The Starchaser

by FireMonkeyDragon

One moment he was fighting an alien invasion, the next he found himself stranded more than a decade in the past. With no way back but forward, Adam takes this opportunity and sets his eyes on changing history for the better. With the universe as his stage and the stars as his audience.

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - First Snow in Autumn V

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WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS EXTRA LONG.

IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO BE 2 CHAPTERS. BUT HAS NOW MERGED INTO 1.

REMEMBER TO TAKE BREAKS BETWEEN READING.

[ STARCHASER IS A FAN-BASED PROJECT. HONKAI IMPACT 3, GENSHIN IMPACT, AND HONKAI STAR RAIL ARE PROPERTIES OF MIHOYO SHANGHAI. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE ]

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[ In the late hours of October 15th, 2013, a horrendous incident occurred in the Central District of our beautiful city. The heart and pride of Nagazora, the megacorporation Massive Electric, was hit with a sudden break-in. Alarms were set off at approximately 23:35 last night, which were heard all throughout the Central District. Currently, emergency services have assembled at the ME Tower, police barricades have blocked off the area within a mile radius, and heavily-armed guards, along with military drones, are regularly patrolling the perimeter.

As of right now, Raiden Ryoma, CEO of Massive Electric, has yet to give an official statement on the situation. But please know that they're conducting an all-out investigation as we speak, and their priority is the safety of the citizens of Nagazora, both physically and in cyberspace. In addition, Raiden Ryoma has agreed to hold an official press conference on the matter as soon as they have procured enough information, promising that "Whoever threatens the livelihood of Nagazora and its citizens will not be shown mercy,"

Finally, please refrain from believing hastily written articles from internet forums. Many are just seeking attention and taking advantage of the situation. They spout nothing but lies but worry not; the truth will be revealed soon.

We will be giving bi-hourly updates regarding the ME break-in, so be sure to follow us on our social media and website or tune back into Channel 16 in two hours.

This is Shikanoin Hinata from Ritou World News. Back to the studio. ]

…

…

…

A train sped through its set route through Nagazora.

It was an early Saturday morning, and the sun had only come up an hour before, so he was barely ahead of the peak rush hour and avoided the suffocating bustle on his way to Chiba Academy.

Holding onto one of the poles inside the carriage, Adam unconsciously furrowed his brows as he finished watching the video on his phone. The contents of it were uncanny to the previous five articles he had read.

His palms had grown sweaty from nerves.

When he woke up that morning, the last thing he had expected was for every media outlet to be raving about what they dubbed, [ The Raid on ME Tower ].

At first, he thought it was just some prank article written by the enemies of the corporation to stain their reputation and bring them down. But he couldn't be more wrong.

Every article he read, every video he watched, everywhere he looked, everywhere he went. The only thing talked about throughout the entire city was this very break-in. It was as if a massive rock dropped in a pond of calm water, and this wave was the resulting ripple.

From local to national and even to international news agencies, this was the biggest and juiciest happening in the world right now, and it was no surprise that everyone wanted in on it. No matter whether what they reported was fabricated or not.

Even on the normally silent train, whispers of gossip were so abundant that they even clogged the carriages with an incoherent choir.

Adam tore his gaze away from his phone and stared out the window.

He couldn't get the sinking feeling out of him as he watched the concrete jungle bathed in warm early sunlight flash by.

During the past few months, he had been in this timeline, bubble universe, or wherever he was. He had been too busy trying to find ways to survive with this forced fresh start that he had forgotten a couple of details from the future.

One such detail was the exact date Raiden Ryoma had been infamously framed for numerous crimes. While he still recalled the date of the Nagazora Eruption, March 5th, 2014, at approximately 10:30 am. The catalyst for it, Ryoma's imprisonment, was utterly lost to him.

The black-haired teen lightly banged his head on the pole he was holding onto. Such a vital piece of information had slipped by, lost to time until it happens again in this new cycle.

"Damn it," he growled under his breath.

He looked back at his phone and pulled up the voicemail he had received from the purple-haired CEO himself sometime when he was asleep. Putting the device up to his ear, he listened to it again for good measure.

[ Good morning, Adam-kun. I'm sure you'll already know what is going on by the time you receive this message, so I don't need to explain. To keep things short, many people will target my daughter during this chaotic period for all sorts of things. Her safety will be unstable. I know she said you could loosen up on your duty as her bodyguard, but until everything dies down, I need you to return to our original contract of staying by her side at all times. If you pull it off flawlessly, a bonus will await you once things return to normal. I trust you, and I wish you well. ]

The teenager lowered the phone and slipped it into his pocket.

As good as a bonus sounds, it was the last thing on his mind right now, and his fingers drummed anxiously against the metal pole he held.

Had the butterfly effect he feared all this time finally activated, or was this how things went down in the original timeline? These critical questions that time only knew the answers to clawed relentlessly at his psyche, and for now, the only thing he could do was agonizingly wait.

Looking around the train, he frowned, seeing the ordinary civilians going about their daily routines, utterly oblivious to their impending and inevitable demise. How many would die painlessly and instantaneously by the first waves of the eruption? How many would be torn to shreds by Honkai Beasts and the zombies of their loved ones? How many would suffocate a lonely and helpless death under a collapsed building, their cries for help going unheard?

No matter how many mental pep talks Adam gave himself, deep down, he knew that he could do nothing for them. Stripped of all his previous titles, he was now just a high schooler.

What could he do?

He knew firsthand that wherever the Honkai goes, death follows.

It was the harsh reality he had expected but was never fully prepared for.

However, he knew that at the moment, there was someone who would be affected the most by this sudden incident. The very heiress and future Herrscher he had been contracted to protect.

Adam opened his messages to see if Mei had responded to the text he had sent earlier, asking how she was holding up and if she needed any assistance getting past the waves of paparazzi crowding the street in front of her residence.

He frowned slightly when he saw that it was left on 'read,' but honestly, that was better than not being seen at all.

The teen's grip tightened around his phone in anticipation when he suddenly saw the flash of three dots that signified a reply in process.

[ I'm okay, thank you for asking, and don't worry about me. I left through the estate's back door, so as far as they know, I'm still cooped up inside the house. ]

A sigh of relief escaped Adam's lips as another text was received.

[ Let's not let this affect our mood, okay? We still have two days of the Culture Festival to enjoy. ]

'...Festival?' Adam blinked before the realization hit him, '...Oh, right, the festival! Can't believe I almost forgot because of…all of this,'

The black-haired teen sent a reply.

[ That's good to know. And yeah, I know, I'll try my best to look good in front of the customers. ]

[ Haha, you better. Speaking of which, yours and our classmates' outfits are with me in the car, so I need you to come and help me move them to the classroom. ]

[ Yeah, sure. Where will u be parked? ]

[ There's a loading bay behind Building C where delivery trucks usually go, and it's hidden from public. But the traffic congestion is pretty tight right now due to rising security because of the company's incident, so I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. ]

[ No prob. I'm on the train so I'll arrive around the same time. ]

[ K, see you in a bit. ]

[ Cya. ]

Adam looked up from his phone and slipped it into his pocket as he gazed out the windows, once again watching the buildings flash by.

---

"Sorry I'm late. The walk from the station took longer than I thought," Adam said as he jogged up to Mei, leaning against the car and scrolling through her phone, "Blockades and all that,"

The purple-haired heiress looked up from her phone and smiled, nodding in understanding, "That's okay. I only just got here a couple of minutes ago,"

Adam briefly glanced into the car and noticed that it was empty.

"Did you drive here yourself?" he asked.

"What? No," giggled Mei, "Chisato-san did. She's also helping by moving a few boxes to the classroom. Besides, I'm not allowed to get a license until after I graduate,"

"Ah, okay,"

"Anyway, we should get going too. We still have some last-minute preparations to run before the festival officially starts," said Mei as she opened the trunk, revealing another three boxes of outfits.

Soon enough, the duo walked across the beautifully decorated campus, making small talk and holding onto their cargo, with Adam taking two boxes and Mei taking one.

Being a wealthy private academy, Chiba Academy unleashed its full potential in transforming the school grounds into an amusement park. There were strings of lights dangling from the trees and walls, and a colorful variety of stalls and booths of food and games were lined up by the paths throughout the school. Large stages were set up on one of the fields, where famous guest entertainers the academy invited would perform live. On the field on the other end of the school, attractions had been placed to replicate the amusement park concept even more, such as a merry-go-round, a pirate ship, and even a decently-sized Ferris wheel.

A small spike of nostalgia pricked Adam's spine as the sight reminded him of the festivals held at St Freya. With their riches and network, the Valkyrie training school also went all out regarding these events.

Except, one thing stood out to Adam as they walked to their classroom. The squadrons of security guards, accompanied by a few drones that were never present before, were now patrolling the campus. Undoubtedly, as a result of whatever occurred in the ME Tower last night. It shook the city to its core and frightened every citizen to increase their safety in any shape or form.

"How are you feeling about all of this?" asked the black-haired teen as the two passed through the main school building's automated doors.

"Excited. The Chiba Cultural Festival only comes once a year and is open to the public, so we all prepared extra hard for it. I can't wait to see everyone's reaction to our hard work," replied Mei before she let out a light sigh, "But I'm guessing you're asking about the situation at my father's company and not about the festival, right?"

Adam chuckled sheepishly, "Well…I mean. It's kind of a big deal. ME is the heart of Nagazora, after all, and since I work for your father, I'm technically an employee, so I am a little curious. But if the topic is too heavy, then you don't need to say anything,"

"No, it's fine," Mei thought for a while before responding, "Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. But at the same time, I'm not too worried,"

The black-haired teen cocked his head to the side, "What do you mean?"

"Simply because it's not the first time external forces have tried to attack the company. If I had to count, including this time, I'm pretty sure that this would be the seventh, maybe eighth time it's happened since I was born," explained Mei, "Father and the other higher executives are usually pretty mellow. But, whenever something threatens the company, they flip a switch and do everything within their power to quickly eliminate that threat. I don't know how they do it, but whatever they do, it's rather effective,"

"I see. They must've been scary situations when you were still a little girl,"

"Ahaha, the first few times, yeah,"

Suddenly, the heiress tensed up and stopped in her tracks.

"...Raiden...little girl….daughter…."

"Seize her!"

"...Implant…...,"

"...Con….que…st…,"

The faint screeching of tires and the rushed stomping of heavily clad, armed soldiers echoed in her ears. Green fluid bubbled in her memory, and a vibrant purple crystal flashed through her mind.

Her knees buckled, and she slumped onto the wall for support. A thud rang through the quiet hallway as the box she held dropped to the floor. A nauseous wave crept from head to toe, along with a ringing in her head. Mei felt the bile quickly rising up her throat and immediately slapped one hand over her mouth as she gagged.

Eerie cackling snipped at her ears like two icicles grinding against each other. It sounded both near and far at the same time.

The purple-haired girl looked up, and her eyes grew wide.

A young girl with long, sweaty pink hair was sitting helplessly on the ground in the middle of the dark hallway. Her body was covered in nothing but loose, bloody bandages, and the deep, violent wounds they were meant to cover were visible to the entire world. Blood trailed profusely from every gash, building a crimson pool beneath her. The tips of her pastel-colored hair had even begun to dye red.

The girl slowly raised her head; her long bangs covered her eyes.

It felt like an eternity as Mei and the unknown girl exchanged a long stare.

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl's lips curved maliciously, baring inhumanly sharp, glistening teeth. But a split second later, she dejectedly frowned, then it morphed back into a smile, down into a frown, then back to a smile again. Her face glitched rapidly between smiling and frowning like a virus-infected network. The hair on her head parted ways as two vulpine ears slowly emerged.

A chill ran down the heiress's spine as the girl's expression abruptly fell flat.

Behind her bangs, deathly blue eyes gleamed and tore into Mei.

The chill from before became colder than ice.

There was only one emotion behind those eyes—pure, unrelenting hate.

"All humans…,"

The girl's voice was a whispering echo. Youthful and soft, yet drenched with the most lethal of venoms.

The heiress tried to move. To turn away from the gruesome sight, but she found herself rooted to the ground. She couldn't even twitch or blink, and panic surged as she desperately tried to escape her paralysis.

"Must…Be…Extingui—,"

"MEI!"

In the blink of an eye, everything vanished.

The purple-haired girl looked up to see the concerned expression of her black-haired classmate, who was shaking her by the shoulders.

"H-Huh? Wha–?" she stuttered.

"Are you okay?" asked Adam, looking over her worriedly.

"W-What happened?"

"What happened? I should be the one asking you. I heard a thud and turned around to see you leaning against the wall, all sweaty and hyperventilating,"

"I…I was?"

"You don't look so good. Should I take you to the nurse's office?" offered the teen.

"But the class…,"

"Don't worry about the class. I can carry the rest of the boxes there myself,"

Those animalistic blue eyes flashed like lightning in the back of her head, and Mei looked around erratically, "Where's the girl?"

Adam looked at her, puzzled, "...What girl?"

"She has pink hair and hurt badly and on the ground right…," Mei pointed to the hallway behind Adam, only to find that it was empty. The sunlight was streaming in peacefully, giving the hallway an innocent, warm, welcoming glow.

The black-haired teen followed Mei's raised finger and looked back.

"...There?" finished the heiress, allowing her arm to limp down to her side.

"I…don't see anyone," said Adam.

Mei let out an uncharacteristic, frustrated groan as she rubbed her face with her palms.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to see me like this. I must be too exhausted from…everything," she admitted, dropping her hands from her face.

"Hey, it's okay," reassured Adam, "It happens to all of us,"

"But I do wanna ask. How many hours of sleep do you get on average?"

Mei blinked as she pondered that question before she finally gave a reply, "Five, sometimes four,"

"What?!" the black-haired teen exasperatedly gasped, "With your hectic schedule, that's not nearly enough,"

"...," the heiress averted her gaze sheepishly.

Adam scrutinized her for a moment before sighing, "I'm taking you to the nurse's office,"

This caught her attention, and she perked up.

"What? Why? I'm fine. More importantly, we need to get these outfits to the class before the festival starts," Mei tried moving past Adam, who blocked her path.

"No, I'm taking them to class. You're going to take a nap in the infirmary," declared the black-haired teenager.

"But I don't need it," argued the purple-haired girl.

"Yes, you do; you don't want to go hallucinating throughout the festival now, do you?" retorted Adam sternly.

"...But,"

Adam shook his head, "No more 'but's' Mei-san. As your personal bodyguard, I'm bound by contract and responsibility to oversee the safeguarding of all elements of your health, including both your physical and mental states. So now, for your sake, I'm ordering you to take a rest in the infirmary before joining the rest of us for the rest of the festival,"

Mei bit her lip as she weighed her options.

A look of hesitance washed over her features. It was true that she had been overexerting herself from all of the festival preparations, kendo training, and studying, which thwarted any attempts at a healthy sleep schedule. That hallucination from earlier was undeniable proof that she should rest a bit before enjoying the rest of the festival. It should be fine since her club's tournament event wasn't until tomorrow anyway, and she didn't have any plans for today besides enjoying what the festival had to offer.

But on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel wrong about not being able to help out her class this year. It felt like she had ditched them for the Kendo Club's event, and she wanted to 'redeem' herself by helping out her classmates whenever possible.

Finally, she relaxed her shoulders and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll go,"

Adam gave her a small smile, "I'll walk you,"

"Thank you," Mei returned his smile with her own.

Luckily it was a short trip to the infirmary. After explaining the situation to the resident nurse, Adam waved a quick goodbye to Mei before returning to the hallway to retrieve the boxes.

As he balanced all three in his arms while heading to the classroom, he couldn't get the description of what Mei hallucinated out of his head.

'Pink hair, injured, girl,'

It was an uncomfortably familiar description.

'There's only one person I know who fits,' Adam's face hardened in deep thought, 'But Squad Leader Mei wasn't there when she was being physically harassed, so how would she know? Then again, that time might've not been the first time it's happened, and it's possible she's witnessed it before… No, they're in the same class, so if it really were Miyuki that she saw, she would've been able to identify her,'

The black-haired teen reached the classroom and slid open the door with his foot before entering.

'Something doesn't add up… Agh, come on, think Adam think, remember what you've learned back at the academy. Schicksal History of the Honkai: Textbook Volume 2 - Section 10 - Nagazora Eruption - Third Herrscher…no wait, I think that might be the wrong subject. Come on brain, work with me… How about…Schicksal Honkai Biology: Book 5 - Section 6 - Herrschers - Herrscher Personas… Symptoms…symptoms…symptoms include…'

Adam dropped the boxes in the middle of the classroom with a thud and a frustrated huff.

'...I got nothing. My mind has blanked,'

"Woke up on the wrong side of bed, Adam?" a new voice announced its arrival.

The boy in question looked up to see another teenage male walking toward him. He had short, cream-colored hair with a peculiar red streak on one side, and his eyes were a similar shade of scarlet. His facial features were rather delicate, giving him a slightly feminine appearance that was balanced out by his tall, athletic frame.

This was Kaedehara Kazuha.

The original 'it boy' of their year level and class. With everything from looks to abilities, a fan club, and even an underdog backstory that tugged at the heartstrings of most people.

Adam didn't meet him until a few days after his first. Kazuha was away doing a photo shoot for a famous clothing line when he first arrived. Despite his reputation, the young beige-haired model wasn't as snobby as Adam expected and was kind to all his peers, with a calm but slightly flirtatious smile ever present.

In a strange way, he reminded him a bit of his old sniper friend, Lyle Collodi. A factor that did help Adam in getting along with Kazuha.

"Sorry, just still a bit sleepy," It wasn't a complete lie. He had been up until late, catching up on the previous semester's notes.

"Well, you better turn that frown upside down. We can't have you scowling at our customers all day," chuckled Kazuha.

"I know, I know,"

The cream-haired student sauntered to the pile of boxes on the ground, "I see you've brought over the rest of the outfits,"

Adam cautiously glanced around, "Is that maid still here?"

"Hm? You mean the actual professional one? She left a while ago," answered Kazuha, crouching and opening the first box. A few of their classmates joined in and began extracting their uniforms.

"Say, Adam-san," a bespectacled girl with short hair walked up to him from behind; she was their class president, Ichika, "I noticed you through the window walking over here with Raiden-san, but is she not joining us today?"

Adam shook his head, "Not in the morning, no. But she might be able to visit after lunch,"

"What happened?" asked Kazuha, holding his butler costume over his shoulder.

"She said she felt a bit dizzy, so I took her to the infirmary," said Adam, choosing not to reveal the whole truth, "The nurse said she just needs a few hours rest, some hydration, and she'll be back to normal,"

"That's a relief," a familiar feminine voice entered the scene.

Adam spun around to see Sachi, the unofficial president of the Kendo club, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

"Sachi? What are you doing here?" asked the black-haired teenager.

"Visiting my class to see how they're doing. We're literally neighbors," the brunette replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world as she gestured to the classroom next door, "And I was going to check in on Mei along the way since pre-tournament nerves get to everyone, even the best, and then I overheard you guys talking about her, so I got curious, and so here we are,"

"Makes sense," Adam replied casually.

Sachi's gaze briefly swept across the room before landing on Kazuha. Her violet eyes immediately narrowed, and Kazuha's scarlet eyes responded by glimmering smugly.

"Kaedehara," she greeted with a low growl.

"Kuki," Kazuha lightly smirked.

Sparks clashed between their glaring contest, with Adam stuck in the middle, looking back and forth with confusion written on his face.

"What's going on?" he whispered to the class president as he shuffled back, who was reading from a clipboard, surprisingly unbothered by the staredown in the middle of the classroom.

"Centuries-old clan rivalry," Ichika nonchalantly explained while flipping through her pages, "Don't worry about it. There's a lot of them at this Academy,"

"Ah…okay then,"

Deciding that further elaboration wouldn't be a good use of his time, Adam walked around the glaring duo to reach the small pile of uniform boxes and began digging for the one that belonged to him.

Soon enough, Sachi and Kazuha's gazes separated, with the former exiting the room, but not without shooting a quick goodbye wave to the black-haired teen, to which he reciprocated.

"Alright, gather around!" Ichika hollered while clapping her hands. This garnered the class' attention as they stopped their chatter and positioned themselves to face her.

"We have two big days ahea—"

All of a sudden, the loud clatter of the classroom's sliding door interrupted her, and every student shifted their sights onto the newcomer,

"Sorry I'm late," Miyuki huffed, wiping the beads of sweat trailing down the side of her face, "I had to drop my sister off at her friend's house,"

"That's okay, as long as you're here now," said Ichika.

"T-Thank you," the dark-pink-haired girl quickly shuffled into the corner of the classroom, away from her twenty-nine classmates' pressuring eyes.

The class president cleared her throat, "Alright, as I was saying, the academy will be extra busy for the next two days. The Chiba Cultural Festival is open to the public. Therefore we will have a constant flow of people coming in and out of the academy, and many of them will visit our cafe. We must show them that out of every other one in the school, ours is the best, so each and every one of you better put your game faces on! Show them what Class 2-C can do!"

As Ichika continued her speech, Adam leaned over to Kazuha and whispered, "Why does she make it sound like we're going into battle?"

"Because it is," the cream-haired teen whispered back, "The class with the highest end-of-weekend revenue gets to go on the 'luxury' winter school trip. Everyone is competing for it,"

"That's it?"

"Don't look down on the prize, Adam. Remember, this is an elite private academy, and the average budget for the winter school trip is around three hundred thousand USD. The 'luxury' version that they give out to the winning class is triple that,"

"...," Adam blinked, placed a hand on Kazuha's shoulder, and clenched his other into a fist. His golden eyes gleamed with sheer determination, "Understood. We're winning this, no matter what,"

Kazuha chuckled, "That's the spirit,"

"-And finally, above all! Make sure to enjoy this excellent festival of ours to the fullest!"

A chorus of cheers echoed from class 2-C's students. Ichika stepped down from the front of the classroom as she flipped through her clipboard.

"The gates open in forty-five minutes, maids and butlers go get changed, and the rest of you get started with your assigned roles. All of you know your allocated break times, so take them accordingly. If you have any further questions, don't be afraid to come to see me," she announced, pushing up her glasses.

"Got it,"

"Okay!"

"Don't worry about it, Class Prez,"

"Alright then," Ichika grinned, "Let's do this,"

---

"Two pancake sets over here at Table 6!"

"Can I get a chocolate eclair and a hot cocoa, please?"

"Is the milkshake ready yet?"

"Can I get a photo with you?"

"Ugghh, this coffee is so bitter,"

"That's because you ordered the espresso, dumbass,"

It was pure chaos at their makeshift cafe.

