Chapter 217: 218 | A Problem of Unfairness
Thirty-two minutes later, I stumbled into the kitchen wearing pants that weren’t mine and a satisfaction that was entirely mine.
Cheon looked up from her tablet. Her eyes tracked from my face to my neck to the marks that Mera had definitely left on purpose. Her expression didn’t change, but something shifted behind her grey eyes.
"You’re late."
"By three minutes."
"Thirteen." She slid a bowl across the counter. It was, indeed, concrete-colored. "Eat. Your reserves are still depleted and Usagi’s training sessions tend toward the aggressive."
"You know Usagi?"
"I know everyone." Cheon returned her attention to the tablet. "She’s fast. Faster than most students in our year. Her Essentia enhances her speed and reflexes, but the trade-off is stamina. She burns hot and burns out quickly."
"So I just have to outlast her."
"You have to not get hit for the first ten minutes. After that, her output drops significantly." Cheon’s fingers moved across the screen. "I’ve compiled footage from her previous training sessions and practice matches. The pattern is consistent."
"You compiled footage?"
"I compile everything." She didn’t look up. "Information is the only advantage that multiplies when shared."
Mera emerged from the bedroom. Properly dressed now, in black jeans and a crop top that showed off her stomach. Her horns caught the morning light. She grabbed an apple from the counter and bit into it while leaning against the refrigerator.
"Cheon’s creepy stalker tendencies aside, she’s right about Usagi. Girl’s got legs for days and the speed to match. Don’t try to trade hits with her. You’ll lose."
"Helpful."
"I’m a helpful person."
I ate the oatmeal. It was, in fact, worse than concrete. But Cheon watched me with that particular intensity that meant she’d spent actual time researching nutritional requirements, so I finished the whole bowl without complaining.
Some battles weren’t worth fighting.
Usagi arrived at exactly eight o’clock.
She knocked three times. Sharp and impatient. When I opened the door, she was already talking.
"You look terrible. Did you sleep at all? The building F incident report said there were no student casualties but someone matching your description was seen running toward the entity instead of away from it, which sounds like exactly the kind of stupid heroic nonsense you’d pull, and I spent all night worrying that you’d gotten yourself killed trying to prove something to someone who wasn’t even watching."
She paused. Took a breath.
"Hi."
"Hi, Usagi."
She was wearing workout clothes. Black compression leggings that hugged her legs in ways that made looking away difficult. A white sports bra under a loose grey tank top that hung off one shoulder. Her long ears twitched with nervous energy. Her pink eyes examined my face like she was looking for injuries.
"You’re alive."
"I am."
"Good." She punched my shoulder. Not hard, but not gentle either. "Don’t do that again. Whatever you did. Don’t."
"I’ll try."
"Liar." But she was smiling. That bright, honest smile that made her whole face transform. "Your apartment is nice. Bigger than I expected. Also you have two women in your kitchen and one of them has horns, which raises questions I’m going to ask later when we’re not supposed to be training."
Mera waved from the kitchen.
Cheon didn’t look up from her tablet.
"They’re... friends."
"Friends who sleep over and leave hickeys on your neck?"
I touched my neck. Mera’s handiwork was apparently visible.
"Close friends."
Usagi’s ears twitched.
"We’re definitely talking about this later." She grabbed my wrist. Started pulling me toward the door. "Training first. Explanations second. I’ve got three hours before class and I’m going to use every minute making you work for your recovery."
The training grounds were empty this early in the morning.
Coastline Academy maintained several outdoor facilities for students who preferred open air to the indoor gyms. Usagi led me to a field near the eastern edge of campus, far enough from the dormitories that we wouldn’t attract attention. The grass was still wet with morning dew. The sun hung low over the treeline, painting everything in shades of gold and orange.
"Standard rules." Usagi stretched her legs. One foot extended, then the other. Her body bent in ways that demonstrated flexibility I probably shouldn’t have been thinking about. "First to land three clean hits wins. No abilities above B-rank output. No permanent damage."
"What counts as a clean hit?"
"Contact that would matter in a real fight. Chest. Head. Joints." She finished stretching. Stood facing me. Her weight shifted to the balls of her feet. "Ready?"
"Not really."
"Good."
She vanished.
Not literally. Her Essentia didn’t include invisibility. But she moved so fast that my eyes couldn’t track the transition from standing still to full sprint. One moment she was ten feet away. The next moment her fist was inches from my face.
I threw myself sideways.
Her knuckles grazed my cheek. Close enough that I felt the wind. Close enough that a half-second slower would have meant eating a punch that could probably crack concrete.
I rolled. Came up in a crouch. She was already moving again. A blur of grey and white and those impossibly long legs.
"Too slow." Her voice came from my left.
I spun. Blocked a kick with my forearm. The impact rattled my bones. Her leg was wrapped in compressed Essentia, denser than muscle, harder than the physical structure should have allowed.
She used the block as a springboard. Launched herself backward. Landed fifteen feet away.
"One for me."
My forearm throbbed.
"That was a block."
"A block that connected. Same thing." Her ears twitched. Amusement or anticipation. Maybe both. "Two more and you buy lunch."
I stood. Let my drain wake up fully. Not reaching for her Essentia yet. Just letting it sit in my chest like a coiled spring. Ready to move. Ready to react.
Cheon’s analysis ran through my head. Fast but burns out quickly. Outlast her. Don’t trade hits.
Easier said than done when she was basically a pink-haired missile.
She came at me again.
This time I didn’t try to block. I activated Liminal Step. The air tore open beside me. Amber light and dark space. I stepped through and emerged three feet to her left.
Her fist hit nothing.
Her momentum carried her past my previous position.
I kicked.
My foot connected with her ribs. Solid contact. Clean hit.
She tumbled. Recovered. Came up with her eyes wide and her ears flat against her head.
"Portals? That’s not fair."
