Seats:
(Acronyms:
Akira Ishikawa - AI
Ai Abe - AA
Megumi Sasaki - MS
Koka Kawai - KK
Izanagi Watanabe - IW
Sora Yoshida - SY
Kami Nagai - KN
Ryuu Akarui - RA
Daichi Iro - DI
Chiyo Mayou - CM
Maiki Kimura - MK
Eiko Kurokku - EK
Hana Mizumi - HM
Mitsuko Shimizu - MiS
Avaron Fujimoto - AF)
Seats:
EK HM MiS AF
CM MK RA DI KN
SY IW AI AA KK MS
(This changes partly during this chapter)
The SS Tournament Final Rounds!
An all out battle between pairs of students, each trying to defeat their enemy pairs to pass to the next round.
Unlike the first two rounds, this tournament ends only after the enemy pair is deemed to be unable to fight.
Two pairs of students, each with their own Savior and support student, fight against each other to pass to the next round.
The rules are set as follows:
1. The support student is only allowed to directly hit the opposing pair's support student.
2. The savior student is allowed to hit the opposing pair's savior and support students, but will be disqualified if he knocks his own support student partner unconscious.
3. Tools are allowed as long as it connects to the student's requirement to use their ability.
If it isn't a major requirement, it is not allowed.
4. Leaving the arena won't immediately lead to a disqualification.
There will be a 1 minute timer that will count down once a pair leaves it.
If a pair stays out of the arena after the 1 minute timer ends, they will immediately be disqualified.
(This is a necessity for the safety of the audience.)
5. Powerful, impact attacks are allowed, but if it's made to intentionally hit the audience, the student will immediately be disqualified and expelled.
6. A professional savior/support will be tasked to prevent any mishaps from happening. Targeting them will also immediately disqualify the student and will lead to them being expelled.
7. Lethal attacks are allowed, since the referee will be the one preventing any life threatening situations, but it is not encouraged.
Each pair will fight against opposing pairs of opponents up until only one pair stand strong.
The last standing pair will win the tournament and will be crowned the current year's champion.
______________________________________
"Expelled?", Akira asked Izanagi with a shocked tone.
"Isn't that a bit too much?", he continued.
"No. That's actually a light punishment. Acts like those are basically attempted murder and terrorism. Those are basically feats of villainy.", Eiko, who was now behind Akira, explained, making him and Izanagi turn towards her.
'Wasn't Ryuu sitting behind me? Where did he go?', Akira wondered.
"Isn't Inoue supposed to be expelled now, then? He almost hit the audience with that giant cannonball.", Akira asked Eiko.
"Well, he wasn't really the one who created that cannonball, he just helped making it into a powerful attack. And they didn't intentionally aim for the audience, which makes it invalid to disqualify them.", she answered.
Akira turned back to the arena as States started to announce who the next battlers are.
'Most of the rules are understandable; the savior students are given much more credit than the support students since if the spotlight flashes too much to a support student rather than a savior student, people might start questioning their judgment on whether who gets to be a Savior or support student.
Savior students usually have powerful attacks that are made to deal damage, so they have less control over their abilities unlike us support students.
Most of us have abilities that don't need that much caution when we use it, unlike savior students.
If they deal damage to their partner, they'd just become dead weight in a real battlefield.
Basically, this tournament judges if a savior student and a support student could stand strong, fight enemies and support each other in a real battlefield.', Akira thought.
["I'M GONNA PROVE TO YOU THAT YOU'RE WRONG, INOUE! AND I'M GONNA BEAT IT DIRECTLY TO YOUR SKULL!", Ken screamed out as the audience is getting louder.
Kazuki's fist clenched harder as he heard this, and he started clenching his teeth.
"Start!", States continued.
"That's why I-"
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.]
'Ken and his brother was a perfect match. His control over forces gives him the ability to unleash their punches from a far range. With his brother's six arms, they could've struck a lot of forces towards their enemies and beat the living hell out of them.
...but they-'
"Hey, straighten up.", Izanagi told Akira snapping him back to reality.
His head was now lying on his legs with his arms crossed beneath it, while faced towards Akira.
"That guy's really strong, and I bet you he would have been a great opponent, but he ran out of luck and faced Inoue. There's nothing we could do about that now.", Izanagi continued
"Aren't you pissed as well? He didn't even tried to hold back, he could've-"
"If he held back, do you think Ken would have liked that?", Izanagi asked Akira, interrupting him halfway.
"... He wouldn't have, I know....
... If it was me he was fighting, and I won because he held back on me..."
"You wouldn't have accepted it, right?", Izanagi told him, interrupting him again.
"The best thing you could do right now...
...is to win your match, and beat the crap out of Inoue once you face him.", Izanagi continued, while turning his face to his arms, seemingly trying to sleep.
'...'
Akira turned his sights towards Izanagi's hand.
His hand was clenched to a fist and was shaking slightly.
'Seems like I'm not the only one affected by what happened, huh?...
...Izanagi is...one of Ken's best buds.', Akira thought.
Akira then stared at his palm.
'He's right...
The best thing I could do now, is to win my match until I face him.'
