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Before long, my three hundred seconds of downtime were just about up. It seriously did feel a lot shorter than five minutes though, I mean I had tooth-brushing sessions that went for a lot longer than this.

Perception\'s a bitch ain\'t it? I could sit with my hands outstretched for five minutes, and feel like five centuries had passed, whereas I could spend the same amount of time for a moment of sandwich-eating reprieve, and blink my eyes like five times, and boom - my sandwich was gone, the water\'s depleted, and I, unfortunately, had to stop being treated.

Ash promptly got rid of any incriminating evidence of a time spent in leisure by balling the wrappings under a fist, stuffing it alongside a little compressed plastic bit that was once an empty bottle.

"I suppose it\'d be best if I take my leave now before any suspicions come arising," Ash said, slowly standing back up on her feet. "It was brief, but I hope you had a pleasant time. I certainly did..."

There it was again, the glint of moonlight shaping her outline with a luminous glow… how mesmerizing her eyes shimmered then, no doubt made even better by the smile she bowed her head with.

"Thank you, Master… for indulging this selfish servant\'s request."

And again, those were words I would never catch her saying before today… she was always so reserved, always so reluctant with her wants. I\'d ask but… how the hell do you point something like that out without sounding awkward? 

She already had one foot past the doorway, and I knew if I let her go and don\'t ask now, the thought is just gonna pester me on all night long. 

Without even thinking it through, I said the first thing that came teetering at the tip of my tongue, "You know, you\'re smiling a lot more lately."

Ash came to a sudden stop, her back facing towards me. For a moment, nothing at first, then I heard her voice, even more jovial than ever, "Do you dislike it?"

I drew my head back… wasn\'t expecting that, okay…

"Not really," I answered. 

"Do you find it unbecoming of me?" She asked again, this time her head turned slightly back.

"Far from it," I said, very much bemused by all this. "I just… it\'s peculiar, is all. I meant nothing by it."

Ash chuckled. "Indeed. I suppose it is rather uncharacteristic of me, is it not?" 

I raised my hands. "Hey, you said it not me."

"Yet all the same, if it serves to please you," She turned right around again, smiling that smile so warm and wide. "Then shouldn\'t I just keep smiling for you?"

For a moment I thought I went temporarily blind, but no… I was just bedazzled, maybe a little too much. It felt a flashbang went boom in my head, and all my billion zillion neurons were scrambling around, knocking into walls.

But I recovered, luckily I recovered.

"I won\'t... argue with that logic," I said, extra careful not to slur or stumble. "By all means then, carry on."

"Of course, Master," She said, her tone with a surprise hint of mischief. "Your wish is my command, after all."

I\'m liking this new Ash more and more, already.

With a final graceful bow, Ash officially took her leave, departing to the sixth floor with some words of encouragement fading into the distance. "Keep doing your best, Master. You\'ll pull through, you always have."

Well then, pretty sure that will go down as the most bizarre interaction I\'ve had all night. Then again, that was the only interaction I had all night… and probably will be the only one… but hey, I ain\'t complaining, it\'s a tough act to follow anyway.

Pretty soon, I got back to the grind, hands outstretched and focus sharp. It was just a short break, but already I felt more at ease than I was before it… nothing ached, nothing cramped… magic was steady flow through my open palms.

Guess that whole \'don\'t eat\' thing really was a myth, after all. It\'s okay Irene, rumors sometimes get the best of us. No shame in it, no shame at all. In fact, if anything, I think it might have given me the exact opposite effects. 

After a long while of even more absolute monotony, hour by hour, I could feel myself steadily improving. Ria was fading at a rate faster than ever before, every instance, taking a shorter amount of time than the last. 

I still couldn\'t get it to disappear her whole, but what I did find, was that now I could reverse the magic. When I felt my limits being reached, or even the slightest waver in my focus… I could simply just undo the effects, make whatever had faded turn to solid form again. 

It wasn\'t perfect, it wasn\'t consistent, sometimes I\'d still mess up, sometimes she\'d still be sliced… but at least now, I could do something about it. Seeing the blood spurting, seeing her limbs missing… there are just some things you just don\'t get used to.

And if the feeling of discouragement does come, and make no mistake, it always does… I could always just look back on those brief five minutes, and it\'d always perk me right back up.

