Despite my much shorter strides, Shino, Mori, and Aoba reach Takatoshi only a split second before I do. We stop at either side of him, all of us except Aoba squeezing his arms briefly to get his attention. "How's it going?" asks Shino.
"It's close," he says. "Ousai was leading by three runs until Eiryou pulled off an insane grand slam. Now Ousai's behind by one. What we're watching right now may very well decide who wins this game." Takatoshi notices that more and more students are trickling over in a rush. Some are in the volleyball uniforms of Eiryou High. "I take it the volleyball game is over?"
"Just finished a minute ago. We congratulated the winners, Eiryou High."
Takatoshi gives a tiny chuckle before turning to Mori and Aoba to say, "Congratulations. I wish we all could've been there."
They both smile back; grateful yet considerate. It's their win, but a friendly school had to lose for it to happen. We would feel the same way. "Thanks, Tsuda," says Mori. "And don't worry about it. It was only proper to divide the councils between the two games, anyway."
Aria's up to bat with Suzu on first base, and another one of ours, Jersey 14, already on second. By the scoreboard, it's the bottom of the ninth; the final round of the game. As Takatoshi said, Ousai is down by one measly point, and like some kind of cliché right out of a movie, we've no outs left to spare. If we can get both Jersey 14 and Suzu home, we'll win this game outright. If only Jersey 14 makes it before we suffer the next out, we'll have to go into a tiebreaker inning which may or may not have to be rescheduled for another day. It's equally possible for us to lose, but I'm not even going to bother entertaining that notion. In any case, it's all up to the elder of our two softball team stand-ins, Aria Shichijou.
"How did Ousai do in volleyball?" asks Takatoshi. We then watch Aria swing and miss thanks to an expertly thrown curve ball.
"Strike one!" shouts the umpire. Mori and Aoba hoot and clap for their team.
"We put up a good fight," Shino answers. "But it was clear that Eiryou's team is made up of some pretty seasoned players."
"The whole point of that last-minute volleyball game was to see if our school should put together our own team," Takatoshi says. "I hope our girls didn't get disheartened from the loss."
"Quite the opposite, actually! They're more interested than ever now. The senior they're recommending for the captain's spot was even asking Pendragon and I about the process for petitioning to start a new sports team." Here comes the next pitch. We keenly watch the result unfold.
"Strike two!" Cheers from Eiryou, and groans of sympathy from Ousai. Another swing and a miss. We watch Aria shake her head at herself before spinning her bat and growing even more serious.
"Man, that pitcher's good!" growls Shino.
"She's been throwing most of our hitters off-balance the entire game," says Takatoshi. "She's like a pro."
"Speaking of pros . . ." Shino taps my shoulder a few times, both of us still watching Aria. "Hey, Pendragon. What was that thing you were trying to tell us on the way over here? About that crazy-good tall girl?"
"Oh, right! Takatoshi, there's this awesome player on Eiryou's volleyball team who's almost as tall as you are!"
"Whoa. Really?" Here comes the next pitch . . .
"Ball one!"
"You got this, Aria!" I shout. "It's all you!"
"We're rooting for you, Shichijou!" cries Takatoshi. Shino gives a loud whoop during our calls.
"But yeah. Seriously!"
Mori nods to confirm it. "Her name is Yuu Hirose. What makes her height more impressive is that she's a freshman. President Uomi was actually talking about offering her a spot on our student council just because she's so tall." We pause to watch the next pitch.
"Ball two!" shouts the umpire. We join in on the applause once more.
"That would be pretty cool for you guys," says Shino, still clapping. "You'd finally have a fourth member."
"Yeah," says Aoba.
Before the next pitch is readied, I continue quickly with, "Takatoshi, we were kind of debating on which of you two is taller. I wanted to settle it by having you guys stand back-to-back if we get the chance. I mean, if that's okay?"
"Yeah. If Hirose is cool with it, I'll do it." Here comes the next pitch. We take in a deep breath.
"Ball three!" Man, this is intense! One more ball, and our players get a free base each. One more strike, however, and Ousai's finished. We stop talking now, our attentions focused on watching the game-deciding throw.
Eiryou's star pitcher bellows as the ball leaves her hand for the final time. Amazingly, Aria hits it towards right field despite an impressive angle-throw. The ball manages to bounce a couple of times before it rolls into the glove of the Eiryou right fielder, Uomi. By now, Aria's running to second base. She can only be tagged by the ball directly to be declared out. More prominently, to the passionate cheering of Ousai, Jersey 14 makes it home to tie up the game. Holy shit. We might actually win this!
