[ here ya go, i drew the bois— Draka straight chillin behind the psychos- oh wait Also all the objects n' stuff in the drawing are gonna have a heckin ton of significance later on so ye, if you have any guesses then please go ahead~ By the way, if it seems strange that my drawings skills here are better than my drawing skills later on in the book, that's because this is a redraw of some serious shit that I did when I was 14 😂 so merry birthday ]

A sudden cold feeling on her neck (not dissimilar to an ice pack) caused [Y/n] to slowly begin to wake. When she opened her eyes, Aytsa reeled back in surprise, retracting his small hand from her flesh. Taking a glance around her dark room and squinting a little to allow herself to make everything out, she soon spotted everyone else there too. She stayed still for a moment, a little confused, before she finally realised what must've happened. Someone at the back of the room (who revealed himself to be Laion) turned on the light.

After adjusting to the light, her eyes glanced over to the unfinished fudge, then to the blonde boy sat on the chair in the corner of her room. He clocked her stare and gave her a bright smile in response.

"I'm not a liar, [Y/n]. You didn't finish the fudge so I told everyone. It just so happened we also discovered that it wasn't the only bite you'd received," he frowned. [Y/n] looked down at her shoulder (and, to the best of her ability, at her nape), just about seeing the two bite marks. She let out a long sigh.

"It's not important. Don't worry. I'm totally fine," she said softly, though she was unable to give a reassuring smile to back up her words like she had envisioned herself doing. The absence of emotion on her expression simply worked against her. Seishin cocked a brow in a disbelieving manner and Mitzu walked over to her bed, his arms crossed.

"Did Nyais do those?" he asked sternly. [Y/n] didn't respond, not really knowing how to. "Well? Did he? Why? Why would he? What's going on, [Y/n]?" The anger in his tone totally caught [Y/n] off guard. Of course Mitzu did seem the type to get angry, but she'd hoped it would never be directed at her.

"Enough Mitzu," Laion's soft voice came from the other side of the room. "That's her business. Stop hounding her." Mitzu's arms fell back by his sides as he watched Laion closely, his body seeming poised to leap and attack. Laion appeared to catch on to this and looked away from him and over to [Y/n].

"Guys, really, I'm fine. I need to get dressed, so—"

"Are you hiding things from us?" questioned a quiet voice from the other side of the room. Kori was stood by the door, staring unblinkingly.

"No, of course not!" [Y/n] said quickly. "Don't be ridiculous." She stared back at Kori; the blue-eyed boy watched her with clear scepticism. [Y/n] felt like a rabbit in the headlights, her breathing slowing itself making her slowly grow breathless. The tension in the room truly was suffocating.

"Kori has a point," Draka put in, the usually jubilant boy seeming far more reserved than usual. "If you were planning on keeping the bites a secret, are you hiding anything else?" he asked, his head tilted to one side. [Y/n] shook her head with an immediacy that showed both desperation and concern. The boys seemed stuck on whether to view this as a pledge to her honesty or another attempt at covering up whatever it might be she was hiding.

"I'm not hiding anything, guys. Come on, at least one of you has to believe me?" she huffed, her shoulders sagging a little.

"I believe you, [Y/n]," Laion said gently, "you wouldn't lie to us about something like that. The bites were just nervous mistakes, right?" he asked her with a smile. 'Mistakes?' [Y/n] mentally repeated, a little worried as to what the word could mean or imply. Even still, she nodded.

"Y-yeah, that," she confirmed, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing up finally. The boys all watched her with hawk-like vision and she couldn't help but connote their expressions with that of cats stalking mice or birds. Understanding full well that her position in this situation truly was one of a mouse or other small prey animal, she decided she wouldn't wait with her tail on display. She walked over to her wardrobe and opened the doors.

"I'm gonna get changed so you guys need to go," she said quickly, her hand on the wardrobe door. Despite the obviousness in her request, only Laion moved towards the door. Everyone else stayed in place. [Y/n] narrowed her eyes at this. "Look, I get you're mad at me - that's absolutely fine - but I can explain myself when I'm dressed. It's just a little bit awkward having all of you stare at and scrutinise me when I'm in... uh... these," she sighed, pointing down at the dove grey pyjamas she wore.

Draka and Aytsa looked at Seishin as they seemed to await his instructions. Laion now opened the door - Draka hesitantly followed him out of the room. Mitzu and Kori kept their gazes solely on [Y/n], seeming unwilling to leave.

