5 Girl in the shadows

In the class,

"Okay, now for this stage part of the map, there will be a trap laid there..."

He discussed as he pointed his finger on the board. Discussing the map that will be used in the annual exam that will take place in just a few days, mentioning every tactic each could use and every way to trap the hunter from the council.

This does seem pretty pointless since the one we're facing is someone experienced and somewhat strong, but considering that I don't know much about that guy, maybe I'm just being cautious and overestimating him.

I was about to close my eyes when suddenly a mention of a topic obliterated my sleepiness and made me open my eyes,

"And regarding about the one who will hunt you in this test, it is the fourth member of the council. Does anybody have a clue to who he is?"

He looked around for someone raising their hand to answer and one of the students raised their hand,

"We've heard from him, If I'm correct, his name is....Uhm.. Kajiyashaki Ryujin!"

"I see. That's right. Kajiyashaki Ryujin, one of the upper echelons of this school is gonna be the one hunting you."

Fourth huh?. The first person I looked at was Fujimoto, who's staring forward with her usual serious expression. She is somewhat giving the vibe that she's from the council, from the way she talks about them earlier, seemingly sounding like she was talking from experience.

I looked forward and noticed that Sensei was looking at Fujimoto, which is quite suspicious, why would he stare at her for no reason? There's really something between her and that council.

"Setting the hunter aside, there have been changes in the time limit. From the previously announced 10 hours to just a short 5 hours. This has been decided by the council to ease the difficulty for the students."

That increases our winning chances, but another thing to wonder is the reason for ceasing the difficulty. Since this is a prestigious school, one would expect extreme difficulty, but not today it seems. I wonder why though.

"Are there any concerns?"

...

"Looks like there are none. Now, let's continue the lesson.

After school.

The final bell rang, a crowd of students stood up from their seats and was ready to go back to their dormitory. I was putting all the books back in my bag when suddenly Sora walked up to me and flashed a friendly smile.

"Hey, about the meeting today, it is announced that the library will be closed so we're looking for a place, so...is your dorm available?"

In a few minutes of silence, I think about whether to agree or not. Allowing them or not will neither give me an advantage nor disadvantage.

"Yeah...sure"

"That's nice! See you in front of the school dorm!"

He said in a friendly way, and flash another one of his smiles.

After he left, I continued packing my things. I stood up once I'm finished and as I was about to leave the room, I felt a gaze staring right through me. I looked around cautiously but as expected, there was no one in sight. I continued walking but this time, cautiously whilst looking around for anyone.

I made my way towards the dorm with the terrifying feeling of being watched and followed. I slightly peek behind my shoulders every-so-often and at one point, I heard quiet footsteps slowly creeping over to me.

"Come out, whoever you are!" I protested,

Just then, I heard a slight girly shriek in one corner of the hallway. A girl? Why would a girl follow me? I curiously walked towards the source of the sound, prepared to summon my weapon at any time in case of a battle engagement, when suddenly, "she" or the one that's been following me decided to come out behind the wall. A petite girl with candy middle-length pink hair, with a cute ribbon behind her hair, stood in front of me.

Huh? This girl seems...awfully familiar, I've seen her somewhere. Recalling the previous events, one event flew right inside my mind. The alley accident. I get it now, she's the girl from that accident.

I let out a sigh of relief as I cautiously still stared at the girl in front of me. She lowered her head almost immediately as she saw me. With apple-red cheeks, she tried opening her mouth but It seems like she is too nervous to even say a single word. I put my hands back in my pocket and asked,

"Who are you and why are you following me?"

"Uhm--A-Ahhh...Uhm..."

She tried speaking with her shaky voice but finds herself unable to do so. What a nervous-wreck,

"Uhm...R-R-Ryo-San!"

She speaks my name in a determined manner before bowing down her whole upper-body and extending her hands towards me, handing out what seemed like cookies wrapped in a pinkish plastic and red ribbon tied at the top.

"T-T-This is a thank you...Uhm...For....saving me the other day! Uhm...I'm Keina Hanemura from class A!"

She said, again, with great determination and a loud and clear voice. Token of appreciation huh? Not accepting this may seem rude and heart-breaking to the person giving it to you, so I decided to accept it, even though I'm not a fan of sweets.

"Thanks"

I took the bag of cookies from her hand collectedly and stared at it for a while. Come to think of it, this is my first time being given something like this aside from my parents. No strangers nor what you call a "friend", even though that word is nothing other than just something imaginable.

With this world full of lies, cruelty, and betrayal, I don't think the "real friends", or so they call it, exist. Because in this world, nothing lasts forever, one day, the one you considered your "friends" will soon enough...

"leave you."

"Uhm...You're welcome...Well then...I should get going. Thank you!"

With those parting words, she ran off like someone who has their hair caught on fire, frantic and seemingly scared. I turned around as I put the cookies in my bag and went to the dormitory.

Arriving at the dorm's facade, I was greeted by Haruto, waving his arms. We walked towards my room and entering there, inside already has someone, Airi who's sitting on my bed while Arata playing with his game. Hina on the corner of the room, surprisingly talking with the ice-queen girl, Kyouko, and from the looks of it, looks like they are carrying the conversation positively.

"Oh Ryo-kun, hey there!"

I decided to be not too harsh on her, so I smiled, albeit a forced one.

"W-What's up with that smile?"

She looks uncomfortable. I should probably stop.

"Now that we're all here,"

All attention shifted towards Haruto as he spoke, We formed a circle with Haruto in the middle-front.

"Let's discuss the annual test shall we."

"Here, Here!"

Hina enthusiastically raised her hand,

"Y-Yes? You seem awfully enthusiastic today."

"E-Eh? S-Sorry, I'm just too happy. Anyway! I found some information about the hunter in the exam?"

Just like before, with the mentioning of the hunter at the exam, Kyouko reacted weirdly.

"What is it, Ayane?"

"I've asked someone from the 2nd year and they said that Kajiyashaki-san is actually a water-amplitude user. He uses a double sword as his weapon and one of them says that in one of the competitions here last year, he was the only first-year who won. Another thing they said is that if you want to meet him, you'll need to go to the class 2-A and another thing is that he's constantly surrounded by girls."

"Constantly surrounded...by girls? So like, he's good looking and famous?"

"Seems like it."

"I-I see."

Sora put on his thinking face and stared blankly at the ground, putting his finger on his chin, putting on a thinking pose. Just then, Fujimoto lets out a sigh and said bluntly,

"I don't think chit-chats like this will help. You should test your skills and see your limits,"

"Hmmm."

Sora continued cracking his head, now considering Fujimoto's suggestion. It's true that chit-chats like this are useless, We haven't even looked at the actual place yet, and all we know is the hunter's amplitude and weapon, only that. We don't know anything about his weakness and if he either uses some sort of martial arts or any kind of swordsmanship.

I agree with her, testing one's amplitude and thinking of a way to innovatively improve it by either combining two amplitudes and just simply enhancing it.

"I see. Why don't we test it out right now?"

Sora said after a minute of consideration.

"Right now?' I asked, I little hesitant to agree.

"I know a wide place where we can use our amplitudes. Besides, there is no curfew for the dorms."

And so, with no one disagreeing, we were brought to a wide land just a few meters away from the boy's dorm.