Narumi strolled into the classroom with a slight wave. The students of his class hesitantly returned to their seats after creating a huge mess around the classroom, which included some spilled blue liquid, several mini explosions which scarred the tables and chairs, and cracks on the walls. Narumi wasn't surprised to say the least, as this was the usual scene of the classroom. He looked around and spotted Natsume beside Ruka, with his feet on the table, manga covering his face. Obviously sleeping. Well, Narumi wasn't about to risk his life just to wake him up.
Hotaru was also doing what she usually did. With a large machine on the table, the little inventor was referring to her blueprints while fixing whatever the thing was. That thing looked... dangerous. Slightly worried, Narumi turned to Yuu, who was desperately trying to clean up the blue puddles. Poor Yuu. Koko, not to mention, was busy reading everyone's thoughts, especially Sumire's, out loud, causing her to storm over to Hotaru's seat to purchase a Baka Cannon. Kitsuneme was talking to Mochu and Anna and Nonoko was discussing their homework. That about sums up everyone... except Mikan.
As if right on cue, the little girl threw open the doors of the classroom, panting.
"Narumi-sensei, sorry I'm late. I...I," she faltered. But Narumi grinned. "I'm glad you're here, Mikan-chan. Let's begin class."
"Okay, Tobita-kun, can you come here? Ah, yes, distribute this... thank you. So, everyone," Narumi picked up the chalk and begun to write on the black board. "I've got a surprise for you!" Everyone immediately quietened and looked over at Narumi. Satisfied at the overwhelming attention, he continued. "The teaching staff has decided to organize a game. The game will be played with four people each and you'll be with your ability class, just like the sports festival. Oh, and starting from this year, it's going to be an annual event."
Hands shot up in the air. "Can you use your alice?"
"That's the most interesting part. Yes, you can. Listen carefully; this is how the game will be played. One of the abilities class members will participate in each game. Dangerous abilities will return to their original class for this game. So, as there are four classes, the four will stand in a circle around the golden star in the middle. They will be quite far away from the star. The objective of the game is to reach the star and pass it to the representative of the class. We have arranged for you to be playing against your fellow friends. It's not as easy as it sounds," Narumi smiled as some of the students snorted. "Imagine the opponent's alices. With Kitsuneme-kun, you fly to the star without breaking a single sweat. With Hotaru-chan, you get a variety of devices aimed to help you in the game." As this begun to sink in, some of the students' faces turned grim.
"That's about it. When a person is successful, he or she will get to stay in the game for a second round. The rest of the three will be replaced by other students. A person can at most stay for three rounds a day, so the event will last for quite long, maybe a week? There will be no lessons."
At that sentence, the whole class begun to party. The girls squealed with delight and the boys were roaring their approval, clapping each other on the backs. Narumi had to use his alice to calm them down.
"Settle down," he said sweetly. "There are still rules however. You cannot cause any harm, both physically and mentally, to your opponents. Not to mention, alices will not affect the star, so you can't levitate it to you or whatever. The event will start a week from now, so you will have to prepare. Meanwhile, normal classes will be replaced with your abilities classes starting from now. All detentions will also be postponed to after the event. Isn't that great?" No one replied, because his alice was still in place. Narumi picked up his attendance booklet and got out of the classroom. At once, the bell rang, and the children made a mad dash towards their respective ability classroom, all except Natsume and Ruka.
"What do you think, Natsume?" Ruka asked softly.
Natsume glanced at Ruka. "I don't know. The fact that I do not have to be in dangerous ability for this game is..." He stood up. "I suppose I'll just ignore my class, though." His lips twitched into a ghost of a smile, and the two took their time to walk out.
Meanwhile, Mikan spotted Tsubasa and Misaki walking together behind Tono, who was ranting something about the girls he had dated and things like that. "Sempai!" she called and ran towards them. A smile broke out on Misaki's face as she turned around, and she let Mikan throw her arms around her. Tsubasa patted her head with a grin and Tono immediately dropped his previous topic.
"Mikan-chan, you've grown so much taller! Cute as always," Tono was gushing. With Mikan tugging on Misaki's sleeve, they made their way through the crowds. As soon as they reached the still-empty classroom, Tsubasa flicked on the light and Tono flung himself onto the nearest sofa, complaining about how tired he was. Misaki kicked him off the sofa, saying that it was "her seat", and just then the rest of the Specials filed in. Surprisingly, Noda was there.
"Okay, everyone sit in a circle. We're going to start today's... meeting. I'm supposed to pick a representative for the game. What about Tsubasa?"
"What? No. No way, Noda-sensei. Not in this lifetime. Ask Tono."
"Tono?" Noda questioned hopefully.
"Of course! Obviously I am the most suitable candidate." There was sarcastic silence.
"So it's decided. Once any of you get the star, get it to Tono. Tono, you can't participate in the game, and-"
Tono gaped at Noda like a goldfish. "Why? Why can't I play?"
Noda cleared his throat. "If the representatives play, who will take their role? And either way, you lose, Tono. How are you supposed to use your alice, amplify the other team's and make them stronger? Sorry," Ignoring his grumbles, Noda continued. "As I was saying, pass the star to Tono. Anyone else who touches it will be a foul, which means we will not get any points, and a star is 10 points. The teachers have also installed a security system against cheating, and punishments are cleaning the barf cans for a fortnight. That's all."
Tsubasa gasped. "That's all? We're supposed to sit like this for a week?"
Misaki snorted. "We discuss strategies and start alice training, you idiot."
"That's right. So, we'll start one on one. Misaki, Tsubasa? Come to the middle of the classroom. The rest of you, sit near the walls."
Everyone slowly got up and shuffled aside. Tono dragged Mikan away while Noda took off his watch and left it on the floor between Misaki and Tsubasa. "Let's pretend that this is the star. Use your alices to get to it. No harming each other. Get it? Okay, start."
Misaki immediately split clones of herself, everywhere. Tsubasa groaned, and started to momentarily stop their shadows from moving, but there were too many of them. To stop Misaki from creating new clones and stop moving, he needed to find the real one.
If only he could lure her out...
He took a tentative step towards the watch, hoping that his plan would work.
When she saw that, Misaki's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. It was almost unnoticeable, but Tsubasa sprang forward and grabbed her by her arm. "I win, Misaki," he whispered, and smirked at her. All the doppelgangers immediately froze and Tsubasa scooped the watch up to pass it to Noda. Misaki rolled her eyes, scowling at Tsubasa.
"Impressive, but the real event will be much tougher. You'll be standing much further apart," Noda smiled and everyone started clapping. Mikan hugged Misaki to cheer her up and whispered, "You were great!".
The teacher looked around for more people to try out. After a few more rounds, it was time for dinner and everyone was exhausted. "Don't be late for practice tomorrow as we will be doing one-on-one with me, and I'll help you plan on how to use your alice. And one more thing, please try and keep a distance from your friends as we do not want any secrets we might have to leak out. You are also not allowed to talk about our training, so it would be better if you stay together during lunch, dinner, or breaks in between." His gaze softened as he noticed the gloomy students. "This will be worth it as the event will be fun. It's just two weeks. You can resume your daily lives after this. Dismissed."