Chapter Text
December 5, 1950
The sleet was coming down thickly as Yor opened the gates that led into the apartment complex. The hinges groaned as she forced the door open, pushing aside a growing pile of snow from people who had opened the gate before her going in and out.
“Come on Yuri, or else we’ll be late today,” Yor said, pulling her beret lower over her head so that snow wouldn’t get into her eyes.
“I forgot my homework!” Yuri gasped, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I’ll be right back!”
“Hurry!” Yor handed him the keys to their place and stood with the gate open, peering up at the sky. Looks like the snow wasn’t going to let up any time soon, so they would have a somewhat harder time getting to school. Not that it was any issue for her, but Yuri was so small that the cold might get to him and make him sick.
A teal Volkswagen van rounded the corner, driving by her before it screeched to a halt. The car suddenly made a U-turn, wheeling around and slowing down on the curb next to her. It rumbled to a stop, and the window rolled down.
“Yor!” Loid said in surprise from the interior. “Fancy seeing you here! Are you heading to school?”
“G-good morning, Loid!” Yor squeaked, suddenly feeling rather silly with her hat pulled down over her eyebrows. She adjusted it self-consciously, brushing snowflakes off her uniform. “I’m just waiting for my brother. Do you normally take this route to school?” The people who lived on Yor’s street had very set schedules and routines. She knew all of them by heart, and had never seen this car drive by at this time in the morning. It was a big family van, so kind of hard to miss.
“Ah, I don’t usually, but there was an accident on the road I normally take, so here I am.” Loid smiled at her, and Yor’s cheeks burned. Probably from the cold. “Can I give you guys a ride? It’s really cold to be walking to school in this weather.”
“I’m back!” Yuri puffed, his little legs churning up snow as he ran towards his sister. He skidded to a stop, staring at Loid curiously, with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. “What’s he doing here?”
“Loid just offered us a ride to school because of the weather. Isn’t that nice of him?” Yor placed her hand on the handle as Loid unlocked it, but Yuri grabbed ahold of her other hand, pulling her back.
“B-but, I want to walk!” Yuri insisted, his face scrunched up. “It’s… good exercise!”
“What? You hate exercise,” Yor said in confusion. “Come on, we’ll be late at this point if we walk. And I don’t want you getting sick again.”
Very reluctantly, Yuri climbed into the back seat while Yor sat in the front. Loid started off, driving slowly since it was hard to see beyond a few meters in front of him.
“I’m surprised they didn’t call off classes today with it snowing like this. Do your parents never take you to school?” Loid asked conversationally.
“Oh no, my mom is, er, really busy, so I don’t want to be a burden and ask her.” Yor made eye contact with Yuri through the rearview mirror. His eyes were wide with fear. She had to change the subject, now. “Nice car!” she blurted, a little louder than she intended to.
“It’s smelly,” Yuri added helpfully, although the look he gave Loid was somewhat akin to a death glare.
“Oh yeah, about that,” Loid honked as another car suddenly cut him off. “Do you know Dominic Campbell? He graduated last year.”
“Camilla’s boyfriend? I kind of know him.”
“Well it turns out that anything the SSS doesn’t keep as evidence gets dumped at the local precinct. Dominic and I used to go to the library for a study group, and he recognized my car. Managed to find the keys and get this back to me.” Loid’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Figures that the secret police wouldn’t even give my father’s belongings back to his family. Just have them thrown away, like trash.”
Yor had no idea how to respond to that, and the atmosphere descended into an awkward silence. Loid seemed to recognize how uncomfortable she was, and cleared his throat.
“Sorry, just had to rant. I’m honestly glad I even got the car back.” Loid’s blue eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror, taking note of the boy in the back. “So, Yuri, is it? Your sister tells me you’re pretty smart. Is that why you come to school so early? Busy studying in the library before class?”