He then clenched it into a fist and made a serious expression.
'I'll beat sense into that thick fucker's skull.'
______________________________________
"Match Start!"
A blonde curly haired beautiful girl with large eyes, and a brown short haired handsome girl stood next to each other on the arena.
In the opposite side were two plain faced students, one male and female.
The plain faced male student immediately ran towards them while turning his hand to a yellow laser.
His partner just stood behind him and pointed her palm towards him.
"Ouji, now!"
As soon as the blonde haired girl said this, her partner immediately pointed her hands towards the ground.
Suddenly, a bright white glowing spell symbol appeared and from the ground, came a silhoutte of a white glowing horse with a horn.
"Ludius!", she screamed as the silhouette turned into a white unicorn.
The two girls rode the horse as the plain faced male charged towards them.
"Now!", the plain faced male signaled as he closed in on the girls and their ride.
A warm light flashed as an invisible force pushed the plain faced guy and pushed him towards the two.
He was about to slash the blonde haired girl when suddenly...
"RAPUNZEL!"
The blonde haired girl's hair immediately shined a golden color as it formed a large Lance.
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
She flung the guy towards his partner rendering both of them unconscious.
"Team Hime Aoki and Ouji Hikoaka wins!"
The audience cheered as they watched this.
"Hair manipulation, huh? Her ability's kind of like Kami's.", Akira commented.
"It's similar but it's different. Her ability more of a combat ability than Nagai-san's. Unlike Nagai-san's squishy soft, detachable hair ability that's more focused on binding, her ability grants her the power to crush her enemies with her rock-hard hair strands.", Eiko explained.
Akira turned towards his back just to hear her explanation.
"Thanks.", he replied to her.
"No problem.", she answered with a smile.
Ai and the two girls saw this and were pouting.
"Maybe you should be the one doing the explaining the next time I say something.", Akira suggested to Izanagi, who seemed to have been napping on his thighs.
"Denied.", he replied, without turning to face Akira.
"You lazy piece of shit."
______________________________________
"Match Start!"
A sharp eyed girl wearing hair ball tassels was standing straight with closed eyes on a praying position next to her male partner.
The male student had a ponytail, was also standing straight with his eyes closed and was on a praying position next to the girl.
Their enemies were two plain faced males with no redeeming features.
"Let's get them!", the two plain faced male snickered as they ran towards them.
The one to the left was a lanky guy with a bowl cut; he quickly formed a turned his limbs into rope and stretched it out towards the enemy team.
The one to the right was a fat guy with a shaved head; he quickly turned his fists into iron.
"Brother, we must prevail.", the girl said while still keeping the same posture.
"This is for father.", her male partner replied.
"YIN!"
"YANG!"
Two hologram like figures suddenly came from them and walked out.
A blue colored samurai came from the guy, while a red colored archer came from the girl.
Both of these figures were wearing traditional Japanese soldier armor.
These two figures ran towards the coming enemies.
""Strike!"", the two ordered as they kept their posture without opening their eyes.
The archer quickly fired a shining red arrow, while the samurai slashed from afar and launched a blue wind.
The lanky guy was striked by the blue wind and quickly paralyzed into ice.
The fat guy was hit by the red arrow and was shot by a burning fire.
"Team Hong Huoki and Hong Shuiki wins the match!"
The audience cheered as they heard this.
"Fire and ice? Looks like a tough opponent to face.", commented Akira.
"It would be easy for you though, Akira... Since your shield could just block the arrows.", commented Megumi.
"Well, yeah...but with your ability, you could just avoid them.", Akira replied to her.
"I bet you could easily defeat that fire guy too, Akira!", Koka butted in.
"... Uh...yeah, I'll kick his ass.", Akira replied.
"Yeah, I know he could. He did almost defeat Inoue, with MY help.", Megumi bragged to Koka.
"... Well-"
"I-I helped winning the group battles! A-Akira counted on me!", Koka, seemingly getting annoyed replied to her.
The two seem to be bickering a bit from Akira's standpoint.
"Hey, maybe you guys should just cool it down-"
"A-Akira! If you win the tournament, can I celebrate with you in your home... AGAIN?", emphasized Megumi.
"Uhhh...well-"
"N-no! You should visit our home... AGAIN...", emphasized Koka.
"G-girls-"
"Leave them be. They're probably just hyping themselves up.", Izanagi told him, with him still lying on his thighs, but with his head turned towards Akira.
"What do you mean?", Akira asked, feeling a bit confused.
"Match Start!", States announced as the two teams started fighting.
""Akira.""
Suddenly, Akira heard the two girls' voices calling him.
He turned towards them, feeling slightly nervous.
"W-what is it?", he asked them.
Both of them had a serious look in their eyes as he turned towards them.
""Who are you cheering on?"", the two of them asked him.
"What?", he asked them again, feeling a bit confused.
"K-kokachi, M-megu...you two should get going now or you're gonna be late...", Ai reminded them with a small voice, who was slightly shivering, since she acted as the mediator between them.
The two then turned their eyes back to Akira, then stood up and walked away, toward the exit.
"...
