"When you punch, you need to twist your body more. That's the basic way to get more power behind your attacks," Haru explained as she wore a pair of punching mitts and received Taylor's punches. The two girls were alone in the Arcadia gymnasium after school. Haru was wearing her typical hoodie while Taylor was wearing athletic clothing, which was becoming drenched with sweat. "You need to pull your arms back faster to protect yourself from counterattacks."

"Alright, Sensei," Taylor said, breathing heavily.

"I'm impressed that you can keep going for so long. You said that you started running in the mornings?" Haru dropped the mitts and handed her student a steel water bottle.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be a good idea," Taylor admitted.

"How far have you gotten with Chris?"

"What?" Taylor ejected water from her mouth. "What are you talking about?"

"So you haven't gone out yet?" Haru asked innocently.

"No! We're just friends."

"Alright. If you say so."

Changing the subject, Taylor asked, "How did you get so strong, Haru?"

"Well, while I was at the orphanage, I would train my body. I'd do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats every day. Then I'd run 10 kilometers around the village. After that, I added some weights to build up my chakra. Then I practiced against a lot of strong people." She tactfully omitted mentioning the parts where she enslaved demonic beasts, fought against gods, and condemned an entire world to damnnation.

"Are you okay, Haru? You seem kind of out of it."

The redhead snapped back to attention and said, "Yeah."

"Hey, um, I wanted to thank you again for training me," Taylor said while toweling off her forehead and neck.

"Taylor, why did you agree to become a Ward? You didn't have to do it just because I suggested it."

"...I guess I wanted to. I mean, it's not like I can just stop knowing where every bug around me is. I figure I should do something with my power that does good for people, even if I got them because of someone else being bad to me. What about you? Why did you join the Wards?"

Haru paused and stared at the ground beside her eager student. "Because people get upset when you try to destroy all the evil in the world. It's better just to just leave the status quo alone than to actually fix anything."

"Haru, I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

"You have this look on your face...like my dad had when my mom died."

Haru smiled. "You're a good kid. Hold onto that goodness."

Taylor glanced at the clock on the wall. "Hey, I have to go meet my dad for something. I'll see you tomorrow at school. Thanks for the lesson," Taylor said cheerfully as she waved and left.

When she was alone, Haru twirled her hand, summoning a kunai. She twirled the metal weapon on her finger by the ring on the end of the handle.

"I want to kill something."