Unedited chapter.

Sorry for the very late release. I've been dealing with crunch time at the office. and a bit of depression by the side. and a bit of... you know what let's just say i made bad decisions after one another. I even forgot what I've been planning to write, hehehe sorry. I've been coping by watching people suffer online through nuzlockes and whatnot.

Anyway to the chapter

===

Do you ever have that gut feeling when something you are doing is about to go wrong? like that nagging and tingling sensation. I had that feeling before this trip. I told my father that me and the girls are going out for a long deserved vacation. I told my little sister to be good. Little did I know those were the things that would keep me going.

I thought this trip was going to be a walk in the park, with Maou-sama's powerful persona, I never had any doubt that we would win. but those thoughts are quickly crushed as we are briefed. it seems that our bodies cannot cross the border between worlds. but our consciousness can. so we only have 2 choices, either we go into a body made for us. or we will be sent into somebody else's body.

I chose the first option. Walking in somebody else's shoes is not going to be easy. I can tell.

And so we said our goodbyes. braced ourselves. and finally got sent into the unknown void. In the middle of our transfer, it seems that Maou-sama detected something wrong with the transfer. and I'm glad he did when he did it, as suddenly from behind me, a scary amount of hands bent in different ways crawled up my body and towards my face.

Maou-sama grabbed me by the waist and hoist me towards the others, but it seems that the other was also affected one way or another as none of them are ready to receive my flung body.

and because of that, we are separated, or at least I am separated....

===

*Cruch Bang Bump Thud*

I fell down the sky. The building broke my fall thankfully, and it seems that my fall was not that high to begin with, evident with the state of my surroundings... speaking of which.

*tik tok tik tok tik tok*

What is this place... it's a clocktower? and in the middle of the room, there's actually... a woman!? is this one of the souls trapped inside!?

As I approach I slowly watch my steps. but her complexion... seems pale. she's beautiful for sure, and what's with that outfit? It's fashionable, sure but...

out of curiosity I reached out my hand to check for a pulse.

a hand intercepts mine.

"Hm... A visitor? How unexpected..."

the voice so sweet and alluring came from the 'corpse'.

"Hm... You're not a hunter... Are you trapped in this nightmare too?"

Huh!? What!? Unexpectedly that made me squeal a bit as I never thought about talking with a corpse.

"Oh... Did you think I was dead... ?"

I don't want to offend her but it seems that my face somehow gave it away.

"So young, so much talent. It's a shame if you lose your life somewhere..."

as she said that she stood up

"This is the Astral Clock Tower. Unspeakable things have happened here, and it's no place for a frail girl like you."

I was offended when being called frail but then she grabbed two blades from god knows where and tossed one to me.

!? I groggily grabbed the blade mid air. The balance of the blade is excellent, once I touched it... I felt..

"Guess I wasn't wrong... you're a natural with a blade... but two is much better..."

She said as she grabbed a lamp from the edge of the room and held it like an off hand blade. a strange combination, a blade in one hand a lamp in another.

"I tossed my good swords away... this will have to do... Well little Girl..."

"They used to call me Lady Maria, but for you... You'll call me teacher!"

and so begin our dance.

====

Back in Tokyo

Tired...

My muscles ache, my masculinity is questioned, and finally why is Akira's combination with his persona like that!? Does that mean that his true self has such an explosive personality!?

I guess I'll ---

"There Yu are! the game's about to start so you better get your game face on!"

"Hihihihi! Chie said Game Face! get that! playing a game with a game face!"

"There you go again with your laughing fit Yukiko...."

We're in the Tokyo Stadium, getting ready for our first game. It seems that our first game is against someone from a so-called 'generation of miracle'.

"Oh yeah they said there's like a Beary hot guy out there but the only hot guy I see is here in this room! KUMA!" as teddy pointed towards himself.

"Shut it teddy! don't you see we're trying our best not to make fun of ourselves. I'm sure Akira senpai won't embarrass himself with all his skills, but what about us!"

"True, from a stamina standpoint none of you can keep up with Akira senpai. much less perform as good as he, but we can play around that by frequently switching our team members."

