"Your posture is off. Adjust your shoulders to be aligned with your feet."
"Like this?"
"Very good, Yuka. Now, summon your Malevolent Piece."
"..."
"You like it?" Yuka had made a volley of knives that revolved around her body quickly, creating a shield of blades.
"Very nice. You just be very strong. That technique is also one I've never seen."
Yuka's Malevolent Piece, her arsenal of knives that flow around her being like water and flawlessly obey the sweet nothings she whispers to them, are called Eclipse. Her form was one of a kind.
"I watched your duel with Harumi. You said that Rooks can't use their light essence to create defense, normally. So I took inspiration from your little lesson. I use my offensive Eclipse to wrap the blades around my body over and over so fast, It creates a super powerful defense."
"Very impressive, Yuka. But-"
I stuck my finger out, and caught of of the blades in Eclipse that was flying around Yuka. Subsequently, the rest of the blades froze.
"You're still not very experienced with Eclipse, are you? You're still learning, so you haven't fully realized the potential of your Eclipse. While it's true that Eclipse is many blades, as of their current status, they are but one entity. Meaning if one of them is caught, the others follow suit."
"Well that's not fair, you're just too powerful." Stroking my ego, were you? That will get you nowhere, lady.
"I'm not too powerful. You're just too weak." That wasn't a lie. I wasn't exhausting near my full capability.
"You're cruel as a teacher, Shiro."
"That's Yamazaki-Sensei during class."
"No." Fine. I can dream on still. Not like I dreamed about that anyway. I just made that up on the spot.
I'm really not fit to be a teacher.
The bell rang, and my class period was over. I was no longer a teacher, but a student once more.
"You didn't even get to me today, Shiro." Natsumi said as the pouted.
"Sorry, Yuka had created a new technique that I found super interesting."
"Oh? You said you're interested in Yuka? Why don't you just tell her then?" She said, as she have the most malice filled expression I had seen from her yet. It was like a demon's essence was leaking from her and her eyes turned red. She might as well have grew fangs as well. That's just how scary her expression was.
"Wrong. Her technique was interesting. Don't misunderstand me just because you want to."
"Oh, so that's what you meant." Her expression cleared, and her smile was back. When I cleared up the issue at hand, she was relieved. I knew that she didn't have ear problems though. She heard me loud and clear, no room for misinterpretation. She just wanted to get angry at me for paying attention to another girl besides her and was looking for a window to do so. I suppose an overly possessive nature comes with selective hearing.
"Have you visited a clinic recently? You should get your ears checked for stray parasites."
"That's mean, Shiro."
"I won't say things like that if you don't misconstrue my words intentionally."
"Fine. I just got a little jealous. Is that so bad?"
"It could be if you let your pot of envy boil over."
"I'm the queen of control. Don't worry, that won't happen."
"I'll hold you to that."
I continued down the hallway, with Natsumi eerily following behind. Her outward appearance is that of a pretty, carefree girl. Most people would just see a cute girl following me around, but to me, the presence of my childhood friend Natsumi was like a demon bathing in my shadow, that used the guise of a young lady. Oh my, perhaps I shouldn't talk about my friend like that. I might give off the wrong impression of myself. But anybody in my shoes at that time would agree that her presence was certainly, undeniably, eerie. "I'm off to another class." Natsumi said, as she grinned and walked away. Was the grin a cheery one, or an evil one? I'll leave it an open case. Mostly because I wasn't sure myself. I proceeded, no, more like procrastinated down the hall. I didn't want to go to my next class. My reputation at Ataraxia still sucked and I needed to attend class every day on time, but I had grown lazy and even despondent at the thought of sitting down in a classroom. Regardless of my selfish disposition, I attended class. "Alright class," The teacher started in preparation to make an announcement. "Students in the top three hundred rank bracket, there will be an event being held for you this weekend. Students in the top three hundred spots on the school leaderboard will get to duel with one another until half of the three hundred participants have lost. The one hundred and fifty winners will each get to duel the number one student, giving them a chance to claim the title."
Chatter around the classroom flew fast and loud. It was quite bothersome to hear everyone talking about it, but I guess the lip is mightier than the sword. Or so they say. Actually, do they say that? Maybe I got the saying wrong. Anyway, I wasn't happy about all this nonsensical gossip. I realized that it wasn't nonsensical to them, because what student wouldn't take an opportunity to try and pull the number one ranking? To me though, it was just annoying because I knew what came next. The teacher continued "Currently, the number one spot in the school is held by transfer student Yamazaki Shiro. He will be the opponent of the one hundred and fifty winners. The event will be over when Shiro loses a duel, and the opponent he lost to will be the winner as well as the new number one student on the ranks." When the teacher finished talking, the class erupted in chatter again. That's what I wish had happened. Instead, the classroom fell silent. All eyes were on me. The malicious intent of the students in the class fell on me at once. I can't say that it felt good, and I won't. A voice suddenly shouted out "It's a shame that none of you will be able to beat him." from outside the classroom. The voice was one that was familiar, but one I had not heard in a long time. The door to the classroom slid open and a very confident girl marched to the teacher's desk. "Hello, my name is Liu Xifeng from Niyomi Labs-" That's private information, you idiot! I hope you got permission from your superiors to talk about this! "And I'm here to inform all of you early that nobody at this academy can defeat Yamazaki Shiro." I raised my voice and stood up. "Xifeng, why all of places, dates, and times did you choose to show up today?" "Please sit down, Shiro. I'm not done with my announcement. We can go on a date later, okay?"
