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“Other people cared a lot about what Jesse thought of them, but Seiji couldn’t picture Nicholas caring. Everyone liked Jesse better than Seiji, but Nicholas wouldn’t. Not even if, for some reason, Nicholas got to know Jesse and Jesse actually tried to be charming. Even then, Seiji was sure, though he didn’t have much basis for the certainty, that Nicholas would still like him better.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Apparently, it’s other boysâ€� faces once the prank is accomplished that will be amusing? The part about being amusing is not important. The part that is important is getting justice for Nicholas. Do you understand?â€�

Seiji hoped he had explained it right this time.

“Tell me about Nicholas,� said his father.

“About—Nicholas?� Seiji repeated uncertainly.

“Would I like him?�

“I shouldn’t think so,� said Seiji. “He has terrible manners. And a basically unfortunate way of speaking and interacting with the world generally. He’s very untidy, too.�

“Oh, but you hate it when things aren’t in the correct places,� murmured his father. “I still remember that time we had the ambassador’s son over for a playdate, and you made him cry.�

“What is the point of painstakingly building castles with blocks only to knock them down?� Seiji asked. “Or sniveling?� He dismissed his father’s reminiscences. “Anyway, that was when I was very young and it no longer matters, so I don’t see the point of bringing it up. The point is—�

“Justice for Nicholas,� said his father. “Is Nicholas—very good at fencing?�

“No,� said Seiji plainly.

There was a stunned silence.

“He has a certain raw potential, but he hasn’t been properly trained because of his socioeconomic circumstances,� Seiji continued. “I wish to discuss this topic with you on our winter vacation. I think there must be foundations and scholarships set up. Many valuable fencers could be lost. It is almost too late for Nicholas. I shall be forced to teach him extremely rigorously.�

There was more silence. Seiji wondered if his father had dropped his phone.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Cooking’s a more popular hobby than fencing.â€�

“They don’t have a Great British Fence-Off,� muttered Dante.

There was a thoughtful pause.

“Oh, that sounds like such a good show,� Nicholas murmured.

“I like your idea for a television show as well,� Seiji told Dante. “Why do you picture it being British specifically?�

Dante’s mouth opened and closed. No sound came out.

“Could be because of the European history of dueling?� Nicholas suggested, and looked to Seiji. “Like in the book you let me borrow. Did you know that if you killed someone in a duel back in the old days, you could run away to France, because in France, dueling was still a totally cool and legal way to kill someone you had beef with?�

Seiji nodded, pointing at Nicholas for emphasis. “I did know that, but clearly not everybody does. You’re right; the show would be educational for many people. Perhaps they could hold fencing displays in old manor houses and castles and châteaux? And, of course, in colleges such as Cambridge, Oxford, and Trinity, where the legacy of fencing students is so illustrious.�

Breakfast conversation was so awesome now that Seiji had joined them! Nicholas bet nobody else had as much fun as they did.

Dante had clearly given up on talking and was giving Bobby a silent, pleading look. Nicholas guessed Dante was shy. Seiji was pretty famous, so maybe Dante was overwhelmed.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Seiji sighed again and surrendered himself to his fate. He finished his breakfast, and then rose.

“You go on to class without me. I want a word with Eugene.� Seiji hesitated. “You can save me a seat. If you insist.�

Nicholas paused, then smiled. His face was a lot more tolerable when he did that. “I will.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“There was a book called The Twenty-Six Commandments of Irish Dueling. That sounded cool. Nicholas reached for it, but Seiji’s books were packed together so tightly he actually had to force the book out. The bookcase rocked, and a watch in a little case tumbled from the top shelf and hit the floor. A different book fell down and struck Nicholas’s foot. Nicholas, hopping in wild dismay, stepped on the watch. The plastic case cracked. When Nicholas hastily removed his foot, he saw that the watch inside the case had cracked, too.

The whole disaster took about five seconds.

Seiji sounded calmly pleased to be proven right. “I knew you would do something like this.�

“Um,� said Nicholas. “Oops. Sorry. I’ll pay for that! Or I’ll get it fixed or something!�

Seiji sighed dismissively, opening his book back up. “All right.�

That made Nicholas feel much worse.

There were plenty of guys at Kings Row who would’ve got very nasty about Nicholas daring to touch, let alone break, their stuff. Seiji wasn’t like that.

Seiji’s words might cut, but he didn’t say them to cut. Seiji wasn’t Aiden, whom Nicholas never paid attention to. When Aiden spoke, all Nicholas heard was: Blah, blah, blah, I’m a snotty rich kid who talks too much. Nicholas had never seen Seiji get any pleasure out of being cruel. That was what made Seiji’s words cut deep. Nicholas knew Seiji meant what he said.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Seiji was direly embarrassed by Nicholas’s presence, not to mention his appearance. He hadn’t wished to see Jesse again. If forced to, he would have preferred to see him while winning Olympic gold. Failing that, Seiji would’ve preferred to see Jesse literally anywhere other than here. In the middle of the woods, in a state of undress, with a companion who had apparently been raised by wolves and then abandoned by the pack for being too scruffy.

There was� another consideration, besides embarrassment.

