Instantly, fighting was different. Miku was very glad that they were being given conclusion training, because the things that she was learning would be incredibly unfortunate to discover on the battlefield. Fighting on a one-person team allowed her much free space, and she didn't really have to watch her moves because there was only her and her opponent, meaning that she could deal damage wherever she wanted to. Although she prided herself in her consistent pinpoint accuracy, making certain that her body was in a strategic location when near Luka was a test. The instructor had mentioned that he was surprised neither of them crashed into one another, which Miku supposed meant that although she felt like she was doing everything wrong, they were both professional and compatible, which gave them a fighting chance. With a renewed vigor every time that she began a new round with Luka, Miku tried to prove herself to the other woman as best she could.
She instantly learned that, while she enjoyed being in the air while she was using her powers, Luka preferred to be on the ground, making it easy to stick to their preferences without getting in one another's way. The thing that she was most focused on was going beyond simply 'not getting in each other's ways', she wanted to make it so that their moves worked together to make the attacks and defenses better. Towards the end of their required training session, Miku still hadn't achieved her goal. She felt how hard Luka was working and knew that the other woman was trying, and sure, they were landing blows at strategic intervals, but there was still something missing. They both agreed to stay late and practice, briefly exiting the training arena for lunch, which was surprisingly real food once again. Upon reentering the training room to meet their instructor, Miku was met with something that she wasn't expecting. Sharp blades were hurled at her face before she had any time to react, but they froze in mid-air just within an inch of their target. Beside her, Luka had her hand outstretched, mostly displaying no emotion excluding the shock and concentration behind her eyes. With ease, she twirled the blades around in the air so that they were suspended before her. Miku saw a flash and didn't even know that she had moved before she looked to see her left arm outstretched, and another set of knives within inches of her partner's face.
Done being frozen in place, she hurled five of the six weapons back to their original owner, causing them to spin about unpredictably in the air so that it would be difficult for anyone to block her. When she didn't feel them hit home, she was surprised and off put, eyeing the ledge across the humungous arena curiously. They came flying back at her, and this time she was prepared, summoning up a bit of her energy before leaping straight at them and vanishing alongside them, popping up right in front of the ledge as she translated their momentum into something that could actually allow her to move during teleportation. She hurled the knives repeatedly before her, using her other hand to possess the soles of her shoes and keep her afloat. Finally feeling her weapons make contact with something, she jammed them foreword, instantly letting go as she felt electricity on the line. Realizing what it was a second too late, she ran through the air, barely diving in time to miss the line of knives that had been shot at her from the entire wall. Shielding her fall before she hit the ground running, she gave herself a speed boost and tore the knives out of the wall where they stuck, launching them back at their source with all of her strength. Meanwhile, Luka had gone into action. As everyone was occupied with Miku, she fell into the ground, using her powers to make herself into a shadow as she attached herself to her partner, matching her pace exactly and shifting to look like the silhouette of the other woman. Miku could feel a familiar surge of energy by her feet, but didn't allow herself to be distracted by it, instead using it to her advantage and adding extra force to her throws. She heard a few small explosions, seeing smoke coming from the ledge above and smiled. Certainly, she broke the training machines, but they shouldn't have been left on anyway. She didn't have time to acknowledge the sensation that the extra energy gave her, because physical enemies had appeared. Trusting Luka to be tied to her, Miku ducked to the side and shot herself behind a barrier before the new enemies could see her. Luka, being a shadow, slightly added to her dimensions as she peered around the edge unnoticed. Miku almost made a noise as she saw what Luka could see, surprised but silent. She supposed that since they were sharing powers, whatever one woman did with her abilities, the other woman would be able to do with ease. Miku couldn't communicate with Luka verbally, but she didn't need to. She could practically feel the other woman's thoughts coursing through her veins. They were abstract and hard to catch, but she sent a bit of her energy back, and the bond became crystal clear. It wasn't so much as exchanging actual words, but Miku actually had Luka's thoughts, and vise versa. The ideas that Luka had were similarly expressed in Miku's mind without the other woman needing to convey them. With Luka as her lookout, Miku understood that the enemy was extremely tall and covered in muscles. Its skin looked like it could kill upon physical contact, and it had no actual 'weapons', per-se, but its mouth was jammed full of so many teeth that it looked like it couldn't open nor close it. It did, with the mouth expanding in a surprising manner like a yawn, and Miku realized with a start that it was scenting the air. She heard it let out a roar before charging and curled into a ball, producing a portal around herself and her partner before latching onto the monster and using its momentum to silently launch herself in the opposite direction, getting to the other side of the vast arena just as it reached them. Miku knew that her abilities alone shouldn't be enough to destroy it without seriously injuring herself.
