It’s Sunday today. Even so, it’s not an excuse to skip training, now that there isn’t any more urgent missions to take care of. I’m kind of nervous though, since training means I’ll be seeing Kaoru after a while. The last time we met, she told me that she has lots of things to tell me. I wonder if she’s going to tell me about them when we meet.

   ‘You look kind of stiff, Akira.’ Ichika notes while we’re going to the usual training ground.

   ‘Well, I haven’t seen Kaoru for a while, so…’

   ‘Ah, yes. The confession that might happen later. Do you want me to leave the two of you alone first?’

   ‘No, let’s concentrate on the training first.’

   ‘As you wish.’

   Five minutes later, Kaoru got here as well.

   ‘I’m sorry for being late, Kurogane-senpai and aniki.’ she keeps on apologizing while bowing at us.

   ‘It’s cool. You’re not late, it’s just that we’re early.’ I assure her while looking at the time.

   ‘Indeed. You are not late as long as you arrive here before the time we have agreed on.’ Ichika adds.

   Kaoru finally stops apologizing after hearing what we said. Now that she has calmed down, I can take a better look at her. In doing so, I realized that she looks a bit different from the last time we met.

   ‘Kaoru, did you cut your hair?’ i ask her.

   She seems very happy that i took notice.

   ‘Yes, mother suggested me to cut it so that I would look more girlish.’

   ‘Speaking of your mother, how are you faring with her?’

   ‘I guess we’re doing alright. The first few days were awkward though, since we were pretty much strangers. After a week or so, we started to get along. We went shopping together, had our meals at fancy places, and stuff like that to make up for our lost time.’

   ‘That’s good to hear.’

   ‘And what of the relationship between your parents?’ Ichika asks.

   ‘Ah. That’s a different story altogether. Even after all these years, mother is still upset that father had chased her out. She rarely talks to him, and she refused to sleep in the same bedroom as him and chooses to sleep in one of the guest rooms instead.’

   ‘Honestly, I don’t blame her. Your father did terrible things to the two of you , after all.’

   ‘Well, I’ve already forgiven him since I figured that I can’t keep on getting mad at my own father. However, it would seem that mother is much more unforgiving than I am. I just hope that they won’t kill each other.’

   If this worry is mentioned by anyone else, I could still laugh it off as a joke. Coming from the daughter of a yakuza head, I’m seriously worried that she might jinx it.

   ‘Just give them some time. I’m pretty sure the ice wall between them will melt one of these days.’ I assure her.

   ‘I sure hope so.’

   ‘It is pointless to worry about things that might or might not happen.’ Ichika says to Kaoru. ‘Rather than that, you should focus on what is in front of you.’

   Kaoru suddenly looks very nervous.

   ‘Like the entrance exam.’

   She’s trembling uncontrollably like some just-born foal.

   ‘Calm down, Kaoru. The exam’s still a few months away, remember?’

   ‘I know that, aniki. Even so, I’m still quite worried.’ Kaoru says.

   Honestly, I don’t blame her. The exams at the Academy are total gray areas when it comes to grading. Allow me to explain. The exams given by the Academy are split into two parts, the written exam and the physical exam.

   For the written exam, they will ask you ten questions. The questions are different for each person to avoid cheating and encourage original thoughts. One question will ask you about, say, how to defeat a Destroyer that can turn you into stone by just looking at you. Another will ask you to differentiate between Yatagarasu and Morrigan. I got these two examples from Yuuji’s examination sheet.

   Remember I said that the exam’s purpose is to encourage original thoughts? If you can answer the questions, great. However, there’s a chance of you passing anyway if you write something that isn’t the perfect answer, but answer-worthy.

   For example, writing something along the line of ‘I’ll defeat it with spirits!’ in question one above definitely won’t get you scores. However, you will get creative mark if you write ‘I’ll bring along someone who knows how to deal with it.’ I’m not kidding. I asked one of the teachers, and she legit told me that I can get some marks if I answered the question like that. In other words, it’s suicidal and stupid to leave the questions blank.

   For the physical exam, you are to fight against someone who’s at least A Rank. This is to push you to your limits and see how far can you fare under stressful situations. Winning and losing are secondary. It’s one of those ‘Just do your best!’ thing that Yuuji just loves.

   The good news is, you’re allowed to used your Regalia or Pseudo Regalia on this exam, if you have any. The bad news? Most of us who take the exam aren’t blessed with one, so a lot of the matches are pretty one-sided. The only other good news is that you’re absolutely forbidden from mutilating and/or killing your opponent.

   Your Rank will be decided by how well you score on these two exams. If you score badly, you will either get a C Rank or fail altogether. However, failure is a rare case since the Academy need all the help it could get, even from those who can barely fight. I’ve looked through the records of potential students who actually failed. In most cases, they’ve disqualified cheaters and those who tried to kill their opponent during the physical exam.

   I’ve looked at Akira’s records too, just in case I was ever questioned by someone regarding his scores. He did quite badly in the quiz and only got marks for three questions, and they’re all creative answers. If I were the one answering the same questions, I would at least get seven of them correct, and get creative marks for the other three.

