Silva slowly opened her eyes. Mika’s mother had woken her up when she left together with her husband. That was already a couple of hours ago, but she still had no real reason to get up.

  It was the first time since forever since she had spent the night over at someone else's house, and she was not sure of what to do now. She suspected wandering around her friend’s house without supervision would be rude. But it was getting te, and Mika still had not woken up.

  Silva checked her phone, wondering how long she would have to wait for Mika to get up. It was past 10 p.m., and she started to feel the need to find a toilet.

  But first, she wrote her father another message expining that she was fine and would be back home ter. He wasn’t particurly happy but didn’t object much…

  After procrastinating for some more, she finally got up and got dressed. She couldn’t wait any longer. Nature was calling, and she had to refresh herself.

  Silva held a small hope moving around the house would make enough noise for Mika to wake up. Still, she did not want to be rude. Her passing through the rooms was quiet.

  Soon, she was done with her natural needs and had to decide how to proceed. After standing and mulling over it for several minutes, Silva decided she would go to Mika’s room to wake her up. She felt a little bad about it, as they both had not gotten much sleep, but for now, it was too oppressing for her to be alone in an unfamiliar house.

  The knocking at Mika’s room door did not produce any results. After deliberating for some time, Silva decided to open the doors and head in. It would be better to carefully wake Mika than just pommel the door until she was awake.

  Slowly, Silva opened the doors. When the gap was rge enough, she peeked inside, ensuring her friend was still asleep. From the slow and rhythmic breathing, it seemed to be that way.

  After a moment of hesitation, Silva entered the room and closed the door behind her. Mika looked defenceless and carefree, unlike her usual self.

  Silva sometimes felt like Mika was on guard around her. But remembering how worried her friend had been yesterday, she threw those thoughts away. Undoubtedly, this girl cared greatly for her.

  Carefully, Silva closed in on the bed, feeling quite silly. There was no real reason to be so mindful, but seeing that sleeping face, she could not feel like it was a shame to wake Mika up.

  Looking at her friend now, Silva could not help but notice how different they were. Even though Mika's body was covered by a bnket, Silva still could tell how shapely she was. “So different from me.” She smiled bitterly.

  A sigh escaped Silva’s mouth. It was not that she hated how she looked, but having more curves would be nice.

  Mika’s slight movements under the bnket made it slide off, revealing even more of her body dressed in a blue nightgown. Even the girl’s skin looked lovely. It would probably feel very nice to caress it.

  Silva swallowed before shifting her stance a bit so that she could get a better look. As she did, she noticed Mika’s eyes were now open, observing her.

  For a moment, they simply watched each other. That was until Silva rapidly started to turn red. Panicking, she tried to hide with the help of her ability, forgetting one important fact.

  “You do know that I saw you?” Mika asked, her face still drowsy and her hair sticking to her lips, to which Silva nodded. “So then, why are you trying to go invisible on me now?”

  Silva shrugged, cking any viable answer. “Oh... Right...” She slipped out of her zone, still standing in the same spot, still looking at Mika.

  Cold sweat started to gather on her back as she frantically tried to find the best way to expin herself.

  “You surprised me?” Silva half asked, half stated. “I was about to wake you up, but you suddenly moved,” she continued more confidently after finding footing. “It is getting te, and your parents already left. So, it was nothing strange.” She spoke quicker than she had wanted to. “After all, I did want to wake her up, and she did startle me. And I am not sure if what I did was wrong... Okay, it probably was. There is no way it was not weird to not call out to her and just stare. Let us put this aside for now and feel guilty about it afterwards. Just like dressing room incidents. Yes...”

  "Oh..." Mika mumbled before she looked downwards, only now noticing her revealing sleeping posture. Her face began to rapidly redden as well. "No, it just..." She started to pull her bnket over her. "You have dressed already."

  “Well, yes.” Silva fidgeted, wondering if Mika would start berating her now. “I did get dressed.”

  “Oh… I wanted to wake you up...” Mika muttered while she pulled her bnket over her head. “But I missed the chance.” Now, she was barely audible.

  It sted for a while. Neither of them spoke, and Silva started to suspect that Mika had fallen asleep again.

  The suspicion turned out to be unfounded. Soon, Mika’s head popped out from under her retreat. “Ah, could you give me a moment to get dressed? The kitchen is at the end of the corridor. Give me a moment, and then make something to eat.” She tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. Then she took a breath and asked. “So… I- I didn’t do anything weird yesterday, did I? My head was in a mess, so...”

  Silva tilted her head. "Weird? No? You were very nice to me." Silva was grateful and felt lucky to have such a friend.

