Friday came to an end. It was the st day of the school week and therefore the st day of club activity. Granted, clubs were allowed to gather on Saturdays too but the team has practiced more than enough this week so they skipped on Saturday.

  In the end, they more or less agreed on how they’ll hahe sele process. They’ll prioritize pig a female to abide by Kai's sense of equality but they won't just approve of any female pyer. The didate will have to be at least Lv.30 and show enough determination.

  In addition, Yuel o look over the highest-ranked male didates regardless. If any of them is close to Ptinum, they’ll bee a promising pyer. Therefore, if the female didate is nowhere hat level, Yuel will have to push for that high-ranked didate to be accepted instead. That'll surely get him into anument with Kai...

  I kinda wish no girls apply for the club this year. Yuel felt a little guilty thinking like this but he simply didn't attay special value to female pyers. As far as he was ed, female didates were only going to make the sele process more awkward due to Kai’s special rule. If no girls apply, the club will be able to peacefully pick the best didates based on rank and skill.

  "Hey," Lars smacked Yuel on the back. "What's with the long face? I thought you guys resolved all that difficult stuff?"

  "We did, kind of. But, that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with it. I still think we should pick the best pyer regardless of gender. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't agree with me on that. Would you be fih losing your opportunity to join a club just because you're a boy?"

  "Hell no," Lars shook his head. "I'd challenge everybody in the club to a 1v1 and cim my spot!"

  "So, you're in my camp after all."

  "Yeah, but I get where Kai is ing from too, ya know? If we didn't py with July ba grade school, she probably would have dropped the game ages ago. She didn't have any girlfriends to py with and most boys in the css didn't take her seriously."

  I think she kept pying because she was ied in a certain goof. Yuel smiled wryly. "I get what you're saying. But, I don't think this tiny club has the luxury to push fender equality. We have to pick the best pyers we get."

  "Yeah, I agree with that, too."

  "You agree with everything, don't you?"

  "Haha, that's not true. It's a difficult topic, okay? Gimme a break here, yo."

  "Sure, sure."

  "This whole versation today made me realize something," Lars looked far into the distah a soft smile. "I've been kinda taking July franted all this time. She was always hanging around and, at some point, she started pying a hel solid Mid."

  That's because Ellen and I coached her in private.

  "So, at some point, I stopped thinking of her as a girl and treated her like arong dude oeam."

  "You probably should ell her that," Yuel advised.

  "Hm? I meant I had total respect for her as a strong pyer, yo."

  "Yeah, but... Well, let's just say I warned you."

  "Hm, okay," Lars shrugged. "Anyway, I’m saying July became a natural part of roup and then a part of the club. But, if you think about it, she's a girl but she spent so much of her free time hanging out with us two. It robably rough."

  "Why?" Yuel asked. "I don't think we ever treated her poorly."

  "Nah, but she's still a girl, ya know? She was the only one in roup. It must have been all sorts of lonely. Like, I 't imagine being stuck as the only boy in a group of girls like that."

  "Yeah, that may be a little..." Yuel pursed his lips. Judging by his experiences with girls so far, he’d be executed in a week if he were stu such a group. Gulp.

  "So, I was thinking today," Lars said. "Maybe we put too much pressure on July in the seleatd that's why she broke down like this. She hasn’t been answering my calls ever since. Any lu your side?"

  "No. She seems to be adamant about not tag us," Yuel said. He didn't mention Julia's parting words about crushing both of them at the regionals. She clearly didn’t want to see their faces right now. Especially, Yuel’s face.

  "Maybe it's my fault," Lars hung his head. "I was cheering her on and everything but maybe that put too much pressure on her."

  "I think she was happy to get your support."

  "Yeah, I hope. But..." Lars fell silent for a moment and then exploded. "Okay, that's it! I'mma go see her face-to-fad tell her I’m sorry for everything!"

  "Right now?"

  "Yep, right now! Wanna e?"

  "No, I'll pass," Yuel averted his eyes. "I'm the st person she wants to see right now."

  ", don't be like that. I know July acts mean to you sometimes but I think that's because she really likes ya."

  The one she really likes is YOU. Yuel sighed. "I just don't want to make it more awkward. I'm sure she'll be happier to meet you alone."

  "Welp, if you say so," Lars went ahead. "Okay, I'mma go catch her on the way from school. I’ll drop by your pce ter."

  "Good luck," Yuel said. "By the way, she lives in that dire."

  "Ah, whoopsie! Haha," Lars backpedaled and headed in the dire Yuel pointed.

  "Do you even know where she lives?"

  "Nope! But, I'mma find her with my ace detective skillz!"

  "You could just ask, you know."

  "Nah, where's the adventure in that?" Lars chuckled. "But yeah, you're right. Okay, Mr. Watson, help me solve this mystery. Where's the se of the crime?"

