The other class reps were silent as they looked down at the pictures again then the Class 4 rep perked up.

"Class 1 has such bad luck…"

In his defense, it did look like that.

These three weren't the main people to be afraid of in Class 1.

The big threat here was Hyōga Reito with his Cold Zero abilities with Cold Zero that could freeze an entire person in seconds but Cold Zero needed massive mana output to execute properly, and this wasn't a death tournament though what stood out was the Class 4 rep's assessment of Kaguya.

For some reason, he wasn't considering her a threat at all. That was the part Koya couldn't wrap his head around. Tsukuyomi Kaguya was the kind of fighter who could make you stab yourself and believe you were attacking her the entire time unless someone had skills for mental protection like him and Hiroto, the Class 4 rep had looked at her image and decided she wasn't a problem.

Koya could only shake his head at the man's constant stupidity.

The rest of the reps looked at the lineup with cautious expressions. Under normal conditions, Class 1's selection would be considered undefeatable but with mana limited to 100 points, it was workable.

Itsuki looked around the table. "Any problems with this lineup?"

All of them shook their heads. Nobody had any major issues with it so Itsuki smiled.

"Professor, please do the same for the other classes."

Within a few minutes, the full selections were complete.

…

CLASS 1:

Hyōga Reito

Wisteria Riu

Tsukuyomi Kaguya

CLASS 2:

Shiden Shion

Kagutsuchi Ryouma

Himuro Sousuke

CLASS 3:

Kuroyami Yoru

Asakura Hina

Fujishiro Rei

CLASS 4:

Tanaka Hiroto

Okabe Setsuna

CLASS 5:

Amagi Koya

Tachibana Misora

Kamemori Mio

…

Once all this was decided, Tanaka Hiroto was practically bouncing in his seat.

"Easy pickings!" He said loudly, grinning like he'd already won though nobody at the table acknowledged him, hell they didn't even look in his direction.

The woman standing behind him… his assistant, presumably had her eyes fixed on the middle distance. She'd clearly decided the best way to survive the next hour was to pretend none of this was happening.

The Pen of Probability flicked to a new image. Instead of student portraits, it now displayed five blocks floating above the table with each one labeled Class 1 through Class 5 in clean holographic text.

Itsuki cleared his throat.

"Since there are five classes and they can't all participate equally, Class 1 will remain seeded at the top as the final opponents. We're offering all their points, so it's only fair we wait at the end. The other four classes will have to fight their way up to them."

He looked around the table. "Any objections? Shion?"

"No problems," Shion said, "as long as there's rest time between fights, winners need a chance to heal and recuperate before the next round."

"There will be rest." Itsuki confirmed. He turned to Yoru. "Any objections from Class 3?"

"None whatsoever." Yoru said. Itsuki looked at Misora next and she simply nodded.

Then he turned to the Class 4 rep. "Hiroto?"

"It's fine." Hiroto said calmly for a change though that stupid grin hadn't left his face.

Itsuki nodded and looked at the math professor. "Begin the sorting."

Immediately, the purple compartment of the pen lit up.

The beam swept across the five class blocks in wide arcs, overlapping and crossing repeatedly. Then it slowed. The light split with one beam branching into two and each narrowing onto a separate block before locking in place.

Itsuki announced the results.

"Class 4 and Class 5 will face each other in the first round. Class 2 and Class 3 will face each other in the second round and in the third round the winning classes will face each other before moving onto Class 1." He paused. "Any objections?"

None were voiced.

Koya looked at Yoru across the table with a concerned expression.

'The options from Class 2 are obviously stronger,' he thought. 'So why isn't she standing down?'

The Class 4 rep instantly shot up from his seat. "Without Koya using his spells, Class 5 is weak! Class 4 is going to win this pretty easily!"

The rest of the class reps stared at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Sit down." Itsuki said flatly and Hiroto sat.

Itsuki continued without missing a beat.