Feeling her thoughts, Luka extended an arm to the still-kneeling Miku and they pressed their hands together. Miku felt Luka's unusual energy playing around her fingertips and mixing with her own as she responded by sharing back. A sudden surge of power had both women push their energy outwards. White-hot yet dark energy shot through the air, tearing through the very barrier that the synthesized opponent was behind and piercing its entire body before disintegrating it entirely. Both women were quite surprised, and they made no sound, but felt one another's breathing as they observed what was just a tiny bit of their combined power. Luka thought that she was very certain of why they had been assigned partners, and Miku agreed, the edges of her mouth curling upward slightly. Neither of them moved for a moment before they relinquished their grip on one another and Luka became three-dimensional and multi-chromatic again. They looked at one another, still feeling the buzz of each other's emotions within their heads. Eventually, Miku made a mouse out of light and sent it scurrying across the floor, checking for traps. Upon finding nothing, she made it into a humungous boulder in-case it was size activated, but the arena appeared to be clear, and she returned the light to her body, standing up as Luka did the same.
After a minute, she noticed Luka staring at her pointedly, and realized that they were still feeling one another's emotions to an extent, but their thought-sharing was gone.
"I can't feel your thoughts anymore." she explained. Luka nodded, mouthing an 'ah.'
"I was saying that I'm ready for the next round when you are." she said. Miku grinned, already beginning to enjoy this sudden development, responding with her agreement.
Miku smiled exhaustedly at Luka, leaning on the other woman's shoulder.
"One more time?" Luka asked for the fifteenth time. Miku was about to nod before she heard a click in her head, and her eyes widened.
"Luka, I want to, but it's time to have some dinner and go to sleep." she explained. Luka tilted her head upwards to regard the windows that lined the very tops of the walls of the arena, surprised to see that it was quite dark. Eventually she scratched the back of her head awkwardly, returning Miku's tired grin. She started to walk, feeling the other woman fall naturally into step beside her as if things had always been that way. They had gotten back to their room by the time that the fatigue hit them full force, Miku falling onto the mattress face-first and Luka lying on her back and staring at the ceiling. The second that they were on the bed, the table made its descent, opening up to reveal a new dinner that was also real food. Luka managed to make herself sit up, but Miku just groaned into her pillow and waved an arm half-heartedly at the meal.
"Miku, you're starving." said Luka, before taking a bite of her food. She knew that the other woman couldn't argue since they were still both feeling a little bit of one another's emotions and thoughts, and the latter allowed Luka as much evidence as she needed.
"Cheater." Miku responded, muffled by her pillow. Eventually, she pushed herself up and turned around to sag onto the table, trying to make it look as if she were eating with hesitance while she was enjoying the meal, and fully aware that the other woman could feel her enthusiasm despite her efforts. Luka smiled and began light conversation with less difficulty than before. When the meal was done, they both fell onto the bed and drifted to sleep almost instantly.
Miku was once again the first to wake up. Thanks to her mental timer, she had still been able to get enough sleep to perform well, but she sincerely didn't feel like sitting up whatsoever. Her muscles ached in a peculiar way that was as if it were from exercise, yet not entirely unpleasant, probably because of the energy. Eventually, she cracked her eyes open slightly to see the still sleeping Luka before closing them again. It already felt so natural for them to be partners, and yet just two days before, they had been at one another's throats. Eventually, she heard the other woman's breath hitch and knew that it was time to wake up. She sat up and stretched, waiting for Luka to pull herself into the same position so that breakfast would appear. The pink-haired woman was physically expressing the same sentiments that Miku had been feeling as she quite clearly didn't want to get up. After she opened her eyes slightly to see Miku waiting for her, she sighed and pushed herself up, almost accidentally throwing herself off of the bed entirely with her exaggerated distaste for the morning.
Stifling a small laugh as the other woman gave her a glare that could probably cut glass, Miku saw the table come down. They spoke a lot over breakfast and played with their dolls again, making them fight in increasingly elaborate fashions before it was time to go to training. Training only increased their bond and they hastily blew through many levels, topping the charts as a team as opposed to battling one another for first place. They smugly smiled at one another upon noticing that they had a few thousand more points than the nearest competition in second place. Miku barely remembered to eat lunch when she felt Luka's intense hunger and led her out of the room after they had completed the level, noticing that she was nearly as hungry as the other woman herself. They enjoyed one another's company for a while before returning to the training arena. Evidently, a 'boss battle' came at the end of the week to send each new pair off, and neither woman could be more excited.
A/N: This is a slightly shorter chapter than you're used to, because I looked at the size of the upcoming related material and realized that it would have made this chapter waaay too long. I had a lot of fun writing the fight scenes in this, I hope you guys had some fun reading it too! As per usual, feel free to tell me your thoughts in the reviews because I live to learn. Until the next chapter!