Pushed away, Mei staggered back a few steps, a look of shocked disbelief appearing in her eyes.
"...Kiana?"
Mei stared at the sweat-drenched girl before her, suddenly feeling as if her best friend had become a stranger.
"Ah, sorry, Mei... I didn't do it on purpose."
Kiana didn't dare to look Mei in the eyes. Her gaze darted around as she explained:
"That... this... it's... this is a unique training method of our Kaslana family. It's a foundational exercise for Gun Kata. If you were standing too close, I was worried you might get hurt."
"The Kaslana family's Gun Kata?"
Mei had heard of it, much like her own Raiden family's "Hokushin Ittō-ryū."
Both were considered secret family arts, not to be taught to outsiders.
She never imagined Kiana would demonstrate her training techniques.
Since it was a unique Kaslana skill, it was bound to be vastly different from ordinary training methods.
And here she was, knowing nothing, yet stepping forward to correct her form.
Putting herself in Kiana's shoes, if she were practicing a Hokushin Ittō-ryū stance and some amateur suddenly ran over to critique her, she would definitely be unhappy as well.
At this thought, an apologetic look appeared in Mei's eyes.
"I'm sorry. That was reckless of me."
"Ngh—Mmm~~ M-Mei, you don't have... to apologize... ah. I~~ mmmph, know... you were... just... trying to help... Ha—!!"
Kiana's body suddenly tensed up, her eyes flying wide. With a deafening cry of "Ha!", she threw a powerful straight punch forward!
"Ha! Ha! Ha—!!"
She threw a continuous flurry of punches.
It was a cry from the depths of her soul.
The force of her fists nearly created sonic booms.
Mei took two small steps back.
She clasped her hands, looking at the sweat-drenched, flushed-faced Kiana with a peculiar expression, and asked in a small voice, "Is this also... part of the Kaslana Gun Kata training?"
"Mmmph~~"
Kiana didn't answer. Instead, she arched her long, fair neck back as far as it would go, a scorching breath escaping from her bewitching cherry lips.
It wasn't until more than ten seconds later that she took a deep breath and opened her glistening eyes.
"S-Something like that..."
"Do you come here every night for special training, Kiana?"
"...Yeah."
Kiana finally stopped moving and sat down on the floor.
Mei lowered her head, a look of shame on her face. "You're working so hard, Kiana~"
"Well... I am... going to become... the strongest Valkyrie, you know... I have to work hard..."
"That's true. If it's you, Kiana, you might really be able to do it."
Kiana paused.
Might?
If she had heard Mei say that in the past, Kiana would have been too excited to sleep at night.
But after just hearing Ye Feng's extremely certain declaration that "the little tuna will definitely be the strongest in the future" and "I'm not just saying that to make you happy, I'm stating an objective fact," she suddenly felt a sense of disparity.
Still, she was very happy.
"But how did you master the written portion of the exam, Kiana?"
Mei had found the blind spot.
The Kaslana family's Gun Kata could be practiced alone, but the academic subjects at St. Freya couldn't be mastered just by reading books.
"Oh, that... That bastard Ye Feng helped me—Mmmph!"
"Mr. Ye Feng? Did Mr. Ye Feng tutor you?"
Mei smiled. "Mr. Ye Feng has really helped you a lot, Kiana."
Mei didn't correct Kiana's use of "bastard" this time.
She could tell that when Kiana said the word now, it lacked the strong rejection it had before.
It was like how she deliberately called Teacher Himeko "Aunty" or Bronya "Shorty."
"You and Mr. Ye Feng get along very well, Kiana."
"Huh? No, we don't!" Kiana denied it immediately.
Honestly, Mei. Saying that I get along well with that bastard.
How are we getting along?
He's still trying to bully me in every way possible right now.
If I hadn't kept my cool in a crisis, I would have been utterly humiliated just now.
Mei composed herself, looking warmly at the seemingly exhausted Kiana, and said:
"I need to learn from you, Kiana. Working so hard and diligently every night. I have to become stronger, too."
"Eh? Learn from me?"
Kiana scratched the back of her head with a silly grin.
"I don't work that hard, aihehe~~~"
「You're celebrating too soon, Kiana.」
Ye Feng's demonic whisper echoed in Kiana's mind.
「The countdown has begun. Let's be generous this time. I'll give you five minutes.」
「Eh?」
The little tuna froze.
The number just went down by one!
Again in five minutes?
I'm going to die, aren't I?
Is this guy trying to kill me?
The smile on the little tuna's face gradually vanished.
At that moment, she suddenly missed Ye Feng's "reset" function.
If her condition could be refreshed, what would she have to fear?
But right now, she really couldn't take it.
Her legs were so numb they didn't even feel like her own.
"Kiana, what's wrong? You suddenly look so troubled."
"Er... it's nothing... Hey, Mei..."
"Yes?"
Kiana racked her brain, trying to think of a way to get Mei to leave the room.
The little tuna's CPU was about to overheat, but she finally came up with an excuse.
"Were you looking for Ye Feng earlier, Mei?"
"Ah?"
Yes and no.
Upon arriving in this world, Mei had subconsciously sought out a familiar face.
Ye Feng or Kiana, either would do.
But since she had found Kiana, finding Ye Feng was no longer so urgent.
"There are indeed a few things I wanted to ask him," Mei said. "By the way, Kiana, have you asked Mr. Ye Feng about your father?"
"Wait a minute!" Kiana suddenly realized something.
「When it comes to me, you bastard, it's always 'one question for one condition.' How is it that with Mei, you don't ask for any payment at all?」
Ye Feng chuckled. 「Oh? Are you saying you want me to do something to Mei? Why don't you think about the reason you're doing this competition in the first place?」
The little tuna froze, wanting to slap herself.
「That's not what I meant!! What happened to your equivalent exchange? Nothing is free. I have reason to suspect you're secretly plotting something much bigger.」
「Nope. I'm more interested in you right now, little tuna.」
「Interested in me?」
Kiana was stunned.
「You think I'd believe your bullshit?」
「Which part of what I've said don't you believe?」
「Hmph.」
Seeing Kiana spacing out, Mei couldn't help but say, "Let's go find Mr. Ye Feng."
"Ah? Okay."
This was precisely why Kiana had brought up Ye Feng to Mei.
"Mei, you go to the training grounds, and I'll go to the academic building. If you find him, send me a message. The communicators work here too."
Mei hesitated for a moment, but seeing the look in Kiana's eyes, she nodded. "...Okay. Alright. I'll head over now."