In the arena, Gyoubu Hattori was competing in offense and defense against an unidentified third-year student.
Although Gyoubu Hattori was a second-year, his magical aptitude was the real thing! Excluding the exceptionally gifted students who had enrolled this year, he was among the strongest at First High School.
"Hanzou seems to be in pretty good shape."
After watching the two compete from outside the arena, Mayumi Saegusa praised Gyoubu Hattori. But her comment drew a quiet chuckle from Yunyi beside her.
"What? You don't think so, Yunyi-kun?" Mayumi Saegusa asked with a smile.
Yunyi shook his head. He wasn't laughing at Gyoubu Hattori; he simply thought that if this was all he could do, he should be able to win even while concealing his own strength.
Mayumi Saegusa thought for a moment, then it suddenly dawned on her that Yunyi must have laughed because he thought that level wasn't good enough!
Muttering to herself, Mayumi Saegusa rose onto her toes and brought her red lips close to Yunyi's ear. "Why don't you take this chance to show what you can do? That would make it easier for me to get you a spot."
Yunyi froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
This time, he really was laughing at Gyoubu Hattori!
When they had first enrolled, Gyoubu Hattori had somehow avoided sparring with Tatsuya Shiba. Yet after all that, he had ended up running into Yunyi instead.
Honestly, Yunyi really didn't want to bully the guy. After all, he had it pretty rough, didn't he? But Mayumi Saegusa was his fake girlfriend now, and since she had made the suggestion, Yunyi couldn't very well refuse her outright. Especially not when Miyuki Shiba was watching the two of them with a puzzled look.
"All right, then I'll have a little fun with Vice President Hattori. But I'm warning you now: don't blame me if I crush his confidence," Yunyi said.
"Hmph!" Mayumi Saegusa huffed. "Hanzou isn't that weak. You'd better be careful, or you might end up crying when you lose."
"Heh." Yunyi snickered, brushing his fingers across Mayumi Saegusa's waist and making her whole body tremble several times before he strode into the mock arena.
"Vice President Hattori, long time no see." Yunyi began by greeting Gyoubu Hattori.
"You! What are you doing here? This is the selection test for the Nine Schools Competition. It has nothing to do with you Course 2-"
At that point, Gyoubu Hattori spotted Mayumi Saegusa and Miyuki Shiba watching from the sidelines. When he saw Mayumi Saegusa waving at him, he immediately straightened up.
Seeing him act like that, Yunyi nearly burst out laughing.
"Vice President Hattori, I'm a little interested in Icicle Destruction and wanted to try it. The president said you could be my opponent. What do you think?"
"All right, then! I'll let you give it a try. But I won't go easy on you!" Gyoubu Hattori didn't hold back. The debate a few days ago had changed his views on Course 1 and Course 2 Students somewhat. But deeply ingrained beliefs couldn't be completely overturned in a short time. His willingness to let Yunyi try the event with him was already quite something; getting him to throw the match was out of the question!
The commotion also drew students from other areas. This was only the selection stage, so there was no harm in people wandering around when they had nothing to do.
The crowd grew larger and larger, eventually drawing even Katsuto Jumonji over.
He looked at the two standing in the mock arena, then turned to Mayumi Saegusa in puzzlement. "Saegusa, what are you doing?"
"Jumonji-kun, I'm not fooling around. Just watch. You'll be pleasantly surprised!" Mayumi Saegusa chuckled.
Although Yunyi often embarrassed and annoyed her, she believed he wouldn't undermine her on an occasion like this. And she was right. Yunyi had originally planned to take it easy, but after seeing so many people, he decided to reveal a little more of his strength. Otherwise, he was afraid that if he hid too much, Mayumi Saegusa would keep giving him trouble afterward.
The icicles were soon ready, and Yunyi and Gyoubu Hattori had long since taken their positions.
The referee raised a hand, signaling for them to get ready.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Begin!"
At the referee's command, Yunyi and Gyoubu Hattori began operating their CADs at the same time.
Gyoubu Hattori was far faster than Yunyi at operating his CAD! His magic activated first, and Psions began gathering around the icicles at the very front of Yunyi's area.
But just then, Yunyi's Activation Sequence unfolded as well. He didn't choose to defend his own icicles, but went straight on the attack. His move made Gyoubu Hattori chuckle inwardly. Just as Hattori thought he was about to gain the upper hand, a magic circle appeared above the cluster of icicles in his area!
The next moment, the circle, formed from elemental energy converted from Psions, spat out three huge fireballs!
The fireballs hurtled toward the ground. Gyoubu Hattori wanted to cast defensive magic, but his attack sequence had yet to finish, leaving him no chance to do anything else.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three explosions rang out, blasting the nine icicles in Gyoubu Hattori's area to pieces!
The match had been decided in an instant! And it was an outcome most of the people present had never imagined!
"What powerful magic! And it activated quickly, too!" Katsuto Jumonji narrowed his eyes. Staring at Yunyi in the arena, he continued, "Saegusa, what's going on?"
"Well, because of some special circumstances, Yunyi-kun had to hide his strength before. Now he, um, is together with me, so..." Mayumi Saegusa's voice grew quieter and quieter, and Katsuto Jumonji didn't hear those last few words at all!
Even so, what she had said before that was enough to surprise Katsuto Jumonji.
"Are you serious?" Katsuto Jumonji asked.
"Yes, I am!" Mayumi Saegusa answered with conviction.
"Then his strength should go far beyond what he just showed, shouldn't it?" Katsuto Jumonji continued.
"Yes. I feel bad for Hanzou, but with his level of strength, he probably can't make Yunyi-kun take him seriously," Mayumi Saegusa said.
Quite a few people nearby heard their conversation. Everyone who could stand here was undoubtedly a Course 1 Student at First High School. Yet what Mayumi Saegusa said left them stunned.
"Hey, don't tell me this guy's super strong, but became a Course 2 Student to hide his strength!?"
"Hiss, you can do that!? What on earth is the reason!?"