"The matchups within each round won't be randomized. The Principal himself will decide who faces who since he's expressed personal interest in Buffer Day."

That made everyone pause. The Principal watching meant this was on record and it meant the results mattered beyond just Class Points.

Itsuki looked around the table again. "How many Class Points is each class willing to stake in their next match? The minimum is ten."

He added as an aside.

"It's not like point removal alone can get you expelled. ALI classes are only expelled when their total Class Points hit 10."

All the class reps said ten while Hiroto slammed his hand against the table. "I'm placing twenty!"

The woman behind him smacked her forehead and dragged her hand slowly down her face.

Itsuki chuckled.

"That's fine."

Then he turned to Koya. "Today's going to be big. Since you have a significant social media presence following recent events, I'd like you to stream it. The Academy and the students would get a cut of the earnings."

Koya shot it down immediately. "My page is for manga and anime content. I'm not streaming something outside my usual lane."

He paused. "But I can get Ichinose to stream it."

Itsuki stayed quiet for a moment.

He knew Ichinose was facing backlash for what happened on Familiar Island… the betrayal, the fallout and public opinion had shifted hard against her too but Koya had handled it and it had reduced greatly.

He let out a sigh. "Ichinose can stream it. The details about the location will be distributed to every student within an hour."

Itsuki stood up. "Get ready. This will be the day that decides the true strength of the classes."

With that, he walked off and Kaede fell into step behind him without a word. Slowly, everyone else began leaving the room.

Koya walked behind Misora through one of the hallways leading back to the dorms and the meeting room noise faded behind them.

"What are your thoughts on all this?" Misora asked.

"No idea." Koya said. "But everything about this Buffer Day Tournament screams profit somehow."

He paused. "Also, the Class 4 rep is a massive pain in the ass. I'm going to enjoy putting him in his place."

Misora smiled. "So will I."

"I don't mean to push myself into your conversation, lovebirds." Yoru said, appearing beside them without any sound preceding her arrival.

Koya's eye twitched.

"Class 5 should be extra serious in dealing with Class 4." Yoru said to Misora as they walked.

"Why?" Misora asked.

"I just want him to suffer." Yoru said simply and though Misora didn't reply, she did nod.

Koya thought for a moment. "If that pen was made by Izana, how could it be rigged?"

"It isn't the real one." Yoru said. "It was a fake… That stupid Professor could never get his hands on the original… that's for sure though he is related to the Great Izana, I think. I really haven't confirmed it from my sources."

Koya nodded.

Then…

"Why are you fighting Class 2 when you'll probably lose?"

Yoru smiled. "I don't care about losing ten Class Points, I want to prove that even a noble like me can beat the heiress of a Great Noble clan."

She walked off without looking back and Misora watched her go for a moment without expression. "I like the fact that she's optimistic but optimism can only take you so far."

She grabbed Koya's hand and pulled him forward. "I'll talk to Mio, you talk to Ichinose. If this stream succeeds, Class 5 keeps most of the earnings. Let's go, Koya-kun!"

…

About two hours later, the ALI stadium was completely filled with students.

It was an actual stadium that was normally housed underground within ALI and raised to the surface for important events.

The mechanism that lifted it was a marvel of engineering, leaving a clean circular opening in the campus grounds as the seats rose with it, already arranged and ready for spectators.

Today it was up, and every seat was taken.

Students packed the rows from bottom to top, their voices creating a constant buzz of noise. Professors lined the upper sections in their own designated area, watching with interest and the Principal sat at the highest observation point, visible from the arena floor as a still figure above all the chaos.

The energy in the place was different from anything that happened during a regular class day even though it was only the students here.

Ichinose stood at one end of the stadium floor in her ALI uniform and a streaming pod trembling slightly in her hands.

She could feel the crowd even from down here as the noise pressed against her from all sides. She hadn't streamed since Familiar Island and she hadn't thought she would again.

The backlash had been brutal with comments, messages, the loss of subscribers, the 90% earnings cut that still made her stomach turn when she thought about it and even her almost taking her life but Koya had given her this chance.

