Porter pressed himself against the lockers along the wall until he got to the corner. Tentatively, he peered around the edge and scanned the hallway for different threats. Things had become a bit messy lately with the revealing of the school dance and the sudden war that had broken out between Chase, Ardwen, and Raul, and Porter was lucky enough to be caught in the crossfire.

The student crept out into the passage on his way to class. If he could get by this final stretch without running into the three boys, he would be early to class for just the third time this year and had decided last night he would try to become a better student with the hopes of controlling his chi and mastering combat on the battlefield.

It had come to Porter's attention in reflection of the event at Abertyl and watching Marian that he was not quite the star he originally suspected himself of being. That Syn character would've easily killed him and yet General Cross hadn't blinked against him. At first it had been depressing, thinking about how there was someone out there that was so much better than Porter. Then he had recognized that he had been placed into this academy and was being given a chance to learn and improve. It was time for Porter to become a serious student, to focus more on his work and schooling and less on dodging Nami and fights with Chase.

And Riya. Porter had puzzled over what to do with Riya for a while. She was still his secret crush and the girl he wanted more than anyone else but could he afford to balance chasing her while fixing himself? Eventually he had settled upon trying to impress Riya by being the ultimate Porter he could be. She had always come to give him support before; maybe he could get to her heart by protecting her and leading the Crisis Rescue Unit to victory. Either way he would work up the courage to ask her to the dance at some point before it.

Porter had made it to the middle of the hallway, halfway to the finish line, when he heard a rattling above him. Before he could move or even look up, one of the ceiling panels above him fell out and smashed down onto his head, teetering there for a moment before sliding off to the side as a bump rose off Porter's crown.

Then someone dropped down onto him, knocking him down onto the ground, flattening him with their surprising weight. Porter reached up to his back and felt a small, feminine form. His face fell into un-amusement. Nami.

The stalked boy managed to get a grip on his attacker and threw her forward off himself, where she did a few flips and tumbled around on the floor before sitting up, giggling and laughing as Porter slowly lifted himself off the floor. "Why Nami I'm going to-" Porter stopped when he saw who it was on the floor. Not quite the normal, cat-like loli that hunted him daily, but the similar-looking engineer Gretta. "Gretta what are you-"

"Great job Gretta!" Porter was cut off by a familiar voice above him and he looked up to see Nami's face peering down through the hole in the ceiling, a giant smile almost matching her oversized eyes.

"Thanks Nami," Gretta giggled. "That was fun! I had no idea stalking Porter was so entertaining."

"I know, isn't he great?" Nami said as she dropped down onto Porter's back and clung tight in a piggyback. She hugged him tightly, her arms wrapping around her crush's neck, strangling him inadvertently.

"Nami, you're...Nami..." Porter coughed and wheezed his way through an attempted sentence as the little stalker nuzzled against him. "Nami I can't..."

"I know you can't believe it either! I didn't know there were air ducts up there but Gretta told me about them and they made a perfect place for watching you."

"No Nami..." Porter coughed again and sucked in his final, dying breath. "I think..."

"You think you want to go to the dance with me?!" Nami squealed. "Oh Porter, of course I will, I knew you would ask me out sooner or later."

"I think you're choking him Nami." Gretta barely got the sentence out through her laughter and subsequent tears. Porter's face had gone through various shades of blue and purple as he sunk to his knees, yanking at Nami's death grip on his neck. The little girl looked down at her love, realizing what was going on, and slid off of him, finally letting Porter gasp for air.

"Nami, I'm not going to the dance with you!" Porter shouted, rounding on his attacker. "And even if I did I would be torn to shreds by those three guys. They're nuts for you, why not stalk them?!"

"Aw Porter, you know I definitely only have eyes for you and am totally not going through any sort of conflict of interests that's tearing me up internally," Nami said, batting her eyelashes and trying her best to look adorable.

Porter eyed the little girl through squinting eyelids, trying to peer into her mind and understand her game. "Right well that was an oddly specific thing to say but...Anti-Nami Stalking Technique Number Three!" Porter shouted, throwing down a smoke bomb in front of himself and taking off down the hall to class.

Nami sat down next to Gretta and pulled her knees in close, crossing her arms over them and making a pouty face. "It's not nearly as much fun since Shotuku taught him those to avoid me."

"I don't know, Nami," Gretta stated, looking over her shoulder towards where Porter had run away to. "I think it adds more excitement. It's not challenging if he has no way of escape."

"You're right Gretta!" Nami declared, standing tall and proud once again. "And I will not fail in my quest to endlessly pursue Porter until he declares the love for me he has hidden within his heart!"

