Gianna bounced into the Thomas cafeteria like she belonged there, and dropped down at the table occupied by Samantha, Emmett, and Thea along with a few others. Her fiery ponytail whipped around, causing it to land perfectly on her shoulder.

"Why, hello, Gianna. How can we help you this morning?" Thea remarked sarcastically.

Gianna giggled and shook her head. "I came to talk to this one here," she answered, pointing her thumb at Samantha before she turned her attention towards her target who was finishing a bite of buttered toast. "I need to talk to you. Are you finished?"

Samantha glanced over at Emmett, he nodded his confirmation and she stood with a shrug. "Yeah, I'm pretty much done." She grabbed her tray and took it to the kitchen, while Gianna wove her way through the Thomas maze to wait by the door. Samantha happened to look back toward the table she’d just been seated at as Emmett seemed to be talking Thea out of something, the latter half already out of her seat. Samantha shook her head at the sight of her siblings. "All right, let's go," she said, sighing upon her arrival.

Gianna led Samantha outside, the morning air was warming quickly with the heaviness of moisture surrounding them. Birds were sitting in trees chirping their songs, some flying off as they passed. They followed the walkway peppered with a beautiful array of colored flowers and plants.

"You are a very good fighter," Gianna pointed out, breaking the silence between them. "I need a training partner. My Second is not a good one to fight against, and my Third is not quite skilled enough."

Samantha frowned, confused. "That was hardly a fight to judge my skill on."

"True. But you are new, and new is what I need. At least come to train with me once. Even if you don’t match my skill, your weapon is one that I have not seen often."

Samantha chuckled. "Not to disappoint, but I don't train with my weapon. But I’ll consider it, where do you train?"

After eating lunch, Emmett and Thea returned to the dorm and were playing chess in the Thomas common room when Samantha mosied back inside, her face hard to read. Emmett stood up, his voice soft, “She didn’t issue a challenge against you, did she Ru?”

Samantha looked up and smiled. “Oh, sorry, no, I was just thinking.” She paused. “Actually, she wants me to train with her. She thinks I am a good fighter and she would like to fight against someone new.”

Emmett nodded and sat back down, satisfied that his sister was telling him the truth. He studied the chess board for a moment before moving his black rook to capture one of Kaminair’s white pawns. Thea rolled her eyes and moved her bishop. “Training with Gianna Valentini, that could be trouble you know, ” Thea pointed out.

“How so?”

“Well,” Thea started, “first of all, she’s a Valentini, which means she is not on the Kazegami side or our side. She will play the field and use who she needs when it’s convenient for her. Some of the Valentini students pick sides, some are friends with some of us, others are friends with the Kazegami, but they are never fully devoted to anyone but themselves.” Thea moved her bishop once more, “Check!” she called.

She continued to talk as Emmett looked for a solution. “Don’t get me wrong, I like her as a person, but you just never know what side of her you are going to get. I don’t think training with her would be a bad thing though, it would be nice for both of you to train with someone new. Let yourselves learn from each other.” Samantha nodded. Emmett moved his rook to block the check.

Thea scowled at the board. Samantha shook her head, “I think training with her would be good for me too. I just thought it was an odd request seeing as how we’d never even met. I just wasn’t expecting it I guess.”

“That’s understandable,” Emmett said as he moved his queen toward Thea’s king. “Checkmate!” he called. Thea placed her head in her hands as she grumbled something incoherently, Emmett and Samantha both laughing. “There’s always a next time, sis!” he said encouragingly as he started putting the game away.

“See, this is why I don’t play with you! This happens every time!” Thea growled.

Samantha couldn’t help but laugh at their banter. “Okay guys, I am going to go catch up on some homework in my room for a bit. I will see you all later.” Before leaving she reached over to Emmett’s head and fluffed up his hair, he groaned and pushed her away with a smile. Samantha turned and disappeared down the hallway.

After walking Samantha to the Thomas dorms, Gianna turned toward the academic building. It wasn’t long before she felt as though she was being followed. She looked behind her, but there was nothing there. She rolled her eyes and continued walking for another minute before she couldn’t handle it anymore. She stopped and looked around once more, catching his silhouette amongst the shadow of a tree nearby. “I know you are there boy, come out before I have to drag your creepy ass out!” She yelled.

Seconds later Souma ascended from the shadow and came toward her, arms up in surrender. “Okay, okay, you win,” he said as he moved closer to her.

They walked along in silence for a moment before she spoke excitedly, “I may have a new training partner!”

Souma thought for a moment, “Awe, are you tired of training with me already?” he questioned in his best pretend whine.

You cheat, and you know it!” She retorted.

“Fair.” He thought for a moment. “So, who is this new opponent of yours?” Gianna gave Souma a knowing look and just smiled. “You can’t be serious. Samantha?”

“Uh-huh!” She giggled with a skip in her step. “I mean, she said she would consider it, so that’s a win, right?”

Souma shook his head, “It’ll be a win, if she actually shows up.”

