Chapter 5 — Last Trial

Friday, the final day for registration for the Erabareshimono no Kyousou, had arrived. The sky had been completely overcast since the start of the day. The usual festive mood of the recruitment festival had mellowed a bit. Slowly giving way to stress.

And soon, the bell rang for the end of lunch break, marking the beginning of classes and the end of the last morning of recruitment.

In the main building of Narukami High School, at the end of the corridor in Zone B, was Class 1-C, into which the lively Ryûko entered.

"Good afternoon, everyone! Looks like I'm right on time again! Haha!"

She glanced around, and to her surprise, no one was there. No one except for Yuuki engaged in his usual pastime: staring quietly at the sky. He slightly averted his gaze from it as he heard Ryûko, still at the door.

"Newbie, where is everyone? Class is about to start."

The girl's voice echoed genuine puzzlement. Yuuki's chair scraped against the floor as he stood up, walking with his characteristic nonchalance. He stopped right in front of Ryûko, who cocked her head cutely.

He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Ryûko. Once he had retrieved it, he left the classroom, but not before whispering one last word to Ryûko.

"We have P.E. Everyone is already out."

"Huh?! How?! I wasn't aware of that!! Crap, I didn't even bring my gym clothes!"

"Is that so..."

Yuuki stayed at the door, unwilling to leave for some reason.

"Aren't you going?"

She exited the room as well, trying to read Yuuki's emotions from his face. She met his familiar neutral stare, though she somewhat sensed that he still had something to say. Or else he would have left for sure.

"Ryûko, don't get your hopes up for tonight. As I said, I don't plan on losing."

"So do I." Ryûko walked past him, hands behind her back. "We're all set on victory, so of course I'll get my hopes up."

Yuuki shot back a stare, unable to convey his feelings through his facial expression; it could mean anything. He chose not to say anything else, leaving with unhurried steps for the P.E class he was supposed to be at.

"Don't forget to check the sheet," Yuuki stated before taking a turn and leaving.

In Ryûko's palm, the sheet given by Yuuki was neatly folded. It contained many instructions attached with sketches of her in numerous fighting positions.

"#5 Advice notice for Ryûko" was at the top of the page. The number suggests that there were other advice notices, maybe for each of her teammates.

She held the sheet tight to her heart. Her heart pounded harder. With gratitude, appreciation, and something deeper: blazing passion as today was the day.

In the same gymnasium, the same lone silhouette stood on the gymnasium's front stage. Hands in pockets, gaze lost in the dusk-colored sky. Yuuki was once again lost in memories.

It was like a curse. The memories of Marie shadowing him constantly bring both warm nostalgia and cold regrets. Maybe he should've gone on with life, yet here he was, about to enter the Erabareshimono no Kyousou.

As he pondered, the great gymnasium door opened. One by one, Ryûko's team filed in: Yôsuke holding a Wagasa, a traditional Japanese umbrella. Akira, wearing MMA gloves. Mori was wielding her war fans, while Waguri was empty-handed. The last one to walk in was Ryûko, standing before the others.

She aimed her finger at Yuuki.

"I hope you are ready! 'Cause Team Hinata is here to defeat you!!"

The girl's voice rang out through the gymnasium, reaching Yuuki's ears. He hopped off from the stage and landed heavily on both feet.

"Let's settle this quickly."

As soon as he finished his sentence, his opponents took up their positions. In the front line were Yôsuke and Mori, supported by Ryûko and Akira, with Waguri further back, attacking from a distance. They had changed their tactics a bit.

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. The silence grew heavy as they waited for only one thing: to give way to the battle of last chance.

A bolt of lightning lit up the room and, with thunder rolling behind, torrential rain began to fall just as the fight started.

Thanks to his speed, Yôsuke quickly closed the distance between himself and Yuuki. He snapped his umbrella shut, wielding it like a blade. It landed on Yuuki's palm, who parried the attack easily.

Yôsuke was about to take a violent blow when Mori appeared after shadowing the first assault. Their opponent chose to retreat, just as planned. During his clashes with Yôsuke and Mori, Yuuki noticed the gap between them and the second line of attack.

Yuuki dodged a thrust from Yôsuke, then Mori's two fans with an agile spin. Yôsuke's speed and Mori's cover made it hard for Yuuki. He had to dodge and not fight back.

Forced to dodge? Was he? Sure, Mori was the only threat, but not to that extent. So what was it? Yuuki quietly observed Yôsuke while parrying another blow.

His feet, no... his position. He was inviting Yuuki to counterattack. Yuuki remembered having a greater challenge handling Yôsuke's speed in previous encounters. It was too easy to find gaps in his defense... Maybe he didn't care because Mori was covering him, or...

Yuuki grabbed Yôsuke's Wagasa, wedging it under his armpit. Yôsuke tried to break free, but he knew the difference in strength between them. Letting go felt like the right decision, yet he gripped the umbrella even tighter.

He is up to something. Yuuki thought, and rightfully so. He felt a slight tick of energy coming from Yôsuke's palm.

"An electric discharge?"

These words escaped Yuuki's lips as the Wagasa lit up slightly, buzzing with electric energy. Quick, Yuuki had to move, the discharge would count as a hit, so he had to dodge. What he would've done if he weren't a partisan of thinking before acting.

He scanned around him; Ryûko and Akira had narrowed the gap, while Mori was still close.

His instinct held him back from counterattacking Yôsuke. Now he had it figured out. He could attack Yôsuke and face retaliation, or he could keep things as they were, putting their plan on hold.

