E Class entered the War Preparation Room and sat around the long desk. Since I was the last to enter, I took the seat furthest at the back, next to Yukina. Annoyingly, Yamaguchi was sitting across from me, using his presence to pressure me with taunts.

I tried to ignore him, but I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face with a punch. I never have violent intentions, but when faced with this ugly bastard, I couldn't help it.

"Since we don't have much time until first period, I'll keep things brief."

Chabashira-sensei tapped the glass table, bringing it to life with bright screens and detailed holograms.

"Your war against D Class will take place in Higashi Mall this Friday. Since it's an official war, it will be broadcasted on TV and streaming platforms live, just like your last war against 3rd Year A Class. However, unlike that war, your objective is completely different. This war's objective is to kill as many opponents as possible. The class with the most wins will get 100 class points as the reward."

Our class broke out into low whispers. It was clear that everyone was excited over the fact we could get 100 Cl just from winning. After all, it also guaranteed a 10,000 Pr allowance next month. Not only that, from a strategic stand-point, this reward would close the gap between us and D Class by a huge margin.

Even though we were on 0 Cl, D Class only had 120 Cl themselves. If we win, we'd only be 20 Cl short from overtaking them. Since our class would likely gain Cl from our performance in the midterms, there was the possibility that we could ascend to D Class by June.

That sort of hope was invaluable. It was a golden chance to overturn our current situation in a single swoop.

"Are there any questions?" Chabashira-sensei asked.

Matsushita raised his hand.

"Since the war takes place in Higashi Mall, will civilians be present?"

During 3pm to 5pm, the malls were at their busiest on a weeknight. War time occurs in that same time frame. If other people were present, it'd add another layer of strategy and difficulty to the wars.

"For this war, the administrators have opted to close the mall for the public and let your classes use it exclusively."

In other words, E Class and D Class were going to be the only people present. It would make things easier for us, but the way Chabashira-sensei worded her reply implied that, in the future, there would be wars which took place alongside everyday life.

"Since we're supposed to fight in Higashi Mall, where do we go before the war begins?"

"No matter the war, you'll come to the War Preparation Room beforehand. Try to remember that much."

"Then... what about transport?"

"That will be sorted on the day of the war by you lot."

"Um... what do you mean by that?"

Understandably, Matsushita was confused by Chabashira-sensei's vague wording.

"The school offers two form of transport, trains and buses. You see, the war doesn't begin in Higashi Mall. It begins here, in this school. The warring classes will send one person each out to fight. The winner of that preliminary fight gets to choose which type of transport their class takes."

It was a fair way to sort out this issue. However, this reminded me of deciding who would go first in a cardight, as the trains were inherently faster than the buses. By choosing the train, your class would arrive at the destination first, and that would give you time to set up in anticipation of your enemy.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. If you lose that fight for transport, you die."

Well, that was consistent with the rules of the war at least. Losing in a war meant you would die, and become unable to participate in an official war again until next semester.

This made who we sent out for the transport fight extremely important. You could send out one of your best fighters to secure going first, but it had a huge risk of losing them from the very start. The transport fight could warp the outcome of the war heavily in one class's flavour.

"Since we're in an alliance with B Class, can we bring them as reinforcements?"

Sakigamiya brought up a good question. If we could use the perks of the alliance in this war, we could gain a massive advantage over D Class.

"Of course. You're free to bring as many students as you'd like from B Class."

Thankfully, there wasn't any restriction to how many people that could help us. I'd imagine that Ichinose's faction would help us unconditionally, but if it comes to Machida's faction, they probably wouldn't budge.

However, this was a double-edged sword. While it meant we had the advantage in numbers, this also gave more potential wins for D Class, which would be detrimental in a war determined by how many wins each class can produce.

If we are going to get reinforcements, it'd be better if we pick a small handful of quality cardfighters. We could even use a B Class student for our transport fight.

"What happens if a B Class student loses?"

"They die."

Chabashira-sensei responded to Matsushita's question bluntly. Matsushita scratched his cheek.

"O-oh... well, I guess that's something to consider when asking for their help."

"Conversely, you can't get a dead B Class student to participate in an official war like this one."

At least that one was obvious.

"Chabashira-sensei, do I have to participate? I've got a make-up midterm when the war is happening."

