45 Chapter 43 : Ok Ok (1)
A/N: Yo! As promised, here's the chap! Again sorry for the lateness. Thanks for the stones guys! Keep 'em coming again!
I actually wrote a little bit under 4000 words, so I decided to split the chapter in two, this part one is around 1800 words.
Pic of the week.
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After her awkward episode, Rumi joined her friends who were sitting silently.
She noticed that they were actually looking at a game happening not far.
Deciding to not talk about the previous event, she sat next to Kurai, where she was the farthest from Ryuko and watched the game quietly with them.
But she was quickly absorbed by it.
Indeed one team was absolutely crushing the other.
They were all in black, even under this hot weather, looking like ninjas. Their jumps, smashes, receptions, dives. Everything was amazing to her eyes.
For a moment she felt that her team was inferior, before shaking her head from such weak thoughts.
'No way!'
Looking on her right, Kurai's and Ryuko's eyes were glued to the game too.
Ryuko was particularly more engrossed. Her eyes were going everywhere, trying to scrutinize every gesture, analyzing every move.
Kurai though, even if he looked impressed too, didn't think much. This tournament was a small hobby for him, and he had more important matters at hand for now.
Their team was in ¼th of the final for now, and the team playing all-in-black would most definitely be their direct opponent, but during the final, 'If I correctly remembered that's how the games would be played.'
That's also why he wasn't worried.
Another reason was that he had absolute confidence in himself.
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After a while, the match ended, with an obvious victory for the 'ninjas'.
A crushing 25-4.
If Kurai didn't take his own team into account, then this must definitely be one of the most dominating scores.
"Wow, they are good!" In the middle of his tumultuous thoughts he heard Ryuko's praise.
"I'll show them who is the best scorer!" Almost instantly he could also hear Rumi's competitive side burning again.
She was flexing her arm while showing a ferocious grin.
'Welp, they are so diametrically different but also so similar...' Dusting his butt off after standing up, Kurai stretched out his limbs.
"Alright, should we go and warm up for the next game?" He looked down on both his comrades.
"Yes!"
"Um."
Ryuko agreed excitedly, after seeing such a game she was pumped up, Rumi on the other hand only nodded.
She found it very weird for Kurai to ask for a warm up. From what she could remember, he never asked for one. Even when they fought.
Of course, during the past fights he did tell her that it was only the warm-up. But that was only to incense her to fight him stronger.
And in this peculiar context she found his behavior somewhat odd, at least that's what her instincts and knowledge of him as a friend told her.
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As they were warming up, the time for their third game, the quarter final one, approached.
Their team, 'The Animals' were all wearing matching clothes. It consisted of light blue shorts and a darker t-shirt.
At least that's what it was supposed to be, but they all didn't possess the exact same tint of blue.
Kurai was all in navy blue. Only the girls had blue shorts, well, blue bloomers, and very fitting ones...
Though, instead of t-shirts both girls had tank tops.
'Ok.'
Seeing them jump around on the sand, with the sun rays shining on their soaked skin, Kurai couldn't help but swallow a lump of saliva.
'Stay focused.'
It was easier said than done, even more so when they had to readjust their clothes after a dive.
'Sigh...'
Kurai was more and more exasperated by himself, he didn't really understand where all those teen hormones came from.
'Ok. I need to relax.'
For once, he forgot about his new-born sister and parents, and prayed that the game started sooner.
Fortunately it looked like his inner prayers were heard as he noticed the referee approaching from afar.
'3 games to go and we're done with this day.' He thought.
Kurai then declared out loud, "Alright, let's start to take this tournament more seriously, as we've seen it earlier, some teams are pretty good."
Ryuko and even Rumi nodded at his words, it would be foolish of them to think that everyone would be as weak as the first team they played against.
"That's why I decided beforehand who will start to serve."
The girls didn't interrupt him, even though nothing had been decided about the leadership, it was silently agreed that Kurai was the most fitting member.
He had everything a natural leader needed to have; charisma, confidence, strength, adaptability and finally he had his ways with words.
"And it'll be you, Ryuko." He continued, turning his gaze at the small dragon.
""Huh?!"" Both girls had their eyes wide open. Rumi was incredibly more shocked though.
She thought that he'd choose himself, and she had to admit that she wouldn't have any problems with that. Or even that he'll choose her as the second choice...
'Her? She can't be better than me!' She brought her gaze to the blond, seeing her as shocked made her jealousy calm down.
"W-why?" Stuttering with a small voice, it was Ryuko who broke the ice first.
"Because you're simply the one lacking the most technique in our team."
Blushing, Ryuko admitted her flaws, "I-I know! That's why I'm asking you, dummy!"
