“Oh, no!” Sakura shouted. “Get up, Akira. Get up! You’re almost there.”
Akira was sprawled against Nicolas, who had a tight hold on her. Not to mention his face was intimately buried against her breasts. Jane, on the other hand, was half standing and half falling. She held on to both Akira and Michael for dear life.
Akira said to both her team members, “Keep going. Pull me. I can’t get rid of this stupid man.”
Nicolas moved his head back to look her. “Stupid man?” he asked with one raised brow.
Akira gave him a lovely grin. “Yes, you are a stupid man. You baka!”
That only made Nicolas tighten his grip on her waist, as if he were tormenting her. Akira shrieked in dismay because it was hard for her to breathe.
Michael, who was determined to win, started leading the pack by pulling Jane’s hand. Jane herself was pulling Akira. Akira, on the other hand, dragged Nicolas along inch by inch. And, of course, both Sebastian and Darcy were being dragged along as well.
Meanwhile, Team Thunder, who currently had zero points, Team SOS, who had ninety points, and Team Peter Pan, who had thirty points, half hopped, half ran after them.
Michael, whose face was now red, said, “Akira, do something. It’s too heavy. I can’t go on.”
Hearing this, Akira glanced at Nicolas and his team. She noted that the man wasn’t likely to let her go. Thus, she flicked through her mind for a tactic. Then suddenly, she smiled.
She wiggled her body down until her face was close to Nicolas’s. Then she asked sweetly, “Please, Nicolas, be a nice man and let go of me.” Then she planted her lips on his and kissed him hard.
Mary shouted from a distance, “Akira! Sexual harassment is not allowed in the game.”
This, of course, drew everyone’s attention to Akira and Nicolas, who were in the middle of an intense kiss.
As Akira expected, Nicolas loosened his hold around her waist. When she felt she could move freely, Akira terminated the kiss and swiftly struggled out of his hold. She licked her lips and even winked at him as she did so. Once she was freed, she turned her attention to her teammates and said, “Let’s go.”
Both Jane and Michael nodded, and the three continued with their escape.
Meanwhile, Sebastian sighed and said to his brother, “You have a weakness for Akira, don’t you?”
Darcy said, “It can’t be helped that you’ll give up the ribbons for her. I’d do the same if it was for Sakura.”
Sebastian nodded.
Team Thunder, who had seen the entire scene, laughed. Tristan said, “Team Mother Earth is super lame, losing to a girl.” Then they headed toward Team Superhero.
In front of them, Akira said, “Just a bit more.”
Tristan shouted from behind, “You won’t get away, Team Superhero. We’re here to bring you down.”
Akira laughed sarcastically and said, “Too late, Team Thunder-less!”
And that was when they crossed the finish line. Akira, Jane, and Michael yelled loudly along with loud hails from the spectators.
Mr. Tachibana said, “Team Superhero has crossed the finish line with one hundred and eighty points. That’s it, everyone. First place goes to Team Superhero!”
Both Logan and Tristan growled in disappointment, while Ms. Ruka sighed.
Logan said, “Can’t be helped. We need to get second place at least.” Then all eyes turned to Team SOS.
While Team Superhero was busy congratulating themselves and doing high-fives and dancing around—well, mostly Michael and Akira were doing the dancing around—Team Thunder was targeting Team SOS.
Hayden said, “That lousy Team Thunder-less. Now they’re targeting us?”
Conrad said, “There’s no other choice. We have to get to the finish line to get second place.”
Sosuke nodded in agreement. “Let’s get going.”
Thus, the three men half hopped, half ran across the field, at the same time avoiding any interceptions made by Team Thunder.
Tristan shouted, “Quick! Everyone stop Team SOS.”
On cue, both Team Peter Pan and Team Mother Earth headed toward Team SOS as the audience cheered them on.
“Run, Team SOS! Run!” Sakura shouted.
Hayden, Conrad, and Sosuke, encouraged by her words, increased their pace. But of course, they were outnumbered, and Team Mother Earth stopped them in their tracks. Six men collided into each other and ended up falling to the ground.
Meanwhile, Team Peter Pan suddenly decided they couldn’t take any risks and started heading for safety toward the finish line. A moment later, they crossed with two red ribbons, securing a total of sixty points.
Team Thunder joined the other six men on the ground a moment later, and Logan and Tristan went about stealing Team SOS’s ribbons.
“Ho, no you don’t,” Conrad said, pulling Tristan by the hand down toward them.
Tristan shrieked like a girl as he fell, which brought Ms. Ruka and Logan down along with him. In the end, all of them were sprawling on the ground.
Sebastian took the chaotic opportunity to steal a yellow ribbon from Conrad. Darcy did the same with Sosuke with another yellow ribbon. With forty points in hands, Team Mother Earth gathered themselves up and hopped toward the finish line.
