"OK, guys, time to start the tag battles." The instructor's words elicited a round of excited chatter from her students, but a sharp blow of her whistle shut them all up once again. "Listen to the rules."

"One, make sure the regeneration spells are active on whatever opponents you're facing. You can never be too careful." She took a breath before continuing. "Two, violence is tolerated, but don't go too overboard with it." Sneaking a pointed glance at Nyxia and Shinju, she shook her head. "Three, you're allowed to use any part of the terrain to your advantage. I suppose that's all. Assemble into your teams."

Before the teenagers could rush to their best friends, Vani—she was, after all, the president of the batch of students—let out a shout. "Don't choose anyone from the same team," she commanded. "The point here is to mingle around and to learn how to work with anyone."

Shizuka groaned, unhappy that she wasn't allowed to pester Levi or stir up trouble with Azur, but she didn't let that stop her from finding a teammate. Shinju shared the same mischievous mindset as her—they would get along just fine.

She could see the other teams starting to form. Hunter had chosen to go with Nyxia's team leader; Levi and Calla made an unusual pair, and Ranmaru and Nyxia were already discussing strategies.

"Hey, Shizu—you've been here longer than me, right?" Shinju lowered her voice into a tiny whisper, the two girls leaning down to minimise the risks of eavesdropping. "Which teams should we look out for?"

The older girl tilted her head to ponder the question, glancing around her to inspect the groups of two around them. "I would say Nika and Sora. They would make a good stealth duo, so we have to be prepared," she hummed. "There's also Moonlight. She hits hard with her ability but suffers afterwards, and she has Kat—and she's good at stamina."

"I don't know anything about Ranmaru, but Nyxia managed to pull that weird stunt with me yesterday." The Gemini Zodiac scrunched up her nose as she looked back at the memory in disgust. "So she's got to be pretty strong, right?"

Shizuka shrugged. "Ranmaru is better off as a support member," she noted. "So they have a team with both offence and defence. You can take care of Ranmaru to rid Nyxia of that help, and I've sparred with her a lot."

"Got it!" her junior chirped, and they both stumbled forward as their instructor issued the command to start. "Shit."

• • •

The older girl fumbled with her weapon as she heard the sound of footsteps coming, making haste to prod Shinju in the back before shooting a jet of compressed water towards the direction.

Calla countered with a grumbled spell and a shield of liquid that she recognised as Vani's—and she signalled to her partner for them to switch positions. "I'll take Levi on," she drawled. "Deal with Calla—we would have better knowledge of our own teammates!"

With that, Shinju leapt onto the branches of a nearby tree, her scythe materialising in her hands and shooting forth a small army of shadowy figures that leapt forward at once, eager to devour their master's opponent.

"Why the hell—" Shizuka shook her head, deciding not to question the absurdity of her partner's moves—and shot two rounds of Mizu Shuriken at Levi, hoping that would be sufficient to distract him.

"Eh, you're not bad, pufferfish." The black-haired girl narrowed her eyes as she studied the grey spikes that he had used to block her attack. They seemed sturdy enough—still, Mizu Shuriken wasn't that strong of an attack. "But if Nyx could defeat you, it shouldn't be too hard."

Levi simply dodged a misaimed Hasami Are—she had no idea how he could dodge such a big tornado, but he was faster than any other person she'd fought. "You're wrong, then." One of his spikes lodged itself at the side of her neck, and she winced as she saw crimson flowing down her skin. "We're weak and strong against different people."

Grunting, she destroyed the spike before her with three shuriken and lunged at the older boy, but she was too slow. Even if it was just by a little, her advantage in speed was lost, and she had to find other means to counter her opponent.

"Guess I underestimated you, then." She felt unsteady from the toxins that had already worked their way into her system, and drove her sword into the air. "Ran'un, confine him so he can't escape!"

The teenager tensed up as he heard the command, swivelling and preparing to run—but the attack had taken him by surprise this time. A circle of storm clouds formed around him, the gales and acid-like rain blasting around him making it almost impossible to escape.

I'm slowly going to take damage from this, and Shizuka can attack now. I have to think of a way to—he was cut off by the girl summoned a sphere of electricity in her hands, shooting the bolt of lightning towards him with little remorse and deadly accuracy.

He grunted at the pain, but the electricity had weakened the barrier by a little—and jumping at the opportunity, he peeled off two long spikes from his heels and shoved them into his cage with as much force as he could.

"You just gave me a power-up," he noted, breaking free from his prison and holding up a spike that glimmered with traces of currents running through the structure. "I guess I was right after all."

He was cut off by two blasts hitting the both of them. A wave of tiny green lights washed over Shizuka, rejuvenating her body and making her feel better than she had before, and a saucer of wind left a mark on the boy's cheek.

"Alyce: barricade!" Shinju commanded her scythe to release a screen of her precious souls, watching as they blocked their enemies' routes and gesturing at her to run. "They can only hold for five seconds after I move, so—" she jumped off the tree she'd been on the whole time, "—hurry up!"

