First off, I want to apologize up and down for the delay of this chapter. I had family come in from out of town, and I had to spend time with them since I hadn't seen them in years. That and I also had to deal with the fact that my sister had given birth to my new baby nephew. Happy 0th Birthday, Christian! I love you!
Anyway, thanks to some kind of error occurring on the website, I missed out on some feed back that I wanted for chapter 19. That kinda sucked because I was nervous about the chapter and wanted to see what people thought. What reviews that did get through seemed to be mostly positive, so I feel better. Still a little bit disappointed, though…
Anyway, this chapter will be the conclusion of the mud wrestling event and will conclude this story arc. This means that the next arc will be the final one (It's basically the Kyoto arc). I've basically split the story into five separate arcs, each one about a week long in time. This means that the story's climax will happen at Kyoto, but that's all I'm gonna tell you. He he he…
As always, hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 20
Why do I allow myself to repeatedly become humiliated? Seriously by now, you'd think that I might actually enjoy being tortured like this. Well I don't, got it?! I had one moment where I wanted to get a little revenge on Haruhi. I just wanted to see her reaction when she got electrocuted. Sure, I knew I would pay for it later, but I figure it would be worth it. Of course, that didn't happen, since a certain someone's father decided to shock me instead. Damn that bastard, Oruki! I hate him! HATE him!
So now I'm sitting here in this chair receiving my punishment with nothing to show for it. As of this moment, Haruhi was applying eye-liner to my eyes, a goofy grin on her face. She already forced me to take off my t-shirt and replace it with…the top of a bikini. It had blue and white vertical stripes with yellow straps. There's a bottom to it, too, but that obviously wouldn't fit so I didn't have to wear that. Not that it mattered anyway. I was already humiliated beyond belief.
Occasionally, Haruhi would crack up while she was busy applying the make-up. It was obvious that she was enjoying herself way to much putting this stuff on my face. And also, she would crack up at whatever antics Tsuruya-san and Asahina-san were up to. This made me even more irritated, as I was facing away from the ring and couldn't actually see what was happening.
"No! Don't touch me there! This is embarrassing!"
Dammit! I really wanted to see what's happening! Damn you, Haruhi!
"Quit your complaining, Kyon," commanded Haruhi as she began to put some mascara on my eye-lashes.
Oh, and if it wasn't already obvious by now, Haruhi is trying to turn me into a girl. I shuddered at the thought of what I might look like when she was done. I should have resisted with all my might, but I knew that would only result in something worse coming my way. No matter how I felt, it was probably best if I just sit back and endure this punishment.
What was making this worse was the fact that, well, since I couldn't turn my head and had to basically look straight, the only thing there was for me to look at was Haruhi herself. May I remind you that she's still wearing only a revealing bikini right now, and most of her assets were in full view? If I looked upward, I'd stare into Haruhi's beautiful face. Look down a bit, and I'm staring straight down her impressive cleavage. Look further down, and I'm looking at her rather shapely and sexy legs…now I'm starting to sound like a perverted idiot. I could divert my eyes left or right, but doing so only gave me boring scenery to look at, and eventually my eyes would reset back into the middle. Looking at her made me really uncomfortable inside, especially in this stupid Speedo which was really tight and…forget I said that. My heart was racing again. I could feel myself sweating a bit too. Her face was way too close. These feelings…surfacing…
"What are you looking at?" asked Haruhi, looking a bit confused.
"You," I said without thinking. Realizing what I said, and noticing the rising blush on Haruhi's face, I quickly tried to correct myself. "B…because there's nothing else for me to look at."
I should have kept my mouth shut. Undoubtedly, that came off as very insulting. My worries were confirmed when Haruhi irately narrowed her eyes at me. I then noticed that she started applying the make up with a little less care, perhaps trying to injure me or something.
"No! Stop pulling on the straps! You're going to break them!" cried Asahina-san loudly.
I tried to turn my head to look, but Haruhi immediately grabbed my head and set it straight again.
"Hold still, idiot!" yelled Haruhi, her face showing clear signs of annoyance.
Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! I want to see this match so freaking badly! Anything to divert my eyes away from you!
"Too bad, Kyon! You should have thought about that this morning when you decided to take my father's side! It pisses me off just thinking about it!"
Yes, yes, I get it! You made that point abundantly clear already! Can we drop it?! Surely this stupid punishment will haunt me for the rest of my life! Is that not punishment enough?!
Haruhi only responded with a grunt as she took some blush and began to apply it to my cheeks. I continued to try and endue the next few minutes as she continued to apply the make-up. Her scowl quickly disappeared when she once again began to admire the results of my "transformation." Eventually, it came time to put on the lipstick, so she went into the bag and pulled out three different shades. One was a bright pink. Another was a rose red, and the last was a maroon color.
"Which one do you want to wear?" asked Haruhi with a devilish grin.
"Does it matter? It's all embarrassing."
"Pick one now before I pick!" yelled Haruhi as she shove the lipstick in my face. "And I guarantee you won't like what I pick!"
I sighed heavily before eventually pointing at the rose red one. I have no doubts that I'll be repressing these memories.
"Pucker up!" commanded Haruhi.
