"Most people," Soma elaborated, "think that the Inferno happened because of the Tōhoku earthquake. Aftershocks triggering an eruption, and all that. It's all bullshit. The volcano at Miyahara's extinct. Hell, no natural disaster happened there at all."

Kei stared at his cousin in disbelief. The very idea sounded absurd. Practically every media outlet had spent months talking about the event, how the entire city had just been wiped out in the blink of an eye. Short of a nuclear bomb just being dropped out of the blue, there was nothing else in the world that could cause that kind of destruction. "Then what happened there? Did everyone just pretend the city went up in smoke just for the hell of it?"

"Not exactly," Soma said, shrugging slightly. "I guess you'd have to go back in the timeline a bit. Around spring of that same year, strange things started happening in Miyahara. A bunch of people started disappearing, then turned up dead." A grim look crossed his features as his eyes met Kei's. "Sound familiar?"

'People disappearing? Why would—'

The boy's train of thought came to a crashing halt when he caught the implication.

"Kei-kun?" Soma said, giving him an expectant look.

Kei could do nothing but nod numbly for his cousin to continue.

"Then shit starts getting weirder over the next few months," Soma continued. "Gas explosions, more disappearances, way too many 'car crashes,' perfectly happy and normal people losing their minds and committing suicide for no apparent reason." The list went on and on, and Kei could feel a pit growing in his stomach as he listened. This... This was hitting way too close to home.

"Pretty much all hell was breaking loose for months. And then you get to December twenty-first, and it all came to an end."

"So... that's when..."

"Yeah, that's when the Inferno happened," Soma said. He then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers in front of him. "Now just think about that—The whole city's in ruins, a huge chunk of the population's dead, the whole area's locked up tighter than Chernobyl, and everyone thinks that it was just some volcano."

"Soma... what are you trying to say? What does this have to do with me?"

"What I'm trying to say..." He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "What I'm saying is that it's a good thing you came here, Kei-kun. Otherwise, Toyono would have ended up going through something like Miyahara." Soma paused and gave him an unreadable look. "Even more than it already has."

Kei didn't really know how to respond to that. He just stared back, trying and failing to form words.

Soma quietly cursed. "Shit, okay. Maybe that was too much to just drop on you—"

"N-no, it's... I'm alright," the boy shakily managed to say. "It's just..."

"A lot to take in?"

He shrugged. "Y-yeah."

"Alright, well..." Soma reached over and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "Take it easy, okay? And don't dwell on it too much—Things'll clear up on Tuesday. So, uh... cool?"

"Yeah..." Kei eventually responded. "Cool."

Soma gave him one more awkward pat, then turned to leave. "Oh, by the by," he said, pausing at the door. "Uh... don't go telling anyone about this, please? I wasn't even supposed to tell you in the first place. My boss would kick my ass if she found out." And with that, he was gone.

The boy stared after him for a minute, before sighing and slumping back, trying and failing to comprehend it all. The thought that Toyono, his home, could have ended up destroyed like Miyahara shook him.

'And then there's the swordsman, with his whole remembering thing...'

Then a thought popped up in his head. What if they were linked? The swordsman, and Miyahara, and Toyono?

He shook his head. "No, that doesn't make any sense..." There was nothing at all that implied any connection with his dreams, but... Kei tried to dismiss the crazy idea, but his morbid curiosity just wouldn't go away.

His dreams had only started after the day he'd been injured. The very same day in which the events in his hometown—the disappearances, the suicides, the sudden, inexplicable deaths—had all come to an end. But instead of turning into a ghost town like Miyahara, Toyono's crisis had wound up being way smaller in scale. But what exactly was the connection? Sure, Kei had the effect, but he didn't have the faintest clue of what the cause could possibly be.

He closed his eyes, and suddenly, some half-forgotten words came to his mind. "Thou art I, and I am thou..." Kei whispered. He repeated the sentence a few more times, trying to spark some far-off memory, but nothing seemed to click.


