Humming, I turn the heat off and run a fork through the rice to fluff it up and add some air to it. “Alright, how’s the rest coming along, guys?”

  Kaho nods, working with Arthur to get the curries made, keeping the vegetarian far from the pork, while Kazuya does the dishes. I nod approvingly as they compare the coloration and how much each curry is bubbling, taking cues from the other to ensure they’re cooking at an even rate.

  When the final minutes start ticking away, I head to find Ms. Yu-Mi.

  “We’re ready to start serving dinner! We’ve made rice with the option of either pork curry or vegetarian!”

  The teacher nods. “Okay, I’ll start getting everyone together. Thank you for letting me know.”

  I return to the dining area, enlisting Kaho and Arthur to help set up some long tables and benches, while Kazuya stacks out bowls and spoons for the entire camp at the front, waiting for everyone to start coming for dinner.

  People start lining up, and the four of us take up positions, serving out portions for everyone according to their preferences, before helping ourselves. There’s some left over, but what doesn’t get eaten now can be used for breakfast, along with the pork skin we’d saved from the meal prep. The washing-up doesn’t take too long, and then it’s bath. The camp’s been outfitted with two separated tents, each containing rge bathtubs and shower-heads over treated wooden decking to prevent slips. The girls’ tent is red, while the boys’ bathhouse is blue.

  I wait till every other girl is done with the bath before taking my own. The water isn’t as hot as it could be, but it’s still plenty warm enough to have a nice soak. I sigh, sinking deeper into the tub, thinking back on how much my life’s changed since I underwent the Baptism and partnered with Chihaya…

  “Oh, howdy!”

  I start, instinctively covering myself with my hands, as Pandora Bradley enters, her blonde hair wild and fluffed-out from her training.

  “Oh, um… hi, Dora. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here.”

  “Aw, it’s cool! I can, like… stay out of your way, if you need space?”

  I pause, than shake my head. “It’s fine, I’m just… a little shy, that’s all.”

  Dora smiles and slips into the bath a fair distance away, leaving her towel on the side, away from the water. I bite my lip to prevent myself from reacting. First Chihaya, now Dora?! What do Western girls EAT to get such big boobs?! Is that normal, or are they blessed by the gods?!

  I avert my gaze, as Dora tilts her head quizzically. “Whassup? You were looking at me.”

  I turn pink, and mumble, “I was… feeling insecure…”

  “Insecure? Why?”

  I colour even more, before admitting, “Well... I thought I was fairly gifted with my chest, but you Westerners are on a whole different level… we’re the same age, and yet you’re so much… bigger…”

  Dora blinks, before bursting out ughing, almost sinking too deep and spluttering as she resurfaces. “THAT’S what you’re wound about? I’m sorry, you totally caught me off-guard! I thought I’d done something wrong again!”

  She spshes a little closer. “Look, I don’t think you have anything to be insecure about, you’re stunning! Your hair’s so long and silky-looking, whereas I’ve got this floofy mop of curls! I’d kill to have hair like yours! And your legs, too! I’m a short-arse! You’re so… elegant and graceful! Plus, you’ve already managed to get good at the Accel Turn! I always end up facepnting.”

  I blink, and then start giggling. Looks like I’m not the only one who has insecurities about stuff.

  I rex and enjoy the rest of my bath, chatting idly with Pandora about nothing in particur, before getting out and rinsing off, drying myself and manifesting my Volt-texture uniform for the walk to my tent.

  Rana Linchen is one of my tentmates, as well as two other Pandoras, both of whom are from Engnd.

  One of them, a girl with a cute pixie-cut smiles, looking up from where she’s lounging on a sleeping-bag. “

  Oh, hi! I’m not sure we’ve met. I’m Annabelle White! It’s good to be working with you!”

  I bow slightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Shimizu Akari. Please, call me Akari.”

  The second girl, with a nice, soft accent, smiles, sitting up and revealing she’s also quite ‘gifted’.

  “H-hi… I’m… Rinslet Channing. It’s n-nice to meet you…”

  She seems really shy, and I make sure to give her a welcoming smile. “The pleasure is mine, Rinslet.”

  Rana smiles, grabbing my hands as I splutter in surprise.

  “I really must be thanking you, Akari! I was not having the easy time with the Acceleration Turn! That Miyabi is not… a very good teacher, if I was being asked.”

  I shrug. “I had a good teacher myself. Chihaya-chan taught me how to do it, and I’ve been practicing as well. I’m gd I could share what I’ve learned with others. But yes, I think my grandfather would be most disappointed with Miyabi’s teachings. He’s a master swordsman, and I’ve been one of his pupils since I was a child.”

  Annabelle looks interested. “Your grandfather’s a sword master? That’s pretty cool! I bet he taught you a lot!”

  I nod. “It wasn’t easy, but I loved his lessons. He doesn’t tolerate failure, though. ‘It matters not how slowly you go, only that you do not stop’. One of the many lessons he imparted to me.”

  Rinslet tilts her head. “What does it mean, though?”

  I smile at her again. “It means, ‘as long as you keep trying, it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get there’. Sort of… ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again’. I think that’s a saying from Engnd?”

  Rinslet nods in understanding. “Oh, right, I get it now. Thanks.”

  Rana sits down on her own sleeping-bag. “So, girls. Akari and I know what our Volt weapons are, but we should all share what we have, in case we ever fight as allies on the field of battle, yes?”

