Reiki stared at his left palm, he said. “Q, can you show me how bad my wounds are?” Almost half of his palm instantly turned ink black, Q slowly exposed torn red muscles along with tendons with visible tears. He thought. Not as bad as I expected-. Before he could finish his train of thought, large chunks of the muscle turned black as half an inch of one of his tendons were connected by Q. Reiki continued his train of thought. … Ok… That’s one way to cripple myself. Q slowly covered his wounds as he watched his hand return to normal.
Q slowly copied the color of his unhealthy white skin as Reiki poked the areas where Q was covering, he felt the sensation of his index finger touching his palm. He thought. … When Q… ‘repairs’ me how does she replicate my sense of touch when it’s her… Tissue?... Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [She uses one long line to connect to your brain. I think it’s called shared senses in your realm?] Reiki’s brows furrowed, he thought. You’re telling me, she’s connected to my brain?
Ender continued. [Yes, from the injury on your palm. She slowly grew inside your hand, up your forearm, past your shoulder, and traveled up the spine in your neck.] Reiki stared at the palm of his hand, he thought. Then shouldn’t I feel something from her… Moving inside of me? He heard Ender’s voice in his head, he said. [Think of it as one of those fungus networks inside you.] Reiki paused for a moment and thought. Mycelium?... He was still in deep thought as Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [I’ll take over your body for a minute or two.]
Reiki’s entire vision turned black as he looked around and noticed he was surrounded by darkness, a large rectangle-shaped screen appeared floating mid-air as he squinted his eyes. He thought. Too bright. He used one of his hands as a shield to cover his eyes from the sudden light and felt something touch the back of his lower calf. Reiki turned his upper body and saw a large round black slime on the ground, he said. “Q?...” The large slime slowly moved back and forth as she touched Reiki’s leg again. He leaned down and picked up the black slime, Reiki thought. … What the?... She weighs like nothing…
From the screen he heard Ender speaking with his voice, he said. [Did your eyes finish adjusting yet?] Reiki moved his gaze back onto the large floating screen, he thought. That’s uncomfortable… My eyes more or less adjusted. From the screen he heard his voice again, Ender said. [I can only hear you if you speak.] Reiki patted the large slime he was carrying with one hand, he thought. So I can only hear him when he speaks… Noted. He said. “Yeah, my eyes adjusted to the dark already.” On the screen was Reiki’s room in first-person view.
Ender said. [First, make sure to copy the way I’m breathing.] Reiki let out a chuckle and thought. How am I supposed to copy-. He stopped his thoughts as he felt his body inhale from his nose, his lungs slowly filling with air, and exhale with his mouth. Ender did it a few more times with his body while Reiki placed a hand on his chest as he felt every movement. From the screen he heard Ender talking using his voice, he said. [This is how you're going to breathe for the rest of your life, sleeping, eating, and during fights.]
Reiki tried doing it a couple of times, he said. “... Sure…” He thought. … All he did was breathe… He started practicing while keeping his eyes on the large floating screen. He gently caressed the top of the black slime he was carrying while Ender brought his right hand into view, he said. [Your first mistake with controlling mana was starting with an entire hand. We’ll start with three fingers.] Ender extended Reiki’s thumb, index, and middle finger. Ender effortlessly controlled the mana around Reiki’s hand, his fingertips were enveloped with a thin layer of mana. Ender said. [Firstly, we make a string using the thumb and index finger.]
Reiki watched the tip of his index finger and thumb touch creating a thin glowing string of mana, Ender said. [Using your index finger, touch the middle of the string to make a triangle.] Ender touched the middle of the mana string with the middle finger creating the shape of a triangle. Reiki thought. Seems simple enough. He heard his voice from the screen, Ender said. [Now we turn it into a circle.] Reiki thought. What? On the floating screen the tips of the thumb, index, and middle fingers touched.
Ender slowly moved the fingers away from each other revealing a circle floating in mid-air slowly growing in size. Reiki stared at the screen, he thought. Is that circle… Spinning?... He squinted his eyes and noticed the circle of mana flowing into a loop. Ender said. [You’re going to do this and the specific way of breathing I taught you simultaneously.] Reiki saw Ender casually enveloping three of his fingers with a thin layer of mana, he said. [The more you do this exercise, the easier it gets.] Ender repeated the process of creating a mana string with the thumb and index finger.
