Yo.

Actually nothing to say this week.

Tuohtiw rehtruf oda, and all that jazz.

Chapter 18: To Prove Oneself

Lee practically vibrated in place as he waited on the white stone floor of the arena for his match to begin.

He'd been taught by his sensei to analyze situations carefully, for without chakra, he began almost any confrontation at a disadvantage, and needed any information he could get. He felt terrible, but he couldn't mind that advice, not when the subject of his training, the boy he'd been itching to fight for over a year now, was finally stood before him.

"I'll quickly go over the rules for this bout…" The coughing proctor spoke quietly, beginning to read off of a small clipboard he held in his hands, though Lee couldn't focus on that. His Sensei's advice, the last thing he'd told him just before he descended the large set of stairs into the arena, kept echoing in his head.

"This is it, Lee." The man looked down on him excitedly, smiling in that way that was so bright it was off-putting to anyone else but himself. "What you've trained for, what you've fought for, what you've bled and cried for."

"Yes." He nodded along, sensing the pep-talk before his teacher even really started it.

"I won't take too long with this, mostly because you only have 3 minutes to prepare…" The man trailed off, narrowing his eyes towards the screen at the back of the room. "And… you're both my students. I will not be giving you any special help against Neji, or telling you his weaknesses."

Lee nodded. He wouldn't need them. He'd been training against the boy for over a year, had hit him, been hit by him, well over a thousand times. He knew the ins and outs of the Hyuga's fighting style, just as Neji did his own.

"I will tell you this alone, however," His sensei stood a bit taller than normal, perhaps swelling a small amount with pride at seeing the culmination of their efforts. "Go all out from the very beginning, do not give Neji the chance to think, for he will use it, and use it well."

Behind them, Tenten sighed, her eyes narrowed as she looked between them.

"Didn't you just say you wouldn't help him?"

Guy seemed to ponder that for a moment, before, in what seemed to be a moment of clarity, he slapped his hand over his own mouth, likely not trusting himself to be quiet. He held his other hand out towards lee, giving him a gusto-filled thumbs-up, before he walked to stand next to Tenten, observing the arena below them.

"Are the both of you ready?"

The question brought Lee's mind back to the present, and he gave his own affirmation around the same time that his teammate did, looking over at the boy without any hesitation.

"I'm going to win, Neji."

His opponent seemed almost surprised at the tone of his voice. So crystal clear, so absolutely sure that he was correct. The Hyuga's eyes narrowed, though a small smile split his face a second later.

"I doubt it, but it's always good to dream big, I suppose."

Their rivalry wasn't a friendly one, not overly so. They were still teammates, however, and that meant that they did, at the very least, get along decently well. They could support one another on the battlefield, could identify weaknesses in the other's abilities, and had helped each other reach new heights.

Their was no need for any further words. Both were dead set in their convictions. Both knew, for a fact, that they were in the right.

And so, with a determined expression, Lee took his stance, one hand held before him, with the other behind his back.

Neji did the same, arching himself forward, making a T with his arms and body as he leaned towards him. A traditional gentle fist stance.

He'd seen it a million and a half times.

He'd beaten it only a few.

He swallowed his sudden bout of nerves, they would do him no good.

The proctor looked between the two of them, and, apparently having decided that they were ready to begin, rose his hand in the air.

"Let the second match of the Chuunin Exams Second Exam…"

His hand was brought swiftly downwards, cutting a path through the air as it came to a stop.

"BEGIN!"

Neither of them was still for more than a moment, neither of them had any reason to be. Even if Neji could use chakra, he prioritized the gentle fist and it's techniques over any Ninjutsu he could've cast in the same time, and Lee could see why.

It was a powerful strike that met him in the center of the ring, and it nearly knocked him backwards as he allowed the palm to crash against the back of his right arm. Anyone else wouldn't have been able to use such a reckless defense, but for Lee, it wasn't a problem. He had no need to make chakra flow through his arms to cast jutsu, seeing as he had no chakra at all.

A few traded blows later, none of which had any effect on either of them, and the two broke apart, sailing backwards a few feet, and sizing one another up.

In a normal sparring session between the two of them, Lee was fairly sure Neji would've simply charged in again, counting on his better than average reaction time, along with his Byakugan, in order to dodge whatever he could throw at him. But for the both of them, this was more than a spar. They were both just a little more hesitant, acting cautiously at the start, to avoid making any mistakes out of the get go.

