There was a gentle breeze on that early spring morning. The air was brisk, and the sun had only barely broken through the clouds. Countless students stood proud in the center of Crescent Stadium, the largest stadium for track and field in the city. The five high schools had brought out a tremendous presence. Our own Toriyama High School, Mashima High School - our heated rivals, Makarov Academy, Himoru Women's Academy, and their partner Kishimoto Men's Academy.

  The mayor, Dr. Ivan Kinsfeld, stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat. What his doctorate was in, I never knew nor did I care much. He had just become the mayor when I entered high school last time, and he remained in power until shortly before the Purge. The loss of his mayoral seat could very well have been one of the final nails in the proverbial coffin for metas. He was much more of an accepting man than his successor.

  "Good morning students, parents, educators, and citizens of our great city," he started off. His voice was elegant yet direct. "It is with great pleasure that I welcome all of you to Crescent Stadium and the Eighth Annual Hoenn City Sports Competition!"

  Cheers erupted from the stands and the field. The stadium itself was colossal. Not only did it hold a full football field and track with all accompanying field events, there were numerous gymnasiums attached to facilitate every last event of the competition. The crescent title came from the overall shape that the conglomeration took in order to house all of these sites in a single location.

  Dr. Kinsfeld continued his speech while I tried to focus on the well ahead of us. Aside from Denki's and Natsu's Martial Arts tournament, none of our group had much that we would be needed for in the mornings which would leave us free to make any last minute adjustments that we needed. After pondering any contingencies, my concentration was broken when the students around me broke out in applause. The mayor was walking away from the podium, and we were being released to our own club managers to prepare for the morning's competitions.

  As we funneled off of the field, I caught various glimpses of the other schools. In the sea of faces I saw Angelica Grey and Yamoto Toyoshima - my first mission in my last life. Yamoto looked the same as he did before, dark hair and eyes, shorter stature, and an expression that screamed that he would rather be at home. Angelica looked like she still had Kawasaki's death weighing heavily on her. Maybe she really was different this time. Both passed into the sea without seeing me or me interacting with them.

  "What's wrong, Kazuma?" Denki asked as he put his arm around my shoulder. "Don't tell me you're actually nervous?"

  "Not really," I shrugged. "Just lost in thought as usual. Your tournament starts tomorrow, right? We should practice any last minute things that you want to do today."

  "I'm more focused on taking care of myself so that I can enjoy every second of the competition tomorrow." His fighting spirit and adoration of trials were probably his most interesting quirks. "Today is the football tournament, right? I really want to get a feel for what I'm going up against."

  The club sports — football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, baseball, and the martial clubs — made up four whole days of simultaneous competitions. All of the schedules were incredibly tight because of this: one late start could completely derail the entire operation. It made sense that the facility was so immense to cover everything.

  From our little area in the stands at the main stadium, I looked out to see the first football match begin. It was the boys team of the club from Toriyama High versus Kishimoto Men's Academy. Since most sports were divided into boys and girls teams, it made sense for Kishimoto and Himoru Academies to be partnered in a way to provide a more even playing field. From across the way, I saw a familiar face in the crowd of cheering Himoru Academy students: Chiba Ino.

  "Hey, Kaori," I nudged her shoulder. "Do you want to walk with me and Rito to talk to Ino?"

  "Yeah, that sounds fun!" She replied cheerfully. "I actually just messaged her when we sat down, but this saves us time."

  "Um, guys," Rito spoke up before we left. "I think something just came up." We looked at him confused. "I may have accidentally volunteered to be a replacement for the archery club."

  "I guess Denki's reliability is contagious, huh?" I joked. Hiro and Chika had been swept up in some class-wide function of cheering on the various teams while Denki was glued to the game. "The three of us will come cheer you on."

  How I managed to see Ino through the crowd was impressive enough. Kaori and I walked through small pockets of space between the numerous people in attendance. I felt an uneasy feeling as we made our way around the stadium. The more we walked, the stronger it got. I peeled off from our path, and Kaori followed.

  Something's wrong. If not completely wrong, something's at least off. Am I really paranoid now?

  "Are you okay, Kazuma?" she asked as she put her hand on my shoulder.

  "I guess I'm not as good with crowds as I thought I was," I let out a forced laugh.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  What's wrong with me? Crowds have always been my specialty. I need to calm down. I can't do anything for my friends the way that I am.

  "It's okay," she gave a smile. "I'll lead the rest of the way, just hold on to my hand so that I don't leave you behind." She put her finger to her lips. "I won't tell anyone if you won't." I reluctantly nodded.

  With that, we took off. She led us faster than we had been going but kept a tight grip on my hand. Hers was soft, softer than any material I had touched before. I felt a weird sensation of calm come over me the longer we went along. It seemed like the crowds melted away as we walked. When we got close to where Himoru Academy was set up, she stopped and let go before turning around.

