Me: Wow, long time no update! Sorry, I have a lot of schoolwork to do but I always try my best to continue keeping the story fresh and well. Hopefully, I'll be able to manage my time better since college really starts demanding from me. Anyway, I don't own Prince of Tennis! I only own the OCs and this fanfiction's plotline!
Chapter 63 - Death X Luck
Momo bit her lower lip as she anxiously held onto the katana that she had randomly grabbed from the decorations on the wall. Despite being a fairly blunt blade, Momo smiled at her own expertise in learning how to wield blunt weapons similarly to a sword. Despite her kimono being damaged and heavy, the female Sanada gathered some of her wits to rip off the hem of her kimono and altering it into a ribbon for her hair. After hearing the loud rushing of water, Momo had immediately ran towards the source of the rushing sound only to find herself in the living room with another flash of water soaking her. Her teammates managed to gather themselves as well until she found a familiar mob of orange hair sticking out from the mess.
"Sengoku," Momo rushed over until an arrow shot right in between the two of them, causing her to glare at the man who stood at the steps. "Tch, Toyotomi - you better know who you are messing with."
Standing in a hakama and kendo uniform, Hatori smirked arrogantly before lowering his samurai long bow. "Well, as far as my memory serves me - the Sanada family still owes the Toyotomi clan quite an allegiance and an amount of money. After all, your family since the ancient times have served as the Toyotomi clan's attack dogs. I think even the head himself can clarify that for you."
The male Sanada glared holes into the haughty young man. "Toyotomi, that era has long gone to an end. We have settled the treaty and became an alliance instead of a vassal clan to the Toyotomi. We are of equal standing."
"Do not make me your equal, dog," Toyotomi bristled angrily at Sanada, spitting venomously at the black haired Sanada. "I am here to fulfill my great-grandfather's wish: to bring about an heir that will gain me control of all the samurai clans that walk this country! The Toyotomi clan had suffered enough under the hands of Tokugawa! I will not surrender to my own vassals!"
Ayane twitched angrily as she pointed at the young samurai. "God, you have an ego even worse than Keigo! What part of 'Momo-senpai has a boyfriend' don't you understand? Maybe I should kick your balls in to make you actually grow a brain!"
Haruka could only sweat drop at the sight of the vice captain, keeping up her guard. "I sometimes wonder how Ayane can fearlessly yell at a man even if he has a long bow ready to shoot her."
Sanada remained silent as Toyotomi stepped down to their level, tossing his bow aside. "Very well; it seems that this woman must be taught her lesson personally. You however," - he snapped his fingers as squadrons of soldiers suddenly marched out. "Please excuse me but I have something else to deal with."
"Momo-chan," Sengoku ran past Sanada and watched the squadrons flood in before jumping over to reach Momo. "Momo-chan!"
Momo however continued to glare glacially at the mastermind of her kidnapping, drawing out the sword. "It seems I have to remind you about the difference between you and I."
Toyotomi scoffed lightly as he drew out his own sword, positioning himself to fight her with a dark smile curving up his lips. "Very well but you know what men say: I must punish you for your disobedience, my Yamato Nadeshiko."
"Scum," Momo launched herself towards her opponent as both swords clashed.
As the soldiers swung their pikes and swords, Ayane dodged the spears before grabbing them under her arm and swinging them aside using the spears. Seeing them fly towards her, Kiyone whirled around her yo-yo before spinning them around like a top to which Shiraishi and Marui knocked them out with a solid punch. Rin jumped high into the air before locking her legs around the man's neck and bringing him down with her pendulum-like movement. Haruka danced gracefully with the Chinese blade humming and blocking the Japanese swords, deflecting their attacks before flying in to bring them down. Sanada clucked his tongue in annoyance as he brought down his blade to wound the other soldiers, noticing Momo fight Toyotomi. As another attack came from above, Sengoku gave the attacker a quick right jab at the soldier's face before he chopped down Sanada.
"Thank you," Sanada found himself completely astonished; how could Sengoku beat off soldiers who have trained for years? "But how..."
"After your grandpa's friend tried to chop Momo down, I couldn't just stand there and watch," Sengoku ducked before punching another soldier straight in the face, knocking him out cold. "Even though Momo-chan doesn't show it outright, I know she's special and she's my inspiration, Sanada-san. I never liked girls who were always all-over me or easily flustered by me. I want someone like Momo-chan."
Sanada couldn't help but let a small smile curve up his lips. Who knew Yamabuki's famed Lucky Sengoku, a flirt and playboy to boot, would finally choose one girl? Sanada ducked and brought his blade up to block the attack, swinging it down to sweep the attacker off his feet. However, he found himself distracted again by the one woman who easily knocked him down. Shizuru gracefully slipped past the attackers as her naginata extended and began slashing her opponents as she spun around. Tezuka seemingly fought with her rhythm as they both managed to take down the opponents surrounding them. If that didn't convince them that they were meant for each other, he would point his katana in their faces until they admitted their affections towards one another. As he swung his blade to knock down one of the attackers, Sanada ducked until a person mysteriously flew over him and crashed into ten other soldiers like a bowling ball to a bowling pen. Sanada blinked several times and staring incredulously at Marui who pointed at the tangerine haired buxom vice captain as she picked another by his shirt before going for another strike
"That's a double strike folks," Ayane grinned until an alarm started blaring off. "Eh?"
Suddenly, the speakers crackled to life with the walls dropping down.
"Yamaguchi-san are you sure you're doing the right thing," - a worried Seishun Gakuen's voice echoed into the hall. "All I see is numbers and weird sentences..."
"I hate to break it into you, Oishi but your data master doesn't have the equipment and the skills for a combat operation like this," Hitomi chuckled darkly as she cleared her throat. "Ah Toyotomi-san, forgive me but your firewalls and computers need better work if you want to defend against a hacker like me."
Seeing Toyotomi visibly pale, Momo sniggered lightly as she lowered her blade a little. "She's so good that it makes me wonder why the government hasn't listed her yet for their technology and security department."
Toyotomi blinked several times. "But, but we barely...!"
"I don't need you to have computers to knock you down," Hitomi calmly responded as her voice became much clearer. "All I needed to do was to hotwire the cables and lock my signal on the same frequency as your telephone and use it as a terminal to send commands. I've installed a prototype of the world's smallest cameras on each of a fringe of my teammates' clothing. Even Momo has one except I've put it on something that not even you can find."
Toyotomi remained silent and everyone stared for a moment as Hitomi sighed dejectedly.
"Gah, doesn't anyone speak English and not dummy," Hitomi groaned as she audibly smacked her head against the screen.
