"I...I-I've never felt this way before... I thought at first, it was just admiration to A-Akira-sama..."

"Love girl..."

Ai had a blushing embarassed look as she had her eyes on the ground.

Akira was standing in front of him looking a bit worried as she spoke.

They were behind the school, near the trees situated on it.

It was starting to get late then, and sundown was immediately coming.

"K-kokachi always told me to stay away from boys and to be on guard since they might do l-lewd things to me...I was also scared to approach A-Akira-sama at first...but A-Akira-sama...was so kind and gentle. A-Akira-sama kept making me happy, although I never asked A-Akira-sama to do so."

"..."

"I...I then realized that what I said that day... wasn't just a-an accident... W-what I said is definitely true. And I...

...I want to be special to you so..."

"..."

"A-A-Akira-sama... I thought long about this...b-but, p-please be my boyfriend!"

Ai said as she bowed down to him.

"...

...Sorry, love girl...

...but no."

Ai's eyes widen after hearing this.

She had a dejected look on her face as if the whole world crashed on her.

"I... I see..."

She seemed like she was about to cry when Akira said something...

"You deserve someone better. Not someone like me, I'm really sorry."

Ai's eyes widen again after seeing this, but somehow her eyes turned into anger, she then pulled herself up to a standing position.

'I think it's better if I just leave her alo-'

Akira was about to leave, when suddenly...

"AKIRA-SAMA!"

Ai screamed at him.

Akira felt a chill on his back and decided to turn back to her.

"I... I'm sorry, ok?....but this is for the-"

"What do you mean I deserve better?"

Ai had slight tears on her eyes and had a cute angry pouty expression.

"...Love girl, think about what I did for you. Doesn't it seem like I'm just like Hirama?", Akira asked with a serious expression.

"I saw that he had bad intentions, but had to save you only in the last moment, it's as if I did it on purpose to get your affection."

Ai kept her irritated face and replied to him:

"T-that isn't true. Y-you did it for a reason! I know you did! T-there's no way you'd let him do all that just to shine in the end!"

"Yeah, but...still... I don't think you'd like being with someone like me, it's better if you found someone else."

Ai seemed so irritated hearing that line from him and asked him:

"What do you mean?"

"I-I meant you deserve someone who's not like me."

"What kind of person is someone not like you? Do you want me to be with someone who's scary, hurts and discourages me all the time and treats me like a pest?"

"N-no. The opposite of that, someone who's gentle, who'd care for you and encourage you and stuff."

"Then why did you say you wanted me to be with someone not like you?"

"...

...because I'm-"

"Akira-sama, you're really really amazing! ...but I hate it when you talk down to yourself as if you're worthless scum. I hate it so much. It makes me so angry."

"You... deserve someone like... Akio, ok? I might not be that worthless, but I'm not a gentle sweet guy like my little brother, I'm just a rowdy childish delinquent."

"...b-but... I love that part about you, Akira-sama!"

Akira blushed as he heard this...

Ai kept her serious look, until she realized what she said and looked embarassed again.

"I-I-I love... it when you're childish, I love it when you're rowdy. Because that's who you are, and I fell in love with that part of you too."

"L-love girl."

Akira felt really bashful from all the words she said.

"...but you see, someone like Akio is better because-"

"I have the right to decide who I like, Akira-sama! And it's not your little brother I love, it's the cool and gentle Akira-sama!"

"... There are lots of better guys out there-"

"Akira-sama, do you not want...to go out with...me?", Ai asked with a hopeful expression.

"... You- You're really... really cute and sexy. You're so sweet, you're extremely kind and super loving. The words you're telling me right now even made my heart skipped a beat."

Ai, hearing his words, started to blush redder and seemed fidgety and nervous hearing them.

"Your shortness just makes you even cuter, and without a doubt, if I wasn't this rough, rowdy guy, I would have accepted your confession immediately."

"...Akira-sama!"

