Katanako held her bamboo sword with both hands, right above her head, ready to strike. Richard instead wielded two shinai, a completely different style. Wellington sighed. He felt that Richard had chosen that style simply because it looked cool, although his previous victory did earn him some plausibility. Perhaps there was more to it than he thought. Nitou against Ittou, the boy had read about them out of curiosity, but he only knew that the first style used two swords while the second used one… he couldn't be bothered to learn more.

Darjeeling stood just outside the arena, drinking some tea, a spectator to their match. Katanako struck. She brought down he shinai with a mighty downward swing, but Richard easily deflected it with his right sword and thrust his left one towards the girl. Katanako jumped back, avoiding the thrust. Wellington noticed that they weren't dressed in the normal protective armor people wore during Kendo matches… wasn't that dangerous?

Katanako's hair shook as she swung her blade. An obvious weakness – in real battle, the opponent could grab it and pull her to the ground. She struck once more. She was on the offensive, while Richard could only do his best to defend. Not being able to use other martial arts was quite a handicap for him. Katanako slashed with the bamboo sword, but Richard blocked. She then spun to strike again, inadvertently hitting Richard in the face with her hair. The gentle brush on his face made the boy lose balance, not enough to trip, but enough to leave him open. A hit. Katanako's sword hit Richard's torso.

"Touché," Richard said.

"One nil," Katanako added. "Again."

Two out of three, Wellington thought. That was how kendo matches were scored, or so he understood. His knowledge of them was rudimentary at best. He walked to Darjeeling's table and sat down. The girl seemed entranced by the match. Whenever Richard would come close to a hit she would flinch a little bit… she was silently rooting for him. Wellington didn't want to distract her. He poured himself a cup of tea and breathed in the flavor.

"One equal," Katanako said. Wellington looked up. He missed the hit, but it appeared Richard had just scored. Wellington was starting to lose his patience. How long would the match last? He took another sip of the tea and looked into his smartphone. Heinz had answered Wellington's call – he was more than glad to lend a hand. Between him, Monty and Darjeeling, Wellington had planning covered. It was a pity Assam was not yet ready, but perhaps she could provide some valuable opinions.

"Touché," Richard said. Wellington raised his eyes. Did he win?

"Two one, a good match," Katanako said with satisfaction. Victory was hers – she had regained her honor.

Wellington sighed relieved that it was finally over – the result mattered not to him – he could at last speak his mind. He got up and walked towards the victor. "Miss Samura, I have a proposition," the boy said. "How would you like Chi-Ha-Tan and Eton have a practice match?"

"Don't you at least want me to tell you what tanks I've seen when I was there?" Richard asked. He stared at his friend baffled. Wellington had never been so uninterested in his opponent. What happened with 'know thy enemy and know thyself'?

"I don't care… I don't even know what tanks the Japanese had during the war, let alone which one of those Chi-Ha-Tan has, but I don't care," Wellington said.

"How come?" Richard asked, leaning on the table, staring down his friend with massive curiosity.

"You wouldn't know, would you… since this is our first friendly match," Wellington said. He let out a short sigh and continued. "There are no stakes here. I don't care if we win or lose. The outcome is not important," the boy explained. "Quite the opposite, actually. If we lose, chances are Roosevelt will underestimate us further. Important here is the warm up, and with no one filming it, we don't even have to worry that Roosevelt will see how much our crews have improved."

Richard stood back up and gave his friend a long look. Before he left for Germany, he and Adrian used to hang out a lot. They played all sorts of games and had all sorts of contests, some of which he would inevitably win, others at which Wellington was clearly superior. Richard would always claim victory at card games, and anything that required luck, making his friend curse his bad fortune, but the truth was that Richard was a much better judge of character and would easily read his opponent's reactions. It took a very long time until Wellington became truly unpredictable, but by then they'd ceased playing cards. At chess, strategy games and the like, it was instead Adrian who'd constantly win. Most of the time, at the end of the day, they'd prove equally matched, their overall score the same, but on the rare occasions, one of them would win. Defeat always ruined the whole day for Wellington. The boy hated it far more than he loved victory. To make up for the terrible feeling of one loss, he had to win five times. Luckily, with more than nine tenths of their contests ending in draw, he was content. Richard knew that, but he never once considered going easy on his friend. After all, it already took all his strength to keep up a chain of draws. Holding back was not a luxury he could afford.

Rarely did the two boys compete after Richard returned from Germany, and joining Eton further busied their program, so Richard never noticed, but his friend had grown up. Ironically, it meant that now Wellington was less obsessed with victory than he was. While his friend grew out of it, Richard did not. His time in Germany had made him very aggressive, but he never showed it to his close friends. Luckily, the Shogun wasn't someone he hated losing to that much, but if Roosevelt won the tournament, he would go on a rampage.

Richard chuckled. Wellington looked at him confused. "It's a pity those who despise your ways will never hear of this," Richard explained. "I bet they'd all change their opinions of you."

"I don't care about their opinion. So long as I have my friends on my side, I need nothing more," Wellington said.

"See, Adrian? That's why you're my best friend."

"Wellington!"