Tim's drab blue eyes locked on Haku, who appeared to be on the verge of losing.
"Miss Sakami, when did Timmy's strength increase so dramatically? Last time he was unable to move in such a manner-"
"Personally, I'm unsure. I suppose it's some sort of training..."
"Who'd have guessed, I'm only at 5% Shield, and it's over..." While he smiled, Haku's teeth gleamed. "I suppose I should go all out?" Haku rushed across the sand and slashed forward after roaring with his words.
Tim's eyes, on the other hand, returned to normal after that. "OK, I guess it's time to turn up the heat!" Tim's right eye began to light blue as he tossed the sword off the ground and caught it, he ran forward with it.
The duel was over in a matter of seconds.
At the dorm.
Alpha and her companions had arrived, and they were perplexed by what they saw. "I honestly believe we've overlooked something." Yumi laughed as she noticed Codey dozing off on the table.
Ayuka stepped out of the shower and came to a standstill just a fraction of a second later. "Nina? Where's she? I was under the impression she was with you..."
"She was, but then she stalked Saraki and there appears to be no problem with her patrol," Kiyoshi exclaimed, but our Hero appeared from behind them in a flash.
"Oh, hello there. Were you also hanging out?" When Tim was scowled at, he had his hands in his pockets. "Yes, in a way... So, what about you? You didn't let us know you were going to be gone for a while."
Tim couldn't tell if his pals were joking or if they had forgotten about him leaving. "Don't worry about *that*... Where's Nina ?"
"While we were out, she started stalking Saraki. Just take a look at how well she appears to be doing." Kiyoshi pushed the wristwatch in front of Tim's face, allowing him to diagnose the data Nina had been sending.
Nina, on the other hand, rushed up behind Tim and pushed him to the side. "Ayuka! We urgently need your healing abilities!"
They followed.
Saraki's body had been laying on the floor, lethally injured and his blade broken, as they entered into the unknown, where a catastrophic conflict had taken place.
"Saraki!" Our heroine, Ayuka dashed over to him to check on his condition, and it was only by sheer luck that he survived.
"Guys, please hurry up. Help me, we need to get him to the treatment center right away!"
"W-Wait, what happened? Nina, weren't you following him?" While walking next to Ayuka and assisting her, Kiyoshi inquired. "N-no, it wasn't what it appears to be, it-"
Nobuhiko pointed at her before she could finish her explanation. "Hah! It was obvious to me! She's posing as someone else! She claims she is talentless and unable to fight, but that was all a ruse! What will you do now that you've been discovered, you fiend?"
Nobuhiko screamed angrily, giving Nina more things to worry about. "N-No! I don't know how I could possibly battle someone who's been training for years! Please, Tim, tell him what's going on." Our Hero turned to the side the minute she placed her stress on him.
"W-Wait... Don't say that... don't say that you don't trust me, either." Nina's eyes were wide open with surprise.
"Well, we don't know much about you, and everyone else was there. You and Tim are the only ones who don't have an alibi." Alpha explained, his face solemn in a suspicious confession.
"And, based on what we've heard, you're the only one who has come running to us for support... Perhaps you're trying to hide your assassination." Shigeru explained, leaving Nina on the verge of an eruption.
"W-Why... Why don't you just take my word for it... This was not done to him by me! I *couldn't* have done it, it was one of the Spiritual Hoaxers, why... why won't you believe it?"
"This is not the time for debate! We need to take care of him right away. We'll get to the root of the problem later!" Ayuka and Kiyoshi grabbed him and dragged him past the others.
"I was able to cure his wounds to some extent; now hurry!"
Tim and Nina were left behind, standing immobile, as the majority of them went after Ayuka. "... y-you believe me, r-right... you urged me to follow him, so... t-then what was I to you? A toy to keep you from being hurt?"
Nina fell to her knees, stunned when she realized he had stayed silent. "Isn't it strange that there's no sound? I guess I'm just a tool to be used by and on other people..."
Tim spoke after closing his eyes. "That isn't why I am the way I am... I'm sure neither of us hurt him... I have an alibi if you only ask Captain Haku or Sakami, and I'm sure you wouldn't be able to fight him. Even if you tried, you'd be dead before you could even land a single strike..."
"To add to the background, you mentioned a member of the Spiritual Hoaxers' group... Furthermore, you do not unleash even a smidgeon of Spiritual Symbolism, which I could not repress to that extent... And Saraki's wounds weren't from a fistfight; it was evident that he was cut, so if you could explain what happened, that would be great."
Fortunately, Tim had faith in Nina and knew she couldn't be the attacker.
As a result, she grew more relieved and narrated all she had experienced.
After the explanation, it went on for a while, and our two Heroes were still attempting to figure out what was going on.
"Well, if you could've seen how they got away, it would've made this scouting session a lot easier," Tim asserted, unable to locate any evidence of the enemy.
"...all I know is that the person who assaulted him and severely damaged him has a sound-type talent as well as two extra mouths on his elbows and palms."
"What do you mean, I see? It's understandable, but it's also upsetting. What happened to the girl we saw that night? I believe her name was Ayana. Is that correct? Was she also with him?"
"If you require more information, she was on the opposition team. She didn't do anything, though; all she did was alert them of the information. Oh, that's right! Let's talk about it! I assumed that the iPad handed to the Spiritual Hoaxers held our contact information, as well as information regarding the ability."
"So, in the end, Saraki gave them something significant that may have helped us triumph. Maybe not everything is as simple as they say... but we shouldn't be too concerned." Tim surprised her with his claim.
"W-Why not?"
He closed his eyes once more and said.
"... that's because, my ability ..."
Nina was taken aback by his comments, which faded out.