His opponent gave a small chuckle, bringing his hand up to his face, and, holding it directly in front of his nose, brought out the power of his bloodline.

"Byakugan!"

The customary veins flowed out from his eyes, and Lee realized that, if the boy was taking him this seriously, than it was only right for him to release his own limiters.

He dropped down into a kneel, reaching into the legwarmers around his calves, and drawing out the weights that resided there. He could hear a few people above them laughing, probably wondering just what the hell removing some weights was going to do. The laughter stopped when he threw them away from him, and they hit the ground with an almighty crash, sending small pieces of stone spiraling into the air.

He charged at his teammate, not bothering to try and attack him from the side, or from behind, knowing there was virtually no difference with his Byakugan activated. The boy intercepted his strike, making a smart decision in hunkering down in that spot, using his Byakugan and gentle fist to meet his blows at any angle.

It didn't matter if he were the faster of the two of them if Neji never tried to outmaneuver him.

As he landed a way's away again, taking a breath after his last volley, he was surprised to find the Hyuga already on him, and he just barely managed to block a blow meant for his left side, and subsequently, his heart, with his left elbow.

He winced as he felt the bones in his arm creak, but knew there was no way around the pain. It would've been incredibly naïve to think he could fight Neji Hyuga, arguably the strongest ninja in there year, and come out without a single injury.

They broke apart, and Lee felt it was about time to accept that they were evenly matched at this stage. Neji had prepared a strategy for his speed, and even if it was a simple one, borne of his eye's ability more than anything, it was still effective.

Around this time, against anyone else, he would've brought out his Lotus's, but not against Neji. The Hyuga had been a big help in his learning of the ability, though perhaps only unconsciously, occasionally observing the technique in it's earliest stages, and giving him ideas for how to use it.

Untying the wrappings around his arms would've been a signal for the ninja across from him, and it would've said "here's what I'm going to do, counter it."

Instead, he concentrated for a moment, breathing deeply as he mentally reached out for the first gate.

"The First Gate of Opening… Release!"

A field of force surrounded him, and he couldn't help but revel in his own power as he felt the ground around him crack.

This was the result of hard work, and nothing else. No special eye, no ingrained talent, pure, unadulterated effort, and he would prove it's strength, right here, right now.

Though he couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he looked at his opponent. The Hyuga wasn't gasping in surprise, or even looking worried about his chances.

He was smiling.

"Come, Lee!" The boy spoke simply, once more adopting his signature stance, leaning forward with his arms splayed.

He was more than happy to accept his teammate's invitation, charging forwards with an almost inhuman speed. He caught Neji before he could properly raise his guard, delivering a kick into his chest, and sending the boy spiraling backwards along the ground.

A part of him, that considered Neji a good friend, and didn't really want to hurt him, told Lee to give him a second to stand.

The rest of him kept charging, flying over the boy and preparing to rain a blow down from above, but his leg was intercepted, The Hyuga on the ground smirking as the two grappled for just a moment, ending with Lee being thrown off, landing a few feet away.

"That all you have, Lee?" His opponent taunted, taking his stance once again, though with a minor adjustment, this time, he bent his right hand forward, better for intercepting frontward blows.

But Lee didn't miss the small amount of blood that dripped out from the boy's nose, even if the Hyuga tried to catch it before he could.

He zigzagged forward, trying to throw Neji off as he got into his range, and had to back away as the Hyuga brought forth one of his most deadly attacks, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

He narrowly evaded the technique, letting the boy's palms sail over his head as he ducked under them, but now found himself on the back-foot, dodging blow after blow as the boy came at him.

So even with the first gate, we're still evenly matched? Lee pondered, taking the time to think as the two finally came to a standstill, circling one another as they both came up with new plans. I suppose the next gate…

No…

The Third gate… I'll surprise him with its power and use that to claim victory.

Lee focused hard on trying to disguise the effort of opening another gate, even as he breathed heavily and forced his energy to travel down his spine, past the second gate, and straight to the third.

He felt the telltale burning sensation along his spine that signaled the third gate's release just as Neji charged at him, apparently done coming up with a plan.

It wouldn't matter, Lee had him.

