It was on a Saturday morning that he drew the lot. Despite being the weekend, Vernia Academy's gymnasium was bustling with activity. The Pair Mock Battle Tournament—an annual in-school competition that doubled as practical training in flow arts, the manipulation of magical power. Teams of two would advance through the brackets. Students filled the spectator seats, and the atmosphere had been heated since morning. Kageno Shidou stood before the bulletin board, looking at the posted lottery results. He searched for his name. Kageno Shidou—and the moment he saw the name written right beside it, the plastic bottle in his hand fell to the floor. A dull thud. (…Fonshulz Alexia.) When he bent down to pick it up, his head bumped into the foot of the student next to him. "Ow!" "[laughing]Kageno's doing it again, huh?" A voice tinged with wry amusement. It was a perfect mob move, but this wasn't the time for that. As Shidou picked up the bottle, he felt two emotions colliding inside his head simultaneously. (If I'm paired with Fonshulz Alexia, I'll definitely stand out. If I'm next to her, my mob disguise will—) But. (…I can fight alongside her.) He was surprised at how quickly that thought came to him. "Don't drag me down." A voice. He turned around, and there was Alexia. Golden long waves fell across her shoulders, and clear blue eyes looked straight at Shidou. Her expression was perfectly composed. Arms crossed, chin slightly raised, cool-faced. "[serious]Since you're my partner, I expect at least competent movements from you." "Y-yes, um, okay…" Shidou managed to say only that much, and Alexia turned away sharply. —Only in that moment did Shidou see it. Alexia's hands clenched tightly in front of her chest. Her shoulders bounced slightly. (…Huh?) "[surprised]Uh…" "[laughing]Wait, wait—was that a fist pump just now!?" A few students nearby reacted, but by the time Alexia turned back around, her expression had already returned to perfect composure. "[sarcastic]Something the matter?" Everyone fell silent. Only Shidou felt his face growing warm for some reason. Then a loud voice came from the side. "[excited]Kageno! Beta and I are paired too, and—listen, we were talking about how if you win the tournament, we should get a reward, and—" Mizushiro Gamma approached cheerfully, her black and red two-tone long hair swaying. The moment those words left her mouth, Shidou's entire body tensed in an instant. (She almost said it. She almost said it just now!) "[cold]Gamma." A low, quiet voice. Gamma's mouth snapped shut. Valentinus Beta, with analysis goggles hanging around his neck, silently gripped Gamma's shoulder. His silver medium-length hair swayed. Golden eyes fixed on Gamma. "[sarcastic]We'll discuss what you wanted to say later." "[whispers]…Oh, right. Sorry, sorry." Gamma shrugged with a thin smile. Shidou watched from a distance, feeling a chill run down his spine. (Dangerous. Really dangerous…) At that moment, Alexia's gaze turned toward Beta and Gamma. "[serious]…Do you know those two?" "Uh, well, um… they're kind of in the same class vicinity…" "[serious]They seem awfully familiar with you." Her blue eyes narrowed. Shidou gave an ambiguous smile and looked away. A dull heaviness settled in his stomach. --- The first round began. The problem for Shidou was clear: advancing while remaining a mob—a contradiction in terms. Their opponents were two second-year students with magical power. Alexia moved first, combining flowing swordplay with flow arts to press one of the opponents. Her movements were flawless. Sword trajectory, magical deployment, weight distribution—all calculated. (She's amazing.) Shidou thought this internally while facing off against his assigned opponent. A magical projectile flew toward him. Shidou swayed as if stumbling. While calculating the projectile's trajectory, he chose an angle that made it look like it "just happened to miss" at the last moment. Not dodging—creating the appearance that he simply wasn't there by chance. (Slide my foot to look clumsy, shift right twenty centimeters. Their next shot will come from the left, so…) He rolled to the right with a soft sound. "[laughing]You okay!? Kageno!" "[sad]Sorry, my foot just—" As he stood up in a pathetic crouch, only his eyes moved. From Alexia's blind spot, the opponent's second member was trying to circle around from the left rear. (That's not my responsibility, but—) Shidou rolled sideways with the momentum of his stumble, placing himself directly in their path. The opponent stopped in surprise. Alexia spun around instantly and finished them off. "[surprised]…Kageno." Alexia called his name briefly. "[sad]I fell… I'm sorry." Shidou stood up while maintaining a pathetic expression. He brushed off the sand and bowed his head apologetically. Alexia said nothing. She simply watched Shidou for a moment. --- As they progressed through the second and third rounds, Shidou sensed something shifting within Alexia. She began mixing in deliberately awkward movements. Where she should have moved right, she stepped left instead. She deliberately positioned herself at angles where her guard would be thin. It was clearly different from her usual fighting style—she was testing him. (She knows. She probably figured it out from the first round.) Shidou internally clicked his tongue while continuing to "coincidentally" fill in the gaps she created. Alexia would create an opening, and Shidou would "accidentally" cover it. To observers, their coordination appeared clumsy yet oddly synchronized. In the spectator seats, Gamma leaned close to Beta's ear. "[whispers]That's completely obvious, isn't it?" "[serious]I'm aware." "[whispers]But they don't realize it themselves—not about each other's true feelings." Beta adjusted his glasses quietly as he spoke. His golden eyes remained fixed on the two on the court. Gamma said nothing