I only half complied, puckering up only partially. I guessed it was enough, since Haruhi went about applying the lipstick anyway.
"Now press your lips together so you get an even coat on your upper and lower lip!"
I reluctantly complied, noting that the feeling of lipstick was very uncomfortable. I was compelled to lick it off, but it didn't taste very good when I did.
"Idiot! Don't lick it!" yelled Haruhi as she went into her bag for something else. "Almost done! Now for the finishing touch!" She finally pulled out a long-haired wig and carefully placed it on my head. The color was very close to my natural hair color. I began to wonder where the hell she gets all these wigs from. I remembered the time when Haruhi brought the Brigade to that ENOZ concert, having us dressed as eighties punk rockers wearing ridiculous wigs. Does she have some kind of hidden location in her room where she keeps all this stuff? It can't be healthy to have so many wigs for no apparent reason.
Haruhi stared me over after putting the wig one. "It's good…but could use something else…I know!" She then pulled out one last thing from her bag, a hair-tie. She then went behind me and used it on the wig. My only guess was that she was putting a ponytail on the wig.
I then heard the whistle blow, an indicator that the third match was finally over. I quickly turned my head to see what had happened. I saw Tsuruya-san standing up and facing the crowd, fists triumphantly in the air. Asahina-san was laying face first in the mud, looking completely exhausted. My heart went out to her once more. She'd been horribly abused during the course of this competition. It's okay, Asahina-san. It's all over for you now.
"Just in time!" exclaimed Haruhi as she looked at me. "Keep your head forward! I want everyone to look at you at once!"
What the hell's the point? Everyone's going to see me eventually anyway. Isn't this embarrassing enough?
Koizumi soon made his official announcements of the winner. It was Tsuruya-san, to absolutely no one's surprise. Almost no time had passed after the announcement that everyone ran over where I was to look at what Haruhi had done to me.
"Hold it!" declared Haruhi. "Stay right there! Kyon! Stand up!"
I robotically complied with her wishes, trying my best to be as emotionally distant to the situation as possible.
Haruhi placed her hands on my shoulders while still facing everyone else. "Everyone! I introduce to you the new and improved Kyon!" She then turned me immediately to face the rest of the Brigade plus Tsuruya-san.
Tsuruya-san's reaction was the most obvious, immediately busting out into hysterical laughter the moment she saw me. Koizumi was laughing as well, although he tried to keep it as reserved as he could. Asahina-san covered her mouth the moment she saw me, perhaps feeling so much shock at my condition that she forget about her own. Nagato merely stared at me, tilting her head ever so slightly. Apparently she found this new look of mine…confusing? Or maybe she was mildly curious.
Anyway, both Taniguchi and Kunikida were laughing heartily at my expense as well, with the former actually pointing directly at me. Sakanaka-san mere gave me a polite look of sympathy. Looking at the audience, I could tell that most of them were laughing at me, too. This made me feeling really humiliated. My mortification reached its peak when I looked at where Haruhi's parents were sitting. They…were both laughing at me. It's official now. My dignity was now completely gone. It was now floating somewhere over the peaks of Mount Fuji, forever out of my reach.
While I was looking at the crowd, I didn't notice Tsuruya-san pulling out her cellphone from of to the side and taking a picture of me. "Oh man, I'm definitely keeping this one! You're hot, Kyon-kun!" She then showed me the picture she took. Much to my chagrin, I looked way more feminine than I would have ever liked to. Apparently Haruhi did a good job with the make-up, and if it weren't for the subtle placement of the bone structures in my face, I would have passed for a girl for sure. And no, I wasn't admiring it. It made me sick to my stomach.
"It's time for the next match to begin!" announced Haruhi loudly as she grabbed the megaphone and walked to the middle of the ring. Koizumi and I soon followed, heading to our respective place.
Before we got into position, Koizumi said this to me. "You know, I have to admit that look suits you surprisingly well."
Shut up you smiling bastard! Just remember that this "girl" is going to kick your sorry ass! Then who's going to be the embarrassed one?!
When we were set on our respective sides of the ring, Haruhi began her announcement to the audience. "And now we begin the fourth round of this contest. This round is for you ladies! We have a special match-up between the two male representatives of the SOS Brigade. To my left, we have the handsome Vice-Chief Itsuki Koizumi! And to my right, we have the beautiful Kyonko!
Kyonko! Are you kidding me?! You're using a nickname to my nickname? Damn you Haruhi! You are so dead! Do you have any idea how many people are going to start calling me Kyonko now just because of this?!
Haruhi have me an evil smirk, perhaps an indication that she knew what she was doing. She then began to back up off the ring before grabbing the stopwatch and whistle. "Ready. Set! GO!" she yelled as she blew the whistle.
Neither Koizumi nor I charged one another immediately, both of us using the experience of the previous matches to remind us that doing so was unwise. We approached each other slowly and cautiously. We began to circle one another, trying to feel one another out. Koizumi had a confident smirk on his face while we did this, which made me more pissed off. I could also hear the girls in the crowd chanting away at his name. Yeah, so you're popular with the girls. Big deal! At least I'm sure the girls in the Brigade are on my side.
"Koizumi! I hereby order you to kick Kyon's ass!"
