The Heated Game of Dodgeball

The next day we got back to the hotel and went to Yui's room. I unlocked the door with the duplicate key Yui made for me. I opened the door and saw Yui sipping tea and reading a book. Shizaki and Mikoko playing a game together, Suzumi sleeping, Erin reading a book beside the window, Hinari sitting on the floor in front of Erin and Himiya asleep with her head on Yui's shoulder.

"We're home." I said tired.

"About time." Mikoko smiled. "I was starting to think you and Murano would never make it back."

"We did and it was a fun experience." I walked in and sat beside Shizaki.

"How was the date Murano?" Shizaki asked.

"Fun." Murano said.

Everyone paused what they were doing and looked at Murano. Murano was smiling happily and everyone looked at her then me. I yawned and was half asleep. It was a shock to everyone, well besides Suzumi and Himiya who were asleep.

Meanwhile with Katsuguchi and Miyachi, they were in a building and sitting in the living room. Miyachi told Katsuguchi about the incident and Katsuguchi sighed.

"Murano appeared and ruined your plans?" Katsuguchi asked.

"Well it wasn't Murano originally. It was Yufumi who actually did." Miyachi sat back on the couch.

"Yufumi..?" Katsuguchi looked up. "The girl who was kicked out of the Underworld by her mother?"

"Mhm, something about her is weird. She got angry when she learned that I killed a human, a Demon Hunter. My ex boyfriend. She entered a berserk state and proceeded to beat my ass." Miyachi said.

"That's unusual. No demon other than those who are married to a human has ever expressed rage for a human being killed. Unfortunately I don't care about her, what care about is our plan to overthrow the Demon Queen." Katsuguchi said.

"You know that isn't possible. Have you not learned about her past? Calling her a Queen is an understatement. She is a Goddess. Her and her husband are threats. Besides there are multiple Demon Queens, what Queen are you speaking of?" Miyachi asked.

"Stella." Katsuguchi said. "The Undefeatable Dark Queen or Goddess. The only known survivor of the Bushi and one of the two only members of the clan. It's her and her daughter that are the only Bushi for now."

"Stella? You mean the woman from Arcania? Wasn't that land destroyed?" Miyachi asked.

"You really have been sleeping during the lessons Omusa have been giving us." Katsuguchi sighed.

"I wasn't interested in any of that stuff. Besides why do we need to know about Stella? The Underworld isn't gonna become better if we are told about these people. The Underworld history is all the same." Miyachi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I'm sure you're happy saying that because if it weren't for her you wouldn't be alive moron." Katsuguchi said.

"And I'm taking that you're a super genius who thinks dethroning her is a good idea? Yeah, okay." Miyachi crossed her arms.

"Whatever. Are you helping or not?" Katsuguchi stood up.

"Fine. I don't see much of a reason to decline." Miyachi stood up.

Katsuguchi opened a portal and they walked through the portal then the portal closed. They travelled to the Underworld and sought out Stella. Meanwhile, I, along with my group, planned what we should do for the day.

"How about coming to Everspring? We have a beach there and we can hang out!" Hinari suggested.

"I don't see why not." I smiled. "We could get in some games of Volleyball."

"Yeah! The beach it is and you're going down Yufumi-sama!" Hinari smiled and her eyes glowed.

"Oh? Let's pick our teams then. I choose...Mikoko, Shizaki, and Murano." I said.

"I choose Erin-"

"Leave me out of this one." Erin said.

"O-Okay then, I choose Yui-Senpai, Himiya, and Suzumi!" Hinari said.

"This will be an easy win.." Murano said.

Suzumi was still asleep on the bed then Yui shook her and Suzumi sat up and stretched. Yui told her the news and Suzumi tilted her head a bit then rubbed her eyes. She got up to get ready and sighed. A few minutes passed and Suzumi walked out of the bathroom fully dressed. We all got up then Murano warped us to Everspring Beach.

"You've been everywhere in Everspring huh?" I asked.

"Yes." Murano nodded.

Hinari ran towards the dodgeball area and we followed and she grabbed a dodgeball and smiled. She looked at us.

"Alright...So we aren't playing volleyball. We are gonna play dodgeball..the rules are simple. Don't get hit." Hinari said.

"Oh? You want to go with a dangerous game huh? Alright then.." I said.

Everyone got to their side of the field and Erin was the referee since he didn't want to play because he knew how dangerous this form of dodgeball could get.

