A/N: Ayyyy second part, Chapter 25 here we go!!!
It was twenty minutes after the ceremony now, and all the students, changed into their sports uniform, were already gathered on the exercise yard, preparing for the races that would begin in about fifteen minutes. The students were randomly divided into four groups, Blue, Red, White, and Yellow team. Each team would compete with one another in order to win the Grand Prize at the end of the competitions. And now, the first part of the competition was about to start.
"Hm, can't believe Betty is this unfortunate to be in the same team as you, in fact." Beatrice said with her arms folded. "Aw don't say that Bea-ko! You know we'd make an awesome team! Hora, think about all those things we've done together as a team! We're invincible!!" Subaru said, patting her on the head, and she slapped his hand away, annoyed. "Where is the complaint box, in fact?? The authorities should punish whoever made Betty and this annoying thing in the same group and partners for the race, Betty supposes!! Unacceptable, in fact!!" Beatrice shouted, glaring at Subaru, who was snickering back at her.
"Hoho, so, you're saying, you want the authorities, which basically means me as I am one of the organizers of the event, to punish myself, who did the groupings and pairings justly? Hm hm hm, I like your logic." Subaru said, his brows raised, looking down at Beatrice, who turned away with gritted teeth. "Betty shall get back to you later, Betty supposes!!" She snapped. "Beatrice-sama and Subaru-kun look really happy, don't they?" Rem said to Aya, who were both in the Blue team and standing the closest to them. "They sure do, Rem-san." She replied, smiling. "We should show them our spirits as well!! We won't lose to Team Yellow just because they have Natsuki-senpai!!" Aya said, holding her fists tightly before her chest, and Rem returned her determination with a similar gesture.
On the other side of the Yellow team, the team members of the Red team gathered and did their warmups. "Ha, looks like we've got all the elites here." Ram said smugly as she looked around the team. They had Aki and Haruka, who were both basically the top at sports, Hinata, who also had above average physical abilities, some other students from the track and field team and basketball team, and of course, Ram herself. "Don't get too happy, those people are good but they lack the ability to cooperate." Kotoha said darkly, and Yui nodded beside her. "That's why our school never wins any prizes when it comes to cooperative competitions like relay races." Yui said. Ram shrugged and continued scanning her teammates with her eyes, and the other two laughed.
On the farthest left side was the White team. They were also doing warmups, and their team leader was giving them the pep talk. "It's finally starting!! I'm feeling like I'm bursting with excitement!!" Nico shouted, shaking Shiori with her eyes turning into stars. "Yeah I'm super hyped too!! Can't wait for it to start!! And I have a feeling that we're gonna beat them all!! We might not be the strongest but I know we're the best at cooperation!!" Shiori shouted back, laughing. The White team consisted mostly of Shiori's friends, and as Shiori's greatest hobby was organizing things, everyone who was a friend of her all possessed an oddly high ability to work as a team. "That's right!! We as individuals might be nothing, but we as a team will be the greatest!!" Emilia said firmly, and the two girls nodded vigorously. "Oi~~ Shiori-san!! Come here for a sec!!" The leader called over the crowd of students to her, waving. "Okay coming!!" Shiori called back and hurried to the front. Looking at everyone else on the field, Emilia smiled. "It's finally happening, Subaru. Your hard work is finally paying off!" Emilia whispered to herself as the commentator announced that the first race, the three-legged race, would start in five minutes.
"Ohayougozaimasu mina-san!! Today's commentary will be delivered to you by us, the Kakuma brothers!! This is Kakuma Kenta!"
"This is Kakuma Kenya!"
