Chapter 52: Like the Good Old Days
Gray's team had won its match.
His victory wasn't too quick, neither too slow, really.
All Gray did was stay at the back of the field and catch the balls thrown by the enemy team.
Many classmates became frustrated with how he played. Despite feeling slightly embarrassed by this, Gray knew it was a worthwhile sacrifice.
Since he couldn't assess Nekare's abilities normally, a Dodgeball match was all he could try to perk her up.
While it was highly likely that she wouldn't focus much, as a Dodgeball match wasn't anything worth enough to expose her physical abilities, trying was still necessary.
If even her physical prowess was lacking, paired with her poor knowledge of the Nephilim World, she wouldn't last long.
Letting a ticking time bomb roam around the school carefree, letting her use her abilities without a second thought was also a horrible prospect.
Yet how could Gray inform Nekare about her mistakes? Should he just expose his identity as a Nephilim to Nekare? Should he come clean about everything?
Or should he just send anonymous, cryptic messages and rules to her, just like Casanova had done for him?
Casanova had exposed his own identity, though…
Should he ask for Casanova's help, then?
Should he ask Casanova to let Nekare come under his wing?
…It didn't seem a good idea.
While Casanova had acted like an angel sent by heaven, helping him in every necessity of his—only hiding what wasn't for him to know—exploiting his kindness wasn't a great plan.
He had been extremely tense after he learnt about Nekare's identity as a Nephilim, how could he let her come near his life?
It seemed that his reaction had a profound meaning behind it.
Gray was unsure about such meaning.
The older Nephilim had secrets not meant to be pried into, and this was one of them.
How could Gray possibly know that Casanova had been hiding from the Nephilim all along?
How could he possibly fathom the dangers he, the most experienced Nephilim he knew, had escaped?
Given Casanova's immense strength, how powerful were the ones hunting him? What inconceivable abilities did they possess? What arcane knowledge did they obtain?
Just which group of Nephilim could make the holder of Sahvin run away with his tail hidden behind his legs, like a dog after disobeying its master?
Gray lazily observed the match between the two teams, his mind wandering between countless of different thoughts and hypotheses of how to inform Nekare.
'Having Desensitization here would be a blessing...' he sighed.
'Thinking of it,' Gray couldn't help but smile. 'While Desensitization's requisite is a harrowing one, as it's made up by my sheer suffering in death, Intra's requisite of meditation—despite being slower and less helpful in battle—is more versatile in real-world, commonplace activities.'
'As soon as I go to the warehouse, I guess I'll try that.'
Gray hoped that Casanova would call him soon—he really needed to know the connection between him and Selene.
He also wondered of why he needed to travel so abruptly.
Yet, it didn't take a genius to understand the underlying supernatural reasons behind such act.
What kind of abominations was Casanova facing there?
Hundred-Legged Centipedes? Giraffe-Sized Anacondas? Half-Spider, Half-Human creatures?
Only he knew.
…
After the last match ended, only four teams reached the semifinals—Team A consisted of Rowan, Team C consisted of Gray, Team D consisted of Nekare, and Team H consisting of Veronica Sacramento's ex boyfriend.
The professor clapped his hands and smiled.
"Teams who have lost, don't dismay, there will be chances for victory in the near future."
"Now, the semifinals can begin!"
"Team A and Team C, you're up!"
Gray sighed inwardly.
'To think that I would get paired up with Rowan…'
At the same time, Rowan glanced straight into Gray's eyes, apologizing inwardly for what he was about to do.
'Sorry, bro. I can't let you win this time.'
The young Nephilim could understand from the determination emanating from his dear friend that he was planning to lull Veronica with his performance in Dodgeball.
'Forgive me, Rowan. But neither can I.'
Gray had to understand Nekare's physical aptitude! He couldn't possibly let anyone else go in his way!
The two slowly reached the arena, never taking their eyes off the other.
Even Rowan understood that Gray had a motive behind his determination.
Was it the same as him?
Did he too, want to impress a girl?
Was that girl Nekare?
Yes, it had to be her!
"May the semifinals…"
Rowan's body shifted into a running stance. His shoes gripped the gymnasium's floor, ready to propel his body forward:
As Gray's teammates readied themselves to run towards the balls, Gray suddenly stopped them.
"Please, stay back." he said, blocking the way with his arm. "You saw what he did in the last match. Rowan wants to get rid of you as quickly as he can. Do me a favor and stay back; copy what I did in the last match. It's surely unsightly and uncool compared to his flashy moves, but what can we do about it?"
His teammates nodded, their eyes glistening with a strange sense of 'trust.'
Gray had always been someone unordinary, someone who was even looked at with scorn by many classmates, someone whose remarks were often ignored, only listened by Rowan.
If so, why did his words possess such weight behind them?
Seeing their faces light up and feeling their determinations bubbling in their hearts, Gray sighed.
The matter of hiding his physical prowess was now settled.
"Begin!"
As soon as the professor shouted, Rowan ran towards the three balls.
This time, however, his opponents were ready!
'Letting them stay on the backsides is a perfect plan.' Gray smiled. 'By the time one of his shots come, it'll have already lost most of the power…!'
Just as he thought that, a ball wheezed through the air, hitting one of his teammates straight in the face!
Bam!
"Ouch…!" his teammate cried out, holding his scolding hot, red cheek.
"Eliminated!"
Gray instantly frowned.
'This might really be more complicated than how I imagined.'
"Spread out!" Gray shouted.