They had expected a healthy flow of customers but not this giant cluster of people squishing against each other. It was likely that word had gotten out that this was Raiden Mei's classroom, and that had caught the attention of many. They had expected a healthy flow of customers but not this giant cluster of people squishing against each other. It didn't help that the Raiden name was trending everywhere right now for all the wrong reasons, but that didn't deter a single soul. As long as the Raiden title was attached, it was bound to attract attention.

Guests were lined up throughout the hallway, waiting for their turn. Some even tried cutting lines that erupted into loud arguments that rang through the bustling corridor. The students who had been assigned essential staff roles tried desperately to break them up while ushering the front of the line inside quietly whenever there was a free spot.

Inside wasn't any different. Every table was full, to the point they even had to dig around the storage room for spare seats. The butlers and maids dashed back and forth, taking orders and carrying food and beverages everywhere while desperately avoiding a collision with each other. Indistinct chatter flooded the room, which made it even harder for the students of 2-C to hear each other without raising their voices.

Eventually, the clock ticked to just after midday, and a few of them were allowed on break. Adam and Kazuha slipped out of the classroom together, turned a few corners to a more secluded area, and as soon as they were out of sight of the customers, both teenagers slumped to the ground, exhausted.

It felt like the longest five hours of Adam's life.

"Careful not to wrinkle and dirty your outfit. We still have the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow left," Kazuha laughed as he leaned on the wall behind him, "At least you smiled throughout service. I'll give you props for that. I was worried you'd scare everyone away with your stony face,"

"Yeah, but we don't even get paid," Adam grunted tiredly.

"But the trip,"

"That's if we win," pointed out Adam, "And it doesn't count as payment unless I see a new row of numbers appear when I refresh my bank account,"

"Haha, yeah, I see your point," Kazuha then gestured to the nearby vending machines with his thumb, "Want something? My treat,"

"What's the most expensive thing?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Kazuha's temple, "Not holding back, are you?"

"You're the one who offered and has that supermodel income,"

"Ok yeah, I walked right into that one," said Kazuha, rising to his feet. He strolled over to the machines and scanned the contents, rubbing his chin, "The most expensive…is…the 'Limited edition, Winter Deluxe Special, filled with every vitamin, lemon zest, extra bitter, Bittermelon Juice',"

"I don't even need to drink it. I can literally feel the health radiating from the description," commented the black-haired teen as he cringed.

"With broccoli and—"

Adam raised a hand, signaling him to stop, "Okay, that sounds disgusting, and I was just kidding. I'm fine with a bottle of water,"

"Alright then," Kazuha inserted a couple of coins into the machine, punched a button, and a few clanks later, the water dropped down. The cream-haired student pulled it out and tossed it over to Adam, who caught it without trouble.

As Kazuha decided on his drink, Adam undid the lid, and he couldn't stop wondering.

'Who the hell would even drink something like that?'

---

Elsewhere, a petite white-haired girl sitting behind a desk that was way too big for her sneezed.

"It's getting more and more chilly now," she said to no one in particular, rubbing her nose as she read through a thick document.

"That means it's time to absorb more nutrients and boost my immune system so I don't catch a cold," the white-haired girl reached under her desk, disappearing from view, before popping out again with a two-liter green bottle snuggled in her arms.

"The new one Grandpa sent me," she chirped, "Let's see… 'Limited edition, Winter Deluxe Special, filled with every vitamin, lemon zest, extra bitter, bittermelon juice, with broccoli, cucumber, carrot, and cabbage,"

The white-haired girl beamed brightly, "Sound's great!"

In one smooth motion, she unscrewed the cap and began chugging like a certain redhead instructor on a Friday night.

---

Back in the bustling halls of Chiba Academy, Adam and Kazuha rested against the wall in comfortable silence, quietly sipping their drinks.

Until that silence was shattered when one of their classmates spotted them, calling out their names as he jogged over.

Kazuha was the first to notice and tapped the black-haired teenager on the arm, "Looks like break time is over,"

"Yay," Adam emotionlessly replied, lightly bumping the back of his head against the wall.

The classmate came to a stop and immediately hunched over, panting with his hands on his knees. Adam recognized him as Riku, who sat behind him in class and was assigned a supplier role for their weekend cafe.

"You okay?" the black-haired teen asked, eyeing his exhausted classmate up and down.

"Ha…I'm…gah…fine," Riku gasped as he tried to straighten back up. But a stinging pain made him immediately bend down again. His hand held his side, "Agh, which organ is that?"

"We still have two minutes before we're supposed to show up." stated Kazuha looking at the time on his phone with a hand on his hip, "You didn't need to rush over here to fetch us, y'know,"

"Yeah, I know, I know," Riku inhaled deeply before continuing, "I actually…wanted to ask you a favor,"

Adam nodded, "Right, and what is it?"

Suddenly, Riku slapped his hands together and bowed deeply, "Please! Retrieve the fresh melon buns from the class storage for me! My family has just arrived, and I promised to take them around the festival during my break!"

'What is this? A side quest?' Adam stared plainly at him,"And you need us…why?"

"I was going to do it myself, but then a group of customers got into a fight in front of the classroom, and I had to break them up. Before I knew it, my parents texted me saying that they were at the school gates waiting for me to show them around. Then my sister lost her asthma puffer in the crowd, so now I have to go to the nurse's office to find a spare, and then I—"

"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it," the black-haired teen cut him off, "I'll do it,"

Riku's face flashed with surprise, as did Kazuha, "Huh? Wait! You will?"

Adam's lips curved into a sly grin, "Yeah, more break time for me,"

"You really do take advantage of any situation, huh," commented Kazuha, looking at him judgementally.

By then, Adam was already a fair distance away and waved back at them, "I like to call it seizing every opportunity. It sounds less devious. See you back at the cafe,"

As he disappeared into the crowd, Riku blinked his surprise away as he and Kazuha kept their gaze unconsciously locked on the black-haired's last location.

"Does…Does he do this often?" Riku asked.

The cream-and-red-haired student nonchalantly shrugged, "I don't know. I've only known him for two-and-a-half weeks,"

Meanwhile, Adam made his way into the back of the school's cafeteria and flicked on the lights. The academy had been willing to allow all food-based booths in this location as shared storage space for guaranteed freshness, so long as they labeled which items belonged to which class or club.

He moved leisurely across the cafeteria's spacious compartment, careful not to kick or squish another class's belongings. Before long, he spotted a neatly stacked set of cardboard boxes in the corner, with [ 2-C ] written on each one with a sharpie.

Adam opened up the one on top and looked inside. After confirming that it was the newly delivered melon buns, he picked it up and headed for the exit.

Just as he was about to reach the door, he heard a sudden thud behind him.

The teen turned around, and his gaze quickly swept over the room. Another class's box of consumables had fallen off a shelf.

He wordlessly placed the melon buns down before putting the box back on the shelf.

"Weird," he murmured, dusting off his hands before leaving the storage compartment with his class's melon buns.

Unbeknownst to him, a pair of eyes had been watching him from the shadows of the shelves.

As soon as Adam made it far enough, it jumped out into the open.

It was about the size of a tennis ball, gray and fuzzy, with a set of cartoonish arms and legs. Its visible central core glowed a sugary white among its gray fuzz.

Before it disappeared, fading invisible, it uttered.

"That human, why does he carry the scent of the Sky People?"

---

"No!"

"Please!"

"No!" Adam repeated.

His back was against the wall, and the class president was standing before him, holding onto a very peculiar outfit.

A little while ago, the black-haired teen had returned to the classroom, ready to work as a butler for another five hours, when Ichika suddenly ran up to him and dragged him back out.

She led him to a secluded part of the school where the public was less likely to intrude. Adam thought she would scold him for being late, or because his breaks were too long, or something along those lines.

But instead, she held out that outfit with a deadly sparkle in her eyes. Adam recognized it instantly and knew exactly what was about to happen. Ichika's gaze was like a wolf cornering a rabbit. She closed in slowly, and Adam backed away until he inevitably bumped against the wall. Sweat rolled down his neck as he glanced around for an escape route, only to realize two vending machines had him trapped.

And this led to his current predicament.

"Please!" Ichika begged, taking another step closer.

"Why me?!"

"Because there's no one else!"

"What do you mean? Get one of the girls to do it! Heck, you do it!"

"There is no one else. You're our only hope!"

"How!? I thought we calculated the number of serving staff needed several times throughout the preparation week, " Adam said.

"That's true," Ichika agreed, nodding her head, "Except we did not take into account injuries on the job,"

"Wait, what?"

"Sana-chan sprained her ankle while she was breaking up a commotion among the customers," revealed the class president, "Then Mina-chan offered to take her to the infirmary, but the nurse said that it looked serious and should be taken to a doctor just in case. So now the two of them are on their way to the nearest hospital,"

"So we're down two maids?" deduced the black-haired teen.

"Yes," Ichika curtly replied, taking another step closer.

"I see, I see," The boy nodded sarcastically before narrowing his eyes, "So what made you think coming to me for help was a good idea?"

"Because Kazuha-kun is doing it too,"

"Huh?" Adam's face scrunched up in confusion, "...And?"

Ichika didn't respond. Instead, she kept her gaze locked onto the black-haired teen, and he could see there wasn't the slightest intention of her releasing her piercing stare anytime soon.

She raised the light-yellow and white maid outfit to his face.

"Please," she begged, "After Kazuha-kun, Adam-san is the most good-looking in this class…no, in the entire grade. Top five in the whole Academy. You check all the boxes in the beauty standard too,"

"Thank you for the compliment. Would you like my skincare routine?" he deadpanned.

Ichika's eyes immediately gleamed as she looked up at him like an impressed puppy.

"Absolutely!"

"Drink more water,"

"Really?"

"No!" Adam exclaimed before withdrawing his voice, "I mean yes, I mean… yeah, water helps your skin to stay moisturized, detox, and maintain elasticity. But we're getting off-topic, and I was just kidding about the skincare!"

"Oh," the class president's shoulders slumped.

"And you still haven't answered my question,"

Ichika released a small huff, "Adam-san, please do not get caught up in all this toxic masculinity that's been going around in our society. It's not a healthy mindset,"

"...I. This has nothing to do with toxic masculinity," The black-haired teenager averted his golden eyes and scratched his cheek bashfully, "I mean, I'm not totally against it…It's just…embarrassing,"

The class president's glasses gleamed deviously. It was like she had prepared for this answer as she reached into her pocket and whipped out a five-thousand yen note.

"I'll compensate you,"

Adam scoffed and raised a brow at her bribe attempt, "You really think I'm that easy for you to convince with just a measly—"

Ichika cut him off, adding another layer to her offer, "And I will give you the whole of tomorrow off along with a gold-level festival voucher if you do this for the class and me,"

"..." He stared at her with equal amounts of disbelief and astonishment.

"...," She stared back defiantly.

No words were exchanged.

No one blinked.

Adam slowly reached out without breaking eye contact and nipped the maid outfit, the cash, and the voucher out of the class president's hands. A complacent grin instantly grew on Ichika's lips.

"You have the haggling skills of a grandmother at a Saturday morning flea market," commented Adam, "You know that?"

Ichika pushed her glasses up, "Thank you. I pride myself in it,"

"Well then, I'll be back," said Adam, walking off, "Don't forget our deal,"

"I know. You have my word. You don't need to work tomorrow and can enjoy the festival to its fullest,"

As he maneuvered through the packed halls of the academy towards the changing rooms, Adam hugged the outfit close to his body in an attempt to hide it.

Fortunately, he made it to the nearest changing rooms without trouble, and luckily, it was empty.

He laid the maid outfit out on a bench and, as he looked down at it, released a long, pent-up groan.

It would've been fine if it was just the Raiden Estate's signature maid outfit, which was the norm as those were what Mei had kindly donated to the class. At least those outfits were much more professional-looking than this cute piece of frilly yellow cloth lying innocently before him.

"Let's just get this over with," he sighed, picking up the dress.

It didn't take too long for him to change. After shoving his butler outfit into a nearby, vacant locker, the black-haired teen shuffled to the mirror and looked himself over.

He played with angles, twisting, turning, and posing to ensure nothing was amiss about the outfit. The last thing he wanted was for it to burst in the middle of the classroom among all his classmates and customers. It didn't help that the outfit was very visibly, a couple of sizes smaller than what he usually wore.

For the girl who owned this costume, it would've fitted her perfectly. Accenting her womanly features while giving her an adorable aura, with a touch of maid elegance.

For Adam, it was practically splitting at the seams. The material was cloth, but with it desperately stretching and trying not to break, it looked more akin to the skin-tight spandex a certain wall-crawling superhero would wear. It also accentuated his toned physique much more, as the school uniform and the butler outfit were quite baggy and could hide his athletic frame well. The skirt was also too short on him, barely reaching his knees, revealing his sculpted calves and thighs for all the world to see.

"Y'know," Adam said to himself as he flattened some creases in the maid's outfit, an impressed chortle left his lips, "I actually…don't look that bad,"

"Looks a bit like some of the battlesuits at St. Freya," he commented, fixing his hair in the mirror.

Suddenly, applause from the side caused him to freeze up. He whipped his head toward the clapping, only to see Kazuha grinning and relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you. You startled me,"

"Haha, sorry 'bout that," Kazuha laughed as he approached, his eyes scanning Adam from head to toe.

The cream-haired model placed a hand on his hip, and his eyebrow raised in admiration, "You surprisingly look pretty good in that,"

"Thanks,"

Then he noticed that Kazuha was wearing the same get-up as him. Instead of light yellow, Kazuha's secondary color was pastel turquoise, which strangely complemented his hair colors rather well.

"You look comfortable," Adam returned a compliment.

Kazuha merely smirked and brushed a hand through his hair, "I know. At first, I was hesitant like you, but I got used to it,"

"What?"

"For my modeling," clarified Kazuha, "I get some cross-dressing jobs from time to time, and they pay more than the shoots for regular clothing. So I did more of them and got used to it,"

"Right," nodded Adam, but there was a certain gleam in his eyes, 'I shouldn't ask how much more. He'll definitely get the wrong message if I ask,'

Kazuha caught onto that gleam before Adam could blink it away and mischievously smiled, "Would you like me to introduce you to my agency? They're looking for new talent, and with your looks, I'm sure—"

"No thanks, I'll stick to my current job," the black-haired boy instantly rejected his offer, even though he knew it was mostly a joke.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Adam narrowed his eyes, "And what are you hiding behind your back,"

"Aha, two questions that lead to the same answer. Class Prez told me to come check up on you and to give you one of these,"

From behind his back, Kazuha pulled out two headbands that caused Adam to grimace.

On the left was the traditional frilly maid's headband, and on the right was a pair of furry, white cat ears.

Adam's jaws dropped, "You're kidding,"

Kazuha shook his head, "Nope. But at least I'm giving you the freedom of choice, right?"

"Agh, fine," Adam snatched away the cat ears. Embarrassing as it was to wear, the boy had to admit, they were very soft and silky to the touch.

"Good choice," commented Kazuha as he equipped the leftover frilly headband.

Seeing that there was no other option, Adam stared blankly down at the cat ears before putting them on swiftly.

The two boys turned to inspect their current appearance in the changing room mirror.

"Not bad, not bad," chimed the cream-haired model, scrutinizing every detail in his maid outfit.

Adam, who had surprisingly adapted quickly to his new cat ears, began posing like museum statues. Kazuha joined a few seconds later, and for the next five minutes, the two teenagers did nothing but pose in the middle of the male changing room, each stance more extreme than the last, testing their physical balance and flexibility to the brim.

"Ready to go?" asked Kazuhua once the two had enough of posing around.

Adam closed his eyes, stifling his rising embarrassment, and nodded, "Yeah,"

"Goody. Oh, and take this. It's great for first-time cross-dressers. They help calm your nerves,"

Kazuha reached into his skirt, and the black-haired teenager fully expected him to pull out some type of candy or mints. Instead, it was a small, black case.

Adam took the case and flipped it open, "Sunglasses?"

He looked over at his fellow "maid" only to see the most confident smirk he had ever seen.

"If we're going to do this," Kazuha equipped his own pair of shades slowly and flipped his hair back dramatically, almost knocking over his headband.

"We've got to do this right,"

Adam mirrored his cream-haired classmate's poised grin and slipped on his sunglasses, "Then let's get started,"

The moment they left the changing rooms and began marching down the halls, they could feel all heads turn their way. Some were glances, others were long stares. Phones were whipped out of the pockets of their fellow students and the public as the sound of the camera shutter rang through the corridor. Whispers and murmurs rippled around, accompanied by a rainbow of expressions ranging from fear, amazement, admiration, and disgust.

But the two boys didn't care. They strode with their chin up, back straight, and chest out, promptly ignoring every set of eyes they passed. The colorful frills of their outfit fluttered with every step, akin to a flamboyant bird wanting to impress a mate.

Eventually, they arrived back at their bustling classroom cafe.

As soon as the doors opened. The once energetic cafe completely froze. The sheer stillness was heavier than gravity and thicker than steel. Forget about a pin dropping; one could hear a spider crawling in this silence.

A crowd of wide eyes was focused on them and showed no signs of letting go any time soon.

They leaned on both sides of the door frame, arms crossed.

"Sorry for the wait," said Kazuha, flashing his money-making, pretty-boy grin, which made most girls and some guys blush.

Adam pushed his sunglasses up and from behind the lenses, swept his golden gaze over the classroom cafe.

"We'll take it from here—-meow,"

---

It was midday when Mei awoke from her nap. The sunlight that seeped in through the window next to her made her eyelids twitch before she opened them. She slowly sat up and looked out at the festival in full bloom below.

When she had taken in enough of the view, Mei shook the blanket off and swung her legs off the bed as she reached for her ribbon on the bedside table.

It was then she noticed the blue sports drink placed beside it. A sticky note was attached to the side.

[ I hope you feel better soon. And stay hydrated. - Sachi :D ]

Mei smiled at her unofficial club president's message. The brunette took her job as president very seriously, so checking up on unwell members was a regular routine for her. It would've only been a matter of time before Sachi found out about her visit to the infirmary, so she should've expected it. Still, the heiress was thankful for the warm gesture.

After tying up her hair, she pushed apart the curtains around her bed. The rustling gained the attention of the school nurse, who had been reading a book at her desk.

"Oh, Raiden-san, you're up. Feeling any better?" she asked.

Mei nodded, "Much better, thank you,"

"Wonderful," the nurse spun around to face her as she pulled a clipboard from a drawer, "I just need you to sign off here, and you'll be free to go,"

Once she scribbled her signature onto the form, the purple-haired girl returned it to the nurse.

"I know you want to enjoy the festivities but try to take it easy today," said the nurse as Mei reached the door.

"I will. Thank you again," the heiress politely bowed before closing the door and heading toward her class.

The atmosphere of the school's hallways was the complete opposite of how it was in the morning. The quiet corridors were now filled with running children, excited teenagers, and chattering adults. Some of them Mei recognized as her fellow students, but most were unknown faces.

Speaking of faces.

Even after the long nap she took in the infirmary, the brutal image of that severely injured pink-haired girl still haunted her mind, although thankfully, it was much blurrier than before. To the point where she could only remember her basic outline and colors, anything else, much to her relief, was banished from her mindscape.

'Adam-san was right. I guess it was just built-up fatigue,' thought Mei.

She brought her hands up and lightly slapped her cheeks several times. Her eyes sharpened with newfound energy as a result.

'Okay! All my homework and assignments are done. I'm confident about the tournament tomorrow. Let's get rid of all negative thoughts and enjoy the next two days!' Mei mentally declared, pumping both of her fists.

"Mei!"

The purple-haired girl looked up to see a familiar figure racing toward her, expertly weaving through the crowd.

"Hi, Sachi," she waved as the unofficial club president skidded to a stop in front of her.

"I see you've gotten my gift," said Sachi, glancing at the sports drink in Mei's hand.

"Yes, thank you," grinned Mei, "I really appreciate it,"

"Don't mention it," replied Sachi before grabbing the heiress by the wrist and tugging her along, "Anyway, c'mon, you have to see this,"

"E-Eh?" Mei was left dumbfounded as she was suddenly and speedily dragged through the crowded hallway.

They went up a flight of stairs, and the density of people was noticeably increasing, along with the ambient festival chatter growing louder. As the two of them worked their way through the packed hallway, Mei had an inkling of where they were headed. That little tinge of suspicion was proven correct when she saw her class's familiar door sign in its usual place, protruding from the wall above the classroom's back door.

However, she did find it surprising to see such a large crowd outside her classroom. They were all talking amongst each other with their phones out, taking videos and pictures toward the cafe.

Mei hadn't expected her class's cafe to be this popular.

"Agh, there are more people than before," complained Sachi, letting go of her club member's wrist.

"Sachi, is this what you wanted to show me?" asked Mei.

The pony-tailed brunette shook her head and cheekily grinned, "It's better if you see it yourself, or better yet, experience it yourself,"

As if on cue, several people left the crowd and created an opening for the two girls. Not letting this chance get away, Sachi grabbed Mei's wrist again and swiftly maneuvered their way through the human cluster and into the classroom.

Cheering erupted the moment she and Sachi slipped into the room.

It was safe to say Mei was unprepared for what she was about to witness and froze on the spot.

"Ara~, do I spy two new customers?"

Gliding as if he was a wisp across the water, Kazuha approached the kendo club duo, elegantly carrying a tray of refreshments. The white and turquoise maid was on full display, and with every step, the frills fluttered with grace. Mei and Sachi swore they could even smell a lime fragrance when he appeared.

Mei immediately averted her flustered gaze from the "maid" and quickly tugged onto Sachi's sleeve, whispering, "Are we really going to stay here? Surely there are other, more…interesting stalls,"

"And miss the chance of having Kaedehara dressed in a maid costume, calling me "mistress" and doing everything I say for the next hour?" Sachi smirked deviously, "No way,"

Seeing a glint in her friend's eye, the heiress sighed and relented, "Alright then,"

She was meant to be resting today anyway, not to mention she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and the fragrant aroma floating through the air sure was enticing. Besides, she wasn't going to be here all day. They could visit other places afterward.

"Table for two," Sachi told Kazuha, smugly raising two fingers and staring right into his eyes.

"But of course," Kazuha replied with faux sweetness as he challenged her glare, "Right this way,"

The beige-haired teen led the two girls to a table in the corner by the window. He smoothly slipped two menus onto the table.

"Please take your time. When you're ready to order. Simply shout the words, "Neko Maid," and my colleague will come and serve you," Kazuha said with a smile, mainly directed at Mei, ignoring the brunette next to her.

Before Sachi could say anything, Kazuha sauntered away to another set of customers.