He turned it into a triangle and changed the shape into a circle. Every time Ender did it, the next one was slightly faster than the last. Reiki watched the process on the screen get faster and faster, he thought. Ok… This is a bit trickier… His gaze was stuck on the floating mana string that was shaped into a circle as it spun mid-air. Ender said. [That’s enough teaching, show me that quick learning I watched in your memories.] Reiki’s vision turned white for a split second as he closed them, after a few seconds passed, he looked around and he was back in his room.
He looked down at his bowl of ice cream and saw it didn’t even start melting, Reiki thought. Alright… Time to learn. He closed his eyes, started doing the specific way of breathing and tried to replicate the sensation he felt while in his mind.
~Ten Minutes Later~
The bowl of ice cream in Reiki’s lap was completely melted, he inhaled as the mana around the room slowly moved towards him. Reiki exhaled as the mana was slightly pushed back, he opened his eyes and thought. … Is this breathing technique supposed to be slow?... He picked up the spoon in the bowl and saw that it had already melted. Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [That’s because it’s not a ‘technique’, this is how we breathe in the two realms.] Reiki placed the spoon back in the bowl, he lifted the bowl with his hands and started drinking the soup ice cream.
He thought. Two entire realms don't have a mana-breathing technique? He finished the bowl of melted ice cream and heard Ender’s voice in his head. Ender said. [I don’t know about the rest of the realms, but the two highest ones where mana was excessive. No one needed to create a technique since it wasn’t necessary.] Reiki wiped his mouth using the back of his hand, he thought. … Mana’s so abundant all they need to do is breathe normally… He placed the empty bowl on the nightstand beside the small picture frame of him, Ketsueki, and Shiro.
Reiki grabbed a couple of room-temperature gyoza from the large half-empty container, he thought. How was my breathing? Got anything to point out? He quickly ate the gyoza while Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [The breathing is the easy part, start your mana practice. I recommend starting with one finger.] Reiki glanced at his left hand as Q revealed the injuries on his palm by turning ink black, he thought. I’ll be sure to start slow. The ink black on his palm copied his unhealthy white skin as Reiki focused on his right hand.
Reiki concentrated on the tip of his thumb when Ender suddenly spoke in his head, he said. [You forgot to breathe properly.] Reiki paused for a moment as he fixed his way of breathing and tried to focus on his fingertips. He was able to manipulate the mana on his fingertips to a certain degree but lost his concentration when Ender spoke, he said. [You’re breathing is off.] Reiki let out a long sigh, he spoke in a whisper and said. “This is going to be a long day.” He grabbed a handful of gyoza, stuffed his mouth with them, and started training again.
________________________________________________________________________________
Living Room
~Two Hours Later~
Sachi was leaning on the backrest of the couch as she placed both her feet on the coffee table while her indoor slippers were on the floor, she said. “When was the last time you two bought clothes for yourselves?” She picked up a large slice of pepperoni pizza while Namida was holding onto a half-eaten gyoza while she pondered for a moment. Namida said. “I always buy my clothes online, I don’t want to waste time going from store to store.”
Ketsueki was holding onto a slice of pizza that had a couple of bites on it, she said. “I hate buying new clothes… Every time I go out I have to buy a new set of underwear. It’s the main reason why all my jackets are always so baggy nowadays.” Namida ate the rest of the gyoza she was holding while Sachi took a bite of her pizza. The two of them glanced at their friends' large chest, Namida picked up a glass of water as she took a sip. She said. “Can’t you just buy the bras alone? I don’t see why you need to include panties.”