What the hell was that about?", Akira asked, feeling a bit bedazzled.
"You really are just a clueless nutjob, aren't you?", Kami told him from his seat.
Akira turned towards Kami, hearing him say this.
"That was a really lame insult.", Akira replied.
"Swearing is your thing, I can't be bothered to copy it."
"Just cut the jokes and tell me what was wrong with those two.", Akira replied to Izanagi with an annoyed tone.
"Muuu", Kami voiced.
"Look at the arena.", he continued.
"Team Sakurino Hagai and Kataki Hisoko wins!", States announced.
'... What is he...?'
"And now, the next match is all about girl power! Let's give it up to-!"
'No way... That's-'
"The crusher girl of the Savior class 1-4, Tsuyoi Chou!"
From the entrance of the arena, came a tall, large muscular woman with violet hair, but had a bombshell body.
'No, I don't know who the hell that is.', Akira thought, with an awkward face.
Suddenly, his eyes widen again, as he sees who walked in after her.
"And we can't rule out her partner, the pretty but dangerous-"
Right next to her, came out, a pink haired girl that Akira is familiar of.
"Sasaki Megumi!", States continued.
The audience, especially the boys, cheered as Megumi came out.
'... Pink girl?... So it's her match now, huh?'
"You really don't have a clue about anything, don't you, Akira?", Izanagi asked while turning his face towards Akira, but with his head still lying on his thighs.
"About what?"
"And at the other side, is Savior class 1-4's dasher girl, Hayai Kou!", States announced.
A short, childlike girl with brown twin tails came out of the opposite entrance as she announced this.
Akira then turned to the arena.
"And with her is our beautiful but powerful-"
A familiar figure came out of the opposite side as well.
His eyes widen when he realized what was going on.
"Kawai Koka!"
Koka came out of the entrance with a serious face on.
The audience cheered again, especially the boys as they saw her come out.
Megumi was still smiling, albeit with a confident expression, much like Akira's.
"May the contestants please stand in the arena.", States requested.
The two pairs stared at each other with a look of competitiveness in all of their faces.
"It's been so long since we last fought, pipsqueak. Let's see who'll have the last laugh.", the muscular, violet haired woman, Chou told Kou from afar while smashing her fists together.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"You're never gonna catch up to me! Especially with Koka-nee by my side!", the cute, childlike twintail haired girl replied while grabbing onto Koka's track shirt.
"Uhhh...", Koka made a wry smile while the child held her shirt.
"I love you Sasaki-san! Please marry me!", a random guy from the audience shouted.
"Kawai-san, you're so cute and amazing, please be my wife!", another guy shouted.
"What the hell is up with this audience?", Akira asked as he turned towards those who were shouting.
His eyes widen as he saw it.
A large group of guys from the east and the west had boards with drawn on faces of the girls, or characters that say 'Megumiacs!' or 'Koka Love!'
"Well, it isn't a surprise that they both have fan clubs.", Izanagi told Akira without budging from his thighs.
"Fan clubs!? Are they celebrities or something?", asked Akira.
"They aren't celebrities. These fan clubs were made by those guys after watching them fight in the entrance exams and the group battles.", Eiko explained from behind.
"Just by watching them once or twice, they suddenly got fanclubs?"
"... Look. Don't question me about it, okay? And by the way, can't you see from their perspective as well?", Izanagi told him.
"What?", asked Akira.
"It's been so long since we last fought each other, huh? We did promise to have a rematch.", Megumi told Koka from afar as well.
"I'll make sure you'll lose this time.", Koka replied to her.
"Oh, I think I've already won. More so since I've already visited the enemy's base."
"T-the enemy visited my base! He met my general too! H-his general and my general like each other very much as well!", Koka fought back.
"W-well! He already felt my butt! He needs to take responsibility! So there's no room for you anymore!"
"W-what?", the audience wondered.
"What are they talking about?", one of Sasaki's fans who was holding up a Megumiacs sign stopped and wondered as well.
"H-he felt my ch-chest! H-he needs to take responsibility for that! Y-you aren't allowed!", Koka hesitantly replied.
"WHAT!?", one of the audience wondered.
"WHO'S THE DIRTY LECHER WHO DID THAT TO OUR KAWAI-SAN!", one of the audience who was holding up a 'Koka Love' board shouted.
"DAMN WHOEVER THAT PERVERT TOUCHED OUR SASAKI-SAN!", one of the audience who was holding a 'Megumiacs' board shouted.
"Huh. That guy must be pretty lucky to be able to feel those two up. Right, Akira?", asked Izanagi while he turned his face towards Akira.
"Y-yeah...", Akira answered nervously.
He was sweating real hard as he heard the audience scream out and Megumi and Koka bicker.
'What the fuck...? W-Why the hell are they talking about that right before their match? What's this all about?'
"Ummm... You two...", States was feeling a bit awkward as Koka and Megumi bicker.
Even Kou and Chou felt a little awkward and was trying to calm down their partners.
"...BUT STILL... YOU COULD SEE FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW, RIGHT? YOU THINK THE TWO OF THEM ARE CUTE, RIGHT?", Kami shouted at Akira, with a deviant smile on his face.
