Clash of the Mind (Part 1)

Toshiko, Kazuki and Hiroshi step out of their cabin in unison, ready for whatever is thrown at them. Kazuki's scarf drapes behind him as he steps forward confidently. "C'mon, we've crushed everything so far! Third time's the charm!" He shouts. At this point, everyone's ready to get these over with. 

Kurosawa and Sakura stand above them all once again. "Today is another big challenge! That means you'll be pretty busy! We managed to get 10 physical and logical obstacles in your way! Get through those, and you win!" Sakura explains. Kurosawa smiles, plotting. "Don't be fooled, it won't bei as easy as you think. This is timed, and since you all did so well on the Flag exercise, why don't we say 30 minutes? Also, three people per team." The main group of three smile at each other before doing a group fist bump. Aya raises her hand. 

"Hey, can we have Haruka on our team?" She asks. "Oh, sure! I don't see why not!" Sakura replies. All three of them turn their heads in awe as Haruka Sakamoto walks in from the sidelines in the Hakuryu Academy tracksuit. "What the HELL is she doing here?!" Kazuki yells. "Eh, she isn't dangerous though?" Toshiko retorts. Hiroshi shakes his head wildly. "No, this is BAD. She's literally top of the school, in both grades AND status. We literally don't stand a chance if Aya and Haruka are against us.." 

Kazuki scoffs, beaming with determination. "We didn't stop when anything else got in our way! We didn't stop when things went bad! Why the hell should we be intimidated here?! I say screw that, we're gonna go forward and crush 'em!" Hiroshi sighs, but smiling nonetheless. "You always manage to toss my worries away... Fine then! Let's beat them!" Toshiko tosses a cheery glance at Aya and Haruka. "Good luck you two! You're gonna need it." Aya crosses her arms and leans forward smugly. "We'll see about that village boy." Toshiko smirks back. "Oh? I'll take up that challenge then, City Girl." 

Haruka blushes deeply before snapping herself back to reality. "I-I won't lose to you! I know what you're like, you won't win!" Kazuki walks over, his hands in his pockets. "You might know what we're like, but as a team we're pretty unpredictable... Might be best to turn tail." Emi steps forth. "I.. don't understand a damn thing that's happened here.. all I know is, I'm winning this. I HAVE to." Toshiko's determination wavers visibly, but only for a moment. "What're you guys still doing here?" Kurosawa asks. 

Kazuki looks at him confused. "We're waiting for it to start, ain't we?" Kurosawa points forward. "Yeah, uh, we already started. You gotta go forward.. Should've been paying attention!" The group look at each other, confused. In the split moment of realization, Toshiko and his group take off. Emi's group run right behind them. "I can see your scarf, Kazuki!" Aya yells. "Yeah, that's the point! I stand out, that's just the kind of man I am!" He shouts. They quickly reach the first obstacle. An imposing brick wall stands in their way with multiple ropes hanging from it. 

Kazuki and Toshiko jump onto the ropes and begin the painstaking climb. Hiroshi stands back, concerned. "I don't have the upper body strength to do this.. But if it's logic based too, then... I don't need it!" He grabs one of the ropes and climbs up a little bit. He pushes against the wall and swings on the rope. He puts scrunches up, angling his feet towards the wall. He lands, being able to run up the wall. Hiroshi dashes past the entire group of people climbing. 

Aya smiles proudly. "That's my brother!" She shouts, pushing herself off of the wall. "The thing about Hiroshi is that even under pressure, he does the one thing no one else will! That's who he is!" Kazuki yells. The burning motivation he feels pushes him forward and higher up the rope. Toshiko gets but a moment to think to himself. "I've been so off recently.. ever since.. IT happened.. Kazuki.. Hiroshi.. they have goals, they have an idea of who they are.. but now.. what am I?" Aya rushes past Toshiko, her hair streaking past his eyes. 

"C'mon, you giving up now?! If you outsmarted me, I'd assume you'd have more fight!" Her words create sparks in Toshiko's heart, the beginnings of a raging fire. Suddenly, Toshiko flies up the wall. He looks up confused, but he finds Hiroshi and Kazuki smiling at him. "You're one of us, ain't you? C'mon, we do this together brother." Toshiko looks at their sincere faces and he feels his mind clear up for the first time in a long while. As if the clouds themselves split apart for the sun to shine. He pulls himself up onto the top of the wall and stares into the horizon. "WE'RE GONNA CRUSH THIS!" He yells. 

They slide down the rope as Emi and Haruka just reach the top of the wall. "Emi, what took you so long?" Aya ponders. "This... is NOT easy.." Emi responds, panting. Haruka clenches her fist. "Toshiko is the type of person to inspire people, while being inspired himself. It's such an infuriating cycle that always somehow leads to his victory.. we can't give in! At this rate, we won't be anywhere near them!" Aya looks back at them. "Fine, c'mon and follow me!"

As Toshiko and the others continue forward, they don't wait long to find the next obstacle. A simple sign stands in the middle of the dense forests. "Nature itself will tell you where to go." The sign reads. Groups of people sit around, stumped. "Nature itself... I'm kinda confused about this one.." Toshiko thinks. "Doesn't moss grow on the north side of trees? I remember hearing that!" Kazuki shouts.

 "Do we just go north and hope for the best?" Toshiko asks. Hiroshi thinks as hard as he can. Emi's group catches up, looking around. "H-huh?! Where's the obstacle?" Haruka shouts. "You're lookin' at it. Have fun thinking." Kazuki retorts. They read the sign, pondering. "I... Don't have a clue on what this means! You guys got this!" Aya exclaims. Emi sighs. "Nature will tell us.. there aren't many ways for this to make sense.." Haruka ponders. "There aren't specifics.. the sun and stars don't really indicate anything.." Hiroshi says. 

"And moss wouldn't make sense either, north is probably answer they expect.." Haruka continues. They jolt in surprise and look up. "Wind direction! I found it!" They both yell in unison. The groups stare at the flowing wind expectantly. The world falls still until a large gust of wind blows west. "We don't have the time to guess so just take it! We'll say west!" Toshiko yells, as they all run westward. Aya looks at Emi. "Should we follow them?!" Emi thinks for a second. "I don't like the idea of only making it because of them... Should we even go a different direction in case..?" Haruka turns around, confident. 

"Considering Hiroshi-san caught onto the same line of thinking I did, I think the answer really is west! We can't wait around." Emi begrudgingly lets it go. "Fine then, follow after them!" Toshiko turns and starts running backwards, smiling at them. "See ya at the finish line!" He shouts, turning back and going forward. "I won't lose this, I CAN'T!" Emi yells.

Chapter 16 - The End.