Daiki yawned as he sat at the dining room table.
"Todays the big day, huh?" Ayumi asked as she held her cup on her lips, too tired to take a drink.
She looked half asleep with slight irritation.
"Yup!" Rina said in a happy mood.
"You all will finally get to see how strong your teachers really are~!" Rina said as she smiled big.
Daiki looked at her with a look of confusion.
"How are you a morning person?" Daiki asked as he held his head up with his hands, elbows on the table.
"The large amount of caffeine helps!" Rina said as she skipped out the room.
Koji walked by, smacking the back of Daiki's head.
Daiki's face planted the table as he just laid there.
"That outta wake you up." Koji said as Ayumi looked at Daiki with a blank stare.
Daiki let out a light sigh as he began to snore.
Sumi stood on the patio watching the waves crash on the beach.
Rina walked up beside her drinking her coffee.
"Long night?" Rina asked, Sumi looked over at Rina. Sumi had light bags under her eyes, staring at Rina with a tired look.
"Really long night…" Rina said, observing the look on her face.
"The infection didn't go away. Those voices came back." Sumi replied.
"We'll have to keep an eye on it." Rina said.
Sumi looked out at the ocean with tired eyes.
"We'll head down to the beach in a bit. Make sure you're all set." Rina said as she walked down the steps heading to the beach.
Sumi watched as she leaned over the railing.
"Alright students! We will be doing brackets! Two people each!" Rina called out, "Hey, Koji. We should team up! Be the unstoppable bros!" Daiki said with a smile.
"It's 1v1 you idiot! Don't you know how tournaments work?" Koji asked with a look of irritation.
"To give you all a taste of what's to come, us teachers will be starting off first!" Rina said as she folded her hands.
The ground around them rose into an arena with a view point.
Tano and Rina stood at the center, Tano looked concerned.
"First up, Rina versus Tano!" Sumi called out as Tano looked up at her.
"Is this even fair?" Sumi looked down from the viewpoint, asking Rina.
"Ah don't worry! I'm sure I can handle myself!" Tano said as he looked up at Sumi
"It's not like she's a super powerful Demon Queen." Tano said sarcastically.
"Actually, that's exactly what she is." Sumi replied, "I know, just trying to ignore my painful reality." Tano said as Rina smirked.
Tano continued looking up at Sumi with a worried look.
Rina burst into a purple and blue flame behind him, only her big grin and red eyes could be seen from within the fire. The sand around her turned to glass.
"Oh God…" Tano said as he turned around to face her.
Rina folded her hands with a smile "Demon arts: Sword Dance!" Rina said as
Swords made of fire surrounded her, "Hidden Technique: Tsunami!" Tano said, clapping his hands.
A wall of water formed in front of him as Rina pointed at him, the swords flying towards him.
The swords turned to stone right before hitting the water. Tano quickly opened his arms as the water split, carrying the swords with the current.
Rina smirked as she used a hand sign. Putting her hands opposite of each other, her index and middle finger sticking up on both hands, her ring and little finger holding her palms.
"Cursed Technique: Red Sea" Rina said as the ground in front of Tano split open.
"That's…!" Izumi said in shock.
Rina ran towards Tano, jumping over the crater. Tano put both hands on the ground beneath him, a circle around him appeared.
"Geyser!" Tano yelled, Water shooting up from the crater, "Demon arts: Air Walker" Rina said as she stood atop the water. Rina flicked her wrist as a sword appeared.
Tano braced for attack as he closed his eyes. CLANK. Rina struck the ground in front of him, indicating she won.
"Uh… Uncle?" Tano said jokingly
"The winner is, Rina!" Sumi called out
"Next up is Ayumi versus Izumi!" Sumi said as Rina smiled, both of her hands on her hips.
Izumi held her staff behind her as Ayumi held her scythe with both hands.
"Don't go easy on me." Ayumi said, frowning with a look of determination.
"Oh, I wasn't." Izumi replied in a cocky tone, smirking.
"Begin!" Rina yelled
Ayumi ran towards Izumi as she readied her scythe to swing.
Izumi threw her staff up, forming the same hand sign as Rina earlier.
"Cursed Technique: Red Sea!" Izumi said as the ground beneath Ayumi split open.
Ayumi fell down as all the others gasped, watching from the overlook.
"Rina!" Sumi yelled as she looked at Rina worried.
CLANK, Ayumi used her scythe to climb up out of the crater.
