The Vampire Prince

The Preliminaries

The first round didn't amount to much; each match went by very quickly. Solo battles came down to a test of strength, or stamina, whoever had a stronger desire to win. The fights were basic and straight to the point. Sort of unfair for the teams lacking power, but that was the whole point anyway. Echizen knew this; he knew exactly how the competition would play out. All the race leaders know. The qualifiers were to weed out the weak; it was why Echizen fell asleep for the whole of round one. Probably would do the same for the second round if he were not apart of it.

"Alright!" Scarlet's voice boomed throughout the entire arena, waking Ryoma completely. "Round one is over, and we will now have a thirty-minute break to relax, absorb, and stall so the cleanup team can repair the ring for the second round. For now, in case you forgot or missed it for any reason, the results of round one will be displayed on the screen above the ring. I'll make another announcement when the second round will begin."

Echizen yawned and looked up at the screen Scarlet talked about.

Murigaoka vs Maikozaka - Murigaoka
Joushuuin vs Midoriyama - Joushuuin
Hikagashima vs Takashiro - Takashiro
Yamabuki vs I'carus - Yamabuki
Rokkaku vs Higa - Higa
Kushimaki vs Okakura - Okakura

"Were you not paying attention?"

Echizen turned his head to see Fuji standing in front of his seat waiting for him. Ryoma clicked his tongue and stood up as well. The pair then left their seats to follow the rest of their teammates who had already gone off ahead. Fuji slowed his pace enough to keep their team in sight but far enough to be out of hearing distance.

"So were you really asleep the entire time?" he asked Echizen with obvious amusement in his voice.

"I didn't see a reason not to."

"Even if it was to know how the competition will go?"

Ryoma shook his head. "Like I said before I already know about it."

"Yeah about that, care to explain yourself?" A voice said from behind them. Ryoma looked at Fuji with a glare then turned his attention to the newcomer. "Just as I said, I already know how this whole thing will play out. Seriously I'm tired of repeating myself."

Ignoring that last part, Momo continued to question Echizen. "How?! No one was informed about any details of the competition. The process, layout, and any other information of great importance were heavily regulated. Only what was approved by the competition sponsors as well as the director was released to the public. Even then there was very little published so the competition would remain shrouded in mystery. Both to appeal to the public and to keep the teams participating in the dark. There was no way for you to know with certainty what would happen here."

"As you said Momo, only the public were kept in the dark. I'm sure the race governments knew all of the exact details." Fuji answered.

Echizen nodded. "Exactly, I have no doubt Monkey King, and the Sadistic Prince know about it as well. Though I'm sure they didn't disclose any information with their team before this competition started."

"Are you saying they might have told them now?" Fuji asked. He did chuckle at Ryoma's little nicknames but got serious once he realized the implications. Once again Ryoma nodded.

"Wait hold on!" Momo exclaimed once he noticed Fuji and Echizen were about to go into their own little world again. What is with these two and their secrets, it's starting to get on Momo's nerves. "That still doesn't explain how you know!"

Ryoma blinked and was going to respond, but Fuji answered. "Did you forget? Ryoma here knows someone in politics, that's how we were able to not worry so much about what we would do if we were to win."