At such ventures in her life, and with her crush reaching a critical point, Aimee sought the advice of a woman who was experienced in matters of romance & sex, whose wisdom could help her in times of difficulty.

  Unfortunately, she could not find such a woman, so she settled for her friend Makoto instead as they sat in her presidential mansion.

  "Well, so far, what do you know about her?" said Makoto. "She's tall, beautiful, intelligent, kind, sexy, mature, dominant, but she does have a big nose, so personally I'd rate her an overall 6/10."

  "I don't even know yet if she has a girlfriend." muttered Aimee.

  "She just became a host. If she's dating a civilian, they'll break up after she thinks a romantic photo for Valentine's Day would be her ripping out someone's heart."

  Aimee frowned. She imagined Mia sending her such a cute photo. "I guess a student girlfriend would've come to see her, too. Maybe she is single. Maybe she'll have a thing for ugly butches. That's my only hope."

  "Oh, c'mon. You're not that butch."

  "I already know I'm ugly, that's why I lift weights."

  "And how's that going?"

  "Before I started lifting, I had 0 girlfriends. After I started lifting, I have had 0 girlfriends."

  Makoto mused. "Well, maybe you're right. I guess you can hope she has a fetish."

  "For a 3000lb bench press?"

  "For low self-esteem. Shit, I wouldn't want to date you even if we were on a deserted isnd because you don't believe anyone wants to date you. If you can't convince yourself, I dunno how you're expecting to convince other people. Self-pity is not an attractive trait."

  Aimee frowned. "Since when did you start giving good advice?"

  "I'm not always a dick, just most of the time."

  Aimee sighed. "I don't know. Maybe you're right, I just prefer the qualities I can measure as being good, like strength, or student rank, or-" Her phone vibrated.

  (Mia) "Can I talk to you about Worldwide when I get back?"

  (Aimee) "Sure. Are you feeling okay?"

  (Mia) "Not really."

  "She's in a bad mood." muttered Aimee. "Wants to talk alone."

  "Wow, can you say clingy?" Makoto shuddered. "Yuck. 5/10. She'd be lucky if she gets a woman with a 30lb bench."

  "Please get out before I punch you."

  "Just trying to soften her down for you. If you can focus on a woman's worst qualities, what's there to be afraid of?"

  Aimee rolled her eyes. Despite all of her own issues and her current anxieties, she had always been able to fasten herself to the idea that she would not be a complete fuck-up like Makoto. What was odd was that her assessment of their friendship as essentially worthless was what allowed it to continue as truthfully as it did; she never needed to say any illusion of what she truly thought of Makoto, just as Makoto did her.

  She sent Makoto away and waited at the gate for Mia, who peeled off from Rochelle & Marisa and went off with Aimee to her mansion. She could tell that Mia was impressed, and mentioned to her that it was the housing for students rank #25 and better, along with a few extra rooms for the presidential mansion.

  "It's very nice, I just…" Mia sighed and sat down on the couch. "…god, this couch is nice."

  "I stole it in California and checked it as my carry-on for the flight back. Price tag was 10,000."

  Mia groaned and id down as Aimee sat with her. "That's almost half a year of what my mother makes. … But it is very nice."

  "It's pretty nice. But um, hey, what's going through your mind? You seem pretty tired."

  Mia shook her head. "No, I was livid on the way home, but seeing you often… pulls that out from me. You tend to make me a little sleepy, actually." She smirked. "But not in a negative way."

  "Wasn't gonna take it as one. But you can always talk to me. Did something go bad out there?"

  Mia ran her finger over her Boudoir-bandage, looking over it at Aimee. "No, it's just… I should have spent tonight with you instead. It would have been a better use of my time."

  "Hey, you've got infinite of that, at least."

  "Then it's true we don't age?"

  "Hirogane is in his fifties, if that answers your question."

  Mia nodded, though she was still in a slump. "Well, I suppose it's nice to know for the future, but…" She sighed. "It's been a rather stressful day. I'm just a little frustrated with Worldwide's ability. I'm having to see students in my css who can create every element or manipute matter, swap between every state of matter, even that bitch who- and what do I have? Fire that I can barely even extinguish myself. I'm an accompaniment, not a full act. No, it's not as if I didn't expect this when I've - I've read Urasaria fan forums for almost my entire life, but I just fucking let the excitement of actually getting to be a host and be a student drain away what I should have… I've seen students fight and I know their Revenants, i-it's just that I... When I see a student or a host or someone with a Revenant that's as- that's as just bnd and pathetic as mine, it's-"

  "It's like an appearance, right? You think it suggests something about you internally."

  "You're right that I do. But it's so stupid."

  "I don't think it's stupid. It's just a common way to think about it. I mean, you say it's your's, but even that's kinda a misnomer. It was given to you. It didn't come from you. It doesn't indicate anything bad or wrong with you."

  "God, it's stupid, because I know I could just as easily swap one out, but I don't- it's my Revenant. Maybe it did just end up in my life, but..." Her eyes began to cradle tears. As Aimee was sat at the base of Mia’s legs, she beckoned for Aimee to y down on top of her, then hugged her tightly.

