A week has passed since the friends started their regimens. Every day after school, they train at the grounds. Kubo himself joins a good hour later, closing his store early to aid them.


    “Right. You kids are doing pretty well for yourselves.” He watches them all training their Remnants. Shoji, taking it more seriously from his usual laziness, throws his stuffed bear at the trees, cutting through a few of them. Ishimoto levitates the fallen logs slightly. Okazaki conjures and swirls his knives into a punching bag he brought to practice his precision. Usagi kicks the trees and strengthens her legs, and Takei helps heal her when she pushes herself too far. All are practicing except for Keiko, who sits in the grass staring away.


    Kubo approaches her, getting down to her level.


    “Something wrong, Keiko?”


    “Huh, what!? Oh, it’s just you.” She sneers. “Everything is fine, I’m just struggling, is all, but I’ll get it. You’ll see!” Keiko is trying to summon her power once again from her cards, but she fails to do so. It’s irritating to her, and she starts to give up.


    “Your power. It has something to do with your cards, yes?”


    “Yeah. But I can’t get it to work! It’s so frustrating because one day I can do it just fine, and the other I can’t.” She shuffles her cards, being skilled at it. It’s almost like a blackjack dealer, which shows Kubo one thing.


    “You’re good at shuffling those cards. How long did it take you to get good at that?” he asks.


    “To shuffle these cards? I think it was around a year or so. Ishi, Okazaki, and I used to play a lot, but none of us were good at shuffling the deck. So I learned how to do it for us.” She smiles, proud of her accomplishment.


    “That’s a kind thing to do. Making sure you yourself know how to do it so you and your friends can have fun.” He grins back.


    “Yeah, you can say that. I just really wanted to make sure we can all have fun. Playing games together has always been our thing, though. We used to play board games more when we were little.”


    “And you all wanted to try something different, correct?” She nods in response.


    “Keiko, the cards are an extension of you now. They may not be part of your physical body, but they’re like game pieces on a board game.” He takes out a note and paper.


    “Are you able to conjure things from thin air!? Where do these things come from!?” Keiko asks, baffled.


    “Perception will definitely need to be part of our training.” He sighs.


    “Anyway, imagine it like this.” He draws a checkered board, and game pieces are laid out in different areas, simulating a game of chess. “Wait.” He scratches it out and makes a board game instead. She can’t fully tell which game it’s referencing, but she understands the layout. Kubo definitely feels this is better suited to her. “In a board game, everyone starts on equal footing. Nobody is above anyone else or below. All is balanced. That is, until the first person makes the first move. Once that happens, uneven ground is laid, and the person who gets on top wins. But every step along the way, there are ups and downs. That’s how it is for you right now. In private, you have your ups. In the presence of others, you have your downs. Now, what do you need to make a badly placed board piece have an advantage?”


    She ponders and answers, “To take a risk?”


    “To take a risk in board games is sometimes the only choice. The choice to make sure you get to your ultimate goal. Your failure now doesn’t make up everything; it’s simply a step that needs to be had, and you have to take a risk to succeed.” His eyes meet with her, gazing. “Show me you can do it, full force.”


    “W-wait! Wha!? I definitely can’t do it if you’re staring at me like that! You’re like a creepy hawk!”


    “You have to learn to be able to do it under pressure. All of you do. The enemy will not hesitate to make you feel uncomfortable, weak, or worthless. You must learn to master the ability to take that risk every single time, understand?”


    Keiko glances away at the ground. She has a confused feeling, but she starts to understand his process more. She is still unsure; she isn’t even able to always do this in private, but she knew he was right. She has to do this. She raises a card, a faint pink glow starting to encapsulate the edges of the ace.


    “I can do this. I can. The risk of not getting better is worse than the risk of working hard to get better.” All of her focus is being poured in, and the card starting to shine. Kubo raises his eyebrow, intrigued by the color. The card rises above her hand. It floats in place, her palm placed beneath. She concentrates harder and harder until the card falls to the ground.


    “Oh dang it! I almost had it that time!” she scoffs.


    “You did better that time,” he assures.


    Just then, Takei and Usagi approach the two, preparing to take a break. They can see the glare of Keiko’s eye, a withering ego.