Uomi throws the ball into the second baseman's glove with speedy precision, stopping Aria's advance. An intense back-and-forth breaks out between Aria and two Eiryou girls working in tandem. Aria proves deceptively sprightly to the Eiryous: sliding, spinning, and faking out as the first and second basemen essentially play hot potato, with the shortstop even rushing in to assist after Aria spectacularly jukes the original two to advance. The whole fantastic display only lasts a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity is taking place due to the stakes at hand. In the end, the Eiryous get so caught up in tagging out Aria that they're struck with tunnel vision.
Every player, cheerleader, and audience member on Eiryou's side is so fixated on the drama unfolding in the fight for tagging Aria out that they completely forget about the runner who's just now made it onto third base. However, all the Ousai students around, including us, know better. Our attentions subtly shift to Suzu Hagimura, the pint-sized powerhouse of Ousai Private Academy, with our breaths held in chilling anticipation of her next move. During a critical instant when the baseman beside her gets distracted by spurring on her teammates, Suzu dashes home.
At first, the Eiryous don't notice. It's only when one of their cheerleaders at the sideline cries out to defend the plate that the ball careens back to intercept Suzu. By chance, the general panic causes the ball to be thrown just short enough to force the Eiryou catcher to need to move up a few steps in order to snatch it into her glove.
Suzu dives forward at the last possible moment. The tips of her fingers touch home plate right before the catcher taps her shoulder. The appointed umpire, an Eiryou supervising teacher, takes a second to chuckle. He declares Suzu Hagimura safe! The game is officially called. Ousai erupts at this, and we all rush the field to lift Suzu, Aria, and even the girl in jersey 14 into the air in victory.
Once all is said and done, the obligatory postgame ritual of sportsmanship commences. The cheerleaders of both schools hurriedly squirrel together, taking selfies and exchanging phone numbers with much giggling abound. The softball and volleyball teams line up in more regulated formations to thank each other for the games. To reiterate, Ousai doesn't have an official volleyball team — at least not yet — so ours are actually just a bunch of girls in their PE shorts. After many bows, much handshaking, and a few sincere hugs, the student council presidents break off and approach each other.
"Thank you very much for hosting us, President Amakusa. This was so much fun!"
"It was a blast, President Uomi! I'm so happy you all could make it. Moreover, it was exceedingly kind of your girls volleyball team to agree to come along and show our interested students the ropes. Especially since it was on such short notice!"
"It was our pleasure, President Amakusa! If Ousai does decide to join Fuyuki's girls volleyball circuit, I'm sure our team would love to practice with yours." Uomi looks back at said team and hits them with a cute sign of the horns. "Right, you guys?" They cheer at that in a combination of friendship and roughhousing, returning the gesture with gusto. Uomi then looks back at Shino and sighs contentedly. "Having these two games instead of the single one we originally planned feels like a blessing in disguise. Doesn't it? You won softball, and we won volleyball."
Shino nods. "Indeed! Even though these were just friendly matches, it's nice that both schools will be walking away with a victory on this day. This way, it's like everybody wins!" The sweet smile shared by Shino and Uomi at this declaration proves to be a nice, pure, and innocent sight. Gag-inducing, for sure, but yeah. Nice. Then suddenly, as if reading my thoughts, the endearing atmosphere between the two student council presidents shatters. In its place erupts a delicious maelstrom of rivalrous electricity. This spreads to every other player on either side, and even among the cheerleaders.
"We all appear to be in agreement here," says Shino. The polite high-pitch in her voice is completely gone. "What we need is a tiebreaker."
Uomi reverses her cap and nods while punching her palm. In a tone just as fiery, she says, "Hell yeah, we do."
Oh, now we're talking! Competition is alive and well in this era, I see. Ain't no such thing as 'everybody gets a trophy' in Japan! All the better, I say. I'm getting fired up, myself. Whatever we decide to do to break this tie, I want in on it!
Shino crosses her arms. "So, what do you think? Should we maybe do another quick softball match?"
Uomi hums. "Or volleyball again?" Both suggestions produce mumblings of mixed opinion.