"Ayumi specializes in close combat. I have to do what I can to keep this ranged. I only have a few moves in my arsenal…" Izumi thought to herself as she focused.
She grasped her hands together as she closed her eyes. "Cursed Technique: Hail Fire" Izumi said, opening her eyes.
Small stones of fire formed behind her, shooting towards Ayumi like meteors.
Ayumi ran around the arena to dodge them.
"Her powers seem to be almost… Biblical…" Sumi said as Rina looked over at her, hands behind her head. "Hm?" Rina muttered.
Izumi kept summoning hail fire, Ayumi getting closer to her as she ran towards her, dodging the fire.
"Shit!" Izumi thought as she formed a cross with her index and middle fingers on both hands.
"Cursed Technique: Hell Fire!" Izumi yelled as a wall of fire formed around her, blocking Ayumi from getting any closer.
"I have to keep my distance! But all these techniques…" Izumi thought to herself with labored breathing.
"Cursed Techniques are strong, but they take a lot of energy from the user. If she isn't careful, she's going to back herself into a corner." Rina said as she folded her arms.
"Spirits: Wind." Ayumi said lightly as a gust of wind created an opening in the wall of fire.
"What the…?" Izumi said to herself as she looked frightened.
Ayumi swung her Sytche as Izumi leaned back, dodging the attack.
She struck her palm down, knocking the weapon out of Ayumi's hands.
Izumi took her collapsible staff out. Ayumi went to kick Izumi as she ducked down, dodging it.
Izumi held the staff with her arms behind her back. Swing, Swing, Ayumi kept punching as Izumi dodged.
"I don't think either of them were very good at hand to hand combat. But Ayumi is at a disadvantage." Koji said, "No way. Ayumi is strong, there's a reason me and her are in the fighting class!" Daiki replied, frowning.
Ayumi grabbed Izumi by the collar, kicking her stomach with her knee.
Going in for a punch as Izumi spun, dodging the punch, hitting Ayumi with the staff in the process.
Ayumi spun around with a high kick, Izumi dodging underneath.
Izumi extended the staff out as Ayumi used her palm to break it in half.
Ayumi grabbed one half as she tried to stab Izumi with the broken half.
Izumi countered it like a sword.
Izumi went in to stab at Ayumi as she dodged it.
Ayumi caught Izumi by the shoulder as she constricted her, holding the sharp edge of the broken staff against her back. Izumi looked surprised.
"I told you!" Daiki yelled, rubbing it in Koji's face.
"The winner is Ayumi!" Sumi called out, Ayumi letting go of Izumi.
"She didn't do too bad for a long ranged student." Tano noted as he smirked.
"I can't believe I lost to a nobody like you!" Izumi said as she sat on the ground, defeated.
"Please. I'm not as weak as you think." Ayumi said with a look of anger, walking away from her.
Ayumi walked up to Daiki as she took a deep breath.
"I knew you could do it!" Daiki said in excitement as he gave Ayumi a high five.
"Next up, Tano versus Kolira!" Rina said, Ayumi taking a big drink from her water bottle.
Koji stood away from Kolira with an attitude, like he was above her.
"This will be over quickly." Koji said, taking his pistols out of the holsters. Spinning them and finally grabbing them to aim at Kolira.
"Remember, it's just energy bullets!" Claire yelled, "I know! I attended that class!" Kolira said with a look of irritation.
"Begin!" Tano yelled out
Koji quickly aimed as he shot, BANG BANG.
The energy hit an invisible barrier in front of Kolira.
"What the hell?" Koji asked in confusion.
"Return to sender, baby!" Kolira smiled, the bullets shot from in front of her, back at Koji.
One bullet flew by him as it grazed his shoulder, he looked shocked.
Then Koji felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, "Shit!" Koji said as he looked at his arm.
"You piece of…" Koji clenched his teeth in anger.
Kolira ran around the arena, Koji opposite of her to keep distance.
"Right where I want you…" Kolira said as Koji shot two more bullets. Again, they disappeared in front of Kolira.
"You still haven't caught onto my powers, have you?" Kolira asked as Koji groaned.
"I guess not. I guess you need a History lesson then!" Kolira smirked as the two energy bullets flew past her, hitting both of Koji's shoulders.
Koji fell to the ground as his arms fell asleep.
"What just happened? She didn't even attack!" Izumi said as Tano laughed.
"Of course she did!" Tano said
"If you haven't guessed yet, I manipulated the time around this space." Kolira said as she smirked.
