A gentle ray of sunlight traveled through the leaves and glinted off the surface of the river. Water flowed over rocks in a soothing, constant murmur. A soft breeze caressed my cheeks, like a loved one's touch.

I closed my eyes.

Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

I let the stresses of the outside world manifest themselves in my mind, like angry monsters, all wanting a piece of me. My acceptance into Beacon, the burden of proving that I was worthy of my place. The looming responsibility of protecting the defenseless. The curse of my semblance. My wonderful little sister and the ever-present knowledge of the harm I could have caused her. I pictured her playing in a garden. I pictured her running to me excitedly, her eyes full of painful, soul-piercing trust. Then, Hiyoko's face turned into Velvet's in my mind, and Velvet backed off from me, fearful and withdrawn. It's what you deserve, monster, a voice echoed in my head.

Breathe in. Hold.

I embraced the voice. I embraced all the monsters, accepted them. They existed. They were real. They were part of me. I took them all in and put them in a ball. I let them fight in there, screaming and thrashing and lashing out. I accepted that, too.

I released the ball. It bid me a friendly goodbye and went on its way, pacified. Until the next time.

Breathe out.

"Um… Yatsuhashi?"

I opened my eyes and looked up, a little surprised. I'd recognized the voice. I saw my partner standing on the same platform as me, over the river. She was keeping a respectful distance away, hesitant to interrupt.

"I'm sorry for bothering you", she said. "Coco sent me to fetch you. It's time for our sparring session."

"Oh!" I got up, hastily. "I'm sorry. I don't take my scroll with me when I'm meditating. I thought I had a bit more time."

"It's okay. We still have about ten minutes, but we only have the hall for an hour so Coco wants us to be there exactly on time."

We walked together in silence.

The way I imagined Velvet during my meditation was not entirely accurate to how she behaved in reality. She was still reserved and quiet, but she'd gotten significantly less jumpy around me. She no longer got startled every time I spoke to her. That was progress, right?

"This is a beautiful spot", she said unexpectedly.

I blinked. It was the first time she'd voluntarily offered me her opinion on anything.

"Yeah", I agreed. "I like how secluded it is. It's the perfect place for some quiet time."

Velvet smiled a little. For the first time since I'd met her, her expression was distinctly Hiyoko-like: that combination of pity and amusement that little sisters across the world seem to have honed to perfection. "You said the same thing about that tea shop you took Fox into."

I groaned. "Don't remind me. I really hope Casey Williams won't discover this garden, too. I mean, she's a fellow Hunter and she seems like a nice person… But she's so… I don't know. She'd probably gush about it and declare it her new favorite place. Call it a meditation hotspot, or something. Which, if you ask me, is a contradiction in terms."

Velvet actually snorted.

We fell silent again for a while. Then I decided to try and speak with her again. Maybe I could try making her laugh? I felt encouraged: this was the longest continuous conversation we'd had so far, and it was going fairly well. And after all, we were supposed to be partners.

"Um… you wanna hear a joke?"

She looked at me a little doubtfully, but nodded in the affirmative.

I cleared my throat. "Ahem… what do you call a very important bee?"

She shrugged.

"A bee-I-P!"

Silence. Velvet bit her lip and gave me an unsure look.

"It's a play on the combination of the words bee and VIP", I explained lamely.

"No, I get it." She forced a smile. It was painfully obvious she was trying to spare my feelings. "Um… heh heh."

Maybe I should leave the jokes to Fox.

XXX

"Alright!" Coco exclaimed cheerfully as Velvet and I crossed the entrance into the training hall. "This year's soon-to-be top team is all here and ready to start kicking ass."

"Really? Where are they? I don't see them."

"Be quiet, Fox. Now that everyone's here, let's set some ground rules." Coco's expression grew more serious. "This is a sparring session, meant to test our skills in a safe setting. We don't know each other's limits yet, so we take it easy at first. I want you all breaking a sweat, but no real lasting injuries. Okay? So I was thinking we do one-on-one matches at first. One pair keeps going until someone's aura hits a threshold – let's say, a ten percent drop – and then another pair fights. I want to get a better idea of everyone's battle style, and then we can start planning more specific team attacks for our next training sessions. Sound good?"

A general round of nodding.

