Damian stepped back from the door. "Huh. It looks like they got bored and moved off."

He and Anya sighed with relief at the same time.

Out of the corner of his eye, Damian noticed how Anya shrank into herself, and took a physical step away from him. Damian's heart clenched.

"I'd better- I'd better go," Anya mumbled, and Damian strained to hear her. "The bus arrives soon so…"

"R-right, of course," stammered Damian. "I'll walk you there."

Anya jerked her head up. "Oh no, it's okay! You really don't have to."

Damian regarded Anya carefully. Was he imagining it, or was she acting even stranger than usual? She seemed to be withdrawing from him somehow… Then he reminded himself that she had just had a panic attack, and probably would need time to recover.

Or maybe she was still nervous that she had given something away somehow? Anya looked so scared at the thought that she might have said something during the attack that she didn't remember.

"Y-you, you said," Damian gulped. "You said that you thought you should have never said anything to me, that it was a mistake."

Anya felt those words like a punch to the gut and she took another step back from Damian. She looked away and chewed on her lip.

Damian sighed. "I swear," he pleaded with her. "You can trust me, Forger. I already made a pinky promise with you, right?"

But she didn't respond. Maybe he had to take a different tack. She had felt comfortable with him up until this point - what was going on? What changed?

Suddenly Damian realised that the newfound confidence he had with Anya entirely depended on how she acted around him. She had been pursuing his friendship for so long, he just thought that she would always be like that. It didn't occur to him that he might have to reach out to her as well, to close the gap between them. And if Anya stopped talking to him, he didn't know what he would do. Truly.

He had to subtly let her know that she could be comfortable with him again, that she could talk about anything with him, panic attack or not.

"Do you… do you know how old you actually are?" Damian cringed inwardly at himself. Was that really the best he could do?

Anya shrugged. "I have a guess but I'm not sure."

Damian pressed on: "How old were you when Mr Forger took you in?"

"I'm not sure, maybe four? I remember trying to stand on my tiptoes so he would think I was older, as well." Anya's voice gained a bit more volume as she spoke, which started to put Damian at ease. Maybe it was working?

Damian frowned. "Why would he need an older child, though?"

It was just him expressing his curiosity, but he saw Anya gulp, and suddenly there was a shift in her demeanour. She twirled her hair with her fingers. "I dunno. But I just wanted to get out of the orphanage so I pretended."

"And they didn't have any of your documents? No birth certificate or anything?" The more Damian heard, the more he wondered about her situation. Something weird is going on.

Anya shook her head. "I got re-registered when Papa took me in, so legally, I am seventeen. I think I might be fifteen though."

"That explains a lot," mumbled Damian thoughtfully. And the more he thought about it, the more it did make sense. "I mean, you really struggled when you first started at Eden. If you were actually four years old and not six, that makes a lot of sense, developmentally."

"Hey!" Anya lightly punched him on the arm. "My grades are actually okay now."

"Yeah but," Damian sighed. "It's not fair for you, right? You got a rough start. If it was me, it would affect my confidence. You're really strong for not letting it affect you like that. Like, you just kept trying. That's really cool."

Anya's face blushed, and she stared at her shoes. "I had to get better. Papa wanted me to be an Imperial Scholar."

Damian's eyes whipped up at her. "Really? Mr Forger wanted you to be an Imperial Scholar?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"No, I just can't imagine Mr Forger being so…" and he didn't know what other word to say. He thought of how his own father would never pay attention to him, and how Damian convinced himself that he needed to be an Imperial Scholar to deserve his father's love and attention. It was the only thing that he had been working towards for these last ten years, still in a desperate attempt to gain recognition from his own father. He remembered with a sudden bitterness when he was finally awarded his final Stella, and his Imperial Scholar's cape, he had been so excited to tell his father.

The first person he had told of course was Jeeves, who expressed admiration for Damian's efforts. It took him about a week to finally get his own father on the phone to be able to share the news, but the man had barely grunted in response. When, a few days later, a congratulations card arrived in his dorm mail, Damian knew that it was really from Jeeves.

