That last battle was a close one, Taichi thought to himself as he heaved a sigh of relief.
Their strategy was simple: In the first or second round, if they got decent cards, they’d make a big gamble. If they won, they would dominate their opponents. Same if their opponents folded. If they lost, they’d make up for it with another big gamble. If they lost twice in a row, it simply meant luck wasn’t on their side. Lastly, they would act as though they understood each other completely. That way they could maintain the upper hand throughout the battle.
But in the end, this strategy didn’t work on Chihiro and Enjouji, who saw right through it. Perhaps it was only a matter of time until their two kouhai beat them. Ultimately, however, he and Himeko reigned victorious.
“We’re up to 46 flowers now, huh?”
There were so many fake flowers in his arms, he was practically holding a bouquet. Or maybe it literally was a bouquet, since they had to tie them together with a rubber band to carry them at all.
“If everyone else is going at around the same pace, then we’re looking at, what — six, seven pairs left?”
On the one hand, it felt like a miracle that they’d made it this far, but on the other hand, he could feel himself starting to get greedy. Just a little farther, and they’d be Yamaboshi’s best couple. Setting aside the prize (as well as his own modesty), part of him really wanted to see what it was like to come in first place.
“Taichi! Inabacchan!” called a familiar voice. They turned to see Aoki waving at them eagerly, carrying his own bouquet of fake flowers. Beside him stood Kiriyama. Though she was smiling, she looked dead tired, like she’d just finished running a marathon.
Naturally, he and Himeko walked over.
“Are you two slacking off? You’ve got fewer flowers than I’d expect you to have at this stage,” Himeko commented.
“We’re not slacking, I swear! Real talk, our last battle was crazy intense, so we kinda needed a break...”
“And by ‘we,’ I’m guessing you mean Kiriyama?” Taichi asked.
“C’mon, man, don’t embarrass me! If people find out I sat back and let Yui do all the fighting, I’m gonna look like a—!”
“Ooh, is a battle starting?”
“CRC all-stars match! Let’s goooo!”
As if coming out of the woodwork, other students noticed the two teams talking and started to gather around. Now that almost all of the participants had been eliminated from the tournament, they didn’t have anything better to do. Himeko, however, was quick to set the record straight.
“Wait, wait, wait. Nobody said anything about a battle, alright? Nothing against these two, but they don’t have nearly as many flowers as we do. They need to go battle some other team in order to catch up.”
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” shouted a loud voice as a girl with high pigtails ran out from the crowd. It was Nakayama Mariko, the most energetic girl in school. “If you guys are gonna battle, then you gotta count us in! C’mon, Ishikawa-kun, get out here!”
At this, Nakayama’s partner Ishikawa lumbered out from the crowd. “I wouldn’t say they have to include us.”
“You’re not listening. I just said we’re not—”
“Oh, Nakayama-chan! I didn’t realize you were still in the tournament. And look at all those flowers you got!”
“We just won a huge four-way battle, so yeah, we’ve got a whole bunch now. I heard about your karate battle, Yui-chan! Everybody’s saying it was the most exciting part of this whole tournament!”
“Taichi, let’s slip away while they’re distracted.”
“O-Okay... I feel like Nakayama has enough flowers for us to battle her, though...”
“Inaba-san! Yaegashi-kun! Don’t! Stop!”
“You hear that? ‘Don’t stop.’ Let’s go.”
“No! I mean STAY, dang it! See, when we drew from the Battle Box, we got one that said ‘limited to real couples only,’ but we haven’t checked what it is yet.”
“So what?”
“So why don’t we do it with all the real couples standing right here?!”
“Pass,” Himeko shot back flatly. “We just finished a risky three-way battle. And for all I know, you could be setting us up. No deal.”
“I’m not! If you want proof, you can ask my opponents from the last battle — Huhwha?”
As they argued, more and more spectators gathered until the three pairs were completely surrounded. Some people had even brought lawn chairs.
“We’re at fifty and counting,” Taichi whispered nervously.
“E-Even you can’t get out of this one, Inaba-san!”
“Tsk... Fine, whatever. Now that Nakayama’s starting to get nervous, maybe it won’t be so hard to win this...”
“Uhhh, are you forgettin’ me and Yui, or...?”
“I heard that, Inaba-san! You’re going down! Our battle format will be” — Nakayama unfolded the piece of paper — “a Love Pageant! ...Wait, what does that mean?!”
Rules:
Losers will be determined by KO or forfeit.
If the crowd calls your submission into question, you will be disqualified.
If no winner has been chosen within the fifteen-minute time limit, the crowd will decide by majority vote.
Taichi had no problem with these guidelines. It was the “submissions” part that he wasn’t excited about. He really didn’t want to have to do this, but if he wanted to win the tournament, it was a trial he would have to endure.
After a quick ghost leg lottery, it was determined that Taichi would go first. He stood in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by nearly a hundred students cheering him on. The spotlight was on him.
“I’m in a relationship with Inaba Himeko, and... I call her by her first name, Himeko. She really hates it when people call her that, but because I’m her boyfriend, she makes a special exception for me only.”
“Oooh,” the crowd murmured.
That’s all I get?
He needed to take this a step further.
“So from now on, the only person on this earth who will ever call her Himeko... is me!”
“Oooohhh!” The crowd cheered and applauded.
Taichi was already breathing hard from the exhaustion. The other participants were trembling in fear.
Their “submissions”: embarrassing couple stories to be shared in front of the entire crowd (nothing R-rated allowed)!
“Is this really exciting enough for a semi-final...? Well, the crowd does seem excited... Man, I just know Fujishima’s the one who came up with this...!”
After all, the entire rulebook was written in her handwriting.
Just then, he thought he heard a sneeze in the distance. Nah, there’s no way that silly cliché actually happens in real life.