"I curse a lot. I'm addicted to watching anime films. I brag about things even though I'm not always the best at them. I sort of have eight grader syndrome. I bought a whole expensive anime sword in my room that I never use. I pick fights with random thugs. I easily get swayed by girls. I used to have a crush on my mom. I work out because I feel insecure whenever girls approach only Akio when I'm beside him. I actually like live anime adaptations. My clothes are an assortment of tracksuits, hoodies and t-shirts with one pair of pants. I bought an expensive pimple removing cream because I believed I'll need to use it one day even though I never did. I sometimes go commando when going out with basketball shorts. I-"

Akira suddenly stopped when he heard Ai giggling.

"Hahahahahahahaha hahahahaha!!"

She was laughing so hard as she held her stomach.

'I was trying to tell you how shitty I am. It's kind of embarassing how she had to laugh out loud...but I guess this means she's enlightened now, huh?'

"I told you, right? I'm weird and awkward to be with. I never even had much friends in my past. I have this scary look on my face as well. I'm not this perfect gentle angel you have in your mind. You're better off with another-"

"I love you."

Ai, who always had a clumsy nervous expression showed a large blushing cute smile as she said that.

"Everything you said, Akira-sama, except for you being easily swayed by girls. I love it."

Akira blushed again after hearing this.

"I wanted to learn more about you, Akira-sama. And just by hearing all that come from you, it makes me so happy."

He then started scratching his head because of Ai's words.

"...but you see..."

"You're amazing the way you are, Akira-sama. No matter how much you try to tell me you're an idiot, a delinquent, a nobody

...just like what you told me...

To me Akira-sama,

...you're my hero."

Akira's eyes widened as he heard her words.

"...but I..."

"Akira-sama... I know you're not in love with me."

"Y-yeah...", Akira felt a bit hesitant as he answered her.

"...but I know now that you don't love anyone else...right?"

"Uh...yeah...."

"Then that means... I-I have a chance. And that's all that matters."

Ai said with a gentle smile.

"...but still-"

"You said I'm c-cute and that you'd like to be with me...and that means I have a chance."

"L-love girl."

"I'll do my b-best to make you fall in l-love with me! So no matter what you say, unless you have another girl you like I won't give up!"

"L-love girl, you don't have to-'"

Suddenly Ai hugged Akira.

She was really short so her face was immediately buried on his chest.

"I-I love you, Akira-sama, and I'm not giving you up!", She said as she looked up at him with a nervous blushing but trying hard to look confident expression.

"...d-do what you want..."

______________________________________

Monday again.

It was finally the first day of the tournament practice.

Akira was feeling a little nervous as he walked towards the school's entrance.

He seemed to not have enough sleep since his eyes had large eyebags under it.

Beside him was Akio who seemed refreshed while walking with him.

"You've been like that the whole weekend, bro. Did something happen?"

"I-it's nothing."

Suddenly, from the road nearing the school entrance, Ai and Ana suddenly called ontl them.

"Akira-sama!"

"Akio!"

They both walked to them and smiled.

"Good morning, Akio!"

"Good morning, Akira-sama!"

Akio just smiled at Ana, while Akira looked nervous as he held the back of his neck.

"Good morning, Ana."

"M-morning."

Ai was blushing a little and looked fidgety as he greeted her.

"I can't believe you have such a cute girl admiring you, Akira-nii! You should just go and make her your girlfriend already!", Ana said with a sparkling smile.

Ai seemed to have a red face and grinned as she heard Ana's statement.

"Her? ...but what about the two girls he was-", Akio was planning to comment on the topic, when suddenly-

""AKIRA!""

Two girls shouted, calling Akira.

Megumi and Kokachi, both seemed to have been waiting at the school's entrance but decided to walk towards the group.

"Mornin-"

"YAW!"

Suddenly, both of them went to Akira's left and right side, and pinched his back on the area near his waist.

