"You heard everything?"
Yunyi's voice made Mayumi Saegusa look up. But the sadness hidden in her eyes was like a small knife cutting into Yunyi's chest, causing him a sharp pain.
"Um."
"So, Yunyi-kun, you guessed that Mari might get into trouble, right?" Mayumi Saegusa asked softly.
Yunyi shifted his gaze slightly, but still nodded, giving Mayumi Saegusa her answer.
His answer left Mayumi Saegusa silent. After an unknown amount of time, she looked up at Yunyi and said, " Yunyi-kun, am I also part of your plan, a part that you can discard at any time?"
Upon hearing this question, Yunyi was first stunned, and then a surge of anger welled up from the bottom of his heart. He really wanted to ask, to ask Mayumi Saegusa, in her eyes, that he was someone who could use his own feelings as a bargaining chip.
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to ask them. Because what made Mayumi Saegusa think that way was precisely his own actions.
Even if his plan is for a better future, how many people will suffer because of it before that plan is realized?
"I'm sorry, this was something I didn't think through." Yunyi didn't directly answer Mayumi Saegusa's question, but he still apologized to Mayumi Saegusa for his actions.
"I see."
Mayumi Saegusa's voice was soft, her tone carrying a hint of complex emotion. She walked around Yunyi toward the door, but just before opening it and leaving, she said to Yunyi, " Yunyi-kun, I think I might need some time. You understand, right?"
"Ah, I understand," Yunyi replied.
The only response he received was the sound of the door closing.
Yunyi leaned against the window, his eyes unfocused as he looked out.
"What do you mean it takes time? It just means we have to separate."
After an unknown amount of time, the room lights were turned off. From the darkness, a soft murmur from Yunyi could be heard.
The next day.
Yunyi arrived alone at the Icicle Destruction's preparation area, where he met Tatsuya Shiba in the preparation room.
" Yunyi, I've already sent someone to investigate the location of 'NoHeadDragon's' Japan Branch. I'll let you know once I have a response."
Upon meeting Yunyi, Tatsuya Shiba didn't mention the match, but instead went straight to Yunyi's request from the previous night.
"Ah, thank you, Tatsuya." Yunyi smiled; he looked no different than before.
However, Tatsuya Shiba clearly sensed that Yunyi was emanating an unsettling aura. What bothered him even more was that Yunyi's match was about to begin, Mayumi Saegusa hadn't shown up. Clearly, their conversation last night hadn't ended in reconciliation.
Picking up the CAD software that Tatsuya Shiba adjusted from the table, Yunyi turned and left the preparation room. Since they were just some high school students, whether he prepared or not was irrelevant to him.
After passing through the contestants' tunnel, Yunyi stepped onto the elevator. He waited quietly for the competition to begin, unaware that Mayumi Saegusa had just arrived at his preparation room.
" Yunyi-kun, is it all in the past now?"
Seeing Tatsuya Shiba standing alone by the window in the preparation room, Mayumi Saegusa asked him a question.
"Yes, Yunyi has already gone. President, are you going to stay here and wait for him?"
"No, I'm going to the audience area. Mari is waiting for me." Mayumi Saegusa declined Tatsuya Shiba's invitation and turned to leave.
This morning, she went to see Mari Watanabe early in the morning. She wanted to share her feelings with her best friend and hear her opinion. But when she saw the bandage wrapped around Mari Watanabe's head and her slightly pale face, she immediately gave up the idea.
Actually, she intended to talk to Mari Watanabe to avoid discussing Yunyi's match. Instead, Mari Watanabe suggested going to watch Yunyi's match and even forcefully dragged her along.
Similarly, it was Mari Watanabe who had urged her not long ago to go to the preparation room to cheer for Yunyi. It seemed that she had been pushed forward by Mari Watanabe all morning.
The eighteen icicles in the venue have been placed and the elevator has slowly begun to rise.
Yunyi's first opponent was a player from Ninth High School. This player probably had great respect for the ninjas who had appeared in Japan history, so he dressed like a ninja.
On the other hand, Yunyi was still wearing the uniform of First High School, no different from when he participated in the Crowd Ball.
When Yunyi appeared, Mayumi Saegusa's gaze involuntarily shifted to him. But when she saw Yunyi's school uniform, her heart sank to the bottom like a stone falling into water.
"Hey, Mayumi, didn't you tell him that he can wear whatever he likes for Icicle Destruction?" Mari Watanabe was standing next to him, was also a little surprised by Yunyi's attire. She could understand if Yunyi himself was just finding things troublesome, but with Mayumi Saegusa around, this shouldn't have happened.
"I clearly went to buy it with him," Mayumi Saegusa replied very softly, but Mari Watanabe only caught the gist of her words.
Before the two could chat any longer, the signal light indicating the start of the match lit up. Regardless of whether they had prepared beforehand, Yunyi was already standing on the competition stage, and it was too late to change.
Yunyi lowered his gaze, ignoring the murmurs from the stands and the flashing traffic lights. He seemed lost in his own world, completely oblivious to the outside world.
"Thump!"
With a final, long cry, the Icicle Destruction and defense match began.
The players from Ninth High School immediately began manipulating their CAD devices, launching an attack on the ice pillars in Yunyi's half of the court.
"Boom!"
Immediately afterwards, a crisp sound rang out in the arena. The ice pillar on Yunyi's side, which had been struck by magic, broke in half, and the upper part hit the ground with a loud thud.
After landing a successful blow, the Ninth High School player was not excited at all; instead, he was stunned for a moment. He hadn't felt any resistance whatsoever from that attack. Moreover, when he looked up at Yunyi opposite him, he found that Yun Yi still had his eyes slightly lowered, as if he hadn't even realized that the match had started.