An unexpected question came from Yukimura, who had been uncharacteristically quiet today. I couldn't tell whether he was frustrated or tired of the constant barrage of exams being sent his way.

"No, you can skip this war."

"Alright."

Even though I thought Yukimura would respond excitedly, he gave a calm reply. I think deep down, he was hoping that he'd be forced to participate so he could delay taking his make-up exams. That would give him the weekend to study the upcoming papers further, which the school probably wanted to avoid.

Well, Yukimura's lack of participation shouldn't hurt us too much. He was a lesser skilled cardfighter, and his main utility was his ability to scout wide areas quickly. However, considering the size and scale of Higashi Mall, I don't think even Yukimura could cover all that ground by himself.

"If no one else has any questions, use the rest of homeroom to discuss and come up with a strategy."

With that, Chabashira-sensei went to observe us from the corner of the room. Matsushita stood up to discuss with everyone his ideas.

"This is going to be a difficult fight, but our victory condition is much less complicated to form a strategy around. The key here is efficiency, as we need to defeat as many D Class students as possible in our given time limit. Finding their positions, forcing them into a fight and winning is how we'll get 100 class points. I'm sure everyone here knows what Higashi Mall is like, so let's not focus on the geography of our battlefield, but rather our Vanguard abilities as a class."

I felt called out by Matsushita. I've only been to Higashi Mall maybe once or twice, so I'm not familiar with the place.

In fact, this battlefield was best suited for riajuu like him. Since they spend a lot of time outside, they'd be very familiar with the mall's lay-out, giving them an inherent advantage. For someone like me, who barely visits the mall, I'd have difficulty navigating my way through. It was like the school was discreetly promoting a social lifestyle by giving those people benefits.

"To be blunt, our class isn't very good at Vanguard. However, if we work hard during the run-up to the war, we can drastically improve our abilities, just like in the midterms! Alice-san, will you help me hold training sessions for Vanguard? I want to help everyone become better at the game."

Sakigamiya grinned and stood up, patting her chest.

"Of course! Together, we'll teach everyone how to become better cardfighters, I swear it!"

Frankly, I didn't have much hope for Matsushita. He lost his cardfight against Strelzia in the last war. Sakigamiya seemed more competent, as she won against Iwasaki, but nearly faced a crushing defeat against Kaido. Though, I lost to Kaido too, so I can't say much. My point is, these two aren't good enough themselves to teach others.

To rub salt into the wound, this was the exact same plan I had. I was going to help others get better at Vanguard through group sessions. Now that Matsushita and Sakigamiya is doing it, everyone will flock to them.

Even if I try to set-up an alternative, that rumour is still lingering on me. No one would want to associate themselves with me willingly. I'd just have to go forward with Yukina, Nora and maybe Katsumi. Katsumi was friends with Sakigamiya though, so that may pose a problem.

"We'll hold them after school until the day of the war. How does that sound?"

"Yep, that works with my schedule. We'll use the fight room instead of the library though, to be respectful of everyone else."

"As for B Class, I think we should limit how many people we bring as reinforcements."

"Agreed. I don't want to give D Class more opportunities to win."

"That means we have to be picky with who we choose... though, I do have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Let's make Natsumi-san our class commander."

I looked over at Chabashira-sensei. Her cool facial expression didn't change from Matsushita's bold suggestion to make Ichinose from B Class our Commander. It's like she's heard of this suggestion before.

"Oh, that sounds awesome! She'd be the perfect person to coordinate our class. It was a nightmare trying to lead while being on the frontlines."

"Yep, communicating information to everybody will be really important for this war. To effectively beat D Class, we need to find out their locations to score wins."

Normally, I'd be fine with this suggestion as I do think Ichinose is a very capable person for this role. However, I was planning on becoming commander myself in order to prove to everyone I can lead E Class.

It's like they were trying to screw me over without even knowing what I wanted to do. It was irritating.

"Should we split into groups again?" Kawaguchi asked.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Maybe we should divide up into platoons of four?"

Matsushita had a good idea. If we attack in squads, that'd be more threatening for D Class.

"Yep, that doesn't sound bad at all. Everyone, let's group up!"

