Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

"Mashiro," Masaya started outside the booth with her. "Taking advantage of her overconfidence surely won't work again."

"Which means we need a new plan," Mashiro said before grinning. "And I think I have one."

"Oh?" Masaya asked with interest and folded arms.

While they discussed their plans, Satou spoke with Shindou. "I went to train with them a few times, but I should point out right now that Arisika is not like before," he stated.

"I know-" Satou started, but Shindou cut her off with an intimidating look.

"Be on your guard," Shindou warned. "This won't be an easy one for Satou-kun."

"Satouin!" she corrected for the billionth time, then looked at Mashiro. "But, I'll keep on the alert."

Just then, Mashiro flew up to the starting point in the air. Seeing that, Satou followed suite.

"Go for it, crush that Satou!" Misaki cheered loudly as the others sweat dropped.

"Well at least she's so invested," Madoka said nervously.

"Right," Asuka said, smiling. "It's proof of how much she cares for Mashiro-chan."

Up at the starting point. "Thank you," Mashiro said, puzzling Satou. "If I hadn't lost back then, I may not have realized what I lack. I trained my best so I could have a rematch and beat you!"

"You get points for working hard, but let's see how much it pays off," Satou stated, giving her a smile.

A man hovering above them gave the signal after a few moments. Taking off, Mashiro and Satou flew near each other at about even speed. Just then, Satou turned around swiftly and knocked her off balance, touching Mashiro's back for a point.

"Already Satou mounts her assault!" Minori declared.

"Take a shortcut!" Masaya ordered.

"Yes!" Mashiro responded, heading to the road leading to the next buoy.

Waiting patiently, Satou came in view. Mashiro then followed her as she flew past her. Performing a Sonic Boost, she knocked Satou in the back for a point, putting them at 1 to 1.

"What sudden speed!" Satou commented before she and Mashiro swiped, knocking each other back from the equal collision.

'What do you know, that Arisika learned the Sonic Boost,' Shindou thought, impressed.

This colliding repeated a few times until they stopped. "As I thought, you're tough," Mashiro admitted.

"Thank you, you're not bad yourself," Satou acknowledged.

"Here I thought your looks were pretty, but you're just as graceful playing," Mashiro complimented.

"Oh really?" Satou asked with closed eyes, blushing and grinning while holding her cheek with a hand. "You're also-aah!"

Mashiro knocked her off balance and touched her back for a point, taking the lead.

"Don't lag around, get to the buoy!" Masaya ordered.

"Yeah!" Mashiro yelled, doing as told, thus giving her a 3rd point.

"Satou-kun...what did I say?" Shindou warned with a voice that made Satou nearly pale.

'As always, President is so scary when he gets irritated!' Rika thought in fear with a comical eyeless expression.

"S-sorry, it won't happen again!" Satou apologized in fear, heading to the next road via shortcut. "Blast, I let my pride cloud my judgement again!"

"That was a low blow," Masaya commented to Mashiro.

"Tehee, all's fair in a match," Mashiro hummed.

Satou waited on the next road. Unlike before, Mashiro missed, and on top of that Satou swiped her off balance and touched her back for a second point.

"Not yet!" Satou declared, touching Mashiro in the back again, then ceasing battle and going to the buoy.

"That's Satou-san alright, she won't stay down," Madoka mused.

"Well, she is called a 'drill sergeant', surely it must account for something," Masaya said.

"But Mashiro is doing well too," Misaki said. 'All that training together is paying off.'

As Mashiro waited at the next road leading to the next buoy, Shindou spoke to Satou via her earpiece.

"Low yoyo!" Shindou ordered.

"Roger!" Satou responded. "Let's see you expect this!"

Positioning herself, she begun dropping towards the water rapidly, then shot up.

"Keep her at bay!" Masaya yelled.

Though Mashiro tried to keep up, Satou managed to get past her, to Mashiro's frustration. As Mashiro flew to the next road, she thought.

'She's really tough, but, but,' she thought, glancing at Misaki afterwards. 'The training I did with Misaki-Senpai, I won't let it be a waste! That's why no matter what happens, I won't give up! Watch me, Misaki-Senpai, everyone!'

As soon as Satou got her 5th point and headed in Mashiro's direction, Mashiro readied herself. The instant Satou got in range, Mashiro quickly knocked her off balance, touching her back for a 4th point, putting her only one point behind.

"Look at that, through sheer determination, Mashiro strikes back again!" Minori yelled in excitement.

"Mashiro!" Masaya started.

"I'm alright!" Mashiro assured.

Satou now flew forward, and on Mashiro taking the bait, she backed down towards the water.

"That's-" Misaki started.

