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nKairos remained rooted to the spot. This time, it was less of a willpower thing holding him back, but rather an intuitive sense. It was almost as though he was sensing danger, though that wouldn’t be exactly correct.

nSara’s voice rang out in front of him once more.

n“Um, if you didn’t hear me, you should try to break down this wall.”

nKairos didn’t move. He wanted to somehow signal that he was unwilling, but there wasn’t really a way for him to do so. After a moment of thought, he decided to take a step backward, thinking that would signal to her his thoughts.

nBut in his future vision, when he saw himself take that step, his foot didn’t land on anything. He was about to fall over. He stopped himself, but couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.

nKairos remembered that there used to be ground there. He was one hundred percent sure of that. Yet, it had just disappeared just like that. It seemed that Sara wasn’t just leading him around willy-nilly, though it seemed like that to him when she just said to follow her voice.

nSara spoke once more.

n“Um, we can’t progress to the next level if you just stay there. It will be a little hard for you to get out of there by yourself too.”

nHearing that made Kairos realize the position he was in. There wasn’t much he could really do other than follow along. Although he could theoretically make it out of this place himself by using his future vision, all the dangers would come out a few seconds after a misstep. If he were to walk into a trap unknowingly like a frog in slowly boiling water, he wouldn’t realize he made a mistake until it was too late.

nWith great reluctance, he began walking towards Sara’s voice. Upon making it there, he sighed and used the spear to once more destroy the wall in front of him.

nJust like last time, instead of an exit, it was a strange mist. This time, the color was blue. Kairos couldn’t help but expect this by now. With a sigh, he just let the vision overtake him once more.

nAnd now, he was watching a girl holding onto a wooden sword. She was in a small room made with tatami mats. Kairos was honestly a little surprised, and wondered where they even got those.

nThe girl had short brown hair, so short that it was the traditional boy’s hairstyle. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact her chest was a tad too large to be a guy, he would’ve thought that the girl was a boy.

nShe was simply swinging the sword alone in her room, beads of sweat were trickling down from her forehead. Some of which had seeped past her eyebrows, irritating her eyes. Yet, she didn’t even make the slightest effort to wipe away that sweat. Instead, she just kept swinging the sword over and over, like it was the only thing she knew how to do.

nRight when Kairos was getting a little bored of watching this, he heard a door slide open, and a tall muscular man with black hair appeared.

n“How many have you done so far?”

nThe girl spoke through bated breaths.

n“Seven-hundred and eighty-two.”

nThe man nodded tersely.

n“Only a little more than two-hundred left. Go to sleep after.”

nWithout another word, he closed the door and left. The girl’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly, but other than that her expression didn’t change. Watching this, Kairos felt a little confused.

nHis initial suspicion was that this was Tori, considering the last vision was of Chase. After all, Tori also lived in a dojo, and not many people do. However, her personality was far too serious compared to the Tori he could remember.

nDespite clearly being older than him, probably at least eighteen, she acted like a complete child. It was as though she had never grown up from the mischievous age. However, the girl in front of him seemed to be the exact opposite, maturing far too early.

nAs such, they contrasted each other enough for him to feel that they weren’t related. He then thought that this girl must’ve somehow been related to him at a time when he was younger.

nKairos figured it could’ve been countless people, as he really didn’t remember many things from back then.

nHe watched without much expectation, especially because he personally watched the girl go through nearly three hundred swings one-by-one. Once she finally swung her wooden sword for the thousandth time, a fairly violent tremor settled on her body. Both her arms and legs began shaking, almost like she had awakened to become a hummingbird.

nThe sword fell out from her hands and landed on the ground with a soft thump. She slowly made her way to the futon next to her, practically collapsing on it. However, despite obviously being exhausted, her eyes didn’t close.

nShe stared blankly at the ceiling. After a few moments, she got on her side, thinking that perhaps a shift in position would help. Though, that clearly didn’t work out.

nRight when Kairos felt he was going to lose his mind in boredom, she suddenly jumped out of the bed. She rushed out of her room with conviction. Whatever she planned on doing, there was no hesitation.

nShe left the dojo, out onto the streets. It was very clearly night, with the moon hanging up in the air while the occasional star twinkled in the sky, albeit faintly.

nAfter setting foot on the sidewalk, she began running full speed. Her breaths were labored, but steady. She ran for quite a while, honestly surprising Kairos by how long she was able to keep it up.

