After the brief introductions and instructions given by Harmony, the three girls and the small kitsune made their way across the workshop. A few other applicants spared a few glances at their animal features but did not linger too long. Some were deep in conversation while others were gathering necessary tools for whatever they were making.

Nicolette and Luciana were grateful for that. With all the outrage going around lately, they expected to receive a few hateful or strange looks, but it seemed everyone was too focused on the beginning portion of Shiketsu's exam. Well, who wouldn't be? Considering that this exam was difficult given the stakes, it wasn't surprising.

At the very least, Nicolette could breathe easily for now. No hateful glares or judgmental stares.

It seemed Robin already had her eye on a table at the very back of the workshop, right next to the brick furnaces that simmered on a low heat. She plopped her light pink bag on the table and reiterated what she wanted to know about her teammates. As Nicolette sat down, she allowed all of her tails to fall down. Venetia jumped onto her lap before hopping onto the table.

The heat radiating off the flickering furnace did not faze Nicolette or Venetia in the slightest. The fur on Luciana's ears bristled, but she didn't say anything with a frown on her face. Robin's gaze flickered toward the large objects, watching the flames waver behind the slits in the metal door.

"Okay, so," Robin started, twisting the stick of her lollipop between her fingers. "Blanchir, yer Quirk is called Jackalope. Can do anythin' a jackalope can do. Are those horns of yers good for rammin' or anythin'? Or are they like annoyin' decorations?"

"They're good for nothing. These horns are thin, and they'll snap with some pressure. Don't think they're as strong as antelope horns." Luciana sighed, tapping one of the beige antlers.

Robin tilted her head, and one of her pigtails swept off her shoulder. The ends of her pink hair curled atop the metallic table she sat at. She tapped the pencil eraser in her other hand against the notebook in front of her. "A shame, really. Some horned animals clash with those things. I was thinkin' it might be good ta make ya somethin' to reinforce yer head, but I gotta throw that idea out the window.

"Ya can jump up ta five meters right? How good is yer landin'?"

"Better than you can do with those twig legs," Blanchir said without missing a beat.

Nicolette's eyes widened at the response, and she smacked the girl with one of her tails. She hissed, "be nice!"

"I mean, she ain't wrong. It takes me like twenty minutes ta run the mile in PE. Considerin' that's she's half bunny–"

"Jackrabbit!"

"Ya look like a bunny. I don't think anyone knows what a jackrabbit is anyway. Get more convincin' features if ya wanna argue." Rolling her eyes, Robin twirled the pencil and began to sketch on a free page. "Blanchir, ya scared of heights?"

"Is this a trick question?" The person in question raised a brow, her sour expression barely changing as she did so.

"Do ya want it ta be?" Robin continued to sketch without a care.

The more that Nicolette watched the support course applicant, the more she realized that Robin was pretty apathetic yet sarcastic. If anything, she only seemed riled up when talking about her brother Cupid. In fact, if you weren't told, you would think that Cupid and Robin were twins, considering how similar they looked.

The main difference between them was that while Cupid had soft hearts for pupils, Robin's pupils were broken white hearts that did not have any signs of mending. Heartbreak, she mused. She bit her lip, watching Blanchir and Robin bicker like children.

"I'm guessin' yer core strength lies in yer legs, so I'll focus on that. Ever since ya walked in, ya have been walkin' on yer toes as if ya were wearin' heels. Every step ya take is precise an' focused an' it looks like ya don't even 'ave to think about. Like breathin'. Natural for ya." She placed the pencil down and bit down on her lollipop with a crunch. "I'll make ya this."

Robin turned the notebook around for the three to see the notes and sketch she had drawn. The graphite was smudged in a few places, but the picture was easy to distinguish. The outline was the shape of a shoe with the bottom half of the sole cut in half to sandwich a couple of springs in there. Near the toe and heel areas, they were reinforced with some sort of metal and were infused with a mechanism with a thin blade to pop out.

She gestured with the pencil. "So, I don't know what type of shoe ya find practical, so this is just something rough. Since ya already can jump pretty high, why not give ya the chance ta go higher? I'll implement these type of springs and a safety cushion so it doesn't hurt yer feet when landing. The steeled parts are just ta give kicks more of well, a kick. The blades are self-explanatory, right?"

