Space and Time

Pressure Point

"How's your head, Aika?"

"It's fine."

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

I sigh. Nevaeh gives me a look and I bite my tongue. It's only a mild concussion, 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, I'm confident 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 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 Facebook 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 for observation. We might even find her weakness."

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

"It's precisely 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 going to great lengths 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 concussion?" She's not letting up. I'm actually considering using what Lev suggested earlier, 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.

I feel my excitement rise as I count down the minutes to Evren's arrival. 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. 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.