"This is Kakuma Kenshi! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!!" The Kakuma brothers greeted everyone through the microphone in unison. The three commentators of the day were triplets, all of whom had silky black hair that was combed into different directions and wore heavy black frame glasses, which gave them a rather nerdy impression. However, their passion for race commentary was greater than any other. After they finished their self-introduction, the referee walked up to the tracks, and the first two runners of each team went to their spots, waiting. "The three-legged race this year is a bit different from past years, don't you think?" Kenta started off the commentary with a question, which brought the attention of the audience to the first runners of each team. "Naturally, after all, this year's main focus of the races is to match the snowy situation we face." Kenya replied, and Kenshi grabbed the mic and shouted. "This year's competitions are races combined with snow and ice!! So, the three-legged race? No no, it's three-legged skiing race this year!!" Kenshi shouted, and at this, the referee fired his starting gun, and the race began.
Although the race was renamed to three-legged skiing, it wasn't exactly skiing. The runners had long wood boards tied to their feet to resemble the skiing boards, while the one between them was shared, and the runners both held a stick to help them maintain balance and move forward, so basically, it was like skiing but not on a slope. "Ooooohhhhh looks like we're already having a fierce fight here!! Team Blue and Team Red ties in the first place now!! Closely followed by Team Yellow and White!! And there we go!!! The first runners reached the goal, and here comes the second pair!!" Kenshi shouted as more and more pairs of runners started to race each other.
Team Blue's lead was all thanks to Rem, who managed to start off at a high pace and maintain perfect cooperation with her partner, Kenichi. "That's amazing, Rem-san!! Didn't know you were this good at sports!!" Kenichi shouted as they untied their feet from the boards, and Rem giggled. "When it comes to sports, Rem can be slightly more confident than usual." She said, and Ram and Yui came up to them. "Nice race, Rem. You have succeeded in out-speeding Ram!" Ram said with Yui beside her, panting slightly. "Thank you, Nee-sama! Rem will continue to do her best in the following races! Rem won't go easy just because Nee-sama is among the competitors!!" Rem said, her eyes burning with the fire of determination. "Of course, Ram will also do her best to meet your spirit!!" Ram said. "What beautiful sisterly love we're witnessing now!!" Kenichi shouted in an emotional voice, while Yui sweatdropped.
"And that's the fourth pair now!! Will we see any changes in the ranking?? Oh seems like we will!! Look at Red Team's runners!! They're slowly catching up to the Blue Team, and yes!! Red Team has taken the lead now!! Who are they??" Kenta shouted as the ranking of the teams changed for the first time so far. Team Blue was always a little bit ahead of the rest of the teams, all thanks to Rem and Kenichi, but now, the Red Team runners took the first place. Aki and Haruka were speeding up as they ran, no, as Aki dragged Haruka forward. The two had such a large height difference that Haruka had to walk three steps to meet Aki's one step, so basically, the two formed a rather funny scene as they sped down the track. Nevertheless, Aki was just fast enough to grab that first place even when his left leg was tied to something that weighed around 45 kg.
"Whoever paired me up with this jackass, I'mma rip his ass off and hang it over my fireplace when I get to him!!" Haruka shouted furiously when they reached the goal. "Heh, looks like Beatrice-san found a companion." Mutsuki said with a smirk. She was also in Team Yellow and had overheard the conversation between Subaru and Beatrice earlier. The race continued, and Team Red maintained their first place, followed by Team Blue, and Team Yellow and White were having a fierce fight over the third place. "Sa mina-san!! Two pairs to the last runners!! Let's see which team will get the third place!!" Kenshi shouted, and at this moment, the right runner of Team White tripped and brought his partner down, and Team Yellow went past them, seizing their third place.
"Ahhhhhh Team White trips!!! Hurry and get back up!! You've still got a chance!!" Kenya shouted, stepping his foot on the table in front of him agitatedly. "A friendly reminder, us commentators have to be neutral." Kenta said, holding back Kenya. "Yeah you sound like you're leaning toward Team White a bit much. Any reasons for that?" Kenshi chimed in, smirking. However, the Head of the Department of Student Affairs cleared her throat loudly and brought an end to this small drama.
