Despite being billed as a ‘mid-tier’ matchup, the atmosphere around the arena is electric for Yosakoi vs Our Heroes. Yuudai, the athlete of the club, relishes the occasion. He’s first out of the tunnel as the club’s theme plays, soaking in the cheers as he goes. Suzaka and Rina, infected by Yuudai’s enthusiasm, amp up the crowd behind him. They take pre-emptive victory laps as the rest of the Paranormal Club walk out of the tunnel and to the podium. Yuuri whistles them over to where they were all supposed to be.

“Good evening and welcome!” Roka shouts into her mic.

The crowd responds with equal energy, almost drowning out the small girl’s big voice.

“Tonight we have a real treat for you, with a couple of rising and hungry clubs. In their second ever match, the spooky rookies of the Abnorma- Uh,” Roka takes a second to correct herself, “Paranormal Club take on our resident dancing dorks, the Yosakoi Club!”

Yuuri looks across the stage to see Naomi with her club. She catches Yuuri out of the corner of her eye and offers a small wave in return.

“Now!” Roka continues after the crowd dies down, “I spun the wheel ahead of time to determine this game, and I think we’ll have a good one tonight!”

Kirika boos the pun, only to get drowned out by the audience.

“Tonight’s competition is simple!” Roka holds up a red ball, bigger than her head, emblazoned with a self-drawn cartoon skull and crossbones. “Our clubs will compete in a best of three Dodgeball DEATHMATCH!” She shouts with all the power her little frame can produce. Behind her, the screen lights up with the word DETHMATCH, dripping with blood.

Lucy rushes to the podium and whispers to Roka.

Roka tosses the ball away and holds her arms out wide. “Oh yeah! No one will actually die!”

Rina shakes with excitement. “Dodgeball!?”

“Uh, Hotaru...” Kirie nudges the small boy, “What’s dodgeball?”

Hotaru doesn’t answer. His face is white and his eyes stare off into nothingness.

Kirie waits before nudging him again, “Uhhh, Hotaru?”

Roka clears her throat, “Due to the size of both clubs, the games will be six on six! The balls we are using are made of Mean Horse rubber so they’re super hard to destroy! I wanted to use electric balls but sadly they didn’t arrive in time…”

Laughter comes from the crowd. Lucy whispers something to Roka once more.

“Ree-en-forced rubber? Right, that’s what I meant!” Roka claps her hand, “Anyway! The field is all set up to go so clubs, please begin to choose your first group of six!” She begins to skip off the stage, “Good luck to the both of you!”

After she leaves, the podium and stage begin to be moved off the field.

***

The Paranormal Club sits huddled to the side, as the crew tears down the stage.

“Any ideas?” Saito asks.

“What’s dodgeball?” Kirie asks the group this time.

Rina snaps. “Look, just grab a ball and rain death on them, Kirie!”

Kirie claps her hands, “Oh, I know what this is now! Some of the locals back home used to play a game like that with rocks!”

“Rocks!?” Hotaru gives her an inquisitive look, finally snapping out of his stupor.

“Were these folks sinnahs?” Mari asks.

Katsuki cuts Kirie off, “Save that incredibly interesting story for later. We need to get a team together quickly!”

Hotaru dashes away from the group. “I...think I’ll go sit on the bench!”

“Right behind you,” Saito says, following Hotaru.

“You know I’m in!” Rina says.

Suzaka joins her, “Yeah! If both of us are in, they’ll never win!”

Akina steps up, “This should be fairly easy.”

“Three heavy hitters, we still need some speedy folks,” Yuuri thinks aloud.

“I think you just volunteered yourself.” Katsuki smiles.

Yuuri laughs, “I guess I did!”

“Ah may not be the fast type, but Ah’d like ta play!” Mari says.

Kirika perks up, “Well...if Senpai and Marmar are playing, I guess I can stand working with…” She side-eyes Rina, “Her.”

Yuuri claps, “Looks like we have a team, then!”

