Heroes of Silvatica City

Jin looked down in drunken shame when Drago vanished. Cha stood like a statue for some time before she went over to where Drago had been, picking up Jin's shoe that he'd left behind, and then going back over to her sister. "We're going home," she said. Neither of them had brought coats, braving the cold in the name of fashion, so they didn't need to go back inside. Cha summoned an uber, getting a big one so that they could all ride together no matter what direction they needed to go. They half carried Jin into the car, lying to the driver and saying she probably wasn't going to puke, and all went home in silence. No one but Cha knew what had happened with Jin, and that was how it would stay until Jin decided to tell them in her own time...

Jin had the whole weekend to rest and recover, and to tell her parents what she told Cha. They were mortified and sent her straight to the police, where she filed an official report. As upsetting and degrading as it was to relive everything, including those vague memories from the party, she was doing this to protect others from her monstrous boyfriend - no, ex now. That was clear enough. So Jin persevered through all the tough, personal questions, knowing that what she was doing was saving someone else. So much for resting, though. When Monday came, she was still exhausted from the whole thing, not to mention she had an ugly bruise around her left eye from where her ex had roughhoused her. She felt awful, and was very conscious of all the disgusted looks she was getting. But as ever, she kept smiling, though it hurt to do with her black eye. All her friends greeting her timidly was the worst part of it. Sakura felt guilty about thinking about anyone other than Jin that weekend, but her mind kept returning to the hazy, glowing, rose tinted few minutes she spent with Millo making out on that sofa. She was consumed with worry, but would wander back to that couch in her mind over and over, to be in Milo's arms. Sakura could barely look at him again on Monday, but she did manage a shy wave.

"Oh, that's just what I wanted," Honey said sarcastically, but warmly, smiling up at Ire. "More paperwork, yippee." That little brat wizard was too much for Honey to handle. Secretly she hated kids and teenagers, so looking after a medieval one was just the pits. Even worse that he was adamant on escaping to hit on Olivia Walker.

The group and Drago only knew about the rumours and the fact that something bad had happened to Jin, they still didn't know what and to what extent. Jin wasn't ready to tell any of them yet - she had only told Cha because she'd been off her face on rohypnol and trying to save Drago's life. Maybe one day she'd tell them more, but for now she was content to let it lie. Except everyone was treating her differently. Like she was a delicate baby bird. She hated it. Where was the banter? The occasional rough play they'd engage in? The fake-flirty hugs? Jin was smiling but inside she was screaming. She didn't think she could make it through the rest of the day. Meanwhile Amber had sort of forgotten her altercation with DJ. The following events had put it into perspective and she no longer felt any kind of way towards DJ. If he were to bring it up with her, she'd be happy to discuss it. Sakura was thinking that they needed to have a talk, but would now be the right time? But they couldn't keep avoiding the subject, they'd have to address it during first break. But the classes were dragging for them all.

Honey bit her lower lip and moaned slightly, enjoying the massage from Ire's strong, firm hands. "Wonder where you learned that, huh?" she cooed, reminiscing about the old days when Honey would massage away Ire's stress, and then do other things to further help her unwind while they were still in the office... "It's nothing I can't handle," she added, more professional sounding. "I can handle anything. Wonder where I learned that?"

Sakura was red in the face as she agreed with a nod, and went with Milo to a secluded corner of the corridor. A couple of people in their class snickered at them as they went by. People had obviously seen what they'd done together... Amber was actually hanging out with the twins and Mia, and Lloyd, who was secretly concerned for their happiest friend. She reminded her a bit of her own sister, and was disturbed at these events. She also wanted Chloe to be here. The younger ones were also only half aware of what had gone down, not to mention the huge bruise on Jin's face, so they just hovered around behind Mia. When DJ took Amber aside, she looked at him quizzically. "What's up?"

Honey had closed her eyes but then she opened them when Ire talked business once more. Ire said she'd 'retired', but this was no retirement. If anything, it was a sideways promotion - different work, no better or worse than the last. She gave Ire a tired look but then just smiled. "I'll be waiting." She'd reserved a table for them at a nice restaurant, as a surprise to Ire, but they could always do that another time when the next opening came available.

Sakura pursed her lips together and nodded. Yeah, the party... It hadn't been all bad, at least for Sakura. Was this Milo about to tell her that this was a mistake? Or could it be the opposite? The not knowing was making Sakura panic, and she was barely holding it together as she looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to either break her heart or make her the happiest girl alive. Oh, Drago lived in dorms instead of at home? Jin hadn't known that, or she might have visited further. "Do you know what dorm is his?" Jin asked Lola. "I should go talk to him. Alone," she added, looking at her sister. She and Mia could apologise later. Amber tilted her head and sighed. "Yeah, we're cool," she said, clearly calculating what she was about to say. "Look, I have... Hangups, but they're my problem so I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I'm sorry. We're cool."

Honey closed her eyes again, going from sad to annoyed. Shame on her for ever thinking she could hide anything from Ire. She always knew what gifts she would receive, and never seemed surprised when she came home to something romantic or raunchy that Honey had set up in secret. "Then you'd better be off," she said professionally, sitting forward so she could do her paperwork.