"The Third Gate of Life… Release!"

He didn't miss the way Neji's eye's widened, trying to backpedal out of Lee's effective range, but both boy's knew that it was already too late.

"I've got you!"

He rocketed forwards, his fists moving through the air at a speed that was almost unforeseen at a Genin level, and he couldn't help but wince slightly as he felt his friends flesh give beneath his blows.

Neji shot backwards, but Lee knew he couldn't stop, couldn't rest, until his opponent could no longer move. The Hyuga was simply too talented to underestimate.

He practically slid across the floor as his leg's moved faster than they should've been able to. The gates allowed him to surpass his body's limitations, but that did come at a price. He knew that if he didn't end this fight within the next minute or two, then the pain would eat him alive.

Still, as he looked towards his teammate, seeing the boy's eyes glazed over, he couldn't help but feel that the Hyuga wouldn't be able to fight him anymore. The boy took an incredibly loose stance, and it seemed like he knew he had lost, for he grit his teeth in annoyance.

Let's do this…

"I'm ending this, Neji!" He shouted as he jumped over his opponent, preparing to finally break out his Lotus, now that he was sure the boy was too out of it to counter him.

Or he should've been, but Lee noticed too late that the Hyuga's eye's were sharper than they should've been, conveying not that he was out of the match, but that he was merely pretending to be.

He was already riding the air, though, and that meant he had no choice but to engage his opponent, choosing to flip behind Neji, in an effort to surprise him. He'd been attacking purely from the front for their entire fight, and he hoped that by finally attacking from behind, the boy would be caught off guard.

Pain shot up his back, and it all came from a small, almost pinpoint strike by Neji's fingers.

It was aimed directly at the Third Gate, the midpoint of his spine.

His attack stopped, and he froze in place there, just in front of the boy, as his entire body seemed to cease to function for just a moment.

Move… Move!

He recovered a moment later, but by then, he'd already been standing still for half a second.

And that had been all his opponent needed.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

"Two Palms!"

He was bombarded by two strikes, hitting his back and his arm, respectively. He just managed to turn towards the blows as the next volley began, the shock from having the Third Gate's energy cut wearing off just in time for him to get his arms up, but he wondered if it would be enough.

"Four Palms!"

He managed to take those on his arms, blocking each one individually, and hunkering down for the remaining 58 Palms, hoping that he could block them all.

"Eight Palms!"

One got through, a hit directly to his left shoulder, as Neji struck out from around his guard, like a serpent.

"Sixteen Palms!"

Three more through his guard, hitting his stomach, chest, and one to his collarbone, which he was fairly certain broke from the impact.

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

Now his guard was practically nonexistent, and he took most of the blows from the jutsu, most hitting his chest and stomach.

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

He was knocked backwards from Neji's final attack, landing on the ground a way's away from him, and finding himself unable to move.

The Hyuga's exasperated breaths were the only thing he could hear, as the people above them, those watching, had all gone completely silent.

"Heh…" The boy walked over to stand above him, just where Lee could see him out of the corner of his eye. "Guess that's that, Lee. Hard work alone cannot defeat destiny."

Neji turned around, and this time, spoke to the proctor.

"He won't be moving again for a few hours, probably best to call the match now."

Something in the boy's words caused him to stir. He could feel the pain catching up to him, now that he wasn't moving anymore. His arms and legs felt like jelly, his core, which had been bombarded by Neji's gentle fist, felt like it was crumbling into pieces, and his Gate's had been deactivated manually from a hit to his spine, which was constantly shooting pain up his body.

And yet even so, he reached his hand out, putting his weight on it, and did his very best to stand.

/-/

Something was wrong, That, at least, Neji could tell.

It wasn't just that the proctor made no moves to end the match, but that the audience above them, who had gone silent after he'd taken down his teammate, were now stirring once more.

He felt a white hot anger nearly overtake him as he turned around, and found his opponent trying his absolute hardest to stand.

"W-what the hell…?" His voice came out without him realizing it. he couldn't help it, he knew, knew, that the boy should've been out after that. His Lotus' would be ineffective against him, his previous weights had been tossed aside, the speed he'd gained hadn't been enough to match him, and even his precious gates had been closed off, sealed by Neji's chakra.

So how the hell can he still move!?