   As for physical exam, he fought an A Rank who’s a third year and uses a twin sword Pseudo Regalia. Akira got thrashed in less than two minutes.

   I vaguely remember seeing that senior when I got up the stage to be promoted by Principal Morifuji. He was clapping like most people were, and he looked genuinely happy for me that I got double promoted.

   Anyway, back to Kaoru.

   ‘I’ve been studying about mythologies around the world, but there’s always so much to remember.’ she tells us.

   I nod understandingly. ‘Yeah. I guess it might be difficult for you if you’re not really interested in it.’

   ‘Are you interested in it, aniki?’ Kaoru asks me.

   ‘Oh, sure. In fact, some of us are so interested in those things they start to write their original versions. It sounded like a good idea at the beginning, and you write and write and write until you neglect everything else. Some wrote for fun, while others wrote with every intention to have it published and get an anime adaptation. Sure, it’s fun and everything but you know you can’t show it to anyone unless you want your school life to be over, and will do everything you can to hide the secret. Even then, your secret will somehow get found out. After that, your already lousy school life becomes even worse, with the boys laughing at you everywhere you go, even though some of them probably did the same and are just glad they were not the one who got found out, while the girls refuse to even go near you and treat you like a complete creep-’

   I stopped myself from continuing since Kaoru is looking at me like she doesn’t understand half the thing I’m saying, while Ichika is trying her best to hide her smirk.

   ‘-not that I would know anything about it.’

   ‘I am sure that you do not.’ Ichika chuckles.

   ‘Right, we’re getting off-topic here. What I was trying to say just now, Kaoru, is that you don’t have to study too much on rigid things like history and myths. Instead, focus on developing your critical thinking skills. Not only will it help you on getting creative marks, but being able to think outside the box might save you in real life missions.’

   Ichika nods approvingly. ‘Akira is right, Ueyama. Critical thinking skills are much more practical. Just study what you can, and try to rely on common sense to answer the questions.’

   ‘I understand.’

   ‘What about your physical exam? Have you been training up your stamina while we were gone?’ I ask.

   ‘Yes, I have. Nowadays, I could jog for thirty minutes without stopping for breath.’

   ‘That is good to hear.’ Ichika says. ‘However, you should keep in mind that stamina is the least of your problems There is also your skill in handling weapons, your close combat skill, defense-’

   ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa!’ I quickly interrupt. ‘She’s already nervous enough as it is. Let’s keep things slow and take it one at a time, shall we?’

   ‘I guess you are correct. Please forgive me for my impatience, Ueyama.’ Ichika says to Kaoru while bowing at her.

   ‘It’s okay, Kurogane-senpai. I understand that ultimately you are thinking what’s best for me.’

   While doing our warm ups, we discuss on what to do for today.

   ‘May I show the two of you my progress in magic?’ Kaoru requests. ‘Like my stamina, I have also been practising it.’

   ‘Sure.’

   The thing about magic in this anime is that some people are born with the ability to use it. Your capability on mastering the usage of magic depends on the mana inside your body and your creativity in visualizing the spell inside your head and unleashing it.

   Unlike some anime, no one is born with the natural tendency to be able to use certain kind of magic over another. You’re pretty much capable of using every kind of element magic without any problem. If you ever felt that your water magic is much stronger than your fire magic, that’s because somewhere along your mind, you prefer to use the former than the latter and therefore has strong visualization when it comes to forming a strong image of water in your head.

   At least, that’s what Sakuya told me once. My Rank in magic is C, so what would I know? All the magic I had been using were from either Gáe Bulg or my ring, I barely did anything.

   In addition, no fancy chants are required. Those who actually do it just suffer from a bad case of chuunibyou.

   Now that I’m done explaining, let’s focus back on Kaoru (again).

   Right now, Kaoru is busy making stalagmites made of ice as fast as she can. She made seven so far, and an eighth one is being formed. After it’s done, she slightly hunch down in exhaustion.

   ‘How…how was it?’ she asks us between pants.

   I teleport out a bottle of water and hand it to her.

   ‘Here, drink this first. Then we’ll talk.’

   She accepts the water gratefully. She takes small sips from it, making sure not to drink too much in one go to prevent herself from getting choked. Ichika and I patiently wait for her to finish drinking.

   ‘Now then, Ueyama. Your casting was quite rapid. That may seem like a good thing at first glance, but you should not do it in quick succession. It might give you an advantage, but you should always save your strength, just in case there are more enemies who are lying in wait or have yet to make an appearance.’ Ichika comments after Kaoru empties the bottle and throw it away in a thrash can.

   ‘Which is why you should always use magic as a last resort if you’re still a beginner.’ I add. ‘To finish your opponent off, cause a distraction, stuff like that.’

   ‘So, I should be on battery-saving mode at most times?’

   ‘That’s right.’

   ‘Unless you aspire to be a mage.’ Ichika suggests.

   Kaoru shakes her head.

   ‘Thank you for your suggestion, but I prefer to stand at the front line. My father has took his time to train me in close combat, so I prefer to use what he taught me to the fullest.’

