It's a morning like any other when the sliding door of the training hall abruptly slams open, suddenly and without warning. Shiki jolts and goes from halfway raising her wooden practice blade for a careful block to promptly hurling it across the room instead. Kiyohira-sensei immediately whirls on the doorway as well, hand flying to the hilt of his sword '

A delighted laugh sounds right next to Shiki's ear, and the little girl finds herself suddenly lifted into the air. Before she knows it, her wooden practice sword has been pressed back into her hand, and nimble fingers pinch her cheek for good measure.

"Is that really any way to greet your Toru-nii, hmm?"

" ' It's not like it would've hit you," Shiki sniffs, leaning back as she rubs at her cheek. The red lines filling her field of vision flicker and fade as she blinks once, twice,

shifting

her perspective back to 'normal' as her racing pulse calms.