(A/N: Inspired by this fanart by 111orz111, please view it before reading: /111orz111/status/1526613961193295872/photo/1)


The sun burned directly down above all three of them. Steely though their gazes were, the light glinting off the table willed them to flinch. But flinching meant weakness. Weakness could lead to defeat. No one could afford that today.

Hyde, he had too much to prove, as he stared his enemy down across the table. He was ready. He was powerful. He was savvy and he would not be easy prey.

Linne, she had too much to teach. All her experience had to be for something. Today, she would get him to listen, to suffer now rather than later.

Orie...she had no stake in this, really, it didn't make sense to her and she wasn't even competing. But it'd be nice if Hyde won.

"Hyde, you're not ready." Linne warned.

"I think I am."

The pressure between their glares was so heavy it could sink a ship.

"I know you want to be, but it takes more than just wishful thinking to avoid bleeding out there."

"I've survived the unthinkable before. I was weaker then."

"You're still weak now."

"Uhm," Orie asked, "does an arm wrestle really have anything to do with your strength in the Hollow Night?" She felt the glare of daggers for her innocent question. "Especially one during the day?" Very sharp daggers.

"I-I mean it doesn't seem very useful-" She hadn't learned.

"It is the arm wrestle of my life, Harada!"

"Kido, you've...never wrestled anyone stronger than an 8-year old girl?"

"No, princess." Linne glared. "He hasn't."

"Ah, that mightn't be as intimidating a retort as you think it-"

"Shush."

"Ok..."

Back to Linne's real enemy.

"Boy, you only faced a taste. The real Hollow Night, the kind I wade into, will eat you alive."

"If you wade in it, then I'll walk juuust fine."

Sighing, Linne rolled up her sleeves. With purpose, her elbow hit the table.

"You have a lot to learn, kid."

The teenager's much larger arm bent on the table, gripping her much smaller hand. The same grip that normally marked friendship, now promised destruction. Such was the most cataclysmic of competitions - arm wrestling.

"Are you both ready? Remember, keep your elbows-"

"We don't need a judge, princess." Linne chided. "And he doesn't need a cheerleader."

"But you can do what you want." Hyde shot the girl a reassuring smirk. All that Orie needed to relax.

The wind died. The heat rose. Hyde's confident smile didn't budge. Nor did Linne's fingertips: in fact, they pulsed, ready to pounce. But this was not a Hollow Night, so Hyde knew there could be no EXS, save for meagre reserves. This was just a test of their natural strength.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

Go.

The clash of strength began. Off they went, hands pressing firmly to overpower the other. Hyde had thought of starting with a slam dunk but he held back, not wanting to break a little girl's wrist (or be seen doing so in public). Instead he pushed, and pushed, like rolling a bed blanket over Linne. Enough to pin her hand down in three seconds.

Or so it should have.

Linne's hand was taking its time to yield. Five seconds in and it had only budged a bit. And stopped budging. It stood its ground completely.

'Seriously?' Hyde thought, and clenched the brat's hand tighter. So much smaller than his, her fingers barely curled around his thumb, feeling like they were slipping to his wrist. Yet, this was as far as he was getting. 'Tough...'

Hyde figured Linne would have a trick up her sleeve, she had to have. So he waited there. Just keeping his cocksure smile, pretending not to know better, convinced he knew what this stern-faced kid was up to. He'd heard that you could keep some EXS in your own body, to use even during a normal day. Surely that's what she was doing now. It was the only reason he hadn't steamrolled her yet - and why the small kid's eyes looked so casual, her brow so relaxed. But that could only last so long. Once the EXS ran out, he'd know, and then he'd push to finish it. Sheesh...thinking so much during an arm wrestle. Only Linne could force him to do so. Hyde should really pat himself on the back now and then.

Suddenly Linne's wrist flinched.

An opening!

Finally! Hyde's tightened knuckles knew what to do well before his mind finished processing it. "Finish!" And threw his full power into the swing! Linne's wrist would hit the table!

Should have hit the table. Should have budged a half-dozen inches closer to the table than it did. Should have budged.

Hyde gasped for breath. The rat's hands were spinning, almost slipping, but never wincing. He hadn't made any headway at all. And in his staggered confusion, the rat swung back.

A knowing smirk, as suddenly they'd gone from 10 o'clock to 2. "Finish, huh?"

His smile, and momentum, had flipped upside down. Hyde's lead was rapidly slipping, and slipping away. Those smaller fingers didn't feel heavier, but he was powerless to push up against them. At this rate, he his pride would die confused and speechless. Why, why, why?

"C'mon, Kido! Free your wrist!"

His...wrist?