The two girls exchanged glances before shrugging and began perusing the menu. Occasionally, they were distracted by the sight of a man maid sliding around the makeshift cafe like a figure skater. Thankfully, aside from him, the other student workers were dressed in the proper, authentic uniforms that Mei's family provided, bringing a much-needed balance to their environment.

"Sachi-san," Mei began. The brunette opposite her lowered the menu and looked up at her, "I know I'm repeating myself, but when you said you wanted to show me something, this can't be it, right?"

Sachi merely grinned and shook her head with a low chuckle, "Not exactly, but it's part of it,"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see. Anyway, have you decided what to order?"

Mei nodded.

"Well then, how about you do the honors?" offered Sachi.

"The…honors?" the purple-haired girl repeated as she tried to decipher what she meant. Then it came to her, "N-No way, I'm not going to say something like that out loud,"

"Come on, it's just two words," goaded Sachi with a mischievous smile while poking Mei on the shoulder.

"It's embarrassing," countered Mei.

"No one's going to notice, c'mon, it's the annual festival. We won't get to do this tomorrow because of our tournament, so just for today, let loose a little," the brunette continued poking Mei's shoulder until she finally let up.

"Oh, fine," the heiress slammed a palm onto the table and fiercely raised the other. She opened her mouth, and the magic words flew out.

"N-Neko Maid!"

Her outburst caused the entire cafe to go silent as every head turned to look at her. The other customers quickly returned to their business, but Mei felt her face rapidly heating up. She released an incoherent squeal as she collapsed back into her seat, wrapping her arms around her head and hiding herself from the world. While she rarely felt like wanting the earth to open up and swallow her whole, this time was the exception.

"There, there. You did well," reassured Sachi, lightly patting Mei on the head.

The only response she got was a muffled grunt and a lazy attempt to swat her hand away.

Suddenly, the air changed.

As if all the oxygen in Class 2-C's cafe had been completely drained in mere seconds.

Even the noise from the festival outside became muted.

Something…someone, erupted from the shadows of the cafe.

It was a hurricane of darkness, swirling ferociously from one end of the classroom to the other in a perfect arc and at an impressive speed, leaving a burst of wind in its wake.

Mei caught a glimpse as it flashed past the light beaming from the windows.

A pair of magnificent feline ears and a streamlined body of sculpted muscle cloaked in cute bright yellow and white clothing. Performing one final, swift somersault before landing like a superhero before Mei and Sachi.

"For thousands of years, I laid dormant. Who dares disturb my—?!"

"A-A-Adam-san?!"

The boy in question felt the lightning bolt of realization pierce through his body when he instantly recognized the voice. He quickly scrambled to his feet as he grew wide-eyed in terror.

"Squad Leader!?" he spurted out, then did a double take and registered what he just said, "I mean Mei, Raiden…Mei-san…-sama…Mei…-san,"

Both girls' faces instantly turned red but for different reasons.

Like a pent-up human volcano, Sachi suddenly erupted with laughter to the point it challenged her lung capacity. She gasped for air, clutched her sides, and even collapsed from her chair, but that did not deter her from cracking up even further until she was twitching on the ground.

On the other hand, Mei immediately brought her hands up to cover her burning face when she recognized her bodyguard-turned-maid standing before her. The heiress peeked through her fingers and rapidly blinked several times to see if it was a hallucination or not. The sheer panic on Adam's face and his brightening red ears, along with Sachi's endless laughter echoing in the back, was all it took to confirm that this was indeed reality.

The black-haired teen went frozen. His once youthful golden eyes were now hollow, staring ahead into the abyss. Mei found herself in a similar situation, rooted to her seat, and locked her gaze over Adam's shoulder. Although, subconsciously, her eyes would flick back down at Adam's form and the pastel yellow maid costume hugging it.

The sleeves were short enough for his muscular arms to pop out as if he were in a tank top. The skirt was short enough to reveal his chiseled legs to the public, and the top might as well have been a skintight suit as it did nothing but accent his body, sculpted through years upon years of intensive training to be at the most optimal state for combat.

"You know, he actually doesn't look that bad," said Sachi after battling her lungs to regain her breath and climbing back to her seat.

"Mhm, that's right, second only to me," Kazuha hummed as he sauntered over.

"I agree, I agree," their class president Ichika added, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and standing beside Kazuha.

Before Mei knew it, she was nodding along in agreement though her hands were still covering her face.

Like a haunted puppet, Adam's head slowly creaked in their direction, his eyes still void, but no one could deny feeling the heat intensely building up behind his soulless gaze.

"Ooh," Sachi and Ichika shuddered, "That's kinda creepy,"

"Adam-san, remember our deal," the class president quickly added before the black-haired teen did something irrational.

Miraculously, this seemed to have snapped him out of his stupor as they could see the color of life rekindling in his golden eyes and, through them, the gears turning in his head.

Following the direction of his head, Adam pivoted the rest of his body until he faced them front on. Then he straightened up, took a deep breath, and dusted off his outfit.

A few silent seconds passed as they watched for his next move.

Adam's lips curved up into a frighteningly sweet smile, and he spoke in an equally sweet, if not sweeter tone, even raising the pitch of his voice.

"Hiii~ My name is Neko Maid—meow~. How may I be of service to you today? Mei-sama, Sachi-sama—meow~,"

It was a wondrous, near-impossible level of synchronization. Every living being that was watching the scene unfold choked on their spit at the exact same time, down to the very millisecond.

When they looked back at the black-haired teen. Each of them swore they could see a bright, sparkling aura emanating from him, highlighting every inch of exposed muscle while maintaining the air of adorable elegance.

"What just happened?" asked Sachi, who was beginning to look slightly terrified.

"I don't know," Kazuha discreetly whipped out his phone and hit record, "But this must be documented…for science,"

"For science," Ichika echoed as she also brought out her phone, albeit much less secretly, and a small trail of blood trickled down her nose.

"...Science," Mei meekly repeated. Her hands were still covering her bright red face; however, it was now much more apparent that she was peeking through her slender fingers. In fact, calling it peeking would be a stretch.

"Is something wrong—meow~?" Neko Maid purred as he slowly stepped forward.

Sachi began frantically looking around for an escape route. She had miscalculated.

After catching a glimpse of Adam in a maid outfit earlier, the brunette knew she had to bring Mei along just to see her reaction. Sachi had bet on both of them, getting embarrassed and stuttery when they saw each other, as most people would. A little bit of harmless mischief for a few laughs and to get their club's resident champion to relax a bit. A tense body and mind aren't a good state to be in before a tournament.

However, this…whatever this is, was far beyond anything she had predicted.

The Neko Maid, like the namesake, silently stalked ever so closer to her. His golden eyes gleamed with predatory instinct. At that moment, she felt, she knew, that she was nothing but a helpless bunny, cornered and face-to-face with a cat.

Nature's furry serial killers.

Perhaps karma came back to claw her after laughing so mockingly and loudly earlier.

"N-No, nothing wrong," she stuttered, staring up into Neko Maid's feline glare. The brunette quickly glanced at the heiress beside her, "R-Right…Mei?"

The purple-haired girl nodded, staring at the Neko Maid in awe.

Never in her life, or at least in the few weeks she had known the boy named Adam, did she expect to see…whatever this was.

Her bodyguard, whom she had known to be mostly easy-going, sometimes serious, other times a little bit playful, had now transformed into another entity. One led by its instinctual drive to obey commands to the fullest with a dash of premeditated violence on the side.

Neko Maid felt her staring and looked at her. The two held a brief silent gaze before the Neko Maid changed course, heading directly to Mei, much to Sachi's relief as the brunette released a pent-up gasp.

Mei looked up at the cat-eared boy who was now looming over her.

"How may I be of service, Mei-sama —meow?" he asked with a grin.

The heiress didn't answer.

Her sight was set on one thing and one thing only. The pair of furry cat ears on the Neko Maid's head.

Before she knew it and before the Neko Maid could react. Mei reached out and gently stroked one of the ears.

Mei's eyes went wide.

'So soft~,' she mentally squealed, playing with the silky smooth ears.

The Neko Maid paused. This sensation, it made him shiver to his core. Dopamine flooded his systems, traversing his body through every nerve and vessel.

A basic train of thought ran through the Neko Maid's mind.

'Work equals money. Money equals good. Work requires effort. Headpat equals good. Headpat easier. Headpat from Mei-sama even better,'

Without thinking twice, the Neko Maid plopped on the ground in front of Mei. A delighted smile stretched across the purple-haired girl's face as she happily began caressing the Neko Maid's soft ears and smooth hair.

Kazuha, Sachi, the class president, and all the other spectators…had no idea what the hell was happening.

One moment a yellow, cat-eared tornado exploded out of the corner of the classroom. The next moment, the Lightning Queen was petting the Neko Maid on the head.

If they told anyone outside what they witnessed, they'd get laughed at instantly and jeeringly told to see a psychiatrist.

One customer, who looked to be half-asleep, stared at the scene. His scrunched-up features expressed his puzzlement.

"Damn…am I still high?" he grumbled as he stood up and stumbled out, muttering along the way, "It's already been twelve hours though…that's the last time I'm ordering brownies from that Jamaican place….nah, I said that last, last time…but their brownies are too fucking good brooo,"

Kazuha and Sachi watched as he sauntered away.

They exchanged glances and shrugged before turning their attention back to the main event.

The beige-haired teen looked back down at his phone screen. If not filmed, no one would believe it.

Suddenly, the audible 'ka-chack' sound of a photo being taken broke through all levels of noise.

In that second, everyone present looked at the one who took the photo. A glasses-wearing, chubby man wearing a bright purple t-shirt that was blatantly designed by the Raiden Mei Fanclub.

"If I can't have her, no one will!" he suddenly shouted for no apparent reason and began…taking more photos.

Sachi leaned over and whispered to Kazuha, "Shouldn't you do something?"

"Why me?" he whispered back.

"Because you work here, idiot,"

"Good point," he replied, "But I'm never going to see something like this again, so let me record it and see how far it goes,"

Sachi looked at him judgementally but quickly realized that would be hypocritical of her as she was curious too.

Suddenly, the Neko Maid rose to his feet.

Slowly and dramatically.

The obsessive fanboy stopped his rapid photo-taking, glared at him, and began shouting nonsense, "Get away from her, you creep! Only I can take care of her! It's me! It's destiny!"

The aura of bloodlust from before Adam's transformation into Neko Maid began to fill the air once again.

Mei could see it in his eyes.

The sense of duty of being her bodyguard was seeping into the Neko Maid persona. If Adam and Neko Maid were battling for dominance inside his mind, then this was the moment they temporarily stopped and joined forces to eliminate a common threat.

Neko Adam gradually closed the distance between him and the stalker fanboy.

"What do you want!? You stupid gay cat!?" the fanboy cried out, holding his camera like a rifle.

Everyone watched in silence. No one could predict his next move.

Neko Adam ripped off the top of his maid outfit in one swift movement, displaying his flawless, sculpted torso for all the world to see. Then he tied the torn-off part of the outfit around his waist the same way a martial artist would tie their belt.

The chubby stalker screamed in shock and stumbled back, falling over a chair.

Neko Adam simply stared him down.

"I'm going to break you—meow,"

"What?!" the obsessive fan yelped as he helplessly tried to scramble back onto his feet. Unfortunately, the sweat on his hands kept causing him to slip.

"Like a Kit-Kat bar—meow,"

"...What?!"

Without wasting another second, Neko Adam lunged.

A shrill scream echoed throughout the halls.

On that day, humanity received a grim reminder.

Those who were filming the scene sighed and promptly deleted the footage, afraid of being the Neko Maid's next victim. All except for Kazuha, who secretly made a backup and stored it in a digital safe.

Everyone in the room agreed to never let what they witnessed go public. What happened in Class 2-C, during the festival between the hours of one to two pm, stays in Class 2-C. Lest they desire a nocturnal visit from the feline terror.

However, that didn't stop the flow of rumors and gossip. The secrecy, the scream, a camera lens, and a pair of white-furry cat ears discarded from a window all swirled into a grand conspiracy. Before the end of the first day of the Chiba Cultural Festival, a new urban legend at the academy had already spread.

The Vengeful Cat Cosplayer who would hunt down and tear the souls out of anyone who dared to take a picture of it.

And that night…

There were two.

A teenage boy and girl living in two different worlds, on two sides of Nagazora. Connected through time, memories, and a contract.

Who sank into the depths of their mattress, cocooned in their blanket and with their head buried under the pillow.

It was as if the universe had tied them together for just a second as they simultaneously screamed into their pillow.

Flashbacks of that hour in the cafe had been relentlessly pummeling their minds since they left the school.

A sleepless night awaited them as they desperately tried to purge that from their memories.

---

THIS IS WHERE THE ORIGINAL CHAPTER 7 ENDS AND THE ORIGINAL CHAPTER 8 BEGINS.

SO GO AND TAKE A BREAK.

DRINK SOME WATER / GET SOMETHING TO EAT / REST YOUR EYES.

GO OUTSIDE / GET SOME EXERCISE / DO YOUR DAILIES.

THIS CHAPTER ISN'T GOING TO RUN AWAY.

COME BACK WHEN YOU'RE REFRESHED.

OR YOU CAN JUST IGNORE THAT AND KEEP READING LOL.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

(^o^)

---

…

…

…

"Here I come!"

An eight-year-old boy with messy jet-black hair yelled as he kicked off the ground, dashing forward as fast as possible.

The emerald grass beneath his feet parted with every step before springing upright again.

The wind whistled past his ears as he quickly closed in on his target.

When he was close enough, he leaped and lashed out an airborne roundhouse kick aimed for the head.

His opponent had a slight smirk while her trained cerulean eyes instinctively tracked his every move.

Seemingly at the last second, she raised her arm and blocked the kick. It was a simple action with no wasted energy.

The boy's golden eyes widened in shock when he realized his attack had done nothing to faze her.

It was like kicking the trunk of a giant tree.

Snapping out of his trance, the black-haired child allowed gravity to drop him back to the ground.

With that slight build-up of momentum, he continued his assault with a swift, reverse sweep. Only for the blue-eyed woman to step back and easily evade.

The boy clenched his teeth and slammed his hands on the ground. Using the power of all four limbs, he shot into the air with a strong, speedy uppercut.

The woman slightly tilted back, and once again, he hit nothing but air.

However, the force behind his uppercut was able to ruffle some of her blue-gray hair.

The black-haired boy suddenly twisted his body in midair and snapped out a backflip kick.

Unfortunately for him, the blue-haired female foresaw his movements.

She shifted out of the way just enough to dodge the kick and for him to enter her strike zone.

A single palm strike was all it took, and the boy was sent flying back.

He bounced across the ground a couple times before coming to a stop.

The woman observed him with a slight tinge of worry in her eyes as he slowly got to his feet.

He winced as his muscles squeezed the growing bruise below his chest, but that didn't hinder him from sliding back into a fighting stance.

The blue-haired martial artist's features relaxed and smiled at him.

"You've gotten faster, Adam," she praised.

"Not fast enough," the boy replied.

"It's a major improvement from when you first started,"

Adam pouted and released his stance, "Doesn't feel like it,"

Fu Hua gave a light laugh at her disciple's sulking face, "You may not have noticed, but you're three times as fast now,"

"But I'm still not as fast or as strong as you," he replied, dejectedly hanging his head.

The master noticed her student's frown and walked up to him. A quiet yelp escaped the boy's lips as Fu Hua suddenly pat him on the head.

"In time, I'm sure you will be," she reassured him, "And if you work hard enough, you have the potential to even surpass me,"

Adam's face lit up as he looked up at his master with sparkling gold eyes, "Really?"

Fu Hua nodded, "I guarantee it,"

"Yeah!" the child cheered as he happily pranced around in a circle, "Then I'll train even harder from now on! I won't sleep, or eat, or drink, or study, until I reach Master Hua's level!"

"Well, you don't need to be that extreme. A healthy balance in life is the key to success," the blue-haired woman giggled as she returned to her side of their training ground, "Now come on, let's continue,"

"Right!" Adam chirped.

But just as he readied himself, he allowed his gaze to wander a bit before landing on a set of weapon racks not too far away. Blades, Polearms, and all manner of different melee weapons were arranged neatly across the wooden structures.

"Hey, Master?" he began.

"What is it?" asked Fu Hua.

"When do I get to use those?" he asked, pointing at the weapons.

Fu Hua looked toward the stack of weapons and quietly contemplated his question.

A few seconds passed before she turned back to her student and answered, "We'll start working with them once you're a bit more experienced with the fundamentals,"

"And when's that?" Adam raised a brow.

"When I say so," she teased, holding back a grin from seeing the boy's unamused reaction.

"Lame," he grumbled.

"I jest. But at the rate you're improving, perhaps by the start of Autumn,"

"But that's ages away,"

"Maybe for a child like you, but for me, we'll be there in the blink of an eye," said Fu Hua as she slid into her stance, standing side-on with one arm behind her back and the other raised, "Now come, if you manage to land a hit on me I'll buy you that Arahato Manga Set you want,"

Adam's eyes gleamed as he smiled brightly. He flipped back to his starting position and, in an instant, sprung into action.

"Then expect no mercy from me!" he cried, launching himself at Fu Hua once more.

Just as his fist was about to connect with hers.

The space around them froze and distorted. Like shattering glass, the world around them broke apart, only to be replaced immediately by another.

All of it had happened in half a second.

The scenery had changed.

No longer was he in the mountains of Shenzhou, training outside the little house he and his mentor shared.

Instead, eight years had passed since that day, and now he was at St. Freya, specifically, one of the many outdoor training arenas the academy owned.

In his hand, he gripped the standard Schicksal practice sword. A modified weapon that retained the same size and weight as the genuine models but had a non-lethal edge.

When the flow of reality continued, his blade clashed with another, causing sparks to fly from the impact.

Adam separated from his opponent, leaping back a fair distance to gauge the situation and plan a better path of offense.

His S-Rank Valkyrie Instructor stood calmly on the other side, waiting for him to move.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a teenage girl with short, white hair and coffee-colored skin descended from above with a loud battle cry. A pair of large, yellow, mechanical gauntlets followed her closely before slamming its fist into the ground where their instructor stood.

Raiden Mei had sensed the girl's incoming attack and quickly moved away.

An expression of panic quickly spread across Carole Pepper's features when she realized she was now wide open to a counterstrike. Fortunately, it never came, and she was able to regain her footing.

Adam took note of his teammate's position and quickly relocated himself.

The students now stood on either side of their instructor, slowly circling her while watching her every move.

Mei slowly shifted her feet to keep both of them in her peripheral vision at all times; not once did her hand leave the handle of her katana.

The two teenagers kicked off the ground simultaneously, aiming to trap the S-Rank Valkyrie between them with a flurry of attacks. But an unseen smirk appeared on Mei's lips when she saw the flaw in their strategy.

Their speed had to perfectly match to pull off the combined barrage they had in mind; otherwise, the target would have the chance to escape and counter.

And Adam was much faster than Carole.

Reaching her first, the boy struck hard and fast with a downward arc.

Mei nimbly parried it along with the follow-up combo of slashes. Even with the sound of steel clashing steel screeching in her ears, the purple-haired woman could make out the incoming footsteps of the younger Valkyrie-in-training.

With one last parry, Mei manipulated the momentum from Adam's strike to send him off balance, stumbling toward Carole as she jumped into the air.

"Senpai!" Carole gasped as her mechanical fists rocketed toward her black-haired teammate with no way of pulling them back.

Adam's eyes widened. He had been hit by those fists before, and it wasn't an experience he wanted to relive anytime soon.

Gritting his teeth, he slammed the practice sword into the ground and ran up the blade, jumping off with a side flip just as the fist missile crashed into the sword.

Both weapons flew across the training arena in a bundled-up mess, tearing up the grass and kicking up clouds of dirt until it finally came to a stop.

At the same time, Mei landed on the ground a few feet away.

"Adam, Carole, you're both out," she stated, eliciting an annoyed groan from both teenagers.

As the black-haired young man went to retrieve the practice blade, Carole collapsed to the grassy field and sat leaning against the mech gauntlet that didn't go flying.

"Mmmhh, my muscles are so sore," she moaned, stretching her arms above her head.

"You performed well today, Carole," Mei complimented.

The girl excitedly sat up straight, "Huh? Really? Really? You meant it?"

Mei nodded with a warm smile, "Yes, you've improved more than I initially expected this month. Keep this up, and you'll be able to apply for the B-Rank promotion exams by the end of June,"

Carole's amber eyes sparkled brilliantly, her hands covering her agape jaw, "Squad Leader, thank yooou~. Oh, oh, could you please call my mom later and tell her what you just said to me?! Senpai, senpai, you heard it too, right?!"

"Stop overreacting, Carole," said Adam, walking over with the training sword in hand, "It doesn't change the fact that we still failed the objective today,"

"Hmph!" the white-haired girl crossed her arms and pouted, "Spoilsport,"

"Spoil–?!" Adam scowled and retorted, "I was continuously creating openings for you so you could grab the ribbons from Squad Leader's belt! But every time you somehow find a way to mess it up,"

A tick-marked popped up on Carole's head as she sprung to her feet, defending herself, "If you were so good at creating openings, why didn't you grab them yourself then?!"

"Because we planned this out before starting! Or were you too busy thinking about the next type of crepe you want to eat or what kind of perfume you should buy next?!"

"Well, it's clear you weren't listening either because Squad Leader said it's completely normal to improvise and change your strategy on the go!"

Mei watched as her two students continued their squabble, with neither side showing any signs of backing down. A small, wistful smile stretched across the purple-haired woman's lips as their bickering made her reminisce on the simpler days when she was around their age and still a Valkyrie trainee. She could still faintly hear the daily quarreling between a certain white-haired girl and their younger gray-haired teammate. But as much as she would've liked to think back on those times a bit more, she now held the important responsibility of guiding the next generation of humanity's defenders. The same way Murata Himeko did her a decade ago.

Clapping her hands twice, she approached Adam and Carole, who looked like they were seconds away from tearing each other apart.

"Enough, both of you," she stated calmly and clearly.

Seeing their instructor beside them, the two teenagers took a few steps back, only breaking their glaring contest when they were far enough.

"Adam," she began.

"Yes?" the boy replied.

"Nya~,"

"...Nya?" he repeated, evidently confused, "What do you mean by—?"

Suddenly, from the depths of the Milky Way Galaxy, a fat titan of a cat the size of a planet wearing a maid outfit came crashing down along with the fearsome rain of laughing naked men wearing cat ear headbands and maid outfits. Finally, when Adam looked down, he no longer had hands but…PAWS! And when he looked behind him, he had… A TAIL!

