A few painful days later, Kris and I are back to normal health. Kai managed to sneak a book on medical chi practices out of the HQ Library, so he was able to completely mend Kris’s broken bones and torn ligaments and replenish my energy using those techniques.

Even more painful were the snide remarks that people were whispering to me, such as “Ooh, Hana, you and Kris were absent at the same time for more than a week. Winter break doesn’t start for another 2 weeks” and “Are you two hiding a little something something from us?”

No one had the guts to tell Kris that stuff to his face, so he didn’t have that problem.

I’ve been slaving away at my makeup work during all my free time, trying to complete it all in time. 

Trying to distract myself from the fact that Kris and I are still acting so tense around each other. 

There haven’t been any alerts since our little incident, so we haven’t had to see each other much (excluding for our daily voyeurs to the library to search through the pile of children’s books, and the periods that we have with each other).

Couple this with the fact that Kris hasn’t been staying over at my house every night and it’s like the two of us are strangers again.

It makes my heart ache, but I don’t want to talk to him now. No way. I’ll give him some time alone so I won’t stifle him and annoy him again.

“Hana. Your skin is glowing.” Key whispers.

I instantly lift my head from my desk, startled. We’re watching a dull documentary about the history of gunpowder in 4th period US History. Because of this I got a little... distracted, and let my thoughts wander. 

I can’t believe my mind was so preoccupied with Kris that I couldn’t feel my Hado mark tingling.

“Oh, what?” I laugh skittishly, quickly pulling down my sweater sleeve so it hides my wrist. “I think it was just a reflection of the light. Hey, I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back!”

Key has a suspicious look on his face. Oh god, was I too obvious?

Well, it’s not like he can guess that I’m a freaky teenage girl who kills magical monsters with her body.

Even I think I sound ridiculous.

Kris and I meet near the main entrance of the building, exchanging terse nods before running outside. The aura of the monster seems to be coming from the forest… around the same place where I defeated my first monster. When we push past the tangle of thick underbrush and bulky trees, we are greeted by your standard Kado monster: large, dangerous, and grotesquely ugly. Oh joy, this one has long, dagger-like teeth and nails as well. The sense of deja vu is overwhelming.

“You take front, I’ll go back,” Kris tells me.

I tweak an eyebrow. Usually Kris distracts in the front and I attack from the back.

I guess he must want to change things up this time.

I teleport right in front of the beast’s face, causing it to growl ill-temperedly and swipe a gigantic paw at me. Nimbly somersaulting back, I avoid his sharp nails just in time.

Okay, Hana. Summon a chi ball. Make it as densely packed and as powerful as possible. And... throw!

I launch it straight into the monster’s open mouth.

What happens next is best described as… an explosion. One of the goriest, most digusting explosions I’ve ever seen.

The monster is literally blasted to bits. Its dark red blood rains down on me, causing nasty stains to appear on my uniform. Pieces of its body are scattered everywhere, on the grass, amidst the trees... oh, I’m going to puke.

And that’s when it hits me- Kris! I whirl around, trying to spot him amidst the shrapnel of the explosion. “KRIS! Are you okay? Are you-,”

“I’m fine!” A voice calls from behind me. He’s beaming widely, his arms crossed. “That was great, Hana!” he exclaims. “You literally wiped out that monster in 5 minutes. Good job!”

“T-Thanks…,” I frown. The smile on his face is chipper… too chipper. Kris and I have fought so many monsters by this point that we don’t congratulate each other after we’re done, unless we killed a really tough monster.

But this Kado wasn’t even that strong. I was able to take him down like that.

“Kris, are you okay?” I ask unsteadily, tilting my head. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head on a rock or something?"

The grin on his face widens.

“Of course not, dummy.” Kris punches my arm playfully. I look up at him, shocked. “Now let’s get back to class. We don’t want to be late for our next period!” And he jogs away. 

I don’t think he realizes that I saw his fake smile fade away. 

And be replaced with a dark scowl. 

A/N: 's getting real man