A/N
I made this chapter short for the sake of introducing the battle mechanics quickly as possible, along with setting a little bit of mood for the story. Rest assured, the next one will be much longer.
The light novel ride never ends. Try spotting all the LN's/Manga/Animu referenced here. Maybe you'll get something. Maybe.
"Alright you kids, before we do the commanding portion, we'll have to take off your suits, no need for that right now." Director Yashiro orders, as he, along with a few service crews, proceed to detach the alloy armor from both contestants. As her visor is taken off, Shiro notices the determined look in Hikari's face, along with her clenched fist.
"You seem determined." Shiro inquires jokingly,
"Of course, since I'm about to kick your ass… again!"
"Let's see you try…"
Sorry, Hikari, but this is what I came here for… I have to make sure that I'll be the one gaining the victory on this dawn's horizon… or something.
"Alright then, let's get you set up! On my right is the Challenge Table, also simply and unoriginally known as the PvP table, which will become your battlefield! Now, what I'm holding in my left hand is a Shipcard deck, which contains the representations of the shipgirls you'll be using. Of course, this does not have all of the ships in the school, for you would require more of these box-decks." The director, now pacing back to the elevated platform on the edge of the gym, taps the table and raises the box-shaped deck on his hand. "I've personally shuffled these cards, so you shouldn't find any bias or anything like that."
Man… these features remind me too much of YuGiOh. Good old days, right Erika? Hoo boy… I'm depressing myself again… Never mind that for now. I have to win. Shiro thinks as the director pauses for breath, seemingly taking something from his pocket.
"This is the Random Compass, also "affectionately" known as the RanDumb Compass. This will affect many parts of your career in this academy, so you best get familiar with it. It contains a magnet inside which moves the compass tip in a random direction, so, in a way, you could say this is an RNG-based compass. Many of your delusional seniors have already begun to worship this RNG, in hopes of its benevolence… crazy bastards."
"HEIL RNG-SAMA!" A group of rowdy seniors shout from the top of the bleachers, making the others, and even the director himself laugh.
"I have no need for crazy cults in this school! But anyways, back to the main topic, many of your sorties and battles will rely on the compass, however, there are some ways to bypass it, as formulated by our faculty, it is the students' job to find those ways and exploit them. Well then, I'll explain more as you two battle. Shall we?" Yashiro gestures his hand towards the table and the seats, allowing the two students to sit down. Shiro notices the deck-box placed in his side of the table, and another one in Hikari's. He takes his box and looks at it with curiosity as he notices the cards stowed inside.
"Alright, grab the cards from the opening and familiarize yourself with them. Of course, after this battle you won't be able to keep them, but we'll give all you first-year kids the Starter deck instead. Notice the class designations and stats on the card; if you've got knowledge on ship classes and the like, you've got a huge chance of winning this." Shiro and Hikari does so and opens up their boxes, and notices the cards with artist's impressions of the shipgirls drawn on it, along with their stats, names, and empty circles on the bottom. There's also a quotation below those circles.
"… Poi." Shiro reads the quotation of one of the cards he got, designated as destroyer Yuudachi. Child-like in appearance and quotation, but as he thinks it through, Yashiro, somehow predicting his thoughts, interrupts his thoughts.
"So you got Yuudachi, huh. I know what you're thinking, childlike fragile destroyer, bla bla bla, but if you get her second Remodel she's gonna turn into one helluva firepower beast, kid. Sadly only a few ships in your deck have these upgrades, so check out the others."
That doesn't give me too much incentive to use her at all in this form….
"Uh… sir, what are these circles on the bottom?" Hikari now asks, flipping her card designated "Akatsuki" and pointing at the three circles.
"Equipment slots. They're located in the small pocket on the box, and are required to make full use of your ships. Here's a tip, don't just load your ships entirely with main guns. Make sure to have at most two main guns, designated red. For the carriers, there are Fighters, designated green, Dive Bombers, designated red, Torpedo Bombers, designated blue, and Scout Planes, designated yellow. I'll leave the rest to you. Oh, the equipment themselves has been shuffled as well."
