"You want us to clear a C-rank gate," Belle said slowly, as if testing each word for hidden traps. "As first-years."

"I want you to participate in a C-rank clearance under controlled conditions with proper oversight," Vale said. He started pacing again, restless energy rolling off him in visible waves. "The academy’s approved it as a special evaluation opportunity. Two teams enter as one unit. You clear the gate together. You split the rewards together."

"Together," Blair repeated. The word came out like she’d bitten into something rotten. "You actually expect my team to work with them?"

"I expect both teams to stop acting like children having a sandbox dispute long enough to survive what’s inside that tear in reality," Vale shot back. He stopped moving and locked eyes with Blair in a way that made her actually take a step back. "Or I suppose you could keep nursing your grudges while Sapphire runs away with the championship this year. Your choice, really."

The barb hit its mark. Blair’s jaw tightened, and I saw her hands clench into fists at her sides.

"What’s the catch?" Misato asked, speaking for the first time. Her voice was quiet but carried across the room with surprising authority.

Vale’s attention shifted to her, and something passed between them that I couldn’t quite interpret. "The catch, Miss Ayame, is that this particular gate has been flagged for unusual readings. Nothing that bumps it above C-rank classification, but enough to warrant additional precautions."

"Unusual how?" Naomi asked, her pen poised over her notebook.

"Sensor data suggests higher-than-expected entity density. The projected interior environment includes areas of low visibility. And there’s a fifteen percent probability of a secondary core formation." Vale ticked off each point on his fingers. "In layman’s terms, it’s a harder C-rank than most. The kind that would challenge a team of second-years."

"And you want to throw two first-year teams at it." Jordan had finally found his voice, and he sounded incredulous. "That seems... irresponsible?"

"That seems like exactly the kind of challenge both teams need." Vale’s gaze swept across all of us, cataloging our reactions. "The Midnight Foxes have shown remarkable cohesion and adaptability. Miss Davenport’s team possesses raw power and individual excellence. Together, you cover each other’s weaknesses."

"We don’t need their help," Blair said through gritted teeth.

"I didn’t ask what you needed. I’m telling you what’s happening." Vale’s voice dropped several degrees, losing all traces of playful amusement. "This is a joint operation sanctioned by the academy with full faculty approval. Participation is technically voluntary, but I strongly suggest you consider the benefits before refusing."

"Benefits?" Belle leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with interest.

"Full combat evaluation credit for both teams. Priority access to harvested materials. And approximately three thousand house points."

"What’s the timeline?" Alexander’s voice cut through the tension. I’d almost forgotten he was still in the room, having stayed behind apparently by choice rather than Vale’s instruction.

"Briefing tomorrow at six hundred hours. Gate available at eighteen hundred. Projected clearance window of four to six hours." Vale walked back to his desk and began gathering his papers. "I expect both teams to arrive prepared, rested, and ready to work together. Whatever personal issues exist between you will be set aside for the duration of the operation. Am I clear?"

Nobody answered. Nobody objected either.

"Excellent." Vale tucked his papers into a leather briefcase that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. "I’ll have detailed mission parameters sent to your devices by this evening. Review them thoroughly. Ask questions during the briefing. And try not to die—though I should mention, the death rate for these training gates is only about three percent, so the odds are in your favor."

He swept out of the classroom without another word, leaving us all staring at each other across the empty space between our seats. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, the only sound in a room that suddenly felt too small and too tense.

Blair was the first to move. She gathered her things with sharp, angry movements—her textbook slammed shut, her pen shoved into her bag with unnecessary force. Her team fell in behind her like trained soldiers, the tall earth manipulator shooting me a look that promised violence at some future date. I met his stare and offered a lazy wave. His jaw clenched.

The silver-haired girl paused at the door, tilting her head as she studied our group with those unsettling eyes. Her lips curved into something that might have been a smile if it reached any other part of her face.

"This should be interesting," she said, her voice soft and musical and deeply creepy. Then she was gone, the door swinging shut behind her.

"Well," Jordan said into the silence that followed. "That happened."

Belle was already on her phone, typing furiously. "I’m pulling everything I can find on C-rank forest biomes. Naomi, cross-reference the academy’s historical data on training gates. Jordan, see if you can dig up any information about Blair’s team composition and abilities."

"What about me?" I asked.

Belle looked up from her phone, and her smile held edges that could cut glass. "You’re going to figure out how to survive working alongside the woman who’s been trying to destroy you for the past month."

"Great. Easy. No problem at all."

Misato stood and stretched, her compact frame betraying none of the tension I knew she must be feeling. "I’ll handle Blair. We have history. She’ll listen to me."

"Will she though?" Naomi asked, her voice gentle but skeptical.

"She’ll listen," Misato said, and there was something in her tone that suggested volumes of unspoken context. "Because the alternative is losing, and Blair Davenport has never accepted losing gracefully."

The group dispersed, leaving me alone in the empty classroom with nothing but sunlight and the fading echo of Vale’s proposition.

A joint gate raid. Two teams that hated each other forced to cooperate under combat conditions. An unusual gate flagged for higher-than-expected difficulty.

Either this was Vale’s way of accelerating our training, or he was setting us up for something far more complicated than a standard clearance operation.

Knowing Vale, probably both.