"We each start off with four balls on our side to make it fair. Now! Let the games begin!" Hinari smiled then set a cubic barrier over the area so the balls couldn't escape the designated area.

Hinari picked up a ball and aimed at me then threw the ball past me with some fearsome force. It took me and Shizaki by surprise and I froze up. Hinari smirked and taunted me. Mikoko looked at me and at Hinari. Hinari just wanted an excuse to battle. I took a deep breath and looked at her and my eyes shined red then I threw the ball past her and the ball whooshed past her in blazing speeds. Shizaki looked at me and back at Hinari. She knew we had some form of rivalry.

"Now that we've gauged each other...now time for the real battle to begin!" I picked up the ball and threw it directly at her.

Hinari quick picked up the ball and blocked the ball I threw and was flung back into the wall of the cubic barrier. She grunted and panted.

"Oh yeah! Time to rock the place!" Mikoko stomped down and threw the ball at Suzumi.

Suzumi stepped out the way and slightly opened her eye and her blue aura surged. She opened her eyes and stomped down then threw the ball. The ball flew past Mikoko at high speeds and Mikoko was shocked. Murano looked back and looked at Suzumi.

"She's a totally different being." Murano said.

"U-Uhm, Suzumi...There's no need to try and decapitate them.." Yui said.

"Now this is getting interesting." Mikoko said and picked up the ball.

"You're wide open!" Himiya jumped up and threw the ball at Shizaki.

"NOO!!" Shizaki squealed and I appeared in front of Shizaki and caught the ball and a huge blast of wind was generated.

Murano threw the ball at Himiya and it seemed like a normal throw. If you thought it was a normal throw, your IQ bust be less than a drunk fly because the ball moved faster than time. Luckily for Himiya, Murano missed because the ball would've killed her. I'm sure that's what Murano was going for.

"Enough playing around!" Hinari said and spun in a circle and threw the ball at me. "Cosmic Bullet!"

I threw my ball at hers and the balls collided and deflected then started hitting the walls of the barrier. Shizaki peeked and saw Mikoko and Suzumi having an epic battle with their dodgeballs. They were evened out.

"This will finish you!" Mikoko said and stomped down and aura surged from her body then she threw the ball at Suzumi. "Devil Shot!"

Suzumi looked at the ball and dodged it and the ball bounced off the wall, ricocheting back towards her. Suzumi backflipped dodging the ball again and blue sparks came from her eyes. She landed and threw the ball at the ball going for Mikoko. Her ball hit Mikoko's ball and made the ball go faster.

"Ignition Force." Suzumi said.

Mikoko caught the ball and was thrown into the wall and fell on one knee, panting. Suzumi's ball hit the top of Mikoko's head afterwards.

"Out!" Erin said.

I saw the entire thing. After Suzumi's ball hit Mikoko's, her ball was flung towards the wall then bounced towards the ceiling then came right back down directly at Mikoko. The chances of that was 2%. It was a too perfect of a shot. Suzumi is incredibly something else when she's fully awake. Mikoko smiled and got up then walked to the sidelines and sat down. I have to get Suzumi out to avenge her.

"This game is getting pretty scary." Yui said.

"I know right?!" Shizaki said.

"I forfeit! I don't wanna die!" Yui ran towards the sidelines.

Now it was a three on three. Shizaki was too scared to forfeit and too scared to come from behind me. Hinari already had her sights on me. Hinari yelled and threw a ball at me. I threw mine and our previous outcome happened again. Shizaki ran towards Murano then Suzumi threw the ball past Shizaki and the ball ricocheted from the wall to Shizaki's leg and she fell.

"Out!" Erin said

"How..? With that much accuracy can we win?" I asked.

"You see the thing is Suzumi's ability is called Marksman. She can never miss her target." Murano said.

"See? You should've picked Suzumi!" Hinari laughed. "Finally victory will be mine!"

Suzumi threw her ball at me and I blocked the ball and ran towards the front line. Himiya threw her ball at me and Murano threw her ball at Himiya's ball. The ball hit the side of Himiya's ball and deflected the ball then her ball went directly towards Himiya and hit Himiya in the face.

"Out!" Erin said.

"Thanks." I said.

"Mmm." Murano nodded.

Suzumi picked up two dodgeballs and threw both of them at the walls and they bounced back to each other then collided and deflected towards us then I blocked one of the balls and slid back. Murano got hit on her stomach with the ball.

