Amei knelt to the ground in the Training Center, examining the hoofprint carefully. From what she understood, there shouldn't be any monsters in this area--certainly none that could leave a track like this. So, that meant that--

A noise behind her interrupted her musing, and she glanced over her shoulder. She had to stifle a groan when she saw who it was.

"Draw," SeeD Leonhart said coldly.

"Excuse me?" Amei said politely.

"I want a rematch. Draw."

Amei shook her head. "I do not have the faintest idea what you're talking about," she said.

"I know you're Amica," Squall said. "That stunt at Quistis's dorm proved it. If you're Amica, you're the one who fought me at Centra. That means that you know techniques that I've never seen or even heard of before. I want a rematch. Draw."

Amei glanced at the door, wondering if she was going to get out of this one. "If it's all right with you, sir, I'd rather not."

"Draw." His voice left no doubt as to what sort of answer he simply would not accept.

A pair of students emerged from one of the training center doors, and stopped upon seeing the two. With a brief glance at each other, them backed up a bit and stayed to watch.

"If I duel you, will you leave me alone?" she asked.

"Maybe."

Amei shook her head. "You're hopeless, did you know that?" she asked.

"I've been told," Squall said.

"Fine. Whatever." Amei rolled her eyes. Drawing the masamune from her side, she raised it into a defensive posture. "Go easy, okay?"

"......." Squall drew his gunblade. "Ready?"

Amei's eyes locked on him. "When you are."

Squall charged, using a rapid spincut attack that Amei only barely ducked. She counterattacked, fencing in under his guard and scoring a light tap along his ribs. He parried, making a responding tap to her shoulder as she ducked again, and then twisted the sword in his grip so that it hummed through the air just in front of her neck. She backpedaled out of range, bringing the sword out in front of herself and using its length to fend him off.

She's got talent, Squall recognized, retreating from strike range and trying to decide how to get around her guard, but she's nowhere near as good as she was in Centra. ...dammit, this isn't something you can just fake! I should be able to tell if she's holding back!

They circled each other for a moment, the natural comparison being that to a pair of cats fighting. Dashing forward, Squall feinted to her right, then pulled back and made a quick strike to her left. She overextended as she moved to parry the feint, and he scored a hit on her side. She responded with a sweeping cut low to the ground, which he jumped; sending him offbalance as she gave a quick thrust toward his exposed side. He barely managed to parry, sliding the gunblade down the length of the masamune and closing the distance between them.

She reversed the direction of her sword, punching forward and bashing him on the chin with the hilt. Taken by surprise, he failed to follow as she retreated rapidly, widening the distance and putting herself into a place where she could use the superior length of the masamune to her advantage. She struck, and Squall spun to one side to avoid it. Swinging with all the force he could muster, he struck the blade from the side and sent it spinning out of her grasp. A moment later, she had frozen with the point of the gunblade at her throat.

"Yield," she said, raising her hands slowly. "...wow. You're really good."

Squall blinked. Now, that wasn't right, he wasn't supposed to have won that....

"Can I be excused now, sir?" Amei asked.

"Squall blinked again, then resheathed his gunblade. "...sure," he said, more than a bit confused. "...dismissed."

Amei nodded, retrieved her masamune, and exited the Training Center. Squall glanced around a few times, halfheartedly glared at the two students who were still watching him, and then exited as well.