I didn\'t think I\'d be encountering anything else for the rest of the night, and then my phone buzzed in my pocket. Nothing too out of the blue, system notifications always does that to it, as well as the weather app… happened a few times already, so like always, I just chose to ignore it.

Then it buzzed again, and again. 

Now I knew something was up. 

For the second time tonight, I was being interrupted by a task so urgent… by a cellphone of all things, really puts how serious I was for all this into perspective, doesn\'t it?

Whatever case, I already had it out of my pocket, squinting harshly from the blinding glare that greeted my light-deprived pupils. It took a few seconds of adjusting, but I finally came face-to-face with my attention-diverting culprit.

Text messages… my God, who would have thought? I\'m so surprised. It\'s not like I -

Oh, wait… Amanda was texting me? Okay, now I am surprised. We\'re in the same damn building, why all the hush-hush?

I tapped her icon, and small white blurbs with even smaller letters within them instantly filled the screen.

<<Hey>>

<<Hey>>

<<Third time\'s the charm. Hey.>>

As I was reading, another blurb popped up from below.

<<Behind you.>>

That\'s not really something you ever wanna read in the middle of the night. Is she seriously trying to give me a heart attack? 

Despite the ominousness, I still whirled my head around to the doorway. I braced for a \'boo!\', readied to see her silhouette standing so forebodingly in the dark, but no… no one was there, nothing was there.

Then I lowered my eyes a bit more… and I found it. 

A bottle of water, and a packaged sandwich slice was sitting off to the side. 

Seriously, I wanted to laugh out loud right then. But I restraint myself, and instead just shot a message back.

<<Seriously?>>

Amanda replied back almost at once.

<<Eat up. You\'re starving, aren\'t you?>>

<<You\'re welcome.>>

<<I expect a thank you later.>>

If Irene could see me now, a stupid grin plastered on my face, tapping fingers on the screen, I could already see her glare piercing through my soul… speaking of which - 

<<Does Irene know about this?>>

Again, so lightning-fast, her message popped and buzzed.

<<No you crazy? She\'d kill me! She was already suspicious when I asked if I could go down for seconds, I wasn\'t gonna tell her what I actually planned on doing with it.>> 

I replied back.

<<For you take such a risk. Tell me, how long was I on your mind for? I doubt this was just a spur of a moment thing.>>

All of a sudden, my phone started rumbling like an earthquake.

<<Huh>>

<<What>>

<<Course it was. What are you even saying?>>

<<Look just eat it. Stop texting me, you gotta get back to work soon, alright?>>

My cheeks were actually starting to hurt.

<<Irene already told us I\'m not allowed to, remember?>>

I got back just a simple three-word reply, and I let out a little chuckle.

<<That\'s a myth>>

Guess that\'s that. Alright, looks like I\'m eating and drinking again. After all, it\'s just another five minutes, and who am I turn down the generosity of such a considerate friend?

As I unwrapped the plastic packaging, I shot her another message.

<<Thank you.>>

It didn\'t take long to wolf everything down, and when I was done, I went and disposed of the waste in a room nearby.

Back to magic.

So that was my second encounter of the night… not as bizarre as the first, but very much just as appreciated.

It was a while before I could regain my focus, and once I did, I stretched my arm out like I always have, feeling that invisible muscle flex tight, the strings on my fingertips, weaving, and swaying… 

Right then, I was focused, determined… but before my intent could even have a chance to manifest, I was once again interrupted.

This time, it wasn\'t a beckoning slightly off in the distance, not by a ringing buzz in my pant-pocket… but by a light almost indiscernible tapping on my left shoulder.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I looked up, and above me, I was greeted by a pair of dark hazel eyes staring back down at me. 

It was a face I had least expected to ever see interrupting me in the middle of my training, especially since it was she that told me that I couldn\'t at all afford to be distracted one bit.

So this… I never anticipated the detective to be the one breaking her own laws.

"Irene?" I called out, blinking back my surprise.

"Shh." 

She placed a finger on her lips, and drew her hand away from my shoulder. I stared at her, too dumbfounded to even speak.

"Follow me," She said quietly, nudging her head towards the open doorway. "Five minutes."