(2 hours later- 4:30pm-After The Tournament-At The Dorm's Common Room)

The tournament was over, and for the first time in a while, the air in the common room felt lighter. The tension had evaporated, replaced by the usual banter and laughter that seemed to fill every corner of the space. Everyone was just... relaxed. No pressure. No rules. Just us.

I leaned back against the couch, arms folded, watching the others. Atsushi was sulking on the couch across from me, his head propped up by his hand. "I swear, Akarui, you're using some crazy strategy that I'm not getting," he said with a dramatic groan, flicking his wrist as though it would solve his latest chess loss.

Kaede, sitting next to me, rolled her eyes. "Come on, Atsushi. You've played him enough times to know how this goes. He's a grandmaster for a reason."

"Grandmaster?!" Atsushi sat up straighter, his voice rising. "You never told me that, Kaede! No wonder I can't win!"

"I told you," Kaede shrugged nonchalantly, "you just didn't listen."

I chuckled at his theatrics. "It's alright, Atsushi. Not everyone can be a grandmaster."

Atsushi crossed his arms dramatically. "That's it. I'm taking a break from chess for a while," he huffed, plopping back down on the couch. "I'm starting a new hobby. Something where I can actually win."

"Like what? Watching paint dry?" Makoto's voice came from across the room. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, fiddling with his phone but clearly interested in the conversation.

Atsushi shot him a look. "I'll have you know that I have talents beyond chess. I could totally beat you at something, Makoto."

"Like what?" Makoto raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Maybe in a rap battle? Is that what you're saying?"

Atsushi grinned and stood up. "Exactly. I've been holding back, but I'm ready to drop some bars."

"Oh, this I gotta see," Makoto said, tossing his phone aside and jumping up to join him. "I've been waiting for this."

A few people gathered around, sensing the brewing competition. Luka, who had been picking through snacks, saw the two of them gearing up and immediately joined in. "A rap battle, huh? Well, you know I'm all about that life."

"Hold up," Robin called from the corner of the room, eyes narrowed. "We're not letting Luka in on this. He'd make everything sound like a joke."

Luka shrugged, clearly unbothered. "Exactly. A joke is what makes it fun, Robin. You gotta learn to feel the rhythm."

"I'll take you both on," Atsushi smirked, "but no one can beat my flow."

We all gathered around, some of us snickering, others genuinely curious. Luka made a show of pulling his hat down lower, getting into his "rapper" persona, while Atsushi cracked his knuckles, preparing for the verbal showdown.

Before they could start, though, the room broke into a chorus of laughter when Atsushi dramatically took the mic in hand—only to accidentally knock over a glass of water in the process.

"Smooth," Kaede teased, shaking her head with a smirk.

"Focus, Kaede!" Atsushi waved her off, his confidence unshaken.

From the snack table, Yui and Aiko had stopped their usual banter to watch the drama unfold. Yui shook her head. "What is this, a rap battle or a circus?"

"Oh, come on, Yui," Aiko grinned, "I'm in. This is gonna be good."

"I'm not sure whether to be impressed or just concerned," Yui muttered, but she couldn't help but crack a smile.

Sitting back on the couch, I let them go at it, feeling a sense of ease that was rare for me. The laughter, the nonsense, the complete lack of seriousness—it was a nice change from the usual weight on my shoulders. Kaede sat beside me, her eyes soft as she watched the rap battle go on.

"Sometimes, I forget how much I enjoy the noise," I said quietly, nudging her with my elbow.

She glanced at me, a playful smile crossing her face. "You sound so old, Akarui. You're not even twenty yet."

"I know, right?" I said, leaning back with a sigh. "Feels like we've been doing this forever."

Meanwhile, across the room, Jao and Noah were in a heated discussion, their voices low but intense.

"I'm telling you, the mystic connection between chi and the elements isn't as theoretical as you think," Jao insisted, adjusting his glasses as he leaned forward.