Now, all teams had their last pairs on the track. Team Red still took the lead, and the second place was still Team Blue, and the third and fourth were Team Yellow and White. "Ikuzo Bea-ko!! It's all on us now!!" Subaru, as the last runners, shouted as he sprinted off with Beatrice by his side. "AHHHHH BETTY SWEARS SHE WILL KILL YOU LATER, IN FACT!!!!" Beatrice shouted as she, similar to Haruka, got dragged by Subaru for the whole run. "Gomen Emilia-tan!! I have to win this one!!" Subaru shouted as Emilia and her partner started the run. She was one of the last runners as well. And soon, Subaru and Beatrice reached the goal, and Emilia's pair quickly arrived as well. "Yoshaaaaaaa!!! We did it!!!!" Subaru shouted as he punched the air and immediately got hit by Beatrice with her stick.
"You didn't have to run like that you dingus, Betty supposes!!! And stop shouting we only got the third place, in fact!!" Beatrice shouted and continued slapping Subaru's head. Emilia walked to them, laughing. "It's a great race, Subaru, Beatrice. But we'll win in the next one!!" Emilia said, and Subaru laughed, shielding his head from Beatrice's attacks. "Thanks, Emilia-tan. We won't go easy on you on the next one either!!" Subaru said. "And that's the end of the first race!!! The current scores of each team now, Team Red gets 200 points!!" Kenya shouted as the scorekeeper put down Team Red's score on the scorekeeping whiteboard, and Team Red shouted as they welcomed their first victory.
"The second place, Team Blue, 175 points!!" Kenta shouted, and Team Blue cheered as well. "Team Yellow, not so bad, 150 points for the third place!!" Kenshi shouted, and Team Yellow roared their vows to win back in the next races. "And last but not least, Team White, the fourth place, 125 points for you!!" Kenta shouted, and Team White, just like Team Yellow, shouted and vowed to win the points back with much greater power in their voices. "Alright, that's it for the first part!! We hope you all enjoyed it!!! We will be back for the next race, the ball-tossing game, and similarly, it is also altered slightly!! But how it is altered, please be patient and wait!! See you in thirty minutes!! Racers, please take your time to have a rest!!" Kenta shouted through the mic, and the first race's commentary came to an end.
Subaru and the girls met up again after the race was over. Hinata and the girls' classmates also came to join them. "Barusu," Ram said. "Yeah?" Subaru replied, half-knowing what was coming, judging by the smuggest smile on her face he'd seen so far. "Kneel before Ram, and Ram grants you the chance of licking Ram's shoe." She said and pointed down at her shoes. "Kotowaru!! This's just the first race, Nee-sama, there're four to go!!! We haven't lost yet!!" Subaru shouted and pointed at Ram. "Ho, yoroshii. Then Ram shall make you kneel before herself when today is over. Ah, but the chance to lick Ram's shoe will no longer be given." Ram said. "Why the freaking hell does everyone like to assume that I like licking women's shoes?? First Pricilla, then Al, and now you!! What the hell Ram-sama??" Subaru shouted angrily as everyone else burst into laughter.
"Subaru-kun Subaru-kun!! Nee-sama Nee-sama!! We have half an hour before the next race right?? Rem wants to go to the stands!! There's a lot of food that Rem hasn't tried before! Can we go??" Rem said as she wrapped her arms around Subaru's. Ram gave her a nod with a soft smile. "Yeah sure!! Let's go!! And Ossan's there too!! Let's go say hello!" Subaru said, smiling down at Rem, who beamed up at him like a little girl who was told Christmas came early. Subaru turned to the rest of them, but Hinata stuck out his tongue. "Stop blinding us you two love birds. You go have fun and have your date, we'll go somewhere else before my eyeballs get melted and leak out my eye sockets." Hinata said, laughing. "You mean like that fish when he saw the sun-bleached Spongebob??" Emilia asked, tilting her head as she remembered the scene vividly from the funny cartoon. "Yes, exactly!!!!" Hinata shouted and laughed harder than ever.
