----
Shinhwa's hospital was too clean.
That was Jisuk's first thought once the chaos finally stopped moving.
Too clean.
Too bright.
Too quiet in that expensive, private-medical-facility way that made every sound feel like it had to ask permission before existing.
The room they had been placed in was large enough to fit three beds comfortably, though none of them had been allowed to pretend they did not need one.
Jiwoo had been forced into the bed nearest the window.
Wooin was in the middle.
Jisuk had taken the one closest to the door.
Not because he needed to watch the entrance.
Because he had entered first and claimed it.
Obviously.
His left arm was bandaged from wrist to upper arm. The burns were not severe enough to require long-term treatment, but they hurt. Annoyingly. The kind of pain that reminded him every time he moved that yes, he had in fact been hit by a criminal fire-type awakener and thrown into a stack of rusted crates like garbage.
He lay back with both arms behind his head.
Then immediately remembered one arm hurt.
His face tightened.
Slowly, with as much dignity as possible, he adjusted so only his right arm rested behind his head.
Jiwoo noticed.
"Jisuk, does it hurt?"
"No."
"It looked like it hurt."
"It doesn't."
Wooin looked at him from the middle bed.
"You winced."
Jisuk turned his head.
"You're injured worse than me. Stop observing."
Wooin blinked slowly.
"I can observe while injured."
"Don't."
Jiwoo smiled faintly.
"I'm glad you two are okay."
Jisuk groaned and stared at the ceiling.
"Don't start."
"I didn't say anything strange."
"You're about to."
Jiwoo blinked.
"How do you know?"
"You always look like that before saying something annoying and heartfelt."
Jiwoo laughed softly, then stopped when his leg shifted.
Asuka had healed the worst before the Shinhwa medical team arrived. Jisuk knew that much.
He did not know how.
He did not know what.
But he knew.
There was no way Jiwoo's burns should look like that after what Jisuk had heard from the other end of the street.
No way Wooin should be conscious enough to answer questions.
No way Asuka should have walked away with barely a scratch after fighting a Klein brother.
Then again, that was becoming a pattern.
No way.
No way.
No way.
And yet Seo Asuka kept existing like reality had simply failed to file the proper objections.
Jisuk's eyes narrowed at the ceiling.
The Klein brothers had been strong.
He knew they were strong.
Famous criminals were not famous for being weak. Jisuk had understood that before the fight started. He had not gone in thinking they would be easy.
But he had not expected that much difference.
Not that much pressure.
Not that much weight behind each attack.
He had trained under Shinhwa his entire life. He knew his own strength. He knew where he stood among awakeners his age. He knew he was not some random rookie throwing wind around because it looked cool.
And still—
The broad Klein brother had pushed him back.
Forced him to burn energy faster than he wanted.
Hurt his arm.
Nearly cornered him.
Jisuk's jaw tightened.
He hated it.
Then he thought of Asuka.
Calm.
Blindfolded.
Moving beside him with those absurdly controlled flames.
She had fought the other Klein brother too.
Defeated him.
Sure, she had said it humbly.
Jiwoo and Wooin weakened him enough for her to finish the fight.
That was what she had said when Inhyuk asked.
Plain.
Polite.
Almost boring.
As if she had not appeared in the middle of a burned street and turned a criminal's flames against him so precisely that even the air seemed to obey.
Jisuk did not buy it.
Not fully.
Maybe Jiwoo and Wooin had worn the guy down.
Maybe Asuka had not fought him at full strength.
Actually—
Jisuk's eye twitched.
That was the problem.
She definitely had not fought at full strength.
He had seen her move.
That one instant before she left him.
The air folded.
The distance vanished.
She had moved faster than Jiwoo.
Maybe not purely with speed, but the result was the same. Worse, even.
And her flames—
Jisuk dragged his right hand over his face.
There was something wrong with her flames.
Not wrong as in bad.
Wrong as in too clean.
Too obedient.
Fire was violent. Even controlled fire had hunger. Heat spread. Flames licked. Burned. Consumed. They did not normally move like they were taking instructions in full sentences.
Asuka's did.
The broad Klein brother had noticed too.
Blindfold.
You're hiding something.
Jisuk's gaze darkened.
Yeah.
She definitely was.
Then his mind, traitorous and horrible, returned to the other impossible thing.
The cat.
