After two more tedious lessons, it was lunch time. I was going to hold another training session, but...

Instead, I was dragged along by everyone else to go eat lunch with them. While me and Nora could go lunch time without eating, Katsumi and Mitsuba insisted on going to the cafeteria and buying something to eat. Everyone else was feeling hungry too, so instead of play testing our new decks, we decided to have lunch.

Since I was here, I figured I would at least buy the free veggie meal to chomp on. Yukina, Akari, and Nora went to go find us a place to eat since they brought bentos, or weren't eating at all in Nora's case. Meanwhile, I stood in line with Katsumi, Mitsuba, Akihiro, Kawaguchi, and Yukimura.

Yukimura had no interest in our Vanguard talk due to his make-up midterms, but since it was just eating lunch, he decided to tag along with us. Thankfully, nothing troublesome happened while we were waiting, and we swiftly got our food before wandering back over to Yukina, Akari, and Nora, who secured a table near the back.

Surprisingly, there was another girl on the table, Tadokoro. She was quietly eating a free veggie meal next to Akari.

"Hey! Look who we found!"

It seems Akari sat on the table Tadokoro was at in order to get her involved in our training. I didn't mind since Tadokoro was part of Akari's platoon, so it was only natural she wanted to inform her of what was going on.

"Um... hi..."

Tadokoro, who was overwhelmed by the number of people here, quietly shrunk back. I felt kind of bad for her. Did she always eat lunch alone? I thought she might eat lunch with someone like Himeji since they shared the gardening hobby.

"She's not good with talking to people."

Akari explained the reason why Tadokoro was so reserved. Well, seeing as Nora, another quiet person, was also here, it didn't seem to be a problem for anyone else. Kawaguchi sat next to Tadokoro.

"It's cool, as long as she doesn't mind us eating with her."

"I-it's fine! I don't mind at all."

I took a seat at the end, right across Yukina. I started to eat slowly, watching as everyone else talked to each other. Losing interest in what they were discussing, I scanned the cafeteria to see who was here.

In particular, I was keeping an eye out for Yogen. It felt weird putting my guard up during lunch, but it was unfortunately necessary due to what happened yesterday. If she were to come over to us again, I'd have to turn her away. However, I did notice that two tables in front of us, Sakigamiya and her friends were eating lunch. Matsushita wasn't present, strangely enough.

I couldn't hear their conversation due to the loud bustling of the cafeteria, but I could see that things were getting heated by Sakigamiya's exaggerated hand movements and narrowed eyes. It seems she was arguing with Demiza, who looked just as sassy, as she was rudely pointing at Sakigamiya while speaking and putting her hands on her hips.

I munched on spinach while watching the two girls argue. Hono and Misogi tried to diffuse the situation, but neither Sakigamiya or Demiza were having it. They continued to argue until Demiza finally had enough, took her stuff, and left the table with an agitated face.

Sakigamiya snarled, crossing her arms, and throwing one last cheap shot at Demiza as she took her leave. From what I could tell by reading her lips, Sakigamiya had called Demiza a "traitor". Demiza bit down on her bottom lip and ran off, tray of food in hand.

"Yukina, could you look after my food for me? I'm going to get some napkins."

I got up, wandering over to Demiza who had moved to an empty table, picking at her food whilst grumbling to herself. Sitting down across from her, she looked at me with down trodden eyes.

"...what?"

She didn't seem happy to see me. Even though Demiza showed me support earlier in the class, we weren't exactly close friends or anything. Our parents were close friends, but that was the extent of our relationship.

In all likelihood, she probably wanted to be left alone to wallow and soak in her emotions. I was probably being a nuisance to her. However, I'd feel bad leaving her like this after what she did for me in class today.

"Uh... it's a bit awkward to say, but I saw what happened between you and Sakigamiya-san."

"Oh... it's nothing, don't worry."

Just as Demiza was about to leave again to avoid talking to me, I gently grabbed her forearm to stop her.

"Wait. I wanted to see if you were okay."

"I'm fine, Takanori-san... really."

Demiza shook off my grip and turned around. I scratched the back of my neck, not sure what else to do.

"Do you... want to join us?"

In both a panic and last resort, I offered Demiza a spot at our table. She looked over her shoulder, pouting ever so slightly.

"...is that okay?"

"Of course it is. You're our classmate. I'm sure they'd be happy to talk to you."