"Yamaguchi-san, not everyone is as smart as you," Oishi laughed sheepishly.
Momo blinked several times as she started feeling out her body until her hand went up to her earrings, causing her to smirk lightly as realization hit her. "Hitomi, you're really a sly fox..."
"Well, using the smoke alarms as heat detector wasn't hard," Hitomi smoothly chuckled as holes revealed themselves on the wall. "You guys may want to leave the room. Fighting a bunch of pesky soldiers is quite tiring, isn't it?"
Arrows and kunai shot out towards the soldiers as many of them were struck down. Mai jumped out of the way and danced through the barrage before finding a blind spot at the corners. More arrows flew out as they pierced through the armour of the soldiers, creating a pile of dead bodies.
"Get to the corners," Mai narrowly dodged a kunai that missed her face by inches.
Clucking his tongue, Sanada sailed over a sofa and dragged Tezuka before clumsily setting up another barrier to shield them from the deadly crossfire. Shizuru whirled around her naginata to form a wind-based dome as the arrows and kunai bounced off the dome harmlessly as she made her way towards the sofa and hid. Haruka and Rin jumped towards the higher floors and went for the lanterns hanging from the ceiling. However, Sengoku took a shot as the kunai grazed his ankle and an arrow met his shoulder.
"Sengoku," Momo whirled around the sleeve of her kimono as the arrow snapped against the momentum, grabbing Sengoku by his shirt and dragging him towards the barricade. "Tch, what was Hitomi thinking?"
"She probably wanted to help eliminate all the soldiers all at once," Momo exhaled weakly as she kept the katana close to her. "I can't beat Toyotomi at this rate," - her eyes widened as she began tending to Sengoku as her heart suddenly began to stop. "Sengoku, hey... Sengoku-kun! Damn it, Kiyosumi don't think your luck will spare you from being haunted!"
Sengoku chuckled lightly as he pulled out the arrow, flinching in pain. "Don't worry; it's not a deep wound! But we have to find a way how to dodge all those arrows or find a way how to shut down the whole arrow barrage thing!"
"Tch," Sanada held onto his katana, watching Sengoku and the others try to figure out a plan. "If Yamaguchi has the key to tap into the mainframe, why can't she just shut it down or at least control the firing rate?"
Everyone stared at Sanada as if he grew another head. "What?"
"He he, I never knew that fukubuchou could be so technologically intelligent," Marui grinned until Sanada slapped the back of the Magician's head. "Owww, you didn't have to whack me that hard!"
Shizuru inhaled deeply as she grabbed her microphone, avoiding an arrow narrowly missing her head. "Hitomi-senpai, can't you shut down the defence system first? I think we took out majority of the soldiers."
"I'm trying to shut it down but someone sent in a kill code," Hitomi continued rapidly punching in the keys on the laptop. "Toyotomi must've hired special personal hackers to try and stop my signals. I'm rewriting my kill-code and algorithm to see if I can control the whole fortress. Each program has at least three firewalls. Give me a few minutes."
Shizuru nodded stiffly as she pushed Tezuka out of the way as an arrow pierced through the sofa. She never knew he would be dragged into combat scenery and she barely wanted people to know that she could swing her naginata. Let alone him of all people! She groaned inwardly to herself before tightening her grip onto her naginata and inhaled deeply. She visualized the whole area in her mind as the sound of the arrows began to fade into the back of her mind. Her own heartbeat faded into the background as she prepared to re-extend her naginata. As her eyes opened, she glanced at Momo who nodded to her with the katana one hand.
"Hold on," Sanada pulled out a blade in its sheathe from his bag, tossing the sword to Momo. "I think you're looking for this".
As Momo caught her blade, a smile curved up her lips as her fingers traced the varnished sheathe of her blade. Momo slowly drew out the shining silver katana as her fingers tightened its grip on the dark lavender strips of cloth that wound around the hilt. She felt her spirits lift up considerably as the blade smoothly slid out of its sheathe, glimmering under the white lights. Inhaling deeply, Momo glanced at Shizuru as both of the girls leapt over the sofa wordlessly with their swords singing in the air. The naginata blades sung as the arrows crashed against the chains and blades while Momo's katana split the arrows in two. Momo ducked as she continued blocking the arrows while Shizuru spun around and formed a dome around her to deflect the rest of the arrows. Toyotomi stood at the top of the staircase as he watched Momo and Shizuru cut through the piercing attacks.
Sengoku and Tezuka could only watch in amazement although the orange haired vice captain had his jaw dropping to the ground while Tezuka's eyes simply widened. Sengoku watched Momo cut through the arrows as she leapt up to bring down her blade against Toyotomi. The rate of the arrows slowed down as Shizuru danced around to prevent Momo getting hit by arrows, slashing the arrows with a quick whirling dance.
"She's so cool," Sengoku gawked as Momo jumped over Toyotomi's slashing attempt at the legs. "I can only imagine how she would cut me to pieces if I did something wrong."
"Momo's cutting you into pieces and Shizuru would shred Tezuka into ribbons if he didn't watch his step," Mai chuckled lightly as she continued staying behind the wall, pulling out her cellphone. "Hitomi, you can stop the barrage now!"
"I'm trying; I'm dealing with several bogeys here also," Hitomi quickened her speed of writing before Mai heard the rolling of a computer chair. "Just don't jump out into the fray, whatever you do!"
"Tell that to Shizuru and Momo," Isane squeaked onto the phone as an arrow narrowly shot through her head. "They're blocking and fighting the guy in a sword fight!"
Momo jumped back as she dug her heel into the ground before swinging her sword to push Toyotomi back. As the male samurai fell back, Momo pushed her attacks and began striking at Toyotomi's shoulder. Clucking his tongue annoyance, Toyotomi swung his sword towards Momo's arm as she blocked the attacked before whirling around to bring a full round strike. Toyotomi rushed forward to slash her stomach as Momo vaulted over the blade as she brought her sword down in a vertical strike.
"Tch," Toyotomi dodged Momo's strike as he prepared to kick her away until Momo ducked and swept him off his feet. "You truly are becoming a pain, Sanada Momo!"
Momo chuckled lightly as she sidestepped as her blade clashed and sparks ignited in her face. As the steel clashed against one another, Momo and Toyotomi pushed their blades towards one another. Momo began shoving the blade towards Toyotomi's neck, narrowing her eyes at the male samurai. She winced at the strength Toyotomi had as the Shinigami continued trying to make sure he did not force her to retreat. Her hands trembled from the sword struggles as the arrows soon stopped flying. Shizuru, glancing at the splintered arrows around her, remained silent before retracting her double-edged naginata back into a normal looking baton before glancing at the swordsmanship match between Momo and Toyotomi.
