Lily and Tsukiko had to run for the train to catch it. It was the second to last train they could take and still be on time, whereas the last one would bring them there with dangerously little time. Knowing Ikari—who would undoubtedly be there—it wasn't outside the realms of possibility that they would start early. They passed through the corridors as fast as they could, and soon saw the station with the train already there. It was not without panic that Tsukiko grabbed hold of Lily, slipping a hand under her knees and back as they can and sped up, running almost as fast as she could towards the train station with her girlfriend held bridal style. "Almost there!" She exclaimed, the doors to the train getting closer and closer. Tsukiko grinned as the doors started closing and she barrelled inside, falling into a heap with Lily, though turning so that she cushioned the fall for her un-shifted companion. "Do that again in public and you're not getting any massages for the next month," Lily grumbled as she stood up, rubbing the back of her head, one eye clenched shut in pain. "Sorry," Tsukiko replied, chuckling as she stood up herself, and started leading them towards a couple of empty seats. "But you were so slow~!" "Sure... slow. Not like you're the bloody speedy gonzales, what with you running a hundred kilometres per hour if you actually want to." Lily sat down, sighing contentedly as she leaned back into the plush seats. Or, well, as plush as the seats on a relatively cheap train could be. It was better than the metal floor they had fallen on. A pout found its way to Tsukiko's lips, her eyes shining. "It's not my fault cats are fast," she mumbled dejectedly. "I... What?" Blinking repeatedly, Lily turned to look at Tsukiko, a perplexed look on her face. "What are you talking about?" "That you're sweet," she replied, leaning into her and wrapping both arms around her. Lily, for her part, simply returned the hug as they drove towards the rendezvous point. ---- Lily and Tsukiko were some of the last to arrive, as evident by the already large group at the rendezvous point. There were a few faces she knew, but mostly she didn't know them, or hadn't met them often enough to care remember their faces or names. They waited patiently for the next twenty minutes, during which nothing happened but a few stragglers showing up. One person, however, did catch her interest. Sindri came walking towards the group barely ten minutes before they had to start. She smiled impishly at him even before he had noticed her, and continued shooting glances at him even when, and after, he did. "There he is," she whispered, drawing Tsukiko's attention. "Am I sadistic for wanting to punch him in the face?" She added. "Not really," the cat-girl replied, watching Sindri out the corner of her eye as well. "You two do have a reputation for being... rivals isn't quite the right word, but you have a weird relationship. You seem to either hate each other or have a rivalry going on between you at any given time, and it sort of shifts from day to day basis." "True enough—Hey. What's Sylphide doing? Talking to Sindri?" ----- "Hello Sindri," Sylphide said, a gentle smile on her lips as she stepped closer enough to be within earshot. "You look tired today?" Sindri nodded, the tense smile on his lips wavering as he struggled to keep it in place. Sylphide sighed, shaking her head slightly. "You should sleep more. It's not good for you if you don't stay well rested. Bad things could happen if you don't make sure that you're fully awake and aware of what you're doing. You know that, right?" The Mythic was silent for a bit, allowing Sindri to say anything if he had something to say. When he didn't, she just smiled again, and while it was not any different from the previous one, it seemed to have a different quality. "Also, for the sparring matches, please try to be nice to whoever you're paired up with, right?" She didn't wait for a reply before she walked away again, giving Sindri a light pat on the head before she left. ---- "What the heck was that about?" Lily muttered as Sylphide walked away from Sindri again. "I don't know, but there's Ikari and Draco. Sylphide is walking over to them so I guess they'll be supervising us." "Observant as always, Tsuki. What made you think they were going to be supervising us?" Lily replied, the sarcasm in her voice all too easy to notice. "But yeah. It'll be those three today." Before Tsukiko could reply, Ikari snapped her fingers and produced a loud whistling noise, drawing the attention of every student near them. Even then, it wasn't until several moments later that everyone had quieted down. She then spoke. "Good morning!" Ikari said—or rather, shouted. "It's time for the first sparring match of the year, and for that we will be laying down some ground rules." "First!" It was Draco speaking, still in his humanoid form; a man whom some might call 'big' in the sense that he has more fat than necessary, but in fact was hardly anything but pure muscle, which was also the reason for his expansive belly. "As always, do not attempt to kill your opponent. While most of you are permitted the full use of your powers, always make sure to stop before dealing a blow that might be lethal or crippling. These matches have the purpose of teaching your how to fight other Shifters, but as every kind of practice, it can't fully prepare you for the real deal." "Secondly." It was Sylphide this time. Even those farthest back could hear her clearly, despite the fact that she never seemed to raise her voice beyond normal speaking levels. "Do not interfere with other matches. While interference does happen in a real fight, you are not allowed to do so here. Practice matches for those instances will come at a later date." "And third," Ikari said, speaking up once more. "If any severe injuries should happen send a mental shout. A fellow Mythic has cast a telepathic network across the entire field which will allow you to contact one of us should accidents happen. It is, however, only connected to us, so you can't look into each others' minds. Now, if you got all that, then it's time for the pairings." Turning to look at Draco, she nodded and stepped back together with Sylphide, allowing the sole man among the three Mythics the spotlight. "You will be divided into pairs, and given a designated area in which you are allowed to fight. Exceeding those boundaries is not forbidden, but it is highly encouraged that you stay within them. The pairs are as following: Tsukiko Kitaouji against Drake in Area North #4. Alice Blackwood against Lily Strider in Area West #14—" "What?!" Lily exclaimed, only able to stop herself from shouting because she didn't want to live through the following scolding from Ikari. "She promised me!" Tsukiko said nothing, she just grimaced and stayed silent, for once not quite sure what to say. "—Melina Yelis against Sindri Haynes in Area North #6. Celica Dancer against Charles Lafreniere in Area South #2—" He continued listing up the different pairs, stopping only after several minutes when all had been announced. "In case some of you forgot during the summer break, Area South is to the south, North is to the north, and so on. The number indicates which section it is. You will be notified via a telepathic message when you've reached the centre of the area you've been designated. Alright. Move out!" Shifters, big and small, started walking or running towards their designated areas, some shifting to fly, as well. Lily, however, just grumbled and stomped over to Ikari, eyes alight with annoyance and anger. "You promised me you'd pit me against Sindri!" She said loudly, but not loud enough to drown out the din of all the other students walking or running. "I didn't promise that you would be pitted against him," Ikari explained, her face a mask of neutrality, albeit with a smile tugging at her lips. "I promised that I would see if I could get you pitted against Sindri in the next sparring match—and you specifically asked for the next one—and since the next sparring match was today, there was no time to change the schedule. As you should know, the matches are decided upon at least a week in advance. I promised that I would look into it, and I did. I asked Draco if we could change the schedule, and he said no." She smiled at Lily, a Trickster's smile. "I did as you asked, after all." "Stupid fucking... Why did I even bother?" "You know why," was the only response Lily got, not that she listened to it as she started running west, not even bothering to see if Alice was following, or if she had gone there already. ---- She reached the area after half an hour of running, a mental ping telling her that she'd reached the area. "Now, where is that Alice?" She murmured, looking around to see if she could spot her.