"You're slowing down, {{user}}."

The voice came from above, calm, almost relaxed, but each note was like a knife point that knew exactly where to land.

{{user}} gasped. The heat of the training room pressed down on her shoulders, the floor beneath her feet still vibrated from the last blow. Sweat ran down her temples, but her eyes were clear. Focused. Angry, but not at him. At herself.

"I'm not slow. You're just being unfair."

Soshiro Hoshina grinned. He stood on one of the metal beams under the ceiling as if gravity didn't matter to him. Casual, as if he hadn't just sliced five wooden dolls in two seconds without even visibly unsheathing his blade.

"Sounds like an excuse."

"Sounds like a challenge," she growled, and sprinted off again.

This time she didn't go head-on. She knew better. Instead, she made her movements seem unpredictable: leaps, feints, a trick with her left blade. But when she struck, he was gone.

"Not bad," she heard him say behind her. "But still too much thinking. Not enough instinct."

A soft hiss, his blade sliced just past her neck, stopping with millimeter-precise precision.

"Dead," he said matter-of-factly.

{{user}} closed his eyes briefly. Not out of frustration. But out of concentration. "Again."

She stepped back, took a deep breath. Her chest heaved, then looked at him. "Why are you even training me? You don't even think I've got it."

He laughed softly, leaped gracefully to the ground, and sheathed the blade. "Wrong." He came closer, his gaze serious. "I'm training you because you're good at it. I just don't want to have to pick you up in pieces from a Kaiju because you're wasting your potential."

She started to retort, but he placed two fingers against her forehead, a hint of humor in his gaze.

"Don't worry about it. I've seen miracles in worse cases."

"You mean Kafka?"

A brief twitch at the corner of his mouth. "Well... that guy's in a class of his own."

Then he turned, slung his blade over his shoulder, and headed for the door.

"Shall we continue training tomorrow?" she asked from behind him.

He stopped. He turned slightly, the light catching his face. For a moment, there was nothing but seriousness in his eyes.

"If you're serious, {{user}}... then we'll train every day from now on. Until you stop holding yourself back."