Luciana skimmed over the image and tapped the center with her finger. The edges of her lips curled into a slight smile. "Make them boots instead. Sounds more practical than any other shoes."

"Got it. Any other requests?" Robin opened her bag and stuffed her hand inside. She rummaged inside before grabbing what she was looking for. She pulled out a bag of multi-flavored lollipops, unwrapped one, and plopped it into her mouth. "Want any?"

"Nope." Luciana crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. Still, a slight smile graced her face. She seemed pretty content with the design.

"I'm okay. Not a fan of hard candy." Nicolette waved her hands in dismissal with a calm smile.

"I want one!" Venetia perked up from where she was lying down on the table. She sauntered over, tails swishing in the process. Robin tugged the plastic wrapper off and offered it with a bored expression.

"Are ya like a pet?" She pulled her hand back as Venetia nearly grazed her fingers while biting the lollipop.

"Do I look like a house pet!?" The kitsune shrieked.

Jumping up, Nicolette wrapped her hands around Venetia's torso and pressed her shadow firmly against her abdomen. She breathed in deeply, trying not to take that comment to heart, even if she really wanted to give a retort. "No biting, geez!" Her eyes shifted to an uninterested Robin. "Do you enjoy riling people up?"

The matchmaker shrugged. "Not my fault people get all offended from me talkin'. Told ya, people look for me so I can match them ta their ideal person. Doesn't mean I gotta do it with some lovey dovey talk an' act like I care. I ain't Cupid."

"Would it kill you to be a little more kind?" Lightly, Nicolette padded Venetia's head, who grumbled underneath her breath. The feeling was mutual.

"It might," Robin flipped to a page with notes jotted down. "Though I don't care enough ta try. Ya can deal with me for the next couple of weeks, can ya?"

"Let's just..." The brown-haired girl rubbed the side of her head as she felt a headache starting to come on. This exam was already proving to be more troublesome than the rest she had already taken. "Move along already."

"'ow good are ya at controllin' that fire of yers?"

Extending her arm and rolling up her sleeve, Nicolette breathed out slowly. Her olive skin faded into a soft scarlet color as flickering flames spilled out of her pores. Her forearm and hand were consumed by the fire that blazed so strongly that it put the furnaces to shame. As soon as they appeared, they were extinguished with grey smoke floating up to the ceiling.

She furrowed her brows as the heat left her body. "My control isn't great. My flames are strong, but I can't make them any weaker. I've tried, but my concentration isn't as great as I thought."

Robin held up her lollipop as she hummed. She squinted at her notes, muttering so quietly that it made both Hero applicants strain their ears to hear. Finally, the pink-haired girl nodded confidently.

"Given yer little fox, I thought it would be good ta make something for 'er but ya said ya can't stray away from Venetia. Takatsuki, even with all the bright lights in 'ere, ya 'ave no shadow. My guess is that Venetia is a physical manifestation of a shadow, correct?"

"What else would I be?"

"Cool trick. Does Venetia only come in a fun size mode or can she make 'erself bigger?" The support course applicant mused as she began to sketch out another design.

You've got lots of creative comments, don't you? Nicolette sighed, wondering how much longer this design process was going to take.

Leaning on the counter, Nicolette rested her cheek on her arm while rubbing Venetia's head. She glanced away. "Uhh... Venetia can transform to look like me, but missing a couple of features. It's a bit creepy."

"Venetia can do that? Since when?" Luciana questioned, suddenly intrigued at this new tidbit of information. She leaned forward, getting into Nicolette's space. The kitsune sighed while lightly pushing away the jackalope who snickered.

"Since my Quirk manifested. It's just... not many people would find it pleasing even if she resembles me. Better for her to stay a kitsune than get any ire from anybody, you know? People aren't the nicest."

"Can ya try it out 'ere?" Picking her pencil up from the page, the pink-eyed girl gazed at Venetia with a hint of curiosity laced in the color. "If it's creepy, then it's interesting."

