Akira was stood near the clinic window, looking at the outside.

He just brought Eiji there to get healed, and decided to wait for what the nurse has to say about his condition.

["The last match for tomorrow would be between Kagayaku Eiji of Savior class 1-4 and Ishikawa Akira of support class 1-2 versus Taiho Jun of Savior class 1-5 and...

Inoue Kazuki of support class 1-2."]

Those words that came out of States' mouth shocked Akira.

He knew it was going to happen, that if he continued winning, he'll end up fighting him as well.

At the very start, he didn't even plan to join the tournament since he didn't want to be bothered fighting with a guy who also wanted to be a hero.

...but...

[Ken and Ude was just about to put their fists up and punch the air to gather forced Ken would manipulate to fight Kazuki and Jun, when suddenly.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

A strong ear ripping sound was heard and a large burst of air flooded the arena.]

[Akira was suddenly struck by Kazuki's both hands but he used his right shield to protect against it.

Akira kept struggling while blocking with his shield against the hands when suddenly...

Akira's shield broke...]

[Takumi had large and deep looking bruises on his body and he was covered in bandages and had casts on right arm and leg.

Gorou also looked the same and had his hair seemingly forcibly torn, but with both of his legs casted instead.]

["Bro.", Akio called onto Akira.

... I don't really have much advice I could give you now...since I don't really have a support based ability, but I still want you to know... I believe you can win.", Akio told Akira without losing conviction.]

'Akio...', Akira thought.

[Another cannonball suddenly pushed the second cannonball and rapidly closed in on the two.

"YOU-!", Hong Huoki screamed as the cannonball approached them.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM*

"GGGAAAAAHHH!!"

"AUUUUGGGHH!!!"

The cannonball struck them towards the arena walls.]

'Strength that surpasses even those that are gifted.', Akira thought.

'There's just...no way we can-'

"Ishikawa-san?"

Suddenly, as Akira was thinking about stuff, a female voice suddenly called onto him.

It was the violet haired mature looking sexy woman wearing a skimpy nurse outfit.

"Your partner has been taken care of now. He still has some light injuries, but he'll recover it in no time.", the female said with the flirty smile.

"Y-yeah...th-thanks...", Akira told her.

"Well, I'll be going now. See you again sometime.", the woman told Akira with a flirty wink.

"...S-sure...", Akira nervously answered.

'The school healer, huh. Come to think of it, I remember she had black hair before.' thought Akira.

'Pretty unusual of her to always be absent from the clinic though.'

Akira then walked to Eiji's bed and saw him with some light bandages wrapped on his head.

"You alright now?", Akira asked Eiji who was lying on the bed.

"Yeah, just got a couple of light wounds, this'll be healed up tomorrow.", Eiji answered.

"So...about our enemies tomorrow...", he asked Akira.

"It's them. Taiho and Inoue.", Akira answered him.

"...", for a short moment, Eiji kept silent.

"Well... I knew we'll have to face them somewhere in the road but... I'm really not sure whether I'm prepared to face them or not.", Eiji then told Akira.

"Can't change it now, right? The best we could do is somehow outsmart them without getting pulverized by a gigantic cannonball.", Akira replied.

"Anyways, you should go and rest up, I bet you're also not really looking forward to this, huh?", Eiji asked him.

"You can already guess."

"Just go. I'll promise I'll have recovered tomorrow."

"... Haaah. Sure, see you tomorrow. Don't you ever wuss out, you hear me?", Akira sighed and told him.

"Yeah, yeah.", Eiji replied.

Akira then nodded to him and turned his way towards the clinic's exit.

As he walked towards it, he noticed a familiar back lying near the doorway.

'Is that...?'

It was a familiar person's back.

Akira seemed to think this was familiar but was not sure where he seen it before.

As Akira stepped forward though, the figure quickly ran away.

Akira could only scratch his head to this and continued his way forward.

______________________________________

"Akio?", Akira called out his name.

After resting for a while home, Akira finally decided to look for his brother to train with him.

To Akira, even if he couldn't improve a whole lot before tomorrow's match, he still wanted to use up the remainder of the time to strengthen himself.

Even if it wouldn't improve him that much, he still wanted to try and see if he could figure something out that might raise their chances of winning the match.

"Akioooo...!", Akira called yet again.

He was wearing a gray A-shirt and dark green jogging pants.

In the living room, he circled around looking for Akio.

He's been looking for Akio a few minutes ago, and couldn't find him anywhere.

Akio's room, the living room, the porch, he looked for him everywhere except the kitchen and is now walking his way towards it.

'Where is he? Didn't he come home earlier? I heard someone come in downstairs earlier. Mom's not here as well.', thought Akira as he walked towards the kitchen.

'Huh-', he then noticed a small sticky note stuck on the fridge.

>

'... What? Is he prep-ing for his matches as well? The second year matches don't start until next week. What is he-'

>

Akira's eyes slightly widened reading this.

'...Yeah...'

["If you really don't want to tell me, then I'm fine with it. I'm not here to meddle with your affairs.", Akio told Akira.]

'He did say that that time...'

>

Akira slightly widened his eyes and made a wry smile.

>

["Still, I want to see you get stronger. Even with your strength right now, your shields are still not as powerful as it should be.", Akio told Akira.]

'Seems like I owe him one.', Akira thought.

He then turned back and walked out of the kitchen.

______________________________________

"GGGGUUUUUHHH!!", Akira screamed as he slashed at a rock.

*SSSSTTTCCCHHHH*, like nails on a chalkboard, Akira was able to only scratch the rock a bit.

*Crack*

Suddenly, a crack appeared on his claw, as if it was really brittle.

'What's going on?', Akira thought.

'Why's my ability not doing much damage? And why does it seem so fragile and weak now?'

Unlike the last time Akira used his claw, it wasn't glowing with a strong light as before.

This was obviously gonna happen, since the claw blocked the light of the energy nerves of his arm, but last time he used it, it shined really bright for some reason.

"Tch-!", Akira clicked his tongue and slashed towards the rock again.

*SSSTTTTTCCCHHH*

*crack*

This time, after his claws stuck to the rock, it broke.

'What the...!?', Akira thought with a slightly shocked expression.

From the looks of things, it was already obvious that his claw would crack like that, but he still was hoping it would not happen.

'Why's it not as strong as before?', Akira thought while staring at his right hand.

The last time he used his claw was during his fight with X-tinct.

At that time, it felt like he could even the scales with the topmost hero, but he still ended up losing to him.

The thing is though, he was able to make the top hero lose face even for a few moments, and this feat has not been even accomplished by sixth years in a long time.