Hyde's wrist strained as he felt his palm about to give way. It ached for mercy. It...Wait. This was an arm wrestle. And Linne's hand barely fit in his palm, it didn't even tap his thumb bone. How was his wrist feeling any pressure?

It was only then that Hyde glared at the wrestling hands, and with more than just a boy's temper. But with an in-birth's sense.

Those dancing pulses. Those weren't Hyde's veins straining against EXS - those were his veins being tapped. His tension being relaxed, his grip being slipped, and the angle always favouring her smaller hand. His muscles weren't straining to keep together: they were jabbed apart and quickly clasping back together. All so fast and so gently, while his stubborn head was focused on just pushing, that he didn't notice. How'd Hyde not see this sooner? Was he stupid?!

Don't answer that.

It's true he was up against a speedster. He thought Linne was fueling her power to compensate for her lack of strength, instead of accentuating her own and making them work for her. Crazy. One more admission of weakness: Hyde had gotten tunnel vision, getting carried away instead of focusing. So, it was time to do just that.

Start with his EXS, focusing a little shield on his wrist area, one that'd give him the relief to actually focus his natural strength. A page out of Linne's book - there was more to this energy than just power. Suddenly his hand felt alive again, alive enough to clench his fist shut. Superbly shut. And suddenly, Linne couldn't push any further. The five inches she needed to pin him were so close, yet so far.

"That's it, Kido!"

Linne's brow tensed for the first time that bout. She'd banked on Hyde not catching on, but he did. Without that, this wrestle was just what it looked like.

Now Hyde got to sprain the wrist of a little girl, and he couldn't be happier about it!

"Hyaa!"

Slam!

All the way back. Linne's eyes flinched shut as her knuckles hit the table.

Exhausted, Hyde slumped back in his chair, only now feeling how empty his lungs were.

"You did it, Kido!" Orie came over and cheered. "I knew you could!"

"Thank you, Harada...Thank you." A few delirious laughs were in order from him. "Whew, I feel relieved."

"Oh do you."

Linne's deadpan call caught both their attention, Hyde suddenly quiet again. The loser stared most judgingly.

"So, you almost lost a duel. Where only a sliver of EXS was in play. Where you had the overwhelming physical advantage. And you only didn't lose because cheerleader here bailed you out at the last second."

Arms crossed. Brow ever sharpening. Her even glare was so tense Hyde wished she'd hurry up and frown already.

"You didn't get what I was trying to tell you at all, did you?"

"Ah."

Hyde's mouth hung open, but no objection came. A rarely sheepish Orie just looked at the ground.

"You thought you knew everything. You ran head first into a situation you didn't even think about. Again. How complicated do you think fighting a powerful in-birth will be? What about an in-birth whose power you don't know? Or territory you're invading? Think. Just...think."

A depressingly deep sigh.

"When a student throws their life away, it's the teacher's fault."

"No, it's my fault."

Hyde sighed. "I get it. And I felt nervous there. If there were actual stakes...I'm going to train harder, Linne. But I'm not useless now either. Even if there are people stronger or smarter than me, I'm not without options. Surely I proved that here...Even if Harada helped."

"M-my mistake!..."

"Yeah, you be there for him next time, princess, why don't you." Linne glared at her. Even if she gave Hyde a softer smirk. "We'll see, Hyde."

"I apologize for misreading the situation." Orie bowed. "If I may, I don't think you both need to be so pessimistic. The more we train, the better we become. There's many things we can do to practice in this exercise still!"

"Oh yeah? What?"


The moonlight burned directly down above all three of them. Steely though their gazes were, the light glinting off the table willed them to flinch. But flinching meant weakness. Weakness could lead to defeat. No one could afford that this Hollow Night.

Orie and Hyde faced off this time, Linne presiding. Now, all the gloves were off, and Hyde could use all the EXS he wanted. Already his strategy was crystal clear in his head: it was just a matter of doing it. He knew Orie's style would rather dodge and weave than apply brute force. Call that out at the right moment, and he could win.

"I'll count you down." Linne started.

Orie's hand, clasped in his own, was soft. Disarmingly soft. Something he'd happily cherish any other day. But Hyde steeled himself. Fingers pulsing, ready to throw down.

"Three...Two..."

When a third hand clasped behind Orie's, a giant gold gauntlet ready to push. Wait, what? Thanatos?!

"Hey-"

WHAM!

The table split in half as Hyde's hand crashed through it and he lay dazed on the ground.

"Would you, ah," Orie looked over as Thanatos picked Hyde back up, "like some feedback?"

"Yes..."

"Not bad, princess." Linne leaned in smugly, holding out her hand for a fist bump. Orie couldn't leave her hanging.