What Onoda decided to do with his free time was not something Imaizumi ever understood, or expected to understand, so he hadn't asked any questions when he'd walked into the clubhouse to find their climber humming the latest opening of Love Hime (better than the second opening, but not as good as the first) and doodling with markers on a giant sheet of paper. Some days, he built model robots. Some days he assembled linked chains of gachapon charms to hang from the lockers. Today he was drawing. That didn't seem so bad.
"Hey," he called out on his way to his locker.
"Ah! Imaizumi-kun! I'm almost done with the introduction chart for the new freshmen!"
"Introduction chart?"
His teammate radiated a glow so bright, Imaizumi nearly had to shield his eyes. "Yeah! So we can prepare them to fight alongside us in the next Interhigh! Whether they survive the grueling training to make it into the race," he said, striking a battle pose, "or they need to know to provide proper commentary to onlookers from the side of the road! Knowing every teams members and skills and personal relationships is key!"
So he was working on something like that? He walked over to examine everything Onoda had done so far. The twenty top ranked teams were all laid out as color-coded bubbles with the members pictures sketched inside, every picture labeled with a name and a skill, every school with a short catchphrase that encapsulated how they rode. All of their graduated former teammates were on there, too, sorted by college (or if they weren't in college, in the margin by their former high school). This actually looked... useful?
"How long have you been working on this?"
"I stayed up late the past two nights! Do you like it?!" Onoda looked like he might cry with joy. Which was maybe overkill. But then again, this was Onoda. His only settings seemed to be 'on' and 'clueless'. "I based it on the character chart for this season's excellent addition to the Space Battalion franchise, Beta Renegade: Space Battalion Plus! I highly recommend it both for long time fans and new viewers, in case you wanted to catch up on the series. Until the Blu-Ray comes out, I've made DVR copies of the Gizmattron Vortex arc and--"
Feeling his head start to reel from unfamiliar words, Imaizumi concentrated on the usefulness of the chart Onoda had made. He hadn't even heard of the original Space Battalion anime, and he didn't have time in his schedule to add another series. Love Hime was enough. But such a complete chart of their own team history, with blank spots for the new recruits, could be an asset to their psychological training for the next race. There were even lines linking people for what looked like significant interpersonal relationships, with arrows for times when they were one sided. Based on the nexus of lines that centered on him, it was fairly clear what black meant, and pale green appeared to be close friendship. He was guessing that bright blue was rivalry, while the red ones... linking him and...
Wait a second. Some things were supposed to be private.
The clubhouse door shot open like a firecracker, with Naruko yelling, "Did you do it, did you do it, did you do it?" at the top of his lungs.
Imaizumi could hear how proud Onoda looked. "Yeah! It's right here, ready to go on the wall!"
"Yessssssssssssssss!!!"
"No," Imaizumi said, sticking out his arm to block Naruko from picking up the poster. "We're not doing this."
"Oh, but I worked so hard..."
"You heard him, Hot Shot! Are you gonna waste all of Sakamichi's effort on--"
"We are not plastering our-- that is, we're not plastering the entire league's love lives on the wall. I refuse. It's stupid."
Naruko bucked up in his face with a snarl. "It's awesome!"
"Stupid."
"Awesome!!"
"Stupid!"
Onoda tried to sneak the paper off the table, but both of them slammed their hands down to keep it in place. "We're not done," they yelled together.
"Not done with what?" Teshima called from the door. Aoyagi was at his side as always, looking confused and vaguely concerned by the commotion.
He and Naruko closed ranks by the table, shoulder to shoulder to block any view of the poster, chorusing, "Nothing!" for the seniors. Onoda moved faster, though. Whisking his masterpiece off the table, he took it over to explain every single element in proud, loving detail while their new captain and vice captain nodded in serious contemplation.
After a moment of silence, while Imaizumi waited for someone to explain that their private lives weren't appropriate for public display, Teshima-sempai looked over his shoulder at Aoyagi-sempai, whose mouth twitched just a little. There could be hope yet!
"Hajime's right. We need to mark down mentors, too. Those are important."
"That's true!" Onoda answered, nodding with his chin in his hands. "I'll make it purple! For Kinjou-san! I'll have to use a paint marker so it doesn't turn brown over Sohoku's yellow shading, but I have those at home. I had to use one for the green anyway because it's so light--"
Teshima-sempai carried the chart across the room. "There's a space on the wall over here."
Naruko was doing a little victory dance, and cackling. Onoda looked like he was in heaven. Which was fine, but still... Pinching himself on the arm, Imaizumi hoped he'd wake up and find out this was all a bad dream.
