The Vampire Prince

The Semi-Finals

Fudomine

Yamabuki

Shitenhoji

Seigaku

Rikkaidai

Hyotei

Echizen read the names of the teams moving on to the Semi-finals. He had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Everything seemed to be going according to plan but he couldn't shake the feeling of something very wrong. He wasn't sure if it had to do with the competition or back home, and honestly, he was concerned. Even though he knew the inevitable outcome, Echizen was both worried and excited about facing Rikkaidai and Hyotei. He may not have liked monkey king but he wasn't dumb. The boy was strong. There was also the fact that Echizen didn't know whether the werewolf's ability is dormant or just underused. He would have to act accordingly based on which one. He even debated on talking to Momo about Atobe's past, whether it was known about the ability or not. There was also the situation with the Fairy Prince. Even though Echizen kept up to date with the races, he never knew the full extent of the prince's abilities. He knew the Fairy could strip others of their senses, but was there a trigger, a condition, or how long did it last, how much was stripped away? He knew none of those things. That and the power alone is troublesome to him and his teammates.

Of course, there were certain wild cards of their own. Fuji has yet to use his 'Trials' against anyone in the competition, he himself has used minor attack strategies and only used his acid rain magic.

However first things first, they must make it past the Semi-finals.

"-zen"

Ryoma blinked. "huh?"

Tezuka sighed. "Echizen, were you not paying attention to anything we just discussed?"

Ryoma shrugged. Tezuka rubbed his temples and continued. "I said, The host announced who we would all be up against for tomorrow. Our opponent is Team Fudomine. We were trying to discuss a strategy."

"Ah well tomorrow, Taka-san, Fuji, Momo and I will be fighting their set of fighters," Echizen replied.

Momo nodded. "Right and I thought it was best to split up like the fight against Higa."

"Actually I wanted to suggest teaming up," Fuji said. "Might help considering some of our abilities."

"Oh?" Inui piped in "Care to explain."

"They only have four fighters. So most likely they will double up and try to stay near another person from their team. I say we do the same, It would end up that way anyway if they do double up. This way we can practice working together from the start."

"hmmm according to the data, it should be Kippei Tachibana, Tetsu Ishida pair and Akira Kamio, Shinji Ibu pair."

Momo turned to Inui "why is that?"

"Tachibana and Ishida both have similar aspects to their abilities in which they incorporate animals. Kamio and Ibu as well have complementing abilities. If they want to make the most out of teamwork then they will take advantage of possible combo attacks." Inui opened his notebook and flipped through the pages. "I don't know everything about their tactics or abilities because I don't have enough data on their fights as much as I did the other major competitors. Fudomine seems to be the underdogs, finishing the match quickly without giving too much away like us. However, I do know Tachibana is a Vampire with the ability to channel the aura of the animal of his choosing. How powerful depends on if he is a pureblood or a halfbreed."