My perception of Coco had changed our first days in Beacon. At first, she didn't fit with my idea of how a team leader should behave. She was fooling around with Fox in classes. She was making jokes about things I thought should inspire respect, like the theme for naming teams, or parts of our professors' lectures. She often spoke to us in a teasing manner, which made it hard for me to understand if she was being serious or not. I got the sense she enjoyed my confusion, too.

As the days passed, I came to view her differently. She was performing exceptionally well in her classes despite all the joking around and selective attentiveness. She could be extremely focused – a perfectionist, even – when it came to things that really interested her; and team function was one of these things. She could get serious when the situation called for it, like when she had to coordinate us during physical training or speak for the team during lessons. She pushed everyone to their limits, but not at the expense of safety: this was something I liked and that really resonated with me.

"Okay then." She took out her scroll and fiddled with it for a bit. Then she looked back up. "Fox, Yatsu, how about you two go first. I'll monitor your auras on my scroll."

Fox smiled at me. Well, he smiled in my general direction.

"Don't worry, Yatsu", he told me. "I won't hurt you. I'll go easy like our leader said."

"Thanks", I replied, smiling as well. I was used to peers getting intimidated by my sheer size. Fox's cockiness was a welcome change.

I unsheathed my sword and walked towards him. He assumed a defensive position, hands up protecting his upper body, the blades of his tonfas pointed outwards. His smile widened, and he cocked his head at me in a "come get me" motion.

I lunged, raising the sword high, then bringing it down full force towards his head. He blocked, wrists up, using the force of the collision to propel himself backwards. He retreated a few steps and waited. I struck again, and this time he dodged, dropped himself on the ground face up with his weight on his palms, and kicked. Pain shot through my ankles, and I stumbled backwards, slashing out to keep him at bay, barely managing to keep my balance.

He stood back up. This time I kept him at a range, sword pointed out and slightly downwards. He came at me like an arrow, dodging most of my blows with expert footwork and parrying the few ones that came closer to landing. His body was slender in comparison to mine, but it looked so deadly as it made its way like a serpent through a barrage of sword slashes. His movements were full of grace and dexterity; if we weren't in the middle of a fight, I'd think it was a beautiful sight to behold.

I was distracted from my admiration by a punch in the face.

The jaw, specifically. It was strong enough to send me back a few steps and disorient me a little. Recovering my footing, I looked up at Fox. He was grinning at me.

"Stay focused, big guy", he said. "There's no fun in kicking your ass if you're just going to stand there like a tree."

"I'll keep that in mind", I replied as we went again. If I just kept him at a distance, I'd eventually manage to use my superior reach to my advantage. The only problem was that Fox seemed unwilling to stay in one spot and let me hit him. He eventually got into melee range once more. I swung at him again and again, but he seemed to be coming at me from all directions: he was one moment here, one moment there, his blades constantly moving, constantly looking for an opening. But it was fine, I thought. Even if he managed to make contact, it would be fine. My aura would protect me from damage, and it could definitely take several hits before breaking.

And then, I felt it yield.

Fox shot up a hand. The sensation that followed was new to me, and it was hard to describe: my aura was not broken, but it gave way at the point of contact. Fox's blade pierced through, slicing my arm. A stream of sharp pain traced the cut, blood rushing out. I reflexively pushed back with all my strength. Fox was thrown across the room and crashed on the opposite wall.

"Sorry!" I called out, concerned. Had I overdone it? "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

He sprung up immediately and smiled at me. "Don't flatter yourself, big guy. I got a little careless there, that's all. Besides, I could ask you the same thing."

I looked at my arm. The cut he'd made had been reasonably deep, but not really concerning. Aura, rushing through my body, was already doing its job.

"That?" I said. "That's just a little scratch. It's you I'm worried about." It was not usual for me to banter, but then again, no one usually did it to me first. "I am fine and ready to keep going."

"So am I."

"No one keeps going", Coco interjected. "You're both below the threshold we set for Aura." She approached, taking a closer look at my arm. "Okay", she muttered, "almost healed." She gave it a light tap and then addressed me. "You seemed a bit distracted there for the last few seconds."

I scratched the back of my neck. "I guess I was", I admitted. This had never happened to me during a fight before.

To my relief, Coco didn't press for the reason. "It's fine", she said. She smirked a little. "I mean, I get it, you were trying to give Fox a chance-"

"Hey", Fox said.

Coco laughed and raised her hands up in a peacemaking gesture. "I'm kidding. You did well. What was that thing you did with your hand?"

