Eureka!

The word ‘thorough’ is defined as an image of Aoki Shuto, his green eyes bright with giddiness as he subjects my toys to endless trials. The locks of his blond hair went unnoticed even as they fell over his eyes. It amazed me that anyone could be so focused. Not even I got that riveted when playing with my trinkets, and I took games very seriously. So seriously that Naoki had banned me from Toy Turf Tussles.

The tests had started kind of tame—his words, definitely not mine—with us looking at Ballerina Ben. Using the advanced techniques of wood and paper, we made a small blaze. Turns out, the guy was pretty fire resistant—or maybe he just didn’t care about the tufts of flames surrounding him so long as he was able to complete his routine. The coolest part was his finish, though: clicking his rollerblades together and blasting upwards before landing in a position that made me and Shuto cringe in sympathy.

After Ben, we moved to some shorter experiments. Can I drink the liquid from the water guns? No. The stuff would be around for a bit, then vanish like an underpaid employee. Can I control when the marbles grow? They seemed to follow their own pattern on how long it took for them to grow once I let them go. Do other types of balls do different things? Oh, but what could bouncy balls do then?

Shuto jumped around from idea to idea faster than the pacing of a novel. That was probably how he’d forgotten that the walkie-talkies were supposed to be the first thing we were testing, not the one we were testing right then. It was actually good that we’d waited though, because it meant Kit could help us figure out the distance.

“Checking checkies!” her adorable singsongy voice echoed from Shuto’s side.

Kyouko laughed from her end. “I check you loud and clear, Kit.”

“It’s ‘hear’, Kyouko.” Shuto said with a scoff. “Though, given how well you listen, it’s not all that surprising to know you can’t.”

“What?” Kyuoko asked.

“I said you—”

“Sorry, Shuto. Apparently, I can’t hear.” Yet I could catch the smile in her voice just fine.

I would have thought their bickering might stop after we tested for a bit. Maybe even later when Kitsune had woken up and I’d filled her in on what we were doing. If it were me, being given the ability to see a living toy would make any debate absolutely irrelevant but, then again, Shuto did call himself a scientist, so maybe the chemistry made sense.

As we moved ourselves further away, I let my mind wander. Which of the two would fall first? Shuto could find himself flustered by Kyouko’s boldness. Or perhaps she could wind up breathless with the rush of joy she got at seeing him. Since I wasn’t one for romance, it was way too easy to live vicariously through them. Or maybe I’d just watched too many movies with Naoki.

Eventually, we came to a point where we couldn’t hear each other. Even squinting, I had a hard time finding the other groups forming our Triangle of Range. While I could easily just wait for them to come back, I was also bored as hell from standing there for so long. Thus, I found myself envisioning a rainbow of colors, feeling the grip on the cylindrical object.

Kaleidoscopes had always been a fun thing between me and my grandfather. Since grandmother had loved colors so much when she was alive, he would always show up dressed in a myriad of tints. It was up to me to point my spyglass at him. Each time, it made a different pattern as if I’d been looking at the actual thing, not just my hero playing rainbow. Then he’d bought me a real kaleidoscope as a present, and we’d spend our time trying to recreate a pattern we saw through it. Not that we ever succeeded, but the memory still made me smile as I used my toy to find the others.

No one really understood how my conjures worked. Even ignoring Kit’s existence, supersized marbles and exploding glitter—don’t ask—weren’t really normal for any type of magic. The kaleidoscope’s view was no exception. Though, given that they rely on colors, it sort of made sense why my summons would warp the shades. The working theory was that it let me see someone using their body heat. Though as long as it let me get a good view of Shuto and Kit, the latter waving at me with her little paw, it didn’t matter how it worked.

Even once we’d met each other in the center of our triangle, Shuto was still writing in his notebook. “Fascinating… Such potential…”

“You know,” Kyouko started, “it might be good to have the walkie talkies on us for a bit.”

I paused. “What do you mean?”

With Shuto finally done writing, we started to walk back to where other cadets were. The sun was setting, marking the end of an alarmingly eventful day. A lot had happened in the past few days, and while I was glad I didn’t have too much time to dwell on Sayuri, the fire and everything else, I was also grateful for the peace that came with the evening. Kyouko’s words had me a bit worried, though.

“Well,” she continued, “if the rumors are to be believed, we might be going to battle soon.”

“I hope you aren’t including me in that,” Shuto said. “I’m a scholar, not a fighter.”

“It might still be good to have,” Kyouko pointed out. “If the rebels try to ambush us—and given that we aren’t exactly secretive about where we are, they might—it’d be good to have some way to ask for help, right?”

“From you?” Shuto said doubtfully.

“I’m trying to look out for you!”

“Since when did you care?”

“Just because we fight doesn’t mean I don’t like you, dumbass.” Was she blushing?

“Oh, yeah?” Shuto stepped closer. “Tell me how you really feel, then.”

It was so cliche I might have perished right there if Kit hadn’t stepped between them.

“Stop fighting!” she yelled. “Friends should be hugging! Go hug!”

Shuto scoffed. “Hug her?”

Kyouko nodded. “Yeah, I don’t want to get dumbass dust on my outfit.”

I was seriously going to have to give Kit a lesson on chemistry. The poor baby looked so lost that I scooped her up myself in an embrace. I felt her snuggle against me and sigh happily. One of her tipped tails—the blue one—flicked back and forth as she cuddled.

With Kit calmed down, I turned to Kyouko. “What exactly do the rumors say?”

“That we have good leads on where to find the rebels,” she said. “And it won’t take long before we have to face them on the battlefield.”

“So soon?” I asked. “Isn’t that really fast? The attack was yesterday.”

“Riku, a major government building was struck, threatening the lives of many individuals,” Shuto stated. “Besides, it’ll likely take a bit more time than you’re expecting.”

“Why?”

Shuto’s eyes met the horizon. “Strategies must be made, soldiers trained, and general preparations need to be done.”

“How long should that take?”

Shuto thought about it. “Weeks. Multiple weeks.”

He hadn’t been exaggerating. Every day after that was filled with an endless stream of work. Per Kyouko’s request, I gave her and Shuto walkie talkies to have throughout the day. A little strange, but it didn’t harm anyone, so no one said anything. Then again, maybe they were too busy stressing about what was to come. We all knew what we were there for; it was only a matter of time before we would have to face them. All we could do to leash our anticipation was prepare. Yet between moving supplies and honing our skills, it seemed like it would never be enough.

 And so when we met the battlefield a week later, we weren’t ready.