The notice appeared before dinner.
There was no announcement.
No bell.
No gathering in the courtyard.
Only a single white sheet of paper, pinned to the main board in the hallway that connected the training area to the dorms.
That made it worse.
Because bad news, when it arrived without noise, always looked more decided.
Yūta noticed it because Sota stopped in front of the board.
At first, he thought the boy had seen some new schedule, another training change, or a list of punishments drafted by Kato with far too much enthusiasm.
Then he saw Kenta standing beside him.
No fire in his hands.
No smile.
That was already a sign that something was wrong.
"What happened?" Yūta asked.
Kenta did not answer.
Kaito Mura stood a few steps away, arms crossed, brow tight. Ishida read the notice in silence. Hana stood behind Harada, watching not only the paper, but also the reactions around it. Chiho and Yui arrived together. Hina appeared with Mei, and Mei still looked like she wanted to break a window that did not exist.
Yūta stepped closer.
The paper said:
Annual Young Hunters Festival — suspended until further notice.
There was more text below.
Security measures.
Travel restrictions.
Protocol review.
Communication between branches.
Kana Mizushima's signature.
Yūta read it twice.
Not because he did not understand.
Because he was not sure if he understood the important part.
"Annual festival?" he asked.
Kenta let out a dry laugh.
"Of course. Obviously you didn't know about that either."
"I love being blamed for being new."
"I'm not blaming you for being new. I'm blaming you for having a face that said you were going to ask questions anyway."
"That's fair."
Sota stared at the notice.
"What festival?"
Mei crossed her arms.
"One of the few events that wasn't completely miserable."
Hina looked at her.
"That almost sounds positive, coming from you."
"Don't get used to it."
Ishida closed the book he had been carrying under one arm.
"The annual festival is held between branches. Students from Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and smaller branches participate if they have candidates."
Yūta blinked.
"Like a sports festival?"
Mei looked at him.
"With more injuries and fewer parents taking pictures."
"So, better organized."
"I didn't say that."
Kaito spoke without taking his eyes off the notice.
"Normally, it's an individual tournament. One-on-one. Branch against branch. Student against student."
Kenta tightened his fingers.
"And this year was going to be good."
Yūta looked at Kenta.
"For you, or for the firefighters?"
"For me. The firefighters weren't invited."
Yui sighed.
"That would have been irresponsible."
"Exactly. That's why it was fun."
Chiho read the notice quietly.
"'Restriction of student travel until further security evaluation.'"
Harada leaned his back against the wall.
"It makes sense."
Kenta looked at him.
"Thanks for the enthusiasm, social death with legs."
Harada's expression did not change.
"After Shizuoka, moving students would be stupid."
The hallway fell quieter.
There it was.
Shizuoka.
No one needed to explain what it meant.
Not completely.
Yūta had heard the partial report. Dead hunters. A minor outpost. Communications cut. One unconscious survivor. The feeling that the remnant organization was not only attacking.
It was measuring.
Sota looked at the paper with another expression.
Part of him had reacted to the festival as something new.
Another part had reacted to the reason for its cancellation as something far too familiar.
"So it isn't because they don't want to do it," he said.
Ishida shook his head.
"No."
"It's because they can't."
"Because they shouldn't," Ishida corrected.
Mei clicked her tongue.
"There's a horrible difference between those two things."
Hina was still reading the notice.
"Was it that important?"
Kaito answered before anyone else.
"Yes."
He did not say it with exaggerated emotion.
That made it clearer.
"It lets you see the real level of other branches. It lets you see techniques you don't see inside your own group. It makes students from one branch understand they aren't the center of the world."
Yūta raised his hand slightly.
"That last part might have been useful before I met Kato."
Kato, who had just turned the corner with a cup in his hand, stopped.
"I heard that."
Yūta slowly closed his hand.
"I see the festival also trained long-distance hearing."
Kato approached the board.
He did not look at Yūta first.
He looked at the paper.
His expression did not change much, but something around his mouth hardened.
Kenta noticed.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't say anything?"
"It wasn't official until the notice was posted."
Mei looked at him.
"That's a very convenient way to say you knew."
"It's a precise way."
"That's getting contagious today."
Kato drank coffee.
"Blame Kanzaki."
From the far end of the hallway, Baku appeared without anyone having called him.