Oh thank goodness. Sakura was so relieved that she instantly started silently laughing, holding her hands over her chest to contain her joy in case it burst from her chest like a freed bird. To hell with there being other people nearby, she couldn't contain her feelings. She leapt on Milo when he was only just done speaking and cuddled him tightly. He even said he loved her, not just liked her! Jin looked a bit deflated when Lola said she didn't know what dorm Drago was in. She didn't really want to go knocking around on everyone's doors to find his. Cha couldn't take seeing her sister even a tiny bit inconvenienced so she gave Lola an intense look. "Your dad would know which room was his, right? We can ask him," she insisted. Amber rolled her eyes but she was smiling slightly, even blushing a tiny bit. "Okay, fine," she said. "But for now we should focus on making Jin feel better after whatever it was that happened."

Ire was trying to make her less annoyed but then she said she was going for a few days instead of a couple, and Honey was further annoyed. Perhaps Honey wouldn't cancel that restaurant booking, and she'd take someone else there instead. Despite being annoyed, Honey was a mature adult so she smiled up at her wife and gave her a kiss. "Be safe."

Sakura nodded excitedly, still holding onto him. They were in a dark time right now, with what had happened to Jin, but at least Sakura and Milo had found light and warmth in finally confessing to one another. Cha narrowed her eyes. She was the one talking, not Jin, so it was rude for Lola to be addressing her twin and not her. Also Lola's constant condescending tone was usually fine but she should dial it back until Jin was back to her normal self. Jin smiled nervously and flapped her hand. "Thanks Lola, don't worry about it," she said. Amber nodded slightly and then turned to go back to the table where all their friends were.

"I said don't worry about it," Jin repeated, this time with a little more force. She was still smiling and polite, but for Jin to have any sort of sharpness in her voice was extremely out of character. It frightened her sister, not just because it was out of the norm but also because it revealed the tip of the iceberg that was her sister's inner torment. Thank god the bell rang then to signal the end of lunch-break. Jin gathered up her stuff and went to the next class, not waiting for anyone to catch up. Olivia gave Lola a "wtf" look as the rest of them followed. They only had one class left for the day and then after school clubs. It was cooking class again today, which Jin went to but Drago wasn't there of course. That was good, though, because Jin burnt half the food and under-cooked the rest. People were snickering at her quietly as she cleaned up and excused herself. She was trying not to panic as she walked around the school by herself, having forced her sister to go do her own thing. Her feet and brain weren't communicating, and soon enough she found herself at the dorms. Huh.

Jin felt sick looking at all the tags alongside his name. She would go straight to Principle Squishy after this. It had told her to come to it whenever she needed, and she needed to right now. But first she wanted to see Drago. His room was right down the end of the corridor. Jin didn't want to make him nervous or think he was being pranked, so when she went and knocked, she also introduced herself. "H-hi," she said weakly. "It's me. Are you there?"

Drago's question would have been answered if he opened the door to look at Jin. She was wearing tons of makeup to hide the ugly bruise snaking around her eye socket, but was fooling no one. Seeing as Drago wasn't looking though, Jin felt comfortable enough to not force a smile anymore. Her face drooped into a depressed slump. "... No," she answered simply. She perked up slightly to stop herself from crying, and reached into her bag to bring out a flask of chicken soup, which she placed in the gap in the door. "Made you this, in case you weren't feeling okay," she said quickly. "I'm... I'm so sorry, for everything. I'm sorry Mia hit you, I'm sorry people are being horrible, I'm sorry you saw... That. I'm sorry." Ugh, this got super weird. Jin felt her emotions bubbling over and she skittered out of there quickly before he could hear her crying.

Jin nearly leapt out of her skin and cried out in fright when Drago zipped in front of her with his quick teleporting ability. She skidded to a halt before she could run into him, looking up at him like a dear in the headlights. She knew she shouldn't have left her sister, now she was out alone and every little thing was frightening her. Even though she knew where he was, the fear that he could come for her around every corner was debilitating. She was seeing him everywhere now, her breathing trembling just like she was. This was not the Jin anyone else had ever seen. She could barely see that Drago looked even more beat up than she did. She wanted to run past him, but her legs were jelly now.

Jin took a few deep, shaky breaths and put her hand on her forehead. She needed to calm down, or she'd black out or something. She laughed nervously, but the laughing turned to sobs and she put her hand over her mouth to stop herself, though the tears were already tumbling down. "I'm not... Okay," she mumbled through her hand. She needed to go and speak to Squishy, she wanted to go home and hug her sister, and she also wanted to stay and hang out with Drago... But she didn't want to be a burden to any of them. She had caused all this. All the suffering everyone was going through was her fault.

Jin was so embarrassed and definitely having a panic attack, she didn't want someone as cool as Drago to see this any more than he already was. And what he was worrying about, someone seeing this, was about to happen, as they could hear approaching male voices. Jin's eyes flared open and she looked around in a panic. The rumours and bullying about both of them would get worse if they were seen here. She looked back at his open door, then up at him thinking about how he could maybe teleport her away. Or perhaps he hadn't been able to do that with others before. She didn't want to invade his privacy...