Scrolling through the rest of his deck, a few cards catch Shiro's eyes, for he actually knows the actual WW2 vessels after reading them somewhere.
Battleship Kongou – An early Dreadnought of the IJN, converted to fast Battleship later on.
Aircraft Carrier Kaga – One of the carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor, and a part of the great 1stCarDiv.
Destroyer Akizuki –A late-war destroyer built for anti-air.
Battleship Bismarck – A German Battleship sunk early in the war.
He continues to scroll through the other ships, now held in his hand, totaling at least 30. Hikari also does the same, and Shiro has no idea what to expect. He is in a potentially dangerous situation once more, but he'll have to rely on his skills to win.
"Here are the rules, six ships per fleet, and no submarines for now. First strike will be decided through the "almighty" compass. You guys ready?"
"Yes!"
"Yeah." They reply simultaneously.
"Good! YOKOSUKAAAA! ARE YOU READYYYY?" The crowd shouts and cheers in response and laugh as the director coughs. "Damn… I'm never doing that again. Anyways, here goes nothing! If it points South or East, Hikari has first strike and placement, if it points North or West, its Shiro. Well, again, here goes nothing!" He presses the compass button, and it spins almost immediately, creating suspense around the gym. It slows down and then finally stops, pointing towards Southeast.
"Yes! I've got the first strike!" Hikari happily announces.
Good. Her mentality's a first-strike type. I'll be able to figure out her composition faster and formulate countermeasures. Lucky me, but since I have no idea about the battle system… I'll just have to make do with it.
"Heh, looks like he's noticed." Yashiro points to the grinning Shiro, who has noticed the benefits of going last.
"I don't care, I'm placing my ships!" She places the standard carrier Hiryu on her side of the table, loaded to the brim with blue Torpedo Bombers. The small panel beneath the first ship's placement area scans the underneath of the card, possibly reading its data to display it in an HUD in the middle of the table. She then follows up with Shoukaku, loaded with four Fighters this time, also having the same effects. This causes Yashiro to comment.
"Wow, that's some serious airpower you're up against, Miyamoto! An unorthodox equipment build, if I may say. Those torpedo bombers… she's probably setting up for a high-output first strike. Can you respond to that, Shiro?"
"We'll see." He replies confidently.
"You seem unfazed. I'm assuming you've got this under control?"
"Not exactly sir, just that I can't let panic get the best of me,"
"Good thinking! I like your style…"
As the two speak, Hikari continues to place more ships onto the table, now placing Nagato and Kirishima Kai Ni, equipped with two main guns, a yellow secondary gun, and a recon plane, which she has determined through historical facts, for ships did have secondary armaments and also carried a recon plane for artillery spotting, a fact that Shiro knows too. Hikari then places two more ships, namely, Sendai and Shigure, equipped with two main guns and a recon plane, but the plane is replaced by a torpedo in Shigure's case. She has now finished placing all of her ships, and it is Shiro's time to play his hand.
She has four fighters, hopefully not one of those late-war A7M Reppus, maybe a couple of Zeroes? She also has four torpedo bombers as well. I can't match her in terms of my planes, since I only have one carrier… But if she's loaded her with all fighters, one of her carriers should be useless in attacking ships. I have to make my carrier's loadout balanced. Let's see… A Suisei dive bomber… Tenzan torpedo bomber… and two Reppus. Yeah, that should do. He then places Kaga with the aforementioned loadout.
Next up… I should supplement my air power a bit. If I can take her planes out, I could still have a chance at grabbing Air Superiority or at least Air Parity, which I guess would help a bit, considering most historical battles. Best choice for me would be the Akizuki… since she was built for anti-air. Let's see, an AA fire director, and two High-angle 10cm's… I hope that's enough, though, but considering that AA was Akizuki-class' forte… I may see some good results. After he places the equipment, he follows up Akizuki on the second ship spot. Yashiro lets out a grin, and Hikari scratches her chin, thinking about the unorthodox formation.
