Naoko was hurt and had fallen into the hole that was opened in the ground by Koa. The man was standing, staring at her with a fierce expression and without averting his gaze.

“I know there are others. Call them to fight.” He ordered.

Feeling a little less dizzy, Naoko tried to compose herself and stared back at him. Despite the pain, she could move her body. The young girl quickly raised her hand and threw a massive wave of water onto the opponent's face.

The man who was hit initially wasn’t expecting the counterattack, but that didn’t disturb his emotions. However, after wiping the excess water away, he absorbed the spot where the girl was supposed to be and faced the area now filled with water, which startled him a little.

She turned into water? He wondered for a moment.

Only moments later, Naoko appeared behind him to kick him in the head. Koa swiftly noticed and used his right forearm to block the attack. The girl quickly crouched down to return to her combat stance. Meanwhile, Koa attempted to punch her in the face, but she used her arm to defend and swerved away from his direction. Quickly, he threw a hook punch with his right arm, which she stopped with some difficulty.

With both arms holding his arms, she once again aimed a kick, this time targeting the side of Koa’s abdomen. The man showed great experience in battle; instead of defending himself, he grabbed the young girl’s leg, lifted it to the height of his face, and threw his body onto her, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground, hurting her back.

“Enough with the kicks. Do you have that communication device?” Koa asked incisively, while he had his body on top of hers, holding her wrists so Naoko couldn’t escape.

As was usual in the city, it suddenly started to rain heavily.

She is Water Potentia… she could use the rain… to expand her reach. The man thought quickly and began to devise strategies.

The rain… I can… how lucky. Naoko also started to think swiftly of a strategy to get out of that situation.

The young girl’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted. She began to feel a strange pressure throughout her body. It seemed like every nerve ending, every muscle, was being tortured and struck. Naoko shouted in pain. Koa only stared at her with no remorse. She continued to feel that pain continuously, her body writhing involuntarily in that situation.

What an… absurd… pain. He isn’t even squeezing me; he’s just holding my arms. Every part of my body hurts so much… Is that… Mental Potentia? Naoko seemed to have come to a conclusion.

“If you tell the others where the Potentia are, I could lessen your pain.” Koa proposed.

“I…” Naoko mumbles and then gets silent.

Behind Koa, a huge mass of water takes form. He hears the sound of movement and looks back, getting startled by the great volume that soon gets closer and wraps him completely.

This time, he is the one who sees himself with no way out; he can’t breathe or escape. The mass was so thick that his vision became cloudy, and he couldn’t see anything that was happening outside the water. Not long after, the water casing dissolves, and Koa is able to return to breathing normally.

Back to reality, the first thing he notices is that the woman he was fighting against isn’t there anymore. The Water Potentia, who was previously under his control, had run away, and he didn’t know where to look for her. Desolate, he sat down on the ground, beneath the rain.

She used the rain. She tried to drown me. I had no air for a moment. I let her escape… She did it all in that state… Her willpower is above average. Koa reflected on the event.

Sayuri’s house, evening

The evening was settling in, and the girls were already home, except for Megumi, who had gone out, and Naoko, who hadn’t returned yet. Sayuri, growing impatient, paced back and forth around the house until Akiko appeared.

“Akiko… It’s getting so late. Do you have any news about Naoko?” she asked hopefully.

“She went out to check something about the festival with her classmates,” Akiko replied excitedly, walking toward the kitchen.

“Akiko… show me some concern. Still, I didn’t think it would take this long,” Sayuri said, placing her hand on her forehead. The door suddenly opened with a rush, and a voice could be heard from the kitchen. “I think Ghuang has returned.” Sayuri said, heading toward the living room.

“SAYURI! I NEED SOME HELP! I FOUND NAOKO IN THIS CONDITION!” Ghuang had arrived, urgently asking for help.

Ghuang entered the living room with haste. Naoko was covered in mud, drenched from the rain, leaning on him, nearly fainting. Sayuri gasped when she saw the scene.

“NAOKO?! WHAT HAPPENED? PUT HER ON THE COUCH!” Sayuri cried out in despair, urging Ghuang to fetch the first aid kit.

Naoko was gently placed on the couch to rest. She was exhausted, struggling to stay awake. Akiko approached and offered her some water. Naoko thanked her and drank a little. Sayuri sat beside her with the first aid kit, placing a hand on her forehead to check for fever.

“…What happened? How did you end up like this?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Sayu… Another… different… enemy… appeared.” Naoko responded between labored breaths, pausing to catch her air.

Another? Sayuri thought, not believing what she was hearing. She continued caring for Naoko, who soon felt better, took a shower, and went to bed to rest. 

Finalia Planet, same evening

“I’m here, lady. What do you need me for?” Koa, who had been urgently called to Ayami’s main room, asked.