"I don't like blaming Masato. He never defends himself with enough noise."
Kanzaki came behind him.
"Most accusations collapse on their own if you wait."
Baku pointed at the students.
"See? That's what happens when someone is born with no respect for entertainment."
Kenta looked at Baku, then looked away.
After the training, it was still hard for him to hold the man's gaze.
Baku noticed.
He said nothing.
That was strange.
Yūta noticed too.
That made it worse.
Kasumi arrived from the other side of the hallway, a closed fan in one hand. Mei saw her, and her expression shut like a door.
Kasumi looked at the notice.
"So they made it public."
Mei tightened her fingers around her fans.
"You knew too?"
"Yes."
"What a surprise. Adults knowing things and deciding when we find out."
Kasumi watched her for a moment.
"Sometimes, yes."
There was no poison in the answer.
From Kasumi, that almost seemed dangerous.
Mei stepped away from the board.
"Great. The festival is canceled. The part where we could prove something outside this branch is canceled. What's next? Are they going to ban us from breathing if we do it with too much independence?"
Hina followed her with her eyes.
"Mei."
"No."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were going to."
"Probably."
"Then don't."
Hina did not insist.
That seemed to irritate Mei almost as much as if she had.
Kenta struck the wall with the side of his fist.
Not hard.
But enough for Yui to glare at him.
"Finally, there was something interesting."
"Training not to burn your teammates was interesting too," Yūta said.
Kenta looked at him.
"Don't help."
"I wasn't helping. I was decorating the tragedy."
Kaito did not smile.
"It isn't just about fighting."
Yūta looked at him.
Kaito still had his eyes on the notice.
"For many students, the festival is the first time they see that there are others like them. Other students. Other teachers. Other ways to use mana. It makes you feel like the branch isn't the whole world."
Sota lowered his gaze.
"That sounds nice."
"It is," Ishida said.
Yūta noticed that even Ishida said it without correcting anything afterward.
That gave the words weight.
Hana spoke from behind them.
"People's voices changed when they read it."
Everyone looked at her.
She did not seem comfortable with the attention, but she continued.
"Not just because they wanted to compete. Some seemed… relieved. Others disappointed. Others scared that they were relieved."
Harada watched her.
"That makes sense."
Kenta raised his eyebrows.
"Can you say something other than 'that makes sense' when everything is horrible?"
Harada thought for a second.
"It is coherent."
Kenta closed his eyes.
"Thanks. Worse."
Kato set his cup on the lower edge of the board.
"Don't block the hallway."
Mei looked at him.
"That's all?"
"For now."
"How reassuring."
"I wasn't trying to reassure you."
"Clearly."
Kana appeared at the end of the hallway before Mei could say anything else.
She was not walking quickly.
She never needed to.
Tatsu was beside her, a folder under his arm and the expression of someone who already knew that folder was going to create arguments.
The students moved aside almost at the same time.
Kana looked at the notice.
Then at them.
"You read it."
It was not a question.
Kenta opened his mouth.
Yui stepped on his foot.
Kenta looked at her.
"What was that?"
"Prevention."
Kana continued.
"The decision has been made. The annual festival between branches is suspended."
No one answered.
Not because they had nothing to say.
Because Kana's voice had not left space for them to say it yet.
"There will be no student travel. No invited branches. No gathering of students outside their bases. Until further notice, each branch will remain within its own protocols."
Sota swallowed.
Yūta heard it.
Again.
This time, he did not make a joke.
Kana looked at each of them.
"I know what this means to you."
Mei smiled without joy.
"With respect, I don't think you do."
Kasumi closed her eyes for an instant.
Kato looked at Mei.
So did Yuna.
The hallway turned cold.
Kana did not take offense.
That made Mei look younger all at once.
"You're right," Kana said.
Mei blinked.
Kana placed both hands on her cane.
"I don't know it the way you do. I'm no longer a student. I don't wait for that festival as a chance to prove something, to see another branch, to win, to lose, to feel that the world is larger than this building."
Her voice did not soften.
But it changed.
A little.
"But I do know what it means to put students on a route an enemy may be waiting to measure."
No one spoke.
"And I will not do that."
Mei looked away.
She did not accept it.
But she did not answer either.
Kana looked at Kato.
