Kanan sighed and forcibly ended his meditation, unable to concentrate. Ever since his conversation with Vanessa, his mind had been chaotic. It was possible, he conceded, that in his drive to move forward he had lost sight of what was really important.
His goal had never been a single minded pursuit to be the strongest. He wanted to become a great beast tamer, yes, but that wasn't the end but the means. The adventure, and the people and spirit beasts that he would meet along the way had been his drive.
He hadn't wanted to do it solo. He had wanted to move forward, hand in hand with Poppy and his other companions. But now that he looked back at himself, he had at some point become obsessed with improving and forgotten about the companionship itself.
This reflected deeply in his relationship with Twilight. He was kind to the squirrel, yes, but he had a tendency to view Twilight as a tool to make him a stronger tamer. He had focused on what Twilight could do, how strong he could get, but not on his and Twilight's relationship itself.
He had to admit, as far as relationships go, he had prioritized Poppy and Poppy alone to an unhealthy extent. It would be a miracle if Twilight had no grievances, being forced to train to the extent that it had been without leisure.
And regarding his friends, he only ever discussed schoolwork with them. He felt that his actual bond with all of them was somewhat lacking, other than Aurelia perhaps. He had never spent any time outside of school with them, or had conversations on the basis of being friends instead of classmates. He still considered them his friends, of course, but from an outside perspective he admitted it might not entirely seem that way.
He decided to take a step back. Training would continue as usual, of course, but it was time to forge a closer bond with his friends and spirit beasts. And the best way to do that would be to have fun together. He made up his mind to invite everyone to day out.
The only problem was that Kanan, having been religiously training since the age of 11, had no idea how to do so. His leisure activities mostly just involved gorging himself on food in the market, but that wasn't really appropriate. He had already begun hanging out with them in the cafeteria after school regularly, getting food would just seem like an extension of that. So he decided to consult Professor Quartz for advice.
"So that's what happened, hm? I understand where you're coming from. Your little friend is an impressive one, huh? Raising a mid-tier beast in the first year of the Academy isn't completely unheard of, but it's something that only happens once in several years. Still, feelings of competitiveness are normal, but you can't let them get in the way of things that are truly important."
"I applaud your decision to work to become closer to your friends. If that's the case, why don't you and your friends go to see one of the preliminary League contenders matches?" suggested Quartz. "There'll be matches in the local Association's arena soon, as I recall."
It was a good suggestion, thought Kanan. The League, or the Beast Taming League, was the pinnacle of beast taming tournaments in the region. The contenders matches were merely those vying for a place in the bottom rung of the league, but they were still miles ahead of anything Kanan had witnessed in person.
It might not have been completely separated from training, but Kanan was confident that his friends, along with Twilight and Poppy, would enjoy it. Besides, it might be hard to get Ivan to come if it was unrelated to spirit beasts. Or even Sean for that matter, depending on if his enthusiasm was still holding up.
Having come to a decision, Kanan called his friends and, getting their approval, immediately set about acquiring tickets for the battles that would be taking place that weekend.
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The next day, the four students of the practical division along with Aurelia were sitting in the cafeteria together once again, and Kanan dished out his plan.
"Whoa! I never expected Kanan of all people to suggest a day out! Is the sky falling? Has our resident training fanatic finally opened his eyes to the charms of life? Or are you just suggesting this because you want to study the League battles?" Sean chattered away excitedly, surprised at Kanan's invitation.
"Nyeh, it is surprising~" Vanessa joined in. She was perched with her feet on her seat and hands on the table, peering over the edge curiously.
"It's not like it's only for training!" Kanan protested. "Though I suppose that's part of it, since I thought it would be something we'd all be interested in. I just thought that we should do something as a group outside of schoolwork. We've all been so focused on battling each other, I thought we needed a break."
The edges of Aurelia's polite smile twitched upwards, clearly thrilled about the invitation. "W-well, if you insist then I suppose I can go." Despite her feigned reluctance, her excitement couldn't be hidden.
Ivan was more subdued, looking thoughtful. "The contenders league, huh. I haven't seen it before, it should be a good experience. I'll go as well." He was a bit reluctant to put aside his training, still burning with the desire to catch up to Vanessa. However, he conceded that this might be a genuinely helpful experience. Plus, if Aurelia was going…
"Perfect, it's a plan then. I was thinking about going this weekend, does that work for everyone? And you can bring your spirit beasts, but if you want them to watch then you need to get a separate ticket for them."
The five of them excitedly discussed their plans, and settled on getting together that weekend to go watch the matches. Kanan, Aurelia, and Vanessa would bring their spirit beasts as well. Ivan didn't think it was necessary, while Sean's snake beast was a bit too large and awkwardly shaped to sit in the stands.
Eventually, the five split up and went home, looking forward to the events of the upcoming weekend. As he turned to leave, however, Kanan felt the back of his clothes pinched by a small hand.
He turned, and Vanessa stood there, looking uncharacteristically shy.
"Thank you, nyeh."
Kanan didn't ask for what, just smiled and responded.
"There's nothing to thank me for, friends hanging out is only natural, right?"
Vanessa's face lit up at his words. "Nyehehe, that's right isn't it?" She ran away, giving a twirl. "See you this weekend!"
Kanan waved before going home himself, looking forward to the upcoming events.