Chapter 26– Fight in the snake pit!

"Kaiyo? You alright? You seem a bit dazed. I was going to say we're going to create a diversion so we can quickly go through the door." Sen's question snapped her back to reality.

Kaiyo blinked. "Ah yes, sorry, I was just... thinking. I'm ready whenever you guys are." Kaiyo put on a fake smile and nodded eagerly, but behind her reluctant smile was pain. 

Her grandmother had passed away years ago, but the memories always seemed to replay in her head over and over again. All she remembered was crying her eyes out. She had long forgotten how or where her grandmother had passed. Everything was a blur; only the parched feeling of her throat and the sting in her eyes remained. 

"A sword means nothing if the person behind it doesn't have a heart," Kaiyo promised herself never to forget those words. Looking up, wiping away a few tears, Kaiyo confidently stared upwards. Though it was the ceiling she saw, her gaze was set far beyond that.

I hope you're watching me, Grandma. I'll make you and everyone proud. She nodded to herself with assurance and stood up.

Getting back into reality, contestants passed by Kaiyo, utterly oblivious to what was behind her. They didn't even realize the colors were a hint to begin with. Or did I get lucky? Kaiyo wasn't sure. It was perfectly possible she had just gotten lucky and the colors weren't indicative of the door being accessible, although, at this point, it was better than being stuck in the room along with the thousands of people. 

"Kaiyo...are you ready?" Sen whispered to her.

Kaiyo focused on Hana, who was supposed to carry out the diversion, and nodded confidently back to Sen. 

"Im ready..." 

I hope this works. Kaiyo anxiously waited. 

"HEY, EVERYONE!" Hana's voice echoed in the massive room.

The diversion had begun...

Contestants eyed Hana with suspicion as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I KNOW WHICH DOOR IT IS! SEE THAT UP THERE!?" Hana pointed to the highest door on the opposite side of the room. "RIGHT THERE! THE GOLDEN KNOB!"

Excitement swept through the air as the crowd turned to the door Hana pointed at. Some contestants immediately started climbing over each other to reach the top.

"Huh… gullible," Hana smirked quietly. "Come on, guys, quickly, before they realize!"

With a swift turn of his hand, Sen opened the door and slipped through. It was so dark it looked as though he disappeared. Their whole team entered the door one by one, followed by Genkai and Ayame.

Kaiyo, being the last one, took one final look around. A bad feeling nagged at her, but without allowing herself another moment to hesitate, she walked through the door and shut it behind her.

Inside, everything was pitch black and eerily silent, though she could still hear the commotion outside the door. I really hope no one saw us come in here. 

"I don't like this…" Hana shivered. "Let's all hold hands just in case we get lost or anything…"

"Not a chance, as if I would hold hands with you people," Ayame remarked smugly in the darkness.

"I mean, I don't mind holding your hand, Hana," Baru interjected. Kaiyo could bet money he was grinning while saying that.

"Yeah, no, you're the last person I want to hold hands with, Baru…" Hana retorted, then paused with a gulp. "I-I..." Hana stuttered. "I think I feel something on my leg… tell me that's one of you guys..."

"Hana, please tell me that's a joke. That's not me. Sen, Is that you? Hahaha," Baru laughed nervously.

"Why would you think that's me? I came in first, so I don't kn—" Sen cut himself off with a groan. "I just felt something slither between my legs…"

Suddenly, bright yellow lights turned on in the mysterious room, momentarily blinding her.

"OHHHH MY GODDDD!" Baru cried out with fear.

Kaiyo rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the abrupt light. But once she could see, she wished she hadn't.

"WHY THE FRICK ARE THERE SNAKES AT OUR FEET!" Baru jumped, avoiding the snakes that lunged at his feet with razor-sharp fangs. 

"Stay calm. There's only like three snakes." Sen picked up a snake and tossed it aside. "I think we should worry about that, though." His gaze was fixated ahead. 

The mysterious room was a long brick hallway with electric torches placed on each side, giving it an eerie vibe. The floor gave way into a pit a few meters ahead. At the bottom of the ten-foot drop, there appeared to be thousands of snakes slithering and hissing on the ground. Some attempted to jump on the wall, but the attempt was quickly proven useless. 

"I-if we walked a little more, we would have fallen into that hole of snakes!" Baru gulped.

"Hmm, looks like the hallway continues over the hole; we're going to have to figure out how to cross it somehow," Sen pondered.

