At the very least, Touka was certain that it wouldn’t be a one-sided beatdown. She had fought both the Worst One and the Seven Stars King, and the way she saw it, Ikki’s close-range fighting ability was definitely at the national level. There was no doubt in her mind that he had the strength to compete for the title of Seven Stars King.
Still, it’s still pretty awful luck to have him as your first opponent.
That didn’t matter, though. As long as Ikki was in good condition, it wasn’t out of the question for him to make an incredible upset.
“Go get ’em, Kurogane!” Touka cheered, sending her support all the way from Tokyo to Osaka.
✦ ✦ ✦
“We have an announcement for everyone present. Arena preparations have been completed, and we will now begin block C’s first-round match. Contestants in block C, please gather in the waiting room.”
The bowl-shaped Coastal Dome was informed that the ring in the center of the artificial turf arena had been readied for its next group of users. Among those who had heard the announcement were Ikki and the others, who had watched the previous match with such interest that they’d pressed themselves against the fence in front of them.
“I’d better get to that waiting room, then,” he said to Shizuku and Alice, who sat with him. He would be fighting in the fourth match of block C, so he had no reason to rush, but no reason to be late, either.
“Good luck, Ikki.”
“I’m rooting for you, Big Brother. What’s Stella’s deal, though? It’s one thing for her to be late for her own match, but she’s even late for yours.”
“I think you’ve got that backwards.”
“Time to put the murder methods I learned from The Mother-in-Law’s Guide: 108 Ways to Torment a Newly Married Woman to the test.”
“Haha… Well, take it easy on her. Later.”
After soothing Shizuku, who was irate that Ikki’s own girlfriend would be too late to cheer him on, Ikki left the two behind to head to the waiting room. All they saw on his face was a look of pure relaxation—a look too tranquil to belong to a man who was heading into battle.
“Good,” Shizuku sighed in relief after seeing him off. “He doesn’t seem as nervous as he was before.”
“Heehee. Well, of course he’s not. He went toe-to-toe with Twin Wings, you know. He’s beyond being afraid of someone like the Seven Stars King.”
Shizuku nodded, as Alice’s claim made perfect sense. Maybe their battle had started working in his favor. If nothing else, Shizuku had no reason to doubt as much.
“Hi there. You two remember me from yesterday?”
Suddenly, a familiar voice reached her ears. A girl in a white coat waved as she approached from the direction Ikki had left in.
“Kiriko.”
“Why, we certainly run into you often.”
“Aha, you sure do. Maybe it’s fate.”
“I’d rather not be drawn to the doctor by fate.”
Kiriko shrugged exaggeratedly at Alice’s joke before putting on a serious expression.
“I just passed by Worst One. Did something happen to him?”
“What do you mean?” Shizuku was the first to react to her disquieting question. “I thought my brother seemed very relaxed.”
She couldn’t figure out the basis on which Kiriko believed otherwise. In response, Kiriko agreed, taking it just a bit further.
“He’s too relaxed.”
“Huh?”
“I did a quick examination as we passed by each other. His pulse, temperature, and perspiration… even the hormonal balance in his bloodstream, it was all too normal. Usually, all types of people experience some sort of change in those levels before a fight, but his haven’t changed in the slightest.”
That was impossible for a human. The previous day, Kiriko had claimed that he was in a state of excitement when he was with Moroboshi. For some reason, however, all traces of that excitement had vanished from him.
“That’s a sign that he’s deliberately forcing himself to relax,” she continued. “He wasn’t like this yesterday; his excitement levels then were optimal for someone who was getting ready for a proper fight. Has something happened to make him uneasy?”
Big Brother is uneasy?
“A-Are you a hundred percent sure?!”
“My diagnoses never lie. Not that I know what it is that’s got him so worried, though.”
“Couldn’t it just be that he’s relaxing so he doesn’t overexert himself?”
“I highly doubt that. A reasonable level of excitement increases one’s ability in battle, and I find it hard to believe he’s the kind of knight who wouldn’t know that. It really makes you wonder.”
Kiriko’s grim diagnosis invited an uncomfortable silence to fall over the group. Amidst that silence, Shizuku thought back on her conversation with Kiriko from the night before, after Ikki had split off from the rest of the gang. She recalled what she’d been told about the Seven Stars King, Yuudai Moroboshi, whom Ikki would soon face in battle.