Gianna sighed. “Well, I invited her to train with me today. We will see if she shows up or not. I really think this could be good for both of us.”

Souma smirked, “If you think I’m jumping in to have two attractive women whooping on me,” he paused. “I may consider it. I’m sure a threesome with you two would be hot!”

Gianna punched him in the arm, and a grunt released from her target. “You pig, I meant it would be good for Samantha and I!”

“Ah, but it is still good for me.” He stopped as he opened the door to the academics building and motioned for Gianna to enter first. “Good for me,” he continued, “because I get to see you beat up on someone that isn’t me. Good for you? Well, that depends on if she can actually keep up with you. If she can, then it counts as training and not bullying.” Souma sighed as he shook his head, “I would really hate to have to report you for bullying.” He laughed, his last comment earning him a smile from Gianna as they took their seats.

Three hours later, Samantha found herself in a pair of loose blue shorts and oversized white t-shirt walking into an arena different than the one she’d been in when she fought the Kazegami creep. It was smaller, and the walls were painted a shade of yellow. Apparently there were three small arenas - red, blue, and yellow - meant for practice for each family, along with one large arena. The large arena is where the official challenges were held, along with the yearly Decum Tournament at the end of the school year.

Samantha, with her bo staff in hand, moved quietly into the arena to see Gianna in the middle, stretching. She placed the staff on the ground beside an interestingly exotic and curved sword that must belong to Gianna. The blade of the sword had a thin rubber strip across it to protect against its sharpness. She joined Gianna in the middle and began to stretch as well, starting with her legs.

"That doesn't look like the weapon you fought with," Gianna commented with a smirk.

"That's because it isn't," Samantha retorted with a laugh. "I don't like practicing with the glaive. I do my forms to make sure I always know it's weight and balance, but I practice with a staff. That one is new so I may be a little off today."

"Why are you coming to fight me with a new weapon?"

"My old staff was wooden, this one is a metal alloy made especially to match the weight of my glaive, though it doesn't match the balance since it doesn't contain a blade on the end." She paused, “And your sword? I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Gianna huffed “It’s a falcata, a sword that was popular amongst the ancient Romans and Greeks,” she explained as she finished her stretching. She stood and instinctively wiped the dirt off the back of her leggings, as she waited for Samantha to finish her own set of stretches. A few minutes later they were picking their weapons up and heading back to the center of the arena.

"By the way, if a ninja appears at some point, don't freak out," Gianna said suddenly as they were getting into their positions.

"What? A ninja? For real?" Samantha looked around the arena with a mix of awe and unease. She wasn’t sure what to do about someone she couldn’t see, so ninjas made her a little anxious.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to give him some info at some point tonight."

Samantha rose a brow but decided she didn't need any more information and shook her head, letting her power flow through and calm her. "All right, I'll try not to freak out when a ninja shows up later then," she smirked as her ability did its job.

Samantha held her staff in front of her and Gianna did the same with her sword. They respectfully bowed to each other before starting their sparring. They moved slowly at first, trying to get a feel for each other. Their rhythm picked up after a while, turning their moves into what could have been a deadly dance. Both women knew their bounds and had no intention of hurting the other.

The pair went back and forth swinging, blocking, and striking at their opponent. Occasionally a strike would land on the other, but nothing of real substance. It was apparent to Gianna just how good Samantha really was. After a half hour of their intricate dance, Gianna started losing her balance and fell to the ground as a puff of dust rose around her.

"That damn shadow freak!" Gianna yelled, quickly jumping to her feet to survey the shadows on the ground around them.

"You're so jumpy, Gianna," laughed a husky male voice from the doorway. "Did you get spooked by something?"

"You know damn well what I was spooked by, shadow walker," Gianna scowled while giving him a death glare. She then turned to Samantha and held out her sword. "Will you hold onto this for a moment so I don't accidentally impale this idiot?"

Samantha's eyes went wide, but she took the sword as requested. She watched as the guy walked further into the arena and as he came into focus she noticed he was dressed in a black gi. "Wait, is this the ninja you were expecting?"

"Yep, meet Souma Kazegami," Gianna said flatly as she swung at Souma with her fist, which he quickly dodged. They went back and forth for a few minutes, but after the first few attacks Samantha realized they were messing around and Souma was keeping up with her rather well.

Gianna finally landed a hit causing Souma to take a step back into his own shadow, and promptly disappear. Samantha looked around the room and suddenly he was behind Gianna who was now in a headlock. "You are so lucky I'm tired from fighting this wildcat over here already, boy," Gianna scowled, relaxing in his hold. He released her with a laugh and she punched his arm.

"I know, that's why I waited until now to come out," he joked, still chuckling, as he shook his head. "But really, I wasn't expecting you to have company." He turned to Samantha and gave her a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Samantha Thomas."

It took a moment for everything to add up in Samantha’s mind with the suddenness of the past couple of minutes. “Wait, Kazegami?” Samantha questioned, frowning and studying him. He could see her trying to calculate how that was possible.

