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09 STRATEGISE

They all turn to you—like they've never heard you talk before—and you shrug, cocking a brow, "What?" After they turn away, you lean back in your seat and stare up at the ceiling, purposefully ignoring Chigiri's eyes watching you.

"Right," Iemon nods, glancing your way before back to the screen, "Our best strategy will be to divide and conquer."

Raichi snarls (like he always does) and, slumped in his chair, he looks at Iemon, "Question: why is Iemon handling the briefing? Doesn't Kuon usually handle this?"

Iemon rubs the back of his neck bashfully, avoiding eye contact with the scary boy. "Uh—usually. But he hasn't finished taking his bath yet. I did okay, right?"

"Yeah, sure! He may be gone, but our strategy's pretty clear!" Naruhaya says with a bright grin, swinging back and forth on his chair. He rests his hands behind his head, before turning to Gagamaru—sitting behind him—and gives him an evil grin, "Right Gagamar—!!!" 

Promptly, without a change in expression, Gagamaru takes Naruhaya's face in his big hand and squeezes.

The door slides open, and there stands a red-faced, sweating Kuon who's panting like he ran a mile. A towel hangs under his wet hair, and he leans on the doorway for support. Bachira—little sleepy Bachira—yawns and smiles lazily, "Welcome to the meeting... coach..."

Kuon pants, steam escaping his lips, "Sorry... how much did I miss? I was thinking about what to call tomorrow's operation, and I lost track of time..."

You raise your hand and wave it around to catch his attention, "It's all in my notebook." He nods at you, sparing you a smile, before he stumbles over, and plops himself in the chair beside you, chest heaving up and down.

"We were just analyzing past game footage," Isagi smiles at him, turning around so he's now facing him. Kuon slumps down on the metal table, resting his head in his arms. 

"Is that right...?" He says—sounding more drunk than anything—voice slurring with each word.

"So you nearly did pass out!"

"Don't go dying on us, otherwise we'll be down to only ten players!" Igaguri shivers, imagining the possible reality of that. 

Imamura laughs, slapping the back of the monk boy, "That'd be the end of us for sure." You can't help but nod in agreement. Eleven versus ten is unfair—unless it's something like eleven elderly people versus ten young adults. Those elderly are going down.

Isagi passes Kuon a cup of cold water, and he thanks him before gulping it all down. Kuon wipes his lip, before speaking, "This upcoming match... will put into practice what we've learned from the last game. Operation Next Up It's Me Nine was a success, but it only utilised one player for ten minutes. The coordination was low. We wasted time when the weapon wasn't viable. But in this game, we'll utilise three up top with compatible weapons, and we'll rotate the formation three times in thirty-minute intervals. Using this three-shift, front three pattern, we'll all be able to take turns getting a chance to shine."

Kuon raises his head, and his fist by extension, a proud smile on his face. "Because of that—I call it Operation Seven All Stars!"

Igaguri points at him, cackling wildly, "So lame! That's the best you could come up with?!"

Naruhaya agrees, nodding his head with his nose pointed up, "You've got the worst taste in names ever!"

Gagamaru comes from behind him (and you, which makes you scream and shrink into your chair), and places a hand on his shoulder with big, beady eyes baring into him, "They're one of my favourite bands. You ever heard of Erotica 7? It's a masterpiece." You think this is the most emotion you've ever seen Gagamaru express before, a flame of wonder flickering in his large eyes.