  "What kind of detective needs help finding the se of the crime?"

  "Good point, haha!"

  Yuel gave the address aered it into a navigation app on Lars's phoo make sure the goof won't get lost. Though, it robably safe to trust in Lars's ability to find the pce. This goof was gifted with a strong sense of dire.

  "Then, I'm off!" Lars waved and dashed away.

  I hope they talk things out. Yuel prayed. Even though Julia decred herself as their "enemy", Yuel still wished for her to overe the trauma of the seleatd make full recovery. Julia pyed well and didn't deserve to suffer so much just because she couldn't bring victory in that och. Hopefully, meeting Lars will energize her.

  After traveling for about ten minutes, Lars reached his destination. A tall building towered over him.

  "Whoa..." He gazed upwards. Such a tall skyscraper. This big boi stretched all the way to the moon! It felt like his gaze was sucked into another dimension. If Vi were here, he'd dub this building the Tower of Babel, yo!

  That's some fine building, lemme tell ya. Lars nodded repeatedly. His old man bought a hel cheap apartment ba the day, so Lars was living in some generic building. It was big enough and all but it didn't pare to this gigantic tower. This was the future! It was oep away from building space ies, yo!

  But, I didn't e here fhtseeing. Lars looked around. I wonder if July already went in?

  "Ah, Lars..." A familiar voice.

  "Oh!" Lars jumped and turned around. It was Julia! ... or, so he thought. "Huh? Wut?" He rubbed his eyes.

  A girl stood in front of him. Her void face seemed familiar but, at the same time, she looked like a totally unreizable person.

  "Oh, I get it,” Lars said. “You must be July's older sister, right?"

  “I ain’t got no sister!” The girl exploded. "It's me.”

  "No way. Where did your hair go?"

  "Why everybody reacts like this. I still got a bunch of hair," The girl pulled her hair to show she still had some left. Well, of course, she did; she wasn't bald or anything like that. But, her trademark ponytail was nowhere in sight. Like, whoosh. Gone. Just like that. And, it seemed like she shortehe rest of her haircut too so it gave her an ued tomboy-ish look.

  "That's one heck of a makeover you did there," Lars said. "It's almost like you took off a wig, haha."

  "Does it really look so weird?" Julia gnced away. "You don't like it?"

  "Nah, it's cool," Lars gave a thumbs up. "Just gonna take some time to get used to. Like, a few months probably, haha."

  "It'll grow back by then"

  "Yep and that's when I'll get used to it!"

  "Heh.”

  "Oh! You smiled!" Lars grinned. "So, you're doing okay? Me and Yuel were super worried about you."

  "You were?" Julia fidgeted. "Sorry, I should've answered your calls."

  "Nah, it's okay. We were all feeling like crap after that seleatch. I wao bury myself after all the dumb stuff I did that match."

  "Really? But, you pyed so well."

  "Nah, whatcha talking about? I kept walking into Ellen's traps left and right like a total tool."

  "But, you’ve been dominating the games otherwise,” Julia insisted. “In the first two games, you domihe early-game and, i game, you were killing it during the te-game.”

  “Yeah, I had my moments,” Lars said. “But, in the end, I fudged up big time a Ellen walk all over me. So, it all came to nothing. I messed up and we lost the game.”

  “That’s not really...” Julia chewed her lips. So, Lars also bmes himself for his mistakes. Even though he was so amazing back then...

  The way Julia saw it, Lars was the pilr of the team’s offehe ech. He domihrough sheer strength and that allowed the team to push closer to victory. Without him, the team couldn’t have gotten anywhere.

  A, Lars was bming himself over the couple of small mistakes he itted. Even though he has done so much good, he was still troubled by the few fatal mess-ups he end of the match. In other words, he was feeling the same frustration that has beeing Julia from ihis whole time.

  “That’s why,” Lars tinued. “I really wao say sorry for all that.”

  “Eh?” Julia blinked. “Sorry? For what?”

  “After I died at the end there, all the responsibility was dropped on you. Nobody else was alive and you’ve been pying all sorts of aggressive that game, so everybody just naturally expected you to carry the game to victory. That must’ve been some hel pressure to deal with.”

  “And, I failed to deliver ...” Julia hung her head.

  “Nah, o feel bad,” Lars came closer and grasped Julia’s shoulders. “You did great!”

  “E-Eh!?” Julia jumped.

  “You were put on the spot after I died but you held really well! It’s the first time I saw you py aggressive like that and you probably weren’t used to carrying the game and all. Heck, I still get goosebumps sometimes when people pce all that heavy responsibility on me.”

  “Really?” Julia blinked. Wasn’t Lars a natural at that kind of thing? She always thought that carrying the team came naturally to him because he erman of unrivaled strength.