"I think it's safe to get out now," Shishido slightly peeked over the sofa as he heard nothing but swords clashing against one another.
Sengoku's eyes widened as he leapt over the sofa while watching Momo deal with her captor. He slightly gaped in amazement at how fluid her movements were despite feel the fatigue from running around in a castle. Momo leapt up once more before knocking down Toyotomi as the man rolled away while dodging Momo's upward slash. Clucking his tongue in annoyance, Toyotomi clambered up onto his feet again as his blade clashed against Momo's and he aimed a well-placed kick onto her stomach before flipping her over and stomping on her back.
"Momo-senpai," Kiyone prepared to run until she saw Toyotomi place his blade right by Momo's neck.
"One move and I will start branding her pretty little neck with this blade," Toyotomi sneered darkly at the small volleyist, pushing the blade against Momo's neck. "It is because of your stupid school that turned my darling fiancée into some feministic fool that says she has to go gallivanting. This society is for men - there is no place for women in this world."
"That's where you're wrong."
Toyotomi glared darkly at the orange haired vice captain as the Yamabuki regular took a step forward unrelentingly. "Momo -chan may be just a "girl" or a "woman" in your eyes but Momo-chan is more than just that to people. To her team and school, she is Hyotei's Shinigami. The girl who relentlessly brings down her opponents as a prelude to the Hyotei's True Terror; she makes her opponents seize in fear with the three kabuki movements. To her family, she's their daughter and more precious to them than what the elder's keep trying to tell them and to me..."
Momo's eyes widened as Sengoku smiled this huge sincere yet goofy smile.
"Momo-chan is the strongest woman I ever met," Sengoku scratched his head sheepishly. "I know she can shred me to ribbons if angry, I know she can clobber me with a wooden sword and even her tennis is better than mine. But it takes a lot more strength to stop oneself from lashing out and boasting about your abilities rather than showing off how easy it is for you to break a rock. That's why - I don't like people like you who beat down on her just because she's a woman. To me, she's Sanada Momo - the Shinigami and not just any Shinigami, MY LUCKY SHINIGAMI!"
Momo couldn't help but gape awestruck at Sengoku's suddenly declaration when suddenly he managed to slide behind her and strike Toyotomi in the stomach with a straight right hook without the male even noticing. Letting out a slight grunt, Sengoku created a distance between him and Toyotomi as Momo managed to roll out and grab her sword before standing right next to him.
"You're crazy! He could've cut you with that blade and this time you don't have your racquet to take a dent for you," Momo stared at him aghast, resisting the urge to whack him with the katana. "What is with you and knocking the daylights out of samurai clan members or interfering with the samurai?"
Sengoku shrugged sheepishly with a huge childish grin. "Can I call it coincidence?"
"More like your stupidity," Momo wanted to hit him but decided against it when she found his grin and that he was standing beside her; she could feel her heart fluttering and her chest threatening to burst out with happiness. "Sengoku...?"
"Yeah?"
Momo bit her lower lip anxiously before glancing at Sengoku with a melancholic smile. "Do... do you mean...?"
"I meant everything I said, Momo," - Momo froze in astonishment when Sengoku had dropped the "chan" when he had usually used it with her name. "I'm deathly afraid of what you could do to me if you're angry enough but I also know how much it hurts to constantly run and try to be someone you are when the world won't let you. I know we can't have the "us-against-the-world" thing that everyone seemingly can get but I know that I've got your back no matter what and that I'm giving you everything that I am. If you don't want it, it's fine but I'll stand with you - regardless."
Momo could barely let out a sound, much more her breath as it got stuck at the back of her throat. She's had many confessions in her life but none of them seemed as honest as his even if he did have his idiot moments. Sengoku gave her that goofy grin as always and somehow, she always felt better. In Rikkai Dai, she was known as the Kendo princess and could beat down anyone including her upperclassmen. She had transferred out after the Sanada clan gave her nothing but disdain and spite and Momo felt glad that she did. IF she didn't, would she still have met the Hyotei team? Would they be her friends as well? She would have never met Midoriyama-senpai, the one woman who moulded her love for tennis. Momo smiled to herself, glad that she finally grew up and actually got a real boyfriend. Restraining her tears from falling out of her eyes, Momo held up her blade while Toyotomi scrambled up to his feet.
"You're abandoning yourself for that imbecile," Toyotomi hissed venomously as he brandished his blade, as their reflection glinted off the shining katana.
"How would I be abandoning myself if all the things I've gone through made me who I am today," Momo glared as she sprinted off with her blade singing high into the air until someone blocked it. "Ukiyo?"
In front of her, Toyotomi Ukiyo blocked Momo's blade before parrying her and sending the violet haired girl back. As Momo staggered back, Sengoku moved right in front of Momo before clobbering Ukiyo straight in the stomach. The black haired girl's eyes widened as she struggled to keep conscious, glancing at Sengoku's bright green eyes. The orange haired Yamabuki vice captain let her slump down onto the ground gently before picking up Ukiyo's sword and placing it in front of him.
"You know - I think I know what the problem is," Sengoku inhaled deeply and determinedly gazed straight into Toyotomi's eyes. "You guys don't think I'm good enough just because I'm from a normal modern day Japanese family. Well, guess what - I guess that's what makes me lucky because I think Momo will be bored with whatever you got here anyway other than trying to make sure she doesn't end up being pierced by an arrow at the end of the day."
Toyotomi glared holes as his katana was raised right in front of him. "Very well, you peasant. I will deal with you. But rest assured - you are gambling more than your honour."
"Death before dishonour," Shishido mumbled, remembering his History classes talking about the persona of samurai back then. "Sengoku's got no chance at this! He's going to get himself clobbered."
Sengoku swallowed hard as Toyotomi's black eyes glinted with malice and murderous intent. His hands suddenly started getting clammy as he noticed how sharp the blade was. However, Sengoku shook away the feelings as he cemented his feet into the ground. His sword flashed lightly as Toyotomi let out a howl of rage, charging towards him. Sengoku bounced a little as he sidestepped to avoid the blade, seeing the fury flash in the samurai's eyes. He ducked as Toyotomi tried to decapitate him before whirling around to get behind Toyotomi. Sengoku blinked to himself several times; he was actually getting the hang of it. He danced around Toyotomi easily without once raising his blade and sliding his feet on the ground.
"Where did he learn that," Shishido gaped in shock. "He never held a katana at least once in his life!"