"[Y/n]? Mind if I ask you a question?" Seishin asked with a curious undertone to his mainly monotonous voice. [Y/n] sucked in a breath and nodded. "You said you loved us, right?" he asked. She paused before nodding again. "And when you love someone you're supposed to trust them. To feel comfortable around them and to want to spend time with them. Right?" [Y/n] gave a half-nod. Seishin tilted his head. "Then why do you want us to leave?"

"For obviously reasons!" [Y/n] responded quickly, "because it'd be weird if a bunch of kids were watching me change. Plus, why would you want to watch me change in this first place?" she asked as she gave the boy a cold glare.

"I don't!" he responded immediately with a sharp gaze and a small blush on his cheeks. "It's not that I want to see you undressed," he huffed, looking the other way, "it's just that I don't think you think through what you say enough. You shouldn't care whether we're in here or not if you really do love us."

"Just get out, would you?" [Y/n] huffed. Seishin shrugged in response but nodded, eventually taking his leave. And, with that, the others followed after him. She couldn't tell whether the action was spiteful or forgetful but Kori left her door open. With a sigh heavier than a Steinway, [Y/n] walked over to it and shut it behind them.

Upon returning to the wardrobe, [Y/n] decided it was about time she actually followed up her excuse for getting the boys out of her room and got changed.

* * *

None of the boys were in the living room so [Y/n] assumed they'd all gone to their rooms. Of course, she could do what she wanted to do (which was stay where she was and sit in silence for a while) or she could do what she was probably morally supposed to do (which was going to thank Laion for his support earlier on). She eventually concluded sitting around and moping would get her nowhere. The [h/c] haired female stood up and made her way over to Laion's bedroom, which was just up the corridor and on the other side from the living room.

She knocked three times, standing and waiting. When no one answered, she called "Laion? Are you in there?" and, surely enough, the door swung open. Laion pulled her inside but put a finger on his lips, a signal [Y/n] recognised as one to be quiet. He pointed over to a small cupboard and led her over to it.

"Apparently mushrooms grow better when they're completely deprived of everything, so I've put foam on the inside of that cupboard to muffle any noises from out here. It's not foolproof though so you've got to be a bit quieter when you come in my room," Laion explained, giving [Y/n] an apologetic smile. [Y/n] let out a soft giggle at this.

"Mushrooms? Alright then. So no loud speakers at 3am?" she asked with a joking grin. Laion didn't really understand the joke but he smiled also, shaking his head.

"No loud... uh, things, at 3am," he said softly, obviously not knowing what a speaker was. Then, he grabbed [Y/n]'s arm and dragged her along to the other side of his bedroom where he sat her down next to a small patch of daisies. "Daisies love being picked - it makes them grow faster," Laion began, "so..." he trailed off, picking a few and placing them together before tearing off a stringy bit of one of the stems and tying it around the three, "these are for you!" he finished finally, placing them in [Y/n]'s hands. [Y/n] smiled softly at this and looked at them for a while before placing them behind her ear.

"They're lovely. Thank you Laion," [Y/n] said gently, "you're really very clever!" Laion grinned proudly at this. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut short by the door swinging open. A silver-haired boy stood in the doorframe looking deeply irked. He stormed into the room and grabbed [Y/n]'s wrist, leading her off with him.

"Hey— Mitzu! Stop that," [Y/n] said quickly, trying to wrench her wrist from the boy's iron grip. It didn't let up in the slightest. Instead, his pace quickened as he stormed over to his room. He opened the door and shoved [Y/n] in and the girl took a moment to adjust to the darkness of the room before the light flicked on and she was left squinting. "What the hell was that for?!" [Y/n] snapped, finally making Mitzu out in the doorway as he shut the door behind him. This was the first time [Y/n] had been in Mitzu's room - he'd turned her away at the door the time before.

It was oddly... calm. White walls and a cream carpet were the main features of the room. The bed was hardly noticeable, sitting in the right far corner perfectly made with a white metal frame white linen. There was a desk in the far corner opposite the bed, white also. [Y/n] could just about make out the crystal doorknobs to a wardrobe hiding on the wall on her left. Mitzu's voice snapped her back to the present.

"I don't like Laion," he answered [Y/n]'s question casually, "he's too nice." [Y/n] raised an eyebrow at his statement but decided not to comment, understanding that Mitzu would be Mitzu; forever unreasonable.

"Okay..." [Y/n] trailed off, "but why did you drag me in here?" she asked, glancing around the room once more. Mitzu stared at her for a while before looking down and shrugging. [Y/n] sighed and walked over to his door, placing her hand on the handle. Quite quickly she felt herself being wrenched away from it and falling backwards. It took her a moment to register why she had stopped falling despite her feet being off the ground. The small boy, despite being less than half [Y/n]'s size, was holding the girl bridal style with ease. He slowly placed her back down on the ground.

