Swish!

Yuriko ducked and avoided a wooden ball that would have hit the back of her head. With a quick twist of her waist, she evaded the next one, and with a sweep of her arm, parried the third with her palm. She dashed forward on the narrow beam that was less than the width of her foot as easily as if she were on solid ground. Two more balls flew her way, one would strike her if she took another step forward, while the other would hit if she stayed still.

She saw the trajectory of each ball clearly, as though they were moving through molasses in the air. She continued forward, driving her heel to the beam and shot past the first ball. She reached the end of the obstacle a moment later and hopped down a couple of paces to the floor.

“Well done, Miss Davar.” Instructor Gethen made some notes on his crystal screen, “Please take the next course.”

He pointed at another set, this one a set of monkey bars where a couple of boys were doing pull-ups. One of them happened to be Mikel, and his face was contorted in an expression of pain and determination.

She fell in line behind a couple of girls: Gwendith and Ella-Mai. The golden-haired girl gave her a cool look and a nod while Ella-Mai just shrugged. When the other boy on the bars dropped down, Ella-Mai replaced him. She dusted her hands and leapt, barely catching the metal.

“So, how’s your brother?” Gwendith asked casually.

“Which one? I have three,” Yuriko replied with a wry smile.

“Er, senior Kato.”

“Doing well, I suppose, though I haven’t seen him all week since term started.”

“Oh.” Gwendith looked ill at ease. “I thought you would have made it to Agaza.”

“So did I,” Yuriko grunted.

Before Gwendith could say anything else, Mikel dropped from the bars. The other girl took a deep breath and took her place beside Ella-Mai. The scrawnier girl barely completed a set of five before she let go, her hands shaking. Gwendith had done a couple by the time Yuriko came up to her side. The monitor, an Agazan upperclassman, gave her the signal and she leapt up and did her test.

It was already incredibly easy for her to do pull-ups by now. Her body weight wasn’t really enough to give her a challenge. Chaos, she could have done a hundred single-arm pull-ups with little trouble. Still, she did about twenty at a rapid pace and dropped down right after. The monitor gave her an odd look before she was directed to another station.

The next couple of tests were also focused on strength. They were given ample time to use Recovery after every station but of course, Yuriko didn’t need them. By the time she finished the round, most of her fellows were only halfway done.

She’d shed her coat and beret, keeping them in a locker. Her skirt had a tendency to float up, but since she wore tights underneath, it wasn’t much of a concern. None of the girls had bare legs from the chilly weather. Still, she felt several gazes on her, especially if she was on an elevated obstacle.

“You’re not pushing yourself,” Instructor Gethen declared drily as he came up behind her. Yuriko kept herself from jumping and spun on her heels to face him. “Why?”

“Uhm, I don’t want to…”

“Stand out?” Gethen chuckled. “Too late for that. Anyway, I noticed that you aren’t being challenged. Does it have anything to do with your Heritage or Facet? You’re stronger than you look. Hmmm.” He tapped the stylus on his cheek. “Ah, of course, you’ve inlaid Strengthen Physique?”

“No, sir,” Yuriko shook her head, “I haven’t inlaid any technique other than my Facet.”

“But you have something similar.” Gethen nodded sagely. “No matter, perhaps I should put you in the advanced group since your peers would hardly put up a challenge. What say you?”

“If you think it would help.”

“Yes, I believe it would. Well, you’re finished with the baseline test and you have the rest of the day free. You live in the Golden Willow, don’t you? Your schedule and training uniform will be delivered there.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Yuriko headed over to the side benches where she had left her books and clothes. She glanced about and saw Danika Lorn going through the agility test. The stocky blonde wobbled on the beam and was soon hit by a couple of balls. She had made it roughly halfway through the obstacle. Yuriko walked up to her while she smacked her fist into her palm in frustration.

“Danika, a word please.”

“Oh. Yuriko. What ya want?”

“Er, do you happen to know where Armsmaster Byrne and Spellweaver Merill are staying?”

