Hours later, after school had ended for Rea and everyone in her class.


    "Come on! Are we doing this today or what?" Rea asked as she walked ahead of Nozomi and Yoshino. All of them exit the school building.


    "Yes, we''re coming. No need to hurry," Yoshino rolled her eyes while walking by Nozomi''s side, still not at full strength even after a quick rest in class and eating her lunch, but recovered enough to move around and think fine enough. "Honestly, If I didn''t know better I would''ve thought you were excited to beat the crap out of us."


    "Er..." Rea moved her hand in a "More-or-less" motion. "I''m more excited for the actual fight itself, y''know, getting to fight a strong opponent, but, I GUESS that''s a fair interpretation for you to have..." The delinquent trailed off as her eyes landed on someone who immediately soured her expression, Yvy, as she walked in the direction of a limousine that was parked just outside of the school''s gates.


    "Seriously, ain''t that a bit too much?" Rea asked under her breath at the unnecessary showing of luxury, her annoyance growing further from the looks of awe the various students gave the green-haired transfer student when she was a few feet away from the vehicle.


    The front door from the long car opened and from there exited a tan-skinned woman with long black hair, with her bangs covering one of her eyes who looked to be in her early thirties. The older woman''s posture was disciplined and the black suit and sunglasses she wore spoke of security, her overall appearance was exactly what Rea imagined one of those men in black who escorted important people looked like. "Ojou-sama, your father is waiting for you." The security said before opening the first door in the back for Yvy to enter.


    "I see." Yvy''s smile grew wider, and her eyes shone brighter at the news. "Thank you, Dill-chan." She thanked her before entering the car and letting the security woman close the door for her.


    As they drove away, Rea directed her gaze to Nozomi and Yoshino who had walked up to her side while she wasn''t looking. The expression of dumb awe the two girls had was the final straw for Rea as she proceeded to wrap her arms around Nozomi''s left arm and Yoshino''s right arm before dragging them away.


    "W-wait, what are you-!"


    Rea cut Nozomi right off."You ain''t gotta the time to be staring at clouds, so stop wasting time!"


    Thankfully for the duo, they convinced Rea to let go of their arms after a few minutes of dragging them around.


    <hr>


    Some time later.


    Nozomi and everyone in her group, the former couldn''t help growing nervous as she and everyone else approached the abandoned building where she had trained and where the sparring match would take place.


    To say Nozomi was nervous would be an understatement. Not only because Rea was confident she could fight both her and Yoshino without holding back...but also because it would be the first time the blond student fought a person with her powers.


    Nozomi couldn''t help but wonder WHY she had agreed to this at the time. She lacked the experience necessary to be confident in not accidentally killing Rea when using her power. She disliked fighting, period. The clumsy girl didn''t hate the older delinquent girl, if anything...she thought they were cool, even if a bit rude.


    Then, what was it? Why did I accept...


    Nozomi''s thoughts trailed off as she glanced at Yoshino. The memory of how the short-haired brunette glanced at her back at recess, silently asking her opinion about Rea''s offer.


    Oh. The blonde girl thought in realization.


    The underlying desperation in Yoshino''s seemingly understanding expression at the time told her they HAD to take that deal if they wanted to survive. Nozomi knew her best friend never intended to, but she couldn''t help but feel inadequate to protect both of them. Even if it''s not entirely inaccurate.


    Nozomi frowned as a thought crossed her mind.''Maybe that''s why I agreed to it in the end? A desperate attempt to prove I wasn''t dead weight?'' After giving some thought, the tired teenager sighed. I...don''t know if I feel better or worse than before realizing this. Not like I can back out of it now...


    As Nozomi moved away from those thoughts, her eyes wandered to Seiza, reminding her that they still needed to talk about what he had dreamed to cause such a reaction. The nervous teenager didn''t regret helping the talking dog to calm down, even if it almost cost her arriving late to class.


    Thankfully, Seiza seemed more in control of his emotions now, even if it sometimes felt like he was occupying his mind with the problems of others so he wouldn''t focus on his own.


    Hopefully, he won''t need to wait long for us to talk about it later at home...or maybe I should include Yoshino in our conversation? But would Seiza want that? Nozomi knew that Seiza would feel uncomfortable sharing with more than one person at once. The main reason the well-intentioned girl considered discussing it with the talking dog, even if it took a long time for him to open up, was because she figured he needed to speak with someone, anyone, if whatever he saw bothered him enough to cry. Even if it was just a nightmare, she still felt, as a friend, the need to reassure him throughout whatever his struggles were.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Sometimes, it felt to Nozomi as if days passed so quickly, with barely any time to do anything, but at the same time so slow that she wished her day could go faster. She knew how nonsensical that thought was, but that was the only way she could describe it.


    As the abandoned building came into view, Rea spoke up. "Uh, I''ll say, when you told me the place we were going to fight would look rundown I didn''t expect it to be..." A large piece of concrete fell from the building, hitting the ground with a loud thud. "By this much."


    As Nozomi witnessed parts of the building falling apart, she couldn''t help but ask herself how long they had left before the entire thing collapsed. Hopefully, not while we''re still inside...


    Upon the tired blonde finishing thinking that, Rudabaugh soon came upon view exiting the building, who waved at them with one hand while carrying a large duffle bag in the other. "Hey."


