"Kaede, did you find what you were looking for?" Hina whispered as Kaede walked up to rejoin them. Kaede didn't respond; her eyes were wide, her lips were shut tight, and her skin was paler than usual. "Whoa! Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Hina exclaimed.
"Hmm? Oh! Oh, yeah...yeah, I'm fine," Kaede replied. "I, um...I just saw a bug, that's all."
"W-Was it big?!" Sonia asked fearfully.
"If it was, I'll squash it!" Hiyoko said.
"No, no, guys...it's okay," Kaede said. "It was a small bug...it just, kinda...came out of nowhere, is all."
"What came out of nowhere?" Chi-Chi asked from behind. The other girls turned to see Kokichi and Himiko had finally emerged from the locker room.
"Hey! What took you two so long?" Miu asked.
"Tee-hee...sorry! Himiko just needed a pep talk," Kokichi replied, patting Himiko on the head.
"Nyeh...thanks, Chi-Chi," Himiko said shyly. "You really helped me."
*Yeah, I bet,* Kaede thought to herself, feeling disgusted. Despite the fact that she found Kokichi annoying, she didn't think that meant he deserved to be cheated on. She looked away from Himiko, disappointed that she would do something like that to Kokichi. Finally, the game started, and the girls rushed out and began their routine.
"H-O-P-E...courage, kindness, loyalty! P-E-A-K...hope moves forward every day! Hope's Peak, Hope's Peak, Hope's Peak Academy! Hope moves forward, strong and free! HOPE'S PEAK ACADEMY!!" The girls chanted. The crowd went wild as the girls flipped around and chanted. Suddenly, the basketball players came running out, making the crowd cheer even more.
"The Hope's Peak Academy basketball team finally rushes out onto the court!" Chihiro announced. He, along with Chiaki, were the commentators for the game. "It's a good day for basketball, don'tcha think, Chiaki?"
"Mm-hmm!" Chiaki agreed. "Hope's Peak is playing against the rival team, Dream Summit Academy! They're definitely a force to be reckoned with, especially with their star player, Yuki Yoshida, who's renowned for his famous three-point shots!"
"And speaking of which, here comes the Dream Summit Academy team!" Chihiro announced as a large group of boys dressed in sky blue jerseys came rushing onto the court. The other side of the gym roared with applause from Dream Summit Academy students who were attending the game. They roared even louder when they noticed a tall, burly kid as he waved to the crowd. The Dream Summit Academy cheerleaders began cheering for their own team, as well.
"Huh...they got some cool routines, too," Miu admitted.
"But, they're not gonna be better than us!" Hina said with determination.
"Mos' def!'" Sonia said. "We have the Ultimate Cheerleader on our side! There's no way they can win!"
"Yeah! Besides, they're all ugly, anyways," Hiyoko said. "In the end, ugly people always lose."
"Um...I do not believe that is how it works, Hiyoko," Sonia said.
"Why're you so quiet all of a sudden, Bakamatsu?" Miu asked Kaede.
"Hm? Oh...no reason," Kaede mumbled. Her mind drifted off to the horror she witnessed earlier. The horror...of Himiko cheating on Kokichi!
"Well, get'cha head in the game!" Sonia said with enthusiasm.
"Yeah! Get'cha, get'cha, get'cha, get'cha head in the game!" Hina sang cheerfully.
"Ew! Nobody likes that movie, anymore! It's so old and cringey!" Hiyoko spat.
"Like, cringey, or not, the point is that we have to cheer better than the other team," Kokichi said. "Remember, without us, our basketball team is nothing! Now, let's get out there, and give it our all!" The girls cheered, and rushed out behind the sidelines of the court. The only one who didn't appear enthusiastic was Kaede. The game went on for a couple of hours. It was near the end of the game, and Dream Summit Academy was leading 54-52.
"There are 45 seconds left in the game!" Hina whispered. "What are we gonna do?!"
"Let's form a pyramid, and cheer them on," Kokichi ordered. The other girls nodded, and they began to form a pyramid with Kaede, Miu, and Hina at the bottom. Kaede was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to focus on what she was supposed to be doing. Hiyoko was supposed to have front flipped onto Kaede's hand, but instead, she did a front flip and facepalmed onto the floor.
"UGH...KAEDE!!!" Hiyoko exclaimed in anger and frustration.
"Oops! Sorry!" Kaede said, helping Hiyoko up to her feet.
"Oh, no! We cannot finish the pyramid in time!" Sonia said.
"Nyeh...what do we do, now?" Himiko asked.
"At this point, all we can do is watch," Kokichi replied with a shrug.
"Way to go, Kaede! Now our chance of winning is goin' down the commode cuz of you!" Miu spat rudely. They turned to see Makoto trying to block Yuki Yoshida from making another shot. Miu smirked. "Haha! Fortunately, I've got a backup plan! HEY, YUKIIII!!" she yelled, waving over to the other team's star player. Yuki turned to face Miu with a curious expression. "Get a load of these puppies!" Miu said, and lifted her shirt up. Yuki's face immediately turned red as his eyes popped out of his head. Spurts of blood began shooting out of his nose. While he was distracted, Makoto saw his chance. He stole the ball from Yuki, and ran to his team's side of the court to shoot the ball. As the ball soared through the air, the timer rang out as the ball made it into the net. The students of Hope's Peak roared with applause. Makoto made a three-point shot, making Hope's Peak the winner.
"WE DID IT!!" Hina shouted happily. "We won! We won!" The girls cheered and squealed amongst each other.
"Yup! It was all thanks to me!" Miu said.
"Yeah, even though that was really gross of you, at least you didn't screw up like Kaede did," Hiyoko said. Everyone turned to see Kaede, who was glaring at Hiyoko. Her eyes seemed wet with tears.
"Kaede, are you okay?" Sonia asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Kaede muttered angrily.
"Nyeh...are you sure? Because if you want, I can-" Himiko began.
"I SAID I'M FINE!!" Kaede shouted angrily at Himiko before stomping off into the girls' locker room. The other girls looked after her in shock. Kokichi stroked his chin in thought.
"You girls stay here, m'kay?" he said. "I'm going to go and, like, talk to her." The girls agreed to stay behind while Kokichi made his way into the locker room to find Kaede sitting on a bench and crying softly. Kokichi cleared his throat, and sat down next to her. "So, um...like, what's wrong, Kaede?" he asked. Kaede looked up at him in annoyance, her eyes red and wet.
"It's nothing," she replied. "I'm sorry for messing everything up, but I just want to be alone, okay?"
"Well...what matters is that we won," Kokichi said with a shrug.
"Yeah...I guess," Kaede muttered grimly, not even bothering to meet his eyes. Kokichi stared at her intently.
"Did you, like, totally have a fight with one of the other girls?" Kokichi pressed. Kaede looked at him angrily.
"Why do you care?" she asked. "Ugh...who do you even think you are, coming to our school, and acting like you're...best friends with everyone all of a sudden?!"
"Um...like, what are you talking about?" Kokichi asked, raising a brow at her.
"It's just that..." Kaede paused to choose her words carefully. "I just really think you shouldn't get too close with any of the other girls in our squad." Kokichi looked Kaede in the eye before giving her a cheeky grin.
"Ahh...I see, I see," he replied. "Well, Kaede, if you feel so strongly about this, I'll totally back off, then!" Kaede eyed him skeptically.
"Um...thanks," she mumbled before grabbing her bags and leaving the locker room.