Eden’s first through seventh years started classes at 9 AM. The upper division students, known as Year 8s through Year 13s, started their classes an hour earlier. This was done to avoid too much interaction between the younger children and the nearly-graduates. Yor, however, couldn’t exactly just leave her brother alone at home for an hour while she went to school. So they always walked together. Yor would go to class, while Yuri headed to the dormitory to meet with his friends who lived on campus.
Yuri scowled and crossed his arms. “I don’t associate with delinquents,” he growled. (“Yuri, that’s rude!”) “I’m at the top of my class. And I have two stella stars to prove it.”
Yor glanced at Loid anxiously, fully expecting him to kick them out of his car and make them walk. Yuri’s behaving strangely, he isn’t normally this ill-mannered!
Loid only looked thoughtful. “Associate and delinquent are fourth-year level vocabulary words. That was pretty good use of them in a sentence.”
Yuri’s jaw dropped as Loid continued. “Two stella stars is great! I think I had three around this time in my third year.”
Yuri fell over in his seat with a groan of defeat as Loid pulled into the car park. As soon as he parked, the entrance was suddenly overcrowded with commuter upperclassmen as they clamored for a parking spot. Seems like they had thought school would be canceled today, and then came in a hurry all at once when they realized it wasn't. Closer towards the building, the big yellow school buses hissed air from the tires as other commuter students filed out.
Yor got out of the van and looked around. She had never been to this part of the school before. Were there even enough spaces for everyone to park?
Yuri and Loid talked a bit longer inside the car before getting out. Yor was just glad that the mean stint from earlier was over. She had no clue what had suddenly gotten into her sweet little brother.
Yuri took Yor’s hand and tried his very best to yank her ahead, but Yor hardly took notice. Loid looked disturbed about something.
“Yor, I promise I won’t ever do anything to make you cry,” Loid said with a deadpan expression.
“Um, okay…” Yor was utterly bemused. “Thanks?”
“Just thought I should let you know.”
The trio walked over to the school’s front lawn. Yor recognized the prickly feeling of eyes watching her as they passed in front of the gates and the statue of the school’s founder. People were whispering about Loid. Or perhaps her. Or maybe even them .
Loid stopped suddenly, staring at someone who approached them. It was a boy with black hair, a fellow Year 11 like them. Brutus Blackbell, the name rang in her mind. On orientation days, or when they all lined up for certain events, he was the one who always stood in front of her.
Brutus Blackbell was an Imperial Scholar, evident from the black velvet cloak that wrapped around his broad shoulders and fluttered elegantly over the snow. The underside of the cloak was a royal red, which stood out like blood against the stark whiteness.
“Brutus,” Loid said stiffly, his hands clenched into fists at his side.
“Loid,” Brutus greeted quietly. He briefly glanced at the Briar siblings, before his dark eyes fixated on the blond. “Can we talk?”
“We’re talking right now.” Loid crossed his arms, not blinking as he stared. His gaze could melt ice, with its burning contempt.
“In private.” He inclined his head apologetically towards Yor, who was beyond surprised that he acknowledged her. Somehow, being next to Loid made people all of a sudden notice her more.
“Er, I’ll go on ahead with Yuri,” she said, fighting the urge to look down and shuffle her feet. “See you around.”
“See ya,” Loid said back, although Yor could’ve sworn there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
“You have to stop hanging out with him,” Yuri said tearfully as soon as they were out of earshot. Loid and Brutus had walked off somewhere to continue whatever conversation they were having.
“What? But I thought you guys were getting along!” Yor couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed anything.
“He’s a bad guy, I just know it!” Yuri insisted. “My instincts tell me.”
Yor pulled her hand away from him. “Did you threaten him when I wasn’t in the car?”
Yuri stared back at her with a hurt expression. “No! I just told him not to get into any funny business, that’s all!”
“Honestly, Yuri!” Yor threw up her hands in exasperation. “What exactly has Loid done to you since you’ve met him? He drove us to school and wasn’t even mad when you were being rude to him! He’s been nothing but nice to you, but you and the rest of the school are just a whole bunch of bullies.”