  "Shhh," she signed again with a familiar childish smile on her face.

  Her cheeks were a bit red, and it made me realize that my face was warmer than usual. Before I could react, she had already spun around and ran up the stairs to the stands. Moments later I heard excited cheering, and the two of them walked back down. Ino wore an ear-to-ear smile on her face as Kaori hung from her neck. A third girl followed them. She was taller than Ino with very short black hair and blue eyes.

  "It's been a while, Kazuma," Ino laughed as she stepped off of the last stair.

  "It's good to see you again," I tried to hold back my laughter as Kaori looked like a child holding on to her mother.

  "Kaori, you can let go now," Ino struggled a bit.

  "No can do, you might run off again."

  "I'll beat you up and drag her back if you don't let her go," the third girl spoke up.

  "Kyoko, there's no need for that," Ino replied confidently. "Everyone, this is Fujiwara Kyoko. She's been one of my best friends since I went to Himoru Academy."

  "Try BEST friend, period," Fujiwara hung on the other side of Ino's neck.

  "Well, the three of you can decide who's the best friend on our way to watch Rito." I jumped in.

  "He didn't tell me he was competing?" Ino asked.

  "He didn't even know until right before we walked over," I laughed. "I guess even he gets unlucky sometimes."

  The four of us set off on the long journey to the ranges at the southern point of the crescent. The uneasy feeling from earlier was slowly coming back, but it felt different this time. It was dulled in a way. It neither grew or shrank the more we walked. After wading through both people and a mix of paranoia and social anxiety, we finally made it to the ranges as the warm ups were coming to an end. With the martial clubs, the tournaments were more of an individual competition.

  Rito had filled in for a rookie who had supposedly been emptying her stomach all morning, so the expectations weren't very high. He was only in the situation because he had shown a lot of interest in the club at the beginning of the year. All he really needed to do was make it through the qualifying round and secure a good seat for the actual tournament. The accumulated points from that alone would more than suffice for a stand in and put him in good graces with the club. Not to mention it would help him look good in front of his girlfriend.

  As we watched him set himself up, I glanced over to Ino who looked like she did when we were in junior high: a maiden in love, head over heels, glowing skin and all. The sun shone through the tall vertical windows and added an almost twinkling effect to her. I couldn't help but smile.

  It's too bad about Yamada, but I'm glad one of them found happiness with him, at least. I'm glad he found happiness as well. While he may have seemed to many as a perverted teenager, she saw the truth. He has a lot of love to give, and I'm glad he has someone to give it to.

  He let loose the first arrow of his preliminary round. It found its mark in the upper left area of the rings: not the best start, but not the worst. His second found the near opposite end of the target entirely. Still not necessarily good or bad either way.

  His final shot came as another archer shot theirs. He lost his focus for a split second, and the arrow went flying in the wrong direction. Thanks to his ability, though, the other arrow served as a ricochet and sent Rito's screaming to the bullseye of his target. With that, he set himself up nicely. He was in moderate shock, but since he had become more used to his ability, he took it for what it was: dumb luck.

  The other archer, however, was not so enthusiastic, and neither were her club mates.

  "There's no way that should count," one of them blurted out.

  "That was clearly a fluke, I mean look at his other shots," another added.

  I looked over to see the archery club of Makarov Academy in dismay as Angelica Grey, likely their rising star, didn't hit her mark. She stared at her arrow lodged in the wall with a grimace on her face. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail like it was that day in the rain. She looked over and saw the three of us. Our eyes met, and I could tell she was reliving the day she killed Kawasaki and the day she met the three of us in that cafe. Her grimace turned to a sort of shame before she turned away without a word.

  Number 12 would never have shown remorse like that. She really is different. Maybe there's still hope for her. Maybe...

  "Guys, I made the fourth seat!" Rito cheered as he ran up to us.

  Ino half jumped into his arms. "I saw! You were so cool!"

  His face went beet red, and he sort of melted in her arms before the club snatched him up and hauled him off to get ready for the actual tournament. While Ino pouted a bit, the other three of us simply laughed and found a good spot to sit. He returned to the lanes shortly after and shot to the best of his ability; he was eliminated in the second round by a Makarov student. As he left the lane, he wore a smile. As his opponent left the lane, his sandal strap snapped, and he face-planted on the floor.

  I wonder if he can influence the luck of others or if that's completely impossible regardless of abilities.

  "Attention competitors," the loudspeakers blared. "There has been a change in the schedule; the martial arts club tournament qualifiers will be held in Gym B at 3:00pm today. Again, the..."

  "Well, what do you say we go cheer on Denki then?" I asked as I got up.

  Everyone unanimously agreed. As we left, I got that feeling again, like I was being watched. I glanced over my shoulder to lock eyes with Angelica. In her eyes, however, there was no malice or arrogance as there was before. This time, all I saw was a sort of curiosity and jealousy.