"Hello knights. Cross the pit of snakes to continue to the next obstacle," the techno watch around Kaiyo's wrist spoke.

"Well, we're screwed…" Baru smiled wryly. "Guess it's time for me to get out of here and quit." With that, he walked up to the door they had come from and tried to open it. Baru turned whiter and whiter the more he twisted the nomb. "Hahaha, Ahhhh… Why is the door not opening? This is a funny joke you're playing on me!"He twisted more aggressively. 

"Okay, for real, open the door. I SAID OPEN UP THE GODDAMN DOOR!" Baru wailed, banging on the door. "Why won't my Super Sense work!"

"You can't escape once you've entered one of the doors. As the master said, this academy is built to cancel out all super senses, so don't waste your time :)" the techno watch answered.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll just jump into the pit of snakes and kill myself. Better than trying to figure out how to cross it and slowly starve to death."

"No one is going to starve, well, at least for now," Sen stated, a hint of irritation in his tone.

"Oh wow, thanks for the motivational speech there," Baru remarked sarcastically.

"We're going to DIEEEE!" Hono cried out. "But also, being all alone with a bunch of guys isn't so bad after all." she grinned. 

Baru narrowed his eyes at Hono.

"Woah woah! Hold your horses there, lady! How dumb can you be?" Baru rolled his eyes. "Obviously, there are cameras, so it would be a bad place to do it."

Hana punched Baru lightly on the head.

"You screwed it up again somehow! I almost agreed with you for once! YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY THE DUMBEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET IN MY LIFE!"

As the arguments escalated, Kaiyo looked around for possible ways to cross the pit. One might try jumping, but clearly, that wouldn't work; it was too far. But what else could they do?

We can use Hana's Super Sense to throw people across, but then again, that would be difficult for her to control. Not to mention, that would mean she would be left behind unless Baru decided to use his Sense to help her.

Both scenarios ensured one of them wouldn't be able to pass. Somehow, they needed to devise a plan to get all of them over. As much as she wanted to be greedy, she couldn't bring herself to abandon the team, regardless of whether the two of them were strangers to her.

This was harder than she thought. The academy's challenges were very dangerous, a little too dangerous if you ask her. Kaiyo frowned.

She glanced at Sen, who was attentively observing the pit. Sen had his finger on his chin, eyes closed, pondering their next move. Walking over to him, she crouched down and leaned to whisper.

"What are you thinking, Sen?" Kaiyo asked, tilting her head. Sen didn't answer her question but rather opened his eyes to focus on the pit.

She took in his white hair, his serious expression, and his blue eyes. He looked so—Shut up, shut up, shut up! Not the time or place to think about that! Kaiyo blushed unconsciously and covered her face. Why am I like this! She hid her cheeks to conceal her embarrassment.

"GOD DANG IT!" she accidentally exclaimed aloud, resenting the way she reacted whenever she saw him.

"Woah, are you okay, Kaiyo? Why did you scream?" Baru called out to her. 

"Oh yeah! I'm fine, I'm fine!" Kaiyo stammered. "Just a little scared of the snakes."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Baru puffed out his chest.

Uhhh, yeah, I'm just so frightened of the snakes. Kaiyo grimaced inwardly.

"Uh, yeah, thanks, Baru!" Sighing, Kaiyo glanced at Sen, who was still crouched down.

"What's your plan, Sen?" she prompted him to answer. But yet again, her attempt was brushed off. Kaiyo tried to hide her hurt expression. He's never ignored me this much. Did I do something wrong?

Whatever the reason, Sen was clearly not in the mood to reply. While he sat at the pit's edge, the rest lounged around, trying to develop ideas for their current predicament.

"Okay, what if we create a human bridge?" Baru suggested.

"And how do you suggest we do that? By the time we all link together, there wouldn't be any way to cross the pit without touching the snakes," Hana reasoned.

"Shoot, you're right. I forgot about that," Baru murmured, deflated. "Hey, new guys, the blue-haired chick, and the creepy blue-haired guy. Any ideas?" He pointed at Ayame and Genkai.

"I won't respond to anyone who calls me a 'blue-haired chick'," Ayame muttered scornfully.

"Well, sorry, I just thought you'd be useful since you guys have a freaking katana on you. The more important question is, HOW DO YOU HAVE A FREAKING KATANA ON YOU!"

"They allow you to have weapons if you have a permit, not that you could ever wield a sword with that chunky body of yours," Ayame retorted.

