Chapter 83 – Dodgeball

The day of the sports festival had finally arrived.

Takei went to the school early today in order to scout out the troubles that would await him.

All the students were dressed up in their gym uniforms today due to the nature of the events that were happening today.

Either trousers or shorts could've been worn, but most people wore trousers since it was a bit chilly this morning.

There was still about half an hour before the first event started.

To start the sports festival off, there would be a team battle between class 1-A and class 1-B.

The event chosen for this team battle was dodgeball.

Since this was a battle between class 1-A and 1-B, there would be some familiar faces fighting each other.

Takei, Rikka, and Eiji would be facing Akari and Helena on the other team.

There was no doubt in his mind that Akari and Helena would be the powerhouses of their class.

Looking over the gymnasium that would be hosting the dodgeball event, Takei noticed that the boys were especially pumped up today.

Judging by the looks on their faces, he assumed that they all wanted to impress the girls with their performance in the game.

As a fellow male, Takei could understand where they were coming from.

He also wanted to impress the person he liked, so Takei would give his all as well.

Seeing Eiji and Rikka stretching on their side of the court, Takei walked over and greeted them before the game started.

"Good morning, everyone."

Although it was a bit short and monotone, Eiji and Rikka understood the nuance behind his greeting.

"Yo, it's been a while."

The last time that Takei and Eiji had played together as a team was in their last year of middle school.

"I hope we can win... I heard that the winner of the opening event gets a pizza party for their class."

In contrast, Rikka was pumped up to win because of a rumor of a pizza party as a prize.

Laughing at his sister's foolishness, Eiji slapped her back repeatedly with tears in his eyes.

"Haha, you're just like a little kid!"

"You're one to talk!"

Seeing the friendly exchange between brother and sister, Takei warmly smiled at the banter that was happening in front of him.

"You two are close, aren't you?"

""We're not.""

Even though Takei had complimented them, they both denied his praise.

He chuckled slightly at their unanimous reply, and then looked at his watch.

There was about five minutes left to go before the game started.

Moving his attention over to the opposite side of the field, he saw two familiar faces.

Akari and Helena were surrounded by a group of girls, while the boys looked enviously at the situation.

I don't know why, but Akari seems a lot more genuine in her actions now...

The Akari of the past would've worn her usual goddess facade and used the celebrity smile that she had used all of her life.

That smile created a divine and unreachable feeling that was emitted to everyone else in the vicinity.

However, the smile that she wore currently was a lot more genuine than it usually was.

If Takei had to guess, the smile currently used was about 70% genuine while the previous smile was an astounding 0%.

Deep inside, he had a strong feeling that no one else would be able to see that pure 100% genuine smile that he got to see.

Slightly happy by that, Takei kept on observing the goddess until something unexpected happened.

Akari finished chatting with one of the girls in her group and moved her vision over to the other side of the court, which resulted in her locking eyes with Takei.

Once both of them were aware of this, they started to feel a little embarrassed, but neither of them turned away.

Takei nodded slightly to let her know that he was cheering her on, while Akari winked at him with a determined smile on her face.

She mouthed out five words that were incredibly obvious since Takei immediately understood what they were.

I'm going to win this.

Smiling gently at her words, Takei once again nodded to show his affirmation.

Once their exchange finished, the principal's voice came over the intercom and announced that the dodgeball game was about to begin.

Both classes moved to their respective sides and put on their game faces.

The tension was running at an all-time high as the students were prepared to give it their all.

Slowly, the countdown was announced over the intercom.

The match would start in approximately 10 seconds.

Takei was a bit anxious as to what would happen, but he was also excited to participate in a team sport with his classmates.

As the seconds ticked down, the announcer finally reached the number zero.

What ensued after was a mad dash to the middle of the court in order to grab as many dodgeballs as possible.

Even though Takei had managed to increase his speed and stamina by jogging, he couldn't keep up with the students who were participating in sports.

Realizing that he wasn't going to be of use, Takei retreated fairly early and watched the chaos unfold.

Many people left and right were getting eliminated due to the hellfire of dodgeballs that were flying through the air.

In the midst of battle, Takei managed to catch a dodgeball from the opposing side which resulted in them being eliminated.

After a few more minutes, there was only one person left on each stage.

Surprisingly, Takei and Akari both managed to be that one person.

All of their friends had gotten eliminated earlier in the game as a result of the high intensity and will power of the student body.

Takei had barely managed to survive by weaving in and out of the crowd and sniping people from the shadows.

On the other hand, Akari was a powerhouse whose team defended with their lives.

Facing each other with a great intensity in their eyes, Takei and Akari both threw their dodgeballs at the same time.

As a result, one of them got eliminated.

By process of elimination, there could only be one winner.

And the winner was...

---

Serious-san: Really? A cliffhanger?

Sugar-san: I'm going to have to agree with him on this one, real cheap shot here, don't you think?

Author-san: I didn't know how else to end the chapter :(