[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zhp2XL5.png[/img]

[color=firebrick][b]"Don't look at me like that, Willow. I don't like cats [i]that[/i] much."[/b][/color][/center]
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	[color=firebrick][b]"Ignore her. She spouts more nonsense than all of us combined,"[/b][/color] was all Evil Eye offered in response to Willow. Stealing a glance at Hizuki, she flashed a smug half-smile. [color=firebrick][b]"Welcome to the club—feels weird to say, even though I expected this outcome."[/b][/color] Her eyes were always on Shatterscape, even if they weren't always [i]pointed[/i] her way. The sudden apology seemed a bit out of her usual character, but Evil Eye could make sense of it if she imagined that the apology was directed at Hizuki for politeness' sake, but was really meant for [i]her.[/i] [color=firebrick][b][i]How exactly will you make it up to me?[/i][/b][/color] she wondered, but didn't say.

	She noticed that she didn't feel stronger now, despite the fall of the giga miseria. That didn't line up with what she experienced during her travels. Perhaps it was because she didn't do anything of worth in the battle, but she also found herself suspicious, given the stated purpose of this exercise. [color=firebrick][b][i]Could it be that their power cannot be absorbed because they are also summoned constructs, like mine? Did they ignore Rei, not because they were smart, but because they belong to her?[/i][/b][/color]

	She gave Rei her undivided attention, now, while the others talked among themselves. Even Evil Eye found it difficult to meet Schrade's gaze, but when it was 'just' Rei, she could manage. [color=firebrick][b]"That you [i]could[/i] beat Ashbringer was never in question... I think I speak for all of us on that... but can you blame us for imagining that you'd make us fight her instead?"[/b][/color] She looked at the others as if she were second-guessing her impressions of what the club was feeling. [color=firebrick][b]"We don't ask for your help because it's always 'bothersome.' And it feels like giving up."[/b][/color] She decided to simply come out with it, without her usual obscurity, perhaps because Rei had done the same.