"How late?" Quistis asked.

"Six days," Xu replied.

They both remained silent. Quistis contemplated anything helpful to say in this situation. Her best friend was never the family type. Her relationship with Nida was never public, although it wasn't hard for close friends like Quistis to notice. And Quistis rarely asked them directly about their relationship, only commented if any of them brought it up. One example was when Nida asked her opinion about Xu's birthday gifts that the minimalist wouldn't throw away.

Quistis understood why they tried to cover their relationship. First off, their jobs are very stressful. Training cadets to become SeeDs to fight monsters and sorceresses was the easy and straightforward part. It was dealing with politics and multiple military institutions that drained the Garden Committee. Quistis herself chose to head the research lab as a getaway from dealing with sensitive missions.

And the second reason... Xu being Xu, was always skeptical of feelings. Afraid emotion would take her down, she wasn't quite as open with the Head Instructor as the other way around.

"When is the last time you got the shot?" Quistis chose to ask a logical question.

"8 months ago. I missed the last checkup..." Xu said, her I-fucked-up voice signaling she understood the problem: the contraception is not as effective after six months.

"A blood test is the most accurate," Quistis offered, knowing that Xu wouldn't want to go to Dr. Kadowaki despite the doctor's respect for patient privacy.

Xu rolled up her sleeve, and Quistis quickly retrieved her medical equipment.

"When can we know the result?" Xu glanced momentarily at the blood vial slowly filling up.

"A few hours..." Quistis said. "I'll skip Aki's dinner and call Master Miyagi's when I have it."

"No need," Xu frowned. "Please come to the dinner with me. This can wait until tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Very," Xu said. "I want to have fun one more night."

"Okay." Quistis put on a smile to be supportive. "I heard Joker and Princess are preparing lots of surprises for Aki. It'd be fun."

"Yeah," Xu replied nonchalantly.

"On the safe side, don't drink too much."

Xu put her hand over her forehead. "Right."

They remained silent some more. Unable to read Xu's thoughts with her hand covering her face, Quistis reluctantly asked.

"Well... how are you feeling about all these? Certainly it's still very early, but..."

Xu suddenly burst out. "I want to break up with Nida..."

Zyma was on the phone with someone apparently not Xu.

"No, Xu's not here yet. No, I've got no bird. When did you send it? Ha, it must be dead then. Are we screw? Okay… not bad. How much? Kinda last minute, maybe ten more? Oh, I love doing business with you, Commander! Yeah, I'll take it. Another cadet? What for? Okay... Yeah, I guess I can grab any one from this party." Zyma glanced at Acma. "Alright. Good day, Commander!"

Zyma dropped the call, and Acma immediately grabbed his arm.

"Was that Commander Leonhart? Does he need a cadet to go on a mission?"

Zyma didn't answer, but instead went into his room, seemingly preparing his gear.

"Well?" Acma asked as Zyma put his shuriken one by one into his green windbreaker and stocked some potions in his backpack.

"Top secret. Can't tell," he replied curtly, and went back to the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Trepie #23 asked while putting a tray in the oven.

Zyma just smiled and shrugged. "Work."

"Top secret." Acma said sarcastically, her fingers making giant air quotes.

Zyma smirked, then opened his locked cabinet to retrieve more items and equipment.

"Timber again, huh?" Lina asked.

Zyma paused momentarily, as if surprised at Lina's guess.

"If it comes from the Commander, with a message sent by a bird instead of a direct order, and it lands on you, it must be something shady. Commander's shady missions usually involve requests from Sorceress Rinoa's independence movement in Timber..." Lina explained her thought process.

"I'm impressed," Zyma praised. "They lost the signal when the messenger owl almost reached Balamb, probably due to some hit-and-run." Zyma flashed a knowing smile at Acma. "Air traffic is not too safe, apparently."

"Stop that look!" Acma grunted. "Well, I heard you need a cadet."

"Right," he answered, but quickly changed the topic by asking Trepie #23 by the oven, "How are we doing here?"

"All good," Trepie #23 smiled, glancing at the very annoyed Acma. "Are you leaving for the mission?"

"Not now," he replied. "I'll catch the late-night train. The mission starts tomorrow."

He turned around and was met by Acma's wide-open arms blocking his way.

"Which cadet are you bringing with?"

"Oh, drop it, pupil. Timber's underworld is not a friendly place for a girl. Let Raddie handle this," Zyma replied.

Lina whistled, expecting a show. Acma took a quick deep breath.

"What's the problem with a girl?" Acma asked, wrapping her arms around her torso.

