"Fear is like fire. if you can control it, it can cook for you, it can heat your if you cannot, it will burn everything and destroy you

Fear is your best friend and your worst enemy"- Suzaya Juuzuo

Katyusha knew what she was required to do. But she had next to no clue how to do so.

Kai had announced that he wouldn't be leaving her side anytime sooner. Sadly, Katyusha didn't recommend it.

The only promise she could grant was to let herself in the face of danger. The Psykicks were very well known for their absurd ways of getting information, from kidnapping to turning friends against each other. The Blade breakers had already been targetted before by the Psykicks. The teams had suffered the various amount of emotional trauma due to the same reason. Either way, she was not going to agree to gamble his life just for data digging on the Psykicks.

Katyusha felt some unspoken words on the tip of her tongue. If it would be up to her, she would never admit the fact that Kai's presence was possibly added burden with the Psykicks hovering over them. The possibility of him reading her plan before she could even step out of the residence was still very high. Considering how he had been acting recently, the risks are over the top.

The question resides, why is she doing? Why is she risking herself by stepping into the enemies territory?

She couldn't answer herself. She still couldn't even, after walking out of the house, escaping the safety. All she grasped was that their target was her. All she could trust was her persuading skills to make them reconsider. Or maybe make them explain their plan?

On that thought, she hit herself on her head with her palm. What was she even thinking? Persuade them into what? Not hurting her? It was next to impossible, considering their first attack on her was with a very questionable helicopter. She doubts she ever ventured into a helicopter pad in her area. Where had they landed it?

She sighed in desperation. She had so many inquiries to be solved. D-day was already closing on them. Three weeks were enough for all the members to be well-prepared for any kind of championship.

Kenny being the genius he is, could come up with the best gear in days.

Katyusha had tried absorbing everything she could master after she had left the dojo. Knowledge won't ever go to waste. And when she got wishes like defeating Kai Hiwatari, the more power, the better her chances were to best him for good. It was more of a diversion than actual learning, but now with them by her side, she knew she could undoubtedly get the results she was striving for even quicker.

Only if she had more time between the battle day. If she could have fought hard enough to get her stubborn self to win against Kai and bid them goodbye for good. Or might have just given up on this stupid desire of hers.

But giving up on this desire was similar to giving up on Kai. This little will for hers gave her an acceptable justification to use to stay by his side even when the worlds were against them staying together.

Every year, she had told herself she would seal her will and leave him. But until some days ago, she hadn't apprehended the reasoning behind not being able to stay together. The purpose why they shouldn't be involved with each other? Why all her friends and family had warned her against her decisions?

A voice from behind destroyed the ever saddening trail of thoughts.

"KATYUSHA," Tyson came behind her, running at full speed. She dodged the power of inertia as Tyson barely kept his leg and brain coordination. With a very clumsy stop, Tyson spun around to face Katyusha.

With rapid breath, Tyson spoke, "Katy-usha, where are-ah- going?"

Her eyebrows shot up in the question, "Breath, kid. Then speak."

Tyson took a deep breath before speaking," Yeah, so where were you heading? You didn't even tell anyone where you were going? Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Tyson. Just went out to get grocery. With you all here, it takes a day for the whole portion of food to finish off. Just didn't want to bother anyone. It was a hectic day. You guys need rest."

Katyusha had come up with this excuse in case she crashed into someone. But when she had stepped out of the house, all the members and her friends have already gotten their plates full with various stuff to attend to. Kai had just vanished after talking to her too. Not a problem for her.

But she had internally wished for him to notice her absence, to long for her as she does.

Now it was Tyson's turn to raise his eyebrows, "And what about you? You were the one who saves yourself from being crushed under an eleven-foot wall. Where did they even get that wall from?"

"Don't even know. It must have been constructed specially to crush smaller creatures, like humans."

"Definitely," Tyson said with a twisted grin.

"Wanna join me?" Katyusha asked.

"Sure, why not. Which way are you headed, by the way?" he looked around before returning his gaze on her with a very suspicious-looking face. "Will you be able to return home?"

Katyusha bought her hands to her lips, pondering over the chances of them both returning. Judging by the fact that both of them have a reputation of losing their way around. She had to shop from stores nearby.

Before she could take a step ahead, a jolt went through her head. Her head snapped up, looking around for the source of action. She knew he was around, but she couldn't see it.

Katyusha hadn't moved much ahead of the house when Tyson had approached her. The source of magic is nearby then.

"OIIII", came a voice from behind them. She spun around. Her body instantly relaxed as the sight of a familiar being presented himself in front of them.

Q half hopped, half ran towards them. His brown shades over his all-white hair stood out even more against his flushed face. Even though he towered her with grand height, the look he gave was of a toddler who was playing pranks for the first time in his life.

The user or abuser of his power was standing right in front of her. Katyusha crossed her arms and tapped her leg, asking the reasoning behind his presence, physically and in her head.

He entered her head again, producing a flinch in the process. One will think it should be natural for someone who had lived and grown up as a magic yielder to be used to such interference in living but it's quite the opposite. The powers he is using against her in this situation were pretty much restricted. Coming to the human world gave away liberties for security and protection purposes.

What are you doing, she thought to herself which would be clearly shown for him too.

Nothing really, just seeing what this little girl is going out for considering the groceries are at home, he talked through her mind.

Tch, how long have you been standing there for?

Long enough to know that you aren't going to work

What do you know about that, Q?

Are you challenging me to dig deeper? You know I would barely care but you, I doubt you would like it much.

