Chapter 2.3

The game resumed once the flag was returned and the prisoners were released. Keiichi, Rena, and Shion were huddled together just outside of the flag zone. The other team members had spread out and were hiding behind the crates.

Keiichi looked over the crates towards the other side. Over in the enemies territory, the members of Team 1 were hiding as well. Once he was done looking, Keiichi got down. "So it looks like they're using the same defense plan we are," Keiichi said after he ducked back down.

"Using the crates, they can ambush anyone who tries to reach their flag," Shion noted.

"But the crates also help us," Rena said. "If they are behind a crate, they cannot see anyone coming towards them."

"So we would have to sneak in then," Keiichi reasoned.

"It's too risky to send a group," Shion said. "So we'll have to send one person in as a scout. They might even be able to get to the flag."

"So, who goes in first?" Rena asked.

No one answered. They all just stood there, waiting for someone else to step up. No one really wanted to be the first one to attempt it. Since the enemy team was hiding behind the crates in their territory, there was no way to know where their defense was positioned. So the first person to go in will end up being like a canary in a mine shaft.

A moment passed and still no one volunteered. "Alright then," Shion said. "We'll do Rock-Paper-Scissors. The loser is the scout." The others agreed and prepared to play.

"Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot."

The three of them threw out their choices. Keiichi had picked paper, while Rena and Shion had picked scissors.

"No!" Keiichi almost yelled in protest. "Why do I have to be the scout?"

"Well, good luck Keiichi," Shion said. Rena tried to encourage him too. "Do your best Keiichi. Do your best.".

"Come on!" Keiichi protested. "Are you really just going to send me out there on my own?"

"We could keep trying to attack their front defense," Shion thought outloud. "That way they will be distracted and Keiichi can sneak in."

"Alright." Keiichi said reluctantly as he got ready.

So with that Keiichi began his mission. He crawled closer to the border and crouched behind a crate near the border, trying to come up with some plan to get to the enemy flag without being seen.

Maybe I should try getting in one of those crates and using it to hide my advance? Keiichi thought. Nah, that would never work. There is no way they wouldn't notice a box that moved. After racking his brain to find another way, Keiichi found one. I'll just have to crawl my way up there.

Keiichi got down on all fours and started to crawl towards the border.

Once he made it through the border, Keiichi ducked behind the first crate he could find.

He carefully peeped around the crate to see if it was clear. He was in luck. No one was hiding behind it, but he could see Rika a few crates down. Keiichi quickly pulled his head back. He waited for a moment before continuing. Peeking around the crate again, Keiichi watched Rika for an opening, but nothing came up. There was only a second or two when she wasn't looking towards his direction, and that was not long enough to get past her.

What do I do? Keiichi thought. If I could just distract her for a moment. Keiichi looked around him for anything he could use.

Keiichi picked up the rock and moved back a bit. Turning towards Rika's direction, he threw the rock. The rock flew for a few meters and hit a crate on the other side of Rika, making a thud. Keiichi quickly moved forward. Looking towards Rika, he saw that his plan worked. The sound the rock made on the crate made Rika think there was someone over there, so she was looking in that direction. With the opening, Keiichi quickly crawled to the next crate.

He continued to advance like that.

Keiichi was about to sneak past some of the others, but when he was half way to the flag, he was spotted. One of the younger students had turned her head just as Keiichi was trying to sneak pass and saw him. "He's here!" she cried out as she got up and started towards him. With his position revealed, he got up and ran towards the flag.

"Nice try Keiichi," Mion commented from somewhere behind him. Glancing back, he saw that Mion and Satoko were heading for him.

As he got closer to the flag, Keiichi carefully watched his step as he quickly made his way to the flag. Since Satoko was on their team, there would probably be plenty of traps around the flag. He knew that Satoko would disguise her traps well. He noticed what looked like some freshly dug dirt, almost completely hidden by the grass. He jumped over the dirt spot and landed safely. He was about to take another step forward, when suddenly the ground in front of him collapsed. Keiichi teetered on the edge of the pit hole for a second before he recovered. I didn't even notice it, he thought as he recovered.

Keiichi went around the trap hole and ran for the flag. Once he was in range, he quickly reached out and grabbed the flag. Got it.