[ BEEP! ]

[ BEEP! ]

[ BEEP! ]

Adam abruptly woke from his sleep and sat up, hugging his pillow tightly. Sweat drenched his shirt and soaked his hair as his wide golden eyes stared into nothingness.

The dream, which started as a trip down memory lane, became a nightmare so quickly and unexpectedly that his mind was still processing it, even after sitting on his futon for a solid fifteen minutes.

But at long last, he was able to speak.

…

…

…

"What. The. Fu—"

---

…

…

…

Wearing a red and white tracksuit with matching pants, Adam trudged along the road that led to Chiba Academy.

Half of his face was concealed by a face mask, just in case he was recognized at school thanks to yesterday's…incident. If he was being honest, the last place he wanted to be was the very academy he was heading toward. He didn't know how many people had filmed the cafe incident or if it had been spread around online, with his alter ego becoming a viral sensation. Though, unbeknownst to him, all the witnesses had vowed to keep it a secret.

However, he still had the gold-level festival voucher that he sacrificed blood, sweat, and pride for, and nothing was going to stop him from milking it dry.

With the voucher stuffed thoroughly deep into his pocket, all scrunched up from his tight grip on it, Adam adjusted his mask and walked through the gates of Chiba Academy.

Unsurprisingly, the festival was in full swing as the sun was already high in the sky, beaming down rays of warmth on the joyous crowds of festival-goers.

The black-haired teenager weaved through the sea of people as he tried to search for things to do. While going around the festival, he noticed posters and flyers advertising the Kendo Club's upcoming tournament plastered almost everywhere.

'Oh yeah, that's happening today,' he thought, pausing in front of one to read it, 'The [ Tournament of Skill and Steel ]. Starts at two in the afternoon. Everyone is invited to watch. VIP tickets are…sold out? Damn already? Normal tickets are still available… Anyone proficient in melee, weapon-based combat is allowed to enter. Sign-ups end in…thirty minutes,'

Adam picked up one of the flyers, folded it neatly, and shoved it in his pocket before walking off.

'I don't want to bring any attention to myself by participating, but the least I can do is support Mei and Sachi,'

He only took a few steps when a nearby commotion reached his ears. One of the voices involved in the squabble sounded strangely familiar.

"You can't keep me here! Onee-chan says I could go anywhere I want as long as I stay at school!" a little girl exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but according to the safety guidelines and in my good conscience, I can't let a child wander around alone, unsupervised by a parent or guardian," a woman's voice replied.

Adam glanced at the source of the commotion. It was a medium-sized security stall, one of many placed orderly around the festival. There were two security guards stationed there, one male and one female, both looking to be around their mid to late twenties. The man played on his phone while eating from a box of takoyaki, occasionally looking up to survey the surroundings before focusing back on his game. The woman was trying to convince, though it sounded more like arguing, a young, lilac-haired girl to remain in the safety of their stall.

"But I'm not alone! Onee-chan goes to school here!"

"I'm sorry, but unless she or someone from your family comes here to pick you up, I'm not letting you wander around alone,"

"I told you I'm not alone!" the lilac-haired girl retorted, stomping her feet in frustration.

Before he knew it, Adam was unconsciously invested in their scuffle, his golden eyes narrowed as he couldn't get rid of the tingling feeling of familiarity that radiated off the little girl.

'Isn't that…?' he began to dig through his memory.

The girl must've sensed his lingering gaze; she whipped her head around, and their eyes met.

Then it clicked.

'Sora?!'.

It seemed that somehow, even with the mask on, Sora could recognize him as her large, pink eyes began sparkling like glitter.

'...Oh no,'

Sweat rolled down the side of his head. In that split-second glance, Adam could see the ingenious plot cooking inside her seven-year-old brain as she took a deep breath.

Thus, before she could do anything, the black-haired teen turned on his heels and scurried out of there, 'I'm sorry, kid version of Sora-senpai. But this isn't my problem, and this might've happened in the original timeline anyway, so it's best if I….'

"ONIII-CHAAAN~!"

Sora's high-pitched yell reverberated throughout the area.

Instantly, everyone within the vicinity stopped what they were doing; some choked on their food and drink, while others released a shocked yelp in response, and when they recovered, all eyes were on the little, lilac-haired girl whose eyes still sparkled.

Adam turned around slowly, still holding onto the sliver of hope that she wasn't referring to him.

Alas, the universe had other plans. Sora was giggling while pointing at him. Her dark-blue hoodie was a bit too big for her, and her hands were adorably hidden in the sleeves.

"Onii-chan! Over here!" she called, waving both arms in the air.

"You mustn't yell like that, little girl," the female guard scolded, pressing a finger to her lips, "It's inconsiderate to other people around you,"

Sora looked up at her, "But that's my Onii-chan; he's here to pick me up,"

The security guard glanced at Adam, who was approaching them at a snail's pace, "Is what she said true? Do you know this girl?"

"Uh…," the teen scratched his head, his response still buffering. In his contemplation, he flicked his gaze down at Sora, which proved to be a fatal mistake.

The lilac-haired child was staring up at him with the biggest and most sentimental puppy-dog eyes he had ever seen.

It didn't help that simultaneously, every memory he had of the Sora of his timeline came rushing to the frontmost of his mind.

…

"Hi, what's your name?"

"M-Me? I'm…Adam,"

"Well, Adam, come eat with us. You don't have to sit all by yourself,"

"Nice work on the exams, Adam. You're steadily climbing the rankings. Hey, we're going to go get grilled meat to celebrate the end of the semester; you should, no, you have to join us,"

"Adam? Are you okay? You look so gloomy… Hmm, well, I can't do anything if you don't want to tell me…Oh, I know… Hm? What do you mean by 'what am I doing?' I'm patting your head, silly. It comforts me when I'm sad, so I hope it'll comfort you, too,"

"No way, I can't believe it. You made it into St. Freya too?! That's amazing. You even made history by being the first male student, haha. Hey, if you ever need assistance, don't be afraid to ask 'kay? As your senpai, I'll always have your back,"

…

The black-haired teen dropped his arm from his head with a light sigh and thought, 'Well, I was planning to pay her back for all those times so…,"

"Yeah, I do know her," explained Adam.

The security guard scrutinized him slowly from head to toe before glancing down at Sora, then looking back at him, "You're her brother? You two don't look alike at all,"

"Oh, I'm not her brother. I'm actually her cousin," he replied, "She just calls me her older brother since it's an easier word to say,"

"Yup, yup!" chirped Sora, nodding rapidly, "Onii-chan even came over to my house last, last week,"

'Huh…Good memory for someone in kindergarten,'

The security guard glanced back and forth at the two of them for a bit longer before relenting, "Well, I guess it's okay then,"

"Thanks a lot for looking after her until now," Adam gave her a short bow and ushered Sora toward him, "Come on, let's go Sora-senp…Sora,"

"Okaaay!" cheered Sora, skipping forward to Adam's side.

"Hey!" just as they were about to leave, the female guard suddenly called out to them. Adam looked back, "Nagazora is getting really messy nowadays. There are so many creeps around, especially at a busy festival like this. So don't let her leave your sight, alright?!"

"I know. Thanks for the advice," Adam nodded and waved as he continued to walk away with Sora in tow.

The duo strolled around the festival until they were out of the security booth's sight and arrived at a quieter spot under the elongated shade of a row of maple trees, away from the bustling atmosphere.

Adam sat on a bench underneath the orange-leaved trees; he pulled down his mask, and a fresh wave of oxygen and the scent of cotton candy and butter popcorn flooded his nostrils. He allowed the mask to hang from his ear by a single strap. There wasn't a need to hide his identity on this empty side of the school. Even with it on, Sora had also miraculously recognized him, so the mask lost its purpose around her.

As for Sora, she hopped onto the seat next to him and began swinging her legs back and forth while humming a little tune.

The two of them sat in silence for a while; the ambient noise of the festivities floated peacefully around them.

"Sooo…," began Adam, breaking the quiet between them but not quite sure what to say, "How… did you know it was me?"

"Your eyes!" Sora happily revealed.

"Right…my eyes?"

"Mhm~, they're the same color as the sunrise, so they're really pretty,"

"Oh, thanks, I guess," Adam leaned forward and rested his head in his palms, murmuring to himself, "To think that the first person to call my eyes pretty is the child version of my senior,"

Silence filled the gap between them once again until pair of sparrows began to chirp from the trees above.

"How's your sister?" asked the black-haired teen. Since their awkward trip to the market last weekend, neither of them had said a word to each other aside from friendly, polite greetings.

"Onee-chan? Hmmm, well, she's the same as always. Although…," Sora tilted her head with a finger on her cheek as she pondered, "Lately she looks a bit tired,"

"Tired?"

"Mhm, but when I asked why she just told me that it's normal for high school students and that I'd understand when I get older,"

Adam gave a light chuckle and scratched his cheek, "Haha, yeah, she's not wrong,"

"But you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think she's working too much and not having enough time to play with me," Sora said, puffing her cheeks up in an adorable pout.

"Every day, the only time I see her is when she picks me up from preschool, then once she makes dinner for us, she leaves to go to her part-time job. Sometimes she just rushes off without eating. One time, I woke up at midnight coz I had to go pee, and I went to check her room, and she still wasn't back! I never see her on weekends either! She's just always working!"

By the time Sora had finished venting, she was standing on the bench with her arms crossed.

"That sounds…rough, but I'm sure there must be a good reason," reassured Adam, leaning back on the bench, "What about your parents? Surely, they would've stepped in to say something,"

Sora's expression dropped into a frown, and she shook her head, "Mama is working in another country right now, and Papa…he…I don't know. Mama and Onee-chan told me that he's gone somewhere far to make more money, but he hasn't been back to visit once or call. Mama still calls us once a week, but Papa…,"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Adam said softly.

"Eh? No, no, there's no need to be sorry," Sora blurted out, furiously waving her arms before sitting back down, "...I'm used to it now,"

Adam gazed at the little girl sympathetically and ran a hand through his disheveled dark hair as he exhaled, 'But someone your age shouldn't be used to it,'

"Um, I have a question," said Sora.

"Ask away," replied Adam.

"How's my sister at school?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like…Is she doing well? Are her grades okay? Does she have any friends? Is she getting bullied? That sort of thing," explained Sora, "Those are questions Mama told me to ask her since Onee-chan always misses her calls. But I don't really see her anymore, so I thought I could ask you since you're her friend, right?"

There was no way he could say no; that would dishearten her even more, and he wasn't about to do that to one of his friends, no matter the timeline. Adam looked away, not wanting to see the expression on Sora's face as he thought of how to answer her correctly. From the child's perspective, him showing up at their house to deliver Miyuki her homework would definitely be something a friend would do. For a moment, he wondered if Sora ever knew about the time her big sister was assaulted by a gang of delinquents on a quiet side street. Still, taking what the lilac-haired child said into consideration, it was more than likely that Miyuki simply hid her wounds from her or brushed it off as a "work accident."

Even if his words weren't the truth or at least half-truths, the best thing to do was not to worry Sora. As the old saying goes: Ignorance is Bliss.

"Yeah, I am," Adam replied with a kind but acted smile, "She's doing fine too. I'm not a teacher, so I can't say anything about her grades, but I do see her studying whenever she's free, so I think they're pretty good. She's not in any clubs because she has a part-time job and needs to pick you up. She's friendly and polite with everyone, and they're the same to her, so there's no trouble there. You and your mom don't have to worry, Sora,"

"That's good," Sora sighed in relief before looking up at the black-haired teen, flashing him a bright, toothy grin, "I'm glad that she has a friend like you!"

Adam flinched from her words, slightly taken aback.

"Yeah…I'm glad too," he said quietly, staring at the pavement.

"Hey, come on," the teenager suddenly stood up, "Since you rarely see your sister, I'll take you to her right now,"

Surprisingly, Sora rapidly shook her head, "Onee-chan said she'll be working at her class's cafe during the festival. I don't want to disturb her. But she gave me this—" she pulled out a silver-level voucher from her hoodie's pocket "—And said I could have fun on my own for a while until she gets off work. But she promised she'd play with me then!"

Adam pursed his lips, 'The cafe doesn't close until 3:00pm; that's still five hours away, which would feel like forever for someone her age,'

For the second time that day, the image of the older, more mature variant of Sora he was familiar with flashed through his mind, and her words whispered in his ears.

[ "You don't have to sit all by yourself…If you ever need assistance, don't be afraid to ask, 'kay… As your senpai, I'll always have your back," ]

"Hey, Sora," he extended his hand toward her, "Until your sister finishes work, do you want to hang out with me?"

Sora's eyes widened, "Do you mean it?!"

Adam nodded, "Of course,"

Then the lilac-haired girl shyly pressed her fingers together, "C-Can I also…keep calling you Onii-chan?" A bashful pink painted her cheeks, "…N-Not because I want to! J-Just in case that lady—!"

Adam blinked, then gave a light chuckle and smiled, "Sure,"

"Yaaay!" Sora cheered and sprung from her seat, dashing forward and taking Adam's hand in both of hers.

"Let's go, Onii-chan!" she beamed, already beginning to tug him back toward the festival.

'Her calling me that still feels weird,' he thought, glancing down at her joyous expression.

Her innocent smile was contagious, and without even realizing when it started, he found himself grinning alongside her.

'But… Looks like I'll just have to get used to it,'

---

"Victory!"

"Woah, you're really good at this, Sora,"

"Heehee, I know,"

The girl was crouched over a pool of colorful goldfish, all gliding through the water aimlessly. In her hands was a red plastic bowl containing ten goldfish swimming around in circles.

"Congratulations kid, yer the first one of the day to win the 'Ten Fish' challenge," announced the vendor, and he stood up from his stool. Turning around, he scanned the wall of prizes, which was really a giant fishing net with a myriad of items hanging from it, "Let's see now…Ah! Here it is, the challenge's grand prize,"

"Ta-daaa!" The vendor spun around and dramatically presented the prize in all its glory, holding it the same way a fisherman would to a trophy fish. But instead of a large salmon or tuna, it was a green box with a cartoon octopus illustrated on all sides, and it was contained in a net much smaller than the 'wall' behind.

"Seafood crackers!" Sora excitedly cried out with stars in her eyes.

"Here ya go, older kid. Hold it for yer sister, will ya," said the hearty, middle-aged man as he practically tossed the box of seafood crackers into Adam's arms. The same way fishermen would throw their catch into their boat's cold storage.

Adam looked down at the seafood crackers box and the fishing game. On the wall of prizes, it was all marine-themed rewards. Lego boats, plushies of sea life like sharks, seals, squid, small fish tanks, a random piece of coral, and a dried-up starfish. Even the vendor was dressed up as if he had just been kidnapped from the docks by the faculty and temporarily placed at this stall. What sold the look was the fake dried fish blood and guts on his apron, which upon closer inspection, didn't seem that fake anymore.

A bead of sweat trailed down the side of the black-haired teen's head, "They're really dedicated to keeping the concept, aren't they,"

As that happened, Sora stood over the fish pool, extended out her bowl, and flipped it over. Water and the ten goldfish inside were sent crashing down into the pool below. The water overflowed slightly upon impact. However, the fish couldn't care less and immediately went back to swimming around in a circuit until someone else scooped them up again.

"Ho? Not gonna keep yer fish, kid?" the vendor asked out of curiosity.

"Sorry," Sora shook her head, "We don't have an aquarium at home, so I'll just release the fishies,"

"Welp, that's too bad," the fisherman vendor shrugged.

'Yeah, and they'd be dead in three days anyway, so it saves time and emotional damage,' thought Adam.

"Come on, Sora, let's keep moving," he said, gently guiding the lilac-haired girl away.

"Okay," she chirped before waving to the vendor, "Bye mister, thank you for the Seafood Crackers,"

The old man waved back, "Don't mention it kid, have a fun rest of the day you two,"

Before long, the duo melted into the busy festival crowd. Sora held onto Adam's hand to avoid separating in the massive sea of people.

The pair continuously looked around for things to do. Without even realizing it, the hours ticked by, and it was already past midday. Both of their vouchers had nearly been used up from all the games they played and the festival food they ate.

"Something caught your eye, Sora?" questioned Adam after noticing her slowing pace.

Sora nodded and pointed toward a specific booth a little distance from them.

"Then let's go,"

They made their way toward the booth of Sora's interest, and upon closer inspection, Adam realized that it was a much simpler game than any of the others at the whole festival. Standing in the center of the booth's territory was a large, gray mechanism, with the protruding end being a relatively soft pad.

It was a punch machine.

Behind it was the classic 'prize wall,' with number tags ranging from fifty to one thousand and rewards matching the score level. Next to the machine stood a bald, burly man wearing a traditional karate gi tied together with a thick black belt.

The man gave the duo a bow as they approached him, to which the two promptly returned.

"Greetings, young warriors. Would you like to display your strength to me in exchange for these wondrous gifts," he said with a booming voice.

"What do you think, Sora? Are you gonna try?" When he didn't hear her response, Adam glanced down at the lilac-haired child and caught her staring with her mouth agape, mesmerized by the vast lineup of plushies.

"I'll take that as a yes then," chuckled the black-haired teen.

Meanwhile, Sora shook off her stupor and marched forward, whipping the silver-level voucher out of her pocket to present to the stall runner.

"I wanna try!" she declared as the man scanned her ticket.

The karate master dipped his head in acknowledgment before returning her voucher and gesturing to his machine, "Please, go ahead,"

Sora strode up to the device with the fires of determination burning in her eyes. She glanced over her shoulder, and Adam gave her a thumbs-up while mouthing 'Good luck.'

The little girl smirked and turned her attention back to the machine before her. She winded back her tiny fist and with a battle cry.

"Super Sora Strike!"

She threw her strongest punch.

Adam wasn't sure if it connected or not since the hit was so soft it barely made a sound. The ringing of the numbers on the scoreboard confirmed her punch.

Sora stepped back and stared at the scoreboard with bated breath.

[ 15 ]

"Whaaat? That's not possible," the lilac-haired girl whined.

"Hmphgfgh," Witnessing this scene, it took all Adam had to hold in his laughter, and he quickly looked away as he re-equipped his mask just in case.

However, Sora wasn't going to take this lying down. She raised her silver ticket to the karate master and declared, "Again!"

"Of course, young warrior,"

Punch.

[ 16 ]

"Again!"

"Very well,"

Punch.

[ 14 ]

"Again!"

Punch.

[ 13 ]

"Again!"

[ 10 ]

"Once more!"

[ 12 ]

"Just. One. More. Time!"

[ 8 ]

The commotion caused by Sora's unrelenting battle with the Punch Machine very quickly caught the attention of many passersby, and most of them stopped to watch, forming a circle around the booth. It was a bit strange at first, but Adam had to admit, there was something cute and entertaining about watching a little girl combat a much larger machine.

Almost like a Valkyrie going against a mecha, a snippet of Sora's future if everything lined up correctly.

"Mister!" Sora waved her ticket at the booth owner.

The buff man nodded and scanned her voucher, "Give it all you've got,"

Suddenly, the scanner in his hand released a series of beeps. He covered the screen with his hand to see it better under the sun.

"Oh, how unfortunate," he said and handed the voucher back, "It looks like your ticket has run out of credits,"

Sora's pink eyes widened in shock, "What? Y-You're not joking with me, right?"

The karate master shook his head, "Sorry, young one, I'm not,"

"Aww," Sora took her creditless voucher, hung her, and trudged back to Adam's side.

The black-haired teen welcomed her with a short applause, "You tried your best, Sora,"

"I guess," she sulked.

Adam patted her head, "Well if it makes you feel better. If you really want those HOMU plushies, you can always buy them online. It's much cheaper that way,"

"But I don't like HOMU," said Sora.

"You don't?" Adam replied with a raised brow.

Sora shook her head and shivered, "They're so creepy. With their big eyes and how they're always smiling so wide with their big, sharp teeth,"

"Then why did you try so hard with the Punch Machine?"

"Because I wanted to get that," the lilac-haired girl pointed at the prize wall.

Adam followed her finger, and then he saw it. Nestled in between two giant plushies, a classic HOMU King on one side and the pink HOMEI variation on the other, was the distinct figure of Arahato the Ninja Mech. True to its namesake, the Arahato plushie was well hidden. Adam hadn't even noticed that it was there until Sora had literally pointed it out.

"Papa said it's a limited edition," revealed Sora, and her eyes grew teary, "He gave one to me when I was born, but…but I lost it after he left…a-and I-I've been looking for it ever since,"

"So that's why," Adam said to himself.

One look at Sora's dejected expression was all it took for him to step forward.

"Excuse me, sir," he handed his gold-level voucher to the karate master, "I'd like to give it a try, too,"

The man nodded and scanned his ticket, "It is an honorable act to help grant a child happiness. I wish you the best of luck, young warrior,"

"O-Onii-chan? What—?"

The black-haired boy stood before the machine and simply looked back, flashing her a confident grin with a thumbs-up, "Watch closely Sora. I'll show you something cool,"

Drawing an arc in the dirt with his feet and lowering his center of gravity, Adam raised his arms and slipped into a specific martial arts stance that every fan of the Arahato series would know.

Sora's eyes lit up when she recognized it, "T-That pose!"

"You know the words Sora," Adam smirked and focused his attention on the Punch Machine, "Shout it out,"

'Alright, there's not a lot of people watching anymore, but still… Don't stand out… Just hit it normally. Nice and slow, not too hard,'

"Roar with me! Arahato!" Sora yelled at the top of her lungs.

On cue, Adam's fist shot forward at an untraceable speed. A simple cross powered by the strength of his core and the snap of his hips, nothing more, nothing less.

* BAM *

The moment he struck, the whirring of the scoreboard began.

The black-haired teen stepped back to check his score; Sora ran up to his side to have a closer look.

[ 100 ]

[ 200 ]

[ 300 ]

'So far so good, nothing too out of the ordinary. If it gets slightly higher than average, I can just say it's because of my martial arts training,'

Suddenly, the scoreboard rapidly rose, and the dinging of numbers grew frantic.

[ 500 ]

[ 750 ]

[ 975 ]

[ 1000 ]

'Woah, woah, woah. Isn't this going a bit too far? I only hit it lightly, just enough to get a few hundred points! This machine has gotta be broken, right!?'

Curious about why the scoring was taking so long, the booth owner came around to take a look for himself, and his eyebrows raised in surprise. He stared at the rising scoreboard for a second longer before casting Adam a look. The boy gave him an equally baffled shrug.

As the score kept ascending, Adam's eyes flicked around, and to his dismay, a crowd was beginning to form. No doubt attracted by the punch machine's loud beeping every time a number was registered.