Koka and Megumi seemed to have stopped bickering when Kami said this.
"...uh... Well, yeah. They're cute and all, but why the hell are you shouting?", Akira turned towards his direction and asked him with an awkward tone.
"SO...IF YOU THINK THEY'RE CUTE. HOW ABOUT YOU GIVE THE WINNER A KISS?", Kami told him, still with a deviant smile.
"...huh?", Akira asked with a confused tone.
Izanagi seemed to be amused by this as well.
"HEEEEH?", Ai suddenly voiced out after hearing their conversation.
"Hmm...", Eiko voiced out as well, with a smile.
From the back, Avaron seemed to be glaring at them and clenching her teeth.
"What are you...?"
"C-can we start the mat-"
""Please start the match, sensei."", the two asked with a fired up atmosphere around them.
"Y-yes!", States nervously answered.
"Match...", she started announcing.
Megumi started gathering pink energy around her, Koka gathered violet energy around her as well.
Chou pulled her fists next to her torso as if charging herself up, while Kou squatted down.
Both of them started smoking as they prepared themselves.
"Start!", States continued.
Immediately, Megumi tapped on Chou's shoulder, boosting her.
She then quickly ran forward.
Kou swiftly dashed through the arena as well, targeting Chou.
Koka just put her fists up before her to defend against Megumi's attack.
Akira quickly turned his attention towards the battlefield.
"Polar opposites fighting, huh? This would be a great match.", Sora commented.
"...but from what it looks like, Kawai-san's greatly disadvantaged here. Her ability's great and all, but Sasaki-san can quickly take her out in a flash.", she continued.
"No, you're completely wrong.", Akira butted in.
Sora and Izanagi turned towards Akira after hearing this.
"How am I wrong then?", asked Sora while putting her hands behind the back of her head.
"... Unlike you guys, you weren't teamed up with any of them, nor did you faced their attacks head on.", Akira continued.
Megumi was only a few feet away from Koka when suddenly, Koka put her palm in front of her.
"I fought with pink girl, and I've also faced weaken girl's ability head on a few months back...and there's something I realized since back then."
Sora's eyes slightly widen, while Izanagi slightly lifted his head seeing the scene that happened in front of their eyes.
Megumi, who was dashing with great speed earlier, suddenly, slowed down greatly as a violet light surrounded them.
"Unlike pink girl, who's ability needs her to touch someone before boosting them-"
Koka quickly ran towards Megumi who was moving really slow.
"...weaken girl-"
She then pulled on Megumi's fist that was put up in front of her.
"...can use her ability from a distance."
And tossed her to the ground.
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
"GUUAAAHH!", Megumi spat as she crashed on the ground.
While this was happening, Kou was about to kick Chou; Chou saw this and put her palms in front of her, planning to catch her before she gets a hit.
When suddenly...
*pug*
Kou took a rock from her pocket and threw it at her.
"WHAT!?", Chou unintentionally screamed.
She quickly smashed the rock with her right forearm, but wasn't able to dodge the next hit.
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
Kou's feet swiftly kicked Chou's face, pushing her out of the arena.
"Tch!", Chou, ran back to the arena with a bloodied nose, and aimed her fist towards Kou, who landed and posed with her right arm in front touching the ground, her left arm pointed to the side, and her feet on the ground, as if she did a superhero landing.
She flung her fist at her, but she quickly dodged by jumping far away.
*pwwwwwhooosssshh*, just like that, a strong force was felt and the air vibrated from Chou's punch.
The stone arena was slightly scraped by the air that this caused.
Kou landed next to Koka, who was standing in front of a bruised Megumi.
Megumi was slowly picking herself up as Koka glared at her.
"Woah! Kawai's and Hayai's team are really packing some punch. I thought for a second there that this battle would just be a one-sided match wherein Sasaki and Tsuyoi's team would win immediately.", Sora commented.
"...but still,
"You... figured it out...huh?",
"We did it, Koka-nee!", Kou told Koka with a smile.
"It's too early to celebrate.", Koka replied to her.
Megumi slowly stood up, slightly wobbly.
"Oh, so that was their strategy, huh?", Sora commented.
"Sasaki-san can boost not only her strength, but her full body. With that, she could blow a strong punch and quickly dash towards her enemies, but with Kawai-san's ability used from a distance, her ability quickly becomes useless.", she continued.
"Kawai's ability usage distance really got them a winning stake, if it weren't for that, they would have lost easily.", Sora continued.
"... That's not the only thing though...
The two of them thought out and really made a strategy on how to deal with them.", Akira butted in.
Sora and Izanagi set their sights on Akira again as he explained.
"That rock she threw earlier...", said Akira.
"Rule 3 states that tools that are not major requirements to the abilities of the students, are not allowed in the arena.
This was probably made so that there will be no random retard who'll bring stuff like a man-made gun in the competition.
...but the rock she had in her pocket, she was definitely not allowed to bring something like that.", Akira continued with explaining.
"If that's so... then how...?"
["Match...
Start!"
Just as the round started, Kou quickly dashed out while Koka stood still on the ground.]