When he used it during his fight with the shadow manipulator, he was able to slice down and block against his attacks easily with his claw as well.

...but now...as if it was just made out of glass, his claw broke into pieces with only small scratches seen on the rock he aimed it at.

Akira, feeling a little stressed, sat on the ground with his arms bent on top of his knees.

'Did I do something wrong-'

"Hey!"

As Akira deliberated over this fact, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from the direction of the entrance.

"Eiji...? How did you get in here? Actually, how did you even know I was here?", Akira asked with a slightly surprised expression.

Eiji came in like a droplet of water entering what seems to be the simulated plane.

He was wearing a light blue hoodie, the headphones he wore the last time, simple jeans and sneakers

In his right hand, was what seems to be a plastic bag with melon bread in it.

"Ah...that well... M-... I mean... I predicted you'll be here! If you weren't by your home, then this is the only place else you would be, right?", Eiji told Akira with a slightly nervous but smiling expression.

"I just got here, I was home earlier. If you went to my house first I would've noticed you.", Akira told him with a skeptical expression.

"W-well... I deduced I'd catch you training here... Because there's no way you'll just relax after hearing about tomorrow's match, right?", Eiji explained with cold sweat and a wry smile.

"Huuuuhh?", Akira answered him with a suspecting stare.

Eiji's way of answering Akira seemed really unusual for him.

It seemed more like he knew about where Akira was located immediately and didn't bother checking the other location where he had the most chance to be in.

A normal person would have visited the classmate's house first before checking to see if he was in the simulator.

As much as Akira would like to get even stronger before the battle tomorrow, it was already evening back then, and their match earlier ended early afternoon.

What's more is that Eiji wasn't supposed to be that familiar of the area.

They've only brought Eiji once to the simulator but he got there without seemingly breaking into a sweat.

Eiji lived about 4 stations away from Akira's house, and seeing that Akira lived near the countryside, it made it seem even more unusual that he got in the area without specific knowledge about Akira's location.

'Is there a chance he's..

...the...observer...?', Akira thought.

It's been so long since Sir Knight discussed to Akira about him being placed under observation of a certain figure, and he almost forgot about it until now.

Due to Eiji's actions, Akira quickly suspected him as the observer...

....but...

"Haaaah. So what do you want to talk about?", Akira sighed and asked him with an indifferent expression.

He decided to just let it go for now.

As much as he wanted to figure out more about what Sir Knight told him, he knew that that isn't his most significant worry right now.

Tomorrow is their match against Kazuki, and he's already coped up trying to keep up with the event that's about to occur.

If he stress himself thinking about the observer thing, he'd be in more trouble than he's already in.

"About tomorrow's match.", Eiji told Akira with a serious expression as he walked closer to him.

Akira slightly widened his eyes, then nodded.

'We haven't really spoke about what we're doing tomorrow, huh? He was in the clinic earlier so we didn't had a chance to.', thought Akira.

"Unlike most of our earlier fights, we can't be as reckless. The ones we're fighting did take down their opponents in seconds.", Eiji told Akira.

"...No shit. If we're struck down by that gigantic cannonball, there's no way we'll hold against it.", Akira replied.

"... Jun's ability is one thing, but that classmate of yours the one throwing fuel to his flame."

"Inoue's inflation ability is sort of overpowered, especially seeing that most of us first years' skills can only do small scale attacks or buffs."

"Still...", Eiji said while looking up.

"Remember what your little brother told us before our match yesterday?", he continued.

"Is it about how your ability works sort of like his?"

"No, not that... About our opponents.", Eiji told Akira as he turned his sight back to him.

["Mobility advantage, hmm?", Akio told the two.

It was during the time back in the simulator.

They were inside what seems to be a rocky plain, similar to where Akira and Eiji is now.

"If they could dodge my lightning and close in on us quickly, we'd just be dancing in the palm of their hands.", Eiji told Akio with a serious expression.

"I don't think you're completely disadvantaged though. Of course, they can move quickly, but it's not like they can teleport or anything, they just have a more convenient way of transport.", Akio told them while crossing his arms.

"....but that's the deal. If we can't run faster than them, they'd just gain on us. I won't be able to use my ability as well-", before Eiji could finish his sentence-

"Have you guys forgotten something...?", Akio asked them.

"What do you-"

Eiji suddenly turned to Akira, who was listening behind them and was scratching his head feeling a little embarassed.

"I'm sorry, I sort of lost my mind out there.", Akira told them.

"Good thing your remembered, I was worried you guys forgot about one of the reasons why bro's ability is different from most shield creation ability users.", Akio told them while shaking his head.

"Wha-"

Suddenly, Eiji finally understood what they were talking about...

"Unlike most shield creation ability users, bro's ability-"

"Lets me spawn shields in a certain distance.", Akira finished Akio's sentence.

"... Right!", Eiji smiled brightly while cheering.

"You've got an ability that could somehow interrupt with their movements! You've tripped countless of people with your shields, we can do that against their summon as well!", he continued.

"That's how you counter against their mobility advantage.", Akio told them with a slight smile.

"Guess we aren't so lost after all.", Akira replied to them with his palm over his head as if he finally felt relieved.

"It's because you guys panicked too early that your sight has been completely blocked by your hopelessness, without thinking that their advantage might not be that big of a deal.", Akio reprimanded them.

"Well, he's the one who told me we had a strong chance of losing.", Akira told Akio while turning towards Eiji.

"Ah...sorry about that! I just wasn't thinking straight... Hahaha...", Eiji told him with a bright smile.

"You guys sometimes forget...but-"]

"In the end, we're still fighting against fellow first years, that's what he told us.", Eiji told Akira.

Akira turned to the ground as he heard this.

'Inoue...'

Akira and Kazuki once fought during the group battles, and from there, he was able to witness his ability slightly whittle down.

With the help of Megumi, he was able to slice his arm bit by bit, spilling the energy he had stored inside.

Before their fight could end though, his teammates were able to win the battles, thus stopping the fight between the two.

'In the end, he's still a first year. An amateur ability user, who hasn't sharpened his skills enough yet...

...that would mean-'

"They have to have a weakness.", Eiji told Akira.

Hearing this, he nodded his head and looked down again.

'... We need to figure out a way to-'

"....but before we think about that, let's eat first! I got a bag full of melon bread here, want a bite?", Eiji told Akira with a bright smile.

"Huh?", Akira feeling a little irritated, turned at him with an annoyed expression.

"Come on, don't be like that! Let's eat-"

"We've got a time limit here, you moron. If you wanna go have a bite, let's do that later."

"We don't need to do that now, Akirababes-"

Hearing Eiji call him that irritated him once again.