A red light beams over the group huddle, and a loud buzzer echoes through the arena. The crowd cheers once more.

“And right on time!” Yuuri adds.

Lucy, now dressed in her referee attire, blows her whistle. She is standing in the center of the court, her right arm raised.

“Both teams take your positions!” she says.

Katsuki nods to Yuuri as the Paranormal Club makes their way to the dodgeball court, hastily laid on top of the Rokadome’s field.

“Best of luck, guys!” Yuudai cheers out from the sidelines. He blinks. “Hey wait, what the heck? Why am I not playing?!”

***

The court is a standard gym floor, divided into two halves and surrounded by netting. At center court, there is a line partitioning the sides. On this line sit four red, rubber balls, and at the end of the line sits Lucy, in a tall umpire’s chair.

“Wait, how did you get up there!?” says Rina.

“I walked,” says Lucy. “Now take your position, Miss Warren.”

Rina shrugs and takes her place beside Suzaka. Once everyone is in position, the two sides bow to each other

“Round one!” Roka shouts into her mic, sending the crowd into a further frenzy.

“For team Yosakoi, we have Hazuki, Naomi, Izumi, Makoto, Takami, and Yachiru!”

The six Yosakoi club members wave to the crowd.

“And for team Paranormal, it’ll be Yuuri, Mari, Akina, Kirika, Rina, and Susumu-”

Suzaka flags down Roka. “It’s Suzaka!”

Roka rolls her eyes. “...Suzaka!”

Kirika, the socialite suddenly eager for the favor of the unwashed masses, offers expressive waves to the audience. Mari awkwardly attempts to back her up, while Yuuri smiles and waves befitting a leader. Rina and Suzaka don’t wave; they’re ready for war. Akina gazes at the Yosakoi club: cool, aloof, and bored.

“Take your positions!” Roka commands.

Takami’s ‘position’ is, apparently, topless, as she pulls off her club-branded tee to reveal her black sports bra, getting a rise from the hormonal teenage crowd. She blushes deeply as a dark, ominous aura rises around her body.

“The hell is she doing!?” Rina points.

“Worry about yourselves!” Takami says shrilly, her face bright red.

Rina smirks, “Says the girl freaking out.”

Mari averts her eyes from Takami, blushing. “Ah don’t think we’ll be able ta show this on TV…”

“Y’ ain’t kidding,” Suzaka adds, also blushing.

“On three!” Roka cuts back in, “One...two...three!”

Rina, Suzaka, Takami, and Naomi all charge the line. Kirika jogs behind her teammates, using her clubmates as bullet sponges like a proper lady.

Naomi grabs her ball first and quickly repositions herself out of the line of fire. She scans the field and targets Akina, nonchalantly standing near the baseline. Naomi throws the heat at Akina; Akina tilts her head slightly to the side. The ball flies harmlessly by, bounces off the fence, and rolls up to Kirika.

Kirika picks the ball up with a flourish. “N-Nice throw, pleb!” She shouts and tosses her ball straight back at Naomi, with all the force of a wet noodle.

Her wayward throw misses Naomi by a few feet, instead fortuitously hitting a confused Izumi square in the face

Lucy holds up a large ‘OUT’ sign and blows her whistle.

Rina takes this time to line up Yachiru in her crosshairs. She gives a few fakeouts, before unleashing a hard throw to Yachiru’s center mass. Yachiru gets her hands up to catch, but the sheer force of the throw blows through her hands and catches her in the chest.

Lucy waves the sign up higher and gives another blow of her whistle.

“Boom!” Rina says, giving a massive fist pump.

Mari cheers from the back. “Go Kiricchi!”

Kirika jumps in celebration. “Just as Master Sun Tzu said, it’s all about the art of misdirection!”

Takami takes the ball in her hand and flings it over to the happy, distracted little elf. Kirika leaps over a shot aimed at her feet with natural elven agility. The ball bounces into the fence, and rebounds to Mari.