"That? That was an offensive way to use aura. In my experience, most people just use it to protect themselves; most people our age at least. Well, unless you count semblances. But there are other ways to use it offensively. With practice, you can target hits in a certain way to pierce through your opponent's aura. My semblance helps a lot, because I can actually sense the weak spots in your auras and focus on them. And if the opponent is distracted or in a heightened emotional state, that makes things easier as well."

"That sounds pretty advanced", Coco said.

Fox shrugged. "I had to practice a lot. Aura manipulation was pretty much my only advantage in battles, for a long time. Before ADA, I mean."

"Well, it seems to work very nicely", Coco said. "Yatsu, you did well too, only try to stay focused going forward. When I said go easy, I didn't mean stand there politely and let them hit you."

I laughed. "Fair enough. So I guess you and Velvet are next?"

"Yeah, let's do that", she agreed. "You and Fox can take a break in the meantime, and then we'll mix it up. Can you keep an eye of our Auras on your scroll?"

"Sure", I agreed. I stole a glance at my partner. Her expression was neutral, but there were telltale signs of nervousness. She was biting her bottom lip and fiddling her thumbs, eyes cast on the floor.

Coco smiled at her. "Vel, I hope you won't kick my ass too hard. I'm trying to earn some respect as a leader here. Let me save some face, alright?"

Velvet lifted her eyes with an agonized expression. "Coco, I told you, I can't normally… I mean, you shouldn't expect…"

Coco raised a palm to stop her. "I know, I know. It's okay. I was just trying to be encouraging." She scratched the back of her head. "Just do your best. Don't stress about it too much. The purpose of this is to get an idea of the level we're at, so that we can plan how to help each other improve."

I regarded my partner with some worry. Prior to our spar, Coco had warned me and Fox that Velvet had some psychological hangups when it came to utilizing her semblance. I sympathized with that, a lot; I related to it more than my teammates could possibly know. But I couldn't quite understand why Velvet in particular had this sort of block. Her semblance was not… destructive. It was not the sort of thing you had to contain, the sort of thing that would inherently cause true harm. It was not ethically objectionable in any way.

"Okay", Coco said. "Vel, go ahead and take your position opposite from me. I'm only going to use my weapon in its purse form for now. But feel free to use any pictures you want from Anesidora."

Velvet cleared her throat. "Actually, I thought I'd use my secondary weapon this time", she said. "That way, you'll have seen both of them in action and take both into account in your tactics."

"You have a secondary weapon?" I asked with interest.

She opened the sheath strapped to her waist and drew out what looked like a simple small dagger. She held it out for us to see.

If Coco was underwhelmed, she didn't show it. She just nodded, taking her place on the fighting grounds and motioning for Velvet to do the same.

"Okay", I said. "Scroll is all set. Begin."

Velvet lunged, looking for an opening. Coco held her back with swings of her hand bag, keeping her at a range. They went on like that for a while, neither side making progress. At last Velvet managed to slid through the blows and went for the stab; but Coco's eyes had been following the dagger, and, moving her torso out of the way, she blocked with her bag, arms extended. Velvet staggered from the recoil, and Coco grabbed the chance to kick her behind the knees, bringing her down on her back. She raised her bag over her head and brought it pummeling down towards Velvet's head; but it was blocked. A bo staff crashed against it, pushing back.

Coco adjusted remarkably well to her opponent's sudden change of weaponry. Unfazed, she simply placed her own hands on the staff and started pushing down. She was stronger, and would have prevailed, if not for a round kick to her ankles causing her to lose balance. She staggered back, and Velvet jumped up, getting in a good amount of hits in with the staff on Coco's back, legs and midsection. If not for aura, this assault would have certainly broken some bones. But Coco simply shook it off and pushed Velvet back, also retreating herself with a series of consecutive backflips. They were at a distance again.

I checked my scroll. The beating she had just received had barely made a dent in Coco's aura. Velvet, on the other hand, was midway towards the threshold.

They started again. This time Coco took a more offensive approach, lashing out proactively, wielding the handbag as one might use a club. Velvet dodged and retreated, assuming a defensive stance. When she was at a safe distance, she raised her weapon-yielding hand; the staff shrank and its structure rearranged itself, a pair of small pistols forming in her hands. She fired, jumping forward, using the shots as a distraction to get close. Coco, preoccupied with the bullets, allowed her opponent to get within reach; and she lost her footing when a light fencing saber slashed at her ribs.