"I told you not to call me that!", Akira told him with an enraged expression..

"Come on, catch!", Eiji told Akira as he threw the melon bread at him.

Instinctively, Akira saw the circular shaped melon bread, and dodged at the lower right end of it, making it barely slap to his hair.

It almost fell on the ground, but before it could happen, Akira quickly caught it with his right hand.

"You idiot! Why did you-"

Suddenly, a quick thought flashed in Akira's mind.

He then turned his sight towards the melon bread in his hand.

"The melon bread-"

"You realized it too, right?", Eiji told him with a confident expression.

"Even if they're really strong. In the end, they're still first years...just like us.", he continued.

Akira slightly widened his eyes, but immediately showed a confident smile.

"I've got a plan.", Akira told him.

Eiji just grinned at this statement.

______________________________________

The next day...

It was early morning and the audience are just starting to enter the seats.

Akira was walking next to Eiji chatting casually.

"You better not fuck it up.", Akira teased Eiji with a straight face with his hands in his pockets.

"I can tell you the same thing.", Eiji replied to Akira with a bright smile.

They continued walking to the entrance when suddenly...

"Akira-sama!"

"Eiji!"

Two girls called the two out.

"Love girl? What are you doing just standing there?", Akira asked Ai with a confused expression.

"Tamiko, you need me for something?", Eiji asked with a friendly smile.

"Ummm...", Tamiko replied to Eiji with a faint blush and a deadpan nervous expression.

"A-Akira-sama....we need your help!", Ai butted in.

"Huh? What for?", Akira asked Ai.

"A-Akira-sama... T-the thing is..."

Ai's next words slightly surprised Akira, but after a few moments, he nodded with an encouraging grin.

______________________________________

"Good morning, everyone! Welcome back to the semifinal round of the first years' SS tournament! Are you guys pumped to see what sorts of amazing spectacles our contestants will show again today?", States announced with a bright smile.

"Yeaaahhhhh!!"

"Aaaiii-chhhhaaann! We loooovvveee yoooouu!!"

"Love Cutie-sama, we're cheering for you!"

"Oh man, I can't wait to see who's gonna win this time!"

"Go! Kazuki-kun! Go! Go! Go! Go!"

Following the many fights that happened, a lot of things have changed.

Most of those are the audience's opinions towards the contestants.

Watching the contestants' battles, their auras, their abilities and their stature during their matches, awakened an urge from some people to cheer for those that they have never even met.

"Fucking hell, it's so loud.", Akira complained while covering his ears.

"If only this tournament could end already, we'll all be at peace.", Izanagi replied to him with his head smudged against his own lap as if he's seconds away from falling asleep.

"What?", Akira responded to him with a question since the cheers were getting too loud for him to hear.

"...", Izanagi replied to his question with silence.

"You're even lazy during the semifinals-"

Akira suddenly noticed Izanagi's fist that was clenched tight.

Even though he laid on his lap with his arm over it, he didn't seem to comfortable and had a tense aura around him.

"Akira.", Ken, who was wearing a cast on his right arm, sat beside Akira called on him.

He stared at him with a serious expression and shook his head.

'...'

Akira turned his pupils towards the left of his sights, where his other classmates were.

Eiko, Ryuu, Megumi who was sat next to Ken, even the bandaged Keima, Takumi and even Kami seemed to be showing serious expressions and don't seem to be planning to joke around.

"Let him be for now.", Ken told Akira.

"... You-"

"The first match for today, we'll be a match for our two cute contestants, Shikaku Tamiko of Savior class 1-4, and Abe Ai of Support class 1-2!", States announced.

From the left entrance, came out a nervous Ai who was for some reason, wearing an overly long white shirt inside her tracksuit, and Tamiko who just showed a deadpan expression.

Megumi, seeing this, frowned slightly.

"AIIII-CCCHHHAANNN!!!! WWEEE LLOOVVEE YYOOUU!!"

"GO, LOVE CUTIE-SAMA! WE'RE CHEERING FOR YOU!"

Ai felt really small hearing this, and shook out of nervousness, while Tamiko rubbed her back to calm her down.

"...ughhh... Those kinds of people again, huh?"

"Well, it was a surprise hearing that she hasn't gained a fanclub yet after all this time, especially with her personality.", Ken replied to Akira with a wry smile.

Ai, who unlike Megumi and Koka, who are tall and pretty, and easy to scope out in a crowd.

Ai was short and always hid behind the backs of others.

The clumsy, cute Ai, who's presence was first noticed by many from the video where Akira saved her, was now known in a different light.

The 'Love Cutie' is now what people call her.

Her ability, unlike most people's, was something that felt pure, pleasing and was certainly adorable.

Lots of people watched her fights and felt disappointed in themselves for not asking her to partner up with them.

Although most people can't complement her ability, they still wanted to partner up with the cute Ai.

"And on the other side, are two elegant beauties, Yoko Kishi of Savior class 1-6 and Fujimoto Avaron of Support class 1-2!"

"Love girl and sword girl, huh.", Akira commented.

"I knew Fujimoto-san was gonna reach this far in the road since she was the second passer during the entrance exams, but I didn't expect the little girl to get this far.", Ken commented as well.

*tug*

"Ugh! What was that for?!", Ken groaned as Megumi, who was beside him punched his left arm.

"Don't underestimate Aichi, Takahashi-kun!", Megumi scolded him with a pouting expression.

Besides her, Koka pointed as well, seemingly irritated by Ken's statement.

"It's not that I'm underestimating her, it's that her ability's too simple and easy to counter. I might be being too harsh here, but during the last battle-"

"She didn't do much, right? Well, I kind of understand why you'll think that.", Akira replied to Ken while nodding with his eyes closed.

"Akira...?", Megumi called him out with a concerned expression.

"Didn't you believe in Abe-san, Akira?", Eiko asked him while tilting her from behind his seat.

"I-"

"... As much as I'd like to believe in you guys about how Abe-san is not to be underestimated, with Avaron-san and her partner, it's almost impossible for them to win.", Ken interrupted Akira unintentionally.

"Yoko Kishi-san, right? The sword girl's partner's name.", Akira asked them.

"I haven't seen much of the fights, but just like the guy who manipulated Abe-san, her ability's something that completely devalues Abe-san's ability. There's no way, they'll win-"

"I'm not so sure about that.", Akira replied to him without turning towards him.

Megumi slightly smiled seeing this, while Koka just turned towards the arena again and watched eagerly.

"I'm glad to see you're still standing strong, Ai-san.", Avaron praised her with a slight smile.

"M-m-me too, Avaron-san!", Ai replied with a nervous expression as she waved her hands frantically in front her.