"I'm not really sure if I'm right, since it was too fast for me to see, but look at where Kou was stood in the start of the match."
The two turn towards the area where she stood earlier.
There was a crack on the stone ground and there was a small piece of the stone floor missing.
"Wait...how did she...?"
"They took in consideration a lot of stuff just by the first few moves they did. First is how she'll take care of miss muscle girl, how weaken girl will defend herself and fight against pink girl, and how could they all do it with the minimal amount of damage done to them.", Akira explained.
Akira made a serious expression as he further explained what occured.
"At the start of the battle, weaken girl used her ability on the floor beside her, where the little girl was posed on. She even had her right hand on the ground, prepared for their next move."
["Match Start!"
Just as States announced this, Koka's feet immediately showed a violet aura and a light violet thin line connected to the ground beneath Kou's.]
"Once the weaken girl had weakened it enough, she quickly dashed and broke the weak floor, taking a chunk of the stone floor in her pocket and dashing towards muscle girl."
[The violet glow stopped and Kou quickly dashed as she scooped a rock from the ground.
As she's running, she quickly placed it in her pocket.]
"They had to count in the amount of time it would get for pink girl to dash at weaken girl. If she was faster than they thought, she might have duked her out while she was busy on weakening the floor beneath the little girl.
She quickly slowed her down and stunned her, while the little girl charged in to attack the muscle girl.
She knew she'd just be clobbered by her fists, so she had something up her sleeve to distract muscle girl just before the exact moment she hits her.", he finished.
"Huuuhh... And I thought muscle girl would win it immediately. Sasaki seems like a heavy boulder to push as well. Seems like they're gonna be in the losing end after all.", Sora replied.
"..."
Akira crossed his arms and kept staring in the arena.
"I knew it.", said Koka.
"You were right, Koka-nee!", added Kou.
Megumi was brushing herself off as she stood up when Koka spoke to her.
"I've noticed it during the group battles and the tag competition. It's been so long since it happened, but during those times, you've used your ability to boost Akira."
Megumi slightly grinned from hearing this.
Akira felt slightly confused hearing this.
"In both those times, there was something I noticed when you used your ability..."
Koka then pointed her fist to Megumi's direction.
"You could only boost one aspect of another person.", Koka continued.
Akira's eyes slightly widened hearing this.
'...She's-!'
["Let's go!"
Megumi touched Akira's back, boosting him while he charged to Kazuki.
"ISHIKAWA!"
Kazuki pulled his gigantic hand and planned to smash it at Akira, but before he could, Akira slid past it while putting his barrier up, scarring his arm a bit more.
"AUUGHH!", Kazuki screamed as he lifted his wounded right arm.
Megumi immediately jumped after Akira and striked Kazuki's left arm with his barrier.
Kazuki saw this, and immediately tried to smashed Megumi with his left arm, when suddenly...
"TOO SLOW, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Akira suddenly appeared in front of his vision and was about to hit his right arms barrier on him.]
"During your fight against Inoue-san..."
["Pink girl, boost me up."
Megumi was showing a big smile, while blushing and gently touched Akira's back.]
"Or during the tag competition...
You only boosted one aspect of Akira.", she explained to her.
Kou, who was listening as well, was turned towards Chou who was walking towards them.
"During the group battles, you boosted his 'speed', giving him the ability to move in swift speeds.
While during the tag competition, you boosted his strength to carry all of us.
If he also had his speed boosted, he would have ran faster than all of us back then.", she continued.
Kou was posed on the ground, planning to dash against Chou again, when her eyes slightly widened.
"That's why, we-"
*Pwwwwhhooossssh*
Megumi grinned as a strong gust of air suddenly passed.
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
A strong fist was taken by Kou, before she could even dash away.
Koka's eyes widened as she saw this.
"B-but...how?"
Akira quickly stood up seeing what happened.
"That weaken girl... She doesn't understand!", Akira suddenly commented.
The other classmates were suprised about what happened as well.
"Tsuyoi Chou, the crusher, also known as muscle girl, her ability is basically just 'superhuman strength'.", Izanagi commented as well.
"Hayai Kou, the dasher's ability is a match for her, which is basically 'superhuman speed'.", he continued.
"If one of them suddenly gained the ability of the other, there's no way they could win against them.", he kept talking.
"The question is...how?", Izanagi turned to Akira.
"Her ability doesn't just boost one aspect... Her ability is-"
"Full body enhancement.", Megumi told Koka with a confident grin.
Koka was surprised with this situation and how it turned out.
"My ability grants me the ability to enhance the person's physical capabilities in a level they couldn't reach.", she explained.
"...b-but! During the group battles-"
"Inoue-san's skin was a thick layer, and his energy was hard to penetrate. Without powerful strength, Akira and I wouldn't have been able to break a hole on him."
"...then what about the tag competition!"
"... This really proves who cares about him more, doesn't it?"
"WHAT!?"
"Akira was running really slow to accommodate us.", Megumi explained.
Koka's eyes slightly widen as she heard this.
"Don't you remember? He was able to run away from two 6th years with Aichi on his back. His speed was still the same as how he usually ran.", Megumi explained further.