“Huh, oh, they booked the same inn we were in during registration. The Sunset Mellow Inn on the Northern Mid Ring. Azalea Road.”

“Thanks!”

“No problem. How’d you do?”

“Not too bad,” Yuriko said easily

“You’re done already.”

“...yeah.”

“Hmmph.”

Yuriko waited for Krystal and the two of them left for the Golden Willow. Back in her room, Yuriko found the tomcat stretched out across her table. “Oh, you’re still here?” The window had been left ajar and he could have left anytime. She reached out and stroked him between the eyes, right on the M shaped marking.

“Mmmmrrrrr.”

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“Well, aren’t you a cutie!” Yuriko squealed. Her fingers scratched down his neck and back. However, when they wandered over his belly, his claws sprang out and latched on her hand. “Ah!”

The cat nibbled her fingers for a bit, then started licking.

“Fine, no belly rubs,” Yuriko chuckled when he let her go. The claws didn’t pierce her skin but there were a few white marks that faded as she watched. “Are you hungry?”

“Meow.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Meow.”

“Or a no?”

“Mya.”

“I guess that’s the no.”

“Meow.”

Her spirits slightly restored, Yuriko changed out of her sweaty clothes, took a quick shower and dressed in a long sweater and leggings. She left the cat to his devices and headed down for dinner.

The cafeteria wasn’t packed for a change. Perhaps because it was quite early in the afternoon. When she came up to the counter she asked the serving lady, “Excuse me, what do cats eat?”

“Anything they rotting want,” the woman grunted. “Did one of those pests come into your room?”

“Oh, they’re no bother,” Yuriko said nervously.

“Well, fish. Any kind of meat really but they need to eat fish once in a while.”

“Thank you.”

She ate her meal quickly and left, carrying a little filet of fish wrapped in a table napkin. The cat jumped up and rubbed against her leg as soon as she came in through the door.

“Oh, here you go.” She chuckled as she placed the napkin on the floor. Quick as a flash, the kitty took the fish and scooted off under a side table.

She prepared herself for bed, spending Animus to fuel her Facet when she was ready. The next moment, she was in her dreamscape and the Golden Silhouette stood before her. It was in its feminine form and she started the sword dances almost immediately. There wasn’t much difference from how it was usually shown however, after the dances, the silhouette took a seated meditation pose and brought her palms together.

Strands of Animus danced around her fingers, passing from one palm to the other. She turned transparent and Yuriko could see the strands moving inside. The silhouette had braided three strands together while she moved it but each strand contained a different Intent. One was hot, another cold, and the third somehow made the other two coexist without cancelling each other out.

After a while, the Golden Silhouette repeated the sword dances. She was halfway through it when the Animus was used up and everything faded to darkness. Yuriko didn’t know if she dreamt of anything that night. If she did, she definitely didn’t remember them. She woke up the next morning with the cat on her chest, purring into her face. When he yawned, his fishy breath made her gag.

“Urk.” She shoved him off her, eliciting an annoyed meow. The tomcat sauntered out of the suite when she had begun her morning training regime.

Today was the Fourth Day of Air and both of her classes weren’t at Sharom. The morning class was in Lunette, Natural Sciences, and the afternoon was in Aneurin, Social Studies. She wasn’t looking forward to either one. Well, the good news was that general education classes were only until the fourth term, so she only had two years to bear through.

She penned a quick note for Armsmaster Byrne on a messenger crane, asking if they could meet on the Sixth, in the afternoon. Hopefully, he was still in the Sunset Mellow and could meet with her. Well, she could talk to Kato, too, now that she thought about it. She tapped her fingers on her lips. Hmm, perhaps it was better not to. She didn’t want to worry him needlessly. Besides, he was sure to send a letter to Marron and Rami, and she didn’t want to worry them either.

It’s been an entire season and Da still wasn’t back.

‘Ancestors keep him safe!’ she thought fervently.

