The senior was tall, taller than Raizen by a few centimeters. His hair was a messy orange, tied back in a loose knot at the nape of his neck. A faint scar cut across his chin, pale against his skin.

Even with his beast gone, he looked like he belonged next to something with fangs.

His eyes flicked over Mina first, then moved to Raizen and Saffi. The corners of his mouth curled.

"Guests" he said. "Did we earn a show, or is Neoshima just bored?"

"Raku" Mina said. There was a thread of warning in her tone, but also something like resigned familiarity. "Behave."

He shrugged. "No promises."

Mina stepped forward half a pace, enough to stand between Raizen and the seniors without blocking him out.

"Saffi" she started. "Top in Neoshima when it comes to information and systems. And then, Raizen, prestigious Lotus student and Vanguard trainee."

"I am not prestigio-" he started.

Mina reached back and flicked his arm with two fingers.

"You are when I say you are" she said under her breath.

Then, louder, "They're here to observe. While they are here, they represent Lotus and Neoshima."

Saffi dipped her head in something like a bow.

"Nice to meet you" she said. "I am interested in your data on Eon beast stabilit-"

Raku snorted, cutting across her words.

"Information?" he laughed, as if tasting something bland. "Of course Neoshima sends a librarian."

Saffi's mouth snapped shut.

His gaze slid fully to Raizen.

"And this is the famous… Avalanche boy"

Raizen blinked. "What?"

A girl from the senior group stepped slightly closer. She had light brown skin, hair braided back tight, and eyes that were a shade too sharp to be comfortable.

"I thought I recognized the name" she said. "There were reports of a mission in the mountains. An avalanche caused by a Neoshima student with twin blades…"

Her gaze flicked to the swords at Raizen's hips, then back to his face.

"That was you, right?"

Saffi took in a quick breath, pride sparking behind her eyes.

Raizen hesitated.

"Yes" he said finally. "The Vanguards were nearly wiped out. It wasn't like the reports sound."

"It never is" the girl said, but there was no mockery in her tone. Only curiosity.

Raku rolled his shoulders, the motion casual, as if shaking off something heavy.

"Neoshima stories travel fast" he said. "You people are very good at telling them. Tragedies with happy endings. Heroes in neat uniforms. Perfect lighting. Makes the outside world feel grateful when your Council signs their papers. Lies."

Mina's eyes narrowed a fraction.

"Raku" she said again, sharper.

He ignored her.

"Let me guess" he went on. "Rich parents. High scores. Perfect recommendations. They tell everyone you are special, so you start to believe it."

Raizen's jaw tightened.

"My parents are both dead"

The words left his mouth calmly, heavier than he expected.

Raku's smile did not fade completely, but it changed. The edges thinned. His eyes flicked over Raizen's face again, taking in the way he stood, the way his weight was more on one leg, the faint stiffness in his shoulders.

"Then no one will complain if I test you" he said.

Saffi stepped forward, hand lifting.

"He just got out of the Med Wing" she said. "He isn't here to fight-"

Mina's arm slid out, blocking Saffi gently across the chest.

"He challenged him" Mina said quietly. "Raizen gives his answer, not you"

Saffi looked at her, then at Raizen, panic and frustration fighting in her eyes.

"Don't be stupid" she hissed at him under her breath. "You are far from being fully healed."

She was right.

The avalanche, the fractures, the days and weeks of stillness in the Med Wing - his body still remembered all of it. Sometimes his chest ached when he took in air too fast.

But when Raku looked at him with that mix of arrogance and expectation, something in Raizen stirred.

He wanted to prove his worth. Never did it before. In the Rust Room, he let Kori judge. At the entrance exam, he let numbers prove. At the Academy, he let progress speak for himself. But now – now was different.

He took a small step forward.

"Why?" Raizen asked Raku. "Why do you want to fight me?"

Raku shrugged.

"To see if Neoshima's Vanguards have real teeth" he said. "Or if they just wear pretty smiles for screens."

"You think the avalanche was... Made up?" Raizen asked.

"I think lies grow when people with influence feed them" Raku said. "I think rich cities like yours like to hide the bodies and make up a beautiful story before they show it to the world. So when I hear about some "miracle student" who does something so absurd: single-handedly causing an avalanche, I assume it is written that way on purpose."

He lifted his hand.

Eon curled around his fingers, a bright, tight light.

"Here, no one can rewrite the result. There are no cameras. No reporters. Just us. Just beasts… And your blades. If you fall, you fall."

The other seniors shifted, moving back a few steps, almost unconsciously forming a loose ring. Some watched Raku with interest. Others watched Raizen with something like sympathy. One or two looked toward Mina, as if expecting her to stop this.

She didn't.

She stood where she was, arms folded loosely now, attention sharpened.

"You want a fight" Raizen said slowly. "Right now…?"

Raku grinned, showing his teeth.

"Unless you're afraid" he said.

Raizen thought of the Mountain.

Of snow sliding under his boots. Of weightlessness, blood, impact and silence. Of Hikari's hand on his, cold and tight. Of waking up in the Med Wing, lungs burning, body trembling with leftover strain.

He had been far more than afraid then.

Fear didn't matter.

He exhaled.

"I don't like pointless fights" he said. "But if you want to see what a Vanguard looks like, I guess I could show you a hint."

Mina's mouth curved, just slightly.

Raku's grin widened.

"Good" he said.

He lifted his arm.

Eon burst around his wrist in fine, spinning threads. They snapped out into the air ahead of him, weaving a shape in front of the nearest circle. Lines drew themselves into a crude skeleton first - long legs, broad shoulders, lowered skull. Then muscle and form layered over bone, gray and brown and solid.

The beast slammed into existence like a dropped weight.

It landed on all fours, claws gouging the wood. Its head lifted in a slow, heavy motion, those long saber fangs gleaming wet in the lantern light. Orange eyes flicked open, lighting from the inside like coal.

It looked at Raku first.

Then at Raizen.

A low growl rolled out of its chest, deep enough that Raizen felt it in his ribs.

Students on nearby platforms had stopped what they were doing. Some instructors watched with narrowed eyes, ready to step in if things went bad.

Saffi's fingers twisted in the fabric of her jacket.

"Raizen" she said under her breath. "Don't…"

He didn't even look back at her.

Raizen just stepped forward instead, into the painted circle Raku's beast now occupied.

One of his hands dropped to the hilt of his left sword.

He didn't draw it. Not yet.

The beast's growl was louder this time.

Mina watched from the edge of everything, arms loose at her sides now, every part of her focused.

In the noise and the tension, her voice was almost silent.

"Let us see if you became a weapon" she murmured. "The one Kori feared you would become."

Raizen rolled his shoulders once.

Then he took another step forward.

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