"Hey, Zax, that was so awesome, you did really great in the tournament today!"

"You could have just texted, you know," I replied with a sigh, though I can't lie, I was kinda happy.

​​

I'd just gotten back home, in my place in the Residential District of the North Quadrant, where I'd moved back into a few days ago, and my sister had just called me to congratulate me on getting through the first two rounds of the X-Warrior Championship.

"No way, this is the least I can do! Hey, I bet you could win the entire thing, especially if you use your Anomaly powers. But I'm guessing you plan to continue to keep those under wraps, huh?"

"Well, actually...I think I just might use some of my powers if it looks like I'm about to hopelessly lose a fight or something...the idea of winning the tournament is appealing to me, I like the thought of rendering everyone who looked down on me speechless," I responded with a wistful sigh.

"...huh, you seem really casual about it. Are you being serious?" She inquired skeptically.

"I mean, a bunch of people know about it already, so it's not much of a secret anymore to begin with."

"That's-...I thought it was just, like, ten people who know about your powers?"

"Exactly, that's ten too many...actually, I think it's a bit more than ten...and that's not counting the Wights."

"Oh, right, forgot about that...yeah, it really doesn't make sense for your enemies to know more about your powers than your allies do."

"Right...though I won't use my powers if I don't need to, I'd still prefer to win with my natural skills that I actually worked to gain, instead of the powers I gained by chance, you know?" I remarked.

"...well, if nothing else, I'll probably never have to worry about you getting overconfident, it's almost scary how well you know your own capabilities, you're always so objective and calculating instead of emotional when it comes to fighting."

"That's, uh...not entirely true. There have been times where my emotion drowned out my logic...like the time I killed that old bastard, that was so emotionally pleasing," I replied with a happy sigh.

"Oh, you're talking about-...yeah, you, uh, enjoyed that way too much," She remarked with a nervous laugh.

"I mean, it was one of the best, most cathartic moments of my life, so of course I enjoyed it."

"Right...well, anyway, little bro, I gotta go now. Talk to you later, 'kay? And good luck tomorrow, I'll be rooting for you! Bye, Zax!"

"Sure, yeah, talk to you later, Ella."

And with that, she hung up, as I let out a sigh and flopped onto the bed with a stifled yawn...it's not that late, but I feel pretty drained. Looks like most of my classmates had sent me congratulatory messages too...guess I should reply to them, huh. And after that, I think I'll go to sleep. It's only 8 PM, but hey, no harm in getting some extra sleep, might as well rest up as much as possible before the tournament continues tomorrow...

...

...

I woke up the next morning at around 7 AM, feeling well rested and nicely refreshed. That was a really good sleep, I had sleep lines on my arms and the right side of my face, I feel great.

The ideal way to start a day, waking up fully rested. Whenever I wake up still tired, it just ruins the rest of the day for me. Now, then, I should get out of bed and get ready to head out to the stadium for the remainder of the tournament.

I got up and stretched my arms up with a relaxed sigh, before heading for the bathroom and grabbing a quick shower. Once I was done, I headed back to my room and got dressed, equipping my weapons onto myself.

I then headed into the kitchen and made myself some breakfast, a Nutella toasted sandwich, chocolate-flavored cereal with chocolate milk and chocolate chip pancakes drizzled with rich chocolate syrup.

...what? I need to fuel up, can't fight on an empty stomach or whatever. The fact that my entire breakfast is sweet in taste is a total coincidence. Well, whatever, I have no reason to justify my eating habits to anyone, I'll do what I want because I can, simple as that.

I let out a satisfied sigh as I finished my food, clearing up the table and washing the dishes once I was done. Alright, then, looks like it's about time for me to head for the stadium...let's get going...

...

About an hour later, I was back in the waiting room in the stadium along with Sakura and Katie, who'd both arrived before me. It was now down to the final sixteen, and we were about five minutes away from the start of the first match, in which Katie would be fighting.