"Yes, I want to hear it too," Lina turned around, still holding her shiny kitchen knife.

Zyma glanced back and forth between the two girls, knowing he was stepping on a minefield.

"It involves an assassination in a casino," he slowly described the mission.

"So?" Acma pressed.

"Minors can't get in," Zyma explained.

"I'm a year older than Raddie!" Acma raised her voice.

"My lord! Keep down the volume!" Zyma raised an eyebrow. "I need someone who can play cards..."

"Do you imply girls can't play cards?" Trepie #23 also joined the interrogation, holding a giant bamboo rolling pin that resembled Raijin's wooden staff.

"No, Princess Diamond," he swallowed hard. "I just think that in a casino, there are many bouncers. I need someone good at blending in."

"And girls can't blend in?" Lina, a master of disguise, asked.

"That's not what I mean..." Zyma raised his hand to stop the accusation. Cornered by three girls, he couldn't understand some guys' fantasy as he had never been under such pressure.

"So what's your point?" Lina pressed.

"Yeah, get to the point, sensei. You're wasting everyone's time. Is there anything Raddie can do that I can't?" Acma asked.

"There are strippers in that casino," Zyma revealed.

Acma's jaw dropped in shock while Lina and Trepie #23 giggled.

Regaining her composure, Acma asked, "And you're okay with Raddie being there?"

"It's a gay casino bar..." Zyma dropped another bombshell.

"Yeah, sounds like your kind of mission..." Lina shook her head, then returned to chopping.

"Thank you!" Zyma gestured towards Lina. Trepie #23 also disengaged from the conversation.

Shaking her head in confusion, Acma said, "Can you elaborate?"

Zyma smirked. "There will be mainly male strippers. And I don't need to draw attention by bringing a little girl who would avoid certain areas."

Acma bit her lips and narrowed her eyes. "And what's the task for this position?"

Zyma sighed. "I just need someone to distract some guards while I sneak in and kill the boss."

"That sounds easy. My Thundaga would work better than Raddie's gunblade," Acma reasoned.

"Yes, but..."

"So the only problem is that I'm a girl?" Acma cut him off.

Zyma didn't answer immediately, but turned around to see Lina and Trepie #23, who again, stopped whatever they were doing, waiting for his response.

"Well," he mumbled.

"What if I'll be disguised as a boy?" Acma suggested. "We have a master of disguise here."

"That'd work," Lina chimed in. "I'll help."

Zyma was totally caught off guard by this unexpected development.

"No offense to your skill, Lina, but how could you turn this high-pitched voice girl into a boy?"

"You've got a voice potion in stock, right?" Lina asked the secret shop owner.

"Yeah..."

"You got some boy's clothes for her to wear, right?"

"Yeah," Zyma knew where this conversation was going. "But you better adjust the size, probably cut my shirts by half to fit this dwarf," he said, glancing at Acma from head to toe, stopping at her chest level. "Well, at least we won't have to do anything about that, huh?"

"Pervert!" Acma scoffed at his remark.

"So it's all set then?" Lina patted Acma's back. "I have to leave soon, we better get you ready now."

"Are you not coming to the dinner after the garden festival meeting?" Zyma asked. "Selphie and Irvine would come here, too."

"We usually stay late to prep, Selphie just told us what to do," Lina said with a sad voice. "I don't know, I may drop by if we finish things over there early..."

With that, Acma and Lina stayed in Zyma's room for the transformation.

"Dad!" Nida waved to Aki while rolling down his car window.

The grumpy old instructor finally heard his son, waited for him to open the door, then snapped, "I told you to always call me Instructor Aki."

"Even outside of Garden?" Nida asked, confused.

"I don't want anyone to suspect your achievements due to nepotism."

"Only morons don't know we're father and son," Nida's eyes darkened. "We've been at Garden for more than 20 years, for Hyne's sake! And you'll be retired after today..."

"Follow the rule, Instructor Nida. We can revisit that rule after midnight."

Nida facepalmed. "Right, I'd need to change my last name. New students keep calling me Nida Nida."

"What did you say?" The slightly deaf instructor asked.

"Eh... nothing. Let's go. I'll need to come back and pick up the other instructors after I drop you off."

"After you chop me off?"

"No!" Nida sighed. "Anyway, should we see a doctor just in case?"

"No need," his father brushed off.

"Did you get their license plate?"

"Of course, with my great eyesight," Aki mocked.

"Okay…"

"But there were two in the car, the one driving was a redhead who looked oddly familiar. I must have seen her before. Whoever gave her a driver's license must be a maniac!"