The black-haired teen pulled his mask higher and averted his panicked gaze when he saw that some of his fellow students were among them. Even through the beeping, he could hear the murmurs rippling through the audience.

"Woah, look at that score go,"

"I've never seen it go that high,"

"They've got to be super strong,"

"Or the machine is just broken,"

"Hey, did you see who punched it?"

"No, I just got here,"

A quiet sigh of relief escaped Adam's lips.

"Yeah, it was that guy in the red tracksuit,"

Not even a second later, Adam froze, first from the comment and then the current set of numbers on the screen.

"Seven thousand…eight thousand," the karate master muttered with wide eyes glued to the scoreboard.

Finally, the beeping stopped.

"...I-Impossible…Even I can't get a score that high…a-and I'm a martial arts elite…," the booth owner stuttered and staggered forward, "T-This can't be happening… It's…It's…,"

The man dropped to his knees. With his fists clenched tightly and tears - hopefully of pride - streaming down his face, he roared to the skies.

"IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!"

[ 9001 ]

The spark was lit, and the crowd exploded with a chorus of equally surprised yells of disbelief.

"W-Woah. N-nine thousand? H-how's that even possible?"

"Did that really just happen?"

"Who does he think he is? Son Goku?"

"No, that's complete bullshit! I don't believe it one bit! The machine's just broken!"

"This has to be a street performance. There's literally no other explanation,"

Adam groaned and hid his face with his hand as he went to retrieve his prize, walking around the still-kneeling booth owner before reaching his destination. From the wall of rewards, he snatched the Limited-edition Arahato plush before making his way back.

With more than a dozen pairs of eyes following him, Adam could feel his ears heat up from embarrassment, '...Great. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid…especially after yesterday. I swear I hit the thing relatively softly, but somehow this still happens,'

"Onii-chan!" Sora yelled, running up to him. Even while standing, her tiny body couldn't contain her excitement as she bounced up and down, "That was sooo cool! You're so strong, just like Arahato!"

"Ahaha, thanks Sora," Adam laughed bashfully and scratched the back of his head.

"Here, this is yours," the black-haired boy crouched to her eye level and presented the plushie to his younger lilac-haired companion.

"R-Really? A-Are you sure?" stammered Sora.

Adam nodded; even if his mask covered most of his face, his eyes were still smiling, "Of course, I won it for you,"

Tears welled up in the corners of Sora's eyes. In a split second, she closed the gap between them and enveloped both the Arahato plushie and Adam in a tight hug. He could feel her body shake against him and wasn't sure if it was from crying or laughing. Sora gave him the answer a moment later when the sweetest and most innocent laughter left her lips.

"You're the best Onii-chan!" she beamed as she pulled away, still giggling and hugging the plushie in her arms, "Thank you so much!"

A smile found its way onto Adam's face, and he warmly stroked her head, "You're welcome,"

'There's still so many people watching, but whatever… Sora, the future you taught me a lot, kept me company when I was lonely, and also pet me on the head like this when I was feeling down. Y'know, for years, I couldn't find a way to repay her kindness, but I guess I was just procrastinating because I didn't really know how, or maybe I was just shy. Thinking that she'd find a way to flip the moment and use it to tease me, haha. But now, thinking back on it, I probably shouldn't have waited so long. I…I don't think I'll be able to see her again, at least for a very long time,'

'I don't want to call this the second-best option because it's not. The past, the future, a different universe altogether. It doesn't matter; you're still Sora in every one of them. I'll pay you back for all those times you helped me before, in my own way. I honestly still don't know whether I should act; to change the future or not…but when that time comes…when the Eruption comes. I'll find you, and I'll take you out of the city. At least for a short while, allow this former Knight to defend your pure smile,'

"Hey, Sora," Adam began and retracted his hand from her hand.

[ "Hey Adam," ]

"Yes, Onii-chan?" replied the lilac-haired girl, peering at him with her large, innocent eyes.

"If you're ever feeling lonely,"

[ "You don't have to sit by yourself," ]

"If you're ever feeling a bit sad,"

[ "It comforts me when I'm sad, so I hope it'll comfort you too," ]

"If you ever need help,"

[ "If you ever need assistance," ]

"Don't be afraid to ask,"

[ "Don't be afraid to ask 'kay?" ]

"As your Onii-chan—"

[ "As your Senpai—," ]

"I'll always have your back."

Sora squeezed her plushie tighter and responded with a delighted nod, "Okay!"

As the 'show' ended, the crowd gradually dispersed, leaving the duo to themselves. The booth owner was still on his knees, uttering things to himself in despair, but no one paid him any mind.

"You wanna get ice cream?" suggested Adam, standing up from his crouched position.

"Yeah!" chirped Sora, taking the older boy's hand as he began leading her through the festival.

"Why do you like Arahato anyway?" asked the black-haired teen, deciding to fill in the silence with a bit of small talk while heading toward the ice cream stall, "Most kids like HOMU more, don't they?"

"Because robots are cute,"

"Ah," A certain spherical, floating drone that always accompanied his timeline's Sora popped up in his mind, and he whispered to himself, "That kinda explains a few things,"

"Yo, newbie!"

An exuberant male's voice suddenly called out.

The pair turned to see a tall, young man strolling up to them with a chiseled face and light-gray hair. He had on a crimson headband and wore a kendo practitioner's uniform.

"Ichirou-senpai?"

"Oho~?! You still remember me, newbie?" Ichirou dramatically placed a hand over his heart and raised his head to stop his manly tears from forming, "I'm so, so touched,"

"It's only been two weeks since the club trials ended," Adam pointed out, "It's not like I have the memory of a goldish,"

"True, true,"

Sora tugged Adam's sleeve, "Onii-chan, who's he?"

"Oh, right," the black-haired teen motioned toward Ichirou, "This is Arataki Ichirou, the president of Chiba Academy's Kendo Club,"

"Wassup," greeted Ichirou, smugly holding up double peace signs, "I'm also an expert drummer, beetle collector and beetle battler, and winner of the 38th—"

"He's a bit eccentric, but he's a nice guy," Adam told Sora, cutting the club president off.

"I see, I see," hummed Sora, "He sounds fun,"

"Oi! Don't interrupt me!"

Ignoring his outburst, Sora politely bowed and introduced herself, "Good evening, Arataki-san. My name is Asakura Sora. It's nice to meet you,"

"Likewise, little girl,"

"Anyway, did you need something?" asked Adam,

"Yeah, I was looking for you, actually," admitted Ichirou.

"Really? Why? Aren't you guys busy with the tournament?"

"Yeaaah…," the gray-haired male cleared his throat, "...About that,"

Adam narrowed his eyes as an uneasy feeling slowly trickled down his spine.

'...There's no way the thing I'm thinking is about to happen is actually going to happen…right?'

---

A hollow clunk echoed through a corridor in Chiba Academy's prestigious gymnasium, where the Kendo Club's upcoming tournament would be held.

Mei reached into the vending machine and pulled out a bottle of iced tea.

The tournament was now only an hour away, and the nerves steadily crept through her body. On her way back to the waiting room, she passed the main hall and stopped to briefly peek inside. It was clear as day that the club had spared no expense to decorate and prepare the auditorium for their awaited event. From a once empty hall with timber flooring, they had amazingly transformed the space into a high-end indoor stadium.

A large, square arena was set up in the center, surrounded by rows and rows of benches; even the interior balcony was lined with seats. There was even a commentator counter by the ring with a clear view of all the action. An array of blue, red, and purple neon lights shone down from the roof, and on two ends of the hall, there were giant TV screens to display the fights in real-time. Finally, they were banners proudly displaying the Chiba Academy crest stationed in every corner of the hall.

Currently, there were a few members of faculty from the IT department and Kendo Club on and around the stage, doing some final check-ups and working to ensure that the tournament goes smoothly. Ever since the club had brought up the topic of a tournament to the student council and the school board. The academy had treated it as the main event of this year's festival, even going as far as funding the temporary renovation of the gym hall and providing the awards to the tournament's winners. Their actions weren't a total surprise seeing that the academy prided their resident Kendo Club on claiming championship titles for years now, even before the admission of their current ace, Raiden Mei. It also doubled as a bit of a reputation ploy for the school; to remind the entire prefecture and even the whole country that Chiba Academy still held its position in the 'Top 3 Elite Schools in Japan' ranking. A position that they weren't planning to relinquish any time soon.

"There you are,"

A familiar feminine voice called out to her from behind.

Mei whipped around to see Sachi pacing toward her. Unlike herself, the pony-tailed brunette had already changed into her kendo uniform.

"I've been looking all over for you," stated Sachi.

"Sorry, it was just getting a bit stuffy in the waiting room," replied Mei, "I know that we opened the tournament to the public, but there are a lot more people than I expected,"

Sachi huffed and put a hand on her hip, "You're telling me. We should've held auditions or something to weed people out. You know we even caught some reporters sneaking in, disguised as contestants,"

"R-Really?" the purple-haired girl froze in place.

"Mhm, don't worry, we kicked them out, and I don't think they'll be coming back anytime soon," said Sachi, patting Mei on the shoulder, "I know what happened at your father's company is a big deal and all, but I don't want any of that energy in here. I want you to compete at your best,"

Mei sighed in relief and gave her a grateful look, "Thank you, Sachi. You've been doing a lot for the club and me this week, and I don't know how to repay you,"

"You can repay me by giving it your all," grinned Sachi, "And hey, I'm basically the president of the club, so it's my responsibility to look after each member,"

"It must be stressful sometimes,"

"It is, I won't deny that," admitted the brunette, "But I enjoy doing it, so don't expect anything to change,"

"Right," nodded Mei, "Oh! Didn't you say you were looking for me?"

"Ah, that's right—"

* DING *

Sachi paused and glanced at the message on her phone, furrowing her brows as a result.

"Talk about perfect timing," she muttered before turning her attention back to Mei, "We need your help convincing him; Ichirou is probably making it worse as we speak,"

"He's already here?"

"Yep, Ichirou brought him back five minutes ago, along with a kid who's probably a relative of his," explained Sachi, "Well, the main thing is, he's been rejecting the offer for the last five minutes, and it's too late to find someone else so we need your help,"

"Got it, then let's go,"

Their hurried footsteps echoed through the gym's corridors until they reached an empty room on the opposite side. The door slid open, revealing a certain black-haired boy having a rather heated conversation with their senior club member and a little girl with lilac-colored hair watching them from a corner, innocently snacking on a packet of seafood crackers.

"I told you I'm not doing it!"

"Please, man! Just for the afternoon! You can even throw the match in the preliminaries!"

"Then I might as well not do it!"

"But we need you!"

"You really don't!"

"Onii-chan! There's a really pretty girl at the door!"

The two arguing boys whipped around to see the two girls entering the room.

"Sachi! Raiden! Thank all my battle beetles that you're finally here!" Ichirou heaved a tired exhale and slumped onto a nearby chair, "Help me! I ran out of ideas and vocabulary three minutes ago,"

"Already? Ugh, whatever, we'll take it from here," Sachi rolled her eyes and shooed him away, "Go and get warmed up and give the others your infamous pre-competition speech or something,"

Ichirou jumped onto his feet and saluted, "Yes, miss 'unofficial' president!"

Before bolting out the door, back to the contestant's waiting room.

"...I still can't believe he's a third-year," mumbled the black-haired teen.

"Fourth, actually," Sachi pointed out, exhaling with exasperation, "He was held back a year,"

"Good to know,"

"Sachi, don't you think it's a bit mean revealing Ichirou-senpai's secret like that?" questioned Mei.

The brunette shrugged, "It's not exactly a secret if the entire school knows about it. It was only a matter of time before Adam found out as well,"

"And speaking of 'me,' I know that both of you are going to try to keep persuading me, but the answer is still no," declared Adam.

"But why? It's not like you're doing anything this afternoon. You said that yourself," countered Sachi.

"I know, and I'm enjoying doing nothing," the black-haired teen shot back.

"Besides, I gotta watch over her until her sister gets off work," he added, gesturing at Sora with his thumb.

The lilac-haired girl was absentmindedly looking out the window, snacking on her seafood crackers with one hand while hugging her Arahato plushie with the other, not paying attention to their conversation at all.

"Her sister? With the way she was calling you, I thought you were her brother," Sachi remarked, lowering her voice.

"Of course, I'm not; we don't even lookalike," said Adam, who also began to whisper.

"So what, are you going around starting a daycare business or something?"

"No, I just promised her that I'd look after her until her sister - who is currently working at my class's maid cafe - finishes her shift so she can come and enjoy the rest of the festival with her,"

"Wow~, how chivalrous," Sachi sarcastically nodded with an expression of faux amazement before it quickly warped back into one of disbelief, "And this is what you define as 'doing nothing'?"

"Alright, fine, you got me there, but I'm still not joining the tournament," The black-haired teen folded his arms and sat back on a nearby desk.

"Come on, Adam. We both know that you have the skills to compete," urged Sachi, "I mean, you scored a nine-thousand on that Punch Machine outside for crying out loud. Do you know the average score for a heavy-weight boxer champion is only around six-thousand? You went a full three-thousand points above,"

"Three thousand and one, actually," Adam quietly remarked.

But it didn't get past Sachi's ears, and she made a circular motion with her arms, gesturing to Adam's entire body, "Well, there you go then, you're not even denying it; you've got the strength,"

"Yeah, but like, that machine was totally broken,"

"...Really?" Sachi deadpanned, "That's the excuse you want to give?"

"What do you want me to say? I honestly, really, don't want to join the tournament," Adam retorted, "I mean, sure, I plan on watching it and supporting you guys from the sidelines as a friend, but that's it,"

Meanwhile, as Adam and Sachi continued their verbal bout, Mei decided to leave them to it and shuffled away, joining Sora's side by the window.

"Hi," she greeted with a wave and her signature kind smile.

At the sound of her voice, Sora turned and looked up to see the purple-haired heiress sitting beside her. The afternoon sunlight pouring in through the window accentuated her delicate features as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Sora stared at her with wide eyes and mouth agape. She could only utter a single word, "Pretty~,"

A tinge of pink dusted Mei's cheek as she giggled, "Thank you, you too,"

It was Sora's turn to become bashful, with her face lighting up a brighter shade of red, "R-Really?"

Mei nodded, "Of course,"

Not knowing how to respond, Sora buried her face in her plushie and released a muffled squeal, eliciting more gentle laughter from the heiress.

"My name is Raiden Mei. What's yours?"

The lilac-haired girl loosened her grip around her robo plushie just enough for her to give an audible reply.

"S-Sora…Asakura Sora,"

"Asakura? …Oh, then are you perhaps Miyuki-san's sister?" asked Mei.

Sora's pink eyes brightened slightly at the mention of her older sister, "Yes, that's me!"

"Are you…are you also friends with my Onee-chan?" the girl meekly asked, holding the plushie tightly.

"I…," Mei tapped her chin as she pondered the question, 'Truth be told, I haven't talked to Miyuki that much unless it's for school work since she usually keeps to herself. But from what I've seen, she seems to be a kind and friendly person, and when we do talk, I think we get along well, so… lying is bad, but I really don't want to upset her little sister….'

"Yes," the purple-haired girl finally replied, "I guess I am,"

"Haha, I'm glad," Sora beamed at her response, "Onee-chan always looks tired, so I'm glad she has people looking out for her at school,"

"Huh? O-Oh…yes…that's right," said Mei. Lying wasn't her forte, and she was relieved to see that the awkwardness in her voice went unnoticed by Sora.

She glanced back at Adam and Sachi, who were still going at it, neither of them relenting to the other. Mei quickly made her decision and stood up. She gave a quick goodbye wave to Sora - which the child returned - before heading over to the bickering duo. There was a chance that the little girl would ask more questions about her 'friendship' with her sister, which would, in turn, force Mei to spin a thread of lies that she might be unable to keep up with. And that was the last thing the heiress wanted.

She wasn't very confident nor adept at deception, but persuasion, on the other hand, was something she could do thanks to all the lessons she took growing up. Lessons that were preparing her to smoothly take over her father's company one day.

"Sachi, perhaps we should inform Adam-san why we require his help," suggested Mei, "Instead of pointlessly urging him on like this,"

"Hm?" the brunette tilted her head in confusion, "Wait, Adam, did Ichirou not tell you?"

The black-haired boy shook his head, "Nope, he just dragged me in here and started to go off on a tangent,"

Sachi scowled and facepalmed, "That—Urgh!"

"No wonder you were hesitant," commented Mei.

"To be honest, even if he did tell me the reason, I'd still more than likely say no," admitted Adam, leaning against the edge of a nearby desk, "I personally want to stay out of the limelight for a while, especially after yesterday's…incident. I'm sure the both of you understand more than any other else,"

A shiver ran through the girls' spines as they recalled the events from the day before.

"...T-That makes sense,"

"...You make a good point,"

"However," Adam continued, refocusing Sachi and Mei's attention, "Since we're all friends, I'm willing to hear you out,"

The two girls sighed with relief and exchanged glances. A whole conversation on 'who should tell him' had transpired within a span of a second the moment they locked eyes. It was an ability that is and will continue to be, a complete mystery to the male specimens of the human race.

With their choice made, Mei stepped forward, "Adam-san, you remember Sana from our class, right?"

The tracksuit-clad teen nodded, "Yeah, she's also a part of the Kendo Club, isn't she?"

"That's correct, but unfortunately, she sustained an ankle injury yesterday while working at the cafe,"

"I know, the class prez told me when she…," Suddenly, the lightning bolt of realization zapped through Adam's mind, "Wait a minute…this whole situation is giving me a bad case of deja vu,"

"Ahaha, please forgive me in advance," Mei softly laughed at his bemused expression with a hand over her mouth before continuing, "Then I'm sure you've figured it out already. Sana was going to compete in the tournament, but due to her unexpected, last-minute injury, she can no longer attend,"

"Her position was already finalized during the preparation week. Until the sign-ups wrapped up a few hours ago, we ensured that the final number of contestants was an even number so the competition brackets make sense and the tournament itself can progress smoothly," added Sachi.

"And now that she's dropped out from an injury, there's an empty slot, and whoever was going to be matched with her now gets a victory by default," stated Mei, "We've already discussed this among our members and agreed that it wouldn't be fair for all the other contestants, so we decided to find someone suitable to be her substitute,"

"I'm guessing that person is me," Adam concluded.

"You guessed correctly," the brunette quipped.

The black-haired teen quietly groaned and hung his head as he contemplated.

"I'm really sorry if our request burdens you," Mei apologized, dipping her head slightly, "But you really were the only option we could think of,"

"After all, you're the only trial member within the past year to actually have some skill," acknowledged Sachi, "That, along with your previous martial arts training, makes you the best candidate,"

"No, no, I get it," reassured Adam as he lifted his gaze, "Like you said, it was an unforeseen accident. This is arguably the biggest event of the festival, and now you guys are on an extremely tight time schedule to make sure it goes off without a hitch,"

He ran his hand through his hair as he considered his options; the two girls watched him silently.

Finally, he spoke, "If I do this…I just need to participate to fill in an empty slot, right? I don't need to progress super far, and I can just get eliminated in the first round?"

Mei nodded, "Well, yes. There's a set of preliminary rounds before the main bracket, and speaking from experience, not many people watch the prelims. So if you want to throw the match, then that's the best time to avoid being noticed,"

"Although, that's if your pride allows it," said Sachi.

"My pride was smashed, eviscerated, and razed to the ground yesterday," Adam blankly replied, "Personally, I have no problem eliminating myself straight away,"

"That's unfortunate," sighed Mei as she leaned to rest her head in her hands, "The Academy prepared a great amount of prize money for the winner,"

"..."

"..."

The air began to shift as if all the oxygen was drained. The room seemed to grow dimmer, making the glow in Adam's golden eyes much more profound as he looked at Mei.

An innocent smile graced the purple-haired girl's lips. It looked ordinary to most people, but he recognized that expression immediately. He had witnessed and experienced the results of it first-hand from when he was still under the tutelage of Future Mei. It was the same smile she made every time she made an offer she knew he couldn't refuse. It wasn't as refined as her future alternate self's, but it was close.

Adam furrowed his brows, "How much are we talking?"

"Seven-hundred-thousand yen," the heiress replied, "Right, Sachi?"

The brunette nodded, "Runner-up gets half that, and third-place gets one-hundred-thousand,"

"...Actually, now that I think about it… I believe I'm still behind on a month's worth of rent. The landlady was generous for giving me an extension, and I shouldn't take her kindness for granted," said Adam with a glint in his eye.

"So does that mean you'll join the competition?" asked Mei.

"Absolutely," declared Adam, springing from his feet.

"That's great!" the heiress cheered.

"What a relief," Sachi sighed, wiping fake sweat from her brow.

"But first," Adam pointed to Sora, who was still in the corner, "I gotta reunite her with her sister,"

"I can do that," offered Sachi, "I'm all set and ready to compete, but you two aren't. Mei, you still haven't gotten changed nor warmed up yet, and Adam needs to get registered,"

"Right, I'll go and do that after taking Adam-san to registration," said the purple-haired girl.

"Sora!" Adam called and waved at the little girl, beckoning her over.

She hopped down from her seat and dashed to his side, "Are we leaving now, Onii-chan?"

"Yeah," he gestured toward Sachi, "This is my friend, Sachi. She's going to take you back to your sister, okay?"

Sora looked up at the brunette and then back at Adam, "Wait, you're not coming?"

Adam shook his head, "Sorry, but I have something to do,"

"Aww," the lilac-haired child pouted.

Adam lightly laughed as he fished out the golden festival voucher from his pocket and slipped it into her grasp, "Here, take this. It still has a decent amount of credit in it, so you just focus on having a fun time with your sister, all right?"

"Can I really have this?"

The black-haired teen nodded, "Of course. It's yours now,"

"Thank you,"

"Now go on. Your sister might already be waiting for you,"

Sora slowly made her way to Sachi's side before looking back at him, "Onii-chan, will I ever see you again?"

Adam grinned and shot her a thumbs up, "Count on it,"

The slight frown Sora had quickly turned upside down as she chirped, "It's a deal then!"

Just before Sachi and Sora walked out the door and into the hallway, the little girl turned back one last time and waved.

"Bye, Onii-chan!"

"Later," Adam waved back until the door slid shut.

Quaint silence filled the room briefly until Mei broke the ice.

"Shall we get going too?"

"Yeah, let's go,"

Their footsteps echoed as they traversed the gymnasium's hallways, making small talk as they headed to their destination.

"So, how did you get to know Miyuki's little sister? You two seem pretty close,"

"I met her a few weeks ago when I had to deliver some study material to Miyuki's house. As for why we're close…I guess...it's a bit complicated,"

"How so? Wait, you're not actually related, are you?"