"Well we're not that interested in food yet so we'll go over to the stands selling other merchandise. I heard there are some pretty interesting snow-related items, it's almost Christmas so I think they have some good things for it as well." Shiori said, and Yui and Kotoha nodded. "Aw but I wanna go look at the food stands!" Nico whined, and Aya patted on her arm. "It's okay, Nico-chan, I'll go with you." She said. "Okay how's this? I, Asai-san and the others go look at those Christmas stands, and you lot go get the food you want?" Hinata suggested, and they all agreed that it was a good plan, so Hinata, Shiori, Yui, and Kotoha walked off to the right, and Subaru, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, Emilia, Nico, and Aya went for the food stands.
"Wow this really feels like a matsuri!! You've got all the best ones here!! And I see there're also stands selling ice creams, and probably more!! This is great!!! Amazing!! Natsuki-senpai!!!" Nico shouted as they walked among the people, mostly the students' family, who were buying and eating food. "Hehe, don't thank me, thank Ossan later. He helped a lot in inviting those shops to come over. Oh, there's his stand I see it!" Subaru spotted the familiar old man who helped him all the time. As usual, Ossan was smiling brightly at his customers, serving them hot noodles and dumplings. "Hey Ossan!!" Subaru shouted, waving at him, and hearing Subaru's voice, Ossan looked toward their direction and waved back.
"Subaru-kun!! Nice to see you!! The business is booming!!!" Ossan greeted them warmly and continued making more noodles. "Anything I can get for you??" He asked, and Subaru looked at Rem and the other girls, who all smiled and shook their heads. "Well we're just here to have a look first, but we'll be back around noon! We'll need a lot of food later!" Subaru said, laughing, and Ossan chuckled as well. "By the way, is it alright that you chat with us now? You still have other customers to serve right?" Rem asked, and Ossan grinned brighter than ever. "No worries, I've got helpers today." Ossan said, and he moved aside to let Subaru and the others see who were behind him.
There were four more people in the stand, two men and women. One of the women was taking orders from the customers and the rest of them were cooking. "My kids." He said, and there was obvious pride in his voice. Just then the last customer so far took their order and left, so all four of them came to Ossan and greeted Subaru and the others. "Hi, you must be Subaru, right?" The woman taking orders came first and smiled, waving at them. Subaru nodded, looking a bit taken aback at the sudden introduction of Ossan's sons and daughters. "Y-Yes, my name's Natsuki Subaru. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Subaru said hastily. "Ah, yes. We've finally met the so-called adopted son Oyaji's been talking about all the time." One of Ossan's sons said, smiling as well.
"From left to right, from youngest to oldest, Shizuo, Mizuo, Misae, Shizuka." Ossan introduced, and Shizuka, standing the closest to her father, slapped on his arm. "Chotto, who introduces their daughters and sons like that?? Jeez." She said as she rolled her eyes. "Allow us to reintroduce ourselves. I'm Teuchi Shizuka, currently working at--"
"Ah cut it, you're going into work mode again. The name's Misae, nice to meet you, Subaru-kun." Misae cut in, preventing her older sister from starting talking nonstop. "Yo, Mizuo here. Been wanting to meet you, Subaru-kun." Mizuo said the next. "And last but not least, Shizuo. I'd say I cook the best here but they wouldn't believe me. Oh yeah Subaru-kun, you can be the judge for us later." Shizuo said, and the introduction finally came to an end.
Subaru was still slightly taken aback but he quickly adjusted himself and bowed his head at them. "A-Ah, nice to meet you all. Ossan-- Teuchi-san's always looking after me, and I really appreciate it... and uh..." Subaru started hastily, but Ossan cut him off. "Okay okay enough you're all startling him." He said, laughing. "Nah I'm not scared or anything it's just it feels kinda weird meeting your children so suddenly, because they sounded... uh, quite different when you talk about them in the shop... ah sorry I didn't mean--" Subaru started explaining again, but the Teuchi family's laughter cut him off once again. "I get it I get it, no worries." Shizuo said, reaching out a hand and patting on Subaru's shoulder. "But Otou-san, what nonsense have you been telling Subaru-kun? If you've made any misunderstanding we need you to correct it right here and right now!" Shizuka said, rounding on her father.