She let out a sigh.

'Here we go.'

She released the pod. It floated upward and found its position automatically, stabilizing above her head at broadcast height.

Koya had done enough on his stream already… he'd given her this gig, and she wasn't going to disappoint him.

She adjusted her glasses.

「Stream Starting…」

「it's actually Ichinose??」

「she has some nerve showing up lol」

「she's back??」

「bitch」

She ignored all of it.

"I apologize greatly for betraying Koya back on Familiar Isle." She said clearly, her voice sounding despite the trembling in her hands moments before. "He's forgiven me, but I haven't forgiven myself. I know I can't earn back much of your trust… my actions endangered Koya and many others, and nothing I do will undo that but today isn't about me. I've been entrusted to stream the Buffer Day tournament, and that's what I'm here to do."

「Everyone makes mistakes. hers was bad and she already got the karma…losing 90% of earnings from her biggest stream isn't small. but she owned it. keep going. I'll be watching!」

「glad you're okay actually」

「Koya forgave her so I'm good」

「we missed you」

「if koya forgave her then it's done for me」

「she's okay in my book」

「missed her streams ngl」

"Thanks, guys." She said quietly as a small smile touched her face then the drone rose higher, sweeping across the full stadium in a wide arc.

A holographic tournament bracket hung in the air above the arena floor with all five classes displayed, Class 1 was seeded at the top waiting in the final slot while Class 4 and 5 paired in the first match position.

Itsuki walked to the center of the stadium.

The crowd settled slightly as he appeared and a sudden wind moved through the open-topped arena and caught his blue hair.

「he's so fine omg」

「WHY IS ITSUKI SO ATTRACTIVE」

「class 1 rep always eats」

「fine af」

「bro stepped out like a main character」

Itsuki placed a hand on his chest.

"Welcome to ALI's Buffer Day Tournament." He said. His voice went over the stadium without effort. "For those watching from work, from home, from wherever you are right now… I'm glad you could join us."

"Welcome again to ALI's Buffer Day Tournament!" Itsuki made his voice loud enough. "I'm glad you could join us… Today we honor a tradition that goes back to the First Generation of ALI Generations. In our classrooms, we are defined by rankings and grades but history has shown that true strength reveals itself under pressure and not on paper. Today, classroom standing doesn't matter… Today, every class has a real shot at the top, regardless of where they sat this morning."

He took a deep breath.

"Points can be regained, but respect is earned here in the dirt, Prove that the current generation is ready for what comes next, Let the Buffer tournament begin!"

Cheers sounded all over the stadium and Itsuki let himself smile, he really looked cool… didn't he?

"The two classes competing in the first round are Class 4 and Class 5!"

The hologram updated, the bracket narrowing to show both class lineups side by side with two names lit up brighter than the others.

[Nishimura Daigo]

[Kamemori Mio]

Itsuki called them forward. "Contestants, Enter the arena!"

Both contestants entered from opposite ends of the stadium floor.

Mio came out in her Class 5 uniform with an ALI-issued blade hanging at her hip. Her face was completely flat.

She walked like she was heading to a classroom with calm steps and the crowd noise didn't seem to faze her at all.

Nishimura wore his Class 4 uniform and carried two long heavy blades with one in each hand.

He was tall and bulky with the kind of build that made his uniform look slightly too small across the shoulders and chest.

Each blade he carried had to be at least a meter and a half long, thick and brutish designed for overwhelming power rather than finesse and each step he took landed with weight, his boots hitting the arena floor hard enough to leave faint impressions on the surface.

'He looks like a Baki character…' Koya thought with a shake of his head from the stands.

The crowd in the sections nearest his entrance shifted back slightly in their seats without consciously deciding to.

There was just something about the way he moved like violence contained in a human shape and waiting for permission to be let loose that made the weaker students uncomfortable.

