Hi guys, author here! Please share your thoughts in the comments and reviews. And if you like it, don't forget to drop some stones — they're a great motivator!
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In the Tokyo students' waiting room, Satoru was giving a pep talk to his students.
"Listen here!!! Today is the day that you all show that I am the better teacher than Naoya!!! Don't defame my name out there! Okay?!" asked Satoru.
Needless to say, the pep talk wasn't having any sort of effect other than making the students wonder why the hell the eye-masked weirdo was even working as a teacher.
"...If you perform great, I will treat you to high-grade sushi," said Satoru, understanding that the students were not excited and went straight to bribing.
"OHHH!!!!" Immediately, the students erupted in cheer!
Seeing them excited, Satoru raised his arm in excitement as well.
Yaga looked at the scene and facepalmed.
After giving their motivation, Satoru and Yaga left the room.
Hakari sat down on a chair and decided to rest until the match started.
"Still, do we have a strategy for the match? It is a flag steal team match, right? We need someone to keep guard of our flag, too," said Panda.
"Hm...I can fill up that role," said Kirara.
"Kirara," said Panda.
The other first years looked at him as well.
"Don't look at me like that. I will blush. Leave guarding the flag to me. I am better at keeping things safe anyway. Right, Kin-chan!" said Kirara.
"Hm....yeah, if it's Kirara, we can be rest assured," said Hakari.
"See! I have the Kin-chan guarantee! You can bet on me," said Kirara with a smile.
"Got it. If we lost the flag, then you will be treating all of us to ramen," said Maki.
"Oh! Nice one, Maki," said Panda.
"Tuna Mayo!" added Toge.
"Eh? Um, best of luck, Kirara-san," said Yuta.
"...Now I kinda want the flag to be stolen," said Hikari
"You naughty juniors and mean Kin-chan!... Aside from Okkotsu, of course. You are the only one on my side!" said Kirara and hugged Yuta while yelling at the others.
-----
Time passed, and the announcement for the first match came:
Currently on the match field, the two sides stood on opposite ends of the forest. Flags were placed on each team's base.
The teams were:
Tokyo:
1) Kinji Hakari (Grade-2)
2) Kirara Hoshi (Semi-Grade 2)
3) Maki Zenin (Grade 2)
4) Toge Inumaki (Grade 2)
5) Panda (Semi-Grade 2)
6) Yuta Okkotsu (Special Grade)
Kyoto:
1) Aoi Todo(Grade 1)
2) Noritoshi Kamo(Semi-Grade 1)
3) Momo Nishimiya(Semi-Grade 2)
4) Mai Zenin (Grade 2)
5) Mechamaru (Semi-Grade 1)
6) Kasumi Miwa (Grade 3)
On the Kyoto side, every one of them was getting ready to jump right into action.
Todo, once warmed up, put on a pair of cursed tool gauntlets. These were Grade 1 cursed tools prepared for Aoi Todo by none other than his Big Brother. When he first received those Todo refused to take them off and continued wearing them for 2 weeks straight. It was only after Naoya scolded the boy that he relented to only wearing them when needed to fight.
Todo moved around his arms and fingers to get a feel and smirked.
'With these, it is almost like Big Brother is beside me,' thought Todo.
Mai Zenin checked whether all the equipment was there on her utility belt, or not and once done, she fastened it around her waist.
Kasumi Miwa was feeling nervous and was constantly writing something on her hands and acting to eat it to calm herself down.
Noritoshi, as usual, was trying to act cool and composed.
Momo Nishimiya was holding onto her cursed tool broom and was steeling her mind for the upcoming fight.
Mechamru was the calmest of the bunch. He was on flag-guard duty. He had a few drones assisting him on the job, flying around and checking for any suspicious activity.
"Fight bravely but be careful," said Noritoshi Kamo.
"Brave and Careful won't bring us victory. I am aiming for a victory," said Todo and cracked his knuckles.
"Both sides ready?!"
The announcement came, and the Kyoto Team nodded.
The Tokyo Team did the same.
"3, 2, 1. START!"
Without waiting any longer, Todo rushed forward.
"He is already not following the plan," said Momo.
"I didn't expect him to do anything. The rest will do as we discussed earlier," said Noritoshi.
Aoi Todo was the strongest one in Kyoto, sure, but he was not one to get involved in boring plans unless necessary.
The rest of the team knew that, so they were just hoping for Todo to engage with the stronger foes or knock out the weaker foes while the rest of them followed the strategy.
"Let's get going. Mechamaru, leaving the fort to you," said Noritoshi.