Jisuk's entire body went rigid.
No.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
He had hallucinated that.
He had to have hallucinated that.
He had been hit by fire. His arm hurt. He was exhausted. Smoke inhalation was a thing. Maybe he had hit his head when he crashed into the crates.
That made sense.
That was logical.
A concussion hallucination.
A trauma response.
A stress-induced delusion involving a fat orange cat.
His cheek tingled.
Jisuk slowly lifted his hand and touched the side of his face.
The place where a paw had slapped him.
Pap.
His soul recoiled.
No.
That had happened.
The cat.
It was the cat.
Casein Nitrate.
That ridiculous orange thing had talked.
Had stood on a Klein brother's head.
Had electrocuted him.
Had threatened Jisuk Yoo with death if he told anyone.
A cat.
A cat.
Jisuk sat up abruptly.
Jiwoo looked over at once.
"Jisuk?"
Wooin blinked.
Jisuk pointed at Jiwoo.
"Your cats."
Jiwoo blinked again.
"My cats?"
"Yeah. Your cats."
Jiwoo's expression softened immediately.
The shift was so dramatic that Jisuk almost regretted asking.
Almost.
"What about them?"
Jisuk narrowed his eyes.
"Where did you get them?"
Jiwoo smiled.
"Well, they're all stray cats."
Jisuk stared.
"Just stray cats?"
"Yeah."
Jiwoo looked genuinely cheerful now, despite being bandaged, burned, and ordered to stay in bed.
"Aren't they adorable? Even strays are adorable. And they're also pretty smart."
Jisuk stared harder.
Was he crazy?
He had to be crazy.
There was no way Jiwoo Seo had looked at that orange menace and thought, Ah yes, a normal street cat.
That cat was no ordinary street cat.
Jisuk had known that from the start, hadn't he?
There had always been something off about it.
The way it looked at people.
The way it watched.
The way its eyes narrowed like it was judging everyone's combat ability and personality flaws at once.
Especially him.
It always looked at him menacingly.
Like it knew.
Like it was waiting for him to mess up so it could justify violence.
Which, apparently, it could.
Because it had.
Jisuk swallowed.
Then another thought struck him.
Asuka.
Was she crazy too?
She had to know.
No, there was no way she did not know.
She talked to that cat like it was a person.
She teased it.
Cuddled it.
Jisuk froze.
No.
No, no, no.
Absolutely not.
Jiwoo tilted his head.
"Jisuk?"
Jisuk looked around the room.
"Where's your sister?"
"Asuka?"
"No, your other blindfolded fire monster sister."
Jiwoo looked mildly confused.
"I only have one sister."
"That was sarcasm."
"Oh."
Wooin said quietly, "She was here earlier."
Jiwoo nodded.
"She said she was going to feed our adorable cats back at home and run some errands. She probably won't be back for a while."
Jisuk stared at him.
"You're injured and she just left?"
Jiwoo smiled softly.
"She knows I'm okay."
Jiwoo leaned back against his pillows with a small sigh.
"I hope the cats ate well."
Wooin turned his head slightly.
"You have many cats."
Jiwoo brightened.
"Yes. They're all very cute."
Wooin nodded.
"They are."
Jisuk looked between them.
Oh no.
No.
Not this again.
Jiwoo continued, "They're also very obedient."
Jisuk's soul attempted to evacuate.
Obedient?
Those cats?
The tabby had attacked Kayden's tail like a sworn enemy.
The grey one had bitten him and then ignored him.
The orange one had slapped him into a secrecy agreement.
Jiwoo, completely unaware of Jisuk's spiritual collapse, smiled warmly.
"People often think cats don't listen, but quite a few are obedient."
Wooin considered this seriously.
"Yes. Some cats respond well when spoken to calmly."
"Right?" Jiwoo said, delighted.
"But those sort of cats are called…"
He paused, thinking.
Wooin supplied helpfully, "You mean dogs?"
Jiwoo's eyes lit up.
"Yes! Right?"
Jisuk stared.
Jiwoo continued, "They look so cute when they're playing with each other."
Wooin nodded.
"They do."
Jisuk's head slowly lowered.
Two peas in a pod.
These two were exactly the same kind of insane.
Not loud insane.
Not Jisuk-style obviously correct, everyone else is wrong insane.
No.
Worse.
