[OP: My First Story – King and Ashley]

Kaza's New Acquaintance! Can A Vengeful Heart be Swayed with Compassion!?

The Academy opened its doors once more, and classes had been rigorous; once entailing basic schooling and training, they'd begun to add martial fundamentals and mathematical breakdowns of chi to the mix.

For many, this wasn't even close to their out-of-class learning experiences. And many a reason, students started taking up training of their own.

Shào Mèi was one such student.

"… Denko…"

"… Danchu…"

"… Soto-Shakutaku…"

The young woman stared intensively at a finely-detailed ink rendition of a "Hou Gui" amongst the bustle of the commons, occasionally dotting certain points around the sketch's body and labeling them in complex hanzi. She took periodic spoonfuls of millet while conducting her study of biology, speaking them aloud in this newer language to aid her adjustment to the new terrain.

She sat by her lonesome near the darker sections of the hall. Mèi liked it this way, noise was minimized and the lack of Saiyans ensured she could concentrate on her studies without her senses hazing with rage and fear. It just felt safer in general.

"… Shuko… Yako… Kinte-"

Mèi slowly looked upward.

"Uh… C-can I… I…"

Mèi seemingly stared blankly at the new, peculiar face.

"I… never mind…"

Mèi's eyes suddenly widened in realization as to what this giant girl wanted, before giving her all to use a casual confirmation she'd recently taught herself.

"SHHHOORRE…!"

Kaza suddenly stopped. Now, she was giving Mei the blank stare.

"Huh?"

"Sh… shore?"

It took a second for Kaza to piece it together.

"You mean I can sit here?"

Mèi furiously nodded her head. A wave of pride washed over her; she was learning this world's tongue quickly!

As the two sat, they found themselves suddenly frozen. As in… neither wanted to simply sit in silence now that they'd found someone they could… somewhat… talk to.

"…"

"… I… uh…"

"…"

"… I like your drawing!" Kaza abruptly noted, pointing toward Mèi's illustration. Considering how much it resembled Zinco, she found it especially cool. "What's it about?"

"Hóu Gui Túyàng."

"Oh… I-it's so detailed!"

"It must be, or it is of no use to me."

"Use…?"

"Study of 'Saiyan' body." Mèi's voice shook with a thinly-veiled malice. Just enough for Kaza to pick up on. "I must be perfect."

"… OH! You're a doctor!" Kaza blurted out. "That's why it's so precise! You must do surgery work!"

Mèi had zero idea of what a doctor or a surgery was. Still, the girl before her seemed so happy to believe it. She genuinely wanted to take that title; in fact, she'd made up her mind to say "Yes!"

But before she could respond, her teeth clamped down upon her tongue.

Lying was treachery against this stranger and herself. Whatever sweetness it would bring her, its aftertaste would be unbearable.

"No."

"… Oh."

"…Then you see through me. Good."

Mèi returned to her blueprint.

"I must work now."

"How'd you learn to draw so well?"

"I do not need your judgement. Just leave me-"

Mèi paused.

"… Eh?"

"I've never seen anything so well-drawn!"

The tall Majin attentively leaned over the table, Mèi shyly leaning back.

"Please! I wanna know!"

[ BGM: Kenichiro Nishihara – Beautiful Things ]

"W-well…"

And thus, the two began to talk.

"And I… over light strokes…"

"(How do I ask her to slow down!?)"

A lot.

"When I was a little girl, I would make art while alone. It gave me peace."

"You're not a little girl anymore?"

"Bù! I am 16! YOU ARE JUST VERY TALL!"

"Ah…! Sorry, I was just… confused…"

Like, way past the cafeteria clearing out.

"And I feel lost, I think. I am still learning this new language… I wish I could find someone who spoke the tongue of my world."

"Isolated."

"Aiso…?"

"That's the word. And I felt it too, when I found myself here. Actually, it's… all I knew for a while. I was always scared. But one day, this person came up to me, and… he made things a bit better."

"One like you?"

"… Like me?"

The conversation took turns, ups and downs as the two lost girls learned about each other. What the two felt comfortable with sharing about each other, anyway. Their only clear indication of the time which flew by was the reddish-orange rays of the setting star peeking through the window.

"Guāng yīn si jīan…" Mèi quickly muttered under her breath, before grabbing her saiyan bio-blueprint and attempting to make her way.

Kaza's face looked constipated.

