Upon hearing her name, Ms. Ruka clapped excitedly. She obviously couldn’t believe she’d be teaming up with two of her most favorite Princeton brothers. Thus, she rushed over to them as she giggled like a schoolgirl.
“What?” Tristan shouted, obviously in disbelief.
“No way!” Logan exclaimed, obviously disappointed.
“Now,” Mr. Tachibana said, “team two. The first member for this team is…Sebastian.”
Sitting on the sidelines, Sakura waited patiently to see who Sebastian’s team was going to be. Somehow, she had a hunch it was going to be Darcy, which was odd, and she had no idea why she instinctively felt that way.
“The second member for team two is…Nicolas,” Mr. Tachibana said.
At this, Sakura thought to herself that maybe she was wrong, after all.
“Who will be the last member to join team two?” Mr. Tachibana asked the crowd to trigger some reactions.
On cue, Michael went, “Me! Me!” as he jumped up and down with his hand up in the air to get Mr. Tachibana’s attention. “Pick me!”
Everyone laughed. Michael was just too cute and amusing.
“And the last member to join team two is…” Mr. Tachibana said as he slowly dipped his hand into the hat once more. “Could it be our little kawaiiMichael?” And then, he pulled the small piece of paper out. He read at the name for a moment and said, “Oh my! It is… It is…Darcy!”
Holy shit! Sakura thought. Well, her instinct was right in this case.
Darcy, upon the announcement of his name, couldn’t believe he was going to be teamed up with Nicolas and Sebastian. Well, mostly Sebastian.
Michael, on the other hand, slumped his shoulders in disappointment. “Aww. I was hoping it’d be me.”
Conrad patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Michael. I’m sure you’ll end up on a strong team.”
At Conrad’s positive words, Michael grinned and nodded. “Yeah.” He glanced around and noted that not only Hayden, who was one of the strongest in the group, but Luke, Sosuke, his dad, Jim, and Peter remained as well. Feeling better, he turned his attention to Mr. Tachibana once again.
Mr. Tachibana said, “I’m so sorry, Michael-kun. But I’m sure you’ll end up with a really good team!”
Michael nodded. “I know,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
“All right,” Mr. Tachibana said. “Now for team three. Who will be on this team?” He pulled out a name and announced, “Ah, it is our Michael-kun.”
At the announcement of his name, Michael tensed up as he waited in anticipation to hear who his team members were going to be.
“The person who will be joining Michael-kun is…Akira!”
Michael couldn’t hide his disappointment and said loudly, “Akira?”
At this, Akira came up behind him and pulled him into her arms. “What do you mean Akira? You sound disappointed that you got me, young man. Are you saying I’m undesirable?”
Michael blushed and quickly apologized. “Sorry, but I just want to win, see.”
“Yes, I can see that, since you’re always teaming up with Nicolas,” Akira said. “Hey, I want to win, too, you know. This game is my last chance. Say, it’s best if we work together, right? If we want to win.”
Michael sighed. “Well, I guess so.”
“Good,” Akira said. “Now, let’s see who our other team member is.”
At that moment, Mr. Tachibana said, “And the person who will join team three is…Jane!”
At this, both Akira and Michael slumped their shoulders. Akira said, “We’re definitely going to lose now.”
Behind Akira, Jane said, “Sorry, guys. But I’ll do my best so we won’t fall in last place.”
Michael said, “Shouldn’t you be aiming to win?”
Akira chuckled and nodded in agreement. “All right, Jane, stop being so negative. We have to win this game. Now, let’s wait and see what else Tachibana-sensei has up his sleeve, because I know he’s going to change the rules of the game.”
Michael asked, “How do you know that? A four-legged race is the same as a three-legged race, isn’t it?”
Akira said, “Because I know Tachibana-sensei. Trust me. He’ll change the rules. And after, we’ll plan out a strategy. Agreed?”
Jane nodded, while Michael seemed reluctant. He didn’t know there needed to be any tactics in a four-legged race. It was just a race. All you needed to do was get from one point to the other and cross the finish line to score a win.
At this point, the rest of the members for the other teams were announced. Team four was Hayden, Conrad, and Sosuke, while team five was Luke, Jim, and Peter.
“Now that the teams are sorted, it is time to decide what to name your team. Be creative, please,” Mr. Tachibana said. “You have one minute to come up with your team name.”
The members huddled together in their teams and started deciding on their names. Finally, one minute was up, and Mr. Tachibana said, “Names, please. Team one, what will yours be?”
Logan said, “We’re Team Thunder!” He even posed like a Viking about to go to war, complete with a wild roar.
“Sounds strong,” Mary shouted from the sidelines. Everyone laughed in reaction.
“Team two?” Mr. Tachibana asked.
Nicolas said, “Team Mother Earth.”
“Sounds stable,” Mary said, chuckling.
