He flicked the remaining water from his fingers all over her face.

  Aida spluttered, trying to come up with a sufficiently mature response as the tenderness in Dev’s eyes creased into mirth.

  Say something, you dunce!

  Dev laughed as he stood up, blending in easily with everyone else as Bruce called the final match. “It’s time to go.”

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  In a fit of mortification, Aida managed to avoid walking into the lunch hall with Dev by insisting she was going to wait for Levi, who had looked at her and Dev's retreating back with a suspicious eye but was interrupted from commenting when Sue bounced up to them, Caleb in tow.

  She gulped down her lunch, excusing herself early to go visit Ezra.

  It was only when she finally sat down next to Ezra, nodding silently at Healer Luk’s rebuke about how eating too quickly was bad for her health, did Aida begin to slow down, letting her emotions wash over her.

  Aida buried her face in her hands as soon as Healer Luk closed the curtains, trying to cool her face with her clammy fingers.

  She remembered meeting his eyes, normally so pale it took on a tinge of whatever he was looking at - and this time, the hue reflected had been a deep blue.

  Aida gripped the roots of her hair, remembering how gently, yet firmly, his fingertips had rubbed against her scalp. How carefully, how tenderly, his fingers had worked their way through her hair, untangling the knots.

  He was definitely playing with her, no doubt about it. The real question was if he was trying to nudge their relationship in that particular direction, or if he was just playing as a friend.

  From what she saw of him in classes, he was a pretty straightforward guy - but that could be true for everyone who didn’t have someone to flirt with.

  She took a deep breath, straightening her back. Her eyes fell upon Ezra’s still figure, reminding her guiltily that it wasn’t quite right for her to be distracted by another boy when he was right in front of her. She might as well have been hanging out with Ezra just to complain about another guy. Cringe.

  She peered at his face more carefully. She wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking or a rationalization for letting herself get carried away with a shiny new attraction, but it really looked like Ezra’s cheeks had filled in a bit, making him look more like a recently-hospitalized patient than a long-term resident.

  Aida reached for his wrist, checking his pulse. Still faint - or slightly less faint? She probed within his body, trying to feel for any trace of his mana.

  Unfortunately, despite his improved complexion and generally unproblematic circulation, there was still no sign of any of his practitioner mana within his body.

  Aida wondered if she could sense any brain activity - after all, she was able to sense people’s emotions to a certain degree, so wouldn’t it make sense that she could at least see if Ezra’s brain was active?

  “What are you doing?” Healer Luk’s suspicious voice broke through Aida’s thoughts, making her withdraw her mana with a snap.

  “He looked much healthier today, so I was wondering…” Aida trailed off as Healer Luk pressed her lips together.

  “His body is absorbing the nutrition paste well after I made some modifications to the recipe, which is a good sign.” Healer Luk didn’t say anything after that, merely watching Ezra’s sleeping form quietly. Finally, she sighed. “Well, now you’ve seen him. His condition is unchanged. If there’s nothing else…”

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Aida stared up at the dark ceiling of her bedroom that night, her mind sluggish and her heart strained.

  On the one hand, she couldn’t stop her heart from skipping when she replayed the playful flick of water Dev splashed onto her earlier today. Even though her response was embarrassing, and she had come up with any number of responses in the shower that evening that would have been infinitely better than her shock (a coy “you’ve already made a mess of me,” or even a stoic “you’re ridiculous” would have been less awkward), it was at least an innocent and fun experience.

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  She knew tangling with Dev was a bad idea. Especially with how close they were to graduation - she was going to Burston City, and Dev would be traveling around Wyndia as he fulfilled his Adventurer duties.

  But on the other hand, because they were going to lead very different lives soon, that also made her confession - if she decided to go through with it - a low-stakes gamble. If he didn’t return her feelings, then she could easily start fresh in a new city, and they could avoid the awkwardness of unrequited feelings. And if he did return her feelings, well…

  What would be the end goal?

  Aida scoffed, throwing her arm over her eyes as she confronted what was possibly the most difficult question presented to her since entering this world. She was being dramatic, perhaps, but she felt like even kindling the start of her relationship with Ezra wasn’t this difficult.

  Because he brought it up first.

