After successfully securing an extended leave of absence from Chabashira Sae —
As a fellow alliance member, Hirata Yousuke had done his due diligence and passed word of the strategy along to Katsuragi Kohei and Ryuuen Kakeru separately, via LINE.
It was a simple exchange of information — just letting them know so they could take similar measures if they saw fit.
The original Class D had started out as something of a dumping ground, which meant it was home to all manner of characters. But at least in terms of raw top-tier talent, even setting Chris aside entirely, they still had a commanding, cliff-edge lead over every other class.
Sakayanagi's class and Ryuuen's class were a different story.
Despite the school rushing in a batch of transfer students after the midterms to fill the gaps left by casualties, vetting those unknown newcomers — figuring out who among them could be trusted, who had genuine potential, who might earn a fixed slot in the upcoming Black Sphere main exams and preliminary trials — was going to take time. Time to screen them. Time to grind them in.
Which meant they were in absolutely no position to do what Hirata and the others were doing: pulling core combatants off active duty for dedicated full-time training without a second thought.
Even so, when Katsuragi Kohei and Ryuuen Kakeru received the message, both of them expressed their thanks for Hirata sharing the intel.
As for Ichinose's class — Hirata Yousuke and the others had, by unspoken mutual agreement, chosen not to disturb them at all. That side of things had been handed off entirely to Chris.
And so —
Crack. Crack.
The dull, heavy sound of wooden swords clashing echoed through the empty training hall in steady waves.
"Senpai... is Horikita-san not coming today?"
In the thick of an intense exchange, Ichinose Honami seized a lull — widening the gap between them to catch her breath — and called out the question to Chris.
Crack!
Chris snatched the momentary opening.
His wrist flicked. A lazy swing of the wooden sword cut straight into Ichinose's defensive blind spot — and sent her stumbling backwards to the floor.
He looked down at the pink-haired girl sitting on the floorboards and lowered his practice sword, answering offhandedly:
"She's probably still stuck in that loop of self-torment for now."
"Because she didn't manage to do anything during the Uninhabited Island exam... she's stubbornly pinning all the blame on her own incompetence. Her brother's death. Even the fact that she dragged me into burning through one of my lives."
Ichinose Honami pushed herself up from the wooden floor, brushing the dust from her track pants with a light pat.
At those words, a shadow passed through her eyes. She murmured quietly:
"Is it... the same feeling I had when I watched Shiranami-san disappear...?"
She tightened her grip on the wooden sword, and found herself speaking up in Horikita's defense:
"But I think Horikita-san has already tried incredibly hard."
"When you really think about it — all of us, before any of this started, were just ordinary high schoolers living in peacetime."
"And yet she had the courage to step up and take on exams on behalf of your class, time and time again. She even traded the S-points she bought with her own life for item guides that would benefit everyone."
Ichinose let out a quiet sigh. "What more could anyone possibly ask of her?"
Chris settled back into his stance, gesturing for Ichinose to come at him again.
As the next round of wooden swords began to clash, he deflected her strikes one by one — and explained, patient and unhurried:
"Because her goals are enormous."
"So naturally, what she demands of herself is equally high."
"By most people's standards, she's done remarkably well. But in her own eyes — if she couldn't save the people she wanted to save, then that, by definition, is a failure."
Chris put force through his wrist and shook off Ichinose's fierce push. "Honestly, I don't think it's entirely a bad thing for her. Pressure creates the drive to keep climbing. The potential people discover at their lowest point is usually the most extraordinary."
Ichinose Honami gritted her teeth and swung hard — their wooden swords collided with a solid crack.
CRACK — SNAP!
Whether it was moisture damage or simply too many high-impact collisions taking their toll, both training swords fractured and split apart on contact.
Staring at the half-length pieces lying on the floor —
Ichinose bent down and picked up the broken blade, letting out a helpless sigh.
"But... being pushed forward by pressure alone really doesn't feel good at all."
"Senpai — I know this is your class's private business, but... maybe you should go check in on Horikita-san?"
"Girls have a way of getting completely lost in their own heads at times like this."
Chris watched Ichinose pick up a broom and sweep the splintered scraps off the floor with careful, methodical strokes. He gave a small nod — a quiet acknowledgment.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out to find an unread LINE message. The sender was Nanase Tsubasa.
The gist of it: asking whether he had any free time, and wanting to ask about some of the specific details of the Black Sphere exams. Reading between the lines — she was fishing for information about Horikita Suzune's movements during the exam.
