Lunch did not taste like lunch.
Yūta ate because Kato had told him to eat.
Sota ate because Yūta told him that if Kato said to eat, it was safer to obey before the food became part of some training exercise.
Hina ate in silence.
Mei pretended she was not hungry, then ended up stealing rice from Yūta.
Ishida read while eating, which Yūta considered an insult to food, books, and humanity.
"That can't be comfortable," Yūta said.
Ishida turned a page.
"It is."
"You're holding the chopsticks with two fingers and the book with three."
"Efficiency."
"That isn't efficiency. That's an illness."
Mei took another bit of rice from Yūta's tray.
"Leave him alone. It's his way of socializing."
"Is stealing my food your way of socializing too?"
"Yes."
Yūta looked at his tray.
"I'm surrounded by monsters."
Sota went still for an instant.
Not long.
Long enough.
Yūta noticed.
So did Mei.
The word had come out without thinking.
In that headquarters, sometimes words had teeth.
Yūta lowered his chopsticks.
"Sorry."
Sota shook his head.
"It's fine."
But it was not.
Not in some enormous way.
Not in a way that broke the table.
It was simply there.
Hina set her cup down on the tray.
"If it helps, almost everyone here is half-monster anyway."
Sota looked at her.
Hina shrugged.
"Some are louder than others."
Mei pointed at Yūta with her chopsticks.
"He's in the ambient-noise category."
"Thank you," Yūta said. "I think."
Sota let out a quiet laugh.
Small.
But real.
The air settled back into place.
Not the same as before.
But better.
After lunch, an internal bell rang through the halls.
It was not the usual class bell.
It was lower.
Drier.
The students began looking at one another.
Kaito Mura appeared from the other end of the cafeteria with Harada behind him.
"Does anyone know what's going on?" Kaito asked.
Yūta raised a hand.
"I have three theories."
"Any useful ones?"
"No."
Harada looked toward the door.
"We've been called to the main courtyard."
Kenta arrived with his training uniform half-open and his hair a mess.
"If they canceled break, I'm setting something on fire."
Yui, who was walking behind him, sighed.
"Again with that."
"I didn't say anything important. Something small. A chair. A concept."
Chiho looked at him.
"How do you set a concept on fire?"
Kenta opened his mouth.
Closed it.
"Give me time."
Hana appeared almost at the end, her expression serious and her eyes a little tired. She looked at everyone as if she had already heard too many voices before anyone had spoken.
"A lot of people are moving toward the courtyard," she said.
Yūta set down his tray.
"That sounds official."
Mei stood.
"Everything that sounds official lately ends up being bad news."
Sota looked at Yūta.
"Is it always like that?"
Yūta thought for a second.
"No."
Sota seemed to relax.
"Sometimes it starts worse," Ishida added, closing his book.
Sota stopped relaxing.
"Don't listen to him," Yūta said. "Ishida thinks comforting someone means giving death statistics with good grammar."
Ishida looked at him.
"Precision can also be a form of kindness."
"Not in your case."
They walked together toward the courtyard.
As they advanced, more students joined them from other corridors. First-years. Second-years. A few upperclassmen Yūta barely knew by sight. All of them were wearing training uniforms. Some were still chewing. Others were trying to figure out whether this was a surprise drill, an emergency meeting, or both at the same time.
The main training courtyard was open.
The sky was gray.
It did not look like it was about to rain, but it did not seem interested in offering encouragement either.
Kana stood at the front.
Tatsu stood to her right.
Kato and Yuna were slightly behind her.
And to one side, lined up without truly being lined up, stood the four hunters who had arrived that morning.
Kana waited until the last group of students entered the courtyard.
Then she tapped the ground lightly with her cane.
The murmuring lowered.
Then disappeared.
"Starting today, the training regime changes," she said.
No one spoke.
Several gazes moved toward Kato.
Kato frowned.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Yūta raised his hand slightly.
"Habit."
Kato pointed at him.
"We'll talk later."
Yūta lowered his hand.
"Also habit."
Kana continued as if she had not heard them.
"This is not punishment. It is not a competition. It is not a test to prove who has the most talent."
