Yoru and Takeru had gotten off their car and were currently walking to Lake Okutama in the midst of the Okutama forest. They were almost there but Takeru had begun slowing down.
"You're still nervous to face the others... There truly is no need for that, Ichino-kun. I keep telling you, I'm right here.", Yoru said as he fixed his glasses.
Takeru nodded slowly and said, "If you say so, senpai."
"Anyways, I should explain how the tests work. Today, the first day of the event, will be the test where the members of the different groups not including the group leaders will do a one on one battle against each other which means I won't be participating today. I'll be participating tomorrow which will be the same thing as today but with the group leaders.
The one one one battles will continue on until one victor remains. In these battles, we won't be using our unique abilities at all since these tests are supposed to gauge how much we've grown through the missions and training. Unlike our other alternate abilities such as super strength, super durability, regeneration and body deformation, we cannot make our unique abilities stronger. They are stagnant. So, it wouldn't be fair in the battles since for example, a 1st Class Medium could just use their unique ability and probably defeat a 3rd Class Low."
"Yoyo-san is truly a character from a manga... That was just like one of those scenes where a character has to give exposition! Let me see if I can make him do it more... hehe..."
"It really is unfair that our rankings are done through our unique abilities and not our other ones... Right, senpai?"
Yoru with a serious look on his face... fixed his glasses. "That's exactly right, my kohai! Our rankings should be done considering all our other alternate abilities! I really have to ask Chairman-sama to change the system... Someone could awaken tomorrow and just because they have a better unique ability, they'll be given the ranking of 1st Class Medium! Isn't that unfair!? I, who has trained so hard that he has significantly surpassed a 1st Class Medium in terms of the other alternate abilities, am still only a 2nd Class Medium just because that's the ranking of my unique ability alone! That doesn't make any sense, I can defeat a 1st Class Medium!
When an alternate-user first awakens, they are giving their ranking based on their alternate abilities EXCLUDING THE UNQIUE ABILITY! That is because at first, the alternate-user doesn't have it cause they haven't done the deal yet! SO THEY ARE GIVEN THEIR RANKING BASED ON THEIR OTHER ALTERNATE ABILITES... Of course, that's because you can gauge the level of their unique ability through their other ones because each alternate-user starts off with a specific level of their other alternate abilities which corresponds to the level of their unique ability which then corresponds to one of the rankings... but still! Why can't we just rank ourselves based on our other alternate abilities, the ones that we can actually grow through hard work... It just isn't fair... We all have the same ceiling! Even a 3rd Class Low could grow to be stronger than a High Alternate/Alternate-user in terms of the other alternate abilities with extreme hard work... ISN'T THIS SUCH A CORRUPT SYSTEM, ICHINO-KUN? IT REWARDS THE PEOPLE THAT JUST GOT LUCKY! GODDAMN NEPO BABIES!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Sorry there... I got a bit too passionate."
"It's fine, Yoyo-san. You've made me truly understand your frustration and I think I share it myself as well! This is unfair!"
Yoru chuckled. Takeru, while putting his hand on his chin, said, "Since they gave me the rank of 2nd Class Medium Alternate-user when I first joined SOMA and they measured my alternate abilities, that must mean my unique ability would be a 2nd Class Medium one."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Ichino-kun. You are a special case after all and your alternate has proven to be stronger than you are."
"I see...", Takeru said in sadness as he was remined of the last time his alternate took over.
Looking at that, Yoru grabbed his shoulder and said, "Get excited for today's test, my kohai. Everyone will be fighting without their unique ability just like you so it's the perfect chance for you to show off!"
Takeru softly smiled and then nodded.
Back on the bridge over Lake Okutama where Rin and Rento were having their match, Rento was getting exhausted but he still wasn't giving up. He had to look cool and masculine no matter what, especially to Yuko.
"Just give it up already, Takashi-kun... I don't wanna hurt you too badly.", Rin said in a taunting voice.
Rento grinned and said, "Give up? I don't know what the hell that even means! Also, its Takahashi!"
Rin suddenly made a disgusted voice. "That was so corny, dude..."
Rento's grin immediately disappeared. "DAMNIT! I THOUGHT THAT LINE WOULD BE COOL BUT IT REALLY IS CRINGE AS HELL! I WAS TRYING TO BE TOUGH AND COOL FOR SENPAI BUT I LOOK LIKE A DAMN OTAKU NOW!" He is a otaku.
"Whatever, come at me!"
"As you wish, little boy...", Rin said as she dashed towards Rento.
"She's fast!" Rento moved towards the left to dodge her but Rin immediately stretched her right arm towards him and grabbed his right leg causing him to fall over.
As Rento fell over onto the ground completely embarrassed, Rin slowly walked up to him and said, "Just give up, kid. Like I said, I don't wanna hurt you too badly. You can't beat me."
"Ohhh.... Damn, that's an aura loss moment from Takahashi-kun over there! Its being recorded by the cameras too...", Hikari said in a concerned voice as he and all the other groups except Yoru's sat there next to Lake Okutama observing the fight on the bridge. High-tech cameras were attached to the bridge recording the fight for The Chairman to watch later.
"Gross... Why are you trying to sound young, Hikari-san?", Watanabe Yoshimi, another member of Group 2, said.
Hikari suddenly made an exaggerated sad face and said, "Why do you have to be so mean, Yoshimi-chan?"
"Gross..."
Back on the bridge,
"HELL NO!", Rento shouted and then immediately got up and dashed in front maintaining a distance from Rin.
Rin smacked her head and said, "You're such a stubborn little brat, aren't you? It's clear you can't beat me. Why do you have to take this so damn seriously?"
"Because I have to show the person I've relied on that she can rely on me..."