On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Seventy

Two flashy young girls who looked high-school age were approaching up the shrine stairs, accompanied by a pair of similarly aged boys with shaven heads and wearing our school baseball uniform. The lead one who was wearing a pretty short skirt and fashionable-looking long boots was waving at us cheerfully.

She picked up her pace and hurried over, the other three trailing in her wake. She stopped in front of us and looked me over, eyes wide when she saw I was holding hands with two beautiful girls. “Oh my, Ri-Ri, how very bold of you. Guess you showed some guts after all.”  Turning to Shaeula her eyes went wide as she took in her looks. “And just who is this? You’re a real beauty. Just what do you use on your hair? I wish I could get mine that colour.” She went to touch Shaeula’s hair, only to have it batted away by Shaeula’s free hand.

“I do not recall giving you permission to touch me-me.” She snapped, eyes cold. At that the girl squealed in delight. “Oh god, so cute. That stutter… so adorable!”

As the chaos continued her friend joined her, followed by the two boys, who were eyeing Shaeula, trying (and failing) to be subtle about it.

“Sorry about Yae, she can be really hyper during festival season.” The newcomer said apologetically. She was wearing skinny jeans and a very tight t-shirt, her blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. “I’m Masui Rika by the way. I don’t know if you remember me, I’ve been in the same class as your sister and Ri-Ri for years.” She looked at me again, face a little pink, perhaps from her exertion. “You are Akio-kun, right? You’ve really been hitting the gym…”

The other excitable gal-girl turned away from Shaeula and agreed. “Oh man yeah, looking good Akio-kun. I guess guys who move to Tokyo really are special…”

At that one of the boys coughed loudly, drawing her attention. “Oh, sorry Masaki-kun. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” she turned back to me. “I’m Chihiya Yae, also friends with your sister and little Ri-Ri. You can call me Yae.”

Friends? If I recall it wasn’t as if my sister disliked them or anything, but they weren’t close… still, I gave a professional smile I used while doing business and greeted them. “Yae-san, Rika-san, nice to meet you again. Thanks for always looking out for my sister and Eri-chan.”

“Tch.” I heard bitter grunts in stereo, as both boys made a rude sound, but so did my sister. Ignoring them I continued talking. “So, what brings you to the shrine today? If I recall, the ‘pro’ team just has to get the green ready for the game?”

My sister was whispering something to Shaeula, right in her ear, and it was quiet but I could just about pick it up. “… asked me out before. Such a jerk, I hear he had girls before and cheated on them. As for the other…”

Ouch. So it looked like Masaki-san asked out my sister before he started dating Yae-san, not that she told anyone, and the other one, Kenji-san, is pretty much a playboy… well, not people I want to spend any time with.

I was especially unhappy about the way Kenji-san was eyeing my sister, though it seemed his lack of faithfulness was shining through, as he was gawking at Shaeula plenty as well, drawing a frown from her.

“So Akio-kun…” Yae-san continued. “You’re playing in the match for the town team right? You’ll be up against Masaki-kun and Kenji-kun. I hope you give a good showing.” She reached out and grabbed my bare arm below the sleeve of my t-shirt. “Wow, you’ve got some nice muscle tone here…”

Okay, these girls are very bold…

“Hey Yae-chan! What are you doing?

“You get your hands off big brother right now!”

Angry words from Masaki-san and surprisingly Eri-chan overlapped, causing my sister to laugh loudly. Striding over she removed Yae-san’s hand from my arm and rapped Rika-san on the head as she continued to try and touch Shaeula’s hair.

“You pair are being rude to my big bro and Shaeula, to say nothing of your poor boyfriend, Yae-san. Sorry for her behaviour.” My sister apologised for them, and Masaki-san blushed, Kenji-san looking really annoyed behind him. Over to the side Marika-san was looking between the two groups in confusion, while Imai-san and his wife had backed off, Imai-san still smirking at my discomfort.

Why do I keep getting caught up in this stuff? I don’t recall being so in-demand before…

“Yeah, my bad.” Yae-san said, and Rika-san stuck her tongue out to laugh it off.