Okay, so Haruhi's probably still a little peeved at me for what happened this morning. Who cares about her anyway? I'm sure Tsuruya-san is on my side.
"Yeah, you can'ts lose to a girl, kay?"
Well, surely Asahina-san would definitely be rooting for me…
"Good luck you two!"
Well then, I'm sure Nagato…never mind. Even if she was rooting for me, she'd never show it.
Deciding to ignore the distractions around me, I lunged forward to grapple Koizumi. He returned the gesture at that exact same time, and we both locked together, grasping each other's shoulders. I began to push as hard as I could to try and move him back, but as expected, the mud gave zero traction, and I was unable to fully utilize my strength.
It was then that Koizumi did something unexpected. He slipped under my body and threw me over his back. As I was airborne for a second, I remembered thinking about how he could pull off such a quick and graceful maneuver. I was soon on my back, the soft mud cushioning my fall. I was slow to get up, still wondering what just happened. Koizumi stood there, giving me that stupid grin. That technique he used didn't even tire him out in the slightest. Dammit, I won't let you make me look any more foolish than I already do!
Letting my emotions get to me, I charged right at him, trying to tackle him. Koizumi was prepared for this, however and side-stepped out of the way and slipped his arm over the back of my neck. I was now being held down under Koizumi's armpit, unable to get away.
Koizumi leaned in towards my ear, getting way, way too close for comfort. "I must apologize, Kyon-kun, but I'm afraid that I have every intention of defeating you in this match. I ask that you don't take it personally."
"Go to hell!" I yelled while trying to remove my head from his arm. I didn't succeed, unfortunately. Koizumi reacted by leaping in the air and tucking in his weight. I wasn't able to hold up his weight in the position I was in, and I soon fell face first right into the mud below. Koizumi rolled off of me a second later, giving me the opportunity to lift myself up. I tried to wipe the excess mud off my face while spitting from of it out. By the way, I was right. The mud tasted terrible.
While I was distracted by the mud on my face, Koizumi went behind me and grabbed me by the ankle. This caught me by surprise, and I reacted by trying to get away. I clawed at the mud to try and pull myself forward, but it was futile. It was like I was clawing at nothing. Try as I might, I was at the mercy of the smiling bastard. Koizumi soon utilized his advantage by flinging me to the other side of the ring. I slid on my slide toward the edge of the ring, soon realizing that he was kicking the crap out of me.
I was forced to get up again, already starting to feel a bit winded. I could not understand how he was making me look so pathetic. By looks alone, he didn't look like he was in much better shape than me. Despite this, I was starting to lose some of my confidence.
I bolted at him again, only this time I had my arms in a more defensive position. It probably wasn't wise to that, as Koizumi merely evaded me once again. This time, however, he grabbed me by the strap to the bikini top. The top stretched a bit, causing the strap to dig into my sides. I kept trying to move forward, trying to escape Koizumi's grip.
"Damn you, Kyon!" yelled Haruhi. "If you break that top, I'll have your head!"
Why are you yelling at me? Yell at Koizumi! He's the one holding onto it!
"Koizumi! Let go of it now!" commanded Haruhi.
Koizumi immediately complied, causing me to fall flat on my face again, since I was leaning against him too much. I could hear the crowd plus most of the Brigade start laughing at me. I couldn't believe I could be so stupid.
The next couple minutes, I found myself continuously frustrated as all of my efforts to defeat Koizumi. One time, I dove for his legs to trip him up, but his legs were so slippery that I wasn't able to get a hold of him. I also repeatedly tried to grab his arms, but doing that didn't do any good, either. Whether I wanted to admit it or not…I had to eventually realize that…Koizumi…was…stronger than me. Not only that, but his stamina and endurance were superior as well. Dammit, it sucked to admit that.
Eventually, Koizumi had me on my back, with his elbow resting on my neck. Try as I might, I couldn't get him off of me. I found that the mere five or so minutes that had past felt like an eternity. I didn't even want to think about what it would be like to go through a second round like the girls had to.
Koizumi leaned his face close to mine again, making feel extremely uncomfortable again. "I'll admit that you fought admirably, but the advantage is clearly mine. If I were you, I would try to save as much energy as you can. You look exhausted enough as it is."
Damn you, Koizumi! It can't end like this! I said I'd kick you ass, and I have every intention of doing so! I looked at the girls standing off to the side. Nagato's expression was blank as always, and Asahina-san had a look of concern. Tsuruya-san had an excited grin and was likely to enjoy the match no matter how it went. Haruhi, on the other hand, held her fist up in front of her, watching us intently. She…looked disappointed, or maybe even worried. Did she actually secretly want me to win, even after what she said earlier? Of course, right? After all, I am the guy she likes. Damn, I can't lose like this!
It was at this point that I decided that I absolutely had to win, no matter what. Even if it meant doing some…underhanded things, I was going to regain the upper hand. First things first, I had to get Koizumi off of me. I knew I couldn't muscle him off of me, so I tried to think of some alternative way to do it. It was then that I remembered the lessons in pressure points that Oruki had taught me. While certainly low, it wasn't specified in the rules that I couldn't use them. I reached my hand right into the spot that rested between Koizumi's collarbone and his shoulder muscle and pushed down hard. Soon after I did that, Koizumi reacted to the sudden pain by rolling away, giving me an opportunity to finally get up.