Mori raises her hand. "May I make a suggestion to have it be a neutral game, then? You know. So, that the rest of us could participate, as well, if we want to? I wouldn't mind playing in something, myself." This turns out to be the correct answer. The agreement is unanimous. The next question is what kind of game to play.
Many suggestions are thrown around, but they're mostly vetoed by Suzu, Mori, and me. This is mainly because most of these suggestions are offered by Pervs. We're not precision boob docking, we're not masturbating in public, and we're most definitely not playing blow*** roulette. The suggestion that almost makes it through by virtue of simply being the most relatively benign one so far is Spank the Takatoshi, but the man himself vetoes it despite not even having a valid vote.
"This is getting out of hand," he says. "While I'm all for promoting some healthy competition, couldn't we maybe just let this mutual victory slide? You know. Just this once?" It's quiet for a time, as if his words are truly being considered. We all know better than that, though.
"Spank the Takatoshi!" cries Uomi. In mere seconds, this gets repeated in chant by countless voices.
"I'm not going to survive this game!"
Hata appears out of nowhere, slithering out from behind him. "Here's a crazy thought. Perhaps victory could be judged by numbers, instead?" The chants hush rapidly at this mysterious proposal.
"What are you talking about, Hata?" asks Shino.
"Picture this! The victor could be decided at this very moment by just counting off the combined number of Takatoshi flags triggered by the students of either school!"
"Flags?" asks Kaede. "What's she talking about?" The girl next to her whispers something into her ear. Kaede pales and is caught by the girls behind her.
"That's far from fair!" counters Uomi. "Eiryou would only have the points of Mori and I to put together. Ousai, on the other hand, has Shino, Suzu, Mutsumi, and Artoria!"
"Don't forget Miss Shichijou here," says Hata.
"Aria?" asks Uomi as she glances at the girl in question, perplexed. "When did she officially enter the race?"
"I'm afraid that you will have to be more specific, Eiryou-President Uomi. Would you like to hear about the sneakers incident, or the incident when the two of them were alone in the student council room, head-to-toe, while Mister Tsuda was holding her by the ankles?"
All eyes turn to Takatoshi. "Hey, it was just to get a key she had!"
All eyes turn to Aria. "It's true! The key for my handcuffs."
All eyes turn to Takatoshi. "I didn't put her in the handcuffs! She said she was practicing a magic trick for the culture festival and got herself stuck!" All eyes start to turn to Aria, but then immediately shoot back at Takatoshi. "Yes, I know the Ousai culture festival is, like, six months away! Don't ask me why she did what she did!"
All eyes turn to Aria. "My skirt was flopping up and down. Tsuda saw everything. It was the second-hottest thing that's ever happened to me."
"What was the first one?" someone asks.
"When a hundred Homurahara students watched me stick my hand in Tsuda's pocket to fiddle with something nice, hard, and pointy."
All eyes turn to Takatoshi. "My house keys were in that pocket! She was fiddling with my house keys!"
Flatly, Suzu asks, "So, what's this about you making Shichijou's skirt flop up and down in the student council room?"
"She was wearing shorts under her skirt at the time! Remember, I was trying to get the key to her handcuffs out. It was either hold her upside-down to shake the key out of her, or reach into her breast pocket like she originally asked me to!"
All eyes turn to Aria. "It's Tsuda we're talking about here! I challenge any of you ladies to look me directly in the face and tell me you wouldn't do the same!"
There's a pause. It's both puzzled and doubt-ridden, yet bizarrely analytical. Almost poignant, even. Suddenly, all eyes turn to Takatoshi.
"Why back at me?" he roars.
Out of nowhere, a red ball bounces onto the middle of the scene, replacing the hectic energy with mild confusion. We all watch in silence as the red ball rolls to a stop. I end up being the only one who goes to pick it up.
"Sorry about that!" calls a student in the distance, waving at us. "Little help, please?" I look down at the red ball in my hands, inspired.
"How about a game of dodgeball, ladies?" I throw this ball back to its grateful owner as the idea marinates. The crowd grows ecstatic, the consensus being how nostalgic it would be to bring back a beloved game from their youth. I say their youth because I've certainly never played it as a kid, but I at least know the rules thanks to the Grail. Or maybe pop culture. I don't know. One of those. Come on, man. I just want to play something. Shoot, give me a paddle. I'll spank Takatoshi right now.
