“EH?!?!”

Some of the students in the classroom turned by the sound and quickly minded their own business again seeing as this was just another one of the red-haired boy’s outbursts for whatever. His classmates had gotten used to it by now.

Wataru couldn’t help it, he couldn’t help but scream out of surprise as he read the sheet that Yuta had just given him. It was the official sign up sheet for the regional competition that they were planning on entering, They knew that because this was one of the most important competitions the sign up fee would be somewhat more than their previous competitions, however they did not expect it to be this much!

“You mean we’re supposed to pay this?” Ryosuke questioned hesitantly as he pointed from the sheet to his own face.

“Because we sign up as a school team, the sign up costs go directly to the school and they handle it. However...-” Yuta explained.

“Yatta!! What are we waiting for?!” Nippori exclaimed.

“Yossha! Sign us up immediately!” Wataru cheered happily.

“HOWEVER,” Yuta cleared his throat and raised his voice slightly over the sound of his teammates cheering and celebrating, “The school can only afford to fund one team.”

“So? You plan on entering us as two teams?” Kiyama wondered.

“That wouldn’t make sense, neither team would be able to participate because of the lack of members...” Kaneko frowned seriously.

“Of course I knew that!” Kiyama huffed.

“So what’s the problem then?” Ryosuke frowned.

“The female tumbling team handed over their sign up sheet last week and it got approved this morning...” Mizusawa sighed.

“So?”

Hino was one second away from facepalming himself, “Which means that the school is funding their participation and we’re too late.”

“EH?!?!” The red head yelled out once again, this time even louder than before.

“Oi! What’s up with all the yelling?” a familiar voice complained and they turned their heads just as Nezumi approached them and dropped her bag next to her seat as she tilted her head.

“We just found out we can’t participate in the regional competition,” Satoshi explained rather disappointed.

“What?” she started grinning, “You finally realized you’re not good enough?”

“Oi! That’s not it!” Wataru frowned.

“Then what is?” she didn’t stop grinning.

“The entry fee is too expensive for us to afford ourself,” Kaneko explains calmly, “And the school can only fund one team, and the female team beat us to the sign up...”

Nezumi nodded slowly, “That’s a problem... How much is the fee then?” she wondered, Ryosuke held up the sheet and she read it through for a moment before almost falling down as she read the number. “Majisuka?!” she grabbed the sheet with both hands. “Muri desu...”

“Muri ja nai...” Hino sighed.

“Well, it was fun while it lasted...” Nippori shrugged.

Wataru slammed his fist on the desk, this time he did gain the attention of some of the other students, “Oi! Why are you all giving up this easily?!” he huffed at his team, “There has to be a way to get all this money together in time!”

“What are you thinking of then, Wataru?” Kiyama frowned.

Wataru didn’t answer yet but he seemed deep in thought. He didn’t even have a plan yet but at least he didn’t want to give up on this. They had been through so much already as a team, they couldn’t just give up now that it was getting a little tougher.

“You have no idea, do you?” she grinned.

“Urusai yo!” he scoffed and wanted to say something when he got interupted by the school bell and the remaining students quickly entered the room. Satoshi and Nippori quickly said their goodbye and left for their own class while the others took their own place.

“Maybe you should look for sponsors outside of the school?” she suggested to Wataru as Kashiwagi entered the classroom.

“... Tabun...” he nodded thoughtfully.

After school the guys gathered in the gym for practice, though they were still sulking about how low their chances were on actually getting to participate in the competition, it didn’t mean they were going to stop practicing in the meantime. None of them had any idea how to get money for the competition yet.

“Minna~” it broke the little concentration they had in their pose and as a result they tumbled over onto the mat which caused her to laugh a little louder.

“Nezumi! What do you want?!” The red head growled as he got up from the floor.

She pouted slightly as she crossed her arms and stopped next to Satoshi. “You can be a little nicer to the person who is selflessly trying to help you guys!”

“What do you mean?” Satoshi looked up at her.

“This!” she proudly held up a list in front of them, “A list of people who would be more than happy to sponsor a team to victory.”