“Anyway, yes I’ll be competing. I hope to do better than my usual shameful showings. I’ve been working out, as you can see.”

“We sure can.” Rika-san agreed. “So, serious talk…” she noticed I was still holding hands with the two girls. “You finally dating Ri-Ri then? Or this other stunner with the gorgeous hair and eyes?”

Before I could answer my sister stepped in. “It’s the festival tomorrow. You know what that means, right?”

“Oh, so that’s how it is eh?” Rika-san looked at the two girls smugly. “Well, good luck to you both.”

“But I’m shocked little Ri-Ri, I thought you’d bottle it as usual, but there you are, clinging to your beloved’s hand. Tomorrow should be really fun… we all need to go around the festival together. It’ll be great!”

Eri-chan was standing firm, though the effort was causing her hand to shake in mine. Before I could deflect attention away from the girls’ teasing, Kenji-san strode forwards, glaring, getting in my face.

What the hell? This has nothing to do with you. If anyone should be annoyed it should be Masaki-san…

“You think you are such a big man, coming back from the city, showing off your girls.” He spat angrily. “Well, I think you ain’t hot shit. And I’ll prove it. How about a wager, or are you too scared?”

Marika-san was aghast and about to intervene, but Imai-san dragged her away, preventing a scene. The people around the shrine were barely even pretending to work now, and I could hear excited mutters about the confrontation. I guess this is a little more exciting than the usual preparations, but it isn’t fun for me, damnit!

“Oho, such a small man, challenging Akio. You stand no chance against him-him!” Shaeula fanned the flames and I could see Kenji-san fuming, even the veins in his forehead pulsing.

“You and me, facing off.” He shouted. “Since the town team gets free substitutes at any time because you are all trash, when you come up to bat I’ll pitch, and when I bat, you pitch. It should be easier to see which of us is the better man then.”

You might want to lower your voice when you call the town team ‘trash’. Imai-san and several others who are on the team don’t look happy.

“Well, I’d upset Shaeula if I backed down now, so I guess you are on.”

“In that case, when I win I want a date with your sister!” he demanded. Everyone froze.

What the fuck? This little sack of crap is pushing his luck…

My sister and Eri-chan had disgust written over their faces, the two gyaru rolling their eyes and looking apologetic. I turned my frozen gaze upon Kenji-san, who stepped back involuntarily, before flushing angrily and stepping back to meet my gaze.

“A date with my sister, even if I could offer it I wouldn’t. Go to hell you sack of shit.” My voice was ice cold, and everyone around me was shocked, never having heard me speak in such a harsh manner before.

Kenji-san flinched again, but refused to back down. “Scared are you, know you can’t beat me? Pathetic, you talk big and flirt with girls, but you are just a loser who left town.”

“Hey man, calm down…” Masaki-san tried to reason with his friend, seeing as how the girls with them were looking put off, but he shrugged him aside and continued to rant at me, until I stepped forwards. He backed off, raising his fists as if to defend himself, but I merely spoke quietly, with deathly calm, though inside I was fuming.

“Can’t beat you, you arrogant little shit? I’ll crush your pride until it even envies the dust. My sister is her own woman, not my slave who would do what I say, and even if she agreed, and I had a billion chances to beat you to a one chance of losing, I would never risk my sister while there is a one-in-any chance of her losing out. But since you think you are the big man, how’s this?” I pulled out my wallet and removed ten crisp 10,000 yen bills. “A hundred thousand yen. From you I need nothing, as you have nothing. If you beat me, the money is yours.”

My sister was hiding her face, ears pink. Wow, she’s doing an impression of Eri-chan, that’s pretty cute.

Shaeula was laughing heartily, enjoying my rage, and Yae-san and Rika-san were looking at me with respect and awe.

“Oh man, that’s so damn cool!” Yae-san gushed. “Standing up for your sister like that, then bringing out a ton of cash with such confidence. Man, so hot!”

“Oh yeah, no question!” Rika-san agreed. “I wonder if there is room at the festival for a third tomorrow? Maybe I’ve got a shot…”

“Hey, Yae-san…” Masaki-san tried to remonstrate with his girlfriend, but Kenji-san was still not done.

