New

"So that's it? You two ditched us and walked home together to bicker about who's better??" Eos asked, a very visible scowl painted on his face. The five were walking together to school, which Eos made sure to happen by telling the twins to wait in front of Azeria's house as he dallied in front of Leroy's. "You can say that." Azeria replied, putting her hands in the comforts of her blazer's pockets. "Why are you grumpy anyways? We made up, shouldn't you be overjoyed?" The girl asked, letting her eyes travel to Eos who was walking beside her. "We waited an hour for you both to come out so we can help you make up, we even spent money on your favorite cakes, thinking it would make you both forget about it." Primo answered for him, seeing as the captain was frustrated. "So? It was stupid of you to wait for an hour. You knew we would've come at least 5 minutes later if we were late, and why'd you have to buy food anyway? It's not like we wouldn't argue the next day." Her brows furrowed in bemusement, finding it hard to understand as to why they would do unnecessary things when this happened almost in a daily basis before she left for Japan. "That's because that's not the only problem we have for you." She turned to the one who answered, Aki. He looked so anxious, which wasn't really normal for his sanguine self. "And what is that exactly?" Her eyes squinted, opting him for an answer.

"The team approached me yesterday." Her head turned again to Eos, who was looking calm in contrast to his clenched jaw. "So? What happened?" She pried. The boy took a deep breathe before stopping his tracks and tuning his whole body to her direction. "They don't want you as manager anymore." She didn't look hurt nor offended. She just had bewildered written all over her features. "Jason sent me a recruitment poster." Leroy finally spoke, showing his phone to the other four. "Well, that's rude." Primo said, his eyebrows rising in astonishment for the other guy's guts to send it directly to them. Azeria's eyes caught a glimpse on how his fists clenched tightly, making the muscles on his arm a visible print through his blazer. "Calm down. I already knew this would happen." She waved her hand, hoping it would dismiss whatever reaction they had for the situation. "Just get another and I'll just help you backstage, or whatever." She continued to walk forward, making the four follow her steps even though they wanted to discuss more about a solution.

"You've been manager of our team since we were in grade school!" Eos tried to prompt her to talk more but before Azeria could even open her mouth, Leroy beat her to it. "You're just gonna stop because a guy whined at us?" He teased her, resulting to her rolling her eyes. "It's even our last year together as high school students." She swore she could hear the whimper in Aki's voice. "I'm sure that would count as manipulation since you're guilt tripping me." She said with a scoff and an impressed face towards the male. "Y'know we would lose without you, right?" Primo nudged her, looking at her with an obviously fake heartbroken face. "Are all of you manipulative bastards?" She pushed Primo's face away from her with a sigh. "We're just stating facts!" Leroy tried to reason. "You guys losing without me is not a fact." She giggled at the thought, thinking as to why they give her all the credit to their very well earned wins. "It is though." Eos let out as a grumble.

She sighed when she finally saw the school gates. She didn't know if it was from relief or a result of them bickering all the way to school. She walked in front of them, halting when they did. "Okay. Since you guys are whiny brats, this is what you'd do." She said, looking the four of them in the eye each time theirs met hers. " OH! Are we gonna challenge the others to play with the four of us?? If we win, you stay. If they win, you'll quit?" Leroy looked enthusiastic for what he was expecting, it only made the girl's eye roll. "No. You'll win with that kind of trope." They looked at her with questioning looks, thoughts about her wanting them to lose pacing through their minds. "Don't you want us to win?" Aki asked, his brows furrowed at her. "Yes, but you guys winning that easy would be boring and almost unfair to them." As they thought about it, she was actually right. They would top the other team's score with three digits. "So what do you have in mind then?" Primo asked, his brow raised at the girl. She smiled at him before answering. "Three practice games with three different managers. Two will be picked by them, One will be picked by us." It was a 50-50 chance for them, making the four hesitate to agree with her 'quick fix'. "Does this mean you already have someone in mind?" Eos questioned, seeing that Azeria wouldn't do this without it being well thought. "You bet." She looked so giddy at the thought of who she would volunteer. "Who?" Leroy questioned, slightly disturbed on how excited the girl looked.

"Caila!" She said with a slight jump to her feet. Her frisky mood contrasted their troubled one. "That would make it worse if they would pick a smart one!" Eos practically growled at her, the stress in his voice couldn't be missed. Her skittish attitude still remained unfazed by this. "I'm not betting on a safe win anymore! It's boring! The thrill of losing is more fun!" her jumpy attitude surprised the four. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. "She says sorry. She's not condescending. She's okay with losing. Is this even her?" Leroy's eyes couldn't leave her, hoping he would see at least a speck of her old self. "Oh, I'm not okay with losing! I would never be!" She scoffed at his words. "I just feel even more victorious when I still win when I'm on the edge of a cliff." The four didn't know if she was eerier than before, they just knew this was a whole new her.