As the newly-formed Team Eleven exited the room, Kiyomi waited for the applause to subside before speaking up again. "Next is SEES Team Twelve. Its members are as follows; Ten'ō Ryu." This time the cheering went beyond polite applause and broke out into loud cries of acclaim. Shaojie's class representative strode up towards Kiyomi, while the other trainees shouted out their congratulations and patted him on the back as he passed by.

"Ten'ou..." Sayaka muttered. She leaned over beside Shaojie to whisper to Naomi. "Hey, Naomi-chan, isn't Ten'ō-kun supposed to be super strong, or something?"

Naomi looked at her with genuine surprise. "What, you mean you don't know? Ten'ō-kun's practically the trainee of the year. I mean, he's not exactly on the level of, say, Sanada-san or any of the veterans. But with his ability, if he's given even a few months of experience... Who knows just how strong he'll grow?"

"Whoa... So the class rep's a bonafide badass, huh?" Shaojie couldn't help but gape in amazement alongside Sayaka as he glanced again at the boy. Ten'ō smiled and nodded his thanks at all those who cheered him on. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with fair blonde hair, blue eyes, and a defined jawline. He wore a long beige coat and a blue scarf across his neck, alongside brown slacks and formal shoes. Compared to him, Shaojie feel somewhat underdressed in his track hoodie and jeans. Overall, 'heroic' was the only word that came to Shaojie's mind as he watched the boy walk up and shake Kiyomi's hand.

Shaojie nudged Naomi with his elbow. "Sounds like the kind of guy whose team you'd wanna be on, eh, Naomi-chan?"

She seemed to consider that for a second, and to his surprise, she actually frowned and shook her head. "No... not really."

Sayaka gave her an askance look. "How come? Didn't you want to be in a really strong team?"

"Yeah, but..." Naomi trailed off with a shrug. "Ten'ō-kun's pretty much guaranteed to be the leader. Hell, he's probably better than the three of us combined. If I was on his team, I'd—Ah!" She suddenly cut herself off. "We missed the announcement for the rest of his team!"

Shaojie turned towards the newly-christened team at the front and found that Naomi was right. He didn't recognize any of the other four members of Team Twelve, who all seemed like really tough-looking upperclassmen. Well... all except for the shortest guy, a blue-haired freshman who looked caught between excitement and pants-crapping nervousness. His name was... Harada, or something. Shaojie couldn't quite remember his given name.

Apart from Harada, the class rep was actually the second youngest in his team, but despite that, everyone else looked to him with respect.

Shaojie turned back to Naomi and offered her a sheepish grin. "Oh... whoops?"

"Sorry," Sayaka whispered too.

The girl heaved an exasperated sigh and shrugged. "Whatever. Just... Try and keep it down, would you? I wanna hear when we're called up."

The minutes passed, and more ex-trainees were called forward by Kiyomi. Five more teams had been formed when he suddenly paused and frowned at his tablet for a moment. He turned to Sanada and the other two people beside them, and after exchanging a few hushed words, he turned back towards them. Finally he said, "I will now announce today's final team; Team Seventeen."

The moment the word "final," left his lips, a collective "what?" rang out in response. Shaojie looked around the room, a brief headcount telling him that around twenty-something people were still left in the conference hall. So what the hell did the guy mean by "final?" Were they all about to get lumped together into some big super-team? Or... were they just not going to be placed into one at all? A brief pang of fear struck the boy then. The thought had never even crossed his mind before then. What if he, Sayaka, and Naomi didn't make the cut? Kiyomi had said that they were all already part of SEES by default, but what did that even mean without a team?

As hushed conversations broke out throughout the hall, Kiyomi cleared his throat and regained everyone's attention.

To his left Sayaka stood slowly rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. To his right, Naomi folded her arms, trying to keep a cool look, but she gave away the act by incessantly drumming her fingers on her elbow. Shaojie, for his part, just shoved his trembling hands into his pockets and hoped. Most teams had around four to five people on them, not counting the veteran trio from Miyahara. Which meant that, at best, the three of them had a chance to make it onto this final line up. But the odds were, what, three to twenty-five? Realistically, they sure as hell didn't look promising.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Kiyomi spoke up again. "Mikami Rin," he called, and a pale, green-haired boy whom Shaojie just kinda recognized walked forward. Mikami's clothes were pretty simplistic—He wore a white jacket over a black turtle neck, beige pants, and black formal shoes.