“You think you can mock me? Fine. I’ll take your money. But I want more. The loser has to tell everyone they lost at the festival tomorrow on the big stage. Let’s see how much respect you get then!”

“It’s your funeral.” I shrugged. I am going to crush you…

It was then Masaki-san stepped up. “Want to have a bet with me too?” he asked, looking sideways at his gushing girlfriend, who was now high-fiving Rika-san.

“You haven’t angered me, unlike your idiot friend.” I answered. “I don’t see the need.”

“However many shall come is however many you shall defeat, master.” Shaeula grinned. “Why not humour the boy-boy? But there must be a fair wager this time.”

She is really competitive… maybe they remind her of her brothers or something…

“All right, if you insist. But what are your terms. Bear in mind you don’t want to make the same mistake as … him.”

“You can wager money. And I’ll wager one date with Yae-chan.” He replied proudly. Once more everyone froze.

The hell? Was I this stupid as a high schooler? I saw Imai-san giving me a wink and a thumbs up from the side-lines, while Eri-chan spat out a cold howl of refusal. Shaeula however looked like she was having the time of her life.

“Why not, she seems presentable enough-enough. My master should be able to charm any number of women.” She looked at Masaki-chan, who looked away, smitten by her looks. “One hundred thousand, same as before, for one long date with this Yae.”

“Uh, don’t I get a say?” Yae-san said huffily. “I’m feeling a lot less valued than Ai-chan here and I don’t like it.”

Rika-san leaned over and whispered something into her ear, too quietly for even me to pick up, and Yae-san brightened a little. As she did so Masaki-san looked at her apologetically. “Come on, don’t be like that. There’s no danger of me losing to him, he’s got no skills, I remember people laughing at him in the past. And when I win I’ll take you out to the city. We’ll go to Inuyama and I’ll buy you something nice!”

“You can afford to pay both of us, right? You won’t go back on your word?” Kenji-san sneered. In response I gestured to Imai-san, who brought over the extremely confused and somewhat thrilled Marika-chan, who was caught up in the unusual excitement.

“My word is always strong as steel.” I snapped back. “Marika-chan here is witness to our wagers as the shrine maiden of Chairoakitara. That’s fine, right?”

“Of course, anything for you, Akio-sama.” She smiled.

“Besides…” I gestured to the watching crowd. “As an adult, I have to follow through. It’s only children who get to make bold claims without consequences.”

“Oh, sick burn, Oshiro-san.” Imai-san laughed. “But don’t bully the kid too much, okay?”

“There you have it then. I would say may the best man win, but I don’t feel like offering you any hope at all.” I glared at Kenji-san. Turning to Masaki-san my expression softened. “You I’ll wish good luck, but I can’t say I respect using your girlfriend as collateral. It’s a bit shitty and she deserves better.”

“I’m just playing the odds.” He smiled. “When I win she’ll thank me.”

“Just to warn you…” Yae-san said. “I put out on first dates. I put out hard. So if you don’t win who knows what Akio-kun will get to do with me…” she smiled at me coyly, before turning to the annoyed Eri-chan and winking.

“I won’t lose, don’t worry.” He went to take her hand but she dodged him.

“Ah no, not until after the game.” She giggled. “After all, I’m now in limbo. I don’t know whose girlfriend I am until after your duel.” With that she hopped over to my sister. “Should be a fun game right?”

“You are going too far…” she grumbled.

“But it was not she who offered, it was this Masaki, was it not-not?” Shaeula pointed out, and my sister had to agree.

“Wow, so much going on. The hangover hurt my head less than this…”

Beside Yae-san, Rika-san was telling her she was such a tease, and I couldn’t help but agree. Still, as a perfect gentleman there was no danger of anything going down on the date, I could just take her for a meal or something…

Trying to ignore the mix of gazes both curious and hostile, I once more apologised to Marika-chan for not helping with the preparations. The sky above was clear and blue, perfect for a game of baseball…

Win or lose, people are going to talk about this game for years… I think we are about to go down in the history of our town…