I checked my phone. ra had texted three tis asking if I was still alive after the eting. Cheon sent a single ssage asking if I required assistance.
No and probably, I typed back to both.
The cafeteria was packed when I got there. I grabbed a sandwich and found an empty table near the windows. Five seconds later, ra dropped into the seat across from with a tray of food that could feed three people.
"So," she said, stealing one of my chips. "How bad was it?"
"Imagine being trapped in a room with soone who hates you and soone who’s terrified of their own shadow."
"That good?"
"Noel spent forty-five minutes explaining contingency plans for scenarios that will never happen. Usagi apologized every ti she asked a question. I wanted to die."
ra grinned. "Sounds romantic."
"I’m being serious."
"So am I. Nothing bonds people faster than shared suffering."
She had a point, but I wasn’t ready to admit it.
Cheon appeared next to our table holding her lunch tray with both hands. Her hair was back in its usual ponytail and her uniform was perfectly pressed. The transformation from this morning’s gym outfit was complete.
"May I sit?" she asked.
"Since when do you ask permission?" ra said.
Cheon’s cheeks went pink. She sat down anyway, arranging her food with the sa precision she brought to everything else.
"The eting went poorly," she said. Not a question. An observation.
"How’d you guess?"
"You look homicidal."
"I always look like this."
"No. Usually you look smug. Right now you look like you want to fight soone."
ra laughed. "She’s got you there."
I took a bite of my sandwich and ignored them both. The bread tasted like cardboard and the turkey was dry, but I was too annoyed to care.
"Noel’s ability is strong," Cheon said after a mont. "But she has a weakness most people don’t notice."
I looked up. "Yeah?"
"She plans for everything except the plan failing. If sothing happens she didn’t account for, she panics. Not visibly. But you can see it in how fast she recalculates. It costs her ti and focus."
"How do you know that?"
"We sparred once during prep year. I feinted left and she committed fully to the counter. When I went right instead, she froze for three full seconds trying to figure out what happened."
That was useful information.
"What about Usagi?"
Cheon’s expression softened slightly. "She’s capable. More than she realizes. But she doesn’t trust her own ability. She second-guesses every application and holds back because she’s afraid of failing."
"So I’ve got a control freak and a nervous wreck."
"You’ve got a strategist who needs to learn improvisation and a support who needs confidence. If you can manage both, you’ll win."
"Big if."
"Yes."
ra had been listening quietly, which was unusual for her. Now she leaned forward and pointed a fork at . "You need to sleep with both of them."
I choked on my sandwich. Cheon’s face went bright red.
"Excuse ?" Cheon hissed.
"Think about it. Noel hates you because you said sothing stupid to her when you were kids. Ro’s drain builds connection. If he drains her properly, she’ll stop being so angry and start actually working with him."
"That’s. That’s not how abilities work."
"It’s exactly how his ability works. And Usagi needs confidence. What builds confidence better than soone making you feel incredible?"
"ra."
"I’m being practical."
"You’re being insane."
"Sa thing."
I rubbed my face with both hands. "Can we not have this conversation in the middle of the cafeteria?"
"Why not? It’s good advice."
"It’s terrible advice."
"You slept with . You slept with Panda. Your drain needs high intimacy to work properly. The quest literally requires you to get Noel’s acknowledgnt and unlock Usagi’s potential. You think you’re going to do that by being nice to them?"
Cheon looked like she wanted to crawl under the table and die. "I’m leaving."
"Wait," I said.
She paused halfway out of her seat.
"What do you think? Honestly."
Cheon sat back down slowly. Her hands folded in her lap and her posture went rigid. "I think ra is correct that your ability requires connection. I also think approaching either of them with that intention right now would be counterproductive."
"Thank you."
"However," Cheon continued, and I imdiately regretted asking. "If the opportunity presents itself naturally and you can build genuine rapport with either teammate, leveraging your drain to strengthen the team dynamic would be strategically sound."
"Did you just give permission to seduce my teammates?"
"I gave you tactical analysis."
"Those are the sa thing."
"No they’re not."
ra was laughing so hard she had to put her fork down. "Oh my god. Panda. You’re amazing."
"Stop calling that."
"Never."
I finished my sandwich while they argued. Students kept glancing at our table and whispering. Probably because Cheon was sitting with and ra instead of with Aurora or the other top students.
Her reputation was taking hits and she didn’t seem to care.
That was interesting.
My phone buzzed. Group text from Solana.
Conference rooms until 5 PM. Use the ti. Don’t waste it.
"Guess that’s my cue," I said, standing up.
Cheon grabbed her tray. "I should return to my team as well."
ra stretched, her tail curling behind her. "I’m going to take a nap in the common room."
"You’re supposed to be training."
"I’ll train tomorrow. Right before we fight."
"That’s a terrible strategy."
"So is showing up stressed. I’ll be fine."
I left them both and headed back to Building C. The hallway was mostly empty now. Everyone was either eating or holed up in their assigned conference rooms.
Room 2-B was exactly where I left it. Noel sat at the table reviewing her notes. Usagi was nowhere to be seen.
"Where’s the third mber of our team?" I asked.
"Bathroom," Noel said without looking up.
I sat down across from her and waited. She kept writing for another thirty seconds before finally acknowledging my presence with a sharp glance.
"What."
"We need to talk about this morning."
"There’s nothing to talk about. I presented a strategy. You disagreed. We moved forward anyway."
"Yeah. That’s the problem."
She set her pen down carefully. "Explain."
"You spent an hour telling us what to do without asking what we can actually do. You don’t know my limits. You don’t know Usagi’s range. You’re building a strategy around assumptions."
"I’m building a strategy around docunted abilities and observable patterns."
"That’s the sa thing as assumptions."
"No it’s not."
"It is when you’ve never fought with either of us before."
Her jaw tightened. "What do you suggest?"
Progress. Sort of.
"Show your astral form. Let see what you can actually do. Then we’ll figure out how to work with it."
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