Fudomine

Yamabuki

Shitenhoji

Seigaku

Rikkaidai

Hyotei

Echizen read the names of the teams moving on to the Semi-finals. He had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Everything seemed to be going according to plan but he couldn't shake the feeling of something very wrong. He wasn't sure if it had to do with the competition or back home, and honestly, he was concerned. Even though he knew the inevitable outcome, Echizen was both worried and excited about facing Rikkaidai and Hyotei. He may not have liked monkey king but he wasn't dumb. The boy was strong. There was also the fact that Echizen didn't know whether the werewolf's ability is dormant or just underused. He would have to act accordingly based on which one. He even debated on talking to Momo about Atobe's past, whether it was known about the ability or not. There was also the situation with the Fairy Prince. Even though Echizen kept up to date with the races, he never knew the full extent of the prince's abilities. He knew the Fairy could strip others of their senses, but was there a trigger, a condition, or how long did it last, how much was stripped away? He knew none of those things. That and the power alone is troublesome to him and his teammates.

Of course, there were certain wild cards of their own. Fuji has yet to use his 'Trials' against anyone in the competition, he himself has used minor attack strategies and only used his acid rain magic.

However first things first, they must make it past the Semi-finals.

"-zen"

Ryoma blinked. "huh?"

Tezuka sighed. "Echizen, were you not paying attention to anything we just discussed?"

Ryoma shrugged. Tezuka rubbed his temples and continued. "I said, The host announced who we would all be up against for tomorrow. Our opponent is Team Fudomine. We were trying to discuss a strategy."

"Ah well tomorrow, Taka-san, Fuji, Momo and I will be fighting their set of fighters," Echizen replied.

Momo nodded. "Right and I thought it was best to split up like the fight against Higa."

"Actually I wanted to suggest teaming up," Fuji said. "Might help considering some of our abilities."

"Oh?" Inui piped in "Care to explain."

"They only have four fighters. So most likely they will double up and try to stay near another person from their team. I say we do the same, It would end up that way anyway if they do double up. This way we can practice working together from the start."

"hmmm according to the data, it should be Kippei Tachibana, Tetsu Ishida pair and Akira Kamio, Shinji Ibu pair."

Momo turned to Inui "why is that?"

"Tachibana and Ishida both have similar aspects to their abilities in which they incorporate animals. Kamio and Ibu as well have complementing abilities. If they want to make the most out of teamwork then they will take advantage of possible combo attacks." Inui opened his notebook and flipped through the pages. "I don't know everything about their tactics or abilities because I don't have enough data on their fights as much as I did the other major competitors. Fudomine seems to be the underdogs, finishing the match quickly without giving too much away like us. However, I do know Tachibana is a Vampire with the ability to channel the aura of the animal of his choosing. How powerful depends on if he is a pureblood or a halfbreed."

"He's a halfbreed. The extent of his powers is limited to the physical aspects of his body." Echizen added. "I've seen him in class."

Inui nodded and started scribbling down that information. "Ishida is a Werewolf so we all know what the means. Kamio is a Fairy, as far as I can tell his element is wind. How he uses his element is unknown since he's only used his ability to keep the fire at bay in the competition. He is proficient at martial arts. Ibu is the only one I cannot get data on. He is a wizard but that's the extent of my knowledge."

"Sa, let me handle Ibu then." Fuji said. "A wizard for a Wizard."

"I agree" Inui nodded and closed his notebook "but since he will most likely pair up with Kamio I suggest teaming up with Echizen to keep him at bay. Which leaves Momo and Taka-san to handle Tachibana and Ishida. Eiji and Kaido I want you two to sit out this time. Now as far as tac-"

"Ah um you want me to participate?." Taka-san interrupted.

Echizen sighed, "Eiji and Kaido would be a bad matchup against Tachibana. Since he can channel the aura of any animal, he could choose one that counters the characteristics of Eiji's cat abilities and Kaidos snake. That leaves you to pair up with Momo. you can use your fire to control the movement of the other two to make the most use of Momo's advance senses and movement."

