Roka Arena clears out as quickly as it filled up. Students and residents excitedly chat about the match as they leave. The Paranormal Club talk amongst themselves outside the arena, waiting for the other half to return from the Games Club’s secret room.

“That was so awesome!” Suzaka excitedly shouts, throwing her fist into the air, “If that was the first game, I can’t wait to see the others!”

“The Idol Club was soooooo cool!” Katsuki swoons, “Their style, their grace, it was like watching them perform in concert!”

Hotaru continues writing. “It’s quite an interesting concept for matches.” He shivers, “I hope we’re not asked to do anything too extreme.”

“Don’t worry Hotaru, they’ll ask us to be spooky!” Kirie responds, getting another set of looks from her clubmates, “W-we’re the spooky club right?”

Hotaru closes his notebook and stashes it back in his bag. “Paranormal doesn’t necessarily mean spooky. It can refer to anything that can’t be explained by conventional or scientific means.”

Kirika checks her phone. “Why hasn’t Yuuri responded to my texts yet? You don’t think those beasts at the Games Club have them held hostage do you!?”

Everyone looks at her with confusion, except for Kirie who also begins to panic.“W-we have to go save them!”

Kirika looks around at the rest, increasingly discouraged. “Why are you guys looking at us so weirdly? Don’t you want to save our clubmates… our friends?”

“Would you two shut the fuck up before I tie both of you up?” Cerys snaps. Kirka and Kirie look over to her and frown.

Katsuki shakes her head as she turns to Cerys. “Would you please stop talking to the underclassmen like that? They’re going to go to the principal and get us in trouble!”

Cerys smirks as she gestures at Kirika, “She knows me well enough by now to know that I’m just joking. I’m not Akina or anything like that. As for that one...she just confuses me.”

Katsuki frowns, “Your jokes are bad though! Can you at least be thoughtful about your other clubmates!?” Katsuki launches into a long and rambling lecture about Cerys’ actions that go on for a couple of minutes.

“...And finally, will you at least consider what I said?”

Cerys turns away from her, “Alright, this is boring.”

Katsuki shouts at Cerys as she catches something out of the corner of her eye. It’s the Yosakoi Club, making their way back to the dorm.

“In fact, I think I just found something to do. Let’s go!”

Katsuki intercepts her, “And who put you in charge again? I might not be the President anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can boss us all around!”

Cerys quips back, “We both have red hair, and we’re just as bossy as each other. You don’t get to make the rules anymore.”

“I’m still the Vice President you know!” Katsuki yells back.

“And we could be doing something more interesting than sitting on our asses waiting! I’m going.” Cerys waves as she leaves the others behind. Suzaka whispers an apology to Katsuki as she leaves with Cerys.

Katsuki sighs in defeat, “Let’s go catch up with them to make sure they don’t do anything stupid.” She slowly walks after them. Hotaru and Kirie bring up the rear.

***

The first person Cerys catches up to is Hazuki, who is still brushing ash off herself. “Ah, the Paranormal Club. I figured you guys’d show up.”

Cerys goes to say something but is shoved aside by Katsuki, “No! You’re not introducing yourself as President!” Katsuki glares at Cerys and takes a deep breath, “We are the Paranormal Club and I’m Vice President Katsuki Kusaka. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Kirie catches up to the rest of the group. “Too bad the match wasn’t a dance-off. Tough match Yosakoi Club.”

Hazuki sighs, “Thanks Kirie. Too bad you weren’t down there to help us with tactics.” She looks at her and gives a warm smile.

“Tactics? I’m not sure how fresh towels and cold water would’ve helped with that but yes.”

Cerys hops back in the conversation, “Cheer up. You got embarrassed, but you still put on a hell of a show.”

Hotaru nods, pulling his notepad out, “Your goalkeeping was great until…”

Hazuki looks away from the others embarrassed. The gray haired Yosakoi boy shrugs, “I just hope this loss doesn’t send us down to the low tier.

The redhead Yosakoi boy grunts. “We worked so hard last year to make it here. The last thing any of us want is to lose our position after one game.”

Suzaka tries to console the club. “For all the tricks they threw at you, y’all still put up a hell of a fight. It ain’t all doom and gloom!”

Katsuki looks over to Hazuki. “Speaking of tricks, does his power work on anyone or just single girls?”

Hazuki continues looking at the ground, “It works on most girls who aren’t already smitten by another, but it can still have a slight effect on anyone. Even the straightest boys.”

Hotaru quickly begins adding more notes to his Studex.

Kirika perks up, “Oh! My mother has taught me about this. I can do that too, he must be Elvish!”

The combined clubs stare at Kirika.

“I don’t think he’s an elf…” Hazuki mumbles.

Cerys crosses her arms. “It works on single girls but it didn’t work on me.” She shakes her head and looks back to the club, “Anyway, why exactly are you and Idol Club such big rivals.

Naomi looks away from the group, “Because my sister hates me!”