"No no no I've always described you kids in your truest forms so don't worry no harms done." Ossan said. "It sounds like immense harm was done to us..." Misae said as she sighed and rolled her eyes. Looking at the interaction between Subaru and Ossan's family, Rem and Emilia giggled, which drew the attention to them. "Ah, we're sorry! Have we kept you too long?? I know you have another race soon." Mizuo said apologetically to the girls standing behind Subaru. "It's fine. We want to talk to you as well. You've looked after Subaru, and we're grateful for it as well." Emilia said. "Yes, we'd like to talk more." Rem said, nodding her head.
"Nico-san, Aya-san, if you want you can go without us. I know Nico-san you want to go look at more stands." Emilia said and turned to Nico and Aya, who nodded and left. "Eh, it's probably not good for us to just talk here. Ossan, a fried dumpling set, please. I'm actually feeling a bit hungry now." Subaru said, and Beatrice clicked her tongue. "What now Bea-ko? Don't give us that attitude. I'll share with you a dumpling later." Subaru said, patting on Beatrice's head. Beatrice hmed loudly and turned away. "Alright, one fried dumpling set coming up. Anything else?" Ossan asked. "Ah, I'll have some takoyaki." Emilia said, and Ossan nodded and got to business. "Alright, you go on without me." Ossan said.
"Ah, first of all, can I ask what's that so-called adopted son thing is about??" Subaru asked, starting off their conversation. Shizuka and her siblings chuckled and started explaining. During the following ten minutes, Subaru, Rem, Ram, Emilia, and Beatrice chatted with Ossan's kids, until Subaru got really embarrassed by hearing how Ossan and his kids often talked about him at home and himself being regarded as Ossan's fifth kid and decided that they should probably get going for the next race. "Okay okay stop it I can feel my face burn I need to go bury myself in the snow!!!" Subaru shouted, his face now as red as a tomato. "W-We need to get going!! Thanks for the chat, Ossan!! Shizuka-san, Misae-san, Mizuo-san, Shizuo-san!!" Subaru said. They all smiled back at him and waved.
"Ah wait, just one last question. You don't work in Ossan's shop, right? I've never met any of you before." Subaru asked. "Nope, they all have their own jobs. But they all love cooking ever since they were little, so we spent a lot of time together in the kitchen. Today they sacrificed their weekend and came here to help me. Nice family I have, eh, Subaru-kun?" Ossan said warmly and proudly. "Aw man it's now our turn to feel embarrassed." Mizuo said, laughing. "Well, see you later then. Remember to come back for lunch!!" Shizuo added. "Will do!! Thanks!!" Subaru said, waving, and left with the three girls.
However, before they could walk any further, a group of people blocked their way. Subaru, bewildered, stared at them with wide eyes. "Uh, anything we can help?" He asked tentatively, but the girl standing in the front paid no attention to him but walked directly past him to Emilia. "Remember what I said, Emilia Roswaal?" Iwasaki Iris asked, her hand on her hip, looking at the silver-haired girl haughtily. "Yes, Rem has delivered your message to me." Emilia said. She was looking directly back at Iwasaki in the eyes, and she didn't appear intimidated nor taunted, standing steadily where she was. Rem and Ram were standing behind Emilia with their backs straight and heads bowed, as usual, not losing their manners to this sudden and unwelcomed intruder, and Beatrice showed no interest in Iwasaki whatsoever and was looking at the other stands with her arms folded.
