if not then, then in one of the subsequent conflicts caused by the four Girlbosses of the apocalypse.

Putting it out of my head I started to busy myself with remembering the theme of a certain young time traveling detective.

"Hic"

Save for the music that only I could hear, the classroom was quiet, the only sound penetrating the silence being the scratching of pencils on paper and the occasional sigh of boredom. I was deep into my notes on Aura, my mind whirling with the new information I'd gleaned from Blue, I would need to create a digest to head some of what I learned. Maybe once I found a way to get math behind my findings I could start to figure out more of what it was I was missing from my meta-

"Hey… what are you writing there?"

I looked up, startled, to find Yang standing by my desk, her hands fidgeting with the hem of the tan shirt she wore. She looked uncomfortable, her eyes darting around the room as if she'd rather be anywhere else.

I glanced down at my notes, a messy scrawl of cursive and print that would be nearly illegible to anyone else. "Notes," I said shortly. "Aura is pretty cool."

To my surprise, Yang's face lit up at my words. "If you think that's cool, wait until you get your Semblance! If you're lucky, you'll get one half as cool as mine. I can—"

"Absorb and redirect kinetic energy with twice the force," I blurted out, my brain catching up with my mouth a second too late.

Yang's eyes widened, her mouth falling open in shock. "How did you know that?"

I cursed internally, scrambling for a way to explain my knowledge without sounding like a complete lunatic. "I... I watched and learned," I said lamely, wincing at how suspicious that sounded.

And grammatically incorrect.

Yang's brow furrowed, confusion and a hint of unease creeping into her expression. "Y-you've been watching me fight?"

I shook my head quickly, realizing how my words must have come across. "No more than I've been watching anyone else. Difference is that you actually can and the others can't."

To my relief, Yang seemed to accept this explanation, her posture relaxing slightly. "Yeah, my dad says it's because most of them still haven't learned to get punched in the face yet. But you don't seem to have an issue with that."

I shrugged, "I have a plan for after I get punched in the face. But I like my first plan better: don't get punched in the face."

Yang laughed at that, a genuine sound that seemed to surprise even her. "Fair enough," she said, grinning. "But sometimes you gotta take a hit to land a bigger one, you know?"

I nodded, remembering the countless fights I'd been in, both in this life and my previous one. Sometimes… it was better to hold out and let someone take the hit so you could get them back later. The question was always in the timing. "Yeah, I know. It's all about balance. Knowing when to take a hit and when to dodge."

Yang cocked her head to the side, looking at me with a new appreciation. "You know, you're not half bad, Ezekiel. For a guy who spends all his time with his nose in a book."

All of my time?

I raised an eyebrow, feigning offense. "Hey, don't knock the books. Knowledge is power, right?"

Yang rolled her eyes, but there was no real heat behind it. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, nerd."

There was a moment of awkward silence, neither of us quite sure where to take the conversation from there. I was just about to turn back to my notes when Yang spoke again, her voice softer this time.

"Listen, about earlier... I'm sorry for starting that fight. I was having a bad day and I took it out on you. It wasn't cool."

I looked at her dryly, "Why were we even fighting in the first place?"

Yang laughed again awkwardly scratching the back of her head, "I wanted a rematch. And you just seemed to be off in your own world. I guess outside of my dad, fighting you was my first real loss."

Somehow that didn't surprise me, but it also didn't seem like the complete truth.

"Well the next time you want to fight, don't try to sucker punch me, at the very least, not in school."

I was always down for a good scrap. And even if I knew that hanging out with this… can't even think of a good insult… this girl could lead to a host of issues, I couldn't deny that I was thirsty for a good fight.

"No promises," she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "But I'll try to give you a warning first."

"That's all I ask." Or don't and make my day. Words failed to describe what it was like to finally have something resembling a good fight only to have it stopped short. It was a completely different high from the rush of life and death combat. A good fight was better than sex, sure some parts of it hurt but once you got used to the pain you realized that it would be the closest you got to immortality.

The fight because the moment lasts forever.

The sex because you pass down your genetics.

But as a biologically 12 year old kid obviously I was not going to be able to see one of those for a while. And glancing at Yang I felt queasy enough to almost gag, but I held back enough to make it look like a yawn.

Yeah enough said.

The bell rang, signaling the end of detention. Yang gave me a quick nod before heading for the door, her shortened golden hair swishing behind her.

In hindsight though it does make sense that her hair wasn't as long as it was in canon, it was all too likely that her hair hadn't grown that far yet.

