"I wonder what Onee-chan wanted…"
Itsuki asked the question mostly to herself as she approached the door to the gymnasium. The two girls following behind her still answered in their usual manner.
"Maybe she wants to give you some secret club leader lessons!" Sonoko spoke first, her enthusiasm making evident she was already imagining how it might occur.
"Why would she need to do that in secret, though? Late in the evening at school, and not even in the clubroom?" Tougou answered Sonoko with doubt.
"I was supposed to come here alone, too, you know…" Itsuki smiled back at them just a little.
"Itsuki being called out to a secret meeting is too exciting to miss! Right, Wasshi?"
"Well, I suppose so. I am a bit curious." Tougou was surely more interested than her composed demeanor let on; she walked with purpose at Sonoko's side.
"Right?" Sonoko's eyes grew all the more intense, and Itsuki knew she wasn't going to be convincing them to let her go in alone. She grabbed the door handle and turned the oddly loose knob. The door creaked as she slowly opened it.
"Excuse me…" she said, poking head through the opening. Inside, the gymnasium was pitch black. Was Fuu not here after all? She had sounded serious when she told her to meet her inside, but maybe she was early?
"Let's go in, let's go in~!" Itsuki felt Sonoko's hand push on her shoulder, and the three made their entrance at Sonoko's insistence.
"But no one's here, the lights are—" The door shut behind them, leaving everything just beyond the entrance in darkness. "—off."
"Oooh~, maybe Fuumin-senpai has something planned." Sonoko didn't sound at all distressed as she came up to her side on her left.
"I hope it isn't too crazy." Neither did Tougou as she did same on the right.
Itsuki started to respond, but a loud thunk echoed in front of her from across the gymnasium, deep within the darkness.
"What was that?" Itsuki tensed. Another loud thunk echoed, this time from the far left corner.
"Fuu-senpai?" Tougou called out. A few seconds passed. Then, another thunk, from the far right corner of the gymnasium.
"Onee-chan…?" Itsuki backed up a couple steps, toward the entrance. Her hand grasped the doorknob. She wasn't sure if she hoped to brighten the room enough to see what was going on, or if she was getting ready to run. But Sonoko and Tougou were with her, and they weren't worried at all. Nevertheless, she twisted the doorknob. It turned easily, and she pulled the door open.
Except the door didn't open. She could feel the doorknob in her hand, she could turn it, and she pulled it toward her, but the door didn't open.
She looked down. The knob was in her hand – and hung from it, the mechanisms attached to it that should be in the door.
"Club President Itsuki!" From the center of the darkened gymnasium, Fuu's voice rang out. "You may be taking on my role, but there is more to it than just being a helpful leader!"
"Oooh~, this really is a secret leader lesson!"
"Dramatic. As expected of Fuu-senpai."
"You also need girl-power, Club President Itsuki!" Fuu's voice rose in intensity as she made her speech. "And part of having girl-power is being able to handle the physical demands of whatever comes your way!"
"Haa… Again with the girl-power, Onee-chan?" Itsuki felt a little relieved to know Fuu was actually here, but the doorknob in her hand was a very tangible reminder that perhaps she shouldn't get too comfortable just yet.
"You were supposed to come alone, Club President Itsuki." Fuu's voice dropped in intensity suddenly. Soft. Foreboding. "No matter. We were prepared for this."
"Fuumin-senpai is so intere—beh!" A deep thunk resounded right next to Itsuki, cutting off Sonoko.
"Sonocchi?!" Tougou immediately turned to come to Sonoko's aid. "What's wro—guh!" A blur flew through Itsuki's vision, and another thunk echoed loudly in her ear..
"Eh?!"
The gymnasium lights flicked on. Beside her, Itsuki could see the dazed bodies of Sonoko and Tougou laid out on the floor.
"There's only one way out of here, Club President Itsuki." Fuu's voice echoed loudly from across the room once again, drawing Itsuki's attention away from her fallen friends.
Ahead of her stood her sister, her arms crossed, her stance imposing. In the far right corner of the room, Yuuna stood smiling as if nothing had happened. In the left corner, Karin leaned against the wall with an impish grin on her face. They wore their athletics clothes, and in each of their hands, a red rubber ball about the size of a basketball.
And spread all across their side of the gymnasium, many more of those rubber balls. Many, many more. More than she thought the school ever owned. A frightening amount.
"The only exit is behind me! If you can get past us, you'll be ready to lead the Hero Club to new heights, Club President Itsuki!"
"If I'm not going to be the club president, then I may as well make sure our next leader is the strongest she can be!" Karin stepped forward and rolled the rubber ball around in her grip.
"Don't worry, Itsuki-chan! Let's all have fun!" Yuuna, always the energetic one, never stopped smiling.
"Ehhhhh?!" Itsuki looked back at the handle-less door behind her, then back at her dear sister. Her dear sister, now making the face she used when she was up to no good, except with a hint of determined purpose behind it. "Onee-chan!"
"Now then…" Fuu lifted her ball and drew it behind her back. Yuuna and Karin took similar stances. Three rubber balls, primed for flight in her direction.
"Are you ready?"
Itsuki trembled. Truly, she was in the most difficult pinch of her life.