It was a dark, ominous place, filled with monsters. Lurking around the gloom, no light could spot a place to spill itself. It was all work of Sympathy, it was all a work from 'her'. It was the closest place on earth to hell.

— Right —

Warned a feminine voice in the void.

— Left —

As Kiki wields her sword out of the sheath.

— Up —

A single clang and sparkles fled into the empty space.

— Turn around —

Lighting the jaws of an impossible being.

— Good —

Said the voice inside the void; closer, warmer, right at her left. The slanted eyes girl uncovered her face to find a ghostly figure standing a couple of inches from her.

— How many times did I lie to you? —

Asked frightening the womanly silhouette.

— Just once —

The woman smiled with her red lips.

— Now you're ready for the next stage —

It had been that way since almost a month ago, while her injuries were still fresh, the doll-looking woman came to see her.

— In the name of Soujuro, I come to fulfill a promise —

She said that was the only thing Kiki needed to know to stand up from her bed that day.

— I knew your mother —

Was the next thing Kiki knew, for her everything about her family meant an issue. Far away from home, and wanting to know little about everything else, she answered boldly to her.

— I didn't, nor did I want to —

As plain as that Kiki knew, she build differently, like anyone else. The woman liked that answer nonetheless, and from that moment she started to be more open about her.

— As I said, it's a promise I made a long time ago, that I would take care of his offspring whatever it may end up being —

When Kiki heard about this, a question was conceived inside her head.

— Where did you meet Soujiro? —

She asked

— Once we were one and the same... Shiba, you can call me by that name —

And that was the first time Kiki knew about her name. At that moment, it had been two weeks since they met.

It wasn't the best relationship ever made, both were quiet, elusive, and straight in different passes. Possessing both an Allure that repealed each other from complete understanding. Then the best way to communicate became the time they spent together while training. Their confidence was forged in the flames of hardship and pain.

That afternoon, after Shiba released Kiki from her Gloom Space, the girl looked at her with awe. She had cheated, lied, and tricked her... hence it had been that way only to teach her to trust her best feat... her instincts. The girl recognized it immediately. It was the same way Soujiro had trained her. That sole thing, made her trust in her too. It had been a bet from both sides, and it had repaid well.

— Where are we heading now? —

Asked Kiki.

At that moment they were on the west side of the Campus, deep inside the wooden area, far in the training area.

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— That's enough training for today, now we need to occupy ourselves with politics —

And for a moment Kiki didn't know what the woman meant to.

— Tomorrow's the Opening Ceremony, and you haven't met the social duties of the next Second Son's Tournament winner —

Shiba looked weirdly proud of saying that, meanwhile Kiki wasn't sure about that part of the training.

After exiting the forest, they walked through the Academy Grounds, an open Campus filled with grass and buildings of all sizes and kinds, structured as a Park, and dominated by the ancient building in the North Side, the same that Oliver and most people were able to see picking from the woods in Creekshaw.

It took them about fifteen minutes to get there, plus one hour to be ready. When they arrived at the Cochlea Hall, a round reunion hall big enough to host two thousand people, everyone was either dressing in ball gowns, drinking, having a talk or everything at the same time.

Without realizing it, Kiki had been released into a society event. She felt somehow betrayed by her newfound sponsor.

— What the hell is supposed to be this? we aren't even supposed to begin classes yet —

— Precisely because of that young lady, we're here —

— What is 'here'? —

The woman smiled sassy from her place, like someone who was keeping a secret for herself.

— This Kiki is the Professoriate Opening Ceremony, every year we meet to celebrate the new year... before the students come to ruin the fun —

She took Kiki's hand and rushed in without measure, Kiki sprang over her feet and wished to be in another place far away from there.

— Good evening, Lord Hohenheim —

Greet Shiba shortly after stopping in front of an old bearded man dressed in a ball suit. He had a kind expression and was bald from the forehead to the nape.

— H-Hello Mistress Salem, what a pleasure —

He answered nervously.

— I would like to present you my most present discovery —

Said the doll-looking woman. The old man took a look at Kiki and shrunk his expression holding his chin for a second.

— Hello, Miss... ? —

And he left an opening for Kiki to present herself, the girl looked at Shiba, and the woman smiled back at her.

— Jun-a, Park Jun-a —

She said, feeling like using his family name was the most appropriate thing to do at the time. The man's sight lightened then, and he made his next question to the woman.

— May this be the younger child of the Park family? —

Shiba smiled politely

— That's right my Lord, this year we have two of them —

Both laughed as if it were a joke. Shortly after that, the conversation deviated to a sort of unflabbergasting flirting ritual, one in which Shiba seemed to be greatly skilled.

Somehow for Kiki, it wasn't a surprise, the woman, dressed in one piece of red silk and overthrowing her in height by two heads had all the looks of a fem fatale. With white-snowed silky skin and big blue-eyelashed eyes, she had both the feats and feels of a vogue model, something that her talent with Allure could only enhance, making her look like a Greek muse or a Deathly offspring of the sea. It would be almost unfair to stand them both aside and compare if Kiki would had matter anything about it.

When Shiba finished with her first victim, she searched for another, and then another, till they got tired. Over a thirty-minute rush, they've run into four conversations, including a group of ten. That last one specially, stressed out Kiki enough to ask for a break. Shiba agreed without complaint.

— I get it now, we're making relationships —

— Not only that little puppy —

Joked the woman drinking from a cocktail, they were sat aside in the Hallroom french stylized windows.

— We're showing the world that you're here, and you have enough influence to get yourself in this event —

Stated Shiba in her place.

— I still don't get why this is so important —

Shiba looked at her carefully, almost with pity, then she bit her lip.

— Do you know why this Tournament is named the way it is? —

Kiki raised an eyebrow

— To be honest, I overlooked it —

— The Fae and the Human share this uncaring love when it comes to family matters... the bittersweet truth about the way human love is experienced —

The woman's face turned sad as she talked

— First times take the most of us, first loves, first kiss, first... first child —

— ... —

— And there are only a few things a Fae parent can give to its newborn... one of them, is the Arts of the Fae, which is usually inherited by every firstborn —

In their Family, Kiki wasn't that, very much like Park wasn't it either, even thou, Kiki was able to see it. That was one of the reasons why she felt so often reluctant to him. In a world where power was able to obliterate with a touch, through sheer raw strength of will she stood where she was now. Part of a big family, yet barely gifted enough to stand in that hall. Allure and her Katana, that was all she had, even the Sympathy strengthening her body when she fought was a hoax, a lie. She had to discover the difference between gift and talent. And she knew part of that was his family's fault, including Park.

— This tournament began as a way for the displaced child to win a ticket into our schooling course, one that cannot be afforded nor is granted to everyone —

Shiba placed a hand on Kiki's shoulder

— For you to win this Tournament will not only grant you the support that you've always needed, but it's the very reason why this Academy does it in the first place —

Kiki thought about for a moment, as she finished her grape juice.

— I don't want to be chosen by another person, Shiba —

Said Kiki when the time came, her eyes were stuck at the floor. Shiba looked at her as she had looked Soujiro, many years before.

— Don't worry, I'll spend every cent you earn with this tournament for you —

She joked from her side of the room.