"Inoue Mana," a pretty blonde girl, wearing a cream parka and jeans, followed closely after him.

'What the hell? Who names their kid "skull?"' Shaojie almost scoffed as he watched a dark-haired boy with pale eyes walk up, decked out in entirely black clothing.

And finally, there was Honda Issei, a jock-looking guy with undercut copper hair, who wore a green field jacket over a white tee and jeans.

Shaojie heaved out a sigh he hadn't realized he was holding, allowing his shoulders to slump. Damn, it felt like he'd just gotten punched in the stomach. And by the looks of it, plenty of the twenty-odd remaining rookies also seemed pretty bummed out about not getting into any teams, either.

He was about to comment to Sayaka when he heard a quiet, monotone "What?" right next to him.

Shaojie turned and nearly flinched when he caught sight of Naomi. At a glance, there was nothing unusual about her expression. But when he really looked at her eyes, he noticed the way they remained fixated solely on Kiyomi. She may not have been flying off the handle and slinging curses at him, but her cold, emotionless stare spoke volumes.

For several months, every trainee had been looking forward to this day, when they would officially be inducted into SEES. But no one had shown the same level of enthusiasm as Naomi. For as long as he'd known the girl, she had been focused on her training with an almost religious fervor. Whenever she wasn't busy maintaining her grades in school, Naomi spent countless hours training, preparing her mind, body, and soul for the sole purpose of joining the ranks of the Shadow Operatives. It was clear to him, and to practically everyone else who knew her, that this was her life's goal. He couldn't even to imagine the anger she must be have been feeling, now that everything she'd worked for was dashed away in a single stroke.

Against his better judgement, Shaojie spoke up, hoping to calm her down. "H-hey, Shira—"

"Shut up," she cut him off immediately, her eyes fixated solely on their teacher, who continued his speech unaware of her unwavering gaze.

"Those of you who haven't been placed on a team, don't be discouraged. Instead of being part of a specific team, you will placed into the Provisional Corps. Make no mistake," he said, raising a hand to appease the groans of confusion and disappointment. "By no means does this mean that you're in any way inferior to your comrades, nor is this meant to punish you. The Provisional Corps is meant to help you further develop your skills. I'm more than certain that once you've earned enough time and experience, you will eventually find your way into a team," he said with an encouraging smile that seemed to raise most people's spirits. "That's all for now. You are dismissed."

The moment Kiyomi had stopped speaking, Naomi promptly turned on her heel and began weaving her way through the crowd.

"Hey, Naomi!" Sayaka tried to call out to her, but the other girl ignored her as she continued her steady march towards the exit.

Sayaka moved to follow after her, but Shaojie grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. "Sayaka-chan, she looked pissed. D'you really wanna go after her?"

The girl sighed, her lips pursed and face cutely pinched in worry. '—Gah, no! Bad lower brain! Now's not the time!'

"Naomi's probably gonna be pretty heated for a while," Sayaka said. "Still, we should probably try and catch up with her soon. She... Well, you know how she gets when she's worked up."

"Yeah, I sure do..." He grimaced and absently rubbed at his side. "Are you sure this is a good idea? It doesn't sound like it's gonna be very healthy for either us."

Sayaka gave him a stunned look, as if he'd slapped her. "Shao-kun, she's our friend. I know that Naomi puts up a tough act, but we can't just leave her alone, not when she's like this."

"I... Ah, hell." Whatever argument Shaojie was about to make died in his throat when he saw the serious look in her green eyes. With a sigh, he shrugged and relented. "Lead the way, boss. Let's go find her before the building gets blown up, or whatever."

A positively beatific smile broke out across Sayaka's features at that. "I knew I could count on you, Shao-kun!" she said, giving him a quick hug before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him behind her, damn near dislocating his wrist.

'Man,' Shaojie groaned, as he was almost literally dragged around by the petite girl,'The things I do for this chick...'


