A/N: HELLOW! WELCOME TO MY STORY!

Chapter 1: Yuyake Bokuso-chi

Yuyake has only won a hand full of battles with her mom when it comes to her upbringing, and her freedom to go to ninja academy is the best one.

Like most clan heirs and heiress, she is...'blessed' with new material 24/7 to study. And she really does mean all day everyday. And it's not fun stuff anymore, it's all just reading.

At least before she got to do cool Jutsu... but when she sped through those lessons in order to grant herself more free time, they eventually had no more to teach her. Heck, if they had told her then that they didn't expect her to use half of it ever again, she might have taken her time to enjoy and savor it at least.

But no.

No one said squat till she had learned all they had to offer, and they just moved on like it didn't freakin' matter! Then the books started...

Oh dear goodness the books.

Yuyake tried to speed through those too, but they don't. run. out!

If it's not about how to cover up your farts and burps, it's about that one time everyone thought it was a big deal that the Uchiha clan out-dressed the Bokuso-chi. Like seriously? And don't get her started on clan history!

Yuayke is almost 100% certain that the Bokuso-chi clan is the only one to have split into a combative and non combat clan, and she has to visit the other half on top of that?

What she's trying to say is that between the two halves of her clan, the bs that was going on with her clan and the Uchiha when they were alive, AND the crazy expectations of her mannerisms, It feels like she's read enough to quench her thirst for knowledge a million times over.

But that's where Ninja academy comes in.

Heirs and heiresses don't usually attend academy with the other kids. Usually they're shut in and...'prepared' till their eye balls fall out, but Yuyake actually convinced her mother to let her go.

It involved a 3 paged paper on how connections allowed to occur naturally are stronger than planned ones, but she got it. So at the very least she is able to tear away from it all to go to academy and unwind and make friends like a normal person. Even if that isn't really how it's panning out. Even that is a relief. No one cares that she's an heiress! A lot of people actually thinks her muteness is a ploy to be an asshole.

Despite her skin tone making her stick out among the pale children of Konoha, most forget her existence entirely! And it's nice.

It's so nice.

Yuyake is grateful for the inch her mother has given her, and she often reminds herself not to attempt to take a mile.

Milk chocolate thumbs press into equally brown eyelids.

How can she even think of taking a mile when her mother has already lost so much?

Of course her mother's life is part of her studies. All the previous clan leaders are. Just about all of the woman's stories ended in either 'then he died too' or 'then they left her forever'.

And that's why the house is so empty now.

"Lady Bokuso-chi" Yuyake jumps lightly, turning and surveying the clan member bowing in the room's thresh hold. Hearing people speak in the compound always startles her from now and then, even if all the servants do it. Married in members couldn't be more than servants now.

"I apologize for interrupting your studies, but it is time for bed, your bath has been drawn," he clears the doorway, gesturing down the hall.

Yuyake gets to her feet and glides over to him, placing a tiny palm upon his blue hair to dismiss him. He stays put until she's secured herself in the bathroom on door down.

Bathing is a quiet ritual, the only sounds rising from the silence being the slosh of water rising and falling.

Exiting the steamy liquid, she dawns her simple night shirt and races herself down the hall to the large mattress that attempts to swallow her every night.

. . .

The Bokuso-chi ombre eyes did not skip her generation, they are just as luminous as everyone else's, but hers mimic the sunset, fading from the gold she inherited from her father to Orange she hijacked from her grandparents.

. . .

she watches the time tick by.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

The sun beckon's Yuyake from her dreams, and she follows gracefully.

The memory of drifting off doesn't come to the teen.

Scooting to the closest edge, Yuyake lands on the ground and starts running around for her materials for the day. Her ninja pouch is on her desk, slides down the line of dressers and picks one at random to pull her signature short body suit. A quick pat down of the hair and a quick addition of her shoes and fingerless gloves, and she's off!

She speeds down the hall, skidding at it's end to shoot to the kitchen.

There, servants are making breakfast breakfast, but she just snatches up the sliced apples and the lunch they made her and heads out.

"Wait! Lady Bokuso-chi! You need more than... I don't know why I bother" a lady shrugs, turning back to her meal prep.

