8:25am.

The time shines down from the lone clock in the locker room as the Paranormal Club prepares for their first ever competition against the Games Club. The club has split into two groups; one side where people are stretching and finishing their last bit of preparation, and those still trying to wake up.

Saito yawns from his seat on the bench, “Man, why do we have to wake so early for this?”

Yuuri sits next to him, trying to get her hair tied up in a loose bun, “It’s still later than when we wake up for class.”

“But it’s the weekend! I don’t wanna think about school at all today.”

Yuudai laughs from across the room, “Show some energy! It’s our first competition!”

“Saito’s right,” Katsuki adds as she walks over, “It’s criminal to make us be up this early on an off day.”

“Will you get over yourselves? You’re breaking my concentration.” Akina yells from the corner of the room, currently in the midst of a complex looking martial arts routine.

Cerys watches Akina from atop the lockers, “I don’t know why you are even doing that. We don’t even know what the competition is yet!”

“I will be prepared regardless of what the contest is.” Akina says bluntly.

There’s a knock at the door and before anyone can react, Lucy enters the room.

She scans the club, taking a headcount as she does, “Good to see you are all up and moving this morning.”

“Good morning Mrs. Usha!” Kirika chirps, “Are you here to tell us how we will be crushing those savages under our heels?”

Lucy quirks an eyebrow and adjusts her glasses, “I appreciate your uh...enthusiasm Ms. Komori.”

Yuuri motions to the club to settle down as Lucy walks to the center of the locker room. “Let’s listen to what Miss Usha has to say.”

“For today’s competition,” Lucy begins, “you will be facing the Games Club in a mixture of an obstacle course and dance competition.”

“Eh?!” The club says in unison.

“You sure that paper’s right?” Rina asks.

“It is 100% accurate,” Lucy says. “This is the level of unpredictability Ms. Kurosaki aims for in her competitions.”

Mari groans and flops over on her bench, “Ah’ve got three left feet.”

“Isn’t it two left feet, Mari?” Yuudai asks, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Lineup will be in 15 minutes. We will announce when it’s time. You’ll go into the arena once everyone is ready.” Lucy turns smartly on her heel and leaves the club to sit in their confusion.

“Still feel confident about all the practice you just did?” Cerys teases Akina.

Before Akina can answer, a second knock comes from the door. After seeing that nobody is letting themselves in, Yuudai walks over to open the door, revealing Aika and Sayaka.

“Looks like Lucy has already told you guys what the competition is.” Aika quips.

“She did,” Yuudai answers. “You guys are alright with this!?”

Aika laughs, “You should’ve seen some of the competitions we did last year!”

Yuuri walks over to their guests, “What brings you two here exactly?”

“Oh yeah! Yamato’s planning on having us throw the match to help you guys promote! She says it’s a sign of goodwill over our deal.”

“Yer...throwin’ tha match?” Suzaka asks.

“Welllll…” Sayaka speaks up, “Only Yamato, Kyo, and Hiro seem to be on board with the idea. Maybe Haru too.”

Aika crosses her arms, “Yeah, he likes to suck up to Yamato for a chance to get in her pants.”

Kirie tilts her head, “Does he suck up to you too, Aika?”

“He knows better by now!”

Hotaru sets down his notebook and joins the group at the door, “No offense, but it sounds like a trick. You try to get us to lower our defenses in the competition and capitalize on that.”

Aika sighs, “We know we don’t stand a chance...and I don’t get why Yamato insists on working with you guys so much. You don’t need it. You’re only last because you’re the new club. So instead of that, let’s go out there and hold nothing back! That way you guys can promote and we avoid the trash tier dorms.”

“We don’t want you helping us anyway!” Kirika pouts.

Katsuki grins. “That sounds great, we can show everyone our full potential. I didn’t think we’d get a chance to look cool so soon.”

Cerys hops off the lockers and puts her hands on her hips, “So...you came here to tell us that your club is going to throw except not everyone is following that plan and while Yamato wants to work with us you see no value in doing that.”

Aika nods.

“You’ve basically told us nothing.” Akina says.

Sayaka shakes her head, “What she’s trying to say is that she wants you guys to make a show of it. We have the early time slot so we want to make it as entertaining as possible for the crowd. That’s why we’re not following Yamato’s plan.”