"What?" Koji asked with a look of shock, his eyes widened.
"The two bullets you just got hit by were the first two you shot at me. I sent them forward in time." Kolira said, holding two fingers up.
"The last two you shot were the first two I sent back. Only one had hit you because, frankly, you need target practice." Kolira said, Koji growled.
"So in other words. I sent the first two to the future, and the last two to the past." Kolira said as she threw a piece sign at Koji. "Almost like time travel!" Kolira said as Koji looked down in anger.
"The winner is Kolira!" Rina called out.
"That means it's you and Eri next." Rina said to Sumi.
Sumi groaned, "Shouldn't we have done this before the other students?" Sumi asked.
"Probably, but now we can evaluate Eri!" Rina said as she smiled big.
"Ugh" Sumi groaned, jumping down into the arena.
"Up next, Sumi versus Eri!" Rina shouted.
"Y-you sure it's okay to go all out?" Eri asked, worried.
"Yeah, don't worry." Sumi affirmed. "Look who's talking…" Sumi thought to herself.
Sumi took her katana out as it ignited into an electric blade.
"Begin!" Rina shouted as Sumi quickly ran in front of Eri in the blink of an eye.
Sumi appeared, almost like a flicker of light beside Eri.
Eri blinked as she looked at Sumi without turning her head or being phased by how fast she went.
"Blizzard." Eri said as Sumi got knocked back by a strong wind. A whirlwind of snow formed around Eri as Sumi stabbed the ground with her katana to gain footing.
"So this is what we didn't see during evaluation!" Sumi said as she smirked. "Even though I could get hurt, I have to say I'm proud!" Sumi smiled
"Did you know about these powers?" Rina asked Tano.
"No…" Tano said as he looked somewhat worried.
"What?!" Izumi said, "How do you not know what powers your students have?" Daiki asked as he watched Sumi struggle to not get pushed back by the heavy winds.
Tano continued to watch on in silence.
The heavy wind began to kick up sand from the beach as a whirlwind continued to engulf the arena. "I know I said don't hold back, but damn!" Sumi said as she covered her eyes.
"Come on…" Sumi said to herself, "Ghost form, please work…" Sumi said as she began to hold her own against the high winds.
Sumi lept towards Eri, swinging her sword.
Eri looked unphased, not even flinching at how close the sword got to her face.
Eri held her hand in front of her, a large gust of wind knocked Sumi back.
"Damn it! I am losing my powers!" Sumi said as she kept trying to turn into her ghost form.
"Hail." Eri said as she held both hands out in front of her.
"It's almost like she's in a trance…" Rina said as Tano looked more worried. "Sumi!" Tano yelled out as he leapt over the outlook. "We have to call it!" Tano yelled to Rina.
Sumi held her sword in front of her to shield her from the hail.
"Simmer down, Eri!" Sumi yelled out, the hail grew larger as Sumi threw her katana at Eri.
Eri lightly moved her head to the side, avoiding the sword.
Eri stared at Sumi with glowing blue eyes.
Eri stopped the hail as she held two sharp icicles in her hands. "Eri, No!" Tano yelled as Eri threw them at Sumi.
Tano constricted Eri. "Wake up, Eri!" Tano said as the icicles flew past Sumi. Sumi looked forward to Eri "What the…?" Sumi thought to herself as she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her arm.
Tano looked at Sumi with a worried expression. Rina looked down with widened eyes.
Sumi looked down to see her arm impaled by the icicle. Blood rushing down, dripping off her right arm.
"Rina…?" Sumi asked as she looked scared. "Kill her!" The voice said.
"Eri?" Sumi asked "Yesss!" The voice replied in a slithering voice.
Sumi's eyes widened with fear, "Don't hold back! Those are the rules!" The voice said.
"Eri!" Sumi said in an angry growl. For a second, blue flames formed on her head like horns.
SNAP. The flames vanished. Sumi snapped out of it.
"My God, what a performance!" Ren said as he and Mori stood on top of the arena walls behind Sumi.
"Ren…" Sumi said as Ayumi and Daiki walked Eri out of the arena.
"Tano, get Sumi out of here!" Rina said as she formed a hand sign. Ren reached his arm out as a shadow arm reached from behind him, rushing towards Sumi.
"Hell Fire!" Rina called out as a barrier of fire surrounded Rina and Sumi. The shadow stopped before hitting the light from the fire.
