Haramura Nodoka's Ability / Toyoko Momoko, Restricted ...

But then she saw Kageyama Sora holding Fukuji Mihoko in his arms, comforting her.

She couldn't help remembering what Kageyama Sora had done to her in that abandoned warehouse, and how, ever since, she'd dreamed night after night about that day, feeling embarrassed and awkward.

Jealous?

Was she jealous of the Club President, or jealous of Kageyama Sora?

Or was she jealous of both?

Ikeda Kana couldn't put her feelings into words just then, but she felt that everything about this was awful.

Yet all those feelings vanished the moment she saw tears welling in Fukuji Mihoko's eyes...

So the Club President had been under that much pressure...

No, she'd always known the Club President was under a lot of pressure. There was nothing she could do to change things, so all she could do was keep trying, and trying harder.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't change the fact that the Club President had to shoulder all that pressure.

Everyone's incompetence was putting the Club President under so much pressure...

Ikeda Kana trembled slightly. Jealousy and affection no longer mattered. There was only one thought in her mind: when it was her turn to compete, she absolutely, absolutely had to win.

She couldn't let the Club President be sad. She absolutely had to qualify and make it to the National Tournament.

Chapter 105: Haramura Nodoka's Ability

The fluorescent lights in the hallway flickered above the two of them. Kageyama Sora could still feel the warmth of the embrace on his fingertips.

After that brief comfort, they hurried off to attend to their respective affairs. Only Ikeda Kana, who had witnessed it all, locked the secret away in her heart. Her clenched fist showed her resolve to prove herself at the mahjong table.

The second half of the match was underway, and the tension at the tables rose once more.

Kageyama Sora sat hunched on the sofa in Ryumonbuchi High School's lounge, his eyes fixed on the big screen.

On-screen, Ryumonbuchi Toka was arranging her tiles in a neat row. Her blonde ahoge swayed gently with her movements, and the corner of her mouth curled into a confident smile.

She deftly drew a tile with her fingertips. With a sharp smack, she slammed down her riichi stick. "Riichi! I'm taking this hand!"

Just then, a chill seemed to rush out of the screen.

Toyoko Momoko's long black hair fell over half her face. Her shadowy eyes reflected the tiles as she parted her lips and murmured like a ghost, "Are you sure you want to declare riichi? That's a dora, you know... Ron..."

She drew out the final word like a snake hissing. "Riichi, ippatsu, one dora. 5,200 points."

Ryumonbuchi Toka whipped around, her eyes wide.

The next second, the clatter of another player revealing their tiles rang painfully in their ears—once again, she'd dealt into a hand after declaring riichi!

"Hey! Are you sure you actually declared riichi properly?" Ryumonbuchi Toka demanded in disbelief.

Toyoko Momoko tilted her head, a faint smile on her lips. "I did."

She looked so calm and composed, as if dealing in had been exactly what she'd expected.

The lounge erupted in an uproar.

Inoue Jun shot to her feet, her silver hair tousled by the sudden movement. "She dealt into a hand again without even noticing that the other player had declared riichi! How is that possible?!"

Kunihiro Hajime clutched her skirt so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Toka, what's going on...?"

The lounges of the other schools were just as bewildered. They couldn't understand how an expert like Ryumonbuchi Toka could make the same mistake twice.

No, she shouldn't have made the mistake even once.

Amid the overlapping cries of surprise and concern, Hisa Takei rested her chin in one hand in the Kiyosumi High School lounge and mused, "Could it be that the players at the table see things differently from what we see through the broadcast?"

Kageyama Sora came to a similar conclusion, then added, "Don't forget, Toka kept saying she hadn't noticed her opponent had declared riichi."

Inoue Jun looked confused. "That can't be right. We can see the girl declaring riichi on the broadcast while she plays... and she wasn't even being quiet about it."

Kageyama Sora's expression was grave. "Maybe what they see during the match really is different from what we see on-screen. Koromo has an ability like that, so it wouldn't be strange if the others had all sorts of strange abilities, too."

His thoughts drifted involuntarily back to his conversation with Toyoko Momoko: the mysterious aura around her, and her astonished words, "You can see me?"

"Could this Toyoko Momoko have some kind of invisibility ability?" Kageyama Sora blurted out, startling everyone into looking at him.

Kunihiro Hajime furrowed her brow, worry filling her eyes. "If that's really her ability, then Toka's in trouble... This year's full of hidden talents."

Just then, Toyoko Momoko tossed out a Two of Circles on-screen.

Kageyama Sora's pupils contracted—that was exactly the tile Haramura Nodoka was waiting for! The pink-haired, blue-eyed girl pushed her tiles forward with graceful decisiveness. "Ron. 8,000 points."