Ketsueki glanced at the ceiling and said. “It’ll be cheaper that’s for sure, but then it won’t match.” Sachi nodded in understanding, she said. “I can relate to that. I can’t stand wearing a shirt that doesn’t match my pants, skirt, or shoes.” She shook her head sideways while Ketsueki and Namida glanced at the trendy outfit she was currently wearing. Namida saw Ketsueki sneak a glance at the ceiling, she said. “I think you should go see how your boy is doing.” Ketsueki faked a scoff and said. “I’m fine, Reiki’s just… Training, I’m not worried he might’ve lost an arm from making a mistake during mana control…”
Sachi rolled her eyes at her as she used the pizza to point at the staircase, she said. “Just drop by his room to visit. I’ll talk with the guy here about women's underwear and how none of them fit him.” Namida let out a hearty laugh as she gave Sachi the middle finger and said. “Fuck off bitch! We all know I’m sexier than both of you combined.” She grabbed a slice of pizza while Sachi compared Namida’s flat chest to Ketsueki’s large chest. Sachi said. “I highly doubt that.”
Namida’s laughter slowly came to a halt while watched her friends argue with a smile on her face. Namida adjusted her black glasses and said. “You’re just holding a grudge over the fact I wasn’t born a guy.” Ketsueki let out a chuckle, she said. “Not this conversation again.” Sachi gently slammed her fist on the armrest of the chair, she said. “Can you blame me?” She placed her slice of pizza onto the plate that was on top of an untouched box of pizza, Sachi used her thumb and index fingers as finger frames as she focused on Namida’s face.
Sachi said. “You have the face I yearn to find on a guy and I’m still slightly bitter about it.” Namida let out a chuckle, she said. “You might’ve not found your dream guy. But, you did get a best friend out of it.” Ketsueki let out an exaggerated sigh and said. “God, the atmosphere here is so sweet I can make cake with it.” Sachi smiled at her, she said. “And I’ll choose you over my dream guy every time.” Namida raised her hand for a high-five, Sachi raised her hand as the two of them high-fived each other.
Namida showed her hand to Ketsueki signaling for a down low, Ketsueki let out a chuckle as the moment their hands touched it made a satisfying sound. Ketsueki stood up from the couch as she pointed at the staircase using her thumb, she said. “Give me a minute, I’ll drop by to see how Reiki’s doing.” Sachi gave her friend a shoo gesture with her left hand as she used her right to pick up the pizza she placed on the plate, she said. “Stop making excuses to stay here and go see him already.”
Ketsueki made her way up the stairs leaving her friends in the living room, she made her way to her little brother’s room but slowly came to a halt when she noticed the mana in the air expanding and compressing repeatedly. She thought. … Is he failing to absorb the mana?… Ketsueki slowly made her way to Reiki’s room while observing the mana, she continued her train of thought. No… It’s just slow… Tediously slow… Her pupils faintly glowed as she saw the mana expand and compress, she reached Reiki’s room and placed her hand on the doorknob.
Ketsueki carefully turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door open, she saw Reiki sitting on the bed with his legs crossed. The food her friends brought for him was mostly untouched and had long gone cold, her eyes focused on the tip of his index finger and thumb. Reiki slowly moved his index finger toward his thumb, the tip of his index finger and thumb touched as he steadily moved his fingers apart. Ketsueki thought. Mana string? Who taught him such a primitive method? Reiki managed to control his breathing and successfully extended his index finger and thumb as far as possible.
Ketsueki noticed the mana around the tip of Reiki’s middle finger move as he took his time connecting the tip of his middle finger to the middle of the string. Ketsueki had a curious expression on her face as she watched him, she thought. Oh, it’s not mana string… Reiki managed to make a triangle, he stared at it for a couple of seconds. He thought. Just once… Ketsueki watched her little brother with interest, the tip of his thumb, index, and middle finger touched as he reluctantly moved all three of them apart.
Floating between the tips of his three fingers was a small spinning circle floating in mid-air. Ketsueki’s eyes widened as she saw what her little brother was doing, she thought. What kind of hellish training is this? The farther his fingers were from each other the bigger the circle grew, the circle let out a slight spark as it quickly evaporated into thin air as the mana returned to the surroundings. Ketsueki's lips formed into a half smile, she thought. I could easily do that in a few tries-. Before she could finish her thoughts Reiki let out a frustrated sigh as the mana around the room looked like it was violently forced out from his breath.