"Good. I'm here to proclaim my victory. There's no point competing in the sports events as they are team races, and I, in the Red Team, which will win in the end, will in no way lose to you, in the White Team. So, enter the Talent Show later. You've seen the announcement. The one who gets the highest votes wins. Simple enough, right?" She said, taking a step closer to Emilia. She didn't move and reached out her hand to stop Subaru, who tried to get between the two girls. "Yes, thank you for coming here and telling me this. I will do so and win the game fair and just." Emilia replied. Iwasaki glared deadly at her, as well as the other girls standing behind her. Subaru looked worriedly from Emilia to Iwasaki and back to Emilia, his insides screaming.
"Why why why the hell is this happening?????" He shouted in his head, feeling panicky, but a hand tugged on his shirt, and he looked back. Beatrice was tugging on his shirt. She still had that bored look on her face, but she gave him another tug and spoke. "Don't lose your calm, in fact, idiot. They haven't lost it like you, Betty supposes. We're not that weak, in fact." She said and let go of his shirt. Subaru gulped and looked back at the two girls. "...You're right, my bad. Thanks, Bea-ko." Subaru whispered back, and Beatrice hmed and looked away again. "The way you talk, it annoys me." Iwasaki said, the frown between her brows deepening. The girls behind her were also shooting them dirty looks showing nothing but hatred and despise.
"Well, back in where I came from, my appearance, my identity, and even my mere existence disgust people. So, it is quite nice of you, only disliking the way I talk." Emilia said coldly. Subaru felt a sad squirm in his stomach as he heard Emilia saying how people hated her back in Lugnica, but he bit back his words and decided to let her carry on. Iwasaki clicked her tongue and glared at Emilia again and turned away. "Talent Show in the afternoon, don't you dare flee." She said in a dangerous whisper and left with her gang of girls. The crowds watching them slowly started to chatter and shout as Iwasaki left the vicinity. "IT'S HERE!!!! THE BATTLE BETWEEN TEAM EMILIA ROSWAAL AND TEAM IWASAKI IRIS!!! WE'RE ABOUT TO WITNESS AN EPIC SHOWDOWN!!!" The students, mostly guys, all shouted and started heating up the atmosphere.
"Yare yare, it still has to happen, huh?" Ossan sighed and came to Subaru and patted on his shoulder. "Well I know you did your best protecting them, but it seems that you should probably try and let them fight their own fight for once." He said, and Subaru face-palmed. "Uhhhhhh... mendokuse.... why does this have to happen...?" Subaru moaned into his hands, feeling his legs shaking. "But thinking on the bright side, this greatly spices up the atmosphere of the day, don't you think? After all, events like this are always the time for rivals in school to settle once and for all, right?" Ossan said, laughing, and Subaru rolled his eyes.
"Bruh, I'm not so optimistic as you, Ossan. What if the girls standing in Emilia-tan's position are Shizuka-san or Misae-san?? Will you be this calm?" Subaru asked, and Ossan laughed even louder. "Then their opponents are going to have a hard time fighting them." He said, still laughing. Subaru sighed again and walked to Emilia and the others. "Why didn't you tell me this?" He asked, and Emilia, finishing her entry in the talent show on the phone, looked up at him, smiling at him apologetically. "Gomen, Subaru. We didn't want you to have more trouble on your mind." She said, and Rem nodded, also looking at Subaru apologetically.
"Yeah, we thought your little tiny mental capacity will collapse if we told you that, so, thank us, Barusu." Ram said, and Subaru pointed his middle finger at her. "Man I knew there was something wrong when I asked you last week, Emilia-tan. Ah well, I believe you'll triumph over whatever challenges you face." Subaru said. Just then, through the microphone, the information about the talent show was broadcasted. Anyone could enter, and the show will be held at three in the afternoon, and the audience will vote for their favorite performer through a website set up by Kotoha, and the one who got the highest votes would win. And following the announcement, the Kakuma brothers' voices spoke.
