Pressure Point

"How's your head, Aika?"

"It's fine."

"In that case, 20 more sit-ups."

I sigh. Nevaeh gives me a look and I bite my tongue. It's only some outward bruising, but it would have been nice if I got a bit of a break. Nevaeh thinks differently, of course; if I managed an injury then I "obviously need more training," according to her.

"This is your third match, Aika. You can't afford to be careless," she says before throwing me a medicine ball. I catch it. "I see your cognitive abilities are still good," she's talking about my reaction time, "so that's promising. If we can just whip you into shape again and practice protecting your head, we can get you to Round Four." She says this confidently, which feels nice, but I wonder about that last part. Does she expect me to be K.O.ed for real? I mean, Zuzanna was tough but I'm not going to pass out. Or die.

My phone buzzes and I glance over at it. Nevaeh clucks at me but lets me check it. I did finish her sit-ups. It's Evren. And it's a text. She's only been using Visalogue to send me the occasional heads up about our matchups and troubleshooting the NCC website's crash. She's never texted me directly.

"Is it important?" Nevaeh asks impatiently.

"Uh, not sure, hold on." I open the message.

hey Aika, just wondering if you're at the gym right now. i'm heading over there now and just thought it'd be fun to do my warm up with you. Santeri can be brutal...

Am I dreaming? The Commander of Space is asking to train with me.

"Oh, that's a dangerous smile, you gotta let me in on this," Nevaeh is saying as she crouches down next to me.

"Evren's coming to the gym to train. She wants to warm up with us," I say. We haven't gotten too far in my own training today. This could be my chance to get up close and personal. To find her weakness. "Nevaeh, you've gotta watch her. This is a rare chance."

"I don't think she'll let a weakness slip in warmup." Nevaeh raises a brow at me but I disagree.

"It's when she's not paying attention that it's most likely to slip," I say. When Evren thinks she's just doing something simple, she won't be trying too hard to hide.

Nevaeh doesn't look entirely convinced but she and I share a mischievous grin nonetheless. She claps my shoulder before getting up. I send Evren the affirmative.

Great! Be there in 20 :), she replies.

Nevaeh announces a water break while we wait. Now's a great chance to get the ball rolling further.

"Actually, it'd be great if you went to Evren's matches, too," I say.

"So you can get away with careless mistakes? I don't think so." She shuts me down immediately. Damn, I thought I had this one.

"I can handle it," I try.

"Like you handled Zuzanna? And your almost-concussion?" She's not letting up. I'm actually considering using what Lev suggested earlier, minus the 'young babe' part, but Nevaeh cuts me off before I can decide whether I want to stoop to his level. "I might be able to send someone else, though." I mean, that's better than nothing, but...

"They don't have your expertise, though. Figure fighting is different from regular boxing. It's more nuanced," I argue. I can see Nevaeh is considering it. Excellent. If I can just keep pressing her until match day, maybe she'll come around.

"I'll think about it," she finally says. Her tone is dismissive but I'm determined. I'll keep pushing.

My body gets fidgety as I count down the minutes to Evren's arrival. I find myself tapping my feet. Drumming my fingers. This is all so surreal. Nevaeh's trying to act nonchalant, but I see right through her. She has that glint in her eye that means business. I know she plans on talking to Santeri, and I can see a new insane training regimen coming out of this, but honestly, if it'll get me to the top, I'll take it without hesitation.

My phone buzzes. I grab it immediately.

here!

I look around and don't see her at first, but then I remember that her hair is blue now instead of purple. She's walking towards us and I quickly stuff my phone back in my bag before standing up off the floor. I spot Santeri behind her.

"Hey!" Evren extends her hand and I shake it.

"Hey," I reply.

"I hope we're not interrupting you too much," Evren says as she moves to introduce herself to Nevaeh.

"Not at all, we only just got started," Nevaeh replies. "Who is your next match against?"

"Johnathan! Haven't fought him in a couple of years, so it'll be great to see how he's improved." I forgot how bright Evren's enthusiasm is. Am I staring? Stop staring, Aika. "How about you, Aika?" She's turned to me expectantly. Her using my name so casually, the Commander of Space using my name so casually, momentarily catches me off guard. Keep it cool, Aika, keep it cool. She's a human being.

"Yeah. Vid was his name, I think," I manage to say.

"Oh, I see. And it's their name. Vid's non-binary," Evren says.

"Oh, my bad!" I apologize quickly. "I've never seen them in combat."

"They're pretty good. I fought 'em last year. Heights figure," she informs me. I must've missed that fight; I don't remember. Maybe Lev does. "Oh, anyway, before we start, this is my uncle, Santeri," she adds as she points to the man standing next to her. He smiles and nods in greeting.

"The famous Collapser!" Nevaeh says. "A pleasure to meet you," she adds as she moves to shake his hand.

"Likewise," he responds.

"So, what are you guys thinking for warmup? Santeri's got a regimen he'll be putting me through later, but something light to get the heart rate up to start would be great." Evren turns to us expectantly. Nevaeh doesn't miss a beat.

