The next Monday Sayuri was summoned into the headmistress' office. It surely had something to do with Vincent, since there was no trace of him still. She had looked in the training room at some random times, but of course, he wasn't there. Not that she actually expected something else. Did the teachers find out? Has someone else seen them? Something had happened last week and Sayuri just ran away without talking things out. If there even was something to explain, that is …
Hopefully she wouldn't be interrogated. She knew nothing and the small pieces she was told and had seen probably shouldn't be revealed.

Before she left her room, she stared at her baton. That thing she despised so much, that had scared her all the time, saved her in the end. From the very person who taught her how to use it. Oh dear, everything was so complicated. How should she go on? If Vincent stayed missing, would she get a new tutor? But even then – no one would know how to properly teach her. Would she have to go through all of this alone now?

Miss Osakabe: "Thank you for coming, Kobayashi-san. You surely already noticed Mister Black won't be available to teach you for a while." She calmly sat on her executive chair, not offering a seat to the black haired girl.

Sayuri: "Um, yes … but … why is that? And for how long exactly? Where is he?" She could at least try to gather some information the other way round, while holding onto her own arm.

Miss Osakabe: "You see, I can't disclose you the details as it is a private matter and we value our students' privacy. But no need to worry, it will only be temporary. Until then you will be assigned to train together with your roommate Nakata-san. Her tutor Emily Tachikawa agreed on including you within their lessons." A slight smile.

Sayuri: "I …" //So they definitely know about what happened. But she already said, she won't tell me a thing.// "Is he … alright?"

Miss Osakabe: "He will be." No movement in her expression.

Sayuri: "Okay, then … Thank you, Osakabe-sensei. I'll be taking my leave now."

🔹

Emily: "We've been waiting for you, Sayuri." The young woman with short black hair framing her doll-like face smiled at her sheepishly. "Nice to have you training with us for a while, I'm really happy!" 

Sayuri: "Thank you!" She tried her best to smile back at Emily. It was hard for the necromancer to act like nothing had happened. But since Hana's tutor was in the same class as Vincent she should be aware of his absence. For whatever reason they were told … 

Hana: "I am so happy, too! We should always train together!!" She pulled her friend into the room. "Also, now that you're getting to know Emi-chan – we're seeing Hiro and his tutor Miyu after this session and you should join us!"

Sayuri: "Uhm …" She wasn't sure how to react.

Emily: "Only if you want to. Once a month we are training together, so it could be useful for you to at least watch us."

Hana: "Yep, that's so much fun! And it's so cool to see those two fighting!"

Sayuri: "A-alright. If it's for training reasons, I'll come along!" //I need to get as much experience as I can get.//

Hana: "Yay!"

Emily: "Okay, but let's do our own training first now!" She smiled.

The tutor session was a very interesting experience for Sayuri. The training was just so different from what she was used to with Vincent. Emily's tang are soundwaves and they are so versatile! She was testing Hana's shield's strength by hitting it with waves coming from different directions and with different power. Because they are invisible it was hard to tell where they came from. Hana had to create small shields to block them separately. Sayuri expected to just sit down and watch, but Emily included her into the training right after.

She got the same exercise as Hana. Soundwaves were sent to Sayuri and she had to block them with her baton. At first she wasn't even sure how it would be going, because of the recent events, but Sayuri didn't really feel a difference. It actually was a really good experience for her, even though – or maybe just because – she had to take a beating pretty often. Emily definitely didn't spare the Momaina! Working on her defense like that was so helpful. Hana's tutor really did a great job, even for someone like Sayuri – a necromancer without any skill or plan on what she's actually doing. 

But then suddenly Sayuri's vision got blurry. She blinked some times, but it seemed like everything around her had vanished. It was dark and there was no room. She called for Hana and Emily, but no response. Insecure she took some steps backwards, nervously looking around in the void. A cold shiver, a pounding ache in her head – what was happening? From the distance a silhouette appeared and came closer to her slowly. Sayuri didn't know what to do, but she felt this person's presence wasn't something good. Her head was spinning and it was like many images flew through her inner eye at once, but she couldn't get a hold of any of them … it just made her head feel close to exploding. She was so desperate, she was alone again and no one could help her. Everyone had left her behind …

Sayuri: "Kiniro!" A loud scream. Her hand was pressed to her chest, where her heart was racing underneath – the other one reaching out … into nowhere.

Emily: "Are you ok?" A concerned look on her doll face.

Hana ran over to her friend.

Hana: "Sayu-chan? What happened? Did Emi-chan hit you too hard? You even dropped your rod … And who is Kiniro?"

Sayuri looked a bit startled, her head still hurt, she couldn't really progress what just happened. Somehow, it was different from the visions she had when she first came in contact with the baton … 

Sayuri: "I don't know … It's probably just some ghost necromancer thing I still just don't understand …" //And I cannot ask Vincent about it. Now, when I just need him …// The girl sighed.

