It was dark.
Then—
Light.
Kouji woke up screaming.
He felt like he couldn't breathe, as if something had taken away his air.
He ran into the bathroom, but when he looked into the mirror, he could breathe normally again.
"Was it a bad dream?"
"I feel like I've felt this before," he thought to himself.
"Oh, you're awake," Yumi said, whilst entering the room, "I made breakfast."
Days had passed since Kouji and Yumi left the Association.
The sky outside the window of their rented room was still unfamiliar.
They had flown across oceans, following rumors and faint whispers, until they finally met a man, who says he knows about the gate.
He had brown hair, violet eyes, and a scar on his throat.
He wasted no time introducing himself, almost dodging who he is.
They learned that he was a hunter himself and shortly after he became their teacher.
"Sit here, I'll explain something to you," he said in a rough but firm voice, while they were standing at the storage room of a schools athletic field.
And so their training began.
"To defeat Shinji, power is essential, but that's not all there is."
The man's lessons were insightful and free of anything unnecessary. "What you have been using so far," he said, drawing a circle on the board, "Is the modern form of Kyoukai. It is more refined, simplified, and designed for efficiency, so everybody can use it effectively. I want to teach you the ancient usage of Kyoukai. How they used it, when battles between Humans were a daily business. It is the root and from the root came the blessings. But the ancient and modern Kyoukai are essentially the same, only the possibilities are different."
Kouji frowned and crossed his arms. "What does it matter? I've lost my ability. Without it I'm useless."
The man's gaze struck him like a blade. "You're wrong. It's only because you lost it, that you now have the freedom to learn what I'll teach you. You two lack the fighting power at the moment, but if you train enough you might be able to gain strength, maybe even more than before."
Kouji opened his mouth, then closed it again.
The man continued in a relentless voice: "Kyoukai is divided into four paths. Everyone can access all of them, but their affinities vary. Some are strong in one and weak in three. Others may be balanced, some may not be talented in any path, but that's a rare case. The paths are: Enhancement, Manifestation, Emission, and Manipulation. Every blessing you've ever seen is born from these."
He tapped the chalkboard four times, underlining the words with each tap.
"Enhancement strengthens things. Positively or negatively. It can make anything heavier, sharper, lighter, or even weaker."
Manifestation creates — either from the aura or by changing the matter itself.
Emission controls the range and extent of the aura.
Manipulation determines control—what you can bend, direct, and command within the sphere of influence of your aura."
Yumi frowned. "So... basically, it's the imagination that limits it?"
The man nodded barely noticeably. "Correct, Imagination. It's conceptual. Your mind shapes your aura."
Kouji leaned forward, finally intrigued.
The man narrowed his eyes. "Your ability to analyze wasn't accidental. It probably arose because you have an affinity for enhancing and emission. Enhancement sharpens your perception, emission expands it outward, into a radius. But you could also say, you have Enhancement and Emission because you were able to grasp details that others couldn't. Your paths are 'you'."
Kouji's chest tightened. "So... could I perhaps restore it? My old ability?"
"No, that's impossible," the man corrected sharply. "A Blessing is forged by the soul. Shinji took it, so it cannot be restored."
Kouji's gaze turns to the ground.
"But,"
"You may be able to fight again."
And so the night was marked by hours of practice.
The man practiced relentlessly with both.
His movements where fluid and unrivaled.
"His movement feels so familiar," Kouji thought.
Kouji adapted with frightening speed and his instincts sharpened.
Then, on the third day, something changed.
His perception got an upgrade.
Kouji stared at Yumi during a sparring exercise while she was struggling.
She doesn't seem to make any progress.
The faint glow of her aura tugged at his perception and suddenly – it clicked.
He could see it. Not literally.
The man's aura was filled with color, he probably had a three path affinity.
But Yumi's paths, faint and colorless.
He froze.
"...What is it?" Yumi asked, panting, her wooden practice sword at her side.
Kouji lowered his weapon, guilt creeping in. "Your affinities... I don't sense any."
The silence that followed was deafening. Yumi's lips trembled, her eyes wide open. "This is a joke, right?"
"You're joking, right?"
Deep down she already knew.
She turned her head away, but tears were already running down her face.
"So in the end I can't even help you. I'm just standing in the way."
Kouji dropped his blade, pulling her into his arms.
She stiffened and then clung to him, her sobs muffled against his chest.
"You don't get it," he whispered, his voice rough, as if he's holding back something.
"You're already helping me. You've always helped me. Just by being here, Yumi. Without you, I wouldn't have made it this far."
She buried her face deeper into him, gripping his shirt tightly.
Their Teacher stood silently at the edge of the ground, leaning to a wall, his gaze unreadable.
But for the first time, a slight gentleness was noticeable in his gaze as he watched them.
"They've grown a lot," he said quitely.
Their training will continue tomorrow.
But tonight, Kouji simply held Yumi close, silently promising himself that he would never let Shinji—or anyone else—take her away from him.
That same night, when they went to sleep, they shared the same bed.
She was lying on the bed, her face red, with kouji on top of her.
He was trying to hide it, but his face was red too.
"Be gentle, okay?"
They spent the rest of the night together.