"Don't say things that make it sound like we're a thing!" I briskly said as I sat down. I tried to clear the confusion as quickly as I could, but alas, I was too late. Things like "She's here because they're dating" and "She's only hyping him up because they're a couple" were being said among the students in the class. I couldn't care less about the students making up whatever reason they needed to invalidate Xifeng's praise, but I absolutely could not stand to let the misconception that Xifeng is my girlfriend stay afloat. "Everyone shut up!" said a student that I hadn't expected to speak up. She was quiet until she told everyone to stop talking. It didn't surprise me too badly though, because Harumi was no stranger to speaking up in the first place. On my first day, she had loudly stated that she disproved of my attendance at Ataraxia. "Let's hear her out, guys." Harumi continued. "Thanks, blondie." Xifeng added.
"My hair is red!"
"Whatever."
"..."
"I'm broadcasting this message to the whole school so everyone knows." Oh god, what was she planning?
"Please look at this. This is a separate ranking board from your school's. At Niyomi Labs, we analyze all the physical records and combat data of Rooks around the globe. Please take a look at that.
"Bust ninety four, waist sixty three, hips eighty eight?" Yuka chimed in from the back of the class.
"Sorry, those are Miss Saegusa's measurements."
"You totally did that on purpose!" the teacher yelled, embarrassingly.
"I said I was sorry, damn. Anyway, look at this. This is the list of the top two hundred Rooks, ranked based on their power with the Ash Wraith element. Now, take a look at the number one spot." Most of the class was visibly surprised. "Yep. Shiro here is at the top, with a power measurement of six and a half million. This would be a great opportunity for me to make an "It's over 9000!" joke, but perhaps that would be too meta. "Now, take a look at the number two spot, Mirella Pisani. She may be the second most powerful Rook on record, but compared to Shiro's six and a half milly, Mirella's three hundred and fifty thousand isn't much to look at. Please don't discredit her, she's still one of the best for a reason, this is just an example."
I'm glad she isn't here to listen to this, Xifeng muttered under her breath.
"Now, back to my main point. We have the power assessment of every Rook on file, and nobody surpasses Shiro's massive level. So basically, give up. There's no point in having this event."
"I think it would be a great experience, Xifeng. The students here are always itching to get into a fight, and what better idea is there than to let them fight me, the student they all hate so much?"
"You sure? They might just hate you even more after you mop the floor with all of them."
"If that's how it happens, then so be it. But I just have a feeling that there will be someone who can stand up against me."
"There you have it. The man himself just said 'Come at me losers, I bet only one of you has what it takes'."
"Don't paraphrase me so loosely!"
"Be thankful to him, he's offering himself to you." The class looked utterly disgusted, except for Yuka and Harumi. Harumi just blushed a little bit, and Yuka was silently holding back on laughing her ass off. Instead, she gave a smug grin.
"Don't say things that can be misinterpreted!"
"Sorry, he's offering to let you all try to beat him up, just as you all desire. This is what he wishes, so I won't have the headmaster cancel the event."
"You roped Meari into this? Also, 'This is what I wish?' Do you think you're a genie or something?"
"Of course I am! I came out of a magic lamp, just like all other genies do."
"You're just being an idiot at this point."
"Well class, I'll be taking my leave. By the way, really none of you can lay a finger on Shiro, because he's unique. He can use the fulldjsdkafjdljdklsajjffkfjdf-" I ran and placed my hand over her mouth. "Don't ever tell that to anybody. I don't care if you got permission to. You tell no one." I whispered.
"Sorry about that, folks. I was about to choke on my gum, and Shiro helped me spit it out before it got too bad." Nice cover, Xifeng. As if.
"Well, you may all hate me, but please look at this event as not just an opportunity to try to beat me, but also as an opportunity to grow, learn, and gain experience as a Rook. Most importantly, let's all have fun, okay?" I said to the class as I smiled. The only ones who had any reaction were the smiles of Yuka and Harumi.
----------------------
Somewhere, in the distance, there was someone listening in on Liu Xifeng and Yamazaki Shiro's class conference. And they sat, and maliciously chuckled at Shiro's notion of having fun. They were going to have lots, and lots, of fun.