The moment Rei sneaked into her room, Master Akarawa was already there, standing silently with his hands behind his back.
"Oh my goodness," Rei froze when she saw him. "Dad? When did you get here?" she asked, scratching her head nervously.
"Why won't you ever listen, Rei? You keep breaking the rules," he said, clearly disappointed.
"Dad, I was just trying to—" she began, but he cut her off.
"Trying to what, Rei? Don't you know I have eyes everywhere? You really think I wouldn't find out what you've been up to?"
Just then, Daichi walked in, pretending to be clueless.
"What's going on this time?" he asked, acting innocent.
"Your daughter snuck out again, even after all our warnings," Master Akarawa said sharply.
"Really?! Rei, what's wrong with you? How many times do we have to tell you to stay away from those Hoshinos?" Daichi said, tapping her shoulder.
"Papa! This room feels like a prison, and I can't stay away from Akari even for a moment!" Rei protested.
"Will you be quiet, young lady?" Daichi snapped. "Do you want to give your father a heart attack? You heard him—no more hanging out with a Hoshino!"
Master Akarawa looked at both of them, then covered his face with his hand and shook his head.
"She's definitely listening to one of us, Daichi," he muttered.
"Huh?" Daichi blinked.
"What? Do you really think I'm blind?" Akarawa said, narrowing his eyes. "You think I don't know what's going on?"
"Ryuji, I was just trying to scold her! You think I'm encouraging her?" Daichi said quickly while Rei stood there watching them go back and forth.
"Oh yes, scolding her in front of me—then sneaking around giving her dating advice behind my back," Master Akarawa said. "Do you really think I don't know the man I married?"
Daichi chuckled, trying to act innocent, but the smile on his face gave him away.
Master Akarawa shook his head and turned to Rei.
"Rei, do you know what's trending in town right now?" he asked.
Rei shook her head quickly.
"Your ex-fiancé is getting married… to a clan under the Hoshinos."
"What? No way! Really?" Rei gasped, pretending to be surprised.
"Yes, really. Since you've been running around all day, I thought you'd already know. That fake shock doesn't work on me, young lady," he said, then glanced at Daichi. "You only know how to act because you learned from the best."
"Listen, both of you," he continued firmly, his tone growing colder. "If the Hoshino clan ends up owning more lands than we do, you two are in serious trouble. And you, Rei—if you leave this house one more time without my permission, I won't just send you to your aunt's place… I'll block your chi."
"What? That's not fair!" Rei shouted.
"Try me again, and you'll be powerless," he warned.
"Papa, say something! He wants to take away my powers!" Rei turned to Daichi for support, but he quickly signaled her to be quiet and calm down.
"Your teacher is waiting. Go to the training room and start your lessons," Master Akarawa ordered as he walked out, Daichi following him.
"But it's already late! Can't I train tomorrow?" Rei yelled after them, but they didn't answer and kept walking.
.....
In the training room, everything was quiet. Fire torches on the walls lit up the space. There were old drawings on the walls showing the first fire users and how they trained.
Rei was wearing a black, sleeveless gi. Her teacher wore a red one that also had no sleeves. They sat on the floor, facing each other, both closing their eyes and breathing slowly.
They were meditating—practicing how to control their breathing and stay calm.
The teacher's tattoos were different from Rei's. His were bold and covered most of his body, even his face and his bald head.
"Last lesson, we learned how to create a puppet," he said calmly. "Today, we'll learn how to control it."
He stood up. Rei stood up too. They both bowed to each other.
Then, the teacher raised his hand and made a puppet out of fire. It looked like a shadow version of him. Strong and still.
Rei copied him and made her own fire puppet—but hers looked strange. It had long arms and a big head. It didn't look like her at all.
"You need to learn how to clone yourself, not create strange creatures," he said with a frown.
Then they started the puppet battle.
"Your puppet is a part of you," he said as he moved. "When you strike, it strikes. When you block, it blocks."
His puppet formed a ball of fire and threw it.
Rei copied him again. Her puppet made a fireball too, but it was small and shaky.
"Concentrate, young master," the teacher said in a firm voice.
"I am concentrating!" Rei snapped, her eyes narrowing.
Without warning, the teacher's puppet lifted its arm and threw a huge fireball. It hit Rei's puppet hard. Her puppet shook, then disappeared into thin air.
"You said you were concentrating," the teacher said, crossing his arms.
"That was a surprise attack! It came out of nowhere!" Rei shouted, her eyes wide.
"That's the point," the teacher replied. "In battle, you can be attacked from any side, any time."
"But we're not in a battlefield," Rei muttered, folding her arms and looking away.
The teacher sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes shifted toward the upper wall—and he paused. Two faint shadows stood by the window, watching.
He muttered under his breath, "You're making me look like a failed teacher."
He clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's try again."
Rei took a deep breath and raised her hand. A new fire puppet appeared—this one looked even sillier than the last. Its head was too big, one arm was longer than the other, and it stood like it might fall over.
The teacher placed a hand on his forehead. "Young master…"
Up by the window, the two figures stood quietly—Master Akarawa with his arms crossed, and Daichi, leaning slightly forward, eyes soft.
"How in the world is she supposed to defend herself with that kind of puppet?" Akarawa grumbled. "At her age, I could create five at once—and none of them looked like that."
He glanced sideways.
Daichi was staring out the window, lips curved in a gentle smile, completely ignoring the complaint.
Akarawa sighed again. "Well… at least now I know whose genes she got."
Daichi chuckled. "She's doing great. Just look at that puppet—it's adorable. We should be proud."
"Cute won't keep her alive," Akarawa said, narrowing his eyes. "Will she truly be able to lead our lands? Carry the name of Clan Master?"
"She will," Daichi replied without hesitation. "Ryuji… She'll be the best we've ever seen. And when the time comes—you'll keep your promise, right?"
Akarawa's jaw tightened for a moment. Then he nodded slowly. "Yes, Daichi. When she's ready… truly ready—we'll go to the floating island. Just the two of us. The life you always talked about."
Daichi's smile grew. He looked away from the window, eyes glistening. "That's why I love you. You never break a promise."
"I love you too, Daichi. Always."
Akarawa turned his gaze back to Rei and her puppet, who was now stumbling in circles with its oversized arms.
"…But seriously," he muttered. "She really needs to learn how to make a proper puppet."