Toyoko Momoko's expression froze. Her pale face was filled with disbelief, as if all the life had been drained from her.

Kunihiro Hajime murmured, "Did we guess wrong? It isn't invisibility... So that's why Haramura Nodoka could win off her."

"No, it must be invisibility." Kageyama Sora clenched his fist, his tone firm. "That's why she dealt in without a care. She must have thought Haramura Nodoka couldn't win off her, but Nodoka did, and that's why she's so shocked. Look—Toyoko Momoko's aura's all over the place."

Amae Koromo, who'd been sitting as still as a statue, suddenly spoke. Her ethereal voice sent a shiver through the room. "You mean Haramura Nodoka's ability is stronger than that invisible girl's?"

An eerie silence fell over the lounge. The only sound was the hum of the air-conditioning unit, growing louder in the quiet.

A similar discussion was unfolding in the Kiyosumi High School lounge.

Yuki Kataoka looked utterly incredulous and sprang to her feet. "The opponent played a dangerous tile herself, but she looks completely shocked!"

"Maybe she thought it was impossible," Hisa Takei said with a quiet laugh. She'd been the first to notice that something was off, and her unease gradually faded. It seemed Haramura Nodoka hadn't been affected.

Out on the competition floor, Toyoko Momoko stared at Haramura Nodoka in disbelief. "You saw my discard? You shouldn't be able to see it, should you?"

Haramura Nodoka, her cheeks flushed, looked bewildered. "There's no supernatural phenomenon where some things are visible and others aren't... I can see everything clearly..."

Their brief exchange confirmed Kageyama Sora and Hisa Takei's guess.

It also reminded Kageyama Sora of something he'd only realized belatedly.

During the training camp, Hisa Takei had given Haramura Nodoka exercises meant to help her focus and avoid outside distractions. Over time, Nodoka, who'd been holding a penguin, had indeed improved.

When she played mahjong, her field of vision became so focused that it was like playing online mahjong. In short, nothing around her could affect her judgment, making her incredibly steady.

She could even guard against and resist Saki Miyanaga's ability.

Naturally, that ability worked against Toyoko Momoko, too.

That was why, when Toyoko Momoko thought she'd activated her ability, it was completely ignored, and Nodoka won off her.

It was practically the perfect counter to the flashy playstyles of people with strange abilities.

Kageyama Sora couldn't help smiling faintly. "I don't know who to call the supernatural one here. Or maybe Little Nodoka's supernatural ability is even stronger?"

Kunihiro Hajime couldn't resist teasing him. "That smug, proud look on your face is so obvious. If Toka sees it, she'll explode all over again."

Amae Koromo looked almost excited. "Just like Toka said, once you go somewhere bigger to play mahjong, you meet all sorts of interesting people. This is... getting more and more exciting... I wonder if I'll meet an opponent like that, too!?"

Chapter 106: Toyoko Momoko, Restricted

The match continued.

Everything started to get strange after Haramura Nodoka won a hand off Toyoko Momoko.

Toyoko Momoko's incredulous reaction after dealing into Nodoka's hand confirmed that her ability really was invisibility—and Haramura Nodoka happened to be a player who could break through it.

Rather than bringing Haramura Nodoka down, Toyoko Momoko's uncanny ability had made Nodoka stand out even more—just as Ryumonbuchi Toka had said, she'd become even more noticeable.

However... it was worth mentioning that after Haramura Nodoka broke through her ability, Toyoko Momoko didn't give up or anything.

Instead, her usually gloomy expression softened with a hint of pleasure.

Through the broadcast, they could clearly hear her murmur, "I guess now I'll just have to rely on my actual skill..."

Haramura Nodoka remained unshaken and was just as determined to win.

Ryumonbuchi Toka, on the other hand, looked rather grim. She was unwilling to lose like this—or, rather, she was unwilling to lose before she'd had a chance to stand out.

Unfortunately, the player who won the final hand was from Kazekoshi Girls' High School.

And with that, the Vice-Captain Battle came to an end.

The male commentator immediately began his analysis of the match:

[The second half of the Vice-Captain Battle has come to a close. It turned into a one-on-one showdown between Tsuruga Academy's Toyoko Momoko and Kiyosumi High School's Haramura Nodoka. Of course, Ryumonbuchi High School and Kazekoshi Girls' High School also made a strong push in the latter half, so the gap between them never became overwhelming.]

[Kiyosumi High School's Haramura Nodoka remained at the top of the Vice-Captain Battle rankings. Her steady, data-driven style was the one bright spot of this tournament.]

Sure enough, as the commentator praised Haramura Nodoka, Ryumonbuchi Toka went from looking utterly dejected to completely losing her temper. She stood up and stared at Nodoka's back. "Haramura Nodoka! Next time we meet, you'd better be ready to face me!"

