When I knocked on the door to Shizuka’s room, she wasn’t pleased. Her hair was tangled and she was still bleary eyed from being woken up at three AM, but as soon as she saw me that look of annoyance was replaced by one of concern.

“You look like you’ve come back from the dead,” she murmurs, scanning me from head to toe.

You should have seen me when I just got home.

Covered from head to toe in dried river water, my bloodstained clothes reduced to rags, it took the stealth of a panther to sneak through the house and take a shower. I threw out my clothes on the way back to dispose of the evidence, and the contact lenses are once again sitting comfortably in my eyes.

There’s no way I could sleep after what just happened in the woods, so I decided to come here straight away to claim my prize. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen her without makeup or a cigarette in her mouth, and in fluffy pink pajamas too. I’m not surprised at all that she can see the mental tiredness in my eyes.

“Come in,” she yawns. “You’re lucky I’m in charge of you, any sensible person would tell you to come back in the morning.”

“It is the morning.”

“No it’s not, it’s the middle of the night.”

She heads back into the living room, flipping on the light switch. “Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee? Or do you plan to go back to sleep later?”

“I’ll take tea,” I decide. I’m definitely not feeling sleepy – the excitement of the battle, the thoughts going through my head concerning my decision with the baby, the anticipation of my prize… I’ll probably be sleeping for a whole day once it all dies down, but for now I can’t stop my heart from racing.

The soothing sound of a kettle hissing calms my nerves, if only slightly. Now that I think about it, the air here is surprisingly fresh. Maybe I should come more often at night.

“So what happened?” Shizuka asks, stifling a yawn. “Something big, I’ll wager.”

“I killed it,” I say. “The feral vampire.”

I don’t hear anything. Concerned that she nodded off, I pivot my head from the couch and see a rare sight.

She’s surprised.

I’ve seen her happy, angry and sad (usually after a date gone wrong)… but never surprised.

“…Wow.”

She stands there stupidly as the kettle pings to signal the completion of its task.

“Don’t you want to see proof?” I ask, slightly unsettled.

She shakes her head. “I believe you. It feels like the battle really shook you… something’s changed.”

Well… the hardest part was after the fight itself.

I bring out my phone and the picture of the lower half of the vampire. I deliberately took it from a position where she wouldn’t be able to tell that half the forest had been cleared, and a new canyon formed. If ANGEL found out about the cost of our victory… I have no idea what would happen, but it wouldn’t be good. For now, I’ll sit back and let the conspiracy theorists do the work for me.

“You completely destroyed it,” she marvels, handing me a mug of tea. “Are you sure you’re not taking the credit for someone else’s work?”

“Nope. If I weren’t there, that thing would still be alive.”

Well, that’s not a lie. Alice would have died if I didn’t give her a chance to fire off that beam.

“You’ve really gotten stronger,” she says. “When I first met you I thought you were just an arrogant brat. But here you are now, taking on A level threats. Guess I didn’t need to call in aid from District Thirteen after all.”

It’s rare to be praised by my superior, so I take it in like a puppy being rewarded by its master. “Aw, it was nothing. I was always this strong, you just never gave me a chance to prove myself.”

“Hah, I guess you’re still an arrogant brat – but at least your arrogance is well founded now.”

I’m not sure whether that was a compliment or not.

Shizuka comes around and sits on the sofa beside me. “I’ll have the money transferred to your account. Take a break for a few days – you’ve earned it.”

***

I ended up skipping school that day, because I felt like it.

It’s Wednesday now and even though it was only two nights ago that the feral vampire was killed, it feels like everything’s changed. A sense of nostalgia overcomes me as I sit down in class, ready to begin lessons.

Two days ago I walked through those gates as a demon for the first time. Today, I walk through as a feral vampire slayer, and the proud owner of ten thousand dollars.

As my eyes wander over to Alice’s empty seat, I wonder what will become of her. Will she still continue to attend Fifth Hill High? Or will she disappear, never to be seen again?

“You look terrible,” Dennis remarks from beside me.

“Really?” I feign ignorance. “I guess I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Huh. Could it be that the aliens did something to you?”

“Aliens?” I ask. I’m already beginning to see where this is heading.

