Harley was usually this impatient.

It’d been an unfortunate consequence of most of her active life. If she didn’t get something she wanted in a timely manner, she’d bust down whatever door needed to get it quicker. Often, this led to her getting into fights with others, usually if they stole something of hers or hurt her friends, where fists wouldn’t stop flying until she’d gotten her just revenge.

Fortunately, she’d grown out of that as she’d gotten older, but that didn’t mean she stopped getting excited about waiting for things she wanted.

Especially when her team was taking so long.

“…come on, guys…pick up the pace…”

She took out her tablet idly, messing around and noticing a new message for her before a couple voices down the hall meant she couldn’t read it in time.

“Harley!” Julia called, as Harley noticed the rest of Team Valiant down the hallway, approaching at an appropriate speed.

“About time, you guys!” Harley replied.

“Hi!” Sola called. “Sorry, I slept in!”

“Dammit Sola…” Harley groaned, as they joined up with her. “Am I the only one excited for this?”

“Clearly, you aren’t.” Wess clarified. “But not all of us wake up absurdly early.”

“Essex does.” Harley pointed out, shaking her head. “However, I took Julia’s advice and set an alarm for 6:30.” Harley said. “I usually wake up then anyway, but it still helped.”

“Glad I could rub off on you.” Julia remarked, before realising how that sounded. “I’m s-that sounded reall-“

“Oh? Julia, I never knew you felt that way.” Harley teased, crouching to meet her height. “I always…had a feeling…but I never thought…”

“H-Harley, stop it!” Julia complained, blushed despite herself, getting a laugh from the rest of the team. “You know my heart can’t take that stuff.”

“Is this the correct room?” Essex asked Harley.

“Yep. Just waiting for Jovie to arrive.” Harley said. “The anticipation’s been killing me.”

“Anticipation for what?” Sola asked.

The team all looked at her, confused.

“Sola, we’re getting our new weapons today.” Julia said.

Sola blinked.

“You’re getting your arm-cannons.”

“Oh!” Sola realised. “Ooohhh!!!”

Sola looked visibly animated, after what felt like a ground shattering revelation. “Well if you’d told me that, I wouldn’t have slept in!”

“You wouldn’t have slept at all.” Wess remarked, getting a giggle out of Julia, as Essex looked longingly at the door.

Julia took notice and approached her. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your scythe back soon.”

Essex faced Julia. “I am mirroring Harley’s sentiment about anticipation…it is unnerving.”

“I just want Belvedere…” Wess empathised, caressing her empty scabbard, as they all noticed a figure down the hall, approaching with her shambled together breakfast and a pencil in her mouth.

She looked up from her papers, before realising she had students waiting and hurrying down the hall to meet up with them.

She placed her stuff on a nearby table and started signing. [Sorry, I’m not set up yet.]

“It’s no problem, Miss Jovie.” Julia replied. “We’re pretty early, anyway.”

“But not too early, right?” Harley asked, as Jovie squinted her eyes.

[Isn’t weapon collection still an hour away?]

“We were planning on avoiding the crowd.” Wess said, scanning around the hall. “But I suppose there isn’t one.”

Jovie casually stroked her chin, before checking her watch. [I suppose I can let you in early. You’re certainly lucky.]

Julia smiled, as Jovie reached for the door, opening up the entrance to the engineering department of the academy.

[Sorry about the mess.] Jovie apologised, clearing off a couple of the main tables. [What team are you?]

“Team Valiant.” Julia replied.

Jovie gave a thumbs up. [Give me a second to grab your equipment.]

Jovie ducked off into the backroom, before re-emerging with a large box dragging on the ground, labelled ‘Valiant’ on the side. She attempted to lift it up, placing it on the now cleared table, before catching her hand underneath the box and pulling back in pain.

“Are you okay, Miss Jovie?” Julia asked, checking to see if she was hurt.

Jovie shook her hand to calm her nerves. [Ow.]

“Whoa!” Sola called out, digging around the box. “They’re actually here!”

[The weight isn’t for show.] Jovie signed, as the team started digging around the box happily.

“Belvedere!” Wess exclaimed, grabbing the sword ecstatically. “I was so worried about what they’d do to you.”

Jovie raised an eyebrow, as Wess noticed and cleared her throat. “…but you’ve done an excellent job.”

“Don’t forget your shield.” Harley remarked, pulling it out from the box and handing it to Wess.

“Oh…yes.” Wess muttered. “I’d honestly forgotten about this.”

Julia rested a hand on her shoulder. “It looks great on you.”

Essex held her scythe to her chest, both inspecting and hugging it, as she started to turn it in her hands, analysing every angle.

[Does it meet your standards?] Jovie asked.

Essex blinked at the unknown hand movements, as Wess stepped in. “She asked if you like it.”

“Oh. Yes.” Essex replied, bowing. “I am grateful for the improvements made. Grela.”

“Oh my god!” Sola exclaimed, grabbing out one of her arm-cannons. “It’s real! You made it!”

[You’re welcome.] Jovie replied, as Sola started fitting it on, then moving it around.

“Watch out, Wailing!” She cried, Jovie and Harley desperately grabbing her arms.

“Sola, don’t just wave that thing around!” Harley yelled. “What if you zapped us?”

Sola’s eyes widened, gasping and putting the arm-cannon back down. “Sorry. I got excited…”

“It’s understandable.” Julia excused, reaching in for her rifle. “But we should test these out somewhere else.”

“Training grounds!” Harley exclaimed, now with her Buster Knuckles equipped.

Jovie grabbed their attention by snapping her fingers, before pointing back to the box. [There’s instructions and blueprints in the box. Please read them ahead of time before blowing yourselves up unnecessarily.]

“O-oh, of course, Miss.” Julia answered back. “We’ll make sure to be responsible.”

[Thank you.] Jovie let out, relieved to hear the word ‘responsible,’ as Julia grabbed everyone’s weapons and placed them back in the box, nearly getting an earful from Wess and Essex.

“Come on, guys. The quicker we get to the training grounds, the faster we can test them out.” Julia reasoned, as Harley and Essex lifted the box out of the room, Jovie waving tiredly to them as they left.

———

Harley and Essex skirted around each corner, following behind the others in front, Harley taking the time to check her tablet, smiling at the message she’d gotten.

“You tease…”

Julia’s ears perked. “Did you say something?”

Harley put the tablet away. “It’s nothing. Just texting back Brad, who might be joining us for training.”

“Brad?” Sola asked, hurrying down the hall. “Team Beefcake’s leader?”

“I didn’t know you were talking with him.” Julia said.

Harley nodded. “Turns out he’s a total party animal, and me and him have been spending some quality time together.” Harley explained, skirting around the halls corner with Essex.

Wess smirked and Julia blushed, as Essex blinked out of confusion. “Quality time?”

“She means sex, Essex.” Wess informed.

“Oh. Understood.” Essex replied.