"Hello everyone!! We're back with the next race!! The next will be starting in five minutes! Competitors!! Please return to your team's spot on the exercise yard!! And let us continue the fun!!" Kenta said, and the voice died down. "Well, let us go back, Subaru." Emilia said, smiling. "We have a lot more to enjoy today." Rem said, taking Subaru's hand. Subaru blinked blankly and sighed. "I'm defeated, haha. Let's go!!" Subaru shouted and sprinted off with Rem beside him. The rest of them laughed and quickly caught up with them.
Back to the exercise yard, each team was already standing at their respective spots, and next to each team, baskets full of snowballs were placed there. "Hehehehehe, this's gonna be fun." Subaru muttered as he stretched his arms, and Beatrice looked confusedly at the snowballs, and so did many other students. "Betty has read before, the ball-tossing game counts the number of balls thrown into the basket, Betty supposes. How will snowballs work for this game??" She asked, and Subaru wagged his finger at her, laughing mysteriously. "You'll see later." He said simply. Beatrice sighed and looked away.
Just then, four long poles with baskets on top of them were stationed near the four teams on the exercise yard, however above the baskets were three boards, and on each board, there was a rather cartoon-like drawing of different people on it. Everyone immediately recognized who those people were. The first one was the principal, the second one was the Head of the Department of Student Affairs, and the third one was Subaru himself. "The second race, the ball-tossing race is about to start!! Kenya here will explain the rules!!" Kenshi shouted as the crowds cheered.
"We're familiar with the normal ball-tossing game's rules, the team that gets the most balls in the basket wins. However, in our case, we use the snowballs to hit the boards, and as the boards are hit, they will drop different numbers of balls. However, we won't tell you which board drops the most number of balls. So, who gives the most balls?? Is it the principal, who no one really likes? Or is it the Head of DSA, whom everyone fears?? Or Natsuki Subaru, the goddamn genius who came up with this new idea for the ball-tossing game?? Well, it's for you to find out!!" Kenya shouted, and Kenta signaled to the referee. He nodded and raised his starting gun.
"And now, our ball-tossing game, starts!!!" Kenta shouted, and the referee fired the starting gun. All the teams started throwing the snowballs at the boards, trying their best to aim and hit the boards. "Take this!! Take this!! Hahahahaha!!!" Subaru shouted as he fired snowballs at the boards, laughing at the maniac. "Oi Natsuki-senpai, you know which board gives the most number of balls?" One of Subaru's teammates shouted at him, but Subaru shook his head. "Well I did propose the idea, but I didn't decide which board gives what number of balls, so let's just believe in our luck!! Keep going!!!" He shouted, and the teammate laughed and kept on throwing.
"Oh, our apologies. We forgot to mention that there is also another set of pole and baskets for teachers to participate in. Please feel free to join!!" Kenshi shouted and pointed to the very left of the exercise yard. There was also a set of pole and baskets and snowballs, but no one was there yet. "Ara, this sounds like something you--" Matsushita sensei said, turning to look at Kishitsuji sensei, who was standing beside her, however, he was already gone. "--would definitely enjoy." She finished her words as she located the eccentric teacher. Kishitsuji sensei was already at the pole, throwing snowballs madly at the boards and laughing like a maniac, and for some miraculous reasons, all his throws hit directly on the face of the principal. And in the audience, the principal looked awkwardly around, and beside him sat the Head of the DSA, who remained her stern look on her face, nevertheless, everyone saw her trembling slightly from suppressed laughter.
"HA!!! This is great!!! Amazing!!! Aim at Barusu!! Ha!!!" Ram shouted with great pleasure as she aimed all her throws at Subaru's board, and most of her teammates were backing away from her so as to not to get in her way. Rem was doing her best to avoid hitting Subaru's board at all cost, while Emilia just didn't mind which board she was hitting since her aim was the poorest among all, and Beatrice was no better. The throwing continued for another ten minutes, and soon, the snowballs were used up, and the game was over. Kishitsuji sensei was done with his snowballs as well, and he walked slowly back to Matsushita sensei, panting slightly.