They both seem to be showing gentle looking smiles but with intimidating auras.

"What's wrong with the both of you? I thought we cleared up that I really didn't do anything to her."

""Good. Morning. Akira.""

They both just replied to him with the same expression.

"M-meguchi! Kokachi! Don't bully Akira-sama!"

Koka and Megumi showed a scary expression to her hearing her say that.

"Hiiih!"

Ai tingled with a scared looked on her face.

""Good. Morning. To. You. Too. Aichi.""

"Y-y-yes!"

They then started walking to the school's entrance again.

Koka and Megumi were walking beside Akira as they entered the school while Ai was walking backwards in front of him as they spoke.

"So, what did she say?"

"Yes! She said she wanted to train with me as soon as possible! I'll be giving it by best as well! Akira-sama!"

'Finally, she's got an actual reasonable partner to pair up with in the tournament.'

Akira and Ai were speaking to one another about Ai's tournament partner.

It seems like she finally has someone she could team up with.

"I'll be treating you as an enemy in the battlefield, so don't be scared to hit me, alright? I'll be hitting you as hard as I can."

Akira told her with a devious grin. She showed a loving smile as he said that.

"Ow!"

Megumi and Koka pinched his back again.

"What was that for...?"

They just turned their heads at him and showed a big smile that sent a chill down Akira's spine.

'W-why do I feel like...if I say something I'd be risking my life right now.'

Akira felt like a criminal being escorted by police officers after they found out he done a crime, so he just exercised his right to remain silent.

"That voice, it's the pervert!"

"Hitting her hard? What sort of lewd thing is he talking about!?"

"No way, that's him? He's kind of hot."

"W-what kind of pervy things is he up to?"

"...but didn't he save that girl? Isn't he kind of cool?"

A bunch of students who from different years heard him talk and whispered to one another.

'Guess the talk about that video hasn't died down yet, huh?'

______________________________________

"Heya!"

"Yo."

Akira and Eiji met in what seems to be a very large dome.

About a hundred other students of different years and faces were there.

Akira was wearing a gray tracksuit as he looked around the area.

'Can't see any of them here. They might be placed in different simulators.'

"Need to look for your friends?", Eiji asked, who was also wearing a gray tracksuit.

"No, I'm good."

"Students in simulator 5. Prepare yourself, the simulation will now start."

A female teacher's voice was heard from the speakers on the ceilings.

The area around the students then started to glow, and suddenly...

They were teleported inside a rocky area.

"You may now conduct your training. You have 6 hours of usage. Once your time is up, you will automatically be transported back. Hurting other students before the tournament will immediately lead to disqualification. That is all."

*beep*

"So, to start off."

"You want to measure my ability's scope and weaknesses, huh?"

"I'm still the support here, Saviors are usually the one doing the fighting while we create the plans to lead you to victory."

"Okay, I'll do it."

Eiji then pulled up his arm and pointed his palm towards a rock nearby.

After a moment, glowing violet lines appeared on his hand and a violet light accumulated on his hand.

He clenched his muscles immediately and from his hand, released a violet lightning bolt.

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

It struck the rock and formed a small crack on it's surface.

"So his ability is lightning... I sort of know that already because I watched his class's group battles. If he has that strong of an ability though, wouldn't someone else pair with him better? I could protect him with my shield, but that'll be pretty useless if he's a projectile ability user. It'd be better if he just hid behind a rock or something...is probably what you're thinking, right?"

"Well, that was what I was planning to think. Why the hell did you pick me anyways? I know someone who'll pair up better with a projectile user."

Eiji looked at his hand then pointed it at Akira.

His hand then glowed with violet lines.

"WAIT-"

Violet lightning suddenly aimed at Akira.

Akira immediately put his right forearm up and formed a shield.

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

*BOOM*

The lightning struck the shield, and deflected back to the ground.

The grass burnt as the lightning struck the ground.

"That is one of the reasons."

