Felt Different

Parvat wakes up early, still feeling the soreness from yesterday's fights. He sits up, stretching his arms, and glances at his phone. There's a message from the dojo—"No training today. Rest and recover."

He exhales. "Well, that's rare."

Since there's no dojo training, he decides to head straight to tuition. Before leaving, he eats the leftover cake from last night, savoring the sweetness. It was a small victory prize, but he knew he had to push himself harder.

At Tuition

When Parvat arrives, he immediately notices something different. Crystal, the tutor, is casually flipping through a book, but she's speaking in a completely different language—one he doesn't recognize.

Her sister, Heromi, and Ai are sitting nearby, talking amongst themselves.

Parvat leans closer and listens. Crystal knows seven languages?!

Not just that, but Ai is also different today. She looks… sharper, more focused. There's a presence around her that makes him uncomfortable.

That's when Crystal casually drops another bombshell. Ai is the successor of Miko, the Blue Hooded Woman.

Parvat's mind goes blank for a second. "Wait, wait, wait. Who the hell is Miko?"

He doesn't say it out loud, but something tells him this is bigger than it seems. He knew Ai was skilled, but a successor? Of some legendary fighter?

Meanwhile, Heromi notices him standing there. Their eyes meet for a second. She scowls and turns away without saying a word.

Parvat smirks. "Yeah, nothing new."

As he sits down, Crystal finally acknowledges him. "You're late."

He shrugs. "No dojo today."

Crystal adjusts her glasses. "Then let's get started. You need to keep up."

Parvat sighs. He can fight, but studying? This might be the real challenge.

The tuition session went smoothly, with Crystal explaining complex problems and Ai occasionally asking questions. Parvat wasn't struggling—he was actually keeping up well, but he wasn't the smartest in the room. That title belonged to Haromi.

She sat in her seat, barely paying attention, scribbling lazily in her notebook. Despite that, she never got a single question wrong. The teacher didn't even bother asking her to explain answers—he knew she had already figured them out the moment she saw them.

Parvat glanced at her from time to time. Why was she ignoring everything like this? It wasn't that she didn't know the answers—it felt like she was deliberately acting like nothing was worth her time.

At one point, Crystal gave out a tough math question. Parvat took a moment to think, then solved it in under a minute. He set his pen down, waiting.

Crystal, impressed, nodded slightly. "Not bad."

Ai looked at his answer and raised an eyebrow. "Yo, this guy's good."

Haromi, however, didn't even look up. She twirled her pen between her fingers, tapping it lightly on the desk, as if none of this mattered to her.

Crystal turned to her. "You didn't solve it?"

Haromi sighed and lazily picked up her pen. "Didn't feel like it."

Then, in less than ten seconds, she scribbled down the answer without showing any effort. It was right.

Ai whistled. "Wow. Show-off."

Parvat narrowed his eyes slightly. She solved it way faster than me, and she didn't even care?

Crystal sighed. "Seriously, Haromi, at least pretend you're trying."

Haromi shrugged. "Why?"

Her tone was cold, uninterested.

Parvat leaned back in his chair, watching her. Something was up with her. She wasn't just smart—she was way beyond normal intelligence, but she was acting like none of this was even worth her time.

The class continued, but that question stayed in his mind.

---

Rainfall and an Unexpected Delay

When the session ended, Parvat stepped outside and immediately noticed the heavy rain pouring down. The streets were soaked, and there was no way he could walk home like this.

He pulled out his phone and called his uncle.

"Uncle, it's raining too much. Can you pick me up?"

His uncle's voice came through the speaker. "I'll come after the rain slows down. Just wait somewhere dry for now."

Parvat sighed. So now I have to sit here and wait? Great.

He looked around and noticed that Crystal, Ai, and Haromi were still nearby, also stuck because of the rain.

Crystal leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "Guess we're all stuck here."

Ai sat on the steps, watching the rain. "Kinda peaceful, though."

Haromi stood near the edge of the shelter, arms crossed, staring at the rain as if lost in thought. She looked different now—less cold, more… distant.

Parvat checked his phone. Nothing to do, no distractions. Just time to kill.

"Well," Ai said, looking at him, "looks like we'll have to talk to each other now."

Crystal smirked. "Unless you want to just sit there in awkward silence."

Parvat sighed. This was going to be a long wait.

Parvat sat on the bench, tapping his fingers against his knee. The rain still wasn't stopping. It had been a while now, and he was running out of ways to pass the time.

Ai was messing around with her phone, Crystal was flipping through a book, and she—Haromi—was standing near the edge of the shelter, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the rain.

