She sat on the rooftop, having climbed the ladder to reach the highest point. Earphones were in her ears, she drew in her sketchbook, focused on the details of the monster that had ended so many lives on that day. They day where Heathcliff revealed himself to be her uncle.

The shock and disbelief she felt when she had found out that her uncle had been hiding amongst them was fresh in her mind, now that she was out of that game. She could still remember the day her uncle had requested that she aid him in designing some boss monsters, there only being a slight possibility that he might actually put them in the game.

The last thing she expected was to watch her own creation wipe out so many people.

She could have prevented so many deaths had she known what would happen.

Ume closed her eyes, hand stopped, and took a deep breath. 'Don't think about it,' she reminded herself, 'there was nothing you could have done.' Her therapist encouraged that she do this when her thoughts began to spiral down the hole of guilt and what ifs.

She opened her eyes and took one look at her sketch before she turned the page and started on something new instead. Though it was only a few seconds until she lost herself again, eyes glazed over as she let her thoughts wander and hand move subconsciously.

She had decided to attend the public school that was created for SAO survivors, but had made sure that she did not have classes with Asuna nor Kazuto. It was hard to convince the dean, with a note from her therapist, it had made it all the more easier to be kept far away from the couple.

Ume wasn't even sure if they knew she attended their school now, but they were bound to find out eventually. With the additional two hundred ninety-nine released captives from Sugo's disgusting experiment, she had blended right in with the other transfers. People who recognized her approached her in an attempt to befriend her, but as she normally did, she lived up to her name not only in-game but in real life as well.

Ice Queen Ume had reared her head once again, putting on a front to those in front of her so that they wouldn't be able to see how broken she had become. She couldn't let anyone see that she had let her defenses down. 

There was a pat on her leg that hung over the ledge, alerting her to someone else's presence. She jolted, taking out one of her earbuds and glanced at the person.

He smiled, "Hello Ume, how are you?" Instantly she relaxed and returned the smile with her own, albeit smaller.

"Yuu," she greeted softly, making room so that he could climb up to sit with her. "How was class?"

"You would know if you would actually attend," he scolded. She shrugged, the moment she learned she was in the same class as Asuna (she tested out of her grade once again and was put one year ahead and despite her request, all other classes were full) she began to cut classes. 

"I have a medical excuse to not feel comfortable enough in that class."

He gave a sideways glance after he had settled in his spot, "You have a medical excuse to give the teacher so that you can go to the nurse, not cut class when you don't want to go."

"Potato, pohtahto."

He stared, she could feel it, the heavy gaze of someone who cared for her. She received the same look from her family constantly when she wasn't feeling up to doing certain things that she used to enjoy. Yuu sighed and looked away, "What was it this time?"

Ume didn't reply and instead tilted her head back as a breeze came sweeping through, blowing the long strands of hair back. "I need...I need to do something. Make a change. Do something so that I can face her again. I-I know I'm being a coward, I am better than that. I want to change...I want to grow."

Yuu pondered her words, not commenting on the change of subject. If she didn't want to talk about it then he wouldn't push her, it would only cause her to react negatively. Another sweep of wind rushed passed and he watched her spluttered strands of hair out of her mouth and swat her own hair out of her face. Oh, there's an idea. "Your hair," he suggested, "cut it."

Wide eyes turned to him in revelation.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

She walked through the halls, chin up, eyes forward. Her steps were confident and the heels of her boots clicked against the floor. 

"Narashi-san...?" she stopped and turned to the student that called to her, some random boy she hadn't met before.

"Yes?"

"Y-you're hair...it's very pretty," he stuttered, face blooming red. She reached up to brush her fingers over the short strands and nodded at him.

"Thank you," she replied before continuing to her classroom. She kept the long strands at the front, but did cut them shorter than they had been, so that she could keep the little braids framing her face. Her bangs fell just above her eyes but the rest of her hair that had once pooled down to her knees (after years of simply letting it grow it had reached an inconvenient length) was now layered and barely brushing her nape. The change wasn't drastic (at least not to Ume, hair was not that important to her she was just too lazy to get it cut) but it was nice and it seemed to catch everyone's attention for one reason or another.

She her steps nearly faltered. There, ahead of her, was Asuna and Kazuto staring at her in astonishment. She focused, mustering all the confidence she knew she had and strode passed them to reach her classroom. 

She was going to sit through class. 

She would. 

She had to.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Asuna shivered slightly after Ume had walked passed them without sparing a glance to them. What caused her reaction was not the hair, but the way her eyes seemed to nearly glow. With what? Asuna didn't know.

She followed the girl until her figure disappeared inside her classroom, then she turned her head slightly and opened her mouth to reassure Kirito that Ume is still adjusting-

Her thoughts halted.

Kirito's eyes were stuck on the door that Ume had gone through, dazed with a flush spreading on his cheeks.

Her lips clamped shut as something akin to fear crawled up her spine.