The third round was going to have eight matches, I'll be in match number five, fighting some random K-Rank. Should be an easy win, but I'll set a Save point before it starts, just in case. At least I won't have to wait around for as long as I had to yesterday, it should go a lot faster today.

Sakura was going to be fighting in the eight and final match of the round, and as for the other Anomaly, Yugi, he'd be fighting in the third match.

"You sure look confident, don't you?" I said to Katie, who looked a lot calmed than she did at the start of yesterday.

"No, I think I'm just not nervous," She replied with a shrug.

"Hey, it's possible for all three of us to make it to the semi-final round, how cool would that be? For students to take up three of the last four spots would be awesome," Said Sakura with a grin.

"FYI, it's also possible that none of us make it to that far," I pointed out objectively.

"Hey, don't jinx it!"

"That's not how that works...if I'd said 'we'll all definitely be making it to the semi-final round', then that would be jinxing it," I corrected her.

"Wow, you're such a know-it-all," She laughed.

"That's pretty basic knowledge though," Chimed in Katie.

"Huh, really? Guess that makes me the opposite of a know-it-all, which would be...a know-nothing? A know-nothing-at-all? Or maybe-?"

"An idiot?" I suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Rude...but fair enough, I guess."

The conversation was then cut short as the announcer declared the start of today's leg of the tournament, the cheers from the audience echoing out as he did. After a couple of minutes of warming up the crowd and stuff, the announcer moved on to declaring the start of the first match for today, calling out the participants.

"Break a leg and stuff," I said to Katie, as she headed out.

"Sure...thanks."

She entered the arena along with her opponent and the Duel Field activated around them, and as the countdown began ticking, she showed no signs of using her Manifestation Overdrive. Looks like she's trying for a win in the first round without using her trump card, so that she can unleash a blast that's too big to dodge in the second round.

Right before the countdown ended, she activated her Primary Manifestation and the instant it hit zero, she shot towards her opponent. Her opponent had some decent skill, but she had the upper hand...and it didn't take more than a minute before she broke through her opponent's defenses and got him teleported out.

And with that, the match was as good as hers...round two of the fight ended in an instant, as she used her trump card to minimize her opponent's chances of even evading, let alone counter. Once again, she looked pretty drained after using that attack, but it looks like she held back some...she isn't completely exhausted, which means that she didn't fully use up all her XFE.

Cheers and applause rang out from the crowd as she headed back from the arena. The door to the waiting area then opened as she walked back in and shut the door, letting out a sigh. She sat down beside me and sunk into her seat, letting out another sigh. From what I've gathered, the more tired she is, the less she conceals her emotions.

Or maybe that's not quite accurate, it's not like she deliberately conceals her emotions...at least, I'm fairly sure that she doesn't. It's more accurate to say that her emotions are more visibly apparent the more tired she is.

"I'm so sleepy," She grumbled with a stifled yawn.

Her usual lack of visible emotion really adds emphasis to the contrast of her current state...have to admit, I find it pretty adorable...not that I'd ever say that out loud, of course...

"You know, I gotta say, you're usually so hard to read that it's super cute when you're tired like this and your emotions start to show!" Remarked Sakura with a grin.

"I know, right?" I blurted out in agreement.

Wait, did I just say that out loud? Crap.

"Ooh, now that's pretty bold," Smirked Sakura, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, "Not often a guy will come out and so casually tell a girl that he thinks they're cute."

"I didn't-...I mean, you're the one who actually said it, I was just agreeing without really listening-," I began to counter.

"Ah, so then you blurted out what you were thinking without meaning to? That's pretty adorable-."

"Never call me adorable again, or else I'll-."

"Oh my God, both of you, please shut up," Interrupted Katie, sounding like she wanted to die of embarrassment, averting her gaze slightly as I glanced at her, her cheeks slightly red.

"Cute," Sakura and I blurted out at the same time, before we could stop ourselves.

"...I said shut up."

_____________________________________________

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