The shield seemed unfazed from his lightning strike.

'The shield wasn't even affected by the lightning, although it cracked that hard rock. Doesn't it mean it's even harder than it was before?'

"My lightning is a strong ability, but just like lasers, fire and other projectile abilities, it could harm my partner.

So, say, I chose a partner who has a sight ability that'll let me target enemies from a safe spot, it might seem great, except if they closed in, I can't be bothered to protect my support.

My ability would affect not only the attacker, but the support at the same time. That's why I needed someone who could fend off against my lightning.", explained Eiji.

"How'd you know my shield would be an insulator against lightning though?"

"Well...

Remember your fight with the pink haired girl against that inflater guy during the group battles?"

Akira crossed his arms.

"... Well, yeah. I haven't forgotten it."

'How could I? The pink girl visited my house the next day and rubbed her ass on my crotch. I've been so hung up because of that.', Akira thought with a blushing expression.

"During that fight, seeing your shield break, and watching it slice through his arm made me realize that it wasn't made of metal, it's probably made of some material that copies the hardness of metal, but doesn't have that material on it. It's basically made of an energy based material that is neither rock nor metal."

"Seems like you think more than you look."

"Hey! I might be gorgeous, but I'm not a no-brainer."

'Gorgeous...huh...'

Akira showed an incredulous expression as he said that.

"I get the fact that you can't protect a sight user with your skill, but still...why me? Your lightning ability would be great if it was paired with a body enhancer like the pink girl in my class. You could just quickly let the support boost you, charge in and paralyze the enemy with your lightning."

"...The truth is...

There's still actually a downside on this ability of mine."

Akira's eyes slightly widen.

"I have a feeling that downside is something really terrible."

Eiji started scratching the back of his head and answered:

"I can't use my ability unless I'm standing still."

"..."

Akira showed a disappointed expression as he heard him say that.

'I thought his ability was on par with Akio's air blast ability, although it's a little thinner...but no mobility during it's usage?'

"So you're an unmoving powerhouse once you're using your ability, and you need someone to shelter you while you use it."

"That's right!", Eiji said with a wry smile and his right hand showing a thumbs up.

"...

Basically, you want me to babysit you."

"Hahahaha, well, if that's how you take it."

Akira suddenly put his hand on his face and started massaging it.

"Oh come on! It isn't that bad!"

"It's hella fucking terrible! Your ability might look cool, but if you had to stay put to strike an enemy, not only will it be a predictable attack, you'd be completely fucking defenseless!"

"Well, it's not like I can help it. Teehee~", Eiji said while putting his fist on his head and showing his tongue trying to look cute.

"What happens if you don't stand still?", Akira asked with an irritated wry smile.

"W-what do you mean? My ability just doesn't work if I don't stand still."

"That's not possible. Abilities don't just stop just because you lose concentration. What's the other weakness?"

"Oh, come on! You don't need to know that. It's not like-"

"I'm gonna smash your face on the ground if you don't tell me."

"I electrocute everyone besides me including myself."

"..."

Akira suddenly showed a dejected expression while putting his palm on his face.

Eiji just put his fist up on his head and showed his tongue while saying "Teehee~" again.

"Aren't you, one of the shittiest Savior students then?"

"Hey! It's not that bad! We could find a way around it! I bet we can!"

"Yeah, but while everyone's testing out their compatibility and their battle strength, we're the ones here still looking for a way to somehow fix that hole in mobility and defense problem of yours without getting us electrocuted."

"...but it's not like it's that weak. I can still sit down and shoot as long as I'm not moving."

"...that's not the point, that's still-"

'Wait...if he could sit down and use it, wouldn't the best solution to this be...?'

"How about we try something out?"

"Hmmm?"

______________________________________

Akira's running through the rocks with a shield on his chest and a shield on his back, both his forearms are glowing green as he did that.

In front of his shields, are pieces of papers with a badly drawn target sign on it.

