Quistis' research lab.

"Have you stopped training with Zyma?" Quistis asked, wondering why Acma hadn't gone to Zyma's training for the past couple of days.

"Not really..." Acma reluctantly explained. "We're kind of taking a break, he's on a mission," she trailed off.

Quistis nodded, sensing that something was off but deciding not to press further. She couldn't complain because with Acma's help in setting up the research lab and Timeth assisting with the simulation room, they were making progress on research and training targets that had been delayed for a long time.

Acma sluggishly jotted down a few numbers collected from her experiments and decided to take a short break.

A proper break.

She had had a fight with Zyma. It was difficult for her to call it a fight or define its nature because it seemed to come out of nowhere. Their mentor-mentee relationship had developed slowly through training, small missions, and, of course, the side hustles Zyma skillfully forced her into, like the Triple Triad tournament. Just when she thought they could maintain this healthy relationship, admittedly one of the closest she had since moving to Balamb, he began to criticize her for how she spent her limited non-training time.

Flashback…

"Leaving so early? After studying physics for an hour and taking another hour of evening nap?" Zyma smirked as Acma reached for his room's door after excusing herself due to the impending curfew.

"Please... We've been training continuously for hours a day, for three consecutive weeks. I want to train, but my body is exhausted. And unlike you, I still have early classes in the morning, you know," Acma explained.

"Too little training, you're whining. Enough training, still whining. You barely spent an hour today on the field."

"I know... But I'm a magic caster, not a bodybuilder. There's some limit."

"What kind of attitude is that? Are you pulling the diversity, equity and inclusion shit again?" Zyma snapped. "Would monsters and sorceresses care if you are 5 feet or 6 feet tall? Whether you are a prodigy or a retard? Whether you're a boy or a girl? The whole point of martial arts training is to improve your physical strength, and you're saying you're not cut out for it? How is it ok to deprioritize the number one way to keep yourself alive, and put it what, under a physics assignment?"

"I didn't mean it like that..." Acma tried to interject.

"I am not finished!" Zyma raised his voice. "See? How is it okay for a woman to interrupt a man, while the reverse gets frowned upon? I'm saying, look up to your lab mentor, Quistis. She's also a prodigy. She worked hard. And after one Sorceress War, that respectable woman has a permanent metal clasp on her hip. Do you want to cut your career short? Because if that's your plan, you'd better quit this school immediately to save yourself. I don't want to be held responsible for your death certificate!"

Acma patiently waited for Zyma to finish before speaking up. "I don't want to stop training. I always work hard. I just need a break to recover."

"Tch... but you still have the energy to go to the Secret Area and make out with your boyfriend, right?" Zyma shook his head.

"For the millionth time, he's not my boyfriend," Acma corrected him. "We have real business there."

"Wow, teen slang. Business in Secret Area? And I know teenagers nowadays are quite open, but I didn't think you were the kind of person who goes out nightly with a guy for a month without putting hundreds of labels on your relationship. I thought I'd have to buy a wedding gift for my pupil soon. Or maybe a baby shower gift if you're not careful. Are you guys using proper... prevention?"

Acma's head was spinning, trying to follow his strange train of thought.

"Zyma," she addressed him, an urge she rarely felt. "First of all, it's very inappropriate for you to intrude so forcefully into the only hour of personal life I have. And secondly, are you trying to pressure me and Timeth into buying shady items? You're unbelievable. I thought we were friends after all the crazy stuff we've been through."

After Acma finished speaking, Zyma didn't take her words lightly. He clenched his jaw and took a few deep breaths.

"Go, take as much break as you want. I don't want to train someone who disrespects my time," he finally said, escorting Acma to the door.

He didn't show up to pick her up from Quistis' lab the next day, and she only learned from Xu that he was on a mission.

Acma was confused, trying to think what she had done or said that could trigger him. Not that he was the type to explain things well. Her best hope was to wait until his anger subsided and in the mean time, she'd find other ways to boost her physical stats.

In the evening, Acma found herself once again seeking relationship and leadership advice from Trepie #23.

"What would you do if your superior refuses to guide you?" Acma asked, opening up the conversation.

"What's going on between you and Zyma now?" Trepie #23 inquired.

"Ugh... how did you know it's about Zyma? I was just asking a general question," Acma replied, surprised.

"I thought you two were getting along," Trepie #23 remarked.

"I thought so too. But lately, he's been acting strange. He's been overly concerned about my physical training. While I appreciate the support, the training has become quite exhausting. The other day, he made me run around all the garden wings before coming back to his room. By the time I finished, I was completely drained."

"Okay. Maybe you should talk to him and ask him to lighten the load. I don't see why this issue would lead to something serious," Trepie #23 suggested.

"I did talk to him. But he got defensive. He accused me of having time to go with Timeth to the Secret Area but being lazy when it comes to his training," Acma explained.

"I see," Trepie #23 giggled. "I think I understand what's going on."

"You do?" Acma asked curiously. "What would you do if you were in my position?"

"Acma," Trepie #23 replied with wisdom, "sometimes you don't have to explain everything. Building trust gradually helps others understand who you are, and once they trust you, they won't misunderstand you or question your motivation. You're a new student, and Zyma is your new mentor. You two barely know each other. It's easy for him to assume that you're not serious about your physical training, especially given your academic achievements. His eccentric behavior also gives off the impression that he's a jerk to many, so you may perceive his training as unfair. But having observed both of you, I can guarantee that you're both great friends. Try to build trust with him, understand him and help him understand you more. That's what I would do."