Yuri’s eyes grew big, and then watered. His lower lip quivered. “B-but…” he whimpered.
Yor immediately regretted her outburst. She bent down and hugged her brother, not too tightly this time so she wouldn’t accidentally break his ribs again. “I’m sorry for raising my voice at you, Yuri, but you have to be nicer! You don’t know what people might be going through.”
Yuri sniffled. “Okay, fine,” he grumbled.
“I have to get to class now. You be good, alright?” Yor patted Yuri on the back before standing up.
—
Yor didn’t get the chance to talk to Loid again the rest of the school day. She had a different first period, but in English, they had a socratic seminar about the work they were reading, so everyone sat in a haphazard circle while the smart kids took over the entire discussion. Yor was lousy at interpreting poetry, so she stayed silent the whole time.
Yor’s class had Chemistry lab before their lecture for some reason, so she was completely lost while fumbling through her titration. She overshot (by a lot, the solution was dark pink when she realized her mistake), and her head spun as she tried to calculate her percent error. She was probably the only person in the history of Eden to get a 30,000 percent error.
Meanwhile, Loid finished first, and his solution was clear with the barest hint of pink. He cleaned his station, finished the worksheet quickly, and started on his homework. Some of his friends, having apparently forgotten that they had kicked him out of the group scarcely a month prior, crowded around him to beg for answers.
Yor was the last to submit her lab worksheet, and had to run in order to make it to her lunch detention. When she made her way to the lecture hall, the only seat available was in the front row, where the seats squealed obnoxiously every time she moved. Loid was a few rows behind, with a calculator in his lap instead of a notebook. The students around him clamored for his attention, loudly whispering numbers or questions at him as the professor droned on about acid-base buffer solutions. The clacking of the keys as he typed was loud and distracting, and by the end, Yor had absorbed absolutely nothing from the material on the blackboard.
Yor trudged out of the lecture hall, completely exhausted after staying behind for a remedial lesson. Somehow the information just didn’t stick in her brain. She headed towards the school library in a daze, where she usually met Yuri before heading home.
A certain blonde intercepted her in the hallway. “Jeez, what’s got you looking so down, Yor?” Camilla tutted, fixing the beret that threatened to fall off Yor’s head.
Before Yor could properly answer, Camilla pulled her in the direction of the south wing. “Nevermind that, I know exactly what’ll make you feel better!”
Ever since the day Yor threw Judas Watkins, people tended to give her a wide respectful distance. Camilla, Sharon, and Millie picked up on this quickly, and had started walking with her to the classes they shared, sneering and catcalling whoever they wanted so long as a professor wasn’t within earshot. They also never failed to press her for information on the ever-enigmatic Loid Forger, although they had yet to interact outside of school beyond that one time they accidentally met in the park. And today.
“Wait! I have to go pick up Yuri!” Yor protested.
“Staying in the library for an extra thirty minutes won’t kill him,” Camilla said impatiently. “We’ve got important matters to discuss in my room.”
Millie hummed over a physics worksheet, chewing on the end of her pencil while Sharon smoked out of the window. The three shared a dorm room, which was so messy that Yor could hardly see the floor from beneath all the scattered clothes, makeup supplies, and ladies’ magazines. Sharon looked over and offered one of her rare smiles as Camilla and Yor entered.
“Finally.” She flicked the cigarette out the window and shut it, keeping the freezing air from entering the room. “You’re here. So, this weekend we’re–”
“We’re going to a party!” Millie squealed, unable to help herself. She jumped up, her homework fluttering to the floor in a forgotten mess. “A real party.”
Camilla shut the door for privacy. “Why not announce it to everyone on the floor, Millie?” she snorted. She walked over to her desk and pulled out a thick phonebook from one of the drawers. “A friend of mine from the public school invited me to a birthday party she’s throwing and told me to bring as many people as I can, as long as they’re not boring.” She flipped over to a map of the zip code area, beckoning the other girls to come over.