I was heavily winded, but at least I wasn't pinned down anymore. Koizumi soon got up too, giving me a sharp glare without losing his smile.
"Pretty sneaky of you to do that."
"Shut up, you bastard!" I yelled as I tried to think of what to do next. Koizumi was already moving in to try and take me down again. I tried to keep my distance while I wracked my brain for ideas. Anything would obviously be helpful in trying to defeat him.
I then had a moment of inspiration. It came when I noticed a drop of mud coming from the wig on my head landing on my nose. It gave me a great idea. I slowly reached for the end of the wig's ponytail and grabbed a hold of it. Just when Koizumi wasn't expecting it, I pulled the wig off my head and swung in around like a flail and clocked him in the head with it. Since the wig was soaked in mud, it had a surprising amount of weight to it, plus it was somewhat sticky. It hit with a squishing sound and rocked his head slightly. It also blinded him a bit as some of the mud got right into his eye. Koizumi stepped back a few paces when this happened while holding his left eye. This was my chance! Go for it!
Without thinking it further, I charged Koizumi with all the strength and ferocity I could manage. I positioned my shoulder perfectly to hit him right in the chest when I collided into him. It was a tremendous hit. I could tell since it hurt my shoulder a little when it happened. Koizumi was soon knocked back from the blow and fell into his back, with me landing right on top of him.
"Damn you, Kyon! You're not supposed to take it off!" yelled Haruhi in the background, clearly talking about the stupid wig. I also noted that Tsuruya-san was practically dying from laughter right now.
I ignored the both of them and immediately positioned myself directly on top of Koizumi. From what I could tell, he had an expression of great discomfort and appeared to be gasping for air. It was then that I realized that I had just knocked the wind out of him. There was a part of me that wanted to wait for him to recover, but I knew that if I did that I would lose the advantage. Instead, I decided to capitalize on his condition and I started to fling mud into his face repeatedly.
"Let's see how pretty you look after I'm done with you!"
Koizumi was unable to respond and could only react by raising his arms to try and block the incoming barrage of mud being flung at him. Eventually, I could see him struggling to get me off of him, perhaps desperate for some air. Knowing that I didn't really want to actually kill him (even if doing so would assure my victory), I eventually got off to give him a brief chance to regain his breath. Truthfully, I needed to regain my breath a bit, too.
I watched as Koizumi got onto one knee and was able to finally breathe. He looked at me again with a mixture of what appeared to be excitement and annoyance, although I could tell he was trying to hide both. Eventually, he got to his feet again, no longer desperate for air. I soon regretted not pressing the attack, since now I really had nothing to surprise him with. I didn't have my wig anymore, and even if I did, I'd doubted that Koizumi would fall for the same trick twice. It wasn't long before Koizumi charged at me, intent on tackling me.
I braced for the impact and caught it just in time. I found myself sliding backwards as Koizumi pushed me back. It wasn't long before my feet hit the side of the ring, where the mud suddenly ended and was replaced with grass. I found that my traction had been regained and I stopped sliding back. Koizumi, however, was still on the mud and now could no longer push me back since his feet merely slipped whenever he tried to take a step forward. Try as he might, he couldn't push my back any further. I soon realized I had an important advantage. There were never any rules made up about wrestling outside the ring. In the rush to get things together, it was one of those things we simply never thought about. So technically, using the edge of the ring was completely legal since there was no rule again it. I smile eagerly when I realized this. Now was my chance to get Koizumi good.
I pushed Koizumi down a bit and wrapped my arms around his torso. I then began to try and lift him with all my might. This was no small feat, especially since I was pretty exhausted by this point. I grunted with the strained, pushing my muscles to their absolute limits. I wasn't sure if I could do it until I suddenly felt Koizumi's feet leave the ground. Once I got him off the ground a bit, picking him up the rest of the way was a bit easier. I watched as his legs flailed around a bit before I prepared to walk forward. Ignoring the fact that his butt was practically in my face, I took three steps and slammed him directly into the mud.
The crowd seemed to really be getting into the action now, as were the judges and Brigade members. I supposed that they were happy see something other than the one-sided match that it was a few minutes ago.
Despite the incredible fatigue I felt in my whole body, I pushed myself to continue the attack. I took a few steps back, ran forward and performed a drop kick right onto Koizumi's chest. After doing so, I slowly got back up and readied myself to try a body slam next. Unfortunately, Koizumi made it his feet as well. He was finally starting to show some signs of weariness as well, although I'd say he was still looking better than I did. We began to circle each other tiredly, either of us trying to get in one last spectacular move before the match ended.
I decided to try and dive at Koizumi one last time. Unfortunately, Koizumi evaded the attack just in time, causing me to fall on my chest. I turned onto my back to try and defend against Koizumi's immediate counter, but he was able to get on top of me anyway. It appeared to be over now, as I definitely didn't have the strength to get him off me now. Luckily for me, I had one last trick up my sleeve. Swallowing hard, I reached behind Koizumi and grabbed the top of his Speedo. I then pulled as hard as I possibly could with all my might, giving him the biggest wedgie I could possibly give him. It didn't take long before I could see the incredible discomfort on his face as his eyes suddenly widened. He soon got off of me to try and fix his condition.