Kenta lowered his voice.
"Then it's not fun."
Yui muttered:
"Kenta."
"It is an evaluation," Kana said. "The instructors are not going to fight in order to beat you. They are going to fight to see how you react when winning is not an immediate option."
The courtyard grew heavier.
Sota swallowed.
Yūta heard it, though he did not look at him.
Kana rested both hands on her cane.
"I want to see who thinks while afraid. Who protects without getting in the way. Who moves too far ahead. Who stays too far behind. Who understands an order before it is too late."
Her gaze passed over everyone.
Without hurry.
Without unnecessary softness.
"The instructors are not here to defeat you. They are here to find the cracks before a remnant does."
That sentence did leave marks.
Not visible ones.
But marks.
Kana turned slightly toward the four hunters.
"They will be in charge of the initial evaluations: Ryo Kagami, Kasumi Shirogane, Baku Shishido, and Masato Kanzaki. Each of them will observe something different in you."
The first took half a step forward.
Ryo Kagami did not need much of an introduction for Yūta.
Nor for Sota.
He stood there in his dark coat, hands in his pockets, wearing the face of someone who always seemed to arrive from bad news.
Yūta felt something strange in his chest.
It was not fear.
Not entirely.
It was Misato opening slightly, like a door that never quite closed properly.
Sota lowered his gaze.
Kagami saw them.
He did not smile.
But he recognized them.
"Don't make that face," he said. "I still get paid for appearing alive."
Yūta blinked.
"I'm glad to see you too."
"I didn't say you had to be glad."
"Too late."
Sota bowed his head slightly.
"Kagami-san."
Kagami looked at him for a second longer.
"Miyazaki."
He did not say, "You've grown."
He did not say, "Are you all right?"
He did not say, "I'm sorry."
But his gaze lingered on Sota as if he had counted something and, for once, the number had not been worse than expected.
Kana resumed:
"Kagami will evaluate field awareness, pressure, and decision-making."
Kagami put his hands back into his pockets.
"That sounds better than it's going to feel."
A few students murmured.
Kana continued:
"Kasumi Shirogane."
Mei stared at the light-haired woman standing beside Kagami.
Her expression hardened at once.
"No."
Yūta looked at her.
"No what?"
"Not her."
The woman smiled from the front.
"What an affectionate welcome, Mei."
Mei snapped her fan shut with too much force.
"Aunt."
Hina slowly turned toward Mei.
"That's your aunt?"
"Unfortunately."
Kasumi Shirogane placed a hand on her chest.
"You break my heart."
"I wish my aim were that good."
Yūta opened his eyes a little wider.
"Ah. Real family."
Kana did not let the exchange grow too much.
"Kasumi will evaluate precision, combat reading, and control."
Kasumi tilted her head toward the students.
"And, in certain cases, basic emotional honesty."
Mei muttered:
"Manipulation disguised as elegance."
Kasumi heard her.
"That too."
Kana continued:
"Baku Shishido."
The masked man raised one hand.
He was difficult to ignore.
Bare torso beneath an open jacket.
Scars.
A worn leather mask.
And a short pick hanging from his pants, attached to his belt by a metal hook.
Kenta pointed at him without any caution.
"That guy isn't wearing a shirt."
Yui lowered his hand.
"Don't point."
Baku turned toward them.
"Relax, fire boy. Shirts are a social construct and a prison for abs."
Kenta went still.
"What?"
Yūta whispered:
"Don't answer. I think he feeds on that."
Baku raised one finger.
"Correct. Also coffee. And bad decisions."
Kato closed his eyes in exhaustion.
"Baku."
"What? I'm socializing. In an unpleasant way, but socializing."
Kana continued before he could say something worse.
"Baku will evaluate improvisation, irregular pressure, and reaction to unconventional situations."
Baku placed a hand on his chest.
"Also reduction of embarrassing deaths."
Yuna looked at him.
"That was not necessary."
"The best truths rarely are."
Kana ignored the comment.
"Masato Kanzaki."
The fourth hunter inclined his head.
He did not speak at first.
He stood a few steps farther back.