"Come on!" Tano said as he helped Sumi up.
"No matter, it's still confirmation that our plan is working." Ren said as he and Mori jumped into the arena.
Ayumi and Daiki ran up beside Rina, "No, you students need to leave! We don't know what these two are capable of!" Rina said as Ayumi and Daiki looked worried, "But what about you?" Daiki asked with concern.
"Please, did you watch me earlier?" Rina asked as she smiled.
"Now go!" She said as Ayumi and Daiki nodded, the students and Tano escorted Eri and Sumi out of the arena.
"Hmm, I like two on one action." Mori said, blushing with a smirk.
She pulled up her sleeves as blood rushed out of her arms, forming a round barrier around the arena.
"Nowhere to go." Ren said as the only source of light was the flames from Hell Fire.
"Fine by me." Rina said as her fists ignited into a purple flame.
She ran through the barrier of fire as she rushed towards Ren.
Throwing a punch as Ren blocked it with his palm.
Mori jumped from behind Rina, forming a spear with her blood.
Rina flicked her wrist, swinging and breaking the blood without looking behind her.
Mori fell forward as Rina glared at her.
Ren folded his hands, making shadow puppets.
Two wolves in the form of shadow barked, rushing towards Rina.
Rina ducked as the dogs jumped at her.
Spinning around causing a whirlwind of fire, making the shadows disappear.
Mori got up as she formed a knife with her blood. Rina formed stone gauntlets over her hands as she held her hand up, the knife hitting the back of her hand.
The dome was dark, only Ren and Rina's glowing red eyes were visible.
"What did you infect my friend with?" Rina asked as she ducked under Ren's punch.
"I can give you a sample!" Ren yelled as he closed his eyes.
Rina felt hands grab her legs as she smiled. "Gotcha!" Rina said. Her fists and horns ignited into a purple and blue flame. The shadows around her legs let go.
"Shadow manipulation… you work better in the dark!" Rina said as she smiled as she pieced together his power.
"You got a sharp eye." Ren said as Mori formed claws of blood from her nails.
Rina dodged it as Mori ran into Ren, stabbing him.
"I was the Queen for a reason!" Rina said as she formed a hand sign.
"How about we get some air!" Rina said as pillars of stone shot up around them, breaking the dome of blood.
Blood rained down above them, soaking them all.
"You made a mistake attacking us during a tournament." Rina said, running up to Mori, she gave her an intense stare from below
"I didn't go all out on Tano!" Rina said, covered in blood.
Mori looked horrified. "She's crazy as hell!" Mori said as she backed away.
Rina rushed towards Ren as a dome of fire surrounded them.
"Can't use your shadows if you're covered in light!" Rina said as Ren tried using his powers to no avail. "Shit!" Ren said as he tried dodging, Rina stabbed him through the side of his stomach with a stone spear.
"Now who sent you, and where are the missing persons!" Rina asked as Ren looked up at her, clenching his teeth. "Fuck. You!" Ren said he clapped his hands, a large bird made of shadow swooped Mori and Ren up away from the dome.
"But Ren, we didn't get what we came for!" Mori said as Ren held his wound to stop the bleeding. "Doesn't matter if we're dead you idiot!" Ren said as he gave Mori a side eye.
"Besides, We got confirmation that the infection is working. Soon we can put our plan in motion" Ren said as Mori pouted. "But I wanted to play with the hottie more…" Mori said, Ren rolled his eyes.
Rina looked up as they got carried off, breathing heavy.
The surrounding walls of the arena turned back into sand as the students ran out to Rina.
"That was insane!" Daiki said in excitement.
"Are you okay?" Ayumi asked Rina, worried.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Rina replied, "Didn't go all out, huh?" Tano asked as he and Sumi walked over to Rina.
Rina chuckled as she scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah, well…" Rina said.
"I'm glad you did…" Tano said as Sumi bowed. "Thank you. I would probably be dead if not for you stepping in." Sumi said, "Of course." Rina said as she smiled. "You should probably go shower…" Sumi said as Koji brought Rina a towel.
"Well, this is gonna be a fun report to fill out." Rina said as Sumi and Tano groaned. Rina wiping her face of blood.
Later that night, the group took a train back to the school.
Sumi and Rina sat next to each other, Tano sat next to Sumi as he slept.
"Things are becoming more complicated than we thought." Sumi said to Rina.
"Yeah. Not only do we have to keep an eye on you, but now Eri." Rina replied, Sumi looked at Rina.
