Yuna waited beside the recreation center entrance after Tuesday's adaptive session, holding her helmet beneath one arm. The evening crowd flowed around us while I repeated the conduct decision without borrowing Nina's or Thea's names as shields. Neither woman stood nearby, leaving responsibility for every chosen word entirely with me.
"I will not pursue you while my current relationships are still defining their structure, although training can remain professional without manufactured private access," I said.
She studied my face long enough that the departing kendo students became distant noise behind her. My attraction still reacted beneath that examination, making restraint feel expensive instead of automatically noble.
"That answer belongs to you, and I respect it more than an invitation carrying two invisible women inside it," Yuna said, adjusting the helmet against her hip.