Next, I should work on my surface fleet. She's got Nagato, one of them Big 7 ships. She's most likely high-armored. She also has Kirishima, a Kongou-class fast battleship, and a Kai Ni ship at that. I've got Bismarck and Kongou herself to counter them, but the equipment… She's using the recommended two guns, and a secondary gun plus recon planes, possibly for artillery spotting. I have AP shell equipment; with some firepower bonus and a small addition to accuracy, but no anti-air… if I swap out the plane, I can't go for accurate artillery spotting. So I guess I'll have to take a gambit and swap out the secondary gun, since they have roughly the same firepower… Let's see… two red main guns, an AP shell, and a recon plane. Going by historical standards, the spotting I'm hoping for would definitely materialize, but in this system… I'm not sure… Guess I'll have to rely on my luck, then.
Then, we have my light fleet. I have a destroyer Murakumo, which should be a good night-fighter… and a… eh… torpedo… cruiser? What am I supposed to load this "Ooi Kai Ni" up with? For Murakumo, I'll just copy Hikari's loadout for Shigure… But since Ooi's a torpedo cruiser… maybe I'll just fill her up with three oxygen torpedoes? Yeah, that should work. He then places the last ship, Ooi on the table, marking the start of the matchup.
"For starters, you guys should set up your loadouts beforehand, since battles like this will only come rarely, most of your time will be spent clearing missions. Anyway, Shiro, you missed a good opportunity there, Torpedo Cruisers can fire during the "opening torpedo phase", but only if they have midget submarines. Too bad you didn't equip them with it, but nonetheless, she's still a powerful ship. And, oh, if you haven't noticed, the equip build you have on your Akizuki is a nice one, you'll see what I mean later. I'm guessing you got the idea from her historical equipment, yes?"
"Yes sir. I read in an article that she had fire directors, making her a good anti-air vessel."
"Well then, that's enough for now, let's start! Gain victory in the dawn's horizon!" The horn blows once more and the battle's underway. The HUD, displaying the data from both Hikari's and Shiro's fleets, begins calculating the battle outcome, then it displays the "opening air phase", where fighters and bombers from both sides engage. Suddenly, Akizuki cuts-in, as if like in an RPG, and the screen shows an entire fighter squadron of Type 52 Fighters from Hikari being cleared out, allowing Shiro to gain Air Superiority.
"That's an Anti-air cut-in. It clears out an entire random slot from a targeted carrier. It needs a special equipment build to procure it, and you got it on your first day. Nice!"
Shiro's fleet evades the incoming plane-launched torpedoes except for Bismarck who receives light damage. Firing then starts. Hikari's Nagato fires her first shot on Murakumo, but she evades. Shiro's Bismarck responds with an artillery spotting-assisted shot, taking out her Kirishima. Because of this, his Kongou then fires a double attack on Nagato, bringing her down to moderate damage. Shigure fires at Bismarck, but connects only scratch damage. As their match continues, Shiro notices a ruckus from the crowd, in the form of cheers and mumbling.
"Hey, it's them!"
"In the flesh! Oh man! Let me get a picture…"
"Hey look, it's the starter five!"
"Some of the battleships are here as well!"
"Hey, clear some space! They're going to look at the match!"
"Oh, you're right, give them some space!"
Shiro hears the last ones clearly and turns back, only to see the shipgirls themselves without their riggings, taking a seat in the bleachers and looking at the huge screen on the ceiling. One of them comments.
"Hey, Kirishima-san got beat, hahaha!" A girl wearing an orange uniform utters as she observes the match, noticing Kirishima's disabled status.
"T-that's not me!" A tall, bespectacled woman responds, which Shiro observes to be Kirishima herself.
"Can't you just keep silent and watch the match, Sendai-san?" A blue-haired girl protests, which is revealed to be Murakumo, in the flesh. Some of her fellow destroyers have worried looks on their faces as she says this.