Sumi bounced her leg as she looked at her wrists. "Rina" Sumi called lightly.
"The scars from when I was in school are back." Sumi told her, showing Rina the scars.
Small lines of lighter skin along her wrists.
Rina looked worried. "That means your powers are wearing off." Rina noted.
"Yeah." Sumi replied.
"We have to be more careful now than before. There's no telling what Ren and Mori can do if we encounter them again." Rina said as she sat back in her seat.
Sumi looked forward, looking out the window of the train, seeing the skyline of Ichibuko. The lights from the buildings and streets, neon signs and billboards. While also seeing her and Rina's reflection in the window as the train passed by the skyline.
"What of Eri?" Sumi asked.
"Tano said he'll run an evaluation tomorrow. For now, everyone should rest. You should see a doctor for your wound." Rina said, looking at the bandage over Sumi's arm.
It fell silent. Only the sounds from the train shaking as it moved along the tracks.
Sumi sat back, tired.
"Right. We should keep the students at the school overnight so we can keep an eye on them." Sumi said as she closed her eyes.
Rina looked over at her, looking back at the ceiling of the train. "Right." Rina agreed.
"Everyone can just crash here tonight" Sumi said as they walked through the main doors.
"Rina, are you good to report to Mr Kuze? I should take Sumi to see a doctor." Tano asked.
"Yeah, catch you guys later." Rina waved as she walked down the hall, knocking on Kuze's door.
"Open!" Kuze said as Rina opened the door, walking in.
"Ah, Rina! How was the trip?" Kuze asked as he sniffed a bit, confused as Rina sat down."I smell iron…"
"It was great, up till we got attacked by Ren and Mori. Oh, and Eri lost control of her powers." Rina said as she glanced at Kuze.
"What? Are you all okay?" Kuze asked "Yeah, Sumi suffered an arm injury, took a bath in blood rain… Apart from that, fine." Rina replied.
"But I'm questioning how Ren found our location." Rina said as she put her fingers together.
"Seems like something we'll have to keep an eye on. Perhaps spying on us somehow?" Kuze asked. "Well, Sumi was fine since she left the hospital. The doctors ran tests and everything, and the tests were clear." Rina stated.
"However, last night, Sumi started having the same lucid dreams and hearing voices again. I'm beginning to wonder if it somehow has to do with proximity with Ren." Rina questioned.
"Perhaps he can track her with the power he infected her with?" Rina theorized.
Kuze leaned back in his chair as he thought.
"That sounds the most possible. Makes sense." Kuze replied.
"As with Eri… She has strong powers. She was able to form a blizzard out of nowhere." Rina noted.
Rina leaned back in her chair. "She ended up injuring Sumi, shooting an icicle into her arm." Rina said as Kuze looked worried.
"We underestimated our students. It's a whole new generation of powers." Rina stated.
"I'm not even in my 30's, and I feel outdated" Rina said as she and Kuze chuckled
"Well, It's been a long day. We can finish this report tomorrow. Let your students rest, as well as yourself." Kuze said as Rina stood up, nodding her head in respect.
Rina walked to the door as she stopped.
"One other thing." Rina said as Kuze tilted his head slightly "Yes?" He asked.
"Sumi had the flames… Even for a split second, she had them." Rina said as Kuze looked surprised. "I understand. I'll let the board know the situation." Kuze said, Rina nodded as she walked out.
Ayumi stood in the hallway as she waited for Rina.
"Mrs Amaia?" Ayumi asked, "Hm?" Rina replied.
"Is Mrs Kumiko okay?" Ayumi asked, Rina smiled, putting her hand on Ayumi's head, ruffling her hair a bit.
"She'll be okay, nothing life threatening. She's strong, just like you!" Rina said as Ayumi smiled.
"I just want to say thank you" Ayumi said as she smiled bigger.
"What for?" Rina asked, "I just never got to experience the ocean before. It was beautiful." Ayumi said as Rina nodded, smiling. "Of course. Once everything blows over, We'll all go back." Rina said as Ayumi nodded.
"Goodnight, Ayumi." Rina said softly with a smile, walking towards her office.
"Goodnight." Ayumi replied as she walked into the teachers lounge. All the other students were already sleeping, laid beside Daiki. She looked at him while he rested, She blushed lightly, smiling. Ayumi closed her eyes as the clock in the room ticked. Tick, Tick, TICK.