Food Fight!!!

The crowd waits with bated breath as Hoshino Riku steps to the plate. In his hand is his newest toy, its firm handle gripped tightly. Years of experience with Naoki has prepared him for this: striking out, trying again. He braces himself as his target draws closer—bright, random. He swings and. . .

BAM!

People fucking leapt as I slapped the nearest orange away, juices splattering everywhere. What were they expecting me to do? Just sit down and accept my fate at the hands of a thousand vibrant balls of blooming pain? Thankfully, Kyouko spurred everyone to action quickly.

“KILL THE ORANGES!!!”

I watched in a haze of amber shades as our troop faced our citrus opponents. Many others followed my example, using their weapons to deflect the fruit. Some took other paths like Haruki, who used his fire to burn his before moving in to give Kyouko a hand. A few people couldn’t do anything. Mostly the Menders like Aven in the back, armed only with their medical supplies, had few options for dealing with the nutritious attackers and had to bend their heads in protection.

At least Kitsune was having fun. Oranges were one of her favorite foods, so she was trying to get one for herself. Since she was invisible to whoever had thrown them, they went right through her. I assumed she solved this by simply making herself visible to them because she immediately got smacked by one, flying backwards with a surprised ‘OOF.’ Personally, I’d rather have seen the Searchers get hit by that. But when I looked at them. . .

They weren’t tied up anymore.

Fear consumed me, every part of me feeling excruciatingly vulnerable. Any second, they were going to slice me, my blood painting their blade. I’d be in more pieces than the orbs on the ground. Fuck, what could I do, and why were my hands shaking so much? I couldn’t afford to have a panic attack in front of enemies I still couldn’t see! I knew they were nearby, so why couldn’t I just focus on finding them? I had to locate them before—

“Argh!”

“AHH!”

One by one, the escapees sliced through the army. Panicked, our troop could only retreat as the Searchers had an open season on us. Not even the trees were safe, though, as the undergrowth wasn’t thick enough to save us from the oranges. Security proved to be a lie as the invisible rebels used us as practice dummies. I could have been the next one on the ground, bleeding from a wound while the Menders, their numbers dwindling as well, rushed to save whoever they could. The thought was beyond terrifying.

My heart leapt as I slipped on an orange, my mind racing as the stickiness coated my palms. If I could put some on those bastards, we could see them. Hand outstretched, I envisioned colors so vibrant and random that they’d caused awe in my little self when I’d first seen them. But beauty was not the priority as my kaleidoscope showed me heat signatures all across the battlefield. There was no way to see who was who with everyone bunched together, but maybe someone was on the outside. I could see Haruki moving pretty fast for a Fyremental, but maybe—

Pshhh!

I reeled at the impact of orb-on-head impact. Shit, I still needed to handle the oranges, or I’d probably get a concussion—if I didn’t already have one. Maybe waiting it out was the best play, but the damn things kept coming! How could I stop either of them if I wasn’t even able to think straight?!

“KYOUKO!!!”

I whirled to see Shuto running towards Kyouko. Why he was so rushed was beyond me, since all I saw were fruits. Had she gotten pummeled by multiple at once? Even just one hurt like hell, so many had to suck. But that still didn’t explain his hurry. On the floor I could see Haruki with blood blooming from his side. Next to him was one of those Searchers, his blade stained red as he crept towards Kyouko. I was trapped in my own body as he began to move, arm raising, muscle flexing before—

The sneaky bastard gasped as two things happened at once. First, my ninja spike, thrown before even I could process it, landed in his leg. That gave Shuto just enough time to rush the man. Seeing him absolutely furious as he took the guy down, knife in hand, made me rethink every time I’d pushed his buttons. When he might have gotten it was something none of us had time to ponder as his actions spurred everyone to move.

Like every battle, there is an end, and ours met its own pretty soon after Shuto’s attack. The oranges stopped falling with the bodies, but the leftovers were far from tasty. The air was thick with loss as we moved our comrades elsewhere. Scouting had let us find a cave, and Kyouko was the one to lead us there, a fact not lost on me given how bold she’d been before. Shuto was kind of the opposite, taking charge to make sure as much got done as possible.

