Zander sighed all-so-suddenly and shot his gaze to the door. The smile on his lips disappeared and he regained the rigid expression he had on.

Sauntering towards the entrance to his office, he pulled the knob open and in came crashing were the four Zeniths that belonged in the same team as them.

"How many times did I have to tell you people your eavesdropping will not work on me?" He chided, threatening them with a glower.

"And just a little bit of it I thought--"

"Thought what?" Zander exchanged glances with Valeriana over his shoulder. "I have told you so many times, Leticia, get your nose out of your romance novels."

Leticia looked disappointed. "I can't help it."

"I will say it one more time." He said. "It will not be a girl and it surely will not be this girl who brings me to my feet. What you do with your time is none of my business, so I beg you not to use me in your fantasies."

It will not be a girl?

The four scampered to stand back up on their feet at this. Sai stumbled forward and fell over for the second time.

"I am assuming it's a guy, then?!" Conradine's eyes shimmered at this and her face was full of determination.

Zander looked horrified. "I didn't mean it that--"

"I am assuring you of my full support!" She did a little fist pump to express her sincerity, making Valeriana feel weirded out. "If your preferences are different, you should've said so!"

"Alright, Conradine!" Leticia grabbed the other girl's hands as though a way of encouraging each other. "If it is really that way, we will help find a pair for you!"

Conradine grabbed Sai and pushed him forward while Leticia had Axel in tow.

"Let's start with these two! Who do you prefer the most?"

Needless to say, Sai was burning up to his ears and Axel had a cheesy smile on his face as though the entire thing was a game. Zander had a noncommital look with a hint of irritation.

"S-sir . . ."

"Stop this at once. I have told you so many times, I am not in need of any lo--"

It seemed Axel had decided to ride along that he came forward and took Zander's hand in his, cutting off his sentence. Valeriana gasped at this, her jaws slacking and her stomach doing a flip.

"You should've said so from the very beginning." His voice was low and husky.

Conradine pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and placed it around her mouth, muttering, "I am bleeding through the nose."

"By the gods, by the gods . . ." Leticia squealed.

Sai was speechless, to say the least.

Zander reddened, his entire face and ears turning darker than crimson. The horrified look intensified in his eyes that he pulled his hand back and kicked Axel on the stomach. The poor guy fell backwards, crashing onto his mates along the way.

"Enough with this stupidity!" Zander roared.

For the first time since ever, his aura flared.

"If you all do not go back to your working stations right away and rid yourself of your childish antics, I shall have your names removed from the Team Five and have you replaced!"

They all ran off like scared rats while Valeriana took this chance to leave as well.

That was shocking.

She wished not to put any meaning behind what just occured, but their jokes seemed to have gotten a bit far. Axel, who did not make the I'm-a-weirdo signal go off inside her head actually sent the whole atmosphere to shoot off into the awkward universe.

"T-thanks for your time, I w-will be back later." She stammered, then ran off like her life depended on it.

That was the most awkward thing she witnessed her entire life, but she had to admit, it was sort of funny as well.

She did not judge people with those sort of preferences since that did not make who they were as a whole. Valeriana met more than one individual with similar sex preferences, and they were all nice and good people.

As she already mentioned before, being happy was not easy. Becoming happy was even harder.

Love existed in all forms and none should stop it just because of self-made principles and beliefs. We all differed in them, so forcing them to other people was not right.

She believed that people should be given the right to live their lives as they wanted it. Whether it went against the beliefs of another, that would be none of their business unless they were asked to take part in it by the parties involved. They would say it was wrong, but even if that was the case, they weren't the ones committing the so-called mistake.

In these matters, opinion sometimes were not needed. If it intereferes with a person's happiness, words should not be spoken at all.

Life was full of contradictions, opposing forces, and irrationalities.

These were--and still are--Valeriana's thoughts. Others' would be a different story.

Valeriana met with a lot of people today it was crazy. New names, new faces, acquaintances she hadn't quite talked to before, and some more weirdoes.

Meeting so many people at once seemed to be a part of the being the fifth-ranker. Their associations and responsibilities proposed many chances of these encounters and such.

She looked down on her hand and started counting, enumerating the names of the people she just met. Sure, she was very determined remembering them.

"Let's see . . . there's Coral, Cail and Zander. I meet them during PC-S. They're a part of the DevDept with, um . . . Harley, and Darcius who's student leader." She struggled. "I have my team for the tournament with Axel, Conradine, Leticia and Sai. So far, a total of nine people! Wow!"

Her life had certainly become colorful. Since meeting Seraphina, it led her to meet dozens more of the people she knew when she was still back home.

There were also Asthore and Tod back in Preluresia. Marcy, too! Aside from that, she met Laz. The beasts--Avaro, Iolani, Marcius, Cheveyo, and Alva.

As she continued with her musings, her eyes landed on a familiar face that made her stop dead in her tracks. It had been a few days since she last saw her former enemy and now, her image had not changed at all even after she lost her position to Valeriana as fifth-ranker. She carried herself with an air of grace and regality the other girl could never hope to achieve.

Courtney had her nose up in the air and her eyes squinted as she yelled at the top of her throat, "No! That's the wrong way!"

Valeriana blinked to the direction she was looking at and saw Julian busily moving some sort of banner on the wall.

"Do you not know how to heed instructions?" She scolded. "You waste my time!"

When her aide finally managed to put the banner on the spot she wanted, he fell over in relief and apologized silently to Courtney.

"Honestly--"

As Valeriana stood staring at the scenario, the former fifth looked up just in time to meet her gaze. Valeriana broke it off awkwardly before flashing a hesitant smile that showed her teeth.

"Hey!" She squeaked. "How's it going?"

Things were still a bit rocky between the two of them. However, after the incident in Preluresia, something changed.

"Fairly well." She answered, a small twitch on her lips. "How are you faring with the Circle?"

"They're awesome as ever, I guess." She trailed off, catching sight of Julian looking her way with spite as he stood.

Some things never change, though.

"We're having practice later after dinner--around seven. Do you wanna come and see us?" She offered, feeling like this was necessary as Courtney herself was--if not still--a part of the group. "We want someone's opinion regarding the performance and you seem just like the right person to ask."

"I am no longer a part of the Twelve. I see no reason to affiliate myself with them." She answered, her eyes hardening.

"I'm sure they miss you." Valeriana quieted.

Silence.

Courtney sighed at this. "In this academy, there are rules. You lose a fight to someone when you're a member of the Twelve, you give your position up to that person. It's not exactly uncommon. There are some things you ought to let go."

"But you guys are friends, right?"

The former fifth gave her no straight answer, merely turning to walk away with her chin up in the air. "Be that as it may, I shall come when my position is restored. There is what we call pride and it just so happens I cannot sacrifice mine just to see people who claim themselves my allies."

"The door's open." She called after her. "Just in case. Come to the basement if ever."

"Perhaps I shall." She said, throwing her a brief gesture of her hand. "And you can expect me to come knocking just to challenge you for the position of fifth. One of these days, perhaps."

Valeriana grimaced at her warning but smiled anyway and waved. "I'll be expecting that, then."

As they parted ways, the girl's thoughts were aimed at their practice. Surely, the songs they would be performing would be beautiful. She would make sure of that.

Well, then! The Festival of Ember, here comes the Twelve!

"The appearance of many people in our lives is uncontrollable. Sometimes, we may forget them and they may not hold a significant purpose in who we would become, but every meeting is like magic. No matter how small the role."

- Like always, Lovely =)