  Aimee felt guilty as they hugged, for she had been asked by Hirogane to not tell her of this. "Hey, um… do you remember when Hirogane checked your colony? After Worldwide activated?"

  "Y-Yes."

  "He… came to me after. Asked me not to tell you, but - your colony is all concentrated on one area. It's not- not normally spread out like a Revenant should be."

  Mia let Aimee sit up, but leaned up a bit to keep her arms around her. "What does that mean?"

  "We weren't sure either, um. Pretty sure it had something to do with how it was given to you, or why. Uh, quick rundown, since fan forums probably don't discuss the specifics of Revenant microbiology... Revenant colonies grow in strength as hosts fight, since your body starts producing more Volgari proteins for it to feed on. Normally, it spreads out naturally and fills in the gaps. But Worldwide has a ton of bacteria concentrated on one segment of your heart."

  "I… I haven't felt anything that would- well, I suppose of course I wouldn't. But what does that mean? That it isn't fully activated?"

  "I'm not sure. Maybe it has an incredibly high strength, or it's a slow grower, or your fire will eventually do something else, or… just, um, shit. Lot of possibilities there. But… if it's not putting you in danger, maybe give it some time. I promise I can find you a new one, a-any time you want. But..."

  "…maybe I should wait." Mia nodded, then hugged Aimee again. "Thank you. I- I'll keep it in mind, at least for a little longer."

  Aimee hugged her, though the emotion she felt in the moment was mostly overtaken by the worry of disappointment in the future; if her hypotheses were not correct then she would feel as guilty as if she had fully lied to Mia herself; she simply could not avoid the pull of bme into herself and the purification of others. This was the paradox of the abuse she had suffered; that to feel safe she needed to preemptively ingratiate herself to others, yet her learned guilt would transfigure regardless, asserting itself regardless of her conscious resistances.

  "Can I ask more about the investigation?"

  "Sure." said Aimee. "Renault was going to talk to me tomorrow morning about that, actually. So, first, do you know all the fireflies around Urasaria?"

  "They're cameras."

  "Fucking hell, you know more about this pce than most of the students here." muttered Aimee, though admittedly her squadron of Makoto & Atori & Dmitri were no intellectual giants. If one were to take their combined brain cells and roll them into a drinking straw it would resemble three corn kernels rolling into a storm drain. "Revenant cameras, yeah. Rewind. That's Renault's Revenant. Should've been able to see who dropped you off at the gates, and hopefully he'll be giving us an identity and address tomorrow. No guarantees, but- yeah. The guy who gave you Worldwide will probably know more about what's going on with it, too."

  Mia nodded. "I hope so. I know that students get free swaps with Revenant storage facilities, but I just…" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sorry, I'm repeating myself."

  "It's okay. But um, like I said… I don't know. Rider's a bnd ability too, but you've seen where it's gotten me, right? Puts me above people who work harder than me, even though I've got plenty of Revenants I can't do much against, just because it still works faster than anything else."

  "The acceleration and slowing down? I'm sure there's a lot of uses for that in a fight."

  "Most of them being less effective than sshing someone in half. Guess I get a bit of a complex over it because being up here, student-president, I feel like I'm supposed to make it look effortful and not remind people of genetics and luck. Can pour myself into other areas like being nice and helping people out, but, Urasaria's still an academy of murder and making it look skillful."

  "Even if most people don't like to be reminded of luck, that's for them to deal with. You shouldn't feel as if you have to cover that up for acceptance. You know, the way my father phrased it was that if you care too much about what others think of, you'll end up outside of yourself."

  "It's a nice thought."

  "Admittedly, it wasn't the most comforting thing he could have said, given what I was dealing with at the time, but still. Luck is frightening. But... don't talk yourself down from your own accomplishments like that. You know, it's not what anyone says online about you, either. Most Urasaria fans like you. …er, based on knowing absolutely nothing about you, but still."

  "Oh, that makes me feel more confident in my personality, yeah." Aimee ughed.

  Mia giggled. "Gosh, you know what I mean. Don't be ridiculous. If nothing else, you should accept a compliment from a medical marvel like me. Shouldn't you?"

  She gazed sternly at Aimee, who swallowed a bit hard. "Yeah, maybe."

  They continued to talk for the rest of evening, and although at the end of it Mia needed to return home, she had felt a fug lifted from her mind. Yes, Marisa could offer her ptitudes for her predicaments for these next months, but there was something about Aimee's home that allowed stress to seep out from her, to where she would occasionally feel agitation arise in her near the end of such visits, as if Aimee's home was not only a museum of what they shared together but a ward against all outside moments of existence. Over time these walks to Aimee's home became inured into her bodily memory as well, to where the physical walks themselves seemed stamped upon by her own emotional desires, further locking into herself the attraction she felt for Aimee, the architecture of her body lulled towards the desire of that beyond home's face.