~ Chapter 25 ~

With a jolt I hit the mat, landing heavily, body aching even though there was a cushion beneath me.

I had seen her coming this time—barely. But I hadn’t reacted in time. With her arm flying towards me, fist curled, I had panicked...leading me to another face-plant.

“Come on, girl. I told you, you have to focus on escaping. Not fighting.” Eve sighed in exasperation, and I could see her pinched expression, even though I wasn’t looking at her.

I remedied that, shifting onto my back, my body screaming at me to just lie there. It was at least the tenth time I had been in this position since our last break.

Is it break time again?

Please say yes.

Eve planted her hands on her hips, looking down at me with a raised brow. “You’re improving, it’s true, but it’s not like you have the luxury of going slow. Just master the basics. Flight over fight, right? I didn’t even use my ability on you—and you can be sure none of the others will be that nice.” She frowned, the downturn of her lips heavy, before she held out a hand to help me up.

This was the second day of our training, the second day of her trying to give me enough of a chance to save my skin if any of the Uni at the Conscious attacked me. We had begun the day after our feast, the day my looming future had fully settled over me. It had been her idea, her way of helping me to prepare to greet the Conscious since I was the least prepared, being neither a Uni or used to being around Uni.

I was doing everything I could to drill her words into my mind, to make myself less of a burden for her and my other friends. I was already pretty athletic, which helped. I had even had a few rudimentary classes on self-defense, being from a wealthy family who didn’t believe in letting the heroes do everything for them. But that training and this training were very different. Standing up to some thugs who wanted to steal your money was nothing like facing well-trained Uni who hated your very existence.

Eve was doing everything to build my confidence while Mr. Alessi and Satsuya set to the work of closing down the business, and Yuuki tried to pretend she was still a kid who could be a kid (and finish her newest year of schooling). Not many words were exchanged between Eve and I when we were sparring (if you could call it that; that made it sound like I was competent), but when we took breaks we talked—often about her brother, Shoulder Sun.

I wasn’t sure Eve looked at me as a friend quite yet, but I was growing confident that I could count on her, and that in and of itself made me feel more at ease.

It seemed to make Satsuya feel more at ease, too, to have someone else on his side helping protect those close to him.

Speaking of the coffee-making Uni, he poked his head into the room, carrying two mugs. “How goes it?” He asked, entering when he saw that Eve was helping me up.

The room we were in was a bit small, but it was all we had to work with. Mr. Alessi apparently used it himself, keeping in good enough shape to aid Yuuki if need be. A thick mat stretched across the floor, weights stacked on one end.

“Is that coffee?” Despite my soreness, I scrambled to my feet, scenting the coffee like a dog who smelled treats. I wasn’t sure if it was the best thing to drink while exercising, but I was too tired to care.

I dashed (sluggishly) over to Satsuya, reaching for a mug, but he held them both out of my reach and said, “Progress?”

I resented the hint of amusement in his voice.

“She’s beating me up!” I complained, earning a burst of laughter from Eve, who was allowed coffee while Satsuya refused to put my mug within reach.

“Good.” The coffee-god still didn’t let me have my drink, a flash of triumph in his eyes as I glared up at him, peering through those sunglasses.

I jumped, reaching, but I still couldn’t get to the coffee—probably a good thing, since I would no doubt pour it on my head or something. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, Ivy.” His words were sure as he handed me my mug, holding it from the bottom.

Lightning struck me—no, wait, that was just my annoying emotions—as I took the coffee and busied myself with drinking it, dragging my gaze elsewhere.

Eve hummed from where she stood. “You know, Soul, you should take a turn tutoring Ivy.” I nearly choked, but she paid it no mind. “Your combat style’s different than mine, and you have better control. I’m afraid I’m going to break her.” She swirled her drink, scowling.

Satsuya looked from Eve to me and back again, expression neutral. “Give her a bit more time. We can try that later. Tomorrow will be too crazy.” The last bit he said with a hushed tone, the effect of those words immediate.

The air became heavier, every one of us feeling it.

Tomorrow would be a very busy day—the last day of our freedom, the last day to say goodbye. The last taste of normalcy and anything even close to comfort.

I wasn’t prepared for it. I doubted any of us were. But it would come all the same—come and go just like that, changing everything.

“Thanks, Eve.” Satsuya nodded at his friend before he turned to leave. “Do your best, Ivy.” He was gone before I could tell him that I was—or was trying to, anyway.

Eve and I both sank to the mat without a word, taking a small break to finish our drinks.We settled into a companionable silence, both seeming to be content. It was becoming difficult to process everything that was happening, each moment feeling like my last, so I appreciated these quiet times, able to sort out the tangled ball of yarn that was always my thoughts.

I thought of what we would do tomorrow, of how we would say goodbye to our lives. Most of my life was already gone, but Mr. Alessi, Yuuki, and Satsuya had a history here, memories and things they would miss, things that couldn’t be replaced. We had already planned the day out, saving the best for last...depending on how you looked at it.

As a stranger in this town, I wondered how I would feel telling it goodbye. I wondered how much I would mourn, how much I would miss it. I hadn’t been here for long, but so much had happened. So much that I was still resentful of, yet was strangely grateful for.

When I stepped foot into this town, I didn’t feel like a person.

But I feel like a person now.

A person with plenty of trials ahead, who may or may not live to see her next birthday, but a person nonetheless.

