A week passed and Sheu aced every written test put in front of her.
In the arena it was a different matter. Her groupmates moved wind the way other people moved furniture - casually, with the ease of long familiarity - and her teacher watched all of it with the resigned expression of someone who had seen too much mediocrity to be surprised by more of it.
"Wind users are the least valued in the military," he said, for what felt like the fourth time that week. "Everyone can manipulate it to some extent, so we have a great deal to prove. It's not enough to move wind. Ours must destroy everything in its path."
Sheu's output simply wasn't there yet, and the arena made no effort to pretend otherwise.
Moto caught Najo between sessions, which was the only way you caught Najo anymore.
He looked terrible. Dark hollows under his eyes, his face carrying a tightness that hadn't been there before - the kind you get not from one hard day but from many of them stacked without rest.
"Sorry I've been scarce," Najo said, hunching slightly as they walked. "Grandpa's been working me into the ground. The wild thing is, he keeps saying this is just preparation for training."
"You keeping up at least?" Moto asked.
Najo's mouth pulled into a tired smirk. "Barely. But I've grown a lot stronger. Honestly, I don't think you can catch up to me anymore. Some rival you are."
"I know," Moto said, with a sigh that was more honest than he'd intended. "These days I spend half my time training and the other half avoiding Mukai."
"The King's kid?"
"Yeah. He's never liked Sheu and me." Najo looked over at Sheu, who nodded once, slowly.
"Nijo!" The twins' voices cut through the crowd from somewhere to the left.
Najo's shoulders dropped. "I have to go."
"They giving you pet names now?" Moto called after him.
"Shut up!" Already running.
Moto watched him disappear into the crowd, then turned back to Sheu.
"Did you notice something weird about their mother?" he asked, after a moment.
Sheu considered it. "It is strange. Widowed by her husband's master, and she still sends her sons to serve them."
"She still wears all black." Moto looked at nothing in particular. "Colours of mourning."
Sheu frowned. "Colours of mourning?"
"You don't have that in your culture?"
"We wear black at funerals," Sheu said. "But outside of that it's just fashion."
"Hm." Moto looked away. "Forget it."
Sheu watched him for a moment. He was wearing black. He had been wearing black every day since she'd known him, the yellow crystal the only thing breaking it.
"You've worn those colours since we met," she said. "Are you grieving?"
Moto's eyes moved off somewhere to the side. He shifted. "I mean - it looks good on me, right?"
Sheu didn't answer.
A leaf came down from the tree above them and Moto's hand caught it before it hit the ground, quick and automatic. He turned it over between his fingers.
"You're going to have to let me in someday," Sheu said. Not pressing. Just stating a fact she intended to leave in the air.
Moto crumpled the leaf slowly and tucked it under his palm. The silence that followed had weight to it - not uncomfortable, just full. He sat with it for a moment, then set it aside in the way he set most things aside.
"Enough about me." He looked at her. "Have you heard from your dad?"
Sheu's gaze drifted. "No." A pause. "Not even a message. That's never happened before."
"He'll come back," Moto said. "He always does."
She smiled, small and effortful. "He'd better bring the best souvenir in history for making me worry like this."
"Make it a double," Moto agreed.
In the bunker, Alicia stood before her assembled team with the easy authority of someone who hadn't doubted herself in a long time.
"We're going to kidnap Sukai," she said. "Use him as leverage to get what we actually want - the Earth Ore."
Sifiso, standing at her right, let a beat pass before speaking. "Are you certain we should take the child of a former client?"
"King Douglas is a cautious man," Alicia said, unbothered. "He won't do anything reckless if his secrets are on the line."
From the back of the room, a new voice: "Sounds like we've struck gold, boss." Kangetsu had the kind of grin that suggested he enjoyed the sound of his own voice almost as much as the sound of trouble. Crimson hair, crimson eyes, and the general energy of someone who had never once considered that he might be the problem. "I might never have to work again after this one."
Sifiso turned to look at him with the patience of a man running out of it. "Who gave you permission to speak?"
"Last I checked," Kangetsu said pleasantly, "you're not the one who wears the skirt in this organisation."
Sifiso's jaw tightened. He looked back at Alicia. "It's his first job. He'll slow us down."
"He's from Gehen," Alicia said. The room adjusted slightly to that information. "His powers will cover the inexperience."
Sifiso took a small step back and said nothing more about it.
"Besides," Kangetsu added, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, "I've worked in a team before. I might end up being your greatest asset."
Sifiso looked at him with flat, clinical appraisal. "Good. I'll need a meat shield."
Kangetsu laughed - genuinely, like it was the funniest thing he'd heard all week. "Good luck with that, buddy."