Coco met it with her bag, and they parried, Velvet switching between the saber, the dagger and the staff. Her movements were precise: individually, each one was technically perfect. But something was missing. The conviction she'd showed against the Roc, that uncanny ability to adapt, to seamlessly switch to whatever combination of move and weapon worked best for any specific moment of the fight… that was lacking. Blows kept getting exchanged at a rapid pace; Coco charged in with an advanced combination of punches and footwork, retreating and advancing in turns. For the briefest moment, Velvet hesitated, and it cost her dearly. The bag slammed against her chest, and she was pushed down and away, crashing hard against the floor.

"Okay", I called out. "Stop. Velvet is below the threshold."

Coco approached her teammate and offered a hand up. Velvet accepted it, gingerly rising to her feet.

"Sorry", was the first thing she said. "That was bad, I know. I tried, but I couldn't quite make full use of-"

"No, no", Coco cut her off. "That actually wasn't half bad. You got a few hits in and mostly held your own. I mean, okay, it was subpar compared to what I've seen you do before. But it was still decent."

"Coco, what are you talking about?" I chimed in, smiling at Velvet. "Velvet was obviously holding back to give you a chance."

Coco rolled with it. "Oh, I know. We'll just help her practice a little and then she'll be mopping the floor with us in no time."

Velvet's face was scarlet. Coco and I had good intentions, but I wasn't sure if our version of encouragement actually made her feel better. I racked my brain, searching for something else to add, but nothing came to mind.

"I like your secondary weapon", Fox chimed in. "Does it have a name? Did you design that yourself as well?"

Velvet visibly relaxed, though her face was still red. She even smiled a little. "Its name is Gestalt. And yes." She passed it to him and he played with it in his hands. "It's the weapon I used throughout Pharos."

"Nice balance", Fox commented, still turning it in his hands. He placed a finger on its tip. "Pretty sharp, too. So, four weapons into one. That's pretty cool. I've been thinking of adding a shooting component to my tonfas, but I've been having some trouble with the mechanics. Perhaps you could give me some pointers."

Velvet's smile widened. "Sure, I'd love to."

I regarded Fox with newfound appreciation. Somehow, he'd known the right things to say. Sure, he still had that whole "I'm a blind scarred badass who descended from the deserts of Vacuo and travelled across the world to slay monsters" thing going on. But I was beginning to suspect that, behind all that, he was actually a very sweet, empathetic guy.

He passed Velvet her weapon back, and she sheathed it. "For the record, it's actually five weapons", she added, mostly addressing Coco. "There is a rope dart in there as well."

Coco looked thoughtful. "Couldn't you have used that just now, to gain an advantage? For instance, you could have parried using the staff or the saber as a feint, then thrown the rope at my feet to make me lose balance."

Velvet's face fell. "Sorry. These ideas never come to me at the moment when they would be most useful. Sometimes, I get a bunch of great tactical ideas after a battle has finished. Or I plan something and then do something completely different under pressure."

"No need to be sorry", Coco replied. "You – and all of us – will just get better with practice. Is there anything else I should know about Gestalt?"

"I'm building a component that will allow me to utilize dust. I had a basic version of that in Pharos: it could enhance the bullets with fire or lighting dust. Then I started experimenting with other types, and at some point I grew frustrated because the way I'd built it made it difficult to expand. So I scrapped it, and now I'm remaking it from scratch. It's not ready yet, though."

"Okay, sounds good. I've actually been meaning to ask you all whether you're considering any changes to your weapons."

"I already mentioned I'll add some kind of shooting functionality", Fox said. "Velvet will build something to channel dust from… Coco, your gun is already some overpowered bullshit…"

"Aw, you're too sweet."

"And Yatsu has a sword", Fox concluded, smirking a little.

"My sword is awesome, thank you", I said, affecting a grumpy tone. "You should have a little more respect for the classics. All of you young people today, running around with your gun transformations and dust compartments."

Everyone laughed.

"Okay, Fox", Coco told her partner. "If you have time to insult this respectable old man, you have time to spar. Come on, you and me are up next."

"Buy me dinner first", Fox quipped, before taking his place opposite from her.