"Meeting in ten minutes."
Kato sighed.
"Of course."
"Don't sigh as if you don't know why."
"I know why. That's why I'm sighing."
Baku raised a hand.
"Are those of us who provide professional chaos invited?"
"Yes," Kana said.
"Excellent. I'll bring nothing useful and several opinions."
Kanzaki passed beside him.
"If you reverse that, it will be enough."
Baku pointed at him.
"This man wounds me efficiently."
Kasumi looked at Mei one last time before following the adults.
Mei did not return the look.
But she did not move until Kasumi left.
Yūta looked at the notice again.
Festival suspended.
It looked like a simple phrase.
But there were too many things around those two words.
Training.
Dead people.
Branches.
Routes.
Students who wanted to win because winning was easier to understand than waiting.
Kato picked up his cup.
"Go eat dinner."
Kenta looked at the notice.
"I'm not hungry."
Baku, already walking toward the meeting room, spoke without turning around.
"Emotional lie. Eat anyway, fire boy. Drama on an empty stomach is amateur."
Kenta clenched his teeth.
But he did not answer.
That was new too.
The meeting room was brighter than necessary.
That did not make it kinder.
Maps, folders, student lists, and security reports covered the table. Tatsu had organized everything into separate piles. One for the exercise reports. One for Shizuoka. One for communication between branches. One for the annual festival.
The festival pile was the thinnest.
Maybe that was why it looked the saddest.
Kana sat at the head of the table.
Kato stood to her left, holding his almost-empty cup of coffee. Yuna sat on the other side, back straight, arms crossed. Kagami leaned one shoulder against the wall. Kasumi took a seat with unnecessary elegance. Baku sat backward on a chair until Tatsu looked at him.
Baku sighed.
"The tyranny of basic furniture rules."
He sat properly.
Kanzaki did not sit. He chose to stand near the wall, from where he could see the door, the window, and the table.
No one asked why.
They all knew.
Kana opened the festival folder.
"The annual festival is canceled in its usual format."
Tatsu slid a sheet toward the center.
"Preliminary notifications have already been sent to the branches. The public version mentions security restructuring and travel procedure review."
Baku raised a hand.
"Did the honest version say, 'We are not gathering teenagers with mana in one place while monsters are watching routes'?"
Kana looked at him.
"No."
"The public version needs more character."
Kanzaki spoke from the wall.
"The public version needs not to cause panic."
"That's also character, just boring character."
Yuna looked at the map.
"Canceling travel is the right decision."
Kagami nodded.
"Moving them would mark targets."
"And concentrating them would hand over an impact point," Kanzaki added.
Baku clicked his tongue.
"What an elegant way to say 'party with potential corpses.'"
Kana's expression did not change.
"Shishido."
"I'm supporting the cancellation. I just use honest vocabulary."
Kasumi opened her fan slightly.
"The problem isn't only the trip. If a branch sends its best students, it leaves gaps. If it keeps them, the festival loses meaning. If everyone comes, we concentrate too much. If only a few come, everyone will know who matters."
Tatsu nodded.
"Also, after Shizuoka, every secondary route is under review."
Kato was looking at the student list.
Not the branch folder.
Not the map.
The list.
Kana noticed.
"Say it."
Kato lifted his gaze.
"Let's do it internally."
Kana closed the folder.
"No."
"I haven't explained anything yet."
"I know your face when you're about to say a useful stupidity."
Baku raised one finger.
"That is an official category in Ginjiro's life."
Kato did not look at him.
"The festival exists for a reason."
Kana held his gaze.
"And this year, that reason does not outweigh the risk."
"I didn't say we should do it as usual."
Yuna looked at Kato.
This time, she did not seem surprised.
She seemed to have reached the same conclusion a few seconds earlier and hated that he had said it first.
"A closed version," she said.
Kana turned to Yuna.
"You too?"
"Not as an inter-branch festival. That would be irresponsible."
Kato pointed at the list.
"But canceling it completely has a cost too."
Kagami pushed his shoulder off the wall.
"Morale."
Kato nodded.
"Morale. Comparison. Goals. The students need something that isn't waiting for the next blow."
Kana did not answer right away.
Kato continued.
"The normal festival measures individuals. One-on-one. Branch against branch. It's simple. It works because there are enough students, different styles, and opponents who don't know your habits."