He turned and started to head back, but then he saw that the enemy team was moving to block the way he came in. I'll have to risk a different path, Keiichi quickly realized. Keiichi choose the moderately safe looking path, since he knew Satoko would make the safest looking path impassible with traps. He started off along that path. As he was approaching the edge of the flag circle, he felt something pull on his leg.

Suddenly, Keiichi found himself up in the air inside a net. "You fell for it, Keiichi!" Satoko exclaimed. Damn it, Keiichi thought to himself. He should have realized that Satoko would have done a trick like that. At least I found one way in, he realized. There has to be something I could do to make this more worth while. Then he remembered he had put a pen in his pocket earlier. That might work. He reached into his pocket and pulled the pen out.

Keiichi removed the cap from the pen and began to draw on the flag. He had to be careful not to be seen. It was hard to draw without any hard surface, or inside a net for that matter. However, he was able to finish without anyone noticing.

Done, Keiichi said to himself as he finished. He then put the cap back on the pen and returned it to his pocket. No sooner than he had done that, the net went into a free fall as Satoko had released the rope holding the net up. Keiichi and the net hit the ground with a thud.

"Ouch"

It took a moment for Keiichi to recover from the impact. As soon as he did, he quickly tried to sit up in the net. However, he found that too difficult and gave up as Satoko began to untie the net. Keiichi turned his head towards Satoko. "Hey, what the hell was that for?" Keiichi exclaimed. "I could have broken something." Satoko waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, come on," she said. "It was only three feet."

Satoko released Keiichi from the net. She then extended her left hand out to take the flag back. Keiichi put the flag in her hand. He was sure to do it so his idea was unnoticed. As Keiichi walked to the prison, Satoko headed to the flag post, taking an unusual path instead of walking straight towards it. Once she reached the post, she tied one end of the flag to the post. Once she had tied it, she headed back to the front line.

A breeze blew across the field and lifted the flag up, revealing Keiichi's art work. On the flag was now a sketch of a small bunny. It was standing on its hind legs and its head was facing them. With its front paws, it held a carrot. Its ears were perked up and there was a little smile on its face.

Most of the students were just staring at the flag and trying to figure out why Keiichi did that. Keiichi looked over at Rena and saw her reaction. "It's sooo cuute!" Rena exclaimed. That was the reaction Keiichi had been hoping for.

"I want to take it home!" she cried as she dashed down the school yard, dodging the opponent team members, crates, and traps. One of the kids actually jumped onto a crate to avoid getting trampled by Rena. Mion, Rika, and Satoko were not scared. They moved to intercept Rena. However, they were too slow to stop Rena from reaching the trap defenses around the flag. Satoko was the closest to the flag, and went to block the route Rena had taken to avoid the traps. Mion and Rika were moving to block any escape to the left and right of Satoko.

Meanwhile, Rena grabbed the flag, and just like Keiichi, the way she went in was now blocked. Unphased by this, she went down another path.

I hope she knows what she's doing, Shion said to herself. They all knew that there were traps around the flag, and taking an unknown path was risky. One unlucky step and it would be over.

Following an erratic course, Rena reached the assumed end of the traps around the flag. With that, she started to run back to the border. Mion and Satoko was shocked that Rena had made it out without tripping any of the traps, but that didn't stop them from heading for Rena. However, there was a slight problem. Mion could not go straight for Rena, because that would take her through their own traps. So instead, she had to circle around them to get to Rena.

Rika was still ahead of Rena, but Rena was able to dodge her by using a crate and a sudden turn. With that, she passed Rika without entering her arm reach. Some Rika's teammates were surprised by Rena's evasion of Rika and were slow to react. This gave Rena just enough time to pass over the border.

"That was amazing, Rena!" Her teammates cheered. "Way to go, Rena!"

"How did you get out without triggering any traps?" Keiichi asked as he was approaching his team's side. Rena smiled and answered, "Rena just watched the path Satoko took when she put the flag back and how she walked."

"I didn't know you were good at drawing," Shion commented. Keiichi explained, "Well, I don't do it a lot. It's just that I picked up a few things from my dad."

Mion approached the border. "Since I don't think Rena will give up that flag," she began. "we'll just use this extra one I brought." she said as she produced another flag.