"Not a chance!" Venetia barked as she held the lollipop between her paws. "There are too many people here, and I wouldn't do it for you."

"Oh?" Robin allowed a teasing grin to slip onto her face. She leaned forward. "So would ya do it in private?"

"Nope! Not a chance!"

"Can we not? It's a topic I don't want to cross, please?" Nicolette pleaded. The headache that was slowly simmering underneath her temples was starting to get worse. A part of her wanted to go home already and sleep until Christmas.

Laughter tumbled out of Robin's lips before settling into a quiet chuckle. "Look at ya gettin' so worked up. I'll pass on the topic for now, then. Yer flames can burn strong, but ya can't regulate them, right? Might be better to focus on that."

All Nicolette did was nod. A small part of her grew envious of those with fire Quirks who could control how bright their flames could burn. It was accepted more when she was younger, but by now, people thought she should have better control. Her chest tightened at the whispers of those who didn't understand. Not everyone had perfect control of their Quirks, so why was she always singled out?

She rubbed the back of Venetia's ear to try and rid herself of those nonsensical thoughts. They were not what she should be focused on right now. Her eyes flickered over to Luciana, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression.

The jackalope sighed, twisting one braid between her fingers. Her teal eyes dimmed slightly, but she didn't say anything. One of Venetia's tails curled around Nicolette's forearm. A silent attempt to soothe the anxiety threatening to bare its fangs.

Robin was too busy sketching out whatever she had in mind to see their silent conversation. That or she just didn't care enough to ask any further. Her hand paused at times, the tip of the pencil hovering over the paper before she continued.

She nodded to herself when she finished. She pushed the notebook toward them. "So with ya, Takatsuki, I'd rather focus on how ya control yer flames. I was thinkin' maybe some type of gloves that could help, but it's gonna be more effort on yer part than mine. I'd say these gloves would be err—"

Robin paused, face scrunching as she tried to find the right words. "A crutch. I don't expect ya ta have mastery over yer fire in the two and a half weeks before the entrance exam, but just enough that the gloves can regulate how strong they'll be unleashed."

"Regulate?" One of Nicolette's ears flattened against her head in confusion.

"Ya know like those stove knobs?" Robin placed the tip of her eraser against her lip. "How ya can change 'ow strong the flame flickers? Think of like these gloves acting as that knob. They'll take yer flames an' filter them depending on how strong they are, but ya need to put an effort to 'elp."

Nicolette blinked, still quite confused by the explanation. She stared at the sketch of gloves but couldn't connect the puzzle in the slightest. "I don't get it."

"Act as the stove knob to regulate the heat?" Luciana echoed with her brows furrowed. Seconds passed before her ears popped up in realization. She sent Nicolette a smug grin and laughed. "I got it!"

"Well, I want to know!" Nicolette twisted her attention to her friend and jabbed a finger at her. "What did you realize?"

Luciana's grin only became even more feral as the edges of her eyes crinkled. "You'll figure it out."

Gears of thought turned in Nicolette's head as she tried to dissect the words that Robin had spoken. She narrowed her eyes, staring at nothing as she continued to ponder. Although no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't come up with anything. To her, it sounded like Robin was speaking in puzzles. She had no idea how Luciana had already deduced her words.

In the end, she huffed and shook her head. Time to admit defeat. "I got nothing."

"What a shame," Robin stated as she leaned forward to grab her notebook. Strands of pink hair fell onto her arm as she did so. "Well, yer friend 'ere got the right idea, so I'm sure she'll guide ya in the right direction? Gimme yer numbers an' give me until... what's today, the twenty-third? I'd say the twenty-ninth. So we can meet 'ere again on that day so ya can try the gear an' stuff."

The three girls quickly exchanged contact information and made a group chat called 'Shiketsu Group.' Robin scoured the workshop quickly, probably looking to see if she needed to get anything extra or if the items here were good enough. She shrugged, saying that she'd make do with what they had and ask Harmony for anything else.

They walked outside to once again watch as snowflakes tumbled from the sky, and Robin bid them goodbye. She ran ahead to the entrance of the port, mumbling about the cold. Before long, Nicolette, Luciana, and Venetia lost sight of the bright pink that coated the girl.