    “So, what’s up with you two over here? I haven’t seen you out there training, Keiko. Everything all right?” Usagi asks.


    “Yeah, yeah, everything is all right. See, I’m just having trouble actually doing anything. My Remnant only works sometimes, like when I’m in my room.” Everyone comes over now, the boys overhearing.


    “You have trouble, Keiko? I know! Maybe try to imagine a fiery skull, and it’s charging at you. Before it can get to you to attack you, throw one of those cards right in its face! That’s what I’ve been doing with my daggers!”


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    “I truly doubt that will work for Keiko, Okazaki,” Ishimoto says in disbelief at his statement.


    “How about something she loves, like, for example, I’ve been thinking of sleep, and it calms me so much that my Remnant is super easy to use.” Shoji throws in.


    “Well, that certainly seems more broad and likely to help. There’s definitely more to it.”


    “Yeah, I say it’s like a muscle. You have to use it to get anywhere. Oi, Keiko. How about you try flexing your Remnant while we all watch?”


    “Wait… what?”


    Starrrree. They all stare at her as she jumps up.


    “Hey, you stop that, all of you! It’s making me feel like I’m a mouse in a field!” She shouts.


    “Sorry,” they all say together, glancing away.


    “Yeah, but I think it’ll be beneficial. I overheard you two talking over here, and I have to say I agree with Kubo. We’ll be under a ton of stress during our encounters with the Remnants. We have to learn to stay confident, cool, and collected under pressure.” Her foot is placed on the ground, and she then draws out a circle, standing in it. “So we’re going to help you, all right? Everyone, come stand beside me, and we’re all going to watch her,” says Usagi.


    “This is utterly ridiculous! It’s going to make me do worse, not better!” Despite her protest, everyone follows Usagi''s lead. Everyone looks on as the weltering embarrassment builds inside the light pink-eyed girl. “Don’t… f-fine, but it’s not going to work you all…” She transfixes on the card, but it doesn’t float. She tries again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Failure always follows.


    “Keiko,” Ishimoto says softly.


    “Yes, Ishi?” she says in a defeated tone. “I know, I can’t do it…”


    “Keiko. You will do it. Failure is simply a word. A contextual holder until something becomes a success.” He goes to her side, Okazaki follows.


    “Yeah, I agree with egghead here. Failure ain’t nothing but a bunch of bull. Failure is something made up by funny bodies who give up, that’s it.”


    Her expression is saddened, but she manages to look at them both.


    “But I just can’t, guys. I don’t even think I’m cut out for this fighting thing to begin with. It’s all really scary.”


    “Fighting is a frightful thing, don’t get me wrong, Keiko.” The bunny charm girl bends to her knees, level with her eyes. “Hell, I get scared too sometimes. Just cause I’m always saving your guys'' butts doesn’t mean I’m not scared. Hell, Keiko, even confidence is still riddled with fear. Fear never fully goes away for anyone.”


    “Mm-hmm.” Takei nods. “The world is scary, and it’s even scarier now more than ever. I’ve given it a lot of thought myself. The horrible world those people are creating and how we are the few to stop them. But to stop them. That means they’ll have to die…” She pauses, the ground in view. They notice her silence.


    “Well, we don’t know how we’ll take care of them, Takei. But one thing is for certain: we need to fight. To win,” Usagi states.


    “Kiki,” Ishimoto says. Keiko’s head launches up. She hadn’t heard that name in so long. It is as if a tsunami of memories hit her brain.


    “Do you recall the time when we all found that lake? It was kind of like that one over there but in a more wooded area and bigger. Remember you said it would be a great camping spot?”


    “Y-yeah, that was a long time ago. We were like eight.”


    “That was a peaceful night, wasn’t it? The tree leaves fluttering, the lake swooshing so gently, you remember, right, Okazaki?”


    “I do. That night was like… better than a motorcycle,” he claims.


    “Y-yes,” Ishimoto stutters, not understanding.


    “Try to imagine it, Keiko.” Doing as he asks, she seals her eyes shut. The memory of them floods back. Her head rests against a bark tree, the water runs downstream, and the fish flop about. If she were a bear, she could have snatched one with her teeth. She then imagines that Usagi can do that with her Remnant power. She giggles to herself and, by instinct, places her hand beneath the card once more. It floats.


