What did Katja just say? I can’t fight with anything other than what she teaches me. Why is she saying that now? Did she find out about the VISS Driver and my skills? Have I busted? No way! I know my attack with Slash Flurry was faster than it should have been, but it shouldn’t be enough to figure anything out. But even if it is, what’s the problem with me making use of my skills? What’s wrong with me using the VISS Driver?

 

We had just finished sparring when Katja suddenly told me that I wasn’t allowed to use the skills I got from the VISS Driver. I don’t know what will happen if it gets out that I got the VISS Driver, so I’ve been trying to keep it under wraps. Even so, I used a skill during our sparring match. Has she seen through me? I think she’s a little suspicious of me…

 

“What do you mean?” The mood was light after the sparring match, but it took a heavy turn as soon as Katja told me about this new rule. The sudden change scared me, and I gulped while waiting for the rest of Katja’s explanation.

 

“The meaning is pretty clear. You can’t fight with any abilities besides the ones we teach you. I’m sorry, but even if you were a martial arts expert or something similar, if we didn’t teach you those skills, you’re not allowed to use them. I need to give you this warning in advance since I don’t want to run into any trouble in the future.” Katja spoke with a serious and scary face.

 

“W- why...?” Yep, I’ve been busted. Why else would she be giving me this warning now? She knows there’s something wrong with my skills. But why? Why can’t I? I don’t get it.

 

“Think of it as a kind of insurance. Otherwise, we can’t protect you.” Protect me? After hearing Katja’s words, I felt some of the tension dissipate. “Our job of handling threats from the other world is supposed to be a secret, but it rarely ever goes that well. A lot of things can happen that can compromise the secrecy of our mission, and when they do, it needs to be quickly covered up, and someone has to take responsibility. The way you fight can be used to identify you and your affiliations. If you’re identified as one of us, the House of Imaginary Boundaries will take responsibility for all of your mistakes, and Shinji will just take care of it. But if you’re fighting in a way that’s different from what we teach you, it’s impossible for us to defend you without putting our whole group under suspicion of irresponsibly using techniques that haven’t been approved by the government. We have a lot of freedom, so it’s easy to forget, but we still have someone to answer to.”

 

That’s a lot to take in, but I think I understand. Our job is a secret, and if something goes wrong, it’s not our fault as long as we’re following the protocol. Personally, I think it shouldn’t really matter, as long as we can keep people safe, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s that those at the top love their bureaucracy.

 

I’m relieved to hear that the VISS Driver is not really the problem. Even the skills themselves are not really the problem. I can still use my skills as long as I’m subtle about it. Obviously, if I ever get a skill that allows me to shoot fireballs, that’s out. I absolutely cannot use that, or I’m on my own. Skills like Nimble or Sword Mastery, which only make me faster or better with a sword, are so subtle that it’s impossible to prove anything. Now that I think about it, that was really close! I only used Slash Flurry for one attack, so it didn’t look unnatural. If I had chained more than one attack, I would’ve been screwed!

 

“Just be careful, Iroha. I would hate for something bad to happen to you.” Katja pulls back and smiles at me.

 

“A- alright. I promise.” Somehow, I’m still scared. Something bad? What’s gonna happen if I throw a fireball at a monster? I really don’t wanna find out.

 

“Good. We’re done sparring, so let’s practice some swings.” Katja’s completely back to normal now. That’s a relief. “Oh, maybe I still have something to tell you first.” I looked at Katja with an inquisitive look. “I’m gonna have a surprise ready for you tomorrow. Make sure you come to the dojo as soon as you can.” A surprise?! No way! Is she gonna kill me because of the VISS Driver? No, there’s no way. She doesn’t know about it, and there’s no reason for her to wait until tomorrow if that were the case. What could it be, then? Is it actually a good surprise? Is she that happy with how I did today? Finally! I can’t believe I’m actually making some progress!

 

“Okay! I’ll come as soon as I can!”

 

After our promise was finalized, we went ahead with the rest of the training just as planned. Knowing there was gonna be a surprise ready for me tomorrow made it very hard for me to focus on anything else. I was so excited to know what it was all about, so it annoyed me to know I’d have to wait until tomorrow, and until after school was over, to find out. It didn't matter that much because it didn't take long for the next day to arrive and for me to be back at the dojo.

 

“Carol?” As soon as I entered the room, I saw Carol and Katja standing in the middle of the dojo. This isn’t exactly the surprise I was expecting… I think this isn’t it. Carol was holding onto a wooden sword, and after taking a look around, I noticed that it wasn’t just Katja and Carol here. Hecate was sitting next to Carol on the spectators’ bench. Why is everyone gathered here?

 

“You’re late! Who do you think you are making us wait like this?” The first thing I heard was Carol screaming at me. Her face turned sour as soon as she saw me. She must not be happy to see me. No surprises there.

 

“We’re here of our own volition, so you can’t blame Iroha.” Hecate calmed Carol with her comment before looking towards me. “Hello, Iroha. It’s nice to see you.”

 

“H- hi…” There’s too much going on, so I don’t know how I should act. I greeted Hecate back to begin with, but I have no clue what about my current situation… Where’s my surprise? Where’s my kiss? “What’s going on?” I looked towards Katja with a face that was just begging for help.

 

“Is your head just for show? You’re so useless!” Carol pointed to her own head as she questioned my intelligence. “Can’t you tell just by looking?”