• • •

Sighing, the younger girl leant on her scythe for support as she glanced behind them. "I think we lost them," she concluded, watching as her partner shot her a questioning look. "You were going to be defeated by Levi with that poison in your body. I managed to reflect some of Hunter's healing powers to you, but it'll take a much longer time to settle in."

The black-haired girl bowed her head in embarrassment. "That was a logical choice, then," she breathed. "Thanks for the help—and should we check the statuses of the teams?"

Shinju fidgeted with a button on her wristband, causing a translucent screen to pop up in front of them. "Some teams got wiped out," she commented. "Christina and Gemma already got beaten, and even the powerhouse team of Moonlight and Katlin got their asses beat by—"

"—Nika and Sora." Shizuka completed the statement, brown eyes unamused by the thought. "If we're ambushed, it's going to be trouble."

The Zodiac shrugged, playing with a stray soul that had wrapped itself around her neck. "Should we split up?" she suggested, looking up at her senior with determination in her crimson eyes. "I feel that we can cover more distance that way."

A blade cut them off, the katana barely missing Shinju's throat by inches, and it scared both of them that they didn't know who the weapon belonged to in the first place. While the shorter girl didn't recognise the voice that followed, Shizuka tensed up and dragged her partner away.

"OK, I did not expect Ranmaru to attack," the Shinigami hissed, drawing her own sword and using it to counter the next strike. "It was that obvious that Nyxia was going to be attack, so what's happening? Where is she?"

"I bet you didn't expect me to go on the offensive, right?" The older boy jumped back to avoid a shuriken. "Nyxia's helping out with the support."

Shinju yelped as the tree she was reaching for disappeared just as she climbed up, the scenery twisting so that they were no longer in a forest—instead, a rectangular box filled with bright colours surrounded them, the only ledges visible being ones on the other side of the container.

The missing girl then appeared in front of them, sitting cross-legged on the highest ledge with magic rippling across the surfaces of the lower surfaces.

"I told you we should have switched support and attack," she laughed. Her telescope wasn't present; rather, she hugged the teru teru bozu to her chest as she watched Shizuka and Ranmaru stare at each other. "I'll make sure Shinju does nothing to get you."

"When could Nyxia do this?" the Shinigami asked, feeling a sting at her side as Ranmaru's fingers pulsed with energy. "I've sparred with her before and she's never been able to do any of this."

"When my doll isn't in its telescope form, the strength of my non-combat attacks are strengthened and warped to fit my needs—just like space and matter." She raised an eyebrow at the battle. "I can't attack or move much, though. That's why I'm stuck here."

A grin spread across Shinju's face. "I don't care whether your ability has changed, but that means you're just a sitting duck, right?" She flew across the room, Alyce pointed straight towards the girl's throat, but her opponent made no move to escape.

Then, the Gemini faltered halfway, trying to clutch at her head and throat at the same time and stumbling forward. A shimmering wall broke through the ground's surface, causing the girl to slam through it and fall downwards.

"Thanks to not wasting my power, Spiral works even better in this room." A bored smile decorated Nyxia's expression, and she jumped down from her makeshift throne. "Well, I guess I should try and join."

Ranmaru turned his focus back to the battle in front of him. "Sensory link," he commanded, and two loops of mist wrapped themselves around their opponent's wrist—Shizuka then felt a stabbing pain in her head and tightness in her throat, stumbling backwards and looking around—she hadn't been hit yet!

"I'll deal with Nyxia later!" Shinju's eyes widened, realising just how strong Ranmaru was. "I'll help back you up, Shizu—"

She was stopped as the other girl appeared in front of her, fingertips brushing against her forehead and leaving a small mark stamped into her skin.

"Too late," Ranmaru noted, holding off Shizuka with one of his katanas while aiming the other at the small girl. "Once you've got that, whatever next attack that hits you can't be dodged. With that…" With two simultaneous flicks of his wrist, he knocked his opponent to the side and shot a bolt of energy towards the Zodiac. "Aura control—hallucination!"

Shinju whimpered, dropping two her knees and clutching at her head as Nyxia stared down at her. "She's done for, Ranmaru." Her head tilted as her clutch tightened around the doll. "Do I use another curse on her?"

At his command of go ahead, the twin-tailed teenager walked forward, tapping the child in the same spot and watching with no regret as the agony in her eyes increased.

The girl was doubled over on the floor, a murky aura glowing around her as she tried to suppress small screams as Nyxia walked away, returning to her seat on the ledge and watching the scene with interest.

"Shit." Shizuka got up, charging at her enemy and feeling a sharp burn at the back of her head. "It's been a long time since someone could match me in terms of sword fighting."

"That's really the only reason why we changed tactics for this battle," Ranmaru shrugged, spinning his swords and preparing for another attack. "I may not be able to incapacitate two opponents at once, but now that we can fight—"

"I'm sure Shinju will break through whatever you're throwing at her."

Ranmaru simply smiled back at her. "Why do you think Nyxia's not doing anything to support me right now?"