When spring slips into Shirosawa High, its halls buzz with talk about the School Spirit Games. This year, they added a quiz relay—crazy, right? Asahi Sugino, a second-year, wants none of it at first. He’d rather read manga.
“Are you entering, Asahi?” asks Mana, his best friend. She’s already filled in his name. He knows if he doesn’t, he’ll never hear the end of it. He gives in, but only after she bribes him with a rare comic. Could you say no?
Asahi dreams low. He’d hang back, maybe help his class NOT come last. But things get weird: student council president Shin rouses whole classes in the assembly, eyes shining. “This year, we make it legendary. Losers clean ALL board erasers for a term!” Some groan. Some laugh. Mana nearly faints. Even Asahi sits up straighter. A term of chores is a disaster. 
Teams form. The elite third-years trash talk. But the twist? There are surprise rule cards. You can swap a member to another team, skip questions for points, even force rivals to sing their answer. It’s pure chaos, but somehow polite. “A singing math answer?!” howls class clown Nobu. “Sorry class, I guess I’m your man!”
Practice gets heated. Mana sets up drills in the library. Once, Asahi zones out, but pulls off a guess on classic Japanese authors with a lucky doodle. She whispers, “Your instinct’s scary. Should teach it to the class!” But he shrugs. Asahi isn’t sure where these odd hunches come from, and won’t risk letting people down.
Next day, Shin appears. Out of nowhere, he joins their team for a mock round. They stumble on history, but ace new media lessons. Shin asks to talk after. “You could win this. Stop hiding in the back. What’re you afraid of?” Asahi says he isn’t afraid. Is it a lie, though?
Scene shifts. At home, Asahi’s mom finds him crunching trivia, mumbling. “Not bad for the club ghost,” she winks, busy with laundry. “You love this more than you show.” He keeps quiet. He wonders what makes him hold back outside his circle. Are you shy around strangers, too?
Game Day is at hand. Decorations line the gym. Rainbow banners. Kids shout push-up scores and spelling bees at once. Asahi’s stomach flips at the noise. Mana grabs his arm: “That’s rivalry, not rage. I promise.”
The quiz relay is the last event. Rules simplified—one hard question, each member answers in turns. You pass, time penalty. Pressure’s like summer heat. Class 2B stands furthest from the scoreboard. They gotta win big or pick up every eraser in the school for a month.
Round one, Nobu goes and aces odd animal facts by rhyming snake species offbeat. Rounds pass. Asahi’s turn comes. The host reads: “Name EVERY color in the Nebula Sakura Festival logo, clockwise.” Mana blinks. But images pop in Asahi’s mind. He answers: “Red, blue, white, pink, gold.” Timer clicks. Judges nod.
Cheers blast out as their points shoot higher. Mana hugs him so tight his ears hurt. But it isn’t over. Rule card time: Shin, who runs the last-leg, pulls the “Trivia Swap.” They can take points from another class—forfeiting their hardest question. What would you do?
Mana urges risk. Nobu whispers no. Asahi locks eyes with Shin, who, strange, just grins. He makes the call. “We swap.” Four teams fall below. But the hardest question now lands with him: “Name the exact number of cherry blossom petals published in last year’s poster.” 
The crowd murmurs. He flashes back—spring, dusty posters in the hall, countlessly sketching bored between classes. Slowly, he answers, breathless: “Three hundred twelve. Not two more, one less.” Time ticks—judges look at each other. Finally, confirmed. Points triple. Their class moves to second place.
The game ends with final matches still underway—so tension trips through the air. But before victory can be announced, a streak of lights flash. Announcements stutter. The principal’s voice pipes up: “Error tally. Suspicious input revealed. Rematch at sunset.”
The crowd gasps. Are cheers about to turn to groans? Even the staff look rattled. Asahi puts his hood up, mind racing about sabotage. This isn’t what he pictured for the day. Mana grins. “You wanted to stay low. Now look.”
To be continued… 
