Once again, I was amazed at Haruhi's athleticism; she managed to run headlong into the forest without slowing down, jumping over fallen logs and slithering between trees at breakneck speeds. And to make matters worse, she was doing it all while screaming at the top of her lungs.

Real subtle, Haruhi. I'm sure they have no clue we're coming.

As she blazed a trail into the woods, the other team began firing at her from their respective hiding spots, but judging from what I could see from my place at the edge of the playing field, none of them came very close to hitting her. It's just nearly impossible to hit something moving that fast through thick cover.

She kept running until she came to the fence that marked the far end of the playing field, and at that moment I realized she had just ran straight through their defenses and was now positioned behind them.

Fueled by a desire to enact revenge on the girl who had sucker punched them earlier, all five of their players focused their fire on the little clump of bushes Haruhi had dove into, leaving their backs completely exposed to the rest of our team. Koizumi and I managed to eliminate two of them before they even realized we were shooting at them.

Is it possible that Haruhi is really a brilliant strategist and that cheap shot she took was just part of a master plan to trick the other team into weakening their defenses?

I doubt it. I think it's much more likely that Haruhi is just an inconsiderate jerk who gets lucky a lot.

After losing two players, the other team actually started to fire back, which prompted our team to grab cover behind a log and a couple trees. I looked over and saw that Koizumi had taken a shot in the chest.

Neither Nagato nor Asahina-san had been hit, but they weren't really shooting back either. I watched Asahina-san fire off two shots high up into the trees and then drop her gun on the ground in fear.

It's okay, Asahina-san. You just stay hidden until this is all over.

Nagato, on the other hand, was watching with what seemed like a keen interest, but she had yet to pull the trigger. I watched her smoothly move her head to avoid two paintballs that flew by just a little too close.

Maybe it was for the best that Nagato didn't fire. If she had, the other team wouldn't have had a chance.

Speaking of not having a chance, that was pretty much the situation the other team was in despite Nagato's inactivity. They were firing back, but with Haruhi on one side and the four of us on the other, they didn't have any cover from our fire. Two more of their players went down, one from shots by Haruhi and the other from a combined effort by Koizumi and I.

I felt really bad about shooting them, but it was better them than us I suppose.

While we were finishing off those two guys, their last player made a mad dash for the only place nearby that would offer him protection from both angles. He had a log to protect him from Haruhi and a large bush on our side, which he poked his gun through in order to return fire while remaining protected.

It was a clever move, and it caught me off guard. I got hit right in the neck before I could duck back behind my tree.

I was surprised at just how much it hurt. Maybe it was because I got hit in the neck or maybe because it was my first time, but I definitely came away with the desire to not get hit again.

The guy really was in a good position. He had the freedom to work on taking out me and Koizumi, all while being protected from Haruhi by the log. And if Haruhi wanted to move closer to get a better shot, she would have to run through a lot of open ground, which would get her shot for sure.

"Kyon-kun, I don't want to play anymore," Asahina-san said, but I didn't get the chance to respond because at that moment Koizumi took a shot in the leg, his second.

"You're out," the ref said, as he dashed over with his umbrella and escorted Koizumi off the playing field.

Unfortunately, while the ref was distracted with removing the SOS Brigade's resident Cheshire cat, Haruhi took the opportunity to enact a devious plan.

I watched as she threw something into the air from her cover. Only when it was at the peak of its flight did I see that it was a baseball-sized rock. It came down right on the enemy player's back, and when he stood up arching his back in pain, Haruhi went ahead and added to his agony by popping him three times in the arm and chest.

That was dirty, Haruhi.

"You're eliminated. Blue team wins round one," the ref announced after coming back to the field and finding the last red player covered in paint.

I was waiting for Haruhi when she got back to base. I noticed her mask had a large blotch of red paint on the side, so I guess I was wrong and she did get tagged during her cannonball run through the enemy lines.

"What was that?" I asked. Her face curled up in confusion.

"What do you mean? That was a victory for the SOS Brigade."

"I mean what's with you throwing a rock at the other team." I honestly think she didn't see anything wrong with what she had done.

"Oh, that. That was creative problem-solving."

"No, it was cheating," I said, and as expected, she looked upset. "You can't throw rocks in paintball."

"Then pretend it was a grenade." Wow, she's really going all out with this military thing.

"This is crazy," I said.

"So is war," she added before walking away.

Oh god, she's become a monster. Well, an even bigger monster I mean.

--

A/N: For those of you who might be wondering, some refs at paintball fields carry open umbrellas with them as a shield from random paintballs.