I didn't give him time to recover. I immediately got on top of him to try and pin him down. I then noticed that the wig was now within my reach. I went for it and picked it up. I then immediately put it on Koizumi's face, forcing him to wear it like that.
"There you go! That's definitely an improvement if you ask me!"
Before Koizumi could respond, I heard the whistle blow. The match was finally over…
Koizumi and I were now standing in the middle of the ring while we waited for Haruhi to collect the final results from the judges. I was still hunched over, my stamina completely drained. Even when Haruhi finally walked between us to announce the results, I still hadn't quite caught my breath.
"We now have the results, and it's a split decision!"
Split decision, huh? Well, at least someone thought I had won. I honestly didn't expect to win, since I basically had to use some really underhanded tricks to get the upper hand.
Haruhi paused a bit to build up the excitement. "And the winner is…"
Just tell them the winner already!
"Kyonko!"
Damn you, Haruhi! Did you really have to use that stupid…wait a minute…I won? I won! I can't believe it! In your face, Koizumi! I cheered loudly upon realizing my victory, a sudden burst of energy returning from nowhere. Haruhi raised my arm up to show that I was the victorious one. There were tons of boos from the crowd, most of which were girls, but it seemed that there were a healthy number of cheers as well. Perhaps they were swayed from my come-from-behind performance. I looked at where Naru-san and Oruki were sitting. They were both cheering, obviously wanting me to be the victor of the match.
I then felt someone leap onto my back. "Way to go, Kyon-kun! That was megas awesome and funny!"
"Thanks," I said as I turned to look at her. "Can you get off now?" I mostly asked her this because I was still pretty beat from my match, but I also didn't want Haruhi to get jealous again.
Tsuruya-san quickly complied and then raced off towards Koizumi to pat him on the back for a great effort. Koizumi looked a bit disappointed with the results, but hid it as well as he could. Asahina-san also congratulated me as well. I then turned to Haruhi, who had a serious look on her face. "How'd I do?"
Haruhi crossed her arms and looked away. "Cheater."
Hey, I am not a cheater! Everything I did was totally legal!
"Whatever," said Haruhi as she turned away from me and began to walk toward her designated spot in the ring. "And don't think I've forgotten that you disobeyed the conditions of your punishment, Kyon! Taking the wig off in the middle of the match was not allowed!"
Give me a break. How else was I going to win? Wasn't I embarrassed enough as it was?
I ultimately decided to ignore Haruhi's complaint and washed the mud and make-up off of me. While I was doing this, Nagato and Koizumi joined Haruhi in the ring to prepare for the final round of this god-forsaken tournament.
As expected, Koizumi was the announcer for the match. Bringing the megaphone to his mouth, he then addressed the crowd. "Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen! We are now beginning the final round of tonight's show. And it promises to be a great one! To my left, we have the mysterious Yuki Nagato! And to my right, we have the incredible, ambitious, inspirational, stunning, amazing, one and only leader of our club, Haruhi Suzumiya-san!
I tried my best to ignore Koizumi's brown-nosing again and walked up as close to Nagato as I could. Given her indescribable hearing, I decided to say one thing to her in a whisper, even through I was a good three meters away.
"Give her hell, Nagato."
Nagato turned towards me, and stared at me with her cool, almost crystalline eyes. I then saw her nod in an almost unperceivable fashion. Confident that she heard me, I walked back to my designated spot to get ready to watch the match. Ultimately, I wanted this match to be as exciting as possible, and I just wanted to be sure that Nagato understood not to hold back this time.
I could see Haruhi was taking this match 100% seriously. She always looked at Nagato as a rival, seeing as she was the only girl…nay person at school that could match her physical prowess. She knew winning this match would be hard and would take everything she had. One thing was for certain. This match was not going to be about fanservice.
Koizumi brought the whistle close to his face while holding up the stopwatch. "Ready. Set!" He then blew the whistle, signaling the start of the match.
Almost immediately, both Haruhi and Nagato ran forward and grappled each other. They initially appeared evenly matched as they both struggled to overpower one another. It didn't help that the mud gave neither of them anything close to any traction. Eventually, Haruhi got underneath Nagato and threw her over her shoulder. It initially appeared to be the first successfully attack of the match, but by some insane wonder, Nagato had managed to land on her feet.
Without giving Haruhi any time to react, Nagato bolt directly at her opponent in a blur of speed and leapt into the air. She landed directly onto Haruhi's shoulders, straddling her head between her legs. She then leaned back and placed her hands on the ground while squeezing Haruhi's head with her thighs. In an amazing display of acrobatics, Nagato then launched Haruhi forward with her legs. Completely, caught off guard by the technique, Haruhi could do nothing to defend herself as she went airborne for the first time this round. She soon landed on her back, bouncing a couple times before coming to a rest.
Haruhi appeared stunned as she attempted to get herself up. She didn't really get anytime to do so, though, since Nagato immediately continued the attack by gracefully leaping into the air and positioning her elbow to land directly on her opponent's chest. Haruhi reacted just in time by rolling out of the way. She then countered by getting up and bull rushing Nagato. Nagato was in the process of getting up herself and wasn't able to defend against the attack. Haruhi's shoulder collided into Nagato's chest, knocking the silver-haired alien onto her back. Haruhi then leapt onto her and attempted to pin her down.
