The clearing outside Rael’s estate had seen better days.

  The grass was gone. Repced by torn soil, cracked stone, and scorched trees. Aria stood at the edge, breath sharp, frost bleeding from her fingers. Opposite her, Yuki hovered mid-air, foxfire swirling around her like living fme, her tails fanned out wide.

  In front of them stood Rael. Calm. Banced. Unmoving.

  No weapons. No stance.

  Just waiting.

  “This is combat training?” Yuki muttered, floating down beside Aria. “This feels like an execution.”

  “He’s not going easy,” Aria said, voice tight.

  “He doesn’t do easy,” Rael called out. “Now stop whispering and try to nd a hit.”

  Yuki gave Aria a gnce. “We ready?”

  “Ready as we’ll ever be.”

  They moved.

  Yuki unched first, a burst of fire propelling her forward as she twisted mid-air and fired a bst of compressed energy toward Rael’s left. At the same time, Aria dropped into a slide, sending a flurry of ice shards toward his feet, trying to cut off his movement.

  Rael didn’t move for the first two seconds. Then he did something that made both girls’ attacks pointless.

  He disappeared.

  Not vanished — just moved faster than either could track. His Byakugan fred, and in an instant, he was behind Aria, a hand resting on her shoulder.

  “Dead,” he said.

  Before she could react, he backflipped away, twisting in the air as Yuki’s tail swiped toward him.

  He nded. Calm. Untouched.

  Again.

  On the third round, Aria managed to freeze his left arm in a blink of reaction. Yuki immediately buffed Aria with her gear, channeling power through her foxfire and doubling Aria’s casting speed for five seconds.

  Rael raised an eyebrow. “Finally adapting.”

  He shattered the ice with a twist of his shoulder, dashed between them, and with two precise finger taps to their necks, dropped them both to the ground.

  Again.

  From the hill above the field, Rias watched with arms crossed and an expression that hovered somewhere between impressed and horrified.

  “What is this?” she muttered.

  Her peerage had just arrived with her. Kiba, Akeno, and Koneko stood beside her, eyes wide.

  Kiba tilted his head. “Do we need to train like that too?”

  Akeno blinked. “He just throat-chopped Yuki and made her bckout. I’m not into that kind of thing.”

  Koneko said nothing, but her ft stare spoke volumes.

  Rias looked at her team. Then back at Rael, who had just flipped Aria over his shoulder into a training barrier wall with perfect precision.

  Then she asked, dryly, “You guys want training like that?”

  In unison:“No.”“Nope.”“Hell no.”

  Rias smiled faintly. “Thought so.”

  Aria groaned from the dirt, slowly pushing herself up. Her knees shook. Her fingers trembled with cold and exertion.

  Yuki stood, coughing a bit of smoke. “Okay... so... I’m officially calling this a lot.”

  Rael walked toward them, hands behind his back, posture soldier-straight. “You’re both improving. Aria, your freeze timing’s tighter. Yuki, you’re starting to learn when to buff and when to strike.”

  Yuki wiped blood from her lip. “And when to get body-smmed into a rock. Super useful lesson.”

  “Adapt or die,” Rael said bluntly. “This is nothing compared to what’s coming.”

  Aria met his eyes. “We know. We just... need time.”

  “You’ll get it,” he said. “But not comfort.”

  At the top of the hill, another voice joined in. Calm. Even. Familiar.

  “I see the rumors were true.”

  Sona Shitori stepped down toward the group, fnked by Tsubaki, her Queen, and two other pieces from her peerage — both low-key but alert.

  Rias raised an eyebrow. “You spying on my brother now?”

  “Observing,” Sona corrected. “His training style is aggressive, but it’s effective. I’m curious.”

  Rael looked up. “You came to watch?”

  “Partially,” Sona said. “Partially to propose something.”

  Rael tilted his head. “Let’s hear it.”

  “A joint training session,” she said. “You and I. Your peerage and mine. Combat simution. Tactics. Non-lethal, obviously.”

  Yuki, still dusting herself off, muttered, “Define non-lethal…”

  Rael didn’t hesitate. “Agreed.”

  Aria blinked. “Wait, seriously?”

  “Yes,” Rael said. “You’re not here to get comfortable. You’re here to be ready.”

  Sona nodded. “We’ll arrange the details. I think our styles will complement each other — or csh interestingly.”

  Rias looked between them. “Just don’t blow up the town.”

  “No promises,” Yuki said, cracking her neck.

  Later, back inside the manor, Rias pulled Rael aside.

  “You really don’t hold back.”

  “They’re not porcein,” he said. “They want to be strong? Then they’ll earn it.”

  “They’re not you either,” she said. “You’re still pushing them like they’re soldiers.”

  Rael paused, then looked out at the training field again.

  “They’ll need to be,” he said. “Sooner than any of us want.”

  Rias didn’t argue.

  That night, Aria sat on the rooftop again, legs dangling over the edge.

  Yuki joined her, carrying two cold drinks. “Water? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

  “Thanks,” Aria said, taking it.

  They drank in silence for a moment.

  “Didn’t think I’d get my ass kicked by a guy in dress shoes,” Yuki muttered.

  “He’s not trying to hurt us,” Aria said.

  “No,” Yuki said. “He’s trying to sharpen us. And it’s working.”

  Aria nodded slowly. “You still gd you joined?”

  Yuki leaned back. “Yeah. But if I die in training, I’m haunting him.”

  They both ughed.

  Below, Rael watched from the window.

  He didn’t smile.

  But he did close his notebook — satisfied.