Water Games

The taunt from Takako made Hiroshi pause for a moment, not completely sure he heard correctly. “What did you say?” It seemed impossible. Just too absurd to be real.

“You heard me.”

“You can’t be serious.” Tonal shifts in their conversation left him getting too lax in his position. He quickly stiffened up once he realized his mistake.

Takako laughed a little amused with his reaction. However, despite the laughter, she remained very serious through the whole exchange. “I’m not lying to you. This is very real.”

“What sort of joke power is crying?”

“You think it’s a joke?” Takako glanced down at Hitomi with a long stare. There were no words as though she was communicating with her mind.

Which would be a good guess from Hiroshi as the girl suddenly began to scream for no reason. “No! Takako is… S-She’s…!”

“The hell’s going on? Nothing’s happened, why is she freaking out?” He caught the slip of a smirk on Takako’s lips as she had done something devious. “Oh hell…mind powers…” Hiroshi returned his attention to the girl, but it was already too late. “Oh shit…not again!”

Chapter 347 – Water Games

Water hadn’t finished pouring out of the classroom from the last torrent. A renewed wild river burst forth from nothingness like before. The intensity somehow exceeded the last. Peaks in the water brushed against the ceiling making the tiling rattle as it stormed forward like a runaway train.

Unprepared for it once more, Hiroshi did nothing, but take it all head on. Slammed to the wall as it groaned under the strain, he became fixed. The pressure was too great for him to break free. All he could do was ride out the water until the pressure dropped.

Whether the perception of time changed or it was really happening, it lasted longer than last time to Hiroshi. He felt his body being forced back into the wall. It still held, but it didn’t seem like it was going to last for long. ‘How is something like this even possible? It doesn’t make any sense…’

Making sense or not, it was the reality of the situation. Hiroshi had to believe it to be real, even if he didn’t want to believe. Once the water pressure eased up enough for him to take control, he pulled out from the direct line. Water rained from him as though he had been in a downpour, though it felt more as if he had been at the swimming pool.

Coughing again, he had to clear out the water forced down his throat. ‘I’m going to need to be better prepared. At this rate, she’s going to drown me before I do anything…’ Trudging through nearly a meter deep of water now, Hiroshi felt his movements being a little restricted. ‘Is this her plan?’

“Still think of her as a joke?” Takako taunted from her perch. She looked to be enjoying her position above everyone else.

Wiping away the water from his brow, Hiroshi whipped his head around trying to get off more of the water. “If all she can do with it is make me waterlogged then it’s still a joke. I don’t know what Yuki was thinking when he gave her that power.”

“There is no wasted power! It all has its purpose!”

“Sounds more like rationalization for being dealt a crap hand.”

“I wouldn’t be making assumptions.”

“What else she got? A sad story to go with the tears?” Hiroshi wasn’t sure if taunting was such a good idea, but he found it hard to take the whole thing seriously. ‘She’s lost all sense of reality if she thinks that this is going to be any challenge for me.’

However, confidence in his situation was misplaced. A massive hand of water emerged from the water slamming into Hiroshi before he could even make any attempt to dodge. His back cracked the wall behind him and dropped him back into the water.

Hiroshi jumped back out of the water with his body dealing with the shock and pain. “Damn! What the hell was that?!” His hand patted his chest trying to see if there was anything he could tell was done to him. Dull pain echoed around his body, but nothing that was going to slow him down.

Laughing from on high, Takako looked just as entertained. “I told you not to make assumptions.”

“That wasn’t crying! That was a hand made of water!”

“Sounds like your confidence has turned to complaining. Thought you said this was going to be easy for you.”

Takako did wonders to annoy him for only talking and not even being the one that he was fighting at the moment. “I’m not complaining, it doesn’t make any sense!” While he complained about the logic, Hitomi went on the attack again. Since he knew that she could somehow make hands out of the water he was more prepared for it now.

Trying to move around in the water slowed down his movements more than he realized. The more he wanted to move faster the more it dragged on him. He couldn’t easily escape the attacks. His agility was nowhere near that of Saki, but still was able to stay ahead of the attacks mostly. But it only led him into being hit straight on by another blast of water direct from the source.