 

Nope. I can’t really tell. The only thing I’ve come to understand is that sometimes a surprise is neither good nor bad, but just… surprising. I can’t even fathom a guess as to why Hecate and Narumi are here. Well, that’s not true. Narumi’s probably just here to kill time. Hecate’s the one I have no clue. Carol’s holding a sword like the ones me and Katja have been using, so maybe that’s a hint. Is she here to practice with us? Or…

 

“Don’t be like that, Carol. Let me explain, Iroha. You’ve been getting better, but the difference in skill between you and me is too big, so it’s hard for you to learn about real combat when we spar. Because of that, I asked Carol to spar with you since you’re more evenly matched.” Carol’s face twitched with anger when Katja said that. “Carol is still much stronger than you, but she’ll make for a good training partner. Don’t underestimate her, okay?” So Carol’s the weakest one? Where does Hecate place? She certainly doesn’t look weak. She can get really scary, but she doesn’t look like a fighter. It’s got to be hard to fight with a frilly dress…

 

“And we’re just here to kill time!” Narumi cheerfully spoke for both her and Hecate.

 

“I haven’t had the opportunity to see you learn the blade, so I ended up joining. I was surprised to learn you’d be clashing with Carol, and that I just had to witness.” Hecate spoke up to answer my inquisitive gaze. The image of Hecate with her yellow eye and black dress sitting in a dojo was quite amusing. So the two of them are just here to watch me spar with Carol. Alright, I understand.

 

“Why are you smiling?” Carol’s angry again. I really can’t do anything around this girl. “Are you happy everyone’s here to see you getting your butt kicked?” Carol provoked me while smiling. “Narumi and Katja have been singing your praises, but I don’t buy it. Evenly matched? Yeah, right. You’re useless, and I’m going to open everyone’s eyes.” Carol pointed her sword at me as she said that.

 

She’s really looking at me like I’m an enemy… I don’t really get it. Does she know we’re supposed to be on the same side? Carol is smaller than me, and she’s all around cute, so it’s hard to get angry with her no matter what she says. I don’t know whether or not she’s gonna open everyone’s eyes when it comes to me, but right now, the other girls are just looking at her and trying to figure out whether she’s going too far with her words.

 

“Well… That’s the gist of it, Iroha. Do you accept?” Katja looked at me, troubled, as she stood behind Carol. “This is just another sparring match, so I’ll put a stop to it before anyone gets hurt.” Is that necessary? Is Carol planning on breaking my bones? I’m not really scared of her, but if she’s crazy enough to go that far, maybe I should be.

 

“Uhmm… I accept…” Katja came over to me and handed me a sword, and after a little more conversation, me and Carol got into positions, and we waited for Katja to give us the signal to start.

 

Carol was right in front of me, looking me in the eyes, and as soon as the word ‘start’ left Katja’s mouth, she started sprinting towards me, ready to attack. “!?” I barely had time to assess what was going on, and I moved my sword just in time to block Carol’s first swing. This is bad. Katja always begins by telling me to come at her. I’ve never been on this side before.

 

“Tsk!” Carol clicked her tongue and attacked me many times in succession. She’s strong. Certainly stronger than me, but I can block everything if I give it my all. I don’t know whether or not she’s going all out yet, but this is nothing compared to when I fight Katja. I see an opportunity, and I try to swing at her, but just like how I’m able to block her attacks, she’s also able to block mine, and now she’s back on the offensive again.

 

Carol’s looking more and more annoyed as all her attacks continue to get blocked. I can’t do anything, and I’m going to lose at this rate, but it’s probably not as easy for her as she expected. She changes her grip on her sword, and I can tell a big one is coming. It’s hard for me to block her normal attacks, so I have no clue if I can block this one. No… That’s not it…  It’s not a strong attack! It’s a… *Clack!* Feint! “Why? Why can you block that?” That was Sword Mastery at play. I managed to spot that a feint was coming just in time to still be able to block it. The tiny increase in perception and dexterity that the skill gave me made all the difference. The attack was still nasty, and since my defense was rushed and shoddy, it still threw me off balance and caused me to take a couple steps back. “Katja! My goal is to win, right? It doesn’t matter how?” Carol glared at me while speaking to Katja.

 

“Yeah, but you can’t go overboard.” What are you thinking, having a conversation in the middle of our match? You just gave me an opportunity to strike! I gripped my sword and rushed straight at Carol. This time I was the one on the offense, and I was able to keep her from turning things around. I should have tried to come up with a better plan, but for now all I can do is swing at her and hope that an opportunity shows up.

 

I kept up the pressure, and eventually I noticed Carol’s stance getting lower. Is this the opportunity I’ve been waiting for? I swung down at her, but she jumped back and avoided my attack while maintaining that lower stance. Carol flashed me a confident look and rushed towards me. I prepared myself to block against a low attack, but that attack never came. Carol wasn’t interested in attacking me with her sword since that would only drag things out, and instead decided to swipe at my legs with a kick. Is that even allowed!? Everything goes in a real fight. Whatever it takes in order to win, I suppose. Lesson learned.

 

Oh well… It’s over. I’m falling. I’ve been doing so well, and now everything has come crashing down. She’s strong, way stronger than she looks. I still have a lot to learn. Maybe I’ve been getting lucky all along. Every time I’ve fallen thus far, it has been on my butt, but I don’t think I’ll be that fortunate this time. And all of a sudden, everything goes black.