"Build trust," Acma repeated, nodding. "But how do I begin? I find nothing in common with him."

Trepie #23 seemed really skilled with all the management and operation stuff she had learned. But for a teenager like Acma, she needed more specific instructions and details instead of using fancy management terms.

"Start by having casual conversations with him outside of training. Show genuine interest in his hobbies, goals, and even things like food and magic. You both have nerdy interests, so there's probably more in common than you think. Be patient and let the trust between you grow naturally. It might take time, but I'm sure it will make a difference in your work relationship."

Acma felt enlightened. "Thanks, I'll give it a shot. Maybe I can convince him to join your bi-weekly hangouts as a starting point."

"See, you got it," Trepie #23 reassured her. "Just be yourself and let the mentorship develop. Good luck, Acma!"

Evening. Training Center.

"Senior Zyma! Wait! I want to buy a few things! Why are you leaving so soon?" a student called out, chasing after Zyma.

"Come to my room," Zyma replied.

It was almost curfew time, and he knew exactly who he would bump into at this hour.

It had been two weeks since he had asked Acma to leave his room and stopped seeing her. As expected, she hadn't made any attempts to reconnect either. Typical women.

In order to accommodate her busy schedule, as Xu had suggested they meet for at least four hours a day, Zyma had to rearrange his business and tournament commitments. Yet, she had the audacity to go on a date right after curfew, leaving him with free time when not many customers would come to the Training Center for trade.

So, after advising Acma to take a proper break as she desired, he went straight to Xu and requested an immediate assignment. Unfortunately, the mission turned out to be a short one, and now he found himself facing his most dreaded thought.

It wasn't solely the loss of his time that bothered him.

[flashback)

"I have some new arrivals. Can you help organize them in their buckets? Second shelf to the right," Zyma instructed Acma as soon as he opened the door for her. Acma was catching her breath after running around the Garden twice, just as he had commanded.

"Yeah... Can I have a few minutes to finish my physics assignment? It's due in half an hour," she asked, grunting.

"Okay." Zyma was about to turn on the light, but she stopped him.

"It's okay, I brought my study lamp," she said, retrieving a small desk she had set up for herself, sparing him from dealing with the light.

Zyma felt appreciative that she had noticed his aversion to the light. She was a thoughtful person.

Acma put on her eyeglasses, and that was the first time he saw her wearing them.

Pfff... Another drawback of being in martial arts training.

"Do you have bad eyesight?" he asked.

"No. Thank Hyne, not yet. But these eyeglasses block blue light, which is really bad for retinal cells."

"Ha..."

She turned around, wearing a half smile, a nerdy look, with eyes lit up by some newfound discovery. He found himself captivated by her warm and intelligent gaze.

"Did you just realize something?" she asked him.

"What?"

"Nothing. You always make that expression when you have an 'aha' moment." She smiled once more and returned to her studying.

After half an hour, she closed her laptop. "I'm done. Sorry about that. What are we doing today?"

She came to sit down on his sofa, while he walked to the shelf to grab some items.

"I can see you're tired. Let's use this time to work on using some performance support items. Have you seen an Aura stone? It's one way to induce your Limit Break without resorting to that risky siphon trick. They're quite expensive, and I don't usually show them to anyone. But thanks for your help with the tournament, we collected a bunch of cards for refinement. I'll make an exception this time..."

The room was unusually quiet with her presence, so Zyma looked at her through the shelf and realized that she had dozed off.

Tch...

It had been a while since a girl had slept in his room.

He considered leaving her there and going to the Training Center as he usually did when he didn't have a duty with her. But somehow, he didn't want to do that. It wasn't that he didn't trust her to stay in his room. He had tested her integrity multiple times by leaving gil and expensive items in a corner. She would always find them, put them back in place, and inform him of her findings.

Instead of finding something else to do, he simply sat there and watched her for no reason.

Until her pager rang, and she jolted out of her slumber.

"Shoot! Timeth! I'm sorry... I gotta go."

(End of flashback]

When he returned to his room, he found a note slipped through his door with her handwriting.

"Are you alive? I'm ready to train again, whenever you want, sensei." She wrote, putting a smiley face at the end.

He confirmed what really bothered him.

He longed for her presence. By Hyne's sake, her presence was captivating, not in the conventional sense where heads would turn in a room full of attractive cadets like Balamb Garden, but in a way that seemed to programmatically intoxicate him. Yet, her burgundy eyes, not only they smell good, but they also held a certain allure, as if they possessed the ability to communicate and grab his attention, much like those of a sorceress searching for a sacrifice.

He felt confused by his own thoughts.

"For the millionth time, he's not my boyfriend. We have real business there," he heard her say clearly. However, she hadn't provided any further explanation, and he felt too vulnerable to ask for more details, despite his overwhelming curiosity about her relationship.

Maybe she wanted to keep him hanging, taking advantage of him being her mentor. She didn't seem to be that kind of person though. Perhaps she truly had nothing with that boy, but then why did they go to the Secret Area? He couldn't find out because entering that area alone was highly frowned upon. He wished he could spy on her in the Secret Area.

Suddenly, an idea shot through his mind.

Acma lay in her bed, deep in thought, reflecting on the conversation she had with Trepie #23 in the kitchen.

"But Acma, you mentioned that Zyma got angry because you went out with Timeth," Trepie #23 had pointed out.

Acma asked innocently, "Right, so?"

Trepie #23 giggled in response. "You need to read more romance, I insist."

How could it be?