“Yeah. Didn’t you see the news this morning? There were strange lights reported from the woods around Ashbrook, and a huge section of the trees were cleared. That’s not the strangest thing though – something blasted through the ridge and created a small canyon right in the middle.”

I feign surprise. “Wow. But aliens… really?”

News sure does travel fast.

Dennis shrugs. “There’s no natural explanation for the incident, so people are going crazy with the theories.”

It’s not too far from the truth, really. Demons and Divine Edges are pretty much just different words for aliens and high tech weapons.

With that said, the door opens and Mrs. Kuksal strides in. I guess Alice really won’t be coming in today.

As she begins to read off the names in alphabetical order by surname, I become increasingly aware of a sharp gaze on my neck. I turn my head just in time to come face to face with a crumpled ball of paper, inches away from my face. Before I can register this I’ve caught the ball, surprising both myself and the sender.

Leo’s scowling face glares at me from across the room. Bringing the paper under my desk, I unfold it.

We need to talk.

Well, this is unlike Leo. If he wanted to say something he’d usually just single me out during class or a break and confront me, rather than give me prior warning.

Just as I’m contemplating whether or not to accept his request, the door opens.

“Oh, Alice! There you are, you’re just in time to avoid being late.”

Mrs. Kuksal cheerily sends out a greeting and sends her off to her seat.

“Sorry, Miss. I got caught up in traffic.”

Liar. You live close enough to walk here.

I don’t even realize I’m smiling to myself as she goes and takes her seat, shortly before the first period begins.

***

“So what’s the problem?” I grumpily ask as Leo confronts me during lunch. I’d intended to ask Alice about her current plans, but I can’t exactly ignore him now.

“Our school got knocked out in the quarter finals yesterday,” he grumbles.

“Quarter finals? For what?”

“Karate, what else?”

Huh… what’s the big deal?

“Quarter finals is pretty good,” I say, unsure of where this is going. “For such an unknown school, at least.”

Leo nods in agreement. “We did our best, and all that practicing paid off. But… Ashley’s really been beating herself up over our loss.”

“Hmm… it’s not her fault though, is it?”

“It’s not. But she still feels somewhat responsible for the loss… and she seems really depressed. I can’t stress to her enough that she did everything she could, but still…”

“So what’s this got to do with me?”

Leo pauses for a moment, before shakily lowering his head.

“I need you to cheer her up. I feel like you’re the only one who could do it.”

Well, well… I never would have thought the day would come.

“So… you’re asking me for a favour now? After all the shit I’ve had to take from you?”

I hear his breath catch in his throat. “Pl… please. I’ve never seen her like this… do it for her, if not for me.”

I revel in this newfound sense of power. “What’s in it for me? Why would I suddenly help one of my enemies?”

Leo keeps his eyes fixed to the ground. “I’ll pay you money. I’ll stop picking on you. I’ll…”

“I don’t need your money,” I smirk.

I’ve already made up my mind about helping her out – after all, I can’t say no to someone who’s been so nice to me. I just need to keep up this act to get Leo on his knees and begging for mercy.

“Please,” he begs again. “I’m sorry for being an asshole to you, and I know saying it doesn’t really do anything but I’m apologizing anyway.”

“Are you really though?” I sneer. “Look me in the eye and say it.”

Leo slowly raises his head and holds onto my gaze… before cursing.

“Godamnit…”

“I thought so.”

I let out a heavy sigh. I suppose I’m still in a good mood from the recent turn of events.

“Alright, I’ll help her out. I seriously hope things change between us from here on.”

“Thank you,” he bows again. “I won’t forget this.”

Next thing you know, a night’s rest will have him picking on me again.

Leo keeps his head bowed as I turn and stride away. I might as well get started now – I don’t like seeing Ashley down in the dumps just as much as Leo doesn’t.

***

This is the first time I’ve stepped into Ashley’s class. She’s actually in the top class for most of her subjects that are ranked, so a commoner like me intruding is a rare sight. I hate to say it, but lots of the geniuses in these classes are either loners or elitists.

Ignoring the curious and condescending gazes from the superiors in the room, I head towards Ashley’s lone desk. There’s a depressing aura around her, probably the reason why everyone including her friends are nowhere to be seen. They probably think she needs some time to herself. I’m going to hope that Leo’s plan of having me cheer her up works.