  “Yeah, it be hel rough,” Lars nodded. “Knowing that the entire game is riding on your performance makes ya sweat, no joke. And, just because I derped at the end there and died, all that pressure suddenly dropped on you. Heck, I was even rooting for ya and everything, telling you how you totally do it. I’m the worst.”

  “N-No! That’s not true at all!” Julia practically shouted. “Ah, I mean, I... I was happy that you rooted for me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, it was reassuring,” Julia smiled softly. “If not for your support, I might have caved under pressure on the spot. But, because you and everybody kept believing in me, I could focus on the fights arying my best. Though, in the end, my best wasn’t quite enough...”

  “Thanks!” Lars hugged Julia.

  “-Whaaaaa....!” Julia trembled like a helpless kitten.

  “Thanks fhting your best till the very end,” Lars let go and smiled at her. “Even though it should've been my job to close the game and it was unfair to dump everything on you, you never gave up. You’re a really amazing pyer.”

  “T-Thanks,” Julia felt like her face became a toaster. Oh god, am I turning red? Please tell me I don’t look like an expired tomato!

  “That game taught me a huge lesson,” Lars said. “From now on, I gonna make sure I’m more careful about stuff. Being the Carry is a huge responsibility so I shouldn’t charge into every fight like this. It’s more fun to py wild like this but it gets me killed and then somebody else gotta up the mess afterward. I don’t want that.”

  “I see,” Julia relutly agreed. She uood where Lars was ing from but, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel it was a waste. Lars’s straightforward attitude of rushing into trouble without a sed thought was a big part of his charm. He always challehe impossible and came on top, that’s the Lars which Julia fell in love with.

  “Ya know, it’s kinda awkward things turned out like this,” Lars scratched his head. “I really wao keep pying with you on the same team.”

  “I also...” Julia’s stopped herself. Will it sound bad if I say it? After all, they didly choose this.

  As much as Julia resehe boys for transferring without her, she uood it wasn’t a decision they made because they wao. If they had the choice, they would’ve stayed in StormBlitz just like her. But, they didn’t make the first-string so there was nothing promising for them in the uping year.

  pared to them, Julia had options. She could either stay on the first-string or transfer with them. Her situation was pletely different. Therefore, for somebody with such luxury to say she would have liked to keep pying with the boys felt pretentious. It’s like she was some mighty queen illing to grace the oners with her presence.

  So, Julia remained quiet and accepted Lars’s kind words. Truly, it was unfortuhings turned out this utting aside her fiasco with Yuel, Julia was still on good terms with Lars. In fact, it felt like Lars saw her in a new light during the seleatd respected her more than ever as a pyer.

  As, they were pying for different teams now. They were enemies.

  “How is the new school?” Julia asked. “It has a Mancers club, right?”

  “Yeah, it sure does,” Lars said. “It’s in the basement.”

  “... huh?”

  “Yep, haha. The school hates us so much it didn’t even give us a proper clubroom. So, we hang out in the basement. We call it the Den of Undiscovered Potential!”

  “That sounds... iing,” Julia forced a smile.

  “It’s hel cool, yo! It’s like we’re an underdog team that’s undercht now. Then, one day, we gonna appear outta nowhere and take the world by storm!”

  “Is that so,” Julia replied vaguely. Lars robably pushing himself to appear positive because all that stuff sounded horrible.

  Julia always thought StormBlitz retty budget club but being forced to literally py in the school’s basement? Yikes, that’s a whole new level of budget. Julia felt a little guilty for it, but this news made her gd she stayed in StormBlitz. No way I gonna hang out in a basement for some game, even if it’s Mancers. No thanks.

  "Welp, that's what the school thinks of our club's level right now," Lars shrugged. "Everybody thinks we're some scrubs who ain't even gonna pass the first round. But, we gonna prove 'em all wrong! We gonna take the regionals by storm, yo!"

  "I'm sure you will," Julia smiled.

  "So," Lars stretched a hand. "Let's both do our best. Let’s keep winning at the regionals aually py each other!"

  "Yeah," Julia accepted the handshake. Lars's hand was big and warm. Julia would have loved to hold onto it for a while loo enjoy its touch. But, she wasn't allowed to. They were oppos now, so this wasn't the time for her to bare her feelings.

  "Also," Lars tinued. "You should e py with us like before at Yuel's pce."

  "Eh? But, we're pying for different teams now."

  "Hm? So what?"

  "Well, we're kinda enemies now."

  "Nah. That only applies to the tourney, right? Other than that, we're still buddies and everything."

  "Well...." Julia made a difficult expression. The petitioween clubs wasn't fined solely iour itself. There were also scrimmages and data gathering. Arguably, the most important part of the fight began before the tour itself. But, all these things didn't seem to bother Lars so Julia remained quiet.

  "I'll e if I feel like it," Julia gnced away.

  "Cool," Lars nodded. "I really wanna fight against that aggressive style you showed at the seleatch."

