[Monday, September 2]
The protege & mentor separated at the arena early morning. They would have a new mentor & new protege until Friday night, though they'd still see each other when the day finished.
Mia was in the second-year line again, her new protégé's name on her tablet. "Roman Isidore."
A man drew out of the line, and the two separated to one wall of the arena. The rest of the second-years, sans one, called out their names, and soon, only Kirihara and Serena stood. Out of her eye's corner, Serena saw Mia worriedly look over at her as she realized this.
Kirihara waved Serena over as she walked to the corner. "Guess you're mine for the week. Serena Kunst, yeah?"
"Yes."
"'Kay. I'm Kirihara Kishor." She shrugged. "C'mon. Let's fight."
"I - uh, sure, I guess." mumbled Serena. "I only got my - new - Revenant last week, though - uh. I had it transferred."
"You - uh, what?"
"I used to have a different Revenant my first week, but um - I swapped with Saya in the infirmary."
Kirihara sighed. "Great. You're about to tell me you're not used to it, aren't you?"
"I - er, no, I just - thought you should know."
"Ugh. Whatever. Let's just go." Kirihara's sawblade and hilt formed in her hands, and Serena stepped a distance away, a shield filling her right hand. "Ready?"
"I - uh, sure, I guess -"
" - dodge!"
- Carve shot out from its hilt, spinning and seeking Serena's neck as it shattered through her shield -
- but a second fog filled the cracks, and again and yet again the saw spun, milling and carving through, cracking any defense Serena could offer. Inch by inch, the pressure of Kirihara's strikes forced her back, and as the corner approached behind -
- Carve pierced through her shield, shooting to Serena's neck -
- and spun suddenly down her right arm, spinning a crimson sprinkler as it cut halfway through; but a stream of black fog shot through Carve's center, extending to the corner's walls -
- and turning to steel, trapping the sawblade as a key on a ring.
"Everyone always tries that." grunted Kirihara.
The saw split in to two halves, and slashed down Serena's arms and shoulders -
" - okay - okay! Concede!" she panted, and the saws hovered at her neck.
"Giving up that easily?" said Kirihara, and the halves disappeared. "Weird. Should put up more of a fight than that, yeah?"
"H-How do I counter that?" panted Serena, gesturing Saya over, arms peeled clear open.
"I don't know. It's your Revenant." said Kirihara.
Little irritated Kirihara as much as the bad luck Urasaria had thrown at her with her mentor, protege, & now Serena. What good was this academy if it kept her from achieving what she deserved?
Saya was with them now, and she glanced between the two before she started writing on Serena's forehead. "How has Blackburn been working for you?"
"D-Decently." smiled Serena. "Is Odyssey doing okay with the healing?"
Her now scarless arms gave the answer, and the two laughed.
"Like sisters." Saya winked, and Kirihara waited until she was gone to speak.
"Come on. I'll go easier on you this time, yeah?"
++++++
That afternoon, Serena and Kirihara arrived at the bank to a bloody scene. The tellers' windows were drowned in gore, there were corpses on split desks, and a door at the back-right led to outside the vault. The women stepped carefully across the lobby, hearing skittering from the back room.
"Revenant." muttered Kirihara, Carve in hand, ready to fly off the handle. "Knows we're here already. Guess they triggered the silent alarm."
"R-Right."
The two came up to the tellers' window. Carve shattered the glass as they vaulted over the barrier, corpses dotting the ground. With no time to waste, the women ran right along the back wall, and as Serena stepped over one casual head -
- a geyser of blood burst from its eyes and painted the back wall; the liquid reformed to a crimson splatter, and a series of tendrils burst out, seeking Kirihara's neck -
- but a whirlwind of steel went through the hideous trunks, slicing clear through -
- but the tendrils regrew from their sheared trunks, doubling in number&length; another dozen shot to Carve and gripped it tight, coiling like red wires around, clogging the incessant spin as if a rusted cog. A far longer tendril looped through the saw's center and yanked it deeper, and as its brethren sought to crush it whole -
- a stream of black fog flew in to the pool and filled it with heat, boiling the tendrils to vapor; and a second stream turned the pool to red steam. Serena crouched below, setting to work on the corpses down, filling and draining their blood out.
"Good." mumbled Kirihara. "I could've gotten it, but that makes it easier."
