Some Things Even Light Can’t Outshine

(Ryo looked down from above.)
"9.6 seconds before landing."

(Tokeru went into an offensive stance.)
Ha.
"Don’t need to announce it!"
"I’ll end it here."

(He infused his palms with Karo.)
But it felt different—not like before. It was denser. More focused. Like a storm about to break.

(Mr. Enzaki looked intrigued.)
Heh. Heh.
"What’s the boy cooking up now?"
"Maybe it’ll make the other falter…"
Hmph.
"Strength above all…"

He watched the match intently—as the official should.

(Let’s jump to the main group.)
Shindo was still sensing the feeling—but a tiny spark of awe crept into her gaze.

(Shiro watched her closely.)
"Are you still sensing the danger?"
"Yes. I feel it rising."

(She was concerned.)
What to do? What to do?
If only I could figure out the exact problem.
"I’m useless…"

(Sachi calmly rested a hand on her shoulder.)
"It’s alright, Ms. Shindo."
"We’re just students, not heroes."
"We can’t perform miracles."

Her voice stayed steady, but inside? Frustration burned—she couldn’t do a thing to ease Shindo’s worry.

(Daichi cut in, stating the obvious as always.)
"She’s right. The best thing we can do now... is hope for the best."
"Hopefully…"

(Shiro’s eyes flicked to Tokeru.)
What does this have to do with him?

(Back to the battlefield.)
(Tokeru smirked.)
Ha. Ha.
This is it...
My trump card.
He doesn’t stand a chance.
I’ll show you—and everyone—the power of hard work.

(Ryo analyzed from above.)
His Karo levels are rising rapidly.
He’s going to end this with a concentrated beam?

(Ryo paused, calculating.)
"75%... 95%... 110%."
His Karo is spiking dangerously above normal levels.
This wasn’t in my calculations.

(Ryo’s eyes sharpened.)
The beam’s trajectory…
If he misses, it’ll hit the crowd in the right wing.

"You! Lower your Karo levels!"
"You’ll put others in danger!"

(Tokeru’s eyes snapped sharp.)
"Huh?"
"Lower? Someone might be in danger?"
"What, is the leader of Gen Zero surrendering?"
"Too late now…"

(He fired.)
The beam shot straight at Ryo.

"Impact in 2.3 seconds."

(Ryo closed his eyes, steadying himself.)
Focus Karo into my palms.
His Karo surged, forming a barrier in front of him.
"This isn’t gonna be enough to stop it."
"At best, it’ll deflect."

Why isn’t Mr. Enzaki stepping in…

(He took a quick glance at the supposed official.)
(Enzaki gave a calm, almost lazy smile in return.)
Tch.
Crazy old man…

FWWWWSSHHH!
The beam tore through the air at insane speed.
The crowd cheered—clueless to the real danger.
It slammed into Ryo’s barrier.
SKRRRAK!

(Ryo gritted his teeth, straining to redirect it.)
"At most... I can only angle it up—45 degrees."

Miraculously, he deflected it—sending it crashing into the S.T.F ceiling.
His barrier shattered in the process.

The beam left a massive hole above.
The crowd froze—then chaos broke loose.
Arcaria staff scrambled to maintain order—barely holding the panic back.

(Ryo crash-landed, catching his breath.)
"Seems I couldn’t escape that unscathed."

(He glared at Tokeru.)
"This is your proof of hard work?"
"By endangering others?"

(Tokeru looked stunned.)
"How…?"
"I honed my Karo to the limit!"
"You weren’t supposed to withstand it!"

(Ryo’s eyes narrowed, voice cutting.)
"Your Karo was surging..."
"But with less than 30% control."
"Didn’t I warn you—your impatience will be your downfall?"
"So... had your fun?"

(Tokeru, stubborn, charged again.)
"I’ll wipe that smug look off your face!"
"You look down on people like us who had to work for everything!"

(Tokeru’s fist flared with Karo. He lunged.)
(Ryo side-stepped effortlessly, landing a sharp jab.)
"Enough."
"Even for a high-level Karo user… you’re already at your limit."

(Tokeru collapsed.)

