Yuki stretched her arms as she got out of her bed. Her internal clock told her that it was almost time for the day’s matches. Though she trained almost endlessly for hours on end within her mana dimension, her body felt no fatigue and was rather refreshed from her rest.

True to Sophie’s words, they worked on Yuki’s control of the elements, trying to sharpen her earth magic in particular. Sophie explained why she was pushing so hard for Yuki to learn those techniques she had described. If they couldn’t figure out the magic they were trying to create, then they needed a back up plan to deal with Ghost. The near invulnerability was one of them. Sophie said she had another, but she didn’t want to disclose what it was just yet.

‘I trust that it’s good,’ Yuki thought. 

She shifted her thoughts to her future battle. She had gone through her normal routine of hypothesizing enemies and creating strategies to defeat them, but today, she was walking in blunder than usual. There was no one on her day that was on a losing streak. That meant that she couldn’t use that as a predictor. The pattern of matching her up with losing opponents had begun to break down some battles ago. 

With no pattern and the fact that combatants could be moved around or added without warning made Yuki’s battles almost a mystery. She would know who she was up against the moment she was dropped into the arena. The. She would know if she was prepared or not.

After finishing the breakfast given to her, she waited for the inevitable warping of the space around her as the Fiddler teleported everyone. She didn’t have to wait long. The cramped room she sat in disappeared, replaced by a spacious hall and a multitude of people standing up as they waited. Yuki looked around at the crowd of combatants to locate the new blood. She found a few she didn’t recognize and filed a note in the back of her mind to watch their battles closely.

After the Fiddlers usual pre battle announcements and remarks, the scenery around Yuki changed once more as she was sent to the lounge. The first battle had been already selected, the combatants standing apart from each other in the arena. Yuki recognized both of them. This wasn’t a battle that she needed to pay too much attention towards.

“Heya,” a voice greeted behind her. She glanced back and waved.

“Hi, Jesse,” Yuki said. “Where are the other two?” 

“I haven’t found them yet,” Jesse shrugged as she went to stand beside Yuki, staring at the match going on beyond the glass. “I spotted you first.”

“Oh.”

“Ready to fight today?”

“As ready as I can be,” Yuki replied. “I don’t really know who I’m going to be put with today. I hope it isn’t someone new.”

“New? You’re not worried about the other people?” Jesse asked, putting her hands on her waist. “There are some tough fellas here.”

“I know. I’m somewhat worried about them, but unknown things worry me more, you know?” Yuki said, turning back to the fight. “At least I know their capabilities after watching them for so long. New people? Could be anything.”

“I get that. Never really thought about it like that. Probably because there hasn’t been many new people that have been really threatening right off the bat.”

“What do you think about me?” Yuki asked, her lips twitching up.

“You? A little girl who walked into the wrong place,” Jesse smiled. “Not threatening one little bit.”

“Really? We seem to have different memories of our first time meeting then,” Yuki laughed. “You seemed like the cute one in that bath.”

She gave Jesse a small wink and watched as Jesse reddened and opened her mouth as she tried to say a retort. She shut it and stared at the glass in front of them harder.

“You know, I thought your teasing would lessen the more we knew each other,” Jesse grumbled. “It seems to have gotten worse though.”

“That’s how it is,” Yuki said, stifling a giggle. “The more I get to know you, the cuter your reactions are.”

“Hmph. So if I stop reacting, you won’t tease me then.”

“If you don’t like me teasing you, you can tell me to stop. I don’t mind,” Yuki said. She turned to look over at Jesse when she didn’t reply and found her staring at the ground. “Jess?”

“I don’t not like it,” she mumbled. 

“What was that?” Yuki asked, her lips twitching. “I couldn’t quite hear.”

“Yeah right,” Jesse said, smacking Yuki’s arm. “I know your hearing is better than most.”

“True. Well, I’m glad you don’t mind.”

With that, the two fell quiet and continued watching the battle in front of them. A new match had started while Yuki was talking with Jesse. A new person was in it fighting against someone that Yuki had already seen before. 