Even Sanada found himself completely baffled by Sengoku's sudden proficiency with the sword; when did Sengoku suddenly learn how to fight against someone who's trained all his life as a samurai? The Yamabuki captain seemed to bounce around before dodging the strike that nearly slashed him in half. Everyone could only stare in amazement and Momo was not sure if she was looking at the same Sengoku who seemed to goof around whenever he had the chance. Instead of the usual goofy Sengoku, he now had a serious expression plastered on his face as he continued dodging Toyotomi's rage directed shots. He had not once swung the sword at Toyotomi when he could have taken the decisive strike right there and then yet he didn't. His dark ebony eyes kept on focusing on the speed of the sword as it came singing and flying towards his face. Sengoku ignored the beads of sweat trickling down his face as his feet continued to slide smoothly across the marble floor with his slight bouncing for a tactic.
"You coward," Toyotomi exhaled venomously as he raised his blade again to strike down Sengoku only to have the orange haired boy dodge it once more. "WHY ARE YOU NOT STRIKING?"
Sengoku shrugged. "You know - maybe because I don't want to?"
"You fiend," Toyotomi's blade finally made contact with Sengoku's as the orange haired teen slid the blade before striking Toyotomi with the butt end of his katana, causing the black haired boy to keel over on his knees. "You will regret this-!"
"To be honest, I've never wielded a katana in my life. I learned all of what I showed you today from Momo-chan."
Toyotomi stared in shock as he looked behind Sengoku and found Momo staring in astonishment as well to what Sengoku said.
"They say that when a man does something for the world, you always look at the profile of the woman who is closest to him. She is the one who everyone should give credit to for the ideas," Sengoku smiled goofily, scratching his head. "And frankly, Momo-chan's the only reason why I'm strong right now. In fact, my hands feel so clammy that I'm about to drop my sword. Seriously, seeing how sharp that blade was really wanted to make me drop the sword and run. But then again, she's also my lucky charm. I'm always lucky when she's around."
Momo couldn't help but blush upon hearing Sengoku's words, giggling softly. Sengoku definitely knew what to say even if he sounded like an idiot and no matter how much she wanted to clobber the said man with the blunt edge of her katana, she could not. She glanced at the katana in her hands before mumbling softly, tracing the silver blade gently.
"I know what your name is now... Kouun," Momo smiled lightly until she heard a loud clattering and found Sengoku standing victorious and Toyotomi on the ground with his sword far away from him. "He won? Are you kidding me?"
Toyotomi coughed raspily as he looked up at Sengoku when the orange haired male just shrugged and placed his sword on the ground before he kicked it away. "What?"
"I don't think I should go around swinging something I'm not familiar with," Sengoku scratched his head sheepishly, revealing a couple of burn marks and cuts on his finger with a goofy grin. "I kinda learned that when we were making cream puffs in Momo-chan's dorm! Who knew baking pans could get so hot even after putting them through an electric oven for 10 minutes?"
Nobody was sure how to react with Sengoku's statement as Momo could only face-palm in response to her childish boyfriend. Haruka shook her head with a sigh and everyone else could only groan at Sengoku's trademark stupidity. Was he doing it on purpose or did he really have to mention that, Haruka herself didn't know but even Jackal started giving her the expression that asked how Sengoku magically became the tennis vice captain if he was that susceptible to his own stupidity in burning his fingers in an electric oven. Sanada couldn't believe that his cousin fell for an idiot and Ayane and the others could only grin at the comedy.
"Well, at least Momo's life will never be boring," Isane smiled lightly until Toyotomi suddenly rushed towards Sengoku with his fists. "Sengoku-san, look out!"
Sengoku could barely track down Toyotomi's movement but felt it as air from his punch brushed against his face as he managed to dodge. Getting into a guard position, Sengoku readied himself as he ducked the next punch before sliding away and punching Toyotomi's side. Despite taking a direct hit, the hakama and the samurai armour had lessened the impact of Sengoku's strike as Toyotomi whirled around to kick the Yamabuki vice captain's face. Sengoku staggered back as his arm blocked the kick from making direct contact with his face as Toyotomi landed a punch in Sengoku's stomach and sent the boy doubling over onto the ground.
"Pathetic, you rely on your woman," Toyotomi sneered darkly as he stepped on Sengoku's white jersey, kicking him repeatedly. "She is not yours. She is mine! You have nothing to rely on!"
Momo on the other hand had other ideas as she ripped off both the sleeves of her kimono before making into some sort of whip-like rope and snaking it towards Toyotomi's leg, dragging him away. Sengoku stared in shock as Toyotomi suddenly slid on the floor when Momo now stomped straight on his shoulder with a cold fire dancing in her black eyes.
"Do not dare refer to me in the third person, peasant," Momo seethed venomously, repeating the insult Toyotomi had used on Sengoku. "If there is anyone here who is a peasant, it is you. Nobility comes from the mind and not from the blood," - Momo paused for a moment before realizing a few things, staring in shock and astonishment. "Did Atobe just make himself useful or something?"
Out of nowhere, Atobe sneezed from a far away land.
"What does Atobe have to do with anything," Marui stared aghast at his female best friend, scratching his head.
Toyotomi hissed darkly as he tried to kick her down only to have Momo stumble far back to avoid his kick. The male continued fighting with a couple of punches thrown into the female's direction until someone caught his fist and gave a healthy right hook to his jaw as the samurai fell over. Much to their surprise, Momo found Sanada stretching and flexing his fingers after her had punched the man in the jaw.
"Had I not known this we would still be on opposing sides," Sanada smirked at his cousin as he drew out his own sword, looking at Toyotomi shivering with fear. "I would not cut him down but there should be a good way of dishonouring him..."
"I would have agreed to cut him down but I don't know any better way to bring him down," Momo pondered deeply until her mind suddenly popped up with an idea as devilish smile curved up her lips, actually causing shivers to run down Sanada's spine and reminding him of Niou's own mischievous grin. "Wait - Kiyone, give him it."
All the girls in the Hyotei team froze the moment Momo gave emphasis on the word "it" that even Shizuru paled slightly from the mention of it. Kiyone blinked several times until a huge grin appeared on her face that seemed very akin to a psychotic sadistic grin with her shiny liquid blue eyes shining in amusement, knowing what Momo had in her pocket. Ayane shook her head, stepping away from the smaller girl. The other team members made way for the younger girl as Toyotomi snickered at the sight of the small girl. How could someone so small garner that much respect and fear from the others who were older from her?