Emily: "Alright, let's just stop here then. You did very well, Sayuri! You have potential." She smiled.

Sayuri: "Well, you can't say something mean to me now, right?"

Emily: "No, I really mean it. Of course you are different from most of us here, but I'm certain you'll go your way if you keep going!"

Sayuri: "I-if you say so, thank you." She tried to smile back, but the headache wouldn't go away. Nevertheless she had another thing that came to her mind. "Emily, since you're in the same class as my tutor … do you know anything about his absence? Hana's brothers said he's missing every now and then and for obvious reasons I'm really curious."

Emily: "I'm really sorry, but I don't … He's always been like that. We tried to ask him several times years ago already, but as you also might know, he's not very open about himself. Or talkative in general. So we just assumed he's got some health issues he doesn't want to talk about …" She shrugged.

Sayuri: "I see. Thank you."

Hana hugged Sayuri tight.

Hana: "Now you're talking about that guy again! He's not worth your time! But Hiro and Miyu are, so let's head to them now!"

Sayuri: "Okay …" She knew it wasn't that good to talk about that topic with others around. So on to the next program.

🔹

They visited Hiroshi and his tutor in their training room. When they arrived, both were fighting and at first didn't even notice the three girls.

Hana: "Sayu-chan, did you know? Hiro never ever managed to land even one hit on Miyu! She's amazing! … Or Hiro is really bad, haha." The last part was whispered while she giggled.

Emily: "Miyu indeed is one of the best. The council pays all of her bills and she could directly start there after graduation. The police department wants her desperately."

Sayuri watched her. She had no problem avoiding any of Hiroshi's attacks. No matter if it were his bare fire fists or the fire balls he sent off to her. She also looked pretty elegant and cool dodging it all. Then Miyu formed something in her hand as well – fire? No, a dark violet, almost black matter …

Hana: "Darkness is such a cool element!"

Miyu: "Thank you!" So the young woman had been aware of her audience, while pushing her trainee back on the wall with nowhere left to go. "I won again."

Hiroshi: "Yes, Ma'am. I give up. … And hi Hana, Emily and … Sayuri? Why do we have the honor of your visit today?" He smiled.

Miyu: "This girl needs some extra lessons. After Emi's soft intro, it's my turn now, haha."

Sayuri gulped. It sounded like a threat. That woman had an intense aura and Sayuri felt like shrinking while Miyu was walking towards her. 

Miyu: "It's a special occasion today, so you should do a little fight against Hiro-chan." Even with her smirky smile she didn't lose her elegance.

Sayuri: "Wha– what? B– but …"

Hiroshi: "Miyu! That's not fair for her, I mean, what if I hurt her …?"

Miyu: "Huh? Even if you don't succeed you try to hit me all the time." She laughed.

Hiroshi: "Yeah, but that is something completely different … you're my tutor, that's your job …"

Emily: "What about Hana and Sayuri versus Hiroshi? Hana can support her friend and Hiroshi doesn't have to worry so much."

Miyu: "Good idea, Emi-chan! Agreed?" Not like it had ever been an option to object.

🔹

The fight didn't really work out in the end as Hiroshi couldn't bring himself to seriously fight against Sayuri and Hana. He just threw some small and easy to dodge fireballs in their direction.

Sayuri: "I'm sorry, I'm not a worthy opponent yet …" She smiled embarrassedly. 

Hiroshi: "No, that has nothing to do with you in particular …" The fire boy felt super uncomfortable, he knew it would end like this, why did Miyu torture him like that? So unfair … 

Sayuri: "Ah, ok, then …" //What am I even babbling about? I suck so much. Will I ever be useful for anything here? Probably not … ugh …//

Hana: "Sayu-chan, don't feel sad! We'll beat him in a real match some other time for sure, hehe!" She glared over to Hiroshi.

Sayuri wasn't sure about that, but fighting wasn't her favorite thing to do anyway.

On their way back someone bumped into the necromancer girl while she turned the corner towards the entrance of the main hall. Sayuri wanted to apologize, but the other person was faster.

???: "Oh, I'm sorry-nya!" 

A short dark-haired woman with cat ears was looking at Sayuri.

Sayuri: "Uhm, oh, it's alright, I think it was my fault to begin with." Curiously she examined the cat woman. She also had a tail! Even living in this world aware of supernatural powers, it felt strange to see a real human with cat features. But somehow the woman also looked at Sayuri for longer than it would be normal. 

Hana: "Sayucchi, are you coming? I'm starving!" She was already some steps ahead.

Sayuri: "Huh? Ah, yeah, coming!" With a last quick glance she followed up to her friend. Her headache seemed to get worse, while randomly trying to recall a childhood's memory, but it wasn't there. //What was I thinking about? I can't focus with these headaches, I should try to rest a bit …//