After leaving Another Kingdom, Hanakawa had returned to searching for an opponent in round two of the tournament. The Demon Lord’s army had defeated Hanakawa’s party and moved on to round three, but there was still a chance the three of them could find another opponent to defeat. However, with so much time having passed since the beginning of the round, there weren’t very many parties that hadn’t concluded their battles. As Hanakawa had started to panic, unable to find any opposing parties, he found himself suddenly standing among Sora Akino’s fans, facing Yogiri.
“Sorry, Hanakawa,” Yogiri said, looking almost apologetic.
“Wait, wait, wait! You sound like the protagonist reluctantly about to strike down a friend who is being manipulated! Wait... Reluctantly?”
“A little bit.”
“I see,” Sora said. “I thought that perhaps you could kill someone you had no knowledge of, but you might hesitate to kill a classmate.” Sora’s ability wasn’t one she could activate or control, but it appeared to serve her desires, even if unconsciously.
“Would killing Sora not be enough to resolve this situation?!” Hanakawa pleaded.
“Even if I kill Akino, the fans will still be here and will try to get revenge on me. I’ll have to kill them anyway,” Yogiri replied.
“Of course, but...but... Ah! I am not doing this of my own free will!” At some point, Hanakawa had begun charging. Deep inside he had the feeling that he needed to kill Yogiri, so his body was acting of its own volition. Unlike the rest of the fans, Hanakawa understood the threat Yogiri posed well enough to know it was better not to attack him. Even if the Fanatic Fans skill was urging him to attack, he knew how outmatched he was.
“I guess I can’t let this go on forever. Let’s get it over with,” Yogiri muttered.
Hanakawa paled. It seemed he had finally resolved himself to killing Sora and all of her fans.
“Noooooo! Save meeeeeee!!!”
“Got it. I just gotta kill her, right?”
Turning around, Hanakawa saw Sora’s head drop to the ground.
“Huh?”
Behind him stood what looked like a common thug—a lanky man wearing leather pants and a studded jacket. With the shock of the new arrival, Hanakawa barely registered the other fans around him collapsing to the ground.
“If it isn’t Sir Yoshifumi!” he exclaimed.
The Sage Yoshifumi. For a time, Hanakawa had served as his jester. It seemed that was enough of a relationship for Friendship Counter to establish a bond between them.
“I can’t do nothin’ about that guy, so figure the rest out on your own,” the Sage warned him.
Whether this was too much of a bother for him, or he simply resented being summoned against his will, Yoshifumi immediately vanished.
“What just happened?” Yogiri asked, clearly shocked.
“I felt like I saw a guy there for a second. He seemed...a little familiar.” Tomochika was similarly perplexed. The death of Sora hadn’t fazed them much, reinforcing in Hanakawa’s mind that there was definitely something wrong with those two.
“Guh! My power is going out of control! Quickly, while I can keep it suppressed! Flee!”
The energy gathering in Hanakawa’s right hand was starting to overflow. Using his left hand, he desperately tried to restrain it.
“Back to middle school, huh?” Tomochika commented with a cringe.
“This is not the time for that! I am worried about myself here! I am worried about what happens if Sir Takatou retaliates!”
Yogiri Takatou Wins!
The announcement played in the air, confirming Yogiri’s victory. A few moments later, he and Tomochika vanished, no doubt sent back to the Antechamber Area to await round three.
Hanakawa fired his charged energy blast up into the sky. With Yogiri gone, his innate desire to attack had vanished.
“So...umm...have I just been left alone here?”
Looking around, he finally saw that he was standing in a park. He had been removed from the battle channel, but his companions were nowhere to be found. Hanakawa was totally lost.