Parvat leaned back and sighed. How long was this going to last? He had already checked his phone, stretched, and even counted the number of water droplets hitting the ground—twice.

Then, she walked up to him.

He tensed slightly, waiting for her to say something.

She didn't.

Instead, she just stood there, looking at him like she was trying to figure something out.

Parvat raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She tilted her head slightly, then spoke. "Why do you keep looking at me?"

Parvat blinked. "Huh?"

She sighed, crossing her arms. "You keep watching me like I'm some kind of puzzle you can't solve."

Parvat scoffed. "You're acting weird. Anyone would notice."

She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she turned back toward the rain, watching it fall.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The sound of raindrops hitting the pavement filled the silence.

Then, she said, "You're annoying."

Parvat smirked. "You too."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but didn't say anything.

The rain kept falling, and time kept stretching. And for some reason, standing there in silence didn't feel as bad as before.

The sound of raindrops filled the quiet space between them.

She suddenly turned back toward him, her expression softer than before. "I'm sorry," she said.

Parvat raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

She hesitated for a moment, then exhaled. "I fought you before for no reason. And… that mistake, in class, when you got into a fight—it was his fault. Not yours."

Parvat looked at her, surprised. He hadn't expected an apology.

He shrugged. "It's okay. No problem."

She nodded slightly, then glanced toward the others. "Do you want to watch TV with us?"

Parvat immediately shook his head. "No."

She frowned. "Why not?"

He crossed his arms. "I don't like doing things like that."

Truthfully, it was more than that. He didn't have friends. He had never been the type to sit around and casually enjoy something with other people.

She tilted her head, then suddenly smirked. "Alright, then let's make a deal."

Parvat narrowed his eyes. "What kind of deal?"

She crossed her arms. "We'll use a point system. If I need something from you, I'll use my points. If you need something, you can use yours. That way, it's not a favor—it's a trade."

Parvat thought for a moment. He didn't like owing people anything. But if it was a system, then maybe…

He sighed. "Fine. Set the prices."

Her smirk widened. "Okay. Carrying my books? Two points. Helping with homework? Five points. Watching TV with me?" She grinned. "Ten points."

Parvat scoffed. "That's overpriced."

She shrugged. "Take it or leave it."

He looked at her carefully. Something was different this time. The way she smiled—it wasn't mocking, it wasn't challenging. It was… something else.

He didn't know what it was, but for the first time, he didn't completely hate it.

The rain hadn't stopped, but the time passed quickly as they sat together.

At first, Parvat kept his distance, but gradually, he found himself easing into the conversation. He wasn't used to just sitting around and talking like this, but strangely, it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would.

She didn't act like she was better than him. She didn't try to mock him or challenge him. Instead, they just… talked.

For the first time in a while, he wasn't thinking about fighting, training, or proving himself.

Just then, the sound of a car horn echoed through the rain.

Parvat looked up and saw his uncle's black car pulling up to the curb.

"Finally." He stood up, stretching his arms. "Guess I'm going home."

She glanced at him. "So, how many points did I earn?"

He smirked. "None. You didn't do anything useful."

She scoffed. "Rude."

He turned away, walking toward the car. But before getting in, he hesitated for a second and glanced back.

"See you tomorrow."

She blinked, looking slightly surprised, but then smirked. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

---

As Parvat got into the car, his uncle Bill glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Took you long enough. What were you doing?"

Parvat leaned back against the seat, watching the raindrops slide down the window. "Nothing important."

But as he said it, he wasn't sure if that was true.

---

By the time he got home, the rain still hadn't stopped.

Parvat changed his clothes, flopped onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling.

Today felt… different.

He had fought people before. He had trained harder than ever. But spending time with her—even if it wasn't planned—made him feel something he couldn't quite describe.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Tch. It doesn't matter."

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he remembered something.

Miko.

Mia had told him earlier. She was going to give him special training tomorrow.

His eyes opened again.

If Mia was calling it "special training," then it was going to be serious.

A small smirk formed on his lips. "I guess I should be ready for anything."

With that thought in mind, he let his body relax and slowly fell asleep.

---

The next morning, the sky was clear.

Parvat woke up, stretched his arms, and immediately felt the soreness from yesterday's training.

He smirked. "Guess I went harder than I thought."

After getting ready, he grabbed his bag and headed out the door.

On his way to school, he replayed yesterday's events in his head. The fight, the rain, the conversation. It was still weird to him.

But he shook his head. None of that matters now.

Today, he had one thing on his mind—getting stronger.

As he stepped onto the school grounds, he took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

"I'm ready for any challenge."