He tried to advance towards Lee, tried to prevent the boy from rising, but found his legs nearly giving out on him as he walked, falling to his knees as he did.

In his gambit to deactivate Lee's gates, he'd put himself in the firing line, knowing that he'd take some hits from the bowl-cutted ninja, yet thinking that he'd be able to withstand them easily. But his teammate had hit far harder than he'd though him capable of, and he was paying for his own hubris now.

He felt a voice in the back of his head scream that this was all wrong, that Lee couldn't stand, that destiny wouldn't allow him to stand, and yet, even still, the boy's body wouldn't stop rising.

"I shut down your gates!" He screamed out, feeling fury course into his voice as he too rose, ignoring the sharp pain that coursed through him. "I flooded your internal systems with my chakra! You shouldn't be able to move, let alone stand! So how the hell are you!?"

Neji tried to contain his anger as the boy across from him actually smirked, his eyes barely opened as he seemed to fade from in and out of consciousness.

"Because you said I couldn't."

He gritted his teeth, feeling his rage trying to best him.

"Out of spite!? You'd do all of that, just out of spite!?"

"Of course not." Lee spoke simply as he brought his hand up before him in his usual stance. It was looser than usual, and his arms shook from exhaustion, but the look on his face told Neji that the boy wouldn't let it fall. "I'm doing this to prove something to everyone, to prove something to you, but above all else, to prove something to myself."

Neji took a step forward, trying to adopt his stance by leaning forward, but his ribs screamed at him as he tried, and so he adopted a move normal Hyuga stance, one hand in front of him, the other directly next to his breast, acting as a second line of defense.

"Hard work beats talent, unless talent works hard."

It was the same spiel as always. The same thing Guy Sensei told them all whenever they would spar, the same thing his star pupil would parrot back at him every single time he said it, and it was the last straw for Neji's patience.

"You think hard work can overcome destiny!?" He screamed as he charged in, raining blow after blow on the boy. "You think you can defeat fate with effort alone!?"

Every single one of his strikes was blocked by Lee, this time not with his arms, but with his hands, literally meeting him blow for blow.

"Isn't that what you think as well!?"

This time, Lee struck him, sending him flying backwards. As he landed, he pivoted, just barely managing to stay standing as the boy charged back at him.

"I've seen you training in the forest, Neji!" His teammate was shouting, a rarity for the bowl-cut bearing boy, but that wasn't what shocked the Hyuga the most.

"You… No one was supposed to know about that!" He shouted, sneaking a two fingered assault into Lee's ribs, making the boy cough up a small amount of blood as he backpedaled. "How did you figure it out!?"

"You can't hide from us, Neji!" Lee screamed out, and the voice reverberated on the walls above them. "I said that hard work beats talent, but that was unless talent works hard as well!" Lee took a stance, this time, his eyes were clear, any and all doubt gone. "Even you are trying to change your own so-called fate, aren't you!?"

His eyes widened at his teammate's words.

…Am I?

He'd been training, secretly, every single day since he'd become a Genin. He pretended to slack off, pretended to believe himself so far above everyone else, and yet he couldn't help but cry out in anger and rage as his efforts still didn't bear any fruit in the one field he wanted them to.

They still couldn't change the Hyuga.

"So what!? I can't change that accursed clan!" His anger was carrying through to his voice, spittle flying in all directions as he screamed to the world, and once more he met Lee in the center of the arena, strong fist colliding with gentle fist. "I'll never be able to change them, and I know that now! I was an idiot before, thinking I could-"

"You still think you can!"

A fist connected with the side of his face, and his vision distorted, even as he tried to block the next few blows.

"W-what!?"

"You never gave up, and you shouldn't!" Lee argued, pushing into his guard, and delivering a quick 1-2 that knocked Neji completely off balance, sending him to the floor. "You can change the Hyuga clan! And you will! You can't tell me that you trained day in and day out, through rain or shine, all because you thought that destiny bound you!"

Is Lee… encouraging me?

He blocked the blow aiming to finish him off, the same kick that Lee had already aimed for twice now, and then blocked the follow-up to that as well, spinning the boy around him and throwing him a foot or so away.

"There's no shame for me, losing here, not to someone who I know for a fact is trying just as hard as I am." Lee spoke simply, smiling, even with the blood that streamed out of his now broken nose. "But even still, Neji, I will not lose this duel."