Every step she took felt stiff and mechanical, as if she wasn't in full control of her body. Naomi's legs simply kept moving with no real goal in mind. She just wanted to get away and be anywhere but here.

"Don't be discouraged," Kiyomi's words echoed like a taunt in her mind as she walked down the hallway. "You'll eventually find your way onto a team." She caught herself scowling at the thought, before she schooled her expression and shoved shaking hands into her pockets. A dull, aching sensation spread across her spine, running down her shoulder blade to the middle of her back.

Naomi couldn't let anyone see her like this. She needed to be calm, collected. Just like Jeanne would be.

Naomi paused when she found she'd already reached the elevator. After pressing the call button, she crossed her arms and stood leaning against the wall.

She could hardly believe anyone had bought it at all. Kiyomi had sugarcoated it and made it seem as if it were some great boon, a chance to further improve themselves. But she'd seen his eyes, and recognized his speech for what it really was: a lie. The truth was that they'd already been judged, measured, and they'd all been found wanting. And as a result, they were all being sidelined.

Ishiwatari, Ten'ō, Mikami, and those other lucky few who had actually become part of SEES would rise high, while the rest would be left behind to wither, ignored and tossed away like yesterday's garbage. The very best they, the Provisionals, could hope for was that someone would take pity upon them, and perhaps grant a promotion onto a team. Then, and only then, would a Provisional have any form of mobility.

The mere thought of it nearly made her blood boil. Naomi bit her lip in frustration and nearly jabbed at the button again, only stopping when she heard the soft digital note announcing the elevator's arrival.

The doors opened, and for a split second, Naomi almost felt her heart stop beating as she met the gaze of the woman inside. A face much like hers looked back from behind a pair of glasses, before the woman stepped aside to allow her entry, and returned her attention to her tablet.

With her anger completely extinguished, Naomi shakily stepped inside and stood next to her as the doors shut and the elevator began to descend.

The ride felt infinitely long and awkward as the girl stared directly at the floor, trying to find the courage to speak up. Her stop on the ground floor passed by, followed by the first, second, and third sub-levels. And with every moment that passed, she hated herself more and more, desperately wanting to say something. Anything. But the words just caught in her throat.

Meanwhile, the woman didn't spare a single glance at her.

It was only when the elevator slowed to a halt at sub-level five, and as her opportunity was slipping away, that Naomi allowed the words to slip out.

"Mother."

Atsuko Shiranui paused halfway out the door, without turning, and gave the tiniest incline of her head to indicate she was listening.

Naomi licked her dry lips, uncertain of how to proceed now. The aching slowly intensified into an almost unbearable feeling of burning. At that moment, a myriad different questions ran through her mind. A silent and empty home. Nights spent alone. Bleeding, sweating, and breaking bones, all for the purpose of bettering herself. So many missed moments and so many questions, all demanding answers...

But then and there, only one thing mattered to Naomi.

"I — Did... I didn't make it into a team today... did you...?" She couldn't bring herself to finish, 'Did you have something to do with that?'

"Yes," the woman said, and moved to walk out, but stopped when Naomi spoke again.

"...Why?"

"Your abilities are limited," her mother responded simply, before stepping out of the elevator and allowing the doors to shut behind her.

Naomi wasn't sure how long she stood in the elevator, staring blankly at nothing. Eventually, some sense of clarity returned to her, and she slumped against the wall, barely suppressing a shuddering breath that might have turned into a sob. She tried to compose herself, to muster up the simmering rage and indignation she'd felt just a minute before, but... She just couldn't find it in herself to be angry anymore. Everything just felt numb and drained.

"Limited..." she repeated. The word felt disgusting in her mouth, like some sort of insult against her very existence. It implied that she was weak, that she had ceased improving, that everything she was, and ever would be, was meaningless. "I'm not limited," she whispered again.

She almost didn't notice her hand moving towards the elevator's console and pressing a button, almost as if of its own will, until the elevator smoothly began to ascend once more.


The more he thought about it, the more Kei's head felt like spinning. He had no real reason to believe any of it. Hell, any normal person would have dismissed Soma's claims as some crackpot conspiracy theory, but it was just way too damn real. Everything clicked, and it clicked too well.