Momo threw his arm around Taka-san. "Don't worry we can practice working together, besides Echizen is right and I already have a few ideas."

Tezuka nodded. "Now for Tactics. I trust that each of you knows the strengths and weaknesses of your abilities, talk to each other to fill those gaps, and work together to create zero openings. Use the abilities of your partners to make your weakness a strength. So practice tonight and every chance you get to create a plan to use against your opponents."

Everyone looked and each other and smiled. They were so close to the end and nothing can stop them from winning as long as they worked together.

...

Ryoma was tired, beyond tired. He knew Fuji would be a slave driver but this practice was more than he expected. In hindsight, he should have known Fuji would want to try different magic attacks to combine with his illusions. Afterall Fuji did know he could do more than acid rain magic. They settled on a few choices to use incase his acid rain was shut down. Ryoma didn't want to expose too much but he understood the need to give a little. They could control the outcome of what they give away by making it seem unintentional and later use that information against their opponents.

No doubt about it Monkey king and the Fairy will be watching his team closely. He would bet that Monkey king will be watching him specifically, the wolf wanted his revenge from earlier in the year. Ryoma thought it was stupid but Werewolves are prideful. Atobe even more so, and it made him wonder what happened with him. The ability he felt, that wasn't his imagination. He even asked Momo about records of Werewolves having an ability currently. Momo said no one he knew had one, and even if they did they probably wouldn't say anything for fear of what the alpha would think. That was another thing that made no sense, if someone wanted to use magic then so what. Who cares if they were a werewolf. To Ryoma, it just seemed like they were jealous and didn't want to admit it so they banned magic. In his opinion, if the werewolves were to learn and develop magic it's very possible they could be a threat to the vampires. Both races would be evenly matched with heightened senses and magic abilities. Ryoma would dare say that they would probably win a war too. The vampire's leadership structure is unbalanced and messy, that's saying something considering he's the prince of such people. The werewolves had a tighter community.

Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. He doesn't have enough time to get information anymore because he spent the whole night practicing with Fuji. The other teams were probably done practicing as well since it was so late.

He got back to his house hidden in the forest that Nanako made him and jumped into bed.

"Your majesty" A voice called out to him from the corner of the room.

Ryoma sighed and sat up. "Kevin, Why would I ever think you would just remain silent sanding there in the corner. Of course you would disturb me even though its obvious I want to sleep."

Kevin smirked and gave a low bow. "You ignored me even though you knew I was here, how mean of your highness to treat his loyal servent like that."

Ryoma huffed and laid back down on his bed. "Like I ever treated you any different to now. How was the assignment I gave you?"

Kevin fake pouted. "Not even going to look over and face me." he sighed. "It went more or less how you expected. The man is very arrogant and doesn't believe anyone could ever touch him. So it was very easy to get what you wanted."

"Perfect. Now when do you think you'll be ready to take the next step?"

Kevin hesitated to answer. Did he want to continue with the prince's plan or listen to Nanako and watch over him for a while? The advantage of staying here would be a break for once, he knew Ryoma could handle himself well so this security detail job would be a mini-vacation for him. On the other hand, this mission was slightly time-sensitive, could he afford to put it off for a couple of days?

"Kevin? Did you get lost in the clouds or something?" Ryoma asked turning his head to look at the man. "It's not like you to space out."

"Nanako asked me to keep a watch on you, she's suspicious of the situation you are in. I told her you can handle yourself fine. I was thinking whether to do as she asked and wait a few days before proceeding with the next step of your plan or to face her anger later on for not doing so."

Ryoma thought for a minute. Of course Nanako would ask Kevin to do such a thing.

"Why not do both. Get the job done quick enough to come back and watch over me."

Kevin blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry, your highness it sounds as if you think I can finish such a thing in one night."