"What are you going to do? Jump on me like a trampoline," Toyotomi scoffed at the small girl as she stood in front of him with a huge innocent grin. "What makes you think a child will intimidate me?"
"Oh ho, she is not just any child," Momo snickered as she shoved her hand into her pocket and tossed Kiyone a Pixy Stick. "I think you should know how much sugar that thing is loaded with."
Shiraishi blinked several times before glancing at Momo. "Wait, what's going to happen?"
"You'll see," Haruka shivered slightly at Kiyone holding the blue Pixy Stick, swallowing hard. "The last time we gave her a coffee flavoured hard candy made of real coffee - you do not want to be there."
"I think someone even gave her Cobra also at that time," Rin shivered violently, shaking her head. "I'm never giving her something that strong ever again."
Tezuka glanced at Shizuru, noticing her paled expression. "When...?"
"It all started when we gave her that sugar loaded cinnamon apple pie," Shizuru shook her head, twitching slightly. "I think it's best you see the horror for yourself."
"It looks like I'm about to hear the terrors from the Walking Candy Terror," Hitomi chuckled amusedly through the speakers. "May the odds be in his favour."
Kiyone ripped off the paper covering the sugar treat and downed it in one go before tossing the wrapper aside with a snide grin on her face. She cracked her knuckles as her eyes seemingly eyed him psychotically much to Toyotomi's fear. The black haired samurai staggered back as a huge psychotic grin curved up the small volleyist's face as she let out some Indian battle cry out of nowhere. With a flying tackle, Kiyone wrestled him down much to the guy's shock and managed to rip off some strands of his hair. She began to laugh childishly and maniacally with a sing-song rhyme, dragging him like a limp rag doll around the room without having any intention to stop and easily ignoring Toyotomi's cries of pain. Shiraishi stared in shock at the formerly innocent and sweet girl now turned into some sugar-high girl running faster and beating up someone faster than someone who was turned on by crystal meth.
"What was in that thing," Shishido stared aghast at Momo as the Shinigami shrugged nonchalantly.
"The flavouring and mixture for cotton candy all rolled up into a Pixy Stick in bubblegum flavour," Momo shook her head as Kiyone started playing with Toyotomi's head like a drum. "She gets really crazy after given a lot of sugar. Why do you think we barely give her anything sugar loaded during matches? We don't want to deal with law suits."
"Hey when can I get in," Ayane pouted with a bored snort, cracking her knuckles with a very creepy grin. "I've been wanting to have a go at this guy for ages!"
Momo pointed to the poor samurai being abused by Kiyone, raising an eyebrow sceptically. "Wanna try prying Kiyone despite her breaking out her wild monkey side?"
"I'm perfectly capable of that," Ayane confidently smirked while walking over to the small girl and picking her up by her shirt and placing her down on the ground, causing the sandy blonde to halt. "Sorry, it's my turn. You already abused the poor guy already."
Kiyone pouted childishly, folding her arms with a purse of her lips. "Aww, I wanted to have more fun! I wasn't done beating his head like a drum yet! I haven't heard the people sing yet!"
"Kiyone, that is a metaphor from Lés Miserables," Ayane sighed as she picked the guy up by his shoulders, seeing how distraught and shaken the boy was. "I'm sorry about her. She tends to overdo things when running on pure sugar."
"It's Diabetes," Kiyone grinned with a hyperactive maniacal grin and whispering with the best evil creepy maniacal tone that her child-like voice could muster. "In the best form possible~!"
Toyotomi yelped as Ayane gripped his shoulder with an evil sardonic grin. "Now, now, now, we're not going to let you get away what you did to Momo-senpai..."
Toyotomi swallowed hard; now that he had seen the tangerine haired girl personally, he started to wonder whether not it was a good idea to taunt her especially with her Iron Grips of Death and that smile that was promising his funerals. He definitely did not know which was much worse: going against a sugar high kid or fighting someone who was already insane in both strength and with the idea if beating the living daylights out of him. He finally understood why the Hyotei Team had been deemed as dangerous but what he could not understand is why Momo had easily warmed up to them.
"You know I've been having a bad week," Ayane continued to grin evilly as she clamped her hand around his neck as her emerald eyes seemed to blaze with utter fury, despite her small frame. "Now, I'm gonna make sure that YOU FEEL THE BRUNT WEIGHT OF ALL THE STRESS THAT MY BRAIN'S BEEN HANDLING!"
Toyotomi could barely say anything as Ayane pitched him with full force all the way to the wall and had a glare in her eyes as if she had vented out all the stress on her desired target. A loud crash echoed throughout the common room as a crater remained on the stairs that Ayane had thrown Toyotomi against. Sanada blinked several times before looking at Tezuka who could barely shake his head only to widen his eyes ever so slightly but also slightly gape. To the girls, Ayane's tantrums were very normal. Shizuru smiled with a soft laughter and let her finger push up Tezuka's jaw to close his mouth and Haruka raised an eyebrow at Jackal who stared, completely slack-jawed at the damage Ayane was capable on her own. The boys that were with them only had one question in mind: did the girls really go through something like this everyday to the point it seemed normal to them?
"I already thought that Kurenai-san with the double-edged whipping naginata was scary," Marui gulped as he watched Ayane grinning like a madwoman in front of a crumpled Toyotomi. "I guess looks are really deceiving, ne, Tezuka-san?"
Tezuka glanced at Shizuru who maintained a polite and warm-hearted expression on her face as he smiled faintly at the sight of her, remembering their sudden martial arts moment even if both of them looked like the cat got out of the bag. "Ah."
Before the fight could continue however, the doors suddenly slammed open as the servants stared aghast. "SIR, THE POLICE HAVE LOCATED THE FORTRESS!"
Soon and with a little help from Hitomi Yamaguchi, the police rammed the doors opened and took in Toyotomi Hatori for kidnapping and holding many illegal weapons and a whole array of samurai weaponry in the house when they should be imitations at the least. Momo's parents had run towards her asking if she was okay until they found Toyotomi screaming in fear at the sight of the small clueless liquid blue eyed volleyist who innocently cocked her head to the side when around people but sardonically smiled at him before the ambulance took him to the hospital. Sengoku had bandages wrapped around his knuckles since he took a beating from the armour, wincing slightly at the soreness. Shizuru and Tezuka stood side by side in silence while Haruka began drying her hair and Jackal and her sharing a towel draped on both their shoulders. Kajimoto and Rin started trying to explain to the police along with Isane about the kidnapping. Hitomi handed in the evidence with Oishi as the two suddenly cast their eyes towards the captains talking to one another or at least staying close to one another.