At first, he seemed the least striking.
Then Yūta understood that he was not less striking.
He was less loud.
Masato Kanzaki watched the students as if measuring how many steps each of them would need to reach an exit in case of an attack. He did not seem to be judging them. That was almost worse. He seemed to be classifying them.
Ishida watched him carefully.
Kanzaki looked back at him.
Ishida did not look away.
Yūta leaned slightly toward him.
"Do you know him?"
"No."
"Then why does it look like you two are already having an extremely boring conversation?"
"Because some people do not need words to be clear."
"That is exactly what someone who enjoys boring conversations would say."
Kana finished the introduction:
"Kanzaki will evaluate defense, rescue, evacuation, and containment."
Kanzaki spoke for the first time.
"Survival can also be trained."
He added nothing else.
That seemed to be enough.
Kana looked at the students again.
"You will be divided into groups. Today, you will not rotate. Each group will work with one instructor. The others will observe from the sides until instructed otherwise."
Yūta raised his hand.
Kana looked at him.
"Amane."
"When you say 'observe,' does that mean normal observing, or observing and then precisely destroying our self-esteem afterward?"
Kato answered before she could.
"The second."
"Thanks for the honesty."
"It wasn't to help you."
Kana began reading the groups.
"With Kagami: Yūta Amane, Sota Miyazaki, Jin Harada, and Hana Sendai."
Yūta went still.
So did Sota.
Harada looked at Kagami with contained curiosity.
Hana breathed slowly, as if she were already hearing too many possibilities.
Kagami showed no reaction.
But his eyes passed over the four of them.
One by one.
"With Kasumi: Mei Shirogane, Hina Tsukino, Chiho Wada, and Yui Takashima."
Mei's head snapped up.
"Excuse me?"
Kasumi smiled.
"You heard correctly."
"Yes. That's the problem."
Hina gave her a soft nudge with her elbow.
"It'll be fine."
Mei looked at her.
"You don't know that."
"No, but it sounded like something someone should say."
Chiho looked at Yui.
Yui already seemed to be calculating how many barriers she would need to survive family tension.
Kana continued:
"With Baku: Kaito Mura, Kenta Arimoto, and the students assigned to the second-year physical block."
Kaito looked at the masked man.
Baku returned the greeting with two fingers.
"Hello, future muscle pain."
Kaito narrowed his eyes.
"I don't like this."
Kenta smiled.
"I do."
Yui, from the other group, said:
"That confirms it's a bad idea."
"With Kanzaki: Taro Ishida and the students assigned to the containment and support block."
Ishida nodded.
Kanzaki watched him.
"Chains."
Ishida raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Yes."
"Useful, if you stop thinking of them only as weapons."
Ishida did not answer.
But Yūta saw that the sentence had entered him.
Kana closed the list.
"Today, Kagami's group will begin."
Baku raised a hand.
"Can I narrate?"
"No," Kato, Yuna, and Kana said at the same time.
Baku lowered his hand.
"Censorship is the enemy of learning."
Kanzaki walked toward the side.
"So is noise."
"Early betrayal," Baku said.
The students moved toward the edges of the courtyard.
Kagami's group remained in the center.
The rest formed an uneven half-circle around the field.
Kato, Yuna, Kana, and Tatsu positioned themselves on a slightly elevated side, where they could see everything without intervening. Kasumi, Baku, and Kanzaki stood nearby, each with a different way of watching.
Kasumi watched as if every posture told a story.
Baku watched as if waiting for someone to do something stupid enough to turn into a joke.
Kanzaki watched the distances.
Always the distances.
Kasumi passed beside Kato as she settled into place.
"You look very serious, Ginjiro."
"We're working."
"We used to work before, and you weren't this boring."
"You weren't this insufferable before."
"Liar. I've always been insufferable."
Yuna turned her head slightly.
"At least she admits it."
Kasumi smiled at her.
"Don't worry, Kirino. If you work hard, you can develop charm with age too."
"I prefer to keep my dignity."
"What a lonely choice."
Kato took one step forward.
"Can we watch the training?"