Yuuki took a shallow breath, then held it before springing into action. The immediate necessity was to get away from Yôsuke, which he managed. Akira and Ryûko ambushed him from behind.

To avoid them, Yuuki had to jump to get behind them. The spirited girl followed his fall and threw two successive kicks.

Unlike other times, she wasn't trying to ‘protect’ Akira; they were attacking together. Even though Akira was much slower and more predictable, he copied Ryûko's movements to an unexpected degree.

"So they plan on taking turns? Isn't it way too presumptuous? If you just knock one of them out..."

Bypassing them, Yôsuke joined the assault in an instant, even overtaking Ryûko and Akira. He then opened his umbrella.

"Unfortunately for me, I can't use my Kikai when they're too close. But thanks to your advice, I know what to do now!"

Yôsuke threw a small coin at Yuuki. Exactly what Yuuki's advice implied:

"You are fast and agile for your height; it's a big advantage. For your thunder Kikai, I noticed that you avoided using it when the others were close by, so I guess you can't aim it right. Then, try to find something that would ensure you hit your target rather than another one. Like a metal object that acts as a conductor."

The umbrella was lighting up with electricity. The strike was imminent, and with another step back, Yuuki found himself cornered, his back against the stage. So even that was planned.

He knew that Ryûko and Akira would follow him on either side. Yuuki just had to choose Akira's side to get himself out of the situation. Still, he faced the situation head-on. They managed to put him somewhat on the back foot. So he might as well give them a taste of their own medicine.

Yuuki grabbed the coin Yôsuke threw, and in a flash, he punched his opponent in the face with his other hand, sending him flying.

"Yôsuke!!"

Ryûko shouted, worried about her friend. A rookie mistake.

"It was on the advice notice, wasn't it?" Yuuki had just closed the gap between them. "Never look away from your opponent, or..."

He suddenly took a turn while Ryûko was moving her hands to block. Yuuki had intercepted Akira, trying to get in the way.

"Or... You will make your teammate lose their positions."

Akira was next on Yuuki's list. He couldn't even breathe as Yuuki parried his punch and flipped him upside down with a judo-like hold. Akira landed heavily on the ground, and then a powerful punch knocked him out.

Meanwhile, he noticed from the side of his gaze, Waguri close to Yôsuke, bathing him with the light of her Kikai. Her attacks were almost non-existent, but her healing factor had been a problem Yuuki dealt with first each time, maybe he should reiterate. But right now, he had to deal with Mori, supported by Ryûko.

The first initiated the charge, armed with only one war fan this time. Unfortunately, Yuuki didn't intend to dodge this time. He counterattacked the first slightly mistimed hit with a powerful jab. Mori managed to move her head just in time to avoid it.

She resisted as best she could, but faced with Yuuki's repeated strikes, she finally knelt down.

Ryûko took her place, spinning kicks flying in every direction except Yuuki's face. Her changes in pace made her somewhat unpredictable, but what she lacked was the principle of risk and reward. Ryûko moved like a character in a film, as if she were looking for the flashiest moves possible. It was too risky for the outcome, especially against Yuuki.

He managed to catch her in midair by one leg, turning her upside down. He punched her several times: first in the face, then in the abdomen. Finally, he threw her violently to the ground on her back.

Seeing this, Mori felt a rush of adrenaline. She clenched her teeth and lunged forward.

"Again. If you were on the first line like I advised you, you could've avoided this."

Yuuki parried her attack and grabbed her wrist.

"And had confidence in yourself, you wouldn’t have needed to attack in such a reactionary manner. Putting yourself in the background to let Ryûko have her moment of glory, I think that's a shame for both of you."

Yuuki knocked her down as quickly as the others, leaving only Waguri still treating Yôsuke.

Yuuki took his time walking to her. In the silence, each step repeated in the calm gymnasium. He stopped in front of her, staring. As if he were waiting for her to attack.

"You didn't follow my advice; there was only one, so it wasn't that hard."

"Tch!" Waguri snarled. She had no time to heal Yôsuke... Was she forced to fight Yuuki? Maybe she should run away... yeah, she simply couldn't, she couldn't help it...

And just like that, she was defeated with a swift blow.

"You fought seriously, and there you have it. They didn't last two minutes. I told you it was a waste of time."

Yuuki looked around at the still bodies of his only friends from the new school. Perhaps Marie would have hated to see him act like this.

He only had time for a sigh before a dazzling light flashed across the gymnasium. It wasn't lightning, but Waguri's Kikai.

She had fired a light arrow towards the roof of the gymnasium. When the arrow hit the ceiling, it broke into shining dust. This dust slowly drifted down to the floor. Upon touching Yuuki's skin, he immediately knew what it was.

"Your advice was spot on, but you see, I'm not the type to listen to people I hate." Waguri offered Yuuki a middle finger before falling, knocked out, out of energy.

And beside him, Yôsuke, Akira, and Mori steadily stood up. Waguri's plan worked, she managed to heal them all at once.

Mori held her fan, pointing at Yuuki. Still holding her stomach, the pain faded, but the impact was still there.

Yuuki was right about her; she was too scared to act first, even though the others were counting on her. She didn't want to appear better than them because, in her eyes, she wasn't. But she had no choice; Ryûko saved her, so she had to help her as well!

"I... I'll fight you, Harumaki-san." The young girl's gaze was different from usual; it remained cold but was filled with something deeper.

"Bring it," Yuuki answered.

Akira and Yôsuke got ready to attack as well; the fight had only just begun, and it was reaching its climax.

Meanwhile, Ryûko was still unconscious and showing no signs of waking up.

To be continued...