Later that day as Gentarō and I are walking home, I can't stop smiling to myself. After all, we had won and been given a chance to become a part of the student council; a chance to change boosters' lives for the better, and Gentarō accomplished it in such an epic way. Just remembering the way he fought makes me believe the two of us can actually win this tournament. "It's about time you started smiling for a change." Gentarō grins at me.
"I can't help it! You were amazing today! Every single booster in the stands lit up with joy after your performance in that fight! And did you see the looks on the other candidates faces?" I light up with excitement just remembering the intense gazes of the 15 other candidates as they gazed down on us. "The way they looked at you means they consider you a threat! We actually have a chance here Gen-ack!" I groan as Gentarō wraps his arm around my neck and gives me a noogie suddenly. "W-What are you doing..?!"
"You do know that I'm not gonna be able to do this without ya, right Genta?" I pause, looking up at Gentarō as he releases me and simply ruffles my hair. "They consider us a threat, not just me." He grins at me once more.
I slowly smile back at him and look forward. "Yeah, but even if I am half of your power, if it weren't for your fighting skills then we wouldn't be here at all, so it's still all you in my opinion." I say just to tease him.
My teasing works considering Gentarō lightly punches the back of my head and is very clearly pouting. "It's both of us, not just me, so hush!"
"Ow!" Despite my pain, I laugh and break off into a sprint.
"Ah, hey, don't run from me!"
"Race ya home!" I grin back at him and continue running, to which he chases after me. And just like that, the weekend passed by in a flash, and the first day of the tournament arrived. Gentarō and I did our best to prepare in that time, me working on keeping him boosted without flinching, and Gentarō working on his karate techniques on top of his own boosting ability mixed with my own. I'm not sure if the two of us are going to win this tournament, but I feel pretty confident walking into the auditorium and onto the stage with Gentarō at my side.
Gentarō and I, along with the 15 other candidates, stand on the stage in a horizontal line in front of the rest of the student body as the principal walks up to give his speech. "Alright, now I'm starting to get nervous..." I say to myself internally as I visibly become flustered.
"Alright everyone, before we move onto the stadium, I shall reveal the new and improved bracket. It's much different than any you've ever seen before, so I hope you're all prepared." Mr. Nagako says with a chuckle into the mic, standing in front of the 17 of us. He snaps his fingers and a projection of the tournament bracket lights up behind all of us. The 17 of us don't have to turn since one is also being shown on the wall behind the audience.
Just as Mr. Nagako said, the bracket is much different than ever seen before. Every single candidate is going up against a different kind of acolyte than they are, and Gentarō and I are up against Mobo. I don't even have to look to know that Gentarō is excited that he gets to fight another acolyte who fights in a similar way that he does. I can literally hear him silently cheering with excitement. The crowd mutters amongst themselves as they take in the new bracket, confused more than anything else.
"Calm yourselves. As you're aware, we have two very new candidates in this year's tournament, so I thought it'd only be best if we had a very new bracket as well." Mr. Nagako says. "It'll also give our future council members much more experience when it comes to dealing with the unexpected. If you're always going into a tournament knowing who you're fighting next, then that teaches you to prepare yes, but prepare for what you already know is coming. When you're in the student council however, you rarely know what is coming your way. For that reason, I've created a special bracket for this occasion." He snaps his fingers once more and the projection shifts, splitting the bracket in half and the letters A and B appear above them.
Now the crowd is muttering even more, and I glance at Gentarō, thinking to myself, "This might get a little too complicated for him..."
"This way, not only do the council members not know who they're facing, but with every round, the person you'll be facing next will be completely random!" Mr. Nagako laughs, his voice booming somewhat. "Genius, is it not?"
"And it only took you 71 years to come up with it..." I say to myself internally.
"So then, with that out of the way, you all know how this works by now. To win your fight, you have to knock out your opponent or make them give up somehow. There aren't really any other rules. Any form of fighting, abilities, and even weapons are allowed. Anyone who isn't participating isn't allowed to interfere obviously, but everyone in the stadium will be kept safe and out by the staff's Cube Acolytes' barriers, so good luck." The principal chuckles. "Now then, let us all head for the stadium."
Everyone in the crowd quickly begins filing out with the help of the staff, but Mr. Nagako leads the 17 of us out the back of the auditorium and right to the stadium. "You know, I'm unbelievably excited right now..!" Gentarō whisper-yells to me and grins brightly.
"Yeah yeah, I know buddy." I giggle, whispering as well.
"Feel free to get even more excited. A block and B block will be fighting at the same exact time, so that means you both will be fighting first." Mr. Nagako says, surprising me, but Gentarō lights up immediately. I just stare at the principal's back in confusion however, wondering how we can have two fights happen at once when there's only one stadium.
"Alright, we're here." Mr. Nagako says before turning to us, two people in suits walking out of the doors behind him and standing at his sides. "If you're in A block, please follow this woman." He gestures to the woman on his right. "And if you're in B block, follow this man." He gestures to the man on his right. We break up into our various blocks, confused as the two lead us in opposite directions, and then I realize why we're able to fight at the same time. There's a whole nother arena right under the stadium, though all the student spectators are up in the actual stadium, and there are cameras set up as well in all four corners of the large space, as well as monitors displaying the stadium's arena up above. It may be underground, but it's just as large as the stadium arena above us.
"Gentarō, Genta, and Mobo, please step into the ring and wait until you are signaled to begin. The rest of you may sit where you like." We do as the man in the suit says, Gentarō and I entering on the far side of the arena and Mobo entering on the opposite end, his lyte; a ram with tan colored fluff, sits atop his head and baws at us. Gentarō takes his usual stance and I get ready to boost him, Mobo taking his judo stance and staring us down with a serious gaze.
After only a few moments, a circular barrier made of hundreds of tiny, transparent blue cubes forms around the entire arena, and the man in the suit that led us here speaks. "You may begin, now!" Mobo's hair and eyes turn tan and glow, his body visibly becoming harder, and he doesn't budge an inch as I boost Gentarō and Gentarō rushes at him.