Ketsueki’s eyes widened in disbelief, she watched her little brother lay down on the bed in defeat. Reiki stared at the ceiling as the sound of Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [Get back to training, you need to at least maintain the circle for five seconds before going to sleep.] From the corner of his eye he saw Ketsueki gently close the door, he sat back up on the bed and raised his right hand. Reiki thought. And I thought going through bank statements all day was mentally draining. He crossed his legs as he placed his left shoulder on his thigh and rested his cheek on the palm of his hand.
________________________________________________________________________________
Living Room
Ketsueki reached the bottom of the stairs, she said. “Ok, catch me up on the conversation…” She saw none of her friends in the living room as she looked around and saw Sachi and Namida standing by the kitchen staring at something at the side. Ketsueki made her way to them and said. “What are you two doing-.” Before she could finish her sentence Namida used her hand to turn Ketsueki’s head. By the kitchen sink was Cherry standing near a large open jar of cherries along with a plate that had dozens of stems in it.
Ketsueki tried to slap her friend's hand which was still touching her cheek as Namida easily avoided it. Ketsueki said. “Why are you two here?” Sachi gestured to her left as Ketsueki slightly leaned her head forward as she saw two large bowls with some traces of melted ice cream along with Namida's tall glass. Sachi said. “We went to get more ice cream from the fridge and saw Cherry with a jar of well… Cherries…” Ketsueki had a hint of confusion on her face, she said. “Why are you two so interested in her jar of cherries?”
Namida turned her head to her friend and said. “Because we think that there’s a high chance that those cherries are from elven territory.” Ketsueki was about to say something but stopped, she thought. I… Can’t deny that… She moved her gaze onto the jar of cherries and the plate with one side of it being stems, Ketsueki continued her train of thought. … Did Reiki even open that jar for her?... And did he take the plate out for her to use?... She said. “In that case…”
She gently elbowed Namida in the side and continued. “Namida you go ask for some.” Namida turned her head toward her, she let out a scoff and said. “Why do I have to do it? Can’t you go ask Reiki? She won’t peck the skin off the back of his hand.” Ketsueki firmly shook her head sideways, she said. “No. He’s in the middle of training right now and we’re not going to disturb him so you two can have cherries on your ice cream.” Sachi had a serious look on her face as she couldn’t move her gaze away from the jar, she said. “Can you at least ask him once?”
Ketsueki glared at her which Sachi completely ignored, she thought. Hmm… Maybe I should just walk up to her and ask for some… Cherry took a single cherry from the jar, she pulled it out by the stem as she hopped onto the plate and gently landed on it. Cherry held the cherry using her talons as she took the stem off with her beak while the three girls watched the albino crow. Sachi and Namida turned their heads as they moved their gazes onto Ketsueki. Namida said. “This is an opportunity to ask.”
Ketsueki slightly gritted her teeth, she said. “She’s in the middle of eating-.” The very second she finished her sentence Sachi spoke, she said. “Which makes it easier to get your hand inside the jar.” Before Ketsueki could say something Namida took out an ice cream scooper from her pocket, she said. “We’ll put more ice cream into our bowls while you get the cherries.” Sachi snapped her fingers as the bowl in the living room flew to her. Namida picked up the two large bowls on the kitchen sink as she made her way to the fridge with Sachi behind her.
Ketsueki watched her friends raid the fridge as they took out three tubs of ice cream, she let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She thought. I hate them both… She turned her head at Cherry who pecked the cherry on the plate a couple of times as Ketsueki took a few steps toward the bird, she thought. God those red eyes are going to hunt me in my nightmares for the next week or so. Cherry stopped eating the half-eaten cherry on the plate as she stared at Ketsueki with her blood-red eyes.
Ketsueki had a smile on her face, she said. “Hey, Cherry… Would you mind if we took some cherries from that jar and used them for our ice cream?...” Namida and Sachi were placing scoops of ice cream into bowls as they glanced at her from the corner of their eye, Ketsueki thought. How Reiki keeps a straight face when talking to her I will never know. Cherry let out a soft caw as she went back to eating the half-eaten cherry on the plate. Ketsueki didn’t know what to do as she glanced at her friends who pointed at the jar.
Ketsueki opened one of the drawers, she took out a bowl used for miso soup and cautiously took out a handful of cherries from the jar.