"E-Er, right." said Serena, and the two started running again, coming to the door on the other end, pressing against the walls beside.
"Some sort of liquid Revenant." mumbled Kirihara. "Get ready."
"Okay, ready -"
- the portal buckled inward as a swipe from Carve sliced it open; in to the steel room swept the women, door on the other end closed, carpet of water covering the floor -
- and out of the blue pool erupted a field of watery tendrils -
- but swept with the speed of water back as Serena's fogged hand raised.
"I - fuck, can't go right through this." grunted Kirihara.
Carve flew ahead, and as it reached halfway across the room -
- the tendrils erupted underneath and grew, vicious swipes catching only air as Carve swept up and away, stopping inches before the door as it reached the end of its range.
"Gotta fucking get through this - c'mon, do the same thing!"
With a nod, Serena ran on to the watery pool -
- but the liquid moved away, contorted itself and avoided her hand, her fog a wild flurry as she rushed to the center of the room - " - uh - it's -"
- and before she realized it, she was trapped, a circle of liquid forming around; four tendrils burst out and shot to her wrists and ankles, and as a fifth cleaved down her back -
- a whirl of Carve hacked the trunk of one, flashing to and from existence as it dodged a second set, slicing the tendrils at Serena's wrists and ankles -
- but a final tendril coiled around her torso, gripping her tight; a second flick, and she was thrown right through the vault door, tendrils slashing her chest as she flew, meeting another watery floor as she landed.
She shot to her feet as she saw their foe at the other end, the water ankle-high now; at her back, she heard Kirihara's pained scream, and the new mentor landed beside her, having been thrown the same way. Serena flashed her right hand back, and a panicked stream of fog filled the door behind with steel -
" - why?!" shouted Kirihara - " - god, you fucking - CARVE!"
The carpet of tendrils began to grow below, and as the tentacles prepared to rip them alive -
- the next scene was instant.
Kirihara threw Carve ahead & above; she leaped up and landed on it, footwork stable as she rode it ahead to their foe -
- and the saw cleaved his head clear from his shoulders, sprinkling chunks of gore around as it spun down his spine. The watery carpet disappeared as Kirihara jumped off, spinning the blade on her finger as a basketball. "Ugh. Whatever."
Serena nodded. "Y-Yeah. S-Sorry. P-panicked."
Kirihara's head shook as she took her tablet out and scanned. "I mean, panic all you want, but that's not an excuse for doing idiotic shit like that. Learn to handle your emotions. Or you'll end up as one of those first-year corpses. Yeah?"
"O-Okay."
Kirihara looked back at her. Her gaze seemed to detach enough that Serena thought at first she was looking at the wall of steel behind her, but she quickly realized where Kirihara was actually looking.
++++++
Wednesday night, she came back home and read a note on the counter.
'(7:33PM) Serena, I'm responding to a call, but I cooked some spaghetti for you. It's in the fridge. - Mia'
Feeling a bit coddled, she shrugged as she opened the fridge: she couldn't argue with food. After topping her bowl with parmesan cheese, she stuck it in the microwave, and turned it on as Mia walked inside. "Did you see?- ah."
Serena nodded and gestured to the microwave. "I did, thanks. Um, how did your hunting go?"
Mia smiled. "It was an elemental Revenant - he tried covering himself in water." (Serena laughed.) "Er, how have you been with Kirihara? I'm sorry that - I'm sure she's awful to deal with, but it was randomly assigned, and…"
"Um, she's pretty bad, yeah."
Mia looked concerned. "Has she said anything to you?"
"Um, not anything specific, but - it's just her entire attitude, you know? Like, she just… she just yells at me for the smallest mistakes. I-It's like there's something about me that just constantly pisses her off."
Mia stifled her anger in front of Serena. It was said around campus that if a criminal killed Kirihara in front of fifty witnesses, not one would testify. "Serena, do you want me to ask Aimee exempt you for swap week? You don't need to-"
"-it's cool." winced Serena. "It's just two more days, anyway. I can handle her until then."
Mia hugged her as the microwave dinged, and as Serena walked over to it, she thought about why she hadn't mentioned some of Kirihara's other remarks.
Kirihara's propensity for agitation mixed with attraction towards Serena reminded her of someone else from her past: one this narrative will later deal with. To her, Kirihara's verbal remarks were simply continuing the string of thorns that hung from the mouths of many in Serena's life. She had spent highschool hated by boys for being too feminine, and when she socialized with straight girls, they were usually the type who saw her more as a gay accessory than a thinking person.