That's right. with the power of bonds we can achieve victory!

====

As we walked out of our changing room, we encountered an unexpected situation, especially for me, Akira and Rise. somehow our performance yesterday leaked!

and girls and boys are screaming their lungs out for Encore even at a non-musical event.

"WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO OUR HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP!"

and where did that man come from!? he seems oddly familiar. I can't tell what to give it away. Is it his eyepatch? or is it his overly flamboyant shirt?

"The team competing today is Kirisaki Daiichi High from Tokyo!"

suddenly a bright light shined towards Kirisaki Daiichi High. From the looks of it, their physique is above ours, it's a scary thought to go up against those masses of muscle... I still have bad dreams from Kanji's---

"And on the other side. Ladies and gentlemen, You may remember him from the performance yesterday give an applause for Yasogami High from Inaba!"

As the light shone upon us and Before I could even think further I was urged by Akira to do something embarrassing. He said it's to boost sponsorship and whatnot, I can only agree helplessly.

When The light shined upon us I had both my arms extended while having 1 knee up.

"OH WHAT'S THAT!? IS THAT THE LEGENDARY FIGHTING POSE!? SURELY THIS HAS---"

"KYAAA!?"

"They all Look so cute!"

"I mean look at that mass of muscle on the blonde mmmhm mmmhm"

The last one was a guy. Thank goodness it's for Kanji... You took one for the team!

After the ridiculous pose, Akira decides to be the one who contests the jump ball. I'm not complaining. sucks to be his opponent though.

"Tch, bunch of pretty boys, shame if your face is ruined after this game"

a sinister smile came from one of the players with a bushy brow.

as we got into our position. The referee in the middle looks at both sides, as the eye-patched commentator keeps commenting on our fashion sense... If I remember correctly these uniforms are specially designed for today. and tomorrow we'll have another one different from this, and so is the next until either we're eliminated or...

*whistle*

As soon as the whistle is blown, Akira jumps up and takes the ball with a huge swing. and passed it to me. I Broke into a sprint as I ran to the three point line and shot. I didn't look back as I knew that it would land as we started on the defensive.

*whistle*

"KYAAA!"

"So COOL!"

"NICE SHOT! SHOW THEM OUR YOUTH!"

"Tch"

I noticed that there's something fishy going on and so I kept my guard up.

And Something fishy is indeed going on as I noticed that there's always one player in front of the coach, and another player actively looking for a foul... no it's better to say that they actively tried to injure us.

I felt a bit angry at the attempt. Kou was the victim, as he accidentally crashed into.

*whistle*

The foul was called but the damage was done. It's a small bruise but it still didn't make me feel any better. if this was anywhere else they would've been a ---

*Slap*

a strong arm slapped my back as I saw Akira-san looking at me with a beaming smile, it's the same smile the original Akira had when he found a prey.

"it appears that the foul is labeled as an incident hence there will be a jump ball."

said the commentator. ah it seems that someone wants to see a bit of drama too.

The referee called both teams for jump balls, as Akira is the one that goes in first. but I think everyone could tell that this is a very different Akira.

Although it's a jump ball it seems that the teams can position themselves freely.

We didn't compete with them in positioning, as I knew what will come next

*Whistle*

Akira jumps, but this time with more force than necessary, grabbed the grabbed the ball mid-air, and 'threw' it to 'me', but in reality that ball cannot be catch un harmed. and lo and behold I suddenly 'fell down' and since my opponent is actively challenging me with body contact, his body ends up in where I was supposed to be and the ball hit his face hard.

The recoil of the ball flew towards the ring and scored a point from mid court.

The crowd grows silent.

"Oooops. Can we get a MEDIC!? It'll be a shame if his face is ruined...."

A smile crept up from Akira's lips. as it sends shivers even down my spine....

Needless to say, We swept them after that incident, as their injuries started to pile up and in the end they forfeited before the 2nd half ended. We didn't forget to put up a show for the audience, by doing flashy dunks, alley oops and mid court shots.