A considerable crowd had grown around the classroom door. With every new burst of rolling music from within, a ripple of murmurs would sweep through them. And the question flipping from one student to the other was, "Does GirlDeMo have a new singer?"
"…that she was never alone," Yui finished solemnly. The end of the last chorus was concluded by a drawn out bass note, and at the terminus of that piece, there was a pregnant pause as the band collected themselves.
"YOOHOO!" Sekine shouted, pirouetting with her bass. "That's the fastest we've ever banged out a song!"
Irie nodded happily. "We still had the score left over from when Iwasawa was with us, but we didn't have any words. Yui, I thought that was beautiful." She smiled peacefully. Too peacefully.
"Of course!" Yui yelled, saving the energy. She and Sekine exchanged frantic glances; they hadn't gotten around to telling Irie. They had to get the details of the current mission through to her, without letting the tension let up. Yui could just feel the prickle of Yusa's binoculars on her neck.
"It's one of the most touching, yet kick-tush love-songs ever composed!" Sekine agreed, going into an impromptu bass riff, fingers crackling with energy. Hisako joined in with her guitar, as Sekine went over to whisper in Irie's ear.
"We're in operation: High Tension Syndrome. If we let up on the excitement, then Yurippe will give us a Special Gift."
Irie's shoulders trembled, and she almost dropped a drumstick.
"It ain't half bad," Hisako snorted loudly, oblivious. "And it rocks, which is the only thing that really matters to me! Come on, guys!"
The jam session continued, beats and melodies converging as the volume climbed.
"Hot D***!" Hisako screamed, shoulders pumping. "I haven't had this much fun in days! Yui, you ain't half bad!"
Unused to the complement and carried along with the music, Yui forgot to watch her words. "Thanks! Heh, and that raggedy guitar of yours is doing pretty sick-nasty, amig-YOWW"
Irie and Sekine managed to restrain Hisako before she could get another punch on Yui. "You trying to start a fight with me, punk?" Hisako howled at Yui's figure, sprawled on the floor. "No one insults my guitar!"
They hadn't told Hisako about the Operation. There really was no need.
After massaging away the pain in her shoulder, Yui leapt up, quick to heal as usual. "Hey, I have an idea guys. Let's go down and have a concert on the fields! It'll be intense, one of the glory days of youth."
Hisako quit her struggle. "Hey, that's a great idea! Let's go!"
Another crowd of NPC's had formed in the cafeteria, possessing an air slightly removed from admiration.
Ooyama and Fukimaki's audience watched in amazed disgust as the pair put down their final plate on a stack that was already teetering on the edge of collapse.
"Erp," Fukimaki belched contentedly, slumping back into his chair. "Best… meal… ever." He fidgeted with his now considerably extended waist. "Woops. Looks like I'm all out of belt."
Ooyama licked his lip, similarly loaded. "Ohhh, yeah," he agreed. "You know… I think I'll just take a nap. Yurippe's Special Gift can't harm me if I'm in hibernation."
"Yeah, but our last Special Gift was a set of the Principal's boxer's. We had to wear them on our heads, and complete one whole lap of the school. A few guys ran into Angel, and well… that didn't end well. Yurippe said that the next time, she'd give us something of Angel's."
Fukimaki and Ooyama gazed at each other in dawning horror.
"Now that I'm full of energy, I want to exercise!" Fukimaki cried, leaping up. The NPC's stumbled back in shock as his extended bTakamatsu caught the lip of the table, and almost tipped the leaning tower of plates.
Ooyama followed suit. "Right! Exercise promotes health and emotional wellbeing. And being happy is what being a youth is all about!" His dimpled face beamed. "Why don't we ask TK how to teach us how to dance?"
"Yay youth!" Fukimaki laughed with a strangled smile. "Hey, TK! You almost done in the there? Let's learn how to dance!"
After a moment, a flush could be heard. TK lurched his way out of the men's room. He blinked in the sudden light, and grimaced. His face was a delightful shade of mint chocolate chip. "Ooh… Barracuda. Man… My stomach's being attacked…"
"You can attack it later! Let's go down to the fields, and learn to dance! Come on!"