"Ahah! So you're also the one who can improve the most. That's why you'll be the one starting."
Continuing, Kurai wanted to make sure they both understood his point, "That way you'll have more game time. Even more so if we finish the games as fast as usual. We need 3 good players after all and not only 2."
He offered her a smile before extending his arm to bump fists as usual.
"I'll t-try thanks for giving me the opportunity!" She gladly accepted, and on the side, even Rumi had to relent.
'Sigh.' She knew what made her and Kurai different. Just now her emotions took over, while Kurai took the bigger picture into account and thought for the team instead of the individual.
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"24-8!" The referee whistled in Kurai's team favor.
The game had gone pretty well for the Animals.
Even if they had taken 6 points against them, most of it, if not all, had been individual errors instead of their opponents scoring themselves.
Still, they all felt that the level of their opponents went up.
Before they only needed one serve or a smash to score, mainly because the enemy wasn't able to defend.
Now though it was another story, sometimes, they were able to defend Rumi or Ryuko's strikes.
Albeit with difficulty since they weren't able to profit from their saves. So the points got longer.
"Here you go!" Kurai threw the ball over to Rumi.
The rabbit confidently grinned and took her place behind the line and as usually she nailed the serve perfectly on the top right corner.
'She never disappoints, huh?' Kurai saw her keeping her grin the whole time, it was as if he was looking at himself.
'Nah, I don't brag this much…' In the midst of his thoughts, he knew that Rumi never failed a single serve.
'At least for now…'
After bumping their fists all together again, they moved away to their next match. On the way, they talked about the previous game.
Well, it was mostly Kurai trying to teach the girls about their errors and what they could improve. During their little teaching session, the team crossed ways with the all-in-black dudes.
They previously came to know that they were called the Ninjas.
'Tsss, and they said that I'm lame at choosing names??' Kurai couldn't help but comment while he was eyeing his most probable future opponents.
"Looks like they won too…" Ryuko analyzed.
After hearing her, Rumi threw her usual sharp comment at the blond, "Thanks, Captain Obvious, they are going to the winner's area too."
Ryuko winced at the bunny, not wanting to delve into another rant with the hot-headed girl so she kept her gaze on them.
"Let's move too, we should focus on our next game instead." Kurai started walking behind the Ninjas to join the next area.
The girls followed after him, the ½ finals would begin soon.
One thing was sure, 'Ok… They are strong.', both teams noticed each other's strength.
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Unfortunately, the semi-finals were played at the same time, so sadly Kurai couldn't take a peek at the other team anymore.
'Well, I guess they want to take a look at our team too, heh, too bad.' He had now the ball in his hands as he was about to serve but thanks to his abilities he could see them from afar.
'Anyway, let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.'
The ball left his hand and Kurai followed its trail, jumping high, his body arched itself naturally like a bow.
And just like the release of the string, his body exploded with power sending the ball flying straight toward the top left corner, leaving no chance for his opponents to catch it.
Even if they were able to move, they still weren't fast enough, but it showed that their adversaries were obviously still improving as they were climbing up the ladders.
This game, like the other, ended with a win from the Animals, a quick 25-7. They conceded less points, proving that Kurai's little teaching session bore its fruit.
Kurai could end the game alone with his serves, but he had to fail them purposefully sometimes to let the girls play.
His goal wasn't to monopolize the day, but to have fun with them, by not letting the girls burn under the sun while waiting for him.
Now that they were qualified for the final, their next game would be in the main stadium.
Just before though, they had an unexpected meeting during another of Kurai's teachings…
It was Ms. Ishikawa who came to greet them and wish them success.
"We can't let her down! Let's win this!" After she left, Kurai motivated his team a last time.
Ms. Ishikawa was the only teacher at their school who was open minded enough to listen to them, and even if she was strict she never discriminated against them. She was there to listen to them when they had problems.
She was also the first one to fight for their rights when their little pranks involved other teachers.
Rumi knew that too, that's why she was more pumped up than ever. Ryuko was oddly motivated too. She couldn't let her 'rival' take all the glory.
'Heh.' Kurai smiled after seeing the girls' spirit on fire.
Simultaneously the trio walked forward and entered the stadium under a wave of applause.
The loud cheers, the adrenaline rush, the commentators, the expectations of everyone they knew, and everything else just gave them goosebumps, but it wasn't to say that they were nervous.
No, they wanted to fight the Ninjas so bad.
*Cheers*
Another round of applause imploded into the stadium.
The trio turned their heads toward the source of the noise and they finally saw them.
Wearing all black matching outfits, from head to toe, the Ninjas stepped in the stadium too.
The final of the tournament promised to be the greatest clash of the day. A war between the jungle's Kings and the night's best assassins…