Sometimes there were people who were obviously not on the winning side, and never would be. Bad at fencing or at words or at life in some crucial way Jesse could always ascertain. Occasionally, Jesse would casually amuse himself at some unfortunate soul’s expense. Seiji wouldn’t laugh because he never actually understood the jokes or why they were funny, but he didn’t care much. It was simply Jesse’s way. Now he recalled with unwelcome vividness how those people’s cheeks would bear sudden swift streaks of red, as though slashed. Or they might slink off with a curious look of defeat, as if a lunch table were a fencing match. Some of them, Seiji had noticed, never came back again.

Seiji didn’t want to see Jesse do that to Nicholas.

Not Nicholas.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Seiji took the picture willingly enough, since it would please Bobby, but it was a strain to figure out how to behave in unfamiliar surroundings. The least Nicholas could do was help him, but instead he was sulking in the corner. The only reasonable explanation was that Seiji had offended him. Seiji was always offending people, though Nicholas seemed to bounce back faster than most.

Seiji couldn’t figure out what the problem was. He hadn’t said anything worse to Nicholas than he usually did.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Tell me—or anyone else—something thatis personal to you, Coach had said.

Seiji couldn’t talk to just anyone, but Nicholas had said they were friends.

“I was� Jesse’s mirror,� said Seiji slowly. “I reflected his—glow, his glories and his victories. I used to think it was an honor. We were similar, I told myself, in all the ways that really mattered.�

Jesse was left-handed like Nicholas, so facing him sometimes felt like looking into a mirror. Like seeing yourself through the glass, a better, golden self in a different world. A self who fenced just as well but didn’t have to work as hard for it. A Seiji who did everything in life with the same skill as he fenced.

“You’re not a mirror,� said Nicholas. “You’re real.�

“It’s a metaphor, Nicholas.�

Nicholas shrugged. “You’re still not a mirror. Mirrors break. You never do.�

Seiji thought of his moment of defeat against Jesse. The moment that Aiden had seen, and taunted Seiji with, making Seiji lose again. Seiji had trained his whole life to be strong, but somehow, he was still weak. Jesse had taken his sword, and Seiji hadn’t been able to stop him. The bitterness of that defeat sent Seiji to Kings Row.

Always keep moving toward your target, his dad’s voice said, but somehow Seiji had ended up getting his target wrong. He’d moved toward loss and pain he still didn’t entirely understand.

“I lost,� confessed Seiji. “Badly.�

“Doesn’t make you a loser,� said Nicholas, having another lapse where he didn’t understand what words—let alone metaphors—meant. “You didn’t burst into tears and give up fencing. And you didn’t follow Jesse to Exton like a little lamb, the way he was expecting. You came to Kings Row, and you came to fence. You came to fight.�

This view of the matter was so shocking that Seiji said something he’d thought he would never say to Nicholas Cox.

“I suppose�,� said Seiji, “� you’re right.�

Nicholas’s gaze remained fixed on the floor.

“Being rivals shouldn’t be about being someone’s mirror. Both of you get to be real. Neither of you has to break.�

“Sometimes you’re insightful, Nicholas,� said Seiji. Nicholas looked pleased before Seiji added: “I think it’s mainly by accident.�

At that point, Nicholas rolled his eyes and stepped into his side of the room, yanking the curtain closed between them.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“That morning when Seiji came to breakfast, he discovered Dante attempting to take the seat beside Nicholas.

“Hey, dude, no, I’m saving this seat for Seiji,� said Nicholas.

Dante rolled his eyes without a word and went around the table.

Seiji took the seat with a faint feeling of satisfaction. Naturally, Nicholas didn’t want to sit beside Dante. Who would?

“There’s no actual need to save a seat for me,� Seiji informed Nicholas.

Nicholas waved him off as if he were an annoying fly. “I’m gonna, you can’t stop me.�

Seiji supposed he couldn’t. He started eating his breakfast, though Nicholas eyeballed Seiji’s protein-rich green smoothie suspiciously. Nicholas had no idea about the importance of nutrition.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“It seemed as though there was something going on here that Nicholas didn’t understand. Nicholas felt grievously injured. He’d become Seiji’s friend first, but here Seiji was having secrets with Eugene.

On the other hand, Seiji didn’t train with Eugene, so that was sort of like Nicholas having a secret with Seiji. And going to the fair with Eugene would be fun, though obviously it would be better if Seiji were there, too.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“As they walked together down the halls and the back staircase, Nicholas studied the ceiling, which was all white with twirly bits like a wedding cake. He had a troubling thought.

“You hate fist bumps?� he asked. “But you’ve fist-bumped me and Eugene.�

“I don’t mind if it’s you,� said Seiji. “And I don’t mind much if it’s Eugene. But not Chad!�

“Okay, not Chad,â€� Nicholas soothed, and grinned at the back of Seiji’s head as they entered the dining hall.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance

“Nicholas ignored Eugene’s delicate sensibilities in order to focus on Seiji’s plate. Seiji’s breakfast remained disappointing. “Next time you should get some more bacon. I’ll eat it if you don’t want it.â€�

“I don’t eat more than a single slice of bacon and you shouldn’t, either,� Seiji told him. “Excessive bacon will make your arteries clog and slow your progress on the piste. Your extraordinary speed is the only thing you have going for you.�

Nicholas preened. “Oh, my extraordinary speed, is it?�

“Shut up,� said Seiji.

“Quit gushing over me, ’m getting all bashful,â€� said Nicholas.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Striking Distance