“Ah gotcha now…” Mari mumbles to herself and launches a rising fastball right at Naomi. Naomi tries to evade, but the rising ball catches her and slaps into her leg, causing her to lose balance. She flaps her arms in a panic and falls back before eventually getting tangled into the netting.

Hazuki grabs the two loose balls, the ones that knocked out Izumi and Naomi, and tosses one to Takami. “We’re getting whooped!” Hazuki says, “Let’s regroup! Remember the plan?”

Takami nods, eyes glowing and her aura flaring. She lets loose a screamer of a shot at Yuuri.

Kirika points and screams. “Senpai, look out!”

Yuuri tenses and stares down the oncoming dodgeball. She smoothly slips out of Takami’s dodgeball’s path seconds before impact.

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“Phew,” Yuuri says as Hazuki blindsides Yuuri with her throw. “That wasn’t so bad!”

Kirika dives into the path of Hazuki’s throw, taking the dodgeball right to the breadbasket. “Sennnnnpa-OOF!!”

Lucy blows a sharp whistle and gives her flashy sign another wave.

Yuuri twists and sees Kirika curled over on the ground.“Huh?!”

Kirika picks herself off the floor and stands to attention, giving Yuuri a quick salute. “It’s been an honor to serve you, Madame President!” The two girls giggle, and Kirika runs off.

Suzaka picks up one of the stray balls and returns fire at Makoto. Makoto doesn’t move; the ball slows down before changing direction and slamming harmlessly into the nets.

Hotaru jumps, “W-What the heck!?”

Suzaka panics at the girl’s display, “S-She’s got ghost powers!”

Makoto giggles at Suzaka, “Sorry! I guess you’ll just have to roll the dice again! Maybe this time you’ll get lucky~!”

Rina winds up and throws her ball, “Press your luck on this then!”

Makoto stands proud once more as the ball’s momentum slows down again like with the previous shot. However, Rina’s throw stays true and nails her in the gut, sending her tumbling.

Rina points and hollers. “Yes! Can’t get lucky twice!”

Makoto pouts as she gets up.

Akina finally takes a ball and makes a throw of her own, directly at Hazuki.

“Ah!” Hazuki says. “A ball should be coming at right about…” She gets hit in the thigh with Akina’s ball. “Ow.”

“Five on one! We got this!” Rina shouts

Takami grabs whatever balls she can and throws them rapid-fire at Yuuri. Yuuri dodges and rolls with feline grace and panicked noises, scrambling as fast as she can for a ball on the far side of the court. Takami throws her final ball with malice as Yuuri throws herself the rest of the way to the ball and side-arms her shot. There’s a loud smack of ball on skin.

Yuuri cheers. “Yes!”

Takami reveals a red ball cradled in her arms, the cartoon skull leering at Yuuri.

Yuuri frowns. “Crap!”

Lucy points at Yuuri, “OUT!”

Takami motions behind her. “Naomi, you come back.”

“I can’t!” Naomi shouts from behind her.

Takami turns around, “What do you me-” She’s cut off as she notices Naomi flailing uselessly in the net, “Fine…Yachiru!”

There’s another back and forth between the two sides. In the ensuing violence, Rina can ping Takami, while Suzaka’s ball is caught by Yachiru. Suzaka is brought back after Akina catches a ball of her own, while Yachiru brings Izumi back. After a few more exchanges and counter-exchanges, the game comes down to Mari and Akina on one side and Yachiru on the other.

Yachiru targets Mari and fires at her, while Akina takes her ball and throws it at Yachiru. The balls collide in mid-air.

“Aha!” Yachiru declares in relief, “That wasn’t even close!”

“No,” Akina shakes her head, “That was intentional.” She nods to Mari, then nods upwards, drawing Mari’s attention to Yachiru’s falling ball. With a quick mwee, Mari throws herself under it and grabs it before it hits the ground.

The final whistle blows, “Winner, Paranormal Club!”