Nagato expertly defended herself against Haruhi's attempts to hold her down, and eventually managed to get positioned so her feet were pressed right into Haruhi's stomach. Realizing what Nagato was trying to do, I saw Haruhi's eyes widen. Unfortunately for her, it was too late to prevent what happened next. Nagato kicked both her legs forward, launching Haruhi backwards. She flew nearly two meters before she finally landed in her back again, sliding another meter before coming to a rest.
Haruhi was clearly starting to show obvious frustration. There were few people on the planet as competitive as her, and she wanted to win badly. Regrettably, Nagato was proving to be every bit as difficult to defeat as anyone expected. Just as Haruhi was up on her feet again, Nagato bolted forward like a flash of lightening. Reacting with a speed that could only be described as superhuman, Haruhi sidestepped Nagato's attack and grabbed her by her arm. She then swung the quiet bookworm with all her strength and flung her as far as she could. Still, Nagato defied logic by somehow still landing on her hands and feet, sliding back towards the edge of the ring. It seemed impossible for one to be able to throw Nagato without her catching herself.
I was completely engrossed in the match, watching the two of them go back and forth with attacks and counterattacks. Mostly, I was amazed by Nagato's speed and agility. Without a doubt, Haruhi was out matched in those two areas, and it was looking like Haruhi was becoming a bit overwhelmed. Sure, the match wasn't completely one-sided, but I had to give Nagato the slight edge.
Koizumi moved up next to me, likely to try and talk my ear off once again. "This is turning out to be quite the match, isn't it?"
Shut up and go away! I'm trying to watch the match!
Koizumi chuckled before continuing. "By the way, I must admit that I was…impressed by your resourcefulness during out match. I regret that I was unprepared to defend against such tactics."
Good for you! Can you not see that I'm trying to watch the match?
Koizumi leaned in close to me, once again violating my personal space. "You seem distracted and concerned. Are you worried that she's going to lose?"
I moved away from him to get him out of my space bubble before responding. "What are you talking about?"
Koizumi put his hand on his chin, giving me that ever annoying smile. "Suzumiya-san is definitely struggling against Nagato-san. Am I wrong that you're troubled by this fact?"
I decided to try and ignore his question and focus my eyes on the ring again.
By now, Nagato had managed to get Haruhi in a headlock. Haruhi once again tried to power her way out of it the same way she did with Tsuruya-san, but this proved to be a futile effort. Not only was Nagato likely stronger than Tsuruya-san, but I suspected that Haruhi was at least a littler weaker now than she was earlier. Either way, Haruhi absolutely had to find a way out of this hold, or she'd lose the match for sure.
Giving up on powering out of the hold, Haruhi tried a different move. She threw herself backwards and slammed Nagato into the ground below. The impact from her doing that was just enough to momentarily loosen Nagato's grip, allowing Haruhi to slip her arms inside and break the hold. She then rolled away and got up again, putting her hands up defensively.
Out of curiosity, I looked back up to the crowd where Haruhi's parents were located. Naru-san herself was looking increasingly concerned, probably worried that her daughter could lose. Oruki, on the other hand, was now standing, his fists flying in the air. He was obviously really engrossed into the match now, his expression oozing with excitement. I was reminded of the time when Oruki instructed me on how it was the fan's responsibility to try and transfer their energy into the team or athlete that they were rooting for. I wondered if Oruki thought he was transferring his energy and spirit in his daughter right now.
My eyes returned to Haruhi and Nagato. Watching them struggle, I realized that I was focusing so much on each passing moment that it felt that time itself was beginning to slow. My heart was pounding in anticipation and excitement. I eagerly awaited the next big move that would be made that would electrify the crowd. My eyes barely blinked at all, not wanting to miss a single second.
I realized one other thing. Whether I'd like to admit it or not, Koizumi was right. Despite all the crap she put me through today, I wanted Haruhi to win…
It was at this exact moment that the match began change. Haruhi had managed to pull Nagato under her armpit and lifted her up and performed a suplex. Upon landing, both opponents immediately got up, not allowing each other the chance to be taken advantage of while on the ground. I noticed something, however. For the first time, Nagato was slower to get up than Haruhi.
I then became aware of something. I had figured that Nagato had refrained from using her powers during this match, but even so, she was quite a force to be reckoned with. In terms of speed and agility, she was unmatched, even by Haruhi. She could repeatedly beat Haruhi and anyone else in a sprint with relative ease. However, when it came to the marathon during our school's athletics festival last year, she lost to Haruhi. This could only mean one thing. Even Nagato had her limits. While Nagato was definitely faster and more agile than Haruhi, when it came to stamina and endurance, it was Haruhi who had the advantage.
When Nagato charged forward to tackle the Brigade Chief, my suspicions seemed confirmed when even I noticed a significant decrease in her speed. Granted, she was still extremely fast, but now it seemed her quickness had decreased just enough that it allowed Haruhi to follow her movements. Haruhi swiftly evaded the charge and turned around to face Nagato's backside. Nagato stop running the moment she missed and slid to a stop. She then turn around and leapt in the air again. It appeared that she was attempting to land on Haruhi's shoulders again to do that ridiculous flip. However, this time Haruhi was ready for it. She caught Nagato just as she was about to land on her and slammed her into the ground in what could only be regarded as a brilliant counter maneuver.
