Space and Time

Who's that Girl?

♪ "Yo, yo, yo, they wanna know, who's that girl?" ♪

"Evren, you are listening to Eve? What year is it?" Iida's calling me from the kitchen and I'm forced to stop my impromptu dance party before it can even begin.

"Don't judge me!" I yell as I turn down the volume on my laptop. Iida appears at my door in the next couple of seconds.

"You don't usually go down Nostalgia Road unless something's bothering you. What's up?" she asks, pointing a stirring spoon at me. I throw the question back at her, amused.

"You don't usually bake in the middle of the morning unless something's bothering you." Iida sighs, rolls her eyes, and folds her arms.

"It was Naeem again. I told him that his weird workaround would come back to bite him in the ass, but he didn't listen, and now I have to clean up his mess of code because he's on vacation and I'm the only one who even remotely has the expertise to deal with this project," she's stomping away from me as she's speaking, as usual, so I follow her through the hallway and into the kitchen, where she continues ranting, "and they're not even paying me overtime for this! I swear," she turns around suddenly and waves her spoon menacingly at me, "when Naeem comes back to the office, he's going to be hearing from me. He owes me one."

"That sounds totally unfair," I say as I sit down at the dining table, across from Baba. He looks up at me from his book – there's a twinkle in his eye – and he makes a dismissive 'crazy lady's at it again'-kind of motion.

"Kibwe, I see you!" Iida calls from the kitchen. Baba feigns worry but winks at me when Iida turns away to continue angrily stirring her cookie batter. "Oh, Evren has been listening to early 2000s music, but she won't talk to her mother about it, so you should get her to fess up," Iida adds before I hear her punching oven buttons. I sigh.

"You're still in earshot; what makes you think I'll talk to Baba when you can clearly hear?" I tease. Iida says something in Finnish, a phrase I've taken to mean she's completely done with me, although neither she nor Baba has ever translated it for me so who really knows...? Baba taps me on the arm and raises his brows at me. I cave.

"There's this girl-"

"A girl?!" Iida immediately runs around the counter and peeks her head out excitedly. I laugh and wave her off.

"An NCC newcomer," I clarify as Baba chuckles and Iida looks disappointed.

"Aw, it's about your fighting stuff. That's boring," Iida says as she goes back to her stress-baking. I roll my eyes, smiling, and continue.

"Anyway, you might've seen her on TV. Her name is Aika Inoue."

"The time traveler you have been ranting to us about?" Baba asks.

"She's a fast-forwarder."

"Ah, it's the same." It's not, but whatever. Let's get on with the point.

"Round One of our points matches has finished up, and Aika won hers against Gabriel. He 'ain't an easy opponent." Baba nods thoughtfully.

"I remember him, you broke his nose a few years ago."

"By accident!" I say. Baba shrugs and flashes me a grin.

"Sure," he says, insincerely. Man, my parents must have a tease-off bet going on or something, because this is really getting old.

"Ugh, Baba..."

He relents. "Yes, yes, I'm listening, I'm listening. Go ahead," he encourages, seriously this time.

"She's a professional," I explain. "And she came out of nowhere. You should've seen her fight, she's not a fluke. Santeri said that she evaporated Gabriel's water to get her opening. She has control over time and... and speed to a molecular level, and she's only 18! That's insane!"

"Impressive." Baba nods his head thoughtfully. "Is she making you nervous?"

"Yeah," I answer honestly. "I mean, I wouldn't mind being beaten, but I've just... gotten used to where I'm at."

"I know you like a good challenge," Baba says. "I think you can learn a lot from her."

"Yeah, I think so too, but what if I become her friend but then after she wins she just tosses me aside?"

"Evren," Baba throws me a skeptical look, "you haven't made a bad friend yet, in all your years. You're a good judge of people. And besides, if it does happen, your mom and I will take care of it."

"Absolutely!" Iida calls from the kitchen. She's not even trying to hide the fact that she's eavesdropping. I'm not mad though. They're sweet.

"And Evren, you can be someone's friend and competitor at the same time. You of all people know how to separate personal from professional," Baba finishes.

I think about it. He's right, of course. I have friends who are also competitors. Justin is an example. So is Emily. I've even nearly put one of them in the ER (by accident, of course). Why would Aika be any different? I guess I just haven't made a new NCC friend in a while; is that why I'm nervous? Is it her unusual figure that's getting to me? It shouldn't; figures don't really say anything about people's friend potential.

"I just need to figure Aika out. I hate not knowing what to expect. She's obviously really good," I think aloud.

"Then ask her," Baba says simply. "That is what you usually do."

"Hm."

"Don't worry so much. Making friends only gets harder as you get older; this is natural at your age."

"Hey! I'm only 23!"

Iida pipes up as she comes out of the kitchen and sits down with us at the table, "Mmm, you're an oldie now, there is no point in denying it." I groan, but I'm still smiling. They most definitely have a bet going on, I can't let them have their way with this. "You're the 'Commander of Space,'" Iida continues, "but you aren't all-powerful. This Aika girl is just like you were when you entered the Combat Championship. So, if she's human – and I suppose we haven't proven that she is, so you should investigate that part – she isn't an undefeatable roadblock either."

"Yeah, that's true," I agree. "Thanks, guys." I smile at Iida and Baba. They're really the best, even if they still don't completely understand why I went into professional fighting. "Hey, tell me when those cookies are ready, I'm feelin' like I wanna finish the millennial dance party you interrupted," I tell Iida as I'm getting up from my chair. She waves me off and I go back to my laptop to turn on some Eve again. I'm in need of some pumping up before I dive back into some research.

♪ "If I gotta keep it gritty, so be it!" ♪

We're in the NCC. If I'm gonna have to fight Aika, then of course I want to win. We all have weaknesses. I've got one. Aika's got one. And I'm gonna find it out. If I need to change my tactics to counter it, so be it. She's my rival.