"CHUNKY? I HAVE A LOT OF MUSCLES! That's body shaming!"

"Well, disregarding her rude remark, there isn't much we can do with our weapons in this situation. It's not like we can hop down and try to kill as many snakes as we can. That would be suicide," Genkai chimed in.

"Womp, womp…" Baru slumped to the ground, rolling his eyes. "Why do you two have katanas anyway? Are you ninjas or something?"

Ayame and Genkai exchanged a look, seemingly communicating with just their blinks. They appeared reluctant to answer his question, which did give Kaiyo a twinge of suspicion. But to her surprise, though, they provided a brief response.

"Something like that, I guess. We come from a samurai family."

"OI, so you guys are wannabe Knights, I see now," Baru jested. Ayame's eyes blazed with cold fury at the comment.

"For your information, Samurai have existed far longer than Knights. The concept of Knights was introduced shortly after the meteor crash in the early 1800s, while samurai have existed since the 10th-century Heian period."

"Blah blah blah, nerd talk. Don't know, don't care, just asked why you had a sword. I don't need a history lesson from a woman."

"YOU LITTLE SHIT! WOMEN MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM!"

"Exactly why I'm not part of it," Baru shrugged. 

"Baru, I suggest you choose your next words very carefully," Hana warned, her voice gentle but her grip on his shoulder firm. Baru stiffened, his hair standing on end.

"I love women. Women work hard. Women deserve higher pay…"

"Good, Baru… very good…" Hana smiled innocently. 

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of that," Hyo adjusted his glasses with a sigh. "Sen, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about what to do. Have any ideas?" Hyo called out to him.

Sen had remained motionless before and after Hyo's question, not moving an inch. Hyo adjusted his glasses in confusion and met his eyes with Kaiyo. Knowing what Hyo had in mind, she sighed and gave a reluctant shake of her head. 

"I don't know. He hasn't been replying to anything I've said either." 

"Maybe he's just really focusing on a plan to get across," Baru suggested.

Ayame clearly wasn't as confident. "I don't want to come across as mean or anything, but he doesn't seem like the type to be a Knight. If I can't get across, It will be impossible for him ."

"Huh?!" Hana took minor offense to that; actually, maybe a major offense would be more appropriate. "Listen here, you little ice queen tsundere..."

"I AM NOT A TSUNDER–" Ayame protest was cut off. 

"Oh yes, you are, but I don't care. Don't ever disrespect my brother like that again! Or else..." Hana clutched up her fists threateningly.

Ayame gave out a sigh and pulled her arms up. "Listen, I'm not trying to be mean just for the sake of it. This is just a fact. We're simply out of your league, meaning if you have trouble doing something, you will find even more so." 

"I highly doubt that," Hana challenged in an icy tone. 

Ayame left her hands in the air with a composed expression. "I think I know what I'm capable of–"

Kaiyo held her breath as she watched Hana lurch her fist at Ayame before she could finish her sentence.

Ayame widened her eyes for a moment, surprised by the sudden attack, but then gave into a grin of satisfaction. From the sharpness of Hana's attack, it was safe to assume she unlocked her sense. However, despite her power boost, Ayame keenly dived to the side, avoiding Hana's assault without a hint of difficulty.

Ayame's eyes glowed a light shade of blue, indicating she unlocked her Sense in return for Hana's assault. 

Grunting in frustration from her miss, Hana swung her leg at Ayame's head. Expecting this, Ayame braced herself for the attack with her two arms. But at the last second, Hana switched her targets. Instead of aiming at Ayame's head, she swung her foot beneath Ayame to throw her off balance. Hana grinned once she saw the opening. 

"I got you–"

Hana was highly mistaken. Her foot made contact with empty air as Ayame jumped up to avoid her leg. Puzzled how she could predict her moves, Hana ended up being the one who was thrown off balance.

As Hana tripped from her very own attack, Ayame seized this opportunity and hit her in the gut with her foot. Hana gave out a groan, but despite that, she quickly grabbed ahold of Ayame's foot.

"Huh?" Ayame yelped as Hana's Super Sense threw her whole body in the air. Ayame's mistake was assuming her attack to the gut would damage Hana's body enough not to retaliate.

Because of her Sense, Hana's body was far more durable than that of a regular person who didn't have Touch. Therefore, she was able to withstand Ayame's kick without much problem.