It was skill against power, agility against endurance. Once again, I couldn't help admiring the way Fox was fighting: that beautiful, deadly choreography of moves; the masterful interchange between advancing and backtracking, attacking and defending, always adapting, always on the lookout for weaknesses, for opportunities to strike. Coco was faster than me, and had more acrobatics in her arsenal. But her main advantage in this fight was her ability to shrug hits off like they were nothing, and dish out large amounts of damage. It was a while before I had to stop the match. Fox had scored more hits, but his aura had been depleted first.

I'd been anticipating I would be asked to spar with Velvet next. I was not looking forward to it. Part of it had to do with how physically slender she was, especially in comparison to me. I knew this was illogical: body frame and physical strength were not straightforwardly related to each other, as they were rumored to have been before humanity's rebellion against the gods. Still, independently of general trends, I'd always been conscious of the fact that I myself was unusually strong.

I knew Velvet was skilled, but I had also seen that her skill wasn't consistent. She hadn't fared badly against Coco, but she had moments of indecision that could potentially result in an accident. And I'd always been somewhat afraid of accidentally hurting sparring partners. Fox had gotten around my inhibitions with his cockiness, and Coco was a tank in her own right. But Velvet reminded me of Hiyoko in terms of how small and cute she was. My instinct was to protect her, not to fight her.

Granted, I'd "sparred" with Hiyoko herself, but it was in the context of me teaching her moves. It was obvious that I would hold back majorly against my untrained little sister. But Velvet was my peer, and my partner. She'd expect me to fight her seriously, or it would come across as disrespectful.

Coco put an end to my agony by announcing that the next match would be her against me. We had time for two more, and she'd wanted to face everyone herself. After that, it would be Velvet against Fox, and then we'd wrap up for the day.

"But don't worry", she added. "I've booked the room for the whole week. There are still lots of things we need to test."

"Hooray", Fox said.

She gave him a light smack on the arm. "You're welcome." Then she turned to me. "Now come on, big guy, let's see what is so awesome about that sword of yours."

My spar with Coco was a long, drawn out affair. She was faster than me, but not at Fox's level. I was stronger, and my sword gave me the advantage of reach. Neither of us could easily get in the other's guard, so blows landed sparingly. Combined with our high defenses, this made our match last a while, and in the end Fox had to call a stop to it, saying we barely had time for one more.

He and Velvet took their places at opposite sides of the room. He raised his tonfas to eye level; she unsheathed her weapon and transformed it to its saber form, arm extended.

"Wait", Coco ordered. They both turned towards her, though the gesture was useless to Fox. I briefly wondered he did that sort of thing purely out of politeness. "Vel, can you fight without using your semblance this time?" Coco asked her. "I know you said it doesn't burn a lot of aura, but I'd still like to see how you fight without it."

Velvet agreed, and they began.

Fox ran towards her, and she raised her saber to keep him at bay. He used one arm to block her, aiming a punch at her with the other. She dodged, and they started dancing around each other, their light, agile footwork supporting their upper body movements. Velvet alternated between the saber and her other weapons. Her moves, as well as her martial arts, seemed more limited than before in terms of variety. And yet, to my surprise, she seemed to fight better this time. She moved with more conviction; she stroke with precision and confidence, like she knew what she was supposed to do at every turn; and even had a slight advantage at times, capitalizing on the saber's superior range, while matching Fox in agility and skill.

"Enough", Coco called out. "We've ran out of time." She looked at her scroll and frowned. "This was roughly equal. Fox, you did well. I think adding a gun is a good idea for you, since it will make it easier to distract opponents and get in their guard."

"You would think a gun is a good idea for everyone", Fox replied dryly. "But thanks for the compliment."

Coco turned to Velvet. "Vel… call me crazy, but I think you fought better this time than you did with your semblance on."

"Yeah, I had the same impression", I agreed.

Velvet bit her lip. "I'm sorry-"

Coco facepalmed. "Stop apologizing. I'm just trying to make sense of it."

"Do you have some specific styles you've focused on training?" I asked. "In the conventional way, I mean."

She nodded. "I trained with Gestalt in the conventional way, as you put it. But I've also been using moves from other people. It's a bit hard to separate the two: if I use a move a lot, even if I originally copied it with my semblance, it eventually becomes part of my normal muscle memory. Just because I've done it enough times for my body to remember it, so to speak. But that's a much more limited array of moves."

"There you go", I said. "Maybe the familiarity with a few specific styles trumps the lack of versatility."