Mari jumps up and down, showing off the ball to Akina and the crowd. “Even when we ain’t workin’ on fanfic, we’re on tha same wavelength, Akki!”

Akina crosses her arms and nods wordlessly.

Yachiru cries and scratches her head, “Aghhh, you gotta be kidding me!”

Roka’s voice booms over the speakers, “We will have a five-minute break to let the teams pick their next squad. Both teams need at least one new person. Good luck in round two!”

***

The Paranormal Club fields their team for the second round, a cocksure Yuudai leading the charge. He grins at Takami across the way; Takami exhales and explodes in a howling miasma of energy.

The game ends in seconds.

Takami flexes a fist, having single-handedly taken out every member of the Paranormal team. She calmly walks over to her bench, sits down, and slumps over.

***

Roka looks stunned for a few moments before finally finding her words. “A-And with the second match being in the books, our contestants come out for another wild show! For the finale, we had to replace the destroyed ball so we’re increasing the total to six! Will the Paranormal Club recover and clinch another victory, or will the Yosakoi Club complete their comeback?”

“For the Paranormal team, we have Akina, Rina, and Yuudai returning. Tagging in are Katsuki, Kirie, and Hotaru!”

“You sure you’ll be fine competing, Hotaru?” Katsuki asks.

The boy meekly nods, “T-They say the best way to mitigate one’s fears is to face them head-on.”

“On Yosakoi, it’ll be Naomi, Junichi, Izumi, Hazuki, Yachiru, and Makoto!” Roka announces.

Naomi moves gingerly, trying to regain feeling in her limbs after being caught in the net for two games.

“Uh…” Yuudai motions to Naomi, “Is it fine for her to be competing?”

“I-I’m fine!” Naomi says, embarrassed.

“How did you even stay stuck?” Yuudai asks.

“Shut up, that’s how!”

“Now begin!” Roka claps her hands into the mic. Several members of the crowd cover their ears as feedback screeches through the sound system.

Both teams scramble to the line. Rina, Yuudai, and Kirie grab balls while Junichi grabs two and leaves one for Yachiru. He lobs a ball to Naomi as she takes to the air once more.

“Hey, Izumi,” Rina says, whipping her ball at him. “Payback time!” He has no time to react and gets drilled in the chest.

“Bwuh?” Izumi says, not processing being taken out.

Yuudai and Kirie follow Rina’s lead, Yuudai aiming for Junichi and Kirie aiming at Makoto. Makoto laughs as she sends Kirie’s ball to the ground with a flick of the wrist. Junichi deflects Yuudai’s shot upward for Naomi to make the catch, her other ball tucked under her armpit.

“Stupid flying powers…” Yuudai grumbles as he walks off.

“Thanks for all the ammo!” Makoto taunts.

“Wait...” Rina looks around, “Shit! They got all the ammo!”

“Give them hell, Izumi!” Naomi commands the walk-on member.

Izumi rubs his chest. “This is hell…”

“Man up!” Naomi barks at Izumi before targetting Katsuki. Katsuki panics and gets smacked in the face as she tries to dodge.

Lucy raises her ‘Out’ sign and blows her whistle, clearly disinterested.

Hazuki, seizing the momentum, throws her ball at Kirie. She picks up a free ball and fires it at Akina.

While Kirie gracefully sidesteps the shot, Akina takes a different approach, snatching Hazuki’s shot right out of the air and throwing it back in a fluid, violent motion. It cracks Hazuki in the back of the head as she heads to the bench, sending her sprawling.

The whistle blows, “Penalty on Paranormal! Illegal hit!”

“Why’s that?” Akina asks.

“Hitting an opponent that’s already out!” Lucy points to the bench, “You are out as well!”

“Then explain that before we play, you fool,” Akina says through gritted teeth before storming off.

“Big Guy, get your ass back in! She caught it!” Rina shouts as she launches a shot that rises up and knocks Naomi back into the netting.

Naomi thrashes in the nets. “Not again…not again!”