Kasumi leaned a little toward Yuna without losing her smile.
"He always does that when he wants to escape."
Yuna looked at Kato.
"I noticed."
"I'm not escaping," Kato said.
"He's escaping," Kasumi said.
Baku raised a hand.
"As a neutral observer and professional bad influence, I confirm the emotional retreat."
Kato looked at him.
"You are not neutral."
"But I am professionally a bad influence."
Yuna looked back toward the field, though the gesture was slightly tenser than before.
Kasumi noticed.
She said nothing.
That was, perhaps, the worst thing she could have done.
At the center of the courtyard, Kagami removed his coat and left it on a bench.
He carried no visible weapon.
That did not reassure anyone.
Yūta, Sota, Harada, and Hana stood in front of him.
The distance was wide.
Too wide for hand-to-hand combat.
Too short to feel safe.
Kagami observed them.
"Simple objective," he said.
Yūta raised a hand.
"I like simple objectives."
"Touch my right shoulder."
Yūta lowered his hand.
"I no longer like them."
Sota looked at Kagami's shoulder.
Harada flexed his fingers.
Hana breathed slowly.
Kagami continued:
"You have five minutes. You may use your techniques within safety limits. I will not try to knock you unconscious."
"How kind," Yūta said.
"I said try."
"Less kind."
Kagami looked at Sota.
"Miyazaki."
Sota straightened.
"Yes."
"You are not in Misato."
Sota went still.
The sentence was not cruel.
Nor soft.
It was direct.
"If you run as if you are still there, someone will have to cover you."
Sota clenched his fists.
"Understood."
Kagami looked at Yūta.
"Amane."
"I know."
"You don't."
Yūta shut his mouth.
"Do not protect him as if he were a burden. If you treat him like a burden, he will try to prove he is not one. And then he will become one."
Yūta felt the sentence in his stomach.
"Understood."
Kagami looked at Harada.
"Teleporting behind someone is not a plan. It is a location."
Harada narrowed his eyes.
"Understood."
Finally, he looked at Hana.
"If you see something, say it before trying to sound elegant."
Hana blinked.
"Elegant?"
"The dead do not grade the quality of your warnings."
Hana swallowed.
"Understood."
From the side, Baku placed a hand on his chest.
"What depressing pedagogy. I'm moved."
Kanzaki spoke without looking at him.
"It is correct."
"That makes it more depressing."
Kana raised her cane.
"Begin."
Harada moved first.
He vanished.
The air left behind a slight distortion.
He appeared behind Kagami, his hand extended toward his right shoulder.
For an instant, it looked perfect.
Then Harada fell to the ground.
Not from a blow.
From weight.
His body folded to its knees as if the air had turned to stone over his shoulders.
Kagami did not even turn around.
"Location," he said. "Not plan."
Yūta cursed under his breath.
Sota took a step.
Yūta reached out a hand to stop him.
Sota saw it.
And tensed.
Kagami saw it too.
From the side, Kato exhaled.
"There it is."
Yuna watched the field.
"Amane wants to cover him before knowing whether Miyazaki is going to move badly."
"I know."
"That can make him commit mistakes."
"He's already committing them."
Kana watched Sota.
"Miyazaki still doesn't know whether he wants to be protected or prove he doesn't need protection."
Tatsu nodded.
"And Amane still doesn't know how to accompany someone without standing in front."
Baku raised a finger.
"That was deep. Unexpected, coming from a door in a suit."
Tatsu did not look at him.
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"I accept it anyway."
At the center, Hana lifted her gaze.
"Right."
Yūta moved.
One second later, Kagami's pressure fell exactly where his foot had been.
The ground creaked.
Yūta opened his eyes.
"Good. That was useful."
Hana did not answer.
She was watching Kagami as if trying to read a storm before it chose where to fall.
Harada stood and vanished again.
This time, he did not appear behind him.
He appeared to the left, farther away, trying to distract.
Sota reinforced his legs with mana.
Yūta saw it.
He did not stop him.
He only said:
"Don't go straight."
Sota nodded.
He advanced diagonally.
It was not perfect.
But it was better.
