This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The rest of the challenges after Dmitri went by in a flurry of matches and a growing mountain of bruised egos.

With the rest of their second-year classmates quickly finding that their limits were decidedly lower than they had optimistically assumed, it left Kain and Serena to shoulder the bulk of the embarrassment-infliction duties.

Soren, who had loudly proclaimed his ability to challenge at least half of the upperclassmen at the start, managed exactly one glorious victory against Jin before promptly getting himself knocked out of the arena—both metaphorically and quite literally—by an annoyed fourth-year, Theo.

Kairos didn’t even dare try after his recent bump down from rank 4 to 5, choosing to quietly nurse his shattered confidence alone and not seek out a beating from the upper-years. As for the first-years, they wisely decided to pretend not to notice the intense stare-downs and cold silences that now regularly occurred whenever Kain and Serena crossed paths with anyone from third or fourth year.

The older students had quickly caught on to what was happening, and so had the teachers. They were well aware that two second-years were systematically making their way through the upperclassmen ranks like an overly ambitious pair of weed-killers, and not everyone was thrilled.

Kain had just finished a particularly satisfying duel against the annoying Oliver, whose Magneton Wolf had frustratingly kept him stuck to the floor for a solid five minutes until Bea managed to interrupt its mental state and break its concentration. After also beating Rhiannon, Kain had made it all the way up to Kyria, who, as the 4th 6-star individual, was practically guaranteed a spot on the final top 5 team.

Likewise, after Serena successfully defeated Dmitri, Rhiannon and Jin, she was also ready to take on their final target Kyria.

But not everyone was happy with their progress.

A newer assistant professor, who was apparently very close to Rhiannon, had made a point of pulling Kain and Serena aside after their latest matches. With the air of someone delivering a speech they’d rehearsed thoroughly, the teacher tried to subtly guilt-trip them into stepping back.

“You know,” he began slowly, giving them his best sad, meaningful look, “as second-years, you’ll have plenty more opportunities. But for some in the third and fourth year, this is their last or best chance to make it into the College’s team. It’s understandable you want to test your limits, but have you considered stepping aside for now? You’ll have other chances—some of these students won’t.”

Kain’s internal reaction was an immediate, visceral, ‘fuck that.’ But he wisely chose not to voice it aloud. Instead, with forced politeness, he calmly replied, “As students, we naturally want the College to field the strongest possible team. Other considerations shouldn’t be factors, right, professor?” He let the last word drop heavily, clearly implying that the professor’s conduct was bordering on unprofessional.

The assistant professor’s expression had darkened immediately. Kain knew in that moment that he had probably just lost that teacher’s vote. Thankfully, the guy was new and his influence was minimal. Besides, Kain thought bitterly, he wouldn’t have voted for him anyway, so why pretend otherwise?

Snapping back to reality, Kain found himself tucked into the smallest room of their usual café with Serena. None of their friends were here since the school year was over and they’d travelled to different parts of the Empire. So, since it was just them two, they’d assumed that even the smallest space would feel roomy enough for two people. They’d assumed wrong.

Instead of comfortably spacious, the small room felt positively cramped. Serena sat pressed against his side, shoulder to shoulder, her presence dominating every scrap of his consciousness. He shifted slightly, feeling hyper-aware of the subtle warmth radiating from her. Suddenly, even breathing seemed like it required intense concentration.

Serena cleared her throat quietly, glancing away as though studying the incredibly interesting wall décor—which consisted of exactly one poorly-framed picture of a potted plant (really not something that needs to be examined so intensely).

“We’re really close to the end now,” she said softly, almost as though speaking too loudly might shatter the tension strung between them like fine glass. “We’ll finally target Kyria next. However, even if we do lose, I think our current winning streaks are sufficient to take one spot in the overall top 5.”

“Yeah,” Kain managed, his voice sounding strange to his ears. His heart was racing, and he was inexplicably struggling to form coherent sentences. “It’s… going well, though. Surprisingly well. But Kyria is going to be tough.”

“I know. But we can do this.”

She turned to look at him then, her eyes bright and earnest. Kain met her gaze, suddenly unable to look away. Serena’s expression shifted slightly, her breathing growing softer, more careful. They were close—so close. Unconsciously, he realized their faces were inching closer, their shoulders already pressing together in an electrifying proximity. His heart hammered in his chest, and tension felt thick enough to cut with a knife.

Kain finally decided to take the plunge and lean forward, Serena closed her eyes, and their faces were barely an inch apart when the loud, intrusive ringing of his communicator shattered the quiet intimacy of the moment.

Kain jerked back, startled and internally cursing whichever idiot was calling him right now. Without breaking eye contact with Serena, he fumbled clumsily in his pocket, trying desperately to silence the communicator without fully taking it out. But by the time he finally silenced it, the spell had already been broken.

The air between them felt awkward now, the carefully woven tension from moments ago dissipating.

Just as he was about to speak—to say what exactly, he had no clue—the communicator buzzed again insistently.

Serena’s eyes crinkled slightly, amused by his clear irritation. “You might want to pick that up if they’re calling again. It could be an emergency.”

He sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes. “Fine,” he grumbled with a slight pout, pulling the device fully out of his pocket. He didn’t even look at the screen before he answered. “What?” he snapped, clearly disgruntled.

His attitude quickly vanished, however, when a familiar, serious voice echoed through the line—Darius. Immediately, Kain sat straighter, his expression shifting to one of intense focus as he listened carefully.

“Wait, slow down. What did you find?”

Serena watched quietly, observing the sudden shift in Kain’s demeanor. His expression gradually transitioned from confusion to a sharp, worried frown. Something Darius had said clearly wasn’t sitting right with him.

“Are you sure?” he asked sharply, tension radiating from every muscle. He bit his lip, clearly unhappy with whatever response he was given. “That…doesn’t make sense…”

Kain’s face fell into deeper confusion, his eyes darting to Serena briefly before looking away, brow furrowing deeply as the mystery of Darius’s words deepened. The conversation finally ended with a terse acknowledgment, and Kain clicked the communicator off, staring at it blankly for a long, silent moment.

“Everything okay?” Serena asked quietly, her voice gently probing.

Kain hesitated, staring at his communicator as if it might give him answers. But none came. He shook his head slowly, bewildered and deeply troubled.

“I don’t know,” he replied finally.

The café suddenly felt far too small again, but for entirely different reasons.