"Cobra," Aoi finished, having arrived at the booth. "You drop towards the water and then strike upwards."

"I'm not finished!" Mashiro stated with full resolve, getting into a certain position, making Misaki smile knowing what she was about to do.

Once Satou charged up at her, Mashiro performed an Air Kick Turn, dodging it. Afterwards, Mashiro flew back around and touched Satou in the back, gaining another point. Now they were 5 to 5.

"Alright!" Asuka said excitedly, clasping her hands.

"Goooo!" Misaki cheered for her.

'This girl really has come a long way,' Satou thought before narrowing her eyes. "However, I'm not going to sit here and take all this!"

Knocking Mashiro off balance, she scored a 6th point. The two swiped intensely for a while, with neither getting an edge during this. Satou though, afterwards in the scuffles, managed to get two more points, and Mashiro one. The two panted afterwards, grinning at each other.

"You really are amazing," Mashiro said.

"I must admit, I think the same of you," Satou said. "When I last saw you, you were nothing compared to me, now look at you. You're forcing me to do my best, that makes this even more rewarding."

"Then let's finish this, with one final attack!" Mashiro said, preparing all her strength into an Air Kick Turn.

"As you wish!" Satou yelled, pouring all her pride and strength into a pure charge.

Both roared with all their might. On colliding, Mashiro lost the struggle, knocking her off balance, giving Satou the chance to touch her back for a point. Just before the match time ran out, Mashiro managed to get in one final touch to Satou's back, as if to go down with a bang. The match ended with Satou 9 to Mashiro's 7.

"That settles it, after a fierce battle, Satou has prevailed!" Minori declared loudly.

Mashiro panted, before concealing her face. "I lost again," she lamented.

"What are you looking depressed for, hold your head proud!" Satou ordered, making Mashiro look at her after approaching. Satou held a soft look. "That was splended. You showed it to me, your determination and guts. Let's do this again sometime."

Mashiro wiped her tears. "Right!" she said, smiling at her, which made Satou smile even more.

The two then flew down to their respective groups. "Too bad, huh," Madoka said.

"But she looks happy," Asuka pointed out.

Mashiro rubbed her head sheepishly with a hand. Misaki then walked over and brought Mashiro into her arms.

"S-Senpai?" Mashiro asked, her cheeks reddening.

"You did great out there," Misaki told her gently before backing away a bit, but still holding onto Mashiro. "Let's go have some Udon together."

"Mmm," Mashiro said, smiling while her eyes closed for a moment.

As the two smiled at each other, the others could sense the romantic atmosphere and chuckled either nervously or happily. After a bit, Satou walked over to them on her own.

"Arisika Mashiro!" Satou started, before grinning and pointing at her. "I've decided, that I, the great Satouin, will win your heart!"

"EH!?" Mashiro and Misaki exclaimed.

"Until then," Satou said, planting a kiss on Mashiro's cheek. Mashiro's cheeks heavily lit up and her eyes widened, while Misaki clenched a shaking fist, had a vein on her forehead and her eyebrows twitched. Satou then contiued after parting her lips from her cheek "Bye."

"I-idiot!" Mashiro yelled flusteredly at what Satou just claimed and did.

"Cut that out already!" Misaki yelled jealously at Satou whom didn't look back.

"Looking at Misaki makes me wonder if you would have reacted the same had someone flirted or liked Asuka before you confessed to her," Madoka whispered to Masaya.

"Who knows," Masaya said before an unthrilled look crossed his face. 'Can't rule it out though.'

With that, the gang left the booth seeing as Misaki and Asuka had yet to play a match.

Meanwhile, Irina and Saki watched via TV in one of the shops.

"They're quite the interesting team," Irina said, thrilled at what she saw even if Mashiro lost.

"Agreed," Saki said. 'I wonder if I'll get to face one of the remaining two today.'

Masaya and co headed to a food booth that held udon for sell. "Sheesh, I ache so much!" Mashiro groaned while stretching.

"After a match like that, who wouldn't be?" Misaki said.

"Be careful Mashiro," Madoka started with a grin while Mashiro looked at her curiously. "Because you just won your rival's heart."

"Don't bring that up!" Mashiro yelled in embarrassment.

"Exactly!" Misaki said in an irritated tone of voice before grabbing Mashiro by the arm and changing the subject. "Now then, lets have us some udon."

As the two kept going with their arms linked, Masaya turned to Madoka.

"Um, I think you are going to have to be careful with your comments," Masaya pointed out nervously. "Unless you want to invoke Misaki's temper on you."

"G-good point!" Madoka exclaimed in fright, imagining intimidating looks from Misaki.