Soft insane.
The kind that looked at dangerous things and called them adorable.
Jiwoo sighed dreamily.
"Aww… Just talking about them makes me miss them even more."
Wooin nodded again.
"I understand."
Jisuk's eye twitched.
Mentally ill.
Both of them.
Completely mentally ill.
They had no idea how scary that cat was.
No, Wooin probably did.
Actually, Wooin had seen the human form.
Wooin knew.
And somehow he was still bonding with Jiwoo over cats.
Jisuk could not take it anymore.
He lifted his good fist and pounded his chest once.
Hard.
"Ugh."
Jiwoo immediately sat up.
"Jisuk? Are you feeling okay?"
Wooin's gaze sharpened with concern.
"Does your chest hurt?"
Jisuk stared at their worried faces.
The sincere concern.
The immediate panic.
The complete lack of understanding that the reason his chest hurt was because he was trapped in a hospital room with two people casually discussing cats while Jisuk alone bore the burden of knowing one of those cats was a talking electric demon.
His fist hit his chest again.
Thump.
Jiwoo panicked.
"Should I get a doctor?"
"No!"
Wooin reached toward the call button near his bed.
"Maybe we should call someone."
"Don't!"
Jiwoo, already worried, pressed the button behind him.
A soft chime sounded.
Jisuk froze.
Then slowly turned toward him.
"Why did you do that?"
"You looked like you were in pain!"
"I am in pain because of you!"
Jiwoo's eyes widened.
"Me?"
"Yes!"
Wooin frowned faintly.
"Stress can worsen injury."
Jisuk pointed at him.
"You too!"
The door opened.
A nurse entered with professional calm.
"Do you need help?"
Jisuk threw his head back.
"ARGHH!"
The nurse paused.
Jiwoo looked genuinely distressed.
Wooin looked mildly alarmed.
Jisuk lay back down and pulled the blanket over his face with his good hand.
From beneath it, his muffled voice came out furious and defeated.
"I'm fine."
The nurse looked at Jiwoo.
Jiwoo hesitated.
"He says he's fine, but…"
"I am fine!"
Wooin quietly added, "He may be emotionally distressed."
Jisuk kicked one leg under the blanket.
"I'm going to kill you both."
The nurse smiled politely, the way Shinhwa medical staff did when dealing with young awakeners who had clearly lost whatever battle they were currently fighting.
"I'll make a note."
Jisuk groaned.
Back at the Seo house, Kayden sat on the couch and stared at his paws.
His cat paws.
Round.
Soft.
Infuriating.
The tabby slept nearby, belly exposed, completely unaware of how close it had come to death several times that week.
The black cat was curled on the windowsill.
The grey scarred cat rested on Asuka's usual couch cushion, refusing to surrender the spot despite her absence.
The black-and-white queen watched Kayden from the backrest with calm superiority.
Kayden ignored all of them.
Or tried to.
His eyes remained on his paws.
Small sparks crackled faintly between the pads.
Weak.
Too weak.
He flexed his claws.
If Asuka had not been accelerating his recovery little by little, if her strange healing had not stabilized parts of his body and pathways in ways he still did not fully understand, he would have used up nearly everything against that Klein bastard.
Not even against the stronger one.
Against one criminal.
In cat form.
The thought was insulting.
Unbearable.
And if he had used up everything, how was he supposed to return to his original state?
He still had not fully recovered.
He still had enemies.
He still had three Top Ten awakeners somewhere in the world who would gladly take advantage of weakness if they found him.
And yet—
Those stupid kids.
Kayden's tail lashed.
"Those stupid kids keep ruining it for me…"
The grey cat opened one eye.
Kayden glared at it.
"What?"
The grey cat closed its eye again.
Kayden's irritation deepened.
He looked back at his paws.
Jiwoo's face came to mind.
Pale.
Burned.
Still smiling.
Please stop.
I'm not trying to be nice to him.
I just don't want you to do that because of me.
Kayden's expression tightened.
That brat.
That stupid, soft brat.
Everyone had always wanted something from Kayden.
That was normal.
Expected.
Use your power.
Get rid of them.
Kill them.
Why are you hesitating?
Hurry.
Help us.
Join us.
Fight for us.
Protect us.
Destroy them.
People approached him because of strength.
Because of influence.