(Ryo stood over him, voice low and icy.)
"You say talent shouldn’t decide everything."
"Your hard work deserves praise…"

(He leaned in slightly, voice a blade.)
"But... compared to us, your hard work is barely 2%."

(Enzaki calmly announced.)
"Your winner... Ryo Takami of Gen Zero."

You’d expect a loud cheer—but after that close call?
Not much to celebrate really.

(Above the right wing.)
Tokeru’s recklessness had one last card to play.
A huge chunk of debris broke off—falling straight toward the students.

Time slowed. How? Well this world isn’t meant to follow the laws of realism.

(Back to the main group.)
(Shindo froze, horrified.)
"If only I could’ve sensed farther ahead…"

(Sachi’s face darkened—her usual chaotic nature stripped away.)
She was watching a disaster unfold—helpless.
I’m useless.
Ms. Shindo is in distress…
And I can’t do a damn thing.

(Daichi, panicking as usual.)
"Dude, this was the outcome of her senses."
"We’re about to witness a disaster on day one…"

Pause.
"Well… looks like it’s time."
"The boy’s about to get his bone."
"Or... a small piece of it, at least."
Unpause.

(Shiro was shaking.)
Crap. Is there anything I can do?

The debris was locked on a straight path down.
The outcome?
Inevitable.

(Shiro stood up, barely holding his courage together.)
(Daichi blinked, confused.)
"Dude, what are you doing?"
"Are you trying to save them?"
"I... I don’t know…"

What am I doing!? Save them!? I’m not a hero!

(He caught a glimpse of Shindo’s expression.)
Aghhh.
Fine. I’ll do what I can.
Maybe I’ll score some cool points.

(He took a deep breath.)
Like before, he drew back an invisible string.
Light formed around him—creating a bow in his hand.

(His hands shook.)
"Light... it will always guide you to the right path."

(Shindo watched, wide-eyed.)
FWWWWSHHHH!
The arrow flew—dead-on, perfect. Point-blank.
KRRRSHHH!

But it wasn’t enough.
Just a hole—splitting the debris in two.

No…
My Fate isn’t strong enough…
Piercing Starlight, my ass. How can I fail now?

The debris kept falling.
Students scattered, panicked.

Pause.
"Great attempt…"
"Honestly, better than most people."
"But now... let’s see how a certain group of begrudgingly helpful people deals with it."
Unpause.

(To Gen Zero.)

(Haru gave Rukimi a quick glance.)

(Rukimi is not really in the mood.)

Sigh.

"Fine..."

"The Council’s gonna chew us out if we don’t."

(Back to the scene.)

The debris slowed—almost as if gravity flickered off.

(Haru stood firm, her Fate in motion.)
"Get to it."

(Ayuri swooped in, smirking.)
"Aye aye, Ms. Gravity~"

She zipped around, snatching students to safety—who could only stare at her, slack-jawed.
KSHHHH…KRRRRK…KRACK-KRACK…TSHHHHH!
Ice formed beneath, creating a stabilizing foundation.
At the core of it all—Rukimi.

Tch.
"The Fireball better not get hurt moving so recklessly."

(Ichika, scouting with her clones.)
"There are still ten underclassmen on the left."

Keigo—oh sweet Keigo. His Fate wasn’t built for moments like this, so...
Plan B:
Tank mode.
(Keigo charged in, body infused with Karo.)
"I got it, I got it!"
(He slammed into a wall.)
"I’m okay!"

(Haru watched, deadpan.)
That idiot…

Of course, it wasn’t over.
Another chunk of debris plummeted—because why wouldn’t it?

This time, the so-called principal actually did his job.
(Enzaki waved his hand—smoke formed, cradling the debris before dissipating it.)
"How unsightly…"

(Let’s check in on the main group.)
(Shindo’s panic faded into pure awe.)
"Amazing…"

Back to her starstruck self.
How fast emotions shift.

(Sachi, impressed, watching it all unfold.)
"So this is Gen Zero in action…"
"Might not be able to beat that."

They’re on a whole different level.
Fun…

(Daichi, half-grateful, half-trying-not-to-pee-himself.)
"Dude… they’re different. And coordinated."