I was halfway through my coffee before Eve spoke, breaking the silence. “So, how long have you had a gigantic crush on Soul?” She swirled her coffee, drawling, as if we were talking about the weather.

“Wh-What?!?” Thankfully, I wasn’t taking a sip in that moment—though I nearly lost grip of my mug, splashing coffee on Mr. Alessi’s mat in my haste to not let the mug slip through my fingers. “What are you talking about? That’s ridiculous!” I squeaked, the lie obvious.

Eve merely looked at me as she put her mug to her lips—a deadpan look that made me squirm. “Soul’s a good guy, but he’s not my type. That doesn’t mean I can’t tell when I meet someone who does fancy him, though.”

I wanted to tell her that he wasn’t actually my type, either—I hadn’t even thought he was cute at first!—but then I wondered what my type actually was. There were zero similarities between Satsuya and my punch-worthy ex. But then I had decided my ex was just a convenience, so it wasn’t like thinking of him would tell me anything concrete.

Why did you have to bring this up, Eve?

I was fine for—for what, two minutes?

As if that track-record was worth celebrating.

(Though for me, it kind of was.)

I ground my teeth in annoyance. “...is it that obvious?” I hated to ask, feeling like a fourteen-year-old girl again, wanting to die beneath the embarrassment of my emotions.

Eve’s expression didn’t change as she said, “Painfully obvious.”

I hung my head, unable to keep my curiosity at bay. “Do you think he’s noticed?” Again, I felt like I had regressed into a teenager.

Eve scoffed. “Of course he has. Even if it weren’t painfully obvious, he’d notice. Soul’s real talent is reading people.”

Like a switch that flipped, my thoughts turned, and I looked up, setting my coffee mug down as I shoved aside my embarrassment. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but why do you call him that? Why not ‘Satsuya’?”

She wasn’t the only one who called him by an alternate title. Wars had done the same, along with his goons from the Conscious. I had been wondering about it for a while, but, as with my myriad of other questions, I hadn’t found the right time to ask.

“I guess that was a decent deflection.” One corner of Eve’s mouth rose higher than the other as she, too, set down her mug, crossing her legs in front of her. “I keep forgetting that Soul said you’re new to our ways. So here’s a tip you won’t receive in school, Typpe: Uni have more than one name.”

I blinked, not entirely surprised yet intrigued. “Why?”

Eve shrugged. “I guess you could call it a confirmation of our ‘Uni-ness’. We get it when our abilities manifest, and the name’s a reflection of whatever our true abilities are. Unlike our given name—or ‘Typpe name’, as most of us call it—our Uni name appears on its own, just like our abilities. It sort of...” she waved a hand, “...pops into our mind, and we know it’s who we are. So when we’re around one another, we use it instead. It’s a sign of trust, but also an acknowledgment of our true selves.”

Eve leaned back, adjusting her posture into something more leisurely. “Take my Uni name, for example. ‘Icy Eve’ describes me pretty well, right? But when I was labeled a villain, they called me ‘Miss Cool’. The names the Law comes up with are usually rubbish. Whether because they sound idiotic, or they don’t describe the Uni’s actual abilities.” She flashed a dangerous grin, and I wondered who she was thinking of. “Back to Uni names—some are only one word, but most have two, sometimes more. And in general, we’re more comfortable with those names than with our given ones. Though personally, I don’t hate my Typpe name.”

Typpe names.

Uni names.

The names the Law uses.

My thoughts were awhirl, the writer in me fascinated. “So...if you don’t mind my asking, what is your real—I mean, Typpe—name?”

Eve cocked her head, long lashes fluttering. “It’s Kenisha. I was named after my grandmother, who was a Typpe. I never spent much time with her, but she was kind in her own way. She had a tough time being comfortable around Uni. My grandfather, who was a Uni, married her then left her out on the street. She lost everything—her child, her respect, her home. It’s not common for Typpe and Uni to marry or have kids. It’s frowned upon everywhere, though it’s only illegal in the top sectors. My granddad was mocked for marrying a Typpe as much as my grandmother was mocked for marrying a Uni. I’m not sure if things are worse or better now, but it’s always been difficult for us to be together.” Her gaze speared me, and I wondered if she meant this as a warning. “You can call me by my Typpe name if we’re somewhere where it’s more useful, but ultimately I like my Uni name better.”

Her words settled at the pit of my stomach like a lead weight. I wanted to tell her I had no intention of romantic entanglements with Uni, but I wondered if, at this point, my intentions really mattered. Like it or not, I was part of this world now—not to mention, the Conscious thought I was actually involved with Satsuya, much as I liked to try and forget that fact.

I wondered if he had told Eve (probably), but I was too frustrated and shy to bring it up.

Instead, I offered Eve my thanks. “I understand a little better now. Uni names, huh? If they reflect your abilities, then what does Satsuya’s mean?”

I had an idea, a theory, but I was curious to know more about the Uni who had the fate of the world in his hands.

“You can’t guess?” Eve’s head tipped back, her gaze trailing to the ceiling. “I mean, I could tell you, but I think you should ask Soul. Names are personal things, you know. A part of a person. A power.”

A power.

It reminded me of something my grandmother used to say, something about not giving away one’s true name.

There was a story connected to that, but suddenly I couldn’t remember what it was.

Even so, I promised myself I would ask Satsuya about his name, that I would get that story, if he was willing to tell it. Then, one day, maybe I could call him by his real name, too, because I understood the weight of it.

So please tell me who you are, really—

Soul Searcher.