The Spiritual Hoaxers had found a new hiding place in an abandoned school in Rukaze City, and the locals appeared to know nothing about them.
Of course, Genpaku hasn't totally recovered from the previous encounter.
He had been sitting on the top of the school's rooftop, though, wearing a fresh set of clothes and a new mask.
"Uh... G-Genpaku, I brought the required information..." Ayana walked out from behind the door, her gaze fixed on Genpaku before turning away.
"...absolute excellence...absolute perfection... Ayana, you've done a fantastic job." He said this until the woman noticed Genpaku's mask was removed.
"I'm afraid I don't have any other choice except to thank you... However, our scout, the Spiritual Duelist, appeared to have turned against us, and Kunio had to deal with that as well."
"Is that correct? Tell me if he slaughtered him to his final breath in this circumstance. Because if he didn't, our scheme will spiral out of control..."
"I'm confident he struck him down, and even if he didn't, the Spiritual Duelist was defeated in a somewhat secluded region of the Society, so there's nothing or no one who *could* save him from bleeding to death. In fact, his wounds were extremely hollowed, so I'm certain he's dead right now."
"You mentioned something about *hollowed*... was it a hint?" However, when Ayana attempted to comprehend, she was unable to do so.
"I'm... What exactly are you saying... h-hollowed? Is that supposed to be significant to us?"
"... oh, I see... The Hollowed Demons exist, but it isn't what I'm referring to... I'm referring to the true *Hollow* that exists in this world. And it's possible that it's something to be concerned about. It's possible that this will be our downfall. It's a legitimate being to be terrified of. And I can only think of one thing who or which could be *it*... Anyway, please lend me those details, and I'll go over them."
"Y-Yes, certainly." As a result, the two of them swapped the iPad, which contained vital information on our Heroes.
At the dorm.
"He's sleeping, we just made it in time..." Ayuka, who had just exited the room, explained.
Tim and Nina had caught up with the others, and after explaining everything to them, they had acquired a new set of adversaries.
"Man, who'd even thought that it was *them* who would do it?" Nobuhiko scratched his ear, puzzled.
"Are you dumb?! 'Hah?!' You were the first to scrawl out the words - 'Hah! It was obvious to me! She's posing as someone else! She claims she is talentless and unable to fight, but that was all a ruse! What will you do now that you've been discovered, you fiend' - Alpha screamed angrily.
"What else could I possibly say?! I'm sorry, Nina, but we all know you weren't the one who attacked! When it was clear that she was the one who had followed him!" Alpha and Nobuhiko got into another squabble.
"As foolish as two people can be..." Shigeru claimed as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, only to be screamed at afterward.
"Shut up!"
"Come on, it's all right. I mean, I'm sure h-he was joking, right? He was well aware that I was unable to intervene." Nina, on the other hand, remained humiliated and concerned.
"No, he was dead serious..." Yumi gave Codey a glance when he sighed and yawned.
"Nina, he's always like that. Don't pay attention to anything he says. He's only a fire to get the grill going." But Nobuhiko's head caught fire again the moment he heard that. "What?! To heat the grill with a fire?!"
"Please, let's not be so obnoxious right now..." Kiyoshi sighed, his palm slowly waving up and down. "Exactly. Our opponents have access to our combat information and knowledge of our abilities. We have more pressing concerns than an unappealing moniker." Tim clarified.
"Yeah, that's correct... We're in a terrible situation now that they've received the long-awaited information. They are a menace to us, and I'm confident they'll devise a strategy to eliminate us. So let's set everything aside and go to work on building a strategy."
"Even if they have our information, Ayuka, it's possible that it's only the five of us. Nina, Alpha, Tim, and you, to name a few... Saraki hasn't met with Kiyoshi and the others, so they won't be able to get the information they need." Codey explained his point adamantly, but Tim cut through his words.
"No, not at all... Codey, you remember, right? Those details have the information about our class number, so... Saraki, if he was clever, would have gone through one of our profiles and found our class. He might then simply deliver the information about all 35 of us to them. So, whatever the case may be, we're at a disadvantage."
And Codey was a little envious of such theories. "... I was aware of that as well..." Codey hissed and made a kitty face.
"You're right..." When our Protagonist cast a sidelong glance at her, Ayuka shifted her gaze to the side.
"How do you feel, Ayuka?"
"H-Huh? W-What? What about myself?" With evident stress on her expression, she wondered.
"You've been acting strange lately... is there something you're keeping hidden from us?"
"W-What? You've got to be kidding. You already know everything there is to know about me." She exclaimed, her stress still visible.
"I'm not referring to your ability or specific information... You're definitely withholding something from us while attempting to appear genuine..." Tim closed his eyes, suspicious.
"Oh, that's right! You've been unusually calm lately... Everything Tim just stated is so unoriginal!" Ayuka looked away and raised her voice as Codey giggled.
"I've already told you, and there's no need for me to repeat myself! There's *nothing* I'm keeping a secret from you. If I did, I'd already have told you! Please, just give me some alone time..." She walked up the stairwell, perplexing the majority of them.
"This girl is weird, to say the least... Do you believe she's trying to hide her nightmares? Is it possible that she sees something in them?" Since he'd been told about them, Kiyoshi was perplexed.
Tim stood up and maintained his composure. "I'm sure there's more to her dreams than that... There's one more *thing* she's keeping hidden from us, and I'm hoping she'll tell us before it's too late..."
Everyone remained silent or stood still, listening intently to what our Protagonist said.
Is it possible that our Protagonist has uncovered something Ayuka has been keeping hidden? Is it her nightmares, recollections, something else entirely, or all of the above?
Each of our Protagonists, separated by their knowledge, exchange their backs, one filled with sadness and stress, while the other, filled with suspicion and worry, wondering what *she* is hiding.
To be continued...