Nicolette wrapped her tails around her torso, resembling a large coat. "Oh, it would have been nice to ask for her to read our zodiac signs."

"You believe that 'reading the stars' hoax?" Burying her mouth into her olive tree scarf, Luciana watched the last bits of condensation disappear from when she spoke.

"You're no fun." The kitsune pouted. "Come on, there are Quirks for quite literally anything. A hoax can become reality."

"I guess so. Let's go before the three of us freeze." Luciana mumbled, tilting her head up toward the sky. A few flakes fell onto her eyelashes, melting just moments after.

Without another word spoken, the three made their way toward the entrance of the port. They caught a few workers dealing with the snow while others were busy dealing with cargos and ships. A chain link fence kept them from getting closer, but they weren't all that thrilled to see what happened at the port anyway.

"Do we still have to go to the store?" Venetia gazed up at Nicolette, who sneezed.

"Yeah..." Nicolette sniffed, the cold starting to clog up her sinuses. "Mom wanted us to grab some vegetables so that we don't need to rush on Christmas Day Eve or day to grab any. You know how much of a nightmare it is shopping right now. Hopefully, people are more distracted by shopping than by what's going on in the news. Speaking of. Are you doing anything, Lux?"

"Doing what?"

"Anything for Christmas, silly. What else would I be talking about?"

"Not really. Noel's going to be at work the rest of the week, and my family only celebrated by throwing huge parties to try and make deals with other companies." The jackalope twisted a braid between her fingers and laughed softly. Like she was pitying herself. "Holidays are not a big thing for me anyway. I'll probably just continue studying for the written exam. I'm not that great academically."

A sudden hollow feeling clenched at Nicolette's heart, and she could not help the expression that reflected it. She knew that not everyone had a good family or one that cared. Heck, her birth mother clearly didn't care about her and her brother.

"Nico, please. You have to understand that sometimes adults fall out of love, and we can't help but fall in love with someone else. Your father should have tried harder if he wanted to keep me!"

"So that just gives you the right to hook up with some guy? While married? Stop trying to make it Papa's fault! Stop trying to make excuses! I don't want to see you again! You gave up custody, so you have no right to see me or Luca!"

The phone call between Nicolette and her Mama suddenly resurfaced in her mind. Her nails dug into her palm as she tried to wish that conversation away. She didn't even know how that woman got hold of her number.

The frigid air that surrounded her felt even colder the more her mind lingered on those thoughts. As if the freezing chill was seeping into her veins and curling around every fiber of her muscles. Not even the warmth of her fur was doing anything to avoid this.

She released a shaky breath, and she watched the white mist slip past her lips. "You can't be that bad when it comes to school."

"I'm a year older than you."

"And?"

"I'm already supposed to be in high school. I flunked a grade." Luciana stated as if it were nothing. "And I paid students to do my homework cause I could."

"Damn, you really were a rich girl." Nicolette shook her head as she laughed. How stupidly refreshing that statement was. The smallest bundle of warmth curled in the hollow space in her chest. "Guess you do need to study for the entrance exam. Let me or anyone else know if you need help with any subject. Well, except math. Shinobu and I aren't the greatest at math, so Tsukiko can help with that."

They continued to walk in silence for a while, neither willing to speak any further. The city of Yokohama grew closer, and the port became distant. However, the lingering scent of brine stayed, clinging to their clothes and reminding them that the ocean was still present despite the snowfall.

Underneath Nicolette's feet, the ice crystals cracked and broke. For some reason, her mind wandered to the day when they all met in Tsukiko's room. She could see very few remnants of the person that Luciana was, with her snappy insults and awkwardness with simple things. But the other girl seemed tired, slowly making her way through life as best as she could. The only way she knew how.

Even still, no one wanted to be alone by choice.

  ─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────

Author's Note:

Here is chapter 8 of SI! I've decided that instead of uploading in arcs like I planned, I'll upload chapters whenever I have time to edit and write. I won't have a set schedule when I update. At least we're growing closer to the actual exam!

Character Spotlight:

Name: Nicolette Takatsuki

Quirk: Kitsune

Likes: Pastel highlighters