Reika said nothing more, simply letting Suichi guide her to wherever they were supposed to go. She didn’t even question the coincidence of her relieved absence; she had been gone a good majority of the day after all. Skipping it entirely wouldn’t do much, although it would subsequently damage her overall attendance record.

Oh well.

Back at the AST headquarters, Kenji smiled brightly as the two battle-ready girls went at it. Tipping his fedora back, he watched the both of them very closely, scanning for any signs of weakness in <Aether’s> form or stance.

“Nice day for a sparring match, no?” he casually remarked to the Commander. “Tell me Commander, what do you think of DEM’s latest model? Do you think it’s something you might consider using on the field?”