Ai and Avaron became friends earlier after the theatrical play project Sakura-sensei made them do.

She opened up to a bunch of female classmates, mainly Megumi, Koka, Ai, Eiko, Mitsuko and Hana.

Although she's still mostly awkward to chat with, they still consider her as a good acquaintance, even if she could be really strict sometimes.

"Even if you grew stronger throughout this whole endeavor, I still won't be backing out of this though. I'll make sure we defeat you!", Avaron announced while pointing at her.

"HEEEEH?", Ai shouted while nervously running behind Tamiko.

"With my majesty's and my strength combined, there's nothing that could stop us! So you better start accepting your loss from now!", Yoko told them while placing one hand in front of her chest and one at the back, slightly clanging her metal armor.

Avaron seeing this, hid her face behind her palms as if she was embarassed.

"She's got a real quirky attitude, that girl.", Sora commented with a devious grin.

"Ehhhh...", Megumi voiced with a wry smile.

"What's up with her?", Akira asked them.

"Can't you see what's wrong with her, Akira?", Ken asked him with a confused expression.

"Huh?"

"Akira, she's got eight grader syndrome.", Eiko told Akira from behind.

"I pledge my whole life to attaining the will of the Alornian Empire! With queen Avaron by my side, we shall rightfully take back the throne!", Yoko proclaimed loudly and proudly.

"...b-but... There's Sir Knight as well, right? She calls everyone your highnesses so that shouldn't count...", Akira, for some reason, decided to defend her without avail.

"Sir Knight-sensei's a different case. He calls us that to show how high he regards us, he doesn't really think we're royalty. He's said that during his past interviews in the savior watch website.", Eiko explained to Akira with a wry smile.

"S-still... That shit's nothing. Just because she talks a bit posh and stuff like that, doesn't mean she's ...childish..."

Koka and the others seem confused by Akira's actions, except for Megumi who seem really amused by this.

'... A chuunibyou...?', Akira thought at that time.

Akira used to be fixated to pretending to be a superhero in his early years growing up.

He'd dress in a cape and act like some sort of superhero.

There were even times when everyone feared him due to his glare, that he would wear black gloves, shiny necklaces, sharingg*n contact lenses to pretend like he's some sort of badass loner that has no need for friends.

That is why he completely understood how people portray Yoko's actions as 'weird' and 'eccentric', and wanted to defend that.

Feeling the same pain as her, he wanted people to accept chuunibyous as just 'posh' speaking people.

"A-aren't we all sort of chuunibyous though? Hell, we did enroll in this school wanting to become superheroes. I even heard time girl yell 'Clock magic girl terminal execution lovely!' sometimes when she uses her ability.", Akira told them.

*BAAAM!*

His head was suddenly hit by Eiko's fist.

Eiko, who was smiling with an irritated expression closed in on Akira's face.

"That was just once, okay Akira?", she told him with an intimidating smile.

"Y-yeah.."

"I, Knight Ylford van Heavenlight, shall stand with her to achieve her dreams! None of you commoners will ever understand that!", Yoko proclaimed.

Tamiko just kept a straight face while Ai looked intimidated by her proclamation so she hid behind Tamiko.

Avaron just kept covering her face.

"C-can we just start already?", Avaron asked States who seemed confused at the events happening.

"Ah! As serious as ever, my Liege. Let us begin and show these commoners their rightful place!", Yoko complimented Avaron.

"Uhhh...well, if you insist...", States told them with a wry smile.

The four then prepared themselves and prepared to use their abilities.

"Match..."

Ai shaped her two hands into a heart, Tamiko slowly inhaled, Yoko knelt down and put her palms on the ground, while Avaron her palms up in front of her.

"Start!"

"Love beam!"

Immediately, Ai shot out her love beam towards Avaron.

*BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRTTTRTTRTT*, an annoying jackhammer like sound suddenly resounded in the arena though.

"Guh, her ability is such a pain in the ass."

The stadium slowly shook as if there was a mild earthquake that happened.

The ground beneath Avaron and Yoko shook quick and strong though.

Yoko Kishi, a mysterious individual, who's appearance hasn't been seen yet due to her wearing that Knight armor.

Her ability...is vibration.

She could make her whole body vibrate without causing much damage to her own.

She could make objects vibrate continuously as well, but if it isn't in her hand, it slowly loses it energy and it's vibration slowly stops.

This might sound like a simple ability, but it's one of the most deadliest abilities ever.

Just like a chainsaw, she could mow down enemies with her bare hands by vibrating them rapidly and slashing at them without hesitation.

Like a jackhammer, she quickly cracked down the floor in front of them and cut down two large rocks from the arena.

*zzzsscchhwww*, before Ai's love beam could reach Avaron.

*Pscht*, Yoko quickly threw the two rocks in front of Avaron.

"Gladius!", chanted Avaron as the two rocks in front of her turned into sharp thick swords.

"Here!", Avaron said as she threw the other sword to Yoko.

"My gratitude, my Liege."

"Um... L-love beam!" Ai chanted again as she aimed towards Avaron.

"TAKE THIS, HEATHEN!", Yoko shouted as she threw a sword at Ai.

"HEEHHH!!", Ai shouted with slight nervousness.

Before the sword could hit though, Tamiko quickly ran at her and covered Ai's nose and mouth with what seems to be a handkerchief.

Tamiko then suddenly exhaled.

*SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH*

A light blue colored smoke spread towards the area where Ai and Tamiko stood, covering the vision in that area.

"Is Aichi alright?", Koka commented.

"Did they risk it? They would both be disqualified if she knocked her own support down.", Ken commented as well.

"She covered her mouth with a handkerchief before she could inhale the gas...", Izanagi, who's head was still on his lap, but was pointed towards the arena commented as well.

"As long as she didn't breathe in the gas, she won't be hurt by it.", he continued.

The others looked at Izanagi with an incredulous expression.

'Although he can be really out of his mind sometimes, he sure can focus and analyze the match with ease.', thought Akira.

"Your majesty! Don't breathe the gas!", Yoko worriedly advised Avaron.

"It's far away from us. As long as we don't go near it, we won't have a problem.", Avaron replied with a serious expression.

Poison gas.

That was Tamiko's ability.

Shrouding an area full of toxic gas to incapacitate their enemies is their usual strategy.

There were some complications with her ability though.

"The smoke is dissipating! They're over there, my Liege!", Yoko told Avaron.

Ai and Tamiko ran out from the smoke and ran on the edge of the arena, planning to close in on Avaron and Yoko.

Unlike Shinichi's smoke ability, her poison gas doesn't cover a huge range and dissipates rather easily if she doesn't keep releasing gas.

