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Neither Weiss nor Blake had any sleep that night. In hindsight, they both realized that they should be thankful for the indefinite closure of school. That meant that they had an undetermined amount of time to handle this new situation. The next day, they both awoke in silence, opting to remain that way for quite awhile in the morning. The silence was only broken when Layla and Amber burst into their room for a visit. They immediately felt the solemn air around the two and gave each other questioning looks.
"Um, girls? You guys alright?" Amber raised the question. Blake and Weiss had looked her way as a means of acknowledgement, but that was as far as the interaction went before they continued to remain silent.
"Something happened, didn't it?" Layla figured. No response. Layla took that as her answer and began to look around their room. As per usual, their room was kept relatively clean and minimalist. In other words, nothing tangible was out of place. Either that, or the two girls in question held onto their problems. Amber seemed to have the same thoughts as Layla, as she quickly scanned the two girls and noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under Blake.
"Blake? What's that?" she asked aloud. Blake followed Amber's eyes to the letter she tried to hide and sighed. Weiss gave her a worried look whereas Blake nodded in reassurance that it would be fine. She took out the letter for Layla and Amber to examine for themselves. A few moments of silence later left Layla and Amber just as speechless.

"So there's this dude named D who says he's better than Blake? Our Blake?" Amber couldn't believe what she was reading. Layla seemed fixated on the message.
"I'm a bit worried," Layla admitted, "This D person seems fixated on someone in our group, and I can only think of two candidates that match what D has written," she paused here to look towards Blake, "This is why you've kept silent, isn't it? Because of who D could be talking about." Blake knew right then that Layla was now fully aware of her concern. Leave it to Layla to understand quickly, Blake thought to herself. Weiss was now looking very restless in her seat on the couch, shifting closer to Blake.
"This is about either me or Weiss, am I right?" Layla placed the situation frankly. Amber's eyes widened in shock as she finally realized this, and at the same time felt extremely frustrated by D's message. In other words, D was saying that he wanted either Layla or Weiss to be with him while also saying that Blake wasn't fit to protect them. If anything this guys talking out of his-, Amber cut her thoughts short, forcing herself to quell her anger before she became reckless, something that she had learned while living with Layla.
"I just don't know what to do," Blake finally spoke, "Should I try to confront whoever D is? I don't want to 'give up' anyone, and I sure as hell don't know this person."
"I'm more pissed at the fact that this guy suddenly thinks he's better than you," Amber huffs in anger, fist tightly clenched on the letter, "He obviously doesn't know what you've been doing this since childhood! What goddamn right does he have to say your weaker without ever meeting you?!" Layla kept silent. Something about this entire ordeal felt a bit... off to her. Granted, the letter was by no means something that she could easily ignore, but at the same time, one specific line in the letter suddenly popped into the forefront of her mind at Amber mentioning how D had never met them. As she could recall, the letter had said that Blake's Guardian aka Amber could attest to D's abilities. By this, whoever D truly was must know Amber specifically to even make such a bold statement. To her horror, her conclusion became something that she became very scared of, and her fear showed clearly on her face. Weiss noticed Layla's reaction and immediately went over to her, asking what was wrong.
"Um, Blake?" Layla asked meekly towards Blake, who immediately snapped her attention to her, "D isn't referring to either me or Weiss, is it?" Amber fell silent in shock, quickly turning her head towards Blake and Weiss. Both girls once again opted for silence, both pairs of eyes turning downcast. Fear began to set into Amber. She didn't want to think that her newest friend Weiss was at risk of being given up to this mysterious guy. Even more so that Layla was an option for him as well. Actually, scratch that; she was terrified that Layla was a likely candidate to this.
"Blake," Amber asked in a shaky voice, "Please tell me that's wrong. Please tell me that's not what D wants. Please." Blake's actions confirmed those fears for her; the girl turned away, gritting her teeth. Weiss even crossed her arms as if trying to physically hold herself together. Layla covered her mouth in shock at the revelation while Amber sunk to her knees, mumbling something inaudible to herself. Blake closed her eyes and thought of a prayer. She had never believed in god-like beings before, but if there was a time to prove divine intervention, she felt that now was the best chance they would ever get.