Encouraging us to form groups, Sakigamiya got the class lively. Everyone dispersed and naturally gravitated towards their friends to form platoons. Since Yukimura can't join in, that'd leave us with 24 students. If we divide up into groups of 4, we should end up with 6 platoons.

Honestly, I've always hated forming groups, ever since elementary school. It became especially apparent to me once Suzune left and I became a loner. While everyone else made groups with their friends, I was ignored and left unchosen until the very end. Once the teacher noticed, they would straggle me onto a group with insufficient members to make me feel wanted.

Then, that group who didn't even want me in the first place, would ignore me and use me to do the work for them. Back then, I had no willpower to refuse. I knew that if I did, they would probably further isolate me from the group. So, I did the work for them while everyone else took it easy and joked around. If I didn't do it right, they'd force me to do it again. It was hell.

I was treated like some kind of slave or something. Though, it's also my fault for letting others treat me like this. It became the norm for me, as I conditioned myself to stay quiet and get on with the work to get through each monotonous day. The only difference in group work was, I wasn't doing it for my sake, but I was doing it for someone else's. Things changed slightly when I met Yukina. I usually tagged onto whichever group she was in. That way, I had at least one friend in that group.

For now, instead of reminiscing on bitter memories, I had to adapt to Matsushita's and Sakigamiya's plan. I had no other choice as everyone went along with their idea. I turned to Yukina as I knew she would definitely join me.

"Do you want to form a platoon?"

"Sure. We'll need two other people though..."

Since everyone in the class hates me, this is going to pose an obstacle. I guess I could ask Nora or Rinbayashi since they spoke up in my defence, but I wasn't completely sure if they would be willing to join.

"Yukina-san."

Sakigamiya approached us, looking awkwardly at Yukina. Matsushita gave Sakigamiya an encouraging push.

"Do... do you want to be part of mine and Isogai-san's platoon?"

She hesitated, but eventually spat out her request.

"I'm sorry, Alice-san, but... I'm making one with Yuu. How about us four join together?"

"...forget it. No way am I working with Takanori."

With Yukina's decline, Sakigamiya stomped away frustratedly. Matsushita watched her with upturned eyes.

"Yukina-san, please reconsider. I want to help you and Alice-chan make-up after that fight you guys had. Alice-chan... she's not very vocal about her feelings, you know?"

When did Matsushita get permission to call Yukina by her first name? It irritated me for some reason.

"I want to fix our relationship too, but now isn't a good time. I'm going to support Yuu until his name is cleared. That's final."

With that firm statement, Matsushita backed off.

"I see... then, I wish you the best of luck."

Yukina sighed.

"You did good."

"Thanks, I guess..."

I could see Yukina's insecurities crop up again. She seemed stressed from talking to her friends in such a direct manner.

"Don't worry, I'll find us two more people. I've got some in mind anyways."

With that, I headed over to Nora and Katsumi, who were talking to each other. It was likely there were going to form their own platoon too. Since I was already helping them get better at Vanguard, it would be natural for them to join me and Yukina.

"Hey, Nora-san, Katsumi-san." I casually greeted them.

"T-Takanori-kun! I-I'm sorry... I couldn't... help you more..."

Immediately after seeing me, Nora gave an unnecessary apology.

"It's fine. There was nothing you could've said or done to make the situation better."

I knew that it'd be easier to convince Nora to join me. Katsumi was a whole other story though. I looked at her from the corner of my eye.

"B-but... it's unfair... the way everyone was treating you... I wanted to speak out like Kazuraba-san, but I... got scared."

Nora quietly admitted his feelings towards me.

"Anyone would be scared to speak up when the entire room doesn't think the same way. At the very least, you said something. Not many people can go against the air like that."

I think Nora found the courage to speak up because of the experience of bullying he went through. Seeing me become a target for the class to pick on must've resonated with him strongly, as it made him say something when no one else could. He didn't want me to go through what he did, which was noble.

"Anyways, forget about what happened to me. Focus your energy on the war. That being said, would you two like to join me and Yukina to form a platoon?"

"E-eh? You want me... on your platoon?"

"Of course. I'm already helping you two, so if we form a group, it'll be easier to train together."

"I-I'd be happy to join!"

