On The Side Of The Pitch With You

Sandorias II

Just this once, he felt happy about being looked at with questioning eyes. Mainly because just about everyone else had items weirder than his.

Tsurugi originally thought his and Ichikawa's items were strange, but after they met up with the others, he could easily call them as normal as Kimiko's 'minute-glass'.

"What are those?" Tetsukado was the first to ask.

"We found them in town." Ibuki gave a smile before putting his mask on, its eyes popping out and a snake-horn-thing coming out of its mouth when he did.

"We bought them for you too." Minaho happily said as he and Manabe held up their shish kebabs and... cotton candy?

"This one's for you, Aoi!" Sakura took the colorful hat off her head and a bird's head came out squawking.

"T-Thanks..."

Konoha had a plushie (or at least, they all hoped it was a plushie) of a purple grub larger than her own size, and Shindou had a green and purple shell-horn with yellow things coming out the opposite end.

Those who were empty-handed, being Tenma, Shinsuke, Aoi, Tetsukado, Matatagi, and Kusaka, simply smiled and accepted their randomness.

We are just a bunch of middle schoolers. This is about what anyone should expect from us.

Yeah... With all the saving-soccer-and-the-world stuff we've done in this single school year, it slipped my mind. He gave his friend a small smirk. But don't forget, you're not in middle school just yet.

Hmph! I can easily skip a grade or two if I'm taking the entrance exam.

Yeah? Then, I'll be looking forward to that. Maybe we'll end up in the same class.

Hehe... I guess we'll see.

For a moment, he thought the laugh sounded a bit forced, but she had the same smile as when they bought the items as she explained to Kusaka what they bought.

Afterwards, they sat at an empty spot by the sand field. They placed their belongings in a pile as they listened to Tenma explaining how his group was challenged to a match, but for a second, his attention was caught by his keychain that was... crawling away...?

"Uh, Kyou..." Kimiko nudged his side without turning away from it. "You... You saw that, right?"

"I did, and I am not going after it." He stated bluntly, to which she nodded.

"Good call."

The sound of a small explosion turned their attention to Manabe, whose face was burnt as both the pink and purple fluffs he had disappeared. They must've not been cotton candy after all. Minaho placed his plate down, and Kusaka, who was given a share, followed.

"But I can't believe they would do things like that to us!" Shinsuke said. "They kept trying to bodyslam us on purpose!"

"Well, they did say they wanted to harm us." Tetsukado stated.

"Yeah, but we're playing by the rules here! It's not fair!"

"The fate of all our planets is at stake in Grand Celesta Galaxy. If we lose, we have to surrender our planet." Shindou reminded. "I can understand why they wouldn't welcome us, but to go that far..."

"But that Captain Kazelma guy said they'd fight fair and square. So it shouldn't be a problem." Ibuki then gave a smirk. "Even if they do try to cheat their way out of this, I'll stop all their shots."

For a second, Shinsuke looked down with shaking fists. Then, he smiled up at their captain. "Leave it to me, Tenma! I'll protect the goal no matter what!"