Kit was with the Menders, something I’d insisted upon to make sure she wasn’t hurt. I was distracted with the fears of what I would do if she were despondent like—I shook the thought away. Even so, she made sure to find someone to peel her hard-earned orange.

They didn’t seem to mind the talking toy chatting away, namely Haruki, who impressed her with his flames pretty quickly. He looked good for a guy who’d been stabbed, so I assumed he’d be alright. Overall, they seemed to enjoy the distraction. I’d done that before, too: letting Kit be the background noise instead of my thoughts. I regretted leaving her as the work grew further, but I’d take the somber silence over explaining why the fallen were sleeping. Yet nothing was louder than Shuto now.

“We have to go after those bastards!” he was yelling. “They probably think we’re dead, so we have the perfect opportunity!”

“No!” Kyouko yelled. “We should stay here until it’s safe!”

He whirled on her. “Since when did you care about caution?”

“Since when did you want to be reckless? Logic is, like, your whole thing!”

She had a point. Shuto really functioned on data and rational thinking. It was what had made him so good to test my toys. But this shift was happening on both sides, and I was honestly concerned for them. If Kyouko was advocating for safety, then she must have been more shaken up than I’d thought. It made sense, though—had Shuto not stepped in, she’d have been on the ground right next to the guy the Searcher had sliced first. The idea of my friend on the ground, eyes cold like the bodies I’d transported all day—

“Logic is—” Shuto struggled for words, his eyes finding an orange. He gave up, gaze averting from us.

“Regardless,” said Anzi, one of the Fyrementals, “We can’t do shit without the rest of the troop.”

“Then let’s launch a small-scale attack,” Shuto said. “Riku, your glitter might—”

“Shuto, use your head!” Kyouko said. “We’re outmatched, lost, and losing!”

“What happened to Miss Brave?” Shuto yelled. “Where’s the cocky woman who was saying exactly what I’m saying! You basically live to take chances!”

“WELL I WAS WRONG, OKAY?!”

I was the fly on the wall, completely shocked by that outburst. In all my life, I’d never met anyone more stubborn than Kyouko. Not even my grandfather when he’d stopped following his doctor’s orders. I thought I’d seen headstrong when that man had taken four heart attacks with that much grace and still continued to live the way he chose until the day they couldn’t bring him back. But Kyouko was way tougher, and to see her like that hurt more than I thought it would. But whatever was wrong with her would have to wait because Shuto sure as hell wasn’t.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?!” She snapped at him as he went towards the cave entrance.

“Somewhere productive,” he shot back. “I’m going to do something.”

I knew how he’d felt. It was the same emotions that had made me agonize so much over Sayuri and her mother. It was that dark room filled with furniture you could never see, but still had to make it to the door. It was the doctors telling us that my grandfather was gone, and that every move we’d made to help hadn’t done shit to give him more time. I knew how that felt, but I wished I didn’t.

“Are you trying to get yourself—”

“I’ll come with you,” I chimed in. “We should see if we can spot any landmarks out there.”

If glares could kill, Kyouko would have turned me into a turkish kebab. “Riku. . .”

“Relax.” I smiled. “I’ll keep your man safe.”

I saw that blush no matter how hard she tried to hide it. It was only matched by Shuto’s utterly flustered looks. As I grabbed Kit from the Menders, I wondered who would break first: the badass Teleporter or the cunning Researcher. How long would it take for those dumbasses to finally get it together?

“Have fun, Kit,” Haruki said as she left. “Come back soon.”

“And you’ll tell me more stories?”

“Of course.”

As Kit settled in my pocket for a nap, I thought about other things, as well. Who the fuck brings oranges to a battle? I knew I was weird with my toys, but why dishonor the food so much by using it in such a way? Deep down, though, I wasn’t completely surprised, and in my head I could hear the Commander’s words from last week.

What kind of lunatic puts explosives inside a POTATO?

Probably the same person that uses citrus projectiles. But that was fine.

I’d just have to get more creative.