We separate by school to assemble our teams. It's set to be a massive 20 versus 20 all-girls slugfest. In minutes, the whole of Ousai knows about the dodgeball game. Dozens of after-school students are rushing over to watch it, including the entire Judo Club. In fact, it looks like a few of the Judo members are trying to get in on the action. Mutsumi Mitsuba is one of them, and from the looks of it, so are Chiri Nakazato, and Kotomi's friend, Kaoru Toki.
Kotomi herself seems to be trying to squeeze her way into the roster, but the students in charge of assembling the team keep respectfully shooting her down. Curiously enough, the main roster-picker is Suzu's friend, Nene Todoroki.
"President Amakusa!" calls Nene. "We're up to eighteen players so far! We saved two spots for the council!"
"Are any of you guys in?" adds Mutsumi.
Shino gives me a sly smirk, and I nod to confirm it. Yet before we can say anything, Aria and Suzu grin at each other and rush over to claim the last two spots. "We're in!" answers Suzu. They're welcomed with open arms, but Shino cuts them off at the pass.
"Oh no, you don't!"
I'm instantly at her side to support her. "You two have already had your fun. It's mine and Shino's turn."
"Oh, come on, you guys!" cries Suzu.
"Yeah! What's the deal here? I want to ride this high out!" Aria is bouncing impatiently on her toes left and right, an uncharacteristically heated look on her face.
Shino holds up a palm. "Calm your titties, Aria. Like, seriously. Those things are jiggling all over the place."
She stops. "Sorry."
Crossing my arms, I say, "Your continued dedication to Ousai is admirable, Aria Shichijou and Suzu Hagimura, and you've both performed exceptionally well."
"That's right," says Shino. "Despite only filling in for a couple of missing players on Ousai's softball team today, it's thanks to you both — and Miss Nomura here in jersey fourteen, of course — that we won that game."
"Therefore, the two of you have already done your part. We can't let you hog all the glory!"
Aria and Suzu look at each other and chuckle, nodding. "Fine then," says Suzu. "Go get 'em, you two."
"What about me?" asks Kotomi excitedly.
"What about you?" asks Takatoshi. This spreads a round of thinly suppressed snickering among our crowd.
"What do you mean? I want to play dodgeball for Ousai, too! I want to help!"
Toki scoffs. "And we want to win." The snickers explode into cacophony.
"You're all so mean!" Kotomi huffs at this and stamps her foot. Eventually, though, she takes it in stride, joining in on the laughter herself.
Aria places her hand on Kotomi's shoulder. Gently and diplomatically, she says, "You're a firecracker, Kotomi! Everyone knows it! It's just that we'll need to put our best players on the line for this one. You understand, don't you?"
She chuckles. "Yeah-yeah-yeah. Don't any of you worry, though. The great Kotomi Tsuda will be right there cheering for you all. But I'll also be watching you very, very closely, so you better not mess it up out there!" Many voices holler in support of the compromise before we move onto the next item on the agenda.
Mister Daimon and Eiryou's supervising teacher are both briefly considered for acting as the primary referee for this spur-of-the-moment dodgeball game, but by a sheer stroke of brilliance on Takatoshi's part, Ranko Hata is appointed to the position instead. This way, her school pride would override her compulsion to take inappropriate photos, since being a dodgeball ref for a match as gigantic as this one is going to require her full attention. Even Hata references this, grousing at the injustice of using her one weakness to prevent her from taking any sleazy tabloid photography. The two assistant referees will be the two aforementioned adults, since they both know all their own students' names by heart to make accurate calls on the fly.
The teams are set. Eiryou's is mostly a mix of their softball and volleyball players with some track suits sprinkled in. There are also quite a few surprisingly vicious-looking cheerleaders among their ranks. Finally, a handful of girls wearing Eiryou's normal skirts and cardigans round out their flanks, which includes Mori and Aoba. Uomi will be leading their fray.
Minus the cheerleaders, our side's makeup is pretty similar. The exceptions are that we've got girls in PE shorts, and three Judo members proudly clad in full gi: Mutsumi, Chiri, and Toki. Shino and I are the only ones repping the student council, and we've both decided to take our blazers and collar ribbons off to show we mean business. By Shino's order, our twenty-girl team heads for the selected dodgeball court with our rather large entourage of Judo members, cheerleaders, leftover players, and miscellaneous students. Takatoshi, Hata, Kaede, and Kotomi are among them.
"Eiryou have put so many cheerleaders on their team," says Aria as we march.
