Story:

Peach stared at Kicho. Violet saw the pencil stop moving between Peach’s fingers.

“Ahahaha.” Her laugh came out painfully artificial.

Under the table, she caught her sister’s hand.

“Perhaps we might postpone the executions until after—”

“What on earth were you two thinking?” The shout cracked across the library.

At the distant counter, the librarian stood up.

Peach barely noticed. “I thought you were missing!”

Her chair scraped backward as she rose. The pencil rolled off the table, struck the floor, and disappeared beneath a shelf.

“Reika said nobody else was found at the portal. Nobody! Just me and Shiori! Do you understand what that meant?”

Violet’s smile vanished.

“I thought the crossing had scattered us. I thought you might be hurt somewhere. I thought Ai and Mai might be alone.”

Peach had meant to sound angry. She was angry.

But her voice kept breaking, and that made her angrier still.

“I spent the whole night trying to remember everything because I was terrified I would start forgetting you. Then I come to school, and there you are!”

She flung a hand toward their uniforms.

“Transfer students!”

Kicho opened her mouth.

“And I still cannot speak to you! Everybody surrounds your desks, and you just keep smiling! Then the PE lesson—honestly, Euphy, the purple shirt?”

Violet glanced down, as though the offending garment might still be there beneath her blazer.

“You saw me worrying. You looked straight at me and smirked.”

That landed.

Violet lowered her eyes.

Peach wiped her cheeks with her sleeve, furious to discover them wet.

“Why didn’t you find me as soon as you arrived? Why enroll here? What happened when we crossed? Aren’t we supposed to be finding the Vesperia Heart and stopping Bel?”

The questions came faster now, colliding before either sister could answer.

“And Ai-chan and Mai-chan—where are they? Where have they been sleeping? Have they had their treatment? Don’t tell me they’re enrolled here too. Don’t you dare tell me I have to search the entire school for—”