I was referring in particular to Yukina and Katsumi, since they were also in the same friend group as her.

"Alright... thank you."

Demiza showed her gratitude and the two of us went to the table where everyone else was. She took a seat next to me, since it was empty.

"Hey, Taiga-chan! Nice to see you join us!"

Katsumi, being the liveliest one here, greeted Demiza brightly. Demiza smiled, waving at her.

"Kou-chan, hi~!"

"This is what you meant by napkin, huh?"

Yukina giggled as she teased me slightly. I shrugged, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"Thankfully no one took any of my lunch."

"In the first place, I don't think anyone would want to steal a lunch as plain as that... let alone the free veggie combo."

"Some people like vegetables."

I shovelled more spinach and rice into my mouth as I said that.

"You know, now that I think about it, all of us don't really talk to each other much, do we?"

Katsumi had pointed out something very true. This gathering of people from all different cliques of E Class was certainly unique. It resembled a mixer more than a group of friends eating lunch.

"We should get to know each other better by asking questions then!"

As Akari suggested that, lots of people nodded their heads in agreement. While I was reluctant to participate, I also agreed to it, as getting closer with each other would be beneficial for the upcoming war, so this might've been a great chance for us to bond over something trivial.

"It feels like I'm back in the first day of school again." Akihiro laughed.

"Who wants to go first?"

Katsumi, who had become the leader of the conversation due to her amazing social skills, opened the floodgate for everyone to pitch in their questions. I really hoped Mitsuba wouldn't be the first to ask, since he'd ask something stupid.

"I have one!" Yukina raised her hand excitedly. "Since we're all eating lunch, what's everyone's favourite food? Mine are wieners, especially octo-sausages!"

Using her chopsticks to pick one up, she cheerfully displayed to everyone the octo-sausage in her bento box. I didn't expect something savoury like that to be her favourite. I always thought she liked sweet things, like mochi or ice cream.

"Rice!"

Katsumi proudly displayed the huge mountain of rice in her second bowl. Yes, she bought two large bowls of rice.

"Rice is good, but y'all ever have chicken nuggets dipped in Rina's barbecue sauce? That's the bomb right there!"

I was surprised that was Yukimura's favourite. Since he was an athletic guy, I thought his favourite food would be something healthy, like turkey.

"Is Rina's barbecue sauce really as good as the rumours say they are?" Kawaguchi foolishly asked.

Of course, as her nephew, I was biased and thought her barbecue sauce was the best as well. However, at GEN Academy, there was a legendary rumour between students that my aunt's sauce was the best barbecue sauce they've ever had. Even the American students, Zyriot and Albert, testified this when they were asked for their opinions.

"Hell yeah! Ain't that right, Nora?"

Yukimura looked to Nora for back-up. Nora didn't even hesitate when Yukimura asked, he just nodded in agreement immediately.

"Absolutely! That barbecue sauce... it's out of this world! I love dipping my chips in it!"

Nora started blushing when he exclaimed his love for the sauce. Talk about getting flustered.

"Speaking of chips, my favourite foods are potato chips!"

Mitsuba had committed a cardinal sin. He called them potato chips instead of crisps. My British grandfather is rolling in his grave.

"Salt and vinegar flavoured, of course."

Okay, he redeemed himself a little bit with that.

"It's tough, but I think my favourite are eggs. I love fried eggs with a runny yolk especially. They're just so versatile!"

Akari went for a solid choice. My favourite way of eating eggs was poaching in the same pot I'm cooking instant ramen in. Ramen and egg was simply an unbeatable combo.

And with that thought, I knew straightaway what my favourite food was.

"Instant ramen."

However, as I said that, my answer was overpowered by Akihiro, who answered at the same time as me.

"Indian curry for me!"

"Bro, rest in peace your anus."

Mitsuba clapped a prayer for Akihiro.

"Hey man, I like spicy food. Indian curry just hits different. If my legs aren't shaking and my asscheeks ain't quivering while I'm sitting on the toilet at 3am, then it wasn't a good Indian curry."

I wondered if anyone had even heard me...

"I like to keep my intestines intact while eating spicy food, so I guess I'll go with peppered beef tacos."

Kawaguchi's subtle flair for the Hispanic was showing.

"Um... my favourite food... are cheeseburgers."

Nora finally spoke up on what his favourite food was. I didn't expect a savoury food from him either. I thought he liked sweet foods as well...