But she'd spent so long losing her temper that Haramura Nodoka had already left the competition area and had run into the people who'd come to meet her... Saki Miyanaga and Kageyama Sora.

As it happened, Kageyama Sora had wanted to go meet Ryumonbuchi Toka, too, but Toyoko Momoko had stopped him.

In the hallway, Kageyama Sora immediately spotted Toyoko Momoko standing in his way.

Remembering what had happened the last time they met, he understood what she was thinking.

Perhaps for reasons she'd been born with, Toyoko Momoko had a very faint presence, making it difficult for others to notice her.

She'd also applied that ability to mahjong, turning herself into a player with a special power—and judging by when she'd started using it, she could control the ability herself.

But Kageyama Sora could see her easily after she activated it. That had caught Toyoko Momoko's attention, which was why she'd stopped him after the match.

Still... whatever the reason, she was a cute girl.

So Kageyama Sora said quite naturally, "That was a great match. Your ability was really impressive."

The ceiling light buzzed above them, casting mottled shadows.

Toyoko Momoko's hanging strands of hair looked like frozen tears. Her deep green eyes rippled in the shadows.

Her fingers absently rubbed the hem of her uniform. A half-dried leaf clung to the edge, trembling with her faint movements. "You... really think it's impressive?"

Her voice trailed off, like a startled butterfly suddenly suspended in midair.

That reaction surprised him. Before, Toyoko Momoko had seemed like a girl who used her ability to get what she wanted, a mischievous, ghostly little thing. Why did she suddenly seem so vulnerable?

But... Kageyama Sora would never let a girl be sad! (!???)

Kageyama Sora took half a step forward, the soft scrape of his shoes against the floor unusually clear in the silence.

The faint haze around her seemed to ripple as he approached, like water disturbed by a touch.

"Anyone who can make Haramura Nodoka take her seriously is no ordinary opponent... And neither is Toka... They're both true experts." A smile hid in Kageyama Sora's deliberately gentle voice, but when he saw Momoko's eyelashes flutter violently, he found himself holding his breath.

Momoko suddenly laughed softly. The sound slipping through her fingers was like a silver bell breaking apart, carrying a hint of excited hysteria. "But I got found out..."

She suddenly leaned closer. Her warm breath brushed Kageyama Sora's ear, and the scent of her hair, sweeping across the tip of his nose, left him dazed. "No one's ever been able to see me. They ignore me, overlook me... The Club President was the only one who wanted to see me... But today I met so many interesting people and so many interesting things..."

Her words gradually dissolved into a murmur, sending fine shivers down Kageyama Sora's neck.

She was too close, he thought.

But he didn't back away.

"That just makes it more interesting, doesn't it?" Kageyama Sora braced one hand against the wall, trapping her in the narrow space between them.

He noticed the flush quickly rising to Momoko's ears and the dangerous, tempting glimmer in the eyes hidden behind her falling hair. "When you said you'd rely on your actual skill, your eyes were shining."

The air suddenly grew thick. Momoko's fingertips hovered over Kageyama Sora's sleeve, then finally hooked around a single button.

"You're special," she suddenly said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. "I'm a little interested in you..."

As she finished speaking, the faint transparent ripples around her grew violent. Footsteps from the far end of the hallway blurred amid the disturbance.

Kageyama Sora's throat tightened, but he still managed a smile. "Should I be flattered?" His thumb unconsciously brushed over Momoko's wrist bone, feeling the warmth of her skin. "Or are you planning to make me even more interested in you this way?"

Toyoko Momoko's face flushed crimson, but she let go of Kageyama Sora's wrist.

The reason was the familiar voice calling from the far end of the hallway. Toyoko Momoko had no choice but to leave—it was the Club President calling for her.

The Club President, who was about to compete in the next match. The Club President who'd once cried out that she needed her...

"Someone important needs me..." Toyoko Momoko looked up. Her cheeks were still warm, and her ears bright red, but she forced herself to smile. "We'll meet again... Kageyama Sora. I'm looking forward to seeing you next time."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and ran off, leaving behind hurried footsteps and a faint fragrance in the air.

Kageyama Sora watched the direction in which the girl had disappeared. The warmth still on his fingertips was burning.

But there were important people he needed to see, too. He couldn't waste any more time.

So he ran toward Haramura Nodoka...

Chapter 107: Watch Me Win with Little Nodoka

The results after the Vice-Captain Battle were in: Kiyosumi High School took first place, followed closely by Tsuruga Academy in second. Ryumonbuchi High School came third, and Kazekoshi Girls' High School came fourth.

The male commentator's analysis came next:

[Last year's two top schools were completely suppressed by two new, little-known schools. The final outcome will be decided in the General Battle.]