Conquering Villains and Capturing Targets Is Harder in Real Life than in Games

5: Lately, it seems you have a lot to thank me for.

So now it's just their team's king and Mikoshiba left on that side and four on our side including me, our king and Semi Madoka.

Mikoshiba moved over from her spot to shield their king.

The remaining teammate on Shizuka's side, who wasn't Madoka or the king, aimed at the opposing king but unfortunately he miscalculated the power needed and was eliminated when the other king caught the ball.

Damn, they have all three balls on their side.

Because they were outnumbered, the opposing king and Mikoshiba seemed to make a tacit agreement to attack all at once with the three balls.

Being the only two left to protect their king, Shizuka and Madoka instinctively moved to stand in front of him.

On the other side Mikoshiba held two balls and their king held one.

Then, without warning, all three balls were simultaneously shot across the gym towards Shizuka. The other team had clearly decided it would be easier to attack them one by one rather than face all three at once. Since Shizuka and Madoka were standing in front, they were obvious targets. Although Shizuka showed remarkable skill, everyone knew that Madoka was the superior athlete between the two, so in the end the attack was concentrated on her alone.

With almost god-like reflexes Shizuka immediately hopped over to catch one ball and used it to deflect the other.

Suddenly, Shizuka realized that she had made a critical error. Crap! I stepped too far and there's still another ball! Our king is wide open!

Dropping the ball she was holding, Shizuka dashed back to cover their king with her own body. Because she knew that she wouln't be able to dodge or catch the last ball in time without risking their king, Shizuka merely shielded him with her eyes squeezed shut and braced for impact.

Shizuka waited for the ball to hit her but to her surprise, it never did.

Slowly she openly her eyes and saw an unexpected figure directly in front of her. Somehow in the chaos of it all, it seemed that Madoka had somehow managed to jumped in front of her and catch the last ball.

In an even voice he stated, "I caught the king's toss. We won."

Silence filled the room as everyone processed the dramatic last play in shock and awe. After a long moment the gym erupted in thunderous cheers. 

"Oh my god! Semi-sama that was so cool!!!!"

"I want to be protected by Semi-sama too!"

"Yoshino-chan! That was so awesome I can't even! Wow!"

"Holy crap that was such a godly combination play!"

Before the students could start chanting Madoka and Shizuka's name in reverence, Kawasaki-sensei regained control of the room. "Quiet! Quiet down everybody! I'm glad you're all enjoying it. In this first match, as we all saw, Team Two won. Now we still have some time left, if you're able to reset quickly and quietly, I'll let you guys have another match!"

Another around of cheers broke out among the excited students.

"Shhh!"

In the following match, Mikoshiba tried to continue her harassment of Shizuka but found her efforts to be futile against Shizuka's impenetrable defences and powerful attacks.

The only person I will allow to defeat me is Semi Madoka and Semi Madoka alone! Until I defeat him I refuse to lose to anyone else!

Though Shizuka declared that in her heart, in the rematch she found herself working incredibly well with Madoka and eventually with their invincible combination plays, Team Two was led to another overwhelming victory.