With a wide smile, Nora nodded excitedly. I looked over at Katsumi, who had been strangely quiet throughout the conversation. She didn't even greet me.

"Katsumi-san, what about you?"

Lifting her head, Katsumi looked at me hesitantly.

"E-ehh... I'm not sure..."

"Is it about the rumour? Do you believe in it?"

I decided to be blunt about why I thought she acted weirdly. Katsumi rubbed the back of her head, looking away.

"Isn't that like... a little too direct, Takanori-san?"

Katsumi was normally a cheerful girl. Right now, she was acting bashful.

"I just want to know the truth. Whatever you think of me, I won't get mad over it."

"I'm just confused, okay? After getting to know you, I thought you were a cool person... and then the next day I find out you hit a girl. It's just so... weird! Everyone one is saying one thing about you, when I feel... differently. Like my gut's saying you're not a bad person. Does that make sense..? It probably doesn't, but... ah, mou!"

She crossed her arms and huffed like a child. Katsumi sounded partially frustrated as she tried to navigate her feelings. Even though she was a social person, she had difficulties putting her complicated thoughts into words.

"You don't have to take a side. You could be neutral, like Rinbayashi-san."

I offered her an alternative solution for her worries. To my surprise, Nora also joined in.

"Kou-san... um... I think Takanori-kun is innocent... because... ever since I met him on the cruise ship... he's never been angry or violent... when Yukimura-kun grabbed Takanori-kun, he didn't retaliate... when D Class assaulted him, he didn't retaliate either... if he really did hit a girl... then why didn't he fight back in those situations...?"

He had brought up good examples where, if I really did have the capacity to raise a hand, I would've done so in self-defence. Both times I didn't fight back though, because I knew I didn't have the means to come out unscathed if things got ugly.

"Takanori-kun is calm and patient... even though I'm clumsy... quiet... nervous... Takanori-kun has never once gotten irritated by it... and the person he supposedly hit, Shimizu-san... she's just like me... so if Takanori-kun apparently hit her because of her weak personality... then why hasn't he hit me...? I'm just as bad... if not, worse... how could Takanori-kun handle me, but not Shimizu-san? It doesn't make sense..."

Nora opened my eyes to a new angle that I haven't thought about. It was a unique perspective only he could see. This rumour is based on the logic that I hit her out of frustration because she was reluctant to come with me. However, because of the calm patience I treated Nora with, he knew that I wouldn't react strongly over something like this.

"Actually... yeah, that's true!"

As if she was enlightened, Katsumi got out of her seat and slammed the table passionately.

"I can't imagine Takanori-san ever hitting someone! He has a patience of a saint! He doesn't get irritated easily at all! When he was looking over my deck and helping me change things, he never got frustrated when I asked him to explain things repeatedly because I didn't understand it the first time!"

For better or worse, Katsumi's innocent stupidity and gullible personality was working in my favour. Her opinions were heavily formed by what the people around her said. Though, considering her "gut feeling" was that I was innocent, maybe she isn't that dumb.

Turning to face me, Katsumi prostrated herself, hitting her head on the table in the process.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Takanori-san! I knew those eyes of yours were pure! I should've listened to my gut feeling from the start!"

Her expressive actions were slowly drawing the attention of the people around us. People started to murmur about what Katsumi was doing.

"Kou-san... not you too..."

Sakigamiya looked disgusted as another one of her close friends took my side. Matsushita narrowed his eyes. Seeing this, I tried to salvage some of Katsumi's reputation. I bet she hasn't even considered the ripple effect of siding with someone as hated as me.

"Y-you don't have to do that... it's fine. Just knowing you believe in my innocence is more than enough." I said loud enough for everyone else to hear.

However, the class seemed to ignore my words. It went through one ear and out the other as they turned away from me. At the very least, they weren't focusing on Katsumi anymore.

"I feel bad though, that I distrusted you for a moment..."

"We haven't known each other for long, so I don't blame you. For now, raise your head. We've got a lot of work to do."

Katsumi sat up and nodded vigorously. Her forehead turned bright red from hitting the table, matching the colour of her hair.

"Yukina, we got our other two platoon members."

I brought them over to Yukina, who was patiently waiting for me.

"Kou-san, Nora-chan! It's great that you two joined us!"