"What about you, Tadokoro-san?"

Akari gently nudged Tadokoro to join the conversation. Even though it looked like she was thinking over it while waiting her turn, Tadokoro answered straightaway.

"I-I like making fresh salads with the vegetables I grow myself..."

"Tadokoro-chan, you can grow vegetables?!"

Katsumi became excited when she heard that fact. Tadokoro was surprised by her enthusiasm, but nodded yes.

"T-there's a garden in the dorms... I grow them there. I-if you want, I can show you around... after school."

"Really?! That's awesome! I'm definitely coming!"

I had a sneaking suspicion Katsumi wanted to visit only to eat the food there.

"Can I come too? It sounds super interesting." Kawaguchi asked.

Soon enough, nearly everyone wanted to join Tadokoro after school to visit the garden. While it was nice that they were getting closer with each other, after school was our time to train.

"Guys, don't forget that Yuu wants us to practice after school. Is it okay if we postpone it until after that to come visit, Tadokoro-san?"

As if she read my mind, Yukina skilfully rescheduled the time of the meet-up.

"Oh yeah, that's true. We'll come by once that's done!" Katsumi grinned.

"T-that's fine." Tadokoro said.

I glanced over at Demiza, who was laughing along with everyone else. While her mood had certainly improved, she hadn't yet told us what her favourite food was.

"What about you, Demiza-san?" I asked.

"Me? You wouldn't have ever heard of my favourite food before."

Demiza sighed, slumping her chin into her cupped hands.

"Really? What is it?"

The conversation quickly shifted topic as I asked her for answers.

"It's Cray cuisine."

"...Cray cuisine?"

I felt like I've heard of this before, but at the same time, I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"It's literally out of this world. You guys wouldn't know anything about it."

Everyone was just as confused as I was. We hadn't ever heard of Cray cuisine before, so most of us thought it was some kind of obscure foreign snack she liked to eat. However, Akihiro pointed out something even I failed to notice.

"Do you mean... food on Cray? Like, planet Cray?"

It suddenly clicked for me. No wonder it sounded familiar. Demiza was referring to food on Cray, just as Akihiro had said.

Considering all three of our parents knew each other, it wasn't surprising we were the only ones to understand how much truth there was to such an outlandish claim. Though, even Yukina looked like she had understood it.

"Cray isn't real, you're capping."

Kawaguchi bonked Akihiro on the head for even suggesting that. Demiza pulled an invisible zip over her lips, signalling to us she wouldn't say anything more on the matter. Everyone laughed at her strange answer.

I guess when I go back home during the holidays, I'll have to ask mom to procure me some delicacies of Cray cuisine.

"Since we're on the topic of food, what about drinks? My favourite is soya milk!"

"Energy drinks for me. I love getting high on caffeine, baby!"

Unsurprisingly, the two gluttons, Katsumi and Mitsuba respectively, offered their answers first.

"Sports drinks, Bocari Sweat most of all." Yukimura chimed in.

"Orange juice." Kawaguchi said.

"I gotta go with what I'm drinking right now, green tea."

Akihiro showed everyone the lukewarm green tea in his cup before taking a sip of it.

"Um... it's a bit childish, but... I really like strawberry milk..." Nora mumbled.

"I like soda, either cola or lemonade." Demiza said.

"Is it bad my favourite drink is tomato juice?"

A totally out of left field answer came from Yukina. Everyone looked at her with mixed expressions of disgust and confusion.

"Really? Tomato juice?"

Mitsuba stuck out his tongue, as if he was trying to shake the bitter taste of tomatoes from his mouth.

"Tomato juice is really healthy though, isn't it?"

Katsumi was right. Tomato juice was rich in vitamin C and lycopene, which was a type of antioxidant. It had a lot of health benefits, but its taste wasn't for everyone.

"At that point, isn't just easier to eat whole tomatoes?" Akihiro raised an eyebrow.

"A-actually... I agree with Yukina-san. I... I like tomato juice too! I-it's especially good when you make it yourself with fresh produce. Did you know home grown tomatoes are totally different from the store bought? When you turn that into a juice, it's a lot sweeter with a few salty notes. You can also blend in veggies, such as carrots and squash, to improve the texture and add to it's vitamin content."

While she started off talking shakily, Tadokoro slowly grew more confident when it came to the details of a subject she was passionate about. Hearing her describe this homemade tomato juice made me salivate a little.