"But if she's able to copy moves perfectly, that shouldn't be a factor."

"The ability to copy moves doesn't translate to a tactical understanding of when to use each", I said. I turned to Velvet. "You said you're often indecisive when you switch between moves you've copied with your semblance, right? I mean, that seems normal to me. When you have so many choices … I think it would take a lot of practice to figure out how to combine them most effectively."

Coco seemed unconvinced. "Six years of combat school should amount to a good amount of practice, don't you think?" Then she noticed Velvet's crestfallen expression, and softened. "On the other hand, if it's psychological, it probably needs other approaches in addition to just more training. We'll figure it out. It's still a great ability to have in a team."

Velvet hesitated a bit before speaking again. "I have a question I'd like to ask you all." She hugged herself, crossing her arms around her chest, looking at the floor. "Is it… okay with you if I copy your moves and weapons?"

Coco and I exchanged looks of surprise. It was Fox who responded first. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be okay?"

She was still avoiding looking at us. "Back in Pharos… I wasn't using Anesidora yet, but I was using my semblance openly. I didn't hide what it does. And some people were upset I was copying their moves. Thought it wasn't fair. Called me a freak, wouldn't let me practice with them unless a teacher made them. Sometimes it even got physical."

Coco pursed her lips. "By any chance, were those the same people who discriminated against you for being a faunus?"

"There was a big overlap", she admitted. "But I think some people were just uncomfortable about it. Some even called it stealing."

I shook my head. "That's stupid."

Her voice was low when she spoke again. "How?"

"Well, for one thing, everyone copies moves, just less effectively than you do. Do you think our classmates invented the martial arts and fighting styles they're using? No. All combat training starts with copying. Every now and then someone comes up with something original: a new move, a creative way to use an old style, a better combination between a move set and a weapon. But that's the exception, not the rule. And there's no reason you can't do that as well. If anything, you're at an advantage to do it because you have such as large arsenal to experiment with."

"It's still benefiting from someone else's skills."

"So is taking lessons from a master", Fox replied. "Your semblance grants you the ability to turn simple observation into a lesson. That's not your fault, it's not like you can even help it. Semblances let their users do all sorts of bullshit. And yours doesn't harm others in any way, unless you explicitly use it for harm."

"Yeah", I added. "There are semblances that have serious moral implications… semblances that should never be used. Yours is not one of them."

I noticed Coco looking at me strangely, but she didn't comment on what I'd said. Instead, she turned her attention to Velvet.

"Vel, maybe we can't convince you that you're not doing anything wrong", she said. "But we at least we can reassure you that it's okay to copy us. We're a team and we're supposed to help each other. If you need explicit permission, you have it."

Velvet raised her eyes, apprehensively, forcing herself to look at us. She didn't find scorn and derision in our faces, only calm sympathy; a promise that nobody hated her, that it was going to be okay.

"Thank you", she said.

XXX

A few minutes and two showers later, Fox and I came out of the men's changing rooms and started walking towards the building's exit. Fox was squeezing bangs of his hair to get the water out. He smelled nice. I'd noticed this early on, but it was more pronounced after a workout and a shower.

"That was an interesting training session", I heard his voice in my head.

It made me jump a little, although I should really have been used to it by now.

"Yeah", I agreed. "Man, I still get surprised when you do that. I've been meaning to ask, can you use it on unwilling targets? I mean, to read people's thoughts without their consent."

He smirked. "Why, what were you thinking about?"

I blushed a little, grateful that he couldn't see it. "Nothing. I was just wondering, that's all."

"Relax. Getting you all flustered is too easy, you're making me feel bad about it."

"My sincerest apologies", I said sardonically.

"I forgive you", Fox replied generously. "And no, my telepathy doesn't work like that. It's more like initiating a channel of communication. I send someone a thought, and I can only hear the thoughts they send back in response. Mind reading would probably be a pain in the ass, anyway. I mean, a person's mind is a giant mess. You'd have multiple layers of current thoughts, and then things like their memories, their subconscious… Where would you even start?"

"I guess."

"Not to mention, it would be such a creepy ability. I'm glad I don't have it. Or any kind of real control over unconsenting people's minds, really. It would be such a terrifying power to have. No one would ever trust you, I imagine."

"Yeah." My thought-speak tone was careful, neutral. "That sounds about right."