  I nod. I hold my hand out. “Deploying Volt weapon!” Odin’s sheath appears in my hand, and I draw the katana, the bde glinting in the light of the tent’s electric ntern. I hold my bde out for everyone to get a good look at.

  “This is Odin. It’s a katana, simir to the one I trained with, though much more fitted to me as a Pandora. My training one is much heavier. To wield a katana in the Shimizu style, you’d be trained with a bde three or four times heavier than a normal katana, in order to improve your muscle strength and control.”

  Once everyone’s finished looking, I let Odin disappear, as Rana stands up. I take a seat on the st vacant sleeping-bag, as the gauntlets and bracers appear on Rana’s arms and legs.

  “This is Shinen, the Four Senses! I was trained to use my whole body as a weapon! I am trained in the Sacred Gate Eight Extremities Fist arts, which lets me attack with the energy flowing through me. I have no ability to fight long ranged enemies, so I must rely on my speed and strength! Luckily, I have both in abundance!”

  Annabelle stands as Rana lets Shinen vanish. “Alright, I guess it’s my turn, yeah? Volt weapon, deploy!” she snatches something out of the air, and holds it up. A long bck and silver recurve bow with a bowstring made of pure light. She draws the string, and an arrow forms, ready to fire. She rexes the string, and the arrow fades away.

  “So, this is my weapon, Truestriker. I was in the archery club at Genetics UK, before I transferred here. I’m pretty good, since my arrows can home in on a target, or I can fire several at once. They explode on impact, too!”

  I smile and admire the English girl’s bow. A weapon like that would definitely help with fighting the Nova.

  Rinslet gets up, looking nervous. “Um… is it … my turn now? O-okay… here we go… deploy Volt weapon!”

  I stare up in fascination, as Rinslet’s hands occupy themselves with a rge metal targe shield and a morningstar. “Um, this is S-Stormfront, I’m sorry it’s not a very cool weapon!”

  I smile. “I think it’s very cool! I’m hoping I’ll get to see it in action one day!”

  Rinslet lets her Volt weaponry disappear, and she hurriedly sits down and tucks herself into her sleeping-bag. I yawn, “Is it okay if I set an arm? I don’t know if anyone’s on breakfast duty, but I want to be up in case I can help…”

  “Sure, I don’t mind!” Annabelle replies, followed by assent from both Rana and Rinslet. Setting an arm for 5 AM local time, I close my eyes and drift off…

  Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-bee-!

  My finger jabs the arm button, and I sit up slowly, making sure no-one else has been roused. Rinslet’s curled up in a tight ball, while Annabelle’s half-in and half-out of her own sleeping bag. Rana’s lying perfectly straight and still, her breathing almost imperceptible.

  Slipping out, I adjust my uniform and brush my hair into a neat ponytail, leaving the tent in the pre-dawn gloom. No-one’s at the cooking tent, so, after a twenty minute wait, I roll up my sleeves, washing my hands quickly-but-thoroughly, before opening the chiller and retrieving the pork skin from yesterday’s dinner. Slicing it into medium strips, I set it aside and start rummaging, gathering eggs, mushrooms, beans, bread, tomatoes, and sausages. Looks like a Western-style ‘fry-up’, I think. Better make a big pot of coffee, too.

  As the smells of cooking food start to fill the air, Ms. Yu-Mi emerges, yawning, and wanders over. “What are you doing? I didn’t assign you to breakfast duty. Isn’t anyone else helping? Did the others dump all the work on you?” She blinks a few times, helping herself to coffee.

  I shrug. “No-one else showed up, so I figured I’d make a start on SOMETHING, at least. “

  Ms. Yu-Mi’s eyes narrow over the lip of her mug. “I see… I’ll have a word with the people who SHOULD be on breakfast rotation today. Thank you for bailing them out, though.”

  She wanders off, and I hear her rousing a quartet of sleepy, apologetic students who all look VERY sheepish. I smile and simply take charge. I’ve been through that, too, after all. My grandfather’s training camps are run very simirly, though without some of the luxuries, like a generator or pop-up bathhouses.

  With their help, I manage to get everything finished up and ready to serve, as Ms. Yu-Mi rouses the rest of the camp, groups of Pandoras and Limiters stumbling in and grabbing ptes and coffee, murmured conversation breaking out as breakfast is had by all.

  With some caffeine and calories in everyone’s systems, we assemble in our training groups, with a very grumpy Miyabi fidgeting with her hair as she snaps at Rana and I.

  “Okay, you bitches, we’re gonna keep practicing the Accel Turn. Get on with it!”

  I simply nod and begin performing the Accel Turn, with Rana managing to improve her speed and agility from yesterday, and I smile. She’s definitely doing well. Having a background in martial arts seems to help, it looks like. Miyabi isn’t even really ‘teaching’ us anything. When I look over at her, she’s busy getting handsy in public with one of her trio of Limiters. Ugh.

  The rest of the day passes, and, while Miyabi wanders off to do God-knows-what, I pause, furrowing my brow. I’ve gotten confident with the Accel Turn, but… could I push myself to go even faster?

  I move back to give myself as much room as possible, going for an Accel Turn, before pushing. BAMF.

  Ms. Yu-Mi shouts, “AKARI SHIMIZU, what did you just DO?!”

  I freeze, half-way across the camp, with dozens of shocked eyes fixed on me.

  “Um… I wanted to see if I could make my Accel Turn even faster…?”

  The teacher sprints over, eyes wide. “You did more than that, Akari. You just pulled off a DOUBLE Accel. You just moved at Mach 1.”