* * * * *

Porter sighed at the end of the lecture. His hand had cramped up taking down so many notes as he was now a dedicated student (he still had no idea what that text next week was going to be on) and he tried to organize them all as the papers slipped out and fluttered down to the floor.

Something on Goliath armour configurations, something about weapon's relays, another section on proper thrust mechanics, it was a lot to remember. Thank Ishiyama for all these concepts now being taken down at notes. Porter hadn't realized how much they had actually been learning in class while he was slacking and being late.

The student grabbed the final sheet off the ground and reviewed it. A special note on the mechanics in elbow joints and forearms on a Goliath, with emphasis on wrist capacity, usually in terms of recoil. Porter would have to take into account the White Storm now, and should probably go do a study on it as well to better understand his own weapon. With all the hitting he was doing with the blades, the wrist section of his Goliath must've taken quite a beating. If he wasn't careful he could shatter the whole thing.

"It's better not to think it through too much." Mr. Toriyama placed his hand on Porter's shoulder, looking down and beaming at the budding teenager. Porter hadn't even realized he had been sat past everyone clearing out. "You'll find the more you learn, the more you fear," the teacher continued. "The more you fear the more tentative you become."

"So ignorance is bliss?" Porter chuckled, catching his teacher admitting that being a slacker was a better pathway.

"Study Porter." Mr. Toriyama's face took on a dark and serious air and his grip on the boy's shoulder tightened. "Death because of ignorance isn't bliss. Become the star we think you can be, just lose your fear." And with that, the professor was gone, leaving the pilot blinking in a mixture of confusion and terror.

Porter left the class just behind everyone else, finding a cluster of students still hanging around, unfortunately including everyone from the Crisis Rescue Unit. Dirty glares were exchanged in every direction as the four boys eyed each other but before anyone could tear a throat out, they were interrupted by a classmate named Arthur, one of Chase's entourage.

"Guys, guys did you hear?" Arthur burst out. He was met with silence as every person within earshot thought of the different possible things they could have heard. "Our year's bowling team folded with food poisoning. They're holding open tryouts in an hour to rebuild the team for the inter-year challenge season!" Arthur's eyes went wide with wonder as stars sparkled around him. "Imagine if I was able to make a sports team..." Arthur drifted into an imaginary fantasy world of his own design.

"The bowling team?" Ardwen thought aloud. "I suppose it would be nice as one of the less physically volatile sports but I feel like I have too much work to do studying."

"Oh my goodness, I absolutely love bowling!" Nami exclaimed. "I haven't done it since I was a little kid."

"You still are a little kid," Porter muttered.

Ignoring Porter, Nami continued. "I want to join it. Where do we sign up Arthur?"

"Huh?" The dreamy student was snapped out of his reverie. "Oh well at the bowling alley of course, down near the gym. I better hurry to make sure I get a chance to try-out." The boy took off down the hallway, leaving a blackened trail behind his speedy shoes.

"Nami is joining?" Ardwen scratched his chin then tucked his notes away in his bag. "You know, maybe it would be a good idea if I took some time off to participate in a sport."

"I've always believed bowling to be one of the manliest sports possible!" Chase struck a pose with fists to his hips and chest puffed out. "And as this school's resident superstar at everything, I have a reputation to keep up in being the best at everything possible!" A roar went up from his surrounding supporters.

"I should take part to prevent any fights between the two of you then," Raul stated softly.

"You big lug, you're in the war too!" The pair yelled back together.

Still, it would be good to involve myself in a social activity so as to further my ninja training." Chase, Porter, and Ardwen stared in disbelief at the older boy, mouthing "How?"

"What about you Porter?" Nami asked, looking like she was ready to drag her crush with her if he didn't say yes.

"Well I mean I want to...I do like bowling...but if you're there Nami then...and then these three will join and...I mean there's no way in hell I want to be involved in..." Porter smiled and tried to back his way out of the awkward situation.

"Ha, I knew it!" exclaimed Chase. "Porter's too much of a sissy to ever compete with me!"

The sound of the accused wussy's teeth grinding could be heard echoing down the halls. "Not only will I compete with you Chase, but I bet I will become captain of the team!"

"You're on!" The two butted heads, staring into each other's eyes with ferocity.

"I thought we were fighting over Nami?" Ardwen interjected, taking his glasses off to clean them on his shirt before pushing them back up his nose.

"Yeah that too," answered Chase, not taking his eyes off of rival Porter. The group marched down the hallway. None of them took their eyes off each other the whole way, making sure nobody would make a sneak attack or sudden move on Nami.