  Mika’s st night’s gestures were deeply etched into her heart. The girl had rushed to her when she needed it the most. And not only that. Mika had also brought Silva to her home, giving her a pce to stay.

  “That's-... Great, yes. Right. Would you be so kind and let me get dressed then?” Mika repeated.

  Feeling hunger settling in, Silva nodded. She followed Mika’s instructions and found her way to the kitchen.

  After taking a seat at the table, Silva smmed her head on it. Upon retrospection, perhaps simply undressing in front of Mika yesterday was a little too daring.

  Silva had figured it was no big deal and forced herself, but Mika seemed to mind her presence. “Thinking back, she did have a big reaction when I started to undress…”

  After a while, it became apparent Mika was taking her time. Silva heard her friend rushing about, finally entering the bathroom and starting a shower.

  But before Silva could get bored, Mika ran into the kitchen, clearly without breath.

  "Sorry for the wait. I was sweaty, stinky and… You know, never mind! Now, let me see what we have in the fridge." Mika nervously ughed before turning on the TV hanging on the wall. She started to rummage through the refrigerator.

  “Eh… I think you smelled nice, though?” Silva absent-mindedly spoke as she turned her eyes towards the TV.

  Silva’s words seemed to startle Mika, who dropped a few vegetables, scattering them all over the ground. “Ah, what? When?” Mika questioned, demanding Silva’s attention.

  “Always?” Silva warily gave a vague answer. She was quite spooked by the sudden enthusiasm.

  These words seemed to cheer Mika up even more. She practically glowed. “Than… Thank you! A-Anyway, is there something you can’t eat?”

  “Not really,” Silva shook her head. “What do you have?” she tried to peer into the fridge.

  “Well, how about pasta with veggies and chicken?” Mika asked, beginning to fish out the ingredients.

  “That seems like a lot of work for breakfast,” Silva noted but did not mind. An actual, homemade meal was too precious to pass on.

  "Well, it's already almost eleven.” Mika reasoned. “By the time I am done, it will already be almost noon. Besides, I want to show my womanly charms." She posed with the pack of pasta in her hands, emphasising her curves.

  It caught Silva by surprise. She studied Mika’s figure before deciding to ask. “Womanly charms?” She couldn’t quite understand where to look. It did seem like Mika was waiting for her to say something, but Silva was drawing a bnk on an appropriate answer.

  “Right...” Mika sighed. “Never mind.” She dropped the pasta on the counter, clearly disappointed.

  It felt like she had done something wrong. Silva mulled over whether she should comment on Mika’s beauty but decided against it. That didn’t seem like something a friend would do either.

  And before Silva could figure out the puzzle, the meal was ready. Mika slid the full pte over the table to Silva and sat across from her.

  “So, let us dig in.” Mika was back in the high spirits.

  The dish in front of her looked amazing. It really had been too long since she had proper, homemade food. "Thank you for the meal!" Silva slightly bowed her head, causing her light brown hair to cascade over her face. Feeling silly, she hurried to throw them back and gave an embarrassed smile.

  Mika stared at Silva’s antics, forgetting the bite she was trying to put in her mouth.

  "Uh, is there something on my face?" Silva caught a stray lock and fixed it by tucking it behind her ear. She wondered what had caused her friend to have such a strong reaction.

  “No, it's just... You- you don't smile all that much, I was surprised! That's all.” Mika hurried to expin.

  “I don't? I think I smile the normal amount, though?” Silva pondered. She definitely remembered that she smiled regurly. “Like when I am with you and Steven.”

  “You definitely don't!” Mika's strong response left Silva baffled. “Ah, I mean... you usually keep your face neutral.” Mika coughed in her hand.

  Silva thought about her expressions for the rest of the meal. “It's not like there are a lot of chances for me to show them. But to get told that there are almost none. That's a shock.” She pondered while her eyes drifted back to the TV.

  And after the meal, Mika gathered the dishes and asked the most dreaded question. The one Silva had dreaded all morning.

  “Now that we have time, will you expin yesterday? In detail.” Mika’s steely tone made it clear there was no escape.

  Silva had enough time to gather her thoughts. She began recounting the events. Step by step, she went through the st night.

  Why she had gone. What she had seen and what she had felt. Silva did not leave out anything. She hoped that Mika would have a solution if she expined everything in order.

  But Silva was done speaking, Mika had just one thing to say. “We do nothing.” was her solution.

  “But-…”

  “No, buts! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? We do nothing!” Mika dropped the dishes in the sink and returned to the table.

  “Shouldn't we at least call the police or something?” Silva did not relent.

