Mirino Elfman, King of Squares.
The school was prestigious, and it made that fact known through an arch, detailed with sea imagery and the school's name, proudly adorning the entrance. The building itself seemed less like a school and more like a medieval lord's castle.
Shizuka and Mello had searched around the school's website for Mirino Elfman, and had found that he was part of the school's basketball team and was in sixth grade. They had also found a picture, which showed a pretty tall boy with nut brown skin and a snag cut. He was wearing a white hat and a dark blue tank top.
They got out of the bus and entered the school yard, hoping to find this mysterious student. After a while they found a teacher. "Excuse us, but we are searching for Mirino Elfman? We are his siblings and we need to pick him up." asked Shizuka.
The teacher had flowing blonde hair and looked tired. "Well, he usually hangs out around the four square field, so maybe you will find him there?" she answered. "Thank you very much." Mello responded and he and Shizuka ran off to find the four square field.
They found a crowd of children, all standing around something and talking loudly, like they were competing to be heard. Since Shizuka was twice as long as all of them she could see what they were surrounding: A strange boy, relaxing in a sunbed. He matched the picture.
Shizuka pushed herself through the crowd. "Excuse me, but are you Mirino Elfman?" The boy was weirdly unsurprised to hear her ask for him. He instead turned to a pig plushie laying beside him, and said "He, babe, seems like my reputation has grown past me. Very well, what do you want with me?" while flashing a set of marble-white teeth.
Mello cleared his throat. "Mr Elfman, we have heard that you are a stand user, and we ask you to use your ability to locate an enemy of ours. We hope…" Mirino interrupted him. "No, but thank you, I'm good." Shizuka got annoyed. "Do you want money? We can get you money!"
Mirino interrupted her too. "No is a no. I ain't interested in money, all I really need is to relax in the sun. Getting involved in some stand fight is the last thing I want." A short kid stood up. "Mr. Elfman, your nails are cut. Can I call you Mirino now?" Mirino inspected his toes. "They look awesome! Of course, you can even call me a nickname. You may also have up to fifteen minutes of banter with me per day." The kid's face practically glowed, and he ran off to come up with a good nickname.
Shizuka got desperate, and asked "Is there anything we can do? Anything that we could do for you?" Mirino thought for a second, before asking "Are you stand users?"
Shizuka and Mello showed off their stands, and explained their abilities. Mirino clapped for a second before abruptly stopping. "It's been a while since i had a proper challenge, and i have never met other stand users, so let's make a deal. If you play four squares with me and one of my buddies, and you manage to beat one of us, I will help you."
Shizuka laughed a bit. An unorthodox request, for sure. "But, I am putting myself at a risk by getting involved in your business…" added Mirino. "So, if you lose, you must get me and my family a mansion in the idyllic New Zealand countryside, as close as possible to where they filmed the Lord of the Rings-movies."
Shizuka was a bit put off by this, but she still put out her hand. Mirino shook it, and the three of them, together with one of Mirinos friends, got over to the four square field. It laid in the gentle shadows of the trees, protecting them from the summer heat.
Mirino pulled out a basketball, seemingly out of nowhere, and started explaining. "You have squares one-two, we have three-four. If the ball bounces on your square and either bounces again or bounces out, you lose. If you shoot a ball out of the field without it bouncing on another square, you lose. You can help your buddy, and you can put one foot on any other square. You can freely use your stand. You can touch the ball two times, no more. No grabbing the ball."
"Wait, before we start, Mirino, what is your stand ability?" asked Shizuka. "You are going to have to figure that out! Let's go!" answered Mirino, and hit the ball over to Shizukas square. The game was on.
Shizuka hit the ball higher into the air, and used both of Achtungs hands to slam it onto Mirinos friend's side. As she did, she turned it invisible.
The friend started moving at extraordinary speeds. He darted through the entire square, wildly flailing his arms until he finally hit the ball, sending it towards Mello. Shizuka quickly turned the ball visible so Mello could see it. "Way to go, Danny!" shouted Mirino.
"What the hell!" Shizuka nearly screamed out loud. "How the fuck did he do that? Is it Mirinos stand? Come to think of it, Danny didn't question it when we talked about stand abilities at all, so perhaps he knows." analyzed Shizuka, before realizing the ball had been shot towards her, and going to hit it.