"Yukina-chan! Ya-hoo-hoo, I can't wait to get better at Vanguard with you guys!"

I brought them on the team as everyone's familiarity with each other would make our teamwork more cohesive. I was friends with Yukina and Nora, Yukina and Nora were friends with everybody here, and Katsumi was friends with Yukina and Nora. If me and Katsumi become more acquainted with each other, this group would have complete synergy.

I slipped away into the shadows, letting those three talk to each other. Someone needed to inform Matsushita about our platoon after all. Plus, this was the perfect excuse to confront him about the commander role. As I approached Matsushita from the back, I noticed he was talking to Rinbayashi. As I got closer, I unintentionally eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Rinbayashi-san, would you like to join my platoon?"

Hearing those words, I stopped, intrigued by the reason Matsushita asked Rinbayashi to join him. Since Matsushita's back was turned to me, I inconspicuously blended into the background in order to learn more.

However, Rinbayashi must've noticed me, as she gave me a brief look before focusing on Matsushita again.

"Why are you asking me?"

Hearing her sultry voice sent shivers down my spine. Every time I hear Rinbayashi's voice, I get tingles.

"I noticed that you haven't joined a platoon yet. I know that it might be difficult for you to ask about joining one, since you usually keep to yourself in class, and since no one has bothered to approach you, I wanted to reach out."

"That's sweet of you."

"Ha ha, it isn't really. I just don't want you to feel left out. I don't want others to ignore you because of your aloofness. I think you have a lot to offer to E Class, especially in wars. When pouring over the war report for our war against A Class, you beat Rossiya-senpai and Tachibana-senpai. That's really impressive! If we had someone with your strength on our side, that'd be really helpful."

Once again, Matsushita used charming expressions and flowery words to allure Rinbayashi into joining his platoon. His words practically oozed with disingenuous hypocrisy.

"I see."

"So, would you like to join?" He extended his hand towards her.

After a precursory glance around the room, Rinbayashi looked back at Matsushita. I think she realised that Matsushita set-up a trap to force her into joining his platoon. I noticed this manipulation of the situation by his fake words and convenient timing.

The trap was simple. To ensure Rinbayashi joins his platoon, Matsushita used her indifferent personality to his advantage. He knew that Rinbayashi wouldn't actively seek to join a group since she keeps to herself. That way, if he let everyone else form their platoons first, his platoon would have one person missing. This would create a situation where she had no other choice but to join his one.

He made sure to delay approaching her until the very last moment for this exact reason. He also purposefully omitted the fact that everyone else already formed their groups, to prevent her from figuring out his true motives. He knew he wasn't giving her a choice in the matter, so if he framed it as a request, she wouldn't call him out on this. Even if she did, Matsushita could just say he honestly wanted her on his platoon because of her achievements in the last war and that there were no ill-intentions.

It was just plain dirty for Matsushita to drive Rinbayashi into a corner like this.

I couldn't stand to see him act like this after what he did to me. I didn't know the reason why he wanted Rinbayashi on his platoon, but this predatory attempt to induct her into his group by force made me sick.

Whatever. My reputation doesn't exist in their eyes anymore. I have nothing to lose.

For some reason, my legs moved by themselves. My hand moved without realising it. My mouth moved before I could make a final judgment.

"Matsushita-san. I've made my platoon."

I grabbed onto Matsushita's shoulder to get his attention.

"Takanori..."

He callously brushed my hand off his shoulder, looking at me like garbage had touched him.

"Who's on your platoon then? Make it quick, we don't have much time until first period."

"Yukina, Nora-san and Katsumi-san."

"I see. I'll make a note of that then."

Just as he was about to turn back to Rinbayashi, I blocked him from advancing his venom into her heart again.

"By the way, can I make a request?"

"What is it?"

"Can I be the class commander for this war?"

I said it loud enough to grab everyone's attention. Everyone stared at me, their faces running with confusion, shock and disgust. After their brains registered what I said, they began laughing at my declaration. Matsushita chuckled sinisterly under his breath.

"Sorry? Did I hear what I think I just heard?"

"That's right. I want to be class commander."

"That's ridiculous. We've decided on Ichinose-san to be our commander."

"She hasn't confirmed it though. If she declines, I'd like to take the role."