Reiki stared at his left palm, he said. “Q, can you show me how bad my wounds are?” Almost half of his palm instantly turned ink black, Q slowly exposed torn red muscles along with tendons with visible tears. He thought. Not as bad as I expected-. Before he could finish his train of thought, large chunks of the muscle turned black as half an inch of one of his tendons were connected by Q. Reiki continued his train of thought. … Ok… That’s one way to cripple myself. Q slowly covered his wounds as he watched his hand return to normal.
Q slowly copied the color of his unhealthy white skin as Reiki poked the areas where Q was covering, he felt the sensation of his index finger touching his palm. He thought. … When Q… ‘repairs’ me how does she replicate my sense of touch when it’s her… Tissue?... Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [She uses one long line to connect to your brain. I think it’s called shared senses in your realm?] Reiki’s brows furrowed, he thought. You’re telling me, she’s connected to my brain?
Ender continued. [Yes, from the injury on your palm. She slowly grew inside your hand, up your forearm, past your shoulder, and traveled up the spine in your neck.] Reiki stared at the palm of his hand, he thought. Then shouldn’t I feel something from her… Moving inside of me? He heard Ender’s voice in his head, he said. [Think of it as one of those fungus networks inside you.] Reiki paused for a moment and thought. Mycelium?... He was still in deep thought as Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [I’ll take over your body for a minute or two.]
Reiki’s entire vision turned black as he looked around and noticed he was surrounded by darkness, a large rectangle-shaped screen appeared floating mid-air as he squinted his eyes. He thought. Too bright. He used one of his hands as a shield to cover his eyes from the sudden light and felt something touch the back of his lower calf. Reiki turned his upper body and saw a large round black slime on the ground, he said. “Q?...” The large slime slowly moved back and forth as she touched Reiki’s leg again. He leaned down and picked up the black slime, Reiki thought. … What the?... She weighs like nothing…
From the screen he heard Ender speaking with his voice, he said. [Did your eyes finish adjusting yet?] Reiki moved his gaze back onto the large floating screen, he thought. That’s uncomfortable… My eyes more or less adjusted. From the screen he heard his voice again, Ender said. [I can only hear you if you speak.] Reiki patted the large slime he was carrying with one hand, he thought. So I can only hear him when he speaks… Noted. He said. “Yeah, my eyes adjusted to the dark already.” On the screen was Reiki’s room in first-person view.
Ender said. [First, make sure to copy the way I’m breathing.] Reiki let out a chuckle and thought. How am I supposed to copy-. He stopped his thoughts as he felt his body inhale from his nose, his lungs slowly filling with air, and exhale with his mouth. Ender did it a few more times with his body while Reiki placed a hand on his chest as he felt every movement. From the screen he heard Ender talking using his voice, he said. [This is how you're going to breathe for the rest of your life, sleeping, eating, and during fights.]
Reiki tried doing it a couple of times, he said. “... Sure…” He thought. … All he did was breathe… He started practicing while keeping his eyes on the large floating screen. He gently caressed the top of the black slime he was carrying while Ender brought his right hand into view, he said. [Your first mistake with controlling mana was starting with an entire hand. We’ll start with three fingers.] Ender extended Reiki’s thumb, index, and middle finger. Ender effortlessly controlled the mana around Reiki’s hand, his fingertips were enveloped with a thin layer of mana. Ender said. [Firstly, we make a string using the thumb and index finger.]
Reiki watched the tip of his index finger and thumb touch creating a thin glowing string of mana, Ender said. [Using your index finger, touch the middle of the string to make a triangle.] Ender touched the middle of the mana string with the middle finger creating the shape of a triangle. Reiki thought. Seems simple enough. He heard his voice from the screen, Ender said. [Now we turn it into a circle.] Reiki thought. What? On the floating screen the tips of the thumb, index, and middle fingers touched.
Ender slowly moved the fingers away from each other revealing a circle floating in mid-air slowly growing in size. Reiki stared at the screen, he thought. Is that circle… Spinning?... He squinted his eyes and noticed the circle of mana flowing into a loop. Ender said. [You’re going to do this and the specific way of breathing I taught you simultaneously.] Reiki saw Ender casually enveloping three of his fingers with a thin layer of mana, he said. [The more you do this exercise, the easier it gets.] Ender repeated the process of creating a mana string with the thumb and index finger.