But when she reached it, it immediately slipped out of her hand, like her hand was covered by melting butter. Achtung reached in and hit the ball over to Mello. Shizuka checked her palm to see if she was sweaty, but it was desert dry. Mello sent it back to her, and the same thing happened again. She started using Achtungs hands in order to avoid whatever trick Mirino was using.
The ball was shooting wildly from side to side, at a speed no normal human could follow, to the awe and excitement of the crowd that had formed around them. Everytime Danny got the ball, he would hit it harder and harder, making the game more and more intense. Shizuka placed herself in her corner, in order to be able to take balls that were about to bounce out.
Mirino jumped up and slammed the ball towards quickly put one foot on Shizukas square. Both she and Mello realized what they were planning. "Goddamnit. When the ball bounces up again, Danny will hit it, making it bounce twice on my square and taking me out!" thought Shizuka.
She desperately sent out Achtung to stop Danny, but it was already too late. But when he actually hit it, he recoiled. "What the hell, man! The ball is burning hot!" A Bloody Sunday revealed itself on the ball.
Shizuka smiled triumphantly. The ball would cause them pain, practically giving them victory on a silver plate. She hit the ball onto Mello's square so he could fill it with more Sundays before shooting over to Mirino.
But when Mirino hit the ball, he didn't even flinch. The ball hit Shizukas square so fast she had to send out Achtung to catch it. "How is he protecting himself from Bloody Sunday's pain?" she thought as she hit the ball into the air before sending it towards Danny's square. As he went to hit it she noticed something on his hands. Something green. Mirino and Danny had somehow attached leaves to their hands, protecting them from contact with Bloody Sunday!
Shizuka blurted out her realization to Mello. Danny gave the ball a spin as he slammed it on Mellos square. Mello used a net of small Bloody Sundays to give the ball extra speed as he passed it back. The game continued.
The ball bounced on Dannys square, and he hit it towards Shizuka. After he did, the leaves fell off his hands. Bloody Sundays had nestled their way in between the leaves and loosened them up, leaving Danny completely defenseless to the Sundays on the ball. Mirino immediately noticed, and panicked as he tried to figure out a way to counter.
From her right ear Shizuka could hear the faint sound of wings flapping. She turned, horrified, to see the intense eyes of pigeons fly onto the court. A wild mess of bird screams and childrens cries followed.
When the pigeons were finally gone, the game continued. The Sundays on the ball were mysteriously gone.
The sun beamed down as the game began again. Mirino bounced it to Danny, who then hit it so fast Shizuka didn't see him do it. The ball was shot like a bullet towards her square, moving so fast that her eyes couldn't follow. Only the sound of the ball hitting the ground gave away its location, and she was able to quickly hit it back with Achtung.
Everytime the ball got to Danny he would hit it at impossible speeds, forcing Shizuka and Mello to use their stands more and more. Everytime he sent it flying, they inched a little closer towards defeat.
Mello went all out towards Mirino, who effortlessly sent the ball towards Danny. Shizuka prepared herself as she saw Danny's attack incoming, but something covered her eyes. The world was covered in a confusing haze. She panicked, unsure as to what to do. If she used Achtung to turn what was blinding her invisible, she wouldn't have enough time to hit the ball, but if she didn't remove them she wouldn't be able to find it.
The ball bounced on her square, but suddenly Danny fell to the ground. Mello ran up to him, and noticed a horrible, yellow-ish cut on his upper arm. The game was paused once again, and Mello treated the wound. "Where the hell did you get this?" asked Mello, in a much more upset tone than when he usually spoke. Danny hastily responded that it was a kitchen accident.
Shizuka inspected the things that had blinded her. Leaves, again. She noticed something flash inside the leaf. She turned everything except the small shadow invisible, and crouched down to inspect it.
It was small and shaped like a raindrop. The colour was baby blue, with a gelatinous feel to it. Floating in its strange body was a small, yellow ball. She went to pick up the invisible leaf to inspect the thing closer. When she did, she noticed an identical thing on her palm. She started to understand Mirinos ability. She checked some of Danny's blood, laying on the ground. The exact same little things.
