Day 193

[from StarLight]

"Ah, summer. I love summer, nyaa~. That feeling of lying out in the shade, an ice-cool beer in your hand... sheer bliss, nyaa~"

While Kage went on her usual ramblings about beer, Amaya was busily preparing her things for the first day of the summer term. Uniform, textbooks, high-pressure water gun...

"What's with the weaponry, nyaa~?" asked Kage, peering curiously over the top of her beer can at the plastic water cannon. "Planning some Black Star chaos to celebrate the start of summer?"

"Not quite. It's a tradition at our high school." Amaya walked to the bathroom clutching a handful of detachable water tanks for the gun, each about the size of a soda can, and began filling them from the tap. "Every year, on the first day of summer, all the students gather in the grounds during lunch break and have a massive water fight. Guns, balloons, even buckets full of water. Anything goes. Even the teachers join in sometimes."

"You fight with water? That's a pretty weird tradition, not to mention a waste of water, nyaa~" Kage's statement about wasting water seemed somewhat misplaced considering she did not need to bathe or drink, not to mention the beer can clutched in her hand.

"The story goes that it started in the Eighties," Amaya explained. "A couple of American transfer students arrived at the school, and brought with them this thing called a Hyper Drencher, which was a powerful type of water gun they had over there. Before long the whole school was obsessed with them, and water fights would break out all over the place, in the corridors and even during lessons." By now, Amaya had filled two tanks, placed watertight caps on them, and had started filling a third. "Of course, it was a nightmare for the teachers, so they reached a compromise with the students, and the annual lunchtime water fight was created."

"Do you really need so much, uhh... ammunition, nyaa~?" Kage indicated the water tanks.

"Of course," said Amaya. "It's quicker to remove an empty water tank and replace it with a full one than it is to just refill it. The longer you're out of ammo, the more vulnerable you are. It's what cost me last year. But this year-" Amaya jammed a lid on the third full tank in an overly-dramatic fashion, and began filling the final one. "-me and Sanae are gonna team up, and beat the entire school. Because, as Sanae would say, the protagonists never lose!"

"You're the antagonist, nyaa~" Kage pointed out.

"And Sanae is the protagonist," countered Amaya. "It all balances out."

"Here's hoping," said Kage.

***

"I still fail to see the point of this," said Kousen. "How can you derive enjoyment from soaking other people?"

Sanae, who was filling her water tanks from the kitchen sink, did not turn to look at Kousen hovering behind her. "It's fun!" she insisted. "You wouldn't understand, since fun is an alien concept to you."

Kousen raised a finger to object, then realized it was true: youkai had no concept of fun or boredom or any other emotion. "I suppose you have a point," she said.

"Besides, soaking people is only half the fun," said Sanae, screwing a lid onto her third full water tank. "The real fun comes from winning. That's what Amaya and I are going to do. After all, the protagonist never loses!"

"I'm not sure that's applicable to everything," said Kousen.

Sanae grinned. "We'll see about that. After all, I have a trick up my sleeve."

Kousen folded her arms and gave Sanae a disapproving look. "I've told you before," she said, "the White Star Emblem is-"

"I didn't mean the White Star Emblem," said Sanae. She pointed to a small cardboard box on the kitchen worktop. "I meant… those."

***

The atmosphere at Mitsuzawa High School that morning was tense and highly-charged, in anticipation of the warfare soon to unfold. Groups of students stood clustered around the courtyard, debating the merits of their various weapons and strategies.

"I'm telling you, when it comes to power, range, and capacity, the Chekhov SR-15 is unbeatable!" boasted one student.

"Nonsense," said another. "Nothing beats a traditional Hyper Drencher!"

"Psshh. Hyper Drenchers have had their day," said a third. "And the Chekhov can't hold a candle to my Hydrex 4000!"

Meanwhile, other students flitted between groups, hoping to forge crucial alliances with which to take down the opposition, all the while secretly plotting to squirt their partners in the back the moment they were no longer needed. Some tried to take advantage of the hype over the impending battle to sell extra guns and water balloons. One student had opened a wooden stall, a sort of neutral territory where students could safely refill their guns without fear of attack, for a small fee. If an outsider were to enter Mitsuzawa High School at this moment, they could well mistake the place for an army barracks preparing for war.

Amaya, as she entered the school, would certainly not have looked out of place at a warzone. Her weapon of choice, a Kasaiki H40, was clamped firmly in her hands, fully loaded, pumped and ready to fire. Her spare water tanks were strapped onto a bandolier slung over her shoulder. The school rucksack hanging from her other shoulder merely added to the illusion that she were some army general, ready to lead her troops into combat.

Sanae met her just inside the gate. She had a determined grin on her face, a bust that seemed larger and bouncier than usual, and a large water gun in her hands, even larger and more fearsome-looking than Amaya's. Well, as fearsome-looking as a blue plastic water gun can look. "Are you ready for this, Amaya?" she asked, grinning.

After glaring at her friend's enhanced chest for a few seconds, as every small-chested anime character is obligated to do upon seeing someone bustier than them, Amaya nodded. "I'm ready, Sanae."

"You'd better be, Hikari!" shouted an enthusiastic third-year from nearby. "We'll take you down, and your pet Kurozawa as well!"

Sanae's grin barely wavered. "You say that now," she shot back, "but on the battlefield it'll be your gun doing the talking, and I don't think your gun can do more than whisper feebly."

"You won't be saying that when you're soaked through to your panties!" returned the third-year.

"I'm not wearing panties!" shouted Sanae, rather too loudly and with an odd smirk on her face. At this, the third-year looked somewhat embarrassed and fell silent, leaving Sanae with a triumphant grin on her face, having gained the psychological advantage over her rival.

Amaya, too, looked rather embarrassed. "You can't shout things like that across the school yard!" she objected. "This isn't Seitokai Yakuindomo, you know!"

"Sure you can," Sanae replied. "All's fair in love and war. It's true, by the way," she added in an undertone. "Last year they got soaked and it was really uncomfortable walking home, so this year I've gone commando."

"Too much information," Amaya muttered back.

Before Sanae could say anything else embarrassing, sexual, or embarrassingly sexual, the conversation was cut short by the morning bell. "Aww, I forgot to point out to her that the protagonists never lose," remarked Sanae. "Ah well. I guess we'd better get going now."

"Yeah," said Amaya. "And don't worry, I already said that during the opening scene."

"So did I," said Sanae. "I guess it would get boring if we said it three times in one chapter."

Amaya nodded, then grinned. "Man, I am so psyched for this," she said. "Lunchtime can't come soon enough."

"Indeed it can't," said Sanae.