Ran fought to catch her breath. Sweat pooled at her hair line, running down from her temples to her chin. Her heart was thundering and her legs were trembling beneath her own weight. She placed her hands on her knees and dipped her head low to her chest, taking in large gasps of air through her mouth.

“You’re still too slow, you need to summon faster!” Takeshi shouted from across the yard. “You want the journalists to publish this disgraceful time?! They’re watching and the cameras are rolling!”

She looked at him through her eyelashes and frowned; there were large silvery numbers floating over his head in the sky, projected from the tablet on the table by the back porch. 00:31.38. Four seconds faster than her last try. Didn’t that call for a celebration or at least some sort of reward?

Ran could feel the tension buzzing around the field, the silence of the journalists who recorded her through the cameras on their cellphones and tablets was almost too much to bear. Thanks to Umeko’s return, there were more journalists than usual lately; they lingered outside the gates, far away enough that they weren’t standing on private property, but close enough to get a good look at Umeko sitting on the porch in her usual spot. Unfortunately for Ran, Umeko wasn’t around today, which meant all the journalists began to focus their attention on her.

Honestly, Ran would’ve preferred to use the training grounds closer to the lake, that way the whole world wouldn’t have access to her documented failure. But, unlike the other mentors, Takeshi liked putting Ran where the journalists could see her; he said it made her work harder, and she supposed he was right, but she still didn’t like it.

She straightened up once she caught her breath, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling of her stomach begging for food.

“Can’t we just take a break…?” She asked, somehow mustering the strength to speak loudly enough for him to hear her. “We’ve been at this since nine. I barely have any mana left… I think I’m going to pass out…”

Takeshi crossed his arms over his chest and pressed his lips into a straight thin line. “Do it again, make sure it’s under thirty this time.”

Ran scowled, biting back harsh words. Takeshi Mikazuki had never been the kindest old man; he was old fashioned, which meant he didn’t believe that just simply trying was enough. It was either she succeeded or failed, there was no in-between with him.

She kept herself firm in place, flexing her legs to stop herself from swaying on the spot. Yggdrasil, come forth!

A fiery magic circle appeared underneath her feet. There was a warm wind pushing up from the ground, blowing up through her top to her hair. Her stomach tightened with a jerk and her weapon began to form in a mess of gold lines. The sling came first, constructing across her back and over her right shoulder. Her back muscles contracted, tensing up against the weight. When it finished, she looked over her shoulder at her gold crossbow. She closed her eyes and took a step back, calves quivering.

Okay, you know the deal, Yggdrasil. I release you!

Just as quickly as the weapon came, it was gone. Ran looked up to the sky to see her progress—00:29.83.

Her muscles turned to jelly and she sank down into the grass, falling to her knees. She rolled over onto her back, letting her limbs stretch out in the cool damp earth. She could hear the vague sound of clapping but it was distant in as the rush of blood flowed through her ears. Bugs crawled on her but she was too tired to care. She arched her back until she heard the pops of her bones and felt the satisfaction of release as she stared up at the sky. The numbers had gone, leaving only the bright blue sky and the fluffy summer clouds. 

Ran closed her eyes and took in a deep breath; the air smelt crisp, carrying the clean scent of Yasmin Bay behind the Mikazuki manor. She wanted nothing more than to run to the backyard and jump into the water but the thought of getting up was too much.

“Grandad, Dad’s on the phone, he wants to talk to you!” 

Ran snapped her eyes open, pushing her head back to get a better look at Umeko standing at the top of the terrace. Had she really been training that long? Umeko had left when Ran was an hour and a half into training, and she was back already? 

She let her head rest and closed her eyes again with a small sigh, listening to the sound of Umeko’s footsteps in the grass and the short conversation between grandfather and granddaughter. She opened her eyes again just in time to see Umeko standing over her. Her waist-length silver hair looked platinum in the sunlight, almost blinding her completely.

“Hey!” She greeted, pulling Ran up with an outstretched hand. “Nice time! I was watching for a while before you finished up. I’m very impressed.”

Ran brushed the dirt and bugs off of her bare legs and midriff, glanced toward Takeshi and groaned. For the first time all morning he wasn’t glowering at her, too distracted by his son to focus his disappointment on her.

Umeko followed her gaze and turned back to her with a hand on her hip, “I’m guessing it didn’t go as well as it seems then? Is he giving you a hard time? I can talk to him about it if you want.”

