About ten minutes later, I arrived at the gym. Inside, the lights were already on and I could hear sounds of shouting and the echoes of a bouncing ball.
The door to the gym was open so I peeked in to have a look. What I saw blew me away. Aside from Fatty Yu, I could see three other people. The four members of 4Square were warming up by passing each other the ball on the Inner Court.
However, they weren’t simply just bouncing the ball towards each other. They would sometimes flick their wrists or delay the timing of their passes so to add a little bit of variance in the ball’s movements.
Not to mention, the speed that they were passing. For an average person, he or she might not be able to keep up. However, for me who has been crowned as the Trickster on Magic Age, this speed was nothing.
While they continued to focus on their game, I took the chance to observe my three seniors. Fatty Yu was standing on the Ace square and it seemed that he was able to keep up with the attacks of the other three members.
Standing on the King square was an ikemen. That’s right…this senior was what the Chinese called a ‘handsome brother’. He had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and broad shoulders with a tall stature and a pleasing face.
Yea…that’s all I could say. I’m no expert at describing handsomeness. All I know was that for some reason, I really hate that guy.
Next up on the Queen square was a…a child. The senior had a baby face and was only about five feet tall. He was really skinny, but he made up for his lack of strength with speed and quick reflexes.
Not only did he looked like a child, he was a child. I’ve heard of this guy. Rumors had it that he had skipped a lot of grades and was currently only twelve years old. To think that he was a 4Square member as well.
And finally, on the Jack square was another ikemen. Dammit! Do ikemens love playing 4Square? Maybe this wasn’t the thing for me after all. Wait! I stared at the player on the Jack square and noticed some oddities.
The ikemen had no Adam’s apple! Now, others might think that it was just faint, but for me who could spot the differences between a Ninja and his doppleganger, I noticed that not only did the ikemen not have an Adam’s apple, but also this player’s chest area seemed to have a slight bulge….
OMG! This wasn’t an ikemen. This was a trap…a reverse trap to be exact! The player on Jack square was actually a female wearing male clothing! Her short hair, lack of makeup, and muscular arms made it quite hard for others to differentiate between her and any other male.
“So 4Square can be played by all genders.” I muttered as I moved closer for a better look.
Suddenly, the preteen smashed the ball down towards the ikemen with all his might, bouncing the ball high in the air. The ikemen leaped up to receive the ball with both hands and directed it towards Fatty Yu’s square.
“Cherry Bomb!” The ikemen roared as he hurled the ball towards Fatty Yu. “You lose!”
The ball crashed into the Ace square like a meteor and exploded with a resounding bang. The sight caused me to squint as my brain started calculating. Exactly how much strength does that ikemen have to destroy the ball with a bounce?
“Goddammit, Long Chen! This is the fifth ball of the month! We don’t have the budget to destroy any more balls!” Fatty Yu snapped as he grimacingly picked up the rubbery remains of the 4Square ball.
“Haha, sorry, sorry. No worries, Wang Yu. I can just pay for it out of my own pocket.” Long Chen giggled before handing over an hundred dollar bill. “This should cover it.”
“Don’t think you can pay your way out of this!” Fatty Yu snapped as he snatched the money away. “This is the last ball. The new kid will be here any minute now. We should at least let him play for a round.”
As if on cue, I walked in and waved hello. “Hey Fatty Yu. I heard a loud explosion outside. What was that?”
“Ah, you’re here. That was-.”
“Allow me to explain.” Long Chen interjected as he stepped forward elegantly. “That was one of 4Square’s special techniques – Cherry Bomb. To use this technique, you must catch the ball with both hands while in the air and slam the ball down on the intended target square.”
“Cherry Bomb? I can understand the ‘Bomb’ part, but what about the ‘Cherry’ part?” I mused over the answer.
“Well, there’s really nothing to it. The only reason we call it ‘Cherry’ was because the official game ball is red and looks similar to a cherry.” Long Chen explained after thinking for a while.
“I see.”
“Alright! Enough of that. Come, let me introduce you.” Fatty Yu grabbed my arm and drew me closer to the three seniors. “Everyone, this is uh…this is…what was your name again?”
While the three seniors rolled on the floor laughing, I awkwardly scratched my nose and told Fatty Yu my name. With a smack of his fist, Fatty Yu continued with the introductions.
