A wailing siren resounded through the school. A female announcer signalled the start of our very first war in GEN Academy.

"The time to commence War Time has concluded. War Time has begun."

The siren died down, and a two hour timer appeared in the corner of my visor. It's now or never.

Instead of going to the east block, I decided to go to the rooftop.

I begun walking to the flight of stairs, which would take me about ten minutes to reach there. Yukina, who was tasked to go the top floor, decided to take an elevator. However, me personally, I felt no rush in getting to my destination as soon as possible.

I was going to take my time, listen in on the conversations my classmates were having, and absorb the information being shared around.

The Ayano-Kita duo were going to head to the 3rd Year A Class's classroom to see if they were there. Kawaguchi was going to the west side to search. Sakigamiya was on the bottom floor, while Mitsuba was on the first floor, and Rinbayashi headed to the second floor. Jomko was in charge of the opposite special wing, and Yukimura was outside, utilising his free space and athleticism to cover the largest area the quickest.

The east side was my job, but since this war is two hours long, I'm sure they'll get someone else to cover it once more. It's better to be thorough, after all.

I reached the staircase and began walking up the stairs. Reaching the rooftop would take another ten or fifteen minutes, depending on my speed.

"Alright, we've made to the gymnasium safely. I'm going to go hide in the back while everyone else defends at the front." Matsushita said.

He was using the public communication line. There were public and private communication lines, and so far I had only public lines turned on.

It seems like no one has encountered an A Class student yet. We all continued to search, and the first to complete their search was Ayano and Kita.

"We found no one in their classroom. It seems they've scattered." Ayano said.

"That's interesting... could you two go and help Kawaguchi-san and Takanori-san search the west and east? They're quite large."

"Actually, Takanori-san never entered the east block. He's going up the stairwells." Chabashira-sensei interrupted.

So, it seems our teacher could see everyone's positions.

"Huh?! Takanori-san, what are you doing?!" Sakigamiya exclaimed.

Well, I have to give some answer, I suppose.

"I'm going to the rooftop. The area there will give us a better overview of the entire school. We might find A Class students or Mikazuchi-senpai that way."

"We can let Kazuraba-san handle that! She's on the top floor after all!"

"Would you like me to go the rooftop and act as scout as soon as I'm done exploring the top floor?" Yukina said, after hearing her name be mentioned.

"Yes, please. That'd be great. Takanori-san, you go back to the east block." Sakigamiya commanded.

"Don't worry about that, Takanori-san. Me and Kita-san will take care of it since we're closest." Ayano said.

"Thanks, Ayano-san." I said.

"Sensei, how far up is Takanori-san?" Sakigamiya said.

"He's currently on the second floor stairwell." Chabashira-sensei said.

"You go assist Rinbayashi-san then."

"Do I have to? Can't I just assist Yukina-san?" I said.

"No. Follow my orders, and don't do things on your own accord." Sakigamiya said.

"Alright, alright. Rinbayashi-san, it's a pleasure to work with you."

"Likewise." Rinbayashi said.

I had boarded off the staircase and entered the second floor. The school was kind of creepy when no one is around.

As I began searching for Rinbayashi, Sakigamiya shrieked on the other side.

"Ahhh! Guys, guys, I found an A Class student! We're going to fight!"

Sakigamiya went silent after that.

"The fight is currently being recorded, so those curious can watch it later. For now, everyone else, please continue your search for the King." Chabashira-sensei said.

The idea that our fights were going to be watched live was both an exciting yet scary one. However, since we were currently in the war, we had no access to the live footage and communication from the outside was restricted to those in the fight as to ensure no cheating.

The second floor was pretty vast and wide, with lots of classrooms. Eventually, I found Rinbayashi who was standing around the middle of the second floor. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, and walked up to me.

For the first time, I was getting a good look at her. Her face was pale, but her hair was a deep pitch black. It went down to her waist and wasn't tied up. She had this air of maturity to her, which made her feel like a cool beauty. She was by no means bad looking, but her face was pretty plain, like mine.

Since we both weren't the social type, we just let the mood do the speaking for us. Enveloped in awkward silence, we walked around the second floor and explored it.

It was strangely calming, but it was intensely boring. I would've much preferred to be in a cardfight right now, but since there were no enemies, I couldn't even do that.

"Takanori-san."

Rinbayashi tried initiating a conversation with me. I was a bit surprised for sure, since I've rarely heard her talk before. Up close, she had quite the elegant voice.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about this school?"

"It's good."

"It is, isn't it?" Rinbayashi leaned against the wall. "What do you want most from this school?"

I buried my hands into my pockets. "I don't know."

Rinbayashi stared at me for a few seconds, then nodded. "I see."

With that, we let the silence talk for us once more as we continued to search. The air turned from peaceful and relaxed to awkward and stale.

Rinbayashi was still a baffling existence to me. What were those questions even about? Why did she ask me them?

I'm starting to feel like I attract some really strange people. First it's X, and now it's her.

