Saturday couldn't come any slower to her.

As she sat in her classes throughout that week, all she could think about is who or what Alibaba was like. Would they be nice, or would they just take advantage of her the entire time.

Before she could know it, she was in a car with her uncle, diving towards the dojo.

Her uncle was the one driving of course, as he wanted Kanari to relax before she went to bed.

But he didn't know that Kanari was deathly afraid, and was unable to relax.

"What made you agree to coming?" her uncle asked, not taking his eyes off the road for a second, "You always have something planned."

"I didn't this time." she responded.

"Ryuji-kun didn't plan anything today?"

"Not at all. He was kind of out of it today. We did get a new transfer student today though."

"Interesting. Well," he pulled into a parking lot as he said so, "We're here." he turned off the engine and exited the car. 

Kanari followed suit shortly after, hesitantly exiting. 

"You good?" her uncle asked as he looked at her with concern.

"Yeah, I've just had a long day."

Her uncle gave nothing in reply as he just tilted his head to the side, and he entered the dojo.

Kanari sighed heavily before she followed suit.

She opened the doors to the familiar dojo and swallowed nervously. The dojo hadn't changed much, and there was a small group of students practicing various aikido moves on each other.

Kanari followed her uncle into a smaller office, and he opened the door. "Well," he began, moving to the side so Kanari could enter, "This is it. If you could rearrange the desk I'd really appreciate it." Kanari turned to look back at her uncle, who just scratched the back of his head.

"No problem." she replied, her head looking back to the desk, which had several stacks of paper piled high all over the desk.

Kanari rested her hands on her hips and she smiled. "Let's get to work then."

Kanari began to shift through the various papers that were stacked in tall heaps all over her uncle's desk. She would pause every once in a while whenever she had seen a document that had attracted her interest.

After she had cleared most of the stacks she stepped back to admire her work. She smiled as she stared at the desk, all the papers were either in the recycling bin or they were inside the bins and drawers inside the desk.

Kanari turned to exit the office when suddenly there was a flop, and she turned her head to look at the origin of the sudden noise.

Her gaze fell upon a small stack of papers that had fallen on the ground. Kanari curiously walked over to the papers on the wooden floor, kneeling when she had reached close proximity. With a swift movement, Kanari reached out with a steady hand to grab the stack.

Pulling it close to her face, Kanari looked at the papers, reading the title. It read "Cognitive Perception" at the top.

Kanari couldn't believe what she had seen. She turned her head back to look out the door. She saw her uncle teaching a small group of young children different techniques of guarding against blunt objects.

"Uncle Suigetsu, I'm heading off!" she waved over at him.

"Okay Kanari, text me when you're home then!" he replied, not once looking over at her. Her uncle was dressed in his usual dojo attire- his light gray T-shirt with the matching colored yoga pants, his simple black cotton belt tied around his waist.

"Sure." she exited the dojo without worry. The sky was a mixture of oranges and reds that faded into blues and violets. It was getting dark.

She walked home by herself, ever aware of her surroundings as she walked home.

About ten minutes into her walk, Kanari was walking down a dimly lit street, looking behind her when she walked into someone, and Kanari nearly fell on her bottom.

Nearly being the keyword. Kanari felt her wrist being caught by an outstretched arm, and she was pulled back to her feet, albeit a bit too close in her opinion, as Kanari was pulled flush into someone else's chest.

Kanari nearly cursed herself for her lack of awareness as she felt her face heat up with embarrassment.

Kanari pulled herself away from the person, her eyes closed, and she used a hand to push the other person, who fell to the ground with a audible "What the heck?!"

It took a second before she opened her eyes, as she recognized the voice. "S-Sorry Ryuji-kun!" she exclaimed, bringing a hand to her face with worry, "I thought you were somebody else!"

Her blonde haired friend stood up, a hand clenching the fabric of his jacket, "I've told you like a million times to watch where you're going." was all he offered before Kanari sighed.

"Anyways," she began, "I was on my way home, it'd be great if someone escorted me home."

"I was actually heading to a nearby cafe, want to come with?" he asked her.

Kanari felt her heart sputter at the sudden question. "Sure," she replied, "But this late? Aren't they all usually closed by this time?"

"Not this one." he held out a hand towards her, and Kanari grabbed it.

They walked off in the night towards their destination, laughing at each other's jokes as they chatted.

Translation Notes: Soshiki translates to Organization, which I believe is written like 組織

Sorry for the shorter chapter, I've been swamped with various essays that'll help me for graduation and college applications and job applications... You know, Life happens.

I hope that all y'all had an amazing Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Let's make this year better than last year!