With herculean effort, TK managed to give his overweight amigos a supportive thumbs up, before calmly making use of the garbage bin.
The needles' flashes had intensified. Hands blurred as cloth and thread flew together, and another shape joined the pile.
Shiina's eyes, originally narrowed with the intensity of her mission, had widened in joy. She gazed at her creations with love.
Let's see… that one will be Lily, and she can be Anastasia… He'll be Spot, because of the patch on his cheek! Oh, they're all just so…
"Well, you can just move your fat tush," Hinata demanded, gesturing wildly with his bat. "We have dibs on this field for baseball!"
"Are you blind as well as stupid?" Yui argued. She gestured wildly. "Girls Dead Monster is all set up to have a performance! And look, all these students came to hear us play!" The other band members yelled their agreement. The crowd of NPC's surrounding the band looked on at the spat in confusion.
"No way!" Hinata disagreed obstinately, cheeks red. "I've waited all day to play baseball, and that's what we're going to do!" He huffed, and kicked a cloud of dust in Yui's face.
Her lips narrowed. "Only rock-headed boys make their youth out of sports! Music is the true fulfillment of our childhood!" And she kicked back another cloud of dust into the baseball players.
Hinata's cheek's bulged. "Oh yeah?" he skidded at Yui, sending a wave of dust onto her.
"Oh yeah?" she retorted, sending a wave crashing back.
With grunts of impassioned fury, the pair dueled, sending up a massive cloud of dust on the baseball diamond that had the crowd gasping for breath.
Otanashi coughed. This was starting to feel like an assortment of five year olds. Through the haze, he could make out more NPC's heading their way, drawn by the crowd. He frowned.
"Hey, Hisako," he said to break the silence. "I've always wondered. Why do all the girls in the Battlefront wear jeans? I mean, don't most school uniforms include-"
"Miniskirts?" Hisako hissed, stalking towards him ominously. "You think we should be wearing miniskirts? You think it's expected, don't you?"
Otanashi backed away, voicing frantic denials.
"I'll tell you why we wear jeans. Because they're comfortable. Have you ever tried to do anything useful in a miniskirt? It's like you have handcuffs around your thighs. Jeans are practical, they breathe well, and they have pockets for carrying useful things, like string and snacks. So deal."
"Wait, wait a moment!" a voice called out, accompanied by exhausted gasps.
They looked up. Hinata and Yui paused their tussle. Fukimaki and Ooyama stumbled into view, almost rolling down the stairs to the field. TK floated after, hands clasped over his midsection.
"You guys can't do any of that," Fukimaki yelled again. "We're using this field to learn how to dance! Come on you punks, let's all learn how to dance! It's the only real way to reach a fulfilled, normal youth!"
"I want to learn the Macarena!" Ooyama agreed happily.
"No way!" Hinata howled. "We're using this field for a baseball game!"
"Not on my watch!" Yui argued. "Today is a day for rock!"
"I wouldn't mind learning how to dance," Matsushita the fifth confessed. He started performing a few simple jazz squares, chuckling to himself.
"No, my good fellow!" Takamatsu gasped. "The mind can only be truly enlightened by the thrill of the athletic physics!"
Hinata and Yui's staring contest quickly dissolved, and the two laid into each other, the wrestling match kicking up another a huge crowd of dust.
Otanashi sighed. Chaos surrounded him. Hisako was dueling Nodas' halberd with her bass, Ooyama and Matsushita were dancing a duet, and NPC's were stumbling out of the way to avoid Hinata and Yui's death ball. This can't be what Yurippe planned, he thought. Ugh, I really don't want to learn what a Special Gift is.
And I actually wanted to do something today.
"ENOUGH!"
The pandemonium slowed, as the Battlefront stopped to gaze at Otanashi, gasping for breath. "Look," he said. "Let's compromise. Why don't we just have a field day? There are so many people here now; it's really the only thing that would let us all participate. I could make some games up, and set up teams."
Hinata blinked. "A… field day?"
Noda lowered his halberd. "A field day? I like competition!"
"That sounds fun," Fukimaki agreed.
"Let's do it!"