She clenched her teeth after hearing this.
"I care so much about him, you know. That's why..."
Megumi was glowing pink again from her body.
"I'm not gonna lose to you."
Megumi quickly ran at Koka, who was a bit flustered.
Koka, was surprised, but quickly placed her palm in front of her, planning to weaken her.
When suddenly...
Megumi turned left and ran quickly behind her.
"You-"
A violet air was released in front of Koka.
"I also charged at you earlier to check whether my theory is true or not.", Megumi explained.
She then ran towards Koka's back quickly.
"You can only use your weaken ability in the direction you focused to."
She ran at Koka, who was just about to turn towards her.
'NO!', Koka thought as Megumi charged at her.
Just before Megumi's fist closed in on Koka.
*Pwwwwhhooossssh*
Kou, who was struck towards the end of the arena earlier, dashed in and jumped in between them.
"Crap!", Megumi spouted in the nick of the moment.
[1. The support student is only allowed to directly hit the opposing pair's support student.]
'If that fist hits her-'
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*
Suddenly, a strong wind was heard and a large storm of dust covered the arena.
"What!?"
"What happened...?"
"Megumi-chhhyyyaaaannnn!!!"
"Koka love, please be safe!"
"We believe in you!"
Akira felt awkward hearing their fans cheer for them.
'These guys...'
From the thick smoke, the scene started unfolding.
Chou was standing there, her fist pointed towards where the three were standing earlier.
'... She just-!'
From outside the arena, were the three girls, Megumi, Kou and Koka, all lying on the soil out of the arena floor.
"Did she just force her out of the way to prevent her from hitting their savior?", Sora asked.
"...but doesn't that mean, Tsuyoi's disqualified for hitting her own support?", she continued.
"... Well, the rule was...", Izanagi started to explain.
From the floor outside the arena, slowly stood Megumi who started walking back to the arena.
"As long as she doesn't beat her unconscious, they're still in the game.", he continued.
'...Did weaken girl and her partner-'
Suddenly...
*Pwwhooossshhh*
A strong gust of air dashed again.
"How...!?", Chou was surprised when he saw it.
Kou was holding Koka's hand as she lept towards them.
Megumi's eyes slightly widened as well.
"Oh yeah... I almost forgot...", Akira told Izanagi and Sora, who were confused as to what happened.
"What!? How did they survive that? I understand Sasaki-san since she can boost her physical capabilities, but how did-"
"There's another thing that gives weaken girl an advantage against them."
Koka and Kou were dashing aiming righ in between Chou and Megumi.
They saw this and quickly prepared themselves to punch them before they could reach them.
Suddenly, Koka pointed her palms up to them.
"Unlike pink girl's ability that she can only use on other people..."
Chou shot a strong punch with lots of pressure, while Megumi shot a punch but with less.
The strong air was shot, targeting Koka and Kou.
"Weaken girl can use her ability even on inorganic things."
Suddenly, the air blown towards them slowed down.
Chou and Megumi were a bit surprised by this.
Koka and Kou dashed in between them.
Kou immediately dropped down in between Chou and Megumi though, while Koka rolled away from the speed.
Exactly when her feet touched the ground between them...
*TSSSSSSSSSK*
The ground underneath Megumi and Chou broke.
Debris splattered as a large hole formed beneath them.
"Koka-nee, now!"
Koka quickly fixed her posture after rolling away and put her right hand on the ground.
Violet air shined to the floor Kou was on.
She quickly jumped up and stomped on the floor.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM*
The floor between Megumi and Chou broke and they all started falling to the pit.
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
"GUAAAAH!"
"HAAAAHH!!"
Megumi and Chou moaned.
Koka quickly ran towards the middle and caught Kou in her arms.
"Thank you, Kou-chan.", Koka told the Kou.
"Mmm!", Kou smiled.
"I told you a long time ago that the next time we meet, I'm gonna beat you.", Koka told Megumi, who was slowly picking herself from the ground, as she carefully dropped Kou to her knees.
"I might have not cared for him as long as you did, but my feelings for him are something I want to fight for.", she continued.
"You..", Megumi said as she stood up while holding her left arm.
"GRRRRAAAAAAHHH!!"
Suddenly, as they were focused on Megumi, Chou quickly ran towards them from behind and pulled both of her fists up, planning to smash them.
"Hup!"
Koka immediately turned around and touched Chou's abdominals.
"TAKE THIS!"
"GUH!"
Chou suddenly wobbled away a few feet as she was weakened.
"Now, your boost is useless-"
"Koka-nee!"
"KOKACHI!"
"Huh? AUGH!"
Suddenly, Megumi jumped from behind and tackled Koka a few feet away from their position.
*SMMAAAACCKK*
Koka's body banged on the floor as she was pushed away.
"Koka-nee-"
"You're not going anywhere, pipsqueak!"
Suddenly, Chou lunged towards Kou, planning to punch her.
She immediately jumped backwards and avoided her punch.
*BAAAAAAMMMM*
The already broken floor was broken once more by her heavy fist.
"This time, I won't let anyone interfere with my match with you.", Chou told her.