Because Kayden Break standing behind someone meant no one sane would move lightly.
Some begged.
Some bargained.
Some flattered.
Some trembled.
It had all been irritating in different ways, but it made sense.
Power attracted need.
That was the world.
Then Jiwoo Seo picked up a wounded cat and worried about whether he was hungry.
Asuka Seo healed him without asking for allegiance, payment, status, or explanation beyond what he chose to give.
Even after they learned he was powerful, they did not treat him like a weapon.
Jiwoo worried about his well-being.
Asuka, deadpan and far too sharp, watched his recovery with clinical precision and still remembered to feed him.
Annoying.
Both of them.
Jiwoo with his soft, innocent face and impossible sincerity.
Asuka with her calm teasing and old eyes and habit of saying things that made Kayden feel uncomfortable in his own chest.
Both annoying.
Both troublesome.
Both his disciples now.
Kayden sighed.
A long, heavy sound that made the tabby twitch in its sleep.
"Well."
His tail flicked.
"Looks like I have no choice but to stay."
He could regain his energy anytime.
That was what he told himself.
Eventually.
With enough rest.
With enough training.
With Asuka's help, irritatingly.
He looked toward the stairs.
She should have been back by now.
She had come home from Shinhwa earlier after visiting Jiwoo, fed the cats, gathered a few things, and then said she had an errand to run.
An errand.
Kayden's eyes narrowed.
With Asuka, that could mean buying cat treats.
Or investigating a criminal organization.
Possibly both.
He clicked his tongue.
Not worried.
Obviously.
Asuka was strong enough.
More than strong enough.
And not naive enough to fall for a simple trap.
If someone tried to ambush her, Kayden almost felt sorry for them.
Almost.
His gaze drifted to the low table.
A faint memory of her training that morning returned.
Speed.
Fire.
Electricity.
Perfect control disguised poorly as imperfection.
She had barely learned his force control and already wielded electricity with enough precision to slip it inside someone else's flames and detonate them inward.
Ridiculous.
Jiwoo was a monster in his own way.
Genius.
Instinctive.
A talent that absorbed movement like breathing and made it his own through sheer sincerity and effort.
But Asuka—
Kayden's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
Asuka's talent exceeded anything he had ever seen.
Not simply in output.
Not even in raw potential, though that was absurd enough.
It was her control.
Absolute control.
Her ability to understand a technique, separate its structure from its appearance, adapt it to a new system, and then wield it like she had owned it for years.
She had taken his electricity and used it cleanly.
She had built fire from it.
She had hidden spatial acceleration inside movement.
She had healed what should not be healable.
And that was only what she chose to show.
Beyond him?
Maybe.
Beyond Jiwoo and him combined?
Kayden's pride wanted to reject that.
His instincts did not.
Asuka Seo was a monster.
Not the kind that roared.
The kind that smiled politely, listened to instruction, and adjusted reality by half a breath because doing more would be inconvenient.
Kayden's mouth curved faintly.
Troublesome.
Very troublesome.
Then the smile faded.
Where the hell was she?
The black-and-white cat looked toward the window.
Kayden followed its gaze.
The night beyond the glass was still.
Too still.
His tail flicked once.
Not worried.
Just observant.
Obviously.
Asuka's errand had ended thirty-seven minutes ago.
The plastic bags beside her proved that.
Cat toys.
Treats.
Wet food.
Bandages.
Painkillers she probably would not use.
A small sewing kit because the basement punching bag had taught her that thread and tape were not enough long-term.
The bags sat neatly beside her on a rooftop overlooking the old commercial district.
She had chosen the roof because it gave her a wide view without being obvious.
Also because people rarely looked up.
In both worlds, that had remained true.
Asuka sat near the edge, one knee bent, elbow resting on it, bandaged face turned toward the city lights.
The night air moved softly around her.
Cool.
Ordinary.
Wrong.
She had felt it for a while now.
Not the future.
Not exactly.
A pressure.
A misalignment.
Something small that kept touching the back of her mind like a thread caught under a fingernail.
The Klein brothers had gotten into Korea too easily.
That bothered her.
It had bothered her since the fight.
At first, she had been too occupied with Jiwoo's injuries, Wooin's condition, Jisuk's suspicious staring at Kayden, and Jiyoung Yoo's calm, too-sharp questions.