"Can you make us some when we visit the garden?"

Katsumi looked excited to try it. She wasn't the only one, as even Akihiro and Demiza looked like they wanted to try Tadokoro's tomato juice.

"S-sure! Of course I can!"

"I can't wait to taste it." Yukina giggled.

"Y'know, speaking of homemade stuff, my favourite drink is this thing my family calls "grass juice". It sounds weird, but it tastes really good! Dad used to make it whenever we went out camping. He took all sorts of funky looking wildlife and crushed it together to make this really delicious smoothie."

I've been camping with Akari's family before, so I've actually tried this mysterious "grass juice". It tasted like a bitter mix of chopped grass and wet leaves. I didn't like it, but she did, probably because it was associated with pleasant memories for her.

"That doesn't sound safe to eat..." Katsumi recoiled slightly.

"It's not safe to make unless you're a forager, like dad is. If you want a more normal answer, I'd probably just stick to good old water."

"Same here. Water is my favourite drink."

Since I couldn't come up with an answer, Akari had given me a perfect opportunity to piggyback off hers. Much like me, water was plain and ordinary, meaning it didn't stand out much. Since this fit with my personality, no one should ask any questions or raise any suspicion about it.

"Okay, but plain or sparkling?"

Unfortunately, my plan to evade giving an actual answer was struck down by Katsumi. I hadn't thought past this point.

"Sparkling. The fizzy bubbles feel super good when they pop."

While it was great that Akari went first, she had also passed a falling baton to me. I wasn't sure how to answer, since I didn't have much of a preference between either.

"...I guess plain water?"

I was about to tack on I enjoyed flavoured water as well, but I soon realised that they didn't sell it much here in Japan, so there was no guarantee that they knew what I meant. I first tried it in England, when I was on holiday, where it was most commonly sold in places like supermarkets and convenience stores.

"Oh, I see."

Katsumi was the only one to respond to my boring answer. As such, the topic quickly shifted and everyone had moved onto the next question. Things had become slightly more personal, as Mitsuba asked us what our parent's jobs were.

"My dad works as a salaryman, boring I know."

"Huh? That's better than my old man... he's just a lowly bin man."

Yukimura sounded bitter as he said that.

"What's the chance he picked up our trash once?"

"Hell if I know."

"Come to think of it, the guy who collected our trash was pretty angry looking... was that your dad, Yukimura-san?!" Demiza exclaimed.

"You trying to piss me off?"

"It's a legitimate question..."

"Well, I dunno. He worked in one of the better off areas in Tokyo. Your family rich by any chance?"

"Hmm, well, I wouldn't call us rich per se... but my dad is a professional Vanguard fighter who was also a TV presenter on the Asia Circuit."

Yukimura, who had no idea what Demiza was bragging about, looked to the wide-eyed Mitsuba for help.

"Mitsuba, translate what she said for me."

"Dude, the Asia Circuit is the second highest competition a professional fighter can go into! You travel all around Asia, cardfighting for the title of Asia Champion so you can enter the World Circuit!"

"So her dad being in this Asia Circuit thing is a big deal?"

"Yes! He's famous! And being a pro, he gets paid a butt ton! Demiza-san, what's his name?!"

"Damn, so Demiza's secretly a filthy rich kid? I'm kinda jealous now."

"My dad is Backlion, you might've heard of him. And nooooo, we're not that rich! My dad retired a few years ago, these days he's working with my mom in a card shop."

When Demiza uttered that famous name, Kawaguchi excitedly turned towards her as well.

"Wait, you're the daughter of that Backlion?! What the hell?!"

"Backlion... he sounds familiar... wait, he was the former Gold Paladin Clan Leader! The Black Lion of the United Sanctuary!"

After searching up Backlion on his phone, Mitsuba instantly recognised who he was. Since Kawaguchi was a Gold Paladin user, it made sense he was aware of Backlion, since his main clan was also Gold Paladin.

"You guys seriously didn't know? The surname kinda gives it away."

Akihiro snickered at his friends who failed to put two and two together. While Backlion was famous, his surname was also public. Since Demiza was a rare surname, it wasn't hard to conclude Demiza was the daughter of Backlion.

"Now that I'm seeing them side by side... they really do look like father and daughter..."

With a picture of Backlion on his phone, Mitsuba held it up next to a cheekily smiling Demiza to compare their appearances. In particular, their light blue hair was a stand out similarity.