Even stronger than the previous two, it pinned him to the wall. The multiplied stress on the wall became too much for it to take. Cracks rapidly jumped around Hiroshi’s body as warping began on the surface. It only took a few seconds for it to shatter completely throwing him through the wall along with a raging river of water.

His back smashed into the cement of the stairs that led down to the first floor as water poured on top of him and leaked out from the hall. It found an escape route, but it looked to be flooding at the bottom. The water rolled him over the stairs and pushed him down to the first landing.

Staring back up at the hole, he started to regret his choice of words. “Dammit…none of this makes any sense. How does any of this work out?” Hiroshi picked himself up off the stairs. He looked down trying to figure out why the stairs were so full of water. ‘They blocked this side off… I guess with Takako here it makes sense.’ The water level rose quickly.

Leaping back to the second floor, Hiroshi returned to Takako’s throne room. Hitomi looked to be waiting for his return and Takako wanted more entertainment. She really seemed to see herself as the King with Hiroshi and Hitomi just her jesters at her court.

“Still feeling confident?”

He had grown tired of the whole situation. It was ridiculous to him, someone attacking him with rivers of tears. Takako didn’t take him seriously. She waited on someone else other than him. Hiroshi hit his limit of what he could take. “I don’t care anymore! I’m taking you both out right now!” Nearby him was a waste pile of desks from the room. He grabbed one of the wood desks up and swung it at Hitomi.

Unfortunately, all he hit was air. There was nothing standing where Hitomi was. Hiroshi looked around the room trying to figure out what happened to Hitomi. He found her to his left just behind him winding up another punch. Using the wood desk for a shield, it took the initial blow, but completely shattered as the force stormed over it. Forced back, Hiroshi went sliding back towards Takako.

His body bobbed in the water as he tried to process what happened. ‘She was there one moment and gone the next… She got another strange ability?’

Takako leaned down from her throne to look at Hiroshi’s face half submerged. “You’re very disappointing. It seems that I was right in guessing that you aren’t worth my time.”

“Urgh…you…”

She tilted her head a little as it seemed like he had something on his mind. “Something to say?”

“I was hoping you were going to stand up as you stared down mocking me. Then I’d at least get to see your panties.”

“I had forgotten how much of a pervert you were.”

“I’m a teenage guy,” he smirked.

“You’re going to be dead.”

Hiroshi stood up out of the water looking a little changed. “I can’t have that happening.” His eyes narrowed a bit as his features suddenly sharpened. Determination settled firmly in his eyes. “If this is going to be a powers battle, then I might as well use mine as well. I had wanted to let this go until I was dealing with you, but seems that won’t be the case.”

“Going to make us play Darumasan ga Koronda again?” she taunted, not very impressed.

He smirked up at Takako before walking away. Pulling up a stray piece of wood, he armed himself and began walking towards Hitomi. She only stood there making no action. Hiroshi began to lift it up, holding it like a stake.

“Hitomi, what the hell are you doing?! He is—“ Suddenly, her voice stopped. Takako opened her mouth again trying to give her orders, but nothing was coming out. She screamed aloud testing her voice, but every time she tried to say anything else nothing came out. Her voice was gone.

With no guard up or reaction to his approach, Hiroshi rammed the broken chunk of wood into Hitomi’s chest. The force sent her flying back out of the classroom and into the stairwell. The wood in Hiroshi’s hand completely shattered on impact. Small traces of blood sprayed through the air, but he didn’t get a killing blow. “Damn, it was too shallow and this wood was too weak.”

Takako stared in shock at Hiroshi not understanding what was happening. Her expression quickly changed to anger as Hiroshi was ruining her entertainment. “What did you do?! What did you do to me?!”

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked back at Takako. “Did you forget already? I play games.” He smirked a little glad to see that he finally pulled one over on Takako.

“Takako?” called out Hitomi, from the stars, “Where are you? Takako?”

“I haven’t moved! Get back in here!”

“I can’t find you.”

“Are you blind?!”

“Yes!”

“What?!” She looked down at Hiroshi again. The knowing expression on his face made her even angrier. “What the hell did you do?!”

Hiroshi turned to face Takako directly. “This is all a game and a game has rules. A game’s rules are unbreakable. Welcome to my world.”