Sprinting down the quiet streets of the compound, Yuyake barely registers the glimpses of family's enjoying the morning that pass through her peripherals. bursting through the concrete arch, the hustle and bustle of the village slowly fades into ear shot, but she's not interested in any of that.

No, there's someone very specific she's interested.

A yawn rips through Shikamaru's throat as soon as he sits up.

"Why does it seem like I just wakes up more tired everyday? Mom nagged that it may be because I sleep to much, but that simply isn't possible..."a yawn rattles him once again.

If anything, he doesn't sleep enough...

The sun caresses the features of his room, bringing him a tranquility he only gets every once and a while.

Oh look! A butterfly.

It flutters about on wings forged from oceans.

"Don't tell me I slept with that window? It's a good thing it wasn't cold last night else I might have gotten up with a cold too, what a drag," he takes up his hair tie at his bedside, pushing his tamable locks into his well known point tail.

"Well... I guess I better get up before-!" He hacks hard.

What the hell, did that stupid butterfly go down his throat!?

He pounds on his chest, the object rising as well as tiny tears in his eye's corners.

!

It pops out.

. . .

. .

.

Is that an apple slice?

"Alright, where are you?" he sways his head and he finds the trouble maker curled into herself besides his bed.

"Yuyake!" He flings the covers out his way and shoves his foot into her side. "You could have killed me! Are you insane!?" his kicks lack the necessary force to stop her fit.

"Somehow you're even more troublesome than girls who can nag me to death," he grumbles; here he is thinking that her whole 'brain can't connect syllables to lip movements' bullshit would make her bearable.

He is dead wrong, apparently.

Yuyake finally slows her hysterical laughter. sits her simple self up.

giving a thumbs up to the victim, Shikamaru rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I'm ok, no thanks to you at all," he get out of bed, and Yuyake looks from his grey T-shirt to his... duck boxers? Just as soon as her eyes dropped, the brainiac flings the duvet back over his lower half. Shit! He'd forgotten that he's on his last pair of undies.

. . .

Shikamaru is really hoping he was fast enough and that she saw nothing. Maybe if he doesn't react she'll drop it...?

pffft!

Of course not.

She's back on the floor dying in silence and the Nara just rubs his forehead. Is this really how they're starting the last day of academy? He reveals his duck shorts once more and he stands confidently, but he's not fooling the dark laughing mess on the floor. The light blush upon his cheeks rats him out on his embarrassment.

"Whatever," He steps over her and starts getting ready. Starting with his pants. "I can't believe I actually hang with you," he mumbles.

He dawns his usual attire of grey washed greens and fishnets.

"You got any more apple slices? Preferably some you wont throw down my throat while I'm talking," he had to admit, the one he chocked on actually tasted pretty good.

She gives him a wink and a finger gun before pulling out her plastic bag and offering it to him.

"Thanks," he stops at the top of the steps, "Yuya's here! Mom make sure Dad has his pants on!" he calls down the steps before they descend. They see a large figure scurry out of sight.

"That must be dad," The boy sits down at the table followed by his unwelcomed guess.

At breakfast, the head of the house hold take up a familiar conversation, "You know..." and both heiress and son groan inwardly.

Here he goes again.

"You two would should seriously think about turning this friendship you got going on into something special," he starts back up his age old argument.

"Yuyake is a pretty and quiet, and she comes from a prestigious family, You two are clearly close and-" Shika asks the heavens to forgive him.

"No. For the last time, I;m not dating her for status and she's not my type anyway, just look at her! Her hair is too long and personally I prefer girls who dress in lighter colors," Shikamaru puts up the defense.

Yuyake had been nodding along in agreement until he started dissing her fashion. How dare he! Her hair is a beautiful length!

slap!

Shika-mom steps in with a hand to her son's head, "Don't disrespect a woman at my table! Especially when she's sitting at it!" she chastises, and Yuyake pokes her tongue out tauntingly. Ha! Serves him right.

"But she's not a girl! She's... look at her!" he leads all attention to the girl, and Yuyake puts on the most hurt expression she can muster, earning the boy another thk! hit from his mother.

"What did I just say!?"

"Ok, I think I'm done eating now, I'll be heading to class, come on Yuyake," he pinches his nose's bridge, opening the door for the nuisance to avoid another lecture about chivalry.

When they're out on the streets, Shika narrows his eyes at her. "Using my mom against me, low blow," but her brilliant smile doesn't seem to falter.