On the ground, is the handkerchief Tamiko used to cover Ai's mouth.

Avaron seeing this quickly turned towards them and kneeled on the ground.

"My Liege why are you kneeling-"

"Use your ability on the floor! Quick!"

Hearing this, Yoko quickly kneeled down and vibrated the floor.

*BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRTTTRTTRTT*,

*crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack*

The floor quickly cracked and debris started flinging out everywhere.

"Hiihhh!", Ai shrieked with a scared expression.

"Ugh!", Tamiko moaned.

Ai and Tamiko lost balance as the ground kept vibrating.

Avaron immediately turned the small rock clutter into small round tip daggers and the in front of those, she turned the other rock debris into long swords pointed up stuck on the ground.

"Stay away!"

Avaron suddenly threw the daggers she made at Ai and Tamiko's direction.

"What's she doing?", Ken asked with a confused expression.

"Kishi-san made them lose balance, she should use her lead ability and take them out while they could.", he continued.

"No, that would be reckless. If she closed in on them, the other girl could use her poison gas ability immediately.", Akira told Ken, keeping his sight on the arena.

"They threw away the handkerchief from earlier, if she used her poison gas ability, even Abe-san would be hit by it.", Ken continued.

"Isn't she just being careful?", Sora, who was seriously watching the match as well, butted in.

"From what I've seen and from her movements, you could see that she's not taking any chances. Be it may be or not, Fujimoto-san is definitely expecting some sort of plan from Abe-san's side.", she continued.

"...but the way they've been going at it, won't this just be a goose chase? With Avaron and her partner trying to run away from Takumi's lil sis and Abe-san. If both of them kept distance from each other, they can't fight with their full strength.", Ken asked Sora.

"They can't approach her though, since the poison gas could quickly weaken them. They might the strongest when they're close, but they can't risk it.", she answered him.

Avaron and Ai both had mind manipulation abilities.

Avaron's ability, 'lead', encourages the target to do a certain thing for a moment.

It doesn't necessarily control the target, but it fools them to somehow desire to do the thing she does for a moment.

Ai's ability allows the user to manipulate the target to be infatuated to her or her other target.

It works for a limited amount of minutes or when the target's consciousness is somehow impacted back to normal.

This includes stuff like being hit on the head, shaking the person's body to consciousness.

Both of them had a common weakness with their mind manipulating abilities though.

"Why doesn't Abe-san just keep using her love ability though? If she just shot everywhere, she'd probably hit them eventually.", Ken commented.

"She can't do that. Just like how sword girl can't keep using her lead ability.", Akira replied.

Ken slightly widened his eyes then nodded with a serious expression.

"I thought mind manipulation abilities are overpowered, didn't know all of them had the same downside."

"They can't use it continuously."

Cooldowns.

What limits the capability of mind manipulation ability users, is the time restriction before they could use it again.

Mind manipulation abilities are a dime of a dozen.

Being able to control your opponent's actions could easily lead you to victory.

There is a restriction though, that halts the use of the ability over and over.

They require the user to change the state of mind of their target.

This uses a lot of mind capacity, and continuous usage would overwork the user.

Just like how during exercise, a person has to take breaks every set. The user requires to rest every use.

In Avaron's case, her ability only works for about a second, stopping the target and making them lose their guard, after about one minute or so, she could use it again.

In Ai's case, her ability shoots and works for a few minutes.

If it doesn't hit the target, it cools down faster and it can be used rather quickly.

If it hits the target, it could be used after a few minutes as well or so.

Ai and Tamiko couldn't balance well enough due to Yoko vibrating the floor.

"Ai-chan! Let's r-run for it!", Tamiko who was trying to stand up told her.

They ran towards the edge of the arena, feeling a bit out of balance, trying to avoid the daggers and close in on Avaron and Yoko.

*ssszzzztcch*, like the sound of an arrow, the daggers slashed through the edge of Ai's right arm, the left edge of Ai's waist, and the edge of Ai's right shoulder.

Tamiko was able to run away forward avoiding the daggers.

"UUGGHH!", Ai cried.

She slightly got unnerved and held her wounded waist.

She kept running forward though with tears in her eyes, even if she's hurt.

"With her right now, they couldn't win.", Ken commented.

Akira just kept watching intently.

"Let's go!", Avaron told Yoko as they ran away to the right.

Ai and Tamiko continued to run to the edge, when they suddenly came to a halt.

"Tamiko-chan!", Ai called out Tamiko.

The swords Avaron made in front earlier that were pointed up, like spikes in a platformer, it prevented them from closing in further.

Their sights turned on the swords as they halted.

"Take this!", Avaron screamed out.

Avaron, suddenly flung out a gigantic hammerhead sword at Tamiko and Ai's direction.

"Tch-", Tamiko clicked her tongue.

The two seeing this, planned to turn around and run back.

...but before they could-

"STOP!", Avaron suddenly shouted.

Tamiko and Ai suddenly stopped and a violet light glinted on their eyes for a second.

"She used her lead ability!", Sora commented.

"They can't dodge it now.", Ken commented as well.

Immediately, as the sword closed in-

Ai started zipping her tracksuit open as she ran towards Tamiko.

Tamiko, quickly inhaled and exhaled releasing a shroud of poison gas covering the sight in that area.

'What are they...?', Avaron thought as they saw the scene.

*TTTTUUUNNNGG*, a strong metal sound was heard in the smoke.

"AAAAHHHH!", Ai screamed.

'Did we hit her?', Avaron wondered.

"Seems like that's the end of Abe-san.", Sora commented.

"She probably protected Takumi's brother and lost consciousness after being hit by that large sword. No matter how you guys trust her, in the end, she's still hasn't gotten rid of her nervous personality, there was no way they could win against-"

"Not quite.", suddenly, as Ken commented, Takumi, who was now sitting on Ryuu's seat, interrupted him.

"What do you-"

"My little sister might have taken down her opponents easily the first few rounds, so none of you have seen much of how she usually fights, but... I think what you said isn't the case here.", Takumi continued.

"Are you saying they intentionally cornered themselves?", Ken asked him.

"I don't know much of the details myself. Why don't you ask Akira?", Takumi responded while turning his eyes on him.

"What is he...?", Ken asked while turning to Akira.

Megumi, Koka, Kami, Sora and Eiko looked curious as well, while Izanagi just kept his eyes on the arena.

"I saw you guys waiting near the girl's bathroom earlier.", Takumi continued.

"WHAT?", Koka suddenly voiced out.

Megumi just showed a pouting expression hearing this.

