With their first year in high school about to end came a certain group from a certain high school bonding each other. Well, one of them won't admit it as she herself wasn't really close to them as friends but she made sure she would like to spent her time with them fare more than anything she had managed before. They made sure to eat up somewhere at least once a week and never once did any of them miss out any of their meetings. Even with their heavy schedule and their own personal problems, they made sure to always mark a day of the week free.
It was February and it was the third week of their slowly blooming bonding and on one of the days they were about to meet up, they suddenly got a call from a spiky haired boy, telling them that he wouldn't be able to join them. His somewhat raised and urgent voice suggesting that he probably he has something to do back at his dormitory, as he had claimed.
They all frowned at that. Sure, Kamijou Touma didn't have the best attendance as he was a regular absentee from class but even then, he was their close friend and classmate and the thought that he might be hiding a very serious problem from them had sent worries running in their minds.
And so, they took it upon themselves to visit him at his own dormitory and maybe even lend a hand in whatever dilemma that is.
"Kamijou might be an idiot but even he had always been there for me whenever something came up," the menacing but concerned Fukiyose Seiri said, taking the lead towards their classmate's house, "It is only right that I return the favor for once." They all nodded, walking just behind the Forehead Deluxe.
"Ara…ara…is that an indication that you have taken an interest on him?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu, the ringleader of many things that puts Kamijou on every misfortunate situations, whistled.
"Don't think that it would be a lot of times, Tsuchimikado…" Fukiyose growled but there was a hint of red in her cheeks, "I'm only doing what we're supposed to do as his classmate."
"Sounds good enough. I'm actually curious as to what Kami-yan is up to this time," Aogami Pierce, the other Delta Force member, puts his hands behind his head.
Their other classmate, Himegami Aisa, didn't say anything.
Walking through the neighborhood, Tsuchimikado then took the lead from here as he was the one who knows where their student dormitory is. Their attention was taken away from their objective when they heard the unmistakable sounds of a badminton racket hitting a shuttlecock and the swoosh that followed that could only be the sound of the racket slicing in the air as the ball was smashed back to the opponent. As someone who had played badminton before, Fukiyose knows the sound of it and her ears perked up at it.
Tsuchimikado hummed as he puts his hands on his pockets, "The dormitory where me and Kami-yan lives is just beside the neighborhood's street badminton court." That explains why their dormitory building seemed to be a bit apart from the rest, seeing as the court was between their dorm and their neighbor's. "Someone's probably using it."
Nearing the premises of the student dormitory, they wouldn't admit that they had their task at the back of their minds when a bit of the badminton court came to view, each of them eager to find out who was playing. Close enough to see the high wire fence, the sounds of the shuttlecock being hit was clearer than before.
The moment they got a clear view, they were all stunned to see who was playing.
"Dammit, Ayano-chan! You're even smaller than Fukiyose and yet, you're this athletic!" A loud and familiar voice was heard from the open court, "Your left hand is so annoying!"
"I'm sorry, Touma-kun, but I don't intend to lose to you…"
"Neh, Touma! Don't let her beat you!"
"By the way, why aren't you with that Danish girl? What's her name…Connie was it…"
"She'll be here in the moment…"
A "Serve it, Touma-kun" was heard before the sounds of Asics shoes squeaking on the pavement became erratic, "Don't underestimate me, Ayano-chan." Then they saw the shuttlecock suddenly zoomed in the air.
When the whole court came to view, they were surprised to see Kamijou and a girl probably just a little more taller than Index, playing against each other. They were both breathing heavily and sweat covered their exposed biceps. The girl was wearing a tight-fitting athletic shirt and judging from the duffel bag that she brought in the sidelines, she came from a school called Kitakomachi High School. Kitaomachi High? They didn't know such a school existed, and if the girl Kamijou was playing were a part of her school's varsity basketball team, then she must have been a good player.
On the sidelines is Index, Othinus and an elderly man with a mustache and small beard.
They paused their trek as they felt it wouldn't hurt to watch for a minute or two since the dormitory they were going to visit was just a few blocks away and the subject of their manhunt was just before their eyes.
The two teens didn't seem to notice them—or perhaps, they were too absorbed in their game to bother. They watched as the green-eyed girl made a stunning smash just barely above the net that they Tsuchimikado couldn't help but glance towards said girl, seeing as the cutie (as Aogami called her) had a sharp field of vision and that her agility even surpasses that of Fukiyose, who can't help but admire the girl's playing style. The miko girl in Himegami looked interested, aware of how the girl named Ayano was making Kamijou nearly work overtime just to counter her attacks.
