"There you guys are," Yeserno noticed Laminia and Uwala stolling over to him. Uwala held his paper with tight hands, while Laminia patted his back.

"It's okay, Uwala," she started in a soft voice. "It was hard when me and Yeserno did it. But I'm sure that you'll do better next time," she rubbed his back.

"What happened?" Yeserno asked nonchalantly. His arms were crossed.

"I..." Uwala glanced up at Yeserno's eyes before looking back down. He wasn't scared of his brother, per say. Just a little alert and anxious at times by his distance. He wasn't like Leiyun or Laminia–warm-hearted and good and sweet. He was a little distant from his members–just a little. "I didn't really do so well on the test..."

Uwala shuffled his fingers on the paper. Laminia patted his back.

"It's okay," she said again. "We can help you on the next one when we have time."

Uwala and Yeserno glanced up at her. "Don't you have to go study with that guy? Kario?" Yeserno raised an eyebrow.

Laminia let out a small gasp, her cotton candy hair framing her face. "Oh! You're right. Tell Nai I'll be at his place," she glanced at Uwala. "You can come if you'd like, he's very friendly,"

Uwala shook his head. No thanks. His hands still were clenched onto the paper.

"Yea, I'll walk with him back home," Yeserno said, placing a hand on Uwala's back. Laminia waved as she walked closer into the crowd. "Bye, Laminia."

And so Uwala and Yeserno parted ways with Laminia, their paths diverging only for the afternoon.

#

Yeserno and Uwala ambled through the Oceanuris Market, a non-penetrating silence that distanced the two growing men. Uwala held his paper and folded it with a frown before placing it in his pocket, while Yeserno watched his brother with closed lips and close examination. There wasn't really anything different or interesting to look at in the Oceanuris Market, especially since it wasn't as crowded as it usually would be. So Yeserno found his attention on his brother.

He noticed, his face a bit dunked in gloom. It was most definitely from the test. He noticed his face in a bit of distance from his brother, for he wasn't particularly close with him. And he noticed that they were completely silent.

This made Yeserno's shoulders shuffle a little before he spoke.

"So, what grade did you get?" He asked, looking at Uwala before averting his eyes elsewhere.

Uwala glanced up at him before his eyes shooted away as well. "Sixty. I was hoping to do a little better." Yeserno and Uwala were silent once again.

Yeserno bit his lip and looked at Uwala. "A sixty is still a pass, you know." He hovered his hand over his brother's back, hanging there awkwardly.

Uwala sighed. "Will Nai get mad at me?"

Yeserno smiled. "You know she doesn't get mad at those kind of things." His smile faded away as he noticed Uwala's face–lips compressed into a small frown, eyebrows slightly curved downwards. Yeserno frowned as they continued to walk in silence again.

"Well, you did your best, right?" He asked. "That's all that matters." Yeserno's ears slightly burned; he wasn't used to being this warm towards others. Uwala's face was still stuck in dejection. Yeserno sighed. He knew he couldn't do nothing about it. "How about this? We will try doing something fun tomorrow."

"Fun?" Uwala glanced up and asked. He bit his lip. "What do you mean by 'fun'?"

Yeserno thought about Uwal''s constant cowardice in his life. He was a little afraid of everything. But maybe this fun could lighten his spirits and fear. He could feel a little braver if he tried something outside of his safe shores. Yeserno smiled at the thought. He couldn't imagine himself in this position–trying his hardest at Uwala's happiness–but he smiled again at the thought that he was doing it now.

"I mean something that'll lift your spirits. We'll do it together tomorrow." Yeserno placed his fingers on his chin and his other hand on Uwala's back as he found an idea. He looked up on the tallest hill of Oceanuris. "Something that'll make you feel more braver."