Yūta went from the other side.
For two seconds, they looked like a group.
Harada appeared above Kagami, dropping from a difficult angle.
Hana said:
"Low."
Yūta understood too late that she was not talking about Harada.
Gravity sank.
Not over them.
Under them.
The ground seemed to pull at their feet.
Sota lost rhythm.
Yūta tried to correct.
Harada vanished before touching the heavy field, but reappeared too close to Hana.
Hana stepped back to avoid colliding with him.
That small interruption was enough.
Kagami turned.
Raised a hand.
The pressure struck the air between Yūta and Sota.
It did not touch them.
It separated them.
Sota remained alone on one side.
Yūta on the other.
Kagami advanced toward Sota.
Not quickly.
He did not need to be quick.
Sota raised his arms.
Yūta moved before thinking.
"Sota!"
He ran toward him.
Harada moved too.
Hana tried to say something.
Too late.
Kagami changed direction.
The target had never been Sota.
It was Yūta.
Pressure fell onto Yūta's left shoulder and forced him down to one knee.
It did not injure him.
But it pinned him to the ground.
Kagami stopped in front of him.
"Dead."
Yūta clenched his teeth.
"You didn't touch me."
"I didn't need to."
Sota froze.
"But you were coming toward me."
"No," Kagami said. "I wanted to see if he would stop looking."
Yūta lifted his eyes.
The sentence bothered him.
Because it was true.
From the side, Kato crossed his arms.
"My group is understanding quickly."
Yuna looked at him.
"Your student just knelt because he looked the wrong way."
"He knelt with potential."
"That does not exist."
"It does if one has good students."
Yuna sighed.
"Hana managed to get a warning out in time once. That was good."
Kato raised an eyebrow.
"Was that teacherly pride?"
"It was technical observation."
"It sounded like pride."
"Don't start, Ginjiro."
Kasumi leaned toward them.
"It's cute watching the two of you compete over who can better pretend they don't care about their students."
Kato did not look away from the field.
"My students are good because of me."
Yuna looked at him.
"Amane crashed into an invisible wall last week."
"And survived. Quality education."
Baku clapped once.
"That was paternal love with verbal violence. Very traditional."
Kanzaki watched Harada.
"The teleporter adjusts quickly, but he does not protect routes."
Tatsu nodded.
"He gets out of danger. He doesn't always get others out."
"That should be corrected soon," Kanzaki said.
Baku tilted his head.
"Corrected metaphorically or physically?"
Kanzaki looked at him.
"Depends who trains him."
"I like you more every minute."
Kagami lifted the pressure from Yūta.
"Continue."
Yūta stood.
Breathed.
Looked at Sota.
Sota did not look back.
He was looking at Kagami.
Good.
That was better.
Hana spoke more firmly:
"When he raises his right hand, he doesn't always attack where he's looking."
Kagami looked at her.
"Better."
Hana tensed.
"Thank you."
"That wasn't praise. It was a record."
"Ah."
Yūta muttered:
"Welcome to the club."
Harada appeared beside Yūta.
"We need to make him turn."
"Yes."
Sota took a deep breath.
"I can force him."
Yūta shook his head.
"Not alone."
Sota frowned.
"I didn't say alone."
That answer made Yūta fall silent.
Harada looked at Hana.
"Can you warn us about the pressure changes before they fall?"
Hana pressed her lips together.
"I can try. But if everyone moves at the same time, there's too much noise."
Yūta looked at Kagami.
Then at the others.
"Then we don't all move at the same time."
Harada smiled faintly.
"Finally."
Sota raised an eyebrow.
"Was that criticism?"
"It was recovered hope."
Kagami waited.
He did not interrupt.
That worried Yūta more than if he had attacked.
"Plan," Yūta said in a low voice. "Harada, don't appear behind him. Appear near Hana if she needs to get out. Sota, pressure from the left, but don't close in until Hana says. I'll go from the right."
Sota nodded.
Hana swallowed.
"If I say low, jump. If I say high, duck. If I say still…"
"We stay still," Yūta said.
"No," Hana said. "If I say still, move. It means he's waiting for you to stop."
