"I know how much work you've put into your training. I also know that hard work doesn't excuse every behavior."
Derek said nothing.
"Come in at three," Victor continued. "We'll talk."
Derek spent the next hour pacing his apartment.
Derek sat.
Derek interrupted repeatedly.
He said that students needed to learn resilience.
He said that the sport was physically demanding.
He said that nobody had ever been forced to train at the academy.
Victor listened.
Then he asked, "Do you believe a student should be able to tap without being mocked afterward?"
"Of course."
"Have you ever mocked someone after they tapped?"
Derek opened his mouth.
He remembered Paul's second round.
He remembered Melissa's wrist brace.
He remembered making jokes about students who struggled.
"Sometimes I joke," he said.
"Do you think everyone experiences those jokes the same way?"
"No."
"Do you think your position in the academy makes it harder for people to tell you when you've crossed a line?"
Derek looked at the document.
"I don't know."
Victor nodded.
"That's something you need to consider."
Derek left the office feeling as though the floor had shifted beneath him.
He found Nia near the entrance.
Then Derek said, "You got what you wanted."
Nia looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm off the competition team. Victor's investigating me. Everyone thinks I'm some kind of bully."
"Did I ask Victor to do that?"
Derek hesitated.
"No."
"Did I ask the students to make complaints?"
"No."
"Then why are you blaming me?"
He looked away.
Because blaming her was easier than examining himself.
Because she had become the visible symbol of everything he had lost.
Because he had spent years believing that the person who won the exchange also controlled the story afterward.
But he could no longer pretend that was true.
Derek rubbed his forehead.
"I shouldn't have challenged you."
Nia waited.
"I thought you were trying to make me look stupid."
"Why?"
"Because you wouldn't tell me where you trained. You kept answering questions with questions. You didn't seem impressed by anything."
Nia studied him.
"I wasn't trying to impress you."
"I know that now."
He looked down at his hands.
"I've been thinking about what happened. Not just the match. Everything before it."
Nia did not rescue him from the silence.
Finally, he said, "I treated you like you didn't belong here."
"Yes."
"I did the same thing to other people."
"Yes."
"You're not going to make this easy, are you?"
"I'm not here to make you feel better."
Derek looked at her again.
"What would make this right?"
Nia took a moment before answering.
"Start by being honest about what happened. Not just the fourteen seconds. The things you did before that."
"And then?"
"Listen to the people you've dismissed. Stop treating a tap like a personal insult. Stop making beginners feel that they have to earn the right to be safe."
Derek swallowed.
"That's it?"
"No."
She stood.
"An apology isn't a transaction. You don't say the right words and receive forgiveness in return."
He looked stunned.
Nia adjusted the strap of her bag.
"If you want to change, change. Whether I forgive you is not the measure of whether you're doing it properly."
Derek called after her.
"Nia."
She turned.
"I am sorry."
Nia studied him.
"I believe you may be sorry," she said. "Now you need to decide what that means."
Then she left.
Derek remained near the entrance.
He had expected anger.
That evening, Derek opened the document containing his draft apology.
He deleted every version.
Then he started again.
He acknowledged that he had made jokes about students who tapped and dismissed concerns about training safety.
He did not blame the video.
He sent it to Victor for review.
Nia read the message twice before calling Thomas.
He asked whether Nia would be willing to speak privately.
Thomas listened as she read the message aloud.
"Do you know him?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Can he be trusted?"
"Graham wasn't one of the people who made the final decisions," he said. "He handled schedules, records, and communication with athletes. He was present during several meetings."
"Was he on our side?"
"Which group was he in?"
"I never knew."
Nia looked at the email again.
"What do you think he wants?"
"I don't know. But I suggest you ask him to explain his purpose before agreeing to meet."
Nia replied with a simple message requesting more information.
Nia sat quietly for a long time.
She had continued training.
But the anonymous messages had changed the way she thought about it.
"Don't go alone," he advised.
"I'm meeting him in a public place."
"That doesn't mean you have to handle everything by yourself."
Nia smiled faintly.
"Are you volunteering to come?"
"If you want me there."
She considered it.
"Not this time. But I'll call you afterward."
"All right."
"And Nia?"
"Yes?"
"You don't owe anyone a confrontation. If the meeting feels wrong, leave."
"I will."
He stood when Nia approached.