Chapter 66: Ball Toss

"Alpha, you’ll serve as my royal guard. Bravo and Charlie, focus on interference! At the very least, we’ll let their scoring role be handled by Shokuhou’s faction as a little gift."

"Understood! Bravo, stick with me!"

"Charlie, please follow me, okay~?"

"Ahhh, Alpha, over here! Foh-foh-foh, I’ll be giving the formation orders myself!"

With my command, Yumetsuki-san, Rinka-san, and Chido-san at the center, the GMDW squad surged into action all at once.

…Finally, the moment had come to put yesterday’s crash-course knowledge from Shirai-san to use.

Since it was just a last-minute cram session, what Shirai-san taught me was limited.
At best, it covered teamwork and strategy. But this time, teamwork and strategy were exactly what mattered most.

Split into three teams, the GMDW moved swiftly along the “fissure” paths that Mikoto-san’s marking had made easy to identify.
That would handle the offense well enough.

As for relaying information, the telepathic girl in Shokuhou-san’s faction should be able to manage it.

Of course, the enemy would also have to deal with attacks coming from the air… but they weren’t idiots. They’d definitely send a separate unit to crush me, the linchpin of this plan.

That’s where the handling of the three Alpha Team members I left behind would become crucial.

"Listen carefully. What’s important is not avoiding losses. It’s about fully understanding your role—always knowing what you should be doing and what you must not allow to happen."

The day before the Daihaseisai.

Shirai-san said that to the GMDW members gathered in the lecture room.

"Wait, so… we shouldn’t avoid losses?"

"Well, yes."

She replied without hesitation to my raised-hand question and continued:

"Of course, if you take an injury bad enough that you can’t move, that’s a different matter. But otherwise, your priority is to fulfill your role. The judgment there can be tricky, though."

"That sounds complicated…"

"You don’t have to overthink it. …Let’s see. For example, let’s use ball toss as the model. You’ll be doing it tomorrow, right? As part of the school-wide event."

Yumetsuki-san gave a low, thoughtful “hmm,” and Shirai-san began using the whiteboard.

"In the Daihaseisai version of ball toss, there are three main roles: the tossers, the disrupters, and the guards who protect key people on your side from disruption."

She drew three circles on the board, each labeled with the kanji for “ball,” “disrupt,” and “guard.”

This part was simple enough that the GMDW members nodded readily. I nodded too.

"Identifying these roles is the most important part, but… it should be fine. Reicia-san is well-versed in this, after all."

Uh… she’s overestimating me there.
Sure, Reicia-chan might be good at this kind of thing, but still…

"The ball tosser’s job is to get balls into the basket, and their actions should revolve around that goal. That means moving to avoid disruption, taking falls in a way that prevents you from dropping the balls, things like that."

"So the ball tosser should focus only on scoring, and doesn’t need to help their teammates in other roles, correct?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Ehh?! Th-th-th—that sounds a little cold…"

"Reicia-san is right. If you let emotions sway you and abandon your role, it will, in the end, cause the entire group’s function to break down. Acting with that in mind is the first step toward strategy… Though I expect someone like Reicia-san already understands that without being told."

"No, no, I’m learning a lot here."

I mean, I’ve never consciously thought about it before.
If anything, I’m the kind of person who always lets emotions sway me…

"B-but… wouldn’t that mean the ball tossers would get taken out pretty quickly? Even if they’re not trying to avoid losses, they wouldn’t be able to keep up group coordination for long—"

"Exactly. That’s why the disrupters and guards are there. And when losses occur, you redistribute people to different groups as needed. That way, you can maintain tight coordination at all times."

Shirai-san drew lines connecting the three circles.

"In other words, through coordination and strategy, you turn the group into ‘a unit governed by a single will.’"

"I see! As expected of Shirai-san! Hearing it from someone who’s been putting it into practice all the time as part of Judgment really has a different weight to it!"

"……………………"

Oh—Shirai-san just looked away.
…Well, she’s the type who thinks, If something happens, I’ll act on my own and just file the report afterward, so…

After that, Shirai-san gave us all sorts of advice—tricks for working together, ways to recover if something went wrong—and the faction members exchanged ideas with each other.

There was even some grumbling from members about how it was unfair that only Yumetsuki-san and Rinka-san got to be called by name…

And now—here I am, moving together with Alpha Team.

Kiryu Chitabi-san.
Amiya Sunagi-san.
Tsunemi Ichika-san.