Glaciers grew rapidly around Daniel's quarters as he fumed in anger at Sebastian's latest report. The Ire had been tasked to keep an eye on the four girls in case D were to show up and do anything before he was ready. Today is the last day, Daniel thought to himself, one last day of preparations and I will be ready. Sebastian awaited at the door patiently as Daniel kept busy with his thoughts. It knew better than to interrupt Daniel on, well, anything.
"Just one last day and I will no longer need to deal with this crap," Sebastian murmured to no one in particular.
"Indeed. You won't have to deal with that crap at all," a voice answered back. Sebastian turned quickly to find Drew standing behind it, carrying a silver tray of the last aura-stimulants Daniel needed to hold full control of his aura. Sebastian gave a crooked smile as it shifted out of Drew's way, eager for Daniel to hurry up and be done with whatever he was doing. Drew made his way through the ice cave Daniel had turned his room into, kept warm in winter clothes. He had gone through this type of scenario many times to be constantly freezing himself at the start of fall.
"Those girls are very lucky that the school is closed indefinitely until Melody's murder has been solved," Drew spoke up to gain the boy's attention, "In other words, the school will be some what of a sanctuary from the rest of the world with my technology. You can use it as a means of protecting them if you so wish." Daniel's ears had perked at this revelation. He was aware of the school's closing from a vicious murder, but that didn't seem like something to think about at the time. With Drew's inventions and tinkering with aura-fueled weaponry and tech, making the school into a hidden sanctuary seemed to be the perfect idea. No one could explain the actions of things that cannot be seen, after all.
"You have a good point. It could keep her safe as well," Daniel thought aloud, thinking back to his letter from D. That damned D won't even think to look in a place like that, he smiled to himself. Drew went straight to work upon seeing Daniel lose himself to his thoughts. Another thing that he had learned from his time working with Daniel was that the only time he could get work done without much of a fuss was when Daniel paid him no mind. He quickly went through shot after shot of twelve aura-stimulants in rapid succession until finally he was finished. He placed all twelve empty syringes on his tray and began to head out. He stopped at the door to look back towards Daniel one last time; he would never see the boy again after this.
"It was nice meeting you, Daniel," Drew said, chuckling as Daniel continued to ignore him, "I hope we will never have to meet again in the near future." Sebastian looked happy as well, following Drew as he left Daniel for good. The Ire transported both itself and Drew outside of the lone home as Daniel shook himself from his thoughts once more. Feeling a familiar sting in his right arm, Daniel smiled. It's finally done, Daniel thought as he rubbed his arm in a soothing manner, tomorrow I will finally be able to save her.

Blake left Weiss asleep in their room and made her way over towards the school at night. No one knew of why she headed there alone, but something told her that she would find her answers there. She made her way through the school's security as she and Weiss had before and found her way back to the place where they had both seen Melody's mangled corpse. News on television had broadcast the results of the body autopsy and it had been confirmed to be Melody's, which made Blake worry even more to the point where she resolved to do this in the first place. She looked to where Melody's body was found - in front of her homeroom. The police had done a good job of cleaning the place, but due to the fact that the investigation was said to continue on campus grounds for about one more week, the school remained off-limits for all personnel of the school.
"Who could have done this? D?" Blake wondered aloud. The body was destroyed beyond recognition, and Blake had an eerie feeling that it was the work of an Ire. At the same time, she couldn't pass it off as some random result of a battle between Guardian and Ire since she knew Melody's skill well. There was no way that Melody could have been defeated by an ordinary Ire. Then again, she wasn't sure if Melody was in fact offed by an Ire in the first place. All these different thoughts swarmed her already busy mind as she continued to walk the moonlit halls. It was by chance that she had noticed a lone figure standing in the courtyard in front of the campus. She made her way over towards the figure and couldn't believe her eyes.
"Daniel," Blake breathed. A part of her was relieved to see her old friend again after everything she had heard about his family. However, from how he looked at her with cold, ice blue eyes, she began to feel that something felt off.
"Blake," he answered, monotone, "How've you been?"
"Fine, I guess. I'm just glad that you're alright. I've heard..." Blake trailed, not wanting to overstep her boundaries. Daniel chuckled. He felt relieved to know that she was still as concerned for him as ever.
"Glad to know you haven't changed much. Not that it would help, anyway," he replied. Blake's senses went on high alert. She just remembered that Daniel never had blue eyes. No one in his family did.
"H-hey, Daniel? Is everything alright?" Blake asked, caution dripping from her voice.
"What do you mean? I'm alright, if that's what your asking," Daniel replied, calm as ever, "Why, ever since I learned about how to use aura, I've never felt better." Blake's heart dropped. Everything clicked. Daniel's disappearance for the longest time, why no one had heard from him ever since his parents had been killed... Blake's mind somehow found reasoning for it.
"Aura?" Blake let the question go unanswered, as Daniel demonstrated his newfound ability right away. Within seconds, Daniel's body became shrouded in a freezing gray mist, forming small pellets of hail floating around his body. It was just as Blake had thought; Daniel had found someway to access his own aura. In hindsight, Blake noticed that Daniel had been acting strangely ever since they all first encountered Melody. She felt as though he was much more withdrawn and quiet since then. He was able to play it off at school, but since Blake knew him for so long, it wasn't too hard for her to notice. In fact, she realized, Daniel never confronted us about that incident at all.

"Well Blake?" Daniel asked, seemingly satisfied with his aura display, "Does this answer your question?"