“Y-you don’t have to be so casual about it.” Julia said. “What if someone heard u-“

Julia was stopped mid-sentence, exiting out onto the training grounds with the rest of the team, before bumping into a much taller man, as Julia looked up and saw Vice-Principal Coatsworth, now dusting off his suit.

“My apologies.” He said, before realising who it was. “…Julia Alpine.”

“Y-y-yes, that’s…me.” Julia replied, the team around her watching him carefully. “S-sorry about that.”

Coatsworth didn’t respond, instead choosing to clean up his suit and readjust his tie. “Are those your new weapons?”

Julia nodded, as Coatsworth peered by the side of the box, forcing Essex to step back. “I am anticipating your practice out on the grounds.”

Julia gulped. “A-are you gonna watch us?”

Coatsworth nodded. “I want to see the first-year students firsthand. It gives me hope to see the latest generation embracing their passions.”

He bowed a little, before ducking down the hall and out of sight, as everyone let go of their breath.

“He’s so weird!” Harley let out. “I felt like he was holding me at gun point.”

“I do not believe his demeanour.” Essex said, continuing with Harley out onto the training grounds.

“He certainly feels hostile.” Wess decided. “Almost scheming, in a way.”

“Scheming?” Sola asked. “He just wanted to watch us practice.”

“B-but he was so creepy about it…” Julia lamented, before trying to shake it off. “…let‘s focus on our new weapons, rather than Mr Creepsworth…”

The team found an empty bit of land, where Harley and Essex lay down the box, with a rejuvenated and excited Sola on the sidelines.

“Open it up! Open it open it open i-“

“Sola?”

“Yeah?”

“You wanna help?”

“…yeah!” Sola replied, opening up the box with Julia, the team re-equipping their weaponry, and Julia finally getting a good look at her new rifle.

She let out a gentle breath, before properly taking the time to inspect it, checking that everything was where it needed to be.

“It looks just like my sketches.” Julia said, checking the reload speed. “And I get to keep it…”

Harley started punching the air, testing out the new fabric cover to her Buster Knuckles. “It feels kinda weird wearing gloves under my gauntlets. How do I do the jet booster thing?”

Julia broke her trance from her rifle to rifle through the box, pulling out Harley’s blueprints and instructions. “It says here…the button underneath the pointer finger will set them off, but to keep them far away from your body. Fuel will also need to be reloaded after five minutes of overall use.”

“Five minutes? That’s it?” Harley moped, looking for the button.

“You’d probably only use it for a second at a time anyway.” Sola reasoned, as Harley carefully pointed her arm out, leaning back in case something went wrong.

She rested her finger against the button, as the flames shot out from behind the gauntlet, jerking her arm forward.

“Whoa…” She let out, before swinging back with her fist, punching forward and activating the jets, her body nearly toppling over from the added momentum of the jets.

“Holy shit. That’s got some kick to it.” Harley said.

“Don’t you mean punch?” Sola replied, getting a snicker out of Harley.

Harley noticed Wess by the side of her, struggling to balance with both a sword and shield, and almost toppling over. “You doing okay?”

Wess caught herself before falling. “Perfectly fine.”

“Two weapons aren’t that easy to manage, huh?”

“I’m sure the learning curve i-“ Wess said, before swinging her sword and shield out, falling backwards on the ground in an embarrassing puff of dust. “…no, don’t everyone help at once.”

Essex stuck out her hand to help her up, Wess accepting it graciously, as Essex went back to playing with the buttons at the base of the handle, changing the rod inside the handle and the blade to steel, platinum, silver, magnesium…

“This is acceptable.” Essex reasoned, smiling a little at the improvements made.

“Let’s do a showcase! I wanna see how our weapons all fair!” Julia exclaimed, grabbing out the last of the instructions.

“You wanna start, Sola?” Harley asked, as Sola went to grab her arm-cannons excitedly, before stopping briefly. “You good?”

“…what if they explode?” Sola said, getting a groan from Wess.

“Why would they explode, Sola? That’s absurd.” Wess asked.

“Nu-uh! Jovie said they might, so they might!” Sola argued, as Julia stood up to hand her the weapons.

“So what if they explode?” Julia said. “A little weapon malfunction shouldn’t hold you back.”

“…I’m gonna hurt someone again.”

Julia handed her an arm-cannon. “They’re meant to stop that from happening. If you’ve taken the proper precautions, and anyone gets hurt, it won’t be your fault.”

Sola nodded, slowly building up speed, before accepting Julia’s explanation and grabbing the arm-cannons, equipping them one at a time. “Let’s go!”

“Hold on.” Julia said, looking through Sola’s instructions. “We’re doing this properly.”

“Yeah.” Sola agreed, before looking up at Julia. “…Julia?”

“Yeah?” Julia said, crouching to meet her eye level.

“…can you…” Sola said, pointing behind her.

“You want me to move back?” Julia asked, as Sola subtlety nodded.

“It’s just…when we were in the forest…” Sola whispered.

Julia smiled. “I totally get it. No problem at all.” Julia reassured her, moving back with the others.

“How many trees do you think she’ll burn?” Harley wondered.

“Three.” Essex suggested.

“I don’t like silly wagers.” Wess argued, as Sola turned her head.

“My money’s on no trees!” Sola exclaimed, getting ready to aim, as Julia flipped a couple pages.

“It says here they’re powered by your Whil, so if you aren’t touching them, they won’t work. There’s also a button in each cannon, left for opening up the barrels and right for controlling the aperture.” Julia read aloud. “There’s also a readout on the side to show how much power is stored and whether you might short-circuit it.”

“H-how do I fire it?” Sola asked, her nerves coming back to her.

“Uhh…just like with your Whil, I guess.” Julia replied, as Sola focused her outstretched arm, opening up the barrel, and charging the cannon with her Whil.

Everyone, including Sola, reeled back in caution, watching the light build inside the barrel’s interior, as a giant beam shot out in front, knocking Sola back a bit, and soaring directly toward the forest, cutting a hole in several trees.

As everyone collected themselves, Harley and Essex looked to each other, as no trees were actually burning, and shrugged.

“Whoa…” Sola let out, before cheering openly. “I did it!!! I’m the best!!!”

“Way to go, Sola!” Julia added, Wess giving Sola a polite clap. “You’ll get used to it in no time.”

The rest of the team approached her more confidently now, as Sola casually played with the aperture, opening it as wide as it’d go, and firing curiously, before falling backwards from the shotgun-like blast.

“Ow.” Sola groaned, getting up from the ground with the help of Harley. “I feel like Jovie’s crushed hand.”

“Probably stick to long-ranged.” Harley suggested, grabbing the now empty box. “I’m gonna get us some training posts from the Weapon Reserve.”

Julia gave a thumbs up, as the rest of the team split off to work on their weapons, with Wess attempting to keep her balance with her sword and shield. “How’s the added weight?”

“Somewhat bearable.” Wess described. “I’m more worried about dropping my shield on my foot.”

