Hinari then disappeared behind a tree. He felt the jolt, but this time, it felt less slimy. Kairo closed his eyes and heard nothing... no branches, no whispers. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and looked up, yet Hinari wasn't above him. She dropped down behind, "You sensed me—" Kairo stopped her. "Inaccurately, though." Her eyes flashed orange... yet again. Kairo's eyebrows lifted. "What's actually with the eye thing?" Kairo asked with legitimate concern, but Hinari just shrugged.
Hinari then walked over to Kairo, looked him in the eyes and asked, "Can you sense me?" Kairo nodded, and then Hinari continued, "What does it feel like?" Kairo had to put a lot of brainpower into that one before coming up with a word: "Sticky." Hinari's face dropped; this was new to her. "Sticky?" Kairo nodded. "Like someone touching you unexpectedly, or you touching something soggy." Hinari angled her head. "I don't follow... anyway..."
She sat on a long log; she would pat the seat next to her, and as Kairo sat, "You know... Sensing Valence isn't a universal thing; I know your girlfriend had stronger foundations—" Kairo's face turned red, but he looked annoyed and embarrassed at the same time. "She's not my girlfriend... yet..." Hinari broke out into a laugh before suddenly stopping. "Oh yeah, I said I wasn't here to bond. 25 pushups."
As Kairo started, his mentor smiled. "You know not every operative can sense Valence?" But Kairo scoffed, which made her eyes glow for a bit, but he didn't notice it. "You're only saying that to make me feel better." Kairo realised how dumb that sounded. "25 more." As she squatted down in front of Kairo, she smiled; it was a cold smile. "You know I've mentored 13 operatives in 6 years—" "Damn." She ignored that comment from Kairo. "Only one of them couldn't sense Valence. Wanna guess?"
"I don't know anyone you've trained."
"Sure you do. You just aren't thinking deep enough."
As Kairo nearly completed his push-ups, he thought long and hard.