Yūta blinked.
"That's horrible."
"Yes."
Harada smiled.
"I like it."
Sota did not smile.
But his stance changed.
Less urgency.
More attention.
Kagami tilted his head slightly.
"Whenever you want."
Hana was the first to speak.
"Left."
Sota advanced.
Not straight.
At an angle.
Kagami moved two fingers.
"Low," Hana said.
Yūta and Sota jumped just as the pressure crushed the ground.
Harada vanished.
He did not attack.
He appeared behind Hana and took her by the arm when a second pressure fell near her.
He moved her half a meter.
Only that.
But it was enough.
Kato looked at Tatsu.
"That was new."
Tatsu nodded.
"He used his technique to remove a teammate, not to attack."
"Good," Yuna said.
Kato smiled faintly.
"My group."
"They are not all yours."
"I am tactically adopting them."
Yuna looked at him.
"No."
Kasumi placed a hand on her hip.
"Ginjiro has always been like that. Give him one traumatized person, and two days later he says he's only keeping an eye on them."
Kato did not look at her.
"I am not like that."
Yuna said:
"You are exactly like that."
Kato opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Baku leaned toward Kanzaki.
"Was that a combination attack? Does it count as training?"
Kanzaki observed Kato.
"It was effective."
"I love functional adults. They hurt each other with precision."
On the field, Yūta used the distraction.
He approached Kagami's right side.
Sota pressured from the left.
Harada stayed near Hana.
Hana spoke:
"High."
Yūta ducked.
The pressure passed over his back like an invisible hand sweeping through the air.
Sota ducked too, a second late, but enough not to fall.
Yūta extended his hand.
Kagami's right shoulder was close.
Too close.
For the first time, Yūta thought they might do it.
Then Kagami stepped backward.
Not to escape.
To place himself at the exact center between them all.
Gravity changed.
It did not fall.
It turned.
Yūta felt his body wanting to go left.
Sota lost his balance forward.
Harada tried to teleport, but the pressure distorted his arrival point. He appeared twisted, one knee on the ground.
Hana brought a hand to her head.
Too many lines.
Too many changes.
Too fast.
Yūta saw Sota falling toward the heaviest zone.
This time, he did not run toward him.
"Harada!"
Harada lifted his head.
Understood.
Vanished.
He appeared beside Sota and pushed him out of the heavy line.
Sota rolled across the ground, breathing hard.
Yūta kept advancing.
Not toward Sota.
Toward Kagami.
For an instant, Kagami looked at Yūta.
Yūta saw the opening.
Small.
Real.
He extended his hand.
He did not reach.
Pressure fell onto his wrist and pushed his arm down.
Not hard.
Precise.
Kagami was already half a step away.
"Better," he said.
Yūta breathed hard.
"That sounded like praise."
"It was a record."
"All the adults here need therapy."
From outside, Baku raised his hand.
"I went once! The therapist cried first. I won by abandonment."
Kanzaki closed his eyes for one second.
"That explains too little and too much."
Kagami raised one hand.
"Enough."
The four students stopped.
Yūta remained with one hand on his knee.
Sota was sitting on the ground, breathing fast.
Harada brushed dust from his pants.
Hana was still standing, but her jaw was tight.
"Already?" Yūta asked.
"I saw what I needed."
Sota raised his head.
"But we could still keep going."
"That wasn't what I was measuring," Kagami said.
The sentence fell heavier than any pressure.
Kana took a few steps forward, but did not intervene.
Kato, Yuna, Tatsu, and the other instructors came close enough to hear.
Kagami looked at the four students.
"You're not bad."
Yūta let out a breath.
"That sounded good."
"I'm not finished."
"You never are when it sounds good."
Kagami ignored the comment.
"You have reflexes. Useful techniques. Instinct. That helps."
Hana lowered her shoulders slightly.
Harada's expression did not change.
Sota listened with too much attention.
Yūta prepared himself.
Because he knew the other part was coming.
Kagami pointed at the field.
"But you don't have a team."
No one spoke.