"Didn't know you were such a pervert, Akira. Peeping in the girl's bathroom.", Izanagi teased him.

"That isn't it, you retard.", Akira replied.

"W-what were you doing near the female bathrooms, Akira?", Koka asked from her seat.

"Well-"

"My Liege, what do you suppose we-"

Suddenly, from the shroud of smoke, Tamiko ran out wearing a large violet shirt that seemed to be too big for her.

She started running back the direction they came from and planned to circle towards Avaron and Yoko.

"My Liege!"

"Yoko, vibrate the floor towards her!"

Yoko, hearing this, nodded, then kneeled down and vibrated the floor, causing Tamiko to wobble, making her lose balance.

"This is the end!", Avaron said as she turned a broken rock on the floor into a golden sword and planned to throw it at the shaken Tamiko.

"LOVE BEAM!", suddenly, from their other side, came Ai who for some reason, was wearing an also extremely large shirt, and had a camisole tied up on her mouth covering it.

"W-what?", Sora asked with shock.

"Where did she-"

Akira grinned as he saw what happened.

"Whaaaaa!", Avaron voiced as the love beamed hit her.

"M-my Liege!", the surprised Yoko called her out.

"S-sorry, Yoko-chan! I can't help it!", Avaron told her with hearts in her eyes.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

She quickly slashed down on Yoko with her silver sword, slicing her armor.

"Wait...didn't you say she'll die if her armor broke?", Akira asked Izanagi with concern.

"It's true she'll die but what I meant was-"

Suddenly from the large metal armor, came a shining beautiful figure.

"...she'll die-"

The figure turned out to be a violet haired young looking child wearing only her ripped tracksuit slightly showing her underwear and showing a lot of skin.

"UWWWWAAAAAAAHHH!!", the child cried loudly.

"...of embarassment that is.", Izanagi finished.

Akira showed an incredulous expression at Izanagi, after hearing this.

"For my love!", Avaron proclaimed as she was about to slash down on the young girl.

"YOU'RE ALL BIG MEANIES!"

Suddenly though, before she could slash down.

*BBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTRTTTTRRRTRRRRTRRRTTTT*, the arena started shaking greatly, causing what seems to be an earthquake.

"KKYAAAH!"

"E-E-E-EVVVVEEERRRYYTHING'S SSSHHAAAKKKKKIIINNGG!"

"GGYYAAAHH!!"

"IITTT'SSS TOO SSSTTRROONNGGG!!"

Ai quickly fell down on the ground and kneeled while feeling nervous.

Tamiko just kept a crawling position as she saw what happened.

"KYAA!"

Avaron quickly lost balance and fell down.

*PPUUGG!*, the sound of her back smashing on the floor was heard.

"GGUUUHHH!"

She vomited blood hitting this.

"UUUUWWWWAAAAAAAAHHH!! I HATE YOU ALL! YOU'RE ALL MEAN! GGYYAAAHH!!"

"Yoko!", Avaron who was shaken back to consciousness called her out.

"Tch- she's so strong!", Tamiko commented.

"G-goddammit!", Akira commented from his seat.

"I-I can't believe a-a pipsqueak like th-this is- doing this...", he continued.

"C-c-c-can't s-s-s-s-sleep...", Izanagi commented as well.

"Sh-sh-sh-she's so strong..."

The shaking kept continuing, and most people couldn't even talk straight.

Suddenly though...

Like a sudden breathe of air, the shaking quickly stopped.

"What...?", Ken wondered.

"You're all...big.....meanies...", Yoko said as she slowly lost her balance with a dazed, tired expression.

"You're all-"

"Yoko!"

Suddenly, Yoko fainted as she fell on Avaron's arms.

"Yoko...", Avaron told her.

Tamiko and Ai had their eyes slightly widened as they saw this scene.

Seeing this, Avaron stared at Yoko, with a worried expression, but then closed her eyes and sighed.

She then turned to Ai with an exhausted smile as she carried Yoko.

"I give up. You guys are too much."

Ai's eyes widened her eyes as she heard this.

"Team Shikaku Tamiko from Savior class 1-4 and Abe Ai from Support class 1-2 wins!", States announced.

"AAAAAIII-CCHHAAAANNN!!!"

"That was so awesome!"

"I can't believe it!"

"LLOOVVEE CCUTTIIEEE-CHHAAAN CONGRATULATIONS!"

"WWWEEE LLOOVVEE YYYOOUU!!"

Screams from all over the audience were heard as they saw the scene.

"Aichi won!", Megumi cheered with a bright smile with her arms stretched wide.

"She did it.", Koka commented with a relieved smile as she held her chest and exhaled.

"What just...?", Ken asked with a slightly confused expression.

"Well, if you didn't get it...what happened was-", Akira explained as Ken and some of the others turned to look at him.

["We need it for our plan today? Is it okay?", Ai asked Akira with a cute begging expression with her hands interlocked in front of him.

"Eiji...", Tamiko called on Eiji.

"Well... I'm okay with letting you borrow it, but...why?", Akira asked with a confused expression as he scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah... Do you need it for some reason?", Eiji asked as well.

"It's a key item that will lead to our victory...", Tamiko commented with a slightly smug expression although keeping it slightly deadpan as well.

"What do you...?"]

"You gave them your shirts?", Ken asked Akira.

"I was also confused when they asked us that but...what really happened earlier was..."

[Ai started zipping her tracksuit open as she ran towards Tamiko.

Tamiko, quickly inhaled and exhaled releasing a shroud of poison gas covering the sight in that area.

Ai quickly took off her tracksuit and threw it at Tamiko, Tamiko took off her tracksuit as well.

Ai was wearing a large shirt, and a girl's camisole was tucked in from behind her shirt.

To avoid breathing in the smoke, Ai quickly ran behind Tamiko and tied the camisole on her mouth covering it.

Tamiko immediately threw two tracksuit at the sword, causing the sword to lose momentum and fall with the tracksuits, silencing the sound of it's fall.

*TTTTUUUNNNGG*, a strong metal sound was heard as Ai kicked the side of the sword Avaron made with the sole of her shoes.

"AAAAHHHH!", Ai she screamed as to pretend she was hit.

Tamiko quickly ran out the other side, as Ai waited to lead their attention to her.

Ai then quickly ran out and shot her love beam to them.]

"Their strategy was to fool the enemy into thinking that Ai was defeated, so she could sneakily shoot her love beam from afar.", he explained.

Ken's eyes widened from this and turned her eyes at the Ai in the arena, who was nervously bowing at the audience as Tamiko ran to her.

"Guess, I really shouldn't underestimate her after all.", he commented.

