Trouble is at the corner once more...

Coming back to Qian's dojo was nothing new. The new thing was Zoan asking her father for permission to visit on weekends. After all, Qian was her master—it would be incredibly rude to just up and leave him without notice.

Now, she found herself sitting at the familiar table, watching as Qian brewed tea with practiced precision. Zoan had missed this. With Qian, she had nothing to prove—no expectations to meet, no image to uphold.

"You look like you're thinking very deeply," Mei teased, plopping unceremoniously into Qian's chair.

From the side, Qian let out an annoyed yell. "Get out of my chair, Mei!" he barked.

Mei poked out her tongue at him, unfazed, and made no move to leave. Zoan chuckled quietly to herself. It seemed that nothing had changed between those two.

Mei turned her attention back to Zoan, giving her a pointed look—the kind of look that said 'Talk. Now.' Mei had a habit of forcing Zoan to speak when she clammed up, refusing to let her suffer in silence.

"Come on," Mei grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "We've literally seen each other at our worst. How bad could it be?"

Zoan shook her head, amused, and looked down, suddenly interested in the crack on the table. She scratched at it lightly with her nail. "Nothing's wrong," she said after a moment. "I guess… I just miss this. It gets so boring back in my dorm." She sighed, resting her cheek on her palm.

Mei's expression softened. "That's understandable. You only have Sol there, right?"

Zoan nodded, pouting slightly.

Mei flashed her a smile before tousling her hair, earning a surprised gasp from Zoan.

"I just combed my hair!" Zoan protested, batting at Mei's hand.

Mei leaned back, giggling as Zoan tried to grab her. The two playfully swatted at each other until Qian walked over, setting down cups of tea.

"Zoan," he said, his tone firm, "let's train."

Zoan's face brightened with a grin.

"Unless all you've done is study," Qian added, raising an eyebrow. "I hope you've improved since the last time you were here."

—

Zoan never agreed to tutor Ving or Jiho. And now, somehow, Jovi was roped in too.

"What is this?" Zoan asked, sliding off her bag and setting it aside as she stared at the table. It was usually cluttered with art supplies that Jovi had dragged in from her dorm. 

Now, it was covered in books from the library.

"It's a study session!" Jiho beamed, her blazer draped over her chair and her hair tied up in a ponytail.

Jovi groaned from where she was buried under a thick textbook. Slamming it shut, she slumped forward dramatically onto the table. "Studying is not my forte, guys," she bemoaned, scratching at her hair and messing it up.

"That's why we asked Zoan to tutor us," Ving said calmly. She had been so quiet before Zoan arrived that she could have been mistaken for a ghost or a statue.

"I didn't agree," Zoan muttered half-heartedly, sitting down between Jiho and Ving. She didn't really have a choice, as the table only had four chairs.

She stopped when she noticed Jiho staring at her, a small pout on her lips. "Pleeeease," Jiho pleaded, clasping her hands together dramatically.

Zoan sighed heavily, sitting down as if the weight of the world had just dropped onto her shoulders. Why do they care so much about rankings? she thought, burying her face in her hands.

"When I saw your test sheet earlier, I noticed you're struggling with math," Ving said, cutting through the noise. "Jovi, don't tell me you're having a hard time remembering formulas."

Jovi flushed. "Well…" She trailed off, before slumping in defeat. "Yeah. Formulas are hard to remember. I was kind of hoping they'd let us use a formula sheet."

"I thought they usually do," Jiho said, frowning. "But it costs you points if you ask for one."

"Wow, that's crazy," Zoan muttered.

She hadn't realized just how competitive the testing standards were at Golden High. Taking points off for formula sheets? It was absurd. No wonder Jiho and Jovi were stressing out so much.

"It's Golden High's way of teaching students not to depend on such things," Ving said with a nod.

"Ah… If only I didn't mess up my formulas, I think I could have gotten full marks on this section," Jovi murmured, pulling her test sheet out from under one of the hardcover books.

"They never gave mine back," Zoan mused.

"They usually don't give the first rank's test sheet back," Ving said. "If it's a full mark, they keep it as a reference."

Zoan hummed absentmindedly, her eyes skimming over Jovi's test sheet as the others continued their quiet conversation.

—

When it came to going home, Zoan was usually alone. Jovi's dorm was a few blocks away, and Jiho often stayed late for work. As for Ving—Zoan wasn't sure. She suspected she was with Atiro as of the moment, but she hadn't confirmed it.

Zoan was unlocking her bike from the rack when someone called out to her.

"Hey, you!"

She turned to see a girl standing behind her, dressed in the school's vest-style uniform. Zoan recognized her immediately. It was the same girl who'd left her bag in the hallway on the first day of school.

What was her name again? Velionas? Velyn?

"Uh, Velionas, was it?" Zoan asked, standing up straight.

Velionas raised an eyebrow. "So you do know me. You don't seem like someone who'd bother remembering other people."

Zoan frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Velionas tilted her head, her gaze sharp.

"Look, I'm not interested in your mean girl arc. Leave me alone," Zoan said flatly, turning back to her bike. She tossed her bag into the basket and mounted it.

Velionas let out a choked sound, clearly caught off guard.

"M-Mean girl? Hey!" she shouted as Zoan began pedaling away.

But Velionas wasn't done yet. She stepped into the bike's path, forcing Zoan to stop abruptly.

Zoan sighed, planting a foot on the ground. "What's your problem? I just want to go home and rest."

"You!" Velionas pointed at her, outrage flashing in her eyes.

Zoan gave her a deadpan look.

"Just because you're chummy with Ving doesn't mean you can act all high and mighty," Velionas growled, stomping closer and invading Zoan's personal space.

Zoan narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Velionas laughed bitterly. "Don't play dumb. I've seen how close you two are. Just because you're friends with the Class 1 president doesn't mean you can screw around."

Zoan's lips pressed into a thin line as she met Velionas's glare head-on.

"She's not my friend," Zoan said evenly. "And next time, try not to pick a fight with someone who hasn't done anything to you."

With that, Zoan pedaled forward, forcing Velionas to step back with a startled yelp as the bike narrowly missed her foot.

Zoan didn't look back.