As they went into Hotarubi's next round, Junichi felt the dread that he'd been staving off, trying to move past, building in his stomach again.
Even though he'd made it through his round, that didn't mean the next person would be so lucky. Hotarubi had been disappointed by Junichi and would probably enter the next round even more aggressively. His patience in the first round had let Junichi set up an escape plan, after all.
He hoped that his competitor would be smart enough to forfeit right out the gate.
Hotarubi launched pellets across the field, completing obscuring it from view. Junichi gripped at his chair, breath held. He knew now that Hotarubi was really skilled with doton, in a way beyond what had been seen in the second round of the exams, so he was terrified - would the dust clear only to reveal Shinde's corpse?
Luckily after a tense moment, Shinde burst through the dust and landed on the wall. Junichi exhaled, shaky, watching her movements as she fired off techniques into the dust. But as far as Junichi could hear, none connected... His eyes scanned the dust, searching for Hotarubi, and seeing no movement but fluttering and settling particles.
"Where is he?" Junichi asked, quietly.
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