Chris didn't engage. He killed the screen and put the phone away.
He turned to look at Ichinose.
"Actually — the way Horikita is right now reminds me a lot of how you used to be."
"Except you've already started learning to adapt and grow. She's only just beginning — still in the thick of the growing pains."
Ichinose stilled at those words. She looked at him.
"Senpai... for me, that was because I had no other choice."
"I know my abilities are still nowhere near enough. Even if I'd gone to the volcano, I wouldn't have been any help."
"That's why — after defeating Douma, after the eruption — the first thing I did was choose to go save my classmates."
"That's why, after the exam's final settlement, I wanted to buy item guides to help support everyone..."
The girl lowered her gaze. "But that was only possible because I had extra lives to spare, and enough S-points as a cushion..."
"Horikita-san — she has nothing left now. Haa."
Chris reached into the bag beside him and pulled out a bottle of mineral water, tossing it over to Ichinose with a casual flick.
"Actually — if Horikita can get her head straight, I'm willing to let her take part in the next preliminary trial and go after that revival reward. I believe in her ability."
"But the prerequisite is that she's genuinely ready."
He was blunt about it. "As things stand right now, she hasn't sorted herself out yet. Going into battle in that state would only get her killed faster."
Ichinose took a sip of water, absently running her fingers over the cold plastic of the bottle, and fell into silence.
She knew Chris was stating facts. She understood that suffocating sensation of walking a tightrope.
But still — there was a weight to it she couldn't quite shake.
In the end, it was Chris who broke the silence first:
"By the way, Ichinose — among the transfer students who just arrived in your class, is there anyone worth paying attention to?"
Ichinose snapped back to the present and thought carefully.
"That's... hard to say."
"Because of the Black Sphere situation, most of the new students are pretty emotionally unstable right now."
"But there's one new student — Hosen Kazutomi — who apparently went to the same middle school as Ryuuen-kun. They know each other."
"He gives off a vibe that's... kind of aggressive. You could even say violent?"
Chris rubbed his chin, a faintly amused look on his face.
"Sounds like the school's placement system has completely thrown its hands up at this point. Tossing a delinquent like that straight into your class."
Ichinose gave a helpless, wry smile.
"Please don't tease me about it, Senpai... We've already dropped from Class B down to Class C. Though honestly, right now, other than determining how many spending points we receive, class rankings don't feel like they serve much practical purpose."
"Speaking of which —" Chris suddenly recalled something. "Ichinose, even after redeeming [Soaring Ten Thousand Miles] and factoring in the distributed points, you should still have around fifty-something S-points left on hand, right?"
"Do you have any concrete plan for which direction you want to strengthen yourself going forward?"
Ichinose thought about it, then shook her head honestly.
"I don't really know..."
"Right now I'm just going by the idea of 'fill whatever the team is missing.' We lacked aerial reconnaissance, so I got the wings."
"And honestly... I feel like my swordsmanship isn't anywhere near mastered yet, and my marksmanship is basically just limping along on the enhanced gun's built-in aiming assist."
"If I'm being real with you — if I actually had to go face those monsters in a one-on-one fight, I don't have much confidence in myself at all."
Chris looked at her for a moment, something close to quiet appreciation in his expression.
"That's normal. You're still a novice who only just got thrown into all of this."
"Even counting the time you spent training inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, you haven't put in more than a month total. The mental fortitude you've developed already is genuinely remarkable."
"That said — I do think you should find one primary direction to commit to. And don't feel like you're obligated to keep pursuing swordsmanship just because that's what I happen to be teaching you. Choose the path that suits you best."
He gave her a sincere recommendation: "Sure, a jack-of-all-trades beats a master of none — but being specialized doesn't mean you have to completely abandon cultivating other skills, does it?"
Ichinose Honami pressed the back of her hand to her lips, half-hiding a faintly pink face, and murmured her reply:
"I understand, Senpai."
"But as for the specifics... I guess it still depends on whether the Mysterious Merchant turns up with anything suitable in the next exam."
"Otherwise I'm actually worried about having all these points sit in my hand with nowhere useful to spend them, and that becoming its own kind of problem."
Chris nodded in acknowledgment. "Fair enough. It's your call."
"Didn't you just say you needed to go back to class and check on the shaken new students?"
"Let's wrap up today's training here. Go get some proper rest."