While Ayame was in mid-air, Hana jumped up and attempted to continue her onslaught. However, Ayame didn't back down from the fight. While falling, Ayame unsheathed her katana and keenly swung it to block her fist until–

"STOOPPPPPP!" Kaiyo screamed with anguish, closing her eyes. 

Both Ayame and Hana stopped their attacks upon hearing her exclaim. 

Landing on her feet gracefully, Ayame pointed her katana with a grim expression while her opponent faced her with clutched fists. 

"We can't be fighting each other!" Kaiyo begged. At least momentarily, she was thankful that no one got seriously hurt. 

"Hmph, tell that to Mrs. Snow's head. She started that." Ayame looked away smugly. 

"Don't even try to pin the blame on me, you shithead! You're the one who started insulting my brother in the first place–"

"ENOUGH!" Kaiyo didn't get angry too often, but in this case, she was getting fed up with their childish behavior. "We need to work together to pass the challenge. What you guys were doing is simply a waste of time. If you genuinely were skilled, you would know when to fight and when to save your strength." 

After moments of silence, the blue, glowing light flickered away from Ayame's eyes, which indicated she had shut off her sense. Reluctantly, Hana followed suit, unclutching her fists with a sigh. A small whisp of smoke escaped her hands. 

Ayame sheathed her sword and crossed her hands. "Perhaps her words have some merit to them..." 

"Fine." 

Both seemed too embarrassed to say anything else. At least they're not fighting anymore—Kaiyo sighed in relief. 

"Women, HAHAHAHA!" Baru let out a laugh, almost tearing up. 

"I know, right!" Genkai joined in, cackling while he slapped his hand playfully on Baru's shoulders. 

Both Ayame and Hana made death stares, which ended up silencing them almost immediately. 

"Anyway, we need to get back on track." Hyo shook his head, then turned his gaze at Sen for the last time. "Sen, we really need to know what you have in mind. You never stay this silent for no reas–"

But suddenly, as if hearing Hyo's remark, Sen stood up from the edge of the pit, the first movement he'd made in minutes.

Something doesn't feel right. Why do I have a feeling he's going to—

Before she could complete her thought, Sen leaped into the pit of snakes!

...

"SEN, NO!" Kaiyo reached out, but it was too late.

"Guys, quickly, HELP!" Kaiyo's plea was urgent. Everyone rushed to peer down into the pit with utter shock.

"No way he just jumped in the pit!" Baru gasped. "He's going to die for sure!"

"Sen…" Kaiyo's heart stopped. No, no, why did he do that? There has to be a reason.

She closed her eyes, not bearing the thought of seeing Sen's body surrounded by snakes. I'll never forgive myself if he dies. 

"Will you all quit it already," Sen's calm voice came from the pit, to everyone's astonishment. They leaned over to see him unharmed, and the snakes around him—

"These aren't real snakes," Sen explained. "Look there." He walked over to a device on the wall. "This is a projector." He pointed at a circular object on the bottom of the wall. "These snakes are just a screen. That's why I was looking so closely at them. Obviously, the ones at our feet earlier were real, but they were not poisonous; they're just large garden snakes."

"Wow, I must say, I'm impressed," Ayame admitted with amusement. "How did you tell the difference? I couldn't even see."

"Well, I didn't know for sure, so that's why I jumped," Sen said bluntly.

"Woah, woah! You mean you didn't fully know until you jumped? What if you were wrong?" Baru's eyes narrowed.

"Simple. I wasn't going to be wrong. First, I knew that the school wouldn't put thousands of snakes, especially in the dark. As you said, if we'd walked a little further, we would have been screwed if these were real. In case of non-consensual incidents, the school can't afford to have such a dangerous challenge, even if we signed a waiver before entering."

Kaiyo looked down, her thoughts racing. I can't believe he realized all that. If it weren't for him, we never would have had the guts to cross the snake pit.

"It's not impressive. You all were thinking in circles without any real plans instead of looking at the challenge from a different perspective. You can't blatantly follow the challenge at face value; that wouldn't achieve anything. That would only make you concede to the limits that have been placed on you from the start," Sen elucidated. "Anyway, let's not waste any more time. We only have 37 minutes left. Follow me," he commanded.

Stunned by his knowledge and quick thinking, they were left speechless, so they simply followed his order and jumped down into the pit. Ayame leaped agilely from the wall and gracefully made her way to the other side. They all crossed the pit individually, continuing down the dimly lit hallway.

Kaiyo couldn't help but feel a wave of anxiety. Just how hard are these challenges going to get?