Hata chuckles. "None of you have to worry about them. Cheerleaders would never dodge a bunch of big, fat balls heading their way!" This spreads jeering, and even some smug murmuring, amongst the crowd, which strangely includes our own cheerleaders.
"Don't let stereotyping fool you in this case, ladies," says Takatoshi. "They look pretty bloodthirsty, if you ask me." At this, the smugness dies down and is replaced by a more rational and measured tone.
Shino nods. "They do, actually. Which is weird, because you'd normally only think of cheerleaders being thirsty for *** instead of blood." The smugness returns with a vengeance, yet this time it's laden with numerous dirty jokes and sarcastic cat calls. Jeez, man. Is Ousai's team made up of like 90% Pervs? Where my Grumblers at?
"They could be thirsty for both, Shino," says Aria. "That would make them horny vampire cheerleaders!" At this, our whole team goes baffled, chattering among themselves.
"Horny vampire cheerleaders?"
"Shouldn't we run over to the cafeteria and get some garlic?"
"And a bunch of condoms from the nurse!"
"It's daytime. They can't be vampires."
"And we're all girls. We won't need condoms for this one, ladies!"
"But what if they're trying to steal our boyfriends?"
"Wait, is that what we're playing for?"
"Oh, no! Hanzo and I just started dating!"
"You're dating Hanzo? I thought he was celibate."
"He is, but he's still okay with licking my —"
"Enough!" I shout right as we reach our side of the court. "Ousai Private Academy, there's a dodgeball game to be won!" Thankfully, this focuses our team, eliciting a roar.
All players take their positions. Twenty red balls are set in the middle line, which we'll all have to make a run for to claim once the whistle blows. Hata stands at the center sideline, hand raised and whistle ready to put into her mouth. "Eiryou High School," says Hata. "State you're ready!" They give an admittedly wicked war cry. "Ousai Private Academy, state you're ready!" We bark the name of our school loudly and in perfect unison. With that, Hata blows her whistle and about half of the players on either team, including me, make a mad dash for the nearest ball.
"Pendragon's out already?"
I'll be hearing that repeated in my brain for the rest of the week. I guarantee it. Dejected, I join the other two Ousai girls who got eliminated right before me at the sideline.
Okay. So, I'm quickly learning today that most of the young ladies of Eiryou are, uh, a lot tougher than the average Ousai brainiac-girly girl. I myself didn't get hit, but that little power-throw I opened with didn't connect as well as I'd hoped. Just my luck: out of all the girls my ball could've gone to, it had to be the one who is basically Eiryou's counterpart of our Mutsumi Mitsuba, the exceptionally tall freshman, Yuu Hirose. She caught the ball I threw like nothing. I can only imagine how much of a beast she would be if she were a magic-user.
She is absolutely cleaning house, by the way. There goes Jersey 14. Then Nene. A couple more girls go down by Yuu alone. Even Chiri falls victim to Yuu's unique volleyball-like attacks, which are apparently valid in this game. By the time Yuu herself gets eliminated, more than half of our players are off the freakin' field through the combined efforts of Eiryou High. By comparison, Eiryou is only five players out, which includes girl. I mean Aoba. Damn it. I had her name down all afternoon until now.
Two opposing balls are caught by our players in quick succession, allowing the pair of girls eliminated before me to return to the game. Just one more opposing ball needs to be caught, and then it'll be my turn for a second chance.
Our two best players at the moment are most definitely Mutsumi and Toki. They're standing side-by-side like angels of vengeance upon a massacred battlefield. I know what I'm doing as soon as I'm back in there. It's time for an Ousai power trio. It's long overdue, too, since Shino has, thus far, refused to do anything else other than try to clobber Mori. Seriously, that's all Shino has been absorbed with since the start of the game. I'm not sure if Mori even notices how she's being singled out by a solitary jealous outlier since there's so much going on.
"Ball caught!" announces Mister Daimon. He points at me. "Pendragon, get back in there!"
"Yes," I growl, dashing for Mutsumi and Toki. However, Shino has other plans. Her voice shouts clearly over the bedlam.
"Pendragon! Hey, Pendragon! I need backup over here!"
"What? No! All you do is just keep aiming at Mori!"
"Well, it's because she's their best player!"
Even Mori looks confused. "Am I?"
"Shino, get your head in the game!"
"Wait, Pendragon! I am officially invoking the sacred pact we forged on that beach last month. Itty-Bitty Titty Committee, remember?"
