[Perspective]

(Aika)

Contrary to popular belief, Aika Kiryuu wasn't what most thought of her. She wasn't secretly a shameless slut, and she most definitely wasn't just a pervert.

Nasty rumors couldn't get her down. Because she really wasn't just a pervert. She was a super pervert! And she was very proud of it.

But most of all, she wasn't stupid. Not by a long shot.

It took a certain amount of perceptive talent and high thinking speed to analyze and accurately measure the size of a man's member through his pants just with a look.

And practice. Lots and lots of practice.

If she had to say what her highest stat would be in a video game, it would one-hundred percent be Perception.

So it's no surprise that she figured out that something was up with one Katsuo Naoki.

At first glance, he was as stoic as stoic gets. It was to the point of him being nearly oblivious to everything that didn't matter to him. He hadn't even realized she'd been blatantly watching him during class until the teacher pointed it out to his face.

And even then, he didn't seem to care. She couldn't help but be curious. So she talked to him. Prodded him. Tried to tread lightly and subtly figure out why he was the way he was.

What could she say? She always liked tall, dark, and mysterious types. And 2/3 is a passing grade in her book.

Yet, all her prodding was useless. He was as blunt as a hammer and just as perceptive. Whenever she would ask any subtle questions, he would just blatantly answer the question she was really getting at. If she asked a question he didn't want to answer, he would just say he wasn't going to tell her. Straight up.

It was... a bit annoying at times. Any sense of mystery she had was gone when he just gave out the answer immediately.

But at the same time, she liked talking to him. Anything he said was the honest truth. Or, at least, it was what he actually believed, not just buzz words or worthless small talk. There were no insinuations or implications mixed in when he talked. He spoke at face value.

And what she learned about him sort of shocked her.

For one, underneath all of that calm demeanor and the dangerous vibe was a very sensitive person. He was even more sensitive than the average person, in her opinion.

But that sensitivity only showed up with the oddest of subjects.

Tell him about the rumors and reputation he's building around the school? He didn't even blink.

Talk about the obscene amount of homework they get? A slight twitch, but nothing more.

Bring up anything even remotely related to magic as a concept and he just won't stop talking. Going on several minute-long rants about the 'sheer utility' that it would offer in everyday life.

It was cute, in her opinion.

But it was also a point of concern.

Because as much as she loved seeing her usually expressionless friend expressing his interest in something as silly as magic, it made her realize that his interests were as clear as day.

And sadly, she was not one of those interests.

She could tell he enjoyed her company. Otherwise, he'd just ignore her as he did unknowingly to a few others. It was so very obvious how he seemed to relax in her presence. Albeit, not completely, but it was enough to cement in her mind that he cared for her. Even if only a little.

On the other hand, she was happy she got all of his attention. She even thought he was gay and just didn't know it, with how much he didn't look at her or anyone else's body.

So instead of doing the stupid thing and speculating and trying to find out with subtle tests and clues, she just asked him.

And his response was... typical.

"I can recognize and appreciate when someone is objectively attractive. But until I have a good grasp on their personality, and I enjoy it, I don't really feel anything. And no, I'm not gay."

Most say they like personality over everything, but they're usually lying. Or at the very least, they wouldn't even consider dating someone not conventionally attractive. Most people have physical preferences, and personality comes second.

He was a rare person. Someone who actually enjoyed personality over everything else. She normally wouldn't believe him, but his actions backed up his words.

She once saw Rias Gremory wave at him, and he actually frowned! He eventually waved back, albeit halfheartedly, but that was enough in her book to believe him.

That girl is unfairly attractive. Unbelievably gorgeous. And he barely gave her the time of day.

So it was obvious that he was telling the truth. That fact alone, the idea that he didn't really care what she looked like, filled her with the confidence to move forward.

She wanted to try dating.

For all her boasting and grandstanding, Aika was relatively inexperienced. All her knowledge of the dating scene and relationships came from games, manga, and anime. It worked most of the time, according to her matchmaking history, but she still didn't have actual experience.

So when her plans for the weekend were ruined right in front of her face, she was a little sad. Mostly, though, she was pissed.

Something was going on behind the scenes, and she was soon going to find out.

After all, it was as plain as day in her analytical eyes. The clues piled up in front of her day after day, but she previously just ignored them. Opting to let Katsuo have his privacy.

But now, she needed to know. Because she was worried about him.

He was stressed the entire time he'd been in school, and that completely ruined his reputation. Then, over the week he comes to school looking exhausted but more and more relaxed.

Finally, she sees a chink in his armor and decides to go for it. But some blonde chick interrupts her, and Katsuo is immediately hostile towards her. Even more so than usual.

They talk about something in secret, and suddenly he has to take a week off of school for something as flimsy as 'religious things'?!

