NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 20-Choosing Sides!
Chapter 20
MAYUMI SAEGUSA
The Nine School Competition was set to begin in a second, and Mayumi was about to embark on the first challenge, Speed shooting. A specialty of her. And yet today for the first time in three years she entered the arena with a heavy heart as the burden of the incident from yesterday still lay heavy on her heart.
Inei-kun’s vibrant speech boosted morale and rejuvenated their students, yet the shadow of that attack still hung over them. The real meeting had, in truth, continued for an hour after the other contestants had left, and it had taken place with only four people present in the room. Herself, Jumonji-kun, Inei-kun and Shiba Tatsuya-kun.
All four of whom were the main decision-makers in this whole ordeal.
“You seem rather down,” Inei-kun’s voice rang out as he walked into the field.
“Inei-kun, why aren’t you in the stands,” she asked as she greeted her junior.
“I get a better view from here. Plus, Mari-san called me earlier and mentioned how you were rather down and needed some cheering up,” he said, and she shook her head.
“I am fine,” she said.
“You are not,” he said as he walked closer and asked her to sit down.
“You are still thinking about what happened yesterday,” he hit the mark, and she bit her lip.
“If only I was not lat...”
“Nothing would have changed,” he said without missing a beat.
“You are being obtuse. We are lucky that no one died. Most of the students will recover in a week or so, and until then, it is up to us to do our part in this competition. Starting from yourself, half the school drives their confidence and motivation from you. They look up to you, and if you are so gloomy, they will all be affected,” he said softly as he motivated her.
“During the meeting with the committee,” she began.
“You said that if First High was involved in any other tragedy directly or indirectly, you would see the whole event scrapped. Why?” she asked, and that had been a rather contentious point.
However, the committee was overly harsh, and in the end, he had no choice but to cave in on his request due to the threat of withdrawal from the school.
“You need not worry about that. All you need to worry about is this competition. You know I invited kids from the orphanage in Nagano to the competition,” he began as he pointed towards a corner of the stand, and she saw a bunch of kids sitting there with a couple of older women trying to reign them in.
“All of them are rather hyped at seeing the Elfen Princess in action. You wouldn’t want to disappoint them now, would you,” he challenged, and she was surprised that he had done so.
The tickets for the competition were not easy to come by and cost quite a bit, and acquiring so many tickets must not have been easy even for him, despite being a Yotsuba.
“I never knew you had this side to you a well, Inei-kun,” she smiled softly as she stood up and stretched her arms.
“Now I cannot let my juniors show me up,” she said as she took out her CAD and began calibrating it.
“So, watch me,” she declared, walking onto the stage with a beaming smile and a roaring cheer as the announcer introduced her.
“AND FROM FIRST HIGH, WE HAVE THE PRODIGY WHO HAS DOMINATED THE SPEED SHOOTING COMPETITION FOR TWO YEARS! SAEGUSA MAYUMI! THE ELFEN PRINCESS HERSELF!” and though she was not rather fond of her nickname, she played along, raising her fist and walking to her place on the platform.
She wore her visor and, with a final glance, met Inei-kun’s eyes, which had turned red from their usual black as she mouthed.
“Watch me.”
“I am.”
He answered, and she smirked as she raised her specialized CAD as the countdown began.
3
2
1
GO!
And she went ahead and wiped away the rest of the world from her senses as she saw the first clay disk come out of the machine, and she immediately pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
And so forth. She continued to do so until the timer ran off and the siren sounded, marking the end of the round.
“AND WE HAVE THE PERFECT SCORE!!!!”
“FIRST HIGH HAS COME OUT SWINGING!”
As she felt all the cameras in the arena focus on her, she brought her finger to her lips and aimed it straight at Inei-kun, shooting at him.
“AND WHAT DO WE HAVE.....”
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INEI YOTSUBA
The Nine School Competition was one of the most watched events in Japan; it was basically the nine schools competing in a set of five games, two of which, Mirage Bat and Monolith Code, were for female and male students, respectively. While the other four games each had a male and female section.
Overall, it was a massive event, and so had a major Committee that ran everything, which was headed by none other than the infamous ‘Elder’ of the Ten Master Clans, Japan’s most famous magician. Kudou Retsu.