He turned it into a triangle and changed the shape into a circle. Every time Ender did it, the next one was slightly faster than the last. Reiki watched the process on the screen get faster and faster, he thought. Ok… This is a bit trickier… His gaze was stuck on the floating mana string that was shaped into a circle as it spun mid-air. Ender said. [That’s enough teaching, show me that quick learning I watched in your memories.] Reiki’s vision turned white for a split second as he closed them, after a few seconds passed, he looked around and he was back in his room.
He looked down at his bowl of ice cream and saw it didn’t even start melting, Reiki thought. Alright… Time to learn. He closed his eyes, started doing the specific way of breathing and tried to replicate the sensation he felt while in his mind.
~Ten Minutes Later~
The bowl of ice cream in Reiki’s lap was completely melted, he inhaled as the mana around the room slowly moved towards him. Reiki exhaled as the mana was slightly pushed back, he opened his eyes and thought. … Is this breathing technique supposed to be slow?... He picked up the spoon in the bowl and saw that it had already melted. Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [That’s because it’s not a ‘technique’, this is how we breathe in the two realms.] Reiki placed the spoon back in the bowl, he lifted the bowl with his hands and started drinking the soup ice cream.
He thought. Two entire realms don't have a mana-breathing technique? He finished the bowl of melted ice cream and heard Ender’s voice in his head. Ender said. [I don’t know about the rest of the realms, but the two highest ones where mana was excessive. No one needed to create a technique since it wasn’t necessary.] Reiki wiped his mouth using the back of his hand, he thought. … Mana’s so abundant all they need to do is breathe normally… He placed the empty bowl on the nightstand beside the small picture frame of him, Ketsueki, and Shiro.
Reiki grabbed a couple of room-temperature gyoza from the large half-empty container, he thought. How was my breathing? Got anything to point out? He quickly ate the gyoza while Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [The breathing is the easy part, start your mana practice. I recommend starting with one finger.] Reiki glanced at his left hand as Q revealed the injuries on his palm by turning ink black, he thought. I’ll be sure to start slow. The ink black on his palm copied his unhealthy white skin as Reiki focused on his right hand.
Reiki concentrated on the tip of his thumb when Ender suddenly spoke in his head, he said. [You forgot to breathe properly.] Reiki paused for a moment as he fixed his way of breathing and tried to focus on his fingertips. He was able to manipulate the mana on his fingertips to a certain degree but lost his concentration when Ender spoke, he said. [You’re breathing is off.] Reiki let out a long sigh, he spoke in a whisper and said. “This is going to be a long day.” He grabbed a handful of gyoza, stuffed his mouth with them, and started training again.
________________________________________________________________________________
Living Room
~Two Hours Later~
Sachi was leaning on the backrest of the couch as she placed both her feet on the coffee table while her indoor slippers were on the floor, she said. “When was the last time you two bought clothes for yourselves?” She picked up a large slice of pepperoni pizza while Namida was holding onto a half-eaten gyoza while she pondered for a moment. Namida said. “I always buy my clothes online, I don’t want to waste time going from store to store.”
Ketsueki was holding onto a slice of pizza that had a couple of bites on it, she said. “I hate buying new clothes… Every time I go out I have to buy a new set of underwear. It’s the main reason why all my jackets are always so baggy nowadays.” Namida ate the rest of the gyoza she was holding while Sachi took a bite of her pizza. The two of them glanced at their friends' large chest, Namida picked up a glass of water as she took a sip. She said. “Can’t you just buy the bras alone? I don’t see why you need to include panties.”
