Divine Enmity (Catnipz)

XXXI. Rematch.

With great surprise and effort, Haerin quickly dodged Danielle's attack, while she smiled triumphantly.

"Where did you learn that?" she said, panting.

"Outta of words, huh, Kang?"

Haerin laughed and attacked again, but Danielle dodged her. "To be honest, yes, before you would have fallen at least four times by now."

Her friend twirled her sword in her wrist, surprising Haerin even more. "You underestimate me too much."

"Oh, come on! It's not like my fault!"

Danielle laughed. "I've been practicing!"

Her friend launched a charged attack, which Haerin blocked. At least she was still stronger. The block held for a while until Haerin pushed her friend's sword aside, causing Danielle to lose her defense.

"With Heeseung?"

Danielle snorted. "As if Heeseung taught me all this," she said as she regained her stance and started launching several attacks at Haerin, causing her to back up in surprise while blocking.

"Ryujin?"

Danielle shook her head. "Nope, she would've destroyed me. You have one last guess."

Haerin blocked and stopped her friend from continuing to bombard her with attacks, dodging and hitting her with the hilt of the sword.

"This isn't a guessing game!"

"You take the fun out of everything!"

Haerin quickly turned, starting to attack forcefully, causing Danielle to be startled, but she blocked her attacks well.

"Come on, Danielle! Spit it out!"

Danielle smiled excitedly. "Hanni taught me!"

Haerin stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Pham? Since when?"

She began to approach her friend again, counterattacking while their swords clashed and blocked each other's attacks.

"Well, you know..." Danielle said while ducking and dodging an attack from Haerin, "...while you were with your head in the clouds thinking about Kim, she and I..."

Haerin, upon hearing the name Minji, attacked harder and knocked Danielle down. "Uh-huh, go on..."

Danielle snorted. "You really can't take a joke."

Haerin laughed while helping her up. "It's not my fault you don't know how to make them."

"What do you mean by that?"

Haerin shrugged. "Nothing, nothing."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "As I was saying," she emphasized, "while you were off in your daydreams, I've been meeting Hanni several times in the arena and well... she just offered to help me."

"Just like that?"

Danielle blushed. "Uh... let's just say my sword slipped from my hands and I almost cut her arm... so she helped me to avoid that."

Haerin laughed. "Wow, like when you almost shot an arrow into her forehead."

Danielle blushed. "Hey! It wasn't my fault!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure..." Haerin sheathed her sword. "And did she help you? That doesn't sound like Pham."

Danielle started playing with her hands. "Well, she mostly laughs at me, mock me and I tease her back sometimes, but in return, she helps me with training."

Haerin observed her friend curiously, noticing the change in her tone of voice and the way her eyes sparkled when talking about Hanni. "Looks like you two have been spending a lot of time together lately."