"My bad I assumed you could, that was my mistake to overestimate your abilities."

Kevin glared. "Glad you have so much faith in me." he growled out "Very well, I will report back as soon as I can." he added and bowed.

Kevin turned and left but not before muttering 'demanding prince' under his breath loud enough for Ryoma to hear.

Echizen laughed but then quickly succumbed to sleep.

...

The ground shook and rose so quickly Momo almost fell off the pillar. He lost track of the time because he was so focused on not getting hit by Tachibana. He thought it would be best to count out the five minutes so he would be prepared for the ring to change, but overestimated his ability to focus on the fight and count. He quickly scanned his surroundings and noticed that taka-san was above him on a higher pillar, Tachibana was still ground level and Ishida was on a slightly lower pillar then his own.

Perfect.

"Taka-san form 3!" he shouted. The two of them practiced code names for certain moves they developed, each form pertained to the type of obstacle they found themselves in.

On cue, taka-san could be heard yelling burning above him. Momo jumped and aimed to land right behind Ishida. The flames from Taka-san surrounded Momo's body, he felt hot but there was no pain or burns from the flames. The fire condensed around his fists the most.

Ishida was looking down for Tachibana the Moment Momo landed above him. Momos flamming fist colliding straight into the back of Ishida's head causing the man to be sent flying across the platform.

From the very beginning of the fight, Momo was having a hard time against Ishida. They were equal when it came to their werewolf abilities but Ishida had the advantage with hand to hand combat. Tachibana and Ishida used that to their advantage and landed several combo attacks with pure brute strength on Momo.

Taka-san was not great with using his fire for close-range attacks so before this fight began Momo and Taka-san agreed he would stay behind and provide backup. Momo knew that in return he would take the most hits from the duo and was prepared for it. Not only did the pair practice possible combo attacks but Momo practiced his endurance and core strength to be able to handle multiple hard hits.

The start of the battle favored Tachibana and Ishida since they went directly for hard hits the moment it even started. Momo was already starting to tire out because of it. They left no openings for Taka-san to attack without getting in Momos way. He couldn't be more thankful that the pillars were the first obstacle to appear and be placed perfectly to their advantage.

After sending Ishida flying Momo put his hand on his knees and panted like crazy. Those hits hurt like hell.

"Elephant Aura"

Momos' eyes went wide and he made to get up and move out of the way but it was too late. Tachibana was right behind him and his leg was raised right above his head. The moment those words left the man's mouth he brought his leg down on top of Momo.

The force of the hit slammed Momo down into the pillar causing it to crack and form a dent the size of his body. Momo groaned, man that move is no joke. Tachibana made no effort to move. His foot remained on momos back, restraining him with the weight of an elephant.

"That was pretty impressive what you two did there with Ishida. However, we will not lose to you two." Tachibana said to Momo.

Momo tried with all his might to get out from underneath him but nothing was working.

Taka-san watched from above wondering how he could help. Then an idea popped in his head. He concentrated and closed his eyes, focusing his flames to obey his desire.

Once he felt his magic listen he opened his eyes and lit the flames into his hand and extended it into the form of a whip. He circled his hand above his head as if he were using a lasso and aimed for Tachibana.

Tachibana was getting ready to knock out Momo for good when he felt the burning sensation on his neck. Surprised his aura faded and that allowed Momo to escape. However, before he could concentrate the burning around his neck tightened and pulled him backward off the pillar.

Tachibana looked around and noticed that it was taka-san that caused such a thing. Sighing he allowed himself to continue to fall unless just the right moment.

"Cat Aura" He said. and then twisted himself in the air and landed safely on the ground. That was his mistake to forget that there was another person he was battling against.

Momo and Taka-san jumped down and got into a fighting stance, this should be easier now that it was just Tachibana right. Two against one should be a piece of cake Momo thought, But really he knew this would be difficult anyway.

Tachibana smiled and sprinted toward the two but then the ground started to shake once more.