"That girl really will surprise you sometimes.", Akira commented.

"Yeah...", Ken replied.

"If she needed an extra shirt, she should've just brought one.", Megumi mumbled with a slightly annoyed, quiet voice.

Ai's victory shed a light on everyone and made them quite glad, thus making them felt more relieved.

Of course, they were also rooting for Avaron, but Ai had always been the underdog in their class, and just seeing her victory against one of the strongest supports in their class, really inspired and motivated them.

"Well, it's my turn now.", Akira said as he stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

"Akira...", Ken suddenly called on him, while staring at him with a serious expression.

______________________________________

"And now...for our final match of the day...", States announced.

From the left side of the arena, was Akira and Eiji, with serious expressions in their faces.

"On the left side, is Kagayaku Eiji from savior class 1-4 and Ishikawa Akira from support class 1-2!", Stares announced.

Hearing their names being called, Akira and Eiji came out.

["We're all rooting for you.", Ken told Akira.

His eyes slightly widened as he saw this, and saw the others showing concerned and serious expressions at him as well.

"Don't you dare lose.", he continued as he showed a fist in front of Akira's chest.

Akira grinned at this statement and gripped his fist.

"I'm on it."]

He kept walking while staring on the ground, thinking about the things that have happened.

[Ken and Ude was just about to put their fists up and punch the air to gather forced Ken would manipulate to fight Kazuki and Jun, when suddenly.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*

A strong ear ripping sound was heard and a large burst of air flooded the arena.]

[Akira was suddenly struck by Kazuki's both hands but he used his right shield to protect against it.

He was struggling below his hands as the area beneath him suddenly crashed down as if a small hole was made because of the strong force Kazuki was dealing.

Akira kept struggling while blocking with his shield against the hands when suddenly...

Akira's shield broke...]

[Takumi had large and deep looking bruises on his body and he was covered in bandages and had casts on right arm and leg.

Gorou also looked the same and had his hair seemingly forcibly torn, but with both of his legs casted instead.]

"And on the right side..."

Two figures came out from the darkness of the opposite arena entrance.

Two figures that Akira and the others has been watching intently came out.

They paced their way into the arena, intimidating those that are watching the scene.

"It's them!"

"The guys who won every match quickly!"

"There's no way those guys could beat them!"

"It's the dream team!"

The audience started cheering loudly seeing the two come out.

Cheers from here and there, even from the professionals was heard.

This was expected to happen though, since they have been the star contestants compared to the other matches.

Unlike the others, who took time into beating their opponents, Kazuki and Jun quickly defeated their opponents without even a drip of sweat.

Due to this, people started looking up to their strength and idolized them.

"Got a lot of attention on you guys, huh?", Akira told them with an intimidating tone.

"What's the matter, Jun? Not gonna say anything?", Eiji asked him with a serious expression

"..."

"..."

Kazuki and Jun didn't even reply to their words and acted indifferent towards them.

"Man, this crowd is just too fired up, sensei. Just start this goddamn match already, will you?", Jun, who was cracking his neck and who's head was turned towards the side looking at the audience, rudely commanded States.

Kazuki just glared at Akira, but didn't bother to say anything else.

'He's keeping it in, huh? We'll see about that.', Akira thought as he glared back at Kazuki.

"Uhhh...o-okay... Then let's....", States replied with a nervous tone.

The two pairs prepared themselves as States was about to announce the start of the match.

"Match..."

On the left side, Akira's right forearm started glowing green, while Eiji's right hand started glowing violet.

The other side had Jun aiming his palm towards the pair, and Kazuki pointing his left palm on his arm.

The two pairs started charging their abilities as they stared at their rivals with seriousness in their eyes.

'Let's do this.'

"Start!"

*BOOOOOOOM*

Jun quickly shot a cannonball that Kazuki inflated into a large one that shot towards Akira and Eiji's direction.

Like a meteorite, it charged quickly without waiting for their enemies to prepare.

"They're done for.", Jun said as he watched the cannonball charge through the air.

Suddenly though...

Before the cannonball could hit them.

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZGGGGGGZZZZ*

"GUUUHHHH!!"

Akira, who deployed two shields on his back, quickly ran and jumped to the left side from their position.

His back was immediately shot by Eiji's lightning pushing him to charge away quickly as Eiji's lightning pushed Eiji to be pushed on the opposite direction.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The circular cannonball quickly hit he arena wall.

"WHAT!?", Jun exclaimed as he saw the scene in front of him.

Kazuki slightly widened his eyes as well, seeing this.

"Those two...! They avoided the cannonball team's hit!"

"They dodged it!"

"How did they...?"

Akira and Eiji, even though slightly shaken by the force of Eiji's lightning, quickly regained their balance and ran towards Kazuki and Jun's direction from their positions.

'We did it!', Akira thought.

[Akira held the melon bread Eiji threw at him and stared at Eiji with a serious expression.

"You understand now, do you?", Eiji asked Akira.

"I know.", Akira replied.

"Unlike the attacks of our other opponents, Jun's ability has a blind spot. If it was just a small cannonball, the blind spot would be insignificant, but we're talking about a large cannonball here.", Eiji explained.

"Just like how you avoided that melon bread, we just have to dodge through the cannonball 's curved corners.", he continued.

Akira nodded after hearing it, but still showed an unagreeable expression.

"That would work if we wanted to dodge it, but we don't have enough speed to do so.", Akira replied.

Contestants are required to step in the arena with each other at the very start of the match.

It's an unspoken rule since it's just common courtesy, so them stepping out of the arena before the match starts won't be allowed.

Due to Jun and Kazuki's cannonballs reaching up the size of the arena, the only way to avoid it is if the opponent steps off from it.

If they started at the very edge of the arena, the opponents would immediately see through their plan though, rendering what they plan to as pointless.

"We need to somehow find a way to get out of their aim quickly.", Akira continued.

Eiji hearing this, tilted his head and made a confused wondering expression as if he said something weird.

"What...?", Akira asked him with a slightly irritated expression.

"We have that option, right?", Eiji replied with a confident smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you forget about what you did during the first round of the tournaments?", Eiji asked Akira with a serious expression.

"The first part of the tournament..."

["We need to run-"

"EIJI, STRIKE ME FROM BEHIND!"

"WHA-"

"DO IT!"

Suddenly, Eiji, with a serious expression, shot his lightning towards Akira's back.

*TZZZZZZZZZ*

A shield suddenly formed on it, and the lightning pushed Akira with a strong force.]

"We can do that again to dodge away from the cannonball as quick as possible.", Eiji suggested.

"...but what about you?", Akira asked with a slightly concerned expression.