“Maybe you could kick it like a projectile?” Julia joked, as Essex overheard their conversation and joined the duo.

She looked over Wess’ form, scanning over the newly improved and integrated sword and shield, before grabbing Wess’ forearm. “You are focusing weight on the right leg as a result of your sword usage. The left is untrained.”

“Thank you, detective, I figured that part out.” Wess remarked, Essex grabbing her shoulder and starting to lower her.

“You are lifting up your back to compensate for the additional weight. This has raised your centre of gravity and made you unbalanced.”

“…okay.” Wess said, Essex moving her shield closer to her chest.

“The shield should be close. It is to protect.” Essex said, standing back. “My scythe handle is the same.”

Wess noticed the improvement to her posture, being able to move properly now, while better bearing the new weight of the shield, as Essex looked anything but proud.

Wess let out a sigh. “…thank you…Essex…I apologise for being somewhat on guard.”

“But you did not have your shield rai-“ Essex started, before Julia stopped her mid-sentence.

“This is all fairly new to me.” Wess reflected, turning the shield around to face her. “But if it makes me a better Venator, then so be it.”

She re-equipped the shield, looking back at her team, before growing a playful smirk. “Tell me, how good does the shield look on me?”

Julia giggled to herself. “Is it even up for debate?”

“Is this a question of fashion?” Essex wondered, as Harley swiftly came back carrying several training posts, handing one off to Sola.

“I saw a couple teams practicing with their new weapons. I guess we opened the floodgates to Jovie.” Harley said, setting up a couple posts. “Now, before anything else, I really wanna see Julia try out her new gun.”

“O-oh, great, I…get to show off…” Julia lamented, Harley encouraging her forward, the others sitting back to watch her display.

“Hey, it’s just firing a gun. You’ve done that plenty.” Harley eased. “We’re not gonna judge.”

Julia smiled at her sentiment, as she noticed the team’s Harley had mentioned entering the grounds, followed by the distinct figure of Coatsworth following behind, watching over the newly upgraded teams and their practice.

Oh geez…

“No pressure. Just do your best.” Harley said, as Julia grabbed her rifle, pouring through the instructions on how it functions.

“…detach…extend barrel…reload with each…okay.” Julia said, checking the handles on each side of the rifle, before detaching the back and equipping the gun’s scope, turning it into a sniper rifle, and loading in the appropriate bullets.

She propped up the gun against the ground, taking aim at one of the posts, while trying to ignore the staring coming from her teammates, and most likely Coatsworth.

…focus…and aim…focus…

She fired quickly, hitting the first post, before reattaching the back, changing out the ammo to assault rifle ammo, and making quick work of the second post, then detaching the bottom handle, extending the second barrel, and loading in the shotgun shells, to easily clear out the third post, all in what felt like the blink of an eye.

Julia let out a tired breath, as she heard the rushing feet of her team behind her, before getting grabbed up by Harley in a large hug.

“You badass! That was awesome!” Harley cheered, Sola joining in on the sidelines.

“Pl-ease put me d-own.” Julia begged, Harley setting her back on the ground. “Oh boy…”

“Where have you been hiding that?” Wess asked in shock.

“…well, like I’ve said before, I couldn’t really practice without a personal weapon.” Julia said. “But I guess I haven’t gotten too rusty.”

“It is very impressive. I do not know how to describe how you were acting…” Essex said.

“She was in the zone!” Sola cheered.

“…yes. I will agree to that.” Essex said.

“Guys…” Julia bemoaned, blushing profusely at the compliments. “I’m no better than any other marksman here.”

“That’s for sure.”

A voice broke the atmosphere, catching the team off guard, as the training grounds had started to fill with more students then the others had realised, all brandishing their new weapons and showing them off to their teammates, with Baron now beside the team, resting his sword against his shoulder and staring down at Julia.

“I saw that display. Nice.”

Harley stepped forward. “Are you planning on starting anything?”

Baron looked back at her. “Calm down, blondie. Just using the grounds like everyone else.”

Harley took a breath, making sure to step back and not start any unnecessary fights.

“Your sword doesn’t look much different.” Wess commented, resting a hand on Essex’s shoulder.

“Can’t improve on perfection.” Baron cleared up, as the rest of Team Ferocity were emerging from the engineering department too, brandishing their new weapons. “Duke and Edward finally got something, though.”

He casually peered over the grounds, before spotting a very recognisable Mallen streak amongst Team Valiant. “Funny seeing you again, Essex.”

Essex went blank, trying not to acknowledge him, as Baron took his leave and joined up with his team further down the grounds.

“I know I shouldn’t start something, but I hate that guy so much.” Harley grunted.

“Forseca…” Essex muttered, gripping her scythe.

Julia turned her back to his team. “We’re fine, nothing happened. Let’s not let it ruin our day. We haven’t even seen Harley’s new Buster Knuckles yet.”

“I could always try them out on him.” Harley said, Julia giving her an unamused look. “Kidding. I should try out the new jet propulsion.”

Harley went about attacking the training posts, delivering blow after blow, adjusting to the added speed of her jets, as the team continued their training and really got into the swing of things.

———

Ferris looked out of place on the training grounds. She didn’t want to be there, she didn’t like the constant, blistering sunlight, and the number of weapons on display was nauseating, to say the least.

She noticed a couple teams trying out firearms, cringing whenever they were fired, before shaking it off and trying to spot her target again.

“Come on, Coatsworth…”

Finally, she spotted him among the viewing stands, watching the new teams as they practiced, with a notebook and pen resting in his lap.

*bzzt* *bzzt*

Ferris’s concentration was broken, as she grabbed out her tablet and groaned.

“Have you found him yet?”

“Is this punishment for last semester?”

“Yes. Have you found him?”

Ferris grabbed the bridge of her nose. “Yeah. He’s sitting, Faller.”

“What’s he doing?”

“He’s watching the first-years try their new weapons, very un-suspiciously.” Ferris admitted.

“Don’t get crabby. You’re the one who said he was suspicious.”

“And now I’ve wasted even more months of my life.” Ferris complained. “I’m starting to think my hunch was wrong.”

“…just keep an eye on him for the time being. We don’t want to regret not following up on this.”

“Whatever you say…” Ferris sighed, hanging up, before nearly throwing her tablet to the ground.

She hid against the entrance to the grounds, pulling out her flask, and watching Coatsworth from behind the stands, before slinking to the ground in exhaustion.

I mean, he’s weird as shit…and pretty elusive… Ferris thought. …but a criminal mastermind?

———

Baron tossed his sword in his hands, staring back at Team Valiant, all trying out their new equipment with visible excitement.

Duke looked up to him. “What’re you thinking?”

“…I dunno. Just whatever.” Baron muttered, swinging his sword casually. “How’s the ball and chain?”

“She’s fine.” Duke remarked.

Baron looked disappointed. “I meant your weapon, dipshit.”

