Twice in a Lifetime Chapter Eight: The Maze
"And, up for round one hundred and forty-six, it's Machida Mishizu against Haru Amasawa!" Tsuge was acting as a referee and judge for the match, which was drawing a surprising number of spectators. He was sitting in the announcer's box with Hiromi, Baron, and Emily over the gym, an intimidating obstacle course set up. Toto and Muta had to stay home, since pets weren't allowed on college campus grounds. Haru and Machida were doing stretch exercises on one side of the course. Tsuge was gripping the announcer's microphone and talking like he was on the radio for a horse race.
"This time the stakes are high; if Machida wins, then Haru will have to quit her job as a swimming coach to-" he turned to the little girl on Baron's lap for help.
"Emily von Gikkingen," she supplied. He grinned his thanks.
"-Emily von Gikkingen, who happens to have a single father that's making Machida more than a little nervous!"
Baron ignored the stares and muffled laughs from the spectators to question Hiromi next to him.
"Do they seriously do this every time they fight?"
She tore her eyes from the competitors.
"To an extent. Most of the time they have milk-chugging contests or something simple like that. I think Machida chose sports as the game this time to get the most edge on Haru."
He glanced back at her on the gym floor, expertly stretching out her legs.
"Which do you think will win?"
Hiromi didn't hesitate.
"Machida. He's been working out every day, and Haru's been playing in water or knitting socks."
"Just socks?"
"It's a generalization, but he will undoubtedly win. All the preparation is just a formality."
His daughter looked back at him worriedly.
"Daddy, is that true?"
He smiled and squeezed her.
"Don't give up on Haru before the game starts. She told us to trust her, and I intend to do so."
Tsuge shrugged and took the mike from his mouth for a second.
"Trust her all you want, but I'm with Hiromi. Haru might as well hand in her resignation right now and save herself the trouble later. Besides, you can always find another swimming coach."
Baron smiled and turned his head back to the woman that captured his heart so effortlessly.
"True, but I'd rather stick with this one. Emily would walk through fire if Haru asked her to."
The little girl on his lap grinned guiltily.
"You would too, Daddy."
He didn't bother to hide his blush, since Hiromi and Tsuge already knew he felt that way about their friend. The red head shook her head at him in disgust.
"Why don't you just leave Haru alone? You're causing Machida a lot of grief."
"If he can't trust her, than he doesn't deserve her. I haven't flirted with Haru a single time since I found out she was seeing someone, even when I really wanted to."
One of those times was when he found her making caramel pecan rolls (cinnamon rolls in caramel pecan sauce) for breakfast that morning, shortly before Machida called to check on her. Emily had caught Muta locking the door while Haru's back was turned so she couldn't get away, and Baron didn't have the heart to scold him. He secretly wished that the storm had lasted longer, so that he wouldn't have to come up with an excuse for her to stay. Tsuge turned back to the microphone.
"The rules are simple. The obstacle course is set up like a labyrinth, with two prizes at the heart of it. There are several students to provide more of a challenge by switching dead ends. The first one out of the end of the maze with a prize in hand will win the fight!"
The so-called prizes were two ordinary erasers on a desk; all three objects taken from one of the classrooms, and the longer walls of the labyrinth were up righted tables with sheets strung between them. There were also people moving around and holding up sheets to provide the added challenge. As an added bonus, there were a few large wooden structures in the middle, constructed from various gym equipment.
"Isn't this a bit much for a lovers' quarrel?" Baron asked. Hiromi shrugged.
"Machida and Haru's fight competitions are a great source of amusement for the general student body. The only reason more people aren't showing up is because of the short notice."
Tsuge nodded and turned on some rock n' roll, but Baron could see Haru putting earphones on, like she wanted to listen to something else. Machida grinned confidently and bowed low for her at the entrance.
"Ladies first."
She mock-curtsied for him, since she was wearing blue jeans, and entered. He waited a few seconds before entering himself.
"So, how long have they been seeing each other?" Baron asked semi-casually, watching the two try to unravel the maze. Hiromi smiled sadly at him.
"It's nearly been a year. She's had a crush on him since high school, but he didn't notice her that way until the college water-skiing trip last summer. She saved his life when he bumped his head and then fell into the water. She had to do CPR on him, it was so romantic."
Baron's face fell as he watched Haru reach the obstacles in the maze. She firmly gripped a pole hanging horizontally and heaved herself onto it. She scanned the maze layout from her perch before climbing down onto a platform facing monkey bars. She scaled those with ease, coming to a long hallway that was riddled with moving sacks of garbage wheeled around by hidden students.
Moving her body like an Arabian dancer, Haru easily snaked her way between the dense bags. All of the male audience whistled and applauded in appreciation, and Baron couldn't help but groan with pleasure watching her close in on the prize, Machida still lost near the front. He shook his head at his own foolishness.
"Confound it, why did she have to be taken?!"
She was perfect, and the only thing holding him back was the shaggy-haired buffoon that had just found the hanging pole, but forsook it to head straight for the monkey bars.
Hiromi and Tsuge didn't bother to answer him, too absorbed in the game. While Machida was getting pummeled by the large bags, Haru was taking her eraser and heading toward the second half of the labyrinth.
The taunting calls from the audience told Machida about the growing distance between him and his girlfriend, and he ran faster. Jamming the eraser into his pocket, he started intentionally crashing into the sheet walls and students in order to catch up with Haru.
She was at the end of the large wooden structure, facing the twin gymnastic poles. She powdered her hands with the loose chalk dust from the eraser before sticking it in her pocket and tackling the poles. Baron watched in amazement as her body wrapped around them, doing a few fancy flips in the air before she sailed perfectly off and solidly landing on her feet like a cat.
"Since when can Haru do that?" Hiromi asked out loud, her eyes huge with disbelief as her friend took the few last steps towards the exit, Machida still far behind from fighting off sheets and the students still holding onto them.
"You're cheating!" one student protested as he tried to keep his grip on his end. He threw off the kid with the same emotion he showed with fly-swatting, he stormed toward the exit, his hands slamming against the gymnast poles as he passed them.
"She's the one that cheated! She was listening to those things." Machida grabbed at her earphones and put them to his ears. He scowled. "Violins again, Haru? Don't you listen to anything else?"
She gently pried his hands off her property with a smile.
"Sure, but instrumentals are my favorite. You already knew that, and there was no rule saying I had to listen to the music you picked out."
"Miss Amasawa has made a valid point!" Tsuge announced to everyone else. "Regardless of Mr. Mishizu's blatant disregard for the rules of conduct, Haru was still the first one out of the maze with the prize, and as such is the winner!"
One of the students that got taken for a ride by Machida limped over to her and lifted one hand high with the eraser still in it. The crowd applauded her; stunned that she had won so effortlessly. Machida scowled again.
"You've been working out."
"Actually, I haven't. I just feel great today." She bent herself backward into a pretzel, making some people in the audience gawk in disbelief. "Now if you don't mind, I promised to take a little girl fabric shopping after the match, and I don't intend to disappoint her."
Machida was about to protest when a bulky man came behind him and gripped his ear firmly.
"All right, if you lost to your girlfriend when she hasn't been working out, than I need to work you harder."
The quarterback groaned as he was taken from the gym floor. Emily practically skipped all the way down to her coach and into her arms.
"Hiromi and Tsuge said that you would lose, but Daddy said not to give up on you, and you won!"
She squeezed the girl as she left the gym.
"It's nice to know someone still has faith in me."