"I usually put Aika through mixed cardio and strength intervals." She says it like it isn't the worst thing on earth. "We already went through some before you arrived."

"Oh, my bad! I definitely won't be so last-minute next time." 'Next time?' Did I hear that right?

"They can do partner drills," Santeri interjects. "We often do simple reaction drills to warm up the mind." Nevaeh nods thoughtfully.

"Aika's and Evren's fighting backgrounds are very different. Anything you have in mind?" she asks. Santeri hums as he thinks for a while.

"Maybe we're overthinking it," Evren pipes up after several seconds have gone by. "We could just do some light sparring."

"Definitely." Did I give my answer too quickly? Nevaeh looks at me with clear amusement. I think any NCC competitor would be excited for a chance to playfight with the Commander of Space.

"All right, then. Let's grab a mat over there by the mirrors." Nevaeh leads us to the stretching area, which is empty right now and can provide us with some space. "Feel free to use your figures, but let's do this with light contact rules. Just a tap will count as a hit. And let's refrain from takedowns. This isn't a full, dedicated room. And we might get some onlookers." She looks around the gym pointedly but I don't bother following.

"Oh, of course, no problem." Evren gives me a thumbs up and I smile back at her.

"Three two-minute rounds will be enough of a warmup," Santeri says as he stands next to Nevaeh and pulls out a stopwatch. Nevaeh pulls out her phone to match. I can see her swiping through her apps while Santeri waits patiently. The technology difference makes me laugh a bit. Evren gives me an amused side-eye, too.

Nevaeh finally announces that she's ready and I turn my full attention to my opponent. My opponent. Evren is my opponent. I have to focus, but the seriousness in her eyes – despite her permanent charming smile – is disarming. "Go." Santeri's barely given the word and Evren and I are already face to face. I turn my body just in time to miss her strike to the gut.

She is way faster than I thought. The recordings don't do her justice.

It takes everything in me, figure included, to dodge her barrage of strikes. I don't even get a chance to retaliate before our coaches announce that round one is over. I can feel my heart rate rising, and my muscles are getting warmer, but I can't tell if that's at all influenced by the fact that I am fighting the Grand Champion.

"You're wicked fast," Evren says my way as she stretches her shoulders. She sounds impressed. I smile widely without thinking.

"Thanks! You're honestly not too bad yourself." 'Not too bad?' Am I nuts?! Oh, she's laughing, good. Hopefully she doesn't think I'm an egotistical douchebag.

It's time for round two. Ok, I need to chill. Calm down, Aika, you only need to focus on one thing right now: counter. Don't let her shell out all the punches. Deep breath... I drop my shoulders a little. Good.

"Go." I'm ready this time. I stare, unblinking, at Evren's form in front of me and I see it. There's a faint glimmer in the air before Evren appears before me. I dodge her strike again, but this time I'm focused and prepared; I step to her open side and go for the stomach. I miss. Then I feel a jab in my side.

We both retreat. My breaths are definitely getting louder, so my body is clearly feeling the tension as much as my brain is. Neither of us moves for a bit, but it doesn't take long before I decide that I need to take initiative this time. I'm running at her, closing the couple-meter gap between us pretty quickly, and I go for a feint-jab combo.

I almost catch her.

She sees it coming at the last second and she moves closer so my jab overshoots. My shoulder's open and she takes a chance. Ow, her jabs hurt, even in light contact. The open hand just makes the pain more precise. I can't imagine what she could do if she aims for nerve clusters. I wonder if she's trained with pressure points...

Yep! She has! Ow!

My right arm is pretty much useless for the next few seconds, but it only takes a couple of seconds to take advantage of that. I retreat again, Evren following, but I manage to dodge her while moving backward with the help of a little propulsion, à la figure. Then we break.

I circle my arms a few times to loosen up the shoulder Evren just went for, and then I twist my body left and right to limber up my spine for some more deft dodging. Evren hasn't said anything to me this time and is just stretching. I wonder what she's thinking about. Maybe I've impressed her? I hope I've impressed her. This is going really well; I can tell she's taking me seriously. I'm probably smiling weirdly big right now, but no one's pointed anything out so I feel like I'm good. Then again, I don't think I care what I look like right now.

I'm thinking I can improve again for round three.

...High hopes, those were. I'm winded and panting. Evren got me right at the get-go. She knew I had adapted to her opening strike. Damn. Now Nevaeh's shaking Santeri's hand and chattering about something or other. I can't hear them over the blood pumping through my head.

"Hey, thanks for that," I hear Evren suddenly beside me. I look up and give her a thumbs up, like she did for me – a gesture of solidarity, but also because I'm still catching my breath. "Let's do this again sometime," she continues as she gently claps me on the back.

"Absolutely." I manage to speak the one word in a normal voice. I wave Evren and her uncle away as they head to a private training room, and immediately after they walk out of sight Nevaeh rounds on me.

"Did you get anything useful?" she asks. I can tell that she's not expecting me to have anything, after all my talking up about it, but I can't change the fact that she's right.

Evren's strong. I've got nothing.