“Working just as intended.” Duke said, swinging a large, spiked ball on the end of a chain. “I want something to use it on, though.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty itchy too.” Edward said, laying back. “I’m already bored with the training posts.”

“Hey, me and George are gonna grab some food.” Henry said, grabbing their bags.

“Be back soon.” Baron said, watching the two other members of his team leave, before idly looking back at Team Valiant.

Duke followed his gaze to Harley. “You want some of that?”

Baron winced. “No…I was just…”

An idea struck Baron, as he flashed a smile to Duke and Edward. “We needed opponents, right?”

“Couldn’t we go spar with Team Instinct or something? I don’t wanna see you mope about tying with Harley again.” Edward expressed.

Baron pulled him by the shoulder. “That won’t be a problem if I win this time.”

“I’m down.” Duke agreed. “If we don’t have anything better to do.”

“This turning’s turning out to be really hard.” Harley said, playing with her Buster Knuckles. “Julia, can you read it out again?”

“The button below the index finger lets you rotate…hold it down for each hand…closing your hand triggers the sensor that activates the jets, but this can be turned off manually with the labelled switch…” Julia read aloud. “Did you switch it off by accident?”

“I think so…” Harley said, as Julia looked over her Knuckles with her. “Or maybe it’s already out of fuel.”

“Hey.”

They both looked up at Baron again, now with Duke and Edward tagging along behind him, as he attempted to be somewhat charismatic.

“The instructions’ll only get you so far.”

Julia put them down, attempting to meet his height advantage. “Did you need anything from us?”

“Actually, we had a suggestion.” Baron prefaced. “To make up for last time’s indecision.”

“We decided on a tie, right?” Harley reminded him, as Baron readjusted his hands in his pockets.

“But that’s no real outcome.” Duke said. “Baron keeps bringing up ho-“

Baron turned back to him, shutting him up immediately, as Baron cleared his throat. “Come on, Harley. Don’t you want to prove who’s strongest?”

“Strongest?”

“Yeah. Let’s get it off our chest.” Baron suggested. “Or you could look at it as sparring, if you want.”

Julia and Harley gave each other a knowing look, before stepping back.

“What do you think?” Harley whispered.

Julia subtlety looked back at him. “I dunno. He seems genuine.”

“But we know him. He can’t be.” Harley stated.

“I’m not saying do it for his reasons. But maybe, if you win, he’ll finally back off.” Julia suggested. “That’ll be a huge weight off of our backs. And we can get some practice against other opponents.”

Harley thought over Julia’s reasoning.

“…I wanna ask the others first.” Harley said.

Julia nodded. “Good idea.”

Julia turned back to Baron. “We’re gonna talk with the rest of our team.”

“Take your time.” Baron droned, casually chatting with Duke and Edward, as Julia and Harley caught Wess and Essex in the middle of sparring, with Sola on the sidelines.

Sola lifted her head up. “Is Baron back?”

“Yeah, and he wants to spar with us again.” Harley said, breaking Wess and Essex’s concentration.

“Oh, great. He’s not starting this up again, is he?” Wess bemoaned. “He never could let anything go for too long…”

“How did you respond?” Essex asked.

“We said we’d talk it over.” Harley admitted. “I’m kinda considering it. At least to get them off our backs.”

Essex peered back at them, briefly locking eyes with Baron, before shrinking back again, as Wess swung Belvedere idly.

“That’s becoming a tempting offer.” She said. “I’m assuming he wants Duke and Edward to join in as well?”

Harley nodded, as Wess strapped on her shield a bit tighter. “If the answer is yes, then I want to reclaim my dignity from Duke. And I refuse to lose a second time to him.”

“Where is the dignity in entering a fight you do not need to have?” Essex asked, visibly more irritated than normal.

“Are you okay, Essex?” Harley asked.

“…I do not wish to accompany this fight.” Essex said. “They are unwelcome people.”

“It’s fine. You can sit this one out.” Julia said. “We’ll make sure they don’t bother you.”

“If Wess and me are gonna take on Duke and Baron, someone’s gotta fight Edward.” Harley said. “I don’t think either of us could take on one after the other.”

Sola and Julia looked to each other, bother worried about the other, as Julia smiled back to Sola. “I can take hi-“

“Nope.” Sola interrupted, shaking her head. “I’m doing it.”

“Sola?”

“I wanna help out in fights too! I’ve got the arm-cannons now, so I wanna do it! Plus, you’ve gotta stay back and take care of Essex!” Sola professed.

“But you‘ve barely used the cannons yet.” Harley reasoned. “I don’t wanna see you get hurt.”

“I can take it!” Sola exclaimed, thoroughly pumped up. “Put me in, coach!”

Harley let out a concentrated breath, before grabbing Sola playfully and pulling her into a noogie. “You’re too good for this world.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Came a voice behind them, as Harley noticed Brad’s distinctive smile from a mile away.

“Brad!” Harley let out, hugging him. “It’s been a hot minute.”

“It has.” Brad said, waving to the others. “How’re you all doing today?!”

Julia jumped a bit, forgetting how booming Brad’s voice could be, before rubbing her neck. “C-could be better. Team Ferocity wants another sparring match with us.”

“I noticed them coming over.” Brad said. “But you know what they say, a challenge is just an opportunity in disguise.”

“So true.” Harley said, playfully punching his arm. “Hey, stick around. I wanna hang out after this, so cheer us on during the fights.”

“Will do! Cheering’s my middle name!” Brad bragged, as Harley ran back over to Team Ferocity to confirm their match.

Julia smiled. “Apparently, you two have been getting to know each other.”

Brad sighing out happily. “I wasn’t expecting to click with her so well, but here we are. She’s buff, I’m buff, she’s positive, I’m positive, she’s got a great sense of humour, I’m…still working on that, but I admire it in her.”

Brad turned to them, subtly flexing and posing. “But enough about me! What’s been up with you guys?”

“I’ve got arm-cannons now!” Sola exclaimed, showing them off to Brad, as Harley joined back up with them.

“Alright, we’ve agreed to the match. Wess and Duke are going first, followed by Sola and Edward, then me and Baron. First one to knock over the other wins.” Harley explained. “But we can’t start until we have someone watching over us to judge.”

“I could lend a hand.” Brad offered.

“Thanks, babe, but we need someone impartial and qualified.” Harley said, looking around. “Who’ve we got out here?”

“…I think there’s only one answer.” Julia said, everyone drawn to where she was looking at, as Coatsworth continued to observe the teams from the audience stands, writing notes on what he saw.

“Oh great…” Wess bemoaned. “…I suppose he is qualified.”

“And impartial.” Harley added, turning to Julia. “Do you…mind? Since you already know each other.”

“O-oh.” Julia let out. “R-right…”

Julia did her best to walk over without him noticing before he lifted his head up as she approached.

Ugh…Gods…why does he have to stare at me?

She closed the distance, as he put his notebook down to address her.

“Hello again, Julia.”