"You're no fun…" The girl known as Sendai responds.
Eh, they're here. So they do act like normal girls when not on duty…
The match still goes on, with Hikari now having lost Shigure and Kirishima, and her Nagato in medium damage, while Shiro lost Kaga and Akizuki from Hiryuu's attack runs. His Bismarck is in light damage, and Kongou is in perfect health along with his Ooi while Murakumo is in medium. The closing torpedo from Ooi hits Hiryuu, and the triple torpedo-equipped cruiser reduces the carrier's health to 1, leaving Hikari only with Nagato, Shoukaku, and Sendai, while Shiro still has Ooi, Kongou, Bismarck and Murakumo.
"Well then, the day phase has ended! Hopefully that's given everyone a small taste of ship battles. But that doesn't end there! There's still one last phase these two need to go through. It's a make-or-break phase, there have been many records of clutch-wins in this phase, especially in Special Events. It is called as Ni-"
"NIGHT BATTLE~!" Sendai shouts from the top of her lungs, which can be heard from across the Gym.
"Uh-huh. Well then. Shall we proceed? Yasen, begin!"
The HUD's background has changed. A night-like image is projected behind the ship icons. Nagato kicks things off first with a double-attack on Murakumo, which takes her out of the picture with a whopping 213 double-attack damage.
"Ouch." The real Murakumo comments, observing the match form the bleachers.
"I still have more ships… I can still wi-"
"Oh, I forgot to mention. Carriers are absolutely useless during night. Since, you know… The pilots can't see." Yashiro mentions as the simulation continues, with Bismarck shooting down Shoukaku.
"-Ay." Hikari stops in the middle of her murmur.
The battle still rages on as Sendai retaliates with a surprising gun cut-in, taking out Bismarck in one shot, a feat unaccomplished by the heavy hitters like Nagato.
Eh?
Shiro is shocked at the instant takedown, as he thinks the tables might've been turned on him, but he regains his composure as he takes a deep breath. Yashiro, noticing this, takes time to explain the feature.
"That kind of thing happens. It's what we call luck. You see, the battle calculation system is also based on RNG. So yeah, it's luck. However, you can actually influence the RNG by increasing the luck stat of your ships individually, making the chance of procuring a cut-in like that more likely. The fact that night phase boosts damage makes cut-ins more potent, making it worthwhile to invest in luck."
Kongou then cleans up Nagato with a double attack; Then Ooi does a torpedo cut-in, shooting Sendai down with a whopping 293 damage, ultimately resulting in an S-rank victory for Shiro. The gym gets filled with cheers as those who rooted for him win their wagers or something similar, while some seniors merely laugh due to the fact that the situation has happened to them already. Stepping down from the platform, Shiro is encountered by Murakumo, who, in her curiosity, decides to talk with him.
"So, you're a new student, huh? How come you already know the optimal loadouts?"
Hmm? I thought talking with a shipgirl would feel kinda off. But it just seems… normal, I guess.
"I just guessed, I mean, the tip the Director gave us was very valuable, and Ozawa's loadouts gave me the idea of an armor-piercing and artillery spotting hybrid in the first place."
"Oh, so you're one of those people who know how to adapt to a situation, huh."
"I guess so."
"Well, that's all I wanted to ask, I'll see you tomorrow then, Miyamoto Shiro." The blue-haired girl utters as she turns back a and takes her leave to join the other shipgirls near the exit.
"Tomorrow?"
"We have an assembly tomorrow, kid." Yashiro answers. "The entire starter five is going to be there to personally see you first years, and deliver a few messages as well."
"Ah I see." Shiro responds with a sigh. "Not to worry… I'll become your admiral soon enough." He jokingly says under his breath.
"I look forward to it." Murakumo, a bit far away, responds, much to Shiro's amazement. Predicting his reaction, she points at her mechanical ear-like drones, which he assumes to be Sonar pieces.