"So, it's the last day, anyone in particular you want to say good buy to?" he asks, but he's answered with an expression that questions his authenticity. A smirk spreads upon his lips, "Oh yeah! You don't have any friends," he feigns forgetfulness, and it earns him a shove from the dark skinned kunoichi. When he straightens up he sees her arms crossed and nose to the air.

"After all you did today, you're turning your nose up at me?" he raised a brow. The nerve! She is, by far, his most exhausting friend. Disability or not.

~X~

The mute plops down besides her homie, and gives him all of her attention., and he allows her for a while, but at some point he loses his patience.

"Stop it, the sunset eyes may be cool, but they become ominous when you do that," he rests his chin upon his folded arms.

Grinning brightly, the girl turns forward to ignore the lesson properly.

She's almost dozing off her herself when she hears those signature soft snores coming from besides her.

Now she may ignore her lessons, but she does not sleep on them, then is her only time away from the books! She picks up a pencil and starts doodling some insignificant things. Oh, look at that, she drew a bat.

She looks at all her drawing/writing utensils, and she has to admit, until now, not once did she ever consider her army of 10 writing utensil to be too much. huh...

...

She kind of wonders if she can fit them all in Shika's ponytail.

...

..

Only one way to find out.

~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Ok!

She's at 5... she appropriated Shika's two pencil's and kindly asked Hinata for her 3 to give her a grand total of 15 to try to fit, and she's a third of the way there. She believes in herself!

"I'm at the end of my Rope, Naruto."

The small kunoichi-in training looks up in time to catch Iruka's scornful glare accompanied by a disapprovingly folded pair of arms. Yeesh, she'd hate to be on the receiving end of that. Yuya moves her eyes from the irritated teacher to the accused student. It is that blond boy with the whisker-like prints on his face.

Naruto is it?

The heiress finds herself scrunching up her face more and more as the teach scolds him by bringing forth his past failures infront of an audience. Ugh. She can't say she's impressed. It;s always been a pet peeve of hers for someone to throw one's past in their face like that.

Why is Iruka calling Naruto out like that? Doesn't the kid get picked on enough without the bullies having more ammo?

Though Yuya supposes that isn't her business; her current task is beside her. A hand grasps another pencil before it proceeds to tangle it in a boy's dark ponytail.

Brilliant ombre eyes that fade from orange to gold are concentrated on the pony tail of spikes at her mercy.

A pencil lightly scrapes the boy's stilled shoulder.

Twitch.

Yuyake freezes up.

. . .

Her favorite victim calms once more, and she continues. Tilting her head for a better angle, She jumps when something black moves in the corner of her eye.

What is that?

She looks around.

Oh, it's just her hair... She pushes the follicles behind her and shivers slightly when they brush the small of her back. Hopefully it wouldn't scare her again.

"Fine! Cause you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!" There was a chorus of whines as Iruka announces his verdict and points to the students as if they are the ones skipping class. the girl looks around at her classmates, but didn't whine, or make any sound of disapproval for that matter. Instead, she pokes the sleeping boy to wake him. Only he doesn't budge.

Poke…

Poke…

. . .Bite!

"OUCH!" The boy shoots up and holds his offended shoulder. "What the-," he whips around to face the girl, "Yuyake! Why you- What did you do that for?!" he glares at her, his frustration so hot he can't decide what to yell at her, but it's just as short lived as it is tempered. His scowl calms to a simple frown as he folds his arms behind his head.

What is with her today?

Part of him wonders if it has to do with today being their last. Maybe she's more fearful of the change than she's letting on.

He surveys for any signs of his theory, but all he sees right now is gleeful grin her her brown digit pointing down to where the other students are lining up.

"A review? Jeeze, you could've just, called my name or something," he slurs his words with a yawn and an eye rub. Standing up, he looks to Yuyake who has her eyebrows turn downward in a look of distaste.

"Oh yeah, you're a mute, forgot," he gives a smirk. And Yuyake turns her noes to the air indignantly at the crude joke.

"Come on, Shikamaru," a larger boy calls up to them.

Shikamaru gives another yawn, "I'm coming, Choji. Jeeze, reviews are such a drag," Shika makes his way down the stairs with Yuyake in his shadow. The mute Kunoichi gets in line with the others and waits her turn.