Ketsueki glanced at the ceiling and said. “It’ll be cheaper that’s for sure, but then it won’t match.” Sachi nodded in understanding, she said. “I can relate to that. I can’t stand wearing a shirt that doesn’t match my pants, skirt, or shoes.” She shook her head sideways while Ketsueki and Namida glanced at the trendy outfit she was currently wearing. Namida saw Ketsueki sneak a glance at the ceiling, she said. “I think you should go see how your boy is doing.” Ketsueki faked a scoff and said. “I’m fine, Reiki’s just… Training, I’m not worried he might’ve lost an arm from making a mistake during mana control…”
Sachi rolled her eyes at her as she used the pizza to point at the staircase, she said. “Just drop by his room to visit. I’ll talk with the guy here about women's underwear and how none of them fit him.” Namida let out a hearty laugh as she gave Sachi the middle finger and said. “Fuck off bitch! We all know I’m sexier than both of you combined.” She grabbed a slice of pizza while Sachi compared Namida’s flat chest to Ketsueki’s large chest. Sachi said. “I highly doubt that.”
Namida’s laughter slowly came to a halt while watched her friends argue with a smile on her face. Namida adjusted her black glasses and said. “You’re just holding a grudge over the fact I wasn’t born a guy.” Ketsueki let out a chuckle, she said. “Not this conversation again.” Sachi gently slammed her fist on the armrest of the chair, she said. “Can you blame me?” She placed her slice of pizza onto the plate that was on top of an untouched box of pizza, Sachi used her thumb and index fingers as finger frames as she focused on Namida’s face.
Sachi said. “You have the face I yearn to find on a guy and I’m still slightly bitter about it.” Namida let out a chuckle, she said. “You might’ve not found your dream guy. But, you did get a best friend out of it.” Ketsueki let out an exaggerated sigh and said. “God, the atmosphere here is so sweet I can make cake with it.” Sachi smiled at her, she said. “And I’ll choose you over my dream guy every time.” Namida raised her hand for a high-five, Sachi raised her hand as the two of them high-fived each other.
Namida showed her hand to Ketsueki signaling for a down low, Ketsueki let out a chuckle as the moment their hands touched it made a satisfying sound. Ketsueki stood up from the couch as she pointed at the staircase using her thumb, she said. “Give me a minute, I’ll drop by to see how Reiki’s doing.” Sachi gave her friend a shoo gesture with her left hand as she used her right to pick up the pizza she placed on the plate, she said. “Stop making excuses to stay here and go see him already.”
Ketsueki made her way up the stairs leaving her friends in the living room, she made her way to her little brother’s room but slowly came to a halt when she noticed the mana in the air expanding and compressing repeatedly. She thought. … Is he failing to absorb the mana?… Ketsueki slowly made her way to Reiki’s room while observing the mana, she continued her train of thought. No… It’s just slow… Tediously slow… Her pupils faintly glowed as she saw the mana expand and compress, she reached Reiki’s room and placed her hand on the doorknob.
Ketsueki carefully turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door open, she saw Reiki sitting on the bed with his legs crossed. The food her friends brought for him was mostly untouched and had long gone cold, her eyes focused on the tip of his index finger and thumb. Reiki slowly moved his index finger toward his thumb, the tip of his index finger and thumb touched as he steadily moved his fingers apart. Ketsueki thought. Mana string? Who taught him such a primitive method? Reiki managed to control his breathing and successfully extended his index finger and thumb as far as possible.
Ketsueki noticed the mana around the tip of Reiki’s middle finger move as he took his time connecting the tip of his middle finger to the middle of the string. Ketsueki had a curious expression on her face as she watched him, she thought. Oh, it’s not mana string… Reiki managed to make a triangle, he stared at it for a couple of seconds. He thought. Just once… Ketsueki watched her little brother with interest, the tip of his thumb, index, and middle finger touched as he reluctantly moved all three of them apart.
Floating between the tips of his three fingers was a small spinning circle floating in mid-air. Ketsueki’s eyes widened as she saw what her little brother was doing, she thought. What kind of hellish training is this? The farther his fingers were from each other the bigger the circle grew, the circle let out a slight spark as it quickly evaporated into thin air as the mana returned to the surroundings. Ketsueki's lips formed into a half smile, she thought. I could easily do that in a few tries-. Before she could finish her thoughts Reiki let out a frustrated sigh as the mana around the room looked like it was violently forced out from his breath.