"Even though they don't say anything, I guess physical presence is good enough to bring them to life," Hitomi smiled lightly, remembering what she saw on the camera when they both simultaneously kicked the person at the back of his head. "That's one secret about Shizuru down."
Oishi nodded as he watched his friend try to inch his way towards her with not much success. He could only shake his head; Tezuka really needed a hard push.
"Kiyosumi," Sengoku suddenly looked up and found Momo in a tattered and torn kimono. "You didn't have to..."
Sengoku shrugged with a small smile, scratching his head sheepishly. "Well, at least we broke you out earlier than you would have on your own."
Momo shook her head with a defeated smile on her face. "You're crazy."
"Wait," Sengoku suddenly rewound back to the first part of the conversation. "Did you just call me Kiyosumi?"
Momo blushed pink before shaking her head. "It must've been the wind."
"No, I recognize your voice anywhere," Sengoku brightened up considerably despite just coming out of a death match against Toyotomi. "Yay, my day is so lucky today~!"
Momo giggled softly before bending down to kiss his forehead, causing the boy to suddenly stop his cheering. A few moments passed as he found himself staring straight at Momo's onyx black eyes as well as he realized that she had pressed her lips against his forehead. It was soft, not like one he had imagined in those romance movies that his mother kept dragging him to watch with her. Without saying a word, he took her hands and stood up as he brushed away a strand from her face. Momo on the other hand traced the bandages he had on his knuckles and the one bandage he managed to earn himself at his forehead when the arrow had zipped by when Hitomi decided to play with the security system.
"You know Kiyosumi, you always manage to get yourself in and out of stupid situations," Momo chuckled lightly as she leaned in a little bit. "I swear to God, how do you manage to do that?"
"People do a lot of stupid things when they're in love, Momo," Sengoku smiled lightly as he brushed his own forehead against hers, brushing his thumb under her right eye as he noticed her eyes getting glassy. "Whether I'm a guy and you're a girl, we're still human and that's why we do irrational things sometimes. It doesn't matter as long as we do what we believe is the right thing to do whether it is out of love or devotion."
Momo wanted to burst out in tears out of worry but she kept it in like she had taught herself all those years of living in the dormitories near Hyotei Gakuen. Sengoku noticed her shoulders shuddering violently as a smile curved up his face as he leaned in against her forehead and let the tears trail down her face.
"It's alright Momo, you can cry out everything you need and want to."
Momo managed to let out a slight sniff, tightening her grip on her katana. "You're an idiot."
"But I'm your lucky idiot," Sengoku grinned as he gently held Momo's left cheek. "By the way, you told me your katana had no name. What are you gonna name it now?"
Momo lifted her sword as she guided his hand to hold onto the hilt of her katana as she smiled.
"Even Death has found love in Luck," Momo smiled while looking straight into Sengoku's warm gaze before looking at her sword. "Unseimaru."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"WHAT?! SINCE WHEN WERE WE GONNA SHARE A BUS WITH THE HYOTEI BOYS," -Shizuru could have sworn that all her teammates (minus Ayane) had suffered major eardrum damage and gone deaf.
It had been a few days since the kidnapping of Momo and the days had been pretty uneventful then. Soon, the Goodwill Games were three weeks away and they needed time to train and form a team that involved both mixed and segregated matches. The problem however did not lie there; it was more at the seating arrangement. Shizuru sighed deeply at Ayane's insane ability shatter eardrums and make water vibrate in a thick drinking glass which normally would be impossible. Kiyone, despite her craziness, had leapt right under the table the moment Ayane let out an ear-splitting, banshee-worthy and earth-shaking shriek upon hearing that Atobe and the others were going to share a bus with them. Not that they have never done so before but apparently the seating arrangement was made by Atobe himself and unfortunately for the rest of the universe...
Ayane and Atobe were sitting next to each other.
"BUCHOU, I AM NOT SITTING NEXT TO THAT RETARD," Ayane slammed her hands against the desk on the table with an infuriating snort as Shizuru tried to remain as calm as possible.
"Ayane, I was not the one who arranged the seating arrangement," Shizuru massaged her forehead, feeling her patience wearing thin. "Secondly, I thought you are able to at least hold a decent conversation. I thought Atobe is your boyfriend."
"WHO THE HELL TOLD YOU THAT," Ayane screeched louder as Shizuru began breathing in and out, trying her best to calm herself down. "And he WAS my boyfriend until Jerrard decided to suck face with him! BESIDES, WHERE WAS HE WHEN I NEEDED HIM? HE DITCHED ME FOR THAT FUCKING HUSSY!"
"It was more like she almost," Kiyone whimpered from underneath the desk until Ayane nearly kicked her in the stomach. "Eep!"
"Kobayagi, control your temper. Getting angry will not get your anywhere," Momo narrowed her eyes darkly, watching the emerald green orbs flash angrily. "Getting angry at buchou also won't fix things because she wasn't the one who arranged the seating arrangement."
Shizuru bit her lower lip as her empathic abilities started to kick in and watched Ayane's body language and felt the heat emanating from the younger girl's body. The vibrations from Ayane's slamming of the desk rattled all the way to her arms as her blood slightly began to boil. She couldn't understand how Ayane got ticked off so easily by the mere mention of Atobe's voice and even Kiyone started shivering under the table. Normally, Ayane's loud psychotic yelling would be more of teasing and mocking and joking around but for Kiyone to be terrified? Shizuru knew better than to get the rest involved. Ayane always had loud temper issues and that her voice already by default could echo in the whole club room but for her to cuss and swear – Shizuru had already had plans to extract every single piece of information out of Atobe since he left her to deal with a ticking time bomb.
"Ayane, come with me outside," Shizuru suddenly stood up as she began walking towards the door, earning quizzical looks from the other team members.
Even Ayane suddenly stopped flaring up and glanced at her captain. "Buchou?"
"Outside, now," Shizuru simply walked out the door and left the door open.
Ayane swallowed hard at the iciness, calm and collected tone her captain had used. Shizuru barely had used calm, cold, calculating and dark tone in her voice on her and her face barely even showed the expression of anger. It was rare to have Shizuru to start snapping at them but Ayane certainly knew that the quieter ones usually had scarier outbursts. Kiyone slightly whimpered as Shizuru started rolling up one of the nets and placed them on one side. Haruka and Rin watched their captain place the ball baskets on one side and making sure that the field is completely clear of any obstructions.
"Come here," Shizuru's voice sliced through the air.
