My new Neighbor's an Idol!?

Supportive

The coveted, or in Ishi's case, dreaded sports events were about to begin. The major competition among the grades to see who would come out on top. Since its inception, the third years had always taken first place. Their mix of experience and age development usually aided them above the rest. Even when there was good talent among the younger years. Personally, Ishi was certain it was because the younger students threw their games to allow their seniors the edge.

There were three major games to be played that would determine who would come out the victor. Two that would be made up of only the girls, another pair with only the boys, and finally a mixed gender event that usually proved to be the deciding factor.

"So what are we playing?" Ishi asked as his class surrounded out in the middle of the soccer field. It seemed obvious considering where they were standing, but he wanted to ask to make sure. If there was one thing that life loved giving him, it was curve balls.

"We're playing flag football." Otoya answered him.

"Oh, that makes sense." Hearing the word football lulled him into a sense of security given where they were standing. Then he played back the words in his head and didn't understand the flag part. "Why do we need to wear these?" The boy asked as flag belts were handed among the group. There were three ribbons hanging around the two sides and back as he put it on.

"Sorry." His friend chuckled at the misunderstanding. "We're playing American football, not normal football." Ishi was left dumbfounded as the boys produced the football that was used in the states. Why were they playing a sport that literally none of them had ever seen in person, let alone play?

This was basically another test for them to overcome. Being able to adapt quickly to unfamiliar rules during the midst of an important competition taught staying cool under pressure.

"Fine, what are the rules?" They explained among themselves how to play the game. There was nothing special or added onto this. It was the standard flag football rule set that any American would know about.

"I should be quarterback." Izuru, the boy who was dating Fuma, requested. He wanted an opportunity to show off in front of the school, and this seemed to be the perfect chance for it.

"We're on defense first." Ishi shut him down. "Let's just worry about that after we keep them from scoring." In a traditional American football game, a touchdown equaled six points with a PAT afterwards to add on one. Since there were no goal posts to kick a ball through here, the game was to end after a team scored three times. "Hey big guy, can you be the one to rush their QB?" He asked the largest boy in their class, who went by the name Shimao.

"I don't really know if I can do that." The boy responded. Despite his appearance, he spoke rather softly, almost too difficult for any of them to hear. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"You're just taking their flags off." He reminded everyone. "And besides, all you have to do is look scary and that'll make them play worse. No one else knew about this gentle giant's quiet nature, so all they'd see is a monstrous individual chasing after them.

Meanwhile, they weren't the only ones attending to their event. The girls had their own challenges ahead of them, which Youna and Rinse stuck together for. They were tasked with the classic game of shot put. The rules were simple, the students that threw the furthest on an aggregate would win.

"All right, let's do this!" Rinse cheered out to hype up the girls. Quickly, she took to her spot to be the leader and prepared to throw her shot put. It was a lot heavier than she was expecting, as the girl nearly toppled over from the loss in balance. "Whoa, they make it look easier on TV." She commented in her fight to stay upright. Once she regained her composure, the girl took her spot and tossed the heavy ball with all her might.