Much as she wanted to look for him, Marron was right. There wasn’t anything she could do. At her current Anima strength, she couldn’t even leave the Shallows of the Tidelands.

Natural Sciences class was just as tiresome as she expected, though mostly because today involved self-introductions, the curriculum, and then the instructor, an elderly woman, spent the rest of the three hours talking about her grown children, what they were doing now, and how proud of them she was.

It wasn’t so bad the first hour, but by the middle of the second one, she started repeating the stories. Yuriko didn’t think she’d ever wish that they had started tackling the rudiments of the human body, and what types of fauna were native to Rumiga and what were brought over from Delovine and beyond. That was the lesson for next week.

They had a textbook that was actually thicker than the Treatise of Chaos and Will. Oh joy.

She ate a packed lunch today, seated on a bench at the Central Reserve, with Krystal and the other girls. She’d been eating out everyday since term started and when she did her numbers, she had spent more than her allowance for the week and had dipped into her savings. Ideally, she shouldn’t spend more than fifty Sovereigns a week, and each meal at Mama Blu’s or the Bistro Ilvain cost more than fifteen.

Well, she wasn’t the only one roughing it now, all of the Faron’s Crossing girls were eating packed sandwiches that could be had for a couple of Sovereigns in the cafeteria.

“I wonder what we’d do in Social Studies,” Krystal muttered.

“Etiquette classes?” Millie Keryn ventured. “Maybe dancing and formal dining?”

“Probably lessons on how the varied bureaus of the government work, too,” Krystal muttered.

“Well, we’ll find out in an hour,” Yuriko said.

The six of them, Maryn, Ishika, Krystal, Millie, Danika, and Yuriko, were in the same class for this one. Probably since they all came from across the Zarek. Yuriko wondered if the other members of the class were from the provinces too.

It turned out that yes, most of the members of Social Studies weren’t from the city. Heron, Mikel, the Foster twins, and Zeyn were also in the class. The lecture room could seat more than a hundred students though Yuriko had a feeling that they might break out into one on one instruction, especially for the finer details.

The Instructor was a beautiful young woman, whose honey brown hair was piled up in elaborate curls. She wore a long flowing dress under her Aneurin coat, and the sleeves fluttered behind when she moved her hands.

“Welcome, freshers, to Social Studies. We have a full term coming up, and we have a lot to cover. Most of you are from outside Rumiga City, and away from high society. No matter your background, the fact that you have secured a spot in the Imperial Academies means that you are a cut above the common masses. Now, I don’t know what quaint niceties you’ve learned in your towns and villages, but here in the city, as well as the rest of the Empire, certain standards must be met…”

Yuriko felt vaguely insulted yet also amused by how seriously the instructor said her piece. A quick glance around showed her that most of the other students were similarly serious, though those from Faron’s Crossing had a more amused look on their faces.

“... now, our culminating activity for the term is a cotillion. It is a formal dinner and dance witnessed by the very best the Empire has to offer. Now, I sincerely hope that none of you will embarrass me. All of you freshers are required to attend, not just this small class. The traditional Daffodil Cotillion is held on the last day of the year, the 91st Day of Air, just before the Celestial Refraction. So we have roughly twelve weeks to get you all ready…”

The rest of the class was devoted to discussing the schedule, assigning the required reading, and an impromptu dance instruction. Master Simone Nuada, as she introduced herself, had them clear a space then had the boys go into a line and the girls in another. She played some music off her crystal screen and they shuffled towards each other, one hand raised to meet the other and they spun around a couple of times before returning to their original places. They swapped rightwards and repeated the sequence a few more times.

When they were dismissed from class, Yuriko was just about to leave with the other girls when Heron and the Foster twins charged up to her, and all three of them blurted out, “Will you go to the dance with me?”

Yuriko looked at each of them in turn while the others giggled and muttered behind her.

“Er, I can’t decide right now,” then she fled before the twins’ puppy dog eyes, or Heron’s desperately intense gaze could affect her.