For the fifth round, Kana Kuroe and Sakura Cherry teamed up against Arcane Bishop and Alliya Lufine. Since the first four groups managed to win against the fourth-years, Cherry and Kuroe felt needless pressure as they stepped forward.
The two of them couldn't help but steal glances at their classmates who made the exercise especially difficult for them. Now they had to step up to the plate and try to win as well.
"I got you, Cherry," Kuroe whispered even though she was also not sure whether they'd survive the match or not. In a way, she wanted to reassure herself by telling Cherry that she's got her back.
"We can do this." Cherry clenched her fists. If it came down to it, she would just use her superpower and drain the two of them of their life energy. Her superpower was dangerous, but she was willing to use it if driven into a corner.
Dark Matter and Light Wing were already down in the dumps. If this last team could defeat them in this last match, then that would prove their inferiority to the first years. They didn't want that to happen, that's why they were so desperate for a win this time around.
"All right, if both sides are ready, then we're going to pick the scenario—" Knighthawk was getting tired of all the results. It should've been a one-sided beating in the favor of fourth-years instead of the other way around. Right now, he just wanted to get this over with and move on to their next class.
"Since this is the last one, let me pick the scenario," Knighthawk said, thinking that he could unknowingly give the fourth years an advantage so they could at least win once. Quite frankly, it was an underhanded tactic, but Knighthawk didn't care.
"The fifth scenario for today is... hide and seek. The location would be the destroyed building in the middle of the arena." Knighthawk explained. "The hiders would be given two minutes to hide wherever they want, and the seekers would be given ten minutes to look for them."
Knighthawk made a bold risk. He purposefully gave the seekers ten minutes so the hiders would lose. "The hiders would be... Cherry and Kuroe... and the seekers would be Bishop and Lufine." Knighthawk announced.
Before anyone could complain about his decisions, Knighthawk raised his voice and continued speaking. "Both sides at the ready. As soon as I gave the go signal, the hiders would go in and hide. Bot sides at the ready... Go!"
Satoshi and the others stared at Knighthawk as if they were looking at a criminal caught red-handed. They immediately realized what Knighthawk was trying to do, and they couldn't believe he had the audacity to pull something like that. In any case, at least he didn't blatantly put Cherry and Kuroe at an absolute disadvantage.
Then again, hindering them like that was really plucky of him.
"Ten minutes? This is ridiculous." Hiroshi hissed as he expressed his displeasure. They could tell that Knighthawk wasn't pulling any punches anymore, and his purpose for this exercise clearly showed.
"Yes, but knowing Cherry and Kuroe, I know they can win this. Let's just hope that Cherry would rely on her other personality. It would be a clear win for them if she did." Kurogami commented. "In any case, that was a great match, Jonathan, it seems like I have a lot to learn from you."
In response, Jonathan puffed his chest as he patted Kurogami on the back. "You did great, you were really a man of your word. And for that, I salute you. Anyway, what do you mean by her other personality? Does she have dissociative identity disorder?"
Everyone in the class nodded, much to everyone's surprise.
"Apparently, she had an accident of her superpower going out of control when she was a kid. She almost killed someone... or did she kill someone?" Kurogami asked, to which everyone shrugged in response.
They didn't want to talk about it.
"I see. Wow... I guess I'm not the only one who— never mind." Jonathan mumbled to himself. "What is her superpower anyways?"
"She can manipulate life energy," Shiroi replied. Up until this time, she would occasionally glance at Fuuka who was sticking close to Satoshi.
Fuuka didn't notice her though. She was too focused on Satoshi that she didn't notice Emma nor Shiroi stealing glances at him.
"Life energy? So she could technically... suck the life out of you?" Jonathan asked.
"Absorb. Absorb the life out of you. Don't say something like that, Jonathan." Hiroshi lightly told him off.
In all honesty, though, Jonathan had no idea that what he said was inappropriate. Back in his home planet, the expression meant something different. On Earth, it had a different meaning.
"That's a pretty neat superpower. Her touch is literally deadly." Jonathan commented.
A minute later, just when Cherry and Kuroe were looking for a place to hide, Midori returned to the group. He was walking slowly, and his usual energy wasn't there. This was the first time they saw Midori in such a sorry state, but they weren't complaining since he was unusually relatively quiet compared to his usual self.
"What did I miss?" He asked, sitting down as he heaved a sigh. The treatment lasted longer than he had thought. Fortunately, though, there wasn't anything life-threatening in his injuries. He was discharged as soon as he regained a little bit of energy.
Everyone briefed him about what happened so far. He was surprised that he didn't miss a lot of happenings.
...
Currently, Cherry and Kuroe were having a hard time looking for a suitable hiding spot. They've scoured the entire place with the help of Kuroe's psychic superpower and they still couldn't find a good place. They were aware of Bishop and Lufine's detection skills. And they knew that they wouldn't last ten minutes during this hide-and-seek.
"What do you think? Should we just give up?" Kuroe asked Cherry, who was on the verge of panicking.
While the clock ticked, her expression turned worse. The pressure they both felt was eating away at them. They couldn't afford to lose no matter what.
Suddenly, on the verge of her breaking point, Cherry had no choice but to rely on her other self. In a split second, Cherry fainted, and Sassu took over her body.
As soon as she closed her eyes, a faint smile appeared on her face, and she turned to Kuroe with an aura of confidence in her. "You, you can read minds, right? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked.
Kuroe nodded her head. To think that there was a simple solution to their current predicament. They were too panicked that they weren't even thinking properly. "Yes, that would work. Sassu, you're a genius! Who would've thought that we can do something like that!"
Sassu almost flinched in front of Kuroe. Up until now, she had witnessed Kuroe's mind-reading skills and psychic abilities. She still hadn't gotten used to it though.
"All right. We should get on with it. We only have thirty seconds left."
Without further ado, the two of them headed towards a more conspicuous spot, and then they gave each other a high-five. This was going to be a foolproof plan, and there was no way Bishop and Lufine would be able to find them.
Time's up!
As usual, Bishop and Lufine didn't know what to expect. But then again, they were aware of their superpower so they wouldn't be taken by surprise. Whatever they did, they'll be able to find them since their detection skills were top-notch. There was no way that a bunch of amateurs could hide from them.
They were undercover superheroes. It was their job to infiltrate and smoke out criminals hiding in shady places. This was the perfect scenario for them.
Even though they felt guilty since Knighthawk gave them an advantage, they were willing to go through with it. They have to win no matter what.
And this time, they were going to win.
Confidence welled up within the two as their ten minutes commenced. They have plenty of time to look for the hiders, and not only that, there was no way Cherry and Kuroe could hide from their detection skills. No matter where they hid inside or outside the building, they wouldn't get away.
"Let's go, Lufine," Bishop wore a serious expression as the two of them used their detection skills.
First, they scanned the entire arena to check whether the two were outside. They didn't detect any lifeforms outside. This meant that they'd need to look for the two inside the destroyed building.
Smiling, the two of them checked the interior of the building, scanning every floor with their detection skill. Their brows scrunched up as they checked every floor.
Once they reached the top floor, they were flabbergasted. They didn't detect a single person in there!
"What on... where exactly did they hide? Are they cheating?!" Bishop asked. He was on the verge of losing his composure.
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