The twins were two things: completely devoted and forever insufferable.

Well, almost. Helene was the more rash of the two, prone to outbursts that nearly rivaled Vega's. She was a big attitude wrapped in a small package, which didn't deter her from putting herself on the top of the metaphorical food chain. The only person that had the same amount of pull as she did in the social hierarchy of the school was her brother, and it was no coincidence he was just as stubborn as she was. The two of them were forces not to be reckoned with – and Miranda knew it.

That didn't stop her, however. It should have, as much as Helene and Kane frightened her at first. Especially since their fights on the biotiball field usually left deep welts of burning biotic power in the earth, the light purple and white energy eating at the grass and dirt underneath. But the outbursts were kept away from other students, and as the top two biotics of the human race, they were given exemptions so they could fight. It honed skill, Anderson had said.

What kind of bullshit was that? Even now, it angered Miranda. She was genetically modified just for those kinds of fights, and yet, here were two perfect examples of nature - once again - biting her in the ass.

As much as the twins irratated her to no end, she wanted to get to know them. Helene caught her interest at first, for reasons she really didn't want to address right then, and her brother, Kane, was growing increasingly mysterious. As good as Miranda's detective skills were, she couldn't find much about him in the school files. At least, not a substantial amount of information that she didn't already know. He was calm and quiet, the captain of the biotiball team, and dating the best simulator pilot – second to Joker – in the entire school. He followed his sister just about everywhere, though, and she saw that as her opening.

So she took it.

"Uhm," she murmured. Kane turned around, his reflective blue eyes finding hers quickly. Something like a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth, but Miranda couldn't know for sure, it was gone so quickly. She shifted to her other foot. "You're one of the Shepard twins, right?"

He nodded. He was taller than she'd anticipated – two heads taller than herself, and she was considerably tall for a woman. He held himself with a quiet confidence, something Miranda admired, and couldn't say she did so much herself, anymore.

"If you're looking for my sister, she's probably in the biology rooms, tormenting Tali's dad or something," he said. He gestured towards the bio wing, his attention momentarily captured by a shorter latino male ambling towards them from that direction. She didn't recognized him until he'd gotten closer, where she could see his remarkable blue eyes. Kane's boyfriend, Steve Cortez.

She pushed a thick lock of her hair behind her ear and flattened a wrinkle in her pea coat. The cold was starting to seep through, and Kane was giving her an odd look – one brow cocked up, something like realization passing through his face before he masked it again behind the perpetual poker face he'd been rumored to keep up. She coughed into her hand and took a few steps towards the bio wing, waving minutely. "Well, uhm. Thank you."

She ducked her head and tried not to stomp away. She could feel the boys' eyes on her as she walked, the embarrassment already flooding her system growing hotter by the second, tricking her body into thinking she was boiling under the layers protecting her from the snow gently falling from the overcast sky above. How could she have acted that way? She was supposed to be cold and confident, not easily spooked by the tall blond twin of her almost crush!

She was supposed to be the queen her father paid so much money to be! Not this - this -

The doors opened to the bio wing and she stepped inside. She shook the snow off her shoulders and boots, realizing, after a few moments, what she'd just admitted to herself. A crush? On that brutish Shepard twin? That female Shepard twin? She shuddered, thoughts of her father finding out flitting through her mind, the innumerable punishments he could inflict on her numbering in the hundreds. Why did she have to have a crush on her and not her male twin? He certainly wasn't lacking in looks or intelligence!

Except that thought sent her reeling. She couldn't think that way, not when Helene's brother was already in a dedicated relationship, and especially since Miranda sort of needed this push to figure herself out. She'd been confused for a while, and this really put it in perspective, set things straight in her mind – in retrospect, she knew this was coming. Ever since seeing Helene on the field, using her biotics to her advantage, beating that Alenko kid in a simulated fight… it was obvious. It couldn't have been any other way.

The thoughts of her father didn't really scare her anymore, right then. She didn't have to tell him. Hell - she didn't have to say a word. As long as her marks were the highest in the school and she stayed out of trouble (that he was aware of), he could care less.

It didn't even hurt to think about that.

She sidled into one of the biology rooms, the only one open this late into the school day. Helene, Tali, and Garrus were at the back of the room, giggling about something. Helene glanced up, her eyes as breath-taking as he brother's, finding Miranda's gaze quickly. She smiled at Miranda and waved her over, as if they'd been friends for years, and Miranda couldn't help herself. She went over to her, her small smile shy and happy. Her heart fluttered in her chest, filling her with a deep feeling of completeness. She wouldn't say anything, not for now. But she felt better, knowing she'd come this far, knowing her crush was kind enough to speak to her and hang out with her.

It was enough.