Chitabi-san’s ability is Instant Freeze Hydro Bomb—a variant of the Hydro Hand water manipulation type. She can freeze manipulated water or cause steam explosions.

Sunagi-san’s ability is Hollow Palm—a variant of an atmospheric ability that fires “compressed vacuums” from the palm. With some creativity, it can even control air currents.

Ichika-san’s ability is Instant Adhesive Clear Tape—it manipulates intermolecular forces in what she touches to increase stickiness, and as a side effect, reinforces the touched area.

Aside from Sunagi-san, who’s a first-year, Chitabi-san and Ichika-san are both Level 4 espers and were part of the predecessor faction to GMDW that Reicia-chan originally gathered.

The teams weren’t divided based on ability synergy, but rather along existing faction lines. Ability synergy can be worked out with enough ingenuity anyway. Even something like fire and water could be combined for optical tricks like mirages.

In any case, the role of these three I’ve gathered is to act as my guard—the key to the entire force’s movement.

I might technically be a Level 4 esper, but at this point I can’t use the fissures for attacks anymore. That means I have to rely on these three to get through enemy interference.

"...H-h-here they come."

"G-g-got it, I’ll do my best!!"

"Don’t be so tense, you two~ With me here, you can rest easy~"

In the distance, enemies kicked up clouds of dust as they approached.
Sure enough, most of them were occupied dealing with Tokiwadai students attacking from above, but a few seemed to have set their sights on me.

They ignored Tokiwadai interference and came straight at us.

Alright!

《Reicia-chan! Let’s do this!》

《Indeed. From here on, this will be beyond a mere comeback… This will be… ours.》

I took a deep breath—

"GMDW’s… prologue to our leap forward begins now!!"

Chapter 1 – The Wind Doesn’t Blow for the Bucket Maker Psicopics
Episode 55: Ball Toss Fiance (or Villain)

"That's Reicia Blackguard! Take her down and the ‘Fissure’ will disappear!"

"As long as that ‘Fissure’ is there, we don’t stand a chance! Forget the balls for now! Put our full force into holding her down!!"

The first to attack was a telekinesis-type esper.
They gathered the dust they’d kicked up and launched earthen spears at us at high speed. But this much—

"M-m-m-pointless, I say!"

Gobo!!

A mass of water generated by Chitabi-san’s ability intercepted the earthen spears.
Her output was a little low for a Level 4, but she could form water masses by gathering moisture from the air, without needing to bring her own supply. In events where bringing items was forbidden, it was a very handy power.

"Ichika-san."

"Understood!"

Once Chitabi-san had prepared the water, I gave the signal.
Ichika-san touched the water mass Chitabi-san had created.

Her ability increased the stickiness of whatever she touched by manipulating intermolecular forces. In other words, she could strengthen the force binding molecules together to boost adhesion (though, technically, it’s a bit more complicated).

As a side note, this realm of intermolecular force was the same one interfered with by “Black-and-White Saw Blade Jagged Edge” back when it was still a Level 4 power, and apparently that connection is part of why Ichika-san joined GMDW.

The important part here is that increasing adhesion isn’t the same as “sticking invisible tape” to something.
If she wanted, she could increase the stickiness of smooth glass or slippery paper—regardless of material. And as a Level 4, she could do it over an enormous range.

Which meant—

She could also increase the adhesion of water.

Gobo-bo! Chitabi-san’s manipulated water mass bubbled and churned.
Normally, raising water’s adhesion would cause it to clump and stop moving, but as a rare water-manipulation variant who controlled water at the molecular level, she could keep those adhesive water molecules from sticking together—
and instead spread them under the enemy’s feet.

"Whoa!? What the—my legs won’t move!"

"Is this some kind of glue-trap esper!? Anything goes now, huh!?"

"Sand! Cover it with sand, that’ll help!"

"Take off your shoes! Even if it hurts, deal with it!"

The opposing team scrambled to counter Chitabi-san and Ichika-san’s combo.
Of course, like they said, this alone could be dealt with—kick off your shoes, throw on some sand, and the adhesive effect would be nullified.

But they were forgetting something.

This event wasn’t something just our team was playing in.

"O-ho-ho-ho-ho! How careless of you! Did you forget the Wind God of Tokiwadai is here?!"

From above the Fissure, a blast of storm wind slammed down.
The enemy players caught in the full brunt of the gale were all blown onto the water and became victims of the adhesive trap.

"I… I must do something as well!"

"Yes, you’re right… The adhesive interference has done its job by now. Let’s help the disruption team—use the wind to stir up some sand."

