[@Crimmy] [b]Luke Schwarz, Breakfast Club[/b] ... I've made a terrible mistake, haven't I? That was what I had been thinking then. Of course, given that I had just engineered a situation in which an aura-eating berserker would be involved with combat in the slightest, it'd have been hard to come to any other real conclusion. She was already a hard enough taskmaster when it came to intellectual pursuits, but now that combat was in the mix... I wasn't too optimistic that these would remain simple, casual rounds of drilling or advisory. [b]"Yeah, I'm sure you will and then some..."[/b] More like rounds upon rounds of adversary. [b]"I guess I'll dig around for one, then..."[/b] I lamented, hoping to not too openly show fear in front of her. [b]"I can certainly ask Bianca for help with using the pointy, spear-y end of it, so that's a place to start."[/b] And here I had just gotten used to not treating her as a wild animal, too. Forget making progress, I felt like I had actually regressed here! I can't become a friend to someone who scares me half the time! Honestly. Demanding teachers was one thing. In fact, I was very much experienced with them. It was why I was fine with having her lecture me through integrations without as much as a flinch, for instance. But that same Gratia, being as demonstrably vicious as she was in a fight... Would she be able to tone it back enough for me to learn? [b]"......."[/b] This wasn't actually my first time asking this question, was it? No, no it definitely wasn't. I asked the same thing at least once before. Six months ago, in fact. I asked it about April, when I first realized I would have to train with and under her at the Summit of Fists. How did that turn out, again? Well... --- [color=ffcf40]"Hey Dawn?"[/color] [color=00aeef]"Hai?"[/color] [color=ffcf40]"Make sure you have your strings ready whenever we see nii-chan."[/color] The youngest Schwarz cocked her pretty little head in a manner not dissimilar to an inquisitive dog. [color=00aeef]"What for?"[/color] [color=ffcf40]"Feel like I need to punch him for some reason."[/color] [color=00aeef]"Ah."[/color] She straightened back up with a smile. [color=00aeef]"Sure thing!"[/color] [color=ffcf40]"Thanks, sis."[/color] --- [b]"I'll be sure to mind my P's and Q's when that time comes, then."[/b] I'm not gonna die. Maybe get beat up, but not die or even get sent to the hospital. I'm a champion at getting beaten up and coming back from it. That was what I told myself once and was telling myself again, and it had been working so far to be fair. So why would I worry about fighting an aura-eating berserker when I had my semblance and natural grit to back me up? ... [i]Wait a minute[/i]