Katherine said, “Is everyone going for elemental team names?”
At this, Michael announced, “Nope. We are now officially named Team Superhero!” He even did a Superman pose with his feet apart, hands on hips, and chest puffed out.
A loud cheer erupted, and Michael beamed with delight.
Sakura decided at least Team Superhero won the crowd over in terms of team name and team spirit.
“We’re Team SOS,” Conrad announced.
“And we’re Team Peter Pan,” Peter said.
At this, Mary hooted. “Go husband! Team Mary-and-son will soon join you in Neverland.” Everyone laughed at her joke.
Once the laughter died down, Mr. Tachibana said, “Now, on with the game rules.” He paused for effect and then continued. “The rule is going to be different from the typical three-legged race. This is, after all, a four-legged race, no?” He even laughed heartily.
Akira said to Michael, “See?”
Michael said, “I hope he makes it easier.”
Akira chuckled. “I doubt it.”
Mr. Tachibana said, “The rules are…” He held up an array of three colorful ribbons, which instantly drew everyone’s attention. “These, everyone, are points ribbons. Each person will get one ribbon. There are three different colors, and each color represents different points. Green is ten, yellow is twenty, and red is thirty points. Each team will get one of each color, which will add up to a total of sixty points. The rule is simple.” He paused for effect again. When he noted that everyone was waiting eagerly for him to reveal what the rule was, he smiled with glee.
He continued. “Steal as many ribbons as you can from the other teams, and the points will add up. When you think you’ve gained enough ribbons, you will have to race to the finish-line before the other teams try to steal the ribbons back. Once every member of your team crosses the finish line, you cannot be touched. You are saved, and you’ve finished the game. And once every team crosses the finish line, the game is over, and the winner is determined by how many points they obtained from the ribbons they have accumulated. Does everyone understand?”
Nodding was the collective response.
“That sounds interesting and exciting,” Tristan said, rubbing his hands together.
“And that is not all, ladies and gentlemen,” Mr. Tachibana said. “The team that wins will get prizes.” He held up a basket full of goodies. “A load of good stuff in here.”
“I want that basket,” Michael shouted.
“Me, too,” Logan said with a chuckle.
“Me, three,” Peter announced. “It’s for my baby.”
Loud cheers followed this.
“All right, everyone, please settle down,” Mr. Tachibana said. “I said prizes, did I not? So it’s not going to be just the basket. To make the game more exciting, and everyone more motivated, the winners get to…” He paused for effect as he grinned from ear to ear. “That’s right, everyone, the winners get to kiss Sakura-chan.”
Upon hearing her name, Sakura was shocked for a moment. Then she shouted in disbelief, “What? Kiss? Me?”
“That’s right,” Mr. Tachibana said. “The idea has been suggested by two of the participants, and they confirmed with me that you agreed to it, Sakura.”
Sakura couldn’t believe this, and she knew who those two participants were. Tristan and Logan. Hence, she glared at them to tell them she wasn’t pleased with their idea. God, she certainly didn’t want to be kissed, not in front of other people anyway.
“Tachibana-sensei…” Sakura began, as she tried to calm her temper. “Can we cancel that last prize?”
Michael chimed in. “Why? It sounds exciting. If Team Superhero wins, we get to kiss you. That’s the best prize ever.”
Akira said, “That’s right, Sakura. You don’t want to crush a boy’s dream, do you?” She even winked teasingly.
Jane nodded. “I won’t mind kissing you, Sakura.”
“Me, too,” Michael said. “I’ll kiss you, Sakura.”
“Me, three,” Tristan said loudly.
“Me, four,” said Logan. “Have been wanting to for ages.”
With a frown, Conrad said, “There’s no way I’ll let you two kiss her. If you want to kiss her, you have to go through me first.”
“With pleasure,” Tristan said, chuckling away merrily.
After seeing how eager Michael was, Sakura felt her temper mellow immediately. Suddenly, she started laughing. Did Team Superhero know what they were talking about? Did they think they could win the game? In everyone’s opinion, hers included, they were the weakest here. They’d be crushed in no time. It was clear the teams most likely to win this round would either be Team Mother Earth, with Nicolas, Sebastian, and Darcy, or Team SOS, with Hayden, Conrad, and Sosuke. Of course, Team Thunder could also win because of Tristan and Logan.
Tristan said, “I’m sorry, darling sis, but the prizes have already been announced and cannot be canceled. As you can see, we participants are all hyped for the prizes, especially the one that involves kissing you, darling.”
Logan nodded in agreement. “It’s just bad manners to cancel an already offered prize.”
Sakura wanted to strangle those two brothers. Agreed?She had done nothing of the sort, and indeed, this had been the first time she had heard about her being part of the final prize.
She sighed, seeing she had no choice but to accept. “All right. The winners get to kiss me.”
A loud cheer went up then and the game began.