  “And they will do exactly what? I don’t think authorities are our best bet. Even if we get them to raid the Refuge, what after that? They will start looking for us too. Or at least I would.” Mika shook her head, then sighed. “Listen, I know you want to help. But there is no actual danger for us for now. No one seemed to have seen you, but the police will have more reach. We can’t risk it.” She kept speaking.

  Mika paused. “As for Steven… His involvement with them is deeply personal. I’ll speak with him and get him to talk with you. He will expin everything.”

  Silva wasn’t exactly happy about this. She reluctantly agreed with Mika. It wasn’t like Silva wanted to rush headfirst into danger, but the feeling that they were powerless was unpleasant. While she was trying to think of anything they could do, something on the TV caught her attention.

  “Ugh...” Silva choked and started coughing. “Mika, turn on the sound.” She gestured at the TV.

  "Why..." Mika was about to ask when she noticed the moving text at the bottom of the screen.

  It read 'Breaking news! New video evidence of a mysterious creature haunting forests around the city of Oldsteel.'

  Mika turned on the volume as they both silently sat and watched the News Show.

  "...rumours. But today, we have new video evidence provided by our viewers. Our experts have guaranteed the authenticity of the said video..."

  The news host kept rambling on. But what grabbed their attention was the video itself. It showed a wolf or what seemed to be a wolf. The thing was huge.

  When the camera panned to the sides, it turned out that the beast was standing next to a car. Even worse, it was the same size as the car.

  Silva noticed that under its paw, there seemed to be a person. It was unmistakable. The new host commented on it shortly after, assuring the person was fine and under medics' care.

  What followed next was a string of various theories. Each next one was more unbelievable than the previous one. Silva gnced at Mika, who, in turn, was looking at her.

  "Steven has to see this," finally, Mika decided to act. She left for her room to get her phone.

  When Mika returned, she was already done with the call. They were quiet for a while, each with their own thoughts.

  "That's probably enough evidence that there is something strange about Oldsteel, isn't it?" Silva quietly started.

  “Don't phrase it like that.” Mika sighed. “It makes it sound like we are part of the strange as well.”

  “Aren't we?”

  “Maybe. But still...” Mika plopped down in front of Silva once again. “We don't know if it's really the area’s fault. There were plenty of other areas with strange happenings as well. I just know Oldsteel the best, so I concentrated my search here.”

  "It looked frightening... Do you think it was fake?" Silva looked back at the TV, but they seemed to be moving to the next topic.

  “I... don't know.” Mika hesitated. “If it wasn't... There will be more videos. I don’t think that thing can be hidden properly. Not with that size.”

  “So what do we do...” Silva felt a bit lost.

  "Still nothing." Mika shook her head. "We don’t have to act as the saviours. There are people better equipped to deal with it. And the video is probably fake." She didn’t sound hopeful.

  "Right..." Silva was unsure of how to react to the news. The world was changing faster and faster.

  Even more than the Wolf, the blue crystal was bothering her. She might not have believed the video yesterday, but now it all seemed real and concrete. All this new uncertainty was exhausting her.

  At least she had Mika and Steven now. And her dad, too. Silva was not alone anymore.

  But what about the future? Silva hadn’t really talked about it with anyone. Mika had said they should think about it, but…

  It was Mika's and Steven's st school year. Will they go to university? Will they start working? Will they leave her behind?

  “Will you continue to be my friend Mika?” Silva could not help but let some of her insecurities slip out.

  Mika gazed at Silva, then wordlessly stood up. She rounded the table and sat down next to her, wrapping her hand around Silva’s shoulder.

  The girl then pulled Silva closer. "I... I'll be your friend for as long as you want me to be," Mika reassured her.

  "Thank you... I... I am just afraid..." Silva stammered. "I only just recently met you… And now all this…" She did not specify, but Silva was sure that Mika would understand.

  “The world is always changing, Silva. We can be afraid, but that can’t stop us. We just have to take one thing at a time. And if you are lost, I will always be there for you.” Mika’s embrace grew stronger.

  “I know. Thank you.” Silva snuggled in Mika's neck.

  After a moment, Mika shot up from her seat, leaving Silva lost. “Ah, you see… How about we go back to my room and watch a movie? Something fun, a comedy? Or is there anything you want to watch?” Mika quickly showered Silva in words.

  That did sound like a good idea. It would hopefully take Silva’s mind away from the depressing thoughts. “Yes, let's do that. Let’s watch something fun. I’ll let you decide.” She gave Mika the most genuine smile she could manage. Then she stood up and headed to Mika’s room, but when she looked back, she found her friend frozen in pce.

  “Are you coming?” She asked.

  “Yes!” Mika excimed as she rushed past Silva.

  There it was again. Sometimes, it was very hard to understand what Mika was thinking.

  Enkiari