Chapter 12

“Let it spin! Let it spin!”

The cries of the crowd echoed throughout the cafe’s first floor. The clock showed fifteen minutes past seven. Normally, Amaya should still be in the kitchen, but she stood on top of a stool right next to a table, holding a microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen!”

The crowd roared, burning with excitement. From his place under the spotlight, a small flashlight taped to the ceiling, Kenji could see Tsukiko standing among them, laughing. Neither Kenji nor Amaya forced her to stay. She stayed willingly, saying the event seemed fun. Starbeach stopped receiving orders at six forty-five, allowing them to focus on this. Just for tonight, people could bring in food and drink from outside.

A plastic arena occupied the center of the table in front of him, with the outer ring being taller than the center. Around that arena were tall walls made of plastic, which reached upward and then curved inward, shaping something like a stadium. Two people stood across from each other. Mamoru on one side, Kenji on the other.

“Welcome to the monthly Spinwar Tournament!”

Spinwar pitted two metal spinners against each other. They battled it out in the arena, and the last one to remain spinning inside would be crowned champion. As part of tradition, Kenji would be the first to step up and fight.

“Heralding from the shop just down the street, his name struck fear into the hearts of enemy combatants. Please welcome Red Ryan!”

“Looking forward to tonight!” Mamoru waved his hand.

People clapped for him. The boy looked quite proud of the fact.

“And sitting across from him is an old-timer. Passing bards told his legends, stories passed from generation to generation. The ever so formidable, ever so frightening, ever so evil Gold Timber!”

“Amaya forced me to use that name!” Gold Timber felt the need to announce that, which caused the spectators, including Tsukiko, to laugh.

She never called me evil, though. 

Amaya probably hadn't forgiven them for the kayaking thing a few days ago. 

“Now, as most of you know, a member of our crew has only joined us recently, so let me explain the rules for her.” Amaya winked toward Tsukiko. Tsukiko looked at her in surprise, and since a lot of the people here were regulars, they understood who Amaya meant.

“First to five points wins. Each battle would reward a minimum of zero points. Yes! You heard that right! If the time gap between the two spinwars is too close and couldn’t be discerned by yours truly, then the result may be nullified at the judges' discretion.”

Kenji could hear faint booing in the distance. In the past, Amaya had made unfair choices, most involving Kenji. Not helping him, rather, the opposite. When Kenji was supposed to win, sometimes Amaya would come out and nullify the results, giving his opponents a second chance. As a result, a lot of people supported him, being the underdog in this competition.

“Now, now, don’t be worried, because you can gain up to three points at once! How? If you remain spinning, then you gain one point. If you managed to knock the enemy’s spinwar outside of the arena, two points. And, if you manage to destroy it, a juicy three points!”

“Let it spin! Let it spin!” the crowd chanted, tired of hearing the rules. Even Tsukiko joined in on the chant. When she noticed Kenji looking at him, she brought her hands in front of her mouth. Her mouth moved, but Kenji couldn’t understand what she meant. He simply stared at her.

“Patience! Without further ado, let the battle begin in three, two, one, let it spin!”

And with her declaration, the two pulled the ripcord. Two spinwars descended into the arena and immediately bashed themselves against each other. They fought. Mamuro’s red spinwar against Kenji’s gold. A camera followed the action from above, with a projector projecting a larger image against the wall.

“Look at that! The two are fighting furiously! Each reaching out for victory! How commendable! How brave! Five seconds in, and neither side gave up! Amazing!”

Metal scraped against metal, their whirring noises filling the air. Everyone watched in suspense as the spinwars began slowing down. Finally, Mamuro’s spinwar knocked Kenji’s spinwar away. The spinwar slowed down before sliding back to the center, but it had lost all its momentum.

“And the score is 1-0 with Red Ryan in the lead! Now, can Gold Timber live up to its name? Would its age and wisdom come to save it? Or would it be nothing but gold poop?”

The crowd laughed at the weird joke, but it was time for round two. The two picked up their respective spinwars and locked them into place.

“I won’t be losing to you, Kenji!”

“And there’s the taunting! Now, how will Gold Timber respond?”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

“Woohooo! And you heard that, folks! Neither of these two is backing down! It’s the first round, and things are already heating up! Now, for round two! Let it spin!”

The two spinwars headed back into the arena, but this time, the result was way less boring.

“Oh, look! Look at them go! Generations of hatred and fury condensed into this one moment! Here’s a slap, and there’s a kick!”

In the arena, the two spinwars clashed, repeatedly attacking each other.

“And there goes Red Ryan’s spinwar! Flying straight out! All while Gold Timber remained spinning as if nothing had happened! The score is now 1-2 folks! What would happen next? Stay here to find out!”

“... Wait. So that’s the name of the spinwar?” Tsukiko asked.

“Technically, it’s both your nickname and the spinwar’s name,” Amaya said.

“I see…”

“And now, for our third round! Let it spin!”

Kenji and Memuro pulled the ripcode. The two spinwars fell upon the arena and began battling each other. This time, something unexpected happened.

“Oh look! Oh look! The two spinwars! They’re brawling! They’re brawling!”