“Which one is your sister?” Hotaru asks.

Naomi turns back with a gleam of fear in her eyes, “Eriri…”

“She’s your sister!?” Katsuki exclaims.

Hotaru nods, “We were told to avoid her at all costs.”

Cerys walks over to Naomi, “So your sister hating you caused problems between the clubs, what did she even do?”

Naomi gazes upon the looks of frustration on her club’s face before answering Cerys, “Well the reason...it’s uhhh...I don’t know. She’s so confusing.”

Katsuki quickly changes the subject, “So your sister’s in the Idol Club, and you’re in the Yosakoi Club... Performance art must run in the family.”

Naomi rubs the back of her head, “Yes, we come from a long line of dancers.”

Cerys smirks, “You really are as impressive as I thought.”

Naomi smiles in return, “Thank you very much…” She stops, realizing she never got her name.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The redhead holds her hand out. “Cerys.”

Naomi accepts the handshake.

Katsuki thinks for a second, “You guys might know. What’s the school’s stance on blood... during the competition?”

The Yosakoi Club look amongst each other confused. “You mean bleeding?” Yachiru asks.

Hazuki nods, “What exactly do you mean?”

“Well…” Katsuki says, “My power is kind of dependent on blood.”

The Yosakois continue to look at her confused.

“I would show you,” Katsuki says, “but no one’s bleeding right now and the laws of this land prevent me from cutting someone open to display it!”

Hotaru stops writing and steers the conversation away from the sudden bout of chuuni. “So are all the competitions decided by what equates to a spin of the wheel? Or are they based on activities of the club?”

Naomi shakes her head. “It’s randomly picked. We don’t know the exact reasoning behind Principal Kurosaki’s choices either.”

Cerys groans, “Great! Our fates are in the hands of a randomized loli watching over all of us like a cruel mistress!”

Naomi continues, “But, we do have a way of finding out through Hazuki’s predictions.”

Hotaru looks to Hazuki, “It would explain how you were able to quickly deflect their shots.”

Hazuki nods, “Y-yes! I can see into the future!”

Suzaka runs up and grabs her hands. “That’s so cool! Can you see my future?”

The brown-haired girl shakes her head, “It doesn’t work like that...I can’t tell a person’s future clearly. I can only see events that happen within 48 hours or so.”

Hotaru nods, resuming his note-taking.

Naomi looks over the group and laughs, “Your club is alright… for trashies I mean.”

Kirika growls at the mention of being in the trash tier.

Ignoring the elf, Cerys responds. “Don’t worry, we won’t be there for too much longer.”

Suzaka nods, “Yeah! We’re gonna climb all the way to the top!”

Hotaru puts his notebook away, “We’ll just have to prove ourselves. There’s no other way.”

Naomi and Hazuki smile at the group. The rest of the Yosakoi club remains unimpressed.

Cerys looks back to her group. “It was nice meeting you all but we need to go find the others before they do something dumb. Maybe we could hang out sometime.”

Naomi nods. “Maybe so but before you go, let me give you my number.”

Cerys digs her phone out and hands it to Noami.

“Yes! Let’s stay in touch!” Kirie says, also holding out her phone to Naomi.

“I gave you my number last year Kirie.” Naomi tilts her head and returns Cerys’ phone, “Remember?”

Kirie looks through her phone to reveal that Naomi is correct. She hangs her head in defeat, “I guess you did…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be in touch.” Cerys grins to the club before heading off. The others slowly give chase as the clubs go their separate ways

“Wait.” Suzaka says, noticing their direction, “Aren’t we supposed to go back to the Arena?”

“Nope!” Cerys quickly answers, “I’m taking us back to the dorms.”

“But what about the others trapped with all those...those fiends!?” Kirika shrieks.

“Shut up Kirika! They’re not going to harm them.” Cerys yells back.

Katsuki gets between Kirika and Cerys, “What did I just tell you about talking to the underclassmen!?”

Cerys holds a hand up, “I wasn’t even paying attention when you said that! Do you know how boring your little speech was!?”

Katsuki crosses her arms, “Somebody has to rein you in! You’re not in charge here. I am!”

Kirika tries to meekly interject, her ears drooping, telling her two upperclassmen to stop fighting.

Cerys pokes Katsuki on the head, “And you’re not in charge either! You let your little cat girlfriend upstage you on the first day!”

Katsuki pokes her right back, “At least I have somebody that likes me!” Cerys smirks as Katsuki goes back over what she said, “W-wait I didn’t mean it like that!”

Cerys walks around the other redhead, “And to think you had your girlfriend stolen away by Saito of all people! That’s just sad.”

Kirika sees Katsuki’s face turning as red as her hair, “K-Katsuki! I didn’t know you were… gay.”

Katsuki spins around to the elf, “I’m not but I don’t care if you are!”

Kirika gets flustered and crosses her arms, “W-What makes you think that I’m g-gay?!”

