Afternoon Before the Last Day of the Training Camp
Pant Pant Pant
"Why can't I get this stupid hissatsu! I think it's broken!!"
Unable to cope with the fact that she had still not yet mastered 'Heaven's Time', Serika let out an inelegant groan of frustration and laid down on the ground exhausted.
Seeing this, Haruka rested her head on the soccer ball in front of her and began to think aloud.
"Isn't it just because you suck?"
Ouch!
Grabbing her head, Haruka gave a look of betrayal at Suzaku, who was wearing Serika's extra Raimon uniform today, and had just bonked Haruka with her fist.
Too tired to argue with Haruka after failing for the 100th time to use 'Heaven's Time', Serika continued to lay on the ground while giving a defeated look at Suzaku.
"I don't get what I'm doing wrong! My dribbling should be perfect now and there's nothing wrong with my snap either! See!"
Snapping like a mad woman, Serika's eyes stared creepily at Suzaku who felt a drop of sweat run down her spine.
"Err... well Haruka isn't actually wrong per se..."
"WHAT?!"
"It's just that you lack the conqueror's haki to make 'Heaven's Time' work right now so that's why it gives off sucky vibes like Haruka said."
"You know that I haven't watched enough One Piece to know what Conqueror's Haki is Suzaku-nee"
"Sorry, I forgot you're a normie Serika-chan. Conqueror's haki is basically the ability for someone to exert their own willpower over other people that are weaker than them. In essence, it's the ability to tell people you're the strongest, the king, the god of the field with just your presence"
"So you're saying if I want to master 'Heaven's Time' I need more than just perfect dribbling? How am I supposed to get this 'conqueror's haki' anyway?"
"It's easy, all you need is self-confidence!"
Hearing this, Serika let out a loud snort of derision. She was the most confident person she knew! There was no way there was someone who was more confident than her in the entire world! What a bunch of useless babble!
Seeing that Serika didn't believe her, Suzaku's face turned serious and she kneeled beside Serika and looked her in the eyes solemnly.
"I'm talking about real confidence, Serika, it can't be fake or shallow. A belief in yourself that will never waver. Can you really say that you have that?"
Falling silent, Serika's mood dropped a bit hearing this and she sat up quietly.
Smiling gently, Suzaku wrapped her arms around Serika's neck in a friendly manner and told her in a cheery manner,
"Don't worry! Nee-san here has the perfect plan for you, Serika-chan!"
Turning her head to look into the orange eyes of the older girl, Serika gave her a look of suspicion. Knowing Suzaku, it was likely some strange plan she had cooked up but after a week of training together Serika had grown accustomed to the otaku girl's antics and nodded her head helplessly.
That Night, Hakuren Abandoned Amusement Park
"So everyone knows how this is going to work right? Now pick your ballots!"
Digging around, the 20 or so members from the three teams that Suzaku had managed to gather, dug around the box she had prepared for the challenge.
A Few Minutes Later
"What the heck are you supposed to be"
Taking a look at the hyperactive Eisei defender with heterochromatic blue and green eyes, Serika curled her lips in disgust as the boy continued to hop around excitedly while they waited for their turn.
"HI, HI, HI! I heard about you from Haruka and Suzaku-nee! You're Afuro-san right? Hi, hi! I'm Daigiichi, Eisei's 'Black Tortoise'! Nice to meet you!"
Reaching out his hand that was currently stained by dirt, Serika gave a fake smile and lightly moved the black-haired boy's hand away from her with her index finger.
"AGGGHHHHH!!!"
Hearing a rather low scream come from somewhere in the amusement park, Daigiichi laughed while holding his stomach.
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"That sounded like Galahad-kun! I bet Suzaku-nee got him good! He seems easy to scare, haha."
Getting the notification from Suzaku that they were up next, Serika and Daigiichi took a deep breath in and then entered the amusement park.
First up was the Haunted House which the duo cleared with ease, followed up by the clown car trip which had been unsettling but tolerable, after which they were chased by an army of angry goblins and ghosts through the park. Now taking a rest in the hall of mirrors's entrance, Serika took a look at Daigiichi who seemed to be having the time of his life and blinked his eyes innocently while asking her
"Isn't this so much fun?"
Well...they had certainly gotten in a workout with all that running, but she failed to see how this was supposed to build up her self-confidence, which was not lacking in the slightest!
Daigiichi and Serika both looked up, however, as Suzaku's voice started to play on the loudspeaker of the building.
"Okay, this is the last obstacle before you can pick up the prize from the back to bring back as proof you completed the challenge! This Hall of Mirrors isn't as simple as it looks! Thanks to anime magic it has been modified into a Hall of Truth that will reflect your true self onto them! Can you withstand having your true self be shown to the world? Enter if you dare! YOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!"