On top of that, the very idea that someone out there had the resources and sheer balls to make up a disaster like the Inferno of Miyahara—Lying not just to a nation, but literally to the world at large—was terrifying.

It raised the question... How many other events could have been faked? And just what was Soma's role in all of it? For that matter, why had he even told Kei about any of it in the first place?

"Man," he let out a humorless chuckle, running his hand through his hair. "Next thing I know, I'm gonna be running around screaming about how Nine-Eleven was an inside job."

The sudden ringing of his cellphone broke through the silence, nearly making him jump in alarm. Chuckling again, Kei picked up the phone. "Moshi mo—"

The responding shout of "KEI!" damn near burst his eardrum.

He yanked the phone away, and his eyes widened in realization when he read the caller ID; '神谷 猛.'

Takeshi Kamiya.

"You wanna try screaming a little louder, dad?" He hissed, bringing the phone back to his ear. "I think some of the folks over at Okinawa didn't quite hear you."

"Don't give me that sass," his father continued. "It's been two whole days since you left, and you haven't even bothered to call us at least once? What's your deal?"

"Oh." Now that he thought about it... he never did get a chance to call his parents when he'd reached Iwatodai. Or rather, he'd just forgotten to do so. Between everything that had happened in the past two days—The exhausting trip from Osaka, his long day at school, getting lost, and his conversation with Soma just now—his parents had completely slipped his mind. They must have been sick with worry.

Kei felt like he should probably say something, to apologize for his lack of attentiveness and for making them worry about him.

"Yeah... My bad."

Nailed it.

His father snorted in response. "Really? That the best you can do?"

"Well, yeah," Kei shrugged, even though his dad couldn't see it. "I could mail you an apology card, if you wanna have that instead?"

Takeshi laughed at that. "Right, whatever. So, how are things, Kei? You doing alright?"

"Eh, getting by," Kei said, lifting his feet onto the coffee table.

"Good to hear. How's the ol' arm holding up?"

"Well…" He glanced down at his left arm and tried to clench his hand. He managed to twitch his fingers a bit, before he felt a sharp sting of pain. "It ain't fallen off yet, so I guess that's something, yeah?"

"Hey, quit that," his father suddenly said.

"Quit what?"

"Quit poking at your arm. It's not gonna heal any faster if you keep screwing around with it, you know."

Kei's eyes widened in confusion. "Wha—? How'd you know?"

"Oh, I—"

The boy cut him off mid-sentence. "If you say something lame like 'I have my ways,' I'm gonna hang up."

"...I can spontaneously develop mind-reading powers whenever you do something stupid," his dad finished.

He chuckled. "Okay, sounds legit."

Then, there was a pause in the conversation. "So, uh..." He trailed off, trying to find something to say. "How're things on your end? How's mom doing?"

"Everything's okay, the missus's doing fine." His father sighed. "She misses you, you know. You and Meggie, both."

"Oh..." Yeah, that sounded about right. His mom hadn't been at all happy to see him go. Specially not so soon after... He shook his head, trying to dispel the thought. "So, you missing me, too?"

"Hell no!" Takeshi laughed. "Having you out of the house is the best thing that's ever happened! Now I can store all the crap I don't need in your room. Also: your bed is comfy."

Kei snorted. "Wow. Reeeeally feeling the love here, pop. So if you don't care, how come you're the one calling me instead of mom?"

"Hey, I've got a quota to fulfill, kid. If I get enough 'good dad points' this week, your mom's gonna let me put—"

He nearly gagged at the mental image. "Okay, eww! Tee-Emm-Eye, dad! Tee-Emm-Eye!"

They shared a laugh, before falling into silence again. After a few moments, his father sighed and spoke up. "But, seriously though, are you holding up alright? We... we didn't really get to talk much before you skipped town."

Kei shrugged again on reflex. "I'm surviving, I guess."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Another pause, before his father sighed again, and his voice took on a more serious tone. "Listen, Kei... I know it's been... rough for you, this past couple of weeks. Yuri's—"

"Dad," Kei interrupted, "let's... not talk about that. Please."