"... Chou-chan... I'm not gonna lose!", she said as she jumped at her.
"They're really going at it.", Akira commented.
'They've stopped making plans now and are just trying to overpower their enemies, both pairs are just getting desperate-', just before Akira could finish his thoughts, he suddenly noticed something.
Ai, who was sat next to him, was shivering out of fear.
Feeling slightly concerned, Akira turned to her.
"Something wrong, love girl? You're shivering for some reason.", Akira asked her.
"M-m-megu and Kokachi look so angry at each other, Akira-sama! W-what if this match destroys their friendship! I don't want them to hate each other!", she worryingly told Akira with slight tears in her eyes.
"Uhhh...well..."
Akira tried comforting her as the battle between the two pairs continued.
A few feet away from them, was Koka and Megumi.
Megumi was straddling Koka, with both their hands holding each other's, both trying to overpower each other to defeat.
"You've been smashed so many times, how in the name of God are you still standing?", Koka angrily asked Megumi while still trying to fight back.
"I won't fall down until you let me have him. It's been so long since I met him again! I told both of you about that and I knew you realized how I feel about him even if I didn't say it! Why did you just turn your back on me and went after him too...?", she asked her back with an annoyed tone.
"GUUHH!!", Koka moaned as violet light shined on her arms.
"UGH!"
She suddenly overpowered Megumi and they both rolled to the side.
Now, Koka is the one on top straddling Megumi.
"You were just an obssessed fan of his. I can't even count the number of times I caught you hiding between the alley just to walk up to school with him. He saved my life and made me feel special. You know how much I hated guys! He changed that! He's special to me! You just don't understand!", Koka explained to her with a determined face.
"DAMMIT!"
"HUH!?"
Suddenly, Megumi boosted herself again and pushed Koka.
They rolled to the side again, and now, she's straddling Koka on top of her again.
"I WAS THERE FIRST! YOU TREATED HIM LIKE TRASH! I WAS THERE FOR HIM! YOU'RE JUST SO UNFAIR!"
"GUH!"
Koka tried using her weaken ability, as her arms glowed violet, but Megumi kept boosting herself, making her glow pink, cancelling her ability.
The two ended up in a situation where the both of them are just trying to push the other to exhaustion.
"YOU WERE FIRST, BUT YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! YOU WERE TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO TRY AND GET HIM! IT WAS YOUR OWN FAULT!"
"SO WHAT? I'M NEW TO THIS! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I'M SCARED I MIGHT MESS UP! HE'S THE ONLY GUY I EVER LIKED MY WHOLE LIFE, BUT YOU JUST HAVE TO COME AND RUIN IT FOR ME!"
"I COULDN'T HELP IT! I CAN'T JUST CONTROL WHAT I FEEL! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? ERASE MY FEELINGS FOR HIM JUST LIKE THAT? YOU'RE NOT EVEN HIS GIRLFRIEND! YOU DON'T OWN HIM!"
"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST FALL FOR ANOTHER GUY? A DIFFERENT GUY? SOMEONE WHO ISN'T THE ONE YOUR BEST FRIEND IS IN LOVE WITH! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE HIM?"
"HE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS THERE FOR ME! HE PROTECTED ME FROM PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO HURT ME AND... and... he made me feel like... like everything was gonna be ok...", Koka slowly turned into a flustered expression as she said that last line.
Megumi's eyes slightly widen as she heard this.
["Help...me!"
Suddenly, a bunch of quick footsteps were heard, seemingly showed that someone ran towards the area.
"Ya evildoers! Get yer stinky foot off him! The hero iz here'!"
A little child with black hair, a badly made paper mask, and a long cape that looked like a curtain said while standing in front of the playground entrance.]
'... Akira...did, huh?', Megumi slightly grinned as she thought that.
""Huh?"", suddenly, both Megumi and Koka widened their eyes when they suddenly lost strength in their bodies.
*pug*, Megumi fell on top of Koka as both their large chests squeezed on each other.
"I can't move..."
"... Me neither..."
The two of them told each other.
They've been constantly forcing each other to lose against a buffing and debuffing ability war.
Megumi kept boosting herself while Koka kept weakening her.
This caused them to use up so much energy and thus, resulted to them emptying out their body's supplies.
They were speaking in low voices, seemingly extremely tired a
"You're heavy."
"Akira didn't complain about my weight."
"He didn't complain about mine as well."
"I sat on Akira's lap."
"I pressed my boobs on his back."
"..."
"..."
The two were glaring at each other for a while, but Megumi couldn't hold her weight, so she just laid down on top of Koka with her face laid next to hers.
"So we both did lewd things just to get his attention, didn't we?"
"... Basically, yes."
""Haaah..."", the two sighed.
"I visited Akira's house and used him winning the group battles as an excuse to hang out with him."
"And then you decided that sitting on his lap would definitely get him to fall for you?"
"... My mom told me it was a great idea! What about you then? What came up in your mind that made you rub your chest on him?"
"... H-hey! A-at least I got to go with a date with him first, and... my mom told me guys like that and that... I'll immediately capture his heart when I do that to him."