As he spoke, he picked up the duffel bag holding his change of clothes and headed for the door. "I'm going to go check on Horikita."
— — —
Time rolled forward to the midday break.
Sunlight filtered through the clouds, washing over the rooftop terrace at the top of the academic building — a place most students rarely had any reason to visit.
Nanase Tsubasa had followed Horikita Suzune up to this deserted rooftop.
She looked around at the wide-open emptiness and tilted her head, puzzled.
"Senpai, are we going to spar up here?"
"Is this really okay?"
Horikita Suzune didn't bother responding to her concern.
She simply turned around, slipped off her school blazer, and draped it over the railing with the careless ease of someone who'd done it a hundred times.
Then she rolled up her shirt sleeve, revealing what lay beneath — a second skin of sleek, jet-black Combat Suit material hugging her arm.
"This is a Combat Suit redeemed from the Black Sphere."
"You've seen Hirata's summary document that he posted in the group chat, so you should already know the specifics of what it does."
Nanase Tsubasa gave a firm nod.
"Yes. It dramatically enhances all of the wearer's physical capabilities, granting strength and speed that far exceed ordinary human limits. The corresponding weakness is that once the blue energy rings on the suit are punctured, the fluid inside drains, causing it to lose its enhancement effects."
Horikita Suzune pulled her sleeve back down.
"Then come at me directly, just like this. I'm going to let you see firsthand the absolute gap between an ordinary person and what this suit can do."
"Let me be clear upfront: even with a Combat Suit, when we're facing the creatures that appear in the exam grounds, we go from being completely helpless prey that gets slaughtered — to being prey that can barely put up a fight. That's all. Nothing more."
Nanase Tsubasa's eyes sharpened.
"If you say so, Senpai... then I won't hold back. Watch out!"
The words had barely left her mouth before she'd already dropped into a low stance — the kind of measured, deliberate guard position that belonged to a classical martial arts tradition.
Then with a sharp kiai, she surged forward — momentum and intent blazing — driving straight at Horikita Suzune's face!
Seeing Nanase Tsubasa's opening form — undeniably the work of professional training — a flicker of genuine surprise crossed Horikita Suzune's eyes.
This transfer student... she really is a trained fighter.
But surprise was surprise.
With the Combat Suit's absolute backing behind her, even that momentary lapse didn't matter.
The instant Nanase Tsubasa's fist was about to connect with her face —
Horikita Suzune sidestepped with effortless ease, simultaneously catching Nanase's wrist in a backhand grip.
She drove force through her hips.
Thud!
Nanase Tsubasa didn't even have time to register what happened before she was swept off her feet and slammed heavily to the ground.
Even as she fell, her instincts kicked in — she attempted an incredibly refined breakfall technique, trying to dispel the impact and slip free.
But against absolute crushing physical superiority, technique became meaningless.
She was completely immobilized. Squirming like a worm pinned to a board — and making just as much difference.
Only after Nanase Tsubasa had struggled a few times on the ground and given up all resistance did Horikita Suzune release her grip and look down at her from above.
"Remember this feeling of powerlessness."
"This is what it genuinely feels like for us, facing those creatures in the exam grounds."
"And for those of you without a Combat Suit for protection... the gap between you and the monsters will be even greater than what you just felt."
Nanase Tsubasa climbed back to her feet, rubbing her sore arm, and asked with barely concealed frustration:
"Understood, Senpai. But..."
"Redeeming a Combat Suit requires S-points, and earning S-points means participating in the Black Sphere exams in the first place."
Horikita Suzune turned and retrieved her blazer, explaining as she did:
"Win the weekly 'preliminary trial,' and you receive a direct S-point reward from the Black Sphere."
"But you only get one shot at it. Because the moment you lose in the trial, you don't just become an unscheduled intruder in the main exam — you also risk the Black Sphere stripping you of a life outright."
"That said..." She paused, her tone softening just slightly. "Our Class A already has quite a few people with Combat Suits now."
"In fact, if you go in on sheer hard-power advantage, or arrange a cross-class negotiation beforehand... there's a real chance of being awarded the win before the trial even begins."
Nanase Tsubasa's brow furrowed, a visible reluctance creeping into her expression.
"Pre-arranged outcomes? Negotiated results before the match? But... if that's how it works, doesn't that mean, for the sake of your own class's benefit, you're completely disregarding the lives of the three students from the other classes who end up as the tokens — the ones who have to take the loss?"