No, something was going on here. And she was soon going to find out.

And that was why, after a few days of agonizing over whether or not to actually go through with it, she was standing outside his house.

...She felt like a crazy stalker.

But that feeling soon went away when she heard a loud crash coming from inside his house. She ran up to the side of the window and peeked in.

Whatever he was doing apparently needed quite a bit of space, as his living room was emptied of most of the furniture, left sitting in the doorway.

On the ground was Katsuo Naoki, face planted in the middle of his mostly empty living room.

Abruptly, he lifted his face up off the ground and the scene made her almost snicker. He had a huge red mark on his face and little teardrops in the corner of his eyes. He looked like the picture definition of frustrated with his small pout.

"Stop laughing! It's not that funny!" He suddenly blurted out into the air.

No one replied, but he tilted his head as if listening, and then proceeded to roll his eyes after a minute of sitting like that.

"Okay, whatever," he muttered, something she only barely heard.

Who was he talking to? Was this the 'friend' he was talking about before? An imaginary person? That's... more than a little sad.

Standing up, he dusted himself off before getting into a runner's position. Looking forward she saw a look she'd never seen on him before.

His eyes glazed over as he seemed to focus on something unseen with an unnatural amount of concentration. Looking closer, she noticed drool slightly drip from his mouth as he disregarded everything around him.

And then, he moved.

"...What the hell was that?!" She couldn't stop herself from muttering.

Unlike anything she'd ever seen before, he blurred and was suddenly on the other side of the room. A feat of supernatural speed that made her do a double-take and almost fall over from shock.

That shock was short-lived as he cried out, her previous worry resurging and masking everything else. And then that was masked by her shock as he started listing profanities in a whisper that was anything but a whisper.

"Goddammit, mother fucking shit tit bitch-"

She was briefly confused before she sharply inhaled as she looked at his foot and saw a huge part of the skin on his soles falling off. Blood was slowly dripping out as he held his foot with a grimace and a bit of concentration.

Then, without warning, his head whipped over to her direction. Light brown eyes met her wide-eyed golden ones. Neither of them moved for a moment as they both processed that they had been seen.

And after that moment passed, she ducked down and immediately started running home.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, she supposed. She'd need some time to process whatever bullshit she just witnessed.

[}-{]

(Katsuo)

Welp.

That's gonna be a pain in the ass to deal with later. I hoped she wouldn't get involved with stuff like this, but here we are.

'You could just erase her memory of the event. Like those devils do to the students.' Cain suggested.

I don't know how to do that, and I don't really want to. I trust her not to be a dumb ass about this and just keep quiet. Altering someone's mind is one of the lowest things you can do, in my opinion.

'Whatever. Let's get back to work.'

Give me a minute, my fucking foot hurts.

A few days into my new training regimen, Cain offered to teach me the technique he'd been talking about. After he explained it, I realized he'd be teaching me one of the most classic moves in anime.

The flash step.

He explained that I needed to concentrate Ki into my feet and hold the ground with the arch of my foot rather than the heel or the ball. After that, it was just as simple as trying to move forward. Or at least, it should've been.

'It is. You simply aren't concentrating enough Ki. Being unable to concentrate Ki into certain parts of your body makes you a failure of a Ki user.' Cain said, firm on his opinion.

And then there's that. Apparently, I have to pump as much Ki into my feet as possible. Of course, I've tried this before, but my control was so abysmal that my Ki didn't even so much as shift in any direction.

'Hey, don't ignore me.'

Now, with my Touki Manipulation skill being higher than a novice, I can try it. But I'm still missing something.

'You just need t-'

And Cain isn't helping. He keeps repeating that I need to 'stop thinking about it and just do it', but whenever I do that I pump so much Ki into my feet that it rips them apart.

Plus I don't even know how this will help me with my problem. All he told me was to master this and I'd be able to fly in no time, but I don't see why I can't just use magic like the rest of the world.

'This is fundamental in improving your Ki Control. And you'll understand by the end of it. Trust me.'

Fine, whatever, I'll trust you. But I really can't do this anymore, the skin on my feet is falling apart.

'Wrap it up and concentrate ki into it, it has healing properties if you didn't forget.'

Sigh.

So to continue training my Ki, I need to use my Ki. Thanks, Cain.

'You're welcome.' Cain replied, completely ignoring his sarcasm.

I facepalmed and dragged my hand down my face.

Let's... let's just get back to work.

-----

A/N: I wanted to write more, and actually show a sparring match between Cain and Katsuo, but I think I'll do that next chapter. I didn't actually plan for the Aika part to be so big, it was supposed to be like 500-800 words max. Oh well.

Question: How are the character interactions from the last few chapters? That's one of my weak points and I really wanna improve.