As they feel more and more tired waiting, the unit leaders finally walk through the door, there were 2 new masters: a ginger haired tall guy with a straight stature, wearing a black long uniform, and with a damn cocky and prideful smirk on his face— Takata Satoru;
The other leader also seemed confident, she had fluffy messy hair, having a short pony tail, she was light skinned, had green eyes and a scar on the nose; She was also wearing a white thin large shirt with red pants, but she was pretty average on height— Yano Hisoka. The leaders introduce themselves, each one with their own personalities... Takata was a cocky prideful man and he always wished for his students to be the strongest just for him to be fond of them, while Yano was a determined brave figure, a very open woman, sharp mouthed but with a heart of gold. Of course, they didn't jump ahead on missions yet so before each leader receiving their unit, since it is the last day before the weekend, Miss Miyasaki decides to lead the students to an arena where they would spar, each unit training with their own members.
Orochi, part of unit 3, walks along Chiyo, Rika, Etsuko and Kowamaru, and gets along with them; He had very long hair which was reaching to his knees, pale light skin, but his expression and the way he was usually acting was calm, soft and gentle... He looks over at Chiyo and asks with a hint of curiosity and quiet excitement:
– Would you like a sparing match with me, Chiyo Igarashi?
– Of course... Chiyo nodded as she gets into a fighting stance, facing Orochi.
Meanwhile, Etsuko looks over at Kowamaru with her laidback expression and gets into a fighting position, pointing at him.
– You, the guy with the horns, let's fight. I don't have anybody else to fight...
But Rika of course couldn't control herself and gets annoyed comically as she points at her sister:
– W-What about me, you can't just leave you sister hanging by herself like tha—!! But Etsuko quickly interrupts Rika's protest, making her almost choke up on her own words:
– I spar with you daily, you are basically boring to me now, Rika... Etsuko mentions, breathing a sigh, clearly exasperated. Rika chuckles and walks to a dummy, training by herself.
While walking towards the dummy, she feels a pang of something all of a sudden, and then she remembers... the person she has murdered 3 nights ago, her ridiculously stuck on what she did, but then gets back on training with the dummy.
In the meantime, Chiyo and Orochi rush towards each other; Chiyo tries punching Orochi on the face but he crouches and dodges from her punch, grabs her arm and elegantly knocks her away, he was skilled, there was no doubt; But Chiyo quickly pushes herself up and rushes back at Orochi recklessly, without a strategy on her head, she tries punching him everywhere but any attack would either be countered or blocked. Orochi slides his leg to her side, making her slip down; Chiyo ends up standing by Orochi's feet as he looks down at her, crouches and tries helping her up.
– Take it easy, Chiyo-san... You are tensing up too fast, and in close combat the most important thing is to not let adrenaline taking control of you... you need to be calm... Orochi says gently, staring at her with a determined yet soft look in his eyes. Chiyo remains surprised at how powerful yet humble Orochi is, and how determined he is to help her in this sparing match as well. While they were going at it, Etsuko was ludicrously beating down on Kowamaru, like kicking and punching on a dummy, all because he was too nervous to hit down a girl, she tries to explain to him how genders don't matter in these types of situation, yet it was like talking to a brick wall.
As Etsuko knocks Kowamaru down one more time, concurrently, Chiyo, quite sweaty, looks over at Kowamaru then at Etsuko.
– You shouldn't have been that rough with him, Etsuko... Chiyo says with a hint of sympathy, but Etsuko says firmly.
– He needs to learn how to face his enemy no matter what gender it is... she turns to kowamaru, still kneeling down to Etsuko's feet, I apologize, Kowa, but your nervousness makes you a liability in battle. She concludes, Kowamaru's expression turning into disappointment and shock. The unit falls into an awkward silence as Etsuko blunt words fade away, Rika looks at Etsuko with her usual evil smile and tries to light things up:
– Hey, come on, sis... be nicer to the b— but she quickly gets interrupted by Etsuko's following blunt words:
– Not to be rude, I am just telling you the truth... fixing that nervousness of yours would be a great help to the team...
– A-Alright... I-I-I understand... Kowamaru, tired and intimidated, replies.
Rika looks over at Chiyo with a hint of challenge and says:
– Well, sweetheart, do you want us two to fight each other next? We are both lack close combat skills either way, it will be better for both of us~...
– Alright, lets go at it, Rika! Chiyo says with a hint of determination and excitement. They do fight but they would either punch each other too weakly, or try pushing each other down. But who gets the victory was Chiyo because she had some combat experiences, when Rika didn't knew at all how to fight close, but rather would always rely on her dark magic. The bell rings one last time and the entire training arena is left empty as all the children left home. As Chiyo walks home alone through the beautiful town, she senses a familiar presence, she looks down and she sees a little girl, it was Itami Yuki, a 6 years old with black mid hair, pale skin, black eyes and was wearing a pink long robe, Chiyo knows her well, she'd see Yuki as her precious little sister, always hanging around and talking about how their days are going. Yuki looks up and smiles innocently, her tone fully enthusiastic.
– Igarashi-chann!! You are back home, how was your day??
– Hi, Yuki... it was tiring but it was good as usual, thanks for asking! What about yours? Chiyo asks with a hint of warmth in her voice...
– Just going to the hills to get mommy some flowers! You must be tired, you should go rest...
– Yeah, I guess so... see you around, Yuki! Chiyo exclaims as they salute each other and walk to their own paths.
Chiyo arrives home, her mother waiting with a hint of affection. They later have dinner and the mother asks:
– How has school been, dear?
– Pretty exhausting but I did do good... Chiyo replies, kinda exhausted but positive. The father looks at Chiyo and smiles warmly, speaking with a faint sense of fondness.
– Of course my strong daughter did good! Seriously, I am proud of you!
The mother looks over at the father, chuckles softly and squeezes his cheek gently with affection...
– You are such a softie, sweetheart! She says with a trace of pure love.
Chiyo's family was one of the healthiest ones, there never was an argument in the house, A loving couple with their talented child. Both the mother and the father were optimistic, lovable, warm and kind, having raised Chiyo in a positive environment.
The weekend followed up, and Chiyo used it as an opportunity to go and hang out with Rika and Etsuko. Sunday, They walk together and meet Kowamaru too so Chiyo decides to call him around too, and to their surprises, he actually comes with them although he was a nervous mess. Later they rest on a hill against a tree, the group surrounded by beautiful flowers, the fresh air combined with the aromatized scent making it a mesmerizing environment. Etsuko looks down to her feet, eating an apple and then turns to Kowamaru.
– Hey Kowamaru...
– Hm? What is it, Etsuko? Kowamaru asks, curious of what she might say. With a flicker of awkwardness, she adds up:
– I am sorry if I was too blunt and crude towards you, It was... just for your good and for our team, ya know?...
– Oh no no, d-dont worry, it is okay, Etsuko! Kowamaru replies kindly, lighting up the situation.
Chiyo softly pulls out 3 beautiful flowers and turns them into fascinating thin fragrant crystals and gives each one to them affectionately. Etsuko, Rika and Kowamaru look at the flowers with fascination, clearly in wonder with the beautiful crystal flowers that she has made. Kowamaru's cheeks turn slightly pink and as he looks over at Chiyo, he can see nothing but a genuine warm smile curving at her lips, the flowers, as colorful as they are, beautiful surrounding and clinging in Chiyo's directions and butterflies flying around her. As the moon shines, they go home safely and they get ready for the day of tomorrow, Chiyo didn't know it yet, but the calm weekend would soon end — and the real training would begin.