Nagato did not give Haruhi time to revel in her handy work, as she soon after performed a sweep kick and tripped Haruhi off her feet. After Haruhi landed on her back, Nagato bounded onto Haruhi to try and pin her down. Haruhi counter instantly by kicking her away. Haruhi then got on top of Nagato to try and pin her down. The two of them continued to wrestling furiously on the ground like this for almost a minute until Nagato made what appeared to be her final mistake. She allowed her arm to be gotten a hold of, allowing Haruhi to capitalize on this by quickly performing an arm bar.
She wrapped her legs around Nagato's arm and began to twist it in what could only be described as a ridiculously painful fashion. This move served to both pin the opponent and force them to forfeit because of the pain.
"I got you now, Yuki-chan!" yelled Haruhi as she tightened the hold a little bit more.
I knew Nagato wasn't in any actual pain. I watched this girl get pierced with a half-dozen spears without so much as a flinch. I was pretty confident that she didn't actually have any pain receptors. Who the hell needs them when you can regenerate damage within seconds? Pain receptors would be meaningless of humans could also do that. Nevertheless, I knew Nagato was stuck. Even if she wasn't actually hurting, she was still pinned down. That didn't stop her from trying to escape, though.
"Stop struggling or I'll break your arm!" commanded Haruhi as she continued to hold the arm bar. I didn't think Haruhi would actually break Nagato's arm, but even if she did, I wasn't concerned. Remember, super-fast regeneration?
It was then that Koizumi finally blew the whistle. I was completely surprised by this. I couldn't believe that ten minutes had passed already. Nevertheless, the last match was finally over. All that was left was to discover the final results of the match.
"That was totally awesome, nyoro~!" yelled Tsuruya-san in an explosion of energy.
"Great job you two!" cheered Asahina-san.
I merely stood there and smiled as I watched Haruhi let go of Nagato and help her to her feet. Yep, it was an awesome match. I suspect that the audience must've felt that they got their money's worth.
Shortly afterward, Koizumi returned to the middle of the ring with the results of the match. I was feeling incredibly anxious to hear them, knowing that this was definitely another close match.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears we have another split decision!" announced Koizumi with as much pizzazz as possible. "It certainly was an incredible match, and even the judges themselves admit that it was difficult to choose, but alas, we do indeed have a winner!"
Announce it already before I punch you!
"And the winner is…
…
…
…
The one and only Haruhi Suzumiya-san!"
I felt a tremendous relief when I heard the results, feeling strangely good knowing Haruhi obtained a well-earned victory. The crowd had a mixture of cheers and hisses, an obvious sign that it was impossible to please everyone. I didn't really care. I did of course notice that both of Haruhi's parents were cheering elatedly with their daughter's victory. Did they even remember that they were supposed to be upset at her?
After Koizumi raised Haruhi's arms to show that she was the victorious one, Haruhi jumped in pure joy, clearly satisfied that she was able to pull through. I decided it was polite to approach Nagato first to try and cheer her up, even though I somehow doubted she needed it.
"You did a great job, Nagato. That way awesome."
Nagato turned to me and stared directly into my eyes. It was subtle, but I think I detected a minute amount of fulfillment in her expression. Perhaps it was enough for her to be recognized for her efforts.
After that, I went up to Haruhi to congratulate her on her win. "Way to go, Haruhi."
Haruhi took a deep breath before answering me, evidently still a bit winded from the match. "I knew Yuki-chan would be tough, so I had to give it all I had. What kind of example would I make as Brigade leader if I can't prove that I'm the best?"
"Well you definitely did that," I said as I held up my hand, waiting for a high five.
Haruhi stared me down a bit before complying and giving me a high five. However, she then grabbed me by my arm and pulled me down into the mud. She then got on my back and started yelling.
"I declare that we have a free-for-all match right now! Everyone for his or herself!"
"Get off of me!" I yelled, trying to get up.
I watched as Tsuruya-san began to pull Asahina-san back into the ring. "Let's get'em Mikuru-chan!"
"Wait! I don't want to get muddy again!" protested the young time-traveler uselessly as she was tossed into the mud with the rest of us.
And so, Haruhi, Tsuruya-san, Asahina-san, Koizumi and I all participated in an unofficial free-for-all round while Nagato stood on the edge of the ring and hosed us down. It was a lot of fun, even if I got my butt kicked.
The tournament was now officially over and everyone who came to watch had now left. The six of us had to stay behind to try and dispose of all the evidence that was on the field. In other words, Koizumi and I had to shovel up all the mud and transport it out of site. It was arduous work, especially since I was completely pooped by now. To make things worse, those bastards Taniguchi and Kunikida snuck off after the show was over to avoid having to help us. I still need to figure out which one of them voted against me at the end of my match. I figured it was probably Taniguchi, perhaps as revenge for me messing with him earlier this week.