"Out!" Erin said.

"We're so close to victory that I can taste it!" Hinari said.

I picked up another ball and threw them at Suzumi. She caught one and dodged the other then threw the ball at the floor and it bounced back up and I dodged it then Hinari threw her ball at me. I threw my other ball and the two collided again. I looked at Murano and my eyes shined violet. I dodged Suzumi's ball off pure instinct and Suzumi was surprised. Somehow I could tell when an object was gonna enter my space without looking. I picked up two balls then dashed towards front lines then jumped, dodging Suzumi's ball then threw a ball at Suzumi and it hit her. Erin didn't notice it because it was so fast then he saw the ball hit the ground from Suzumi's body.

"O-Out!" Erin was surprised.

"What was that..?" Yui asked.

"An effect of the Yellow Aura. Aura Mimicry. She looked at me and unintentionally copied my abilities." Murano said.

Suzumi smiled and closed her eyes then went half asleep once again. Hinari looked at me and got in a stance. I looked at her and the air was tense as our rivalry was known to everyone now.

"Once again...just us two on the field. This time I'm not losing." Hinari said and transformed into her Incomplete Devil Mode.

There were now four balls on both sides of the field once again. We began picking up balls and threw them at each other. The balls kept colliding with one another and ricocheting away from each other. I caught one of the balls and threw it at Hinari at light speeds and it seemed like I hit her but I only hit her spirit and her Physical Body was in the air and she threw a ball at me. I held my hand out and the ball was deflected by an unknown force. She landed and panted. I panted also and smirked. Hinari smirked as well and we picked up the final ball that was gonna decide the game. Our eyes glowed and we threw the ball and yelled.

"This game is mine!" Hinari said.

"As if!" I bellowed.

The balls collided once more and bounced off each other into opposite directions. I dashed and wall jumped then caught the ball. I threw it at Hinari and Hinari dodged then threw hers at me. I held my hand out and the ball went through my spacial force and hit me then I fell.

"Out!" Erin said. "The winner of the game is Hinari's Team!"

"Yes!!" Hinari screamed in joy then her barrier shattered and everyone looked up.

"How typical...playing games instead of trying to either get your Demon Code or improving your code." Katsuguchi said and looked at us.

"Katsuguchi.." Murano glared and stood up.

"Miyachi..?" Shizaki said and scooted back.

"Unfortunately we couldn't find Stella, so we came here to see what you losers were up to." Miyachi smirked and landed. "Dodgeball.."

I stood up and looked at Miyachi. Miyachi looked at me and I summoned my sword and got in a stance. She smirked and summoned her sword.

"It's in everyone's best interest to settle down.." A male voice said.

We looked to our left and saw a man walking up in a kimono. He had short black hair and a serpent around his body.

"Sensei.." Katsuguchi landed.

"M-Mr. Omusa!" Yui stood up and bowed.

"I have urgent news for you seven. The Head Demon Argon has passed away. Because of this a new ruler of the houses needs to take place and only you seven are qualified. I have come to tell you there will be an official Princess Battle Royale to choose who gets to take place as the Head Demon of the Houses. No Servants are allowed. You have an entire year to prepare. In Demon Time that's like a week, so you have until 365 Human Days to prepare. I, along with the other Dark Lords, will be watching. Even Stella herself will be watching. Do not disappoint." Omusa said and walked off.

"Easy...I'll mop the floor with all of you. Good luck because you'll need it." Katsuguchi smirked and walked off.

"We are all enemies now?" I asked.

"Yep." Murano said. "Well I'm gonna go do something, I'm not interested in being a Head Demon..find me if you want anything."

"Y-Yeah I don't wanna fight either." Yui said

"Well I'm fighting! Yufumi! Be prepared! I've been taking it easy on you but now I want you at full power! Oh yeah, let's get in some training sessions! I'll need a partner!" Hinari smiled and skipped off.

"You're dead to me, Yu-Fu-Mi." Miyachi smirked and flew off somewhere.

Himiya looked around her and held her arm. I looked at Himiya and walked towards her. Himiya looked up and sighed.

"I'm glad Murano isn't fighting because she'd definitely try to kill me." Himiya said.

"Can you tell me more about the Dark Lords and Stella?" I asked.

"Hm? Yeah sure. We would need to talk privately because this kind of information is top class." Himiya said.

"Alright." I nodded.