"If she declines, me or Alice-chan will go find someone else to take over for her. I'm not going to let someone as incompetent as you lead our class this war. Takanori, you realise what's on the line, right? It's 100 Cl. We can't afford to lose. You proved yourself incapable last war by losing to Mikazuchi-senpai. I don't think you have the skills necessary to command our class."

Matsushita, who keeps calm and uses gentle words, spoke down at me. There was an underbelly of spite in his tone. It was strange to see him get so riled up by a minor issue. It was sort of pathetic.

Well, if he wants to petty, I'll be petty back.

"You proved your incompetence last war by losing to Strelzia-senpai. If you didn't lose, we wouldn't be using those uncomfortable chabudai and zabuton. You blew it just as hard as I did. Also, reminder that your plan to split up into attackers and defenders didn't even work, A Class made mince meat of our "defence". I don't think you have the skills necessary to lead our class either."

"I've never been in a war before, so how was I meant to know that was a bad strategy? Besides, the plan you suggested was even worse. Alice-chan blew so many holes in your idea, it was frankly laughable. Takanori, get off your high horse. You're nothing more than a woman beating loner. It's a miracle you even formed a platoon. Be grateful that you have Yukina-san as your friend. Without her, you're nothing. If you think I don't have the skills to lead the class, I'd like to see you try. I don't think you'd get very far though. You'd lash out in anger and start attacking all of us for not listening to your orders. Isn't that right?"

I've never seen Matsushita get so angry before. He took it like a personal attack. The rest of the class was loving it however. Seeing him valiantly beat me down with words got them excited to watch him bury me further.

"Well, if you gave me a chance, you'd find out, right?"

"And risk you hurting one of our classmates? Forget it. This conversation is finished."

Even the kind Matsushita could be cruel. The threatening look he gave me at the end was legitimately scary.

"Stupid." Kouji said.

"Stupid? What? This has nothing to do with you, Kouji-san."

"That's right. This absolutely has nothing to do with me. So I said what I thought as an outsider."

Kouji crossed his arms and looked away. Matsushita seemed agitated by his provocation, but didn't pursue it further. He simply ignored Kouji, knowing it was pointless to argue with him.

After all, Kouji didn't care about anything in this school. He failed all his midterms and acted like nothing was wrong. If anything, he was more of a nuisance to E Class. Though, because of this nature, he never commented on anything. To hear him say his opinion so passive aggressively made me feel like there was a distinct reason behind his unusual actions.

Matsushita returned his attention back to Rinbayashi, who had observed our argument with a straight face.

"Sorry about that, Rinbayashi-san. Like I was saying, I'd love to have you on my team."

"Okay."

With her slow and dry confirmation, Matsushita beamed. Rinbayashi didn't look exactly pleased, though I could never really figure out what her emotions were due to her permanently stoic face.

I've never seen her expression change before. Even if you look into her eyes to get a clue, you can't determine what she's feeling. It's like peering into a black hole devoid of any life. It sucks you in and devours you.

"Alright! That completes the Matsushita platoon, Alice-chan, Ria-san!"

What kind of egotistical maniac would name his platoon after himself? I guess the other two members were Sakigamiya and Hono. It was going to be interesting to see how these four work together, considering Rinbayashi was so different to the rest of them.

Seeing that our general plan was sorted out, everyone began to freely talk. It killed enough time for homeroom to end, and for Chabashira-sensei to lead us back to class. On our way out, Akihiro caught my attention by grabbing my arm.

"Takanori. Can we talk?"

I looked over at him over my shoulder. Akihiro didn't seem to want to start trouble, so I obliged.

"What's up?"

Akihiro made sure that we were at the back of the group before saying his piece. Yukina was walking just slightly in front of us.

"It's about those allegations. The ones about you hitting Shimizu."

I shifted uncomfortably. I don't know what Akihiro's opinion on the rumours were, but judging by the way he acted in class, he probably thought I was guilty.

At the very least, he had enough respect for me to keep our conversation lowkey. We talked in a hushed tone to not draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves.

"To be honest, I don't think you'd do that. I know they might condemn me for it, but I believe in your innocence bro."

To my surprise, Akihiro showed support for me. It might've been in private, but it was support nevertheless.

