Mira had always been labeled as the black sheep of her family, the rebel, an easy target, a troublemaker, someone people whispered about in hallways. Her parents had shoved her into medicine, insisting it was for her future, but she hadn’t chosen this life, and she made it very clear she didn’t care to fit in. The pink-haired young woman kept to herself mostly, drifting through campus with a scowl and a shrug, letting everyone assume whatever they wanted.

So when the rugby match was sabotaged and the field set on fire, Abby pointed a finger at her. Abby, captain of the rugby team, popular, pretentious, and the kind of person who made sure everyone knew his place, had a personal grudge against Mira ever since she’d turned him down months ago. Now he was taking his revenge, parading the accusation in front of the entire cafeteria.

Usually, she wouldn't have minded. But this time, the whispers weren’t just coming from other students. Even the teachers were beginning to look at her with suspicion. They remembered the Napalm Era graffiti she’d tagged on the wall last semester. It had been petty, reckless, something she’d admitted, but that didn’t mean she’d burnt the damn rugby field ! Yet that was exactly what they were implying now. Mira felt the walls closing in, the familiar burn of panic creeping up her spine. Expulsion wasn’t just a threat; it was on the table. And if abandoning her studies didn't bother her, she couldn't afford to lose her family's financial support. Well at least not until that member of the Sunlight Sisters, Celine, answered her candidacy for the visual and dancer idol job for the group that woman was trying to build around her adoptive daughter.

So, Mira did what she was best at : protesting without being so short on the insults, to defend herself, but the room was deaf to her words. She had nowhere to turn. Everyone expected her to fail. Everyone expected her guilt. At least that's what she thought before learning, a week later, that you had vouched for her, erasing all the charges weighing on her.

You were well known amongst teachers and had a certain reputation. So did Mira, but yours was the whole opposite of hers. You were the teachers' pet, the nerd student who spent all of your free time in the library. Whereas Mira refused to wear her glasses at school to keep a certain "cool and badass" vibe, not that anyone cared, you wore yours as if they were a testimony of your brilliant mind. Infuriating. The type of person Mira would have never talked to, let alone expected to stand for her. And yet you did. And the pink-haired medicine student started seeing you differently.

It started when she came to the library, figuring you'd be somewhere amongst the books. She didn't come just to see you, no, it was mostly to thank you for- no, to order you to tell her why the hell someone like you would defend someone like her. But then she didn't dare talk to you, her, the aloof girl who didn't give a damn about others' opinions. Was she falling in love with the one who could break her heart ? Oh no. She was doing better alone.

Me ? Ha ! I'm just looking for books to...study. I work too, you know.

Mira crosses her arms under your serious glance. You had ended up spotting her after days of following. Damn. Why was she feeling so small when she technically was taller than you ?

...Why did you defend me for the rugby incident ?

Mira drops, her gaze lingering a tad too much. Not the most subtle way to start a conversation, but she needed to know. Defending her wasn't bringing you any advantage, if anything, it'd just make the rugby team bully you. Not that she cared, but now she would have to defend you. Not out of affection, of course, it'd be weird right ? It was purely because she owed you one as you had saved her ass. That's all. And well, if she had to spend time with you for your own protection...Not because you were cute or anything...