Chapter 23

They played the game for about an hour, and I wasn't allowed to leave the whole time! Zai used the console so he could play with a controller. Valin rambled to me about the strategic differences between Duos and Trios, and his character's specific abilities, as if I could possibly retain all that information. Valin, I was a C student—and I also don't care. Both those factors were working against him. During the matches, I heard Zai swear more than I thought was possible.

The current match ended, and Zai left the party.

"What are you doing?!" Valin yelled. Then Rai got up, yawning, and headed upstairs. "Jey!!?"

"Snowe took the day off tomorrow so she could spend tonight with me. I'm going to take advantage of that," Zai explained. Then he tapped my thigh, signaling me to stand up. I never admitted to such a thing! I didn't even realize he was listening when I lied to Richard earlier.

"Fine, whatever... go," Valin grumbled.

"I suggest you keep your headset on," Zai added.What does he mean by that?! Valin didn't ask any questions—he just put his headset on, closed his laptop, and headed to his room.

"Now… it's time for your lesson."

"Have mercy."

Zai chuckled. "Mercy? Oh, Snowe, you're always making up such silly words."He's a tyrant!

I managed to walk downstairs by myself the next morning. I felt a bit proud—maybe I'd gotten stronger... or maybe mercy wasn't a foreign concept to Zai after all. Valin was sitting on the living room couch alone, staring intensely at the book in front of him. He was doing sudoku on paper.

"Good morning," I greeted, and Valin jumped from his seat, immediately getting into a defensive position like I was going to hit him.

"Are you okay?"

"...Who are you?" he asked.There's no way he doesn't recognize me, right?!

"It's me, remember? Snowe."

"I know that!" ...Then why did he just ask me who I was?!"Wha... wha... what do you want?!" he questioned.

"Just saying hi. Relax," I replied, then made my way into the kitchen. "I'm about to make breakfast for everyone... I'll try not to bother you."He peeked out at me from behind his arms, then flopped back on the couch, groaning loudly.

I haven't gotten a chance to get to know him—right now he seems like a weirdo. I decided to make apple fritters and tried to make conversation as I peeled the apples.

"So… I was thinking… we should be friends."

"US?!" Valin asked, jolting upright and looking at me.

"Yeah, why not? Zai probably won't care if we just chat sometimes. But if you make a move on me, he might kill you... I'm not exaggerating either. He. Will. Kill. You."

Valin rolled his eyes. "I have common sense. I understood you the first time!" He then glared at the wall before returning his gaze to me. "Fine…"This should be fine, right? Valin seems harmless.

"What kind of stuff are you into?" I asked, moving on from peeling to chopping.

"I really like… math!"

I choked a little at his revelation.

"M-Math?" I asked, to make sure I heard him correctly.

"Yes! It's important in our constantly evolving world. Math can even explain why plants grow the way they do. Have you heard of the Fibonacci Sequence?! The sequence starts with a zero, followed by a one, then by another one, then a two, and continues with steadily increasing numbers. Each number is the sum of the two preceding it. There are trees in existence today that follow this pattern—and even our own bodies. Even 3D world models follow this sequence when creating seamless environments. All art is numbers. All games are numbers. Because of mathematics, we were able to expand as a civilization. Even weather prediction has advanced exponentially thanks to math! Weather forecasts rely on computers to solve complex equations simulating the atmosphere's behaviors. Math is wonderful!"He was speaking so quickly that he was out of breath by the end... that boy loves some math.

"I see…"Having a conversation with him will be harder than I thought.

"Snowe… what did you and Cera fight about?"

I paused in my preparations… No one else had even asked. They just immediately took my side.

"Are you mad... that he got kicked out because of me?" I asked while placing the apples to the side and mixing the other ingredients in a bowl.

"Not at all. He hated math," Valin muttered.I better keep my opinions on math to myself, then...

"I'm just curious... Cera doesn't fight much. He's a weak, pathetic loser. He was chosen by Water but never lived up to it. So it'd be dumb of him to fight you—because that means picking a fight with Zai."

"He… just wanted me to leave. He tried to persuade me, and I said no. Things got out of hand."

My answer seemed to make sense to him—he folded his arms and nodded.

"Makes sense. He's obsessed with Zai. Has had a one-sided crush on him for years."

His comment made me laugh for some reason.

"I'm surprised you noticed," I remarked.

"What?! I'm not blind! Now that I think about it... Zai flipped on his pain switch too. He's probably not okay."That's right… Zai said if they go against their vows, they feel intense agony and could die. Feeling pain for Cera would be a double whammy since he gave that away.

I saw Zai coming downstairs and heading my way.

"What's up?" he asked, taking his place at my side.Seeing him made it hard to think about anything else.

"Me and Snowe are friends now," Valin explained nonchalantly.

"Oh?... Just know that if you touch her, I'll make sure your last words are you begging me to kill you," Zai stated coldly.

Valin sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I've already been properly threatened. I'm not crazy."His tone was so relaxed, it was hard to believe he was actually intimidated.

Zai assisted me with my baking, and RJ joined us around the time all the food was done. We all sat and ate at the table—it was lively. This is my family now. I exchanged numbers with RJ and Valin. Not even a minute later, Valin spammed me with math memes… I had no idea those existed?!

Zai suddenly spoke. "Let's go to the backyard." He pointed to the door, and I followed him out. "I think you're ready for lesson two," he added.Remembering lesson one makes me blush, so I tried not to think about it.

"Spar with me. I need to see your skill level."

We're going to fight… I'm worried. I watched as Zai began tying one of his hands behind his back.

"Can you make sure this is tight?"

I rushed over at his request. The rope was golden and glistened in the sun.

"Will this really hold you?" I asked.

"It's made from a special material... that can stop me from using my full strength. It can't be broken."

After his explanation, I smiled and said, "Are you doing this so you can go easy on me?"

"No. If I use both arms, I'm going to get distracted and have my way with you."

My heart sent shivers through my body, and all my thoughts became naughty.

"Are you ready?"

Oh yeah—training. FOCUS, SNOWE!

"Yes!" I shouted, then moved away from him and bowed respectfully before taking a fighting stance.

"You're too tense. Relax."Easy for him to say.

"Attack me!" he shouted. I lunged forward, throwing a punch, hoping to catch him off guard—but he stepped aside, easily avoiding it and tripping me. My face hit the ground.

He laughed. "Again!"

I spat a chunk of dirt out of my mouth, wiped my face, then stood and got back into position.

"Your stance is too wide," he commented. I adjusted it before striking again, but that hit didn't connect either. I used my other hand—and still, he moved out of the way effortlessly, gliding like air.

"You keep aiming at my face… You have to aim for a blind spot, silly. I can see you."

His criticism struck me hard.He's right though.

After a moment of thought, I readjusted my strategy. I aimed for his face, then immediately switched to low kicks. Zai, nimble as always, hopped over my leg. Then, as I was turning around and throwing another punch, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me close by raising my arm overhead.

"It's no good… You need a lot of practice. Hmm, and I should tie up both my hands next time."

His eyes went to my lips, and we kissed—then passionately made love in the backyard.

Zai actually managed to control himself and stopped after a little over an hour. He even helped me get dressed again.

"All right… so we have a lot of work ahead of us, but you're not hopeless."

"Thank you, teacher," I replied with a hint of sarcasm.Was I really that terrible? I think that's the best I've ever done in a fight.

"I like that… from now on, after every lesson, I need you to say: Thank you, teacher."

All of them?!