“S-Sure!” Yuudai jogs back in, grabbing a ball on the ground.

Junichi grabs a second ball and stares down the opposite side. He tosses one ball over to Izumi and lobs a softball at Hotaru.

Hotaru covers up; Kirie steps in front of him and catches the ball.

“Why must you throw your balls at a child?” Kirie asks.

Junichi doesn’t answer as he walks off in disbelief.

Yachiru winds up and takes a shot at Kirie. “How about you then?”

Kirie tries to dodge again and fails as Yachiru’s ball hits her hip. “Owie...”

“Hey, Akina!” Yuudai shouts. “Kirie caught a ball; you can come back in!”

The silver-haired girl dashes back in. “This game is a pain…”

“What an intense back and forth between these six players!” Roka commentates.

“Seven,” Lucy says, her voice picked up by the microphone.

“Oh! It’s seven people!” Roka says. “I couldn’t see that one boy on the Paranormal team because he’s so little!”

“I’m not that little,” Hotaru mumbles.

Makoto laughs and shoots a curler at Rina. “Time to tip the scales!”

She casually reaches for it. “In your dreams!” It whizzes right past her fingertips.

Lucy blows her whistle.

“Oh, come on!” Rina storms over to the umpire’s chair to argue with Lucy. “That’s BS, and you know it!”

Makoto takes advantage of the confusion to grab another ball and send it Hotaru’s way. He tries to dodge this time, but the ball grazes his leg and draws a whistle.

“Aw geez,” Yuudai says. “Kirie, back me up!”

“But if I’m behind you, how do I see?” Kirie asks.

Yuudai grumbles and grabs a ball, giving Kirie a clear line of sight at Yachiru. “Just follow my lead.” He scoops up the ball that tagged Hotaru and whips it right square into Makoto’s chest. It slams into her hard enough to fly back over to Yuudai, who effortlessly catches it.

Lucy holds up her Out sign and whistles out Makoto, then shoos the still steaming Rina away. Rina spits and walks over to her bench.

“Ready to give up?” Yuudai asks, dribbling his ball.

Yachiru shakes her head and takes a desperate shot at him. He deflects it straight up and into the waiting arms of Kirie hovering above him, angel wings outstretched.

Lucy blows her whistle and raises her sign.

Kirie celebrates, wings flapping excitedly. “We won!”

Her celebration is cut short with a ball to the knee.

“I got someone?” Izumi says, shocked. “I got someone!”

“What’s this?” Roka shouts. “Yosakoi may only have one person left, but he’s not going down without a fight! It’s Izumi versus the world!”

Yuudai grunts and takes off towards the ball that tagged Kirie out. With one fluid motion, he scoops the ball up, spins, and hurls a missile back at Izumi.

He’s out before he hits the ground.

“Or not,” Roka says, stunned.

Lucy blows the whistle, “Game, set, and match to the Paranormal Club!”

We have a winner!” Roka shouts. “What a come-from-come-from-behind win!”

The stadium erupts into cheers and fireworks.

Well, the Paranormal Club has won the match and the fans’ hearts,” Roka says. “But they haven’t won enough points to be promoted!”

The Paranormal Club deflates.

“Way to bring the mood down,” Yuudai grumbles.

Roka motions for the cameras to get a closeup of her face as she begins to wrap up for the TV feed. “Don’t worry, Paranormal Club, just because you didn’t promote doesn’t mean you walk away empty-handed!”

“Well, what did we win?” Yuuri asks.

Roka makes a dimple with her finger and smiles. “The honor of having dinner with your esteemed principal at six thirty pm tomorrow! Don’t be late.”

Lucy walks over to the team. “Go get prepared for your press conference.

Yuudai beams. “We get one of those!?”

“Consider yourselves lucky,” Lucy says, walking away.

Kirika fluffs up her hair. “Finally the recognition I deserve!”

Saito feels his phone buzz. He checks it and frowns, then smoothly pockets it before pulling Yuuri aside.