"Okay," replied Mechamaru.
"Best of luck, Mechamru!" said Miwa and ran ahead with everyone else before the group split up.
Mechamaru saw his friends leaving and looked at their flag.
"Well, time to wait for someone to show up, I guess..." muttered Mechamaru and stood with his arms crossed.
-----
Mai was moving alone while staying conscious of her surroundings.
Being one of the hard hitters from Kyoto, the job assigned to her was breaking through the opponents' guards and subduing the targets that she was assigned.
Now, just moving around won't allow her to meet her target randomly.
Thankfully, unlike Tokyo, Kyoto had air support and communication.
"Inumaki on your right, Mai-chan."
The receiver on her ear transmitted Momo's words, who was currently in the sky, looking for the targets.
"Got it," replied Mai and headed in Toge's direction.
And after walking for a while, she came face-to-face with the Inumaki clan member.
Both of them stared at each other as they registered that they had encountered their enemy.
Unfortunately for Toge, though, Mai knew who her opponent was going to be and had already started preparing.
Toge immediately unbuttoned the area around his mouth to use his technique.
He took a breath and opened his mouth.
...That was the moment Mai was waiting for.
The moment Toge opened his mouth, something invisible entered his mouth.
"*Coguh**Cough*"
Toge immediately started coughing violently to get the thing out. He was starting to choke up a bit.
"Won't help," said Mai with a smirk and started walking towards Toge.
She then held up a card.
"I have used my cursed technique to block your windpipe with solidified air. You won't be using your voice for the time being, you know," said Mai.
Toge's eyes widened in surprise. He was effectively neutralised at this point. He might go for a physical brawl, but with the choking feeling within him. Even that would be difficult.
Toge Inumaki was from the Inumaki clan, and because of being from a well-reputed clan, it wasn't a surprise that people knew that he had [Cursed Speech].
Mai also knew about his cursed speech and knew that she could effectively neutralise Toge in a fight; she was assigned to handle the Grade 2 sorcerer.
[Air Strike Shield]
A mass of solidified air shaped itself into an invisible shield and struck Toge in the gut, sending him flying.
The ground below them cracked up as well, and a large amount of sand erupted out, strangling Toge, making it impossible for him to run away.
"Nod twice to surrender," said Mai in a commanding tone. She didn't want to kill a fellow student or hurt them too much. Making them surrender was enough for them.
Toge narrowed his eyes. His brain was searching for a way to turn the situation in his favour.
"Just so you know, I can increase the volume of the air choking you. It would be in your best interest to surrender if you don't want to pop like a balloon," said Mai as she gestured a balloon exploding for the added dramaticism.
Toge nodded twice immediately.
[Toge Inumaki eliminated.]
The announcement came, making all the players stop whatever they were doing and look towards the barrier.
Mai, though, smirked and undid her techniques.
"Phew, Tuna, Mayo, Salmon," said Toge, checking his voice.
Once he was sure, he pointed his finger at Mai.
"Spiced Roe! Tuna!" yelled Toge (Maki's sister through and through! You are a bully too!)
Mai didn't understand what the Inumaki boy said, but she simply dismissed him. It won't look good if she bullies the one who just lost to her.
-----
Speaking of Maki, currently, she was with Panda. Both were hiding from Momo, who was doing an air patrol.
"Throw me," said Maki.
"Okay!" replied Panda, rather happily. He always wanted to yeet someone.
Panda grabbed Maki, who got ready for an attack.
With all the strength he could muster, he threw Maki towards the airborne witch.
Seeing something shot out of nowhere, Momo was momentarily shocked.
Taking advantage of her shock, Maki grabbed her sheathed Kanshou and threw it like a boomerang at the blonde witch.
"WHA!!!"
The sheathed sword struck its target, making the witch fall off her broom.
"WAAAA!!!!" screamed Momo as she suddenly found herself falling.
She immediately shifted to using her CT to will the broom to get her.
Maki, though, reached the broom first and held onto it while using her legs to catch the woman, as well as choking her in the process. {A/N: The Zenin sisters have a thing for choking, it seems.}
Kanshou came flying back and latched itself back on Maki's waist.
Momo glared at the bespectacled Mai look-alike who was looking back at her with a beastly grin.
Maki had noticed Momo flying around her broom, and with her keen eyesight, she even noticed the receiver and headpiece she had. She was acting as the eye and guide for Kyoto, and that meant it was better if they brought her down fast.
Toge was an unfortunate loss, but that gave them enough of a window to take the flying witch by surprise.