(Shiro watched, jaw tight—impressed, but… yeah, a little jealous.)
Gen Zero...
Of course I try to be a hero…
Just to get overshadowed.

This is barely a fragment of the bone.
"Hey, at least you got something."

(Shindo noticed Shiro’s face, softening.)
"Umm… you were really cool when you tried to save them."
"Like a real-life superhero."

(Shiro glitched, brain buffering.)
What? Cool? Me?
She thinks I’m cool?
Yes! You hear that, Rukimi? I’m cool!
Take a hike, Ice Prince!

(Cut to Gen Zero.)
(Rukimi paused, frowning slightly.)
"What the—?"

(Ayuri snuck up behind him.)
"Hey hey, Ice Cube, don’t get distracted."
"Wouldn’t want any more casualties, would we~"

(Rukimi rolled his eyes.)
"I wasn’t distracted. Just felt like... someone used my name."
"For a useless purpose…"

(Ayuri glanced at Ichika.)
"Hey Ghosty, any idea where that light came from?"

(Ichika, deadpan as ever.)
"Seems to be the first-year student with star-shaped pupils."

(Ayuri nudged Rukimi, smirking.)
"Looks like that firsty tried to one-up you.”

"Why would he do such an unnecessary task?"

"You know why~"

(Rukimi gave her a look.)
"Not my problem…."

(Back to the battlefield.)
(Ryo watched his team handle the chaos, then glanced at Tokeru—collapsed, drained.)

"He preaches all about hard work, how far it got him..."
"Now look at him."
"Pathetic..."

(He signaled to the Arcaria staff.)
"Get him to the medical bay."

(Enzaki approached, placing a hand on Ryo’s shoulder.)
"That was a fine match."
"To think Gen Zero would willingly entertain someone… he must have been worthy."

(Ryo stayed calm, voice smooth.)
"We had a vote. 4 to 2."
"It was a calculated approach."

(His eyes narrowed.)
"Why didn’t you intervene?"
"You can read Karo levels down to the decimal."
"There was a 56% chance the students would get seriously injured."
"And 44% of something worse."

(Enzaki chuckled lightly.)
Heh. Heh.
"This was a match, after all."
"Gotta give the people what they want to see."

Then, quieter, more serious:
"I trusted you’d keep an eye on your surroundings.”
“So… thank you and your team for handling it."

(Ryo’s glare sharpened, ice cold.)
"By my analysis, there’s a 2.5% chance of you ever becoming head of this academy."
"It’s been 365 days since I was a first-year."
"And your thought pattern is still untrackable."
"Mr. Enzaki…"

(Ryo walked away, regrouping with Gen Zero.)

(Enzaki watched him go, thoughtful.)

"As analytical as always…"
The so-called principal needed a plan—because this wasn’t going to look good for the academy.

(He glanced at the main group.)
"That boy…"
"Star-shaped pupils…"
"Fitting, aim for the stars."

(Shiro shivered.)

"Was someone… watching me?"

(Daichi muttered under his breath.)

"Dude, with how today’s gone..."

"More than likely."

Pause.

"If you’re wondering why Gen Zero was so reluctant to step in..."

"Mainly Rukimi, who—let’s be honest—was much more willing to save Shindo compared to the whole crowd."

"Him and the rest of Gen Zero? They’re... selective."

"They usually only step in if it’s convenient, interesting, or—let’s be real—if they just feel like it in the moment."

"Some of them are a bit more lenient with that mindset than others, though."

"But this time?"

"Unlucky for them..."

"It all loops back to their connection with the Council."

"And by ‘connection,’ I mean pressure."

"Or, in the words of a certain someone..."

"‘The Council’s gonna chew us out if we don’t.’"

"That’s their... let’s call it a morality clause."

"For the most part, anyway..."

“Also, I know you might be wondering—why couldn’t the crowd protect themselves using Fate or Karo?”

“First—students. Second—this is a school that teaches them how to use those things. Third—not everyone’s that skilled. Some don’t even know how to use it properly yet.”

“And no, it’s definitely not for plot convenience.”

Unpause.