Kaguya watched Samantha expertly swing around her glaive in the middle of the arena, doing her forms so that she kept the weight and balance of the weapon fresh in her mind. She had seen that the blue arena was signed out and remembered Samantha mentioning that she tries to get it for an hour before curfew a few times a week, so she came to see if she could get some extra time with Samantha by watching her.

Samantha hadn’t stopped her motions even though Kaguya made sure she moved through the other woman’s view on her way to a seat. Some people get so caught up with their training they forget their surroundings, but Kaguya didn’t think Samantha missed her since there was a slight curve to her lips that hadn’t been there when she first started observing.

They stayed like that, Kaguya watching and Samantha going through forms, for a few more minutes before Samantha stopped, held her glaive out horizontally in front of her, and bowed. Then she walked over to where Kaguya was sitting and leaned the glaive against the wall.

“I don’t usually get to see you outside your room,” Samantha teased, pulling herself up the wall and climbing over it to sit on the top of it in front of Kaguya. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see you anywhere, but this is still a surprise.”

Kaguya smiled and reached out to put a hand on Samantha’s knee. “Unfortunately I’m not here just to see you,” she said sadly before she stood and stepped closer, taking a sheet of paper from her pocket and showing it to Samantha. Samantha took it and read it.

“‘I know about your lover,’ huh?” Samantha read out loud before handing it back. “I guess someone wants to mess with you?”

Kaguya shook her head. “I’m sure that’s part of it, but it’s also a warning. Samantha, if you get a challenge from anyone, please tell me.” Samantha could see some kind of emotion in Kaguya’s eyes, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her first guess would have been fear, but that wasn’t like Kaguya.

“Yeah, of course,” Samantha told her. She started to raise her hand to touch Kaguya’s cheek, but was interrupted by her phone’s ringtone. “That’s weird. I don’t ever get calls anymore.” She pulled out her phone and grinned at the name. “Ah, that explains it. Emmett must be in dorm mother mode.”

Kaguya giggled. “He hates it when you call him that, you know.”

“I know, and that’s why I do it,” Samantha countered, laughing and answering the phone. “Hey, dorm mo-”

“I’ve been issued a challenge, sis.

Samantha could hear the panic Emmett was trying to hide, and immediately tensed up. “Who’s the challenge from?”

“A Kazegami named Monica. What should I do? I mean, I can fight but I’ve heard that it’s kill or be killed with most of the Kazegami. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I’ll figure something out, Emmett. For now, go see Thea and ask her if there’s any way you can get a substitute. If there isn’t, then I’ll figure something else out.”

Kaguya watched Samantha’s aura change as she began to feel panic and worry overwhelming her. She reached up and put a hand on Samantha’s neck, happy when she didn’t flinch, and quietly offered her own suggestion, “If you put in a challenge, I could try to make it happen first. But you would have to be careful. Monica is strong, and she’s sadistic.” Kaguya would rather Samantha didn’t fight her either, but she knew better than to keep quiet if she had a way to help. Samantha would hate her if she had a way to help Emmett and didn’t share it.

Samantha nodded to show she heard, but didn’t say anything about it to Emmett. “I’ve got this, okay? You just talk to Thea and calm down. I won’t let them force you into a fight.”

The phone call ended there, and Samantha put her phone away. Kaguya could see the panic quickly being replaced by anger, and it was intense. “This is because of me, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s probably because of me,” Kaguya said softly. She sighed and pulled away. “This is probably a retaliation of my father’s for not killing that kid in my last challenge. Monica must have seen us and decided that you were the best way to punish me.”

Samantha nodded. “That makes sense. Either she’s trying to push me into challenging her, or she’s trying to get to both of us by targeting Emmett.”

She’s probably trying to force me to show my hand, Kaguya thought. If Samantha challenged Monica, she would have to wait until after the challenge with Emmett normally. And he wouldn’t be able to stand for that. She was afraid of what he’d do this time, but it would be nothing compared to what Samantha would go through if Emmett was killed in the arena.

But Kaguya didn’t tell this to Samantha, and Samantha was so focused on figuring out how to help Emmett that she didn’t notice Kaguya schooling her face to hide those thoughts. They sat there for several moments in silence, lost in their own thoughts, until Samantha sighed and slid off the wall to pull Kaguya into a tight hug.

“Somehow I’ll figure out how to get you away from him, Kaguya,” she murmured quietly. Kaguya smiled sadly, knowing it was impossible but grateful that Samantha wanted to help her to that extent. Still, she said nothing to Samantha about it, and instead just tightened her hold on her.