Mr. Wells clapped his hands. "Surprise warm-up for the new semester. I'll ask questions, and you answer. Get one wrong and you sit down. Last one standing wins."
Groans filled the room. Keita smiled. He was good at everything, and this was no exception.
The questions came quickly. Students dropped into their seats one by one, until only two were left, Keita and the new girl, Bloom.
"Don't think I'll go easy on you," Keita said.
"I wouldn't want you to."
Question after question flew. Her answers were sharp and quick, and he couldn't rattle her. On the twelfth question, Keita hesitated for half a second.
"Incorrect," Mr. Wells said. "Bloom wins."
The class gasped. Bloom let out a breath and grinned.
"Wow," Levi muttered. "Twice in two days."
Before Keita could answer, the bell rang. Mr. Wells raised his voice. "Before you go: the school's selection tournament is tomorrow. Five students will represent Crimson at the Blood Games."
The room buzzed. Across the classroom, Keita's eyes met Bloom's. Neither looked away first.
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That evening, the store was packed. Uncle Drew had flipped the sign to CLOSED and left the lights on. Keita hosted, but tonight his team stayed off the screens. Others played, and the Conquests watched.
Keita looked around and finally saw Bloom. "Let's go greet the new girl" He said to Levi. The walked up to Bloom and Claire. "Hey.... enjoying yourself" Keita asked. "Yes... Great energy" Claire said. Bloom just looked at him and turned. "Not working" Levi said.
On the big screen, a rusher charged into a building alone. Bloom shook her head. "He's going in too early. No one's covering him."
The rusher died ten seconds later.
Keita, standing nearby, froze. He had been about to say the same thing. "His camper's useless," he said. "Never checks the corners."
"Exactly." Bloom glanced at him, almost smiling. "And that sniper keeps using the same window."
On screen, the sniper fired from the same window and got picked off.
They went on like that, commenting on one player after another. Each time, they were right, and each time, Keita noticed Bloom caught it a half-second before he did. She's good, he thought. Really good.
"Why did you move here?" he asked, surprising himself.
"We move a lot," she said quietly. "It's just me and my mom, and her work takes us around. I wanted somewhere we could stay."
Keita nodded. For once, he had nothing clever to say.
When the last match ended, the crowd began to drift out.
"See you tomorrow, Softball," he said, almost teasing.
Bloom raised an eyebrow. "I told you not to call me that."
He opened his mouth to explain, and said nothing. "Never mind," he said. "Tomorrow, then."
"Tomorrow," Bloom agreed.