XXX

We met with Coco and Velvet at the exit, and started our way towards our dorm. It was near lunch time, so normally we should be heading towards the cafeteria. But Fox had gotten it into his head that he wanted pizza, and not just any pizza but a specific kind from his favorite place. He'd managed to either convince or wear down everyone, and we'd ordered delivery from his scroll. It should be in our room in a few minutes.

At the entrance of the dorm building, Coco put a hand on my back to indicate I should stop.

"You two go ahead", she told Velvet and Fox. "I'd like to speak to Yatsu for a minute."

Fox, rather uncharacteristically, left without any sarcastic comments. Perhaps he had sensed the seriousness in her tone: he made fun of all of us, but he was usually good about choosing the right time for it.

Or maybe he was just hungry.

Velvet stole a brief, curious look in our direction before casting her eyes down and following Fox inside.

Coco and I walked around the yard until we found a quiet spot underneath some trees. There was a bench, but neither of us sat down. Coco didn't speak immediately. She'd taken her sunglasses off, allowing me to notice her troubled expression. She stood there in silence for a while, looking thoughtfully into the distance, rubbing a hand over her forehead, as if trying to find the words.

"You wanted to talk to me?" I asked.

She frowned. "Yeah. Sorry, I'm not sure how to start. It's a bit sensitive."

That made me frown as well. "I hope I have not given you cause for concern about my performance."

Coco looked extremely perplexed. "What?"

"My performance. I did lose focus for a bit this morning, against Fox. Or perhaps you wanted to address my commitment to the training? Because if that's the case, I can assure you it is among my highest priorities to train myself to be the best warrior I can be, both individually and as a team member. The safety of my teammates is my foremost concern, and I intend to work on my weaknesses so that I can most effectively ensure it."

"Yes", she replied in a serious tone. "Your commitment to the training. That is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. In fact, Yatsuhashi Daichi, I was going to ask you to give me the Mistralian warrior's oath of service and protection."

I scratched my head. "Oh. Well, that is not what I expected, but I am certainly not averse to the idea. However, the oath traditionally requires a specific uniform, as well as some preparatory…" I stopped when I realized she was making a face. "You are making fun of me?"

"Obviously."

"Ah." I scratched the back of my head. "You know, you're not what I expected a team leader to be like."

She raised an eyebrow. "Not too disappointed, I hope."

"No… not disappointed. Just a little surprised. You do a good job organizing things and speaking for the team and such. But you also joke around quite a bit. It's not bad, it's just… different from what I expected."

She nodded. "Okay, let's get serious then." She hesitated a bit before adding: "I actually wanted to talk to you about your semblance."

I tensed. "My semblance?"

She raised a palm up to quieten me. "It's okay", she said pacifyingly. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Just listen."

I was still a little tense, but I gestured for her to go on.

"As you know, I'm responsible for organizing our out-of-class training", she said, matter-of-factly. "I'm also expected to come up with tactics for the team to use on the field. Semblances are a relevant factor for that. So I have to ask – once – if you think you will eventually share yours. If the answer is no, that's fine. It's your decision and no one will hold it against you. I will proceed with planning our training as if you don't have one. You can change your mind on your own terms later, but I won't bring it up again."

Her expression was sincere, and it cut me. It was my decision, like she'd said: semblances are personal, sacred. But it bothered me. My teammates had all revealed their semblances. They had all bared a part of their souls to me, and I wanted to reciprocate their trust. I really did. But I couldn't.

I looked off into the distance. Coco was waiting calmly, letting me organize my thoughts. "I'm not sure how I will feel about it in the future", I finally said. "But right now, the answer is no. I don't feel comfortable talking about it. And though I'm not sure, I think this most likely will not change."

"Okay", she answered calmly.

I let out the breath I'd been holding, the tension finally leaving my body. "Thanks for understanding."

"Yatsu." She put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. "I want to make clear that you are a valued member of the team, and this won't change regardless of your decision. This is a personal matter, and I respect that." She paused for a bit. "I do want to mention one thing: whatever your semblance is, no one would judge you for it. If that's what bothers you, I hope you will eventually feel comfortable enough with us as a team to assuage that concern. But still, it's up to you."

I put my hand over hers – the one still on my shoulder. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"No problem." She extricated herself and put her sunglasses back on. "Okay. That's enough emotional vulnerability for today. Come on, let's get back to our room before Fox eats all the food."