"No, no, you're overcomplicating it," Noah replied, waving a hand dismissively. "It's all about balance, Jao. Too much of one, and the other goes out of whack."

"I'm not overcomplicating it," Jao muttered, his voice just above a whisper, but clearly passionate. "You've gotta consider the deeper layers of chi manipulation."

"Then explain why I can easily manipulate it, huh?" Noah grinned, clearly enjoying the back-and-forth.

Jao didn't respond immediately, just gave Noah a look that said it all. Then, with a sharp breath, he continued, "It's not about ease. It's about control."

"You two are ridiculous," Makoto said, walking over to where they were seated. He plopped down next to them and raised an eyebrow. "But hey, teach me how to control chi without my trident. I'm tired of having to rely on it."

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"You'll never get there if you keep thinking it's just about power," Jao said, shaking his head. "It's about understanding the essence of chi first."

As if the room wasn't full enough already, Reina and Sayaka had joined in, sitting by the window with drinks in hand, chatting quietly.

"I didn't expect a rap battle today," Sayaka said with a laugh, watching Atsushi's exaggerated movements. "But hey, this is definitely a better way to spend the afternoon."

Reina grinned. "You know what they say. You have to laugh at the absurdity of life sometimes."

I couldn't help but agree, watching my classmates joke and argue with one another. The moment felt infinite, as if nothing could touch us, not yet.

The laughter continued to echo around the room, but now the energy had shifted. Luka's challenge had turned into something that involved almost everyone present. Atsushi had already started stacking chips in an impressive but teetering tower, and the crowd was gathered around, forming a loose circle to see what would happen next.

"I'm telling you," Atsushi said, adjusting a bag of pretzels on top of his chip stack, "this tower is going to break records. You can't deny it."

"Oh, we can definitely deny it," Yui said, smirking as she sipped from her drink. "I give it five minutes before it all comes crashing down."

"You're just jealous because I have a vision," Atsushi shot back without missing a beat, carefully balancing a cookie on top of the chips. "This is art. Look at this structure, pure genius."

"Pure chaos," Reina added from the corner, where she was casually inspecting the snacks, considering whether to sabotage the project for fun. "If that thing stays up for more than five minutes, I'll eat my own shoe."

"Pfft, if anyone's eating shoes, it's you, Reina," Luka teased, pointing at her. "You've got that weird obsession with trying to break things. Think you can topple my snack genius?"

Reina only smiled devilishly. "We'll see."

"Okay, okay," Robin interjected, putting down his book for once, eyeing the snack tower warily. "Who else is placing bets on whether this tower will survive the night?" He raised an eyebrow as a few hands tentatively shot up, including a reluctant wave from Kaede.

"I'm in for the crash happening at... 7 minutes," Kaede added, crossing her arms. "Not that I'm betting against you, Atsushi, but the physics are against you."

"7 minutes?" Atsushi raised his hands in mock offense. "Kaede, I thought we were friends! You doubt my talent that much?"

"I'm just being realistic," she replied, smiling. "I've seen a lot of snack-related disasters in my time."

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Kenji said, elbowing Daichi, who had been standing nearby and had mostly been observing the snack tower construction process. "I vote for the snack tower failing at the 4-minute mark, right after he adds the gummy bears."

"I think the gummy bears will be the highlight of this whole mess," Daichi added dryly, folding his arms. "They'll make it... interesting."

"Oh, you wait," Atsushi said with a grin, ignoring all the doubters. "This thing is not just going to stand—it's going to soar."

"Uh-huh. Right," Robin said, crossing his arms. "I'm just here to see how this ends."

Meanwhile, Luka had been silently watching the spectacle, clearly enjoying the chaos that was brewing around the snack tower. "If you think this is entertaining, just wait until we get to the part where we all have to clean it up after it collapses. That's going to be the real fun."

"No one's cleaning anything up," Yui said matter-of-factly. "This is Atsushi's mess. He's the one who's going to have to handle it when it all falls down."