While I was working, I noticed that Haruhi was chatting with Tsuruya-san from out in the distance, too far for me to hear them. After a couple minutes, I heard Tsuruya-san laughing her ass off.
"Oh my god! You thought that he was into me?! No way!"
She was loud enough that anyone could hear her from a dozen kilometers away. I was able to figure out from that blurb that Haruhi was probably talking about her suspicion that I liked Tsuruya-san. Hopefully, Tsuruya-san's comment would finally put the matter to rest.
Another half-hour later, I heard Tsuruya-san yell again. "You're really going to do it?! Go for it, Haruhi-nyan! You gots my support!" She then gave Haruhi a huge hug.
I was confused as to what Tsuruya-san was talking about. Apparently, Haruhi was planning something. Whatever she was planning, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
It would be about another hour before we finally finished cleaning up. When we were done, we all snuck inside the school and got changed back into our school clothes. By now it was dark, which meant that we had to get home as soon as possible…Actually now that I think about it, I wasn't looking forward to getting home. Who knows what Oruki was going to do to us when we got back?
"I can't believe we did so well!" exclaimed Haruhi, holding the box full of cash while we walked home. "We totally made a killing!"
And indeed we did. We did so well in fact that the cash box was considerably heavy. I hadn't gotten a chance to count it all, but no doubt there was more than enough there to fund the trip…lucky me…
"I'm just happy I won," I said, still feeling pretty satisfied with myself.
Haruhi turned her head away from me. "That shouldn't count! You resorted to trickery to win!"
"And what? Faking an injury in order to get a hold of Tsuruya-san doesn't count?"
"Next year, I'll make sure that all those moves are made illegal!" declared the Brigade Chief. "Next time, you'll have to win fair and square! And that doesn't even cover the fact that you took off the wig before the match was up, which is a violation of a direct order."
"Come on. Give me a break."
Haruhi narrowed her eyes at me while pouting a bit. It was a really cute expression that indicated that she wasn't really upset at me about it. She then held the cash box to my face. "As punishment, you must carry this the rest of the way home."
I quickly snatched the box from her hands. "Why thank you! I think I'll keep this all to myself!"
"Jerk!" yelled Haruhi as she playfully tugged on my ear. "You try anything of the sort and you'll regret it for the rest of my life!"
"Ow! Let go! I get it!" I yelled as she let go.
We were relatively quiet the rest of the way home, which was fine with me. I kept stealing glances at her despite my desire not to do so. Even under the growing darkness, I couldn't help but feel that she glowed almost as brightly as the street lights themselves. She looked genuinely happy and perhaps a bit anxious. My thoughts returned to whatever she told Tsuruya-san earlier. What was she planning? Didn't it involve the trip to Kyoto, or was it something else? No doubt I'd find out eventually.
About fifteen minutes later, we finally returned home. Haruhi announced her return cheerfully to her parents while we removed our shoes. I was relieved that Oruki was not standing behind the door waiting for us. Were we off the hook? I certainly hoped so.
I found Oruki sitting on the couch with the newspaper in hand. "Hi honey. How was your fundraiser?" It should be noted that he asked this with his teeth clenched, visibly still upset over the whole ordeal. He held onto the paper so tightly that it wrinkled in his hands.
Haruhi didn't seem to notice his expression as she headed for the stairs. "It went great! We made a ton of money!"
"Did you have fun?" asked Naru-san as she popped her head out from the kitchen.
Haruhi turned towards her mother just before she got to the steps. "Yeah, it was okay."
"Wonderful," said Naru-san with a cheerful smile. "Dinner will be done soon, okay?"
Haruhi raised an eyebrow in surprised. "You haven't finished dinner, yet? It's already pretty late?"
Naru-san stumbled with her words as she tried to come up with an excuse. "Oh…uh…well…you said that you were going to be late, so I decided to wait before cooking dinner so it would be done when you guys returned."
Satisfied with the answer, Haruhi shrugged and began to walk up the steps.
It was then that Naru-san said one more thing. "Oh, by the way, congratulations on your victory you two." Naru-san covered her mouth immediately when she realized what she just said.
Haruhi immediately darted her eyes back towards her mother upon hearing this. Her eyes widened horror as the color drained from her face. "You were there?!"
Naru-san became incredibly flustered as she tried to come up with some kind of excuse. "Uh…um…uh…" Her eyes kept glancing at me, as if looking for a clue as for what to say. Stop looking at me! If you don't then…
Haruhi then turned toward me, her eyes widening even more. "You knew?!" I was at a loss for words as I watched Haruhi's face go from nearly white to beet red from embarrassment. I'm so dead.
"Just so you know, Kyon-kun," came a relatively deep voice from behind me. "You make a pretty hot chick." I turned to find Oruki standing before me, arms crossed while smiling smugly. "Now what should I do with you two? I'm pretty pissed you lied about your fundraiser, so I can't let you both go unpunished. Hmmm…"
Haruhi and I were speechless as we watched him think up and announce our punishment…
FINALLY! It's done! Those were easily the hardest chapters I've ever written. Doing nearly four action scenes one right after the other was a huge pain, but hopefully the effort was worth it. I truly hope beyond hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm going to try and get the next chapter out some time this weekend, since you guys waited long enough. Anyway, I see ya later!