Katsuki nods. “Sounds good to me.”

Cerys rolls her eyes, “We were on a TV show last year. Unlike you, we know how to keep things entertaining.”

“Who cares about your dumb reality show!” Aika snaps, “We were actually competing in these things last year so we know what the crowd wants!”

Cerys smirks, “Looking at your rank, you guys are quite the experts at pleasing the audience.”

Aika gets in Cerys’ face, ““We’ll see how confident you are in the arena!”

Cerys laughs at her..

“I can’t wait to put you in your place, you bitch! We’re leaving, Sayaka!” Aika marches out in a huff.

Sayaka watches Aika walk down the hall angrily mumbling to herself. “She...can get like that.”

Katsuki groans. “Why’d you have to ruin that…”

“What an uncouth, yapping little cur,” Kirika says.

“Hush Kirika.” Yuuri chides, “We’re all fired up for this, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to hurt our new friends here.”

Hotaru snaps his fingers, “If the goal is to make everyone look good, then how about using Aika’s anger to fire up your side Sayaka?”

Sayaka nervously looks around, “It’s possible…” She finally settles on looking at Akina.

Akina notices immediately, “Why play these boring games when a fight would suffice?”

Sayaka’s eyes light up as a slight blush creeps across her face, “I’d be honored to fight you Lady Ge-...Akina!”

Yuuri interjects, “Wait! If we win, then who takes our place in the trash ranks?”

Sayaka comes back down to Earth, “Uh, I believe it would be the Tennis Club that moves to trash.”

“Hana nooo!” Kirika shrieks.

Sayaka nods, “They lost to the Fashion Club last week and haven’t been very outgoing since getting their new members. They would be the new Trashies if you guys win.”

“Wait...if we win then we get new dorms!” Rina exclaims, “What are those like?”

“Still bad, but compared to what you’re living in now, you’ll think it’s a five-star hotel.”

Suzaka jumps in excitement, “Good enough for me!”

Hotaru holds his hand out to Sayaka, “Let’s keep our rivalries friendly yes?”

“Hey!” Cerys barks, “That bitch started it!”

“Then finish it on the field!” Rina shouts as well attempting to amp Cerys up.

Suzaka joins in, “Yeh! Lay it all out ‘n the field and show ‘er who’s boss!”

Yuuri shakes her head at the two-girl mosh pit forming before turning back to Sayaka, “We’ll be glad to keep it a close one against you guys.”

Yuudai fist pumps, “Let’s go out there and give 120%!”

Sayaka smiles, “Keep it close and we should both get enough points for you to move out, and for us to stay above Tennis.” She begins to leave, “I’ll see you all in a few minutes then.”

“Oh Katsuki, before I forget,” Hotaru turns to her, “Don’t let Cerys get to you.”

“That’s real hard sometimes,” Mari says.

Katsuki grumbles. “You’d think I’d be used to it by now but she keeps finding new buttons to push.”

“You both have to...shoot what was it Gramps always told me?” Hotaru scratches his head before saying “Turn another check?” in stilted English.

Rina stops her shadowboxing to laugh, “I think you mean cheek Little Guy.”

Hotaru’s answer is drowned by a chime ringing through the locker room.

“Attention Clubs, this is Lucy Usha speaking. Please report to the stadium floor. Thank you.”

Saito stands up and stretches, “Well, let’s get going then.”

Yuudai stops, “Hey wait! This is the part where we all circle up and have a pep talk!”

“That ain’t what they circle up fer in mah doujins…” Mari says.

“Uh, let’s go out there and do our best guys!” Yuuri claps her hands, drawing the club’s attention, “I know it seems ridiculous, but let’s go out there and give it our all!”

Rina pumps her fist, “Let’s give ‘em hell!”

Akina walks out, “Let’s just go.”

Saito follows not far behind.

Yuuri quickly herds everyone else out the door.

“Remember guys, 120%!” Yuudai yells back from down the hallway, having jogged ahead of the others.

***

Compared to the previous matches, Roka Arena was under half capacity for the first match of the day. The breeze blowing through still carries a chill as both clubs line up on either side of Roka’s Podium.

“Good morning everyone!” Roka shouts, her voice echoes in the arena to a smattering of applause.

Roka clears her throat, “I said GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!” she growls, causing some of the competitors to wince. The crowd gets a little more into it, which seems to satisfy the tiny Principal.