“Eh?!” Wataru jumped forwards and grabbed the list from her hands.

“You asked all these people to sponsor our team?” Kiyama frowned as he and the other surrounded Wataru to look at the list.

“Not exactly...” she tilted her head thoughtfully, “You guys still need to contact them and ask them to sponsor you...”

“So you just gave us a list with names?” Yuta frowned.

She huffed, “I looked it up for you. All these names are people who have sponsored teams for this school in the past and if you contact them they might just do the same for you...”

“Did any of them ever sponsor a male tumbling team?” Kaneko wondered.

She shook her head, “Not that I could find...”

“Then what makes you think they would do this time?” Hino crossed his arms.

“Oi!” she placed her hands on her hips as she huffed at them, “I am trying to help you guys here! I don’t see any of you guys come up with a plan!”

“Ah~ We very much appreciate it, Nezumi-senpai,” Satoshi quickly smiled and she replied with a weak smile. At least he was trying, not that she expected him to be so outspoken and rude as most of the other guys.

“I don’t understand it...” Wataru said as he read through the long list of names again.

“What, you don’t understand how to make a call?” she frowned.

He glared up at her, “I don’t understand why you are helping us. What’s in it for you?”

She shrugged thoughtfully before crossing her arms, “I’m just being nice... Plus I don’t like the idea of Kinoko-atama having an opportunity to participate and you guys don’t.”

“So desu ne?”

“What’s with the suspicion?!” she scoffed as she glared at him this time, “Fine then, I’ll just take back my list then...” she huffed as she pulled the piece of paper out of his hands and proceeded to circle around the group as Wataru chased her for the list.

Suddenly the door opened and slammed against the inside wall with a loud thud that gained everyone’s attention. They turned around and saw that Shoko-sensei and Kashiwagi-sensei entered the gym, leading the way for a rather elderly looking woman dressed up in a fancy kimono like most elderly people were wearing, except for the fact that hers seemed to be have been made of the finest silk that gave the impression that she was indeed very wealthy.

“Who is that?” Kiyama frowned as all of them took in the appearence of the woman who just entered their sacred gym with the advisors.

“Nanami Asuka,” Hino explained. He had heard all about that woman from his father. “She used to be in the Olympic Rythmic Gymnastic team and is one of the biggest donators of our school...”

“What is she doing here?” Yuta frowned.

“And this is the gym,” Shoko explained to her. “The female team has been working very hard ever since the date of regionals had been announced to make sure they have the best chance of winning, naturally.”

“Ah- the boys’ team have been doing their best too,” Kashiwagi quickly added.

The elderly woman turned her head slightly to look at where he was pointing. A bunch of strange looking boys dressed in pink shirts who didn’t seem to posses any discipline or talent necessary for gymnastics. She could judge them just by looking at them after her years of experience with the matter. You could hardly even consider them worthy of a title such as male tumbling team.

“I assume that the team has signed up for the fund?” the woman said, still sternly glaring over to the male team.

“Ano... You see...-” the woman gave him a rather disapproving look before turning to Shoko.

“Naturally, their captain and I immediately filled out the form and handed in as soon as we received it,” she nodded as she gestured to watch the female team practice one of their routines.

“A-ano...”

“Maybe you should motivate your team to actually use practice time for practice... Without a fund for the fee, they’ll need it if they want at least a bit of a shot at entering...” the woman spoke before following Shoko to the other side.

Kashiwagi stood there for a second, not quite sure if he was supposed to feel intimidated by her presence, insulted by her rudeness or humiliated that the guys seemed like a mess compared to the disciplined female team. He quickly rubbed the back of his head as he turned around and headed for the other team who had been staring all this time and quickly conjured up his all too familiar smile.

“What was that all about?” Wataru frowned since it didn’t exactly go unnoticed.

“Ah, Nanami-sama wanted to have a look at the preparations of the team she’s sponsoring this year...” Kashiwagi explained.

“We really need to find a way to get money for regionals...” Mizusawa sighed.