"During the first minute, each of you tried to solve the fight from your own position. Harada looked for angles. Hana saw too much and warned too late. Sota ran as if standing still meant losing. Amane tried to protect Miyazaki before trusting that he could move."
Sota lowered his gaze.
So did Yūta.
Kagami continued:
"You weren't fighting together. You were fighting near each other."
That sentence hurt more than it should have.
Because it did not sound like an insult.
It sounded like a diagnosis.
Kagami looked at Harada.
"Your technique is not only useful for appearing where the enemy does not expect you. It can also get someone out of where they should not be."
Harada nodded.
"I understood too late."
"But you understood."
Then he looked at Hana.
"You see more than they do."
Hana tensed.
"Not always."
"Enough. But if your warnings sound like doubts, no one knows whether to obey you or comfort you."
Hana opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Kagami did not soften his voice.
"You don't need to shout. You need to decide."
Hana lowered her gaze.
"Yes."
Kagami looked at Sota.
"You are not useless because you don't arrive first."
Sota clenched his fists.
"I know."
"No. You repeat it. You don't know it yet."
Sota did not answer.
Kagami let the silence last for one second.
Then he looked at Yūta.
"And you."
Yūta made a face.
"I knew my part would come with a pause."
"If you protect someone without trusting that they can act, you are not helping them."
Yūta swallowed.
Kagami continued:
"You're using your fear with good intentions."
The courtyard went still.
Yūta felt the sentence find the exact place where it hurt.
Not because Kagami was wrong.
Because he was not.
Sota looked at Yūta.
Yūta could not look back at him right away.
From the side, Kato said nothing.
That was strange.
Yuna looked at him.
"You're not going to defend him?"
Kato kept his eyes on Yūta.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Kagami is right."
Yuna did not answer.
Kasumi placed a hand on her hip.
"That must have hurt."
"A lot," Kato said.
Baku raised one finger.
"Historic moment: Ginjiro admitting another adult said something useful. Is anyone taking notes? No? What a documentary tragedy."
Kanzaki looked at Sota.
"The boy didn't break when he heard it."
Tatsu nodded.
"No. But he will remember it."
"Good," Kanzaki said.
Baku looked at him.
"Sometimes you sound like a sentence carved into a tombstone."
"Tombstones are clear."
"And there it is."
At the center, Kagami took a step back.
"Again."
Yūta raised his head.
"Didn't you say you already saw what you needed?"
"Yes."
"Then why again?"
Kagami looked at him.
"Because now you saw it too."
Hana took a deep breath.
Harada stood at her side, not in front of her.
Sota stood.
Yūta looked at him.
This time, he did not ask if he was all right.
He did not extend a hand.
He did not stand in front of him.
He only said:
"Ready?"
Sota brushed dust from his uniform.
"No."
Yūta smiled.
"Better answer than lying."
Sota lifted his gaze toward Kagami.
"But I can move."
Yūta nodded.
"Then we move."
Kagami observed the small change.
He did not smile.
But something in his expression loosened slightly.
Kana saw it too.
"There," she said quietly.
Kato looked at her.
"What?"
"That."
Yuna watched Yūta and Sota take position without covering each other.
"There is still a lot missing."
"Yes," Kana said.
Tatsu looked at Hana, who was now breathing with her eyes fixed on the field.
"But now they know what to look at."
Kato crossed his arms.
"My students learn quickly."
Yuna sighed.
"Again."
"What?"
"They are not all yours."
Kato pointed at the field.
"Amane is mine. Sota is under my supervision. Harada listens to me when it suits him. Hana respects my authority in silence."
"That is not having students. That is inventing ownership through proximity."
Kasumi smiled.
"Leave him, Kirino. It's age. Some men start collecting other people's pride when their backs begin to hurt."
Kato looked at her.
"My back is fine."
Kasumi lowered her gaze slightly, amused.
"Want to bet?"
Kato pointed toward the field far too quickly.
"The exercise is starting."
Yuna looked at him.
"That was another tactical exit."
"I am concentrating."
"Of course."
Baku leaned toward Kanzaki.
"I don't know what tension I'm watching, but it has history and probably bad decisions."