Kasumi smiled faintly.
"And because teenagers enjoy believing that a three-minute result defines their worth."
Baku placed one hand over his chest.
"That isn't just teenagers. Some adults live like that with worse backs."
Kanzaki looked at him.
"That explains several of your decisions."
"Damn idiot. Don't use precision against my autobiography."
Kato continued, ignoring them.
"With only one branch, an individual tournament would be short. Too familiar. Too predictable."
Kana rested her fingers on the folder.
"Then it doesn't work."
"Not individually."
The room went quiet.
Yuna said what everyone had understood.
"Two-on-two."
Tatsu lifted his eyes from his papers.
Kagami's expression did not change, but his attention sharpened.
Kasumi closed her fan.
Baku smiled behind the mask.
Kanzaki looked at the list.
Kana said nothing for several seconds.
Then she spoke.
"That changes the festival."
Kato shook his head.
"No. It changes what we're measuring."
Yuna rested her arms on the table.
"The exercises these days showed how they react against adults. Against us, they know they're going to lose, or that they can't win normally."
Kagami nodded.
"They defend."
"Exactly," Yuna said. "But against someone their own age, they'll try to win."
Kato looked at the list.
"That's where something else comes out."
Kana was still watching him.
"Pride."
"Pride," Kato said. "Rivalry. Fear of being left behind. Wanting to show off. Misunderstood protection. Jealousy. Trust. Lack of trust."
Kanzaki added:
"Communication under realistic pressure."
Baku raised a hand.
"And stupidity with an audience. Don't underestimate stupidity with an audience."
Kasumi looked at him.
"For once, he's right."
Baku placed both hands over his chest.
"I'm going to put this moment in a box and sleep hugging it."
"Don't," Kanzaki said.
"I don't need your emotional permission."
Kana looked at Kasumi.
"What do you think?"
Kasumi spun the fan between her fingers.
"I think a one-on-one would let them lie better."
Yuna watched her.
Kasumi continued.
"Mei can hide her wound behind speed. Kenta, behind fire. Ishida, behind control. Amane, behind improvisation. In an individual fight, they'd win or lose, and everyone could pretend they learned something clear."
Kato did not argue.
"And in two-on-two?"
Kasumi smiled.
"In two-on-two, someone always sees when your lie starts getting in the way."
The sentence stayed on the table.
Kagami crossed his arms.
"The format forces them to give up space."
Kanzaki added:
"And not occupy all of it."
Baku leaned forward.
"Also, if a teenager is going to ruin a fight because of pride, it's educational for another teenager nearby to suffer the consequences."
Kana looked at him.
"That sentence was almost useful."
"I'm growing as a professional."
"Don't exaggerate."
Tatsu checked the festival folder.
"Logistically, it is possible. Tokyo students only. No invited branches. No travel. We can adapt the main courtyard and two secondary training rooms as areas."
Kanzaki shook his head.
"Not two rooms."
Tatsu looked at him.
"Why?"
"Blind spots. Too many access points. Main courtyard only. One match at a time. Full supervision."
Yuna nodded.
"I agree."
Baku sighed.
"How sad. No chaotic multitasking."
"No chaotic multitasking," Kana repeated.
"That hurt because it sounded final."
Kato placed one hand on the list of names.
"It has to feel like a festival."
Kana narrowed her eyes.
"No."
"Listen to me."
"I usually do that before regretting it."
"If they feel it as another evaluation, they'll hide the same things they hid in the exercises. They'll obey. Be careful. Try not to fail."
Yuna finished the thought.
"But if they feel it as a tournament, they'll want to win."
"And when they want to win," Kato said, "we'll see who they are when they aren't thinking about surviving an instructor."
Kana looked at Kato's hand over the list.
"I don't want a spectacle."
"Not an external one."
"I don't want invited spectators."
"There won't be any."
"I don't want lethal techniques."
"No one wants that."
Baku raised his hand.
Everyone looked at him.
He slowly lowered it.
"I'm maturing."
Kanzaki spoke.
"Lie."
"Yes, but it was brief."
Kana continued.
"No simulated remnants. No strange trials. No hidden objectives. I will not turn a canceled festival into an excuse to scare them further."
Kato nodded.
