"Okay," the girl says, her face flushed with embarrassment. "It's not like I owe you or anything, nor am I concerned about you, but I'm...I'm..."

(Honestly, is it really so hard to apologize?) I think to myself.

I'd say it's been about an hour since I came to. Luckily, like my cloak, I seem to recover at a fairly fast pace. Not that I'm feeling any less tired, though. Anyway, let's recap. I find myself in the coliseum clinic when I wake up. Doryoko and Tony were there to see me wake up and, much to my surprise, it turns out this girl had been waiting outside the clinic room to see about my condition. I can tell she is actually sorry, she's just not good at admitting such things. At least she's treating me to a meal at "Beast's Bounty," one of the local restaurants in Terraz. We are sitting across from each other in one of the booths near the window of its First Age Chinese restaurant interior. Truth be told, I keep forgetting how packed it is during the Rebirth Festival, considering that most of us rarely have time to leave our farms.

Oh, and I missed the rest of the tournament. Sucks to be me. Wonder who won?

"Hey, you paying attention?" she asks.

"Hm? Um, sorry."

"Jeez, you're making this difficult."

"Shouldn't be that hard."

She stares at me, seemingly annoyed. She puffs out her cheeks in anger and pouts.

"Not like you have any other problems," she retorts.

The two of us stare at one another in awkward silence. Wonder what's on her mind?

"I'll have a salad please."

"Another ale? Coming right up!"

"What are you going to do during the festival?"

I continue to look at this girl and ponder. Her hair is back in its previous French braid with the bandana covering the red. Although her face is fairly appealing, her expression of anger detracts from her beauty. Still, even though she has proven herself strong in the fight against Darius, she doesn't take me for a full fledged killer. But I know, without a doubt, she is the girl from my dream. What is she doing here? What exactly happened between us that caused that nightmare to occur? I remember very little, but... I addressed her as a "traitor." And yet, I also remember trying to "change her fate." Why did I make such a proclamation? Is she a traitor? Does she need my help escaping a terrible fate? Traitor? Fate? Traitor? Fate? Traitorfatetraitorfatetraitorfatetraitorfate!?!?!? Aaa! My head!!!!!!!

"Hey!" she says as she slaps me across my left cheek. "Pay attention!"

I place my left hand over my cheek. As soon as I do, I feel an abnormal sensation of warmth coming from the mark that no doubt is on my face.

"Ever heard of self restraint?" I ask.

"Ever heard of paying attention? Why did you jump into my quarrel with that asshole anyway?"

"Like I said, you need self restraint. You could have killed him."

"What makes you think someone with a pretty face like this would do something like that?"

"Call it a...gut feeling."

"And you expect me to believe a 'gut feeling'?"

"I can't seem to explain it myself. Occasionally, whenever something big is about to happen, I get what I want to call 'visions' of what will happen. They've saved my life in the past, but I still don't quite understand how they work."

After hearing this, the girl looks me over with a puzzled expression.

"Well, you don't seem to look like anybody else around here. But do you really expect me to believe you have such a power?"

"Do I look like someone who would lie to you about such things?"

"I don't know. That getup of yours makes it hard to see you. What's with the cape anyway?"

....

"As...far back as I can remember, I've been stuck in this so-called 'getup'. I don't know if you were in the audience during my fight, but..."

Looking down at my cloak's right sleeve, I rip off the ends with my bare hands. Immediately, as expected, my cloak begins to glow around that area and repairs itself.

"As you can see, it somehow can repair itself. Not only that, for whatever reason, I cannot take it off. Honestly, I can't even take off this hood. If you don't believe me, you can try for yourself."

At this, the girl's scowl becomes a mischievous wide smile.

"You sure about that?"

(Oh crap!)

"Um...uh...hehe. Please...be gentle."

Although that plea causes her to blush for a split second, she smiles again, jumps over the table to my side of the booth, and starts to pull with all her might on my cloak's hood.

"OW! Easy!"

"Consider this payback for the trouble you got both of us into back at the tournament!"

She keeps pulling hard on my cloak's hood but, as I stated, it refuses to budge.

"Jeez, what did you do to get it this stuck? Glue it to your head?"

"I surrender! I surrender! Uncle! Uncle! Just stop!"

The girl looks around and sees we are attracting unwanted attention. She blushes, lets me go, and jumps back to her side of the booth.

She clears her throat and says, "Sorry for overreacting. We fire tones can get a little...um...'impulsive' at times."

"Don't worry. Compared to what some of the animal tones have tried, that was arguably one of the 'gentler' attempts."

Ah yes, fire tones. A fairly fast and strong tone type, stereotypically associated with many of them having "mood swings." This is the first time I've ever met one though. Or, at least, to my knowledge.