Yor tilted her head as Camilla circled the address and corresponding place on the map. The party actually wasn’t too far from her complex. “So? What about it? You guys have parties all the time.” Not that she was ever invited, but Yor had far more important things to worry about.
“This is a public school party. Eden kids are too rich and academically-focused to know how to celebrate anything properly,” Millie clapped her hands together, eyes shining. “All we have to do to get in is bring our own booze.”
“But none of us are eighteen,” Yor said slowly.
Camilla smiled knowingly. “We’ve covered every corner. Dominic will get enough for all of us to enter. And since he works for the precinct, he can take care of any ‘noise complaints.’ As long as he’s there, I can invite who I want. And that’s where you come in, Yor.”
Yor felt a prickling sensation in her neck as they all looked at her. “Your job is to get your dreamboat of a boyfriend to bring all his popular friends. They’re rich enough to be bringing the 300 dalc alcohol.”
Heat colored Yor’s cheeks, despite the room’s chilliness. “How many times do I have to tell you that he’s not my boyfriend?” She shot back hotly. “And what friends are you talking about? You all saw what happened that day he got back.”
“Oh? So why, pray tell me, did you guys come to school together? You two looked like quite the couple, with Yuri as your child,” Millie said with a smirk.
“How did you even see that?” Yor demanded. “It–it’s not what you think! You see, it was snowing really hard, so he just happened to be there and offered–”
“We’re getting off-track,” Sharon said boredly, waving off Yor’s explanation. “Basically, what happened is I overheard his conversation with Brutus Blackbell this morning.”
“How?”
“I smoke in the boys’ bathroom. Professors never check in there. Anyway, if you’re just about done interrupting, I learned that Judas Watkins was banned from the club wrestling team this season because of a disciplinary action. And Loid is his replacement.”
Yor processed this information. That must be why he was suddenly popular again, if he was on one of Eden’s club sports teams. Unlike the regular school sports, the club teams competed with other leagues in the city, and even sometimes traveled around the country to play.
She recalled his request for her to teach him how to fight. She excelled at hand-to-hand combat, and adjusting her skills to wrestling rather than killing would be an easy switch. If Loid was part of the team, then he could very much use her help. Which also meant that he would spend time with her. Not that she really really wanted him to, anyway. The thought of them wrestling, with her strong legs straddling his body as she pinned him down, evoked a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Hello? Earth to Yor?” Camilla waved her hand in front of the other girl’s face?
“Huh?” Yor blinked, snapped out of her daydream.
“I said, are you going to help us or not?” Camilla took hold of Yor’s hands, staring at her intensely. “This whole plan relies on you. And it’ll be your first party, right? You’ll want it to be exciting.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to see Yor get drunk!” Millie trilled.
Yor looked down at their hands. If she was honest… she didn’t hate the fact that she was now being included in plans. And it did really sound exciting. She didn’t particularly enjoy the thought of using Loid, but it was harmless, right? He could always just say no, and that would be the end of it.
She squeezed Camilla’s hands. “I’ll do it,” she promised firmly.
Millie let out another squeal and, overjoyed, locked Sharon in a side-hug. Sharon tolerated it with a roll of her eyes, although she also seemed quite pleased.
“Ouch! You can let go now.” Camilla rubbed her hands with a wince. “I think the pre-season training started today, and it ends at 5:30.” She checked the time on her wristwatch. “Just enough time for you to take Yuri home,” (“Does your mom ever help out?” wondered Millie,) “and come back so we can doll you up to ask him.”
Yor swallowed, her heart pounding in her throat. “Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
—
Yor’s face itched badly, but she couldn’t upset whatever Camilla had applied on her. She waited outside of the boys’ gym locker room, trying to ignore how sweaty her hands were. They would communicate with signals, so Yor had to catch him with his back facing them. So much could easily go wrong that Yor was running circles in her head with all the worst possible scenarios. She was never this nervous on any of her contract jobs.