“Shut up Kirika!” Katsuki snaps back, netting a giggle from behind her.

Kirika tries to stammer a defense before Katsuki turns, “What’s so funny!?”

Cerys strikes a chuuni pose, mocking Katsuki’s voice, “You need to watch how you talk to the underclassmen, or I will have no choice but to strike you down!”

Hotaru steps closer to the fray, “M-maybe you should tone it down a little bit Cerys.”

The Brit laughs at him, “You’re getting brave all of a sudden nerd!”

“Cerys!” Katsuki yells.

Kirika tries to mutter something, but it is all too heated for her right now.

Suzaka steps up, “We put down one bully already! Don’t make us take you down too!”

Cerys catches her breath, “I’ve made fun of you before, and I really don’t want to reuse jokes. So you’re spared for now.”

Suzaka pouts, “What? Now I’m not worth even making fun of anymore!?”

Cerys feigns surprise. “Look at that! You actually got a question right!”

Katsuki grabs Cerys and spins her back around, “Why are we even still friends with you!? I thought you would’ve changed after all we went through last year!”

Cerys pushes the corners of her lips up into a smile, “It’s because I’m so cute that you let me get away with stuff like this!”

Katsuki yells and throws her hands up in frustration.

Cerys continues, “Also Yuuri, Akina, and Mari aren’t here so I’m not afraid of any of you!”

Suzaka wraps her arm around Cerys’ waist, “That’s enough outta you!” She stands up, now holding Cerys like a duffel bag.

“Hey!” Cerys screams, trying to wiggle free, “Put me down right now!”

Hotaru meets her eyes, “Can’t you just teleport away from her?”

“I don’t want to! I just want to be put down!” Cerys whines.

Katsuki stares in disbelief at Suzaka, “How’d you even do that?”

Suzaka scratches her head, “I’d be more shocked if I couldn’t.”

Katsuki shakes her head, “Oh well. Let’s go back to the dorms then…”

Suzaka nods and Katsuki motions the group to follow her back off-campus.

***

Katsuki stares holes into Cerys as the group sits at the table. The other redhead sits with her arms crossed, pouting.

Katsuki breaks the silence, “Look, I know you’re upset with us but you went too far this time. We had to get you under control.”

“Yeah! I wouldn’t’ve carried you back here if you didn’t start making fun of everyone.” Suzaka adds.

“Whatever.” Cerys mumbles, not looking at anyone in particular.

Hotaru closes his notebook after reviewing his notes from the day, “Eriri must be a considerable threat. She seems to instill fear in everyone she meets, including her own sister and that fear must be particularly strong if they can make their own clubs hate each other. Kirie, do you any more about their rivalry?”

Kirie thinks for a moment, “They were really inseparable at the start of last year. But during Summer Break, Eriri put on this big performance and when classes started again, they couldn’t even be around each other and it soon spread to their clubs. When they played towards the end of last year...it was incredibly violent.”

Katsuki scratches her head, “Do you know what caused that split between them?”

Kirie shakes her head no.

“Interesting.”

Hotaru clutches his notebook tightly, “No matter what’s going on between them...I-I don’t think we should interfere in this at all.”

Cerys finally speaks back up again, “Which is exactly why we’re going to jump right into the middle of it.”

“That’s the first thing you’re going to add?!” Katsuki exclaims, “Are you stupid?”

“This is obviously something paranormal,” Cerys answers, regaining some of her swagger, “That makes it our job to stick our noses in it!”

“And what makes this paranormal?” Katsuki says.

“You saw their powers, it’s definitely paranormal related.”

Kirika softly whimpers from her chair, looking down at her phone. Cerys and Katsuki roll their eyes and sigh at her.

“Alright Kirika, what’s wrong?” Katuski asks, trepidation on her face.

“Yuuri or Mari haven’t responded to any of my messages!,” she whines, “I knew those Games Club savages were going to take them hostage!”

“Calm down Kirika.” Hotaru says calmly , trying to get her to slow her breathing, “They said they were going under the arena so they probably don’t have any service right now.”

“That’s the perfect place to take hostages!” Kirika cries. She puts her head down on the table and starts to sob.

“I’m going to bed.” Katsuki and Cerys say in unison as they get up from the table.

“But it’s only 8pm!” Suzaka says to both of them.

“I don’t care. I’m done putting up with her melodrama today!” Cerys snaps

Katsuki nods, “I’m with her on this one.” Both walk to the respective rooms and slam the doors.

Suzaka looks back over to Kirika, “Well...I don’t mind listening to your melodrama for a few more hours!”

Kirika cries even harder, “You don’t even know how to use that word properly!”

Suzaka looks back over to a shrugging Kirie and Hotaru. The three of them silently get up from the table and head to their rooms as well.

Kirika sits up and looks around the room, face free of tears.

“Where’d everyone go?” she asks, actually getting upset, “Get back here and help me rescue our clubmates!”