It isn't long before the reason for the review is center stage,"Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka beckons.

"We always pay for you mistakes, Naruto," Shikamaru grumbles, none too happy about waking up from his nap. He was having a good dream!

"Like I care," Naruto steps forth, forming a sign to mold his Chakra. Meanwhile, Yuyake busies herself with her hair, braiding a lock and unbraiding it, mindlessly staring at who ever is in the hot-seat at the moment.

That is, until the view of a naked woman's butt is suddenly in her sight. Yuyake jumps lightly and darts her sunset gaze away, a light red on her cheeks. Caught staring at a girl's butt, how do the heiress-in-training books say how to recover from this!?

"Cut the stupid tricks! This is your last warning!"The mute girl holds her ears. Ow. Man Iruka is loud!

She has never heard him yell like that! Though, Naruto doesn't seem to be phased.

The teacher sighs. "That's all for today, class is dismissed and prepare for your exam," The teacher pinches the bridge of his nose in a failing effort to relieve the stress of his work day.

Yuyake stands from the desk she's sitting on just as Shikamaru walks pass her.

"Want to go cloud watching with me, Yuya?"Shikamaru finds her with his eyes. He always found it interesting how her eyes resembled the scene of a sunset, minus the blues and pinks.

They are pretty cool.

As he's told his father a million times, he doesn't have a thing for the girl;Though Yuya is easier to hang with than most. Probably because she can't talk, she can't nag him like his mom.

Whatever it was, it made her less troublesome.

Yuyake answers with a smile and nods.

Shikamaru leads the female friend to their usual spot where he immediately lays down on his back, opening his body up for the sky to observe him as he does it.

The small girl comes to sit beside him and cranes her neck to watch the large white fluffs drag across the sky. She smiles. This was nice; she hopes Shikamaru would be on her team, so they could continue to do these things.

"..."

Silence consumes them, until, Shikamaru speaks up.

"Are you worried that we won't hang out as much after we get assigned to teams?" he slides his gaze to her.

Truthful with herself, Yuyake nods, and something about the honesty makes the boy grin.

"Don't be,"

~X~

"The final exam will be on the Cloning jutsu." Iruka announces to the class.

This employs Yuyake's eyes to search for Naruto, and when she finds him, he is falling to pieces. She gives an inaudible giggle. Too bad Naruto isn't her, because she has this in the bag.

"Wait till your name is called then proceed to the testing room," Iruka speaks confidently to his students. They'll make it. All of them. He believes that. And so it begins.

"First up, Yuyake Bokuso-chi," Of course she is first, the down side of having a last name that begins with 'B'. She stands up.

"You go, Yuya!"

Yuyake nods gratefully to Choji. So nice of him to support the friend of a friend! She's kind of happy that Iruka managed to skip over the chip lover's name, she prefers to go first to get it taken care of! she makes follows her teacher outside the room, brushing her swayed bangs out her eyes so that she may focus.

Mean while Iruka thinks how surprising it was for the brown skinned child to not have stuck out more this entire time. Her skin and eyes already did it a bit for her,all she needed was to show the slightest bit of prowess, and yet she didn't. No, the girl besides him is the master of bare minimum.

He often worries if she's holding back...

There have been quite a few times where he caught a conflicted countenance upon those innocent features. And don't get him started on the times she would aim at a target perfectly, but just as he was about to call attention to it to praise her, she'd adjust to be off by a little.

He saw her wandering gaze in class all the time, she was never there for the lesson, yet somehow she always passes? Clearly she is getting training outside the academy.

Well, what ever it is, he hopes that it dies when she enters her team.

Iruka opens the door for Yuyake who smiles thankfully to him and enters

The instructor sits down behind the desk with Mizuki. "Ok, you may begin"

The sunset-eyed girl releases a quiet breath and weaves her hand signs. The chakra she summons is rambunctious and bullies her hair into her eyes, but she tames it. Owns it. She forces it to do her bidding. She constructs a cloud, and behind its cover, commands her remaining Chakra into an image of her likeness.

The cloud clears, and she allows her teachers to marvel at her handy work.

Iruka smiles. He knew she could do it. "Thank you, you've passed. Here's your official leaf head band, Yuyake, you will receive your squad at orientation," Mizuki states with an equally kind smile.