    The card stays suspended in the air. It twirls around at a snail''s pace before hopping around like a kangaroo on her palm. The energy around it is a livid pink.


    “I can do it. I can,” she repeats to herself. The card jumps up into the air, flying at a blinding pace. It circles a nearby tree and cuts back in their direction, handling between Kubo. He dodges back without uttering a word. Then, the card turns into a brilliant flash of light, and out of the light comes a stack of yen.


    “I did it!” she says, opening her eyes happy.


    “Is that money you just made?” Takei sees the amount. 10,000 yen, nothing to scoff at.


    “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm! I can make my cards into money temporarily. That’s what I did the other day when we got ice cream, remember!? The only thing is, it lasts maybe an hour at the most, and once it stops, the card returns to me, which I probably shouldn’t be saying in front of Kubo.” She laughs nervously.


    “What!? You rotten thief! That’s why I was short that day!” he seethes with rage.


    “I’m sorry! I didn’t know that until the day when the card was returned to me, I swear! I’ll pay you back!”


    “You damn well better! Rotten girl.”


    “Kubo.” Ishimoto stands.


    “Please refrain from being rude to my friend.” He takes out a wallet from his back pocket, handing out the price of ice cream for the group. “This cash won’t end up disappearing, so do take it.”


    Kubo takes it unsatisfied from the lack of justice. “Fine. But one thing, Keiko. Try to light up your opinion of me from now on. I really hate to be so hated,” he says to her eyes facing away. “Now I believe that’s enough for today all. I have work in the morning, so let’s continue again tomorrow.” He stiffens up and takes his leave without another word.


    “Damn, watermelon, you sure got to him.” Okazaki chortles.


    “Watermelon? Kiki? Are we all kids again? Ah, it makes me so happy! You remember my nicknames, Ishi and Oki!”


    “Indeed. They provide a lot more creativity than the ones you have us.” Ishimoto joins in the laughter.


    “Hey!” She pouts. “I may not be the most creative when it comes to names, but when it comes to our powers, you’ll see!”


    “You going to wash the bad guys in a flood of money? Maybe a sea of coins, Miss McDuck?” Shoji says, chuckling.


    “Hey, stop teasing me, I’m not the rich duck Shoji! Takei!?”


    “Everyone. Let’s be nice to her.” Takei can’t prevent a breath from escaping her throat. “She’s, she’s…” She grips her stomach in laughter, and everyone is hollering now.


    “Hey, all of you, stop it! It’s only funny when I make the jokes. I’m the jokester of the group! Y-y-you hams!” her retort doesn’t dissuade them, nor does she find it a good comeback. Instead, it makes her follow their lead, erupting in laugher.


    After a long day of training, this is a welcome sound. The power stored in them all is beginning to grow and strengthen. This is only the start. They all know that well, but their confidence in one another builds with the passing days. We can actually do this.


    “Let’s all keep working hard, guys. We’re all already improving, and it’s clear we have a lot of work to do, but if we keep going, we’re going to beat them!” Usagi leads on a cheer. Everyone joins in boasting morale.


    “Hell yeah! Those guys are yesterday’s toast the second we get stronger.”


    “I agree. We’ll reduce them back to their base states.”


    “Those big bad meanies are going to wish they weren’t ever born!”


    “We’ll save this world and everyone in it no matter what.”


    “Snoooorrrre.”


    “We’re going to stomp them out like the piles of dirt they are, no problem!”


    The uproar recedes, and they all gather their stuff. “Welp, time to head home. See you all tomorrow. I’m going to throw some knives at the dart board I bought the other day.” Okazaki heads off, and Ishimoto and Keiko are not far behind. “Oh, wait, guys!” Keiko heads over to Shoji, waking him. “Come on, sleepyhead, it’s time to sleep in a bed, okay?”


    “Okay, yes..” He rubs his eyes, follows Keiko, and sticks close so he does not lose his way.


    “Hey. Takei.” Takei hears Usagi as she finishes readying herself.


    “Yes?” she asks.


    “You mind us walking home together?”


    “Of course not. Our homes are near the same road. Let’s go.”