The field exploded into chaos.
Ayaka's savage roast of Shono had been swallowed by the morning noise—most people just saw "friendly inter-club banter." But Masafumi's flying double-leg takedown? That was a declaration of war.
"What the hell?!" "A fight?!" "Baseball versus kendo?!"
One tells ten, ten tell a hundred. Every club's eyes snapped to the center.
Arisa, blended among the crowd, blinked. No club today—she was only here because Tsubasa had skipped yesterday to accompany her and Akane to the police station. Guilty conscience → early reward~~ Real reason: she just wanted to watch Tsubasa train. Easy-to-please Tsubasa = gourmet lunch later.
"BAD BAD!"
She bolted toward her boyfriend, voice sugary but urgent.
Tsubasa—White Hill soccer's No.10, the soul and ace. Teammates were always extra polite to the ace's girlfriend.
"What's wrong, sis-in-law?" "Someone bullying you?" "Let your little bros handle it!"
On any normal day Arisa would've laughed. Today she grabbed Tsubasa's arm in a death grip.
"Arisa, what happened?" Tsubasa asked, wiping sweat.
"Baseball and kendo are fighting!" Panic in her eyes.
Tsubasa frowned—soccer had no beef with anyone. "If it's fun to watch, stay safe—"
"Gotta go!" one of his teammates cut in. "Maybe Miyajima-senpai's throwing hands!"
"Miyajima-senpai's too noble for that…"
"NO!" Arisa swallowed. "Kobayashi's in kendo!"
"NANI!?" Tsubasa flung his towel like a battle flag. "Lead the way!"
The rest of the soccer team muttered behind him:
"That Kobayashi?" "Sis-in-law's savior = Tsuba's savior = our savior!" "One dog-thief bros forever! Let's show those bat-wanking baseball pricks what soccer's made of!"
Tsubasa never stinted on praise. Back in the subway incident days, he'd hyped Satoru's character and deeds to the whole team (short version, no embarrassing Arisa details). The soccer guys had never even met Satoru, yet they were already die-hard fans.
Kendo bro too! Anyone who made it in was a freak by default.
Arisa and Tsubasa charged—over a dozen soccer beefcakes stampeded after them straight into the vortex.
"I'm fine," Satoru told Masafumi, eyes locked on the baseball squad.
More than a dozen guys closing in—tall, short, fat, skinny, all radiating bad intentions. A few casually swung bats like they were warming up.
"Want to fight the kendo club?" Ayaka's eyes narrowed to slits.
Baseball vs. kendo—kendo should win on paper, but this was morning PT: most second- and third-years were missing. Right now it was just the two Kobayashis, the captain, and a handful of terrified rookies.
Freshmen had never seen anything like this. A few brave ones tried glaring back; most were doing the "you-me-you-me" nervous shuffle.
Ayaka stayed ice-cold on the outside, but the kendo aura was thin.
Shono rubbed his aching chest, face dark. Damn—just one Kobayashi and a cocky rookie dared… time to teach a lesson! All of this was Satoru's fault anyway!!
Satoru met Shono's glare and didn't blink.
Softly to Masafumi: "Go get my sword."
"On it!" Masafumi dashed off.
Before anyone else could move, a new voice boomed across the field.
"Getting this fired up first thing in the morning?"
A girl strode in at the front of a wall of pure muscle—the speaker was the beefcake leader himself. At first glance plain; up close his biceps and quads looked carved from stone. Shoulders so broad the uniform was fighting for its life, abs and lats visible through fabric.
"Scared of getting banned?" Tsubasa raised an eyebrow.
"Soccer?" Shono snarled. "This is none of your damn business!"
"Who says," Arisa snapped. "Hurt Kobayashi and you go through me first!"
"Hurt Arisa? You go through me," Tsubasa said calmly, scanning the baseball team with open hostility.
"Hurt Tsuba? Through me!" "Hurt Yamashita? Through me!" "Good! Hurt Sato—wait, nah, bully him for free." "???" "Anyway—if kendo wants enemies today, soccer's got their back!"
The last line roared loud enough for the whole field to hear. The soccer squad glared daggers.
Baseball had been cocky against a handful of kendo rookies—now a pack of soccer tanks was staring them down. A few white caps visibly shrank.
The tide flipped in an instant.
Standoff.
Then another voice, soft and melodic, cut through the tension.
"Why are we fighting?"
Every head turned.
Kendo captain Sakura stood in the center, milk carton in hand, gentle as ever.
First she gave Tsubasa a polite smile—he nodded back.
Then she glanced at Shono—his face instantly went black; he knew exactly how scary the captain could be.
Sakura ignored him completely and walked straight to Satoru.
"Milk—plain or strawberry?"
"…Plain."
She set the strawberry aside, popped the straw, inserted it, and handed it over. "Sip slowly, don't choke."
Sweet smile.
Then she turned around—her pretty face instantly stormy.
"What the hell are you all crowding for?! Actually want a brawl?!"