Ayane never felt so afraid in her life but Shizuru's eyes had a cold dark look in them despite her gentle expression. Shivering slightly, Ayane slowly sauntered into the tennis court. The tangerine haired vice captain swallowed hard; what could her captain be planning? Shizuru wasn't holding any racquet but she had suited up by tying up her hair into a low ponytail with two blood red fingerless gloves. She found the net rolled up on one side and the tennis balls remained in the basket. She froze – was she going to throw her out of the team? Her captain wouldn't dare! Or would she? Many thoughts passed through her mind as she stood in front of her captain.
"I feel that your aggression should be centred on someone who can take the beating," Shizuru tightened her gloves as she took her stance. "Show me then - the true nature of your strength."
Ayane's eyes widened as she watched her captain analyse her movement carefully. "W-wait, what...? What are we gonna do...?"
Without any warning, Shizuru struck with a sweep kick while watching her leg brace support her knee. She winced at the rehabilitation she had gone through during the days after the tournament. Her participation in saving Momo was more of an acid test to see how long she could last without her leg caving into the agony. Shizuru sighed deeply as she remembered the time Fuuka had boated her off to Kyushu and strapped her onto a chair with industrial-grade rope. Knife, rope and chair easily made Fuuka the master kidnapper and Shizuru couldn't help but frown slightly at Florence's knock-out trick with chloroform. As Ayane fell back, Shizuru calmly dashed forward before vanishing from the tangerine haired girl's line of sight. Ayane, startled, staggered back as Shizuru reappeared behind her.
"How the heck," Ayane caught Shizuru's punch as she tried to throw her over her shoulder as the brunette managed to slip out of her grip and parry her punch.
"What's buchou doing," Rin blinked several times as Ayane threw more punches and Shizuru simply began swinging side to side to avoid the attacks. "How does getting Ayane to clobber her get to do anything?"
Momo watched Shizuru's combat pattern as Ayane tried to charge her down only for the brunette to evade her attempt to trample her down. As the tangerine haired girl threw her fist towards Shizuru, the captain easily caught her fist as she brushed her arm away.
"Damn it," Ayane flinched as she threw another fist to try and connect it to Shizuru's jaw. "Tch, damn it – Shizuru! Stay still!"
Shizuru continued to dodge without throwing any attacks until she landed a quite a distance away from Ayane, watching Ayane finally stumble over and fall onto the ground. "Well, feel better?"
Ayane breathed heavily as Shizuru winced slightly from the slight strain on her knee. "What?"
"Sublimation – the best way to release your aggression in a socially accepted way," Shizuru giggled lightly as she started walking towards Ayane. "Now that you're exhausted and calmer, I think we can talk more like civilized people yes?"
Ayane stared with wide-eyes as she noticed that her captain had only laid a hit when she provoked her. Other than that, Shizuru had been dodging and escaping her attacks. The elder girl barely showed any signs of fatigue while she completely had been plastered after trying to hit Shizuru twice with her frustration. She glanced at her hands before glancing at her smiling captain before standing up and bowing.
"I-I'm sorry, I just," Ayane averted her eyes away from Shizuru as the captain walked towards her, dropping her hand on her shoulder. "Huh?"
"I understand your conflicts with Atobe-san especially with Jerrard-san but please understand that there is much more to what meets the eye," Shizuru smiled lightly and throwing Ayane off guard as the door suddenly creaked open with the male tennis team showed up. "Speaking of which, I see the boys have arrived."
The girls found the Hyotei male tennis team in their school uniforms without their blazes with their tennis bags slung on their shoulder. Shishido twisted his cap backwards with Ohtori smiled boyishly as Oshitari kept his usual confident smirk with Gakuto. Hiyoshi stood next to Kabaji carrying the sleeping Jirou. However, Atobe kept his usual narcisstic appearance as he brushed back his hair.
"Kurenai, how long are you going to take? The bus is here," Atobe flipped his hair back before walking away, with an arrogant snort. "Hurry up."
As Atobe walked away, Ayane remained extremely silent as she watched the male captain walk away. What did Shizuru mean when she said that there was more than what met the eye? The buxom tangerine haired girl frowned slightly at her buchou's tendency to throw around riddles instead of telling her directly. She glanced at her other teammates who already had their things hauled over their shoulder in back packs, normal sports tennis bags or just a simple draw string bag with the racquet sheathe attached to it. Her eyes narrowed darkly as she headed towards the club room quietly until Kiyone happily handed her bag to her.
"Don't kick me," the sandy blonde grinned innocently as she handed the bag to Ayane.
The tangerine haired girl smiled lightly as she picked up the bag. Kiyone smiled as she took one step back while watching Ayane open up her bag to check if everything was inside. Upon opening it however, confetti and party string burst in her face as Ayane found herself covered with neon pink party string and confetti while the sandy blonde girl simply grinned innocently as if she had done nothing wrong. Twitching slightly, Ayane pulled out the strings before fury flashed in her eyes.
"GETSUGAN KIYONE!"
The moment Ayane howled, Kiyone's liquid blue eyes widened with fear as she made a mad dash around the tennis court. "WAAAH BUCHOU, FORGIVE ME! I SUMMONED AN AXE MURDERER!"
"YOU'RE CALLING ME AN AXE MURDERER? YOU DON'T KNOW HALF OF WHAT I CAN DO TO YOUR FACE, MIDGET," Ayane rushed towards the smaller girl and got ready to claw at the smaller girl, roaring mock angrily while preparing to claw the girl into oblivion. "AN AXE MURDERER HAS NOTHING ON ME!"
"WAAAAH," Kiyone suddenly ran as fast as her short legs could carry her while Ayane prepared to charge her down. "BUCHOU, SHE'S GONNA KILL ME! GROUND HER!"
Haruka shook her head at the sight of the two girls, giggling slightly. "I feel bad for the authorities who are going to deal with them. I mean – we're going to be segregated right?"
"I know there's gonna be mixed matches later," Mai glanced at Shizuru's braced leg, raising an eyebrow at her captain. "Can your leg handle it?"
"Quite well actually," Shizuru shook it a little, smiling. "That rescue mission we did for Momo was a good enough test to see if my legs could handle the stress."
Mai grinned while patting Shizuru's shoulder, watching Ayane and Kiyone now start wrestling all over the floor and laughing at the same time. "Well, so now that he got to see you in action – what now?"
Shizuru blinked several times. "What do you mean 'what now'?"
"You know, we've known you longer than he has and I don't think he was completely prepared to see that his favourite girl knew how to kick butt a veteran fighter," Mai grinned with a Cheshire grin, looming over Shizuru's shoulder. "I bet you Tezuka's like 'holy God, where did that all come from' except his face won't show it. Face it, Shizuru. You have to tell him one way or another that he's the guy you got revenge for since you beat up that guy... What was his name again?"