"My my, you look very happy, don't you?" Matsushita sensei said defeatedly, and Kishitsuji sensei chuckled. "Not gonna lie, that was the best ten minutes of my life." He said. Meanwhile, the baskets were taken off and the balls in the baskets were counted. "And before we announce the winner of this game, we should tell you which boards give the most balls. The answer is, duh duh duh duh duh, the principal!!" Kenshi said through the mic, and the audience laughed. "We thought so." Hinata said, chuckling and nudging in Aki's ribs. "Heh, I was betting on Natsuki though." He said, laughing. "I thought it definitely would be the Head of the DSA." Haruka said somewhat disappointedly. "And the Head of DSA gives the second number of balls, and Natsuki Subaru-kun gives the least. Alright, it's time to show the score!! The winner of this race is...!!!" Kenya said and waved his hand to the scoring keeping board.
"Team Blue wins first place!! Having one hundred and twenty-nine balls in the basket!! The second place is Team White with a very close score!! One hundred and twenty-three balls in!! And with one hundred and eight balls in the basket, Team Red takes the third place!! And the fourth place, with one hundred and one balls in, Team Yellow gets the fourth place!!" Kenta shouted, and each team shouted their cheers and cried their battle cries to raise their spirits for the next race. "Okay, the current scores are the following!! The first place, Team Blue with 375 points!! The second, Team Red with 350 points!! The third, Team White, with 300 points!! And the fourth, Team Yellow, with 250 points!! To the winners, congratulations, to the others, keep it up, there's always a chance for an epic comeback!! And now, we proceed to the next game!! But before that, there will be a mid-game performance by the Dance Club!!" Kenshi shouted, and as he shouted, different people in different teams left their team and ran back to the center of the exercise yard. The music started, and the performance began.
The dancers' performance was highly skilled, and their dances moves were flawlessly designed and performed. The audience cheered as they watched the dance lead by Iwasaki, the Dance Club leader, and a few minutes later, the dancers finished their performance with a strikingly impressive pose. "And that's the performance of the Dance Club!! Ah, it seems that the club leader wants to say something!" Kenta said as he saw Iwasaki gesturing them to hand her the microphone. She took the microphone and spoke. "Arigatou, minna!! This is Iwasaki Iris from the Dance Club!! We're recruiting new members now, so if you're interested, please come have a look!! And listen now, Emilia Roswaal!!" Iwasaki's sudden address to Emilia made Subaru jump, but Emilia didn't show that much of a reaction. "Be warned, the performance on the Talent Show will be beyond this!!" She said and handed back the microphone.
"Looks like there will be something amazing waiting for us on the Talent Show! However, now, it is time for the next race to begin!! This one is the boys only race, bo-taoshi, the pole-toppling game!!" Kenshi shouted, and the excitement and hype in the air immediately intensified. "But as you should have known by now, all the races today are slightly altered!! This one as well!! The bo-taoshi later will have the same rules as normal bo-taoshi, yet, the poles for our game will be replaced by ice poles!! The difficulty will be on a whole different level!! Also, every participant will be given a pair of protective gloves so no need to worry about holding onto the ice pole for too long and getting hurt. Alright, let's see which two teams will fight first!!" Kenya shouted and put his hand in the box and drew out a paper. "And we get Team Blue and Yellow for our first match!!" He shouted.
And in no time, the boys in both Team Blue and Team Yellow walked to their poles. The captains of each team gave their teammates the pep talk, and after that, both teams were ready. "Bo-taoshi is a game we do every year, so we're all pretty well trained for it. However, what will they do when the already heavy pole is replaced with an equally heavy and more slippery ice pole?? Let us wait and see what strategies each team will show us!! And in two minutes, the game will begin!!" Kenshi shouted and gestured toward the referee, and he raised his starting gun, waiting at the ready. One of the most exciting games of the day was about to commence.
A/N: okay another break here!! Get up, go get some water, bring some more snacks and get ready for the next chapter!! See you there and thanks for reading!!