Katyusha sighed in defeat. He never actually left her many choices but to accept failure. All she could possibly muster was manipulate his thoughts into something else. Which didn't always come easy.

There is a magic yielder somewhere close to us.

His expression was enough to know she had him. She continued,

Two people to be specific. They know about our powers. They specifically targeted my Drowena while doing so. Thankfully, Kai covered up for me at the right time.

His eyebrows rose in the air, Kai helped you out?

She replied with a shrug.

In the midst of that, Tyson and Q were also having a parallel conversation going on. No doubt Q wasn't able to understand the situation she was attempting to seek by himself. It should be impracticable to have two conversations at the same time, but according to him, he had different wiring helping him keep that part of his brain distributed.

Tyson said, "Something you guys want?"

"Not really. I am quite tired so I guess I will be skipping lunch."

"I see. But surely at least have snacks before you sleep otherwise the consequences can be…"

Their voice played in the background as Q questioned Katyusha about next to everything she had done since she had left the dojo.

How many people know about your identity, he asked in her head

Why are you saying it as if we are some national spies?

We are, aren't we? He grinned at Tyson. Poor Tyson looked so confused. But who won't be? They were literally talking about vegetables.

Katyusha excused them both before it went any further. "We got to go now. You might not be dining tonight, but many people are still sitting on empty stomachs. Can't really keep them starving can we?"

"Katyusha is correct," Tyson agreed with her. Katyusha nodded towards Tyson, reasonably trying to keep Q from her head

We were still talking, he pouted.

Not right now, Q. I will come back and answer. Ask the details from any of the Blade Breaker members. And if you are that curious, ask Kai. He will answer you.

At the mention of Kai, Q visibly cringed. Katyusha knew the last thing they were going to do was probably talk to Kai. For someone so terrifying looking, these kids were surely scared of Kai more than they should be. Katyusha was halfway jealous of Kai for having such an effect on them.

The only person who didn't seem like she would die after talking to Kai was probably Lyn. But again, she needs to talk, in general.

With a wave, Katyusha and Tyson bid Q farewell.

They made it through the dusty road. Her house was on the outskirts of the main town. The distance was fairly short to cross on foot.

Out of the habit of going around with the Blade Breakers, it's quite typical for all the members of the group to travel up to an hour of distance without feeling even a bit burned off. The length between the main mart and her house was nothing in comparison with that.

Tyson struck up a dialogue on what was going to be served for dinner. The flow of communication made her forget the main reason she was outside.

But it is going to be complicated for her with Tyson hanging around. The only way to seek out the information she needs is without his presence.

As they drew closer to the mart, the life of her city glowed from every corner. The bright sun rays of early noon sparked the beauty of the mart. The mart was overflowing with decoratives and celebratory items. Under every pillar, stood a huge stall of sections dedicated to the arts of the town. That's when the realization hit her.

"You know, there is something really special happening in a few days in this town," she informed Tyson, who was lost looking between all the wonders unveiled in front of them.

"Like what?" Tyson inquired distractedly.

"There is a yearly festival on the longest day in a year," Katyusha told him.

"Kai, Jake and I used to come here together when we were young. Before we all were discharged into Voltaires' den, that is."

Tyson expressed a mocked grimace, "Can't imagine."

Katyusha couldn't help herself from letting the giggles escape her. Tyson, grinning, traversed the gate of iron and strode into the garden with his gaze fixed on the unlit bonfire preparation for the evening. But, with the heat the sun was providing, she was quite confident the bonfire would catch flame without even attempting.

Katyusha took a step forth before something hit her from behind. She glanced back to find the object which hit her before the familiarity of the situation hit her.

Uh-oh, she thought. She was caught in a trick. She twisted back to the road ahead to find Tyson, but he had evaporated into thin air. Nervousness spiralled in every bit of her body. The unfamiliarity of the people around her tensed her mind.

Before she grasped the situation, a rug stretched over her head.

Katyusha caught the inner surface of the rug, trying to navigate an opening through shut eyes. Tackling all ways to pull off the material hitting her face.

Amid the struggle, she made the mistake. She opened her eyes in between the struggle.

The tightness of the cloth on her face made her suffocate. In the subconscious, she knew she couldn't likely strangle since there were minute holes to let the airflow in the rug. The holes were poked with very thin material. She could see the light outside. But none of that helped the inner tightness.

Thanks to her activated magic, she could feel her blood pressure drop in her body. The lump in her throat made it impossible to let a word slip. Blackness had started to target her. The loss of space and a significant drop in oxygen called for all the demons and fears. The claustrophobia took hold of her, causing her to paralyse.

She could subconsciously feel her mass being hauled away with a vast amount of force. Heavy arms were clasped around her waist with insane strength.

Abandoning consciousness looked more tempting than ever, contrasted to the lump her body had turned into. She raised her arms one last time, searching in mid-air for someone, anyone to save her this time before she realized she was the saviour.

She had to save herself. She wasn't the heroine of a book. She didn't get a knight to save her. She either dies or lives, depending on her own sheer will. She had to fight.

But before her determination could steer her body into offence, she collapsed into the darkness.

Eyyo readers,

Writing this was like shotting myself. The struggle of imaginign things you fear youself is HUGE. rereading this chap gave me shivers. Ugh

For any reference, the condition Katyusha was facing is called claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces). I am no professional in this field whatsoever. It was purely based upon my own experiences with the same fear

And lastly, Thank you so much for reading my story and giving it your time. It means a lot to me. If you like this story or have any kind of criticism based on it, please do drop a comment or DM me to let me know. It would be highly appreciated

~Rowena