She stood up, and turned to confront Mirino. "Your stand ability, I know what it is." He raised an eyebrow. "These little things. When they come in contact with water, or anything containing water, they gain complete control over it. You got them into Danny's wound to speed up his blood circulation and make him stronger, you tricked the pigeons into drinking it and gained control of their blood, and you used the one on my palm to control sweat and make it harder to grab the ball." Mirino chuckled. "Wow, I knew you were smart, but that's genuinely impressive! Yeah, that is the exact power of Weezer."
Mello asked, barely hiding his anger "Did you hurt your friend in order to gain control of his blood?" Mirino was caught off guard by the question. "Of course not, man? Danny's my best friend, I simply got a bit too excited controlling his blood flow." Danny agreed.
Danny got off the field and Mirino asked a girl named Bell to join. She put down her backpack and put her long hair in a bun. The ball was passed to Mello, and the game began. Mello covered the ball in Bloody Sundays, and Mirino covered it again in a protecting layer of leaves, before passing it back to Mello. Mello hit it back quicker.
Bell tried to catch it, but it flew just under her reach. That's when a geyser of water burst out of a water bottle in her backpack, formed a bizarre hand and whipped the ball towards Shizuka. Shizuka was surprised, but quickly deflected it towards Mello.
Mello hit the ball at full speed towards Bell, hoping for it to land in her corner.
Bell managed to hit it back towards him, and he prepared himself for the attack. Just as the ball bounced on his square, he violently threw himself backwards. Bell, Shizuka and Mello were shocked, while Mirino smiled. Mello quickly understood what was going on. "He must have nestled his stand into my jeans. Since the cotton used in jeans has to be cleaned and dyed, jeans contain a huge amount of water. He has completely taken control of my movement!"
Mello sent out a whip of Bloody Sundays from his pant leg and used all his strength to pass it to Shizuka. Shizuka hit it farther up in the air before slamming it down on Mirinos square. Just when the ball bounced she turned it invisible.
Mirino sent out all the water from Bell's water bottle. Some of the water mysteriously started hanging in the air, revealing the ball's location. Mirino quickly placed himself to hit the ball when it fell down.
Shizuka dramatically stretched out her arm and pointed towards Mirino. A huge mass of What I'm Looking For-illusions popped up in the air around the ball. A weird mess of Shizuka images covered it in a strange haze. "Fuck! She hid it!" thought Mirino, desperately looking for any clue to its location.
More and more illusions appeared, and the ball got closer and closer to the ground. Then, an idea hit Mirino. He made a finger gun, and concentrated all of his sweat into his finger-tip. He then shot multiple shots into the mass of Shizuka illusions. He was pushing his Weezers to the top of their ability, moving the sweat bullets way past Mach 1.
One of them randomly hit the ball on its side, pushing it over to Shizukas square and making it violently start spinning. Shizuka jumped out with her own hand to stop the ball. The violent spinning mangled it into a bloody mess, breaking three of her fingers. Mello was unable to dampen the pain, so Shizuka had to endure the burning, cutting speed as the ball dug through her fingers.
Though all her efforts were in tragic vain. The ball got through her fingers and fell to the ground."Hell fucking yes! That sweet mansion is mine!" screamed Mirino. "I wouldn't be so sure. The ball has yet to bounce twice on my square!" answered Shizuka."Breaking my fingers was a calculated move, you brat! Combine them with the ball actually bouncing, and it should have lost enough movement to be touched!"
With her left hand she hit the ball, turning it invisible, and pushing it over to Bells square. Without Danny's super speed it flew right under her nose, and quickly bounced twice. "God fucking damnit!" sighed Mirino as he fell to the ground. The crowd of children were confused, but saw that their leader was distraught, and so started acting somber.
Shizuka sat down to recover her breath. Mello joined her. "So, I guess we let out his Weezer into the sewers, to search the city?" he asked. "Yeah, i guess i should ask-" she turned around. Mirino was completely gone.
Shizuka stood up to check, and when she did, she noticed something on the ground. Grafted onto the asphalt was a picture perfect 2-D image of Mirinos hat.