"Huh? Saying another corny line?", Rin said as she laughed.
"Damnit! I was sure that one would sound cool!"
"Whatever, come at me!", Rento shouted with a noticeable nervousness in his voice. Rin's smile suddenly disappeared. "You know something, Takahashi-kun? You're brat that needs to learn respect..."
WHOOSH!
Rin leaped towards holding nothing back, Rento couldn't even notice her. Before he knew it, Rin was right in front of him and gave him a brutal slap. Rento flew back as he screamed in agony from the pain.
"You refer to me as 'Senpai', you got that!?"
"Ouuuchhhhhhh!", Rento moaned while still on the ground. The other SOMA agents watched in shock except for Yabo who watched in excitement.
"This fight is over! Takahashi-kun is eliminated and won't participate in any of the matches coming forward.", Rin said as she returned to the other agents.
Yuko rushed over to Rento to see how he was doing.
"Are you okay, Takahashi-kun?", Yuko asked with worried eyes. Seeing that worry melted Rento's heart. "Of course I am, senpai! This is nothing, I'm regenerating the injury and it's almost done! I'm completely fine." He wasn't.
Yuko and Rento came back to the Lakeside while Rento still kept up the facade of being okay. "Alright then, who shall be the next two fighters?", Shiori asked.
"It'll be my Kohai over here.", Yoru replied.
"Sure, Yoru-kun. It'll be your ko- Yoru-kun!?"
"Hey, senpai. We've arrived.", Yoru replied while he fixed his glasses. Takeru who was hiding behind Yoru whispered, "Manga character..."
Everyone sighed with relief now that all the groups were here. They were all anxious that maybe The Chairman could come to check up on the event at any moment and yell at them for everyone not being present.
Rin turned her eyes away from Yoru completely ignoring him. Yoru noticed and said nothing. "Who's that behind you, Yoru-kun? I've been curious wondering who your group member was since you didn't join any of the existing groups and formed a new one.", Shiori asked in a puzzled voice. Hina looked away knowing it was Takeru.
"Face them, Ichino-kun."
That name instantly caught everyone's attention, especially Yabo, Rento and Yuko's. Takeru slowly walked away from Yoru and faced all of the SOMA agents. Just like Hina, Yabo looked away not being able to face Takeru. Takeru noticed and felt horrible once more.
"Ichino-kun?" Yuko's soft voice was filled with both surprise and relief. She slowly walked towards him and said, "Are you okay?"
Takeru's eyes were filled with sorrow and shame. "Senpai... I've be-"
"Oi, Takeru! You bastard!", Rento suddenly shouted. He walked towards Takeru while violently stomping on the ground and grabbed him by his collar. "You little brat! You didn't even tell us that you were out!"
Yuko was shocked. "Takahashi-kun! Stop it! Let him g-"
"No, senpai! This guy needs to learn a lesson!"
The sorrow in Takeru's eyes transitioned into annoyance. "Let go of me! What's it with you, dude!?"
"What's it with me!? Do you know how worried Senpai and m- HOW WORRIED SHE WAS!? YOU COULDN'T EVEN BOTHER CHECKING UP ON US SAYING YOU WERE OKAY!?"
Takeru made a weirded out face mocking Rento. "What? You fucking gay for me or something!? And... I had no idea Ikari-senpai was concerned for me so how is it my fault, huh!?"
Rento grabbed his collar even harder. Yuko started to look concerned. "Takahashi-kun, just calm do-"
"You had no idea Ikari-senpai was concerned for you!? Let me remind you, brat! She's the reason you're even alive! You would have been executed as an alternate if Ikari-san didn't give you the benefit of the doubt and believed you were human! She even tried to keep the fact that you were a special case hidden so you could gain everyone's trust first! Even when I questioned it several times and said that you were an alternate tricking us, she still believed in you! She's the kindest person there is in the world so don't you dare tell me that!"
Takeru's eyes softened. "Look, dude... I'm sorr-"
"2nd form."
Yoru suddenly sent Rento flying back with just a gentle push. "Now, please. Let us not engage in this unnecessary violence."
"Oi! What the hell was that!?", Rento shouted as he got up.
"Gross... Look at their little drama.", Yoshimi said in a monotone voice. Nakano Kotoha, another member of Group 2, looked offended. "Yoshimi-san! How could you say something so mean? This is clearly not some little drama! That poor little boy wa-"
Hikari suddenly stood up and started walking towards Takeru. Yoshimi and Kotoha were both surprised. "Hikari-senpai?", Kotoha said in a soft voice. "Whatever... Let him get involved if he wants.", Yoshimi said.
With a stern voice, Yoru said, "That was me putting an end to your foolishness, Takahashi-kun."
"Why the hell didn't he check up on u-"
Yuko suddenly got in front of Rento. "Stop it, Takahashi-kun...", She said as she wiped off tears from Rento's face.
"Huh? Why the hell was I crying?"
Yuko grabbed his face and said, "You were glad to see him out and okay just like me, Takahashi-kun."
Now that Rento had shed some tears, the situation had gone from tense to awkward. Yoru didn't know what to say so he stayed quiet, he looked over at Takeru and saw a face filled with confusion.
"Why the hell is the dude crying?"
"Everyone, get away. I need to have a chat with Ichino-kun. You guys can start off the next match.", Hikari said with a serious voice. Except Rento, they all nodded. When Hikari was serious, everyone listened.
"Kagura-san?", Takeru said with a surprised and a slightly scared voice.
"Let's go over there, Ichino-kun. We'll sit on that rock and talk."
"Yes, of course."
Hikari began walking to the rock and Takeru started following his way but suddenly, Yuko tapped on his shoulder.
"Ichino-kun... Once you're done with Kagura-san, come talk to us. Me and Rento will be over there, okay?"
Realizing how much Yuko cared for him, Takeru happily smiled and said, "Of course, senpai."
Hikari and Takeru both sat on the rock looking upon the beauty of Lake Okutama.
"Umm... What did you wanna talk about, Kagura-san?"
"You must be going through a lot, kid. Most importantly, I want you to know that it wasn't your fault at all and that you shouldn't have been punished. I'll give The Chairman a serious scolding for that one day!"
"Thank you, Kagura-san... I had been blaming myself for the whole of those 2 weeks but Yoyo-san has been constantly telling me that it wasn't my fault and trying to life me up. Thanks to him, I'm slowly starting to believe it."
"That's good, Yoru's a good kid. The other thing I wanted tell you is that... I understand you."
Yoru looked over at Hikari's face and said, "What do you mean, Kagura-san?"
"Like you, there's someone whose death I blame on myself."