"Stepping over other people's bodies to get to the top — doesn't that weigh on your conscience?"
Horikita Suzune fixed her with a cold look.
"Tell me — if you win the preliminary trial through a straight-up fight, causing the students from the other three classes to die — what's the essential difference between those two outcomes?"
"Hollow virtue saves no one."
"At least when someone is chosen through negotiation to take the loss, it can be guaranteed they only consume an extra life — nothing more."
"And you need to understand —"
"Only one class can win each time. Even if you want to participate, you need a compelling enough reason for others to hand you that win."
"...A reason?"
Nanase Tsubasa murmured the word under her breath, seemingly turning over what she could possibly offer as a bargaining chip.
Right. In this brutal school where strength was the only currency that mattered — what grounds did she, a brand-new transfer student with no foundation at all, have to ask anyone to hand her their chance at survival?
Horikita Suzune didn't let her guess for long. She chose to give her the shortcut directly.
"Ripple Breathing."
"A secret manual brought back from the exam grounds by the Student Council President. Currently available school-wide — anyone can cultivate it. It doesn't just extend one's lifespan; it also deals bonus damage against light-sensitive creatures."
"As a technique worth one S-point... if you can manage to break through and demonstrate genuine talent in it, you'll have the standing to distinguish yourself — and earn the right to be prioritized for protection and development."
As she spoke, Horikita Suzune drew a small, somewhat creased booklet from her pocket and held it out to Nanase Tsubasa.
Nanase Tsubasa took it with both hands.
She flipped it open — and immediately noticed that between the lines of the photocopied text, every margin was filled with handwritten annotations in blue ballpoint pen: personal notes on technique, observations on breathing checkpoints, insights earned through hard experience.
"Senpai, this is too precious..."
Nanase Tsubasa was about to explain that she'd already downloaded the digital version of the Ripple Breathing manual from the class group chat last night, had even tried practicing it herself — that there was no need for the senpai to hand over something she'd clearly poured so much of herself into.
But Horikita Suzune had already turned her face away.
"Don't worry about it. Everything written in there, I've already memorized."
"Even so... I haven't truly broken through."
"I hope you can."
Horikita Suzune glanced back at her — eyes carrying something complicated. "Because you and the me from before... you're really very similar."
At those words, Nanase Tsubasa pressed her lips together. A heaviness settled into her chest, quiet and uninvited.
She was perceptive by nature — she could feel it acutely, the dejection and helplessness hidden behind Horikita Suzune's composed exterior.
That kind of emotion was deeply contagious, and it made it easy for Nanase Tsubasa to feel what Horikita felt.
She had a sense that this senpai standing in front of her was carrying something far heavier in her heart than Nanase's own unfinished wish.
"I'll do my best!" Nanase Tsubasa carefully tucked the booklet away, then looked at Horikita as she turned to leave. "Oh, Senpai — where are you going?"
Horikita Suzune waved a hand without turning back.
"Finding you a quieter place to practice. Last thing I need is for you to get heatstroke up here on this rooftop, then waste everyone's time becoming a liability."
Listening to that signature sharp-tongued, soft-hearted delivery —
The tension that had been coiled in Nanase Tsubasa's shoulders finally unwound. Her long lashes fluttered, as though something soft had reached in and touched something deep.
"Senpai, you really are... such a genuinely good person!"
The girl called out to Horikita's retreating back.
Horikita Suzune's steps faltered. She stopped for just a moment.
She had absolutely no idea what Nanase Tsubasa meant by that out-of-nowhere comment, and could only conclude that this kohai's thought processes might be just as quirky as Kushida's.
Even so, she didn't bother asking Nanase for an explanation.
With Horikita leading the way, the two of them soon arrived at a place of quiet and learning.
The library — deserted again now that the midterm pressure had lifted — earned a satisfied nod from Horikita Suzune.
"Here will do."
She found a seat in the corner, Nanase Tsubasa settling in beside her.
Watching Horikita Suzune close her eyes, adjust her posture, and begin easing herself into the meditative state needed to practice Ripple Breathing, Nanase Tsubasa followed her example — referencing the opening guidance in the practice booklet she'd skimmed on the way over, trying to coax the latent potential within herself to stir.
But Ripple Breathing was not the kind of thing you could master from theory alone.
