Snippet #2658820

In this school, the Bread Wars had very little to do with bread. It was about dominance. Much like a sport, this 'war' was a show of one's greatness over their peers, regardless of standing. Kings and idiots fought on equal terms. Indeed, although the pristine Godbread was a prize to behold, there was much disgusting chaos that needed to be wreaked in order to get it. Rosa hated it, but in this case, she wasn't afraid to get her hands even a little dirty if it meant exacting dominance wherever it hadn't already been exacted.

Rosa glanced at her BluScreen Lite—that had been bought the evening before—which gave her a whole overview of the battlefield before her, including the locations of all her allies. She didn't stare at it too long, however. It was just a little guide to give her an overhead view, but Rosa trusted her own eyes the most. Standing close to the register, like a bird of prey on the watch, Rosa kept close tabs on everything in front of her and kept track of not only her allies locations and the locations of the bread, but precisely what every single student was doing at once, keeping close attention on them all. This wasn't a skill Rosa was born with, but it was what truly marked Rosa as a rightful ruler, for like the almost legendary Prince Shoutoku, Rosa had the ability to listen to over ten people at a time and deal with them all accordingly.

Among her immediate allies, it appeared many of them were highly occupied. Erin looked as if she had completely forgotten about her mission to get the bread, but Rosa was not offended in the least. She appeared to be making an effort to be especially showy, so she must have remembered Plan B. Besides, she had pretty much defeated a former winner's chances of winning again. Rosa had to make sure they weren't any more remarkable than herself and maintain the highest win rate. She would not be bested here.

Akako seemed nearly uncontested, albeit she wasn't doing much beyond cheering on the boys around her. It was almost scary how convincing her shallow guise could be. The guys of the MAA seemed to be tearing up anybody who contested them and almost nobody dared approach what appeared to be the strongest group in the room. Although they moved slowly as a group, it seemed they had nearly no issue in securing the Apollobread, likely by picking it off one of the other kids. Akako seemed almost disgustingly contented with the bread in her arms, which the boys fell for completely, and she appeared to be inspiring some sort of competition between the boys as she stuck closely to the shortest among them. They were eager to prove themselves by retrieving another bread, but something seemed to get between them.

Specifically, a white-haired first year student. Apparently caught up in her own character, Akako made a girly yelp in surprise. This had an almost immediate effect on the boys around her, as they were quick to push him away. However, the boy avoided them effortlessly with a large grin on his face. He seemed a little too happy to be fighting the large group of MMA members, weaving in and out with a bright gleam in his eyes as he took them on with ease that implied experience which belied his age, clearly heading towards Akako. Rosa gritted her teeth. A problem child, she thought. Rosa was definitely paying attention to his display of combat prowess, although bread didn't seem to be his immediate goal. Nonetheless, he went from being a neutral party to an obstacle. Perhaps she would need an intervention.

Meanwhile, Tomoe and Lala were both doing as instructed. Tomoe was everywhere, going this place and that, whereas Lala was making a valiant effort to get the bread. Rosa was debating whether or not those two should have changed tactics yet or not, but with a new obstacle appearing, Rosa knew exactly how to deal with it. Rosa whistled and immediately, a pig-tailed head popped out from between the desks, not unlike an excited puppy, and she awaited her order. Rosa gave out a very simple command: "Clean Akako's fingers!" With a nod, Tomoe sunk back under the desks and into the unknown.

Rosa also was paying close attention attention to the locations of the breads. The Herabread, which Erin was tasked to receive, seemingly disappeared. Nobody knew who had it. Okay, more like everybody knew who had it. The shouts about the Ghost from the amateur announcing corner still rung in Rosa's ears. Of course, nobody knew where the Ghost was. Like a ghost, he had disappeared from the public eye. Yet, Rosa was not to be played for the fool. She saw the blue-haired kid sneaking around, and knew fully-well what he was capable of. How he managed to sneak one of the breads in the last conflict was almost impressive to Rosa, but Rosa could easily observe what techniques he was using this time, looping this way and that much like a fox that was avoiding the hounds. This hawk's eyes were not to be deceived however. Rosa made sure she would be in the perfect position to intercept the boy.

Chester was heading toward the counter after circling in the crowd several times to make sure that he left all those that might be tailing him behind. It was always better to cover one's tracks first before directly going to the place where they might be waiting, the counter. He completely gave up reading the crowd then, the many 'wave lengths' of the people were distracting at best. As such, he noticed Rosa's attack far too late.

"Ah!" Much like a bird of prey, Rosa appeared to swoop toward Chester in an instant, her hand reaching out in an attempt to grab at his shirt. Chester took a step back and to the side, just enough for her to miss as he turned around, trying his best to look for a path back into the milling crowd of students. However, he was caught by surprise when he felt something sharp, like a few fishing lines, stopping him in his tracks and focusing his attention on Rosa again. It was the queen of the school, everyone knew and respected her. Well, the ones who actually have a social circle do. He had always watched with a kind of horrified fascination as she weeded out those who didn't agree with her, but he was certain that he had hidden himself well enough to be considered normal, if not weak. "Mine," was all Rosa bothered to say before closing in the distance between herself and the boy, her fingers splayed.

Trying to back away once again, Chester winced when he felt the sharp strings digging into his flesh. His eyes darted over the crowd toward Ryuu, for any help that he can get. However, Ryuu was still locked in battle. He needed to buy some time, at least enough to distract her. "What's yours?" He asked, feigning innocence. Rosa reached out to place her hand on Chester's chest, causing his eyes to widen as he crossed his arms defensively over the bread under his jacket. "You want my body?" Rosa didn't respond and forcibly reached toward the area Chester was protecting. As he resisted, Rosa closed her other hand into a fist and moved to backwards, causing him to feel that sharp feeling again on the back of his neck, causing him to weaken for a short second.

Forcibly, Rosa pushed Chester onto a table, bringing her clenched hand over Chester's neck to hold him as she struggled with Chester's arms. Biting his lip, Chester locked his arms in place, resistant to Rosa's pulling. He wasn't going to give up the bread that easily, not after Ryuu's efforts. Rosa frowned at Chester's resistance and with a stoic expression on her face, she brought both her hands around Chester's neck and began to apply force. Chester let out a short gasp, feeling his air supply cut short. "What are you... Doing?" He choked out, though his arms didn't move an inch. Rosa didn't respond, at least not verbally. What she did, however, was press further on Chester's wind pipe, gritting her teeth with effort as she did so, and even unconsciously smirking.

All Rosa had to do was weaken the boy and his ability to grip onto the bread and very soon, it would end up in the correct hands. Of course, she would have no interruptions. This kid did very well to completely lose everybody else who was trying to track him, so nobody would be paying anymore special attention to the two. All this chaos that Rosa disliked so much worked to her benefit, as everybody was either dead set on their goals or they were paying attention to where the real action was occuring. Erin was definitely contributing to that. After all, nobody would truly care for the well-being of a nobody. That was just the natural order of things, the order that Rosa had adapted to and learned to manipulate in her own favor, as if it were palpable.

Just as Rosa had intended, Chester's efforts at resisting her were becoming weaker. A sort of mania was in the back of her mind, a drive for the bread. Very soon, it would be hers, but truthfully, it had been fated to be hers from the beginning, and she was just going through the motions. Afterall, the mandate of Heaven was still on her side, correct?