Everyone stares around at each other. There is both shock, confusion, and a sense of worry about how this will go.

“You can do it, Takei,” Shoji speaks up, Takei’s eyes darting to him.

“Y-you think I can?” she hesitates. The panning wind around her lifts the golden brown hair, and she sweeps herself to her feet despite the aching in her chest, which says no, you can’t.

“Usagi is right. We can’t slack off even if we think we’re limited. That mindset will only do us bad in the end. Hell.” He takes out the notebook Ishimoto was writing in days ago. “I even did my homework. Catch.” He tosses it to Ishimoto. He catches it by a hair, opening it to see his answer to the question. He nods.

“Yeah, Takei, kick some ass!” Okazaki yells.

“You got this. Don’t give in, win!” Keiko encourages.

“Fall seven times, and stand up eight. Go for it, Takei,” Ishimoto says.

Angel is fascinated, seeing their unity. It’s something she herself hasn’t viewed in a long time. In a world like this, unity is hard to find, and yet by the definition of Takei taking those steps out to join Usagi on the battlefield, it shines through.

“Right… I’ll make sure I don’t fall behind either.” She takes a battle stance, albeit a sloppy one, having never fought before. She adjusts her body, taking on the same one as Usagi, mirroring her every limb to hopefully have an advantage.

“I won’t go easy on you. I hope you understand that, Takei,” she says.

“Then don’t. I will learn through valleys of fire,” she answers.

“Then give me everything you got.” Her teeth grit, her nose crinkled, and she sprints at her. Takei has her body freeze up along with her mind. Her speed is faster than merely two days ago. It is as if a cheetah is running at her with full force. She springs, though her head is trying to determine the best action. There!

She falls to the ground at the last second. She grabs her leg tight, and her body pinches.

“What!” Usagi is baffled to see the ground coming close to her face as she falls hard onto the dirt. Takei lets go and hurries back away before she regains her footing. In a haste, she’s on her feet again, her body stained with dirt.

I don’t think I can defeat her in sheer strength, but I seem to have been able to keep up with her speed somehow. How did I? She tries to figure out how her body is able to react to it before she goes in the attack once again.

“Damn, not bad, Takei! I’ll learn from that mistake, though!” She smirks and runs over to a nearby tree, kicking herself off it. She flies through the air like a bullet, her speed greater than before, and Takei scans her movement. I can… I can see her?

She moves out of the way. She misses her contact, and Usagi realizes, doing a move Takei couldn’t predict. She stomps the ground, stopping all her forward motion, and spin kicks Takei right in the side. Her body goes flying through the air, hitting the ground with a violent thud. A searing heat covers her entire back as she winces.

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“Usagi!” Kubo yells out.

“Don’t you dare doubt her, Kubo,” Usagi says calmly, taking him off his guard.

“I know what you’re going to say. Be careful with her. She’ll get hurt or might even die. Don’t doubt her,” she snaps.

Kubo settles himself. Part of him knows she’s right, but another part of him strangely doesn’t want to see them get hurt too bad.

“You better know what you’re doing. I’m trusting you,” is all he says before sitting back down.

Takei struggles her body up. The pain is unlike anything she ever experienced. It’s as if a truck has hit her twice at once. “I won’t… I won’t give up…” She puts her body back into stance, struggling to keep her limbs upright due to her inexperience in combat and bleeding out with the damage.

Back at it, Usagi throws a heavy punch, and it hits her cheek. Takei tumbles back to the ground. Her vision was slower. Her body is unable to recover, and her breath heaving.

“Get up, Takei,” Usagi says above her. “Fight me. Takei.” The challenge is inescapable, but getting this way certainly means she won’t concede. Though, if she gets up right away, she’ll get knocked back down once more. The best course of action? She won’t fall for it again.

She grips a hand of dirt, throwing it at her face. She quickly dodges out of the way, allowing a moment of space between them both. She gets up and delivers an impactful punch to her stomach. She is in disbelief, never imagining she’d land a hit. The only problem is it appears to do nothing. She takes it and turns her attention back.

“You landed a hit, Takei. Not bad at all.” Takei’s mind races, and as if by pure instinct, she taps her hand to the ground, lifting her entire body up. Her shoe makes contact with Usagi’s neck right beneath her choker and her windpipe. She smacks through the air and falls a couple feet away.

“Ah!” She hits the dirt.

“There… is something about Takei…” Ishimoto says, intrigued by her reaction time. The rest of the group noticed the same thing.

“Yeah. I noticed that too, but I don’t know what it is, what you think, egghead?” asks Okazaki.

“It’s… difficult to tell accurately. But she has an ability that none of us seem to have. It makes up for her lack of speed due to her none physical training. However.”

Usagi beckons back up in a hurry, speeding at her for another attack.

“Her strength is nowhere near Usagi’s. In fact, I don’t see her winning this through straight combat at all.”

“Damn, Takei! Can’t keep myself from falling behind if you hit like that!” she screams. Takei is frozen again. She can see her attack roughly. It is estimated in her mind, but she knows that this is a battle of attrition she can’t win. Her training hasn’t included anything physical, and it’s plain to see Usagi has gained more strength. What do I do? Can I outlast her?

Her delay is a great mistake. Her mind clouded with judgment, she capitalizes a deathly blow hits her stomach. Blood spews from Takei’s mouth, making everyone jump.

“Takei!” Keiko screams in concern.

Usagi doesn’t seem shaken, seeing her body hurled over her fist as she struggles to say anything.

“U-Usagi…” Takei huffs up. The group keeps watching, saying nothing, completely shocked by the sheer brutality of the move on Takei. Her body is slumped and about to give up. Before she can continue, Angel walks over to them.

“Usagi, she’s had enough. She cannot continue. Pl—”

“What do you know what she can and cannot handle!?” She bit her words. “She’s not as weak as you think!”

“Usagi… she’s right…” Her body can’t take any more pain.

“She! She’s…” Usagi retracts her punch, and she starts to fall over. Angel catches her before she collapses.

“Takei. Are you able to heal yourself?” she asks.

“Yes… I have before. I just… need a moment…” she says, the pain unbearable.

Usagi stands away from them both. The realization of her actions starts to ache in her mind. It is as if she is blind. With the fight, she hadn’t considered the novice nature of Takei, thinking she could take more than she could.