With only twenty points of two green ribbons left, Team SOS decided they’d had enough and started gathering themselves up as well, intending to head toward the finish line. Team Thunder, however, would have none of it, and Tristan, being the cunning man he was, roughly grabbed Hayden’s green ribbon and then told his team to scram.
At the end, both Team Thunder and Team SOS managed to secure ten points each.
While all this was happening, the spectators, Sakura included, were laughing so much and so hard that their stomachs were hurting.
Mary said, “Oh, God, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.”
Katherine nodded in agreement. “Me, too.”
Sakura said, “I’m getting a stitch.”
It was then that Mr. Tachibana said loudly, “Everyone has crossed the finish line. That’s it, everyone. It’s the end of the game.”
A loud cheer ensued then, along with a lot of hooting from both Tristan and Logan.
“Now, everyone, please gather around for the prize,” Mr. Tachibana said.
Everyone rushed over to where he stood, which, unsurprisingly, was near where Sakura was sitting.
Mr. Tachibana motioned to her and said, “Sakura, please stand up and present the prizes.”
Oddly enough, Sakura found herself doing as she was asked, without any protestation or reluctance. She picked up the basket of goodies.
A loud cheer went up again, which made Sakura blush severely. Logan even whistled with appreciation.
“Now, time to announce the points and our winners,” Mr. Tachibana said. “Tied in last place with ten points each are Team Thunder and Team SOS. Please, everyone, give these men a round of applause for their hard work.”
Clapping erupted then, followed by Michael saying, “You did your best.” He even patted both Tristan and Logan on the arm to let them know he was proud of them for participating, even though they came last.
Tristan pulled the boy into his arms and tousled his hair hard. “Yeah, we did our best all right.”
“Hey, stop messing with the hair,” Michael said. “I need to look presentable when I go up to get my prize.”
Mr. Tachibana continued. “In third place is Team Mother Earth, who managed to steal forty points from Team SOS. They did well, everyone. Please give them a round of applause as well.”
Another cheer went up.
“In second place is Team Peter Pan, who managed to keep sixty points. We need to give these men two rounds of applause for not targeting the underdog, harassing women, and, overall, for avoiding most of the confrontation.”
Loud acclaim went up then, with Peter saying, “Thank you, everyone. Thank you very much.”
Mr. Tachibana cleared his throat and then said, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, let us announce first place. Drum roll, if you please, Tristan and Logan.”
On cue, both Tristan and Logan did a drum roll with their voices.
“And first place goes to…” Mr. Tachibana paused for a moment as he eyed Michael. “Team Superhero with a total of one hundred and eighty points. Please give these winners a big round of applause.”
Loud cheering erupted, along with praises and hooting.
“Please come up to receive your prize, boy and girls,” Mr. Tachibana said.
Michael was beaming with pride as he and his team members, Akira and Jane, headed toward the front.
There, Sakura handed Michael, who was obviously acting as the team captain in this case, the basket.
“And now the kiss,” Mr. Tachibana said.
Michael blushed instantly at that announcement.
Sakura grinned as she lowered her face toward the boy. “Congratulations, Michael,” she said sweetly.
“Th-thanks,” Michael stammered. Then he wiped his mouth clean with the back of his hand before moving closer to Sakura.
Tristan said, “Watch out, Sebastian and Darcy, you have competition.”
Michael suddenly froze.
Sakura, noticing this, said, “You’re the winner, Michael, and kissing me is your rightful prize. There’s no need to be afraid.”
Michael blushed in response. “I’m…I’m not afraid. I just thought your boyfriends might get jealous. That’s all.”
Sakura chuckled. Michael was both considerate and so adorable. Then something nagged at her. Did the boy just say boyfriends? As in plural boyfriends?
Logan shouted, “Just kiss already. Can’t you see Sakura still has to receive two more kisses from the girls?”
At this, Jane said, “I didn’t actually plan on kissing Sakura. I’m allowed to skip, right?”
Akira chuckled and asked teasingly, “Are you afraid Sosuke might get jealous?”
Jane stammered. “That’s not it. I’m sure he doesn’t care who I kiss.”
Meanwhile, Michael took a deep breath and then said, “Here I go.” He leaned forward and then kissed Sakura smack on the lips for a brief second. Then he moved back, his eyes bright and cheeks red.
“You’re the man, Michael,” Tristan hailed.
“Good one, Michael,” Mary said, clapping. “You’ve finally got your first kiss.”
Shouts of approval erupted.
“And now it’s Akira’s and then Jane’s turn,” Mr. Tachibana said.
Akira swapped places with Michael, and as she kissed Sakura, she was giggling. When it was Jane’s turn, she gave Sakura a swift peck on the cheek, all the while blushing severely.
After this, another loud round of applause erupted as Mr. Tachibana said, “That’s it, everyone. End of our games. I hope everyone has had a good time. Please remember, there will be a party tonight, so get some good rest before then.”
Tristan said, “I can’t wait. Let’s have fun tonight, everyone.”
Cheers of agreement erupted from the audience.