When they reached the proper distance, both fighters settled into stance. Mio's was minimal with her leg forward and hand on the sheath of her blade while Nishimura widened his base and held both blades out to the sides.

"Thirty seconds to prepare…" Itsuki announced. "Deep wounds are permitted as long as they're not life-threatening! The automatic barriers embedded in your uniforms will intervene if necessary!"

Nishimura planted both blades into the ground and they sank an inch into the arena surface with small booms.

"You can stand down." He said and she could hear his voice carried easily since he wasn't bothering to lower it. "I won't hurt a petite girl like you."

His eyes dropped from her face to her chest and stayed there for a moment.

"Besides, you barely even have breasts to call yourself a woman."

「EXCUSE ME??????」

「he did NOT」

「someone kill him please」

「MIO DESTROY HIM」

Mio didn't take the bait.

She closed her eyes and remembered instead.

"Mio, if you try your hardest in this tournament then I'll give you a chance to sleep in Koya's room next to him." Misora had told her, offering the chance on a silver platter. "Since you two have already kissed… don't you want to take it further?"

"Mio, kill him!!" Pale had shouted in her head, the astral body of the goddess bouncing around like she'd been given too much sugar. "Do it so we can sleep with Koya!"

'We're not sleeping with him…' Mio had thought.

She opened her eyes and Itsuki's hand came down.

"Begin!"

Nishimura charged immediately.

Both blades came up off the ground in wide arcs as his heavy frame accelerated forward. For someone his size, he was fast… far faster than his build suggested he should be. His boots hammered against the arena floor in rapid succession and the air moved around him displaced by the sheer momentum of his charge.

He closed the distance aggressively…

Twenty meters, fifteen, ten, five—

The crowd in the nearest sections leaned forward and he blinked as Mio had vanished.

Where did she go?

The ground where Mio had been standing was empty, completely empty… He snapped his head to the left but there was nothing, he did it to the right and there was nothing there too.

His blades were still moving through the swing but there was no one there to hit. The momentum carried them through empty air.

Mio appeared directly behind him as her right hand had already moved from using Partial frame skip.

The blade had left the sheath in one clean pull. The draw had been perfect… she struck it diagonal and drew it across his left side starting just below the armpit and pulling down toward the hip in one smooth motion and then she stepped past him before appearing.

The blade was back in the sheath before she came to a stop and the click of the guard settling into place was the only sound she made.

'We're only going to cuddle him really tightly…' she finished the thought.

The sound hit half a second later with the clean sharp note of a perfectly executed draw-cut completing its arc then Nishimura's left side opened.

The cut ran the full diagonal line from armpit to hip in a single clean slash that split skin, muscle, and probably cracked a rib or two beneath.

Blood poured from the wound in one heavy sheet, soaking through his uniform and splashing onto the arena floor in dark red patterns.

The barrier flashed desperately… scrambling to respond, but the draw had already landed and cleared before the automated system could properly engage.

Nishimura's left knee buckled first. The leg just gave out beneath him, unable to support his weight anymore and then his right knee followed.

Both massive blades left his hands as he fell, spinning wide across the arena floor with loud metallic clatters that echoed through the stadium.

He went down face-first without even trying to catch himself and the impact of his full weight against the solid surface made a sound like a sack of cement dropped from a second-story window.

He didn't move after that and Mio was already walking toward the exit.

She hadn't looked back once.

The crowd hadn't fully processed what had happened yet… there were several seconds of complete silence from the stands where people were still trying to locate where Mio had gone and when exactly the fight had ended then the noise came all at once.

The sections nearest Class 5 erupted first, loudly and the rest of the stadium followed in a wave.

People were talking over each other, pointing at where Nishimura was still lying face-down on the arena floor in a growing pool of blood, trying to explain to the person next to them what they'd just seen.

Most of them hadn't tracked the movement… They'd seen Mio standing there with her blade sheathed then they'd seen Nishimura falling and the part in between had been too fast to process.

Itsuki raised his hand.

"The winner of this match is Mio Kamemori!"