''Daddy!'' Alice ran towards Irwin and sat next to him.
Irwin instantly smiled, ''Alice, what are you doing here?''
''Our match will be in an hour,'' Alice replied.
Irwin nodded.
''But, why aren't you with your teammates?''
Alice pouted, ''They are only acting macho and trying to impress me.''
Irwin chuckled and patted her head, ''Are they bothering you?''
Alice shook her head, ''No, but I wished that they would focus on the tournament instead.''
Irwin nodded, ''What do you think about your chances of winning after seeing the Round of 32?''
Alice sighed— she had a bittersweet smile, ''Not good... The Four Kings are monsters...''
''Four Kings... What about the Third King, Ichiro?'' Irwin asked.
Alice pondered, ''I think... He is another kind of monster.''
''You think so?''
Alice nodded, ''I noticed that he is concentrating a lot like he will have a battle of his life.''
Irwin nodded, ''We will have to see, but be careful.''
''Always.'' Alice smiled and left.
Irwin gazed at the High School of Fighting stands.
Or more precisely, towards Ichiro.
The Recruiters of Colleges and Giron might not notice it.
But Irwin does.
Ichiro is loosening and tightening his muscles every second or so.
Irwin doesn't understand why.
He narrowed his eyes, and he felt that the black-haired young man would show something that he would never forget.
...
Alice arrived in her team's stands.
''Alice!'' Two young men instantly said with a smile.
The first one had beautiful blond hair, delicate-looking skin, and attractive face. His body was athletic, with slightly muscular around his arms. His name is Ben.
The second one had jet black hair, sharp eyebrows, and a sharp jawline. His face was quite handsome, with an athletic body, and he was also 190cm tall. His name is Darcel.
''Heyo,'' Alice said simply and sat down on her seat, some distance away from the young men.
But the young men moved closer and started talking.
''Alice, did you meet your father?'' Ben asked.
Alice nodded.
''What did you two talk about?'' Darcel asked.
''About tournament,'' Alice replied.
They kept asking questions,
While Alice kept answering with short answers.
But then... Two figures were about to walk past their stance.
The first one was definitely the most handsome man Alice has ever seen. He had black eyes, delicate-looking skin, and a strong-looking body. It was Ichiro.
Next to him, a white-haired young man was walking with a neutral face. His face was very attractive, but you can see that his body is entirely made for combat. It was Michael.
Snowland's team went quiet, and they watched silently at these two figures.
Ichiro glanced at them but walked past.
Michael glanced at them as well, but then his attention was stolen by the beautiful black-haired girl.
His cheeks had a slight hue of pink— he accelerated his walking speed and went past the Snowland's team.
Alice's heartbeat became slightly faster— she took a gaze at the white-haired young man and had a slight hue of pink on her cheeks.
'What are you thinking, Alice?' Alice quickly shook her head.
Michael kept walking next to Ichiro while his heartbeat was getting faster and faster.
They arrived at the vending machine.
Ichiro bought a cup of coffee, while Michael bought a coke.
''What is wrong with you?'' Ichiro asked with a frown.
Michael was slapping his cheeks until it was bright red.
''N-Nothing.''
'Suspicious.' Ichiro thought.
Michael kept drinking his coke silently.
Ichiro emptied his cup and threw it into the trash can.
Michael stopped drinking and asked, ''When you first met Azura... How did you feel?''
Ichiro thought for a moment, ''I met her first at the game called Night's End... I didn't feel anything special, only curious because she treated like NPC were real.''
Michael listened closely.
''I thought that if she treated NPC's right... I felt that she was a kind-hearted person, and I would love to have someone like her as my friend.
''I guess somehow I started liking her while texting, and then with crazy coincidence, I moved here, and Azura was living here as well... When I first met, honestly, I went completely blank— I don't remember much about the meeting itself... But my heartbeat was very fast.'' Ichiro said.
Michael nodded and felt his fast heartbeat.
''Why are you asking me this?'' Ichiro inquired.
Michael shook his head, ''N-No reason.''
Ichiro shrugged and started walking with Michael back to their stands.
But once again, they went past Snowland's stands.
Michael took a slight glance, and his eyes locked with the black-haired girl's.
They both quickly turned their heads, a more visible blush on both of their cheeks.
''Alice, what is wrong?'' Ben asked curiously.
Alice stood up and left towards vending machine's, ''I am thirsty, excuse me.''
''I can get it for you!'' Ben shouted.
Alice smiled and waved her hand, ''No need.''
Michael sat down in his seat— his gaze lingered on the black-haired girl's figure and saw her walking towards the vending machine.
''Alright, next match Round of 16. It will be Michael's turn.'' Giron said.
But Michael wasn't listening.
''Michael?''
Michael still didn't hear.
Richard touched his shoulder, and finally, Michael twitched.
''Are you alright?'' Richard asked.
Giron saw him being totally unconcentrated, ''Rafael, you take this one... Michael is not in shape to fight now.''
Rafael nodded.
Michael didn't start arguing— he sat silently.
''Ichiro, what is wrong with him?'' Sariel asked.
Ichiro had a thinking posture— he started remembering everything they did after leaving stands.
He saw Michael's gaze lingering in the direction of a specific girl.
'He started acting weird after we passed Snowland's stands...' Ichiro narrowed his eyes and saw the black-haired girl returning from the vending machine and sitting down on their seats.
He also saw her taking glances towards Michael, but he didn't know because he had his head low.
'I see...' Ichiro's face morphed into a shit-eating grin.
Ichiro patted Sariel's shoulder and said. ''Our little Michael has a disease.''
''Disease?!'' Sariel was shocked.
Ichiro nodded, ''Lovesickness.''