It looked as if Gold Timber accelerated, something that shouldn’t be possible. It continued smashing its side against Red Ryan. Everyone expected Red Ryan to fight back. But no. It must have hit something, as Red Ryan immediately wobbled, then broke apart.

“And Red Ryan is destroyed! That’s three whole points! The first win goes to Gold Timber!”

Kenji scoffed. “All that trash talk and you got destroyed? What a joke.”

The entire room went loud with cheers.

•••

The match continued, one after another. Tsukiko ended up getting involved. Amaya gave her a new unit, still fresh out of the box. Bearing the name Blue Ocean, Tsukiko managed to sail through the qualifiers and semi-finals, which gave her a seat in the finals. Sitting across from her was the first victor, Gold Timber.

“We have your top two, Folks! These two have fought hardships! They fought countless challenges on the way to the top, and now here they are! But only one of them could take the crown along with all its glory! And also, the free food vouchers, I guess. But the question is, which of them would return the voucher to me? Cause I ain’t feeding our staff free food.”

Everyone laughed. Tsukiko looked tense when she first stepped up, but she seemed a bit better now. Everyone looked curiously at the two of them. She got to the finals on sheer luck. The question is, could her luck carry her to victory? Could this new challenger, the dark horse of the event, really so easily claim the free vouchers Amaya had set up?

It’s just a game… but…

Kenji glanced at the crowd, at Amaya, and finally at Tsukiko. Tsukiko didn’t have this competitive fire in her eyes when she first stepped in. The first match had been a close one, 5-4. She must not have expected to get this far.

What is she thinking? Strategy? Tricks? Or is she already thinking about what to use the vouchers on?

Kenji was curious, but Tsukiko hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t trash-talked her opponents. Instead, her eyes remained glued to her spinwar. She held it in her hand before locking it into the launcher. Tsukiko gripped the launcher tight, as if her life depended on it.

“But, before we begin our final match of the day, don’t you feel like something is amiss?”

The crowd fell silent, looking around them, then confused murmurs arose.

“Well, because there is! These two are staff, remember? Whoever wins, I won’t hear the end of it!”

“Oh…”

“They live together, right?”

“I understand what she meant…”

For the first time since the event started, the crowd related to Amaya. Maybe they, too, had experience living with someone who wouldn’t stop mentioning their victory in a game.

“So, that’s why I’m joining the fight!”

“Now!?” Tsukiko groaned. Her first true reaction in a while. 

“What!?”

This had never happened before. Amaya always remained a commentator, an organizer. She never entered the arena herself.

Amaya pulled out a spinwar. A beautiful white spinwar. He never saw it before, but it certainly gave out the vibes of a secret weapon. Kenji gulped.

That shine, that bright metallic surface. It wasn’t just any spinwar. That spinwar had endured countless battles, refining its skills day by day, turning itself into the perfect weapon. A spinwar so powerful it would blow its enemies away. A single touch could ruin everything.

“My name is White Tiger, and I’ll be the third wheel of this story!”

“We’re not dating!” Tsukiko shouted, prompting chuckles from the audience. She then looked away, her cheeks slightly red.

“And let’s increase the stakes, shall we?”

“Wha- what again?” Kenji asked in exasperation.

“The one with the lowest score gets cleaning duty for the next two days. Clean everything, all alone.”

That would mean during Saturday and Sunday, two of the busiest days.

“The one with the highest score gets to have one wish granted by the one with the second highest score.”

The crowd fell silent. Some might understand the implications. Cleaning duty, truly the worst of the worst.

Although the first-place winner could force the second-place winner to also do that.

“It can be anything! Well, maybe not anything, but anything decent and doable! It can be to accompany the winner to watch a horror movie together.”

Everyone gasped.

“It can be to massage the winner’s back!”

The gasps grew louder.

“Or worse of all, the winner can force the loser to sit there as they spoil the sequel of the loser’s favorite movie.”

The cafe fell into chaos.

“That’s evil!”

“That’s just insane!”

“No one deserved that!”

“So, our two finalists, do you accept this challenge? Or are you scared?”

“I’m not scared of you,” Kenji scoffed. Unlike Tsukiko and Amaya, he wasn't into TV shows. He had enjoyed movies before, but he didn't care about spoilers that much.

Tsukiko, on the other hand, was horrified. “I haven’t got the chance to watch Bright Stars 2 just yet! I don’t want spoilers!”

Amaya let out a smirk. “Then win.”

Tsukiko gulped. Her already tight grip tightened even further. She stared at Kenji, then at Amaya.

“Fine, I accept. I’ll beat you down to dirt, then turn you into ash.”

Everyone stared at her, mouths open.

Amaya looked at her, her gaze turning cold, and she dropped the microphone. It let out a loud thump as it crashed onto the floor.

“Don’t do that! That’s expensive!” Kenji shouted, but was promptly ignored.

Amaya stood facing the crowd. Everyone watched the match with great interest.

She turned her eyes toward the two, a darkness in her gaze. Far darker than even the deepest oceans. “Then, shall we begin, Losers?”