Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

The battle continues while the upperclassmen continue their deliberations.

――It's too one-sided a scene to be called a battle, though.

Gasp! Scratch! Boom!

「Kuh...oh!」

Kamishiro's attacks struck and Saki's attacks hit, and on and on.

Of course, Kamishiro does not just hit the air in the dark. He tried to shift his timing, aimed at the position of the back of the opponent with a turn kick, or dared to show depth with a dive-like right fist that did not kill his momentum - but still he could not hit the opponent.

Saki probably aimed at Kamishiro right after his attack, which would have been a good time for Kamishiro to land at least one blow on her. But until then, she keeps a perfect distance from Kamishiro without getting too close.

From this, she really knows how to use her ability.

Shibaryuu Academy was at the mercy of this ability, and they were helplessly defeated.

At the time of the encounter with Kaito, Saki also disappeared with Kaito and Kaname with her ability. The extent of the effect is unknown, but it will surely be more troublesome if used in a group battle.

If possible, a win is better than a loss.

「Kamishiro-kun...」

Kamishiro exhaled unexpectedly, though Chihiro's prayer may not have been answered.

Huff...

As if determined, he released his stance and stopped moving.

He just stands there naturally and closes his eyes.

「Haha. Is he going to use his mind's eye?」

From the Shibatsuru Academy crowd came the taunting voice of Kaname.

Still, Kamishiro did not move an inch.

If the opponent does not attack, what will Saki do?

One second, two seconds, three seconds....

Time passes without any change, and a minute passes.

Bang!

A blow, probably coming toward Kamishiro's back, is delivered.

Stumble!

Kamishiro staggers for a moment from the sudden damage, but then he regains his position and smiles softly.

「"I heard it"」

After a somewhat mysterious muttering, he opens his eyes and starts to move.

He uses the straight line with a dive, which he has been using before. It is still a strikeout.

The only difference is...

Squeak!

He slips on his gym shoes and changes his direction immediately, and then he makes a fast attack with a straight line in a different direction.

――Well, this way, if he hits a few times, he'll hit once.

Saki's attack does not come, perhaps because she is wary of it. And Kamishiro repeated the attack in succession, and missed as many attacks as he could.

No luck.

No...

Squeak!

On the sixth attack, Chihiro hears a faint sound.

It was the sound of gym shoes scraping the floor. But it was different from Kamishiro's.

「There it is!」

Kamishiro immediately changed his direction.

He hits a straight shot while he is getting caught by the unreasonable barrage of blows.

Boom!

After a loud sound, he stopped as if he was being held back, and stepped on the floor.

「Maybe she thought she was going to get hit, so she attacked with force」

Lucille mutters.

The words that followed were loud enough to be heard by everyone around the stage.

「Someone said something about the mind's eye, but that doesn't mean it's an unscientific phenomenon. Because as long as living beings are moving, "sounds and air currents" are generated. It is possible to read such things, consciously or unconsciously」

「I see...」

Kaname clicks her tongue.

And a high-pitched, grating voice further adds to the tension.

「But... What's the use of knowing that? Just because he relies on something as uncertain as sound, does he think he has an advantage?」

「Referee. I think making a lot of noise on purpose is an act of sabotage」

「I agree. Shibatsuru Academy should be a little quieter」

「What!?」

Perhaps Kaname was deliberately making noise to create a din to muffle the sound of Saki's movement. Lucille easily recognized this and contained it.

At the same time, he let the other people know that they should not interfere.

This makes it a little easier for Kamishiro to fight.

『But, Kamishiro-kun has reached his limit』

He has been hit many times by spears and wooden swords.

If this were a normal class, Kamishiro-kun would have been stopped by now. No matter how stubborn Kamishiro is, there is a limit.

Can he catch up with his few remaining chances? It depends on his next series of blows.

「....Well then」

Neither Kamishiro nor Saki made any significant moves while the little battle was going on in the outfield.

There was no surprise attack with the wooden sword, and Kamishiro took the opportunity to breathe and sharpen his gaze.

Kamishiro had found a way out of the invisibility caused by her ability. He could have attacked in a single blow instead of relying on the surprise attack, but he played it safe.

So, was Saki's choice the right one?

「Ha!」

The continuous attacks start.

The pattern is the same. Saki launches a straight shot, and if it does not hit the target, she immediately changes her direction. Kamishiro also attacks in the direction he hears Saki's shoes.

Although she can run away if she wants to.

But as long as Kamishiro keeps attacking, the time to escape is gradually decreasing. And eventually, he will catch up with her.

So, before that happens.

Pow!

She would be forced to attack.

And Kamishiro was waiting for it.

「There!」

Kamishiro's hand firmly gripped the invisible wooden sword that seemed to be stuck in his left shoulder. He pulled it off his shoulder and yanked it away.

「Kuh!」

With a small cry from Saki, the wooden sword was revealed.

It had left its owner's hand, and at the same time, Saki must have removed it from the range of influence of her ability.

Kamishiro tossed it out of the room. And the wooden sword rolls noisily across the floor.

「Now what?」

A quiet voice is directed at the invisible girl, and immediately afterwards.

「Okay, I'll give up. I give up」

Easily, Shirahama Saki admits defeat.

「The winner is Kamishiro Yuuki from Shibahou Academy!」

* * *

Kamishiro has won.

Thanks to Kamishiro's performance, the competition got off to a good start.

「Yuuki, good job!」

「Thank you, Orwell-senpai...」

「I said... don't push yourself too hard. I know you're on the edge」

The boy who played a key role in the victory almost collapsed when he walked out of the hall. He might have fainted on the floor if Lucille had not supported him.

「Mishuku-san!」

「You don't have to shout so loud, I can hear you. ...I guess we won, at least...」

In a panic, Chihiro rushed to wake Hana up and asked her to heal Kamishiro.

Hana woke up and once again borrow Aika's ability, and immediately ran to Kamishiro in a hurry.

Then the voice of a staff member echoed through the hall.

「The next event will be held in the kitchen in fifteen minutes. Contestants are requested not to be late. The staff will guide you, so if you don't know where it is, please follow the instructions――」

「Well, I think I'll go first」

Lucille starts to walk away.

Chihiro looked at her to see her off, and noticed that the Shibatsuru Academy members were smiling in some way.

Kaname, in particular, is looking at Chihiro meaningfully.

「That went well. It's a pity that we didn't win, but in exchange for giving them a win, we were able to almost completely shut down their core member」

A voice reached Chihiro's ears.