Chapter 46.3: The Feud with the Branch Family

“I’m losing my mood, so I’ll call it a day. See you around, Alphonse. I’ll be waiting for our match in the competition.”

Without looking back, Lloyd headed for the school gate. Alphonse breathed a quiet sigh of relief that things had ended without serious incident.

Yet immediately after:

“Hey, hold up.”

Shion called out to Lloyd.

“Sh-Shion-kun…!?”

“Huh?”

Lloyd turned and scowled at Shion with a puzzled look.

“What now, C-Class? Still got something to say? You just barely—…guh!?”

Mid-sentence, Lloyd’s eyes went wide.

“You’d better return this at the gate, right?”

In Shion’s hand was the entry permit plate for the academy.

“H-how… That was in my…”

Lloyd frantically checked the pocket where he’d stowed the plate, but it was gone.

“When did you…!? Gah—!”

He looked up in alarm, only to find Shion—who had been standing in front of him—completely vanished.

“Where’re you looking?”

“!!”

Shion’s voice came from directly behind him. Lloyd spun around, but no one was there. Then:

“Over here.”

The voice called out again, now in front.

“Tch…!”

When Lloyd turned back, Shion was there, right in front of him.

“Here, take it.”

Shion held out the plate with a faint smile.

“Watch your valuables on the way back—”

Then:

“—Slooowpoke.”

He tapped Lloyd’s cheek tap, tap, tap with the entry permit.

“…──~~~~!!”

Blood rushed to Lloyd’s head so fast it felt like it would explode. He threw a fist at Shion on sheer impulse.

But—

“…!?”

The punch, which clearly should have landed, cut through empty air as if passing right through Shion’s face.

“What!?”

“Didn’t I tell you already?”

Shion’s tone turned cold.

“You’re so painfully slow you can’t even touch me, a C-Class.”

“You… you little—!!”

Quivering in rage, Lloyd snarled.

“You’ll regret this! Magic Acceleration—Acceleration!!”

Lloyd once again activated the speed-enhancing spell he’d used before. He launched a flurry of almost invisible attacks at Shion.

None of them landed.

From an onlooker’s view, neither Lloyd nor Shion seemed visible—only the fierce roar of wind whipping around marked their battle.

“I-it’s incredible…”

Alphonse was flustered that the matter had flared up again after it seemed settled, yet he couldn’t help voicing his amazement at their superhuman speed.

Shion, calmly dodging every attack without changing expression, contrasted starkly with Lloyd, whose frustration mounted with each miss.

“Hey, you’d better calm down. Check your chest pocket.”

“Huh!?”

Still dodging with ease, Shion’s casual remark made Lloyd glance at his uniform’s breast pocket.

“No way—when did you…!!”

The entry permit, which should’ve been back in Shion’s hand, was now tucked neatly into Lloyd’s pocket. Shion had slipped it in without Lloyd noticing—even as Lloyd unleashed a relentless, high-speed onslaught.

(This guy… Is he saying he could’ve taken me out anytime!?)

Gritting his teeth, Lloyd growled.

“Don’t underestimate me!! Magic Acceleration—Acceleration, Second Gear!!”

He boosted his speed another notch, but his attacks still didn’t reach Shion.

Depleted magic and mounting desperation pushed Lloyd to keep swinging.

“Watch it, or you’ll get hurt.”

“What!?”

“Take a look at your feet. Your laces are undone.”

“Huh!?”

Even further accelerated, Lloyd still looked down at his feet in panic, thinking Shion had somehow undone his shoelaces. But his shoes used belt-like fasteners, not laces.

“You—…!!”

Veins stood out on Lloyd’s temples as he raised his head. Shion was beaming a smug grin.

“…I’ll kill you!!!!”

…
…
…

After unleashing attacks non-stop in a blind rage, Lloyd soon ran out of stamina from pushing his acceleration too far. His breath came in ragged gasps.

“Hah… hah… hah…”

Shion, on the other hand, maintained the same composed expression, not even breaking a sweat.

“You’re done already?”

It was as if Shion were saying he’d be fine continuing—he still had energy left.

However, in reality, Shion was at his limit. He silently begged Lloyd to give up and go home. Though he acted cool, his uniform shirt was soaked in sweat underneath.

Judging from Lloyd’s exhaustion, Shion guessed he wouldn’t attack anymore. He felt certain of his overwhelming victory.

Yet things took an unexpected turn.

“Hah… hah…”

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Lloyd spoke:

“…I really didn’t wanna show this in front of Alphonse, but I can’t just walk away…”

“(…Huh?)”

Sensing something ominous, Shion fought to keep from revealing his alarm.

“Watch me pull out my ultimate acceleration…”

His trump card.

