The pre-tournament season was a familiar atmosphere for Sakamori. Students would rush out of their classes more quickly, hastily stuffing books into their bags, eager to squeeze in some valuable minutes of training. Battle tactics would be scribbled in the margins of notebooks, the result of bolts of inspiration that had struck the young scholars in the middle of their late night studies. Yes, the pre-tournament excitement always brought a smile to her face. It was always lovely to see the kids embracing their youth in such a way. A shame that the buzz usually resulted in neglected homework though. 

Sakamori observed much of this as they made their way to the training rooms. Ojima-kun was beginning to lag behind. She didn’t blame him. This mental block was something that probably seemed impossible to overcome. Before she could make a reassuring comment, Sakamori noticed two other students in the hallway. Adachi Ruriko, abrasive and short-tempered, but got consistently good marks in her studies. She was a good kid at heart; Sakamori knew that her over-competitiveness was just a side effect of the duty she felt to the Adachi family. Orimono Chikazu, a rather lackadaisical girl who seemed to have trouble keeping her Pacts in line. She seemed nice enough, though she didn’t contribute much to class so it was difficult to tell.

[color=8493ca]“Adachi-kun, busy training for the tournament, I see,” she greeted the short girl, “I marked your Maths test just before. Excellent results as always,”[/color]

Sakamori turned to Adachi’s companion.

[color=8493ca]“You did fairly well too, Orimono-kun, but there’s always room for improvement.”

“Were you two about to have a mock battle?” [/color]

[@VitaVitaAR] [@Caasicam]