“Attention, everyone! It’s 1 o’clock, and the Couples’ Battle Royale will now resume!”
“What happened to the ‘Tanaka-sensei and Hirata-sensei’s Happy Wedding Bouquet Toss’ part at the beginning? Are we just part of the window dressing?”
“Now then, let’s have ourselves a climactic finale!”
At the last minute we slapped together a live commentary team, since it seemed like a fun idea. Current guest: Hirata Ryouko-sensei.
Just before the cutoff, Watase and I managed to find another pair with two flowers who were desperate to battle, then narrowly beat them at a game of Tag Team Tic-Tac-Toe. With four flowers in hand, we were now safe from disqualification.
As we walked along the perimeter toward the front gates, I explained my thought process.
“Now then, the battles are only going to get tougher from here on out. Almost all of these pairs have two or more victories under their belts.”
“They said more than 75 percent of the competitors have been eliminated, so that’s about... 70 pairs left, maybe less?” Watase put a hand to his chin in contemplation.
“With all the strongest pairs left, it should make for some entertaining battles.”
“...Then why are we headed away from the action, Fujishima-san?”
“So that we don’t get dragged into any unnecessary bloodshed, of course! As long as we don’t battle, we won’t get eliminated.”
“Right. The longer we stay in the game, the longer we stay together... but is this really gonna ‘deepen our friendship’ or whatever?”
Since the weather was so nice today, all the students had eaten lunch out on the athletic field, almost like it was a picnic. But now that lunchtime was over, that same field felt like a wild savannah full of savage beasts. So, rather than get caught in the middle of it, I decided to move toward the gates, where I would be kept safely away from the afternoon carnage—
“You guys could participate, y’know,” said Nagase Iori.
“That would certainly make things interesting. But to be clear, we can’t have non-students winning the Student Representative title,” said Katori Jouji.
“EGADS! It’s the most beastly pair of all!”
For some reason, Nagase and Katori were standing over by the front gates, having a lively chat... and they weren’t alone.
“Hmm? Oh, hey! We meet again, Fujishima-san!” Nagase beamed. But to me, she may as well have been the Grim Reaper.
“What are you two doing out here...?”
This place was deserted during the first half of the event!
“We could ask you the same question. Anyway, seeing as you’re here, why don’t we battle?” Katori suggested offhandedly.
“Non, non, non! Let’s save that for later, shall we? Hmm?”
“...Y’know, Fujishima-san, you sure are full of pep today.”
But unfortunately for Watase, my attention was drawn elsewhere.
“And who might they be?”
One was a girl with angular features and a gallant ponytail, and the other... struck me as vaguely familiar... Oh, I know. She looked like Kiriyama Yui with a bob cut.
“This here is Mihashi Chinatsu-san. She’s one of Yui’s... karate buddies, I guess? And this is Yui’s little sister, Anzu-chan.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Sup.”
“Hi there!”
Ah, I see. Associates of Kiriyama Yui. “Nice to meet you; I’m Fujishima Maiko. Are you here to visit our fine campus?”
“Yeah! I heard my sister’s doing something fun today, and since Mihashi-san’s in town, I thought I’d bring her!”
“Oh my. I’m so glad my little event has drawn spectators.” Even the most casual of compliments was enough to warm the cockles of my heart.
“See, Mihashi-san used to live around here, but then her family moved pretty far away. But since she and Yui are karate rivals, she comes by to visit every now and then.”
“I don’t come here just to see her, you know! I just figured I might as well!”
Oho, am I detecting a whiff of tsundere?
From there, the conversation blossomed. I learned that Nagase had made friends with Mihashi through Kiriyama. Then she regaled me with the passionate(ly romantic) tale of their rivalry...
Just then, a girl ran past on her way to the front gates. “Prez! Actually, on second thought, maybe I should ask Fujishima-san!”
“Kaori-chan? What’s wrong?” asked Nagase.
“My partner and I both have to run errands this afternoon. We were expecting to have lost by this point, but then we kept winning... Anyway, is it cool if we drop out? We already gave our flowers to the staff.”
“Oh, that’s a shame.”
“Ah well. It is what it is. If you’re in a hurry, then don’t worry about it. We’ll get it all sorted out.”
“Thanks, Prez! See ya!”
After she was gone, there was a brief pause as we all contemplated what to do.
My mind was racing. If these two girls walked off to explore Yamaboshi, then Nagase and Katori would turn to us and propose a battle! I couldn’t let that happen; no, I needed to avoid it at all costs. After all, we couldn’t possibly wage war against the king of beasts without a proper strategy! We needed to lead things in a different direction...
Mihashi... Kiriyama...
Come to think of it, Kiriyama was another formidable opponent. I could easily beat her in a game of wits, but if the competition was in any way athletic, I didn’t stand a chance. And she had quite a few fans, so I could easily see the crowd demanding something sporty from every battle she took part in. For my purposes, it couldn’t hurt to get rid of her sooner rather than later.
Mihashi...
And those forfeited flowers...
Wait...
“What now, Fujishima-san? I say we battle first, and then—”
“B-By Jove, I’ve got it!”