Was Forger like that with her father? No, he had met Loid Forger before, and there was no way that the man would only look at Anya if she was an Imperial Scholar. He already looked at her like she was the sun. But that only made it more confusing - why was Anya so desperate to reach the same status as him? She wouldn't get any more recognition, any more love from her parents. So why did she try so hard?

The thoughts simmered within him as he opened the door to let her through, and together they came face to face with Professor Ronin, whose hand was halfway through knocking on his door.

"Uh," said Damian, glancing at Anya's stricken expression, and, too late, he closed the door on Professor Ronin.

"Desmond!" He called through the door, and rapped his knuckles on it. "Open the door right now, or I will give you a Tonitrus Bolt just for the impudence of closing your door in my face."

Damian sighed, and inched the door back open, trying only to open it so that it was only showing his face, and hiding Anya from view.

"A little more," said the professor as he raised an eyebrow. "And explain to me what Miss Forger is doing in your room."

"Uh-"

"Having girls in the boy's dorm is strictly forbidden, Desmond. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a Tonitrus-"

"NO!"

Both Damian and Professor Ronin leapt back from the door as Anya shouted out. "You can't give him a Bolt! It's my fault I'm here anyway!"

"Forger, what are you-" Damian hissed through his teeth. Didn't she realise she was just going to make it worse for her?

"You can't give Sy-on boy a Tonitrus Bolt, he was only looking after me!" Anya sniffed, and Damian realised that her eyes were still red from crying earlier. "I had a panic attack and he let me sit down and drink some water while I calmed down."

Professor Ronin didn't look convinced. "If that is the case, why not take her to the nurses office then, Desmond?"

"Er-"

"His room was closer!" Anya exclaimed, ever as passionate. "And I didn't want anyone else to see, it was really embarrassing…" Anya mumbled earnestly.

"Professor Ronin nodded, and seemed to look as though he believed her. Damian felt himself start to relax as it looked as though the Professor was about to let them get off the hook, and then-"

"In that case, I will only give you a Tonitrus Bolt, Miss Forger."

"Huh?" Damian blinked.

Professor Ronin sighed. "Unfortunately, I cannot let this slide, however, Desmond I can see that you were indeed trying to be gentlemanly and protect your friend here. However, Miss Forger, this is a serious school violation."

Anya turned white.

"I will spare Mr Desmond from getting a Bolt as you so valiantly stood up for him, but I cannot let this go unpunished. Now Miss Forger, I understand that you have a bus to catch?"

Anya nodded numbly.

"Good. I trust you will escort her out Mr Desmond so that she arrives safely, and I will see you on your return."

"Er- now, wait-"

"Good night," said Professor Ronin stiffly, and walked away.

—

Both teens were quiet as death as they walked together to Anya's bus stop. Damian wondered vaguely if the party was broken up before by Professor Ronin, or if they had run away before he arrived, and they were the only ones who got caught.

Damian flushed with embarrassment. He couldn't believe that he was caught with Anya Forger in his room! He had really hoped that if Anya Forger was in his room, then they would have been having a heart-to-heart, or at least getting a bit more comfortable with each other. Instead, she had told him a secret (out of a dare), panicked, and started to withdraw from him, and then they both got caught, and he was about to get a Bolt before Anya defended him and got a Bolt for herself -

Damian stopped walking, which made Anya turn.

"Th-thank you," he mumbled, his throat dry. "For taking the hit back there."

Anya smiled for a second, before it vanished from her face. "Thanks Sy-on. I can already hear my Papa fainting from here."

Damian chuckled weakly. "Yeah, I shouldn't have let you do it, I know."

Anya shook her head. "He'll get over it, but it's better than you having to tell your Papa that you got a Bolt."

Damian's face darkened as he realised that she was right. "Still, it wasn't very gentlemanly of me to let you take the hit, I should have stood up for you, I should have tried to convince him, I should have -"

"Sy-on boy," said Anya gently, and took both of her hands in his. "It's really okay. It's already done. But you can still be a gentleman, and walk me to the bus?"

He couldn't help blushing. Her smile was so cute. "S-sure."

He kept hold of their hands as they walked.