"Get in," Dev instructed but as Oni wouldn't move, she was forced to stand at his back. "What'd you do to set off Sen? I expected someone to have to sedate him."

Oni stood at her threshold, silent and stupid.

Finally, he muttered, "You said not to go into your room dirty. I'll...I'll bunk someplace else. Even if it's a closet or something."

He was hardly dirty. Only his clothes were.

Considering how many people it took to drag Sen off, Dev conveyed one truth. "You cannot be in arms' reach when he's in a temper like this. I'm honestly fearful for you."

But although he trembled, making his own palpable worry known, he simply looked back at her. He was helpless so she unhooked the matrix and sighed.

"Depending on your score, perhaps we can secure a second uniform. I refuse to alter any performance records in any fashion but...." But when she reached his evaluation results, her breath caught. He ranked highest even without a win. How was that even possible? Everything about that went against logic. "There's some sort of glitch," Dev muttered. She puzzled about whether or not to exploit it. Finally, she picked up her head and met his gaze and concluded, "My version of Lotsu always said take good fortune where you can get it. And this is ours."

And it was not simply good fortune. In a crew of sixty, Oni's score put him third in command to the head cadet. That was no easy ranking. It also allowed him four new uniforms.

Dev procured one, Oni firmly by her side, or in front of her for his own safety. Her reasoning was that should the glitch be discovered, at least a punishment for one extra uniform was manageable.

The one advantage was that Oni, too busy looking around at every turn, anticipating an attack, didn't see her readjusting of the sizes.

He shocked her by turning with his back to her and stripping down right there in the uniform room, which was packed with other cadets. The minute he noticed his proper boot size, she snatched up his rags and threw them out.

When they met up on one another again, the raw fear in his eyes swallowed down any readied protest.

They were back at her room in thirty minutes and this time he didn't hesitate to kick off his shoes and sprint in.

A woosh sound came with the door closing and he pressed his back against the bunkbed and crumbled to the floor.

Dev was on a strict schedule with regards to sleep. When she opened her mouth, it was to voice that fact but the boy didn't seem capable of moving from that spot.

That was why Dev decided to sit down beside him.

She wasn't sure why, but she put a hand on his shoulder to find him trembling.

"Do you think he was bluffing?" Oni asked, eyes still studying the floor.

Sen certainly hadn't been. At this moment, Dev had no idea where her crew was. Hopefully, they'd broken off from the single female collective area and found rooms but she had no idea. Tomorrow, their evaluation would commence and Dev had to be there.

She couldn't leave Oni, not even for a minute, not even in this room which was secure.

Voicing that truth would only worry Oni more so she squeezed his shoulder with a sigh.

Oni still shivered but looked up and around. "You don't have a bunk mate? The briefing said even head cadets did."

They all did, but not Dev.

She flashed her arm sporting two bands. "Top rank. It was a gift from my father. I suppose, I'm a bit like Sen—I get some leeway, though not much and I don't want to push my luck."

It was a wonder how Oni's body folded as he pulled his knees to his chest.

"Even if I sleep here, I feel like he'll snatch me from that top bunk and pummel me before you wake up."

After an indicator on Dev's matrix flashed, informing her that she'd missed a step in her nightly routine, she chuckled and pulled him to stand.

"Firstly, you're getting the bottom bunk, of course."

He forced a halfhearted chuckle that didn't amount to much.

"And secondly, Sen won't come near me when he's in such a temper. He's...had mishaps before."

Oni's green eyes took her in and she removed the helmet and segmented the collar of her suit.

The alarm in his eyes dulled for a moment when she revealed her right shoulder but returned doubled.

"What?"

"Yes. He gets into a blind rage. And when I say the ones who grabbed hold of him are currently regretting it, that is not hyperbole. Come on. No sense in worrying about all that. You've got brand new clothes and you're safe for the night. In the morning, we'll talk to him and clear up this misunderstanding."