"What? No, haha. It's a little more complicated than that, so I'll tell you another time,"

"It's fine, I'm just a little curious…wait, hold on…are you and Miyuki…perhaps…dating?"

"Wait! What?! No! I don't even have her number…and she's not even my type,"

"...Hmm, then… What is your type?"

Adam choked on his spit the moment he heard her.

"I…don't know,"

Mei raised a brow, "You don't know?"

"...Yes,"

"I don't believe that one bit. Everyone has one,"

"Really? Then, why don't you tell me yours,"

"...Mine?"

"Mhm, ladies first, right?"

"How chivalrous of you,"

"Yep, and I'm rarely ever chivalrous, so you better take this opportunity before it disappears forever,"

"Hmm…oh well," Mei shrugged and giggled, "I guess neither of us will ever know,"

Adam chuckled, "I'm fine with that,"

"Hey, I have one request though," he said as a thought crossed his mind.

"What is it?"

"Since I don't want anyone finding out it's me competing, can I wear a mask?"

Mei thought for a few seconds before replying, "Yes, I'm pretty sure most contestants will be wearing helmets seeing as it is a weapon tournament, so a mask should be fine,"

"And can I also change my name? For the tournament, I mean?"

"Yes, that's fine too. There are some… 'interesting' titles among the contestants, so a name change isn't uncommon," divulged Mei, "What were you thinking of changing it to?"

"I don't know yet, but I don't want it to be too flashy or too lame…something that isn't particularly memorable,"

Adam suddenly snapped his fingers.

"I've got it!"

---

[ No.200! No.200! Please report to Ring Three for your final preliminary match! ]

"...What happened to my perfectly mundane and NPC-styled name?"

Adam looked down at the slip of paper he was holding; the number two hundred was written on it with a marker pen.

Mei laughed lightly at his disappointed face, "Ahaha, sorry for not telling you earlier. Due to the high amount of contestants, we decided to only use their names for the main tournament. It saves us time when calculating the results of the prelims. Anyway, I've passed all my matches so I'm going back to the waiting room. Good luck with yours,"

"...But I put so much thought into that name," groaned the black-haired boy as he trudged toward his match.

The rowdy gymnasium hall was now packed full of tournament participants. Six large mats had been laid out evenly across the hall specifically for the preliminary portion of the competition. Every once in a while, a group of medics would charge in with a stretcher and carry a battered and bruised body out while the victor roared with triumph as the onlookers either cheered or booed. The ear-throbbing sound of cracking and smashing rang all throughout the hall as body armor collided and sturdy wooden weapons smacked fiercely against each other.

"Sorry I'm late. I was on the other side of the hall," said Adam as he stepped onto the mats.

"You're lucky. Another ten seconds and you would've been disqualified for being a no-show," the volunteer judge of Ring Three told him.

"About time," his opponent growled.

The tracksuit-clad teenager simply shrugged as he cooly prepared himself. His opponent was twice his size in height and weight, wearing full kendo body armor and wielding a long bokken.

All Adam had were the clothes on his body and a spare bamboo training sword that Mei had lent him.

"Ready?" the judge raised his arm and glanced at both of them. They responded with curt nods, and he signaled, "Fight!"

The bulky kendo practitioner scoffed as he scrutinized Adam, "You call that a stance, boy? Your guard is down, your eyes are somewhere else, and your focus is lost. How you even made it to the preliminary finals is beyond me,"

"Prize money," he answered, "It's very good motivation,"

"So you're in it for the cash. Not for honor or pride," The man scowled as he raised his wooden blade, "You are an embarrassment to us martial artists, and I feel insulted being paired against you. I shall end you with one quick—!"

Before he could finish his sentence, a foot slammed into his face sending him spinning into the crowd and nearly knocking other contestants over like bowling pins.

"Out of bounds! No.200 wins and will proceed to the main event!" the judge announced as he scribbled the result onto a clipboard.

"I'm hungry," Adam murmured to himself as he calmly walked past the unconscious body of his former opponent.

The noise of the preliminary matches was drowned out as soon as Adam exited the main hall. It was a quick trip back to the contestant's waiting room. A few people were inside; most were strangers, but the familiar faces sitting in a corner greeted him brightly and waved him over.

"How'd you go?" asked Sachi as she motioned for him to sit with them.

"I passed," Adam replied, lowering himself to the timber floor.

"That's wonderful!" cheered Mei.

"I always knew you had it in you, newbie!" Ichirou hollered as he cried tears of joy, "To think you came to us two weeks ago knowing absolutely nothing, and now you've made it into the main tournament! Bwaaaaa! You make me so proud!"

"Ah…It's nothing, really," Adam sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I don't have to fight using Kendo rules, so it frees me up a lot,"

"You didn't even use the bokken Mei gave you," mentioned Sachi, "I watched a majority of your prelim matches, and you just kicked all of them,"

"Still, it's an achievement nonetheless," said Mei.

"A win is a win," Ichirou stated.

"So, did all of you make it as well?" Adam asked, eliciting simultaneous nods from the three of them.

"Yep,"

"No doubt,"

"Of course,"

"Then that means, at some point, we'll be going against each other,"

"Scared, Adam?" Sachi smirked teasingly.

"You wish. I'll just end up kicking you around too," he answered with a smug grin.

"Ha! We'll see if that smile is still on your face when we're in the ring,"

"Hey, let's make an agreement," Mei suddenly spoke up.

They all turned their attention to her, "What sort of agreement?"

"When we're matched against each other, both sides must give it their all, no holding back, okay?"

Ichirou and Sachi both smirked.

"I'm down for that,"

"I expect nothing less,"

Then they looked at Adam with expectant eyes. The boy stared back for a few seconds before he exhaled and agreed, "Got it,"

"It's a deal then," smiled Mei.

Time ticked by, and more and more contestants returned to the waiting room. As the three Kendo Club members began chatting amongst each other, Adam shifted his seated position until he was leaning against the wall. His golden eyes swept across the newly formed crowd, not searching for anyone in particular.

Soon enough, several staff members came by, announcing that the Chiba Academy Tournament was starting very shortly and for all the passing contestants to follow them to a separate waiting area as they finalized the matchup bracket.

Sixteen people filtered out of the room. They all came from different paths of life, different occupations, genders, and martial arts styles. But they all had one thing in common. They were united under the desire for a taste of victory.

---

Neon spotlights flashed brightly as they zoomed all over the place.

The roaring clamor of the audience filled the arena, drowning any sound from the outside.

Cameramen set up their devices, and security did a final round of patrol.

A giant monitor descended from the ceiling displaying a countdown from ten to zero.

The cheering only got louder as all the spotlights focused on the center of the ring. Rock music blared from every speaker when someone took to the stage.

With slicked-back blonde hair and donning a snazzy black suit, a red necktie, and a pair of sunglasses.

He was the Tournament Announcer.

Flashing a confident, toothy smirk, he twirled the microphone around in one hand and tossed it in the air before catching it with the other.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Do you loooove martial arts!?"

"Yeaah!"

"I can't hear you!"

"YEAAAAHH!"

"That's more like it! And now…I hereby welcome all of you… To the very first Chiba Academy All-Weapon-Style Tournament!"

The entire hall erupted in a thundering chorus of applause and cheers. The announcer waited for them to settle before continuing.

"Two hundred people signed on to compete, but only the mightiest made it through the preliminary rounds. Today all of you martial arts fans will witness… A total of sixteen talented individuals battle it out for the title of Champion and the grand prize of 700,000 Yen!"

"The rules of the tournament are simple. If you are knocked unconscious, stay down for ten counts, surrender, or knocked out of the ring, then you are disqualified! Now without further ado… LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"

Further inside the gymnasium, the roaring of the audience could clearly be heard in the finalists' waiting area. The sixteen contestants were currently preparing for their impending fights by stretching or meditating while a small handful tried to intimidate each other.

"Looks like we're the only ones from the club to make it," Mei commented as she looked around.

"Yeah," Ichirou nodded, "I watched some of these guys' preliminary fights, and I hafta say…they're good, really good,"

"Well, that's what happens when the competition is open to the public," said Sachi, "You're bound to invite some tough adversaries,"

"Heh, still, we can't tarnish our club's name at an event we organized," the gray-haired club leader smirked and rubbed his nose, "The four of us are the best our team has to offer, we've been crowned champions at numerous other tournaments, and this one won't be any different,"

Sachi chuckled, "Well said, you actually sounded like a true Club President there,"

"Hey!"

"But yeah, you're right," the brunette continued, folding her arms, "One of us will definitely be taking the top spot,"

"Technically, I'm not part of the team though," Adam quipped.

"Oh, hush. You've been promoted to official Kendo Club member just for this tournament," Sachi replied.

"Well, at least we won't be fighting each other in the first round," said Mei as she looked at the completed tournament bracket on a nearby board, "But after that…."

All of a sudden, she was interrupted when the door slid open, and a staff member walked in.

"Excuse me, can the first two fighters follow me to the arena? Your match is about to begin!" the staff member stated.

Sword in hand, Adam got to his feet and he put on his mask, "Well, looks like I'm up,"

The kendo club trio wasted no time in happily urging him on.

"Good luck out there,"

"Break a leg,"

"Give 'em a good show,"

Without looking back, Adam threw them a quick V-sign as he left the room.

The crowd's excitement got louder and louder the closer he got to the arena's entrance. He almost stepped into the spotlight before a nearby staff member told him to wait until the announcer called his name.

"All right, for the first round, we start off big! We start off strong! He's the winner of multiple wrestling and jiu-jitsu tournaments, including last year's national championships, and even owns an Olympic Gold Medal! A fierce fighter who's a master of grappling and has recently gotten into weapon combat. Please welcome to the stage… The BEAR!"

Even under the blaring hurrahs of the audience, the Bear's stomps could still be heard as he marched into the ring. Upon seeing his physical build, members of the crowd who were new to the martial arts world began to whisper amongst each other.

"Damn, do you see that guy? He's huge!"

"That guy can probably touch the ceiling with his skull,"

"No wonder he's called the Bear. He probably choke-slams them for fun,"

"Is he even allowed to compete? He's got like forty years of experience, and some of the other participants are high schoolers,"

"Man, do I feel bad for his opponent,"

"And now, the fighter who will be facing him is a new face in the realm of combat sports. Or perhaps not, since he wears a mask to hide his identity! Rumor has it that this young man scored a whopping nine thousand points on the infamous festival punch machine earlier today!"

"It's true! I saw it!"

"Thank you for your input, random audience member three hundred and sixty-nine! But now, let's not waste any more time and welcome him to the ring! The one… The only… The mysterious…"

"TRACKSUIT GUY!"

---

…

…

…

"UUWOOGAHH!"

The Bear screamed as he rag-dolled through the air and crashed head-first into the ground. A medic that was close by rushed to his side and inspected him for a moment before giving a hand-sign signal to the announcer.

"Ooh! Out of the ring and out cold! With a single, powerful spinning hook kick, Tracksuit Guy is the winner!"

Adam slowly lowered his outstretched leg before leaving the stage. The cheers he earned followed him as he exited the main hall.

"Nicely done, newbie,"

The black-haired teen looked up to see Ichirou heading his way.

"You're up next, Ichirou-senpai?"

"Yep," The gray-haired third-year replied while fixing his red bandana.

"Good luck," said Adam before he continued on his way.

"Thanks," Ichirou dipped his head. But just before he entered the spotlight, he called out to him, "Hey, newbie!"

Adam glanced back.

Ichirou pointed his fist at him and declared with a confident smirk, "I'll see you in the second round,"

Adam simply nodded, and the two males departed to separate destinations.

---

It felt as if time flew by quickly, and the first rounds of the tournament had come to a conclusion. Eight contestants were eliminated, while another eight advanced.

In the finalists' waiting zone, Adam watched as the brackets were updated for the next batch of matchups. Unsurprisingly, he, Mei, Sachi, and Ichirou all made it through, and soon enough…

"ARE YOU REAAADYYYYY!?

"WOOOO HOOOO! YEAAAAAAHHH!"

"All right, ladies and gentlemen! I'm sure you're blood is already pumping from the fights we just witnessed. But I can assure you that these next rounds will make you shake with excitement like a rabbit that's eaten a block of sugar! Because now, we have entered… The quarter-finals!"

"I don't think any of us can wait any longer, so let's get this show on the road! The first match of the quarter-finals is going to be a crazy one indeed, as both contestants took out their previous opponents in a single strike!"

The announcer pressed a button on his mic, and profile photos of Tracksuit Guy and Ichirou appeared on the giant screen above the stage with a 'VS' boldly plastered in between them.

"In this corner, we have the president of Chiba Academy's legendary Kendo Club, winner of the 38th Nagazora's annual Card Game tournament, expert drummer, king of rhythm games, beetle trainer, beetle battler, possibly the next Beetle Bash Champion, bean hater, and the Academy's resident male heartthrob!" The announcer energetically pointed towards one end of the stage, "Why-is-his-introduction-so-long? ARATAKI ICHIROU!"

Intense rock music blasted out of every speaker as the gray-haired third-year marched toward the stage. He raised his arms triumphantly as if he had already won the entire competition and ascended the stairs to the elevated ring. His self-confidence was not lost, as many in the crowd cheered for him on his way up.

"In the other corner, we have someone equally as extraordinary. If the rumors are true, then this mystery fighter has taken out every single one of his opponents up until now with just a single kick! Not once has he used his bamboo sword, but will that change in this round?! Well, we'll find out soon enough; let's welcome him back to the stage… TRACKSUIT GUY!"

Once again, rock music echoed throughout the hall as Tracksuit Guy calmly strode into view. It seemed that rock music was the only genre of music available for the tournament since the budget was spent on everything else. But no one paid it any mind as all of their attention was locked onto the red-clad, black-haired teenager strutting onto the stage.

With the two contestants now face-to-face, the tournament announcer came between them.

"I'm sure I don't have to explain the rules to you anymore. Fighters ready?"

Ichirou gestured to Adam…Tracksuit Guy, with his chin, "Remember the agreement we made newbie. No holding back. Go hard or go home; let's give the people a show,"

"Of course," Tracksuit Guy replied and gave the announcer the signal with a slight nod of his head.

"Then let's…BEGIN!"

The announcer speedily left the stage, leaving the two of them staring each other down.

"I'll confess, newbie," Ichirou pointed his bokken at Tracksuit Guy before sliding into a standard, kendo fighting stance, "Ever since you showed up to trial our club that day, I knew you had talent, and I've always wanted to fight you. I was a little upset when you decided that you weren't going to join, but now, those feelings have gone out the window, thanks to this opportunity! Right here, right now, let's see who's strongest!"

'Why does he sound as if he just came out of a high school battle anime?' thought Tracksuit Guy as he shifted into a light, comfortable stance.

"Let's do this!" Ichirou let out a battle cry and charged forward like a bull seeing red.

To the average person, he was going fast, as fast as professional, Olympic athletes, if not faster. But in Tracksuit Guy's eyes, it was as if Ichirou was merely frolicking toward him.

'Sorry, Ichirou-senpai. But that prize money is mine,'

In a split second, with two kicks, Ichirou glided through the air and landed out-of-bounds. The audience went silent from their bewilderment, as none of them knew what had just happened. Thankfully, it was all caught on a conveniently installed, slow-motion camera, revealing that Tracksuit Guy had first dropped to the ground and cleanly swept the larger male off his feet before delivering a roundhouse kick to his side, sending him off the stage.

The tournament announcer, however, was completely unbothered. With an exuberant grin, he continued to comment.

"Out. Of. The. Ring! Tracksuit Guy wins and advances to the Semi-Finals!"

---

By the time the Quarter-Finals ended and the Semis were underway, the sun had already dipped halfway below the horizon, drowning all of Nagazora in deep, warm hues. On an average day, this was when most people would commute home or to another workplace, filling the streets with all sorts of people. The streets of the district that Chiba Academy called home were empty; however, the school itself was packed more than it was in the day.

Illuminated by sparkling lights and flooded with delicious fragrances, the Cultural Festival raged on as more and more civilians joined the festivities, and the bustle increased tenfold.

Amongst the crowd, and unseen by all eyes, something was weaving its way through the sea of people.

A small, dark, spherical shadow zipped from stall to stall. Occasionally, it would stop to survey its surroundings before continuing on its path. With a single leap, it traveled fifty times its body length and landed softly on a tree branch.

From its perch, it spotted its target.

A candy apple.

The booth selling them was merely another jump away, but before it could make its move, it scouted out the area with its eyes. It had to be wary. Revealing itself to the humans was the last thing it wanted.

To safely and successfully liberate the sugar-glazed apple from the clutches of human possession. That was its current, most important mission. Tailing the suspicious boy with traces of Sky People energy could wait a little longer.

It looked down to check if its invisibility was still activated, and as soon as the coast was clear, the fuzzy gray ball dived forward, gliding through the air until it landed with a soft, near-inaudible thud atop the stall's tarp roof.

Without wasting another second, it slid off the roof and down one of the supporting beams before hopping onto the glass box that contained the objective.

Now came the tricky part…extraction.

But instead of feeling pressure, the fuzzy gray sphere smirked. This wasn't the first time it stole from humans, and it most definitely wouldn't be its last.

Faster than the blink of an eye, it snatched up the roundest, shiniest, and sweetest of all the candy apples before disappearing into the night.

Not a single human noticed a thing.

Back on the tree branch, the tiny, fuzzy sphere snickered from success as it twirled the candy apple around its body.

[ How Peppermint got fooled by one of these primitive species is beyond me. ] The little, gray puffball thought.

[ Hmph, whatever, his death was his own fault. He should've selected a better host, someone that's worthy of our power and shows promise… a bit like that Shigure Kira girl Molass adopted a while back. ]

Suddenly, it opened its mouth, stretching so wide that it was twice its body size, and devoured the candy apple in one gulp.

[ Now…] The puffball spat out the stick before it looked around, mapping out its next route, [ Where's that boy? ]

---

Meanwhile, inside the arena, the energetic aura generated by the tournament never wavered a single bit. The audience roared with words of encouragement as two girls duked it out on stage.

The rapid, thundering clacks of bokken smashing against bokken echoed through the arena. Neither side relented to the other, and their focus was solely on eliminating the other. For what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, Mei and Sachi clashed in the center of the ring before separating again.

Inside the finalists' waiting room, Adam quietly watched the match between the Kendo Club's two best swordswomen on the screen. From most people's perspective, the two were evenly matched, and it could still go either way, but with his trained eyes, Adam could see the truth.

He had to admit, her form and basics were excellent, and it was clear that she trained hard to gain her current level of skill, but with each second, the longer the round dragged on, Sachi was slowly but surely weakening. Her muscles were unnecessarily tenser, her steps were less coordinated, and her stances began to lose balance. The fight was quickly getting more and more intense, with neither of them letting up and continuing to release a series of onslaughts on one another. Adam knew that it was only a matter of time before…

"OHH! Kuki Sachi has fallen off the ring! The winner is Raiden Mei!"

Even in the waiting room, the black-haired teen could clearly hear the cheering of thousands of fans and supporters. His own Semi-Final match didn't even get that much attraction, but thinking back on it, that was probably his own fault. The opponent he was matched with wielded a naginata polearm, but that meant nothing as the tracksuit-clad teen quickly, and quite literally kicked them out of the competition before speeding off the stage.

"All right folks, I know we're all stoked to start the final round, but we will have a forty-five-minute intermission. Until then, all you martial arts fans!"

The rattling of the door made Adam's head turn. An all too familiar face appeared as Mei entered the room, wiping the sweat off her face with a towel.

"Congrats on making it into the finals. That was a great match," praised the black-haired boy.

"Thanks," said Mei, fetching a cup of water from the dispenser next to the entrance and downing it all at once. A content sigh escaped her lips as she dropped the paper cup into the bin, "Haah~, that's a lot better,"

Looking around, the heiress realized that the two of them were the only ones in the room. All the other former finalists had either left or were currently being treated by the medics in a separate location.

"So we're the only ones left," Mei pointed out, and her lips grew a slight smirk, "Call me crazy, but I always knew that it would come down to the two of us,"

"How so?" asked an intrigued Adam.

"Because my father wouldn't hire just anyone to be my bodyguard," she earnestly replied, looking directly into his eyes.

Unable to hold the gaze of his mentor's younger self, Adam broke away and cleared his throat, "That's it? I thought it was going to be a more intricate reasoning. Something like: you've run hundreds of simulations in your head, and this was the most common outcome,"

"Ahaha," she giggled before spinning around and gently tracing her finger over the door handle.

"...Perhaps there is another reason," the heiress added softly.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Nothing!" replied Mei as she slid open the door, "I'm going to go check up on Sachi and Ichirou-senpai at the infirmary, so I guess I'll see you in a bit,"

"Like I have a choice," the black-haired teen playfully snickered.

The heiress returned his smile with her own before leaving the room, making Adam the only one left inside.

Almost on instinct, he fished his phone out of his pocket and returned to lying in his comfortable spot in the corner. But his parched throat was irritating him, and moments later, he found himself outside the tournament venue searching for a less populated vending machine.

He wasn't worried about going far, seeing as he still had plenty of time to make it back, and eventually, he wound up on a quiet street outside of the Academy. Small flying insects began to congregate around the street lights that gave the pathway are warm glow. With the sun now fully set, the Autumn breeze that blew by was colder than before. A pair of vending machines stood by the sidewalk, casting an electrical luminescence in the air surrounding them. Said light of one of the machines was shadowed as Adam appeared in front of it, perusing the options.

An audible clunk later, the teenager reached in and retrieved his bottle of water.

The chirping of cicadas softly resounded through the air as well as the rustling of the trees from a gentle gust of wind. Being further away from the school, the sounds of the festival were rather muffled, allowing for some peace and quiet in the atmosphere… Which made the tapping of approaching footsteps even more evident.

Adam glanced at the source of the footsteps.

It was a young male the same height and presumably the same age as himself, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, gray sweatpants, a black cap, and a dark face mask similar to the one Adam wore throughout the day.

The black-haired teenager's golden eyes flicked from the newcomer to the vending machine and back to the masked male.

"Oh, sorry," Realizing that he was blocking one of the vending machines, he stepped back and gestured for the stranger to go ahead.

Instead, the white-clad newcomer just stood there, motionless.

"Can I help you?" asked Adam as he subtly shifted his feet to a more action-ready stance, just in case the unknown man tried anything funny.

"Sorry about that," the masked teen finally spoke and strolled up to the vending machine, "I was just deciding what to get,"

"...Ah, okay," Adam's allowed his sight to linger on the stranger before beginning his trek back to the tournament venue, 'So it was nothing after all,'

"Hey, Tracksuit Guy,"

The black-haired boy froze and turned around after hearing his newest moniker being called by the masked teen. Upon a second inspection, Adam couldn't shake off the growing feeling that there was something strange about this person…strangely familiar, no less. Whatever it was, if he wasn't on guard before, he definitely was now.