Meanwhile, Shion was nearly out of magic. If Lloyd used his best speed, Shion couldn’t dodge. Lloyd, with Freed’s dragon blood, could land a hit so fast it’d cause major injury. And it would reveal Shion’s true limits to Alphonse.

An injury might heal, but exposing his real ability was absolutely unacceptable.

At this point, telling Lloyd to stop wouldn’t work.

There was only one move left.

Shion glanced at Alphonse.

Yes, Alphonse—if he stopped Lloyd like before, the attack could be prevented. But Alphonse was now watching intently to see how Shion would handle Lloyd’s trump card. He wasn’t going to intervene. In fact, he looked interested in seeing the attack.

(Alphonse…!! You bread freak…!!)

He was out of options.

Shion had to take a gamble.

(I’ll pretend to let myself get hit—make it look like I chose to take the blow to end this.)

He’d sacrifice himself to appease Lloyd, so he wouldn’t reveal his true limits. He’d likely be severely injured, but at least he’d avoid exposing himself to Alphonse.

(Hold strong, my face…!)

After a quick silent prayer, Shion gave Lloyd a supremely confident look, hands still in his pockets, as if to say “Come at me anytime,” while making eye contact from a few meters away.

“Here I go…”

Seeing this, Lloyd set himself, and tension filled the air.

“Magic Acceleration—Acceleration…Top Gear!!”

Rather than seeing Lloyd’s fist approach, it seemed to materialize. That was how fast it moved. In a split second, it went from several meters away to stopping right at Shion’s nose.

“Why…didn’t you dodge…?”

Sweat trickled down Lloyd’s face as he asked. Shion didn’t even budge. In truth, he couldn’t see or dodge at all—but Lloyd couldn’t imagine that. To him, Shion was the one who’d shown unfathomable speed so far. The idea that Shion had failed to track it was unthinkable.

It made Lloyd suspect:

“This guy…did he perfectly read my move?”

Shion, who was panicking inside but masking it, realized exactly what Lloyd was thinking.

“Why do you think?”

With that question, Shion seized total mental victory. He let Lloyd draw his own conclusion.

“…! Are you telling me…?”

Shion didn’t bother claiming “I read your attack and intentionally didn’t dodge.” He didn’t have to. Lloyd leaped to that assumption on his own.

“…You followed my move all the way, even stopping your dodge on purpose…!?”

That question only deepened Lloyd’s misconception. Eyes wide, he shouted in disbelief.

Shion said nothing else. Turning silently, he walked away.

“Let’s go, Alphonse.”

“Ah… y-yeah.”

“Grr…!”

Shion didn’t speak further, leaving Lloyd to interpret his silence as confirmation. Lloyd stood there, unsure whether to follow or retreat, eventually just letting them go.

Shion’s actions convinced both Alphonse and Lloyd that he possessed immeasurable power. Everything went exactly as Shion had planned, leading to the ideal outcome.

And humiliating a speedster by outdoing his speed was precisely Shion’s idea of fun. Resisting the urge to buckle from the rebound of his own acceleration—and from the near-intoxicating thrill—Shion carried on as though nothing had happened.

“…”

Lloyd watched them leave in a daze, then muttered:

“Never thought there’d be anyone besides Cliff Wilder who could see through my Top Gear….”

“Who the hell is that C-Class…?”

◆

“Sorry, Shion-kun. I got you involved in that mess.”

On the way to the library, Alphonse apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m the one who jumped in.”

“Haha, that’s true.”

Alphonse laughed briefly, then continued:

“Still, I was kinda surprised.”

“Huh? About what?”

“That you deliberately provoked Lloyd. I somehow expected you to handle it more calmly, you know? I guess I just had this idea of you being a bit more…adult about it.”

“I don’t mean that in a bad way.” Alphonse smiled, and Shion shared his honest feelings.

“Alphonse, I don’t know exactly what image you have of me…”

Shion looked straight into Alphonse’s eyes.

“──But I’m definitely not mature enough to just stand by when someone’s insulting a friend I care about.”

He spoke with a faint smile.

And at that moment:

“A-gh…!”

Like a puppet whose strings were cut, Alphonse’s legs gave out beneath him.

“Eh?”

He dropped onto his knees, then collapsed in a sitting position, twitching. Then he stopped moving altogether.

“Eh…? Alphonse…?”

Shion was genuinely confused by the sudden turn of events.

“Alphonse…!?”

He shook Alphonse’s shoulders, but Alphonse had rolled his eyes back and didn’t respond.

“H-he’s dead…”

Alphonse Freed, age seventeen, passed away in the arms of his greatest friend. The expression on his face at the end was said to be one of utmost peace.