Hey, everyone! New chapter up, but just wanna clear some things up.

Due to an oversight flawlessly pointed out by a uplifting reviewer (Thanks, Maverick!), I'm gonna have to apologize about it. To simplify it for everyone, while AC:fA is the same continuity as VD, a reference to White Glint and mentions of the Economic War (the book Ryoma was reading) are technically impossible (not really but kinda) due to a multitude of factors, and as such, it shouldn't have happened. Yes, I wanted to try to get away with the knowledge of W.G's legacy (And ofc Strayed) being passed down through the ages, but it makes sense that it COULDN'T be the case because of the happenings of AC:VD. As such, that book doesn't exist and was replaced with a pamphlet about angsty crossovers involving DmC and Kill la Kill. Sorry~

JUST TO BE CLEAR THOUGH: The reference was just that: A reference. But for the sake of accuracy, it probably won't happen again. Sorry, WC fans, this ain't about him. (Same goes for Strayed for that matter.)

Anywho, here's the next chapter. I guess. Enjoy, criticism is well approved and encouraged.

Ryoma's head hit the desk with a thud louder than the gunshot of a Sniper Cannon, and his motivation hit the fan faster than that. Celine being anyone's first opponent is bad enough, but it being Ryoma made everything a hell of a lot worse than it already was. It didn't help that his sentiments were being repeated by the rest of the class.

"Celine as his first match? Dude, he's so screwed."

"Ha, talk about being the short straw..."

"I wonder if he'll actually die?"

He had heard enough. Being slandered by people he'd beat before was enough to boil his blood, and it pushed him, over the boiling point. He stood up and yelled, his voice loud enough for even the cruel gods of fate to hear him.

"Are you shitting me?! Who the the hell did these brackets?! I demand a re-randomization of this entire thing!"

Admiral Nagai's eyebrows furrowed. "Relax yourself, Watanabe. These are final, and there will be no changing of the matchups."

"But...!"

"You shouldn't be complaining about your opponent being someone skilled enough to defeat you. If you can't handle that simple fact, you can leave and never come back. How would you get further as a pilot if you only took the easy way out? That is not our way here, and if this is the sort of motivation you carry, you're better off working a janitorial position in the sewers."

Ryoma bit his lip in frustration. The Admiral was right: Seeking easy wins won't help him get better. And who would he impress with wins that were essentially given to him? But this was just overkill. Then again, not like he was in a position to argue about it anyway. He groaned, and sat back down, his voice low once again.

"My apologies, Admiral. I made a fool out of myself. It won't happen again."

"Good. Now then. You all have your brackets. Matches will begin in the next 3 hours. That's 1200. I suggest you all go get some rest or get some practice in. You'll need it. You're all free to go. Good luck to you all."

The cadets rose, and saluted once more before heading out of the classroom. Ryoma slowly headed towards the door, but Admiral Nagai was quick to stop him.

"Watanabe, what was that about? Do you have a sort of phobia on fighting Celine?"

"It's not that at all." Ryoma quickly replied. "I just don't like fighting her. It bugs me."

Admiral Nagai's curiosity escalated quickly after hearing Ryoma say that, and his hands crossed over his mouth as he spoke.

"Why, though? Is it because she's a female? Your friend from childhood? What-"

"It's not like that either, sir. But I..."

Ryoma's fingers held his forehead as he spoke with a hint of sadness. "I don't feel as if I learn anything from when I fight her. Don't get me wrong, we're best friends and everything, but as a pilot, I don't get any experience from getting my ass kicked all over the battle grounds. How can I improve when the one person who I can't beat at all has such a clear advantage over me?"

The Admiral rose an eyebrow, not sure to be surprised at this statement, or to be confused as to what's going on through this cadet's mind as he explained himself.

"To be honest, I think it's bullshit. I understand that what you're looking for isn't just a win between the two cadets, but when my opponent is a unstoppable wrecking ball who's only gonna body me in less than 30 seconds, how could anyone make a observation of my performance when I didn't even get to perform? That's not fair, that's basically handing me to the trash department."

"You know", Nagai finally spoke, "I can understand what you mean. But it's precisely these sorts of reasons that you were picked to face her in the first place."

"Wait, picked?" Ryoma turned it over in his mind. That didn't sound right. Ryoma rose an eyebrow as well, as he was led to believe that the bracket was completely random. "If this is the case, why me? I'm sure someone else has a higher chance of winning. Why not match me up with someone of my skill level?"

"But we did match you up with someone of your skill level, Ryoma. Celine is a perfect match for you."