Wataru glanced over to Nezumi who was blankly staring over to the other side and took his chance by stealing away the list of names again, jumping next to Kashiwagi and showing it to him.

“Eh...?” Nezumi finally noticed the difference and looked up to see Wataru standing on the opposite of her with a grin on his face as she showed Kashiwagi the list. “Oh, so now you think it’s a good idea, ah? At least you can show me some gratitude!”

“Thank you kindly for your coöperation,” Nippori said while pulling a face and taking a strange and dramatically large bow before getting nudged aside by Kaneko, which resulted in a cat and mouse chase between the two of them.

“Kashiwagi-sensei!” a harsh voice called out which made the poor teacher cringe upon hearing his own name before turning around. The voice also called a halt to the chasing members of the team and everyone turned aside. The elderly woman had approached them after catching the disturbance and felt the need to speak up since neither teachers did anything about it. “Is this what this team calls training?”

“Ah, they were just having a bit of fun...”

“They are making a ruckus and distracting the other team from their practice. A gym should be a peaceful place where athletes can concentrate and perfect their skills in order to reach their goal, especially if they would also need to proof themselves worthy to be sponsored. There should not be any time nor place for loud noises and fun,” she scoffed as she glared over the group for a second before stopping at the girl who has slightly standing behind the group and had been glaring at her the whole time and now avoided her gaze. “I thought this was a male team?”

“Oh, little Nezumi-chan here isn’t part of the team,” Ryosuke grinned as he tapped her shoulder slightly.

“Outsiders can cause distraction to the team, they could also take note of the progress and leak it to your opposing teams, risking your chance at gaining the ultimate prize in the competition,” the woman continued, “You should not allow people inside the gym who do not belong there.”

“They let you in, didn’t they?” Nezumi snapped at her and noticed the twitches as she did so.

“Oi! Nezumi! Urusai yo,” Wataru growled at her but she ignored him and just kept glaring at the woman.

She stared back at her with her strict and cold eyes before letting out a disapproving sigh, “I am glad that my funding will be well spend with the female team, I wouldn’t want my donation to go to such an unworthy team and go to waste,” she scoffed as she turned away from the group. “I”ll be taking my leave.”

The woman turned around without another glance before heading towards the exit of the gym, followed by Shoko he gave a rather irritated look to Kashiwagi before both disappeared out of the gym.

“Baka!” he immediately jumped forwards again.

“That was a bit rude, Nezumi-san...” Kashiwagi tilted his head.

Nezumi merely scoffed, “I don’t let anyone insult me... Especially no elderly woman like her!”

“Maybe I can apologize some more...” he wondered thoughtfully.

“Why would you make an effort?”

“Shoko-sensei and I were hoping to talk Nanami-sama in sponsoring the male team as well, or at least part of it...” he explained hesitantly. “But now...”

Nippori blinked, “Nezumi ruined our chances?”

“After speaking out to her like that?” Hino sighed slightly and glared over at the girl.

She rolled her eyes, “Like I knew...”

Wataru growled and stepped even closer, “You always bring bad luck!” he told her, “That woman might have been rude but she had every right to. She was right; people who don’t belong in the gym should not be here!” he scoffed as he crossed his arms. “You are just a distraction.”

Nezumi looked at him and glared for a second before scoffing and ripping the list out of his hands, “Fine. Whatever. I won’t be a bother to you any longer. Good luck raising money for that stupid competition...” she her heels and headed out the back way. She wasn’t going to stand for being insulted like that, especially since she put in some effort to try and help them. They weren’t even that happy about it, even Satoshi’s genuine thank you couldn’t convince her that it was actually worth putting effort in. Her acts of kindness never were accepted as that, hence the reason she didn’t really do good.

“We should be getting ready for the performance, not to get in!” Wataru huffed as he was the first to enter the little clubhouse that used to be a mere dressingroom. He sat down on the couch, crossed his arms and kept grumbling. Nippori was quick to follow and tried to relax his senior by massaging his shoulders.

“We could always use Nezumi-senpai’s idea...?” Satoshi gently suggested.