    "Hey." Nozomi and Yoshino replied at the same time.


    "Sup." Was Rea''s brief reply.


    "So...how you''re doing Heiwa-sa-?"


    Rudabaugh was immediately interrupted by the delinquent."Just simply call me Heiwa or Rea; any one of those is fine."


    "I see, anyway, Yoshino told me you challenged her to a fight. Did some kind of misunderstanding occur or...?" The cowboy ''professor'' trailed off.


    "Nah, just a mutually agreed upon, casual sparring match, with NO interruptions, to see if I help them or not...that just so happens to involve them going all-out." The spiky black-haired delinquent said before adding. "Don''t worry, I won''t transform or use weapons besides my fists."


    Rudabaugh''s eyes nodded along, and a small smirk soon appeared on his face. "I say, that''s quite generous on your part. Are you sure you don''t want to reconsider? As fierce as they were, even one of those darkspawns you encountered yesterday would think twice before accepting such terms when fighting against a magical girl, let alone regular humans." Rudabaugh tried to warn Rea.


    Rea smirked arrogantly before laughing."Well then, I guess I just need to show you how weak they were for fearing and losing to one."


    Nozomi couldn''t help but feel like an invisible switch had been flipped on Rudabaugh as the arrogant delinquent brushed off his advice.


    This feeling proved validated as Rudabaugh''s eyebrow twitched slightly and his grip on the duffle bag tightened at that comment."Wow, such...aspiring confidence," Rudabaugh said while trying not to sound passive-aggressive, almost failing at it.


    Rea nodded."Yep, now, if you''ll excuse me, I''ll be waiting over there," Rea pointed at a spot not too far away from where they were. Don''t take too long to get ready; I still want to have this fight today!"


    When Rea was out of earshot, Rudabaugh turned to Yoshino. "Yoshino..."


    "Yes...?" The brunette nervously tilted her head as she asked that. I cleared any doubt from Nozomi if Yoshino noticed Rudabaugh''s, barely contained, passive aggressive-ness towards Rea.


    Rudabaugh sighed before offering Nozomi''s best friend the duffle bag."Kick her ass." He said bluntly, releasing the duffle bag on Yoshino''s arms before he leaned his back against a nearby wall and crossed his arms to watch the fight, Seiza walking up to stand by his side.


    Nozomi didn''t fully believe it had been JUST because Rudabaugh and Henry were darkspawns, but as she and Yoshino looked at each other, they silently agreed that it would probably be for the best if they didn''t ask Rudabaugh to elaborate on why he had grown so upset.


    With a deep breath, Nozomi raised a hand into the air and said the magical words. "By the power of the constellations, transform!"


    When Nozomi finished transforming in a bright flash of light, her eyes wandered to Yoshino as she was in the middle of pulling a baseball bat before taking a military combat vest, a flashbang grenade, and finally a taser from the duffle bag. "Uh, Yoshino?" The magical girl in white called for her best friend''s attention.


    "Yeah?"Yoshino acknowledged her as she put on the combat vest.


    "Did you...ask Professor Rudabaugh to bring everything?" Nozomi concernily asked. Although she knew Yoshino had called Rudabaugh back on the rooftop when recess had ended, the magical girl of light hadn''t been privy to their conversation, as her best friend had only told her who she would be calling and go to class ahead of her.


    Yoshino shrugged."Eh, not everything...Sure, I guess I asked him to bring more ammo for my revolver, but it''s not like I''m planning to use my gun with this being a friendly spar and all."


    Nozomi slowly nodded, not exactly reassured, but less concerned than before."I see...and you really think you''ll need all of this? I mean, from what she told us, yeah, she is strong, but is she THAT strong to warrant all of this?" The girl with light coming out of her eyes tilted her head at Yoshino.


    The brunette stopped mid-putting the smoke grenade in one of the vest''s pockets. From her expression, Nozomi could tell she was considering her words."Admittedly, probably not...but I''d rather not take any chances if we''re biting more than we can chew. Now..." She turned to Nozomi with a baseball bat resting on her shoulder, ready to fight. "Shall we do this?"


    Nozomi bit her lip as she hesitated for a moment before nodding. Even if the magical girl of Taurus knew she wasn''t ready, and probably would never be, she also knew there was no other way deep down.


    "So, are you guys ready? Shall we start?" Rea asked with an almost sinister smile as Nozomi and Yoshino approached her position, stopping 10 meters away from the fighting maniac teenager.


    Nozomi could feel the anticipation oozing out from Rea''s stance as their imminent fight was about to start.


    It reminded Nozomi of how her Homeroom teacher, Manabu, would seem to emanate an intimidating aura whenever they were angered at her.''I guess it runs in the family.'' She thought as the white-haired magical girl imagined all the imaginary auras Rea''s entire family would potentially have while at a family reunion.


    Yoshino closed her eyes, took a deep breath and readied her bat. A dark aura soon enveloped her body and weapon. Opening her eyes, she gave Rea a focused look."Yes."


    Nozomi followed Yoshino''s example, taking a deep breath to forget all about her worries for a moment. Soon, she gave Rea a determined look of her own before readying her stance and fists like Rudabaugh taught her, or at least as best she could, before nodding.


    "All right, then! Let''s do this!" Rea shouted before she charged at them.