"Good afternoon, Emblians, and welcome to the second half of Intramurals Men's Basketball Tournament, High School Division! I'm Alm from Team Valentia—"
"And I'm Elincia from Team Radiants—"
"Reporting live from Emblian Arena!"
As soon as the commentators spoke in sync, tons of people were roaring in an instant. The drum line from the upper middle corner of the arena made the event even more hyper as students are cheering and waiting for the players to arrive, including Stell and Knight who are wailing their lungs out while their friend is still preparing for the game.
"G-A-I-U-S! Gaius for the win! G-A-I-U-S! Represents Awakening!" They chanted while holding the printed version of his face attached in a carton, dancing up and down, left and right, and into the center, shaking it tightly. Sure, people from Team Heroes and Team Radiants were wondering: What the heck is going on between the two: one from College Department and one from H.E? However, one thing's for sure: they'll have the chance to watch and see Gaius from STEM Strand (who's graduating Senior High, btw) in action.
While the announcers are chatting shortly before the start of the game, both of them continued to dance like no one's watching (which ironically some of the students were focused upon them), yell their hearts out and bounce their bodies that even Odoriko Crew would ask: what the heck were they dancing? We can do that!
Gaius, on the other hand, leaned up on his friends grooving crazily while holding the paper that recognizes his visuals. However, Fredrick, the team captain of Awakened Blaze, muttered something after tapping gently on his shoulder, "Gaius, stop looking at your friends. For now, let's focus on the game, okay? You can do this!"
He softly shook his head up and down before fixing his alignment position to Finn, his opponent from Team HoshiNohr Route 776 and a student from HUMSS Department. A moment passed and the referee tossed the ball upwards before tossing it from Gaius' team, dribbling it forward before passing to Eliwood, and as soon as Arthur caught his opponent handed the ball in an eagle-eyed position, the latter circled the rounded heavy object using both of his hands while trying to block his position.
Meanwhile, Stell and Knight enjoyed watching the entire match while holding each of their popcorn and eating it altogether. It is exactly seven minutes in when suddenly, Soren announced that Gaius had his first personal foul, which made Stell and Knight face palmed while expressing in sync: "Oh, Gaius!"
"Look what you've done, bro!" Stell murmured, storming himself off after removing his left hand from his forehead. And after minutes of busting their flow of emotions (including the time when Route 776 increased their score by 6 points), they felt a sigh of relief as the first quarter was over.
..or so they thought?
***
One minute in.
And many people were roaring as the second quarter approached for their Intramurals. Gaius passes the ball to Frederick, while he's giving it to Ricken before heading straight towards his opponent. He blocks Leo, but gets taken immediately by Jakob until it reaches to the other side, but Gaius immediately got the ball. At the end, his agility forces him to dribble its way before shooting towards the ring...
...and got a two point score! The crowd got wild as he ran back to the opponent while continuing to play the game. Meanwhile, Stell and Knight continued to feast their eyes when Takumi passed the ball to Inigo, however, when August got the opponent's left arm, the referee whistled, citing it as his first personal foul.
Stell's nose almost stormed off, but his eyes squinted in motion. "Nevermind that shit, besides what's done." Knight calmed him down before leaning his attention to the center, "Aside from that, the halftime show is near, so, you just have to wait for it."
Suddenly, the match started to continue as someone from Gaius' team catched the ball in an instant. He gave his popcorn to Stell and focused his attention to the agility and pace from the players to see if anyone of them will aim their three point shot, and when five seconds began to kick in, that was the time when Gaius walks on the right wing outside the court, throws it farther until it reaches inside the ring where the crowd rolls out with a goal!
While aiming the buzzer beater, Alm declared, "Final score: 38-29, in favor of Awakened Blaze! Congratulations!"
"Congratulations, Awakened Blaze! You may now take a quick break together with HoshiNohr Route 776 because now, we will have a halftime show!" Elincia announced cheerily with a giddy smile on her face. "They're preparing for a special performance just for you guys! So sit back, relax, and let us welcome..."
From Gaius' peripheral view, he saw people who are classmates like him were walking confidently while Elincia's introducing the halftime performers. However, one person caught his attention.
Her hair has been ponytailed, always glowing because of her beaming smile. Lastly, she's confidently beautiful.
Because for him, she's more than that.
She's a fairy princess wandering from his attention.
Before he could even mesmerize with her moves, Elincia and Alm revealed who will be the presenters for today—
And from that moment, this would be the death of him as he will see her for the first time after introducing her to his friends.
"The Odoriko Crew!”
***
For our English readers, welcome aboard! This anthology is inspired by the school set-up here in the Philippines, but making it into an international style. In case you don't know about those things, here are some of the Pinpoints:
• HUMSS - Humanities and Social Sciences
• H.E - Home Economics (where Knight belonged to)
• STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (where Gaius belonged to)
• Odoriko - the Japanese name for the Dancer Class in Fire Emblem franchise.
• Btw, Stell's in College Department.