“It could be worth a shot,” Kiyama nodded as he sat down on one of the chairs opposite of the door, “Those people have supported teams at this school before, maybe we could talk them into doing it again.”

“But she took the list with names with her since someone decided to piss her off...” Kaneko frowned and slightly glared over to Wataru.

Nippori’s eyes grew as he rose in his seat and turned to the guy with the glasses, “Oi! Don’t talk that way about Aniki!”

“Well, it’s true!” he insisted.

“Urusai yo,” Yuta sighed. “Wataru was right though,” this drew the red-haired boy’s attention more than the others, “Although she meant wel, Nezumi has been a distraction from tumbling ever since we met her... Maybe it’s best if she’s not allowed near practice...” he explained calmly as he sat down and stared at the little mat with little puppets on the table in front of him. “We need to focus on getting sponsored and getting ready.”

“Right,” Ryosuke nodded as he sat down as well. “I think I remember some names from the list...”

“Let’s write down all we know and try those first, and if they reject us then we can do some research ourselves,” Yuta added before turning to Mizusawa, “Did you bring the routine book?”

Mizusawa nodded before thinking for a moment, “Ah! I think I left it back there, I’ll be right back,” he nodded again before turning back through the door that lead to the gym.

The gym was a much quieter space now that both teams had decided to quit practice for today. Mizusawa quickly headed through the hall and wanted to enter the gym when a voice made him stop.

“What do you want?”

It was a familiar voice that slightly echoed through the empty gym and he hesitated for a second. He couldn’t walk in now, he could interrupt the conversation. But staying here wouldn’t be such a good thing since that could be considered eavesdropping.

“We need to talk.”

That voice, however, was too familiar to ignore. It was Nezumi’s voice, but why was she in the gym and who was she talking to? She surely sounded very serious. Hesitantly Mizusawa waited by the door, leaning a bit closer to the crack between the two to see inside.

“You have some nerve talking to me in such a disrespectful tone of voice,” the other voice scoffed and Mizusawa started to recognize who the other person was. It was the woman from earlier, Nanami Asuka.

“I couldn’t care less,” she replied proudly, “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“A favor?” she started laughing. “How dare you even consider uttering those words?”

“Why can’t you sponsor two teams for the competition?”

“Excuse me?”

“How fair is it that one team gets a great opportunity and the others just train all year for nothing?” she continued.

“That’s how life goes, my dear child,” the woman grinned. “Only the best get a shot.”

“You would know all about it, wouldn’t you?”

“Is that why you asked me to come here? So you can insult me more and dare to ask a favor at the same time?”

Nezumi chuckled, “Actually it was just the favor, but you made it too easy for me...”

“If you’d expect me to even consider any favors revolving you... it might be best to change your attitude and show some more respect...” the woman scoffed again. “I’ll be taking my leave now,” with that being said she turned around and walked out of the main exit of the gym.

Nezumi let out a frustrated sigh before turning around and slammed the door open, almost bumping into Mizusawa as she did. She didn’t expect to see him there and he didn’t exactly expect her to exit through that door and quickly he tried to search his mind for a explanation.

“Ano... I left a notebook...” he said but fell quiet as she just kept staring at him. He decided to keep his explanation at that and wanted to enter the gym when a hand grabbed his upper arm and stopped him. He looked back at Nezumi who was staring forwards for a moment before glancing back at him.

“What did you hear?” she replied.

Mizusawa looked at her for a moment, not really knowing what to say. Her voice was so serious and the look in her eyes was slightly cold. Was this one of those fases Nezumi could slip in and out where he had to worry about his own life? No, she couldn’t snap that easily.

“Nothing...”

“You heard everything, didn’t you?” she let go of his arm and completely turned to face him. “Were you eavesdropping?”

He quickly shook his head, although thoughtfully tilted his head slightly after that, “I really did come back for a notebook, but then I heard someone talking. I wanted to go back and wait but then I recognized your voice and for some reason...”

“You got curious?” she suddenly grinned and he started to feel slightly more at ease. He never really had that much problems with Nezumi, but he didn’t exactly get along as well. They barely ever really talked or had a conversation other than some loose words when the whole group was there as well.