"Two-on-two. Controlled combat. Clean arena. Clear rules."
"Mixed teams," Yuna said.
Kana looked at her.
"Mixed how?"
"Years, blocks, styles. No comfortable pairs."
Kato nodded.
"If we let them choose, they'll hide the cracks."
Kagami looked at the list.
"Amane will choose Miyazaki."
Kato did not answer right away.
That was already an answer.
Yuna looked at him.
"And that is exactly the problem."
Kato tightened his jaw.
"I know."
Baku tilted his mask.
"The protagonist boy and the new trauma boy, separated by pedagogical decision. What a beautiful administrative pain."
Kanzaki said:
"Necessary."
Baku pointed at him.
"I didn't say it wasn't. I only said it hurts with letterhead."
Kana looked at Kato.
"Are you willing to stop it?"
Kato held Kana's gaze.
"Yes."
"Even if Amane misunderstands?"
"Especially if he misunderstands."
The room went still.
Yuna lowered her eyes slightly.
Kagami watched Kato more carefully.
Kasumi did not smile.
Baku said nothing either.
Kato removed his hand from the list.
"If Yūta fights with Sota right now, he'll try to prove he can protect him without standing in front of him. We already saw that. We don't need him practicing his favorite mistake in front of an audience."
Kagami nodded.
"Miyazaki needs to move with someone who doesn't look at him like a debt."
The sentence was dry.
And precise.
Kato did not move.
But something passed over his face.
"Yes."
Kana marked something in the folder.
"Then the instructors will decide the teams."
Tatsu wrote.
"Format: two-on-two, designated teams, full supervision, main courtyard, no external audience."
"The students can watch," Kato said.
Kana looked at him.
"That's an audience."
"It's part of the festival."
"You said you didn't want a spectacle."
"I said I didn't want an external spectacle. If no one watches, it feels like an exam. If their classmates watch, it feels like a tournament."
Baku raised one finger.
"And where classmates are watching, ego blooms like a horrible flower."
Kasumi smiled.
"How poetic."
"Thank you. I hated myself a little."
Kanzaki spoke from the wall.
"Controllable if the area is single and spectators remain behind a barrier."
Tatsu wrote again.
"Perimeter barrier. Medical team present. Immediate intervention if an instructor declares risk."
Kana added:
"And if anyone mistakes this for playing at war, it's canceled."
Baku raised his hand.
"What if they mistake it for an entertaining fake war?"
"That too."
"Harsh, but fair."
Yuna looked at the list.
"We can't make it too large. If everyone participates, it becomes long and difficult to control."
Kato shook his head.
"Not everyone."
Kana looked at him.
"Who?"
Kato took a pencil.
He did not start writing names yet.
He only held it over the page.
"The ones already closest to real missions. Advanced first-years, second-years, active blocks. The ones the organization might consider useful pieces if this escalates."
Kanzaki spoke.
"Then it isn't a festival. It's a risk selection."
Kato looked at him.
"Yes."
Kana held the silence.
Then she said:
"You won't use that phrase with the students."
"I wasn't planning to."
Baku rested his chin on the back of the chair.
"I was."
"That's why you won't explain anything," Kana said.
"Censorship again."
"Prevention."
Kasumi looked at Kato.
"When?"
Tatsu checked the dates.
"The festival was scheduled for two weeks from now. If we convert it to an internal event, we can keep the date. That helps it avoid looking improvised."
Kagami shook his head.
"Two weeks isn't much."
"No," Kana said.
Kato looked at the list.
"It's what we have."
The sentence weighed more than it should have.
Because no one was only talking about the tournament.
And they all knew it.
Yuna placed one finger over Mei's name.
Then moved it away, as if she did not want Kasumi to notice.
Kasumi noticed anyway.
She said nothing.
Kanzaki looked at the names like possible routes.
Baku looked at them as if each one had a particular way to break.
Kagami stopped at Yūta and Sota.
So did Kato.
Kana looked at all the adults before looking down at the page.
"The annual festival existed to measure individual growth," she said. "To compare branches. To create pride. To remind Tokyo that it is not alone."
Tatsu stopped writing.
"This year, doing it as usual would be irresponsible."
Kana nodded.
"That's why it is suspended."
Kato did not move.
Kana placed both hands on her cane.
"But erasing everything has a price too."