"Anyway," she says, "Ever try shining a light on your face at least? Let others see the rest of it?"

"We've tried that, too. Try creating some fire please. Perhaps a small 'Magma Orb'."

...!!!!!!!

"I didn't use that during the tournament. How did you...!"

Guess that slipped out.

"Oh, sorry. Gut feeling."

....

Letting out a sigh, she holds an open right hand and says, "Fire Drive: Magma Orb." A small ember-sized ball of flame appears floating a few centimeters over her hand and begins to expand with each rotation. She continues to focus on doing this, until her fire orb's radius is the size of her palm.

"Lean close please. And hold still."

I do so and, when I look into her eyes, I can see in their reflection what I was expecting. The same glowing energy that repairs my cloak is covering the upper part of my face that's normally unseeable anyway.

(Who IS this guy?) she thinks.

"What or who are you?"

"My...'current' name is Oren Tsurai. I have been a local here for three years following my rescue and was adopted into the Tsurai family. As I said before, I was wearing this cloak as far back as that time as well."

"How exactly do you have animal tone strength? I got a glimpse of some of your fight, and I know that very few people, let alone just plant and animal tones, can be both as fast and as strong as you without using some rhime technique. Not only that, your body structure seems fairly normal, while all the other guys..."

"While all the other guys look like they belong in Fist of the North Star?"

."..That's one way of putting it."

"I can't tell you where I come from..."

(What?) she thinks. (Why not? Could he be...?)

"But I, as I said, I arrived here three years ago. All I can say is that I'm not a plant or animal tone. Most of Angelia's other plant and animal tones have gone overseas to one of the other continents, so I highly doubt there are any other settlements with these respective tones."

"Where did you really come from?"

"Cannot say."

"Tone type?"

"Cannot say."

"Subtone?"

"For the last time, stop asking personal questions, please."

She lets out a sigh, showing nothing less than disappointment in my answers. However, after realizing something, she searches her pockets for an item, all the while watching me closely, with suspicion. After a little bit, she whips out what looks like a piece of paper.

"One last question. Have you seen this girl?"

I take a look at the picture and notice the drawing is remarkably well done. It is the portrait of a teenage girl around this girl's age. The girl's bust is average, so that narrows down some of the tone type options, but she doesn't look at all familiar, it only tells me she isn't local. What's more, black hair isn't very common here in Terraz, so I would have remembered her. I shall assume from the drawing that her hair is about as long as this girl's hair, but this drawing only shows the missing girl from the front, so I cannot tell. Since this is a black and white hand-drawn sketch, I cannot determine eye color.

"Friend of yours?" I ask.

"Acquaintance."

"Sorry, all I can say is that she isn't local, though I'm sure you already knew that. I only know people here in Terraz, so I wouldn't know her."

"Shit," the girl mutters under her breath.

In the distance, laughter can be heard close to the street sections where the vendors are getting set up for the upcoming festival. I still have six hours to get ready. I turn to look out the window and hear some of the locals talking.

"What kind of performance should we expect this year?"

"I've heard Selot has gone missing. I pray this is so."

"Any sign of relief for New Vegas?"

"Doubt it, if the rich are all like that Darius brat."

New Vegas. It is an industrialized city that went from a small town like ours to what it is today in less than a decade after a large number of electric tone immigrants from Teconial brought their technology and knowledge to this fair continent. However, as of late, one might call its economic and political structure a First Age plutocracy. And then, there's...

"Seems that this 'Selot' character is still causing problems," I say, thinking aloud.

"Indeed," the girl replies. She still seems slightly suspicious, but for what reason, I do not know. "What exactly do you know about them?"

"Hmm... Let's see. This is all from gossip and what few newspapers I read in my minimal free time, but this 'Selot' character, assumed male, is making moves against the New Vegas government at night by breaking into government buildings and distributing the stolen wealth among the lower class. He is nicknamed "Tainted Blade" for his skilled fighting style involving the use of a Third Age sword. I don't know exactly if the cases of lower class individuals winding up in comatose state due to rhime deficiency have anything to do with him, though."

Rhime deficiency is actually a very deadly condition for people of this age. It's why I didn't use all of my rhime against Tony in my match against him. The human body requires 10% of the rhime it can produce to survive. This is because our bodies have evolved to the point that our muscles require rhime to remain functional so we can use our rhime techniques. Basically, one could call it a form of "supernatural oxygen."

As for the issue of New Vegas, it's been slightly less than three years since the comatose cases came about. All I can say is that the sudden spike in cases over the past month has definitely caused concern for everyone all over Angelia.