"I... alright." His father relented, with a touch of concern in his voice. "But I'm here to talk, if you want to. Your mom, too. You know that, right, Kei?"

The boy nodded. "Sure."

"So don't hesitate to call either of us whenever you need, alright?"

Kei nodded again. "Yeah, alright."

"Right. Well stay safe, son. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

That got a laugh out of Kei. "...So, you want me to go get a girl pregnant at eighteen and bumble my way through med school, oyaji?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. "Ooookay, lemme rephrase that; Don't do anything I would do. Smartass."

"Gee, wonder where I get that from."

And with one more shared chuckle, they ended the call.

Kei picked up the TV remote and idly began channel surfing, not really paying any attention to whatever was on. His mind was filled with thoughts of home, his duels with the swordsman, whatever the hell was up with Miyahara, and all sorts of unpleasant and wildly confusing stuff. After a few minutes he announced, "I'm bored," to no one in particular. If he just kept himself shacked up and alone with his thoughts, he'd probably drive himself nuts within the hour.

So against his better judgement, Kei put on his coat, got his shoes from the genkan, and headed out for a stroll to occupy his mind.


"So, you think she's gonna be in here?" Shaojie asked, as they stepped off the elevator.

"Pretty sure," Sayaka said, leading the way through the short hallway. "If there's any place Naomi-chan would go to to blow off steam, this is it."

"Alright, cool." He nodded. "So, uh, you got a game plan for this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Shao-kun, we're just gonna talk to her. It's not that complicated."

They then reached the door at end of the hallway, which led into the gym. The Headquarters' gym encompassed the majority of the building's third floor, giving it more than enough space for accommodating dozens of people. It's perimeter was lined with all manners of workout gear; punching bags, free weights, power racks, treadmills, and much more.

At the center of the gym was a boxing ring, flanked on two sides by a pair of large dojo mats, suitable for sparring. It was there that they found Naomi, flipping about with a bō staff in her hands. Even from this distance, the muffled heavy metal that blasted from her headphones echoed across the empty gym.

Shaojie couldn't stop himself from staring as Naomi flowed from motion to motion, the staff becoming a blur in her expert hands as she jabbed and swept it to and fro. Her red hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, with strands twisting and trailing after her as she moved. She wore a cropped black tank top, which gave him a good look at her toned navel, glistening with beads of sweat from her workout, and yoga pants.

The two most perfect words to ever exist: 'Yoga. Pants.' God damn, the name itself sounded like poetry in motion. It was like a physical manifestation of beauty, God's latest gift to this cruel, cynical world. Somewhere out there, Shaojie knew, the Ode to Joy was being sung in celebration of this very moment. 'YOGA! PANTS!' That slim, black, and oh so tight, piece of fabric clung around Naomi's lean waist, emphasizing her hips, her thighs, and her—

Then, a tiny voice of reason in the back of his head reminded him of the girl he was standing next to. And the fact that neither she nor Naomi would have any issue with murdering him and dumping the body in the bay. Thus, Shaojie wisely stopped ogling and shut his mouth.

"Naomi-chan!" Sayaka called out, waving her hands to get the other girl's attention.

Naomi spun around again, stabbing at the air as if she were skewering an enemy with a spear. He caught sight of her eyes then, unfocused and far off, as if she wasn't really paying any attention to what she was doing. She spotted them from the corner of her eye then, bringing down the staff and pulling down her headphones. "Oh hey, Sayaka-chan, Feng-kun. What are you guys doing here?"

"What's it look like? We were looking for you."

"What for?"

"Well, you looked kinda down earlier, so me and Shao-kun figured we could cheer you up, so... here we are."

Naomi seemed surprised by that, but she quickly composed herself and shook her head. "Thanks, but you guys don't need to bother. I'm fine on my own."

"Oh," Sayaka stumbled, lost for words at her quick dismissal. "Uh... You sure?"

"Yep. Positive," Naomi responded, as she turned around and slowly began to resume her kata.

