SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! 

Three arrows were released in quick succession but none of them met their target as Tristan grabbed them out of the air. 

He smiled at Allison as she watched him cover one of the arrows in frozen blood and threw it in the air just moments before it exploded. 

“Really? Exploding arrows? I thought we were keeping it light?” 

Allison snorted in frustration as she caught the arrows Tristan threw at her. “For me, not for you. Seriously, do you know how frustrating it is for me to see you casually snatching up all my arrows midair?”

Tristan shrugged. “More or less.”

“More or less? Did you really just say that?” She asked in a dry sarcastic tone. 

In hindsight, she had no one to blame but herself since she’s the one who asked for this as part of her in hunting down supernaturals. It was just her luck that she ended up choosing someone on the extreme end. 

She glared at him and discarded her bow and arrows in favor of pulling out two daggers. 

Tristan regarded her action with a sarcastic look in his eyes but relented to her decision by forming two daggers for himself. “I’ll let you know that even with the handicap I’m no slouch in martial arts.”

“That’s enough words from you, mister.” Allison said and began the attack with a feint stab after closing the distance between them but Tristan sidestepped instead of attempting to block the obvious feint. 

She spun on her heels and slashed down with her daggers but Tristan calmly blocked both of them with his and slowly pushed her back. 

They continued like that, Allison fighting with all she had while Tristan leisurely pushed her back until she ran out of breath. She did manage to get a few cuts and hits in but that didn’t console her a tiny bit as he as basically restraining himself to give her a fighting chance. 

“Oh please, don’t subject me to murky displeasure. You should have known this was the likely outcome when you asked for a training session.” Tristan said while looking down at Allison who was lying on the bare ground and heavily breathing. 

“Y… yeah, well i-it played out slightly differently in my head.” She said between forcing her breath under control. 

Tristan offered her a hand and pulled her up. “Well, we can both agree it really was all in your head.” His remark earned him a kick to the ankles but it was Allison who ended up tripping, needing Tristan to hold her up from falling. 

“You’re such a cheat that it is so unfair to everyone else.” She complained while struggling to stand on her feet because of her hurting leg. She tried walking but her throbbing leg made it harder with every step she took. Left with no other choice she turned to Tristan with a helpless look on her face. 

“Carry me back?” 

They stood there in silence, looking at each other, Allison with a wry smile on her face while Tristan’s was unreadable, until he started sprouting tails. 

“Hell no. I’m not letting you carry me with your tails.” She shook her head vigorously, adamantly showing her refusal, and thankfully Tristan took them back. 

He stride towards Allison with the same unreadable look, no trace of a smile or frown neither did his voice betray any hint of displeasure or anything similar. “You’re becoming a handful, Allison.”

Allison wondered what those words meant but something stopped her from asking. If anything she didn’t want to know the meaning behind those words. 

Tristan sighed inwardly as this was already getting out of hand. He could feel her raw emotions so guessing her thoughts wasn't exactly that hard. 

‘Maybe ignoring it wasn’t the best idea.’ He thought to himself as he carried her on his back and settled on walking back to his house. 

“Where’s Malia?” He asked Lydia who was lounging carefree in the empty house. 

“Out with Lori. What’s up with her?” She pointed at Allison who was deposited into one of the couches. 

Tristan left with a curt reply. “She hurt her leg kicking me.” 

Lydia turned to Allison after Tristan went to his room to take a shower with a questioningly raised brow, unable to hold in the sarcastic retort that suddenly presented itself. “A Huntress hurts her leg kicking someone. Really sweetie?”

Allison groaned with rolling eyes. “I’m going to pretend that I don’t understand what you might or might not be insinuating.”

Lydia shrugged. “At least you understand enough to pretend not to. And as your dearest friend-” 

“That will be Malia.”

“-I am obligated to tell you that you are losing your composure and getting a little bit desperate. And I can bet my two pink nipples that pale, hunk and handsome isn’t as clueless as he acts. Yes, acts.”

Allison gaped scandalously at Lydia and sued her eyes to urge her to keep her mouth shut by rapidly glancing towards Tristan’s room. 

Lydia scoffed, looking at Allison as if the girl suddenly became stupid. “We are in his house, Allison. He can hear us and sense our emotions as clear as day within these walls.”

Allison froze at the realization and slumped dejectedly into the chair, wholly giving up. “I think I’m going crazy.” She sighed but Lydia simply shook her head. 

“You’re not going crazy, princess. I think the word you’re looking for is ‘thirsty’.”

She could say nothing to Lydia’s crass words except wallow in the shambles of her inner thoughts. 

‘Oh. Yep, Malia is going to kill me.’

…..

Over at the Yukimura house, two people, Kira and her mother, could be seen swinging wooden swords at each other in their backyard. 

“You’re easily distracted, Kira. You might have the instinctual skills but you lack the discipline.” 

Kira groaned a bit, slightly out of breath but otherwise fine. “Well, up until yesterday I was just a normal girl and now I wake up this morning and I am suddenly a skilled swordswoman. Of course I would lack the discipline.”

Noshiko lowered her sword and picked up a bottle of water that she threw at Kira who caught it without even looking, only to freeze up after realizing what she’d just done. 

“This feels really weird. I’m not even sure if this is my body any longer.”

“Mind telling me what is it that is worrying you so? I doubt it’s just because of your new abilities.”

“‘Just because’ she says.”

“Kira?” Noshiko called sternly. 

Just as fed up as her mother, Kira threw up her hands in evidently visible vexation. “I wonder why, mom?! When am I ever going to make friends? I just found out yesterday, after almost being killed, might I add, that there’s a whole other world out there that I never knew about yet still a part of. And today I wake up thinking that maybe I can make friends with other supernatural teens my age, but no. I have been swinging the same sword since I woke up, not because I’m exactly thrilled by it but because I have no other choice since I might die at any time if I’m not strong enough to protect myself.”

She was panting heavily by the end of her long expressive rant. She held up the wooden sword, wanting nothing more than to throw it away for now, but she couldn’t. This was important; just as important as making new supernatural friends or maybe even more important. 

She didn’t like complaining this much, especially to her mother, but she felt extremely cheated today after she woke up. 

“Kira…” Noshiko began softly but Kira shook her head. 

“Even if not fully, I understand why you’re doing this. It’s for me, not to me. That much I understand.” Kira said, trying to smile to appear strong but herself unable to. 

Noshiko nodded. “Take a few minutes to rest. We’ll continue shortly.” Saying that, she left to join her husband in checking the repairs that were underway in their wrecked kitchen. 

“She’s bitter.” She said to her husband who barely managed a weak smile. 

“Of course she’d be. Most especially now that she’s in a new place and trying to start her teenage life basically from scratch.” Ken remarked in fatherly understanding. “It’s not fair to her but she’s smart and sensible that her current situation is exactly anyone’s fault.”

Noshiko looked questioningly at her husband with corked up brows, prompting a hearty chuckle from him. 

“It isn’t exactly your fault because I remember agreeing with you to keep her ignorant of her true identity. We did that because we both knew how much appreciated a normal life would be for our daughter. We’re parents; our decisions are made with good intentions for our children but it doesn’t always turn out to be the right one.” 

Noshiko nodded slowly at her husband’s wise words. “Maybe you should be the one talking to Kira right now instead of me. She always listens to you.”

Ken kissed her forehead and gently pushed her towards the back to resume her training with their daughter. “Maybe, but what she needs now is a blunt understanding rather than a coaxing acceptance.”