"Why don't we leave them alone to some privacy?" Aoi suggested. "Wouldn't you say she earned that for sure?"

"Mmm, she, was really awesome," Asuka said, recalling the match that just happened. "Mashiro-chan trained really hard with her."

"You're right," Masaya said, smiling as Misaki and Mashiro vanished off in the distance.

While the two girls went and had udon together, Masaya and the others observed Rika's next match via a TV.

"Ichinose!" Shindou yelled urgently.

Rika kept getting knocked back by Saki's Birdcage tactic. Furthermore, attempting to fly upside down was something Rika just couldn't get used to, which caused her to straighten herself. Attempting to touch Saki, Saki evaded and swiped her down. Saki then kept near her without scoring.

Rika grew sad, feeling powerless to do anything against this fearsome opponent, but kept trying.

"Okay Saki, ignore her for the rest of the match," Irina ordered confidently. "She's no threat at all."

"Roger," Saki said, scoring the rest of the points on buoys while Rika could not touch her at all.

The end result was Saki 20 to Rika's 3.

"That's our champion for you, Ichinose couldn't keep up to such ferousity!" Minori yelled.

"Are you alright?" Shindou asked after Rika came down.

"Yes, but," Rika started. "That Inui is just too strong."

Shindou narrowed his eyes as Irina and Saki left the booths. 'Inui Saki,' Shindou thought. 'It's hard to believe that she's an exceptional Dogfighter despite being a Speeder, but even has a tactic that locks the opponent down like that. Just like Aoi said, flying upside down is a battle in itself. And right now that's our only hope to break that Birdcage. I'm sure if I had entered this tournament, I could have broken it, but I had some matters to take care of that when the entry time started, I was unable to enter on time. Looks like all hope on our team rests with Satou-kun.'

Eventually, Satou faced off against Saki. "No choice, I'll have to use what Ichinose-san did," Satou stated tensly after being locked by the Birdcage.

Masaya and co were watching via a TV. "Satou, hang in there," Mashiro muttered, worried.

"Having a hard time, isn't she," Misaki mused.

"Of course, Inui-san beat Shindou-san last time," Asuka pointed out with a serious expression.

Masaya and Aoi watched in silence. Satou now turned so she was flying upside down while facing Saki.

"This again?" Saki asked, growing bored, but Satou's swipes were faster than Rika's, causing Saki to retract her boredom. "It's usless."

"Our goal isn't to score when doing the Birdcage," Irina started confidently. "On the other hand, aren't you guys only serving to hinder yourself? How long do you think you can last flying upside down, let alone attempting to swipe when you can see doing so wears you out even faster? Aren't you just destroying yourself?"

"If I could just hit her!" Satou yelled, failing each attempt.

'Not good, Satou-kun won't last for much longer,' Shindou stated with folded arms. 'Certainly her stamina has improved, but it seems not enough.'

Through sheer luck, Satou actually managed to finally touch Saki, sending her flying back. Satou took this small window of opportunity and touched Saki in the back for a point. Saki already scored two points on buoys, thus this was Satou's first point.

"Fate smiles down on Satou!" Minori yelled out. "For the first time, someone has knocked Inui Saki out of the Birdcage!"

"But..." Rika trailed off on seeing Saki just redo the lock while Shindou grunted at the formidableness of Saki.

"That's enough Saki, you don't need to pay this girl anymore mind," Irina instructed with a cocky look. "She doesn't have the strength to keep that upside down pose anymore, let alone engage in dogfights."

"Roger!" Saki said, scoring the rest on buoys.

The match ended with Satou 5 to Saki's 17.

Flying down, Satou panted. "It was a good try," Shindou said, putting a hand to her shoulder.

"Facing that girl makes me see how far I need to go," Satou sighed. "But whatever, I, Satouin, will catch up in no time!"

"And she's already recovered!" Rika exclaimed comically while Shindou laughed.

Irina and Saki on the other hand left the booths, waiting until their own next match started.

"Another splended victory for us," Irina boasted with a hand out in front of her. Saki remained emotionless, but a gasp from her got Irina's attention. "Saki?"

"There!" Saki yelled in alert, pointing at someone on the ground near his teammates.

"Ow ow ow!" the boy winced, struggling to get up.

"Don't try to get up so quickly!" one of his friends urged, supporting him with a hand around his arm.

"What happened?" Irina asked as she and Saki walked over.

"...Cruel!" he managed to say, catching their interest. "That girl, she was terrible!"

"What's her name?" Irina asked.

"Kasami...Kurobuchi," he said weakly.

Elsewhere, Kasumi was walking alone in a zombie-like fashion, all the while holding an evil grin.

"Now then, who will be my next prey?" she asked, thrilled for her next match.