AKARI

"Kaito?" I blink in surprise and watch as he makes his way over to me just inside the new arena, being dragged alongside Sora by Merrick. "Did you ask Sora and Merrick to join us?"

"Maybe?" Kaito rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, grinning.

"I see," a wry smile forms on my face, my eyes flickering between the three of them before I make my way over to Kaito and kiss his cheek lightly. "Well, thank you. That was very sweet of you."

"Y—yeah," Kaito stammers, blushing. "No problem."

"I'll go register us for the tournament," I say and head over to the new lobby area that was added to the arena so that we wouldn't have to sign up and prepare in the dispatch center.

I make my way over to the wooden structure, the scent of freshly stained wood filling the air. The lobby area where we sign up has two wooden pillars and three short and long stairs that lead to a wooden deck with a wooden roof and open sides, a wooden railing running around the structure to keep people from falling off. Upon climbing the stairs, I walk a few feet forwards to where the hexagonal wooden bar is, one attendant standing at the front and one at the back for two lines to form.

"Hey, Penelope," I smile, the blonde in front of me beaming in return, her green eyes vibrant.

"Hello, Akari! Would you like to sign up for the tournament?" Penelope asks, holding up a clipboard with a pen attached to it.

"Of course," I grin, taking the clipboard from her to write down my team name and team members names before I glance up with a slight frown. "You aren't participating? I mean, you are a champion, after all."

"Me?" Penelope's eyes widen before she smiles and holds up her hands. "That's okay. I've had my fair share of tournaments. Besides, I have...other arrangements."

"Other arrangements?" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"Hey, Penelope!" A brunette shouts from the right as he jumps onto the deck and leans against the railing from outside of the lobby, his green eyes bright yet warm. "What time did you say you got off again?"

"Uh," Penelope stops to check a clock that rests at the corner of the bar, "I'll be ready in about a half hour, once the tournament begins."

"Alright," the brunette smiles. "I'll be waiting."

"Okay," Penelope nods with a smile, blushing lightly as he jumps off and jogs away.

"Other arrangements, I take it?" I grin and Penelope nods, her blush getting darker.

"Yeah," Penelope smiles. "His name is Braxton. He was in several of my classes and I participated against him in a few battles. He asked me to train him and then we became friends and he recently just asked me on a date. I'm hoping all goes well."

"I hope so too," I smile. "You deserve it, Penelope. Well, I'll see you around!"

"See you!" Penelope smiles back with a wave as I turn to jog down the stairs, making my way back to my teammates.

While waiting for the tournament to start and for our bracket, I glance around the arena as the four of us walk around the stands and a frown crosses my face, thinking of everything that's happened here before.

"Hey," Sora says softly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "She would be proud of you."

"Yeah..." I breathe out quietly, smiling sadly. "I know she would."

On the other side of me, Kaito squeezes my left hand gently, and Merrick loops his arms around my neck. I lean back to look up at Merrick and smile, glad that I have all of them in my life.

"Come on, guys, let's go grab some popcorn before the tournament starts and our bracket gets called," I say.

"I couldn't think of a better idea if I tried," Merrick smiles softly.

***

Evory and Nikita came up with rings that keep track of aura levels in order to help keep Arias safe both in tournaments and on missions. The band starts out solid black to represent a full energy aura and then fades to clear around the band starting at the top and going around in a circle until the entire band is clear to show aura depletion.

Before the tournament started, Evory had all of us put on rings that she had available from a basket. As of now, our team is in the middle of our first battle, which is against Layla, Isabella, Gambit, and Sekai, the arena having been set to a woodland. Nobody from either side has been knocked out yet.

Sekai holds up his shield to boost Gambit before she comes flying towards Kaito, him using his staff to form an energy draining rune to act as a shield and lessen Gambit's hit before he counters it with his own. Sekai then turns to the side and throws his shield at Merrick, holding up his other hand as he twirls to reveal three blades being held between his fingers. He releases the blades, making Merrick have several projectiles to worry about deflecting.

I raise my hand and slow down the projectiles so that Merrick has enough time to counter all of them, him throwing me a knowing glance of gratitude as he deflects the knives just before they glow bright orange and explode, having knocked Sekai's shield aside.

When droplets of water land on my cheek, I glance up in surprise to see that rain has started to fall and the arena acts as its own climate, keeping the spectators from getting wet but making sure the arena field itself is covered by the climate.

Thankfully for Sora, the water does nothing against his magically powered flames as he races through the trees towards Sekai, careful not to set the arena on fire in the process. Meanwhile, Isabella raises her hand in the background and a glowing white rune forms in the air in front of her, her book at her side. Layla rolls out from behind a tree with her bow and takes aim, shooting arrow after arrow through the glowing rune, and I watch as the arrow glows white when it passes through the rune.

"Sora, look out!" I shout, flying in the way to block them with an energy shield, white explosions of light going off when they hit the shield.

Sora then whirls around me and swings his blade out, releasing a fan of flames that Isabella counters with a wall of runes that make the flames disperse.

The eight of us continue fighting until just Sora and Layla are left, the rest of us watching from the sidelines.

"Come on, Sora!" I cheer, watching as Sora stands and closes his eyes to try and focus on locating Layla with his senses, Layla jumping up around in the trees.

Layla leaps off of a branch and pulls the string of her bow back, releasing three arrows at a time and pulling the string back twice more, making a circle of nine arrows around Sora as he swiftly dodges each set gracefully. Sora then opens his eyes and leaps up into the air with a swift strike, meeting Layla in the air and knocking her back. Layla slides on her heels, her one hand reaching out to touch the ground in front of her before she switches her bow out for a spear. Layla rushes towards Sora and the two meet, their blades colliding repeatedly. Layla fights more agilely and precisely while Sora fights more with forcefully and passionately but still in a calculating manner.

Layla makes a downward sweep with her spear while Sora counters with an upwards strike, Layla then spinning to the side and managing to grab ahold of his arm. Sora, however, tilts his head to the side and raises a brow before he grins and lights up with flames, sending Layla flying back in an explosion and winning the match. Cheers erupt throughout the arena as Sora walks over to offer Layla a hand up, and she glares at him before she hesitantly accepts with a sigh.

"Can't say you didn't fight fairly," Layla sighs as the two of them make their way over to us.

"Hey, Akari," Kaito gently taps on my shoulder, gaining my attention. "Would you, uh..."

"Kaito?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Would you maybe want to go out with me later?" Kaito asks.

"Like, on a date?" I raise a brow.

"Yeah," Kaito nods.

"Sure," I smile, and Kaito smiles in return.

"I'll pick you up at seven?" Kaito asks.

"It's a date," I grin.

"Sweet!" Kaito exclaims and picks me up to twirl me around by my waist, making me laugh, gaining a knowing look from Merrick and a soft smile.

"Alright, everyone," Kit announces from the spectator's rows, microphone in hand. "The tournament will continue tomorrow. Thank you for coming to today's matches!"

"A date, huh?" I muse to myself as I slowly leave the arena with the rest of the crowd. "Guess I'd better get ready then."