Souma sighed wearily. "Not by choice, I assure you. Dear ol' papa kindly requested I change my last name when he found out I had an ability. Suddenly, his bastard child was worth something to him."

The news was a shock to Samantha, but it didn’t surprise her when she thought about Kaguya's public behavior compared to their private moments. As she stared at Souma, it became more clear that he was in fact Kaguya’s brother. They had many of the same facial features from which they had to have received from their father. Another moment passed as she studied him, and then it occurred to her that she might be able to get him to give her some information on Kaguya since the woman didn’t share much about herself freely.

"Then… Can I ask you something?" she asked with hesitation controlling her voice. Souma picked up on her mood quickly and sat down before nodding. "When Kaguya… I mean, her fight as a freshman… And the other fights… Why did she kill her opponents?"

Gianna and Souma exchanged a knowing look, and then Souma sighed, motioning for Samantha to sit with him but shrugging and began speaking anyway when she didn’t oblige. "If I told you it was because she enjoyed the kill, what would you think of her?"

Samantha shook her head. "I wouldn't believe you, and I wouldn’t be able to trust another word that came from your mouth. I met her before all of this," she motioned to the room around them, “and this is not who she is.” Samantha paused as she thought of something, something that she didn’t want to believe but that added up with some of the things Kaguya had said. “It can’t be,” she whispered, her eyes widening as she looked at Souma with something akin to fear.

Souma nodded with a sad smile. "You have a good heart, don't you? I want you to know that you will end up broken if you try to help my sister, Samantha. She may not break you on purpose, and she won't want to do it, but she will have no choice if you decide you want to pursue this.”

"What are you talking about?" Samantha warred with herself to keep the tears from surfacing. Part of her regretted asking, but she wanted to know more than anything what Kaguya had to deal with. Even if it was painful, she would listen and then she would find a way to help Kaguya with this information.

"Before my sister's fights, our father always summons her. And before she leaves his presence, he always finishes their conversations with 'don't disappoint me' before she's dismissed," Souma finally answered. He let that sink in for a moment, watching the mixed emotions on Samantha's face. "My sister kills because she's expected to, as the heir to his name."

Samantha frowned, and stared at the sword she realized she was still holding for a long moment. "She's basically a prisoner to what she thinks he wants."

"Not thinks, Samantha," Souma corrected. "Knows. Kaguya knows that's what he wants, because that's what he's been drilling into her ever since she he started training her at six years old."

Samantha’s heart broke for the six year old Kaguya who had been forced to conform to the ideals of her father. But she realized that if Kaguya had been trained to kill from that early on, she wouldn't be so torn over it now.

Souma seemed to notice when Samantha reached that conclusion and chuckled dryly. "Even so, she hadn't actually killed anyone until her freshman year. She could see him in the stands frowning when she started to back away from the maimed boy. She could see his disappointment and she knew what he expected of her. She spun back around taking out her sword and went for the throat, killing him instantly. That was the first time I had seen that man smile in years.”

Samantha's shoulders slumped, and she took the seat offered to her by Souma just minutes ago before she ended up falling over. She held the falcata up and Gianna took it from her. Samantha wrapped her staff in a hug for comfort, "Kaguya isn't ruthless," she mumbled, remembering what Thea had said.

Souma shook his head. "She can be ruthless, but I understand what you mean. A lot of people call her a ruthless murderer, and none of them understand what it does to her when she has to take someone’s life. They don't realize how much work she does to keep people from challenging her, too. A lot of guys in the Familia think they've got what it takes to be number one, and she does a lot of scheming to make them reconsider."

"Well, Souma does most of that work," Gianna interrupted, swinging her sword around with little effort before resting the back of the blade on her shoulder. "He's a ninja, if you haven't noticed."

"Kaguya gives me all the info, but yeah, I go out and deliver all the ultimatums and threats," Souma admitted. He stretched out his legs before jumped to his feet. "Anyway, I have what I came here for, so I'll head back to my dorm so I can get a nap in before dinner."

Gianna and Samantha waved him off, and then the redhead held out her hand for Samantha, letting her use the leverage to help her stand. They gathered their weapons quickly and headed out the door of the arena. Gianna accompanied Samantha back to the Thomas dorm in silence, letting Samantha think without interruption. Samantha paused before going inside, "I didn't see you tell or give Souma anything. What had he been there for?"

Gianna laughed. "Obviously he was getting some info on you, girl."

"Why was he getting info on me?"

"You asked about Kaguya, yeah?" Samantha nodded. "Chances are it's because of her. He's protective of his little sister, though he'll deny it if you say it to him."

"I see…" Then Samantha had another thought. "Are you two dating or something?"

"Oh, heavens no!" Gianna howled. "You get some crazy ideas, you know?" She chuckled for a few more moments and shook her head. "He’s just pissed I can see him when he’s in the shadows, and it frustrated him. Now he just follows me around sometimes, and over time we’ve become friends." Gianna grinned, and then turned to walk off, waving behind her and swinging around her sword as she headed towards the Valentini dorms. "I'll see you in two days, at the same time and place, okay?"