The Committee's harsh ruling against their school had shocked him. He had expected the man to be sympathetic to their plight and would give them the necessary leeway to compete on equal footing with the rest of the schools.
Their refusal to do so was a surprise, but it was one that told him much more about his general mood in the power circles. And so if they weren’t going to do anything, then he was going to take matters into his own hands.
And so, he leaned back and smiled as he felt another presence appear in the shadow beside him.
“You are as quick as they say, Kuroba Ayako,” he complimented the Yotsuba operative Maya Yotsuba had sent his way.
“That is quite a compliment coming from the ‘world cleaver’ himself,” she replied with a smirk as she stayed in the shadow, and he could imagine the smirk on her face as she tried to rattle him.
Not that it worked, of course.
“The attack on the bus. Someone from the Management was involved, and there is a very good chance that they will make a move again. Before they do, I want them found,” he said.
“It will be done, Inei-sama,” she repeated, and he reached into his pocket as he took out a hand drive, and threw it towards her.
“There is everything I was able to scrape together about the No Head Dragon. The management operative is probably related to them. Corner him and get him to tell us about the Headquarters of this organization,” he ordered, seeing her hesitate.
“I will track him down, but I am afraid I will need to call for backup to extract the information out of him,” she said, accepting her own limitations and showing that she was rather acutely aware of her specialty.
“I will handle that part. You just find him and leave the rest to me,” he said.
“After I find the headquarters' location, should I call back for backup?” she asked, and he frowned.
“And why would you do that?” he asked as he looked towards her, his technique unable to hide her from his eyes, which had long turned red.
She must have felt his probing gaze and stiffened as he continued.
“You just called me the ‘world cleaver.’ You really think I would need backup against those mongrels,” he asked dauntingly. She saw sweat drop down her face, and she shook her head and gave him a bow.
“I apologize for my transgression, Inei-sama,” she apologized, and he nodded.
“Good, then leave us,” and with that, he faced forward once more as a cheery Mayumi rushed towards him.
“I am through to the finals,” she announced dramatically as she swung back her hair and smiled mischievously at him.
“Didn’t expect anything less,” he said, and her smile widened as she frowned and looked towards the shadow.
“Hmm, was someone there?” she asked, and he was surprised that she had been able to pick up on Ayako’s presence like this; no wonder she was hailed as a prodigy.
“No, I think you are just tired. Come in and rest before the finals. You still have to compete in the Crowd Ball tomorrow,” he said as he began to lead her into the restroom.
“Hey tell me...”
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Back at the Headquarters of Sector Three, Japan’s premier intelligence agency run by the Saegusa Clan, Saegusa Koichi sat and read all the information his informants had gathered about the boy called Inei Yotsuba.
The offer from Kudo Retsu had been intriguing, and he was not blind to the growing power of the Yotsuba clan. If Kudo-sensei’s words were correct, the Yotsuba had yet to show all their weapons.
But going against the Yotsuba was not an easy decision, and it was a hard decision that could end up costing them a lot, especially if they were really as powerful as they were thought to be.
Yet there were rewards to this exercise as well. The Saegusa clan was lagging behind the Yotsuba right now, and if they succeeded, they could bridge that gap or even rise above them if things panned out as they hoped.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
“Your guest is here,” the servant spoke from outside. Koichi-sama nodded as he rose from the chair and began to walk towards the corner of the room.
“Nakura, it is time,” and with that, his esteemed butler sat down in his place as Koichi vanished into the background, his presence masked by any sensory technique.
The door opened, and the guest walked in. His eyes immediately scanned him. The man was dressed impeccably, and his eyes seemed to glint even in the night. For a second, he felt them pass over the very area where he stood.
“Welcome, Shou-sama,” Nakura greeted the man, who smiled and gave him a polite bow.
“It is an honor to be invited by you, Nakura-sama.” With that,, they sat down and began to make small talk until they both stopped, and Nakura got to the point.
“Now, I was made to believe that you had important information for us. Information about the man the USNA are after,” and he saw the man did not even shift at that as he nodded.
“Indeed I do, though I believe both of us should be using his name, shouldn’t we? Afterall, Inei Yotsuba is such a good name.”
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