But now that the immediate danger had passed, the larger shape remained.
How?
Korea's awakened territories were not careless.
Shinhwa was not careless.
The Union was not careless.
From what Asuka had seen, the boundaries between organizations were complicated, but not weak. There were networks. Watchers. Informants. Territory claims. Patrols. Monitoring of foreign awakeners, especially known criminals.
The Klein brothers were not unknown.
Famous criminals with fire-type abilities did not simply stroll into a country, enter contested territory, kidnap a Union-unaffiliated awakener, fight the younger brother of Shinhwa's chairwoman, and nearly escape without someone opening a door for them.
Someone in Korea had smuggled them in.
Or allowed them in.
Or looked away at the right time for the right price.
Asuka's fingers tapped once against her knee.
Greed existed everywhere.
That was another universal truth.
In the jujutsu world, clans fought under the mask of tradition, hoarded techniques, buried failures, sold children's futures under polite language and family duty.
Here, awakened groups were not so different.
Territories divided the country.
Influence mattered.
Strength mattered more.
Publicly, cooperation.
Privately, competition.
Shinhwa currently held the most influence because Jiyoung Yoo was Korea's current Rank One.
Young.
Powerful.
Independent enough to make older groups uncomfortable.
A chairwoman who inherited too much too early and still held it with terrifying competence.
Of course someone would want to weaken Shinhwa.
Of course someone would see opportunity in chaos.
Let criminals enter.
Let them cause trouble near Shinhwa territory.
Let Shinhwa fail to respond fast enough.
Let confidence shake.
Let Union lose face too, if an awakener under their watch was kidnapped in the process.
Messy.
Useful.
Cowardly.
Asuka did not care about internal feuds between awakened organizations.
Not by themselves.
If grown adults wanted to claw at one another for territory, rank, pride, influence, or whatever else they dressed greed in, that was their business.
Except it was not staying their business.
Because one way or another, it was already touching her brother.
Jiwoo had an indirect relation to Shinhwa now.
Not official sponsorship.
Not yet.
But help.
Attention.
Protection.
Enough that enemies might notice.
Enough that fools might assume he was a useful pressure point.
And Jiwoo, being Jiwoo, would run toward danger even when danger had not learned his name yet.
More criminals entering Korea meant more chances for him to run into them.
More chances for his kindness to become a target.
More chances for Asuka to stand between him and a world that kept sharpening itself around him.
Her hand closed slowly.
The air near her fingers warmed.
A tiny orange flame appeared.
Then vanished.
It would be easier if she could identify the group responsible.
Find them.
Learn their structure.
Their motive.
Their weaknesses.
Their next mistake.
But her information was limited.
Shinhwa.
Union.
That was all she knew properly so far.
There were other groups, of course. She had heard names in passing, felt traces around Seoul, seen fragments in conversations people thought a blindfolded girl could not read.
But not enough.
Not enough to accuse.
Not enough to move.
She could try future sight.
Her eyes opened beneath the bandages.
The world shifted faintly.
Possibilities brushed against her mind.
Flashes.
Not answers.
Never answers so simple.
Future sight did not give her information she would never encounter. It did not hand her organization charts or secret names like a file conveniently left open on a desk.
It showed possibility.
What might happen.
What she might face.
Threads where she stood.
Threads where Jiwoo stood.
Threads where danger came close enough to touch.
Asuka exhaled.
The flashes came.
A school gate.
A training field.
Rows of young awakeners.
Some wearing confidence like armor.
Others standing apart.
Affiliated.
Unaffiliated.
The divide was visible even before anyone spoke.
Students from groups with backing stood in clusters, relaxed in the way only protected people could be. They had names behind them. Families. Organizations. Force control passed down like inheritance. Teachers. Facilities. Status.
Unaffiliated awakeners stood differently.
Quieter.
Tighter.
Some defensive.
Some trying too hard not to look small.
Lowest of the low.
That was the rule of this world.
Unaffiliated awakeners were at the bottom of the food chain unless they were strong enough to make the hierarchy choke on them.
Exceptions existed.
Kayden.
People like him.
Independent because no group could contain him.
Free because he had the strength to make freedom possible.
But most were not Kayden.
Most joined groups because being alone was dangerous.
Affiliation meant protection.
Resources.
Training.
Medical care.
Information.
It also meant restrictions.