"Home dates still count."
"No it does not. I had a date with him first."
"Home dates are a thing! I was first!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"You...
Oh who am I kidding here... We're both just in the same boat right now, aren't we?"
"... Well, yeah..."
The two kept speaking to each other, even when they were almost in the brink of unconsciousness.
"In the end, we're still nothing compared to her..."
"... Yeah..."
Koka, stared into the audience, at the direction of Class 1-2 and looked at Akira and Ai from afar...
["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.
Near the area, behind a bush, was two girls.
One was a pink haired pale skinned girl, and one was a black haired dark skinned girl.
It was Megumi and Kokachi, who seemed to have been waiting behind that bush for quite some time.
They were showing faces of scared concern, as if they were hoping something wouldn't happen.
"A-A-Akira-sama... p-please be my boyfriend!"
Their eyes widen as they heard this.]
"It's ok. They aren't gonna break their friendship just like that. You know them, right? That's not gonna happen.", Akira told Ai trying to comfort her.
He was patting her head as he did so, while she was blushing with an embarassed expression.
"So...are we still friends after this?" Koka asked Megumi.
"... I'm not gonna lose... Kokachi."
The two of them sigh in relief as they just lied there and let themselves rest on the floor.
On the other hand...
"Haaah... Haaah.... Haah...", Chou panted as she stood her ground.
The floor around the arena was broken by the punches Chou missed.
Kou was really quick and was able to deal much more hits on Chou, but a few bits from her seemed to have dealt her some massive damage.
"You're about to lose, pipsqueak. Any last words?"
"Chou-chan. You're really strong.", Kou told her as she wiped blood of her mouth.
She was standing on a higher area a few feet away from Chou, and it seemed as if she was confident she was gonna win..
"What's with the smug face? You haven't noticed how much pain you're gonna feel after you come close, don't you?", Chou told her with a confident expression.
"No...
I just want to tell you something, Chou-chan..."
"What is it?"
"Well... Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"Ummm..."
"Team Kawai Koka and Hayai Kou wins!", States announced.
"WHAT!?", Chou shockingly asked with widened eyes.
She then suddenly noticed why that happened after she stopped focusing on just Kou.
"You tend to stop thinking about anything but fighting, Chou-chan. I'm sorry about that.", She apologized to her with a cute smile.
"GRRRRAAAAAAHHH!!", Chou screamed with anger.
"Well, that was interesting...", said Akira as he turned towards the battlefield and stopped patting Ai.
"So in the end, the two weren't able to settle their rivalry, huh.", Sora commented.
"Well, their fans seemed to have had a blast watching them.", Akira replied with an awkward expression.
"By the way, I think you should be on your way, Akira." Izanagi butted in.
"What? What is it?", Akira asked him.
"They're gonna repair the arena, but we've got a support teacher that could fix it up in no time. You better get down there before they replace your name with someone's else's.", Eiko warned Akira from behind.
'...What are they...'
Akira then suddenly realized.
'Oh... It's my match then, huh?'
Akira stood up from his seat.
"I'm off then.", Akira told them.
"Yeah, break a leg.", Izanagi told him.
"G-good luck, Akira-sama!", Ai told him too.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, this would be an easy match for me.", Akira bragged.
He then walked down the stairway.
And walked to a long corridor.
"Guess it's time for me to go, huh?"
Akira stared at his right hand as he walked with his left hand in his pocket.
'I'm still not sure if I can use that...', he thought.
*bump*
Suddenly, Akira bumped into someone.
"So you are Akira Ishikawa, correct?", a gray haired, handsome, pale guy spoke with Akira with a bright smile.
"... Is this one of those cliches wherein the enemy greets me before battling to tell me he's gonna beat me or something? That's too much for me, dude. Just do something worthwhile. You can talk shit after you've actually won against me.", Akira told him as he walked passed him.
"I just came here to greet you.", he kept telling Akira as Akira walked away.
"It's okay... We'll meet again sometime...", he continued.
"...the guardian's son."
Akira's eyes slightly widened as he heard him say this.
He quickly turned around to see the guy...but for some reason...
He quickly disappeared.
'What just...?'
Akira felt confused and shocked hearing this.
["You erased everyone's memories about us being connected to him?", asked Akira.
He was in Kana's office during the time he visited her before the tournament finals.
In there, he was standing up and listening to her, when she suddenly revealed to him, a special piece of information.
"To be more precise, I erased the 'Ishikawa' last name from the minds of people who knew about his existence. I needed to do this to make sure to defend his family from being blamed for all the mistakes he did.", Kana explained.
"This site the reason why you're mother had to work abroad and not act as a support or a savior.
Lots of people forgot about her last name and her popularity declined rapidly. This led to her being requested less in rescue operations and the likes.", she continued.
"So you did it to protect us...?"
"Precisely.", Kana told Akira.]
"How... did he know?"
Akira knew nothing about the man he encountered besides that, he knew about Akira's father.
'... For now, I need to focus on my match first.'
Not knowing what to do next, Akira just turned around, and decided to just ignore the situation for now, and just head forward.
End of Chapter 21
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