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...
The semifinals.
The first round.
The final battle between Asakura Yasuaki and Kobayashi ended with An Qiu losing consciousness.
Then, according to the promotion system.
Of course, the first round of the semifinals.
It was Hakurosawa Apricot vs Kobayashi Tomoki.
And this battle.
It was very disadvantageous for Prunus. That was natural because Kobayashi was more talented than Prunus in terms of personality. His reflexes and stamina were also very good. So, when the same capture battle was transferred from An Qiu to Prunus, Prunus, whose stamina was not as good as An Qiu ', was soon at a disadvantage.
What was worse was that Prunus's ability was exposed early in the first round against Knife-cutting.
In the first round, she relied on the advantage of "Knife-cutting did not know his ability" many times to evade Knife-cutting's excellent combat ability. She herself did not have a complete grasp of the explosive clay.
Therefore, when Kobayashi, who knew her personality, was fully vigilant against her, Prunus had almost no chance to touch him. Therefore, Prunus, who was not good at escaping, was caught by Kobayashi's branch in the first five minutes of the battle.
"... Woo!" Prunus's calf was caught by Kobayashi's branch.
Prunus, who was in a running posture, instantly fell to the ground in the center of the field. After that, she did not have time to break free and was hung upside down by Kobayashi.
Just like the battle with An Qiu, the moment the branch touched Prunus's calf, it continued to grow as if it was alive and snaked up.
Soon, her whole body was entangled. Prunus felt that her body was squeezed by the hard branch, and she was suffocating in pain.
"What should I do..." Prunus squinted.
She looked at the thick branch that grew out of Kobayashi's hand with difficulty.
With so many branches wrapped around her body, even breathing became difficult for her.
Unlike An Qiu's personality, she was able to escape.
Before she could prepare her "big move", Kobayashi's attack killed her.
"That's it."
After successfully catching Prunus, Kobayashi stood there without panting. His expression was quite calm. Prunus noticed that he did not even show a trace of tiredness when he fought with An Qiu. It must be quite easy for him to catch her.
On the contrary, she felt like she was going to vomit from the pressure of his moves. Pain came from all over her body. Listening to the crowd's cheers, Bai Jian felt like she was a weak animal exposed to the spotlight, waiting to be slaughtered. Unwillingness and fear filled her heart, but she had nowhere to run.
Was it going to end as soon as it started?
Prunus's eyes flashed with a trace of helplessness. No, she had to at least try to struggle. She could not give up like this.
With this thought, Prunus ignored the branches that were entangled around her wrist. She used all her strength to stretch her wrist out of the crack between the branches. The dry and stiff bark cut her wrist. It was so painful that tears came out of her eyes. Even so...
Bai Jian quickly thought of a way to escape. If he could create a large amount of explosive clay at this time, and let the clay explode in classmate Kobayashi's hands, he might be able to destroy the tree branches. Although it would affect him, it might bring a new dawn to the battle …
Prunus, who was cornered by Kobayashi, quickly scratched her palm with her nails and shot a large amount of clay at Kobayashi's branches.
"I won't let you get away with it!"
Seeing Prunus's desperate struggle, Kobayashi quickly increased the length of the branches. Prunus was suspended in the air by him. At that moment, Prunus lost control of the clay's trajectory. She was shocked. The next moment, she was thrown out of the field by Kobayashi like a rubber ball.
"Boom!" Bai Jian's entire body was thrown out of the arena. Her back slammed into the wall of the arena. She felt a buzzing sound in her head. Her mind was muddled, and she almost fainted again …
Then, Prunus, who was still in a daze, heard thunderous applause outside the field. The audience was shouting Kobayashi's name. Teacher Mike immediately announced the obvious result of the match. [… WOW!
Kobayashi attacked decisively. The result of the match was out in seven minutes. The winner is — — Mr. Kobayashi!]
Prunus fell to the ground. She gradually came back to her senses. She stared at Kobayashi, who had eliminated her with overwhelming strength. She only felt that the little bit of confidence she had built up this morning was gradually being extinguished.
On the other side, Teacher Mike was still doing his job as a commentator. The live audience was focused on Kobayashi with admiration. Prunus, who was thrown out of the field, climbed up from the ground unwillingly. She painfully climbed onto the wall outside the field and spat out acid. It was not easy for her to escape from Kobayashi's grasp. She felt uncomfortable and uncomfortable.
In the battle just now, she did not even have a chance to fight back. She was almost suffocating from her unwillingness to admit defeat.
"… Student, can you still walk?
