The days of the week flew by too fast that all the inter-high candidates thought that they didn't have enough time to prepare for the inter-high tournament which was going to happen next week. Every day, they had different team-building activities with the latest one being a one-on-one date with each other before going on a group date to a nearby family restaurant. Fortunately, Satoshi and Siril were paired with Cherry and Fuuka so they enjoyed the date quite well. (There was a misunderstanding though since Shiroi saw Satoshi and Sakura together but it was cleared up in the end.) As for the others, they didn't enjoy being with another guy and being the singles they were, they actually felt bitter towards Satoshi and Siril. It was all resolved in the end when an all-out free-for-all fight was arranged soon after where Fuuka emerged victorious after trapping everyone using her space distortion skill. Everyone was appalled after seeing that Satoshi didn't win the entire fight but then again, no one blamed him since Fuuka was just powerful. Even Kurogami who has the power of the shadows in the palms of his hand couldn't even get near Fuuka.
But for Fuuka, she knew that Satoshi and Cherry were just holding themselves back because they were aware of the backlash that would happen if they were to resist Fuuka's capture. Cherry could easily transfer or absorb someone else's life force so just simply looking at Fuuka and connecting with her by touching her would easily defeat her. And it should be mentioned that Cherry could've absorbed a portion of everyone's life force when they were trapped inside a space distortion and she could use that energy to break free and touch Cherry. She didn't do it though since that would defeat the purpose of everything. And also, she wanted to save as much lifeforce as she could for the upcoming inter-high tournament.
Although Fuuka got the victory by herself, she knew well in her heart that she didn't deserve it, not in the least bit. If everybody were to fight to the death, they could've easily bested her. Of course, it should be mentioned that she also wasn't trying her best so her victory was actually obtained through fair means— not like she thought about it though since she could only see the others holding back even though she was also doing so.
Now, with the last day drawing to a close, the inter-high candidates were met with another trial— their final trial— before they could participate in the inter-high tournament next week. Since this is such an important day in preparation for the inevitable, the principal even personally called the Nurse herself despite her busy schedule, just so that everyone could participate in the training, no holds barred. Even if someone were to have a near-death experience, the Nurse would be there, curing them in a flash. At most, it would take two days to recover the fatigue from the recovery process so the weekend would still have its uses in preparation for the inter-high tournament.
"What do you think we'll do this time?" Cherry asked Fuuka, whispering towards her just when they were following Knighthawk to the Training Center for the umpteenth time. Every single time they go there, they'd experience a new team-building process so they could tell that they'll be in onto something different as soon as they arrived at the fated location. Not one of them had any idea as to what was about to transpire but they were all equally curious nonetheless.
"I don't know. We just had a free-for-all, do you think it will be another free-for-all? Or maybe an obstacle course with everyone? Whatever it is, this is our last training session. The Principal is probably going to make us work together as a team this time."
"Wait... don't tell me... " Out of the blue, Midori joined in on the conversation with a surprised expression on his face. It was conspicuously obvious that he was up to something the moment he said those words. "Do you think... we'll be fighting a... we'll be fighting one of our teachers?! There's no way, right? Wait... maybe I'm right. The only way we'd be able to train our teamwork is if we have a common enemy or something of the sort. And what better way to do that than pit a professional superhero against us as our common enemy. The teachers are the most likely candidates so maybe such is the case, right? What do you think?"
"You might be right for once, Midori." Hiroshi bit his lips. For the first time throughout the week, he felt especially nervous for this training session, not because it was the last, but because the Nurse was there. Her presence basically meant the sign of injury and not just any other injuries since she's only called if injuries are pretty serious. Just the sight of her was enough to send shivers down Hiroshi's spine but he didn't say anything about it. Even until now, he was trying not to make his nervousness spill out from his being. "If not a teacher, then it must be a professional top-ranking superhero. I don't know how it'd play out but... I got a bad feeling about this."
"Yeah, me too, to be honest." Siril chimed in. "I mean, look, the Nurse is here, right? And if you don't have enhanced vision like me, then you probably didn't notice but every teacher and the Principal is over there, right in the middle of the training center. That must be a sign that something's about to go down, right? And it's going to go down really fast as soon as we arrive there."
"Don't state the obvious. So what if all the teachers are there, the worst that could happen is that we go against all of them all at once. We should just do what we always do." Kurogami coolly said while walking right in front of everyone. He seemed especially darker and more mature due to his overall black outfit that covered half of his face like a turtle neck and extended towards his calves like a long skirt. It was more like a trench coat, except the collar was erect.
"As expected, you're still unfazed after all the pressure bearing down on u— " Midori was about to compliment Kurogami when he noticed that his hands were trembling. Not only that, his trench coat-like superhero costume was unevenly buttoned as well. He wasn't the only one though, even Hiroshi was wearing his superhero costume inside-out.
Seeing everyone's tense expression, Midori decided to just keep quiet and just let everyone do their own thing. The training session is not forever anyways so there was no use increasing the tension they felt just when they were about to start.
Upon arrival, Knighthawk turned around and wore a smile on his face while clenching his fists and rubbing them together. He had the most pleasant expression out of all the teachers as if he was looking forward to what was going to happen. "Today is your last and final team-building training as the inter-high candidates. I just want everyone to know that you can use the full extent of your power without being wary of the injuries and damages inflicted because the Nurse is here. You can go wild and play with your strategies while you get the best out of this training session." Knighthawk vaguely explained, just how he always did with the previous training sessions. It's as if he was enjoying every monologue he got, taking in the bewildered expression on his students' faces while they listened intently to him.
"Please, don't say it like that Knighthawk, we all know that there's only so much a body could take even in its recovery process. It would be nice if none of you gets injured, that's all I have to say." Haruka, aka the Nurse, sighed after saying that. Throughout the history of the United Superheroes Academy, she was always present in final training sessions such as this one so she knew that it wasn't going to end well, especially if it was the Principal who planned it.
Just like any other year, Principal Sai Tama also planned this last hero training session so the Nurse was prepared for the worst.
Without further ado, Sai Tama stepped forward and shortly glanced towards every inter-high candidate. From his point of view, he could only see a bunch of nervous teenagers in front of him, no more no less. And that's because compared to his superpower, all of them were like little tadpoles in a lake.
"Today, we're going to be playing a game of tag for your final training for the inter-high tournament. "Of course, this isn't like your normal game of tag where one of you will be the 'it'. Long story short, all of you first-years and all the teachers here will participate in this game of tag... "
"And I," Sai Tama then pressed his right thumb towards his chest, showing off his confidence. "I will be the 'it'."
Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.