"Yes?" he warily replied.

"I just wanted to say congratulations for making it to the finals," the unknown young man applauded. Just from the tone of his voice, one could tell he was hiding a smile behind his mask, "I guess you could call me a fan. It was fun watching you fight,"

"Oh," Adam uttered, slightly loosening his muscles and dropping his guard, "Thanks,"

"It's nothing; I give praise where it's due. It's clear that you're on another level compared to the other contestants," stated the masked stranger, "You're good, really, but you could be better,"

"...What do you mean?"

"When you kick, you transfer too much of your weight to your attacking leg, leaving you open to counter-sweeps," he explained, "I don't know if it's because you were holding back, but you also left your arms hanging down by your side too much, which hinders your balance and opens yourself to surprise attacks. You also have a habit of not turning your hips fully or fast enough when you kick, which can severely lower its power,"

'What the—? …I hate to admit it, but that's what Master Hua always told me,' Adam's eyes twitched as he held back the expression of suspicion forming on his face.

"You seem to know quite a bit about martial arts," assessed the black-haired teen, "Do you practice, too?"

The white-clad young man chuckled and bobbed his head, "Something like that,"

"Anyway, I won't keep you here any longer. I need to get going, and you need to return to the venue, wouldn't want to be late for the finals after all," The masked teen turned on his heels and began to saunter away into the darkening horizon, "It's a shame that I won't be able to watch the match, but I guess it's pointless since I already know the result. I have confidence that you'll emerge victorious, Tracksuit Guy,"

Adam remained rooted to his spot, watching the unknown teenager like a hawk. Only when he became a speck in the distance did Adam begin his short journey back to the gymnasium.

"...That was weird,"

---

…

…

…

"ARE YOU REAAADYYY?!"

Booming cheers and spirited screams of encouragement erupted from the massive audience. The neon spotlights zipped all across the arena akin to a nightclub, and music blasted from the speakers.

As the tournament announcer hyped up the crowd, the two finalists, Adam and Mei, headed towards their respective entry points, passing by each other in the middle of the hallway.

They exchanged a brief glance and a curt nod as the staff ushered them to their stations.

"Adam-san,"

The black-haired boy paused, turned around, and saw Mei standing behind him with an outstretched hand.

"Let's both do our best, okay?" she said with a kind and determined smile.

Adam blinked and peered at her inviting palm for a second before shaking off his stupor and accepting her gesture.

"Got it,"

With that, the two contestants parted ways.

It was a weird feeling to be going up against the younger self of his Squad Leader. That was one thing he couldn't deny, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. He was worried, to say the least. Even though he knew that the Raiden Mei of his timeline and the Raiden Mei of this one were essentially two different people, in his mind, it was excruciatingly difficult to separate them and recognize them as their own person. How could he not? They shared the same face, name, and voice. The only thing that distinguished them was their experiences.

It was a concerning possibility that at some point during their upcoming bout, his brain would suddenly stop perceiving the current Mei as herself and instead replace her with the future S-Rank Valkyrie that he trained under. This would, in turn, trigger Adam's body to go on autopilot, with his muscle memory kicking in to reenact every spar he had with the Herrscher of Thunder. It was safe to say that no normal human, not even professional athletes, could keep up with the speed, strength, and precision utilized in that level of combat.

No matter how much he desired that juicy prize money, accidentally overpowering and humiliating Mei in front of the entire school and what felt like half of Nagazora's population was the very last thing he wanted.

But even with all those thoughts weighing him down, Adam still had confidence that he could make it work; to achieve victory without risking his or Mei's reputation.

The key was to give the crowd a good show. If he wanted to win, he had to at least make Mei lose prettily and respectfully.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, after a series of spectacular rounds of combat, I hereby announce that, at long last, we have made it to the finals!"

The crowd resounded with roaring energy, and the tournament commentator continued.

"I'm sure that none of you want to hear me talk any longer and to get on with the match! I have to say, I feel the exact same way! So without further ado, let's wholeheartedly welcome our finalists to the stage!"

"On one side, we have the mysterious, masked newcomer wearing red and white, who swept through all of his competition like a wildfire in a dry field of grass. In the short amount of time in which he had made his appearance, he has garnered a good number of new fans. No doubt, thanks to his impeccable strategy of just punting his opponents out of the ring! Basic? Yes! Kinda boring? Yes! Super Effective? Absolutely! We'll see if his legs continue to fly or if he'll finally put that bamboo sword he's been holding for the past three hours to good use! Give it up for… TRACKSUIT GUY!"

On cue, every spotlight congregated by the entryway, and the rock music was cranked up to eleven as Tracksuit Guy marched towards the stage. All the while, his newly-formed Fanclub began chanting his name and even waved unique banners that were evidently made last-minute, as one could tell if they looked close enough and saw the still-wet paint slowly trickling down a hastily-drawn, romance-manga-styled portrait.

"Tracksuit Guy! Tracksuit Guy! Tracksuit Guy! Tracksuit Guy! Tracksuit Guy!"

Down below, Adam did his best to tune them out and exhaled when he ultimately couldn't. There was nothing he could do about it, and eventually, he accepted the consequences of choosing that name.

'...This feels weird, but I'll allow it,'

As soon as he jumped onto the stage, the announcer took it as a sign to keep going.

"On the other…well, I question if she even needs an introduction! Winner of multiple Kendo Championships, both national and international! She strikes as fast as lightning and as hard as thunder! The living definition of a storm that is approaching! Chiba Academy and Nagazora's own electrifying… RAIDEN MEI!"

If the audience wasn't excited before, they certainly were now. Adam almost had to block his ears from how loud the audience was as it was more than twice as loud as his own introduction. Energized screaming resounded from all angles, some fans bawling their eyes out at the sight of their idol while others frantically waved their Raiden Mei banners, which were crafted by her passionate and borderline stalkerish Fanclub, who had shamelessly changed their title to the 'Raiden Mei-sama is going to win anyway' Club…at least just for the day.

Adam swore he even heard a worrying number of "I love you" being thrown around the venue from both males and females alike.

The purple-haired girl, now fully equipped in her kendo gear, holding her helmet and bokken by her side, walked down the lane to the stage with an air of calmness and elegance. Utterly unbothered by the racket of the crowd.

How the heiress dealt with this on the regular, Adam would never know, but he respected her for it.

In a matter of seconds, the two of them were face to face in the ring, the announcer a few feet away.

"AAALLL RIIIIGGHHT! Let's get this final match underway!" The announcer stuck his arm between them, glancing at the two as he did so, searching for the confirmation to begin, "Fighters ready?"

Adam gave him a curt nod.

Mei scanned the black-haired teen from head to toe before raising her hand, "Excuse me, could we wait just a few seconds?"

"Huh?" The announcer scrunched his brows in confusion, "Uh…Sure,"

"Thank you," was all the heiress replied as she placed her bamboo blade on the ground.

Gasps and other sounds of surprise echoed through the hall as Mei removed every bit of her armor and, along with her helmet, rolled them off the side of the stage. Now, the only thing she wore was the standard cloth uniform of a kendo practitioner. Fixing her sleeves, she made her way back to the center of the ring and picked her sturdy wooden blade off the ground.

"Sorry for the wait," she politely dipped her head at the announcer, then straightened up to look at Adam with an expression of determination, "I'm ready now,"

"Uh…okay… Oh! That's it! Raiden Mei must've seen the lack of physical protection on her opponent, so she willingly shed her armor so they could have a fair match! What kindness! What humbleness! What—!"

"Could we start?" Adam interrupted.

"A-Ahem…! Yes, of course! Now let's get this show started! Ready….?" the tournament announcer quickly scurried off the ring and to the safety of his viewing counter.

"FIGHT!"

Immediately, both of them shifted into their fighting stance.

Neither of them moved as they carefully observed the opposition. When one moved, the other mirrored their action, and soon they circled each other.

Silence fell upon the arena as the audience held their breath.

Anticipation clawed at both finalists until finally...

*CLACK*

Mei rushed in first, swinging for the head only to get blocked by Adam. The boy parried it away and went for a swift offensive strike which the heiress slipped away from just in time.

Then without wasting an extra second, Mei pivoted and went for a backhand slash to Adam's open back. But at the very last second, without looking, the black-haired teen swung his arm around his head and deflected her hit.

Seeing her attack fail, Mei stepped back to a safe distance, as did Adam.

The boy did not give her a chance to recover her breath and dashed forward. Mei saw him closing in quickly and reacted just as fast, raising her bamboo sword to intercept the incoming attack. Not even a split-second later, she realized her mistake. It was feint, and she fell for it.

Adam directed his swing into a wide arc, using the momentum to spin himself as he dropped to the ground. With the bokken close to his body, he lashed out his leg for a back sweep.

A thud rang through the arena as Mei fell to the ground. She didn't allow the tumble to deter her for long and immediately flipped back onto her feet.

Shocked gasps rippled across the audience. They were not expecting their resident Queen of Lightning to be the first one to get hit. But upon seeing her fast recovery, the gasps soon loudened into whispers, then erupted into a loud chorus of whistles and cheers.

Underneath all that noise, Adam could still hear some of his fans loyally chanting his stage name.

Wordlessly, Mei nodded to Adam, signaling that she was good to continue. In response, the black-haired teen shifted his stance, and Mei did the same as they readied themselves for round two.

This time, Mei remained still, watching Adam with hawk-like eyes. Any movement, no matter how small, would not escape her sight. It was almost as if she was beckoning him to make the first move, and the boy gladly accepted the offer.

The sharp crack of wood-on-wood collision resounded through the arena. The two fighters were stuck in a struggle for strength to overpower the other while their weapons were still connected.

Mei clenched her teeth and gripped the ground with her toes as she steadily pushed forward.

Adam, on the other hand, was playing along with her decision. Relaxing his muscles just slightly to make it seem she was gradually gaining an edge and making it seem like he wasn't holding back against her.

Eventually, the purple-haired girl was able to push him back and refused him a chance to regain his footing as she unleashed a fierce flurry of blows so fast that they were near invisible to the average human's eyes.

Unfortunately, her opponent was far from ordinary and parried every single one of her strikes with pinpoint accuracy.

Their rapid, repeated clashes almost sounded like a machine gun with the speed they were going at.

Finally, the barrage came to an end when Mei suddenly reversed her grip and hooked her blade around Adam's, catching him off guard. In his half-second daze, Mei pushed down as she leaped into the air.

Her shin came smashing into the side of his face as she successfully connected a jumping roundhouse kick.

Even Adam stumbled back a bit from that strike. He rubbed his cheek, looking at Mei, who had a proud grin etched across her face.

Under his mask, the black-haired teen mirrored her smile and respectfully nodded his head. He had genuinely not expected that kick at all.

Seeing Mei's counterattack, the crowd went wild. But neither contestant paid them any mind. At this moment, every noise that came from outside the ring had been tuned out.

Luminous gold met gleaming purple, and with a single look into each other's eyes, they knew that the third and final round of their fight had just begun.

Dust burst from the ring's floor as the two kicked off and rushed toward each other.

Mei aimed for the head, but Adam ducked under.

Adam went for her abdomen, but Mei parried it away.

The black-haired teen followed up a downward arc and horizontal slice, only for the heiress to evade the first and block the next.

The purple-haired girl immediately countered with an upward slash, which was revealed to be a feint as she used the borrowed momentum to swiftly transition into a snappy spinning hook kick that hit nothing but the air.

Clash after clash.

Parry after parry.

Counter after counter.

The two finalists relentlessly exchanged blows for what felt like an hour when in actuality, only a few minutes had passed. Watching the fierce bout on stage, the amazed audience began to get more and more hyped up until they began loudly chanting the two martial artists' names.

In response to the invigorating cries of the crowd, the two seemed to only get faster and fiercer. Strikes rained down upon strikes, waiting for the opponent to slip so they could deliver the finishing blow.

And at last, that opportunity came for but one of them.

The sweat pooling up on the stage was a hazard, as Mei had discovered the hard way. One step, a single unlucky step at the wrong spot, was all it took for her guard to break.

A gasp escaped her lips as she felt herself slip mid-strike. It took flexing all of her core and leg muscles to stabilize herself, but by then, it was too late.

Adam saw the opportunity and lunged.

With an uppercut slash, his bamboo blade slammed into Mei's torso, launching her up into the air.

Her weapon slipped out of her grasp. The purple-haired girl coughed up saliva as she felt the simultaneous sensation of pain radiating through her abdomen and being lifted off the ground.

Adam's body moved on its own. He had no need to think about the next set of movements as he had repeated them over and over and over so many times that the particular combo was ingrained in his nervous system.

Much to the shock of every single viewer, he leaped and soared above the still-ascending Mei. The blade was prepped behind him, and he tightened his core for the moment he felt himself descend…was the moment he unleashed his attack.

Like a hurricane, he whirled violently through the air directly toward the purple-haired girl.

When his sharp, focused gaze spotted Mei's horrified expression, time, all of a sudden, seemed to slow.

'Hey…Squad Leader, what's with that face? Why aren't you fighting back? You always find a way to counter this, don't you? So why aren't you doing anything this time? Come on, Squad Leader, do something…if you don't, this will really hurt… Squad Leader? Squad Leader Mei, seriously why aren't you? …Wait…no, Mei!'

Snapping back into reality, Adam realized that his worst concern prior to the final match had just occurred. At some point during their bout, his mind had mixed this Mei with the future version, and his body adapted to the circumstances.

Thinking quick, the black-haired teen gritted his teeth and tensed every single muscle in his body in an attempt to redirect himself.

Mei dropped to the stage first, dazed but mostly okay.

The purple-haired heiress and most of the spectators flinched a split second later as the loudest, most ear-piercing crack permeated through the gymnasium.

Silence followed, and the only thing one could hear was Adam's shaky huffing; he was crouched over and holding his bokken that had now snapped in two. The other end had gone over the stage.

Mei, who was also breathing deeply from the fight, stared at him in astonishment.

It was a very subtle action, but she could see the boy turning his head ever so slightly, flicking his gaze to meet hers, and giving her a short, almost unnoticeable nod.

Her purple eyes widened as she instantly understood what he meant. There was a small moment of hesitation before Mei leaped onto her feet and snatched up her fallen sword.

With a final battle cry, Mei swept up and slammed her bokken into Adam's side. The boy watched and made no attempt to avoid or deflect it, allowing himself to be sent flying off the stage, crashing into the ground and rolling until he reached the commentator's counter.

The tournament announcer recoiled in surprise before standing up to peer over his table, only to see Adam lying there, looking back at him blankly. The boy let out a sigh as he rolled over onto his front and closed his eyes for extra effect.

It was as if the entire audience froze, and a few more seconds of silence went by until…

"R-R-Ring out!" The announcer sprung up and loudly declared, "Tracksuit Guy has fallen off the stage, which makes Raiden Mei the winner of the very first Chiba Academy Open Tournament!"

The crowd went wild, and their overly excited screams were deafening.

Mei wiped the sweat off her face and took several deep breaths to calm herself before cordially bowing and waving to the cheering spectators.

When she turned to check on Adam, he was no longer on the ground. The heiress whipped her head around to try to find him and finally, amongst the packed, exhilarating atmosphere, spotted the tracksuit-clad teen quietly slipping out of the venue.

---

A content exhale left his lips after gulping down the last bit of water in his bottle.

Adam tossed the empty plastic bottle into a nearby recycling bin and stretched his arms. Although he was on the rooftop of the main academy building, where he was less likely to be found by casual festival-goers, he still removed his mask and tied his tracksuit around his waist lest he was recognized.

He stretched his arms, releasing the tension in his muscles as he absentmindedly gazed up at the nocturnal sky. The light of the full moon had drowned out the shine of the stars. With nothing else left to do at the festival, the black-haired teen decided to head home for the night. He didn't even take two steps before a familiar face appeared through the rooftop's door and stood in front of him.

At first, she said nothing, simply offering him her signature gentle smile until finally, she spoke, "So this is where you were,"

"Mei-san? Why are you here?" he questioned with a surprised tone, "You should be celebrating your victory with the others,"

Mei shook her head and took a step forward, "How could I celebrate a victory that I stole?"

"Ah…yeah…that," Adam rubbed the back of his neck and averted his eyes, "You didn't steal it; I…gave it to you,"

The heiress pursed her lips, "And that's supposed to make it right?"

"...I suppose,"

"...Not to me," whispered Mei before raising her voice, "You had me at the end there. You could've won fair and square. You needed that prize money to pay off your debt to my father, and yet you still threw the match for me…why?"

"Because at the end of the day, I'm still your bodyguard, Mei-san. It's my sworn duty not to hurt you in any way. Be that physically or mentally, and that includes you and your family's reputation as well," Adam sternly replied.

"Can you imagine what the public would think and do if they discovered that Raiden Mei, the prodigy daughter of M.E Corp's CEO, was utterly defeated by some random guy wearing a mask and a red tracksuit? Especially now, right after the break-in incident at the company. The media would have a field day with this and use every resource they have to present you and your family in a negative light. If that happens, your reputation will fall, and it will never rise or be taken seriously again…I can't allow that,"

"Your family has done so much for me…more than you could ever know," confessed Adam.

Mei was left speechless. Her eyes flicked around, and she bit her lip as she tried to think of something to say in response.

"...Is…Is that all?" That was all she managed to squeeze out.

"...Well…," Adam scratched his cheek and briefly looked away before meeting her gaze, "I guess it's also because…because you…you…,"

"You resemble someone I used to know,"

"O-Oh," It was Mei's turn to bashfully look away, "I-I see,"

"...Yeah,"

"Sh-Should we, um… Should we sit?!" the heiress quickly blurted out, gesturing at the bench beside them.

"Yeah, that sounds great," the black-haired boy hastily replied.

The two plopped onto the wooden bench with enough space between them to fit two people. They sat in somewhat awkward silence for a while before Mei broke the ice.

"Hey, Adam-san, do you want to know a secret?" she asked quietly.

"Well, only if you're comfortable sharing it,"

"Okay, but I guess it's also right for you to know,"

Adam tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth, Sana, the girl you substituted for today, is actually fine," revealed Mei, "Her ankle was only slightly sprained, but it wasn't anything serious. Still, she didn't want to compete and only signed up because her parents forced her to. I heard she was planning to drop out, so I approached her first with a plan in mind,"

"Right…so you're saying,"

The purple-haired girl nodded, "Yes, your participation in the tournament was all my idea,"

"...Hey, just so you know, I'm not mad. I actually kinda enjoyed it, and I still get my runner-up money. But I'm curious as to why,"

"Well," Mei began nervously playing with her hair, "Do you remember earlier, during the intermission before our match began and we had that little talk?"

"Yeah, you said that you knew it would eventually come down to the two of us,"

"And then you asked, how,"

"And then you said something like 'your father is very selective of your bodyguard',"

"And you thought that there was another reasoning,"

"Oh…,"

"Yeah…,"

"Soo, what's the reason?" asked Adam.

"It goes back to what I said earlier, that my father wouldn't hire just anyone to be my bodyguard," Mei replied and took a deep breath before revealing.

"Ever since I was young, my father had my safety as his highest priority, perhaps even higher than all of his business at the company. All of the bodyguards I had in the past were fully-grown adults who had come out of the military or graduated from some other professional facility. Most of the time, they came in pairs or even groups. Then I began training in martial arts and got pretty proficient at it, and my father slightly relaxed a bit when it came to my physical safety. Especially after I entered high school. Since I only travel between home and school and rarely go out, the need for bodyguards dropped significantly,"

Adam stayed silent but nodded in understanding.

"So imagine my surprise when one day, out of the blue, my father tells me that I have a new bodyguard and that he's the same age as me, no, a year younger. I didn't want to go against him since I knew he was concerned about the mysterious disappearances of several students last month and only had my safety in mind. But still… to suddenly have a bodyguard that young certainly raises some questions,"

"Well, when you put it that way, it's only natural for you to be suspicious," commented Adam.

"Right? I was always planning on getting along with you, so you don't need to worry about that," the heiress giggled with a hand over her mouth, "I knew that if my father selected you, then you must've done something that caught his eye. However, I needed to check your abilities out for myself, and so…,"

"You invited me to trial the Kendo Club," the black-haired teenager realized.

"That's right," nodded Mei, slightly surprised that Adam had put two-and-two together that quickly, "You weren't outstanding at it, but you weren't terrible either, and so I thought maybe it's because you were learning a new style or you were just faking it to stay undercover. Either way, I had to make sure,"

"Then, when the tournament and Sana's accident came along, you knew that was your opportunity," concluded Adam.

"Yes, though I wasn't sure if it could be pulled off since so many pieces had to fall into place together," Mei admitted.

"Looks like fate was on your side today," the boy joked.

"It would seem so," the heiress grinned.

"And what's your final evaluation of me?" Adam asked curiously.

Mei pondered for a while before responding, "If you ask me…you're incredible,"

"I-I am?" the black-haired teenager stuttered, rubbing his neck sheepishly as he still wasn't used to compliments.

"Of course," the purple-haired girl reassured him, "You're only sixteen, and you fight at a level above all the bodyguards I've had in my life and almost everyone I know. You're also very brave for leaving everything you know behind and coming to a new, unfamiliar country to pave a future for yourself. Not to mention, while you have a mischievous side, you're still kind and respectful to the people around you…"

"Honestly…I'm glad to be able to call you my friend, Adam-san,"

His eyes widened as he was struck by an unfamiliar warmth that spread through his chest. He turned his head to look at Mei and saw nothing but sincerity in her iridescent purple eyes. Instinctively, he looked away the next second, unable to contain the strange emotions that were welling up inside of him.

Never in his life did he think he would hear those words leave Raiden Mei's mouth. It was always 'my reliable student' at best, and that was all it was and all it was going to be. A modest teacher-student relationship. So to have someone with the exact same face and voice praise and give him the most genuine declaration of friendship he had ever heard shocked him to the point that he could no longer put what he felt into words.

On the one hand, there was fear and worry.

After all, he was the anomaly kidnapped from his timeline and dropped into the past. To this day, he had yet to figure out whether he had traveled back in time or been sent to another universe entirely, and until the day he uncovered the truth, he swore to make as few changes as possible. Just in case his presence conjured an insurmountable amount of butterfly effects that could drastically alter the future as he knew it.

Even meeting the younger Mei was a significant risk, and now that they had gotten closer, there was no doubt that the strings of fate had already been rewoven. The consequences of such actions had yet to make themselves known as they incubated within the shadows of destiny, hiding away until it was time. This dark abyss of unknown variables was what frightened Adam the most.