We entered inside one of the classrooms. It was the 2nd Year B Class classroom. No one inside, yet Rinbayashi still went around examining it. I followed shortly after her.

Stepping foot inside, I was astonished by the size of the class. It looked to be about nearly double the size of our own classroom. That wasn't the only difference though.

They had high quality seats and tables which were a strict upgrade from our crummy ones. The room was spotless and even had extra additions to it, like a small leisure room with beanbags and a shelf of books that we didn't have.

What gives? Why do they get such an extravagant room while I still have to battle with a wobbly wooden table? Is it because they're 2nd Years? This school really was overbearing.

Since it was the 2nd floor, we only had access to the 2nd Year classrooms. I would've liked to check out the 1st Year classrooms for comparison, but that was on the 1st floor. The 3rd Year classrooms were on the third floor, and the bottom floor was for stuff like the cafeteria.

Rinbayashi didn't looked fazed at all by this. It was almost like she expected it. We left the classroom, but I had a vague doubt about this school grow in my mind.

Just as we were about to enter the 2nd Year D Class classroom, Rinbayashi made a small noise.

"Oh."

She began checking her display. Like her, I checked mine too, because a message popped up in front of me.

"Iwasaki Hikosaburo is Dead."

Sakigmiya had managed to win against the A Class student in about fifteen minutes. When she communicated back to us, she sounded out of breath, like she had barely managed to scrape a victory.

"I got a win, guys... there's only ten more of them out there... let's keep this pressure up..."

While this narrowed down our opponents, the location of their King was still currently unknown.

"Me and Takanori-san have finished searching the second floor. No one's here." Rinbayashi said. "What would you like us to do now, Sakigamiya-san?"

"Umm... any recommendations, Chabashira-sensei?" Sakigamiya, who was still a bit excited after her fight, asked sensei for guidance.

It was then a new message appeared in front of me.

"Yukimura Fudou is Dead."

"I suppose they can go outside now, since Yukimura-san has died." Chabashira-sensei said.

"Ironic. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain, you two. Get there quickly so we can catch that rogue A Class student!" Sakigamiya said.

"Got it." Rinbayashi said. She looked at me. "Do you still want to go to the rooftop?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. I'll handle outside, then."

Rinbayashi walked away without saying another word. She's so serious, it's a little unnerving. However, with her permission, I was able to continue my journey to the rooftop.

However, disaster struck forty minutes into the war.

"Guys, they found our hiding spot!" Matsushita said.

"Right now in the gymnasium, Ishima-san is fighting Tachibana-san, who found the Matsushita group." Chabashira-sensei relayed the information.

"He's also called for back-up." Tadokoro, one of the defenders, chimed in. "There's two more A Class students heading our way!"

"This is bad... will you guys be able to handle it?" Sakigamiya said.

"Ishima-san looks like he's struggling." Nora, one of the defenders, said.

"They're powerful opponents after all. I barely scraped a win against mine."

Slowly, battles were trickling in, and the number of them taking place was increasing steadily. This surprise ambush attack on our King and his defence by the A Class students was brutal.

Even though our classmates tried to step up to the challenge, but we were being picked off like flies. A number of messages began flooding my screen.

"Ishima Akihiro is Dead."

"Hono Ria is Dead."

"Tanaka Houji is Dead."

"Misogi Kikyou is Dead."

These dead notifications began popping up rapidly on my screen. Despite our lead in numbers, no one was able to beat A Class. Just how strong were they?

"Ayano-san, Kita-san, Kawaguchi-san, now that you two are done exploring the east and west section, go assist the class in the gymnasium." Chabashira-sensei ordered.

"On it!" Kawaguchi said.

"We're heading there right now." Ayano said.

"Sensei, what's the situation right now?" I asked.

"Four A Class students in the gymnasium are battling Nora-san, Kiba-san, Tadokoro-san and Katsumi-san. Kazuraba-san, Mitsuba-san and Rinbayashi-san is currently in battle, and Ayano-san, Kita-san and Kawaguchi-san are heading to the gymnasium. We have five dead students so far."

"Thanks."

Just as she finished up that report, I was finally at the stairwell for the rooftop. Swinging the door wide open, I stopped abruptly.

Standing in front of me was Mikazuchi Kaido, and fighting him was Yukina.

"N-no guard..." Yukina muttered those weak words, and flipped her top card over. The card flew into the damage zone, and a message popped up on my screen.

"Kazuraba Yukina is Dead."

I stared at those four words in paralysis. Yukina looked at me over her shoulder, and her visor turned off automatically.

"I'm sorry, Yuu-kun... I wasn't able to beat him..."

The face she made in that moment...

...it was something I don't ever want to see again.

"You're looking for me, aren't you, Takanori?" Mikazuchi said.

"Mikazuchi Kaido... I'm going to make you pay..." I said.

"Try me."

I locked eyes with Mikazuchi. Our visors engaged.

"Fight: Takanori Yuuto vs Mikazuchi Kaido."

A camera flew above our heads to record the fight.