But her words of assurance fell on deaf ears. Oni gave her no opportunity to ask if Vagrants had some sort of sleep routine as well.

He merely pulled himself up on the neatly made bottom bed and curled up on his side.

Dev stared down at him. Truly, it was an inconvenience. She'd never shared a room with anyone—she was an only child. No one had ever slept over. No one. And yet, she'd always had bunkbeds.

Now, more than ever, she could make the comparison between her minimalist room back home and this one here. They matched—her father'd always intended for her to enlist.

So why hadn't he given his blessing? Why...why beg her not to, even on his deathbed?

From sunup to sundown, day in and out for twelve years, it was all she ever learned.

The routine would be interrupted today but she could adapt. She went around the room cleaning, though it hardly seemed necessary.

Having a guest meant taking more care with their surroundings.

It was the best part of the day back then, because it was the only time her father'd rest as well.

Mother and Father rarely shared the same space. It wasn't because of any sort of hate. The man had been respected—decorated—and mother received steady promotions year after year.

But there was just nothing there.

No love. No emotion.

It worried Dev once she was old enough to recognize their treatment of her held affection but not one another.

But then there was Sen's father. Mother's reaction to him was different—she feared him.

In the presence of all three of them, Father'd pull Mother close, even hug her—something he never did normally.

It was the only time Sen's father would retreat.

And as Dev was too young to make sense of it, she changed her clothes and pulled herself up on the top bunk as she considered it now.

Something about having to protect Oni felt eerily familiar. It was what her father had done for her mother but she couldn't understand why.

Father's deathbed confession happened a year before his actual deathbed. Dev hated him for it. Even now, she wore two bands on her left, one on her right. No one knew what their numbers meant, no one but her.

On her right was a double number, gifted to her by her mother, but on the left, she wore two triple number bands. One for her father, the man who raised her, and the other...for her real father, whoever he was.

Because that had been what Father'd told her when he realized the cancers had spread.

And that was why she was here in this Volunteer program.

It was why Sen was here as well.

The next day was uneventful but that was thanks to hiding out in the room.

Dev had already dressed and started her exercise routine before Oni even awoke. She'd laughed off Sen dragging the boy out in the dead of night, but deep down, she feared the same thing.

No.

That was ridiculous. Sen would respect boundaries. Coming into her sphere was never something he did, even if she'd invite him.

Because while she feared his temper, he feared it more.

Dev, dripping in sweat, stood and dabbed herself off as Oni groaned to life.

"Everything hurts," he complained.

At least he was alive.

"Breakfast—"

"Pass," Oni answered.

Dev bit back a swear. She'd been afraid of that. And what of her girls? Today was their evaluation.

Would they find food and everything they needed without her?

The doors of her room resembled those of the shower greatly. They were glass, sporting a dark blue frost that stopped at eye level instead of neck.

Most people weren't tall enough to appear as more than a head of hair—not Sen. He was tall enough, a fact Oni came to grips with when a stone scowl passed by, seven varying black heads behind him.

For that, Dev was thankful.

Helping others might calm him.

As the girl's qualifying routine was in the morning, they readied and headed back to the req room.

Oni's positioning mattered so Dev put him closest to the wall.

Many groups took to practicing, all but her own crew who entered the room trailing behind Sen like some death-squad bodyguards.

Her cousin came to a stop at her row and flopped down beside her, elbows on his knees and eye on the evaluation.

Minutes later, as she puzzled about how to approach the subject at hand, someone else joined them.

"Hey. Good morning. I'm Bray."

The fat grin faded little by little when Sen turned his head to face the fellow head cadet.

But there was no need, Dev had worries of her own. "Bray, I know who you are."

The boy in question cleared his throat. "Yeah. Sorry. I'm a bit rusty. I—"

"Leave."

At Sen's command, Bray Edwards turned on his heels and returned to his own crew. He smiled despite the situation.

Dev let out a sigh. She prayed this eval would go smoothly at least.