Reunion:the return of the greatest star

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"It's interesting."

Furina answered politely, but her response was clipped enough to indicate subtly her lack of interest in talking to Navia. However, she couldn't concentrate on the sparring either, no matter how she stared at Skirk and Childe's figures.

Only useless, intrusive thoughts filled her head instead of concentrating on the match, like she was supposed to do. She had wanted to see how Childe had improved after she had pointed out the flaws in his fighting strategy last week, but it seemed she would not be able to give a complete assessment at this moment.

"I never thought you would be interesting in a sparring match," Neuvillette had said suddenly as he turns to Furina. Furina turns to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I could say the same for you." Neuvillette does not answer her little quip at him. Instead, his gaze falls to the open notebook in her lap. On the pages were hastily drawn sketches of a few fighting stances, words written all over the page illegibly.

"You've been taking down notes of them sparring."

Neuvillette stated matter-of-factly, as Furina nodded.

"I have."

"What for? You seem very invested in their sparring, for some reason."

Furina's eyes narrow in their gaze towards Neuvillette. Her palm gently sweeps over the pages, and she wished she had closed her notebook before the nosiest dragon in the whole world had the chance to peek at it.

What could she tell him?

'Oh, it's nothing much. I'm just assessing Childe's progress. Why you might ask? Well, because he will be joining the IAD to assist Skirk, his master and the vice-chief. Did I mention I'm the chief that has been MIA for over 500 years?'

Oh aeons, she could not tell him that.

"Watching them spar gave me inspiration," Furina lied skillfully, faking a thoughtful look as she looks down at the pages. Hopefully, he couldn't read the words and see the true content in the pages...

"For a new play?" Neuvillette asked after a while, a hint of genuine curiosity in his voice. Furina nodded, a little relieved he bought the lie, and even given her an excuse to play to her advantage.

"Why, yes. But ah, it's a work in progress," Furina snaps the notebook close, just as Skirk and Childe had stopped their sparring. Furina notes Childe's currently beat-up state with a hint of admiration. Childe was a strong fighter. Given how young he was, it was impressive he managed to hold himself against many other skilled warriors far older and more experienced than him.

But what truly set him apart from others, in Furina's eyes, was his tenacity and (close to insane) daringness. Not often had she met another person that had such a strong will and ambition, so much so that she was impressed by it.

Perhaps that was why he caught her attention enough for Furina to help him improve his fighting skills. Raw strength could only get you so far, after all.

Fighting was not just about brute strength, or how agile you are, or how fast your attacks were. Knowing your weaknesses, your strengths, analyzing your opponents to identify their weakness and strengths, how to play things to your advantage, strategy could change the outcome of a fight, even if you were not physically capable as your opponent.

Furina wasn't the strongest, fastest or the most agile fighter out there, but she made up for her weaknesses with her out-of-the-box thinking and ability to think on her feet.

"Miss Skirk had beat up Mr. Tartaglia rather badly. Though, he doesn't seem to mind."

"From what I observe of them, Tartaglia relishes in fighting. It would be more accurate to say, if Skirk held back, he would mind more," Furina said, slightly amused as she watches Childe quickly bounced back on his feet, pestering his master for a re-match after dinner. Skirk just ignored him. Instead, her friend was looking in their direction, clearly surprised by the new audience.