"Anyone else wanna reveal they're secretly filthy rich too?" Yukimura asked sarcastically.

"I think we peaked at Demiza-chan. My dad works in a zoo." Akari laughed.

"You're not gonna get any cooler than a celebrity parent. My mom and dad owns an orphanage. It's kind of how I got adopted by them."

Akihiro's father and my mom were close friends, so I often visited the Rose Orphanage with her. I don't recall ever talking to Akihiro much there, but I do remember seeing his face.

"Eh? You were adopted by the owners?"

"Yeah. For some context, I came into the orphanage when I was just a baby. As depressing as it is to say aloud, I dunno who my real parents are. They pretty much ditched me there. While I was growing up, no one ever wanted to adopt me cuz of my scary face. So I basically grew up in that house, becoming one of the oldest alongside Tamaki, and helping out whenever I could."

Mom was the same as Akihiro. Her parents abandoned her and her older brother soon after she was born. It made me feel lucky to have such a loving mother.

"Then one day, dad came into my room hiding something behind his back. I knew what this routine was, cuz he did it to all the other kids. It meant I was being adopted. I won't lie, I got pretty anxious when he revealed to me the adoption papers, as I got used to living there, but when I asked who it was, I was really surprised. Turns out, he was adopting me himself. From that day onwards, I was an Ishima, and couldn't be happier."

Everyone at the table was moved by Akihiro's heart-warming story, me included. I could only imagine what Akihiro must've felt like during all of that. The loneliness of being an orphan, the struggles of trying to be adopted by someone, and the overflowing joy of when it finally happens... and that's barely scratching the surface.

"Wow... Aki-kun... you're gonna make me cry..." Katsumi sniffled.

"I'm really glad to hear everything worked out." Yukina said.

"Thanks guys. I didn't mean to derail so hard, my bad. Nora, what about you? What do your parents do?"

"E-eh? Um... to be honest, I don't know... I think it might be real estate..."

"So what are the chances that one of our families is currently renting a house owned by Nora-chan's old man?"

"I-it's a guess, Mitsuba-san... I-I honestly don't know what their jobs are..."

"Really? I thought everyone knew what their parents worked as."

"W-well... I guess that's true..."

Nora quietly went back to reading his book out of embarrassment.

"My parents work as farmers, but I'm sure y'all guessed that." Tadokoro said.

"My dad's a rugby coach and my mom's a teacher." Kawaguchi said.

"What subject does she teach?" Katsumi asked.

"She's an elementary school teacher, so... I guess everything?"

"So guys, what's the chance we got taught by Kawaguchi-san's mom before?"

Mitsuba had somehow turned this into a recurring joke. Kawaguchi went along with it.

"Anyone remember a "Kawaguchi-sensei", then?"

"Bro, I don't remember what I ate yesterday, do you think I'm gonna remember who my damn elementary teacher was?" Yukimura laughed.

"My dad's a police officer."

Katsumi slipped that in amidst all the laughter and chatter, hoping no one would notice. Unfortunately, Mitsuba heard, and was the first to latch onto it since he was cracking jokes.

"Yo! What's the chance we've been arrested by Katsumi-san's dad before?!"

"That implies we've committed a crime in the past, dumbass!"

Yukimura smacked Mitsuba on the backside of the head while laughing. Kawaguchi's laughing halted for a split second, before resuming unnaturally. Why did he get uncomfortable when that was brought up?

"H-hey, you like getting into fights, surely the police got involved once!"

"I mean... argh, that's none of your business, aight?"

Even Yukimura became uncomfortable when Mitsuba said that to his face so blatantly. The laughter at the table slowed down as Mitsuba had unintentionally dug up a sensitive part of Yukimura's past.

"Wait... you were seriously talked to by police? What for?"

"I told you man, it's none of your business. Drop it bro, before I drop you."

"C'mon, you can't leave us hanging like this! I wanna know!"

"Didn't I tell you to drop it?"

Yukimura started to seriously get angry now. He folded his arms while staring down at Mitsuba intensely. There was a line that shouldn't be crossed, and Mitsuba had crossed it.

"B-but... dude, we're best friends, it's fine! Look, I'll even tell you about all the times I licked—"

"Mitsuba-san, let's not."

Yukina cut in, telling him to stand down, as she recognised the mood had become sour due to Yukimura's increasingly bad mood.