"Don't go yet," he said simply, staring at her. [Y/n] let out a long sigh.

"You could've asked me to stay without pulling me over," [Y/n] stated, sitting up and crossing her arms over her chest. Mitzu rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah..." he sighed. "Uh, do you remember that tune you sang me...?" he asked quietly. [Y/n]'s brow furrowed. 'What tune? When have I sung for-' realisation soon dawned upon her that Mitzu was referring to the lullaby she'd sent him to sleep to on the first few days. She nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I do. How do you remember that?" she asked. She didn't think they were developed enough then to remember anything but apparently this wasn't the case. He shrugged in response to her question.

"Dunno," he mumbled. "Can you sing it again?"

"Umm, yeah...? Sure," she said quietly, drawing in a breath and beginning to hum.

G, D, A, G, F D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, A, F, G. G, D, A, G, C A, Bb, C, D, Eb, D, C, A, G.

It was a swaying tune - lulling and calm, yet definitely melancholy. There was something about it that was both unsettling and beautiful. [Y/n] didn't know whether she liked it or not but Mitzu seemed to and that was what mattered. The boy in question watched her with an awe-filled gaze, his amber eyes shining with amazement.

"Thanks," he said quietly, finally breaking out of the trance the piece had put him in. [Y/n] simply gave him a smile before clearing her throat.

"Am I allowed to leave now?"

"No," came Mitzu's firm response. [Y/n] sighed, shaking her head. "You'd go straight back to Laion." That wasn't [Y/n]'s plan at all.

"I just want to go back to my room. Will you let me leave if I promise to go back to my room?" she asked, her head tilted slightly. Mitzu pondered over this for a while before walking over to her and taking her hand. He opened his door with his free one and began to walk her down the corridor in the direction of her room. [Y/n] let out a large sigh at his behaviour but understood that there wasn't really anything she could do about it.

It was a bit colder than usual, [Y/n] realised. She found her spare arm wrapping over her stomach to keep herself warm. [Y/n] noticed that Mitzu clocked her action but didn't say or do anything. Finally, he stopped in front of her door. "Okay. See ya," he said simply, turning and walking in the other direction, back to his room. [Y/n] let out a small chuckle before pushing open her door.

The room was pitch black so she had to stumble through the darkness to find one of the ambient lamps in her room. When she finally found one, she let out a small sigh of relief and turned it on. She turned around with the intention to find another lamp. Jumping back in shock at the close presence behind her, she backed into the lamp she'd just turned on. With a loud thud and crack the lamp fell to the floor and the bulb shattered, plunging the female in darkness once more.

"Ah, Aytsa, you scared me!" [Y/n] laughed nervously to the little boy - the source of her scare - who stood a couple metres in front of her. Or at least, he had done. She had no idea where he was now. "Aytsa?" she called, confused as to why he hadn't responded.

"You let the king... and Nyais..." Aytsa said quietly, his voice a soft whisper; it came from somewhere at the other side of the room. "What about me?"

"Let the king and Nyais what...?" [Y/n] mumbled quietly, confused. Then it dawned on her. "Whoa, wait a second Aytsa! Nyais and I— uh, that was just an accident- I don't think either of us were thinking straight. A-and I didn't let the king - b-but I couldn't say no. He'd have my head!"

"Okay," Aytsa responded in a chillingly calm voice. [Y/n] hoped he would just leave it there. Then, suddenly, [Y/n] felt some pressure on her stomach, undoubtably Aytsa's hand, indicating that her wishes would remain unheard. "If you say no, I'll have your head," he let out a small, childish giggle. A chill ran down [Y/n] spine.

"Hey- uh, Aytsa, this isn't funny. Look, why don't you go to your room and think a bit about what you're saying and maybe we can—" [Y/n]'s words were cut off by a pained cry as she felt a familiar sensation hit her neck. She pushed at the boy but it only made the pain more intense. And then, a familiar weakness - blood loss - struck her.

The feeling of Aytsa being pulled off of her hardly registered as she slipped in and out of consciousness. She could hear someone speaking to her but couldn't make out who it was. They held her close to their chest and, despite being freezing cold, gave her the comfort she needed to slip off into slumber.

Wow, uh, this chapter was baddddd butttttt, I wrote it so yay—? Next chapter: Day 13 and a Boundary Pushed