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

From behind a rock, a strong lightning stroked aimed at Akira.

*whoosh*

Akira moved his body sideways immediately to dodge the lightning.

"That's too slow. Try to shoot it out quicker."

Akira then ran away, while Eiji left the rock and followed the direction he was heading towards.

Akira then stopped his tracks, and turned towards Eiji, planning to charge at him.

Eiji stopped as well and pointed his arm at him.

Lightning suddenly released and was about to hit the running Akira, when...

*whoosh*

He dodged it before it hit him.

Akira then jumped and pushed Eiji down, while pulling his shield from his chest, putting it on his forearm to aim towards Eiji's neck.

They landed on the ground with Akira pointing a shield at Eiji.

"I win."

"That's not surprising."

"Aren't you embarassed a support student beat you?"

"Nah, not even in the slightest."

They then stood up and brushed the dirt off their clothes.

"Guess the strategy won't work if it's an open ground, huh?"

"It looks like it."

Akira then put his hand on his mouth and showed a thinking pose.

"Your ability, not only can't it be used if you're not moving, it's speed is also not quick enough to bring down someone in a one v one battle unless it's close by. It's strong enough to cracks rock though and can affect an enemy's whole body though. So one hit from it can instantly bring down one enemy."

"Although it has it's advantages, it's not that bad of an ability. As long it hits once, an enemy will easily be affected by the shock and weaken their movements."

"That doesn't sound bad, but judging from the way you fought in the group battles, you tend to stay further away and kept trying to shoot lightning to enemies without moving."

"Well, that's it's downside, not like I could find a way around it."

"Can't you try keeping your concentration while moving?"

"I can't! It's hard because the energy nerves used by this ability is my full body, I need to somehow prevent my other energy nerves from acting up to use it properly, and the best way to do that is concentrate on my arm."

"...Then that means, these week before the tournament starts, we have to practice out strategies to somehow get you to hit at least one target."

"I'll do my best."

"Your aim doesn't seem off but your prediction is kinda shitty. You should work on guessing which direction and how much distance I'll go and when you need it fire."

"A moving object is usually the hardest target in a battlefield after all."

"Come on, let's go again."

______________________________________

Tournament Practice Day 2.

"Controlling the pathway?"

"If you could change the direction your lightning goes halfway before it hits, you might be able to surprise our enemies."

"That's gonna require harder concentration then. I won't be able to use it unless I completely stand still."

"Still, we need to try it."

______________________________________

Tournament Practice Day 3

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

Akira had put up his shield on his right forearm before his face while Eiji kept shooting lightning on it.

He was slightly pushed back by each hit, but it only pushed him back a centimeter or so.

"If you memorize the image of striking another ability user, it wouldn't be as hard to somehow prevent them from striking you down when you lower your guard.

Someone's probably gonna try and charge at you from the start, so you better prepare yourself to push them away. If you can't move, prevent them from moving."

"Sounds kind of like a stupid idea."

"We have to try it, no matter how shitty it is."

______________________________________

Tournament Practice Day 4

Akira flung his shield as Eiji targeted it with his lightning.

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

He also hit it by a hair's breathe but didn't manage to do so.

"This is kind of like those first person shooter games I play."

"Yeah, except it has better gameplay.

Fix your goddamn aim!"

______________________________________

Tournament Day 5

Akira was sparring with Eiji with shields on his two arms and kept trying to punch him.

Eiji kept dodging and kept pulling back.

"Fighting a melee enemy would get you cornered immediately. So to fix that, we have to make you get used to fighting with hand to hand combat."

"You really are a delinquent-"

*BAM!*

"AUGH!"

Eiji was hit on the face by Akira and fell down on the ground.

"Try to stay focused."

"Can we rest for a bit?"

*BAM!*

______________________________________

Tournament Practice Day 6

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

Akira's shield that he threw was zapper by Eiji's lightning.

"Seems like you got better at aiming moving objects."