"Bleh, fine. What about you, Kazuraba-san? Your parents do anything cool or weird?"

"Um... I wonder."

Yukina laughed awkwardly, not wanting to delve into specifics. Come to think of it, I've never met her parents before.

"Yukina-chan, tell us!"

Katsumi also wanted to know more. It was only natural, considering how mysterious Yukina seemed at times.

"It's nothing special, really. My mom sells pictures and my dad plays sports."

"What kinda sport?"

Yukimura, who had calmed down a little, asked.

"Oh, umm... you guys wouldn't have heard of it before. It's an obscure one."

"How obscure we talking?"

"Me and Katsumi play a lotta sports. We prolly know which one you're on about."

Yukina, who was obviously trying to hide what jobs her parents did, had been caught in a trap. When faced against the two sports gurus, Yukimura and Katsumi, she stood no chance of lying her way through this.

Since she was a pinch, I wanted to help her out. I didn't know the reason why Yukina was trying to hide her parent's jobs, but whatever it was, I wouldn't question it. The easiest way to get out of this conversation is to move away from it.

This was my time to shine. I was going to derail this conversation by telling them what my mom worked as.

"My mom works as a nurse."

"Huh, what's the chance Takanori-san's mom took care of us before?"

Luckily, my bait worked as Mitsuba cracked his recurring joke when he heard my answer.

"I've never been in hospital before, believe it or not." Akari said.

"Same here." Yukimura said.

"I've been the hospital a bunch of times before. My little sister has to go there often for treatment and check-ups. The overnight stays are the worst." Kawaguchi said with a small groan at the end.

"Oh, Kawaguchi-san, you have a little sister?" Katsumi asked in surprise.

"Ah, yeah. I don't think I've ever brought her up to you guys before."

"What medical condition does she have?"

"Cancer."

Kawaguchi's serious answer deflated the lively mood of the table.

"Oh... I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me to ask..."

Katsumi immediately apologised after learning about what disease Kawaguchi's sister had.

"Nah, it's cool. She's in remission now, thank god."

"I feel bad for her though... having cancer at such a young age... it must be terrifying."

I agreed with Katsumi. Kawaguchi's family must've endured a lot hardship because of this. Is this why Kawaguchi didn't give up easily?

"Anyone else have siblings?"

In order to lighten up the mood again, Kawaguchi asked the rest of us this question.

"You guys already know my sister's Tamaki." Akihiro said.

"Yeah, I got one too... a bratty little sister who doesn't know when to shut up!"

Mitsuba groaned. He seemed to have an extremely strained relationship with his little sister.

"Woah, you also have a little sister? That's awesome." Kawaguchi grinned.

"No it isn't! She's the worst! I wish she wasn't my sister! She's even taller than I am! I hate it!"

Yukimura couldn't help but spit out his water in howling laughter hearing Mitsuba was shorter than his sister.

"Ba ha ha ha ha! That's pathetic! I can't believe you're shorter than your little sister! God damn dude, your life sucks!"

"At least I'm taller than Nora-chan!"

It somehow devolved at us laughing at Mitsuba's height.

"I'm used to being short... I do have three, much taller older brothers after all."

I've heard of them before. When me, Nora, and Yukimura visited Ike-sensei's lab, Ike-sensei revealed to us that all of Nora's brothers were former A Class graduates at this school.

"I also have an older brother. You may or may not have heard of him."

A smug smile zipped across Demiza's face as she said that.

"Oh god, she's flexing her celebrity status on us again..." Mitsuba whimpered.

"Who is it?" Akihiro asked.

"It's the Dragon Empire Branch Manager himself, my big brother Ayato-nii!"

I choked on my spinach hearing that.

Akihiro, Mitsuba, and Kawaguchi all stared at her with justifiably shocked faces.

"Huh? Huh?! But doesn't that mean... Ayato's the son of Backlion?!"

Akihiro's head exploded as he tried to make sense of that connection.

"Oh god, it's listed on his Wikipedia page!"

Mitsuba screamed, showing them his phone. I took a look as well.

She wasn't lying... Ayato really was Backlion's son. This fact was so obscure, the Wikipedia article needed a citation for it. Well, that citation was right here, in the flesh, sitting right next to me.

For a daughter of a very famous pro-fighter and the younger sister of a very famous Branch Manager, Demiza was very good at slipping through the cracks of the media...