Now Ryoma was sure that he was hearing things. "No offense sir, but are you insane?"

The Admiral leaned back in his chair, and slowly shook his head. "With everything you just told me, that proves to me that you're the most likely to beat Celine. The fact that you were willing to admit what you just said is one thing; Having the smarts to know a battle you potentially cannot win is a good intuition in itself, but it is because of your infamous ability to create opportunities from literally out of nowhere that I and the other higher-ups believe in your ability to win. No one has creativity like you do, and your ingenuity can save your life one day as a pilot, no question."

Ryoma simply responded with a "Huh" as Nagai continued.

"I admit, your piloting skills are not of a top class level. You're a good pilot, but you are not them. However, I see potential in you that I see in no other pilot. You lose some, of course, but the actions that you perform are definitely worth mention. Such as in the urban warfare test. Luring the drones into the abandoned building and shooting out the support beams was something no one piloting a craft would have thought of on the spot, especially given the circumstances."

Ryoma held up his hand, waving it as the Admiral let him speak. "To be honest, I only did that because we were penalized based on how much ammo we spent. I needed lunch that day."

"It is because of the fact that you DID it that you are well spoken of", Nagai retorted. "Your quick reflexes and genius plans are something that would benefit you to the fullest once your potential is awoken as a pilot. You may not be as good as Celine fundamentally, but your tactics are definitely a trump card in the case of battle, something that she doesn't have. She's too textbook, you're the wild card. We wanted to see if that would have any sort of impact in a match between pilots with vastly different skill levels, and you've proven yourself to be that and more. If anything, you'd be better than Celine if your piloting skills were more refined."

Ryoma was lost for words. None of this was ever mentioned to him, so the fact that he was even being praised about this was a morale boost. His motivation came back, and so did his strategic mind processing. With a smile, he stood from the chair, and bowed. "Thank you, sir. I need to be going, however. It's about that time."

"Hm?" Nagai was confused, and he gestured it as such with a furrowing of his brows. "It's not even 9:30. What could you possibly have to be doing?"

Ryoma smirked. "I need to plan my strategy. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a map on you of the battle stage, would you?"

Celine returned to her quarters, and kicked off her shoes, removing her clothes as she stepped into the bathroom. A few seconds later, water shot out of the shower head, and she stepped into it. Sighing, she grabbed a rag and drowned it in liquid soap, and began to wash herself.

"Ugh, only a few hours of rest? This sucks."

Her mind wandered off a few times as she spaced out. She thought about home, her parents, and imagined herself in her very own AC. The thoughts dragged a few smiles from her. And then...

Ryoma.

She gave another sigh, and wondered what that was all about earlier. Why won't he fight her? Is it because of her being a woman? Was it because they were childhood friends?

"No, it couldn't be. It never stopped him before, so why would he not want to all of a sudden?"

Her mind gave up trying to figure it out, but then she recalled that she was one of the best cadets of the school, and remembered that grading would be based on the performance of the pilots. Maybe that's what bugged him? That he wouldn't even get the chance?

"Oh, Ryoma..."

She cursed herself silently; She couldn't go easy on him because it would be disrespectful on her part, but it would be bad to beat him outright like that. He wouldn't have even been able to show what he has as a pilot, and then where would he end up? Working as an Operator? She didn't want that, so she knew that he didn't want that either. But what could she do?

She gave up, and turned the water off, and stepped out of the shower, drying herself off. Slipping into her sleeping clothes, she decided to just sleep on it. She was too tired to bother wasting time thinking about what would happen in the next 3 or so hours. And just when she was about to retire to her bed, a mail flew into her inbox on the cadet terminal.

"Who the hell...?"

:::Message from: Cronus_Ryo
:::Subject: (none)

"Ryoma?" She opened the mail, curious on the contents. What could he possibly have to mail her about right now?

"Hey, you'd better not slack off in our match! I plan to kick your ass, so you'd better bring your A game! No, your S game! Double S game, even! I look forward to it, so good luck, and don't worry about me. I know you are, you want-to-be mom!"

Celine shook her head. "Did I really just spend time worrying about this asshole? Seriously!"

She didn't even reply. She turned the terminal right off, and jumped into bed, shaking her head all the while. And as she lost consciousness, a smile touched her face.

"That's the Ryoma I know."

And there's that. God, my eyes hurt. Hope you guys liked this; I think it's pretty good setup fodder for the next chapter. Next chapter is gonna be the exam chapter. Maybe I'll introduce some smaller characters too, because only having two people be the stars of the event isn't cool.

Until next time, which might be Thursday!