Please forgive me for the lame title :P

Next Day at Practice

        I was just finishing stretching, ready to start practicing our new hissatsu again, when Aki called for us to gather up. Me, Someoka, and Kazemaru exchanged an anxious glance. If we wanted to use this on Zeus, we had better at least finish it, not to mention perfect it so that it would be stronger and have a better success rate.

        "Minna, today we won't be playing soccer!" she shouted, sending a wave of shock through the members. From behind the clubroom Haruna wheeled out a beat up metal utility cart. With a quick glance, I saw that there were strips of neon yellow and orange ribbon, each about a foot long. Huh? Were we going to tie these around the goal post or something to decorate for an event? If it was, these were pretty tacky colors.

        As if reading my thoughts, Haruna continued. "We will split you up into two teams, and the game you will play is one that will help with hand eye cordination and observing your surroundings. The first team is Handa, Sakurai, Kurimatsu, Shouri, Kageno, Max, Shishido, and Kabeyama. Second team is Endou, Gouenji, Kidou, Ichinose, Megane, Kazemaru, Domon, and Someoka. There is no team captain," I could already immediately tell that my team was at a disadvantage, almost as if it had been placed like this on purpose.

        Until it dawned on me that maybe it was.

        I snuck a glance towards Kidou when no one was looking, and sure enough, he was trying to hide a smirk but failing miserably. He caught me looking, and gave me a cheshire cat grin. It was only for a second, but the glare left his goggles and I could've sworn I saw him wink.

        "Ne, Inoue, are you okay?" Gouenji asked me. "Huh?" I turned to look at him. "You're face is red," he told me. "It's nothing," I said, then turned away. He replied by giving me a clueless look.

        "Okay, so the object of the game is to pull the belts off the other team. Every player gets two ribbons, first team is yellow and second team is orange. You can decide to work alone or make a strategy with your team, it is all up to you. The game starts and ends with the blow of the whistle. You are out when one of your belts are pulled, and each game is five minutes long. The team with the most members remaining is the winner. Come grab your belts now," Aki shouted.

        Pretty soon, we ended up on the soccer field with ribbons tucked into our waistbands. Shishido kind of tagged along with me, and Kabeyama was following us but still kept his distance. The others, Handa, Kurimatsu, Shouri, Max, and Kageno, were in one big clump and gave us, mostly me, evil glares. So they still didn't trust me, but hey, I'd rather have two hesitant allies than none at all. While we had two clumps with one guy staggering behind a group, the other team was already evenly spaced out, obviously planned and well, mind you. Sometimes, I have to admit even Kidou's leader qualities and strategist commands are pretty first rate.

        Haruna blew the whistle, and our short five minute game started. It wasn't actually all that easy of a game I realized after the first two minutes. You had to run, duck, and dodge all while bending down to pull another person's ribbon. And that wasn't easy when you had someone who was clinging on to you, not literally but still. They became a responsiblity for you, which is hard to manage in this every man for themself free for all game. And you couldn't use your hand to slap someone else's away, so truthfully, it was pretty hard to save Shishido when he almost got out. Thankfully, I pulled him out of the way just in time, Kazemaru's fingertips grazing the neon yellow strip.

        While the two of us were running around like headless chicken being chased by Kidou, Ichinose, Kazemaru, and Endou as they tried to pull our belt, Handa, Max, Kageno, Shouri, and Kurimatsu weren't doing so well either. They were back to back in a pentagon box formation, but that meant that they couldn't move around freely and twist in all directions to avoid grabbing hands like I could. They were currently fending off Someoka, Gouenji, Domon, and Megane, the four swooping in in perfect timing so that one attack would leave an opening for the next. Their defense was on the verge of breaking through, and it couldn't hold for much longer. As for Kabeyama? He had been too far away for me or Shishido to help, and was already out. The orange ribbon that Domon had been waving around earlier and now tossed to the ground to be trampled by the rest of us was proof.

        In a few seconds, Kurimatsu's belt was yanked off by Someoka, and that broke the walls of their defense. Seizing the moment, Gouenji pulled Max and Kageno's belts, leaving our team with me, Shishido, Handa, and Shouri while their team still had all their members except Domon, whose belt had been pulled earlier by Handa when he tried to attack the cluster.

        Handa and Shouri stood back to back now, tensed. They were outnumbered and cornered, and looking at the situation so far, it was only a couple of seconds before they would both be out too. Luckily the whistle blew, sparing us. But we still lost by two members if one of ours canceled out with Domon. Which is considered bad if you are working with the Death Bringer.

        The managers gave us a two minute rest to drink water and discuss strategy or give pep talk. Our group was sitting in a mob on the ground since they didn't move around that much so they didn't really need water. Me and Shishido on the other hand, were practically chugging down a whole gallon.

        Finally, I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and walked over to our group. They didn't seem very depressed at our loss, but they weren't bursting with happiness either. They were what you could describe as...sluggish. Like they were unmotivated.