She can hear me from here, huh. Amazing. But, more importantly… how are those things floating?
"Hey kid, looks like someone's requesting for your attention." Yashiro, tapping Shiro's shoulder, points at Hikari, intently staring at the victor. He moves closer to her, and taps her by the shoulder as well, as if to calm her down.
"I… uh… don't actually know what to do in this situation." He utters with an awkward smile.
"You won this time, you pervert."
"Please don't call me that. Just call me Shiro or something."
"Fine, if you insist. Baka Shiro."
"I can live with that, I guess."
Now I get it… She's playing the tsundere card on me. But why? Why is she putting up a fro- nah, I know why, I'll stop deluding myself. I'm not that dense, after all. This'll prove to be a problem if this grows, but I don't want to shoot people down. Especially beautiful girls like these. Man, go choose someone else. Maybe she'll grow tired of me soon enough. Or maybe she doesn't actual- nah, I won't lie to myself. I know this trope all too well… man I sound like a narcissist. In a way, I guess I am a narcissist, huh? He thinks as he lets out a chuckle and a sigh.
"Hey, Ozawa. You remember our little agreement about dominance to whoever wins this match, right?"
Why can't I just call her Hikari or something…?
"Huh? Yeah. You can stay at th- W-wait no, t-that was j-just a f-figure of speec-"
"Meaning you'll do what I say, right? About anything."
"A-a-anything?! Not anything! No!"
"Eh… I see. The renowned Ver- eh… Ozawa family can't even keep the promise they made."
"Don't mistake me for someone else! And who said they don't? Okay! I'll be your servant or dog or whatever you want! Make me do whatever! Make me fulfill your perverted orders! Pervert! Idiot! I hate you!" She responds, embarrassed and pouting. Shiro merely laughs at the statement, despite the sharp stares from other schoolmates.
Damn… I thought I'd be able to pull off a perfect Kurogane here… Serves me right for imitating a light novel protagonist…
"W-what are you laughing about!?"
"Then, this is an order, Ozawa… Be my roommate."
"Eh?"
"I want to be closer to you."
"C-close… how dare you say such a thing to someone you just met!? Really, you're so insensitive." She replies, still visibly blushing and embarrassed.
"Or I guess you don't want to do that, after all. Well, despite all that, we can still talk to the director to reconsi-"
"No… don't."
"What… So you do want to be with me?"
"Let me be clear, this is only because it's an order! It is my responsibility as the loser of a match with this stipulation!"
"Well then. Let's make this work, Ozawa." Shiro moves his hand out for a handshake, but Hikari merely looks at it.
"Hikari."
"Huh?"
"If you don't call me that, I won't try to make this work."
"Eh… Then, let's make this work. Hikari."
"If you insist on it." She responds, while also shaking his hand.
"See you later at the dorms then." Shiro utters, waving his hand in the air as he moves away.
"Where are you going?"
"Food. I'm still hungry."
Of course I can't linger for too long after doing something so embarrassing. Well, my objective's been completed, at least. Time to go talk to Aya or something.
MISSION OBJECTIVE: COMPLETE
FRIEND 2 GAINED
METHODS:
AWKWARD AS EXPECTED
REWARDS:
TSUNDERE FRIEND
EXP GAINED:
1337XP
RANK: A
If only my life was a video game. I'd be pretty much raiding the Abyss right now.
Heading back to the open-air canteen, Shiro sees the vacated benches and tables being cleaned up by none other than Aya, who collects the unwashed dishes. Seeing this, he decides to help her out. He then moves in close to the blue-haired girl.
"Hey, it's me again. Let me help you, alright?"
"S-s-sure, Shiro…"
After cleaning up the rest of the utensils, Aya takes off her servicewoman hat and apron and places them inside the stall as she bids the now-leaving stall owner goodbye, for the sun has set and it's time to close up shop. As they both sat down on a bench, Shiro decides to break the silence.
"Uh… If it's fine with you, I'd like to ask you something."
"W-what is it?"