She turned back toward Umeko with a frown. “Are you crazy? He’ll hate me even more than he already does if you do that. It could’ve been worse, honestly… but I just feel like I’m not improving fast enough, and I know your grandfather agrees from the way he looks at me. Apparently—according to the various progress reports—it only took Kimiko a few months to get her celestial summoning down to five seconds. It’s been a year since I started practicing and I’m only at thirty seconds. I’m doing a pretty shit job as a protege. I’ll bring down your family’s reputation amongst the other sentinel families and the Order if I keep this up. He has every reason to hate me.”

“Okay, stop,” Umeko said, shaking her head with a frown; her voice was both gentle and firm. “Don’t worry about the Mikazuki rep, that’s not for you to concern yourself with. And, Grandad does not hate you, he’s hard on you because he finds you worthy, it’s a backhanded compliment. Plus, the whole Kimiko thing is another story itself. Kimiko’s like, what? A war goddess prodigy or something, right? Of course it only took her a few months, it’s written in her DNA.”

Ran could feel her throat getting dry; she tried to swallow but found it almost impossible.

Umeko grabbed Ran’s shoulder and smiled, “Look, she’s my cousin, I’ve dealt with her being fantastic at everything my whole life, and it sucks… but just focus on you, okay? Try your best and you’ll succeed. You’re improving a little bit everyday even if it doesn’t feel like it. It may take you a little longer than Kimiko but that’s okay. Dr. Snowden says we can’t compare ourselves to each other anyways. We’re just too different.”

The back of her eyes were stinging and she looked toward the ground, trying to blink away the tears brimming in her eyes. Umeko threw her arms around her in a hug and Ran bit at the soft skin of her cheek to stop from crying. She pulled away from Umeko, not daring to look the smaller girl in the eye.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. Her face was getting hot and she was thankful that her skin was too dark to show any signs of real blushing.

“That’s what best friends are for!” Umeko laughed and plucked a blade of grass out of Ran’s hair. “You help me when I’m have an anxiety attack and can’t finish unpacking, and I help you when my grandfather’s being an asshole… y’know, give and take.” She winked with a small nudge to Ran’s ribs. “Now lets go inside, ‘cause you totally need to shower. You stink, girl.”

Ran snorted and shoved Umeko away from her with a small laugh. “Yeah, yeah. I need to eat, nerd.”

“Well, luckily for you, Bà Nội and I picked up lunch on our way home, annnnd it’s your favourite!” Umeko sang, skipping off to the terrace and bounding up the steps, her long sliver hair swishing as she went.

A TINY DOT BENEATH THE SKY ♦

Umeko was curled up in the corner of the bay window with her body tucked neatly into itself—knees raised halfway to chest, forearms crossed over her middle. She was trying hard to appreciate the sight that Uncle Byron had given her for free; the clouds were positioned down below, they stretched out for miles as the winding sun painted them in hues of red and gold. Her room now mimicked the licks of colour that spilled through the glass—her shadow long and thin across the floor. And though nightfall had yet to come, the moon was peaking out against the retreating daylight, small in comparison to the sun, just a pale translucent white orb hanging in the sky.

Part of her wished they’d just taken a commercial airship, at least then the flight would’ve only lasted twelve hours. But, nope, instead her father decided that Uncle Byron’s airship was good enough for her trip back to Corica, and Umeko supposed it was. She enjoyed having her own room on an airship (after all privacy was one of the most important things to a teenage girl), and she enjoyed stopping in different countries while Uncle Byron worked, but she still wanted to get off the ship. No matter how cushy Uncle Byron made the ride, it didn’t seem like she would ever take to being cooped up in one place for long, much less for a whopping seventy two hours.

Her father kept saying she was too impatient every time she called him to complain. It’s what he’d said to her four years ago too, when he’d moved the family from Corica to Escia. Back then, little Umeko hadn’t been able to rest; she’d been one of those terrible kids who kicked the back of some innocent person’s seat until she fell asleep. She didn’t know what sitting still even meant back then, and she didn’t really know what it meant now, either. Anxiety pooled in her chest, spreading out to burn at her fingertips. There was an itch settling over her skin; she scratched at her knees, her ankles, elbows and the back of her neck, but the itch never faded.