My lips twist in defiance, but I give a solemn nod and run up to her. "Fine. Itty-Bitty Titty Committee is in effect."
"What the hell are you two talking about?"
"Nothing!" we quickly shout back to Takatoshi.
I'm not proud of it, but I assist Shino in trying to take Mori out. Our target is terrified at this point, but still manages to remain unscathed. Admittedly, I'm not throwing at Mori more than Shino wants me to, but it's only because I'm the only one of us two who's lucid enough to defend her and I against everybody else trying to take us out. I even manage to catch a couple of opposing balls to bring Jersey 14 and Nene back in.
Over time, both teams dwindle down enough to what feels like the final standoff. I'm with Shino, Mutsumi, and Toki in a defensive arrow formation, and we're up against Uomi, Mori, Yuu, and three other Eiryou girls.
Mutsumi and Toki perform an acrobatic fake-out which leaves their targets, two of the nameless Eiryou girls, completely vulnerable since they dive out of the way at the wrong time. Both are eliminated by Mutsumi and Toki in a kindred display of momentum. Their victory is short-lived, however, as Yuu seizes a decisive opportunity to perform an unbelievable move from out of their peripheral vision while they're both distracted. Mutsumi and Toki are knocked out of the game by a single ball basically punched at them by Yuu. Meanwhile, Uomi's butt cheek falls victim to my curve throw, followed up by a direct headshot at the last nameless Eiryou after I grab another nearby ball off the floor. She actually topples over from the force of the impact. I immediately feel bad for it, though she proves to be okay, and in good spirits, right after. Sorry, dude, but I'm in 'wreck your shit' mode right now.
All the while, Shino continues to do nothing else but assault Mori using every ball she can get her hands on.
I identify the nearest ball and sprint for it, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Yuu is doing the same. At this point, I'm certain that we're each other's targets. What happens next feels like it occurs in slow motion.
Just as I'm close enough to grab my intended ball, it's picked up by Shino for no other reason than to continue her single-minded bombardment. I feel a wail of both disbelief and frustration leave my lips, but Shino is so engulfed with her idiotic mission that she doesn't even register my voice. I look back at Yuu to see her incoming ball and roll out of the way in the nick of time.
Ammunition to my left. I pick it up, jump to my feet, and promptly counterattack. The last thing I see before it feels like a grenade goes off in my face is Yuu going wide-eyed.
"Simultaneous elimination!" announces Hata.
Daimon calls me out, and Eiryou's teacher does the same for Yuu Hirose. On our way back to our respective sidelines, Yuu and I happen to share a brief stare-down, yet it ends in two nods of respect.
The only two players left on the field are Shino and Mori. Even with the fearful expressions Mori gives as she narrowly escapes an onslaught of what somehow appears to be way, way more than the twenty balls we originally started with, the reflexes and flexibility she exhibits are astonishing. At one point, she's running across the court in a panic with a blurry torrent of red catching up behind her like a stream of machinegun fire. Shino, herself, is ruthless and relentless, pressing her superhuman-like barrage while screaming like a banshee all the way.
A whistle sounds off, halting the final two contestants and compelling us all to turn to Hata. "Attention, students of Ousai and Eiryou!" she shouts. "We appear to have found ourselves in a climax never-ending! To break this stalemate, we will forthwith be moving this game into one, final sudden death match. This will be determined by changing the rules from dodgeball to . . . nation ball!"
Every face within my eyesight, whether they be from Eiryou or Ousai, quickly lights up with both mischief and fervor. Looks like I'm the only one who's out of the loop here. Throwing out my question to nobody in particular, I ask, "What's nation ball?"
The answer comes from Chiri to my right. She leers before picking up two dodgeballs and tossing one into my hands. Just then, every other student on our side who'd been taken out of the game steps up beside us. On the opposite sideline, all the eliminated Eiryou students do the same. Each and every one of us has our own ball in hand.
Mori grimaces playfully at Shino before covering her head with her arms and readying her stance to dodge like a lunatic. Shino goes almost rabid, anxiously darting her attention towards every one of us no matter our school affiliation. Actually, 'anxiously' isn't the right word. It's more like a primal excitement. What is happening right now?