“H-hi, sir.” Julia warbled. “Enjoying the…training?”

“It’s been interesting. I like to observe.” He replied. “Can I help you with something?”

Julia nodded. “M-my team was going to s-spar with another team, and we needed someone…to watch over us…”

“An impartial referee?”

“Y-yeah.”

Coatsworth thought it over, before pocketing his notebook and standing up. “I see no reason why I couldn’t.”

“Great.” Julia said, before rushing back to her team as soon as possible, as Ferris noticed Coatsworth on the move, subtly entering the training grounds herself to follow behind him while texting on her tablet.

Ferris [He’s on the move, but he’s yet to leave the training grounds. Still following.]

“H-he agreed…” Julia told the others, as Coatsworth talked amongst Team Ferocity. “Someone else can talk to him once we’re done.”

“The hardest actions are often the most worthwhile.” Brad advised, crouching down to meet her height. “We appreciate it.”

“Thanks for that.” Harley said, facing Wess. “You ready to go first?”

“I should hope I am.” Wess replied, resting Belvedere between her palm and the ground. “…in all honesty, I’m fairly nervous about my chances of winning.”

“Just do your best! That’s all anyone can ask of you.” Sola assured her. “And since they’re gonna do it anyway, do some real dirty moves back!”

Wess chuckled to herself. “I’m not about to kick dust in his eyes.”

“It would be an appropriate strategy.” Essex advised. “If you should become desperate.”

“And a somewhat dishonourable one.” Wess pointed out, as Coatsworth gave them the go ahead, setting himself by the side of the sparring court, Duke dragging himself and his ball and chain to his side of the field.

“Wish me luck.” Wess said, the team and Brad heading to the spectator stands.

“You don’t need luck. You’ll be great.” Julia reminded her, hugging her quickly, before joining the others on the stands.

“I would encourage the participants to meet in the middle and exchange their respects.” Coatsworth said, Wess and Duke walking up and shaking hands.

“I see you’ve upgraded your equipment.” Duke said, indicating to Wess’ new shield.

“As have you.” Wess replied, nervously eyeing the ball and chain. “Let’s have a clean fight, shall we?”

“I’ll try.” Duke grinned, heading back to his side.

“Your objective is to knock your opponent to the ground. You will be permitted a maximum of five minutes to attempt this. Elapsing the time will lead to a draw.” Coatsworth explained, readjusting his suit. “I will now count to ten.”

Wess and Duke sized each other up, getting into their combative stances, as Coatsworth counted down on his fingers.

“I hope she does okay…” Harley said.

Essex sat back with Julia, nervously half-watching the field, as Julia stared intently at Wess’ side.

“3…2…1.”

Wess stood still, anticipating Duke using his Whil to unsettle the ground under her. However, she remained still, as Duke swung his chain and threw the ball ahead of him, sinking it into the ground with his Whil.

What’s he doing? Wess wondered, raising her shield. If he’s not using that to hit me…

Wess’ thoughts were interrupted, as Duke tightened the chain around his arm, unsettling the ground under his feet, and used it to surf across the field in a radius, circling around the submerged ball toward Wess. Wess had a split second to react, jumping out of the way, while nearly getting knocked over by Duke’s chain, as he continued to circle around the field.

“He’s using the ball as an anchor.” Julia let out. “That’s…actually kinda awesome.”

“Yeah, but Wess is in trouble now.” Harley said, as Wess deftly jumped over the incoming chain. “It was already hard enough knocking him over when he can move the ground around. Now he’s got a chain holding him up too.”

As Duke circled around, Wess swung Belvedere at an exposed part of the chain, failing to cut through, as Duke came around for another go, Wess jumping the chain again. Seeing her opportunity, she dashed away from the centre to escape Duke’s radius, before noticing the chain getting shorter, and Duke’s circumference getting smaller, lining himself up with her again, as Wess raised her shield to block him.

She was knocked back, scraping across the ground, getting a foothold with one of her legs and managing to stand, as Duke slowed himself down to a halt, re-emerging the ball and swinging the chain again.

Brad was visibly confused. “How did Duke make his chain shrink so he could close in on Wess?”

“He didn’t make it shrink. He just sunk the ball further into the ground to line up with Wess.” Baron interjected, grabbing Team Valiant’s attention. “Idiot…”

Brad didn’t rise to it, as Harley wrapped a comforting arm around him and whispered in his ear. “Don’t listen to him. He still won’t admit that we tied.”

“He could afford to learn some humility.” Brad replied, kissing Harley’s cheek, as Wess resettled herself, dusting off her clothes.

“Of all the…” She grumbled, as Duke continued swinging.

“Is the shield weighing you down?” He remarked.

“No, but my sense of decency is.” Wess replied, finally getting the last of the dust off. “You should know better than to ruin my clothes.”

“Should I?” Duke said, dropping the ball again, sinking it down and starting his surf toward Wess again.

Wess watched as he circled toward her, staying perfectly still as he approached, right until the moment of impact, as she jumped into the circle, dodging Duke, and driving Belvedere through the middle-most chain link. She continued running, watching as Duke lost control of his radius and started surfing toward the middle of the circle, as she backed up, shield at the ready, and attempted to shield-bash him as he approached.

However, she hadn’t anticipated his maintained momentum, as she braced for impact, watching Duke crash into her shield and failing to properly account for his weight, sending her soaring backward and onto the ground, her face to the sky.

Duke started to slow himself down, taking a second to process what’d happened, and struggling to pull his chain from Belvedere.

Team Valiant hurried down to Wess, as she managed to stand on her own.

“Are you okay, Wess?” Sola asked. “Does anything hurt?”

“Obviously…” Wess replied. “I continue to let myself down…”

“It’s okay. You only just got your shield, after all.” Julia reasoned. “It’s hard to blame you for being too ambitious.”

Wess shook her head. “Unless said ambition costs me the match…”

“Hey.” Wess heard, as she turned and caught Belvedere mid-air, being tossed by Duke.

He put down his ball and chain, as Coatsworth approached from the side. “From my judgment, the victory goes to Duke.”

“Yeah, well…” Duke said, smiling sheepishly. “…that’s cause Wess was trying too hard.”

Wess gave him the stink eye, as Coatsworth indicated for them to shake hands again.

“I’ll admit, you pulled some tricky moves.” Duke said.

“As did you.” Wess replied, pulling her hand back. “Your control over your weapon is something to be envied.”

Duke shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Next up, Sola and Edward.” Coatsworth announced, accidentally locking eyes with Julia, as Julia felt a crawl up her spine.

“Ugh…” Julia let out, Sola hopping down the stands, nearly tumbling over from the added weight of her arm-cannons.

Edward tapped his heel, before standing across from Sola on the field, then joining in the middle to shake hands.

“I hope we have a good match.” Sola wished.

“Uh huh.” Edward dismissed, breaking the handshake himself and heading back to his side, leaving Sola a bit confused.

