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Hideo stands there for aheavily, his expression hard As if he were seeing so there Then, the fury in his eyes fades, and for a ain He offers the trainer his hand and pulls him back up to his feet The session ends

I watch in stunned silence as Hideo bids farewell to his trainer, then heads out of the roo hies Then the Meain, jolted back into a peaceful scene I finally exhale, realizing I’d been holding ets his bruised knuckles Why does he train like a demon possessed? Why does he strike as if he wants to kill? I shiver at the memory of his expression, of those vicious, dark eyes, absent of any hint of the playful, polite, charisht I knew I shakethis Meuards, Hideo probably didn’t intend for anyone to see that

The shifting light in my bedroom starts to reflect frolow startles me back into reality I’ sessions

I exit frohts on Ren instead In the back of h, Hideo’s conversation with me plays on repeat And when I finally leavefor the day, it’s the ers, the aze

15

Three days pass in a blur of training activity The Phoenix Riders run drills of every possible combination I’m paired with Hammie, then with Ren, then with Asher and Roshan I’ainst the cliffs We practice in levels fro in between

Asher trains us with an intensity I haven’t seen before I struggle to keep up Every neorld I play is a world everyone else has already played, every new maneuver a faetting the hang of so, Asher will halve the time required of us to do certainused to a world, Asher moves us on to the next one

I end ainst the couches with my teammates, my mind croith new information as Asher revieith us what the next day will be My dreams are filled with our drills

While Hideo had made sure I would end up on a team, he can’t help the Phoenix Riders win If we lose, my teammates will disband for the season, and it’ll be thaton ht end up forfeiting the bounty to some other hunter who can stay in the Championships

"You’re new to this" Roshan tries to reassure ainst one another on the couches Wikki is -hot dinner "It should take you ti"

On s a fork into her food "One of these days, Roshan, your bleeding heart is going to bleed all over us" Her eyes flicker to s her loaded fork to her lips "We can’t afford for her to go easy on herself"

"She shouldn’t have been in the draft," Ren interjects

Ha" Ren holds up his knife and fork in defense "I didn’t DJ international events on my first try It’s not healthy" He looks at me "Don’t force her into situations she’s not ready for You ht kill her"

I look away fro Does he suspect reement at Ren "We can’t afford for her to burn out There is such a thing But you already know that, Hams"

"That was only because I was a Titan that year, and Oliver was a pitiful captain compared to Ash"

"I appreciate the flattery," Asher says as he pops a fry into hisyour cues in training, Eht all week," Roshan interjects "I can see it on her face"

"I’ to rub away the dark circles underaround toohts

Asher clears his throat from where he’s seated, and the others settle down He nods at us all "No training toain the day after that"

I give Roshan a gentle nudge of gratitude, while Hammie shoots Asher a sullen look I’m reminded of the relentless way she played speed chess in her Me toade"