Despite her exceptional physical control honed through years of training — allowing her to quickly master the breathing rhythm, even to the point where she could feel something like a faint current of qi beginning to stir inside her — it was like stagnant water trapped in a pipe. No matter how hard she strained and pushed, she couldn't get it to flow outward.
And with each failed attempt, a restlessness crept in. Her breathing, once steady, began to break apart, forcing her to take several deep breaths and start all over from scratch.
Horikita Suzune, who had long since given up expecting swift mastery, had anticipated this.
She slowly extended her index finger.
Under Nanase Tsubasa's stunned gaze, she displayed a faint golden ripple of lightning at her fingertip — small, but unmistakably real.
"Don't rush it. The harder you chase it, the further it slips away."
Horikita Suzune let out a quiet, self-deprecating laugh.
"And Ripple Breathing seems to be the kind of ability that runs on natural talent... not that I'm ashamed to admit it, but even counting the time inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, all I've managed is to barely scrape the surface of the threshold."
"Ripple at this level, taken into real combat... it wouldn't amount to anything."
Nanase Tsubasa stopped what she was doing and stared at the golden glow at Horikita's fingertip.
And then — something strange happened.
From that tiny flicker of light, she seemed to sense something peculiar... a vitality?
It was an inexplicable, unceasing aliveness — but right now, weighed down by its owner's troubled state of mind, it seemed frail and agitated, like a candle guttering in the wind, threatening to go out at any moment.
It sounded absurd. But in Nanase Tsubasa's eyes, she was completely certain of it.
Could it be... that the essence of Ripple Breathing is actually something that flows freely when you follow your body's instinct and intuition — rather than something you force and control?
Thinking that, Nanase Tsubasa made a decision: for now, she'd set aside the rigid framework of the booklet and follow her intuition entirely.
It was just an attempt. Failing wasn't the end of the world.
She could always try again.
She closed her eyes again.
This time, she stopped trying to govern the length of each breath. Instead, she let her breathing follow the rhythm of her heartbeat.
Crackle.
Nanase Tsubasa raised her hands.
Blazing golden ripple-lightning leapt to life at her fingertips.
"I did it — yes!"
Spinning with excitement toward the girl across from her, she cried out: "Thank you so mu—"
Her words of gratitude died in her throat.
Because only now did she notice: in the very moment she had successfully summoned her Ripple, the expression on Horikita Suzune's face — sitting across from her — had gone utterly still and sunken.
But Nanase Tsubasa could clearly sense that Horikita Suzune's negativity in this moment was not jealousy.
It was... an intense, self-directed hatred and self-condemnation.
"Why... why can't you... you useless thing..."
Horikita Suzune stared down at her own hands, voice trembling.
"Something that someone else can grasp in just a few tries — you've spent all this time and you're still half-baked!"
"Those precious S-points, spent on someone as mediocre as you — it's practically a crime!"
Watching Horikita Suzune take every past failure and lay it across her own back — the slow, agonizing laceration of self-condemnation — her lips already bitten to the point of drawing blood —
Nanase Tsubasa's heart seized with anxiety. She was still turning over how to phrase something — anything — that might offer comfort without wounding her senpai's pride.
And then, in the corner of her eye —
She noticed Chris, moving quietly in their direction from somewhere across the library.
Nanase Tsubasa almost felt a wave of relief wash over her at the sight. She opened her mouth.
But she saw Chris raise his index finger to his lips — a silent signal: don't make a sound.
Chris moved with careful, soundless steps until he stood directly behind Horikita Suzune, lost in her spiral of self-recrimination.
No words of comfort.
He simply reached out both hands and placed them on the girl's slight, trembling shoulders — trembling with the effort of holding everything in.
He lowered himself just slightly, leaning in at a distance that wasn't quite intimate, and spoke in a quiet, unhurried voice:
"Horikita... do you know why you can't truly break through?"
The moment Chris's hands made contact, Horikita Suzune's body gave a small, startled shiver — as though touched by an electric current.
It was only when his familiar voice sounded close to her ear that she lifted her head without thinking.
Those usually cool, composed eyes were now brimming with a mist she was fighting hard not to let fall.
Her voice trembled, carrying something close to pleading:
"...Why?"
Chris's gaze was steady and calm.
"Because you, Horikita... have no pure passion for living."
"You've always been living inside the obsession of chasing your brother's shadow. You have no self."
"And you don't understand what it truly means to love."
____
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🔥 New history: Jujutsu x Mieruko: Oh no, am I a villain too?
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