"Me? Why do you ask?"

"You can push me away immediately, but how are you going to escape the cannonball?", Akira asked with a serious expression.

"I can take care of that. Don't worry.", Eiji replied with a careless expression.

"...but you can't use your lightning unless you're still. What do you mean don't worry? I can't have you knocked out the first minute.", Akira replied while trying to lecture him.

"...Akio-san thought me how to use his ability, right?", Eiji mentioned.

"Yeah...and what does that have to with it?"

"During our training, I learned something special."

[Eiji was posing like he was about to kick Hime in the face.

He had his arms placed on his shoulders as if he was a in a coffin.

"LIGHTNING EDGE!"

A pointed lightning strike covered Eiji's feet as he struck Hime.]

"Lightning edge, a special technique where you gather your ability in a certain area without discharging the energy I collected-.", he continued.

"Are you planning to use it on my shield to push us back? You can't gain enough force to push yourself out of danger with that ability.", Akira butted in.

"No, that's not it. I just learnt something else that time."

"And that is...?"

"That it's not that I can't use my ability without movement, it's that I can't use my ability if my other muscle functions are all being used thoroughly as well.", Eiji explained.

"To put it simply, I can use my lightning while jumping back to push both of us away.", he continued.

"How can you do it though? You used to always fail at it."

"There's one thing I learned when I used your little brother's move. And that is...that as long as I exert more effort on a certain muscle and lessen the other muscles' usage..."]

'I can fire my lightning at will!', Eiji thought as he shot lightning behind him to propel him forward.

They ran quickly, trying to close in the gap between them and their opponents.

"Tch-!", Jun clicked his tongue.

He then quickly pointed his cannon arm at Eiji's direction.

"Inoue. Come here and help me.", Jun rudely ordered.

"..."

Inoue seemed to have his glare stuck on Akira's direction though.

"Inoue!", Jun called him out.

Kazuki, snapping back to reality, decided to turn towards Jun and accept his decision.

...but before he could continue to do so.

"INOUE! YOU FUCKER! WHY DON'T YOU MAN UP AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!", Akira shouted from afar as he ran towards Kazuki's direction, provoking him.

Kazuki, hearing this turned back to Akira and glared at his direction.

"Inoue! Leave him for later! Let's take down Eiji first!", Jun rudely ordered again.

Kazuki slightly turned his head towards Jun but...

"DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU WERE GONNA KILL ME? YOU BASTARD? ARE YOU TOO MUCH OF A PUSSY TO FIGHT ME HEAD TO HEAD?", Akira, again shouted, trying to provoke Kazuki.

Kazuki, turned back at Akira and clenched his fist with anger.

"Inoue! Ignore him and-", Jun tried to call on Kazuki again, but...

"I BET YOU'RE FATHER'S A GODDAMN COWARD TOO!", Akira, again provoked him.

Kazuki, hearing this slightly widened his eyes with anger and clenched his teeth.

"Inoue-"

Before Jun could finish his sentence, suddenly...

*woosh*

Kazuki quickly ran away from his position and dashed towards Akira.

Seeing this, Akira showed a triumphant grin.

"INOUE!", Jun shouted calling him out.

*ZZZZZZZZZ*, Eiji's lightning pushed him to close in much quicker than Akira, as he lunged towards Jun's direction.

"Don't forget about me!", Eiji said with a confident smile as he jumped towards Jun.

"YOU-", Jun called on Eiji with surprise.

Akira kept running towards Kazuki's direction, though slower than Eiji, he was catching up.

'We did the second goal.', Akira thought as he ran.

["Once we avoid it though, what do we do though? One strike from that large cannonball and we'll be down.", Eiji asked Akira.

"That's the last thing I haven't thought about yet. Should I just stay put and wish my lightning could be fast enough to hit them before the cannonball hits us? We can't run if they immediately deploy another cannonball.", he continued.

"You suggested we run in opposite directions earlier, right? That's more than enough. Just leave everything else to me.", Akira replied.

"What are you planning to do?", Eiji asked him.

"Your shields isn't enough to block that gigantic cannonball, I might be able to dodge it if I time my lightning perfectly, but you won't be able to dodge it.", he continued.

"I'm not going to dodge it, nor try to block it.", Akira replied.

"What? Does that mean you're just going to take the hit? I didn't realize you were an M, Akirachi.", Eiji teased.

"Quit the jokes. That's not it. What I'm saying is that we won't even have to block or dodge it.", Akira replied with a slightly irritated tone.

"Why do you think that?", Eiji asked while tilting his head and crossing his arms.

"When we teamed up, our main goal was just to help that girl to get medicated, right? Our goal was to help someone, and due to our common goal and ideals, we were slightly compatible.", Akira explained.

"Oh? Is that a confession, Akirachi? I'm sorry but someone's already got my heart!", Eiji teased again.

"Anyways, if we compare ourselves with the guy who hates you or Inoue's partner and Inoue, we might seem like we have something in common with them. Since they also share a sense of hatred.", Akira continued while brushing off Eiji's joke.

"The difference is that, their hatred stems from different people. Inoue's partner hates you, while Kazuki...

...absolutely despises me.", Akira continued while showing a serious expression.

"And that is why, they won't even attack us.", Akira said as he stood up.

"As long as we could rub the salt on their wounds, we could get them to completely forget about teamwork.", Akira continued.

Eiji nodded his head with a serious expression as he heard this.

"So, this means you're the one who takes the cake, huh?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely."]

'Now that they've separated, what I need to do is to find a way to deal with Inoue.', thought Akira as he closed in on Inoue.

"Inoue! I-"

*BGGGGGCSSSSSSSHHHH*

Suddenly, as Akira, closed in on Kazuki, Kazuki quickly dropped down and knelt to the ground, with one palm touching the floor.

His hand quickly glowed blue as the floor behind him inflated.

"What the fuck are you-"

The floor quickly expanded, making an ocean wave like figure as it raised to the ground, about to cover Akira and Kazuki standing below it.

"What is he doing?"

"Why's he trying to cover them both?"

"What's going on?"

A few of the audience members commented as they saw the events happening.

Kana, who was now sat next to Akiko, widened her eyes at this.

'That brat!'

"Akira!", Koka called out with slight fear seeing what happened.

"That Inoue! What is he planning!", Ken commented with an irritated expression.

Megumi just kept a serious expression as she watched the scene.

Like a dome, the expanded floor covered Akira and Kazuki, preventing anyone from seeing them.

'He's trying to not get anyone to interfere with them! This is bad...', Kana thought.

The audience and the other pair could only stare of shock at what happened.

'Akira...'

End of Chapter 24

______________________________________