Ketsueki’s eyes widened in disbelief, she watched her little brother lay down on the bed in defeat. Reiki stared at the ceiling as the sound of Ender’s voice rang in his head, he said. [Get back to training, you need to at least maintain the circle for five seconds before going to sleep.] From the corner of his eye he saw Ketsueki gently close the door, he sat back up on the bed and raised his right hand. Reiki thought. And I thought going through bank statements all day was mentally draining. He crossed his legs as he placed his left shoulder on his thigh and rested his cheek on the palm of his hand.
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Living Room
Ketsueki reached the bottom of the stairs, she said. “Ok, catch me up on the conversation…” She saw none of her friends in the living room as she looked around and saw Sachi and Namida standing by the kitchen staring at something at the side. Ketsueki made her way to them and said. “What are you two doing-.” Before she could finish her sentence Namida used her hand to turn Ketsueki’s head. By the kitchen sink was Cherry standing near a large open jar of cherries along with a plate that had dozens of stems in it.
Ketsueki tried to slap her friend's hand which was still touching her cheek as Namida easily avoided it. Ketsueki said. “Why are you two here?” Sachi gestured to her left as Ketsueki slightly leaned her head forward as she saw two large bowls with some traces of melted ice cream along with Namida's tall glass. Sachi said. “We went to get more ice cream from the fridge and saw Cherry with a jar of well… Cherries…” Ketsueki had a hint of confusion on her face, she said. “Why are you two so interested in her jar of cherries?”
Namida turned her head to her friend and said. “Because we think that there’s a high chance that those cherries are from elven territory.” Ketsueki was about to say something but stopped, she thought. I… Can’t deny that… She moved her gaze onto the jar of cherries and the plate with one side of it being stems, Ketsueki continued her train of thought. … Did Reiki even open that jar for her?... And did he take the plate out for her to use?... She said. “In that case…”
She gently elbowed Namida in the side and continued. “Namida you go ask for some.” Namida turned her head toward her, she let out a scoff and said. “Why do I have to do it? Can’t you go ask Reiki? She won’t peck the skin off the back of his hand.” Ketsueki firmly shook her head sideways, she said. “No. He’s in the middle of training right now and we’re not going to disturb him so you two can have cherries on your ice cream.” Sachi had a serious look on her face as she couldn’t move her gaze away from the jar, she said. “Can you at least ask him once?”
Ketsueki glared at her which Sachi completely ignored, she thought. Hmm… Maybe I should just walk up to her and ask for some… Cherry took a single cherry from the jar, she pulled it out by the stem as she hopped onto the plate and gently landed on it. Cherry held the cherry using her talons as she took the stem off with her beak while the three girls watched the albino crow. Sachi and Namida turned their heads as they moved their gazes onto Ketsueki. Namida said. “This is an opportunity to ask.”
Ketsueki slightly gritted her teeth, she said. “She’s in the middle of eating-.” The very second she finished her sentence Sachi spoke, she said. “Which makes it easier to get your hand inside the jar.” Before Ketsueki could say something Namida took out an ice cream scooper from her pocket, she said. “We’ll put more ice cream into our bowls while you get the cherries.” Sachi snapped her fingers as the bowl in the living room flew to her. Namida picked up the two large bowls on the kitchen sink as she made her way to the fridge with Sachi behind her.
Ketsueki watched her friends raid the fridge as they took out three tubs of ice cream, she let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She thought. I hate them both… She turned her head at Cherry who pecked the cherry on the plate a couple of times as Ketsueki took a few steps toward the bird, she thought. God those red eyes are going to hunt me in my nightmares for the next week or so. Cherry stopped eating the half-eaten cherry on the plate as she stared at Ketsueki with her blood-red eyes.
Ketsueki had a smile on her face, she said. “Hey, Cherry… Would you mind if we took some cherries from that jar and used them for our ice cream?...” Namida and Sachi were placing scoops of ice cream into bowls as they glanced at her from the corner of their eye, Ketsueki thought. How Reiki keeps a straight face when talking to her I will never know. Cherry let out a soft caw as she went back to eating the half-eaten cherry on the plate. Ketsueki didn’t know what to do as she glanced at her friends who pointed at the jar.
Ketsueki opened one of the drawers, she took out a bowl used for miso soup and cautiously took out a handful of cherries from the jar.
