Chapter 2 – George

"Ah, this is going to be great," Lion shouts, filling the entire corridor with her voice. Compared to the calm and composed Lion from earlier, she's jarringly out of character. "We'll definitely beat everyone! We'll be the best badminton team ever! Thank you, Will! Thank you!"

"Hey, hey. I never said I would be on your team. I only said I was joining the club," I say, and in a flash, Lion's face completely transforms. She stares at me with a look of shock, and is completely silent. "Don't worry about it, I was kidding. Of course I'll be on your team." Lion is still silent for roughly a second, before returning to something slightly more in-character (probably).

"Honestly, Will. That was just uncalled for," she says. That's when I notice we'd walked past our classroom. Lion also notices, and we turn back.

In the classroom, everyone is still returning to their seats. As I make to my seat to sit, I carelessly glance at the board and see the world 'test', and I instantly remember that I've forgotten everything Gaap so kindly acted out for us. Mr Hitler is stood at the front of the classroom, and he waits for everyone to be seated before painfully reminding us, "Alright, students. Your test papers are on your desk, so please be silent as you complete them."

I look at the questions, and I quickly realise that some of Gaap's teaching is still at the back of my mind. Did Hitler really commit suicide at the end of WWII? Of course not, he won WWII! Whose antics are responsible for terrorizing the bunker? Why, Fegelein! Who else would have the guts to mercilessly troll Hitler!? After the first few questions, I realise that Gaap's teaching hadn't covered a certain question, as no matter how hard I try to remember, Gaap definitely didn't tell us the answer to 'how did Hitler end up in Chuikov's closet?'

I spend a few minutes puzzling over what to put, when I notice the glasses-wearing guy sitting in front of me is looking into a mirror, tilting it as if he was trying to see around the room. When he seems to notice that I was looking at him, I quickly realise that it was me he was staring at. This person is rather… strange, let's call it. Has he been trying to peek at me for the entire test? I glance at his test paper, and notice he hasn't written anything. As I try to deny my now-evidenced theory, he hastily puts down the mirror and scribbles on a loose piece of paper. He then screws the paper up into a ball and throws it to me. So, in this school, you can throw paper around in the middle of a test. Alright.

I flatten the ball of paper which reads, 'Wait here after class. I won't take up your entire dinner-time, don't worry. By the way, the answer to number 14 is that Chuikov has a hoarding problem.' Flattered by this guy's generosity, I happily fill in the questions I left blank, and finish the test feeling rather confident.

The bell goes for dinner-time, and by this time I'd realised I at least owe this person for telling me the answers, so I hang back and watch everyone leave the classroom. I see Lion, the last person leaving the classroom, and she shouts, "We'll be at the picnic bench again, Will! Catch up with us, alright?" as she closes the door behind her.

"Looks like we're the only people left, huh?" says the person who dragged me back here. I suddenly remember about his mirror, and wonder if staying behind was really a good idea. He offers his hand, "I'm George Ushiromiya. Pleased to meet you, Willard-san." For a moment, I pause, before deciding that there's no harm in a handshake. I accept his hand.

"Please, call me Will," I say, and George seems taken aback. He gleefully smiles and blushes, repeating my name back to me. This man is not subtle. I try to ignore him, slightly disturbed, and move the conversation onward. "So why'd you call me back here?"

He swiftly regains his composure. "Ah, right. I saw your introduction, and I thought you were interested in the badminton club," he says and I nod, seemingly giving him permission to continue. "Alright then. I wanted to tell everyone who seemed interested that we're holding an unofficial opening of the badminton club tonight. Of course, there's probably people who are keeping quiet, so I wouldn't know to tell them. Not everybody will be there."

"Is that it?"

"Yes… is something wrong?" he asks, and his composure falters just as quickly as it was regained.

"Couldn't you have told me this on the corridor? Was it really necessary to keep me behind in this room?"

"Well… that's…" he scratches the black hair at the back of his head. "Anyway, I'll leave it up to you to tell Lion. You two get along, no?" I try to call out to him, but he's already left. I have a bad feeling about this guy. How does he know me and Lion are talking already? Wait, don't tell me… that this guy has been stalking me even before the test!? No, no, that seems unlikely… I sigh and head outside to catch up with Lion.

As I walk through the glass double doors leading outside, I immediately notice there's a commotion, filling the air with intrigued voices. A large amount of students are gathered in a circle around the path by Lion's picnic table. Wondering what kind of chaos Lion has started, I push my way through the crowd to see what all the fuss is about. I step on a few toes and I end up elbowing some blue-haired girl in the face, but I manage to see what people are staring at… I was expecting to see Lion performing some kind of show, so I didn't worry, but… here Lion is, crumpled up on the floor as Kanon tries to help her up. Jessica is pacing, seemingly (and probably understandably) frustrated.

"What happened?" I ask, and Kanon and Jessica stare at me with identical, hate-filled expressions.

"That Beatrice…" Jessica begins, clenching her fists.

"…She came out of nowhere. Lion-sama, Jessica-sama and I were talking about the badminton club when Beatrice walks up to us, suddenly grabs Lion, and says 'if you don't tell me where you keep your stash of ice cream, I'm beating up your friend'. We don't even have a stash of ice cream… we tried to reason with her, but…" Kanon explains, and looks down at Lion, seeming to curse himself. "Will-sama, could you lend a hand? I can't lift Lion-sama by myself…" I'm not exactly surprised, as Kanon has a rather small stature, and pull a remote control out of my pocket.

"What the Hell's that?!" Jessica shouts angrily.

"Relax, watch this." I say smugly, and press a button. Suddenly, all of us, including the ring of students, are covering our ears as a helicopter hovers above us. Then, a squad of Power Rangers jump out and help Lion to her feet. She looks more offended than anything else, so despite Lion missing a foot, we completely forget the whole incident ever happened.

"That's just excessive," Kanon and Jessica agree.