   ‘Fair enough. Now, let us put your skill to the test.’

   ‘I’ll be in your care!’

   ‘Right. Akira, you spar with her first.’

   ‘Sure.’

   Kaoru, on the other hand, flinches when she finds out that she’ll be sparring with me.

   ‘With aniki? B-B-B-B-But my body smells!’

   ‘Um, I’m not trying to sound like a creep or anything, but isn’t that normal after you had a workout? You know, from all the sweat.’ I say to her.

   ‘Yes, I know that! But, I still can’t do it! It’s too embarrassing!’

   I was about to point out that this isn’t the first time we sparred while she’s covered in sweat, but then I remembered that she wasn’t in love with me during those times.

   ‘I don’t mind at all. Really. I prefer girls who, um, work out a lot and sweats? Man, that sounded so wrong…’

   However, Kaoru is convinced.

   ‘Well, if you say so…’

   I take out a wooden short sword and a wooden pole with my teleportation magic. For convenience’s sake, I’ve been keeping the short sword that she’s been using to replace her kodachi.

   The two of us stand opposite each other with our weapon in hand and take up a stance. Ichika acts as the referee one again. To my surprise, Kaoru takes up a different stance than her usual one.

   Previously, she had been taking up a typical fencing stance where she points her short sword at me while putting her unused hand behind her back. Now, she’s posing like a boxer, with her left hand clenched into a fist.

   As for me, I take up my usual stance. It’s not like a spear user has lots of variety when it comes to stances.

   ‘Begin!’ Ichika shouts.

   And with that cue, the two of us begin our sparring.

   As I have suspected, the reason Kaoru chose this stance is to use her fist and legs as well, instead of just the short sword. She would parry a thrust from my pole with her short sword, and suddenly tries to hit my face with her punch.

   Honestly, her new stance is very suitable for people like her who favors short weapon and had training in hand-to-hand combat. This makes her attack style much more versatile. Unfortunately for her, she’s still not used to this stance, and her opponent is me, someone who use a weapon with a long range.

   Every time she tries to kick me, I try to trip her by using my pole to swipe the leg that’s keeping her balanced. As a result, there were a few times where she almost tripped.

   In the end, Kaoru lost due to lack of stamina.

   ‘It was a good match, Kaoru.’ I say to her.

   ‘Indeed.’ Ichika agrees. ‘That new stance of yours is very efficient for you.’

   ‘Thank you. I saw a boxing match in the television a few days ago, and I realized that I could imitate boxers too, given the weapon of my choice.’

   ‘That said, your options in attacks will be limited if you are fighting an enemy with a long weapon, as you have just experienced.’

   ‘Yes, I’m still trying to figure out a way to use this stance to my fullest without having the fear of getting tripped while I’m doing a kick.’

   ‘You could try using a chain.’ I suggest. ‘It can be difficult to master, but once you’re used to it, you can use it to coil up your opponent’s weapon and limit his movement.’

   Ichika nods in agreement. ‘Yes, that is quite a good suggestion.’

   ‘Okay, I’ll go find me a suitable chain as soon as possible. Thank you for your advice, aniki!’

   ‘No problem. Giving suggestions to a junior is what a senior does.’

   Man, so this is what being a senior feels like. Naturally, I had juniors when I was at school and college back in my old world, but I never talked to any of them, and vice versa.

   Next, Kaoru spars with Ichika. The sparring session didn’t last long as the one she had with me, partly because her stamina still hasn’t recovered, and partly because Ichika is much, much stronger than I am. The match ended when Ichika’s wooden sword is just inches away from Kaoru’s throat.

   Kaoru slowly raises up her hands.

   ‘I concede.’ she tells Ichika.

   Ichika nods and draws back her sword.

   ‘You really are strong, Kurogane-senpai. I could barely do a thing.’

   ‘Honestly, this is nothing. With some training, you could definitely be strong just like me, or stronger.’ Ichika says in a humble way.

   ‘Yes, I will keep that in mind.’

   After this, we trained a bit more, and then ended the training session with some cool down. As usual, I keep away Kaoru’s short sword as well as my pole.

   ‘Well, see you next time, Kaoru.’ I tell the former reverse trap.

   ‘Aniki, please wait!’ she stops me all of a sudden.

   I stop at my track. For some reason, Ichika excused herself and left immediately.

   ‘Hmm? What’s up?’

   ‘Are you, are you free later?’

   I think about it for a moment. I don’t remember making any plans for today, nor my girlfriends have anything they want to do or any places they want to go.

   ‘Nope. I’m free.’

   ‘T-T-Then, is it okay if we hang out later? Just the two of us?’ she asks nervously.

   ‘Oh, sure. Let’s meet up at the dorm’s entrance after this.’

   ‘Um, I have…something to do right after this. Is it okay if we meet up at noon?’

   ‘Fine by me.’

   ‘Okay, then. See you at noon, senpai.’

   ‘Yeah, see you at noon.’

   And with that, Kaoru left as well. I was halfway to my room when I realized that I’m going to a date later.