The girl didn't even flinch against Kamijou's own smash and continued the rally. Tsuchimikado let out a low whistle and even Aogami couldn't help but gawk. If they were in the shortie's shoes, they would have ended up missing it. That was how good Kamijou had received and smash-returned the shuttlecock.
"Neh, Fukiyose-san, she looks naturally talented for someone who's even smaller than Sister-san," Himegami commented as she was holding on her magical stick from the Kanamin show.
Fukiyose nodded as she narrows her eyes towards the game, "Kamijou himself is playing very well but I have to say, that girl's moves looked like feral. It seemed it had come to her naturally."
The rest of the members gave her a look of approval. Fukiyose seemed to Admit that Kamijou was performing quite well as her eyes can't take off from the game.
Their attention was once again caught as the girl who held the shuttlecock served it and once again, Kamijou did managed to read it and smash it back, although it was very obvious that it was starting to frustrate him. As they continued to watch the two, each second was filled with disbelief as almost all their plays, every move they showed during their games, were being used by my professionals in the higher levels. Finally, the girl decided to end it by dropping a shot, catching the Imagine Breaker user off guard. As a result, he ended up landing face-first on the ground. Such misfortune. As they took a break just after the deciding shot, the students of Class 1 – 7 decided to interrupt their little break.
It was Fukiyose who broke their awed silence, "That was…unexpected of you, Kamijou. But I don't remember this girl being with you, if I recall," The others nodded, still in a state of astonishment.
Kamijou was astonished to see his classmates walk near them, "Eh? Fukiyose? Tsuchimikado? Aogami? Himegami? Well…I'm sorry but this came unexpected so I wasn't able to come with you. Oh…by the way…" She then began to introduce his playmate, who was just staring at the four newcomers, "This is Hanesaki Ayano and she's someone I…well, it's a long story. She's been playing badminton for so long. And this old man is her coach, Viggo Kierkegaard, a Danish former pro in badminton."
"Ki-ke-gaad?" Fukiyose tried to pronounce the name but she failed miserably.
The old man only smiled as he waved his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Touma-kun's classmates…" Ayano bowed her head in respect.
"Y-Yeah, nice to meet you…" For someone who had unwavering confidence, Fukiyose did felt out of place in this awkward meeting.
"By the way, where's Connie?" Kamijou asked rather impatiently, "Index's hungry and…"
"Why don't we go back to your room, first, Touma-kun?" Ayano suggested.
In the end, they decided to go along with Ayano's suggestion and as they walked up the elevator of the dormitory, they heard the teens they were watching suddenly began to converse each other while Index was butting in. They looked back to see the green-eyed girl gripping the shuttlecock as they walked up, still not taking note of the group's curiosity of her as she seemed to be caught up in their argument.
"I bet I could beat Connie when I have the time…"
"As if…"
Their conversation halted as they heard steps of what looked like walking back and forth coming from inside the unit where Kamijou and Index were living and they all turned their attention to the door that was thrown open to reveal a stunning tall blonde whose baby blue eyes and long hair had immediately attracted the attention of Tsuchimikado and Aogami as they were no beginning to grow hard.
"Oh, god aften, Ayano og Touma," The blonde greeted in perfect Danish the moment she saw the boy, "Du forlod denne dør åben, så jeg gik ind, mens jeg ventede på jer alle. (I think you left this door wide open so I went inside while waiting for you all.)
"Hah?!" Fukiyose, Himegami, Tsuchimikado, and Aogami can only stare incredulously at her sharp Danish sentence.
"First of all, I don't understand Danish. Last time I heard, you can speak Japanese just fine," Kamijou spoke in his broken English, "Second of all, thanks for roping me into this. I shouldn't have taken your offer to play in a friendly after saving you from those perverts."
"Come on now," The blonde chuckled as she switched to heavily accented Japanese, "You'll like it, I swear."
The other classmates of Kamijou Touma were dumbfounded when they saw the blonde seemed to be cooking some kind of meal inside as she was wearing an apron to her white sleeveless top and skirt.
With her friendly personality and her goddess-like face, it was a wonder why Aogami could only barely restrain himself from "attacking" the blonde.
"By the way, Ayano—" She cut herself off from what she was about to say when she finally took notice of the group of students in front of her as Fukiyose coughed to capture her attention.
"Oh hey," She waved, awkwardly smiling as she introduced herself to Kamijou's classmates in English, "I'm Connie Christensen and I'm Danish by blood. I'm Ayano's big sister and Touma's our friend here. Rart at møde dig! (Pleased to meet you!)"
Every one of the newcomers can only gape at Connie's greeting, particularly the last Danish sentence. Oh Kami-sama, she got infected by the Kami-yan Disease! Tsuchimikado and Aogami both concluded.
Yes, this wasn't going to end pretty well.