But it still disturbed her how Kirihara kept Carve unsheathed around her.
++++++
[Thursday, September 5]
The tumultuous pair arrived outside a clothing store, badges down. They saw customers through the glass doors, store narrow & long, aisles of clothing left & right.
"This is the place." yawned Kirihara. "Said they'd had some undercover shit going on here."
"They - huh?"
"Didn't I tell you? Whatever. Some cops were luring some chick to try to rob this store."
A woman passed by them, red hair and a black streak, entering through the doors.
"I - oh." mumbled Serena. "No, you did tell me."
"Yeah. C'mon. Have a better memory than that, yeah?"
Another woman passed by and entered, pink hair and red bangs, wearing five sweaters.
"Um - yeah, I guess -"
- a scream of terror arose from the store, and as the women turned -
- a bloodied scene met their stare. The five-sweater woman stood at the center of the store, red strands of fabric bursting from her outfits and slicing through the civilians; with no time to waste, the two rushed inside, fifty feet separating them and she, civilians fleeing through the exits front and back.
The woman, whose name was Geiyuna, laughed as she caught sight of the two women with Carve and fog in hands.
"Did you really think that'd work?" she said, laughing again. "I was the one who chose this place, after all!"
From the aisles flew a swarm of clothes, pulled to Geiyuna as if a magnetized force, melting to red strands and in to her outfits. She pulled a gargantuan sewing needle from her back, and as she pricked a corpse below -
- their clothes disappeared and melted to red strands. The two started their rush forward -
- but a series of red strands shot from the aisles, gripping and coiling Kirihara's wrists and ankles; but she was fired to the speed of a maddened tiger. A whirl of steel went through the trunks again, slashing to fabric the red fibers; only a dozen feet separated Kirihara and Geiyuna now, and as their weapons clashed -
- she found far more strength, her back craned down underneath the immense might. She swept back from the clash, and as Geiyuna rushed in pursuit -
" - CARVE!"
- the sawblade detached from its hilt, flew forward with the speed of steel -
- and cleaved clear Geiyuna's neck in a shower of crimson. The bloodied head fell down her torso, and as her limbs fell rigid -
- a bizarre scene met their stare. Geiyuna's hands gripped her head as it fell, a single red strand connecting it still, and as she twisted it like a screw back on -
- a second head popped up next to her own, and the two laughed as they stepped forward.
"Try cutting -- both ways! -- if you have another chance!"
"I fucking can." grunted Kirihara. Carve flew back to her, splitting in to two halves as Geiyuna rushed danger close -
- but a bash of her sewing needle shattered the saw halves, the presence of clothing enhancing her strength; with no defense left, the agony reflected on to her, Kirihara stumbled back -
- and Geiyuna was among her with a rush and a gigantic bound. Her needle pierced Kirihara's chest, and as she readied for the final blow -
- a cloud of black fog filled Geiyuna's two throats -
- and filled her two necks and lungs with scissors, slashing through her throat and eyes, slicing through and out both ways. Her limbs fell rigid, with no strands left, and they knew she was dead.
"S-Sweet." panted Serena, more pleased than Saya had been.
Something about the corpse seemed to irritate Kirihara's expression: what this was Serena did not now. She crouched down, then eventually laughed as she scanned. "…nearly rank twenty, anyway." She stood up and turned to Serena. "When's your mentor expecting you back?"
Serena looked at the clock. "Six."
"Still got a bit, then. C'mon. Let's get some dinner on the way back."
"U-Um, I'd rather just go back."
"Go back?" Kirihara frowned. "I don't think you understand what I'm saying."
Serena started backing away from her, mumbling the same answer. Kirihara kept Carve out, then eventually shook her head and left. What stuck with Serena of this experience wasn't her fear: she knew Mia would scorch a hole through Kirihara's neck if there had been one mark on her - but the loss of words that still typified her experience in these situations.
++++++
The following night, after a day of painful dueling with Kirihara, Serena unlocked the front door to her home. Mia was waiting inside and came up to hug her. "Man. That's- that's the only swap week this year, right?"
"The only one, fortunately." nodded Mia. "Are you alright? I'm sorry that you had to endure that."
"Yeah. Man, though. That bitch is crazy."