FILL: TEAM ARAKITA YASUTOMO/FUKUTOMI JUICHI, G
934 words
What Onoda decided to do with his free time was not something Imaizumi ever understood, or expected to understand, so he hadn't asked any questions when he'd walked into the clubhouse to find their climber humming the latest opening of Love Hime (better than the second opening, but not as good as the first) and doodling with markers on a giant sheet of paper. Some days, he built model robots. Some days he assembled linked chains of gachapon charms to hang from the lockers. Today he was drawing. That didn't seem so bad.
"Hey," he called out on his way to his locker.
"Ah! Imaizumi-kun! I'm almost done with the introduction chart for the new freshmen!"
"Introduction chart?"
His teammate radiated a glow so bright, Imaizumi nearly had to shield his eyes. "Yeah! So we can prepare them to fight alongside us in the next Interhigh! Whether they survive the grueling training to make it into the race," he said, striking a battle pose, "or they need to know to provide proper commentary to onlookers from the side of the road! Knowing every teams members and skills and personal relationships is key!"
So he was working on something like that? He walked over to examine everything Onoda had done so far. The twenty top ranked teams were all laid out as color-coded bubbles with the members pictures sketched inside, every picture labeled with a name and a skill, every school with a short catchphrase that encapsulated how they rode. All of their graduated former teammates were on there, too, sorted by college (or if they weren't in college, in the margin by their former high school). This actually looked... useful?
"How long have you been working on this?"
"I stayed up late the past two nights! Do you like it?!" Onoda looked like he might cry with joy. Which was maybe overkill. But then again, this was Onoda. His only settings seemed to be 'on' and 'clueless'. "I based it on the character chart for this season's excellent addition to the Space Battalion franchise, Beta Renegade: Space Battalion Plus! I highly recommend it both for long time fans and new viewers, in case you wanted to catch up on the series. Until the Blu-Ray comes out, I've made DVR copies of the Gizmattron Vortex arc and--"
Feeling his head start to reel from unfamiliar words, Imaizumi concentrated on the usefulness of the chart Onoda had made. He hadn't even heard of the original Space Battalion anime, and he didn't have time in his schedule to add another series. Love Hime was enough. But such a complete chart of their own team history, with blank spots for the new recruits, could be an asset to their psychological training for the next race. There were even lines linking people for what looked like significant interpersonal relationships, with arrows for times when they were one sided. Based on the nexus of lines that centered on him, it was fairly clear what black meant, and pale green appeared to be close friendship. He was guessing that bright blue was rivalry, while the red ones... linking him and...
Wait a second. Some things were supposed to be private.
The clubhouse door shot open like a firecracker, with Naruko yelling, "Did you do it, did you do it, did you do it?" at the top of his lungs.
Imaizumi could hear how proud Onoda looked. "Yeah! It's right here, ready to go on the wall!"
"Yessssssssssssssss!!!"
"No," Imaizumi said, sticking out his arm to block Naruko from picking up the poster. "We're not doing this."
"Oh, but I worked so hard..."
"You heard him, Hot Shot! Are you gonna waste all of Sakamichi's effort on--"
"We are not plastering our-- that is, we're not plastering the entire league's love lives on the wall. I refuse. It's stupid."
Naruko bucked up in his face with a snarl. "It's awesome!"
"Stupid."
"Awesome!!"
"Stupid!"
Onoda tried to sneak the paper off the table, but both of them slammed their hands down to keep it in place. "We're not done," they yelled together.
"Not done with what?" Teshima called from the door. Aoyagi was at his side as always, looking confused and vaguely concerned by the commotion.
He and Naruko closed ranks by the table, shoulder to shoulder to block any view of the poster, chorusing, "Nothing!" for the seniors. Onoda moved faster, though. Whisking his masterpiece off the table, he took it over to explain every single element in proud, loving detail while their new captain and vice captain nodded in serious contemplation.
After a moment of silence, while Imaizumi waited for someone to explain that their private lives weren't appropriate for public display, Teshima-sempai looked over his shoulder at Aoyagi-sempai, whose mouth twitched just a little. There could be hope yet!
"Hajime's right. We need to mark down mentors, too. Those are important."
"That's true!" Onoda answered, nodding with his chin in his hands. "I'll make it purple! For Kinjou-san! I'll have to use a paint marker so it doesn't turn brown over Sohoku's yellow shading, but I have those at home. I had to use one for the green anyway because it's so light--"
Teshima-sempai carried the chart across the room. "There's a space on the wall over here."
Naruko was doing a little victory dance, and cackling. Onoda looked like he was in heaven. Which was fine, but still... Pinching himself on the arm, Imaizumi hoped he'd wake up and find out this was all a bad dream.
Nope.
Unbelievable.