I watched her go, feeling a strange mix of emotions. Yang Xiao Long was potentially the only avenue for the only good fight I would see for ages. On the other hand there were risks involved with getting involved with the plot.

With what I did here I might eventually find myself in a situation… where well honestly… I don't know what I could end up with.

I had opened Pandora's box and sure for now the issues that came with being involved even tangentially with Yang and her sister wouldn't lead to me needing to kill them in their sleep but I would at least be a fool now if I didn't start developing more full scale team counters.

After all, I did have a better idea of what my potential enemies could do. Unless I was forgetting something, I had to account for varying levels of elemental manipulation, sensory manipulation, solid illusions, matter rearrangement, probability manipulation…

Yeah that was a lot. In fact I don't think I covered all of my bases…

Shaking my head I looked up from Signal, although I lost a decent amount of training time in exchange for knowledge that wasn't an excuse to get complacent.

Taking a breath I begin to hop back and forth and up and down gently rousing myself.

"You know I probably do this enough that I could just think about doing this and it would raise my heart rate."

The benefit wasn't just for my heart and I knew that.

Taking off to where Spotlight was I figured that at the very least I wouldn't waste any time on Aloe's part. She would be expecting me soon enough anyways.

The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon as I arrived at Spotlight, painting the sky in a vibrant array of oranges and pinks. I found Aloe in our usual spot, sitting on a bench in the back of the school, a book open in her lap.

She looked up as I approached, a smile spreading across her face. "Ezekiel! I wasn't expecting you today. Didn't you have detention?"

How she had heard about it I wasn't really sure, especially since I was sure that she was only a teacher over here at Spotlight, but it wasn't a big deal.

I shrugged, dropping my backpack on the ground and plopping down next to her. "I actually got through meditation, turns out that instead of pulling it to me I had to let myself sink into it."

Aloe's eyes widened, her book forgotten as she turned to face me fully. "Really? That's great news, Ezekiel! I knew you'd get there eventually."

I nodded, feeling a sense of relief wash over me. After weeks of watching everyone else unlock their Auras while I struggled, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I could've asked but… anything no- everything worth doing in all of my combined experience was at least worth learning on my own first. It was one of the small measures of control in my life that had not failed me.

Learning to lead was the only real exception to the rule and even then, not really, everyone led differently and even with the wisdom given to me I still had to learn how to make decisions I could live with.

"It was strange," I said, looking down at my hands. "One moment I was there in the field the next it was like I was falling, only there was a gravity that I'm not entirely sure was escapable and the next thing I knew I was "lighting my soul on fire." I say making quotation marks with my fingers.

Wincing Aloe fixes me with a concerned look, "That sounds painful."

"It does sound painful doesn't it?" I say rhetorically, quaking my head to the side. "It's the best way I could describe it, after that I could feel something rumble or I remember something about rumbling and then I found myself awake. But something that I did must've exhausted me pretty badly since I passed out from Aura exhaustion a few moments after, it was the reason I wasn't here yesterday."

Aloe hummed thoughtfully. "It sounds like you were pushed to your limits. Sometimes, that's what it takes. When you're in the zone, when everything else fades away... that's when Aura tends to manifest."

"If it helps explain anything I've always had the idea that my aura was excessively heavy or lethargic."

I thought back to our previous conversations, remembering how Aloe had said much the same thing. At the time, I hadn't fully understood, but now...

"You were right," I admitted, glancing over at her. "About being in the zone. I guess I just needed the right push."

Aloe's smile turned a bit smug. "I usually am," she teased. "But seriously, Ezekiel, this is a big deal. Unlocking your Aura is a major milestone for any Huntsman-in-training."

I sighed, leaning back against the bench. "I know. But... it's not like it solved all my problems. I still have a lot to learn, a lot to figure out."

"Like what?"

I hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Like... how to control it. How to use it effectively in a fight. I mean, I passed out from Aura exhaustion the first time I used it. That's not exactly a good sign."

Aloe's expression turned amused. "That's normal, Ezekiel. Your body isn't used to channeling that much energy yet. It's going to take time and practice to build up your stamina."

"I guess," I said, not entirely convinced. "But even when I'm not actively using it, everything feels... different. Like my senses are sharper, my movements more precise. It's like I've been upgraded, but I don't fully understand how to use these new abilities."

Aloe nodded, looking thoughtful. "That's your Aura's passive effect. It enhances your natural abilities, even when you're not consciously drawing on it. As for using it actively... that's something you'll learn with time. Your teachers will help guide you, but a lot of it is trial and error, figuring out what works for you."