"Yeah, if I was forced to do it for 4 hours straight everyday, of course I'd be good at it-"

"You're still not good enough."

Akira sat on the ground with his arms behind him and his legs stretched, feeling a little tired.

"How'd you get this good at knowing what our enemies would probably act like during the tournament? You seem like some sort of pro Savior pretending to be a support student."

"I've had my fair shares of encounters with villains."

'That was one of the reasons, although I mostly got the idea in a new manga I was reading.'

"You've met villains before? Don't tell me you fought one?"

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you don't know about-"

'...Oh yeah, I gave the credit from me defeating that villain to the sixth year senpai.'

"...I...mean, I saw many villain incidents the past few months."

"Yeah, there has been a lot of villain incidents lately... Come to think of it, have you heard the rumor about the villain who trespassed the school's property during the tag competition?"

Akira slightly widened his eyes hearing this.

"R-rumor? What's it about?"

"Apparently, the sixth year senpai who defeated the villain didn't actually defeat the villain. He said he fell unconscious during their fight, but before he did, he was actually able to get a glimpse of the one who came to save him."

'He was awake that time? There's no way... And they can't possibly know it's-'

"We don't know much about who saved him, but he did say it was a sixth year."

Akira suddenly showed blue lines on his eyes as he showed an incredulous expression.

'Nope, they got no clue it was me.'

"There was another redeeming feature about the one who rescued him though, according to the rumors."

"What was that?"

"...

...The rescuer had a healing ability."

Akira suddenly sweated profusely as if he heard something really bad.

"O-oh really?"

"...'oh really'...?"

Eiji slightly narrowed his eyes and stared at Akira's eyes.

"W-what the hell is it?"

"I just thought there may be a chance it was you."

Akira suddenly shivered a little as if guilty.

"I-I'm not-"

"Nah, there's no way, it was you.", Eiji said as he turned back on Akira with his hands posed like a weighing scale, showing a laidback expression.

"There's a support senpai from the sixth years who was rumored to be the real rescuer. The senpai had a healing ability so they thought it might be him."

Akira sighed of relief when Eiji suddenly added something.

"I don't believe that though."

Akira looked a bit nervous again hearing that.

"I wouldn't believe a senpai with just a restoration skill will win against a B class villain, although he was a sixth year."

He then looked at Akira from the corner of his eyes.

"I don't think it's you as well since there was one redeeming feature about the defeated villain I eavesdropped from the teachers."

"...What feature is that?"

"The villain...

...had large slash marks on his body."

Akira then reminisced the last attack he did to defeat the villain.

["TAAAKKKEEEE TTTHIIIISSS!!!", screamed as he slashed his claws on the villain.

Green smoke appeared from the claw while it hit the villain and pushed him to the ground with great force.]

"I bet it was two people who saved him, a support and a savior. There are also some other supports who have healing abilities from other years, I think they saved him."

'Well, at least he didn't find out.'

"Speaking of villains, what about the dude who bumped you when you invited me to be your partner in the tournament? He's in the Savior course but he seems like someone who'd betray his allies without a word."

[As Eiji turned around and walked away, he suddenly bumped in to another student.

*kug*

He was slightly pushed away as the student intentionally bumped his shoulder on him.

"Uh! What's with you, Jun..!?", Eiji, asked with a slightly irritated expression.

"Weaklings like you shouldn't be sticking their noses on stuff already belonging to others, Kagayaku.", the first year student, with a blond undercut, replied to him.]

"Ah, you mean Jun? He may seem like a bad person, but he's not really that bad.

"You think so? I thought he seemed like a complete asshole."

"..."

Eiji went quiet for a moment.

"We used to be close friends a few months back."

"What happened?"

"..."

Eiji had an expression as if he didn't want to answer.

"H-hey, are we going to practice tomorrow too?", he asked, trying to avoid the subject.

"No, this is enough."