Shaojie turned to Sayaka. "Sooooo... That didn't work out. Any other ideas?"

She sighed and looked back at their friend. "Naomi... I know that you really wanted to be part of the Operatives."

Naomi paid her no heed, steadily increasing the speed of her movements.

"I... We all saw how hard you worked at it. Hell, I'm pretty sure no one else put in as much effort as you did. And I'm disappointed we didn't make it, too. But it's not the end of the world, you know? I'm sure that if we just stick together, we can—"

Then, Naomi abruptly stopped, slamming the tip of her staff onto the mat. "That's not what it's about," she said, turning around slowly to face Sayaka. "I don't care about SEES, I don't care about the Shadow Operatives, and I could give two shits about the damn teams!"

"Then what is it about?"

"I..." She frowned and shook her head. "Forget it. Just go home, both of you."

"Nuh-uh," Sayaka said. "You're my friend, Naomi, there's no way I'm just gonna leave you sulking here all by yourself."

Naomi shrugged again. "Well, maybe I want to be alone," she said, turning her eyes down to stare intently at the floor.

"C'mon, talk to me," Sayaka pleaded as she took a few steps towards her.

"Just go home," Naomi repeated.

A tense, uncomfortable silence fell between the two girls. Things were getting nowhere, fast. So Shaojie decided to throw caution to the wind and cut in. "Aren't you bored, Naomi-chan?"

Both Sayaka and Naomi turned towards him, with confusion written clearly across their faces.

He gestured vaguely around the gym. "I mean, you're just standin' around here, just doing boring old katas. You call that a workout? Why not kick it up a notch? Whaddaya say to a little spar?"

"You want to spar," Naomi repeated, raising an eyebrow. "With me."

Sayaka's eyes widened at that, and she opened her mouth to interject before Shaojie silenced her with a wink. "Yeah...?" He said, turning back to Naomi. "That's what I said, wasn't it? Or was I speaking in Chinese accidentally?"

Naomi scoffed and folded her arms, with her staff propped up against her shoulder. "You do remember how that end up for you last time, right? How're your ribs holding up?"

Shaojie barely suppressed a wince, forcing a confident grin onto his face. "D'aww, you're worried about me, Naomi-chan? Don't fuzz over it, I'm A-okay!"

"Uh-huh. Anyhow, I'm not interested."

"Not interested?" He repeated with a mocking tone, mirroring her arm fold. "Or... afraid?"

Naomi looked at him with an unimpressed glare. "...Dude, are you serious?"

"One-hundred percent cereal. I might not be a boxer like Sanada-san, but I can still pack one mean punch." He threw a few jabs and a straight for extra effect. "You're not gonna win this time."

The girl rolled her eyes and heaved an exasperated sigh. "Not buying into it, Feng."

"That's exactly the kind of thing someone who's afraid would say."

Her glare intensified. "Shut up already."

Shaojie tactfully and eloquently responded by blowing a raspberry at her.

Their stare down dragged on for several long, tense moments. Shaojie almost lost his composure, but luckily, Naomi backed down first. The girl closed her eyes and slowly exhaled through her nose. "Fine, I'm outta here," she finally said, hoisting the staff onto her shoulders.

"I... Wait, what?" Shaojie stared after her as she casually started walking towards the locker rooms.

"Next time you wanna piss someone off, try not to be so obvious and lazy about it. I'm not that easy to rile up, you know." She then turned and gave him a wide, twisted grin that Shaojie knew would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. "'Sides, I'm sure Sayaka-chan wouldn't be too happy if I broke anything important."

While Shaojie recoiled in fear for his life, Sayaka stepped up with a hopeful smile. "So what do you think, Naomi-chan? I'm sure that if we work hard at it, we can move up from the Provisional Corps together, like Kiyomi-sensei said. Maybe even as a team."

Naomi met Sayaka's smile with another sigh. "To tell you the truth, I don't think it's gonna happen. We'll be lucky if we don't get stuck doing drills forever. But thanks for coming, anyway, guys," she said, giving them both a small smile. "I... I appreciate it."


This chapter was last updated on December 3, 2017.