“Bin, stay on Stand-by,” Sai whispered. He counted to seven once he heard Dante’s capsule begin to release its gas. The average time to synchronize with the Deep Dive capsule was 2.2 seconds. Considering the oaf that was Dante was involved, seven seconds should be enough. “Open,” he said. The capsule lifted up and opened.

He had to leave after Dante fell asleep, but he also needed to leave his capsule as quickly as possible. Arriving earlier, no matter how tiny those milliseconds were, gave Sai an advantage.

Kristina came out of her capsule a half-second later. She leaned against the glass shielding with a frown.

Cut to the chase, I want to kill stuff. Those were the words she would have said in this situation. The fact that she didn’t gave Sai absolute confidence in his theory. “Why didn’t you break Dante’s arm?”

Kristina’s frown turned straight lipped, then curved up. She showed her teeth, but Sai wouldn’t dare call it a smile. Her wandering eyes locked onto Sai, barely blinking or as much as moving. “You can go ahead and perform your detective work,” she said.

For once Sai didn’t. Her behavior was too obvious—the moment she realized skills were based on feats, Kristina knew what she had to do: push Dante to his limits. Break his bones, and force him to fight with it. Beat him down, let him get up, and then beat him down again. Make him sacrifice his limbs to get a single hit in.

Most importantly, however, she had to make him angry. He would have gained a powerful skill when he leveled up. Out of everyone, Dante needed that boon. His willpower was what made him special—unless they made use of it Dante might not grow at rare that would match the competition. He could have even exceeded it if Kristina had done her part.

He didn't even hesitate about fighting a bear for twenty seconds, damn it. That type of mental strength needs to be cultivated.

“I didn’t want to,” she said, shrugging.

She struck Sai speechless. She wasted a golden opportunity for that reasoning? Impossible. There was no reason for her not to. “Dante wouldn’t have hated you for it.” He wouldn’t even think that his friend brutally beating him was wrong. She’s trying to make me stronger. She honored me by not holding back.

“I know he wouldn’t,” she said, taking a step towards Sai. “I could kill him right now and he would think I had a decent reason for doing it.”

“Then why?” Sai said, his heart beating louder than he can think. His smile was still up. She stood a breath away from Sai. He could feel her toes lightly brush his.

Taking a step back would admit defeat. He would not be intimidated.

Or, at the very least, he will not show it.

When Kristina placed her hands on his shoulders, his feet almost went down. No shaking, no blushing, no heightened body temperature. Do not break eye contact. Even if he could smell her, he will not be affected.

“Why don’t I want to hurt the people I love? Is that your question, Sai?”

“T-That’s normies talk,” he said, resisting the urge to swallow. He already stuttered. If he did that he might as well throw the rest of his pride away. Focus on her words, not her voice. Find the pattern.

If she truly loved Dante, and if she loved…if she valued Sai, then she would have done everything that will increase their chances of completing Jarckal’s challenge. Hell, if she valued herself, she would have done it. Only ordinary people were bound by morals and ethics that clashed that got them killed. Kristina was not one of them.

“I know right?” she said, laughing. “For emotion to stop me? For me to consciously make the wrong decision? That’s crazy!”

“That’s what I’m saying!” he realized he was calling he crazy because she was acting normal, which made little linguistic sense, but he could hardly care at this point.

“It’s not bad. Try it. What are you feeling now?” she said, leaning in.

He tried to hold his breath in. She’s messing with you. Kristina might have noticed his weakness for her. It wouldn’t come to be a surprise that she would use this to her advantage. Remember your lessons, your experience, your thoughts. “That’s irrelevant. There is no worse outcome than Dante losing Jarckal’s challenge.”

“Worse outcome for who? You, or Dante?”

Her foolishness broke the spell she’d woven to cloud Sai’s mind. She didn’t know Jarckal the way Sai did. That man was a monster. Dante wasn’t just going to lose his inheritance if he couldn’t prove his worth—he was going to lose his life. All of them would,

No loose ends. No matter how tiny the possibility is, Jarckal wouldn’t leave an opening. It was why Dante no longer had an elder brother. “I thought you were smarter than this, Kristina. I really did,” Sai said.

“You underestimate both Dante and Jarckal, Sai,” she said, taking another step towards him. Their chests were touching. He could feel her thigh’s against his. Before he could escape Kristina got her hands on each of his cheek, bringing him close enough to touch her nose. “We’re the hostages, Sai, it isn’t the other way around. Jarckal is using our happiness to control Dante.”

“You think I don’t know that!” Sai yelled, clutching her arms. Dante did not fear death—Dante feared not living. Kristina’s and Sai’s safety was the only reason he participated in Jarckal’s challenges.

They were also the only reason why Dante lost any of them. Jarckal sent those men to take Sai’s eye for that very purpose. “We can’t run, we can’t hide. We can’t even take our lives without Dante feeling responsible for it!”

“I never said anything about our lives, Sai,” she said, smiling. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his.

Sai forgot to keep his legs straight. His mouth didn’t work–he just stared up with it gaping open. He didn’t understand what she did.

Kristina crouched down, burying her face into her forearms. Sai could only see her narrow his eyes at him. “Don’t force Dante between picking us, or being himself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sai’s mouth moved for him, the cursed thing.

"I wonder," she said, humming. Her hand reached forward, and with her palm towards the ground, she flicked his forehead. “Figure it out, you tomato!” She bounced back up, and with a wave, she went into her capsule. The purple gas-filled it up as it laid down, taking her out of his sight.

Sai dropped his back to the ground. He covered his eye with his arm. He tried to think, but Kristina’s face kept interrupting him. His brain couldn't catch up to what was happening. It lagged behind to when she...touched lips with him. It wasn't a kiss.

Remember, this is just fun and games for her. She changed a bit, but so what? She was still the same at the core. He didn’t fall for her because she was a cute girl—her disregard for the world was what made her attractive and unpredictable. She had no reason to abandon such a powerful mindset.

Her not caring about her life wasn’t a surprise, but what about Dante? Was she going to go soft and let the only person that cared about her die? Was she that cruel?

And why now, when it matters the most? What changed?

Sai always liked that he couldn’t understand her, but this time it was just frustrating. He couldn’t tell what type of person she was anymore, much less what she was thinking. Ignoring the urge to check her capsule, Sai stood up, getting into his own.

Jarckal wanted to change Dante because he saw his kindness as weakness. If Dante could prove he could success, regardless of the handicaps he placed on himself, then Jarckal would have no reason to force Dante between the people he loved and his way of life. The answer was the same as always.

Winning will solve everything.