“Welcome to the first morning competition! Today not only brings a new timeslot but also some new faces! From the ruins of Miyafuji High School, the Paranormal Club will look to get off on the right foot against a game Games Club!”

The crowd has returned to their half-hearted applause.

Roka pouts, “Where’s the enthusiasm, people!?”

Lucy shoots Roka a look of pity and gestures to get on with it.

Roka clears her throat again, “Anyway! Let’s meet the Games Club, headed by President Yamato Kirisaki and Vice President Aika Yoshikawa!”

The two girls step forward and wave to the crowd. They get a few cheers from a small section of the stadium.

Roka tries to build up the excitement, “And now... Making their Zonzai debut... Please welcome the Paranormal Club! Lead by President Yuuri Sayamura and Vice President Katsuki Kusaka!”

Both girls nervously step forward. Katsuki looks to Yuuri, who’s waving to the crowd, and does the same.

Roka gestures to the screen behind her and two wheels appear. “The rules of the competitions have changed! Now one match each weekend will be a mashup match, where we combine two things into one! Since this is the first morning match, let’s do it now!”

The wheels on the screen begin spinning as music fills the dead space. After half a minute, they land on an obstacle course and dance competition, just as Lucy said to the Paranormal Club.

“We’ll have a mix of obstacle courses and a dance-off!” Roka relays excitedly, fireworks going off behind her as the stadium begins to change.

“This uh,” Roka looks at the crowd, “This will take us a bit but in the meantime! We’ll get the matchups all set to go!”

Lucy steps onto the stage with Roka, “Since the Paranormal Club is much larger than the Games Club, we have…special roles for four members. If I could have Katsuki Kusaka, Kirika Komori, Mari Hoshino, and Cerys Alcott follow me please.”

The four girls look at each other confused. Katsuki notices the worry on Yuuri’s face.

“You guys will be fine!” Katsuki tells Yuuri. Yuuri gives Katsuki a tentative nod.

Lucy leads Katsuki, Kirika, Mari, and Cerys back towards the tunnel.

Roka returns to the mic, “Just to keep it fun... We’re going to randomly pick the teams for each round! Since it’s seven vs eight, there’ll be four rounds! The club with the most points wins!”

Both clubs begin murmuring amongst themselves, not sure what this new wrinkle could add.

“How can we have a ‘best of’ match with four rounds?” Saito asks.

Yuuri shushes him.

Roka bounces in place, “I need both Presidents on stage with me!”

Yuuri timidly makes her way on stage. Yamato meets her gaze and gives her a reassuring smile.

A pair of stagehands bring up a table with two big red buttons on it.

“All I need you two to do is hit that button when I say so! Okay?”

Both Presidents nod.

“Three...two...one! Go!”

Yamato and Yuuri smack the buttons as the faces of their clubs flash across the screen. After a couple of seconds, the randomizer stops.

“Looks like Round One will be Kira and Hiro vs Yuuri and Saito!” Roka claps.

Satio breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that he’s first.

“There you go! Now hit the button again!”

Both do as instructed and the randomizer spits out four more names.

Roka snaps her fingers and sighs, “We were so close to seeing President vs President! Round Two will be Yamato and Haru against Kirie and Hotaru!”

Haru fist pumps from the line. Aika swiftly smacks the back of his head.

Roka gestures and the buttons are pressed again.

“Ohh! Ohh! This will be cool!” Roka shouts, “It’ll be a Kung-Fu girls showdown! Aika and Sayaka will face Yuudai and Akina!”

Sayaka looks across the way and is able to pick out Akina’s cold glare looking right back at her.

“By process of elimination, that means, Rina and Susumu will compete in the last round for the Paranormal Club!”

“Use mah cool name!” Suzaka yells to Roka.

Roka ignores the yelling, “Since the Games Club only has seven members, that means Kyo is already qualified! Yamato just needs to hit that button one more time to figure out who will be Kyo’s partner!”

Yamato slams the button and crosses her fingers. The randomizer continues cycling through the names before landing on herself.

“Looks like you’re pulling double duty today, President!” Roka giggles.

Yamato heads back down and celebrates with Kyo.

“Everyone get excited!” Roka demands from the audience. “These two teams will collide in five minutes!”