Chapter 42: The Unbreakable Asset

I am just standing in the middle of the Student Council room. The goddess has her back to me. The air is so cold I can see my breath.

"Over?" I say, my voice quiet.

"Get out," she whispers, her hands clenched on her desk.

"You are firing me?" I ask.

"You are a liability," she hisses. "I am correcting my mistake. You are a bad calculation."

She is lying. She is a terrible liar, just like I told her on the roof. When she is logical, her voice is smooth. When she is emotional, her voice is stiff and inefficient. Right now, she is the most inefficient she has ever been.

I do not leave. I just look at her. Her shoulders are rigid. She is shaking. I can see it. She is not a predator or a successor. She is a sixteen-year-old girl, and she is terrified. She is terrified because she lost a fight at the port. She is terrified because this war is real. And she is terrified that I am going to get hurt.

Her solution is to push me away. Her logic is stupid.

"No."

My voice is quiet, but it cuts through the room. Ayako flinches. She turns around slowly. Her eyes are black, full of rage, confusion, and fear.

"What did you say?" she whispers.

"No," I say again. I am not angry. I am not flustered. I am empty, just like she taught me. I take a step closer.

"I am in," I say. "You said it. I am your asset. I am your anomaly. I am a target."

"You are fired!" she hisses.

"You cannot fire me, Ayako," I say, taking another step. "I am not your employee. I am not your subordinate."

"I..." she starts.

"I am your messy variable," I say, and I am close now. "I am your problematic anomaly. And I am your partner."

That word hits her. Hard. She recoils. "You are nothing!" she yells. "You are weak!"

"I am weak," I agree, my voice calm. "I am slow. I am inefficient." I am right in front of her. "So, train me," I whisper.

Her eyes widen.

"You are scared," I say. "You lost a fight. This Hitsune-kai leader... he beat you."

She gasps. "How did you..."

"I can see it," I say. "You are furious. You are unbalanced. You are lashing out at me because you are afraid."

"You are wrong!" she says, but her voice is weak.

"Am I?" I whisper. "You are trying to protect me. You are trying to push me out of the way because you think I am a liability. I am a liability if I am untrained. If I am weak."

"So, fix me, Ayako." I look her dead in the eyes. "Make me adequate."

She is shaking. Her mask is shattered.

"You cannot fire me," I whisper, "because I am the only person in your entire world who is not afraid of you. I am the only one who knows the real you. The goddess. The predator. The sensei. The scared girl. The one who likes octopus sausages."

A tear. Just like in my apartment. A single tear rolls down her cheek. She wipes it angrily.

"You are," she whispers, her voice choking, "the most problematic anomaly imaginable."

"I know," I say. "So, what is the lesson today, sensei?"

She looks at me for a long, long time. The fury fades. The fear fades. The Successor returns. Her eyes turn to ice.

"The lesson," she says, her voice rough but firm, "is that your foundation is still pathetic." She walks to her desk. "The Hitsune-kai Leader... he was strong. My technique was insufficient. We are scrapping our old training."

She commands, "This war requires a new update." She looks at me. "Dojo. 6 AM. Do not be late."

"And, Shoujo?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I just nod. "Yes, Kaichou."

She almost smiles. The war is on. And we are ready.