Waking up the next day, Momo and I ate a hearty breakfast with Nejire before Ryukyu arrived to put us through our paces.
As soon as we made it to the training hall, Ryukyu started speaking. "Micah, you seem not to realize that your wings can be used for more than flying, so Nejire is going to spar with you while in the air. Now onto you, Momo-"
Nejire led me a few paces away from them in case Ryukyu transformed before explaining in detail. "So, we rewatched the footage of you from the Sports Festival and picked out a few things you need to work on. The first is maneuverability.
During the second event, you seemed to be overwhelmed at times when multiple teams went for you at once; you were able to rely on your teammates, but that won't always be true in the field, especially for flying heroes."
We got right to work fixing that as we took to the air. Seeing the spirals of energy spinning around Nejire was pretty cool, but less so when she started aiming them at him. He was forced to dodge as they flew through the air, basically playing tag.
For a few minutes, we chased each other back and forth. Since Nejire was able to fly, as well as Ryukyu herself and a few other sidekicks, the air was full of obstacles that kept me on my toes constantly.
Then Ryukyu joined the fun. Fun for her, a bit scary for me since a dragon was now chasing me. If that wasn't enough, Momo started launching things at me from the ground, where she was constantly creating new launchers and guns to knock me and Nejire out of the sky as Ryukyu chased us.
On top of all of that, I had to avoid slamming into things since the obstacles started moving around as well. Trying to even things out, I started using my flames, sending fireballs at Ryukyu when she got too close and carpet-bombing the area Momo was in.
That gave me a bit of breathing room until Nejire closed the gap and harassed me some more. Though it was easy to spot the energy spirals she launched at me, avoiding them while not crashing into something was a whole other problem.
After about an hour, Momo stopped launching things, so Ryukyu took that as a signal to stop as Nejire, and I finally got to land. "Do you always do this?" I panted, feeling tired after so much flying for once. Nejire nodded as she drank some water.
"Ryukyu believes in constant practice. That's the only way to get better, and practicing with others lets you get another perspective so that you can see where you still need to work on." I took it all in as I drank my own water, enjoying the cool feeling of it.
"Alright. Time for a small break, then it's patrol time!" Ryukyu announced as she went to change, and we did the same. I enjoyed the hot water briefly before getting into my costume and joining the others in the lobby.
Today, we split off into two groups: Nejire and Momo, and Ryukyu and me. The girls started their patrol on foot as we took to the air, flying in lazy circles around the agency building. "Today I'm going to show you how to spot crimes from the air," Ryukyu explained.
"Our job isn't to intervene; we just fly around and project power to deter villains, while also letting others know when a crime is about to be committed so they can move in. Kind of like a police helicopter."
As we flew around the city, Ryukyu showed me how to better adjust my eyesight so that I didn't stay focused on one thing, but rather, took in the bigger picture to better see anything and everything. A few times, we scared the odd pickpocket as Ryukyu pointed them out as they slunk away.
Nejire and Momo also had their work cut out for them. Since they were on the ground, they had to stay constantly alert for anything. Nejire was very focused as she kept her eyes and ears open, and Momo followed her example.
This was great focus training for Momo since she had to be able to create items while in the middle of a fight, where things were always chaotic. Being on the crowded streets and having to keep her eyes open while also following behind the energetic Nejire was great practice.
She didn't hate that, but it was a bit tiring. She still powered through and didn't complain as they kept getting sidetracked by people wanting photos or autographs. Thankfully, no media presence was out to harass them today, for now.
For lunch, they all met up and stopped at a food stall before splitting up again. This time, they switched partners, which left Micah and Momo on the ground as Ryukyu and Nejire watched from above.
Even with their eyes open and quicks ready, Micah and Momo still made small talk as they crossed the street. "I can't believe she had you making guns, I thought you weren't allowed to?" "I'm not, that's why I was using 'launchers' and 'capture devices' instead."
"Oh ok, so nets guns." "Basically. It's good practice and helps expand my knowledge base for future reference in case I need to capture someone." "Just don't let Sasha know that you can make net guns now; she might use them." "I've already planned for that, unfortunate reality."
The rest of their day was spent patrolling until sunset. Ryukyu was happy with the progress they'd made on day one, but didn't want to risk anything going wrong in the dark, despite all the light around them.
To celebrate a good first day, Nejire made dinner that night. Several dishes Micah had never seen before, with a few American foods thrown in, just for him. He tried a little of everything, regardless, since it all looked good.
Nejire had wanted to watch a movie as well that night, but Ryukyu shut that down since they still had a full week ahead of them. She was happy they were all getting along, but didn't want Micah and Momo to burn out at the start.
So she sent them off to bed early so they'd have enough time to sleep and be ready for tomorrow. Of course, Micah didn't get to sleep yet since Sasha called him to share everything she'd done that day.
Since yesterday, Sasha had been trekking through the mountains and forests that the Wild Wild Pussycats called home. Since they were a rescue team more often than not, Sasha needed to know the lay of the land so that she wouldn't get lost if she was separated from them.
Since they'd been in the mountains away from everything else, Sasha had only just gotten back to where the Pussycats had service to be able to call Micah and share everything she'd gotten to do. He, of course, listened to everything with a stupid smile on his face, realizing just how much he'd missed her voice after one day without it.
As usual, they fell asleep still on the phone.