"So, that's our plan, right?"

"Yeah... Let's just give it all we got on Monday."

"Sure. Don't oversleep or I might kiss you!"

Akira showed an expression of disgust.

"That was a joke, come on!"

"Let's just go."

______________________________________

"I'm home."

"RAAAAA-CHHHAAAAANNN!"

*pak*

Akiko's forehead slammed on Akira's palm.

"Stop it."

"Uguuuu, my son's rebelling against me again! Uguuuu!", Akiko said while fake sobbing.

"Quit trying to hug me all the time!"

"Muuuu... Ra-chan's gonna grow up as an angry old man telling kids to get off his property."

"I'm not!...

By the way, aren't you gonna go back abroad? You had a really long vacation now."

"Ah, you don't have to worry about that. I-"

"Welcome home, bro."

Akio said as he approached them with a serious expression.

"Something up? What's with the formal greeting?"

"I bet you told your tournament partner to just rest up for tomorrow and not train anymore, right?"

"Well, yeah... Something wrong with that?"

"... The truth is, I forgot to tell you something about the tournament..."

Akira looked a little concerned as he heard this.

"What is it...?"

______________________________________

The SS tournament.

A tournament made for the whole population of the current S.U. students to show off their skills.

It isn't required for a student to join though, and if one wishes to, they will just act as part of the audience.

The ones who lose in the first rounds and the ones who decide to not join will have to do a special activity though to keep their grades in check.

It starts off with the first match in the simulators.

About one to two hundred students are placed inside each of the academies' simulators.

Different year students are separated in each simulator as they are all in different skill groups from one another.

"Each student will be wearing either a blue ring, a red ring, a yellow ring or a green ring.

Those who wear blue rings have to hunt down one pair with red rings.

Those who wear red rings will hunt down yellow ringed pairs.

The yellow ringed pairs will then have to hunt down green ringed pairs and...

The green ringed pairs will have to hunt down the blue ringed pairs.

One pair is enough to lead you to the next round.

If a certain color pairs ran out because they've been all defeated before the time runs out, all the opposing hunters of the colored pairs will lose immediately.

You are not allowed to ally with other pairs, nor are you allowed to fight pairs that aren't your targets.

Those who do so will be disqualified.

Destroying your targets' rings counts as a victory as well.

Once both opponent are defeated, you and the opponent will immediately be transported back to this area.

Give it your all and be sure to always be on guard.

That is all. Goodluck.", a middle aged man's adult voice was heard from the radio.

'Was that mind whisperer sensei? Why'd they just such an unmotivated teach like him to be an announcer?'

Akira and Eiji are both wearing yellow rings as they stood near other contestants.

People with different colored rings, with different shapes, and sizes were all over the place.

'Noone here as well? Guess they might all be in the other simulator, huh?'

There were 200 support students in the first years and 198 savior students that were currently enrolled.

From those, about 183 support students and 183 savior students participated.

So all in all there were 366 first year students that joined the tournament.

One third of them were placed in simulator 1, some were placed in simulator 2, while the rest were in simulator 3.

About 122 people were currently in simulator 1, where Akira is seen right now.

There might be a chance that he had to fight one of his classmates and he sort of feared that idea since not only had he already made a good relationship with a large portion of his class, they also know about most of his ability's aspects.

'If I fought someone like time girl or that pink girl, we might be done for.', Akira thought.

"Oi! Eiji!", what seems to be an old style delinquent with a large pompadour cut and a stubble on his face approached Eiji as he spoke with Akira.

He was wearing a somehow flashy tracksuit, with gold chains on his neck and golden buttons that replaced his regular buttons.

His collars seemed so triangular and long for some reason as well, like it was from some sort of old delinquent manga.

"Heya! Didn't expect to see you here, Gorou."

From behind him showed up a familiar figure that shocked Akira.

"Takumi...? You...?"

Takumi, who still had that dead expression on his face walked towards Akira.