None of them on their side could fly freely, so they had to hope for being lucky enough to catch her.
Maki knew the only one who could perform such a manoeuvre on their side was her, and she immediately went for it.
Using Panda as a launcher and using her legs to choke the target so they cannot transmit what was happening and call for allies.
Momo continued to glare, but as time passed, she started to feel lightheaded. If she didn't do anything, then she would lose.
'Damn it! How could they reach so high when they don't even have a flyer!' complained Momo {A/N: Maki used HM Fly}
'...F*ck It,' thought Momo and willed for the broom to go down at full speed. If she were going to go down, she would at least injure the Mai look-alike as much as she could.
Maki saw the ground approaching fast.
She could somehow perceive what Momo was trying to do.
'...Worst case, I will use her dead body as a cushion,' thought Maki and narrowed her eyes.
...Being trained under Toji does that to a person.
Maki looked at the trees that were just inches away from them.
By this time, Momo was barely conscious. She had even stopped speeding them up.
As they came near the trees, Maki snapped her arm towards a sturdy-looking tree.
A cursed tool that was wrapped around her arm shot a line forward that wrapped around the tree. {A/N: Yes, she has a Grappling gun/arm-guard thingy.}
Once attached, Maki pulled herself and Momo away, slowing them down.
A few moments later, after crashing through several branches, Maki was hanging from the tree that she used with Momo and the broom in tow.
[Momo Nishimiya eliminated]
The announcement came, and Maki looked at the witch.
She was passed out.
Maki sighed and let go of the witch.
*THUD*
The body fell on the ground.
"Ah, sorry about that. I will ask Onii-chan to heal you," said Maki, and gave her apology to the girl she had almost choked to death.
-----
"Hmm? Our side got someone as well, huh. Well, good for us, I guess," muttered Hakari with his hands in his pockets.
He then looked forward towards his enemy and frowned.
"...What kind of luck do I have that I always bump into you people?!" complained Hakari.
"What do you mean by 'you people'. You're insulting me or something, delinquent-san," said Mai with a 'smile'.
-----
Aoi Todo stood with his arms crossed.
"Let's get this started, but before that...Answer me! What type of woman is your type?" asked Todo with an excited look on his face.
Yuta Okkotsu looked at the buffed half-naked man in front of him.
'What does that have to do with the fight?' thought Yuta as he sweat dropped at the question.
-----
Outside the match's barrier, Satoru Gojo and Naoya Zenin were sitting cross-legged.
They were positioned there to act immediately if something bad were to happen and stop it.
"I runts are becoming more and more violent. Your upbringing is kinda bad, Naoya," said Satoru as he saw how the two sisters took out their opponents.
Naoya, though, ignored that. He was busy destroying Satoru's mental peace.
"Here. +2,+2,+2,+2,+4 draw, colour changes to red. UNO!" declared Naoya with a smile.
"OI! You cannot put a +4 over a +2!" yelled Satoru.
"Huh? Says who?!" asked Naoya.
"The rules! The ones that came with the box!" yelled Satoru. He was already holding more than 20 cards.
"F*ck those rules. I am grateful for the cards, but f*ck them rules. And since when did you start abiding by them? I saw you do the same thing last time we played."
"Humans are creatures of change. Change is a part of life. If you remain stuck with what you have and where you are, you won't grow," said Satoru in a philosophical tone.
"...Pick up the damn cards. So much drama just because you are losing," said Naoya.
"GRRRR!!!!! I swear I will end you!" yelled Satoru and picked up the cards.
Once he was done, he looked at his deck and smiled.
"You said red earlier, right?" asked Satoru with a smirk.
Naoya gave a nod.
"Heh! W*ld! Colour changes to Blue!" declared Satoru.
'Naoya has a single card. He will have to pick up from the pile. I can stretch the game longer. I have been counting the cards. There should just be one blue card left aside from the ones that I have in the deck,' thought Satoru.
"I win. GG Satoru," said Naoya with a smirk.
Satoru looked at the card. A Blue card was resting on top of the pile.
He stared at it for a while and then looked at Naoya with his eyes wide open.
"Sup, son, I just don't play the game, you know. I play you, too," said Naoya.
"Damn it!!! Why does he know me so well?!" yelled Satoru out loud and threw his cards on the ground.
Naoya looked at the screen above them.
"Mai v/s Kin-chan and Aoi v/s Yuta....time to get ready, I guess..." said Naoya.
Satoru looked at the screen as well and sighed.
He was just about to start his winning streak. {A/N: He wasn't}.