章節 35: Volleyball Tournament Part 1

With everyone separated into teams, Axel was ready for fun and payback when Kawakami suddenly said, "Ah. Axel, Mishima and Ann. Could you three please come here for a second?"

Confused, Axel looked over to Ann incase she knew something but she only shrugged her shoulders. Axel sighed before making his way over to Kawakami with the pair in tow.

"Since the three of you are participating in the 'Teachers vs Students' matches, you'll be excused from the first match as the other students will meet up outside to decide teams." Said Kawakami.

Kawakami saw Axel was about to ask something and said, "Do you have a question, Axel?"

Without saying anything, Axel pointed to his team. Kawakami instanly realized what he meant and said, "Don't worry, other students from our class that aren't currently competing will take over for you."

Axel gave her a small nod before leaving the gym with Ann and Mishima quietly following behind him.

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(POV Change)

As Kawakami watched Axel's back as he left, she sighed as she muttered, "I'm tired…" but before she could relax, a relatively large figure appeared beside her and tapped her shoulder.

Kawakami jumped from the sudden touch but relax when she saw who it was. In an exasperated tone she said, "Kamoshida-sensei, please don't sneak up on me like that."

Kamoshida gave a small laugh as he grinned and said, "Sorry, sorry. You looked a bit tired so I wanted to wake you up."

Rolling her eyes, Kawakami looked at him and said, "Well, did you need something? Or did you really only come over here just to scare me?"

With a small cough to view his throat, Kamoshida looked in the direction of where Axel left and muttered, "That student just now… the one with Ann. I don't think I've seen him before."

Nodding her head, Kawakami said, "That's natural. His name is Axel and he just started a couple days ago."

Kamoshida continued looking at the door as his brows slowly furrowed.

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(POV - Axel)

Outside the gym, a variety of students gathered in a clearing. Axel slowly made his way over with the pair silently following him from behind.

However, the silence didn't last long as a happy voice suddenly echoed, "Ann! Over here!"

Axel stopped as a small smile appeared on his face. Turning around slightly, he saw a smile bloom on Ann's face as she quickly dashed over to the source of the voice.

Ann jumped at the figure as she happily said, "Shiho!"

Shiho luckily managed to catch Ann as she chuckled and gave her a hug. After being released, Shiho turned towards Axel and signaled him to come over.

With a small smile, Axel slowly made his way over to the pair. However, before he could reach them, Axel stopped as he felt a strong grasp pull him from behind.

Turning around, Axel was met with the sight of Makoto, who was wearing a large grin on her face.

"H-hey Makoto." Muttered Axel as he was still a little surprised.

Makoto was about to say something when her lips twitched. Before Axel could ask what happened, a marshmallow-like feeling enveloped his right arm.

Gritting her teeth, Makoto looked over at the person holding Axel's arm and said, "Hello Ann."

Ann glared at Makoto while holding Axel's arm tighter and growled, "Makoto."

Shiho, who was watching from the side with an amused expression, suddenly looked at Axel and muttered, "You sly dog." causing Axel's face to twitch.

Axel quickly broke free from both their grasp and fixed his P.E uniform. Both girls looked surprised that Axel actually shook them away but became startled when they saw the look he was giving them.

With his arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently on the ground, Axel looked at the pair with a frown and said, "Why can't you girls get along better?"

Both Ann and Makoto started waving their arms in the air as they started spitting a multitude of excuses. However, every word they said landed on deaf ears as Axel ignored them.

It took a couple seconds for both girls to realise they really ticked Axel off this time. Makoto felt sad as she reached her arm towards Axel, only to quickly take it back as her lips quivered. Ann just stood still as she didn't expect Axel to act this way.

Shiho saw that things were quickly going south and tried to smooth it over between the trio but before she could speak, a teacher called all of their names.

Turning towards the teacher, he handed Axel a paper with all their names written on it and said, "Since you five have been 'busy' over here, you missed out on forming a team. Luckily, you all seem like friends so all of you will be on the same team. Your last member will be one of the staff because all the other students are already in a team. There's still some time before the first matches finish so you can stay out here and come up with a game plan. Just remember to come back inside when the matches end."

After the teacher left, everyone stood still in silence. Axel still had his arms crossed but his expression started to falter when he saw Makoto and Ann.

Makoto had a really sad look on her face as her body unconsiously shrunk, making her appear small and fragile. Ann, on the other hand, had a small frown on her face as she gave Axel a 'blaming' look.

Before Axel could contemplate whether to continue being mad or forgive them, he suddenly felt a rather heavy blow strike him on his side.

With wide eyes, Axel turned to the left only to discover Shiho elbowing him in the gut. She gave him a small smile which slightly frightened him and said, "I think that's enough, right Axel?"

Rubbing his ribcage with a contorted face from the pain, Axel stuttered, "Y-yeah…"

Turning to face the girls, Axel saw the worry in their eyes and felt slightly guilty for getting mad at them.

With a small cough to gather their attention, Axel turned his head away from them while scratching the back of his head and muttered, "Sorry… for getting mad…"

What Axel didn't realise, however, was the fact he had a slight blush on his face which caused the girls to all think the same thing.

'C-Cute!!!'