"The farther you are from the other, the easier it'll be to dodge his shots and decrease the chance of his shots bouncing around us, eliminating our defenses with just a throw!"
Rowan grinned, grabbed another ball, and instantly threw it at Gray's team!
This time however, he missed.
"Tch…!" Rowan snorted, glancing at Veronica for every minute sign of her disapproval.
The girl was almost impassive. Instead, she focused on her freshly painted nails.
Rowan was unsure of what to feel.
While it was true that Veronica recently lacked a nasty expression on her face, she also never showed a positive emotion towards him!
This caused Rowan to think that his performance wasn't enough!
He had to do more, more, and more again!
Yet…
If only he knew that a girl's heart couldn't be lulled by something as simple as a Dodgeball match…
These things worked in elementary school, not high-school!
Only one ball remained in the middle of the arena.
Rowan's team was still completely full, not lacking in men, yet not even one of his teammates moved to take the ball.
This was the same for Gray's team.
Rowan's teammates knew to not get in the way of their MVP. While they barely even played, they knew that Rowan was the best of them all.
Getting in his way so suddenly would just break his rhythm, possibly even becoming the reason for their loss.
The reason for Team C's passivity was, of course, caused by Rowan once again.
Let's say that one of Gray's teammates decided to try and eliminate someone in Team A.
To do so, they'd need to throw the ball inside the enemy's terrain, obviously.
Then what?
Even if they eliminated one of the weakest links, the ball would soon be taken by Rowan.
It doesn't take a genius to know what would follow soon after.
Team C had already lost a teammate, they just couldn't lose other men.
Thus, they had to be smart with their attacks.
The smartest course would be to wait until all the balls were in their field, and then perform a combined attack, hoping to eliminate Rowan with it.
If successful, they'd surely win.
If not, however…
Losing was pretty much unavoidable.
Regardless, there was no time to think about whether Gray's team would lose or not.
What mattered was to dodge, because right at that precise moment, Rowan had picked the last ball up!
His arm subconsciously flexed, the streaks of muscular tissue tightened, showing right underneath his skin…
He injected pure power into his throw and as the ball left his hand…
BANG!
One of Gray's teammates got hit by Rowan's attack!
And that wasn't all!
That ball retained such strength that it flung right at the last of Gray's teammates, hitting her straight in the shoulder!
With one shot, he defeated two of Team C's players…
This was Gray's greatest worry!
As the ball slowly rolled on the ground, returning into Rowan's field, as the class realized just what happened, a roar of excitement boomed inside the gymnasium!
Rowan exhaled, a bead of sweat dropping right from his forehead.
Had it not been thanks to Gray's loud warning, Rowan wouldn't have thought to make his shots bounce around his enemy's teammates!
And although Gray had warned about this possibility happening in their match, he himself wasn't aware of Rowan's ability to willingly pull such an outrageously complicated move!
This was because, every single time that Rowan and Gray had played together, the former went easy on him!
He glanced at Veronica Sacramento, and for once, she looked back at him, her eyes showing a hint of surprise and an even tinier hint of admiration.
Realizing how his plan had been completely crushed, Gray felt…mildly annoyed.
His reflexes had become almost superhuman, and his ability to evade attacks was also extremely enhanced compared to before he became a Nephilim.
Yet he had to restrict himself.
This plan was meant to cover his abilities from the wandering eyes of Nekare, a fellow Nephilim.
Doing so now would become even more bothersome.
Being alone also meant being subjected to the gaze of every single person in his classroom!
Gray sighed in his heart.
'Turns out that I wasn't the only one who was going easy.'
He however, wasn't angry.
Gray wasn't angry with Rowan for hiding his skills, because deep down, he knew that if he had gotten crushed on every match the two had, he would've instantly lost interest on playing.
He couldn't help but smile slightly. He recalled the many times when Rowan had to beg him to come outside and have fun.
…
Gray Montoya silently took one of the balls lying on the ground and jogged away from the outer edge of the arena.
'I won't be able to go all out, that's true…'
He grinned, instantly throwing the ball he had just picked up!
'…This doesn't mean I won't have fun, though!'
The ball whizzed from left to right, from up and down, almost hitting Rowan, who narrowly dodged it!
One of his teammates wasn't so lucky!
"Eliminated!"
Despite belonging to a different team, Rowan praised his friend.
"Nice shot, Gray!"
Gray laughed out loud.
"I'll get you soon, trust me!"
Rowan chuckled. He grabbed a ball, and as he threw it, he exclaimed,
"I don't think so!"
Gray avoided the rocket-like ball and taunted Rowan.
"You don't think so? You better wait and see!"
He then bent down and grabbed a ball from the floor, throwing it at Team A once more!
Bang!
It hit one of Rowan's teammates!
"Eliminated!"
Since Gray kept on missing and hitting his teammates instead, Rowan returned his friend's taunts.
"I'm right here, man!"
Gray sneered.
"Haha, so funny."
Team A was now only composed by Rowan and Veronica.
She didn't seem to care too much, however.
If Gray had went all out, he could've ended the match way sooner—one minute, give or take a few seconds.
He instead decided to take his time and have a genuine good time with Rowan.
Gray didn't pull any outrageously complicated moves like his dear friend, He instead used simple dodges and the occasional use of a ball to shield from the many powerful attacks.
Yet, no matter how much fun the two were having, it had to end.
Both of them knew it.
After eliminating Veronica, Gray decided to finish the match by catching Rowan's last throw.