The two of them were wearing rings that somehow shook Akira.

'Red rings, huh?'

"Seems like both of us know each other. I've got a pretty handy support brother, Hahahaha!", the pompadoured guy proudly said with his hands on his waist.

"Hey, my support found a pretty awesome savior to pair up too.", Eiji proudly proclaimed with his fist on his chest.

'This little-'

"It seems like you're our prey, Akira.", Takumi butted in.

He was holding what seems to be a bow and a bunch of rock ended arrows were in the quiver behind him.

"We won't be holding back, so if we find you... I'll be taking you down immediately.", Takumi said as he showed his arm as if he was planning to arm wrestle without a table.

Akira made a confident grin and took his arm as if accepting his challenge.

"I'm looking forward to it."

The pompadour guy seemed to just laughed proudly from this scene, while Eiji was nodding with crossed arms.

'Sorry, Takumi....but we won't be losing anytime today.'

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Akira and Eiji were running in what seems to be a dark rocky area.

Rocks of all sizes stood all around them and made it look as restricted as a forest environment.

"Come back here, you losers!"

A guy with black hair and a monkey tail were following Akira and Eiji, behind him was a girl with light green hair and small eyes with a large robotic arm.

The followers both have red rings.

"SHIT! Why did we have to be teleported just beside them...?", Akira complained.

He had a shield behind his back and on his chest just like the time when he practiced with Eiji.

"It's not like our position was predetermined. We were all transported randomly, I bet there were some red ringed pairs who were transported near green ringed ones."

"Can you do something? Use your lightning at them!"

"We can't attack those who aren't our targets. We'll be disqualified if we hit them intentionally."

They both have a serious look in their faces as they ran, when suddenly...

"Gotcha!"

The monkey guy and the robot-armed girl immediately jumped down from the top of the rock near them and we're aiming their tail/arm at them.

'SHIT!'

Suddenly though...

*PWWWHOOOOSSHH!*

A group of two plain looking girls hit them before they could hit Akira and Eiji.

The hitter struck the pair with her anvil hands while the support pushed her with her stretchy arms.

"We were the loseeeeers, NOOO!!!"

The 2 pairs faded afterwards.

"Guess that makes one winner pair and one loser pair, huh?"

"Let's get going."

Akira and Eiji then kept running again looking for green ringed pairs.

When suddenly...

*TSSSSSKKKK*

A large drill-like hair struck past just before Akira and Eiji's faces.

"It's them!"

From the distance, Akira and Eiji could see Takumi and Gorou running towards their direction.

'Shit. Already? Guess this ain't gonna be easy mode any time soon.'

Eiji and Akira turned right and started running that direction while dodging the attacks of the two.

The pompadour haired guy kept stretching his hair into a large drill like weapon and like a rapier, tried piercing them.

Takumi kept firing arrows and whispered Akira's and Eiji's locations from time to time to whenever they tried hiding.

They were in a predicament right now.

"We just need to look for someone who has red rings and break their rings. We should avoid them as much as possible."

Akira and Eiji kept running forward, when suddenly...

*WHOOSH-*

"DODGE IT!"

Akira pulled Eiji away as a certain robot suddenly smashed towards Eiji.

"Dammit. You got to be kidding."

From behind the rocks, a yellow bowlcut haired short individual came out.

Behind him is a tall white haired girl with a large robotic arm.

"Can't believe we're even in the same area, Akira. You've been really blessed by the misfortune god, aren't you?"

"Tch-"

Akira noticed their rings as they showed up in front of them.

They had the same colors as Takumki's and Gorou's.

They also, had red rings on their index fingers.

"Guess we're playing the hard game, huh.", Akira said with a tired expression.

He then curled his mouth up and curled his eyebrows down, showing a confident expression and said:

"Bring it on."

End of Chapter 16

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Sorry if the conclusion of this chapter was sort of declining.

I felt really sleepy making this.