In less than a half an hour she’d be reunited with all the people she’d left behind in her hometown. Fallbourne, in all its small town glory, held a lot of memories for her. The bad ones haunted her, following her to Escia and worrying at the back of her mind until she’d finally snapped. There were too many days where she spent her time curled up in bed, her limbs too heavy to move. Just thinking of it made her feel weighed down.

“Half an hour ’til you’re home. You excited?” The voice from the back of the room would’ve made Umeko jump had it not been for the past seventy-two hours of getting used to it. Bristol Deschamps was extremely light on his feet and he had a habit of sneaking up on people without realizing it.

She glanced at him with the slight turn of her head and shrugged. “Half nervous, half excited, I guess,” she said. “I haven’t seen most of my friends since… four years ago, actually. And now we’re all going to live on a compound together for the summer. It’s more than a little nerve-wracking, y’know?”

Bristol moved from the doorway to sit across from her. She could tell from the way he was dressed that he was feeling a little anxious too. He had his curly brown hair combed away from his face (the way his mother used to style it), allowing his green eyes to actually be seen for once.

“Over the holidays all Ran and Kimiko talked about was you. Sal’s an ass, but he’s only being an ass because he misses you, and Keiran’s pretty open with how much he misses you, too.” There were about three people missing from the list, but his words helped to alleviate some of the pressure on her chest. “Trust me, everyone will be excited to see you.”

“Thanks.” She smiled at him, letting her legs slip so she could nudge him with her toes. “You should stay at the compound for the summer, too. It’ll be fun!”

Bristol shook his head. “Nah, Pops and I have some contracts to finish up. We’ll probs stay the weekend, catch up with everyone and head back out on Monday. Besides, I’m not worth that much to the Order to stay for longer than a week, anyway. There’s no way they’d ever agree to let me stay the whole summer.”

Umeko pursed her lips into a thin line. She knew exactly what the Order thought of Bristol, and their treatment of him was downright horrible. Bristol was kind and loyal, maybe a little rough around the edges, but mostly harmless.

“You being there won’t ruin the program,” she said, rolling her eyes. “The Order is being overdramatic, and I know I can’t speak for everyone… but, I know I’d benefit from having you there.”

“That’s sweet, but nah,” he said. “I mean, I appreciate it and all, but Pops and I are a team, and we have been ever since I was ten. The man only started taking care of himself because he got me after the split with my moms.” He ran his tongue over the top row of his teeth and sunk down low into his shoulders. “If I leave, my pops’ll go right back to drinking everyday and piloting Aitheria in a drunken stupor. It’ll only take one accident and he’ll be dead. I can’t leave him.”

The more she thought about it, the more she supposed that Uncle Byron was actually the cause of most, if not all, the problems in Bristol’s life. Uncle Byron loved his son, but he was considered a thief by the Order, and while it was bad enough that he’d chosen this way of life for himself, he’d gotten his son involved too. The realization buzzed deep within her, stirring up twisted uncertainty.

“I don’t usually do hypothetical situations, but, Bristol… If you knew your father was going to be fine, if you knew that nothing would happen to him after you left… what would your choice be? What would you want to do?”

Bristol sighed beside her, shifting up to square off his shoulders. “I’d want to stay, I guess. Be trained by the Order, join Project Nova and become a hero. I’ll never be as strong or as talented as you guys, of course, but I guess it’d be nice to be known for something more than being a petty thief. That’s what the world sees treasure hunters as, anyways. Never really had a problem with all of that until recently. Just been wanting more for myself lately, I guess.”

Umeko nodded, bringing her knees back up to her chest. No matter how she or anyone else felt about it, Bristol was right—the Order wouldn’t let him stay at the compound, not unless he left his father and decided to reform.

“Some people call you sky pirates, too. That’s a cool name at least.”

Bristol laughed at her offering, but he didn’t respond, and she hadn’t expected him to.

They sat in silence for the rest of the ride, both sets of eyes trained on the window. Umeko wiggled her toes against the cool metal seat, hissing as pins and needles sparked up from her bones. She leaned her head from side to side, hoping to increase the poor blood circulation going on in her legs.

The clouds came closer, levelling with the window until they finally disappeared high into the sky. The dots of grasslands, cities, and towns scattered the landscape, and a sharp prickle filled up her sinuses; the stinging at the back of her eyes was sharp, but she wasn’t going to cry.