"I'm assuming you're a freshman, right?" He asks, pointing at her uniform. "So how come you're already working part-time in here on the first day of school?"
"Actually, I've been helping out here before I decided to enroll." She replies.
"Ah, I see… Man, sorry to bug you with all these personal questions…"
"It's okay, Shiro… eh… if you don't mind, can I ask you something as well…?"
"Sure."
"A-about the way you act… I take it you have a hard time conversing with people, right?"
"Yes. As you said a bit earlier, I'm having a hard time with people, in general. You must know that by now, right?" He responds as they both laugh.
"I do… Because… I've been like that before."
"Oh, did something happen? I-I mean… if you don't want to talk about it, then forg-"
"No, no. It's okay. It was when I lost an important friend… I just… couldn't talk to someone else without seeing or remembering her face…"
At last… someone who understands my pain…
"I guess you could say I'm quite the same, too. After I lost Eri- I mean, my friend, I just literally didn't want to speak to anyone else… I guess I just got hit too hard after that… I mean, we were friends since childhood, and… to have someone like that taken away from you… is painful. In any case, I guess I just wanted to… talk with her more."
"We've both lost some important people in our lives…"She replies, looking at the orange-tinted cloudless sky as the sun begins to set. "For the two of us to have met… could it have been fate, I wonder?"
I'm getting tempted to ask whether it's Stay Night, Zero, or Ilya, but nah.
"I guess… Well, fate must've been making fun of me when I first introduced myself… weirdly."
"If it was me two years ago… I would have done the same thing, so don't feel too awkward, Shiro!"
Oh my, that smile. Never ceases to charm me.
"Thank you, Aya." Shiro replies with a close-eyed smile of his own, making Aya blush a bit.
"N-no problem…"
"Oh, it's getting dark… Are you staying at the dorms?"
"Y-yeah… I do."
"Well then, let's go. I'll accompany you." He says as he stands up from the bench, checking his pockets for the dorm key.
"A-alright…"
The two then proceed to the dorm building's lobby, where they find Hikari standing near the door, holding out her phone. Shiro tries to approach her, but she calls him out first.
"Oi, Baka-Shiro! Some of the other 401 guys are already at the dorm room! We've been waiting for you, you know?"
"Ah, sorry about that."
"Anyway, who's that with you?"
"She's Hiiragi Aya. A new-found friend of mine… I guess." As he introduces her, she bows.
"N-nice to m-meet you, O-Ozawa-san!" she follows up.
"Eh, just call me Hikari, okay? Just Hikari."
"Y-yes, Hikari!"
"Hey, didn't you say some of our roommates are already there? Is there still someone left?" Shiro asks, as the trio head into the elevator.
"Yeah, excluding you, there's still one left." Hikari replies as she presses the 4th floor button. "What about you, Aya, which floor are you in?"
"Uh… the truth is…" She responds timidly, as she shows her keychain. It has the number 401 written on it.
"Ah, so you're with us then. Mighty convenient." Shiro replies with a smile. "If so, where are your things?"
"Ah, I asked Nagum- eh… One of my friends who's also staying in the same room to carry mine while I was at work…"
"Oh, so that's why they carried an unusually large amount of luggage…" Hikari adds as the elevator bell rings and the trio exit. Walking through the hallway, they knock on the 401's door. As it opens, they immediately see a girl with crimson red-tinted long hair, who greets them with a smile and a "Yo." As they enter, Shiro notices a bespectacled black, spiky-haired man sitting on one of the beds tinkering around with his smartphone, who also greets them with a casual wave of his hand.
Luckily there's another guy in here… otherwise this'd play out oddly similar to a certain anti-magic platoon… good thing there aren't any witches here… or is there? I hope not…
"Now that we're all here… I'd like everyone to once again introduce themselves… I'm Ozawa Hikari. Nice to meet you all… I guess." She utters as she looks sharply at Shiro.
"Hey, what you looking at me for? Listen, I ain't forcing you to anything just because I won the mat-"
"Shut up about that already! J-just introduce yourself, Baka Shiro!"