  She was starting to feel more sympathy for Levi now, despite the well-deserved scolding she had inflicted on him. It’s a lot easier to be objective and mature when it’s not me who has to take action…

  The only consolation she had was that once they went their separate ways, there wouldn’t be an opportunity for her to expose her jealous side if Dev ended up dating someone, so at least she wouldn’t end up looking petty like Levi.

  On the other hand, she was still wrestling with concern over Ezra’s condition. She knew Ezra’s spirit hadn’t returned to his body yet - her cursory examination of his body before Luk interrupted her was enough confirmation. But she still couldn’t help but feel like he was closer to waking up.

  She closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep to the gentle rhythm of tree branches tapping on her window.

  Her eyes flew open. She didn’t have trees in front of her window.

  Methodically, Aida moved only her eyes, trying to see if she could identify the reason why she felt like she was being watched. Nothing.

  Taking a cautious breath, she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, examining the rest of her room. You’re being paranoid.

  Finally, she turned towards the window, feeling her breath catch in her chest.

  Her heart hammering in her chest at the impossibility of it, Aida got out of bed, pressing her palms against the window where he had his own hand placed. She could almost feel the heat of his palm transmit through the glass.

  It was him. He looked just as she remembered him, silver hair fluttering in the night breeze, a gentle smile on his lips as he looked into her eyes. She could even see herself mirrored in his silvery irises.

  “You’re back?” Aida asked incredulously, unable to hold back a delighted laugh as Ezra nodded at her. His mouth shaped some words, but she couldn’t hear through the thick glass window pane. She shook her head to indicate to him that she couldn’t hear him, and he looked frustrated.

  Pulling her hand back though it pained her, Aida motioned for Ezra to remove the window the way he did when they first snuck out onto the roof. She watched him expectantly, her heart booming in her chest.

  When Ezra shook his head, Aida felt a pit settle in her stomach - as well as some wariness bubble up. How could Ezra have recovered so quickly? And how could he have left the Healing ward without Luk noticing?

  And why would he come find her through the window, instead of just knocking on her door? Or seeing her tomorrow morning?

  Is this really Ezra?

  Looking around her room, she noticed things didn’t seem as solid as before - things would snap into focus when she looked at them, but the instant objects moved to her peripheral vision, they would begin losing their shape, as if their existence didn’t matter, until she directed her full attention at them again.

  Instinctively pointing her wand at Ezra, which conveniently materialized in her hand, Aida felt her breathing become shallow, tension and adrenaline entering her body as she began to realize things weren’t quite right.

  Where am I?

  It still felt like she had control of her body - she just couldn’t explain the environment she was in. She now noticed that Ezra was floating in front of the window, instead of standing on the precarious metal ledge. A demon? A ghost? Whatever nonhuman, shapeshifting entity this world has?

  She pushed out with her mana, trying to get a feel for her surroundings as well as prepare her defenses. There wasn’t a sense of danger in the air, though - not like when she was at North Ocean Village, not like when she was down at the Lake with Ezra.

  The floating Ezra figure had raised both of his hands placatingly, his lips moving quickly, as if he was trying to talk her down. If she didn’t know any better, she would have withdrawn her wand.

  “Nice try!” Aida shouted, hoping Sue next door - if there was a Sue, and she wasn’t trapped alone in some sort of mind prison attack - would hear her and come save her. The acoustics of her room seemed to be operating normally, despite being visually confusing. “Who are you, and how dare you take Ezra’s shape to taunt me?”

  The Ezra phantasm shook his head pleadingly, a defeated expression on his face. Even though Aida knew that couldn’t be him - he was floating, for heaven’s sake, and he couldn’t even manipulate metal - her wand shook at the convincing performance. Unlike the objects in her room, the phantom still maintained a sense of realism, not twisting and contorting with the fickleness of her thoughts.

  He really does look like Ezra.

  Finally, ghost-Ezra stepped back from the window, forcing a bitter, if sad smile on his face. He began making basic gestures at Aida, accompanied by exaggerated mouthing - though his form began fading, so she couldn’t make out what he was trying to communicate.

  Squinting her eyes in confusion, she tried to memorize the actions, to no avail. All she could do was squint tighter and tighter as ghost-Ezra’s contrast faded more and more—