Occlumency

In the restaurant.

Amid the surrounding clamor, Noah and his two friends got their meals and sat down in a familiar corner.

A few days ago, he had tried breaking away from the ranks of single people to eat with Shiya. The jealous, envious gazes of the female Marines around them had nearly drowned the blue-haired girl, leaving them both terribly uncomfortable.

There was no helping it.

To keep half the restaurant from wearing pained expressions while they ate, he could only sacrifice himself for the greater good and return to the masses.

"Is it just me?"

Shiryu eyed Noah's tray suspiciously. "Why do I always feel like the food on your plate has been noticeably better than everyone else's lately?"

Take the beef, for example. He had gotten ordinary ribs, while Noah's plate was full of tenderloin and beef shank.

"Not really."

Noah calmly took a sip of borscht, his favorite soup. "Training must have tired you out so much you're hallucinating. Besides, don't you like your steak rare?"

He certainly wasn't going to tell Shiryu that Vidona, the cook at the serving window, really was playing favorites.

"It'd be great if it were rare."

Shiryu curled his lip and couldn't be bothered to argue. "Oh, right. How about we spar with swords again this afternoon? You've been practicing by yourself every day lately. I can't even find anyone suitable to train against."

"Sure."

Noah nodded. His swordsmanship had recently hit a bottleneck. Improving through sparring and exchanging pointers with Shiryu, like before, was a pretty good approach.

"Why not ask me?" Rosinante looked baffled. "Does sparring with me not help?"

This guy really seemed to have no idea where he stood with a sword...

Noah and Shiryu exchanged glances, both speechless.

The two swordsmanship prodigies, each only one