The next two opponents were chosen to be Kanji-Man from Group 5 and Nakano Kotoha from Group 2.
"I'm honored to duel you, senpai!", Kanji-Man as he bowed.
"Uhh yeah... Me too.", Kotoha said as she awkwardly bowed back. She hadn't interacted with Kanji-Man before but from him being overly formal and wearing a headband with "漢字" written on it, she had judged that he was quite the weird specimen.
Kanji-Man was a 2nd Class Medium Alternate-user and Kotoha was a 2nd Class Low Alternate-user meaning Kanji-Man's unique ability far surpassed Kotoha's but that didn't matter now. Unique abilities were prohibited in this test meaning the other alternate abilities that one can improve were the only ones to be used. Being a 2nd Class Medium, Kanji-Man had started off with better stats but Kotoha had been a SOMA agent for much longer meaning she had trained her abilities a lot more. Now, just who will win?
"2nd form.", They both said with determined eyes.
Kanji-Man dashed forward, he clenched his fist and shouted, "KANJI PUNCH!"
Kotoha dodged the punch swerving to the right and then kicked Kanji-Man into the bridge's railing. "As expected, senpai... You're good.", Kanji-Man said as he got up.
"Lets end this quickly, uhh..."
"..."
"Uhhh..."
"..."
"Ummm..."
With tear in his eyes, Kanji-Man looked straight at Kotoha's eyes and said, "You do not know my name, senpai...?"
Kotoha looked embarrassed and ashamed, she bowed and said, "I'm sorry, it's just tha-"
"NO! IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT, SENPAI!"
"Huh?"
"IT IS MINE. SENPAI, YOU ARE A STRONG ESTABLISHED AGENT OF SOMA THAT HAS PROTECTED THE CITIZENS FOR YEARS. I HAVE NOT PROVEN MYSELF WORTHY ENOUGH TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED BY YOU YET BUT! BUT, I WILL CHANGE THAT NOW! I WILL PROVE IT YOU THAT I AM WORTH KNOWING IN THIS BATTLE! I KNOW HOW STRONG YOU ARE, SENPAI... THAT IS WHY I WILL NOT HOLD BACK!"
Kotoha smiled with excitement. "I'm actually starting to like this dude... He's funny."
"Sounds good, kohai! Show me what you got!"
The atmosphere was tense between Hikari and Takeru, a huge contrast to their last encounter.
"Really, senpai?"
"Yeah... Just around a week ago, I got drunk. It's a bad habit of mine. Our driver, he had come back for me since I was still wanted to drink more when he came to take Group 2 back the first time. He was a kind man, he could've just went home after taking back the other Group 2 members and I would've had to head back on by own. He was not obligated to still come back for me after my refusal but he still did and because of that, alternates who were targeting me attacked us and he was killed. He died because of me. His name was Jiro, he had a family, a daughter."
Takeru looked away from Hikari and faced the lake and its beautiful clear water. "That doesn't sound like your fault at all, senpai. You were not the one who killed him and how would you have known that there were alternates targeting you that night."
"Yes, looking at it logically, it wasn't my fault but that doesn't take away the feeling that it was, it doesn't take away the guilt. You know too that logically, it wasn't your fault that Kohei died but you still feel that it was."
"..."
"I understand you, Ichino-kun. It's not just Jiro. Throughout these years as a SOMA agent, I've felt this many times. Every instance where I lost someone, it felt as if it was fault. I always thought that were something I could do to prevent it but I couldn't."
"...How do you deal with it, senpai?"
Hikari grabbed Takeru's shoulder. "Instead of looking at the past and thinking about how you could've made better choices, say to yourself that from now on, you will make those better choices. You will never let that happen again and you will protect what matters to you now rather than be in sorrow of what you've lost. If it happens again, say this to yourself once more. No matter how many times, never stop. Trying to make the best of the current situation, that is what we alternate-users do. We've lost our normal human lives and we've been thrown into madness but every day, we try to make the best of said madness."
"Senpai... I-"
Hikari suddenly stood up, patted Takeru's head and said, "But what the hell do I know?" Then, he walked off.
"Thank you once more, Kagura-senpai."
Kotoha, with her sharpened nails, stretched her right hand towards Kanji-Man. To dodge it, he jumped up but then, Kotoha stretched her left arm, grabbed one of his legs and slammed him into the ground.
BAM!
Kanji-Man was seemingly not getting up. Kotoha shouted, "Come on! Is that all you got? You think that's enough to be acknowledged by me!?"
Hearing that, he was filled with determination once more and got up with a serious look in his eyes. "Remember my name, senpai! I am the brave hero, Kanji-Man!" He stretched out one of his arms towards Kotoha but she dodged it by dashing to the left and when she did, Kanji-Man followed it up by stretching his other arm to catch her. It was not enough.
The moment it was almost in contact, she grabbed it herself, pulling it and flinging Kanji-Man away. As Kanji-Man was in the air being thrown away, he stretched his other arm towards her again. This time with the nails sharpened so he could stab her.
"Good move, kohai!", Kotoha said as she deflected it with her own sharpened nails.
Kanji-Man was thrown all the way to the other side of the bridge with multiple stab wounds on his body but he still stood up and bowed. "I HUMBLY ACCEPT MY DEFEAT, SENPAI!"
"Hehe... And I humbly accept my victory, Kanji-Man.", Kotoha replied. She had a mere scratch on her face.
"Gross... Do they think they're in an honorable duel or something?", Yoshimi said with an unimpressed look.