Kanzaki did not take his eyes off the field.
"Almost everything has history and bad decisions."
Baku nodded.
"Wise and depressing. A dangerous combination."
Kagami raised a hand.
The second exercise began.
This time, Harada did not vanish first.
Hana spoke before the pressure fell.
"Left, low."
Sota moved.
So did Yūta.
Not toward Sota.
With Sota.
Harada appeared behind Hana, not to rescue her late, but to change her viewing angle.
Hana touched his shoulder lightly.
"High."
Harada vanished with her half a step to the side.
Yūta entered.
Sota feinted.
Kagami's pressure fell between them.
But this time, it did not separate them.
Because neither of them was trying to occupy the other's place.
Yūta felt the force pull at his arm.
Sota passed underneath.
He did not reach the shoulder.
But he forced Kagami to turn.
Just a little.
Harada appeared on the other side.
Hana said:
"Now."
Yūta extended his hand.
His fingers brushed the fabric of Kagami's shirt.
Not the shoulder.
But close.
Kagami moved.
Gravity fell.
The four of them ended up retreating, breathing hard.
But none of them fell.
Kagami lowered his hand.
"Enough."
Yūta lifted his head.
"Was that better?"
Kagami looked at him.
"Yes."
Yūta waited.
"Nothing bad afterward?"
"A lot. But not now."
Yūta closed his eyes.
"I'm going to take the first part and live there for a few seconds."
Sota was breathing hard, but he was smiling faintly.
Hana had one hand on her chest.
Harada stared at the point where they had almost reached him.
Kagami pointed at the four of them.
"Remember the difference. On the first attempt, you wanted to touch my shoulder. On the second, you wanted the others to be able to move."
No one spoke.
"That looks more like a team."
He did not say they were one yet.
That mattered.
Because it would have been a lie.
But "more like" was enough for Yūta to feel that something had changed, even if only a little.
Kana tapped the ground with her cane.
"That is enough for this group today."
Kagami picked up his coat.
"You'll repeat it tomorrow."
Yūta opened his eyes.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"With more gravity?"
Kagami put on his coat.
"Probably."
"I asked hoping for comfort."
"Bad habit."
Sota leaned toward Yūta.
"Does he always answer like that?"
"Yes. He's like Ishida, but with more coat."
From the other side of the courtyard, Ishida lifted his gaze.
"I heard that."
"You weren't in this scene," Yūta said.
"Precision does not depend on distance."
Baku clapped twice.
"Beautiful. You learned friendship, coordination, and that gravity hates teenagers. A complete afternoon."
Kana looked toward him.
"Shishido."
"I'm being positive."
"That worries me more."
Kanzaki looked at his own group.
Ishida was already standing, serious.
The students behind him looked less certain.
"We are next," Kanzaki said.
It did not sound like a threat.
That was why it sounded worse.
Kenta, from Baku's group, stretched his arms.
"I hope our training has less talking."
Baku slowly turned toward him.
The mask pointed straight at Kenta.
"Oh, fire boy."
His voice still sounded amused.
Too amused.
"With me, you're going to talk a lot."
Kenta smiled.
"I'm not scared."
Baku did not answer right away.
For one second, he only touched the hook of the short pick.
The smile remained hidden behind the mask.
Or maybe it no longer did.
"We'll measure that too."
Kenta's smile faded a little.
Yūta saw that change from afar.
And understood something.
Kagami was pressure.
Kasumi was a blade.
Kanzaki was structure.
Baku was noise.
But beneath the noise, there was something else.
Something that had not come out yet.
Kato was watching him too.
So was Kana.
Yūta thought that maybe this was the true purpose of those trainings.
Not to know who could win.
But to discover what part of each of them appeared when fear began pushing from the inside.
He looked at Sota.
Sota was still breathing hard.
But he was standing.
Harada said something to Hana.
Hana shook her head.
Then, though she looked tired, she answered.
Yūta smiled faintly.
They were not ready.
He already knew that.
But for the first time since Kana had introduced the instructors, he understood that maybe that was not the point.
The point was to know exactly how they were not ready.
Before someone else discovered it for them.