"Alright, alright. Sheesh. Don't get angry at me, flight deck-san. I'm Miyamoto Shiro. Nice to meet you all."
"Who the hell are you calling flat!" She replies as she begins to choke Shiro. Reaching his hand somewhat jokingly off to Aya, she then starts to introduce herself.
"I'm Hiiragi Aya. N-nice to meet you all!"
"Hmm. Those surnames… everyone here seems to come from somehwat renowned families." Shiro adds. "Hey, you two. Come on, introduce yourselves."
"Oh, it's our turn already? Well then. Yamamoto Erina here. Looking forward to working with you all!" The red-haired girl utters while leaning on one of the bunk beds.
Erina? Damn, that reminds me of Erika. Why can't I stop depressing myself…?
"Yamamoto? Hey, you're a descendant of Yamamoto Isoroku?" Hikari asks.
"Yeah, I came from his line."
Damn, these guys all came from either renowned modern families or ones with naval backgrounds… while I bring the name of a clan of samurai… Oh wait, one hasn't introduced himself yet…
"What about you?" Shiro asks the man with the smartphone.
"Me? Oh, sorry, sorry. I'm Nagumo Raku. Pleased to meet you guys." He replies, stowing away his smartphone and slightly thrusting his glasses upwards with his right middle and index fingers, letting off a small glare from the bulb's light reflecting on his glasses.
Hey… So they really are from renowned families… Wait… Raku…that's not really his real name, is it? I'd like to ask him but that'd seem pretty off. Oh wait… is that an air conditioning system? Oh man. It's been pretty hot back at the mansion… Looks like I might just enjoy this.
A knock can then be heard from the door. Erina answers and opens it, only to see Yashiro outside, carrying a small piece of paper.
"O-oh, Director!" The tall, red-haired woman exclaims.
"Yo. The student council needed a hand on distributing these, so here." He then hands over an envelope to Erina, who receives it. He bids farewell and closes the door, and she starts taking out the envelope's contents and begins to read it.
"Eh… Platoon system announcement… All room inhabitants up to a maximum of five will be grouped together as a Platoon and given a designated number for identification…. Uh… The following students, Miyamoto Shiro, Ozawa Hikari, Hiiragi Aya, Yamamoto Erina, and Nagumo Shuu will be designated as the 25th Platoon from here on out."
Luckily it's not the 35th, or else I'd had to have assumed that fate was playing tricks on me. Anyways, Nagumo Shuu? So his name wasn't Raku at all… Sneaky bastard.
"Oh… so Raku's just an alias, huh?" Hikari asks him this time.
"Yeah. It's a little callsign I came to use after… watching something."
I knew it… this guy totally read Nisekoi! He really wants to become a dense harem-pro, doesn't he…? Poor bastard. Well I guess I can't really blame him… I did try to imitate Kurogane Ikki, after all. And with the new Platoon system… Eh wait… As he thinks, he looks at his sword…
Doesn't this make me look way too much like Kusanagi Takeru? Ah fuck. I'm a walking imitation of a guy teamed up with a former witch, a dual-wielding witch-hating inquisitor, a bunny and a perv… Thanks, fate, or… whoever it is controlling my fate… Kami-sama… or… whoever. Ah, whatever. I just want to enjoy my air conditioning system…
Meanwhile, outside their room, Yashiro talks with another man dressed similarly as him sporting a widow's peak, leaning at one of the walls.
"Hey, director… Are you sure about this? Putting all of them in one place…"
"Of course. It'd make them easier to observe. You should know the benefits of that better than anyone else, right, Zura? Your Auxiliary Weapons Research and Development team-whatever-something will get data more efficiently and a lot faster than getting them individually, right?"
"It's not Zura… It's Katsura… Though you're right, director. I'll keep that in mind."
"Your very unoriginal quirk never ceases to make me laugh." He replies, puffing out smoke as they move away from the premises.