        Haruna blew the whistle again, and the second round started. Kidou, after observing all of our movements carefully, placed Kazemaru and Gouenji to mark me, Ichinose to run around putting pressure on Shishido, thus luring me, and if getting the chance, to pull our belt.

        On th other hand, Shouri, Max, Handa, and Kurimatsu didn't change their strategy. But Kageno did. It was almost as if watching a science miracle unfold as he ran around, using Kabeyama but not letting the defender's belt get pulled either. "Che," I heard Kidou curse under his breath at the sudden change of game rhythmn.

        While I ran around, I couldn't help but to have my gaze pulled over to the purple haired reserve. Why was it now that he could dodge all of them, but earlier when he could only be in their mercy? And even more shocking was how he could manipulate Kabeyama's movements to help both of them, though the orange team didn't seem to know that it was because of Kageno.

        Weaving around, I saddled next to him, Shishido still tailing me. "Ne, can you read them?" I asked quietly so that the other team wouldn't overhear. Kageno nodded. "Quick, tell me. What are their patterns?" I whispered urgently. Kageno pointed at the boys one by one, and in turn told me how each one moved, their timings and habits, and from which direction they usually grabbed and how they reach their hands out. He even went as far as to know how they would react after a failed attempt, and I was impressed. Who knew Raimon had someone with senses as sharp, or even possibly, more, than Kidou's?

        "Well, I'll be bait," I said after all of Kageno's explanations. Shishido jumped at my sudden declaration, but Kageno didn't flinch at all. "And you," I continued, pointing at the puffy orange haired boy, "Are going to pull Someoka's belt, and if we're lucky, Kageno will pull Kiodu's too." Now he had on an expression that was pure fright. "Don't worry, you can do it," Kageno said before I could. I nodded in agreement. "Okay, here I go." Then I charged off.

        As planned, Someoka came after me, and Kidou was backing him up. "One, and two, and..." Kageno whispered under his breath, counting the timing for me. "Now!" he finally shouted, raising his hand up in the air signalling go and catching Kidou and Someoka by surprise.

        Using the moment of their falter I missed a step on purpose, thus changing the rhythmn, and made a sharp turn directly back toward the three. Like Kageno predicted, the two swerved and followed me back toward the three who were waiting, Kabeyama who looked scared, Shishido nervous, and Kageno perfectly calm.

        This time, I counted in my head, listening to my footsteps synchronized with Someoka's, which was the purpose of the earlier change in beats. Kathunk, kathunk, kathunk, now! I missed the step on purpose again. Someoka, thinking that he got me, reached out with full thrust, but I twisted to the left just as Kageno had instructed me earlier. Someoka, who couldn't pull himself back, continued to charge foward. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shishido gulp then cut in from Someoka's right, where his ribbon was exposed. Then just as fast, it was gone from Someoka and instead in Shishido's fist, raised victoriously.

        Kidou, surprised at the sudden change in situation, tried to turn back but was blocked by Handa, who had ran all the way here along with Max, Kurimatsu, and Shouri. I exchanged bewildered looks with Kabeyama, Kageno, and Shishido.

        "Don't worry, we're here to help you guys!" Kurimatsu shouted just as Shouri pulled Kidou's belt. "Okay, Kageno. On your count," I said with a grin, eyeing the rest of the orange team. They were all a little nervous looking, not knowing what to do that their strategist had been defeated.

        Kageno raised his hand in the air. Those of us with yellow ribbons positioned ourselves in a half circle around him, poised to attack. Then as if my senses had been sharpened, every fiber of my being felt his hand cut down through the air to a ninety degree angle. I swore I felt the air whooshing in my ear, the hand coming down perfectly, signalling it was time. We sprinted from our positions toward the remaining orange belts. And within two minutes, they had all been pulled since we knew their movements better than they knew themselves.

        "Nice work, Kageno," I said, raising my hand for a high five. But instead of making contact with his, it came with Handa's. "You too," he said with a small smile, and I knew what he meant behind those words.

        "You are part of our team."

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING MY WORK AND LETTING ME REACH 2K VIEWS, I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU GUYS (duh who am I kidding ;P)!! This chapter was inspired by a game we played in our PE class, called Royal Rumble or more recently dubbed the Hunger Games (because of the free for all and every man for themself setting just like in the actual Hunger Games). It's hella fun to play. 

Kageno playing a big part in this chapter was inspired because I always thought he was an overlooked character from the series. I mean, he obviously had the talent and skill, but he was always on reserve, and after he played, he wasn't recruited for the teams in any other arcs. And that Handa thing at the end was because I thought after watching some of the episodes that Handa seemed to be the leaders among the original seven.

I noticed that my chapters has became longer, and I'm sorry but my writing is still developing, and I don't want to stray from becoming a better writer. So now instead of being around 1000-2000 words, it will most likely be raised to 2000-2500. But that also means that my chapters will be updated slower and the dates won't be as scheduled because I will work on half of it on a weekend night and the rest on weekdays, then finish it on another weekend night. But please continue to support me, minna!