Baku did not make a joke.
That alone made the sentence feel more serious.
"I will not pretend the students need only fear, discipline, and waiting," Kana continued. "They are not soldiers. And if we start treating them only as pieces that need to be protected, we will break something before the enemy ever touches the door."
Kato lowered his gaze.
So did Yuna.
Kasumi closed her eyes for an instant.
Kanzaki's expression did not change, but his silence was different.
Kana took the pencil from Kato.
At the top of a new sheet, she wrote:
Tokyo Internal Tournament.
Below it:
Format: two-on-two.
Tatsu looked at it.
"Then it's approved?"
Kana set down the pencil.
"With conditions."
Baku raised a hand.
"There are always conditions. Like breathing, but with more bureaucracy."
Kana continued as if she had not heard him.
"Tokyo students only. No guests. No travel. No external branches. Controlled matches. Lethal techniques prohibited. Teams designated by instructors. Perimeter barrier. Medical team present. Immediate intervention at real risk."
Kanzaki nodded.
"Acceptable."
"I wasn't seeking your approval."
"I gave it anyway."
Baku struck the table once with his palm.
"That was almost arrogant. I'm proud."
Kagami looked at Kana.
"Do we announce it tomorrow?"
"Not tonight," Kana said. "Let them sleep with the bad news before giving them something else."
Kato frowned.
"Is that necessary?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Kana looked toward the window.
From there, part of the courtyard could be seen.
Empty.
Still.
There were still traces of dust where Kasumi's marks had been cut.
"Because I want to know who accepts the cancellation before they know there will be a replacement."
No one answered right away.
Yuna understood first.
"To see who collapses, who gets angry, who feels relieved."
"And who pretends not to care," Kasumi added.
Kato looked at the list.
"You're evaluating them even when they aren't training."
Kana held her cane.
"War doesn't wait for class to begin."
The silence returned.
It was not comfortable.
But it was honest.
Later, the students ate dinner with less noise than usual.
In a branch full of teenagers with mana, that was almost alarming.
Yūta pushed a piece of food around his plate without much enthusiasm.
Sota sat across from him, eating slowly. Ishida was reading, but he was barely making progress. Hina had managed to make Mei sit down, though not to make her talk. Kenta did not make fire. Kaito stayed nearby, as if his presence alone could keep Kenta from sinking too deeply into his own head.
"I never thought I'd miss something I didn't know," Yūta said.
Sota looked up.
"The festival?"
"Yes."
"I didn't know it either."
"Then we're missing it through shared ignorance. That's bonding."
Sota smiled faintly.
Ishida turned a page.
"You can't miss something you haven't experienced."
Yūta looked at him.
"Of course you can. I miss having a normal life, and I'm not even sure I understood it when I had it."
Ishida did not answer.
The sentence had been a joke.
Almost.
Sota lowered his gaze to his plate.
"I did want to see it."
Yūta watched him.
Sota did not seem embarrassed to say it.
Only sad.
"Not to fight," he said. "Well, not only. I wanted to see… other branches. Other students. Know what it was like."
From the other end of the table, Mei spoke without lifting her eyes.
"It was loud, competitive, full of people trying to look calmer or stronger than they were."
Sota looked at her.
"And good?"
Mei took a while to answer.
"Yes."
Hina smiled faintly.
"That was almost nostalgia."
"Don't ruin my bad mood."
"I can't ruin something you take such good care of."
Yūta pointed at Hina.
"That was good."
Mei looked at him.
"Don't encourage her."
Kenta exhaled through his nose.
It was not a full laugh.
But it came close.
Kaito noticed.
He said nothing.
Sometimes, that was better.
Hana, sitting several seats away, looked around.
"People are talking less."
Harada rested his elbows on the table.
"It's an important cancellation."
"Not only because of that," Hana said.
Yūta looked at her.
"What do you hear?"
Hana touched the edge of her glass.
"Not words. More like… expectations falling."
No one made a joke.
Because they all felt it.
The suspended festival was not only a canceled event.
It was a closed door.
One of the few that did not lead directly to fear.
The next day, a second notice appeared beneath the first.
This time, there was noise.
Not much at first.
First, a pause.
Then an exclamation.
Then footsteps.
Then voices.