“Want to come with me to find the love birds?” Jesse asked. “Looking around by myself can get boring.”

“Can we wait a little?” Yuki asked. “I want to watch this match. There’s someone new.”

“Oh, there is. Sure, I can wait. You want to take notes, don’t you.”

“You know me so well already.”

The match concluded in a loss for the new person. They didn’t seem particularly outstanding to Yuki, a bit weak compared to the others. 

“Alright, let’s go find them,” Yuki said, turning away from the glass. The next round had people she already watched before. 

Jesse nodded and dove into the crowded lounge, Yuki trailing right behind. Before they could be separated, Yuki snatched Jesse’s hand. She turned back at the contact and glanced down.

“Scared about getting lost?” she grinned.

“No, just to make sure you don’t go smacking into the glass,” Yuki replied. Jesse laughed at the response and continued forward. 

After a few minutes of searching, they found Alex and Karie sitting together on two stools. They were chatting with each other, a glass of water in each of their hands, with a view of the arena in front of them. No one stood in front of them. Yuki learned early that the couple were highly respected among the fighters. The reason, Yuki didn’t know. They wouldn’t explain it to her when she asked.

“There you two are,” Jesse said, going to stand in front of them. They smiled and Alex pointed at a chair a few feet away.

“There’s a chair you can take,” Alex said. She glanced over at Yuki and gave her an apologetic look. “I don’t know where another one would be. I couldn’t see one.”

“You could sit on my lap,” Karie offered before promptly being punched lightly on the shoulder by Alex.

“Tempting, but I’ll go look for a chair for myself,” Yuki said with a smile. 

She found one a short walk away from where the couple were. When she brought it back with her, Jesse had joined their chatter, neither of them paying attention to the battle taking place beyond the glass.

“Your next fight is tomorrow, right?” Alex asked Jesse. “I forgot what your win streak was.”

“It’s not super long,” Jesse shrugged. “I think it’s going onto twelve wins now. Almost at my record.”

“You think this could be the run?” Karie said. Jesse laughed.

“No. I’m not strong enough for that,” she replied. “I’ll see how far I can push it before I fold and restart. Hopefully, Ghost can screw off. Then I might go for a run.”

“New people might replace that guy,” Karie said. “I don’t know how the Fiddler does it, but he always seems to find strong people to replace the ones that fall.”

“I don’t get either,” Alex said. “How are so many strong people captured by one guy? I know some come with him, but the rest are all kidnapped or something like that.”

“Maybe at the fiftieth battle you face the Fiddler?” Jesse grinned. “He’s probably the end boss.”

“Hmm. If that’s true, then I need to get to fifty fast,” Alex smirked. “Then I can get a chance to punch his face in.”

“And leave me behind?” Karie pouted. 

“Of course not. If I can kill that bastard, then we’ll be free,” Alex said, taking Karie’s hand. “We’ll be able to go anywhere you want.”

As they smiled at each other, Yuki turned her attention away from them and stared at the arena. Looking at the two stirred up feelings within Yuki that she didn’t want to feel right now. 

The battle, though, proved to be unexciting. The fighters had changed, but they were still people she recognized from before. She still watched nevertheless. It was either that or listen to Alex and Karie flirt with each other.

When the battle came to an end, she felt the slightest of tingles on her skin. It was a feeling that always came before she warped into a different location. She hadn’t noticed it the first few she was moved around, but now it was her signal when she was up.

“I’m going next,” she said, turning around to speak to the three women. 

“Good luck then,” Alex said. Karie echoed her words. 

“We’ll be waiting here when you win,” Jesse said. Yuki smiled at her words.

She was glad that she had found people to be friends with. Even if she knew that she might one day have to deal with the pain of losing one or all of them, having them here made the entire ordeal easier than if she was alone. They helped distract her as well. Most of the time.

“Thanks. I’ll make it as fast as I can.”

The world around Yuki began to warp as she was moved to the arena by the Fiddler as he announced the start of the next match. Before the lounge disappeared around her, she heard Jesse’s routine farewell.

“Don’t die.”