"You know the drill, ladies," says Hata. Every girl holding a ball readies herself for a throw. Still not knowing what the hell is going on, I simply follow suit. "There are two players left on the field," Hata continues. "All eliminated players, pick the last standing member of the opposing school as your target, and wait for the order to fire!" Oh. Oh, this is going to be brutal. "Ready!" I briefly consider aiming for Shino to get back at her for picking on Mori, but return my sights on Mori. "Aim!" Then again, I think Shino, of all people, would appreciate getting creamed by as many balls as possible . . . "Fire!" Nah. Sorry, Mori.
It's like an execution by firing squad. In the end, one is left standing, and the other is Shino on her back breathing really, really hard while smothered in a mountain of balls.
Mori falls to her knees to catch her breath, remaining completely untouched. Against the odds, she managed to dodge all nineteen frickin' balls. Holy shit, dude. Between Mori, Aria, and what I've seen of Luviagelita Edelfelt when I watched her spar with other Mages back in the Clock Tower, are ridiculously massive boobs just not an issue in this world?
After this, the students linger, chatting amongst themselves. I follow my friends, and Hata, to approach Mori and Shino.
"Incredible job out there to the both of you," says Kaede.
"How are you guys feeling after all that action?" asks Kotomi.
Mori sighs tiredly. "I'm exhausted. I can't place my finger on why, but it almost feels as if I'd been dodging more balls than any other player the whole game." That's because you were, buddy.
"What about you, Prez?" asks Mutsumi. "Why did you just stand there?"
"I panicked."
Uomi chuckles. "Would you care to explain, Shino, why you opened your mouth and stuck out your tongue at the last second?"
She blushes. "No reason!"
Ultimately, we concede the day to Eiryou High School. One last round of postgame sportsmanship is exchanged, a brief and lighthearted address of gratitude is given by us to our own students to downplay Ousai's loss, and then all students begin drifting away to their own devices. We as the student council — plus Kaede, Mutsumi, and Kotomi — stand around with Hata with the intention of making sure she's okay. We noticed she'd started shaking at some point.
"Thank you, Hata, for acting as our primary referee," says Kaede. "We know it must have been particularly tough for you."
She laughs nervously, her quivering intensifying. "What ever could you mean, my fair Disciplinary Committee Chief?" Our attention switches to the Eiryous. They're crowded around an embarrassed Mori, showering her with much-deserved acclaim. Their cheerleaders are particularly effervescent about it, causing Hata to moan with unflattering husk. She sticks her fist up into the air, cries out "Jij hebt een opening en ik heb zin!" which confuses the hell out of us, and then her camera reappears into her hand like a frickin' Houdini trick. "If you'll excuse me!" And just like that, she's off and away; Hata Mode fully reactivated. Luckily, Kaede gestures for several members of the Disciplinary Committee to chase after her, leaving us to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yo!" We turn to see Yuu Hirose approaching us. "Sorry to bug you guys, but I just had to stop by and pay my respects. You all were pretty awesome out there today!" We accept the compliment in a smattering of personalized thanks.
"You were pretty awesome yourself today," says Mutsumi. "Especially in volleyball, from what I heard!"
"For sure!" adds Shino. "By the way, you're Yuu Hirose, right?"
"Whoa!" She rubs the back of her neck bashfully. "You know who I am?"
"I kind of mentioned you to them by name," says Mori, walking up with Uomi and Aoba. "Sorry, Hirose."
"Oh. Nah! It's cool, Vice President! Not like I got anything to hide." We take a minute to trade more proper introductions. Afterwards, Yuu chuckles and says, "Sorry in advance if I maybe forget your names. There's a lot of you, plus I'm way better with faces than I am with names!"
"It was nice to meet you Hirose," says Takatoshi. He then looks at Kotomi and me, and we nod back at him. "I'm terribly sorry, but we might have to get to know each other a little better on another day, if that's okay. We'll need to make it to the outlet before six o'clock."
Uomi tilts her head. "Oh? Well, will you at least stick around for Yuu here to decide if she wants to join the Eiryou student council?"
"A spot on the council?" asks Yuu.
"That's right, Yuu! We'd love to add the perspective of a more sports-oriented student to the team."
"I'd love to, Prez, but I'm sort of already on the volleyball team full-time."
"That's okay, Yuu. If you're willing to accept the offer, we could put you down as a part-time council member. That way, you can just join us whenever you have the time to spare."
"Well, there's no saying no to a good deal like that, then! All right, Prez. You can count me in!" We offer polite applause at the induction.