“Yo,” I greet, slumping down in front of her. “Mind if I have lunch with you?”

At first, she seems not to have heard. Then, slowly, she lifts her head and looks at me from behind her bangs. There are shadows under her eyes, clear signs that she hasn’t slept well. This was probably how I looked yesterday morning.

“Okay,” she says quietly, pulling the lid off her lunch. Well, it’s a start.

“I heard about what happened,” I decide to begin. “You shouldn’t dwell too much on it. You trained pretty hard, I’m sure everyone’s proud of how far you guys came.”

I’ve never really had to comfort anyone before, so I hope I’m not just making things worse.

“Everyone had such high hopes,” she murmurs. “We were going to make it to the finals… maybe even qualify for the nationals. But we didn’t even make it to the semis…”

“Well, of course it’s not going to be easy,” I reply. “I mean, you are going up against some of the toughest schools in the district. Some of them are schools specialized in sports, they have far superior equipment and facilities, as well as coaches. It’s not really your fault.”

“We trained so hard, but we still didn’t stand a chance…”

Oh boy… I’m starting to get a bit sick of her defeatist attitude.

“Look,” I say, my voice slightly rising in volume. “That just means you need to train more, improve, evolve. It’s not the end of the world – there’s still next-“

Oh shit.

“This was my last year,” she whispers. “And the last for a lot of other seniors too.”

“W-well, I’m sure you just got the juniors and freshmen fired up for next year,” I say. “I mean… there’s still university and stuff, right? I’m sure they have clubs and tournaments there.”

She sighs and doesn’t say anything. What am I supposed to do now?

“Be proud of what you achieved,” I say. “You’re a martial artist. You can defend yourself if anyone tries to beat you up – that’s already more than what I can do. Hold on a sec.”

I turn my back to her and whip out my phone, doing a quick Google search.

“Here’s something that Bruce Lee, one of the greatest martial artists in the world once said. ‘A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.’ It’s not about the destination, but about the journey. You were aiming for the top – you didn’t reach it, but you came close. You inspired the school, raised the bar for everyone else. You made friends and enemies. You became strong.”

I’ve unconsciously stood up. “Martial arts aren’t about winning or losing. They’re about a way of life, about sets of values which you uphold and keep with you forever. Sure you lost, and it’s good to feel frustrated. Isn’t it so much more exciting to know that you’ve still got a ways to go? That there are still so many strong opponents to beat? I’m sure you’ll run into them again in university. There’ll be plenty of opportunities to fight again. Do you think they’re not afraid of you? While you’re here, sulking in the corner, they’ll be training to widen the gap. Do you want that? Or do you want to look up, stop looking back, and take one step forward? The journey’s not over yet, Ashley. That goal isn’t going anywhere, even if you graduate, even if you die.”

I stop, panting. Around me, everyone suddenly breaks into a massive round of applause.

“Bravo!”

“Well said!”

“That was so motivational it almost made me cry…”

C-crap… I just made a fool of myself in front of the geniuses…

Ashley gives a small smile before hastily covering her mouth. “You’re so embarrassingly corny,” she says.

I quickly sit down, searching for a hole to hide in. But I can see the usual glint in her eyes again, the glint that was missing before.

Thanks, Bruce. I owe you one – and it seems like my bullshitting skills are still on point. I literally picked the first quote from the Google search.

“Leo put you up to this, didn’t he?” she asks, beginning to eat.

“Uh… well…”

“You don’t have to lie. He’s such a good brother, only he’d think of this.”

Yeah, whatever you say…

“You’re right, though. I got so caught up with winning that I forgot the reason I tried out karate for the first time – just in case any scary men tried to force themselves on me, I could defend myself.”

“W-well… that’s one way to put it.”

“Although if it were you… I wouldn’t mind,” she says, a suggestive look in her eyes.

“A-Anyway,” I say, quickly looking away. “My work here is –“

“Not so fast. The match is still fresh on my mind, Bran. I need you to overwrite those memories with something happy.”

I’m not sure I like where this is going. “Like what?”

Ashley grins, leaning over to whisper in my ear. “Go on a date with me.”