"You seem to know quite a bit about this character," she comments. "Much more than other Terraz locals."

"Everyone has something they do in their free time. If I'm not training, I'm reading."

"ALRIGHT FOR THE FLAT-CHEST!!!!" we hear some guys yell outside the restaurant. They are looking in at us.

"Damn, Oren!" another animal tone inside the restaurant says. "So you get your first win in the tournament, now you've got an IBT hottie with you for lunch. What about Sueka?"

"Hey! It's not like that!" I yell back.

"Whatever you say. Long live the itty-bitty titties!!!!!"

"Oh boy... Fads come and go, but this really has gotten out of..."

I turn back towards the girl and see that her face is completely red. I don't know her well, so I cannot tell if she's red with embarrassment or anger.

"Um...I'm sorry about that. Don't mind them. The guys around here can be a bit blunt about the things they appreciate."

"AND I'M SUPPOSED TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT THAT!?!?!?!?!?"

(I think she snapped.)

"Why am I so popular around here anyway!?!?"

I let out a sigh and brace myself for the storm...

"You do know you're exotic, right?" I say as I point outside.

The girl turns towards the window and looks at the woman outside.

Puriririn! Puriririn!

(Wait a minute...!) she thinks to herself with increasing concern.

She gets up to see the girls behind me in the restaurant.

PURIRIRIN! PURIRIRIN!

(This cannot be happening!!!)

She turns her head one way.

PURIRIRIN! PURIRIRIN!

And then another.

PURIRIRIN! PURIRIRIN! PURIRIRIN!

"Hey, Oren," says a familiar voice, "You got room for three more?"

She turns her head in the direction of the voice.

PPPPUUUURRRRIIIIIRRRRIIIIRRRRIIIIINNNNN!!!!!!!!!!

"I'M IN HELL!!!!!!"

"And we welcome you," I say sarcastically, "Miss small, fierce, and sensitive."

She grabs me by the collar of my cloak.

"You say that again, and I'll turn more than just your cloak to ash!"

"Okay! Okay! I get it! Can you just take a joke?"

(Man, she's freaky.)

I just hope she doesn't overreact when she sees my sister.

I turn my head towards those next to our table and see Tony and the two Ch'i sisters, Sakura and Ume. Sakura is a tall 18 year old plant tone of about 180 centimeters in height with straight, shoulder-length hazel hair, blue eyes, and a cheerful smile. I look down at her miko clothing, and it seems she is ready for her lead singing role at the Rebirth Festival. Ume, as usual, hides behind her. At the age of 16, she is shorter than most plant tones at around 155 centimeters but with a more noticeable bust and longer hair down to her waist. Like Sakura, she is also one of the three leads.

"Hey, isn't that the girl from the tournament?" Tony asks me.

"Mhm."

Sakura giggles a bit at the sight. "Nice to see you finally getting along with others outside of Terraz, Oren."

She turns towards the girl and politely bows. PURIRIRIN!

"It is an honor to meet you, young lady. My name is Sakura Ch'i, and I hope you will enjoy yourself at the festival today."

"Um...yeah...sure..." the girl says, staring at Sakura's bust.

"Oh, and this is my sister, Ume. Mind if the three of us join you?"

"Uh...no...I don't mind."

"Thank you very much," she says again, bowing. PURIRIRIN!

"Well, Ume, what do you say?"

Despite being 16 years of age, Ume is still rather...timid around most people. Even people she's known her whole life.

"I...I....mmm...um...." she says in her usual quiet voice. A few seconds into her mumbling, she takes a deep breath.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!" she says, bowing quickly.

PPPUUURRRIIIRRRIIIRRRIIINNN!

(Somebody kill me now...)

As the three sit down, with Ume right next to the girl, something immediately comes to mind.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't quite catch your name at the tournament. Or rather, I can't quite remember all of it after my injury. What was it again?"

I can tell she's still uncomfortable with the new company, but in the end, she musters the courage to say, "Mydrea Tsumetei."

"Well," I reply, "It's nice to meet you, Mydrea-sama."

"Sama?"

Sakura again giggles.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you," I say with embarrassment.

"Oren does that with everyone he just meets. It's a sign of trust coupled with formality." Tony explains. "You get used to it. He'll stop after you're good friends."

"Waitress!"

I glance at Tony and Sakura; the two seem to be pretty close, as usual. They've always been like this, ever since I've known them. I can guess who he was fighting for this year.

"Hello everyone!" says the waitress. "What can I interest you w... Brother?"

Surprised, I turn and see her. She is 16 years of age and around Ume's height. But I cannot mistake her for anyone else. Long pink hair in her signature hairstyle with a long French braid down her back with two short half pigtail braids over her shoulders. Green eyes that can pierce the heart of many. And, of course, my custom-made cheongsam dress to fit her...endowed assets. She is the one I've been hoping to meet up with following this morning. This is Sueka Tsurai...my sister.

