Normal Girl

His... What?

Nagito, Kazuichi, and I watched the chicken fight quietly for a while when suddenly I was struck with an idea.

"Hey, Kaz, you ever seen a three-way chicken fight?" I said to him loudly enough that Nagito could hear. My proposition seemed to work as Nagito looked at Kazuichi and me quizzically, but he remained silent.

"What? Umm... no, I guess not, why?" he replied confused.

"Wanna face Gundham head-on and show Sonia how strong you are?" I suggested.

"Heh, always," he said, appearing relaxed but with a determined smirk on his face, suddenly it appeared that he realized what I was leading up to, "get on my shoulders."

"You sure you're strong enough?" I said, both reassuring myself and trying to provoke Kazuichi more.

"(Y/N), I literally work on machines weighing several tons all day and carrying heavy tools that weigh several hundred pounds, I think I can handle one girl on my shoulders in a pool," he said confidently.

"Fair enough, you ready?" I said, noticing Nagito looking at us with a look in his eyes I couldn't quite decipher. Like anger but with a certain tint of ennui. As I stared into the eyes that were looking at me so strangely it dawned on me exactly what emotion I had invoked in him: jealousy.

"Only if you're ready for whatever Nagito's gonna do to us. Based on the way that weirdo's ogling you, I'd brace for impact," Kazuichi said to me quietly, smirked playfully, wiggling his fingers in my face in a spooky way.

"He can't get me as long as I'm in the pool," I said slyly.

"True. Okay, when I go under the water hop on. Oh, and watch the hair, please?" he said.

"Noted," I replied, as Kazuichi lowered himself into the water and I put my thighs on each of his shoulders, giving Nagito a playful look before Kazuichi stood up with ease. When Kazuichi said not to worry about his strength, he wasn't kidding. I wrapped my legs under Kazuichi's arms as he put his hand on my thighs to make sure I didn't fall.

"Hey, guys! A new opponent approaches!" Kazuichi said, looking at Gundham and Mondo with determination.

"A new adversary ripe for defeating. Sonia, ready yourself, for this foe shall not go down without a fight, but neither shall we," Gundham said, readying himself as Sonia wiped the hair from Gundham's forehead for him before putting a hand on her muscle in a power pose.

"Gundham, have no fear! I will give it my all!" she said confidently.

"Hey, you two ready to get the beating of your life?" Mondo said, "Makoto, let's show 'em how it's done! Hell yeah! Crazy Diamond style!"

"Wait, Mondo! I don't know Crazy Diamond styleeeee!" Makoto yelled in fear as Mondo charged forward.

Nagito, Hina, and Ibuki watched from the side of the pool as we did round after round. Makoto and Mondo were losing, but Gundham and Sonia and Kazuichi and I were pretty much constantly tied. After about an hour of constant chicken fights, I started getting tired, but Kazuichi couldn't stand the thought of losing to Gundham even though I was getting more and more exhausted.

"Kazuichi, do you truly think it is wise to continue? Your partner looks quite tired. There is no shame in losing," Gundham pointed out.

"She's fine! We can keep at this all night! The pool doesn't close until midnight, and there's no curfew!" Kazuichi insisted.

Kazuichi kept urging us to fight, but eventually, my arms began to give way on me. Suddenly, Kazuichi and Gundham charged head-on at each other, and Sonia knocked straight into me, directly into my chest, knocking the wind out of me as I fell backward into the water. I was too tired to know what was happening or to try to get back up for air due to the shock of the force of Sonia's attack.