A small laugh broke from him, even as he tried to hold it in. it was useless, however, and a second later, he found himself cracking up, giggling like some schoolgirl as he took his own stance, preparing to face his teammate in one final exchange.

"Neither will I."

They both charged forwards, preparing their best blows for combat.

"Eight Trigrams…"

"Primary…"

"Sixty Four Palms!"

"Lotus!"

He fired blow after blow into Lee, even as the boy's bandages covered him, and they soared into the air. He was able to open his palm over the bowl-cut bearing ninja's stomach and shot chakra directly into it in an effort to disrupt his internal organs.

Lee coughed up blood, but didn't cease, bringing them both crashing into the floor as smoke billowed around them.

Neji had been grabbed by the Primary Lotus before, and he knew the way around it was to shield his neck at all costs. It still hurt, oh boy, did it hurt, but it didn't take him out of the fight completely.

And yet, it seemed the built-up damage from their previous exchanges just might.

Even as he tried to rise, to meet his teammate once more in combat, he found his legs unresponsive.

Though it seemed like the boy across from him was much the same.

He collapsed onto the floor, feeling his consciousness fading as he smiled widely, feeling just a small bit of his curse's weight subside as he saw Lee's eyes closing, the strong fist user losing out to his own exhaustion.

So hard work really can contest destiny, huh?

…That seems fair.

He lost consciousness a second later.

/-/

Ino watched the proctor walk over to the two boys in the arena, examine them both, and then raise his hands in the air.

"Both fighters are unable to continue, thusly, this match concludes in a draw."

"A draw…?" She questioned, looking behind her, where her teammates Shikamaru and Choji stood, but also where their sensei, Asuma, was watching the match with vague interest. "What happens when there's a draw, Teacher?"

"Both fighters get eliminated." He spoke simply, taking a small puff of his cigarette, and then shaking off the chaff onto the ground. "And the bracket for the next stage gets a helluva' lot more confusing."

"I guess that's the only option." Shikamaru spoke simply, shrugging. "Can't really let them both go on, or else you'd have everyone trying to make deals with their opponents to move into the next round for free."

"That sounds like something you'd do, Shikamaru." Choji joked, elbowing his friend in the side.

The boy in question closed his eyes, leaned back against the wall behind him, and smiled lazily.

"Yeah, I probably would."

"Next fight's up soon." Asuma said casually, gesturing with his elbow towards the screen on the back wall, which was now cycling through names. "Pretty good chance one of you all's going up as well, so pay attention."

Ino waited with bated breath, hoping that she wouldn't get picked, and then also kind of hoping she would. It would be nice to simply be done with this and not have to worry about it.

When the screen stopped, she groaned loudly.

Ino Yamanaka vs. Gaara

"Welp, everyone, I'd like it to go on record I gave the exam my best effort." Ino sighed out, looking up towards her Sensei with narrowed eyes. "Am I allowed to forfeit now?"

The man looked down on her with a small smile.

"At least try and fight him, please?"

"B-but he's scary! Haven't you seen him! Team 8 told us that he killed a few kids in the forest!"

Asuma stroked his beard, seeming a bit concerned, but not overly so.

"Alright, how about this, go down there and give it your best. If you feel like you're outmatched, just concede." Asuma's eyes got a little darker all of a sudden, and he took another puff of his cigarette. "If the boy threatens you in any way, I'll go down there and back you up. Sound good?"

That did help her to relax a bit, and she breathed out a lot of her nerves in the next few seconds.

"Y-yeah. That sounds good, Sensei."

The man smiled down at her.

"Good, now go get em'!"

She turned back towards the arena to see the kid named Gaara literally materialize into the arena, having turned himself into sand.

"Sensei I give up!"

"At least try!"

"He turned into sand!"

"I'm sure a lot of people can do that!"

"I'm sure you're full of bullshit, Sensei!"

"Ahem." The proctor just before her cleared his throat, causing her to jump as she turned to look at him. "If you're finished…"

"Oh, yeah, right."

"Very well, I'll go over the rules for this competition." The man turned back towards the center arena, and began to tell them about how lethal force was authorized, but not recommended. He went over a few things, but really, Ino couldn't help but worry about what the hell the boy in front of her was about.