Yūta came running because Daiki, who had nothing to do with the branch and was not even there, would have been proud of the speed with which he responded to the possibility of gossip.
Sota arrived behind him.
Kenta was already in front of the board.
So was Mei.
Ishida read in silence.
Kaito had his arms crossed.
Hina studied the notice with more attention than surprise.
The new announcement said:
Annual Inter-Branch Festival: suspended.
Authorized internal activity: Tokyo Tournament.
Format: two-on-two.
Teams designated by instructors.
Controlled matches.
Date: original festival week maintained.
Yūta read the "two-on-two" part three times.
Then the "teams designated" part.
Then he went back to "two-on-two."
"That's new," he said.
Ishida nodded.
"The usual festival is individual."
Sota looked at the notice.
"Two-on-two?"
Kenta smiled for the first time since the previous night.
"Now we're talking."
From behind, Yui said:
"That smile worries me."
"Everything worries you."
"Because I pay attention."
Kaito looked at Kenta.
"It isn't an excuse to lose control."
Kenta raised his hands.
"I haven't done anything yet."
"I'm practicing anticipation."
Baku appeared behind them as if summoned by the word "lose control."
"Well said, Mura. Anticipating stupidity is the first step toward surviving it."
Kenta looked at Baku.
"Did you write this?"
"No. If I'd written it, there would be more exclamation points and at least one creative threat."
Kanzaki appeared beside him.
"That's why he didn't write it."
Baku placed one hand on the notice.
"Preventive censorship. Again."
Yūta was still staring at "teams designated."
Then he looked at Sota.
Sota looked back at him.
The idea appeared between them without either of them saying it.
If it was two-on-two, they could go together.
Yūta opened his mouth.
Kato spoke from behind him.
"No."
Yūta jumped.
"I didn't even say anything."
"Your face shouted."
"That's facial surveillance."
"That's experience."
Sota looked at Kato.
"We can't choose our partners?"
"No."
Yūta pointed at the notice.
"It says teams designated. Technically, I could still have hope."
"Hope is also under supervision," Kato said.
Mei looked at Kasumi, who had just appeared beside Yuna.
"You're choosing?"
"Among others," Kasumi said with a smile.
"Horrible."
"Yes."
"Does that amuse you?"
"Among other things."
Hina looked at the notice.
"Then it won't be like the normal festival."
Yuna answered:
"No. The normal festival measures individual combat. This will measure something else."
Ishida closed his book.
"Compatibility."
Kanzaki nodded.
"Shared judgment."
Baku raised one finger.
"The ability to not turn your partner into floor decoration."
Kenta looked at him.
"Was that for me?"
"I love that you ask."
Kaito sighed.
"It was for everyone."
"I also love that Mura tries to save you emotionally," Baku said. "You don't deserve it, but it's nice."
Kenta opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Baku tilted his mask.
"Look at that. Growth. Horrible, uncomfortable, almost invisible. I'm moved."
Kenta pointed at the notice to change the subject.
"When are they announcing the pairs?"
Kato drank coffee.
"Soon."
Yūta looked at him.
"Soon in normal language, or soon in adult language, which can mean never and with paperwork?"
Tatsu, who was walking down the hallway with a folder, answered:
"Before afternoon training."
Yūta blinked.
"Thank you. That was useful."
Tatsu inclined his head.
"I try to compensate for the environment."
Baku placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're the administrative hero this tragedy needs."
Tatsu looked at the hand.
Baku removed it.
"Message received."
Kana arrived last.
The hallway adjusted to her presence.
She looked at the second notice.
Then at the students.
"The inter-branch festival remains suspended," she said. "This does not replace it."
The voices lowered.
"There will be no visits. No travel. No representatives from other branches. It will be an internal Tokyo activity, under complete supervision."
Kenta raised a hand.
Yui looked at him with silent despair.
Kana said:
"Arimoto."
"Is it still a tournament?"
"Yes."
Kenta lowered his hand.
"Then I survive emotionally."
"That will also be supervised," Kanzaki said.
Baku pointed at Kanzaki.
"Sometimes you speak and the world loses color."
Kana continued.
"The format will be two-on-two because this year we are not measuring the same thing the usual festival measures. We are not trying to know who wins alone."
She looked at all of them.
"We want to know who can fight with someone beside them without breaking that person in the attempt."