Yuyake walks over and takes the headband. Allowing it to rest on the black material of her fingerless glove, Yuyake contemplates life, and it's meaning, before quickly realizing she's suppose to be thinking of where to wear her little head band...

She looks at it for a moment longer…

she'll figure out later.

Shoving it into the pocket of her short body suit, the newly made Kunoichi walks out the room, and Iruka follows to call out the next name.

Yuyake sat beside a sleeping Nara, prepared to be the alarm clock that bites him when his turn comes up.

~X~

After graduation, all the kids meet with their parents outside. All except 3: Naruto, Sasuke, and Yuyake. Her mom is probably at a meeting or something equally.

Besides, it might been weird if people see Her and her mom just staring at each other.

Yuyake sees everyone talking, and her ears pick up slanders of the orange ball of energy. she glances over at Naruto, who has an expression that can make any heart ache. Unless you are the girl's at this school, and you have no heart.

He must feel so lonely...

She walks over to him, approaching from behind, and places a gentle hand on his back.

Naruto jumps slightly, looking back at her with a confused expression to which Yuyake gives a simple smile.

Meanwhile a group of girls, whom stand nearby, could be easily heard as they watch the two interact. They spit words that evaporate into a venomness vapor and it tries to sting them both, but Yuyake fends it off and blocks Naruto from its side effects.

No one needs to feel terrible about themselves.

The blonde's face is full of discontent as he looks from Yuyake to the group.

Too bad she can't stay; she has to get home. Yuya flings her arms around the boy and squeezes before dashing off.

Quietly, she makes her way through the streets of Konoha, wondering if her mom has made anything for dinner. her eyes glaze over as her mouth waters at the idea. Her stomach roars at her fantasies, not too happy with the temptation, and Yuyake shakes her head at the organ.

She dances her way through the concrete entrance; its paintings of vines and roses done in shimmering gold. The horizontal rumbas with the symbol for "Mind" is familiar. Her clan's insignia.

Upon entering the area, it's like a ghost town. Outsiders don't really come into the Bokuso-chi compound; its silence is comically known to bring some to the brink of insanity, but Yuyake likes it.

She makes her way to the heart of the compound where the Bokuso-chi mansion resides. It's large and beautiful with grey roofs. She enters, stepping out her shoes and walking further in.

Ok, she can admit it is a little too quiet in here in the recent years.

Her mother peaks in the doorway and smiles. Being a natural born Bokuso-chi, she too is a mute. The young looking woman is tall with black wavy hair and eyes that faded from purple to blue.

Yuyake's face lights up. She believes her mom to be so pretty! With such defined curves and features; She often wonders if she will ever reach such levels of luscious beauty. Sure, the woman assures her daughter that growing up, she was a late bloomer, but that is hard to corroborate with all Yuyake's mom's photos being taken in lavender robes thicker than the one she wears daily.

Yuyake runs her hands over her board like body, looking for any hint of new curves.

Nothing.

It's so unfair, all the other girls have a little bumps on their chest and a dip in their waists! But she has zip! Nada!

Her mother's voice enters her mind.

Yes, her mother's a mute with a voice.

"Welcome home sweetie! How was school?"

Yuyake watches as her mother's lips stay still with every word. After giving a confident thumbs up, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her headband, showing it to her mom. The woman gives a gushing smile.

"Oh! Mommy's so proud of her cute little Sunset! I knew you could do it!" Yuyake's mom seizes her in a hug.

The girl cuddles back. At least she has her mother.

"Your father would have been so proud," Sadness dances in her mother's melodic voice.

Yuyake's grasp on her mother tightens. She tries, but when images of all five of them as a family flash before her eyes, her vision blurs, she stops the tears from falling, but it's an uphill battle.

Her mother pats her daughter's hair down to comfort her, "There, there…I miss them too."

Silence…

Until Yuyake frowns through her anguish, and bites her mother's shoulder "OW! Yuyake!?" She jumps back from her daughter who furiously rubs at her own face. She hates getting sad about their absences; it makes the heiress feel ungrateful.

Her mom gives her a pouting frown before she goes and bites into her daughter's shoulder.

Yuyake jumps back and glares unheard words at her mother.

"Anyway, before you so rudely interrupted me. You'll be receiving a team soon at your orientation and you'll need a means of communicating, so congrats! You're going to learn how to talk."