5:45. The door opened, and most of the team members filed out. Anxiously, Yor stared at her shoes, face burning. She could tell that some of the boys did a double-take as they walked past, and one was even cocky enough to wolf-whistle at her. She ignored it.
Brutus and Loid were out last. They were laughing about something, but it immediately died as soon as they saw Yor standing there, waiting. Brutus gave her a weird look, almost as if he didn’t want her to be there.
“I’ll catch you later.” Loid patted his friend on the back. Brutus merely nodded and went on his way.
Yor’s chest did that thing again as Loid turned to her and grinned. “Heard the news, I’m assuming?”
Yor took a deep breath to try and calm her beating heart. “Y-yeah. I just… had some extra time so I wanted to say congratulations.”
“And here I thought you were just about to use me for a ride home.” Loid leaned casually on the lockers. “That was a joke, by the way. I honestly don’t mind giving you guys a ride, so whenever you want to…” he trailed off, staring at Yor curiously. “Are you wearing makeup?”
“Yeah!” Yor’s voice cracked two octaves away from her normal voice. She cleared her throat, which was suddenly dry. “Ca–er, my… friend who wants to be a fashion designer, wanted to… try a new look on me.” Millie was doing weird gyrations with her arms from behind the corner. She had no idea what they were trying to communicate.
Loid nodded sagely. “I get that. I had a friend in drama club who did the same thing to me a few times, apparently ‘because my face was so symmetrical.’ I don’t know if she ever actually went into that as a career, though.” He tilted his head, studying her. “I like it. Your lipstick matches your eyes.”
Yor’s eyes widened. Millie had apparently given up trying to play charades with her, and was instead holding up a notebook with instructions scrawled in unmistakeable black ink.
Flirt with him.
Loid watched her with a curious expression, and turned his head to follow where she was looking.
Panicking, Yor grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. “Y-you think so?” She asked anxiously, trying not to squeeze too hard.
It was now Loid’s turn to look flustered. Yor released her hands, stunned.
“I mean, yeah,” he admitted, rubbing his cheek. “Your friend has a… good eye for lighting.” He cleared his throat, seeming suddenly very interested in the muddy shoe prints on the ground.
Yor noticed that his hair looked darker when it was wet. Some of the wrestlers didn’t bother to shower after practice since they were going home anyway, and the smell lingered in the hallway. Thankfully, Loid was someone who appreciated personal hygiene. Her eyes moved past the bead of moisture that collected on the lobe of his ear, to Camilla waving the notebook frantically at her. The boldened letters read: party.
Oh right! That’s what I’m here for. Yor needed to stop getting distracted. “So, um, what are you doing this weekend?”
“This weekend?” Loid thought for a moment. “Nothing, really. Why do you ask?”
“Because…” Yor’s heart leapt into her throat. She needed to get this perfect, or else the girls would be disappointed in her. And then they would most definitely stop inviting her places. She had to choose her words carefully, in such a way that Loid couldn’t refuse!
“There’sapartythisweekendandIwantyoutocomewithme!”
“What?” Loid asked before he quickly realized what the jumbled words meant. “Oh, a party? With you?”
“It’s a public school party,” Yor nearly tripped over her tongue trying to explain more slowly. “And the host wants as many cool people to attend as possible. You just need to bring a-alcohol to enter.”
“B.Y.O.B., huh?” Loid mused, although Yor had no idea what that meant. “For a public school party…”
“You don’t have to come,” Yor blurted before she realized what she was saying. “I-if you don’t want to. Like, if you’re busy. Which you’re not, because you just told me. So you should come.” Camilla looked like she wanted to strangle Yor. “Because I’m inviting you. If it’s not too much trouble.”
Loid laughed. “Are you kidding? It sounds awesome. Public school kids always throw the best parties, especially in college. I’ll talk to the other guys on the team and we’ll see about getting drinks.” He paused, giving Yor a curious look. Yor managed to smile nervously back at him. “I didn’t peg you for a party girl. Not that that’s a bad thing.”