On the other hand, there was a semblance of elation.

Growing up, he only had a handful of people he could truly label as 'friend.' The orphanage that he lived in for the first few years of his life looked all bright and cheerful from the outside, but on the inside, it was a real battleground. Being situated in the countryside, adoption was rarer than a lunar eclipse, so the children there had to find other ways to live. Kids of all ages grouped up in cliches and ganged up on other kids while participating in turf wars with other groups. Fights would break out on the regular over the pettiest things. People you thought were on your side would backstab you the moment they deem the relationship useless and find an advantageous opportunity elsewhere. Alliances were short-lived, and friendships even more so.

Then after being taken in by Fu Hua, they resided in a secluded mountain cottage for years with very few opportunities to interact with others his age until he entered the Schicksal Prep Academy. Meeting Lyle and Sora was a changing point in his life as he learned to trust and open up to people. St. Freya was similar. His classmates became friendly acquaintances, and as for Carole, though they tended to bicker more often than not, she grew to be a trusted comrade.

Raiden Mei, the S-Rank Valkyrie and former Herrscher, was someone that he looked up to and greatly respected during his time under her guidance. So when her younger version wholeheartedly affirmed the significance of their friendship, Adam felt a joyous warmth welling inside him that he was unfamiliar with…but welcomed nonetheless. At last, even if he was in another timeline, it was the first instance where he felt as if he stood on equal footing with her.

This was the moment where in the back of his mind, the long-standing image of there being only one Raiden Mei was beginning to shatter. His subconscious had begun to recognize and value the importance of both versions of her in his life. The Raiden Mei, who was a thoughtful Squad Leader, who taught him much and helped him adjust to life at St. Freya Academy. And the Raiden Mei who was the kind-hearted high school girl that he was tasked to protect, and also unknowingly, the one that kept his sanity intact after being stranded in another reality. If both of them were just as important to him, then from now, both should be able to peacefully coexist within his psyche without any more overlap.

A genuine smile graced Adam's features as he nodded, "The feeling's mutual, Mei-san,"

"...Mei," the girl said quietly before speaking up, "Just call me Mei. There's no need for honorifics between friends, right?"

Adam blinked, but then he laughed, "Right,"

Mei beamed at his response, and her eyes shifted to the vast night sky. The clouds had cleared, revealing a few twinkling clusters of stars. There wasn't much, but their presence was comforting. When her gaze traveled down, the stretched skyline of Nagazora City welcomed her with its own symphony of sparkling lights. Further below, just beneath them, was the cozy glow of the festival, illuminating the rooftop just enough for them to see.

The heiress rose to her feet and approached the edge of the roof, her fingers interlacing with the mesh railing. She continued peering down at the festival, which seemed to have only grown busier as the night deepened.

Adam pushed off his seat, deciding to accompany Mei in watching the simple beauty of people joyously going about their lives. But it seemed that the heiress had heard him and looked back just as he stood up.

"Hey…this rooftop…this is technically where we first met, isn't it?"

"Yeah," the black-haired teenager confirmed.

"Then it's only right that we do this here and now," Mei mysteriously said before spinning around to face him fully.

"Let's start anew,"

"Anew?"

Mei nodded with a grin, "Our previous relationship was one full of suspicion and bound by a contract. Whether we were always aware of it or not, even if we did get along, we both had some kind of barrier between us. But now that we've known each other for a while, I think we've come to understand each other a bit more. My father also once told me that people who practice swordsmanship can speak with their blades. I never really believed that, but after our match today, I have an inkling of what he meant. I feel like I know you a little better now, Adam,"

"Before, at this very spot, we introduced ourselves as merely the client and the bodyguard, didn't we?" she continued, "Let's do it again, but this time without any titles or status. As equals, as friends,"

"As friends," Adam echoed.

"Then…," the heiress took a deep breath before announcing in a clear voice, "My name is Raiden Mei. It's nice to meet you,"

"Likewise. Due to familial circumstances, I currently don't possess a surname, so just call me Adam,"

"Well then, Adam…," Mei brushed a strand of purple hair out of her eyes, over her, and reached out with her hand.

Adam took the hint, clasped her's in his, and they spoke simultaneously.

"Let's get along,"

As soon as those words left their mouths, in what could only be described as either the perfect coincidence or some kind of fate.

An entire garden of huge colorful sparkles filled the night sky with their crackling, loud, blazing bloom.

"Oh! I forgot that the fireworks were starting soon," commented Mei, who paced to the rooftop's edge to watch.

"I didn't even know there were going to put on a show," said Adam, joining her side in viewing the fireworks.

"They do it every year to signal the conclusion of the festival,"

"As expected of a rich academy,"

The fireworks display continued, and so did the banter and laughter of the two teenagers. In Adam's subconscious, he knew that he had already made changes to the future, but if it was to make the people he cared about and all the people of Earth have a better life. Then maybe a few changes here and there would be justified.

Looking up to the stars, he had a single thought, one that had never crossed his mind from the day he found out he was stranded all the way until now.

'Perhaps being here in this timeline isn't going to be so bad after all,'

---

As the last strands of smoke from the Cultural Festival's fireworks fizzled out. The waning moon claimed its position in the sky, accompanied by sheets of thick gray clouds camouflaging into the night.

On the other side of Nagazora, down by the coast, was the city's most prominent and only cargo harbor. Docked in the bays were ships, ranging from smaller fishing vessels to enormous transport liners. Dock workers scurried around as they hurried to get their job done for the day and go home. Their footsteps and loud voices filled the air.

The pungent smell of dead fish mixed with sea salt was an everlasting presence. It was unavoidable, and newcomers would retch at first whiff. However, the more experienced sailors had long gotten used to it. Rats and seagulls were inevitable and considered the docks a buffet, attracting stray and feral cats looking to hunt for a meal and sport.

One such cat, a sleek, gray tabby, held the freshly killed carcass of a juicy rat in its jaws and trotted along the docks, searching for a quiet, cozy place to eat.

It silently weaved through the busiest sector until it reached the very end of the docks. No ships had come in on this side that night; it was empty and dim. The perfect place to relax after a successful hunt.

As it looked for a nice place to devour its meal, an unknown scent invaded its nose. A mix of blood, sweat, sewage water, and…chemicals? All those smells layered on top of the familiar human scent.

Without hesitation, the cat leaped from box to box until it reached a high vantage point and far enough from the bizarre human.

The human in question also had his eyes on the cat.

A relieved sigh escaped his lips as he lowered his pistol.

After weeks on the run, the man had developed a keen sense of his surroundings. No matter how minuscule, every sound and smell would not escape him. It was this sense and every bit of pent-up luck in his life that brought him this far.

Asakura Takeshi leaned against a cargo container and holstered his gun. Miraculously, he had yet to fire a single shot since stealing it while escaping the facility. Whether that was a good or bad thing, he couldn't tell. The Seirai Group's inner forces had seemed to let up their pursuit in the past few days. Which was completely fine for him. The last thing he would want was to take another human's life, even if it was the enemy who would undoubtedly not show the same kind of mercy.

Ironically, it was this moral that drove him onto this path of mutiny against the company he worked for.

He ran a hand through his disheveled, oily, magenta hair. Slowly and quietly, Takeshi slid down the container's side and sat on the cold concrete floor. He winced, and a whispering hiss of pain escaped his lips. Reaching down, he gently massaged the swelling of his sprained ankle. Takeshi fumbled with the zipper of his dirt-stained jacket before carefully pulling it down. He pulled out a small vial of painkillers from the inner breast pocket and immediately undid the lid, swallowing two pills.

The effect wasn't immediate, but it would kick in soon enough.

As he placed the painkillers back into the pocket, he noticed that something had slipped out and was lying on his thigh.

He knew exactly what it was and picked it up. When he looked at it, his tense body noticeably relaxed.

It was a picture of his family from a few years prior. He, his wife, and two daughters grinning cheerfully in front of a shrine during the New Year's holiday.

A warm but exhausted smile graced his lips before he tenderly folded the photo and slid it back into the pocket closest to his heart.

An eerie silence soon took over the docks. The workers had finished packing up and headed home while the sailors took to the sea once again. The only thing Takeshi could hear now was his own breathing and heartbeat…and the quiet crunching of bone as the cat ate its dinner somewhere in the shadows.

Every few moments, Takeshi would look around, alert and searching. But the night made it difficult to make out anything.

"Asakura Takeshi?"

The magenta-haired man nearly jumped out of his skin as the unfamiliar voice invaded his ears. He whipped around and drew his pistol. The pounding of his heart grew even faster.

Standing there was a casually-dressed teenager. He wore a long-sleeve white shirt, gray pants, dark sneakers, a black baseball cap, and a black surgical mask that hid his identity.

All Takeshi could see was the pair of striking golden eyes glowing in the dark.

"Easy there," the masked individual said as he raised his hands.

However, Takeshi kept the gun locked on him.

"Who are you?" the man hissed.

"We talked on the phone," the young man replied, "And agreed to meet at this location,"

Hearing this, Takeshi slightly lowered his weapon.

"You…Wait…You're the one from a few days ago?"

"Yes,"

"And you said that we could help each other,"

"Yes,"

Takeshi scrutinized him momentarily before lowering the gun to his side, but he did not holster it.

"We've never formally introduced ourselves," said the magenta-haired man.

"I already know who you are,"

"But I don't know you," Takeshi retorted, "I think I'm at least allowed to know the name of the man I'll be working alongside,"

From under the shadows of his cap came a piercing golden glare that sent shivers down Takeshi's spine. The older man simply gulped but stood his ground, refusing to show any signs of weakness.

"Make no mistake, Takeshi. We are not doing this out of the goodness of our hearts. We couldn't care less about your family and, to an extent, you. Our interests simply align," warned the masked individual.

Takeshi bit his lip, his grip tightened around the pistol before taking a deep breath and facing the young man.

"I'm aware of that," he nodded, "And I don't really care about whoever you guys are either. All that matters to me is my family's safety,"

"Very well. Do you have the data chip?"

"Yes, right here," Unzipping one of the many pockets of his jacket, Takeshi extracted a small, smooth black case and handed it over to the younger male, "It contains all the files on that project. All up to date…unless they've made a breakthrough during the past two weeks,"

The masked teen took it without saying a word and replaced it with a card.

Takeshi looked down at it in confusion.

"Room 802, Hazakura Hotel, Central Nagazora," the capped individual clarified, "You'll reside there for the time being,"

The magenta-haired scientist pursed his lips and shook his head, his gaze flicking back and forth from the card to the young man in front of him.

"Th-This is…Are you serious? This is right between ME Corp and the Seirai Building. I'll be caught before I even take a step onto the streets!"

"It's called hiding in plain sight, Takeshi," calmly replied the masked teen, "The hotel belongs to us, so I can guarantee your safety there. Room service will also provide you with the necessities. The hotel also has several recreation zones if you ever need to stretch your legs,"

"I want to see my daughters,"

"I wouldn't recommend it,"

Takeshi could only groan in frustration. It had been months since he had last seen his family. He did keep regular tabs on them, but that was nothing compared to feeling their warm embrace. And now, after his betrayal, he knew that the Seirai had them in their sights and were in imminent danger. However, approaching them would only bring more unwanted conflict that could bring about disastrous results. Unfortunately, remaining hidden was the only option.

"There's a car that'll take you to the hotel, waiting at the harbor's gates," he said, walking past Takeshi.

"Wait!" the magenta-haired man called out, "How will I get in touch with you?"

"You won't," came the masked teen's cold response, "We'll contact you,"

"O-One last thing!" Takeshi exclaimed.

The younger man looked over his shoulder.

"I…I never got your name,"

The teenager held his gaze momentarily before facing him.

"I am Macaque of the World Serpent," he revealed, "Mention my name or the name of the organization outside of our conversing, and you will die, understood?"

"Y-Yes,"

"Good, then I look forward to working together, Takeshi,"

---

Chapter 7 - First Snow in Autumn V

---

FINALLY!

THE CHAPTER IS FINALLY OUT! IT TOOK 5 MONTHS BUT WE'RE FINALLY HERE!

Ok, I'm not going to bore you with a whole essay on why I haven't updated in basically half a year so let's just sum it up with one word: LIFE. Done. Explanation complete. Let's move on.

But I will confess, I could've uploaded much earlier. Chapter 7 was actually finished around 2-3 months ago, but when I was writing Chapter 8, I realized that the contents were kinda similar. I don't think anyone wants 2 whole Festival Chapters so I decided to fuse them together into this one giant chapter. A mega chapter if you will. ( This mega-chapter will still be referred to as Ch.7 btw. Chp.8 is now another thing entirely. )

A lot happened in this chapter too.

Some new characters appear, some more important than others. Mei's "hallucination". Neko Maid Adam. Yes, Kazuha is the Kazuha expy. Very short tournament arc. Tracksuit Guy Adam. The Sugar finally appeared ( I say finally because he was supposed to appear all the way back in Chp.2 but I changed it). Macaque comes back at the end. Takeshi (Sora and Miyuki's father) appears for the first time.

How was Neko Maid and Tracksuit Guy btw? I'll admit when I first started writing this chapter, neither of them was a thing. It just happened. If you guys and girls like Adam's quirky alter egos, then they'll both be making their comebacks in the future…along with maybe Idol Adam.

Also, what did you all think about the bonding moments with Sora and Mei? Once again, I'll admit that one of those moments was also not in the original drafts. It just happened because it felt right. I don't want to keep you guessing so I'll say it now. Sora running around the festival with Adam was always going to happen. The rooftop scene with Adam and Mei was the spur-of-the-moment writing decision. I feel like it fits, and I hope you all enjoyed it.

[ Warning: This is going to last casual, slice-of-life chapter for a while. ]

Honestly, I expected that I'd write a whole ton of stuff for the Author's Note since the chapter is so long, but looks like there's not really much for me to say. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. I already have the drafts ready for that so fingers crossed.

And yeah, that wraps up Chapter 7.

If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a follow/favorite/review. They're all very much appreciated and a source of motivation to continue writing [ Starchaser ].

Thank you for all of your support! Until we meet again!

---

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BONUS / OMAKE

[ Chibi forms here cuz why not? ]

---

It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning at St. Freya Academy. The fluffy, white clouds sauntered through the blue, blue sky. The trees were as healthily green as nature could allow them to be. The birds chirped and sang happily as they danced on the branches and through the air.

Citizens of Soukai City were busy with their weekend itinerary, whether that was being out and about, sleeping in, or something else. And lastly, the Valkyries-in-training were spending their relaxing weekend doing whatever they wanted as they moved about the campus.

On one side of the campus were the first-class dormitories, and within a particular unit, a familiar head of disheveled, jet-black hair was pacing around the living room.

"Testing. Testing. One. Two. Three," he uttered into a small mic attached to the collar of his shirt.

A gray puffball looked at him strangely before jumping onto the arm of a couch nearby.

[ What are you doing? ]

"I'm testing the audio on my microphone. We're about to start the 1-Year Anniversary Special segment, and I want to make sure our voices are nice and crisp,"

[ …Adam… Need I remind you that the readers are reading this? We're not an anime or an animated short, and we never will be because this is a non-profit fanmade project. Some of us have voice actors, but most of the time, our voices are going to be whatever the readers perceive them to be, so put your imaginary mic away. It was freaking weird watching you speak into your shirt for ten minutes straight. ]

Adam narrowed his eyes judgementally, "Y'know we're not supposed fourth-wall break, right?"

[ Who cares? This is a special segment. It's not meant to be canon to the main events of Starchaser anyway, lol. ]

"...Did you just—? Uh, whatever. At least remember to stay quiet throughout the segment; by the time the chapter's out, you haven't been officially introduced yet, [CONFIDENTIAL],"

[ I literally appeared twice in this chapter, though! ] [CONFIDENTIAL] complained, [ And I'm sure some of the readers have already accurately guessed what I am! ]

"Yeaah, but your name hasn't been revealed, and we have yet to meet," Adam shrugged with a wide smug grin growing on his face.

[ Whaddaya mean!? My name is [CONFIDENTIAL]... I'm called [CONFIDENTIAL]... 我的名字是[CONFIDENTIAL]...俺の名前は[CONFIDENTIAL]です... Oh, come on! I can't even reveal it in a different language?! Is the Author really doing this?! ]

"Yes, he is,"

Yes, I am

"And he'll mute you if you keep on babbling,"

[ …Fine. If you need me, I'll be in the freezer hanging out with the ice cream. ]

With that, the little gray puffball bounced away in the direction of the kitchen, crossing paths with Mei, who hung her apron back on its hook before she walked into the living room.

"Oh, have we already started?" she asked as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

Adam shrugged and sat by her side, "Technically, yeah,"

"This is my first anniversary special for Starchaser, so I'm a little nervous. What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know. The Author saw the date by chance when he was about to update and decided to write this in on a whim, so he didn't give us a script. I guess we just…talk freely?"

"Okay, that sounds easy enough," nodded Mei.

Say no more. I'll switch the format to make it look like a script. XD

Adam: Wait, what do you mean?... Oh, haha, very funny.

I don't wanna be writing every detail of your actions and emotions all the time, k? This is a bonus segment. Just go along with it. Allow the readers to imagine the scene for themselves.

Mei: I don't mind it, but aren't we fourth wall breaking a little too much now?

*cough* Not-as-much-as-AI-Hyperion-in-the-game's-finale-chapter *cough*

Anyway, you're right. I'll leave you guys to it. I'll come back at the end to wrap things up with a few words.

Adam: …Anyway! It's crazy to think that it's been a full year since The Starchaser was published.

Mei: Mhm, time flew by so quickly it still feels like it's last year, and now we're already approaching the middle of this year.

Adam: Ah, time…truly the enemy of all lifeforms. But now I'm getting off-topic. You would think that after a year, the story would've progressed well past chapter 7, but somehow…here we are.

Mei: It is a little unfortunate, but the Author's real life had to be taken into consideration. And according to the Author, if he had followed his original layout and not procrastinated so much when he had the time, the story should've approximately reached Chapters 23-25 by now.

Adam: By then, the Nagazora Arc should've wrapped up, right?

Mei: Yep, and our adventures at St. Freya would've begun. Speaking of which, I think that's why we're in our school dorms for this special, as a little teaser for what's to come.

Adam: Probably. I mean, we've already experienced the events that took place, but the readers haven't caught up yet, so we don't really have much to talk about without spoiling anything.

Mei: That's true. It's already been a year for us since those events occurred, but the readers are still stuck in chapter 7.

Suddenly, a white-haired girl wearing cat pajamas burst out from one of the adjacent bedrooms.

Kiana: I'M HERE! I'M READY! I TOTALLY DIDN'T SLEEP IN BECAUSE I WAS STUCK ON THAT ONE BOSS UNTIL 3AM! LET'S GET THIS ANNIVERSARY STARTED!

Adam: …

Mei: …

Kiana: Wassup? Why are you guys so quiet?

Adam: You haven't made your debut in Starchaser yet, so technically, you're not supposed to be in the special.

Kiana: Wait, what? I haven't?

Mei: Unfortunately so, Kiana.

Kiana: Where's the story up to?

Adam: Chapter 7

Kiana: …Y'know what? Close enough!"

Kiana wiggles herself in between Adam and Mei while humming a happy tune. She sits with a content smile on her face, sandwiched between her two…friends.

Mei: Doesn't that count as a spoiler?

Adam: Yeah, but Starchaser has gone a year without any appearance of the Tuna, so let's just let her and the readers have this one.

Mei: What about Bronya? Should we call her over too? I'm sure they've been waiting for her arrival as well.

Adam: …I guess it won't do any harm. Bronya!

Mei: Bronya, are you there?

A muffled monotone voice came from a nearby bedroom.

Bronya: The Bronya is listening.

Mei: Do you want to make a quick appearance for the 1-Year bonus? The readers will appreciate it.

Bronya: …Nyet. Unlike the idiotka, Bronya has the patience to wait until the debut chapter.

Kiana: Shut it, Bratnya! I—

Adam (squishes Kiana's cheeks together to stop her from going off on a tangent): But that's going to be in roughly 10-11 chapters' time.

Bronya: That's not a problem. Defeating this Boss on expert difficulty is my current priority.

Bronya enters her state of focus and remains quiet for the rest of the special segment. Adam also releases Kiana's cheeks.

Adam: Should we start wrapping it up? Unless you two have more to say.

Mei: Nope, I don't have anything.

Kiana: I'm hungry.

Mei: I made lunch beforehand so we can eat after we finish.

Kiana: Yaaay, you're the best Mei-senpai!

Adam: Alright then—

The trio faces the imaginary camera, and Bronya peeks through the door.

Adam (continued): I would like to thank all the readers who have followed and supported [ The Starchaser ] for an entire year. I know you—.

I'll take it from here.

You guys can go and do whatever you guys originally planned for today.

Adam: Nice, we got off work early.

Kiana: Lunchtime!

Bronya (after quietly slipping out of her room, holding a HOMU doll): The Bronya requires sustenance.

Mei: Thank you, then we'll head off first.

The four of them congregate in the kitchen, where they start setting up the table. Two silhouettes come in through the front door and join them. They are the new squadmates of Adam, who I can't reveal just yet.

Anyway, let's leave them alone for now.

So yeah, it's been a full year since Starchaser was first published. I only realized while preparing to update.

Kinda insane when I think about it. It first started off as a small project that I wrote up out of boredom after binging LINK CLICK and watching a few DBZ episodes featuring Future Trunks, and now… now we're still on Chapter 7, which, y'know, is okay. We're getting there. I feel like this would've been a bit more impactful or sentimental if I followed my original plans and hit the Chapter 20 mark, but beggars can't be choosers, so here we are.

I know previously I said I would be updating on the regular, but real life hates abiding by one's plans, so I haven't been the most consistent in updates. However, I hope that this year I can upload more consistently to bring you guys even more entertainment.

Finally, I would like to give a massive THANK YOU to all the viewers who have followed and supported [Starchaser] throughout its first year. I know it's been rough waiting for updates, and I can't agree more. But still, you stuck with it and patiently waited, and for that, I give you my gratitude. Your support is one of the main motivators for me to carry on writing this, so know that each review/comment, bookmark/favorite, follow/kudo/hit is greatly appreciated.

There's still a heap of content planned for this story which I can't wait to start writing, so I hope you guys will stick around for the long run. For the rest of the year, I'll manage my time better and do my best to keep the updates consistent. Actually, by the time this is up, the next chapter should already have started being worked on.

Once Again! Thank You All For The Support This Past Year! Let's Keep This Journey Going!

FireMonkeyDragon