Victoria White reveals something.

It was 6:30 pm when they finished. Two and a half hours of workout. Leo was feeling fine, but the others were at different levels of exhaustion. The other guy, Inoue-san, seemed to be doing relatively fine. Sweating and tired, but didn’t look like it was anything out of the ordinary for him. The other girl, Kato-san, seemed like the most exhausted of the bunch, as Victoria had her run more drills to get her used to the motions of hand to hand combat. Angela was tired, but otherwise doing okay, and Valerie had to use a towel to dry off the sweat as she sat down on a bench.

He approached his housemates, and speaking in a lower voice, told them, “Victoria asked me to stay for a moment. Seems like she has something to tell me. So after you clean up, go back without me.”

Angela narrowed her eyes at him, then glanced towards Victoria before turning to him again with a softer expression. “I like her, so I approve.” She nodded.

“Ah?”

“She also knows about us, so I guess it makes sense,” she added.

“…I don’t think that’s what this is about,” Leo said.

“But would you like it to be?”

“…Maybe?” His non-committal answer made Angela scowl at him. “Okay, yes,” he admitted.

Valerie just looked back and forth between them, feeling both a little confused and a little left out. She really needed to learn Japanese as soon as possible.

They all went to their respective locker rooms to take their showers. Leo gave a polite goodbye to Inoue-san, who bowed with a small smile and left. Kato-san ran up to him, and they exchanged a few words before she punched him on the shoulder for whatever reason. Leo was too far away and didn’t know them enough to tell if that was in good fun or not. He hoped it was.

Angela and Valerie left as well, leaving Leo alone in the training room. Victoria came back, and gestured for him to sit down on a bench. She sat next to him and let out a drawn out sigh.

“Hey, have you wondered why I know so much about you guys and the Tensai Clan?” she asked, wasting no time in starting.

Leo nodded. “Yeah. Caught me off guard when we met,” he said. “I figured Mrs. Wisler informed you since we’d be a weird enough bunch.”

“That’s part of it,” Victoria agreed with a chuckle before she turned solemn. “The thing is… I once wanted to be like you all.”

“…Eh?”

“I wanted to be the best fighter in the world. The greatest MMA champion to ever exist and write down my name in history,” she said with a nostalgic smile. “This was at the age of 20, mind you, before I experienced how damn vast the world is. I trained, I fought, I traveled, I learned, but it wasn’t enough. There’s always someone better. I got two shots at the UFC belt, but lost both times to the same woman.” She clicked her tongue with a bitter grin. “I was pissed and started looking into ways to become stronger. For a moment I even considered doping, but my coach was wise enough to slap the idea out of my head real quick. Desperation makes you stupid, she said.”

Leo could agree to that.

“Eventually, reading about the greats in many disciplines and talking to enough people led me to hear rumors about the Tensai Clan, people with unparalleled talent that somehow seemed to dominate more than just areas of sport. I did everything I could to find out more, and a few years ago ended up on this island, where I met the old lady. I asked her to teach me the method to gain a Gift, and fuck me did she give me a cold stare I won’t soon forget,” Victoria laughed loudly. “She must have seen how serious I was, because she told me everything. The things her ancestors had to give up, the pain and frustration you all have to deal with every day, and the lengths she was going through to attempt the cleansing of the curse. Got rid of my desire for a Gift then and there.”

“So… you gave up on your dream of being the best?”

“Pretty much,” Victoria nodded casually. “It was a foolish dream born from nothing but arrogance. I ended up opening this place with the money I had and I’m satisfied with it. I teach a general self-defense class, there’s enough subscriptions to keep the place going, and I can pass on all I’ve learned, so I know it wasn’t a waste.”

“…”

The truly smart are those who use their talents to find happiness, right?

“So why am I telling you all this? Well, for one, I wanted to vent,” she chuckled. “Haven’t told this to anyone, and I just wanted to get it off my chest. You know the feeling, right?”

“Yeah,” Leo chuckled as well.

“But I also wanted to ask you for a bit of help.”

“Mmm?”

“Those two, Angela and Valerie? I said it when I met you all, but I’m even more sure after today. They’re insane. If they train and prepare themselves, the champion that beat me would be an absolute joke in front of them.” She smiled. “But don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to train them to avenge me or anything. They want to reach those heights, and what I want is to witness it. I want to help them reach the heights normal people can’t, and I’d like you to help me do that.”

“Me? How?”

She grinned. “You didn’t notice since you were focused on your own training, but those two turned to look at you a lot.”

“Oh?” Leo was a little happy to hear that. “Did they?”

“Yep. So I want you to help me keep them motivated. Angela hates doing monotonous practice. It’s what she needs now, but I fear she’ll get bored and drop the training. And if she drops the training, I feel Valerie will, too. So if you can practice drills at home with them, I think it’ll help.”

Leo nodded. “I had planned on doing that. I already do something like that with Angela, and I’d like to practice with Valerie, too.”

“You have it rough, don’t you? Doesn’t dealing with horny teenagers make you want to pull your hair out?”

Leo couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not the teenagers that give me the most trouble.”

“Is that so?” she laughed along with him. “But hey, when I said I knew everything, I meant everything. I know what you have to do to break the curse.”

Leo’s heart skipped a beat, and his face started heating up. But he chided himself for it. He needed to stop getting flustered like that, or he’d never make any progress. Besides, this was basically Victoria throwing him a bone to see if he’d pick it.

He examined her expression as quickly as he could. She had a teasing smile on her face, and her eyes were a little playful. It was different than when she was coaching them. There was one thing that bother him, however, and it was the hint of sympathy he detected on her. Was she doing this out of pity? Leo decided that, even if she was, it wasn’t a chance to pass up. He’d just need to make sure to turn that from pity to genuine interest. With that settled, he took a leap of faith.

“Do you? Then you’d see right through me if I asked you out on a date this Sunday?”

“I would,” Victoria said, still grinning. “And would your other lady friends give us trouble for it?”

“They wouldn’t. They know what I have to do. Hell, some of them are very pushy about it.”

“Then let’s go to the beach. I’ll decide after that if we should go any further. Deal?”

So that’s how she wanted to do this. Well, it was fine with him. “Deal.”

“Sunday, then. 11:30 at the beach.”

“I’ll make us lunch.”

“You cook?” she asked, surprised.

“I try,” he said with a modest, yet confident tone.

“Alright then.” It could’ve been wishful thinking this time, but Leo believed he saw Victoria getting a bit more excited.