“This’ll be my first one,” Yor admitted. “So, I want it to be exciting.”
“Well I can’t imagine that a mixer with an Eden club team and a public school would be anything less than exciting.” Loid ran his fingers through his damp hair with a calculating look on his face. He must already be thinking of a plan. “Do you know where and when it’s at?”
Yor pulled out a piece of paper from her uniform pocket, willing her hands to stop shaking. “Here are the details,” she whispered, not because the information was clandestine, but because she didn’t trust herself to speak any louder.
Loid unfolded the note, read it quickly, then pocketed it. “Thanks. I have practice again on Thursday, so I’ll let you know then?”
Yor nodded so enthusiastically that she nearly undid her headband. “Yeah! Sounds good!”
Loid’s hand reached up, as if towards her, but it settled on the back of his neck. “Alright. By the way, do you need a ride home?”
Yor’s mouth had just formed the word yes when Camilla hurried down the hallway towards them, her heels clacking loudly on the tiled floor. “Yor! There you are!” She trilled happily, as if she hadn’t just been feeding her instructions on how to act. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! We’ve got some studying to do if we want to get it all done by Friday.” She grabbed Yor by the elbow, dragging her away without so much as a glance at Loid. “Come on, no slacking!”
“I– wh–?” Yor stuttered as she allowed the other girl to yank her away. Right as they turned the corner, she glanced back quickly, seeing Loid touch his cheek again with an odd expression on his face.
“That was perfect!” Millie whisper-shouted as soon as they had reached an appropriate distance. “The way you grabbed his face but then held back! You’re a natural at this, Yor.”
“You almost messed it up,” Sharon contradicted with a stern wave of her finger. “Telling him he didn’t have to go was a good but risky play, but thank God Camilla pulled you away. You’ve got to play hard to get if you want a man like Loid Forger to be interested in you.”
“Hard to get?” Yor repeated, dumbfounded.
“It’s so he doesn’t think you’re easy. ” Camilla peered around the corner to make sure that Loid had gone. “You can’t just say yes to everything he offers, or else he’ll, y’know,” she gestured vaguely, “consider you one of his conquests and move on. Toss you aside like an old used rag for whoever’s going to fall for him next.”
“What? But Loid… Loid isn’t like that!” Yor argued. She felt an invisible hand clench over her heart. She wasn’t even concerned about the continued insinuation that she liked him (although she did like him… as a friend.) Everything seemed to be contradicting, even her feelings. She wanted him to come, but at the same time, she didn’t want him to come because it felt like she was using him to gain popularity. Nothing seemed to make sense at the moment.
“Loid is a man. All men are like that, and they’ll always, without fail, reveal it to you eventually,” Millie said firmly. She nodded, as if to confirm her own words, but her eyes watered.
“How do you know?”
Millie shrugged. “Just an educated guess, you could say,” she whimpered, on the verge of tears. Sharon patted her on the back.
“Listen to me carefully, Yor,” Camilla said gravely. “Men are like terrible books. You can reread them as many times as you want, but the ending will still be the same every time. There are very few exceptions. Forger’s just had his entire life fall apart, and he’ll do anything to get some semblance of control back. So just…” she adjusted Yor’s headband in an almost affectionate manner. “Be careful with him, alright? Also, we really do need to finish all our homework by Friday, because I plan to get super drunk on Saturday.”
They all started to leave, but paused to turn back to Yor.
“Hello? Anytime within the next three business days would be great for you to also start walking,” Sharon snapped in annoyance.
They’re waiting for me? Yor’s stunned shock nearly kept her feet rooted to the ground. She somehow propelled her legs forward, and the other girls parted to make room for her. After years of never being included, always on the sidelines of conversations, Yor was now and truly part of the group. They were her friends now.
Everything seemed to be changing so quickly, but maybe this wasn’t so bad.