"Don't let Onibitenbu-senpai know you're Ayato's sister, otherwise he might go full fanboy mode on ya."

Akihiro laughed. It seems he also knew who Onibitenbu was. It was strange, all things considered. How did Akihiro come into contact with such a high ranking 3-A student? They didn't seem to share anything in common.

"Oh I know! He's a huge fanboy, that guy."

Even Demiza was aware of Onibitenbu. Was this guy more famous than I gave him credit for? If he was, why have I barely heard of him then...

"Hearing all of you have siblings, it must be nice. I'm a single child..." Katsumi slumped.

"M-me too... I don't have any brothers or sisters." Tadokoro said.

"Same here. Who needs 'em anyways, they sound annoying as hell." Yukimura said.

"Damn straight! If I had the choice, I'd snap my little sister out of existence!"

Mitsuba furiously snapped his fingers repeatedly in order to bring his point across.

"It just sounds like you had a bad experience. I wouldn't trade my little sister for anything in the world." Kawaguchi said.

"I agree with Kawaguchi-san, I love my older sister, even if she can be annoying." Akari grinned.

While Mitsuba ranted about all the misdeeds his sister dealt to him, Katsumi turned her attention to me and Yukina, who hadn't answered yet.

"Do you guys have siblings?"

Since I wasn't keen on speaking, I let Yukina answer first. However, when I saw her emotionless eyes in that moment, I regretted it immediately.

"Well... I had an older brother, but he's dead now."

Mitsuba's loud ranting came to a sudden halt as he heard that. If Kawaguchi talking about his sickly little sister darkened the mood, then Yukina mentioning her dead older brother killed it.

I wasn't sure how to feel.

This was the first time I learnt she had a sibling. This was also the first time I learnt that he was dead.

"I'm... sorry for your loss."

Katsumi bowed apologetically as she was the first to speak up from the silence. Yukina looked indifferent to it though. She shook her head, urging Katsumi to sit up.

"It's okay. He died a long time ago. I don't remember many details since I was so young."

"How long ago was that?"

"Hmm... I wonder. Maybe... ten or so years ago?"

Yukina gave a rough estimate, but her nonchalant way of talking about it frightened me a little. It's like she had detached herself from that part of her past - that part of her reality.

"I'm over it now. Yuu, how about you tell them a little bit about Rei-chan?"

With those reassuring words to everyone, Yukina looked to me and smiled, albeit forced, while gesturing for me to take my turn to answer.

"Right... uh, I have a younger sister. She's in her third year of middle school. As Yukina said, her name is Rei. It's a nickname. Short for Reina. We're not especially close or distant or anything. We're a regular brother and sister duo that gets along just about fine."

I felt like I had to overcompensate my words to lighten the atmosphere a little. However, at this point, after being hit with two ill-fated siblings, no one was really in the mood anymore.

"Oh crap, my sister is also in her third year of middle school. Don't tell me they know each other..."

For better or for worse, Mitsuba somehow managed to carry on the conversation to slowly dig us out of the depressing pitfall we found ourselves caught in.

"Rei-chan goes to Seigatsu Prep. What about your sister?"

"Shoutai-chan goes to Heiwa Middle, we good."

Her name was Shoutai, huh? If I didn't any know any better, I would've thought she was a boy from the name alone. Mitsuba Shoutai... I guess it sounds better than Mitsuba Jun.

"Can we agree to never let our little sisters into GEN?"

"...I mean, I doubt Rei-chan will get an invite. She'll probably go to Seigatsu Academy like mom did."

"Takanori-san, I'm starting to like you more and more. Zero faith in your sister? My guy!"

"Unlike you, I actually like my sister."

"Siscon! Takanori-san went from woman beater to little sister lover!"

Why do I always end up being the butt of incest jokes... first it was the crush on my mom, now it's being called a siscon. What's next? I'm into aunt Rina because I go to her restaurant in my spare time?

"I'm neither of those things..."

Thankfully, due to Mitsuba's antics, the tense atmosphere had been lifted, and everyone started to laugh and have fun again. A few more mundane questions were asked here and there, such as "do you have any pets?" and "what's your favourite colour?".

Around halfway through lunch time, we finished eating, so we decided to head back to class to train. Nora popped into the library to return some books, so I tagged along with him to return the copy of Chess King I'd finished reading last night.