Attempting to walk in, Serika felt a hand tug at her sleeve and looked behind where Daigiichi was staring at her strangely. For a second, she thought she saw his eyes glow mysteriously but she blinked and they had already turned back to normal. Shaking her head, she tried to enter the hall when she heard
"You don't have to go in if you don't want to, Afuro-san. It's just one of Suzaku-nee's games that she likes to play. I already had a lot of fun anyway so if you're that scared we can just go back to the entrance now."
"Excuse me?! Who said anything about being scared? Gosh, I can tell you've been hanging around with that idiot servant boy too much! Hmph!"
Spinning around in her spot, Serika barged into the hall with renewed vigour while Daigiichi wondered to himself why she was lying, considering her pink aura was flying all over the place due to nervousness. Shrugging, he followed in after her and was surprised to see images of Serika being reflected on all of the mirrors while Serika herself was just standing silently near the end of the hall.
Taking a closer look as he walked by, Daigiichi was surprised to see all of the pictures were of Serika from Raimon's preliminary matches scoring a goal with 'God Knows', dribbling with 'Olympus Harmony, or leading the team with 'Divine Revelation'. As the mirrors continued, near the end he saw an image of Serika sliding and stealing the ball from Haruka with a grin while beneath it said "Ganbatte Serika-chan! You're doing well!"
Unable to read the expression on the blonde girl's face who was still standing silently in front of the last mirror, Daigiichi sat down to wait by the exit while Serika muttered under her breath,
"What a baka..."
"Afuro-san?"
Looking back up, Serika slapped her cheeks till they were pink and began to run towards the exit.
"Come on servant boy 2! We still have time to make it back with the fastest time if we run so don't you dare even think about slowing me down!"
Seeing that her pink aura had settled, Daigiichi grinned and began to run alongside the blond Raimon girl back to the exit.
15 Minutes Before Daigiichi and Serika Entered the Park
Well, that wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
It was MUCH worse than he thought it would be based on what Daigiichi had told him when he dragged him from the rec room where they had been resting, talking about some sort of 'Courage Challenge'.
Following the black-haired boy to the amusement park where the Hakuren, Eisei and Raimon teams had gathered he was a bit disappointed that he didn't see Mika but he stayed quiet and grabbed a ballot with the rest of the members.
Being paired up with Haruka, he thought they would be able to complete it relatively quickly so he could finish and get back to his room. However, by the time they arrived at the Hall of Mirrors he was starting to wonder if she got her title of Eisei's 'White Tiger due to her razor sharp fingernails. Every time they had seen so much as a glimpse of a ghost or clown the white-haired girl had screamed
"GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GOOOOOOOOOO!" while digging her claws into his back to get him to go faster.
Taking a break alongside Haruka who still looked mentally traumatised by the clown car, the two looked up when they heard an announcement.
"Okay, this is the last obstacle before you can pick up the prize from the back to bring back as proof you completed the challenge! This Hall of Mirrors isn't as simple as it looks! Thanks to anime magic, it has been modified into a Hall of DESIRE that will reflect your hidden desires onto them! Can you withstand having your secret wishes be shown to the world? Enter if you dare! YOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!"
"Come on Yozora-kun!! Let's get this over with!"
Checking his back to make sure there wasn't any blood, Galahad readjusted his shirt while Haruka raced ahead only to hear a blood curdling scream seconds after the girl had entered. Bracing himself, he tried to prepare himself, but also couldn't help from shouting when he entered the hall.
"AGGGHHHHH!!!"
Staring back at him were all sorts of scandalous images of him and Mika doing various romantic displays of affection. One mirror showed the two holding hands, while another showed them sharing a bucket of popcorn at a movie theatre while yet another showed Galahad putting his jacket on Mika's shoulders as they walked to the Hakuren gym together.
Blech Bleh Bleh
Mock throwing up, Haruka gave him a look that made Galahad feel like his image as 'Raimon's Prince' was going down the drain. Hurriedly trying to explain himself, Galahad rushed towards one of the mirrors that showed him and Mika taking a selfie together making a heart with their hands and began pointing at the mirror violently.
"T-This is clearly photoshop!! Mika and I have never done this pose and it's never even crossed my mind to do something like this!! This is obviously Suzaku's idea of a joke!! Mika and I are really just friends!!"
Pointing at the mirror that showed Galahad wrapping his jacket around Mika's shoulders, Haruka accused him with suspicion laced in her voice.
"That sure doesn't look like photoshop..."
Recognizing that moment from earlier in the training camp, Galahad had no idea how Suzaku had managed to get that picture but he decided the best thing to do right now was DENY DENY DENY so he lied smoothly
"Hahaha right? Photoshop really is so amazing these days isn't it?! It can make anything look real!"
However, as if to punish him for lying as soon as he said this, the picture on the mirror began to move and play a video which showed Galahad doing exactly what the picture had shown.
Deciding it was time to die, Galahad sunk down and laid down on the cold floor so he could wait for death to come for him.
Crouching down, Haruka patted his shoulder pitifully before leaving the blonde boy behind who later was dragged away by Suzaku's workers who were running the Courage Challenge.