"I’m… not very good with wind…"

From Sunagi-san’s hands, an invisible mass was released.
Her Hollow Palm created vacuum zones by manipulating gases at the molecular level. That didn’t mean a repulsive force would form inside them.

The range wasn’t especially long, and it wasn’t a power made for quick, on-the-fly tricks, but—

"If you do as I taught you before, you’ll be fine."

When it came to creating and releasing vacuum zones for versatile applications, no one could surpass us. Thanks in part to her being a junior in the faction, Sunagi-san had recently gotten the hang of applying her wind manipulation more effectively.

"Uwah!? The sand… I can’t see ahead!"

"Damn it! What’s the score on their side now!? Why is the interference so brutal!?"

"Shit, are we already in a state where we can barely defend or attack!?"

"Stop using your abilities!! You’re hitting us! You’ve been hitting us this whole time! Who’s been flinging telekinesis at us!?"

"Sunaga from Class 3 is floating!!"

As expected, it was absolute chaos.

Because things were going so smoothly, Reicia-chan used the remaining Fissure energy to create a chair and sat down slowly. Honestly, I thought maybe she shouldn’t get too relaxed… but I was staying alert, and theatrically behaving like a queen was probably important for the performance.

They had to make it clear inside and outside Tokiwadai that “this strategy works because of Reicia Blackguard.”

While all that was happening—

"Here I go!"

Mikoto-san, using iron sand, gathered a ton of balls and dumped them all into the basket in one go.
The opposing team apparently tried to defend the basket with telekinesis… but their luck ran out. Mikoto-san smashed through their defense, and as a result—

"Competition over. All red balls are in the basket; victory goes to Tokiwadai Middle School."

The match was decided.

…Wow. As expected from one of the “Five Fingers.”
Well, we were responsible for part of that power ourselves, but still…

"…Phew."

After the event had wrapped up for the moment, I was taking a short break in the rest area beside the arena.
This ball-toss game was the highlight of day one, but it wasn’t the final event. There were still two more competitions to go after this, so I was focusing on recovering my stamina.

Everyone from Tokiwadai was thrilled—we’d completely made up for the bitter defeat we suffered in the morning.
But honestly, I couldn’t relax. As the tournament went on, the other side would keep gathering information on us… and it was only a matter of time before we ran into a school with a perfect countermeasure against me.

《Shiren. You should let your brain rest while we’re on break. Besides, when you go using your mind without restraint, I end up mentally exhausted too.》

《Ah, sorry. I can’t help worrying…》

This time around, GMDW’s teamwork had been flawless.
Thanks to the contact from members of Shokuhou-san’s faction, everyone in guard, offense, and disruption worked together as one. But… there was still something nagging at me.

《Everyone seemed unusually fired up, didn’t they?》

Well, having motivation was a good thing.
If we showed that GMDW’s organizational skills were top-tier, it would only speed up our recognition as Level 5 espers. Still… this wasn’t just enthusiasm—it felt like something else, something dangerously close to recklessness.

《I understand what you’re implying… Konagi, for instance, seemed to be running in circles. If I hadn’t been giving instructions, who knows what she might have done.》

《Yeah… exactly.》

I do think it’s important to want to be useful—certainly better than sitting back and doing nothing.
But if that started to turn into a kind of obsession, then it became a problem. Maybe our push for Level 5 certification was putting them under too much pressure? Then again, there’s really nothing we can do about that.
…Maybe we just needed a good way to blow off steam. We could all go out and have fun tonight.

《…I was thinking of making a move on Kamijou tonight, actually.》

Apparently Reicia-chan also thought focusing on the faction took priority over that. After all, she could see Kamijou-san any time during the Daihaseisai. Wait… since when had she been making those kinds of plans?

《Well, in any case, since it looks like the engagement will be broken off smoothly, our mental strain should be considerably alleviated—》

"No, no, no. I’ve been looking for you, Reicia-chan."

The moment I heard that voice, my body jolted.
…That wasn’t my shock. It was her tension—Reicia-chan’s.

But it lasted only an instant. Almost immediately, she shifted into that ‘sharpened relaxation’ of hers. My—no, her—body turned smoothly toward the speaker.

The smile was flawless.
But the eyes weren’t smiling at all.
With that beautiful, composed expression, Reicia-chan looked straight at him.

And then she spoke.

"My, it’s been a while, Nurikae-sama."

A handsome young man with long black hair tied back with a white cloth and a gentle smile stood there.

Our former fiancé—Nurikae Onore—was waiting for us.