"Are you both ready?"

Gaara merely nodded, whereas she gave a semi-enthusiastic "Sure."

"Then, let the Third Match of the Chuunin Exams second round… BEGIN!"

"Alright!" She decided to go all out from the start, bringing her hands up in front of her in their clan's signature sign. "Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Welp, this probably won't work, but at least after it fails I can concede with gr-

Suddenly, she found herself in the red-headed boy's mind, looking over at her own body.

Wait… did that actually work?

Huh, guess this guys a pushover then.

"Oi." A terrible voice called out from all around her, echoing in the expanses of the boy's mind."Who the hell are you?"

She turned around, shaking slightly as she did, and found her eyes widening at what she saw.

It was a massive beast, perhaps 100 feet tall on it's own, and it looked to Ino to be made of sand. It had blue etchings running down it's entire body in odd patterns, and it's eyes were terrifying, glowing an ominous yellow in the darkest recesses of Gaara's mind.

She screamed as she released her hold on the boy, and flew back to her own body, stumbling carelessly as she tried to get away. She fell backwards onto her butt, panting as she tried to get over what she'd seen.

A second later, the boy across from her, confusion written all over his face, narrowed his eyes, and brought his hand up before him, looking ready to attack.

Ino's own hand flew up before he could.

"I surrender!"

Across from her, Gaara's eyes widened slightly, as did those of the proctors, who walked over to her.

"You are yielding?"

"Y-yes sir!"

The man seemed to consider her for a second, before shrugging, and calling the match.

"Ino Yamanaka has yielded, the winner is Gaara."

Everyone above them seemed a bit confused, and honestly, Ino couldn't find it in herself to blame them for that. To them, it probably seemed like she had the advantage, and then suddenly conceded the match. But she'd seen it, the monster inside of that boy, and she'd known she wanted nothing to do with it.

"You… surrender?"

The voice was almost tiny, what with how quiet it was, though Ino still caught it. She turned back towards the red-haired boy who'd spoken, looking almost confused.

How do I answer this…?

"Ah… yeah, sorry." Ino rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "You were probably looking forward to a match, but I'm not really all that-"

"INO!"

The voice shocked her into action, and she ducked just underneath an almost sharp pile of sand as it blazed past where her head had been just moments ago. She stumbled backwards, looking back over at the boy who'd attacked her, but found him standing ramrod straight, a knife at his throat already.

"She surrendered, kid." Asuma spoke, his cigarette still in his other hand as he let Gaara go, shoving him back towards his own staircase. "That means it's over. Get back to your team."

The red-head turned back around, eyes hard as he stared up at her teacher's face.

"Why do you care? If she surrendered, then she forfeited her life, didn't she?" The boy brought his hands together, and the sand from before seemed to grow almost agitated, writhing on the floor as it was pulled back into the boy's gourd. "I should be able to do whatever I want to her, she gave up."

"Yeah, well, her teammates aren't giving up on her." Asuma spoke, crossing his arms as he looked at the boy with a deadpan expression. "So, run along now, before I do something we'll both regret."

Gaara seemed about ready to protest even that, but for a hand on his shoulder. It was his own Jonin Sensei, a man who wore a cloth over half of his face.

"I apologize." The man spoke, not sounding very sorry. "Please excuse his actions. Come, Gaara."

The boy in question looked up at his teacher, scowled, but nodded. The two ascended the stairway, Gaara in front, with his teacher in the back.

"I'm sorry, Ino." Asuma spoke, eyes narrowed as he kept watch of those two. "I should've listened to you when you said you wanted to drop out. That kid was more dangerous than I thought he'd be."

"He was… yeah…" Ino spoke quietly, still in shock from when she'd narrowly dodged that sand attack earlier. It had been coming at her quick enough that it might have dug into her had it landed, and then…

She shivered, trying her best not to think about it.

But still, she couldn't help but wonder…

Just what the hell was that monster inside that boy's head?

End Chapter 18

Well, I'm sure that will have no repercussions.

Gaara was a little shit when he was first introduced, and even if I like him now, that doesn't make him a better person at the time of the Chuunin exams.

Probably about 2 weeks to the Hiatus, but I will say that since Fire Emblem: Three Houses comes out this week, next week's chapter might be... stunted.

Anyways, that's all for me, see you all next week!