Summer lay on her bed, feeling quite dazed. The day before had probably been the worst day in her entire life.
It was even worse than the time when she had tripped and tumbled down the stairs in her middle school and her pants had ripped open.

She had lost to Winter.

She didn't even want to go to school anymore after that public humiliation. After the battle, she had walked home sulking, but with whispers and rumours flying over her head as well. And worse, if she went to school, she would have to put up with Winter sitting next to her for the whole day.

Summer shuddered. Winter would have probably become arrogant and start to piss her off by teasing her for being weak. He would probably taunt her for the rest of her life as long as she lives.

He had seemed full of himself when he first came to school. Today would be his second day attending the Academy with his brother.

Summer dragged herself out of bed desolately. She desperately wanted to skip school, but knowing her father and teacher, she would probably have to commit suicide before she could do that.

An hour later, Summer was walking into the Academy grounds, her head bent low, trying to avoid the laughing stares and whispers from the other students. Shoulders slumped, she walked to her class and was about to enter when she bumped into something.

Something cold.

Summer yelped and jumped back, her skin tingling. Then she saw what- no, who- she had bumped into and froze. Winter stood at the entrance of the class, blocking the doorway, surrounded by all the fangirls in the class. He looked faintly bemused, as he blinked warmly at the girls.

When he felt someone bump into his back, he turned around and saw Summer backing away from him, her hair bristling.

"Oh, hey Summer. Come on in. I just need to clear the way first." Winter smiled, his voice gentle. Summer relaxed slightly and nodded curtly at him. The crowd of girls had quietened down and had cleared a path for Winter to enter the class. Summer slowly followed him in, but tripped suddenly. She fell to the ground, groaning.

Laughter filled her ears as she got to her feet. She tried to walk and stumbled, then realised that her ankle was sprained. She looked around, trying to figure out what had tripped her, then she spotted Beatriix with her foot stuck out. The girl flashed a wicked grin at Summer.

"Oh, what happened? Did the 'Unbeatable Queen' trip over her own feet?" Beatriix mocked, then burst out laughing. Her minions and sister echoed her.

Summer hung her head and gritted her teeth, clenching her fists so tightly that they began to tremble. She wanted to punch Beatriix in the face. She wanted to punch everyone in her class, including Winter. The boy had stopped walking and was frowning at the laughing group of girls.

He walked back. "Summer, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked, his tone concerned.

"I'm fine!! I don't need you to babysit me!" Summer hissed at him, then she strode towards her table, shoving past Winter as she went. She tried her hardest not to limp, even though her ankle was aching badly.

Winter trailed after her after glancing back at the stunned group of girls with a warning look. Summer settled down in her seat and slumped on her table, burying her face in her arms. A few tears trickled down her face, and she was lucky she was covering it.

She was not going to let Winter see her cry. Summer felt a familiar coldness swamp over her, and tensed her muscles. Sure enough, Winter spoke. "Are you really alright? You were limping."

Summer bolted upright, her eyes blazing with rage and frustration as she faced Winter, who was staring calmly at her.

"Do I look alright to you?! Do I?!" She growled, digging her nails into her desk's surface. Winter blinked at her, his face showing no traces of arrogance and annoyance. Only sympathy.

"It's ok if you're angry. Just tell me what's wrong. If you're mad at me, then tell me why- if you want to- and I'll try to fix the problem." Winter said. Summer froze, her anger diminishing. Why was Winter so sympathetic? Those who actually managed to beat her (usually because of pure luck) would start to become haughty and think that they're the best in the school, which later made them easier to defeat.

But Winter... Winter was different. He was trying to console her, to calm her down. He wasn't boasting. He wasn't teasing and mocking her.

Summer felt herself tearing up a little, but forced her sobs down. "I am mad at you." she admitted quietly. Winter cocked his head, thankfully not asking why, but Summer still told him anyway.

"I had always been the strongest in the school. No one could beat me. And then you came and..." Summer gulped, turning away.

"Oh... I see now. You're upset because you got humiliated in front of everyone." Winter said quietly. Summer nodded, blinking back tears.

Winter didn't talk to her anymore after that, which was what Summer needed. During class, the two avoided looking at each other or even talking. During break, Winter was preoccupied by the girls who liked him, while Summer went to the Academy's roof and sat there staring into space.

History lessons came, and as Summer tried to pay attention, she noticed that Winter wasn't paying attention as always. Instead, he was dozing off, his eyelids drooping.

"So, can anyone tell me why the Council decided to set up the Academy?" Mdm Justifer questioned. To Summer's surprise, Winter, who was supposedly asleep, raised his hand.

"They wanted to let people learn how to control their powers and to make them more civilised." he answered monotonously.

Freaked out, Summer jumped up from her seat, bristling. Giggles echoed through the class. Summer's face turned rose pink and she bowed her head. Mdm Justifer frowned disapprovingly.

"Is there a problem, Ms Solveg?" She snapped irritatedly. Summer pointed at Winter, knowing fully well how stupid her reason would sound.

"He was asleep when he answered your question."

The class burst out laughing. Summer heard a few 'Has she gone mad?'s and 'That's insane!'s. She clenched her fists, feeling embarrassed.

Mdm Justifer snorted. "That's impossible. How do you know for sure-"

Then Winter blinked his eyes opened and stretched his jaws in a massive yawn. He arched his back, relaxing. "Huh?" He blinked when he saw that everyone was staring at him with their eyes bulging from their sockets.

"Hey Brother, did you just take a hyper nap?" Glade asked casually, as if seeing Winter sleeping while answering a question was the most normal thing in the world.

Winter nodded. Mdm Justifer gasped. "A hyper nap?! Mr Winter, I will need to speak to you later. And Ms Solveg, sit down for Armandia's sake!!" Summer sat down sheepishly, her head bowed as more laughs came from the students.

"What's a hyper nap?" She asked, intrigued. She wondered if she was also able to take a hyper nap.

"A hyper nap is a type of sleeping technique which allows the user's mind be awake, while his conscience goes to sleep for a short while. But the technique is also highly dangerous. If the user does not keep a hold on both his mind and conscience, his very existence may split into two, and he will die,"

A tense silence gripped the class. But apparently, Mdm Justifer thought that she had finally gotten the students' interest, and decided that she should further explain hyper naps.

"You see, hyper naps require the user to focus on both his mind and-"

"Uh, Mdm Justifer, you don't really have to explain fully what a hyper nap is." Winter cut in. Mdm Justifer glared at him, her nostrils flaring. Then she whipped around and began to crossly write on the blackboard, stabbing her chalk on the surface.

There was silence for the rest of the class. Winter was in the center of attention, with some of the students occasionally glancing at him through narrowed eyes.

Very soon it was the end of the day, with Summer gaining victory against Rea Warfait of 3.A in Battlemania. Summer walked out of the school building, and was surprised to see that, instead of her, everyone was staring and pointing at Winter as he walked out of the gates with Glade.

Then Summer finally realised why Winter had taken a hyper nap in the middle of class.

He had been trying to help her. He had been trying to divert all the attention, all the stares and whispers, away from her.

He didn't want her to feel humiliated anymore.

Summer stared after Winter as he rounded the bend. Then he paused and looked back, his beautiful sapphire blue eyes gleaming in the evening sun. A wind blew, ruffling his hair. He spotted her staring at him.

And laughed, smiling gently.