"Er… are you ill?"

The tendrils comprising the large lass's hair writhed as she began shaking, her lips unwillingly sealed.

Suddenly, she bolted upward, eyes wide shut.

"I'M KAZA!"

The cafeteria rattled. Mèi went flying.

"I WOULD LOV-LIKE, I'D LIKE TO KNOW YOUR NAME!"

Mei was still on the floor, deadpan expression gazing to the ceiling. The force of this bizarre woman's declaration alone had literally blown her away.

Kaza cautiously opened her eyes and immediately gave her best imitation of a tea kettle before rushing to the small, dagger-eyed human's aid.

"S-SORRY! I-I-I SHOULDN'T HAVE-"

"Mèi."

Tears began streaming down her face as she smiled.

"Xiāo Mèi."

Kaza extended an arm.

"Why?" the young dark-redhead asked the fuchsia pink-tinted anomaly. Kaza smiled, took Mèi's hand, closed her eyes as the two long tendrils coming down her forehead wiggled, and took a deep breath before slowly responding…

"Gūdú gan hěn kěpà."

The black garb which Mèi donned really brought out the enlarged whites of her eyes.

"May I ask something of you, Kazz…za?"

"Of course!"

Mèi looked to the violet night sky as the two strolled.

"You are strong. Vastly so. You could kill me at any time you choose, in fact."

"WHA-I'D NEVER EVEN THINK OF KILLING ANYONE!"

Kaza's reaction gave her a light snicker.

"I know. Your qi is pleasant, like a Spring breeze. Yet, it is crushing once it pours from you at once."

"I… I wish I could change that."

"Let us aid each other, then."

Kaza suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"There is a 'tournament' akin to the wushù battles held in my world. The rules differ, but the ends are the same; the strong will appear to prove themselves."

Mèi faced her hand in disappointment. "My arts will take me only so far. They have only taken me so far. To reach my goal, I need strength."

The assassin met Kaza's gaze.

"Please. Help me become strong-"

"Sure!"

"GUH…!" Mèi staggered at the sudden, enthusiastic response.

"What's wrong?"

"Bàoquàn, I just expected pause!"

"If I have the chance to help you, I will! That's what friends do, isn't it?" Kaza asked with a grin.

"But…"

Mèi realized how stupid she'd have to be to ruin both such an opportunity and a friendship. There was lying, and then there was actively convincing someone to hate you.

"Thank you… 'friend.'" Mèi bowed her head and made her way to the grassy plateau she called home. "I will see you tomorrow?"

"Ni kě zi zhi wàng wo!" Kaza assured.

After a visible blush, a dark-red, Mèi-length dual ponytail fluttered and disappeared.

Kaza balled her fist, hopeful smile across her face.

"And maybe, I can change your mind…"

[ED: Pay Money To My Pain – Weight of My Pride]

Yo! OP here!

Shào-XIĀO, Xiāo Mèi is hard as hell to write for. Pair that up with someone as awkward as Kaza and...

This chapter took more than a month. Shiiiit.

At least I stayed away from Translate.

But uh, yeah. This chapter's shorter than a lot of the others, more slow-paced as well, but I really wanted to establish these two parallel-opposites as training together. Will give way to further development and maybe, just maybe, some growth on Mèi's part. Zinco's also gonna be working with our resident soft grill too, so that won't get complicated at all. But in all honesty, I'm really excited for the arc that comes after this; Voshyo's gonna be fun to work with and I've been doodling some designs for his clan's armor. I've also been blasting Sabaton recently, gave a lot of inspiration for his past. Yeah.

On the topic of our definitely-not-chinese edgelord, I've been keeping up with some Chinese media lately. (I bet you have, too, whether you wanted to or not. Corona Chan 2020) During all that learning about cool Chinese history and shizz, I wound up learning about Scissor Seven. It's SPECTACULAR. Smoooth Chinese animation with that Bebop Champloo style of self-contained plots, and characters are pretty good, too. As we speak, I'm jamming to the vocal theme that plays in Episode 10. I'm not a Chineeaboo, I swear. No commies allowed and all that.

What's next? No idea; not to say I don't have any ideas, just figuring out which one's next. Trust me, the pieces are coming together nicely. Here's to Iran waiting for me to finish my damn story before we end this long-awaited trilogy for good.

Just kidding. We'll be alright. Somehow.

That's about it. See ya.