"Exactly!" Atsushi chimed in. "This is my project. If it fails, it's on me. If it succeeds... well, that's on me too."

"But if it succeeds, we'll throw you a celebration," Kaede added, smirking. "How about a snack tower of the week? But only if it stands for the full hour."

Atsushi paused, considering. "Fine, if I win, I want an all-you-can-eat snack buffet. It's only fair, right?"

"I'm not sure that's a fair reward, but okay," Yui said, shrugging. "But we've gotta have a backup plan, in case your 'masterpiece' collapses."

At that moment, Luka leaned forward, looking directly at Atsushi. "You know, I could help you make it stronger. You need a real artist's touch."

Atsushi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What are you planning, Luka?"

Luka grinned widely. "Oh, nothing, nothing. I just have some... tricks up my sleeve. Gotta make sure you don't fail in front of everyone here, right?"

"No!" Atsushi shouted, holding up his hand to stop Luka. "This is my creation! You can't add your weird... artistic touch to it!"

"Pfft, you're no fun," Luka teased, stepping back dramatically, hands raised in mock surrender. "Fine, have your snack tower. But don't say I didn't offer to make it better."

Just as Luka was about to take his seat again, the tower gave a small wobble. Atsushi froze. Everyone leaned forward, eyes wide with expectation.

Then, slowly, cautiously, the gummy bears were added.

Everyone held their breath.

Atsushi's face was a picture of concentration as he placed the final gummy bear on top.

"I did it! It's perfect!" he shouted, straightening up proudly.

But before anyone could react, the tower gave a final, ominous creak. It was a slow-motion disaster.

Crash.

The entire snack tower toppled over in a glorious explosion of chips, cookies, pretzels, and gummy bears, scattering across the floor in a pile of colorful chaos.

There was a long silence.

Then, the room erupted into laughter.

"You had one job," Yui said, holding her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably.

"You jinxed it!" Atsushi shouted, shaking his fist at Kaede, who was now grinning widely. "You and your 7-minute theory!"

"You did say it was going to soar," Luka chimed in, throwing his hands up as though he'd seen this coming.

"I'm so glad I didn't bet," Kenji said, trying to compose himself. "Though, I'll admit, I was tempted."

"I told you it was going to fail," Reina said smugly, leaning back with a satisfied smile on her face. "I think I should get a prize for my accurate prediction."

"I guess we have a snack clean-up crew, huh?" Atsushi muttered, still in disbelief, though he couldn't help but smile. "Guess I was too ambitious. Next time, I'll go for the single chip."

"Single chip? Is that what you call a snack tower?" Luka laughed, offering Atsushi a playful pat on the back. "Next time, just leave it to the professionals."

The group continued to laugh and joke, some people already starting to pick up the pieces of the now-legendary snack tower. Atsushi threw his hands up in dramatic defeat but was clearly in on the joke, ready to start planning the next ridiculous challenge.

"Next time," he said with a grin, "I'll make a tower out of something that can't topple, like... marshmallows. You guys won't see it coming."

And just like that, the next disaster was born, and the group couldn't wait to see how that one would play out.

But just then we all started to yawn.

"It's been a tiring day. We should get to bed."

"Yeah I agree." Sakura said as she went into our room.

Kaede yawned and bid them good night.

(The next day-28.8.2026)

The bell rang, signaling the start of first period. As we filed into class, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were about to learn something that would change everything.

When Miss Hanami entered, her face was unreadable, her expression set in that professional, distant way that told me it wasn't going to be a normal day.

"Today, class," she began, "we will be discussing the Global Domain Council."

The words hung in the air, an almost imperceptible weight settling on the room. Something about the way she said it made my stomach tighten. As we all took our seats, I couldn't help but wonder what the GDC would mean for us.

Would they be more than just a shadow on the horizon? Or would they be something we had to face head-on?