Please follow us to the infirmary for an examination. "
Prunus nodded. She did not dare to raise her head. With her back to the field, she and the staff struggled to return to the infirmary backstage. In this way, Prunus naturally went to An Qiu's room.
…
An Qiu, who was chatting with the infirmary, saw Prunus being brought in by the staff. She stopped smiling and looked at Prunus with a concerned expression. She had seen Prunus's battle on the TV and knew that she, like her, lost to Kobayashi's Tomoaki. She must be very unhappy now.
"Are you okay?" An Qiu asked her with an expressionless face.
When Prunus saw An Qiu, the gloominess disappeared without a trace.
Prunus showed a satisfied smile on her face. She stuck out her tongue and said, "… My opponent was too strong. I still need to work harder."
An Qiu shook her head and said, "You've already done very well."
Prunus smiled and nodded. She quietly sat on the bed next to her.
The infirmary also smiled and reached out to her in a friendly tone, "I'll check your body now."
After that, she quickly touched and knocked on Prunus's body. After treating the abrasions on Prunus's hands, she handed Prunus a few gummy bears and said, "Your body is fine.
You just need to rest well. Remember to change the gauze when you have time. "
Prunus smiled and nodded. She asked carefully, "Can I stay here with Ahn Chiu-chan?"
"Well, Asakura -chan has fully recovered. You two can go and watch the match together." The infirmary said with a bright smile.
Prunus and An Qiu looked at each other and naturally gathered together.
…
…
They left the infirmary and returned to the spectator seats.
The students of Class A had reserved seats for An Qiu and Prunus. When An Qiu and Prunus came out, Uchikai hurriedly came up to them and comforted them, "You two are amazing!
Especially Prunus, you actually made it to the quarterfinals!
I was about to be defeated by the students from Class B … "
Prunus looked at Uchikai submissively and explained with a helpless smile, "I … I'm not that good."
"… Prunus -chan, don't worry. I've already helped you teach Knife-cutting a lesson."
Chiku giggled next to her. She recalled the scene of Knife-cutting being despised by all the girls in the class when they returned to the spectator seats after their defeat. She raised the corners of her mouth and laughed, "Hahaha, I feel like I'll remember the awkward expression on Knife-cutting's face until I graduate."
"Then I'll be the victim as well." Prunus immediately put on a sad expression.
"Haha, it's fine. You'll only gain more fans." Chiku pinched Prunus's cheeks again.
"Speaking of which, where is the competition going now?"
"It's already the last match to determine the quarterfinals. Our class' Shadow Hill against Class B's Tachibana …"
Sha Yuzi explained seriously while Bai Jian nodded her head and listened attentively. She then turned her gaze back to Ying Shan who was at the competition grounds. Even though she did not pay much attention to the happenings in the class, it was impossible for her to not know about Ying Shan.
He was like a big shot in Class A. Not only did he have an excellent personality, but he was also physically fit and had a good image. It was said that he was one of the first to reach the finish line in the first round of the steeplechase. He was definitely … definitely someone who would shine in the sports festival.
Prunus was lost in thought. She couldn't help but wonder how she made it to the top 16.
Sure enough, she was too lucky today … While she was lost in thought, she felt someone tugging at her sleeve. Prunus came back to her senses and looked at An Qiu, who had been silent all this time.
"… Someone's looking for you."
An Qiu looked at Prunus calmly. She reached out and held Prunus's cheek, turning her head to the back of the stands so that Prunus could see the boy who had been looking for her.
Prunus was stunned. She was caught off guard and looked at Boom, who was waiting at the top of the stands. He was standing in the back of the stands and looking at her. The warm wind blew across his face, and his soft, half-red, half-white hair fluttered in the wind. Prunus couldn't see his expression at the moment.
… It was Little Bombardment Scorch. He probably wanted to talk to her about the competition.
Prunus's heart skipped a beat.
"… Hurry up and go." An Qiu patted her head and urged her gently.
"Well, okay."
She stood up carefully and walked toward Boom. "… I'm going to find Bang King."
An Qiu nodded and watched Prunus's figure disappear into the distance. She thought to herself — if only that half-red, half-white boy could comfort Prunus.
…
She didn't know how long Boom had been waiting for her. Prunus looked up at the half-red, half-white boy and called out to him with a conflicted expression. "… Sorry, I didn't see you."
"No."
Boom withdrew his gaze and gently shook his head. He seemed to have noticed the tiredness on Prunus's face. He didn't want to waste her rest time, so he said directly, "I watched the competition. You did very well."
Prunus was startled. She pursed her lips and slightly lowered her head without saying anything. "No, it's all thanks to you."
Even so, Boom felt that when Prunus said this sentence, it was as if she had lost her soul. They were not in the same dimension.