Riya was left behind, surrounded by a couple of her friends who had watched the drama unfold. "Those guys are losers," one of them said.

"Yes," Riya replied, a giant smile spreading on her face. "But they're my losers. We should go watch them, give them a little support."

"No way Riya, you're on your own to do that."

"Although you have to admit, Chase is kind of cute."

"What?! Are you trying to go to the dance with him?"

"Well aren't you after Raul? You told me you thought he was really handsome!"

"What gets said in the bathroom is supposed to stay in the bathroom!" The girls continued to bicker before rounding on the only silent one.

"What about you Riya? Who are you after for the dance?"

"Yeah Riya, fess up, who's your crush?"

"Oh I don't know," Riya said, gazing off into the distance towards where the gang had left. "I guess we'll see what happens won't we?"

* * * * *

Five of the six members of the CRU stood in the bowling alley beside the gym. Half of them wondered why they had never realized the school had a bowling alley; the other half wondered how it was you played this game.

It surprised all of them though, when Mr. Toriyama walked in through the door with a jacket emblazoned with "Coach." He was equally shocked to see his students there, especially when he saw what some of them were doing, and nearly fainted.

Chase had hollowed out two bowling balls and strapped them onto his fists, jabbing into the air and feigning hooks and uppercuts against an imaginary foe. Raul had sharpened his bowling ball, giving it a razor-ring and two points on the end, in the fashion of a ninja weapon. Ardwen had set up a portable laser and looked to be boring through his ball, conducting tests on it. Porter and Nami were the only two holding their equipment properly.

"What in Enia's name are you doing!?" Mr. Toriyama burst out. "This is who signs up for my bowling team?" His whole body slouched down as his demeanor collapsed. Behind him, Arthur's head poked out. Upon seeing Raul's weapon (which Raul cruelly faked throwing at Arthur) he ran from the alley screaming for his life. "Well, that was the only other person trying out for the team, and I just need five people so..." The teacher bit his trembling lip, trying to swallow what he was about to say. "It would appear that all of you have made the bowling team...by default."

A cheer went up from four of the five. Only Porter was quiet as he realized he had just locked himself into spending more time getting squished between the three boys and Nami. He almost passed out. "Now hold on," Mr. Toriyama said, silencing the rowdy group. "Have any of you actually bowled before?"

Ardwen, Raul, and Chase sheepishly looked around, leaving Nami and Porter with raised hands. The coach slapped himself across the face as he too recognized he had just made this into his team for the season. They were doomed.

"Hey how hard can this thing be right?" Chase shrugged his shoulders and held up the bowling-fists he had created. "They seem to make pretty good weapons to me."

"From my calculations and research, I think we're supposed to throw them at something Chase." Ardwen looked up from his laser show, adjusting his glasses a little and jotting down notes.

"Roll it actually," Porter explained. "You roll the ball down the lane and knock down pins."

"That's it?" The three boys exclaimed.

"Bowling is not simply about rolling towards pins," Mr. Toriyama cut in, his face gripped with a seriousness the students had never seen before, and a fiery passion burned in his eyes. "It is about becoming one with the object you possess, and fighting with an opponent in a duel of nerves, a clash of technique and skill, of precision and luck!" The coach jumped up onto one of the tables as his speech continued. "It is the game of champions, reserved only for those with the talent and drive to master it. It will be your source to inner peace yet outer ferocity. It is a battlefield like no other!"

"That's great there Coach," Chase interrupted. "I'm pretty certain I've killed a man before in combat. It's just a ball and some wooden sticks."

"Pins!"

"Whatever. The point is I should be captain." Chase looked around, expecting his supporters to rise up behind them but forgot they had left him behind this time.

Mr. Toriyama let out a deep sigh and held his head in his palms. "Fine well does anyone else want to be captain?" Porter raised his hand in answer, regardless of the dirty glare from his rival. "Excellent. Then you two will have one bowling match to determine who will be the captain. Winner takes all, ten frames, best score of three hundred."

The two competitors squared off, eyeing each other up and down intensely. "I don't even know what half that stuff he said means and I'm still going to crush you Porter."

"I look forward to kicking your ass in something Chase. I mean aside from whenever we're on the battlefield."

The two growled and their foreheads connected again, all manners of sparks, lightning, and daggers, flying around between them. The rest of the Crisis Rescue Unit (and Mr. Toriyama) gathered around them, chanting support and giving out "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" to every insult and statement. Bowling would never be the same...