The chocolate girl sheepishly looks at her mother, giving a fake smile.

A vein on her mom's forehead bulges. "Jeeze! You could at least pretend to be excited!" She huffs and crosses her arms.

Yuyake truthfully smiles. Her mother is acting more like a child than her.

Her mother ventures deeper into the home and the heiress inhabits her shadow.

"I'm sure you remember from your studies that we branched off from the yamanaka and learned how to speed up and slow down our brainwaves with chakra in order to match brainwave frequencies to talk to others, right? And that that member combined with someone from a none combative, wealthy clan and caused said clan to split, etc. etc., the other half of the clan is in the village hidden in the clouds aaaaaand You're gonna learn how to speak!" The clan leader cuts to the chase, knowing full well what all her studies cover and not wanting to further bore her.

Yuyake nods as the brief overview digs up 'The Beginning of Telepathic mutes and how we learn to speak'. It is an interesting read, to think that being mute is what allows them to grasp the ability flawlessly! It's also nice considering she doesn't have to read three versions of it unlike other topics.

She also finds the ability to alter one's brainwaves and sense existing ones fascinating.

Pulling out a key, her mother unlocks a hidden door and leads them into a square room with no windows. The walls are marble white and the flooring is gray. In the center is a sunken rectangle filled to the brim with a black liquid that crashed against the pool's sides, but when a drop splashes up, it's yanked into an identical rectangle built into the ceiling. Greyish-blue based tapestries of the clan insignia were on each walls.

"Sit. This room blocks out all other brainwaves, this way you're not over whelmed on your first few tries." Her mother informs, sitting cross-legged on a meditation mat across from her daughter.

"Are you ready? Good. First, start by concentrating." And so it begins.

There isn't much Yuyake would tell anyone if they asked her about her training. Only one thing comes to mind, in fact; one place: The realm of waves.

Her mother asks Yuya to imagine a place of blackness. A place of liquid and air but where they merge seamlessly to create an endless void. Of course, Yuyake is meant to imagine herself in the inky waves with only her head above water.

"This place you've created in your mind, this place that I've told you to create, actually exists," her mother explains. "You are currently in a fake version, while I occupy the real one," Yuyake can hear her mother release a fulfilling breath. Slowly. Calmly. "It is called by plenty of names, so feel free to name it as you see fit," she adds on lightly.

"Now, you are going to try to reach the real one, now that you know what you are looking for, it should be much easier." Yuyake does not nod at her mother's instructions, too deep in her meditative state to risk breaking it with such physical response. If the world she seeks now is identical to the one she currently inhabits, how will she know she's made it?

"Don't worry, sweety, You'll know, there is one distinct difference between your world and the fake." her mother assures her unasked thoughts.

.

.

.

Yuyake is uncertain how long she is like this; slowed breathing and rigid posture. time can be moving slower since she isn't doing anything. Or faster because she is focusing so much. All she's certain about is that she is making absolutely no progress.

Nothing has changed since she started, and it doesn't feel like anything is going to change soon. It also doesn't help that yuya is starting to drift into other thoughts like what if she never gets it? How will she communicate with her team then? She supposes it isn't impossible, the technique takes years to get anyway, so surely during the training time, bokuso-chi find other ways to communicate, right?

She certainly hopes so, else she is fucked.

"You need to focus," Her mother enters her mind.

Yuyake can barely feel the warmth radiating off the woman. According to the location, she moved to be behind Yuyake, when did that happen?

Suddenly, Yuya feels cold hands cup over her ears and something trickles into her. It's creepy at first, because Yuya hears nothing but the whispers her mother's chakra makes, but it quickly melts to a high pitched ringing that centers Yuyake and her thoughts.

CLICK!

It's sudden, the way Yuyake's false world hardens into reality. She only feels the difference rather than sees it.

Drip!

She believes it's above her, direction not being easy to discern in this place. But it's a drop of shimmering white that compares to her in size, and it splashes in the black sea directly behind her.

It's force waves only identified by their peaks of shimmering white that lift and drop her. they chill the water to a deathly temperature and seem indifferent of the child they cradle, though they cradle her nonetheless.

"Do you see it?"

Yuyake can only nod, because she does.

A/N Thanks for Reading!