The sentence landed clearly.
Yūta did not look at Sota.
He wanted to.
He did not.
Kato noticed.
He said nothing.
Somehow, that was worse.
Kana placed both hands on her cane.
"It will be a tournament. You will want to win. Good. I want you to want to win."
That surprised more than one of them.
Mei lifted her gaze slightly.
Kenta smiled.
Ishida's expression did not change, but he listened more carefully.
Kana continued.
"But if you abandon your partner in order to win, you lose. If you use your partner as an excuse, you lose. If you try to prove something and forget to think, you lose even if the score says otherwise."
Baku raised a hand.
"Can I print that on a shirt?"
"No."
"On a mug?"
"No."
"Difficult negotiation."
Kana looked at the notice one more time.
"The pairs will be announced this afternoon."
The hallway erupted.
Not in loud shouting.
In murmurs.
In names.
In calculations.
In quick looks toward people no one wanted to be paired with.
Or people they wanted to be paired with too much.
Mei looked at Hina.
Hina looked back.
"It won't happen," Mei said.
"What?"
"The two of us."
Hina tilted her head.
"Does that bother you?"
"It bothers me that it would be too obvious."
"Ah."
"And my aunt definitely knows it."
A few meters behind them, Kasumi smiled.
Mei tightened her grip on her fans.
"I hate her."
Hina looked at Kasumi.
Then at Mei.
"Yes. That also seems obvious."
Ishida was looking at the list of rules.
Yūta watched him.
"Are you already calculating all possible pairs?"
"Yes."
"Including the worst one?"
"Especially."
"And which is it?"
Ishida looked at him.
"The one each person believes they can control."
Yūta's smile faded a little.
"That was unnecessarily deep to say beside a notice board."
"The environment does not change precision."
Kenta approached Kaito.
"If they put us together, we win."
Kaito looked at him.
"If they put us together, Baku is going to bet on how long it takes you to set my patience on fire."
From behind, Baku raised a hand.
"I already did."
Yui closed her eyes.
"Of course he did."
Sota was still looking at the notice.
Yūta approached him.
"You okay?"
Sota took a moment to answer.
"I thought I was going to want to be with you."
Yūta said nothing.
Sota looked at him.
"But I think if I'm with you, I'll try to prove I don't need you to protect me."
Yūta swallowed.
The answer landed too close to what Kagami had said.
"And I'll try to prove I can avoid protecting you badly," he said.
Sota nodded.
"Yes."
For one second, both of them remained silent.
Then Yūta sighed.
"I hate when we learn."
Sota smiled a little.
"Yes."
Kato watched them from afar.
He did not smile.
But something in his expression loosened slightly.
Yuna noticed.
"That was good."
"Yes."
"Are you proud?"
"Technical observation."
Yuna looked at him.
"Don't steal my lines."
"They sounded useful."
"They sound worse in your mouth."
Kato drank coffee.
"Also technical observation."
Kana moved away from the board.
The students kept talking.
Calculating.
Waiting.
Fearing.
For the first time since the attack on Shizuoka, the hallway of the branch sounded a little less like a place preparing to receive bad news.
It was not clean joy.
It was not calm.
It was not safety.
But it was movement.
And sometimes, in a branch that had begun to close in on itself, movement was already a small way to breathe.
The first notice was still there.
Annual Young Hunters Festival — suspended until further notice.
Under it, the second seemed to contradict it without erasing it.
Tokyo Tournament.
Two-on-two.
Teams designated by instructors.
Yūta looked at those words until they stopped looking administrative.
Two-on-two.
That meant someone would be beside him.
Not in front.
Not behind.
Beside him.
And, for some reason, that sounded less like an advantage than a question.
From the end of the hallway, Kana looked at the notice too.
She did not see a celebration.
She did not see a solution.
She saw possible pairs.
Possible mistakes.
Possible fractures.
And still, for the first time in several days, she saw something that resembled an opportunity.
"Let them want to win," she said quietly.
Tatsu, beside her, heard.
"Pardon?"
Kana did not take her eyes off the board.
"Let them want to win. That way, we'll see what they do when they believe they can."
Outside, the courtyard was empty.
The marks from the exercises could no longer be seen.
But somehow, everyone knew they were still there.
Waiting for the next cut.