Obligation.
A leash dressed as safety.
Every action reflected the group.
Every mistake became political.
Every success became property.
Complicated.
Troublesome.
Asuka had no intention of joining any group.
Absolutely not.
The thought alone made her tired.
A classroom flashed.
Jiwoo smiling nervously.
Jisuk yelling.
Wooin quiet beside him.
Asuka standing in a line of students she did not know yet, bandages over her eyes, feeling dozens of gazes measure her.
Korea Awakened Academy.
An invitation.
Not yet.
Soon.
A place where Jiwoo would meet other awakeners properly.
A place where the divide between affiliated and unaffiliated would become impossible to ignore.
A place where Asuka would learn names.
Groups.
Power structures.
Possibly the thread leading back to the Klein brothers.
Her mouth pressed into a line.
So she was bound to face them.
Not the Klein brothers.
The system behind them.
Or at least the system that let them slip through.
The future flickered again.
Wind.
Ergokinesis.
A boy with arrogance sharper than Jisuk's but colder.
A professor watching Jiwoo like he was a problem.
A group laughing at unaffiliated students.
Jiwoo's smile dimming.
Asuka's hand curling.
Kayden's voice: Don't overdo it.
Her own voice: I am trying.
The vision dissolved.
Asuka lowered her head slightly.
Troublesome.
All of it.
She understood the logic of affiliation.
She did not like it.
Being alone was dangerous.
Being owned was worse.
Her first life had taught her that bloodlines could become cages. Institutions could smile while placing knives in children's hands. Elders could call exploitation duty and expect gratitude for the chain.
This world used different words.
Group.
Affiliation.
Protection.
Force control.
Rank.
But the shape was familiar.
Asuka looked out over the city.
Somewhere below, Shinhwa agents were still cleaning up the mess.
Somewhere in a secure facility, the Klein brothers were unconscious, bound, and very likely beginning to regret accepting whatever invitation had brought them here.
Somewhere in Shinhwa hospital, Jiwoo was probably smiling at people who told him to rest.
Wooin was probably quiet and overwhelmed.
Jisuk was probably loud and denying pain.
Kayden was probably pretending not to worry.
Her mouth softened.
She should go back soon.
But not yet.
She lifted her phone.
No new messages from Jiwoo.
No emergency alerts.
No missed calls.
Good.
Asuka opened a browser and searched public names first.
Nothing deep.
Nothing illegal.
Just surface information.
Awakened groups were hidden from ordinary society, but patterns existed if one knew where to look. Shell companies. Old families. Private academies. Security firms. Medical foundations. Training centers. Sudden property acquisitions near known territory lines.
She did not expect answers tonight.
She expected shapes.
A name repeated too often.
A company too close to an abandoned commercial district.
A logistics route that did not match civilian use.
An old warehouse under private ownership near where the Klein brothers had appeared.
Small things.
Threads.
The first hour gave her three possibilities.
The second narrowed one.
The third made her pause.
A company tied to a lesser awakened group she had heard only once in passing.
Not Shinhwa.
Not Union.
Not powerful enough to openly challenge either.
Ambitious enough, perhaps.
Asuka saved the information.
No conclusion yet.
No accusation.
Just a thread.
She tucked the phone away.
The bags of cat supplies rustled softly as she stood.
The rooftop wind shifted her hoodie.
For a moment, she remained still.
A quiet girl on a rooftop.
Bandages hiding impossible eyes.
Cat treats at her feet.
Thoughts full of criminal smuggling, territorial politics, awakened schools, and the fragile position of unaffiliated children in a world that mistook backing for worth.
Then she picked up the bags.
The night below remained unaware.
Asuka stepped off the rooftop.
Space folded gently beneath her feet.
Not enough to be seen.
Not enough to leave trace.
Just enough to carry her from one ledge to another as she moved toward home.
Toward the cats.
Toward Kayden.
Toward whatever lecture he would pretend was not concern.
She already knew what he would say.
You took too long.
She smiled faintly.
Her answer would be simple.
"I was buying treats."
True.
Incomplete.
A useful habit, apparently.
Behind her, the city lights flickered.
Ahead, the Seo apartment waited, warm and messy and full of creatures the world had no idea how badly it should fear.
Asuka moved through the dark.
Silent.
Unhurried.
Already preparing for the next thread.
----