"Congratulations to the Eiryou High School student council!" says Aria. "You guys now officially have four members. How cool!"
"I'm sure she'll be a fine addition to your team!" says Kaede.
"Aww. Thanks, guys!" For a girl as tall as her, Yuu is oddly sheepish. In a good way, of course.
Shino puts a hand to her chin. "By the way, Tsuda. Out of curiosity, why do you need to get to the outlet before six o'clock?"
"Oh. It's just because that's when the electronics store closes. Kotomi, Pendragon and I were planning to buy a video game we've had our eyes on."
Yuu lights up. "You talking about that brand-new racer IP by MetallicSoft?"
"Yeah!" says Kotomi. "It looks so good!"
"What a coincidence! I was just about to head there after this to nab a copy myself! Been saving up my allowance for it all month."
Mutsumi tilts her head. "Um, are you guys talking about that thingy with the robot bunny on the cover shooting a shotgun at the go-karts behind it?"
The four of us look at her and nod. There's an additional dose of moderate shock on the faces of the Tsuda siblings and me. "That's right, Mitsuba," says Kotomi.
Moreover, this shock also extends to the non-gamers in our present company. Suzu and Kaede, in particular, trade a glance of confusion. "Mitsuba, you play video games?" asks Kaede. "I had no idea."
"Oh. No, not really." Mutsumi then looks back at us four gamers and gives an apologetic grin. "Sorry, guys!"
"No-no," says Takatoshi, chuckling. "It's all good, Mitsuba. It's just that we were a bit caught off-guard that you knew about the game. That's all."
I kind of have a feeling where Mutsumi is going with this. As delicately and helpfully as possible so that I don't scare her off, I ask, "Was there maybe a reason you brought it up, Mutsumi?"
She titters nervously. "Well, it's because my nephew's birthday is coming up. I asked my brother what to get him, and he recommended that robot bunny one. I don't know much about video games and stuff, so I'm worried I'm going to get the wrong one." She rubs her arm, looking away. There's an implication there, but she's much too shy to voice it outright. Now, Mutsumi Mitsuba is as self-confident and extroverted as they come without approaching the arrogance threshold, but this current shyness of hers is likely stemming from the fact that Takatoshi would be involved. His eyes dart to mine and we communicate the message without words.
"Why don't you come with us, Mitsuba?" offers Takatoshi. "We'd be happy to help you get the right present for your nephew!"
Mutsumi gasps sharply, squishing her whole body up against Takatoshi with puppy dog eyes. "Oh, please-please-please! I love my nephew. He's the cutest kid in the world, so it'd break my heart if I made him sad!"
"Welcome aboard, then!"
"Thank you so much!" She is outright hugging the man now, close to tears of relief and rubbing her cheek all over his chest. I think that deserves an 'attagirl' whether she's intending it to be a play or not!
"Of course, Mitsuba," Takatoshi says, patting her back in a way to get her full attention. "We may have to pack it up and start heading there soon, though. It's getting close to rush hour at the train station."
"Oh, you're right," I say, looking at my watch. "We've still got time to make it to the outlet, but only if we leave pretty much right now."
Yuu laughs heartily. "No worries! You guys got plenty of time! You'll be coming with me, of course! I got a ride. My mom's picking me up soon!" At this, the four of us look at each other and chuckle.
"Well thanks, Hirose!" says Takatoshi. "We'd love to take you up on that. Would your mom mind, though? And would there be enough room in the car?"
Yuu waves it off. "Don't sweat it! My mom's got a minivan, so there's room for us all! She's really chill, too, and she loves meeting my new friends! Just going to call her really quick to give her a heads-up."
"Awesome!" says Mutsumi. She turns to Takatoshi, Kotomi and me. "Let's get our stuff, you guys. Yuu, come with us!"
And just like that, the main man himself is stolen away. As we run off excitedly for our lockers, I glance back at the poor non-gamer girls left behind and say, "Bye-bye, ladies!" I only hear the voices of Aria, Uomi, Mori, and Aoba returning the farewell. Shino, Suzu, and even Kaede, on the other hand, just start making weird-ass noises which I can only describe as a bunch of angry cavemen grunting in Morse code.
Author's Note: Credit where credit is due. Takatoshi getting stolen away for a video game release is borrowed from the "Hirose-San End" segment of SYD #491, except that I've added Mutsumi, Kotomi, and Saber.