“LADY AYAMI, FOOLISH BOY! EXPLAIN YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!” Ayami was furious with him and demanded answers in an authoritarian tone.

“Lady Ayami… the others were slacking off in their missions. Although I was only called for support, I noticed that…” Still a little intimidated, Koa kept his tone serious and firm.

“YOU NOTICED WHAT?! THAT YOU COULD HAVE DRAWN EVEN MORE ATTENTION TO THEM? THEY’LL BECOME MORE AWARE OF OUR MOVEMENTS! LEAVE NOW! THANK ME FOR NOT PUNISHING YOU TONIGHT!” Ayami interrupted his speech, her anger boiling over as she expelled him from the room.

Everyone knew how authoritative Ayami was with her subordinates, and Koa was no exception. Realizing there was no point in further explanation and that he wouldn’t be heard, he left the room, slamming the door behind him in frustration. All he could do was hold back his emotions.

Out in the hallway, a person approached the enraged man.

“Well, well…” a female voice teased him. “Looks like someone’s been scolded by the master.”

The mocking voice belonged to Yesenia, who stepped closer with an ironic smile on her face. Koa looked at her, noticing that the injuries from their last fight were still visibly present.

“…How are your injuries?” he asked, trying to show some concern. The woman stepped closer, placing one hand on his shoulder while the other rested on his chest.

“I’m much better, they’ve healed! But I need to check if my sensitivity has returned to normal. Can you help me with that?” she asked, dropping her mocking tone for a more playful one.

Koa quickly removed her hands from his chest. She stared at him, displeased, clearly frustrated with his response. He didn’t seem to care about her expression and soon spoke.

“Have you thought about stopping treating people like objects? Maybe they’ll stop treating you that way.” He said, touching on a sensitive subject.

“Are you going to teach me a lesson, when you, also, are treated like an object?” Yesenia said seriously, deciding to speak some hard truths. “You know she doesn’t love you. Why do you keep acting like a fool?” Koa stayed silent, his expression serious after Yesenia’s comment. 

School, March 25th

It was the morning period, and in room 202 of the second year of high school, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet, so the students took the opportunity to chat. Everyone was excited, forming groups with the people they were closest to. Even Adonis had his own group, sitting next to his desk, discussing a variety of topics—both school-related and daily life matters.

“Adonis! We all want to know, so I’ll just ask. Are you into nerdy short girls?” a classmate asked randomly.

“I dunno. Never really thought about that!” Adonis replied honestly, not really concerned by the question.

“Is there nothing going on between you and that short girl from the first year?” the same classmate teased, glancing at Adonis from the corner of his eye.

“What girl, man? What are you talking about?” Adonis rested his elbow on his desk, turning his head to the side, raising an eyebrow, signaling that he didn’t appreciate the question.

“Well… the rumors are insane! You know, people’s gossip is like God’s voice!” The classmate shrugged casually.

Rumors? Adonis couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned.

School, March 26th

The next morning, the school was buzzing with energy, but this time the topic was different.

Miyu walked through the courtyard during break time, noticing that people were staring at her and whispering among themselves. She hadn’t initially thought the topic was about her, but after seeing three—no, ten—groups doing the same, she started to think otherwise.

Something’s off. She thought, feeling uneasy.

Just behind her, Aino approached, looking extremely annoyed. She caught Miyu’s attention, making her jump.

“MIYU! WHY HAVEN’T YOU TOLD ME?” Aino accused, looking as though she’d been betrayed.

“WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Miyu replied, confused, unable to follow what her friend was saying.

“BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH…” Aino explained all the rumors floating around the school.

“What?! There’s nothing going on! Where did they get all that from? What we had were just problems! Just because he broke the lab and I took the blame for it!” Miyu responded, now clearly frustrated—once again caught up in a situation involving Adonis.

Across the courtyard, Adonis, who was also the target of many rumors, walked through the crowd of students and headed toward the indoor court, a quieter area where no students were at that moment.

To escape his frustration, Adonis started playing ball against the wall, throwing it with force. As he repeated the motions, he wondered why all of this was happening.

“THESE PEOPLE DON’T HAVE A LIFE, HUH? IF THEY HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT SILLY STUFF... WHY DON’T THEY JUST STUDY?”

Adonis was mad. He placed his hand on his face, took a deep breath, and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. Then, he glanced toward the door and saw Miyu entering the court. Their eyes met, and they both felt shy. She quickly turned and rushed back out to the courtyard.

Dammit… she must have heard the rumors too… Adonis thought.

The rest of the morning went by unpleasantly. Adonis and Miyu couldn’t focus on their lessons because of the gossip. At least the morning was ending, and with it, the weekend would begin. Rumors usually don’t last long.