“Alright guys, get up. It’s not funny anymore. This is Jack Chen. He’s a freshman. The pretty boy here is Long Chen, our VP.”
“Call me Brother Long.” The ikemen flashed a bright smile.
“Brother Long.” I greeted in return.
“This gorilla here is Sun Xiaohua, our club’s manager and the only female in our group. That’s right…that’s a she.” Fatty Yu continued as he pointed towards the reverse trap.
“Who are you calling a gorilla, you pig?!” Sun Xiaohua snapped back before turning towards me with a grin. “Call me Sister Sun or Brother Sun. Doesn’t really matter to me.”
“S-Sister Sun.” I stammered as I was almost goaded into calling Sun Xiaohua ‘Brother Sun’, but I managed to hold it in when I caught sight of her reaction towards being referred to as ‘brother’..
Sun Xiaohua looked up with a pleased smile and nodded in satisfaction. “Ey!”
“Over here is our youngest as well as our treasurer – Pu Haitang.” Fatty Yu introduced the preteen to me.
Pu Haitang straightened his back and pounded his chest with self-confidence. “Since I’m a senior, call me Brother Pu.”
“B-Brot-.” I started to greet Pu Haitang, but Fatty Yu stepped in and interrupted my greeting, much to the displeasure of the young child.
“And lastly, I am Wang Yu or Fatty Yu as most are used to calling me as such. I am the club’s president. Welcome to the club!”
“Thank you.” I responded politely out of habit.
“Good, good! Now that introductions are over, let’s play a match!” Fatty Yu smiled and brought out a volleyball. “Since Long Chen wrecked the only ball we had, we will be using this volleyball as substitute.”
“Okay.” I nodded as I felt some excitement rise up inside of me.
“Great! Since you’re new, you go stand in the Jack square. I’ll take Ace square while Sun Xiaohua will take King square. Long Chen, you take Queen square.”
“What about me? I want to play!” Pu Haitang whined a bit as the positions were determined.
“Go wait in line.” Fatty Yu pointed at the waiting line.
“Hmph! No fair!” Pu Haitang murmured as he reluctantly stood in line while the game began.
Fatty Yu held the ball and went over some pre-game rules. “For the player in the Ace square, if the game just started, then he or she cannot add a new rule. Only when one player has been ousted can the player in the Ace square began making new rules.”
“Can we make as many rules as we want?” I asked.
“Not at one time.” Fatty Yu explained. “For every player kicked out of the four squares, the Ace can add a new rule at the start of his serve. The rule must be reasonable, or the referee might show a yellow card. After three unreasonable rules, the referee will show the red card and the Ace will be eliminated.”
“What do you mean by ‘unreasonable rule’?”
“Like, for instance, I say all opposing players must use their head only.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Of course, if I said all players must use their head only, then that is considered reasonable since it affects everyone equally.”
“Even if it affects you and your teammates?’
“Yes.”
“So, all of these rules just keep building up? How would anyone remember all that?”
“Actually, the rules only build up for the Ace player if he or she hasn’t been outed yet. Once the current Ace is eliminated, the rules reset.”
“Ah, that’s more like it.” I nodded. “Okay, anything else I need to know?”
“Oh yes, serves must be done underhand and after an initial bounce.” Fatty Yu remarked as he dropped the volleyball.
The ball bounced once and was immediately sent across towards me. Fortunately for me, Fatty Yu went easy on the serve, so I was able to receive it easily. With a swipe of my palm, I smacked the ball towards Long Chen.
Long Chen received the ball with a suspicious grin and swiped it back towards Fatty Yu. The ball sailed towards the Ace square and right when it bounced off of the ground, it suddenly stopped.
The ball only rose up a third of the way even though Fatty Yu expected it to rise at least halfway. Because of this effect on the ball, the captain missed the ball and the ball dropped to the floor with a second bounce.
“Long Chen! You fuc-!” Fatty Yu bulged with anger but held himself back as he moved to the waiting line.
As the players moved up the ranks, Long Chen smiled at me and asked. “You done with warm-up?”
“W-Warm-up?” I stammered, but as I tried to continue, Long Chen interrupted me.
“Good! Then, let’s get a little serious.”