more, maintaining her thin smile. --- The semifinals. Information had reached Alexia that one member of the opposing third-year team used intermediate-level flow arts with wide-area coverage. Two minutes into the match. "[angry]Got it!" One of the third-year students spread both arms wide. Magical power swelled. The gymnasium air trembled. A shockwave expanding in a fan pattern—a wide-area suppression attack. Alexia's position was directly in its path. Alexia moved. But she wouldn't make it. The range was too wide. (No good.) Shidou moved without thinking. His body moved before calculation could catch up. "[serious]—!" Three steps. His arm wrapped around Alexia's waist. He jumped sideways. The shockwave passed directly overhead. A roaring sound. Wind pressure from the blast tore across the court. They landed. Both their weights hit the gymnasium floor, and they rolled. Shidou held Alexia's shoulders as they came to a stop—and froze. Centimeters. That was the distance between them. Golden hair spread out. Blue eyes, still wide with surprise, looked directly at Shidou. Two alarms screamed simultaneously in Shidou's mind. (I just made a move that's absolutely impossible for a mob—) (Fonshulz Alexia's face is too close—) He couldn't tell which came first. The gymnasium fell silent for a moment. "[excited]Huh?" A ripple ran through the spectator seats. "[excited]Kiss her! Kiss her!!" It was Gamma who jumped up and shouted. Her black and red two-tone hair swayed as she grinned widely, waving both arms. Yellow cheers erupted from multiple points in the spectator section. Alexia's cheeks flushed visibly red. "[surprised]W-what—" Shidou's face caught fire at the same moment. "I-I'm sorry! I fell! The momentum! My body just—!!" "[serious]…I understand." Alexia spoke curtly and stood up. She turned her body toward the opponent without letting Shidou see her flushed profile. Shidou wanted to bury his head in his hands. (That was my biggest mob disguise failure today.) But his body wasn't regretting it. That was the most problematic part. Alexia essentially won the rest of the match alone. Shidou maintained barely passing movements while somehow managing to see it through to the end. In the spectator seats, Beta watched the entire exchange from the stands. His fists slowly clenched on his lap. --- No one noticed during the intermission. At the back of the spectator section, at the edge of the crowd, stood a figure in a black coat. An inconspicuous position. Doing nothing in particular—or so it appeared. In their hand was a small magical device. A portable recording apparatus. Its screen was pointed toward Shidou. For just 0.3 seconds—the moment Shidou dove in—the device captured something. In that instant, his deep brown eyes became something entirely different. Calculated eyes. Merciless eyes. Sharp eyes without hesitation. The device had recorded that single moment. (…That student. They're not ordinary.) The figure in the black coat whispered softly and melted into the crowd. During the intermission, Shidou sat beside Alexia drinking something. There was something nagging at him. The way the opposing team's member had withdrawn midway through the semifinals—the timing was too unnatural. There would have been no need to forfeit at that point. (That forfeit, the reason was off. They didn't need to run away there—) "Kageno." A low voice called out. Alexia stood beside Shidou. The redness had faded from her cheeks, but her voice was slightly stiff. "[serious]I'm going to ask you about what happened earlier." "Uh… what happened earlier?" "[serious]How much of that explanation about falling and momentum was actually true." Her blue eyes looked directly at Shidou. His thoughts completely derailed from the forfeit question. "…Um." --- The finals ended in a default victory due to the opposing team's withdrawal. The gymnasium fell into a dazed silence. Gamma raised both hands and shouted "We won!" while Beta quietly said "Well, a win is a win." The after-party moved to the multipurpose room next to the gymnasium. Drinks and light snacks were laid out, and voices rose from various corners. The moment Shidou reached for a paper cup. "[gentle]…Thank you for today." Alexia stood beside him. Her voice was softer than before. Different from the stiffness earlier. She was looking directly at Shidou as she spoke. "I won because of you." Shidou froze for a moment. (Huh, she's being way more straightforward than usual…) "N-no, not at all, Fonshulz Alexia was so strong—" He stammered and looked away. That was the moment. "[cold]Would you consider being my partner next time, Kageno?" A quiet voice cut in from directly beside him. Beta had appeared at Shidou's side without warning. His silver hair swayed near his shoulders. Golden eyes looked straight at Shidou. He was smiling. A smile frozen in place, unmoving. Alexia's expression slowly hardened. "…Valentinus Beta." "[sarcastic]Fonshulz. Your performance today was magnificent." "[serious]Thank you. Now then—" "[excited]Hold on, hold on! It's my turn to decide the next pairing, right!?" Gamma pushed through the crowd. Her grayish-purple eyes sparkled with amusement. She held up her phone, looking back and forth between Shidou, Alexia, and Beta. "So like, wouldn't it be fun? The three of you play rock-paper-scissors to decide the next pairing—" "[sarcastic]Not fun." "[cold]I agree." "That's totally fun!?" Shidou took a step back. He could feel all three sets of eyes focusing on him. Another step back. One more— His back hit the wall. (No escape.) Alexia's cheeks were puffed out. Beta remained smiling without moving. Gamma pointed her phone at him. "B-but I'm a mob, so why—" "[sarcastic]Who said you were a mob?" Her blue eyes narrowed. --- That night. Thirty meters underground in Midhashi City, in the void created by the old mine shaft that had been converted into Shadow G