#they r next to each other for 1 whole second but i won that fr...

[citrusacidic]

stand out moments for me in the last eps. mostly the finale bc i loved it.

[apex-academy]

Chapter 5: Caring Is a Hazard to Your Health (#28)

Once our little break is over, everyone gathers to go to the gym.

Or actually, stop by the cafeteria first to grab a few supplies, and then to the gym. I end up getting volunteered to carry one of the little round tables. What kind of sports are we doing with these?

“...”

Moving on.

Kanagi has already made it to the top of the still-collapsed bleachers seconds after the rest of us step inside. She waves us down.

“You can set ‘em up wherever, dudes! We got three, right?”

“As far as I can tell.”

After a minute’s wandering, we set up the tables at vaguely regular intervals. Kanagi goes around giving them a kick—to make sure they don’t collapse, I guess??—but doesn’t pull up any chairs or anything else before returning to the bleachers.

“All right, dudes! We’re gonna kick this thing off with some arm wrestling!”

“Yaaaay!”

How are you excited? Your arms are freaking toothpicks.

“We’ve already determined our first matches! We’ll still go one at a time so we can all cheer each other on, but! If you’d like to wait at your tables!”

I don’t remember signing up for this. But three tables means two of us aren’t going, right?

...Betting Aidan’s one of them.

“Arright! At Table 1...”

“...whichever one that is...”

“...we’ve got Ich versus Yuks!”

“Okay...”

“Yay~”

The F-tier arm-wrestling league, I see. At least they’re trying to keep the first round fair. Ichiriki and Yuki head off for the closest table to get situated. Which is a sport of its own at at a low table too large to reach across easily, with no chairs.

“And then Table 2 isssss Kaich versus Kakumi!”

“Is it, now.”

“Nice.”

Kaichi heads for the table closest to the arbitrarily designated Table 1. I don’t have sufficient grounds to object, so I go over, too.

“And me and Iggy for Table 3!”

“Why is Kogamino the only one you don’t have to nickname?”

“Cuz she’s, like, kinda a butt about it.”

“And Mahavir isn’t?”

Well, whatever. Maybe she has trouble with foreign names. Or maybe she... just does whatever. I’m not here to try to figure her out.

“Oh... So Tsunyasha doesn’t get to play...?”

“A wise choice.” 

“Any of you sinners attempting to make physical contact with the Holy Assassin... Well, it would only serve to burn you terribly.”

“Like, actually I was hoping you’d help Aid set up the next game?”

“You think—”

“Cool, thanks, dude!”

“I—excuse me?”

Did Kanagi just win the random-off? Steep competition, too.

“All right!! We’ll begin with Table 1! Mister Tokino, Miss Kurokame, please prepare to face off!”

Yuki gives Ichiriki a very slow yet fairly shallow bow.

“I’m sorry... if I’m not very good competition.”

“That’s okay!! I have no idea what I’m doing!”

“Like... You do know how you’re supposed to stand ‘n’ stuff at least, right?”

“Nope!”

“Hummmm... I think it’s like this...?”

Wow, no idea why this duo wasn’t chosen for the climactic final battle.

With Kanagi’s intervention, they manage to get set up, though.

“And—Go!”

It either takes them a minute to respond to the command, or they just can’t exert enough force to make a visible difference. 

“Who am I supposed to root for again?”

“I usu’lly go with whoever’s winning.”

“Thanks.”

“Go go go go!”

“I’m trying...”

“This is fun!”

“It seems like an even match! Who will emerge victorious?”

I said no color commentary, but go off I guess.

It’s significantly more interesting to watch Tsunyasha bringing out tennis balls rather than the actual competition, but eventually we have a winner.

“Hahaha! I lost.”

“It was close, hummmm...”

“Nnnnnice.” I think she’s trying to wake up again. “Good job, Yuks!”

“Ohhh, is it Table 2′s turn now?!”

“Yup! You dudes ready?”

“ ‘S born ready, brah.”

“You do actually know what you’re supposed to be doing, right?”

“Oh, I never know what ‘m doing.”

He puts an elbow on the table and leans in. I stare for a minute.

“What, y’ bugging out ‘cause y’ get t’ hold a cute guy’s hand?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Gooooo, Kakumi!”

“Oh, right... we’re supposed to be cheering.”

“Um, go... everyone...?”

Weirdest sports day I’ve ever had.

I’ll get booed off the face of the planet if I don’t start soon, so I settle in and wait for Aidan’s countdown. Then the pressure is on. Literally. Kaichi may be a skinny guy, but what body mass he does have seems to be muscle.

I put in a passable effort, but it’s still over in a few more seconds. At least I offered enough resistance to keep my knuckles from getting crushed into the tabletop.

“Good game, brah.”

“Yeah...”

And once I’m out, I’m not paying attention to the rest. Guess I’m not a good spectator, but I don’t think any of us know who we’re supposed to be cheering for. It’s just weird to take sides for something like this. Or maybe it’s just me. I’ve never been that big on the whole sports scene. 

For some reason, Yuki versus Kaichi is next—two guesses who wins that one—and then Kanagi versus Mahavir. Whether Mahavir would have won in better condition or not I’ll never know, but Kanagi sweeps it. And Kaichi’s no competition for her.

Not much of a tournament, huh? Probably comes with the territory when only one person in the class got invited as a Super High School Level athlete. Then again, that may not be a foregone conclusion. I’m pretty sure it’d be even less of a competition if Otoya was here.

“.......”

I’m not sure what hit me just now. Probably grief? Doesn’t quite sting enough. Guilt? Maybe. ...Wistfulness? I don’t know. It’s still too hard to untangle the emotions. The best description I can put together is just a sort of dull throb in my head.

I... miss him, I guess. Odd thing to say about someone I barely ever saw, but. You don’t have to hang out all the time to be friends.

“W-we’re… fr-fr-friends, r-right?”

"......”

Before the fourth case, I hadn’t really had to deal with this kind of loss. Kazusuke? Not even close to friends. Mary Jane? Same. Kokoro? Probably close, but we just didn’t have time to get to know each other. Aidan... betrayed me, I guess? At least, that was the easiest way to think about it. And...

...he’s also alive now, so not a great time to be thinking about his loss.

But then Arthur, Itsurou... still pretty neutral. And if we’re talking about betrayals...

“...”

I can’t even feel bad about sending her to the chair. Even if it seemed like we were basically friends, it was all a lie. Maybe she did care for me, but she sure wasn’t the person I cared for. She acted like someone else had done her harm instead of her doing the harm herself.

I hate people playing the victim. It just makes it harder for real victims to...

“Yo, brah?”

I jolt and find myself in the gym. Good to know I didn’t wander out.

“What?”

“You’re playing, right? Even if ‘s not really teams, might ‘s well keep ‘m even, yeah?”

“Uh...” 

What are we doing now? Something with tennis balls that isn’t a team sport but vaguely is? That... What kind of inference can I make from that?

Is this what it’s like to be Kaichi? Horrifying.

“Uh, yeah, just give me a sec.”

“No prob.”

With that, I retie some laces that didn’t really need it and head to the side of the gym with fewer people lined up.

Let’s do whatever I signed up for now, I guess.

Beats thinking too much.

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