"...thanks man. I didn't expect that."

"Heh. I'm too much of a coward to speak up, unlike Kazuraba. She has serious balls to go against Sakigamiya like that."

Akihiro talked about himself in a self-deprecating manner. It was unnecessary to do that, since I didn't blame him for not speaking out. Even if I wasn't the victim, I know how difficult it would be to go against the air.

"You're fine. I didn't expect anyone to publicly defend me anyways."

"It's not that..." Akihiro shook his head. "I dunno man, I've always never been good in front of a crowd. Yesterday, when I went up to the front with Matsushita, I was having terrible stage fright. I wouldn't consider myself an anxious person, but goddamn I felt insecure up there."

I did notice how embarrassed Akihiro acted. It looked like he'd rather die than stand in front of the class.

"Ever since elementary school, I've had terrible judgment. Whenever it was up to me, I would choose all the wrong actions. That's why I hate having people watch me while I do anything. It's so damn pressuring. Back in the last war, I did a huge misplay because my nerves got to me. Knowing that everyone was watching me live freaked me out. Cuz of that, I lost like an idiot. So much for being a good Vanguard player, right?"

Akihiro sighed, venting out his frustrations to me. Even though he was scared of judgment from the general masses, when it came to revealing his feelings to his friends, it came to him naturally, probably because of his friendly and out-going nature. I found it really impressive, since it was something I struggled with immensely.

I'm sure this fear of judgment and stage fright prevented him speaking out in my defence. It must be both humiliating and frustrating for Akihiro, that even the most weak-willed person in the class, Nora, could say something when he couldn't. Especially since he carries a reputation of being a thug from his altercation with Adachi from April.

"So like, I'd rather stick to working for someone else. Have someone with better decision making than me tell me what to do. That way, I know I won't mess up, since I just have to follow their orders."

"What are you getting at?"

"Basically, I want to be your subordinate, commander Takanori."

"...eh?"

I was dumbfounded by Akihiro's casual suggestion.

"I respect Matsushita and Sakigamiya a lot, but their level of Vanguard isn't as good as mine. I'd gain nothing attending their training sessions. So, I want to attend yours."

"Wait, hang on. How did you find out about my training sessions?"

I was sure I never told Akihiro about it.

"Kazuraba told me. While you were grabbing Nora and Katsumi, she approached my platoon and asked us about joining you two."

Akihiro pointed at Yukina with a grin. I was surprised that Yukina had taken action to try and tell others about what I was doing. She was fulfilling her role as my partner perfectly.

"Yeah, having you on board would be great. Can I ask, why me though? Surely you could just practice with Kawaguchi-san?"

"I practice with Masaru everyday man. I need to branch out and fight other players if I want to get better. When I watched your fight against Mikazuchi, I realised that you had genuine talent for the game. I think I can improve if I fight against you."

It was touching to hear praise from Akihiro. I didn't know him very well, so his genuine thoughts left more of an impression on me.

"Thanks... I feel like my confidence got boosted."

"Any time my man."

"I'll probably hold a training session today during break time. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, should be fine. I didn't have any plans to begin with."

"Great. By the way, do you know who's in each platoon? I was so preoccupied arguing with Matsushita-san earlier, I forgot to check with him."

"Uhh, yea, hang on. So obviously you got my platoon, which has me, Masaru, Jomko and Tadokoro. Then there's your one. Then Matsushita's platoon, him, Sakigamiya, Hono and Rinbayashi. Then Demiza's platoon, her, Misogi, Mitsuba and Tanaka. Then Ayano's platoon, him, Kita, Ikesugi and Kouji. Oh, and Fujimura's platoon, her, Suzuki, Yamaguchi and Kiba."

The strangest platoon was definitely Demiza's. Her and Mitsuba teaming up gave me more questions than answers. The weakest platoon was Ayano's. It was an anti-synergetic group filled with distant people. It was comparable to a reject squad.

Our strongest platoons were either Matsushita's or Akihiro's platoons. They had competent cardfighters on both sides. However, with my guidance, I was planning to make my platoon the strongest.

I thanked Akihiro for the information as we returned to E Class and parted ways. Even though this morning had been stressful, I managed to end it on a good note. I wonder if I can keep that momentum up for the rest of the day.