Boom's expression froze. He didn't see the happy expression on Prunus's face as he expected. It really surprised him. Was she unhappy because she couldn't advance to the next round?
But it was already very impressive that she could come this far. She was the 42nd in the steeplechase in the first grade, survived the horse-riding battle, and passed the first individual battle …
Thinking of this, Hong patted her on the shoulder again and corrected her, "… Don't be depressed. Top eight is already a very good result. You've just mastered a new fighting style. Work hard next year. You've already done very well."
You have already done very well. Prunus didn't know how many times she had heard this. Hearing this, her heart tightened. She looked at Boom with a confused expression. "Can I really climb up?"
Prunus stretched out her hand and looked at the bandage wrapped by the recovery girl. Many things flashed through her mind, making her eyes red. "Just now, after I was caught by Kobayashi classmate, I didn't have any way to fight back. With so many people looking at me, I felt very uncomfortable."
For the past week, she had tried her best to catch up with everyone's pace. She didn't expect that her hard work … would be easily broken by others.
"… In the first round of the steeplechase, Ahn Chiu-chan helped me. In the second round of the horse-riding battle, my teammates also helped me … Because of my carelessness, Knife-cutting took the lead. In order for us to advance, An Qiu used a move that consumed a lot of energy. Thinking about it, this should be the reason why she couldn't beat Kobayashi classmate …"
Prunus lowered her head, looking like a child who had done something wrong. Her voice trembled. "Maybe I don't have the ability to climb up here. Everything today was just luck. It was because of your help and Ahn Chiu-chan and the others …" Boom and An Qiu sent her weak self to the stage of the individual battle. Although she narrowly won the Knife-cutting by using petty tricks, she was forced to see reality again in the battle with Kobayashi — at least, that was what Prunus thought.
"… Maybe this is my limit."
Her voice was weak and helpless. Boom looked at Prunus's slumped shoulders and felt sorry for her.
She was really working very hard. Since she got the opportunity to receive special guidance two weeks ago, she had been training from morning to night, again and again. Standing at the nearest distance to observe, she was sure that Bai Jian was working very hard.
She worked so hard that he couldn't bear to tell her to "keep working hard."
Boom looked down at Prunus's trembling shoulders. It was not hard to imagine that she must be crying unwillingly now.
What could he do for such a hardworking child?
Boom stood calmly in front of her. Many scenes of their training in the past two weeks flashed through his mind. Finally, Boom Scorch got an answer in his heart. He asked softly, "… Prunus, are you tired?"
— — Her crying stopped abruptly. She didn't answer Boom's question immediately.
Was she tired?
No, she wasn't tired. She still had the strength to move forward. She just felt the gap between their strength …
"… Don't you want to pursue your goal anymore?"
Boom asked again. At this moment, his expression was calm and gentle. His voice was very soft, but somehow, it reached Prunus's heart.
… Goal?
Prunus's mind was filled with the image of her parents wearing hero suits, the once happy and complete family with her, and her mother's warning over and over again. She thought of the countless times she wanted to give up, but she still got up.
She must continue to pursue her goal for the sake of not letting herself down.
Finally, Bai Jian's perplexed expression changed. The panic from before also gradually disappeared. She steadied her shoulders that were trembling from crying and shook her head almost indiscernibly. "No, I can't stop."
Listening to her stubborn words, a smile finally appeared on Hong's face. He reached out and gently patted her head. A large, warm hand touched the back of her head. "Bai Jian, you don't have to say anything. You can't stop."
"As long as you still have the strength to move forward, I will always be with you. If one day you want to rest, I will also rest with you."
Boom said slowly and sincerely. In his mind, he was thinking about his classmates and important people who had accompanied him through all kinds of big and small things since he entered Xiong Ying. At this moment, he desperately wanted to pass this warmth to Prunus, who was struggling alone.
"You are no longer alone. Although the goal seems to be far away, I will work hard with you."
Boom's greenish-gray eyes were filled with gentleness and love, "This is not your limit. You will climb higher."
… … Prunus's expression froze.
She didn't know why, but Boom's sincere words shook her heart like a magic spell.
Would she climb even higher?
Prunus carefully looked up at Boom Scorch in front of her and saw a little confusion in her wet eyes. Boom pursed his lips and smiled, "Continue to work hard. I will always be with you."
This was no doubt a boost to her confidence.
Prunus felt that the darkness in her heart was gradually being expelled.
Since Boom said so to her, she would continue to believe him. With this thought, Prunus wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and showed a sincere smile to Boom, "Have you made up your mind?"
"Yes, I have."
… …