nIt seemed that the girl thought that she should exhaust herself further in order to fall asleep.

nHer breathing gradually got louder, showing her fatigue building up. Though, it was still rhythmic like a metronome. She seemed to be approaching her limit and was also reaching the end of the street, so she began slowing down.

nWhile her running form was near perfect, she seemed to start losing control over her legs as she continued forth, beginning to stumble about. Panic appeared on her normally stoic face as her hands reached out in front of her, not that there was anything there.

n…Well, that is until a boy walked out from behind the corner. He turned to look at her with a rather exasperated situation. Despite how little time there was to react, the boy reached out to stop her, but despite catching both her hands it turned out she was too heavy, thus the boy was shoved downwards, he guarded his head as he fell though.

nBut at the very least, the girl was still standing.

nWhen Kairos got another look at the boy on the ground, he realized who it was. He was staring at himself.

nSeeing what happened, the girl froze up for a moment, like she was at a loss as to what to do. His younger self scratched the back of his head with a small frown on his face.

n“…Aren’t you supposed to say either thank you for helping or sorry for knocking you over? Actually, don’t most people say both in this situation?”

nThe girl blinked a few times before bowing down awfully formally.

n“I apologize for knocking you over and causing you pain. It was an accident on my part. Thank you for supporting me when I committed such an accident. I am grateful for your help.”

nBoth his current self and younger self felt taken aback. His younger self smiled bitterly and summed up what they were both thinking.

n“Why did you have to say so much? Are you trying to write an essay or something?”

nThe girl maintained a stoic expression, the joke clearly flying over her head.

n“No, I am not writing an essay. Was it too much? That was the way that my father said to apologize and thank others.”

nA bitter smile formed on his face. With an almost mocking expression, but more so playful, he responded.

n“All you gotta say is sorry for that and thank you. If you really want, you can say sorry for pushing you over.”

nThe girl shook her head after hearing that.

n“But that is not the proper way to apologize or thank someone.”

nHe got up before raising a finger in the air.

n“Haven’t you ever heard someone say less is more?”

nThe girl paused to think about it. Shortly after, she frowned.

n“That doesn’t make any sense. How would there be more with less?”

nHis eyebrow twitched. He wasn’t expecting such an answer, but then thought about it for a few moments. He let out a soft hum.

n“Well… think about it like this. Let’s take your apology, which used many different words to express what you were feeling. You said sorry for knocking me over and said it was an accident. Now compare that to something like…”

nKairos watched his own eyes glaze over for a moment. After a few moments, a soft, but resolved voice came out from him.

n“Sorry.”

nThe girl blinked a few times. It was fairly clear she wasn’t convinced.

n“How is that any better? You hardly apologized.”

nHe laughed after hearing that.

n“Yeah, I guess so. But it’s not about the actual apology, it’s the feeling behind it. Your apology is covered up by words, and it sounds like you’re trying to make excuses. But mine wasn’t wrapped up in any fancy package. Instead, I just expressed what I meant without worrying about the presentation. I dunno, I think it’s a better way to say things.”

nThe girl stared at him for a good few moments. Her once stoic expression warped significantly like she was having an internal battle in her mind.

n“I… I don’t think it’s right.”

nTo the girl’s surprise, Kairos only nodded after hearing that.

n“Alright, why do you think that?”

nThis made the girl fidget nervously. It looked like she was actually being interrogated by a police officer while in cuffs as opposed to a small child.

n“My… My father said the other way is right.”

nKairos nodded once more after hearing that.

n“And what reason did he give?”

nThe girl scratched the side of her head.

n“Why does he need to give a reason?”

nKairos seemed a little bewildered that a question like that was even asked, but still faithfully tried to answer.

n“Er… whenever we do things, there are obviously reasons behind them. Why do we cook food to eat? Because we have to so that we don’t get hungry. There should at least be some kind of reason behind whatever is the right thing to do.”

nThe girl remained rooted in the spot after hearing that. It seemed that she was going through enlightenment, as for the first time in her life she began thinking about things. But still, she seemed to instinctively recoil against it.

nWith one hand on the side of her head, she furrowed her brows. But the tiny seed of curiosity had already bloomed within her.

n“I… I still don’t believe you. But… can we talk about it more later?”

nƥαṇdαηθνε|

n“Sure.”

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