Yuuri is confused, “What’s up?”

“Hey, something...important came up,” Saito says, “and I have to meet with...someone.”

“For what?”

Saito stretches. “Work stuff. Besides, I didn’t play today so they’d have no questions for me.”

“Since when did you have a job?” Katsuki interjects.

Saito scoffs. “Um, I’m talking to my girlfriend?”

“Ok, whatever dude.” Katsuki wanders off, fed up with him yet again.

“Fair enough...” Yuuri trails off, then shakes her head, “Don’t be gone too long, okay?”

Saito nods and jogs away from the group.

***

The streets were packed, but none of that seemed to bother Saito. He moves with purpose, seemingly phasing through those still charged from the match. He takes a sharp left, down a back alley, then another right. With uncanny precision, he navigates the maze unbothered. A final left turn brings him to his destination, a decrepit warehouse smack in the middle of town. A hole in the surrounding fence grants Saito access as he strolls to a nearby door. He runs his fingers along the stowed scythe on his back, turns the knob, and steps in.

Light peeks in through some of the holes in the roof. Rust-speckled machinery sits as still as the factory floor. Saito’s footsteps are silent and sure as he traverses a floor littered with loose debris and cans left around by previous trespassers. He reaches a metal door locked by a pristine door lock. He fumbles around his pants pocket before producing a key and slipping it in. The lock clicks and the door opens with a groan. Before him is a flight of stairs leading to a single door labeled ‘FOREMAN.’ Saito bounds up the stairs, three steps at a time, and knocks on the door. The mail slot opens with an un-oiled whine. A pair of cold eyes look down at Saito from them. There is a long, unsteady moment before a series of heavy clicks comes from the other side and the door opens.

Compared to the warehouse, the office looks well maintained. A lanky man in a double-breasted black suit sits in a chair in the far corner, reading the obituaries. He doesn’t seem to react to Saito’s entry. Monolithic stacks of paper lay upon the pair of desks in the room. A bulletin board covered in black and white portraits dominates the far wall. A few portraits are marked with a large, red ‘X’. Saito takes the briefest of glances over at the board.

An older man in black work pants and windbreaker puts a firm hand on Saito’s shoulder. “On time as always, Fourteen,” the older man says, “Keep it up and you could head up your own division in no time.”

“I’d rather not,” Saito says, dismissively.

“That’s because you don’t have the balls for it, you skinny bitch,” says the sitting man, not looking up from his paper.

Saito ignores the sitting man. “What’s my assignment, Foreman?” he says to the older man.

Foreman grabs a manilla envelope from his desk and hands it to Saito.

The sitting man rises, approaching Saito from behind. He scrapes a large blade across Saito’s stowed scythe.

“Best stay out of my way for this one,” the no longer sitting man says. “Just do what you do best, boy, run away.”

“Enough, Eight,” Foreman says, tiredly waving off the no longer sitting man. “You both are being tasked with this target. He’s protected by a large, well-trained security force, so I need the both of you on your game. Eight: you will create a diversion while Fourteen eliminates the target.”

“The fuck!?” Eight shouts, “You’re letting stick boy here get all the fucking glory!? I’ve put more bodies in the fucking ground than anyone else in this outfit; this little shit just waltzes in and now I get the bitch work?!”

“I’ve been in this organization since I was six,” Saito says flatly, without looking at Eight. “If a puffed-up prick like you is the best this outfit has to offer, I understand why they still need me.”

“Feel free to quit any time.” Eight laughs and slaps Saito on the cheek with the flat of his blade. “I’d be happy to give you your severance package!”

Saito ducks under Eight’s blade and turns to face him, trapping his weapon arm under Saito’s stowed scythe. “Be my guest.”

Foreman slams his fist on a desk. “Enough! You will survey the location tomorrow night, at 19:00. At 16:00 the following day, you will execute the plan. Do I make myself clear?”

Saito and Eight nod in return. Foreman turns his back on the two, and they slink into the night without further instruction.