[ALL RIGHT EVERYONE!!! Let's have fun competing in recreational the game!! Sixteen students will duke it out tournament style, one-on-one!!!]

Now that the recess ended, all the students stood in the center of the stadium as they listened to the introduction of the third and final event.

Kirishima patted the back of Kuroha with a large smile as he said, "We are finally going to stand on the stage we watched every year on the TV! Isn't it exciting?"

For Kuroha, there was nothing more mundane than fighting, and he didn't particularly care about being under the light either. Still, when someone who saw you as a friend shared his happiness with you, acting standoffish was nothing more than being a dick. Simply smiling never hurt, and that's what he did,

"I am happy for you. I am sure you will be able to show them your skills."

Kirishima grinned and was about to answer when Present Mic interrupted him.

[As you all know, each year, we always hold such one-on-one based on a theme. The theme this year is….. THE FOUR YUUSHA VS THE MAOU!!!!!]

The screen switched on as present Mic continued,

[The sixteen aspirant Yuusha will fight until only four are left. Those four will be the Yuusha team, and together, they will fight the oh~! So dreadful Maou, HAYATE KUROHA!!!]

An uproar sounded in the stadium as most of the people couldn't help but stand in shock. Even though Kuroha managed to get ahead of four students during the race, this situation and a straight 1 vs 4 was totally different. Still, at the end of the day, they were here for entertainment. As such the shock quickly turned into excited cheer.

On the other hand, the situation between the students was rather stiff as they all looked at Kuroha with a dumbfounded look. They weren't stupid. The higher up would have never allowed such a situation if they didn't think that Kuroha really had a chance. This made the pill even harder to swallow for some of the most prideful students.

One of them, a blonde-haired tall boy who seemed particularly pissed, smoothed his expression before reaching Kuroha and putting his hand on his shoulder,

"Incredible, I must say, you are really a surprise. I would have never thought that…"

"Take off your hand."

"...What?" The blonde widened his blue eyes as he asked dumbfoundedly,

"I will say this for the last time. Take. Off. Your. Hand."

No threat followed this, but the atmosphere around them became so heavy that some of the students around them couldn't help but take a step back. The blonde-haired man could feel it in his gut, if he didn't take off his hand, something bad would happen. But, his pride made it simply impossible for him to do so. Just as things were about to take a turn for the worse,

"*Ugh*"

A large hand suddenly karate-chopped the head blonde guys,

"Sorry sorry, could you forgive my classmate? He didn't mean anything bad about it."

The hand belonged to a rather beautiful orange-haired girl with an apologetic expression on her face. Kuroha though was in no way interested in her beauty. He may have discovered the pleasure of the flesh, but that didn't mean that he would suddenly become some horn dog that would forgive everyone because a girl said sorry. He was about to answer dismissively when a voice interrupted him,

"Do not worry. Kuroha was just a little stressed."

Kuroha didn't need to turn around to know who this voice belonged to. Indeed, the one who interrupted him, walked until she faced the orange-haired girl and said with a calm smile,

"I am Momo Yaoyorozu, a student of class A."

"I am Itsuka Kendo, a student of class B, and this idiot here..." She pointed with her finger, "...Is Monoma Neito. Once again, really sorry."

Kuroha, seeing that this girl was really sorry and wasn't just acting as if it was normal for her to be forgiven, decided to let it go. Anyways, this guy was just a nuisance.

"Forget it. The recreational event will begin soon. Momo let's go."

What he didn't see was the sneer that formed on Monoma face that should have been unconscious, his hand... Holding a few strands of white-silver hair.

----

The recreational events were in no way mandatory, so only a few students from the hero course participated. This event was mainly for the students from the other course to unwind a little and play around.

Even if they were told to have fun, those who participated in the tournament couldn't relax. Some polished their strategy against their opponent, some tried to keep their presence of mind and some sharpened their senses.

As they all focused on their respective thoughts, it was time to start before they knew it.