The girl stepped back and raised her hands. ‘What’re you talking about?’

What was her name again? Ren? Rika?

‘Do you know how long I’d been waiting for you?’ asked Kaede. ‘Fifteen minutes, Rina. Maya probably sent out the signal twenty times. Why didn’t you signal back and attack the archers together like we planned?’

As if on cue, Maya and Cho crept out of a clothing shop nearby. I’d been wondering where they were. Besides them, several other faces peaked out at us from the many windows lining this part of the street. Perhaps they’d been hiding before while we fought, but now the apartments’ residents wanted some juicy gossip.

Rina rubbed the back of her head, glancing at the sky. ‘I was distracted.’

‘What could you possibly be distracted by?’ Kaede spluttered. ‘You knew we had to attack them at the same time, or one of the sisters would shoot us down before we could finish off the other. In fact, Kei here got shot trying!’

So they were trying to ambush an ambush, and we just happened to stumble in as the bait.

Rina shrugged, still not meeting Kaede’s eyes.

‘You’re impossible!’ Kaede shook her head and marched off into an alleyway on our left. Her footfalls were loud and sent dust clouds in their wake, probably intentionally.

I’d never thought Kaede could blow up at someone like this. She’d always been calm and patient, even back when Ahio was kidnapped and she was barely holding it together. The only time she’d been as upset was when she was almost kidnapped. And still, she’d kept her cool for the most part. Was she this worked up just because they almost botched a plan that mostly ended up in their favour? What’s really going on?

I followed her into the winding alley.

Leaving a few paces between us to give her some personal space, I trekked behind her without making much noise. I didn’t want to startle her. We passed clothes hung to dry above our heads, looping electricity wires crisscrossing dangerously close to us and pipes with gurgling contents. A dank smell of fungi grew as we ventured deeper. The lane came to a dead-end, reaching the backside of an apartment.

Kaede punched the wall.

The crack of fist slamming against brick joined the sounds of leaky pipes and singing birds. She leaned on a rusty stairway opposite the wall, head in hands. I second-guessed my decision to follow her but stayed anyway. After facing a madman with an axe, how much worse could this be? My resolve building with every step, I approached her.

‘Kaede, are you alright?’

She jerked up and blinked at me. I’d half expected her to be crying, but thankfully she was not. ‘Oh, Tahro! Yes, I’m—’ She paused, glancing at the cobblestone ground. ‘Well, no, I guess I’m not fine. Sorry about shouting out there.’

‘That’s alright. I guess Rina messed up pretty bad.’

A flash of anger crossed Kaede's features. ‘I’ve been putting up with her nonsense the whole day. First, it was the bronze key. She tripped on her own feet and almost got us all stuck inside a refrigerator. Only Cho’s quick thinking got us out of that one. Then it was the silver, except this time we did get stuck in a rope making shop after she daydreamed in the middle of the task.’ Ouch, that hit too close to home. ‘It took a while for the invigilator to untangle us, and we weren’t allowed to give it another go.’ Now that she mentioned it, I noticed faint braid like bruises all over her arms from the ropes. She probably had more that were covered by clothing. ‘And now she was distracted.’

‘That sounds terrible.’ It could also be that Rina had had a bad day, but sympathizing with the object of her ire would probably make Kaede more frustrated.

‘It’s not just that she keeps screwing up.’ Kaede sighed. ‘She doesn’t even seem to care. Every time, she looks disinterested and almost looking for ways to make things worse.’

I didn’t know what to say, so I hummed in response. At this point, Kaede only seemed to be looking for someone to vent to anyway. At least, that’s what I told myself.

She strode forward and kicked the wall, dislodging bits of already cracked stone. ‘I want to win this so much.’ She clenched her fists. ‘How well we do here is a factor when they promote us into first grades.’

Yet another piece of information I probably missed out from not getting special training. ‘I’m sure you’ll still do great.’

Kaede gave me a smile, but it faltered. ‘My parents didn’t want me to be a swordsman, you know? We still fight about it here and then. My mum, she used to be in the special squads. An assassin. She never talks about those days, says they remind her of things she wants to forget. But every time they discourage me, the more and more I’m drawn to it. I want to rise to the top ranks, become Head Swordsman. I want to stop the kind of things that hurt my mum. It’s been my dream since as long as I could remember.’

The manga had shown her mother had been a swordsman, but never expanded more. Respect for the girl blossomed within my heart. For me, this world was where I could be whatever I wanted. But for Kaede, it’s where she still had to fight for her dreams.

‘I know you’ll be one of the best Head Swordsmen there ever was. They’ll be mad not to promote a great fighter like you. Take today, you didn’t have to help us, but you jumped in anyway.’

‘Thanks, Tahro.’ This time Kaede chuckled a bit. ‘I couldn’t stand there watching when Daisuke had a knife under his throat. But you know what it’s like.’ She bit her lower lip. ‘I never did thank you for that day, did I?’

‘You don’t have to.’ And neither did I deserve it. At that time, I’d been acting on impulse. Would I do it again, if I’d had more time to think? I didn’t know. Even now, knowing Saeru was after her, I kept it a secret. Yuuhei advised me to not warn her. But what did I really want?

Unlike her, I really am just standing on the sidelines watching.

‘Um, Kaede, I need to tell you something.’ Common sense made me stop before I said too much. I was being rash. The points Yuuhei mentioned the day he advised me came back to me. I need to wait for more information from the manga. I’ll warn her as soon as I knew it wouldn’t screw anything up.

Kaede stared at me, eyes widened with anticipation. Uh oh, what do I tell her now? My brain drew a blank, but I searched around for something, anything.

‘Um, those gauntlets look great on you.’ I blurted out, gesturing at the plum and yellow accessories I’d gifted her. The edges were somewhat worn out, but they largely looked in great shape. Hope she buys this. Please ground, swallow me up now. My cheeks burned with fury.

Kaede laughed, then cocked an eyebrow. ‘Thanks Tahro. They’re very useful too. Where did you buy them from?’

The subject thus changed to my relief, we chatted about armouries, swords and fighting techniques all the way out of the alley.