Who Is She

In the southeastern corner of East Sea Academy's training field, broken shadows from the woods carpeted the ground. When the morning breeze passed, specks of light danced wildly across the grass blades. This place was far from the main arena, and most contestants were crowded around the equipment area or registration desk to check in. No one came poking into this dead corner.

Tang Wulin stood in a bow stance, stretching his legs, his pant seams pulled straight and his breathing steady—the very picture of a model student doing morning exercises. Xie Xie leaned against a tree trunk, the tuft of bangs on his yellow hair sticking up in the wind. With both hands in his pockets, his knuckles unconsciously tapped against his pant seams, as though he were replaying last night's "three steps to the ground" counterattack in his head.

Yun Ying stood between them.

She had wanted to warm up like the two of them, but the aftereffects of curling up on the sofa for half the night yesterday hit her all at once—her spine ached from her sacrum to her shoulder blades, and she hissed whenever she turned more than fifteen degrees. First, she twisted her waist, but halfway through, her face scrunched into a knot. Then she bent to touch her toes, but before her hands were even halfway down, her spine protested. She yelped and snapped back upright, bracing both hands against her lower back with bared teeth.

"You two..." Yun Ying began weakly. Her brown ponytail spilled down her back, while the sash of her battle uniform cinched tight around her waist, its knotted fastenings digging uncomfortably near her collarbones. "Can either of you help me stretch? My back's about to break."

Tang Wulin came out of his bow stance and turned toward her gently. "I can help you stretch your legs? But for your waist, you need to stretch your spine—"

Xie Xie snorted and pushed himself off the spiritwood trunk, pulling his hand from his pocket. "Tang Wulin, stop spoiling her. That savage deserves it for sleeping on the sofa."

Yun Ying glared at him. "Yellow-hair, you—"

"Come here." Without giving her a chance to argue, Xie Xie strode over and grabbed Yun Ying by the wrist. His palm was warm, and his grip left no room for negotiation. Before Yun Ying could react, he twisted both her arms behind her back. With one hand supporting her shoulder and his knee pressed against the vital point in her lower back, he said softly, "Bear with it," then gave a fierce backward pull—

"Ahhh—!!"

Yun Ying's scream cracked. Her spine was pulled apart by that deft force, and the aching soreness instantly turned into piercing pain. She broke free of Xie Xie's grip and pitched forward, her knees slamming into the ground before she collapsed and rolled about clutching her lower back.

"Xie Xie, you fucking—savage, savage! If I get a slipped disc, you're paying for it!!" She rolled toward the grass at the edge of the woods, her battle uniform covered in bits of leaves, her long ponytail sweeping through the dirt. Her spear was still propped against the wall, untouched, while she curled up like a shrimp and cursed as she rolled. "Yellow-hair! You walking color palette! I'll use my spear to skewer that yellow hair of yours! Skewer you—"

She rolled too quickly and didn't watch where she was going.

Though this corner of the training field was empty, a narrow path cut in from outside the woods. It was a shortcut from the teaching building to the equipment warehouse. The instant Yun Ying rolled past the edge of the grass, she crashed into a pair of feet.

"Ah—!"

The other person cried out. A black-purple high ponytail swept through the morning light like a dark rainbow. The girl lost her balance, fell face-first, and landed with her full weight on top of Yun Ying.

"Argh!!!" Yun Ying's second scream was even more miserable than the first. Her waist was pinned down, and half the air was squeezed from her lungs.

The girl with the black-purple high ponytail propped herself up, the skin on her palm scraped raw. Silver patterns were embroidered along the shoulders of her training uniform. She lifted her head, her bangs hanging down as they revealed a pair of violet eyes, so deep they seemed like dusk forged into glass. At that moment, those violet eyes were filled with fury.

The morning breeze seemed to stop for an instant.

Broken sunlight still danced over the grass beneath the woods. The electronic screens by the main arena buzzed as they warmed up. Tang Wulin's outstretched hand, meant to help someone up, froze in midair, and the fingers in Xie Xie's pocket stopped tapping as well.

Pinned beneath her, Yun Ying's back hurt so badly that stars swam before her eyes. First, she saw the shoulder brushed by that black-purple high ponytail, then she looked up—violet eyes.

Fire. Nothing but fire.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Yun Ying demanded.

The other girl did not answer. She merely grabbed Yun Ying and hauled her up, her face blazing with anger...