"Oren...who is this young lady?"

Looking back at Mydrea-sama, I can tell that she doesn't see Sueka's yandere smile as she is focusing solely on her...abnormally large chest. Pity her pretty eyes can become so hollow when she gets like this.

"Brother...who is this..."

Sssccreeeee....

"Sueka, calm down," I say. "What you're thinking isn't the case. She's just here to apologize. That's all. Now please stop bending the serving tray."

"And you...?" she says, slowly turning towards Mydrea-sama.

Ume, Sakura, and Tony, all in fear, back away to allow Mydrea-sama to get up and walk up to Sueka.

"I only have one thing to say..."

"Yyyeeesss.....?"

As she puts her hands on my sister's shoulders, she asks...

"WHAT IS YOUR DIET LIKE!?!?!?!?"

(She should know a change in diet won't give her animal tone traits. She must be desperate.)

Dumbfounded, Sueka's expression turns into her usual blank face. "Um...soy milk?"

Mydrea-sama quickly sits back down.

"I'll have the best meat in the house and six cups of soy milk!"

"Meat!?" yelps Sueka with an expression of both fear and disgust.

(MEAT!?) I think.

I'm pretty sure we both have turned deathly pale at this request. With this, I collapse face first into the table.

"Meat...no....meat...."

"What's with him?" Mydrea-sama asks, pointing at me.

Tony gestures for Mydrea to stop talking.

"Don't bring up meat in front of these two..." he whispers to her across the table.

After staring at us in our pitiful states for a little bit, she finally says, "I'll just have twelve cups of soy milk, then."

"Okay!" Sueka suddenly says in her happy-go-lucky voice.

"I'll just have a salad." I request as I instantly recover.

(That was fast!) the others think simultaneously.

The rest of our meal is fairly uneventful. Idle chat with Tony and the sisters. Sueka tripping and spilling our food three times, apologizing constantly, then doing it again. The only thing that comes to mind is how unique Mydrea-sama is. After the third trip, she then asks for anything on the menu that wasn't...ugh...the "m" word. When she finally gets to eat some of the First Age tortillas, vegetable chow mein, and dumplings, she wolfs them down fast, before any of us can finish a fifth of what is on our own plates. She even asks "Are you going to eat that?" pointing to my salad after I stare, dumbfounded, at her empty plates. But that's to be expected of fire tones.

You see, rhime stereotypes are more than just emotional and mental ones. Some are physical as well. For animal tones, the males are all super muscular, and the women have the largest bust sizes of all tone types, but their IQs are...the lowest among all tone types. While plant tone girls are also fairly well-endowed, the most renowned trait they are associated with is their height. However, they are also the type most affected by changes in temperature, so they can only live in places with consistent weather all year round. For electric tones, their physical trait is also mental, as theirs is greatly enhanced intelligence. Still, they are physically weak and dependent on both rhime and machinery. As for fire tones, they can eat a lot and both gain weight and lose weight at usually fast paces. At least they can literally burn everything off as quickly as they get it.

After that, we part ways on what I hope are good terms. Everyone has their own preparations to finish.

"See you, brother!" Sueka says with her usual smile, as she heads home.

"Ume and I have to get our instruments tuned," Sakura tells us. "Oren, you get yours ready, too. And make sure you attend the opening ceremony, Tony!"

"Sure thing!"

"Come along, Ume."

"Y...yes...c.c.coming."

I guess I'll head home and prep...

"Wait! Oren, was it?"

I turn around and see Mydrea-sama still standing outside the restaurant. She slowly walks up to me and holds out her hand with something in it. It's the....!

It's the necklace from the tournament! She won!

"Take it."

"What!? Are you sure!?"

"Take it."

I slowly hold out my hand, and she tosses the necklace in the air. I easily catch, look at its splendor, then look back to Mydrea-sama. Now that I'm looking more closely, she doesn't seem to have a single injury. Not a scratch! Was she able to win the tournament without effort? Honestly, just how strong is sh...

"Stop staring, you pervert!" she says covering her chest.

"Oh! Whoops! Sorry!"

"It's...it's not like I wanted to thank you or anything!" she blurts out, blushing. Spoken like a true tsundere.

"Well, a-anyway. Enjoy yourself tonight," she adds hastily.

You know...I have to be wrong about her. Sure, she's strong, but there's no way a person like her would get involved in something like my nightmare.

As we part ways, I see Doryoko waving to me a few meters ahead. Guess I'll have to make preparations after our discussion.