  "Eh? You do?" Julia jerked from the mere mention of it. The amount of yelling and cursing she did at the time... It was so embarrassing.

  "Yeah," Lars nodded. "That stuff was sick! Ya even gave Tai a run for his money. I never knew you were at such a high level in fights. We definitely gotta spar sometimes!"

  "I'll think about it," Julia smiled faintly. Maybe not everything about the seleatch was a disaster, after all. At least, it helped Julia e to terms with her aggressive side and she discovered that Lars was supportive of it. In fact, he was overly hyped about it for some reason.

  Too bad that matded up separating them. Julia po win and look good in front of Lars, then fess to him while he was still celebrating the victory. She believed she had a higher ce of sg that way.

  However, they lost and the defeat tore them apart. Thus, Julia lost her opportunity, possibly forever.

  Maybe I should tell him now? Julia gulped. Despite all the empty promises she has been making about meeting up with Lars and Yuel again, she knew she probably won't ever dare to show her face at Yuel’s pce again. Therefore, right here and now, it might be her st ce to fess her feelings to Lars.

  Nah, that'll be awkward as hell. Julia stopped herself. Even if Lars returned her feelings, what's ? It won’t ge the fact they were ehey won't be able to maintain a retionship like that.

  Besides, Julia didn't deserve it. She promised herself she'll fess to Lars if they win the seleatch. But, they lost. And, on top of that, her numerous mistakes pyed a big part in that defeat. Therefore, she didn't deserve to fess to him now.

  "Welp, I gotta go," Lars said. "You wanna e?"

  "Training with Yuel again?"

  "Yep, as always."

  "Nah, I'll pass," Julia smiled wryly. She'll pass on this invitation today. And tomorrow. And every other day after that. She won't show her face there ever again. She and Lars were heading in opposite dires now.

  "Hey, what's wrong?" Lars asked.

  "E-Eh?" Julia turned around and wiped her eyes. "A-Ahaha, just something got into my eye. Okay, now it's gone." She turain, wearing the best smile she could muster.

  "Okay," Lars smiled back. "Then, I'mma go now. Make sure to drop by sometimes!" He shouted from afar as he waved goodbye.

  "Sure," Julia retained her smile until Lars vanished from view. Then, her lips quivered and a tear fell down her cheek.

  Why? Why did things have to end like this? Despite everything that happened, she was still on such good terms with Lars. In fact, Lars appreciated her more than ever as a strong pyer after that seleatch. He even wao duel with her so much.

  If Julia tried harder, she probably could have salvaged her retionship with Yuel too. The three of them could go back to being good friends who gathered together every day to py Cssmancers for hours.

  When did I start thinking of that as a fun pastime? Julia smiled wryly. She only ever pined about the crazy amounts of training the boys have been doing. But, at some point, this daily routine became precious to her and she never realized that until she lost it. If only she figured all of that earlier, she could've...

  Nevermind. What's done is done. Julia wiped her tears and stared in the dire Lars disappeared in. This might very well be the st time she got to talk with him like this. The ime they meet, they won’t be friendly like that with each other; they’ll be oppos.

  Maybe it'll be easier to patch up this retionship after Howard and Ellen graduate. But, right now, both sides were at each other's throats and Julia beloo the camp of Lars's sworn enemy. There was no way they could casually hang out together without that faing over them.

  Goodbye, my love. Julia exhaled deeply. This was reality and she had to accept it. Until the end of this year, she had tet everything about her feelings toward Lars. Instead, she'll train her hardest to monopolize the Mid spot on StormBlitz a a ce to fight against Lars at the regionals. That's what Lars wished for as well.

  And, this will give me a urder both of them! Julia grinned madly. With all said and done, she still couldn't get over how the boys transferred on their own and only informed her post-facto.

  So, this will also be a good opportunity to give them a piece of her mind. She was the only junior who made it into StormBlitz's first-string, so she had to be worthy of that spot. In other words, she had to be able to mop the floor with Yuel and Lars in a real match. Only that way she’ll prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she deserved to be here.

  Let's meet again at the regionals and have a bst. Julia turned around and dashed into the building. After gobbling down her lunch, Julia sat down in front of her puter. It was time for some Cssmaners!

  Even though she just finished a long day of training at the club, she already wao py again. The day was still young and the weekend on her, so she'll get lots and tons of practice. By the time the regionals e, nobody will stand a ce against her. She'll domihe petition and prove she deserved to stand at the top along with the rest of StormBlitz’s first-string.

  "Time to murder some idiots, ahahaha!"

  "July? You said something?" Her mom asked from the living room.

  "Ack! It's nothing, mom!" Julia quickly shut the door auro her desk. Phew, that was a close one.

  And so, Julia spent the entire evening pying Cssmaners until she dropped.