I absorbed her words, feeling a mix of excitement and trepidation. The road ahead was long, but at least I was finally on it.

"Thanks, Aloe," I said, offering her a genuine smile. "For everything. Your advice, your support... it means a lot."

Aloe bumped her shoulder against mine, her grin returning. "Anytime, Ezekiel. That's what friends are for."

"So," Aloe said eventually, a mischievous glint in her eye as she leaned forward, propping her chin on her hand, "tell me more about this fight with Yang. I heard she's quite the scrapper."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "It wasn't much of a fight, she came at me while I was thinking—"

"While your head was in the clouds as usual," Aloe interjected, a smirk tugging at her lips.

I rolled my eyes but continued, gesturing with my hands as I spoke. "And from there she swung at me, at first I was going to pin her but she tried to put me into an arm bar but I rolled out and put her into an ankle lock. And right as she got out and we were going to start again, Blue stopped us."

Aloe's brows furrowed, her head tilting slightly. "Blue?"

"Yeah, ya'know, Blue Henderson, the part time PE teacher and talent scout for Signal?" I said, shrugging.

Aloe's eyes widened, her mouth forming a small 'o' of surprise. "I know who Blue is Ezekiel, I'm just surprised that you called him that."

I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why, I've been calling you by your first name for a while, haven't I? If I had a reason to meet with him outside of a school setting I would probably call him by his first name there too."

And why shouldn't I? I was at least the same age as them if we go by my oldest body to mental age. And if we went solely by the age of my soul I would be older than them.

Aloe sighed, shaking her head, her green hair swaying with the motion. She looked at me with a slightly annoyed expression, her brows knitting together. "So much for respecting your elders…"

Without thinking, I say, "Let me know when you see any," a smirk of my own playing on my lips.

Aloe's face flushed, her cheeks puffing out in indignation. "UUuu you!" She took a deep breath, visibly trying to let go of her growing frustration, her shoulders rising and falling with the effort.

I couldn't help but think that her face while agitated was one that was always cute to look at.

Aloe composed herself, her expression turning curious as she leaned back, crossing her legs. "Let's go back to Yang, what exactly do you think of her?"

I shrugged, looking off into the distance. "Honestly until I was told that was Yang I thought that was a guy. Wasn't her hair supposed to be longer?"

Aloe's eyes darted to the side, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. "Well… seeing as though…"

I raised an eyebrow, turning back to her. "As though what?"

Aloe waved her hand, as if physically dismissing the thought. "Nothing, I really shouldn't tell you, since I only happened to overhear this."

Ah, if it was more drama then honestly I didn't care to hear any more of it. Shit was way too troublesome to deal with. I held up a hand, stopping her. "Say no more."

Aloe's expression turned sly, a gleam in her eye as she leaned forward again. "But nothing about Yang stood out to you?"

I thought for a moment, scratching my chin. "I mean, she was the first half decent fight I've had since…" I trailed off, realizing I couldn't exactly bring up my reincarnation. In this life, she was pretty much the only fight that I had that wasn't so one sided to have ended in two exchanges at most. "Y- hm… I guess she is the best fight that I have had," I admitted, somewhat reluctantly.

Aloe's eyebrows shot up, a grin spreading across her face. "The best huh? I don't think I've ever heard you actually say that you enjoyed fighting someone, despite how much you train."

I sighed, spreading my hands in a 'what can you do' gesture. "S' because most people in Spotlight and Signal, at least at the level's I'm at, aren't very good fighters yet and they are only just starting to figure things out."

Coming from anyone else it might seem arrogant, and in a way it still was, but it did actually make me wonder if I was losing my edge in terms of strict technique. Chalking it up to "if it works, it works" was fine and all but that didn't necessarily tell me if I left a hole in my guard.

Aloe nodded sagely, as if I'd just imparted some great wisdom. "So I guess that makes Yang pretty special then huh?" She said, her tone teasing.

I frowned, not quite following her train of thought. "I guess?" Sure Yang was special but that was a completely different matter than what I think Aloe was trying to implicate. And to make things clear, I wasn't going to touch a child.

Aloe laughed, shaking her head as she stood up, brushing off her skirt. "Anyways, Ezekiel, here are your cookies," she said, handing me a familiar package. "I have to get going early today."

She gave me a wave and a wink as she walked off, leaving me sitting on the bench, slightly confused and holding a bag of cookies, wondering what exactly had just transpired.