“I will now count to ten.” Coatsworth repeated, counting down on his fingers, as Sola leaned toward Team Valiant.

“Guys, I don’t wanna hurt him too bad.” Sola asked. “What do I do?”

“Just…be creative about it.” Harley advised. “You’ll figure it out.”

“Okay!” Sola replied, hopping back, as Edward also stepped toward his team in the stands.

“Why am I stuck fighting the kid?” Edward asked.

Baron leaned in. “Don’t underestimate her. She knows her shit.” Baron advised. “She killed a Wailing all on her own just a couple months ago.”

“Wait, that was…” Edward realised, as Coatsworth finished counting, leaving the two combatants on the field, unsure how to start.

Sola looked unprepared, not taking up an offensive or defensive stance, as the indecision started to get to Edward, forcing him to step forward.

Using his Whil, he pulled out what first looked like a sword, but was actually a large sheet of metal that he seamlessly moulded in the air. He stretched a finger outward, sending the sheet to Sola’s legs, as Sola quickly noticed, panicking briefly, and firing her cannon at the ground. Fortunately, her cannon’s aperture was still widened, meaning the blast was still close-ranged and scattershot, easily dissipating the metal, and sending it back to Edward.

Sola stopped cowering, leaving her huddled position, and letting out a sigh of relief, as Edward played with the leftover metal patiently, trying to suss Sola out.

She knew to separate the sheet with a less focused blast. Baron was right, she’s a crafty one.

Sola looked back at her cannon, before quickly realising the aperture was far wider than she intended.

Oops. She thought, holding down the button in her right cannon. I’m glad that worked out. I nearly goofed up real bad.

Edward waited her out, playing with the sheet, expecting Sola to come up with something brilliant.

Sola stood around, looking side to side, waiting for Edward to act, as a solid minute passed without either one doing anything.

“What’re you doing?! Knock her over already!” Baron yelled, Edward jumping up in shock.

“Guys, what am I supposed to do now?” Sola asked.

“Sola, you’ve gotta fight back.” Julia told her. “You’ll run out of time if you leave it too long.”

“Okay.” Sola replied, looking back at Edward, then her team. “How?”

“Just shoot at his legs or something!” Harley exclaimed. “Knock him over!”

“O-okay.” Sola said, aiming at Edward’s legs, closing her eyes, and firing a shot.

Obviously, Edward effortlessly blocked it with his sheet of metal, but considering Sola had seemingly no follow-up to this, it gave Edward the confidence that she was entirely lost.

“Finally…” He grumbled, formulating an idea in his head, before running up to Sola, and creating a wall with his metal.

Sola frantically aimed at the wall, taking shots here and there, missing Edward each time, as behind the cover of the wall, Edward used the metal to form a set of stairs, running up them, jumping over the wall, and knocking Sola over with his own weight.

He stood up slowly, looking back at Sola on the ground, and reformed his metal by his side, as Sola grabbed her chest in pain.

“Ow ow ow ow…” Sola let out, rubbing it better, Harley and Brad rushing down to check up on her. “That hurt like crazy…”

“Edward, what the hell was that?!” Harley complained. “You didn’t need to hurt her that bad!”

“Well, apparently, she took down a Wailing all on her own, so why is this any worse?” Edward reasoned.

“That’s no excuse to cause more damage than necessary.” Brad reasoned, towering over him with his size and bulk, folding his arms. “I think an apology is in order.”

Edward shrank back, before letting out a brief ‘sorry,’ as Coatsworth assessed the damage.

“…Edward was the winner of that round. Sola, I would encourage you to become more familiar with your equipment.” Coatsworth advised.

“How about telling Edward to cool it with the body blows?” Harley rhetorically asked, helping Sola to her feet.

“His method was unorthodox, but it’s a legitimate victory.” Coatsworth said. “Slight chest pain is immeasurable to a Wailing’s fury.”

“Slight chest pain…hardly slight…” Harley groaned, carrying Sola back with Brad and leaning down to her. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah…sorry about losing.” Sola apologised.

“It’s nothing some practice won’t fix.” Harley said, playfully bumping Sola’s side. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

“Baron.” Coatsworth called, Baron pulling himself up from the stands, as Harley helped Sola back and turned around to the field.

“Hey, Harley!” Brad called, giving a proud thumbs up. “Show him what victory really means!”

Baron rolled his eyes at his remark, as Harley prepared herself, strapping on her Buster Knuckles and rechecking their fuel levels.

“The same rules will apply.” Coatsworth said. “I will now count from ten. 10…9…”

Though it wasn’t the most obvious, Essex had shrunk back into seat, careful not to make eye contact with Baron, as Julia quickly noticed and reached over.

“Is this too much? We can go back to the dorm room if you want.”

Essex took a second, before shaking her head. “…no. I wish to see this out…even if I do not wish to be so near to Team Ferocity.”

“Don’t worry about them. Harley can win this, for sure.” Julia assured her, while mostly reassuring herself.

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch…” Wess mumbled, as Sola cheered Harley on.

“They’re pretty noisy, huh?” Duke commented.

“And overconfident.” Edward added. “Baron’s got this in the bag.”

Coatsworth looked over both combatants once again. “…3…2…”

“…1.”

The second after he said one, Baron pointed his fingers at Harley, using his Whil to create a small flame in front of her face, attempting to stun her into falling backwards.

Instead, she stood firm, clapping her Buster Knuckles together to snuff out the flame and smirking back at Baron.

“Another cheap tactic?” Harley bragged.

“No, a smart one.” Baron retorted, tapping his sword to the ground. “Now I know your gloves are fireproof.”

“Considering our last fight, you should’ve realised that already.” Harley replied, checking her booster turning buttons again. “I’m still pretty sore after that.”

“You sure it isn’t for another reason?” Baron suggested, confusing Harley briefly, as he went in to sweep out her legs with his sword.

Harley narrowly avoided in time, attempting to punch out his legs in turn, as neither connected, sliding to each side of the field.

“Dammit, she missed him.” Sola let out, watching intently, as Brad leaned over the railing to get a better view.

Harley sussed out an opening, noticing Baron’s sword still by his side, as Harley took a running jump, leaping into the air, and punching toward him, aiming square at his chest. She avoided using the jets, mostly so she didn’t hurt him too bad, before he pulled up his sword, holding it with both hands and blocking her attack, throwing her off again.

Baron noticed her weak footing, moving his sword back down again, before the blade separated into segments, forming a chain, which he attempted to wrap around Harley’s leg.

Before Harley could even process what he’d done, she frantically tried to recapture her footing, grounding herself with her free leg, and using the leg wrapped in the chain to kick Baron back, freeing herself again. Baron stood back, returning his sword’s blade to a regular blade.

“That liar!” Wess exclaimed. “He said he made no alterations to his weapon.”

“Has he ever been trustworthy?” Julia asked rhetorically, patting Essex’s back, as Harley adjusted to this new information.

Okay…so he’s got a whip sword…and I’ve got jet boosters. Harley acknowledged. Guess we’re all subverting expectations here.

“Keep up the pace! Earned sweat is good sweat!” Brad encouraged.

Harley smiled dumbly back at Brad, as Baron tapped his sword against the ground, breaking her trance.

“Don’t let your sidepiece distract you!” Baron warned. “I don’t want a half-assed fight!”

Sidepiece? Harley thought, her anger getting the better of her, before she took a focused breath. No, he’s just pushing my buttons again. Same old scummy Baron.

She scanned over his hand again, noticing the release button for his blade’s chain right in the hilt, and knew her next plan of attack.

“Watch out, dipshit! You’re either losing this, or we’re tying again!” Harley taunted, charging him again, her fist winding up to punch, as Baron quickly responded, releasing the blade, and wrapping the bladed chain around Harley’s outstretched arm to stop her.

He swung her to the side with her momentum, Harley bracing as the chain started digging into her skin, as he held the chain tight, not even trying to knock her to the ground.

Harley noticed his distraction, spying the opening she was looking for, aiming her left Buster Knuckles outward, turning the jets around and on to hook her punch, and launching her fist toward the sword’s hilt.

Out of instinct and fear, Baron dropped his sword, just narrowly moving his hand from Harley’s assault, as Harley threw the sword away with her freed arm, recaptured her footing, and swept Baron’s leg, finally knocking him to the ground.

It all happened so quick.

“She did it! She won!” Julia cheered, hugging Essex excitedly, who was holding back a great smile.

“That’s how you do it! YEAH!!!” Brad exclaimed, holding Sola up and cheering excitedly.

Baron lay on the ground, breathing heavily and looking around panicked, spotting his team trying to avoid eye contact.

Coatsworth wandered over. “The match is over. The victory goes to H-“

Baron stood up and slapped his hand out of the way. “Again!”

Harley left her brief afterglow, looking back at Baron trying to calm himself. “We just fought.”

“That was hardly a fight.” He groaned. “You’ve lost your edge.”

Harley rested her hands on her hips. “So what? It’s not my fault you can’t accept losing.”

“This is no way to go about defeat.” Brad added, joining Harley’s side. “Accept your loss and move on.”

“You call that a victory? I barely feel winded.” Baron spat back. “Where’s your fight gone?”

“…I’m not about to hurt you pointlessly.” Harley said, clenching her fist. “Even if I really want to.”

Baron stepped in her face. “Then do it. Hit me.”

“No.”

“You wouldn’t treat a Wailing this way. You leave it alone, and it’ll kill you in an instant.”

“You’re not a Wailing.”

“But I’m an opponent.” Baron said. “And you’re just pathetic. Finish the fight.”

“We did finish it.”

“Finish it properly.” Baron taunted, displaying his arms, as the rest of Team Valiant joined them.

“Baron, you lost.” Julia declared. “You agreed to the rules, and everyone’s followed them. Just accept the outcome and move on.”

Coatsworth intervened again. “Baron, this i-“

“What do I need to do? Do I need to take potshots at your playmate Brad?” Baron asked, his team now behind him. “Should I shove Essex again?”

Essex flinched backwards, shrinking into her team, as Harley stepped in front of her protectively.

“Can’t even let your friends fight their own battles. I thought your whole team was about that free love and dreams bullshit.” Baron dismissed, turning away. “But I guess it makes sense for the campus slut to lend herself out to othe-“

Harley leaped him, tackling him to the ground, as their fight resumed in a far less mannered fashion, Harley getting in a few good swings and Baron returning in spades. The teams tried to break them up, Brad trying to hold Harley back, as Ferris watched on from the sidelines, noticing Coatsworth stepping back from the conflict, hesitating for a brief second, and running off to who knows where.

“He just left.” Ferris said, her tablet to her ear. “And the blonde one’s gonna get in some trouble.”

———

Julia was usually this patient.

But this time, it was tearing her up inside.

Being the leader of your own team had its benefits, sure, but when you represented the team, that meant all punishments tacitly involved you. Julia was happy to hear Wess, Sola and Essex weren’t being roped into any punishment, but it only made her and Harley’s quiet sit together outside of Faller’s office sting so much worse.

The waiting was killing them.

“…I’m sorry.” Harley let out. “…that prick got the better of me…again…”

Julia shook her head. “…I should’ve stopped you or stopped the whole thing all together. We should’ve just sparred against Team Vanguard or something…”

Harley rubbed her neck. “Yeah, in hindsight, that was a pretty poor judgment on our part.”

“…I feel like I’m back in high school.” Julia confessed. “Sitting outside the principal’s office after getting into a fight.”

“I hear that.” Harley empathised, leaning backward as her leg shook. “My dads dragged me there more times than I want to admit.”

“…my dad only did it once.” Julia admitted, hands in her lap. “But he also told me bullies wouldn’t hang around forever, so I guess he was wrong about that…”

Harley looked shocked. “You got into fights?”

“…well, just a few.” Julia said. “This kid made fun of my mum and Florey leaving, so I punched his stupid face in. Dad made me apologise, but…” She hid an embarrassed smile. “…I still don’t feel that bad about it.”

“So, you were a badass back then and a badass now?” Harley said. “I think I hit the jackpot for my team leader.”

Julia blushed ashamedly. “…it’s not badass to go around beating people up.”

“Well, it sounds like that kid deserved it.” Harley said, bumping Julia’s shoulder. “How dare he insult my really cool leader.”

Julia hid her crimson face, forgetting just how attractive Harley really was, as Faller’s receptionist looked up from their desk.

“Julia Alpine.”

Julia was alerted to attention, standing up shakily, and crossing the threshold into Faller’s office, as he lay back in his chair, looking over some work.

Julia felt awkward standing, but would’ve felt even more awkward sitting, before Faller made the decision for her and indicated to the chair in front of his desk.

“So.” Faller said in a surprisingly jovial tone. “How’re you liking the new weapons?”

“Th-th-they’re great, sir.” Julia replied, sweat already staining her brow.

“That’s good to hear.” He said, getting up from his desk and heading to his liquor cabinet. “Would you…?” Faller asked, indicating to his bottles and pouring himself some bourbon.

“I-I’d…rather not.” Julia said, politely turning it down. “I-I’m sorry, but am I being punished?”

Faller shook his head. “Punish you? You hardly did anything wrong.”

Julia was thrown off guard. “Then, w-why am I here?”

“Because I wanted to meet the team leader that’s been interesting me for a while now.” Faller reasoned, sitting back with his drink.

Julia didn’t know how to respond but tried to anyway. “Well, r-regardless, I believe my actions were poor and overall deserve some kind of repercussion.”

Faller laughed to himself. “Far from it! Baron needlessly insults and prods your team over and over, just to get a reaction. You attempt to resolve the issue in a language he understands. You were sticking up for your team against an unwanted adversary who’s far more ruthless, and if that doesn’t reflect our policies, then we aren’t the great academy we promise to be.”

Julia cleared her throat. “You’re being awfully…casual about this.”

“I’m happy.” Faller explained. “This year has been awful, in a lot of ways, and to know my students are excelling is…elating, to say the least.”

“…right.” Julia said, watching her worry slowly drop away.

There was a quiet over the office, as Faller enjoyed his bourbon, and Julia sat up in her chair.

“…can I ask something inappropriate?” Julia said.

“Go ahead.” Faller allowed, waving his hand.

“Why are Baron and his team allowed here?” Julia asked. “They hardly seem like Venator material to me. I mean, they’re good at combat, but…”

Faller stood up, rested his drink against his desk and sat against it. “That’s a good question. One I’ve actually…asked myself on occasion.” Faller admitted. “It’s true that not every team here is ready, or even should be, a Venator team. Some are so far beyond what it means to be one that they end up failing, repeating or leaving all together. But, to me, everyone deserves an opportunity to be better than they were, or better then they’re believed to be.”

Faller turned back to Julia. “Baron’s a special case, though. We’re an expensive organisation, and his parents are great benefactors of the academy. In exchange for their financial aid, we offer him an education and a team. Of course, he doesn’t get special treatment or higher grades as a result, but the reason we allow him here is so we can allow you and your team here. His inclusion pays for your education.”

Faller took another sip before continuing. “It’s true that I wish he were better, more compassionate, less quick to judge, and any other year…I would’ve kicked him out ages ago. But, with two of our support towers still under repairs after the attack, we’ve needed all the help we can get. So, he stays…”

“But won’t he just impede on our learning? Make things harder for my team?” Julia rightfully asked.

Faller went to answer, before stopping himself and taking a seat to properly address Julia. “…I don’t feel like sugar coating this, Julia, but the world is a terrifying place of Wailing tearing innocent people to shreds, angry citizens demanding more action, and a decent number of professional Venators dealing with it, but not with the purest of intentions.” Faller clarified. “This is one of the harsh realities of being a Venator. Not everyone is fighting this conflict for the right reasons, but we need them to fight it so it doesn’t hurt others in the crossfire. Unfortunately, compassion isn’t an essential trait to being a Venator.”

He sat back again, before straightening his back. “The best advice I can offer is to keep showing compassion, and act with reason wherever you can. You’re already doing a great job of that. Be an example and let others follow. Whilit knows we need more kind souls out there…”

Julia let his words sink in before taking a deep breath and sighing. “…I think I might take that drink now.”

“Naturally.” Faller laughed, getting up and pouring her one. “If it helps your nerves, yours is one of the more promising teams I’ve seen in this year.”

“Really?” Julia asked surprisedly. “I thought we were just fumbling over each other.”

“Well, yeah, but it was good fumbling.” Faller joked. “I was pretty worried when…Wess,” He said, checking over his papers. “…asked for a transfer, but she seems to have settled in.”

Julia nodded. “It’s been a pretty big adjustment period for her. I don’t think she’s fully decided to stay yet, but…I’m really hoping she does. You know, whatever works for her.” Julia wished, holding her hands together.

“You want the best for her, no matter what that means. That’s the sign of a good leader.” Faller assured, sitting back again. “Now, that should be all, but I’ve got one more question I’d like to ask.”

“Yes?”

“I believe Vice-Principal Coatsworth was with you during the altercation, correct?” Faller asked, as Julia nodded along. “Was there anything strange about him?”

Other than normal? Julia thought. “N-no, not in particular.”

“What about before today?”

“…w-well…” Julia started, questioning whether she should even say it. “…there was…a moment…”

Faller listened on with bated breath.

“…it was the day b-before the attack…” Julia recalled. “He…warned me…about going to the welcome event…and then…well, you know…”

“I see.” Faller said, stopping her. “And he seemed sure of this?”

Julia nodded her head, as Faller pulled up a couple documents on his computer.

“Are you worried about him?” Julia asked. “…Essex…told me about your concerns…that you think there’s a third party to the Wailing conflict…”

Faller let out a sigh. “I figured one of the scholarship students would’ve blabbed by now.” He topped off his drink again. “…yes. I don’t know if he’s behind anything yet, but considering his recent behaviour…”

Julia nodded along, somewhat worried that her suspicions were being confirmed as well.

“Now, I’m telling you this, Julia, because I know you’re smart, and you wouldn’t go running your mouth off needlessly.” Faller said. “So, I’m hoping this suspicion doesn’t leave this room.”

Julia felt she was nodding her head too much but kept it up anyway out of worry. “D-don’t worry, sir. I wouldn’t be so reckless.”

“Good.” Faller said, sending his attention back to his computer, as Julia waited in silence for a near minute, prompting him. “You can go now.”

“O-oh, right.” She said, getting out of her chair, before Faller stopped her.

“Actually, one more thing.” He said. “Harley’s suspended from the training grounds for two weeks.”

Julia blinked.

“She did start a fight.” Faller reasoned. “No exceptions, Julia. Gotta keep up appearances.”

“Of course.” Julia sighed, stepping out of his office, Harley’s head popping up in curiosity.

“Was it bad?” She asked.

“…you can’t use the training grounds for two weeks.” Julia admitted. “But others than that, he just wanted to talk with me.”

“Oh, thank the gods…” Harley exclaimed, letting out a relieved breath. “That could’ve been way worse. So, what’d you talk about instead?”

“O-oh…just about how well the team’s going.” Julia said, technically not lying. “In his words, he was ‘elated.’”

Harley whistled. “Wow. I thought he’d be mad or try and interrogate us.”

Julia was stunned briefly, before picking up her bag. “L-let’s just go back to the dorm room already.” She turned to Harley. “Unless you’ve got plans with Brad later.”

Harley clicked her tongue. “Actually…”

She held up her tablet, displaying Brad’s most recent message, as Julia quickly read it and drew in her breath.

“Oh geez.”

“…he said he didn’t like seeing me get so violent.” Harley admitted, putting the tablet away. “I don’t blame him, I was pretty…I kinda suspected it wouldn’t last. I’ve never been too good with long term stuff…”

Julia looked back up at Harley, clearly holding back some sadness, as they kept walking down the hall back to the dorm.

“…well, it’s his loss.” Julia remarked. “Who would dump a badass like you?”

“…I’m not a badass.” Harley replied, not really meaning it.

“You are.” Julia complimented, jumping ahead of her. “How dare he dump my really cool teammate.”

Harley cracked a smile, before following down the hall. “He’s gonna miss out on all this, for sure.”

“He’ll be crawling back in a few days, tops.”

“A few days? You really think?”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“…Julia?”

“…f-forget I said anything…”

“Oh, I knew it! You’ve got a crush on me!”

“N-no, that’s…I can say you’re attractive without it needing to be a…s-sex thing.”

“I never said sex, I just said crush. How hot and bothered are you?”

“Harley!”

“What? I’m just teasing! You know I’d nev…