"This spot seems good," said Teru, standing over the edge of a giant hole that spanned both the roof of the building and the basement floors. The place was certainly familiar to Ritsu. It was where the final battle between the Scars of the Seventh Branch took place, and it was one of several places where Ritsu found himself in yet another near-death experience.

But Teru was right about the place being perfect to train. There was plenty of rubble, pipes, wires, and other stuff to work with. There was also a nice amount of shelter from the weather. And neither of them would have to worry about the consequences of breaking things. Ritsu was starting to get excited.

"Ok," said Teru, "Here's the plan. This week we'll be focusing on the basics. That is, your barrier and your telekenesis. Today I'm going to be testing where your limits and boundaries lie. Afterwards, we'll work on pushing them to their utmost limits. Of course, we'll be using the basics all throughout this training, but next week we'll start on testing what other special abilities you may have."

"Special abilities?"

"Like how Suzuki can turn invisible and how Shimazaki can teleport. As I've gone on to fight others, I've manage to pick up an array of different psychic techniques. So far, there have been very few techniques I haven't been able to figure out through hard work. But it's different for other people. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, there are things you can't do. But I'm sure you already know that."

"You're referring to my brother."

"Precisely. If that's the case, you shouldn't get hung up over it. There are ways to use your power creatively and effectively to outsmart your opponent."

"Unless that person is my brother."

"You aren't fighting your brother, Ritsu-kun."

"If you're going to bring him up you might as well be honest about that, Teru-san."

"Fine. There are some things that technique can't accomplish. But even so, your potential is greater than most, Ritsu-kun. So much so, that I think you have a chance at surpassing even me. But you're a late-bloomer so your powers havent had the time to mature. So I'm not quite sure what powers you have besides the basics. So I'll show you everything I know. Anyway, somewhere in between drills we'll make time for lunch."

"Somewhere in between?"

"We'll have lunch when we're hungry! I didn't plan out everything perfectly. Honestly I wasn't entirely sure how this would go."

"How reassuring."

"Look, I've only ever trained with the Awakening Lab kids and myself. They can't do the things you and I can do. But I'm not entirely sure how different your powers are from mine. So I'm playing it by ear. Today's gonna be mostly experimental, but it'll get more routine based later."

"Alright, I get it." Ritsu had to admit to himself that he was really getting excited to start. But god forbid he let Teru know that.

"Moving on, at the end of the day we'll spar and then head back."

"Won't I be too exhausted to win by then?"

"You wouldn't be able to win a spar against me even if you were in top shape, Ritsu-kun. At the end of the day I'll judge if you're truly ready to fight Suzuki-kun. Understand?"

Ritsu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess."

"Good," said Teru. "Then lets get started."

Teru hopped down into the hole through several stories of broken floors until he reached the deepest part of the crater left by their fight. Ritsu followed shortly after, using his psychic powers to break his fall and land comfortably.

"Okay," Teru exhaled. "Stand close to the center and show me your full barrier."

Ritsu did as he was told, exherting his energy to focus on his defense, creating a near transparent bubble around his body.

"Not bad," said Teru. "We'll start with an endurance test. I'm going to increase the pressure against your barrier using telekenesis. I'll start slow and increase it little by little. Keep it up as long as you can."

"Got it."

Teru inhaled and reached out his arms in front of him, moving his knees inward into that pigeon-toed stance he always sported while fighting. Ritsu had to wonder how anyone could hold their balance while standing like that, but he wasn't about to underestimate Teru's strength. He braced himself.

"Tell me when you're ready," instructed Teru.

"I'm ready."

The ground rumbled and cracked and Ritsu immediately felt immense pressure coming from every direction. It wasn't enough to break the barrier, but it was enough to make Ritsu work to keep his barrier up. There was a familiar air to the type of technique that Teru was using.

"This is…!"

"That's right" confirmed Teru. "Gravity control. I learned it a while back, though it was hard to replicate. I still can't make black holes. But this is less dangerous. When you feel your barrier can't hold anymore just tell me and I'll release the pressure."

It was a fairly reasonable excersise. If Ritsu hadn't been so bitter about everything that led up that point, he might have expressed a bit more gratitude. The entire building was rumbling and moaning. The atmosphere was perfect.

About two minutes passed. Teru had been slowly increasing the gravity around Ritsu and both boys were starting to sweat. Ritsu was about to collapse, so he looked up at Teru and opened his mouth to speak.

And then Ritsu saw it for the first time. Teru's mouth was open and slightly moving as though he were muttering something to himself. His eyes were blank, looking at nothing in particular, and yet wide as though he had just seen his worst fear. It was an expression of an indescribable emotion. Blank horror. Though Ritsu could only gaze at it for a second.

Teru's eyes came back into focus, as if something had startled him, waking him from a trance. His fists clenched tight and he cleched his jaw down and showed his teeth. His eyebrows furrowed up as though he were in fight-or-flight mode. And the gravity increased.

Ritsu's barrier shattered, but before his body could hit the ground, he felt a force pulling him gently upward until his feet were no longer touching the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" Ritsu looked down at a tense, geuninely shaken up Teru. He gently lowered Ritsu back to the ground.

"I'm really sorry," Teru apologized again, "I spaced out. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ritsu assured Teru, "I was about to stop it anyway."

"You aren't hurt, then?"

"I'm fine ."

Teru took a deep sigh.

"Okay," he said, back to his original cheerful demeanor, "Take a five minute rest and then we'll work on your reflexes."

Ritsu was shocked as to how quickly Teru's personality could bounce back and forth. He was starting to get the idea that maybe genuine concern for others wasn't Teru's strong-suit. Although, really, Ritsu knew he had no room to talk on that regard. There certainly was something familiar about Teru that Ritsu couldn't quite put his finger on. But he knew one thing for sure.

Teru was hiding something.

As Ritsu leaned up against a part of a wall that remained in tact, he could see Teru with his jacket unzipped. His hand was pulling on the collar of the low-cut shirt he was wearing with a tight grip. Ritsu couldn't see too well from his angle, but it looked as though he were digging his nails into the center of his breast.

Ritsu didn't want to stare, but Teru seemed to be so lost in his own world that he didn't seem to notice. He was moving his lips again. It was so slight, but Ritsu noticed. He wondered what he was saying. It certainly couldn't have been good, from the expression on his face.

An emotion indescribable.

If only for a moment, Ritsu had to wonder if Teru knew. But the moment passed. There was simply no way. He was too smiley. He was too self-centered. But even with all that said and done, there was no denying that Teru was bothered by something. Ritsu was more than a bit curious, but he didn't want to be disappointed. Considering Teru, it could be anything.

Ritsu slid down from the wall where he was standing and landed in a sitting position. He was still exhausted, but five minutes was hardly enough for a nap. He closed his eyes and listened to Teru's footsteps.

Suzuki…

That's right. That was the reason he was here. As soon as this was over, everything could go back to normal. No more bad feelings getting in the way. That was all Ritsu wanted.

"You ready?"

Ritsu jumped. He could have sworn he heard Teru's footsteps trail further away from him, but here he was, standing right in front of Ritsu. And he looked cheerier than ever. Too cheery, in fact. Wasn't he just moping a second ago?

"Uh… yeah, I guess."

"Good. We'll be working on telekenesis now."