"Takesue and it was because we had mistakenly walked into Seishun Gakuen territory and you got into trouble by deciding to prank people with some pink goo," Shizuru wanted to face-palm at her red haired best friend; why did tensai have to drive their captains insane? Was there some social or psychological correlation? She herself could not understand why Mai always seemingly attracted trouble despite her genius. "Besides, I don't think he'll know if that girl and I am the same person."
"It's not that hard to find a girl wielding two bamboo or rattan sticks as weapons instead of the traditional kendo," Mai continued keeping her grin as she picked up her things, heading towards the bus. "Besides, I think it's going to be a good wake-up call to him that he better get his butt moving because frankly, there are some guys who are turned on by girls who can kick butt. Take Lara Croft for example; men probably do crazy stuff by simply looking at the movie poster. So, how are we going to do this? If we're going to go for the mixed matches, I'm gonna guess that Atobe's gonna rig it in some way to pair up him and Ayane. He's becoming kind of predictable if you ask me. Then again, it would be entertaining if Ayane found out and prepared to annihilate him from the face of the earth."
Shizuru chuckled lightly as she continued walking towards the bus with her things as well. "I don't think you'll be below that if it concerns Yukimura-san."
"Bah, even I know not to push his Guillain-Barré syndrome that far," Mai scoffed lightly as she nudged Shizuru's shoulder, seeing the captain break out a small smile. "Besides, I think he would be busy dealing with his own therapy. That Guillain-Barré syndrome – from what I researched, it's like neural degradation..."
Soon, the nine girls climbed onto the bus with their respective male counterparts as they stored their things in the lower compartment. Rin sat next to Gakuto who seemed to bob his head with the music blaring through his ears. Shishido and Isane sat next to one another with Haruka and Kabaji sitting next to each other at the seats behind the two Regulars. Hitomi quietly slid over to Taki who welcomed her kindly while Oshitari and Mai seemingly had this evil grin on each other's faces directed towards Ayane and Atobe the moment they took their seats right behind Shizuru and Ohtori. Shizuru took the seat sat in front with Ohtori nearest to the window and Kiyone sat next to Jirou who in the end used her lap as a pillow. Hiyoshi on the other hand quietly sat next to the Shinigami as she slid her katana right under their chair so that no one could just randomly grab it and hack everyone into pieces.
"So, where are we going to start training," Shishido glanced at the silver haired sniper as he noticed her hair seemingly grew a little longer that now she had green and blue beads decorating the strands. "Did Shizuru tell you anything?"
Isane shook her head unknowingly, shrugging lightly. "According to buchou and Mai, they said it was a real-high end place somewhere at the mountains near Mt. Fuji. I don't know why they'd put it so far away from the city though. It doesn't make much sense..."
"Training with nature is always fun," Haruka looked over to their side with a small smile to Isane, opening a box of Chicken Pies. "Want one? It's going to at least be a two hour ride."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Staring at the huge training centre, Ayane could not believe that the whole place had been rented out just to have them train for the Goodwill Games.
Inside, the training centre had a lobby similar to a hotel decorated with simple varnished wood and marble flooring. The tall glass walls revealed the greenery and forestry outside with an Olympic lap swimming pool and another pool for leisure. Five restaurants entertained athletes in each in every floor with an orchestra standing at the second floor. The bakeries had the scent of pastries wafting out and if not for Haruka and Ayane, Kiyone and Rin would have been glued to the patisserie's glass the moment they caught a whiff of its scent. The common leisure sitting area had carpeted floors and tapestries hanging on the wall and even the stairs had their own red carpets. The whole place had some Greek design to it as plants stood by the doors with people opening the doors for them and bringing up their luggage to whatever room they were assigned to. The gyms glimmered with the latest gym technology and the whole training centre in itself had its own strip of shops and jogging lanes. As soon as Hyotei arrived, the other schools stood there such as Rikkai Dai – revealing Sanada, Kirihara, Yanagi, Marui, Niou and Jackal along with the girl's team. Yamabuki had only sent the Jimmies and Sengoku as their representatives, St. Rudolph had Yuuta, Mizuki and Akazawa as their players, Seishun Gakuen had sent in their whole team along with their counterparts and now Tezuka stood among them much to everyone's shock and surprise. Hyotei Gakuen had also sent in their whole roster of Regular players. Jyosei Shounan had only sent in Kajimoto and Wakato along Tachiwara and Juushinhi (much to Mai's relief without wanting to deal with the snake girl who had begun to flirt with her the last time). Rokkaku had enlisted all their boys as well without the girl's team since the team had to turn down the invitation. What they didn't expect as well was that Shitenhouji had answered the call also and now the whole Kansai team stood there including the girl's team.
"Okay, we have a lot of bullets and ammunition to take out whatever team we have out there," Fuuka snickered lightly as she glanced at Shizuru. "It's kind of funny why we're so many when many of the countries are only what, sending a maximum of nine players?"
Natsuki chuckled lightly while brushing back her charcoal gray hair, drawling with her thick Kansai accent. "Meh, it don't really matter now don't it? Besides, we already know how ta bring 'em down as long as we have the skill and power."
"Speaking of which," Fuuka began searching amongst the crowd. "Where's Hoshimura?"
"Florence-chan's getting her lungs checked 'member," Ai grinned childishly at the shaggy red haired girl. "Besides, with her Alpha 1 Anti-Trypsin, she's not going to be able to do much right now."
Fuuka glanced at Shizuru with a slight chuckle. "Well, I think we're quite accustomed to dealing with Europeans especially with people like Alexandersson and Michaelides in L.X.A. It's no surprise if they come out as arrogant self-loving twats."
Soon, several coaches from the different teams emerged. Sakaki stood next to Ryuuzaki-sensei and Hanamura along with Banji of Yamabuki and Ojii-san of Rokkaku.
"Alright, each of you will be segregated into the different dorms with certain people. I expect you to try and get along with them. For all you know, they will become your partners," Ryuuzaki stepped up to look at the boys straight in the eye, folding her arms. "Training will start tomorrow at 7:00 AM sharp! I expect all of you to meet here and then you will be grouped with certain coaches. The room assignments are on the concierge's table. Use this time to get to know your roommates and partners."
With a nod of affirmation, the teams soon scattered out and headed to the concierge desk and getting their keys to their rooms all not knowing who their roommates would be.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Looks like the Goodwill games are about to begin! Sorry for the late update! I have a lot to study for! Please don't forget to review!