"Hiss~"
After taking a sip of hot water, the warmth spread through her cold body, bringing her back to life.
Nagi let out a deep breath, feeling like she had been resurrected.
"Nagi, how did your first battle feel?"
"...You're not even concerned about whether I was scared? Instead, you're asking how I felt?"
Hearing the question, Nagi rolled her eyes at the idiot who asked it.
But Sakuya didn't care in the slightest.
"No matter how ruthless Shinomiya is, do you really think she'd kill you on the spot?"
"Even if she was agitated, in the end, all she did was restrain you."
The final scene had been a bit intense, but it wasn't enough to cause any real trouble.
Left with no retort, Nagi simply adjusted her grip on the cup and gave a small nod.
"It was... thrilling."
"Using power is completely different from playing a game."
But after the excitement, reality hit her.
"Controlling elemental power is way harder than I thought."
"After that last attack, I barely had any elemental energy left—I couldn't even keep myself airborne."
"Speaking of battle experience... well, as expected, Shinomiya's ability is just too broken."
Nagi couldn't help but complain about Kaguya's power.
"Yeah, just eating a Devil Fruit gave her an absurd amount of power. The imbalance between effort and reward is just ridiculous."
Even Isumi couldn't help but comment.
"Elementalization… No wonder Amamiya-san called it the strongest among Logia Fruits."
Maria now truly understood the weight of the word strongest.
Elementalization was simply too overwhelming.
If an opponent didn't have a way to counter it, they were essentially powerless against it. It was easily one of the strongest abilities.
"To deal with someone like that, we'd have to use non-physical attacks… ah."
Nagi suddenly paused, her gaze shifting toward Ran.
"...Actually, we do have someone who fits that description."
Someone who wasn't afraid of elementalization at all and could neutralize any unnatural power.
"Ah."
Isumi covered her mouth involuntarily.
"I see."
Maria let out a small sigh, shaking her head.
"No wonder we only had morning exercises today. It looks like Amamiya-san is setting us up to face Miss Mouri next."
"The first time, we experienced despair. Next time, it'll be Shinomiya who feels despair."
"No… maybe it'll be even worse than that."
Nagi's expression turned grim.
"Mouri's physical strength is absurd, but her abilities don't rely on magic power."
"If she grabs me and punches me…"
Just imagining Ran's fist, about the size of a sandbag, slamming into her stomach made Sanzenin Nagi's scalp tingle.
The worst part was that elementalization wouldn't work against her. It would be completely nullified.
"Despair in an entirely different sense..."
Isumi sighed helplessly.
Ever since she and Nagi had entered this circle, their abilities seemed weaker and weaker in comparison.
Only Nagi and Maria were still relatively close in power, while everyone else felt like they had literal cheat codes.
"By the way, where's Amamiya-san?"
Now that she thought about it, they hadn't seen Ren for a while.
Isumi looked around but found no trace of him.
"Oh, him? He went to talk to Shinomiya, apparently."
Sakuya's words made the three of them freeze for a moment before realization dawned on them.
"...He figured it out."
---
Meanwhile, in another room, Kaguya had already calmed down.
But what was frustrating her now was the annoying person beside her who kept trying to comfort her.
Even worse, this annoying person didn't realize that they were the cause of her emotional instability and yet they kept muttering words of reassurance.
"Well, about Nagi-chan… Kaguya, I'll go with you to apologize."
"Nagi-chan isn't unreasonable. I doubt she'll hold a grudge."
"After all, this was Kaguya's first real battle against something supernatural, right? Mistakes are bound to happen."
Although the words were meant to be kind, they only gave Kaguya a headache.
Because the person who caused her mistake… was this woman.
The real problem was, this woman was her best friend—and she was still standing there, trying to comfort her.
What was she supposed to do?
"..."
Watching Kaguya's helpless expression, Hayasaka Ai simply stood silently by her side.
Knock, knock, knock!
Hearing the knock at the door, Hayasaka turned back to check with the two ladies. After receiving a nod of confirmation, she opened the door.
As expected, the person responsible for Miss Kaguya's emotional turmoil stood before her.
"Hayasaka-san..."
"Please come in. Miss Kaguya is waiting for you."
Before Ren could even finish speaking, Hayasaka stepped aside to let him in, lying without hesitation.
The two people in the room froze for a moment.
Then, they watched as a visibly stiff Ren stepped inside.
Chika immediately left Kaguya's side, abandoning her attempts to comfort her and rushed to Ren.
This made Kaguya, who had just been sitting with a dignified posture, freeze completely.
"Amamiya, Kaguya's mistake earlier was probably just because it was her first real fight, right?"
"...I think so."
Under normal circumstances, Ren would have agreed without hesitation.
But now, knowing the truth, he hesitated.
Especially when he noticed Shinomiya glaring at Fujiwara with terrifying intensity.
That only confirmed his earlier suspicions.
"Fujiwara, I need to talk to Shinomiya."
"We need to have a proper conversation with Kaguya."
Chika nodded decisively.
She didn't really understand supernatural things, so it made sense to let Amamiya handle it.
With that, Chika literally shoved Ren toward Kaguya.
Then, she grabbed Hayasaka who was still processing everything and pulled her out of the room, leaving behind one last sentence:
"Amamiya, make sure to properly talk to Kaguya."
"It was just a mistake, don't overthink it!"
At that moment, Kaguya, who had just been glaring at Chika with intense hostility, suddenly snapped back to reality.
Her expression softened. The hostility in her eyes vanished entirely.
Even in the face of this abrupt change, a hint of surprise flickered across Kaguya's face.
At this moment, Kaguya reaffirmed one undeniable truth.
She and Fujiwara really were best friends.
(To be continued.)
***
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