"Hey, what's wrong with you?" The instant I touched her shoulder, she whirled around, katana in hand, pointed at my head. I craned my neck just in time. The blade grazed my head; it didn't stop. She attacked again from above, I moved to the right and dodged. Another slash, then another: up, down, to the side. I was simply moving, almost without thinking. The movements were natural, and that was the strange thing. Her attacks were clumsy, and at the same time, I saw her as a mixture of anger and shame.
As I continued dodging, now including jumps and using my feet to propel myself against the walls and get behind her, Laia continued attacking me desperately. I didn't know what to do, since what I saw was the same girl I had met. When she cornered me against the wall, firm and solid, I stopped dodging. I stood still. The katana swung at me with force, straight for my head, and in an instant blood began to drip from the blade, falling to the ground. The katana had pierced the palm of my right hand; I simply stared at it and in a low, almost soft voice, said, "Laia... that's enough."
She just dropped the katana, head bowed, and out of nowhere, delivered a sharp blow to my stomach that sent me sprawling to the ground. I instinctively clutched my stomach; this time she'd really caught me off guard. Suddenly, I heard her sit down beside me. "Talk... I'm listening." I looked at her; she was calm, it seemed her tantrum was over. "No," I replied. "You first." She gave a small smile and lowered her gaze. "You know me... I never liked anyone looking at me that way. Whenever it happened, Nitta protected me. I felt safe with her." She paused. "What that man said made me realize something." I glanced at her again. "I realized that... she really won't be coming back." When she said that, she looked up, tears welling in her eyes; the real Laia had returned.
As I watched her cry with her head down, I didn't know what to do. I'd never been good at comforting people; it always felt awkward. So I just placed my hand on her head and stroked it gently. "There, there..." She grabbed my hand and stared at me. "Hey, I'm not a kid anymore." She let go of my hand and curled up in a fetal position, covering her mouth with her crossed arms. "What should I do now?" she muttered. "My goal in getting stronger was to finish you off." Hearing that, I was terrified. She was still in that position when she looked at me. "Sorry about the cuts... I think I went a little overboard." I looked at her and smiled slightly. "Okay, I deserved it. This just means I need to train more." Laia gave a small, mocking smile. "You need more than that." I turned quickly and looked at her, half-annoyed. "It's not my fault I can't fight in a tuxedo. It's uncomfortable." For the first time, Laia let out a genuine chuckle. "You really are an idiot." Seeing her like that, I smiled a little more. "Yeah... it always happens to me."
"Well... I need to keep going." I try to get up, but I fall to the ground again, my strength failing. "What the hell... I feel dizzy." Laia immediately stood up and looked at me with a serious expression. "Stay here for a moment, I'll find something for those wounds." "Wait a moment." She stopped and turned around quickly. "What's wrong?" I smiled wearily and raised my right hand, which was still pierced by the katana. "Can you take it out? It hurts like hell." Laia was silent, surprised. Only then did she seem to remember that she had embedded the katana in my hand. She lowered her gaze and gave a nervous smile. "Sure... don't move."
Laia knelt on one knee and stared at the katana embedded in my hand. "...Yeah, it looks ugly."
"You don't say."
She sighed and gripped the katana's hilt. "This is going to hurt, don't move." I held her hand with the blade and looked at her fearfully. "Wait, wait, wait," I said quickly. "Isn't there a countdown or something? I mean, to prepare myself mentally." With that complaint, I could tell she was starting to get angry, and she replied with a simple, "No." I kept holding her hand tightly. "At least one, two, three?" She lowered her head, took a deep breath, and looked at me again with clear annoyance. "Fine." She smiled calmly, closing her eyes. "Okay, then a..."
"Three!" And with sheer brute force, she ripped the katana from my hand. "AAAAAAAH!!" I screamed with all the pain in my soul. So loudly that several people on the floors below probably heard me.
While I doubled over, clutching my bleeding hand, Laia calmly tried to wipe away the blood so she could sheath the katana again. She calmly stood up, sheathed the katana at her hip, and looked at me again. "What a crybaby."
Laia walked down the hallway, looking at each room. "I suppose one of these must have a first-aid kit." I looked up at her. "You think so? They only come here for pleasure." Laia sighed and glanced at me sideways. "You think so?" She stepped back a little and fixed her gaze on a staircase leading to another floor. "Stay here for a moment." And in the blink of an eye, she disappeared from the hallway, leaving me standing there alone.