“Maybe a little?”

“Ah~” she raised her head slightly and looked at the ceiling as a thoughtful pout appeared on her face, “I guess it can’t be helped...” she turned back to him with another grin, “I am such an interesting person after all...”

Mizusawa smiled as well and nodded before a thought crossed his mind, “Ano... Nezumi... Can I ask you a question?”

“Mochiron,” she nodded.

“What were you trying to accomplish?” he hesitantly asked her.

She looked at him with a slightly surprised look. “Eh?”

“Talking to Nanami-sama...”

Nezumi sighed and opened the door to the gym again. She walked inside and hoped Mizusawa would get the clue and follow. She didn’t mind telling him what was going on, just as long as he would not tell anyone, but she couldn’t risk anyone else finding out. Luckily for her he got the point and followed, making sure the door closed behind him while Nezumi climbed up the small stage on the right and sat down on the edge.

“Wataru was right... I do bring bad luck to you guys,” she started explaining with a sigh, “I mean, look how many times I distracted you from your practice with my Saburou problems? Granted, I never asked Wataru to meddle with it but he did and dragged you guys along...” she started kicking her feet up and down, making sure not to hit the side of the stage and make a sound that could alert someone else.

Mizusawa looked at her for a second but didn’t say anything. He felt that if he would agree, which was the only thing he could do in this matter in all honesty, he wouldn’t exactly make the situation any better.

“If I had known that Kashiwagi-sensei invited that baba over to persuade her to aid you guys financially... I would not have spoken up like that... Or... Maybe I would, I don’t know,” she innocently shrugged. “I sometimes act before I think...”

“Sometimes?” he grinned.

She glared over at him for a second and as soon as the grin disappeared she grinned herself and winked at him as means of a joke before she continued.

“This is not the first time that I met that wretched old coot... So she should not have expected anything other from me in the first place...” she explained thoughtfully and scoffed for a second. “But I had hoped that I could make things right... by asking her for a favor...” she sighed before turning to Mizusawa. “Everytime I try to do good it goes awry...”

“Maybe because you don’t always approach it the way you should?”

“Or I should just stop trying to do good,” she shrugged with another grin.

“How do you know Nanami-sama anyway?” he was curious to know.

Before Nezumi could even answer this, the door slammed open and Wataru marched in followed by the others. She jumped off the stage immediately and turned to Mizusawa quickly.

“Don’t mention any of this to any of them, understood?”

Hesitantly he nodded. He didn’t know why he was supposed to keep this a secret but she seemed desperate about it, who was he to tell everything against her will? He was already quite surprised she even bothered to explain it so easily and lightly. Honestly he did expect different from her, having seen her behavior since they met.

“Oi! Mizusawa, what is taking you so long? We have...-” he stopped as he noticed her. “Nezumi?”

“Ah! Gomen gomen!” she grinned. “I was bored and wanted to have some fun in the gym, then Mizusawa-kun caught me...” she turned to him for a second. “And I decided to keep him hostage,” she grinned.

“Stop messing around, Nezumi,” he scoffed irritably.

“Oh, let me have some fun!” she whined. “I need something!”

“Go have some fun somewhere else,” he replied harshly. “We have important, useful things to do that don’t need your interuption.”

“Ano, Wataru...” Mizusawa wanted to speak up since even he felt that, which all the information he had just gathered, he was being a little harsh on her but Nezumi quickly jumped forwards.

“Fine! Whatever!” she said, quickly glaring back at Mizusawa before giving them a salute, “Ja, matta!”

That being said she casually walked out of the gym and slammed the door behind her as Mizusawa stared after her for a moment. Surely, Wataru had a point but if he knew that, even though he scolded her earlier as well as now, she had still tried to help them out of the mess that they were in. And he couldn’t even blame her that much, after all, it wasn’t even sure if Nanami Asuka was planning on funding another team or even just part of it. But he had promised not to tell anyone about the things that she had told him and he was going to keep that promise.

Sorry for the long wait, I got swamped with things in real life. Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter.