“I’m heading out!” Haruna yelled to her parents whilst waving goodbye. It was the afternoon of the following day, and Haruna spent the entire day waiting anxiously for six o’clock PM to roll around. Today was the first of the many grueling days ahead where she trained to battle not only the unknown menace waiting to bash her skull in at the tournament, but also the looming devil on her shoulder.

Six o’clock was the middle of rush hour, thus she had considerably more difficulty weaving through the masses of people. The sea of people swarmed left and right, Omo trying to use her manners to slip through the few and far-between gaps. “Excuse me! Sorry! Coming through!” She told a few she passed by, unbeknownst to her she wasn’t paying attention to herself, thus tripped over her own foot and hit her head against the person in front of her.

“Aaaagh–” she rubbed her head, shaking it, then ran down the sidewalk, “Forgive me! I’m not watching where I’m going!”

A few more long minutes of this dragged on until she was saved by the sight of Sector 4. The Parks. At last she could sigh with relief. She was freed from the heart wrenching and head-pounding crowds, so she could remain in the absolute serenity of the empty and luscious green park. She buckled her hands in front of her, taking a moment to stop right under a cherry blossom.

Every tree was just as breathtaking as the last. There was no tree like a cherry tree with its pastel pink leaves that were easy on the eyes. She could sit against the tree’s trunk and stare at them for hours and not feel a single ounce of guilt. It’s like with every flower her heart, mind, and soul hit the ‘reset button’. She could unwind, forget, and just live.

Under this tree Haruna sat. “Phew… that traffic was exhausting,” she said to herself, choosing to use her exhaustion as an excuse to fulfill her guilty pleasure. Just a few minutes won’t hurt, right? After a few moments, she started to notice her eyelids growing increasingly heavy… and then without a fight, she fell asleep.

The next thing she heard was the sound of ruffling, something digging through the trash. It could have been a rat, or a racoon, she didn’t know. She kept her eyelids shut and tried to go back to sleep, muttering with a giddy smile: “Hey hey, keep it down raccoon, I’m… trying… to sleep…” thus she nestled back up to the tree and started to snooze again.

SPLAAAAAASH!

“WWAAAAAA—” Haruna shrieked! Like if she were at the beach, a wave of water engulfed her body and left her drenched. Standing in front of her was…

“WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPY HEAD!” Mirai stood, holding a now-empty bucket. “That’s what you get for calling me a raccoon!” She scoffed, “but also Akane asked me to do it.”

“M-MIRAI?!-- I- I- I didn’t know you’d be here too!”

“She told me you two would be training, so I had to get in on the fun!” She grinned a toothy grin, “But sniffing trees is kinda boring, you don’t really get much from that.”

“I- It calms me down…” Omo softly admitted with red cheeks.

“Aaaahhh I get it…! Getting a calm mind before you’re thrown under the hammer! Good thinking! But now it’s time to mosey on to the lake, Akane gets grumpy when she’s left waiting…”

She almost forgot that they were training today. She got so lost under the splendor of the cherry blossom that the thought that people were waiting for her failed to cross her mind! Maybe unwinding wasn’t always a good thing…

Haruna, with her peace of mind soured, hesitantly followed Mirai back to Akane. As far as Haruna knew, Mirai being there for the training wasn’t something she agreed on!... unless Mirai was thinking about joining the Boxing Tournament herself. A lingering thought returned to her head, the words of Damian impeding her subconscious: ‘Blue Star and Supernova. You don’t happen to… know of them, do you? [...] They were strong from what I’ve heard, I wonder if they’ve taken part in my Boxing Clubs.’

“Hey, Mirai…”

“What’s up?”

“With you so enthusiastic about fighting… are you part of the Boxing Club by chance?”

“Eh? What makes you ask that?”

“Uhhh… I was just, you know… wondering. I don’t see you in the clubs.”

“Nope, I don’t do Boxing. It’s not my thing.” She shook her head, “Akane and I still like picking fights with each other for fun! We do it at least once a week! Maybe more…”

“That sounds scary…” Haruna lowered her tone to just above a whisper.

“You’ll get used to it! Besides, we’d never get better if we didn’t!” She grinned, then pointed a thumb at herself. “Relax! You’ll go great lengths my pupil!--er, I guess you’re not my pupil anymore, hehehe… you’re Akane’s.”

Once the two reached Akane, they noticed the surrounding setting. Right behind her was a massive lagoon that spanned easily hundreds of meters in diameter. Trees lined up side-by-side all around the lake, said lake with a purple-orange tint which matched the skies above. Aside from Akane, there was not a single soul here, not a hair in sight.

“WE’RE HEEEERRREEE!!!!” Mirai sang in a chipper voice, announcing the entry of her and Omo for the world to hear. “Did you fall asleep waiting for us, Akane?”

Akane sat down the book she was reading and placed it into her gym bag, then ‘greeted’ the two with folded arms and a straight face. “Took you long enough. Did you bring the pale of water like I asked? Why is Haruna drenched?” She asked Mirai.

“Uhhhh…. OOooohhh….” Mirai looked down at the empty pale, “I thought you wanted me to use it to wake Omo up!”

“WHAAAT? We needed that to refill our water bottles!”

Mirai awkwardly scratched her neck with stifled giggles, “Guess I misheard you! I’ll uhhhh…. Go fix that!” And in a mad dash, Mirai disappeared back the way she came.

Haruna and Akane shared stares of mixed confusion and amusement. A towel hits Haruna in the face. “Dry yourself off, we can do some small warmups while we wait. You brought your gloves, right?”

Haruna nodded, pulling out and carefully slipping on her own gloves which were painted in a bright neon green color. She strapped the velcro and made sure they were fit juuuuust right before holding her fists up. Meanwhile, Akane supervised her and judged her stance from afar.

“Your form is still weak.” Akane critiqued. In lightning fast moves, Akane snapped straight into her own boxing stance. “Be quicker on the draw! Get your muscles firm, but not too firm. You need to be soft enough that your muscles aren’t cramping, but tense enough that your guard doesn’t shatter like a tow truck through dry spaghetti!-- man I am really starting to sound like Lucy.”, she muttered the last part to herself. Briefly she shook her head and regained her focus. “Master your guard and you will last longer than ten seconds in the ring!”

“G-got it, I’ll try…”

With her critique out of the way, Akane and Haruna took turns doing basic punching drills. Left, Right, Uppercut. Left, Right, Uppercut. Once, twice, thrice, it didn’t matter so long as the pattern got into their heads. Omo tried doing the combo the best she could. It looked so simple on the surface, but she often found herself lagging behind. She couldn’t keep pace with Akane, who seemed to be infinitely energetic.

Meanwhile, Omo’s arms were beginning to get tired, nae, sore. It became such a dilemma that she couldn’t hold her arms up any longer due to the burn surging through her biceps and churning the muscles in her chest and lower neck. Her arms dropped… and then…

WHAM!

Akane’s fist rammed into Omo’s stomach! Just like the first day in the club, the wind was knocked clean out of her and she fell helplessly to her knees. “G-gaaagh! Wh-why…?!”

“Because I can! You let yourself go, so I had a free chance to.”

“B-but…” Omo attempted to speak, but she was silenced by the growing sting in her gut. She felt her legs turn into wobbly noodles, and soon enough she collapsed on the floor.

“When you can take a blow like that and return fire, that’s when I’ll know you’re ready.” Akane scoffed, turned around, and crossed her arms. Silently she waited for Mirai to make her return. Once she did, they'd finally commence the true training.

It took a few minutes, but Mirai eventually returned with the pale full of water, setting the bucket down, and quickly stood side-by-side with Akane. She wore a cringing expression, speaking between her teeth in a hushed voice. “Yeesh, what happened? You knocked the wind out of Omo already?”

“It was a love tap really, she’s lucky it’s not Lucy knocking her out again.” Akane chuckled, “I hate being so rough, but I don’t think there’s any other way to get her to pull through…”

“So I’m not the only one that noticed…” Mirai nodded, “But we still have to try, don’t we?”.

“I guess so…” Akane sighed.

Immediately Mirai spun herself around, facing the recovering Haruna with a giddy smile. “SO! Welcome to the club, Omo! I hope you’re ready to get workin’! I know I am! What about you, Akane-sensei?”

“D-DON’T– Don’t call me that!” Akane curled her fingers, looking like she just took a bite out of a sour candy. “I’m not a teacher! We’re all just practicing together!”

“Okay okay! Yeesh! I was just yankin’ your chain!” Mirai chuckled. She walked in between both Akane and Haruna, and booming in a louder voice: “I’ll man the helm for this here workout session! First we’re gonna do some pushups, some sit ups, some squats, but don’t forget your stretches! Gotta do your stretches–”

“Shouldn’t you do those first?” Akane interrupted.

“Y-yeah! Good point! Let’s start with stretches, hehehe.” Mirai shied away. The group of three commenced their stretches and warm ups. Arm stretches, leg bends, neck rolls, and quad pulls made sure each of the trio were up and ready for the harrowing trials ahead.

Once they were done, Mirai immediately dropped to the floor and in a pushup position. Likewise, Akane and Haruna followed her move.“Up! Down! Remember to not count them until it starts to hurt!”

Mirai and Akane, as expected, had no qualms about doing these rounds of exercises. Truthfully, to Haruna, the speed they were doing the exercises made it look like she was far outclassed… because she was. By the time Akane was doing her twentieth, Haruna hadn’t completed her fifth pushup. How did these two have so much energy? She could only wonder. Nonetheless, she reached deep within herself to get that fifth pushup. “Five…” she muttered upon completion. A wave of relief washed over her, she was done.

Or… that’s what she thought, until Omo felt a boot pressed against her back.

“Give me six, Omo!” Akane smirked, “When you get six you can be done!”

“A-akane! Get your foot off of me!”

“Not until you reach six!”

“But I can’t!”

“Fuck that attitude! You can! If you can’t do six pushups then give up on the Boxing Club!”

“Fourty five…. Fourty six… fourty seven…” Mirai meanwhile muttered, paying no mind to the fuss behind her.

“OW! You’re hurting my back!” Omo grunted. The leather of her trainer’s shoe brushing against her spine made for an excruciating ache across her back. The more it pressed, the weaker the noodle arms that were supporting her became. Violently, her body slammed against the ground. She felt the pressure against her back start to ease, yet not leave entirely.

“Six! Come on! You can do it!”

“My baaaack! It hurts too much! Let me goooo!”

“I’m not leaving until you do! Get the fuck up, Omo! A bully has you pinned under his boot, what are you gonna do? Sit there and let him keep you down!?”

“Fifty five… fifty six… fifty seven…” Mirai continued to mutter to herself.

She couldn’t think straight. Her nerves were screaming like a symphony cast into the Devil’s lake. A pain unlike no other faced her now, and the source of that pain wasn’t going to leave her any time soon. Omo couldn’t even handle a glimpse at Akane’s face. Those eyes… They were just the same as Damian’s. So beautiful, so pure, yet… so terrifying and unnerving when serious. It chilled her down to the bone and further. She couldn’t do this. The weight on her mind and body were far too great.

“Omo! Omo!” Akane gave short jabs with her foot, “Get up! Can you do that?”

“No! I can’t! That’s why I’m laying here!”

“Rgggghhh…. Don’t give me that smart aleck attitude! First year!” Akane grumbled. Immediately Omo’s back is met with a burn so intense her mind could have been fooled to think she was on fire! Her legs, she couldn’t feel them…

“Now GET THE HELL UP! FIRST YEAR! YOU SIGNED UP FOR THIS!”

“Sixty six… sixty seven… sixty eight… aaaand sixty nine!” Mirai hopped up onto her feet, dusted herself off, and stood idly. There was a hint of reluctance in her eyes. Under all of the painfilled screaming, crying, and the obscenities her friend was saying to the poor trainee, all Mirai found herself doing was standing there. Nervously she turned her head and looked towards the lake, “I’ll just… uhhh… leave you guys to that…”.

Mirai walked to the lake, dipping her toe in it. “Ooh-! Ye-yeah, that’s cold! Nope!” She shuddered. “There goes that idea… what is there to do around here?”

A crisp brush of wind blew past Mirai. The trees bent over in wake of the short wind gust, followed by steady ripples in the water. “Yeesh, it’s chilly!” Mirai hugged her arms, looking back at Akane. “Oi, Akane! It’s cold here! Can we go somewhere else?”

“Huh?” Akane’s gaze shifted. “It’s just some wind, what’s the problem?...”

“It’s just… uh, I don’t know…” Mirai shrugged, “I just… don’t feel like we’re in the right spot is all!” she chuckled.

“What’s gotten into you, Mirai? You’re the one always for scenic spots!”

“I-I dunno!” Mirai said while speed walking back to the trail. Meanwhile, the wind began to pick up further, the ripples in the lake growing rapidly. Waves crashed against the shore, the sight caused Mirai, Akane, and Omo all to freeze in their place.

“What in the world…” Akane gasped, “It’s never been this windy here before…”

“Yeah, that’s odd…” Mirai noted. “We should go though!”

“Mirai! Are you seriously scared of some wind?!” Akane teased, “Ohhhh Mirai! The ‘Martial Arts Master’ can’t handle the wind!”

“Ay! Ay! I ain’t scared of it, I just feel… unsettled…!”

“Mirai, what is there to be afraid of? You’re embarrassing yoursel–”

“That!” Mirai pointed back at the lake. A large tidal wave rolled and crashed against the shore, the water temporarily soaking the trio up to their ankles. The wave wasn't the scary part, however. There was something much... much more unsettling.

Washing up on the shore was a figure, nae a young girl about her age in a curled-up position. Her features were hidden under the shadow of the fast-approaching night. There were no signs of movement coming from her. She was stiff and cold.

“What... on earth.” Akane muttered. Her jaw dropped along with Mirai’s.

“Is– is that…” Mirai stuttered in nigh panicked breaths. “Is she… dead….?!”