Rogue

Chapter 16

Things began to get dramatic rather quickly. The short boy that Akira remembered from one of her conferences with the top brass stepped down from the viewing balcony and demanded a fight with Mikumo of all people. Though everyone tried to talk him out of it, this man seemed set on having this mock battle.

"Get in the training room, Mikumo. I want you to show me what you're really worth." A frown fell on the blonde's face. If she remembered correctly, this boy was one of Kido's top combatants. Mikumo stood no chance against someone who was seemingly so strong. She stood from her seat, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

"Why don't you ask nicely?" The boy's red eyes slid over to focus on her figure. "All you've done is order him around. What gives you the right?"

"Enomoto Akira," he sneered. "I'll deal with you later." She chuckled, stepping toward him up the stairs.

"Why wait? I've been ready to go since last time―"

"Akira," Karasuma called. The girl quickly silenced herself, backing down. She didn't want to take orders from someone younger than her, but it seemed that the sixteen-year-old had higher authority at the moment. Kazama glared at her for a second longer before returning his gaze to Mikumo. "You can't compel him to take part in a mock battle. If he says no, that'll mark his refusal."

"I accept." Akira's jaw dropped at the younger boy's stupidity. Sure, she didn't know what this man's skill set was, but she knew that it was definitely superior to Mikumo's.

Chatter erupted among the trainees, all excited to see such a spectacle on their first day. That is, until Tokieda interrupted.

"Alright, alright," he clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention. "All the people who are done are to rest in the lounge." Many people grumbled at having to miss out on the action, but the others were thankful that at least Mikumo's defeat would only be witnessed by a few people.

Akira spared the man a final glance before trailing behind the others, not caring how this all turned out. Yuma, on the other hand, chose to stay behind and root on his friend meaning it was time for the girl to get a head start.

As she passed through the door, she stopped short so she could walk alongside the boy clad in bright red.

"Tokieda-san, was it?" The boy nodded, a neutral expression settled on his face. "What is the quickest way for me to earn points?"

"The best way to do it is by scoring perfectly on trainings and―"

"I'm sorry," she interrupted. "I need to hit 4000 points by the end of today. Daily trainings aren't going to cut it." She leaned in a little closer to the boy, being similar heights and all. "There has to be a quicker way to earn points..." Tokieda remained silent as they entered the lounge with all of the other students. She figured that maybe he didn't care enough to help and thought she should simply fall in line with everyone else.

"Follow me," he whispered. Akira followed closely at his heels, wondering where they were heading and why they had to be so secretive. The two then entered a large room which hundreds of numbered doors and many regular members and C-Ranks meandering around the room. "These are the Solo Rank War booths. Here, you can battle other combatants and earn points by defeating them. The higher the opponents points, the more the battle is worth. Though, as you are still a trainee, the only people you can get points from are other C-Ranks.

"This is probably the quickest way for you to earn points. However, since the matches are broadcast," he gestured to the large screens all around the room, "it might be difficult to get other C-Ranks to agree to fight you at your strength."

Akira nodded, her green eyes traveling around the room. She tried to get a rough headcount of how many C-Rank agents were in the room at the time. "People come in and out, so I'm sure there will be plenty of people for you to fight."

Though he offered some encouragement, she continued to wonder if her plans were a bit too ambitious.

"Do you think I can pull it off?" For the first time she had seen, Tokieda offered her a small smile. He knew about her situation and he didn't mind offering her a helping hand.

"After seeing what you did in the last trial, I think you're the only person that can pull it off." She smiled back at the boy. Arashiyama Squad was full of nothing but good-hearted individuals. "Do you want me to show you how to request battles?"

"Are the rooms similar to the ones in the squad rooms?"

"Yes."

"I think I can figure it out. Thank you, Tokieda-senpai." With a brisk wave, she ran off toward an empty booth and began her adventure to her goal. With her low amount of points, it didn't take long for someone to accept her challenge request. Her body was rapidly transported to a random cityscape and across from her appeared a boy who seemed a little bit younger than she was. He had dark hair and a cunning look on his face as he examined his opponent.

Akira scoffed, ready to beat the snot out of this kid.

"It's a ten-rounds game in an unranked match," droned the automated voice. "Begin."

In less than five minutes, Akira had completely swept the rug out from under the boy and completed their battle 10-0. She teleported back to her room and glanced at the number on her hand. The score was now at 1000, exactly where she should've started hours ago. However, she felt no anger toward the number now, an excited smile pulling at her lips.

"Onto the next!" Round after round after round, Akira continued to absolutely demolish her opponents. No one in C-Rank could level up to her skills and she was officially undefeated with zero losses so far. After her 28th fight, she checked her hand again, seeing that she was now close to achieving 3000 points. She smiled giddily. She was more than halfway there and she was having a damn good time. Now, she just needed to complete her promotion and rub it in Commander Kido's face.

"Did you see that?" Tachikawa nudged Izumi's arm, pulling his attention away from his phone and back to the screens.

"No," he shoved the device back in his pocket. The two had gotten slightly bored after the C-Ranks were told to wait in the lounge and allowed their attention to drift. "What is it?" Tachikawa pointed to a different monitor; one displaying the fights in the Solo Rank War Booths.

"There. Someone is absolutely racking up the points right now." Izumi leaned in closer to look at the screen, squinting his eyes to try and distinguish the person that moved at what looked like the speed of light.

"Oh my god," he muttered under his breath, a grin beginning to stretch his lips.

"What?"

"That's Akira!" Izumi laughed, completely blown away by her actions.

"I wonder why she isn't with the other trainees..."

"Who knows? I guess we better get her uniform programmed tonight," Izumi joked.

"Where are you going?" Tachikawa watched as his teammate began exiting the room without any warning.

"I'm gonna be there when she reaches 4000. I hope you have your wallet ready!" Tachikawa grimaced at the younger boy, growing weary of suddenly losing this bet.