What was that about?

"Then, Gomerick, please go ahead with the meditation schedule we made last week. And Zero, if you wouldn't mind, could you show me the way you meditate?"

'Did she sense something strange about my body? Or our body?'

Clearly, she had noticed something about me, and that's why she was intent on seeing what was up, but as I had no idea how this body worked myself, I couldn't tell just what she might have suspicions about. So, it was time for a half-truth, trying my best to seem as ignorant as possible.

"Oh, sure. But... I'm not quite sure what you mean. Like, closing my eyes and breathing? Or is there something else?"

It was a half-truth because as far as I could remember as Zero, there had been no instances of me meditating, the closest thing he had done was to pray. Praying to a god that never saved him, praying to some higher force to somehow change what couldn't be changed.

Of course, even Zero had matured a bit with time, and we had come to terms that this was the role he was supposed to play, but I had no idea how our faith could still stay so strong after all the disappointments.

'Maybe it's because there was nothing else we could do?'

As Gomerick heeded her words, he walked away a bit to get some space, while our teacher made her way toward me, her face filled with confusion, "So, you have never meditated? How can that be... Well, there's no other way but to find out for ourselves, is it?"

Still speaking cryptically, I had a hard time just what was so strange that she would make such an expression. Seating herself behind me on her knees, she suddenly made everything a bit weirder than I expected.

"Please take off your jacket and shirt, Zero."

Turning off my brain as quickly as possible, afraid that she might read my mind again like she had done when I was James, I just followed orders. It didn't take long until I was sitting in the middle of the room with a bare upper body, a skinny pale body that looked so incredibly frail.

"Zero, you should really try and eat more. A young man like you needs a lot of nutrition after all! But let's talk about that later."

"Ah...!"

Two hands suddenly found their place on my back, and without missing a beat, Mrs. Bright started guiding me through the motions, "Let's start with some light circulation. Imagine your mana moving from your heart to your legs, then to your arms, and lastly your head. Then, you just keep going."

There was no point in me acting like I didn't know how to manipulate mana, as I had already shown them so much during the duels, so I just did as I was told.

"Interesting. You have a very good connection to your mana it seems, quite impressive if what you said is the truth. Say, Zero, if you haven't meditated, how did you cultivate your mana?"

Thinking back to my artificial memories, it truly was weird. The only real practice Zero had done was playing with our water as if it was his friend, molding it into different shapes and figures that he had read about in our books.

And regarding cultivating our mana? I only had a guess.

"I don't know. I just... When I pray, my mana moves a lot, so maybe it works the same way?"

"I see. Then, could you pray for a bit? I'll inject some of my mana into you so I can get a better feel for what's happening."

Putting my hands together and closing my hands, I felt like I was simultaneously in a very foreign situation, while at the same time so incredibly familiar. For James, this felt ridiculous, but for Zero, it felt a bit like coming home, even with Mrs. Bright's mana inside our body.

Because of this, I tried my best to give up control of my body a bit, seeing if the Zero part of me could take it from there. And sure enough, it seemed to be working. However, the way our thoughts turned out was... questionable...

'Mother, are you well? It's been a while since I last saw you, and so much has happened. I made some friends! Or, at least I thought I did... After following what you have taught me, they... Mom, I think I messed up...'

Suddenly, I could feel our chest starting to heat up in response to our thoughts, our mana quickly reacting to us speaking to whom Zero saw as our mother. In a matter of seconds, I knew that our mana was probably raging outside of our body, and in the next second I got an audible confirmation.

"Gah!"

Opening our eyes, we got to see the insanity that was taking place. Somehow, our water had reacted to Zero's strong emotions and pushed our teacher away, now swirling around us to protect us from the outside world. Glowing in bright blue, it almost seemed to be crying in sorrow as if to answer to our emotions.

Almost as if the water was a symbol of the turmoil in our heart.

At the same time, I clearly felt that our skill had inadvertently activated yet again, a surge of mana quickly entering our body from our surroundings. As tears started to emerge from our eyes because of the guilt of possibly having injured our teacher, I mustered all the mental force I had to drag myself back to the wheel.

And, it sort of worked. At least it worked enough for me to be able to reign in the water, but the emotions lingered behind. "I-I'm s-sorry... I didn't... sniff... mean to do that..."

Luckily, it appeared that she hadn't gotten hurt, just falling backward equally in response to being pushed, but also because of surprise. A gentle smile appeared on her face, as she got to her feet, facing me who was now kneeling in front of her.

She placed her hand gently on my cheek, and lifted my head a bit, "Zero, it's okay. I'm fine and judging from your face, you didn't know that would happen, did you?"

"I-I..." *Cough!*

Somehow, I had managed just in time to catch my cough with my palm, and sadly, but also somewhat expected,...

'More blood? Fuck... Ms. Turner is going to go ballistic...'

"Son, are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine, ah...?!

Putting strength into my legs, I tried to stand up and show the old granny that I was fine, but even though the skill had only been activated for a little bit, it felt as if all my strength had been sucked out. In other words, I faltered, and an old grandma had to catch me. 'Fucking lovely!'

But I wasn't one to give up. As long as there was something I could do I wouldn't hesitate to try it. So, I ignored all of the penetrating emotions inside of me and smiled, "I'm sorry, but I'm fine, really."

Unfortunately, there was another person who didn't carry the same opinion, "Zero?! Are you alright?! Shit! I'm calling Dr. Smith!"

Seeing my homeroom teacher fulfill my prediction, I hurried to calm her down, "Ms. Turner, don't do that. It's not like this is something new, I have had this body since I was a child, after all. I'm fine, I just need to rest for a bit."

'Gomerick must be thinking 'what the fuck is happening', right now...'

Although he was trying to look like he was fully focused on meditating, it was obvious from the way he held one eye open that he wasn't.

"But, Dr. Smith told us that if..."

"Jessica, I'm fine. Let me rest for a couple of minutes and see for yourself."

Still in the arms of the granny that was just slightly taller than I was, it was difficult to look strong and resolved, but it seemed like my words had finally been enough.

"Okay... Okay, alright! Fine! I will wait ten minutes, but if you haven't recovered by then, I will take you to your doctor even if I have to carry you."

'It's like having an overprotective big sister... but somehow it doesn't feel that bad.'

Naturally still surprised by the sudden situation, Mrs. Bright finally opened her mouth, "If you say so, Zero. We will allow you to rest for a bit, but meanwhile..."

Then she turned her eyes to Ms. Turner, and they suddenly got awfully sharp, "...I want to have a few words with my colleague here."

With that, she helped me back to the floor, where I sat leaning back on shaky arms and took the arm of Jessica, who gave me a quick last glance, her eyes telling me that it would be fine, that she wouldn't say anything.

Then, when they entered a door that I had never noticed before on the side of the dojo, I finally let my brain rest for a bit. Or at least I would have if it wasn't for someone sticking his nose in things he shouldn't.

"Hey, what was that all about?"