(MC POV)
"So we just need to hit this ball back to the other side of the net within three hits?" Kiyomi asked.
Elaria nodded enthusiastically, "Yep!"
"And if it lands on the ground on the opposing side, the team that hits it over the net will get a point?"
"Yes! Simple right?!"
I feel like there were a lot more rules that she was missing but I'm not sure of the exact details myself. But as long as they have fun, that's fine right?
Initially I wanted to join them too but they couldn't agree on who will be on which team, especially for me.
Not to mention the fact that if I participated it would be an odd number of people anyway.
Thus, I've decided to be their umpire to watch over them with Cai Hong while they formed into two teams of four.
Elaria had even prepared numbered sticks for all of them to draw from to form the teams.
The result was Lian Li, Diao Chan, Brendan and Elaria on one side and Manami, Eris, Kiyomi and Odriana on the other side.
I created a tall chair made of sand a short distance from their playing field, letting Cai Hong sit on my lap as usual. She had made me promise to play with her and that involved me just letting her be with me.
Gamma stood by the right side of my chair, her hands clasped in front of her waist. Beside her was a tea trolley that she brought out from god knows where, the trolley laden with various snacks and tea.
I slipped a few pieces of candies to Cai Hong, the loli dragon squealing in delight before she started munching on them.
Lian Li's team stood on my left while Manami's team took my right, both teams doing their stretching in preparation for their game.
Surprisingly, with how risque their choice of clothing are, there had been no clothing malfunctions so far.
Elaria grinned devilishly, spinning the ball on a finger, "Heyyy… Let's make this a bit more interesting."
I raised an eyebrow at her, my instincts telling me that I might not like where this is going.
She looked up at me, "The members of the winning team gets to request one favour from Onii-sama!"
Everyone immediately turned their gazes towards me, their eyes sparkling and full of anticipation.
I grimaced slightly, there was no way I could deny that when all of them were giving me that look.
"Within reason…" I relented with a sigh. "And only requestable while we are on vacation here. Unclaimed favours will be nulled the moment we leave. Fair?"
They immediately turned back to face each other, the entire atmosphere shifting rather ominously.
"First to five points... WINS!" Elaria tossed the ball into the air before leaping up and smacking it over the net with her palm.
I wanted to say that I never told them to start yet but… I guess it's a little too late for that.
The ball that Elaria smacked was aimed at the back of the group, going right over their heads in a long arc.
Eris was the first to react, the swordswoman leaping backwards to hammer the ball upwards with her fist.
Odriana showed surprising dexterity with her follow up by leaping upwards and slapping it over the net.
Brendan received it albeit rather clumsily with his arm, sending the ball flying off to the side towards Diao chan.
The witch tossed the ball upwards high into the air, giving time for Lian Li to leap upwards and… Wait… Is she… SHE'S CHARGED WITH LIGHTNING!!
The sound of a thunderclap rang throughout the beach when the golden haired girl smacked the ball downwards with the force of a lightning bolt.
Manami had stretched out her tails, each of them ablaze with crimson flames wrapping around them. The tails stopped the ball just inches from the ground, rebounding it back into the air.
Kiyomi was next to receive it, the ice fox summoning an ice pillar from the ground that hit the ball back into the air.
As though it was pre-planned, Eris was already in the air at where the ball was heading to, her right fist clenched and clad in flames.
The fiery punch sent the ball exploding over the net, landing in the sand a short distance away.
"Haha! And dat's one point fer us!" Eris cheered, landing back down on the sand on her feet.
I really wanted to retort here but Cai Hong just had to start clapping with a wide smile on her face.
Oh what the hell… I suppose as long as no one gets hurt it'll be fine… Worst comes to worst, their protective inscriptions will still activate and protect them.
Brendan was next to serve the ball, smacking it across the net with a palm.
Odriana moved to receive it but the ball slipped along her arm instead of bouncing off, stunning everyone watching it.
There was a soft plop as the ball landed on the sand, rolling for a short distance before finally stopping.
Brendan grinned, waving the bottle of skin lotion that he had used to make the ball slippery.
"And that's one to one."
"Ara? Little Brendan wants to play?" Manami chuckled, picking up the ball to light it on fire.
I really need to ask what Elaria used to make the ball since it was surprisingly durable and hasn't exploded or disintegrated yet.
The fox youkai blasted the ball over the net, aiming for the empty spot in the middle of Lian Li's team.
A rune appeared on where the ball was about to land, a tentacle bursting out from it to slap the ball back into the air.
I narrowed my eyes at Diao Chan, wondering when she managed to craft a Spell like this. Did she get inspiration from fighting that tentacled thing? At this point, I'm pretty sure her Spell craft is much better than mine already.
I wondered who on Lian Li's team would receive the ball until I noticed Elaria standing at the back with something on her shoulder.
That something turned out to be a rocket launcher which she used to fire at the ball.
I don't even know what face I should be making when the rocket exploded, sending the ball hurtling a distance away on Manami's side of the net.
Now that I looked more carefully, I realised that they had not even drawn the boundary of the playing area at all. Are they seriously thinking that as long as the ball goes over the net, it will count?
Something tells me that this was indeed what they were thinking.
Kiyomi stretched out her hands and froze the ball in midair, causing it to plummet back down to earth before it travelled too far.
Manami then exploded the ground under the ball, the force tossing the ball back towards the net.
Eris leapt up into the air with her arms stretched upwards, slapping it downwards on Lian Li's side of the net.
What surprised me was that no one on Lian Li's team moved, allowing the ball to bounce on the sand unhindered.
All of them were staring straight ahead at Odriana.
Cai Hong and I leaned towards our left to see her holding up her sketchpad in front of her chest with a big smile on her face. On the sketchpad was a drawing of the swim pants version of myself looking directly at the viewer with sparkles all around the page.
Odriana snapped the book shut and grinned, "And that's two to one."
The sound of the book snapping woke the four of them out of their trance, looking down to see the ball laying there in confusion before realising what happened.
Lian Li's team glared at their opponents, electricity sparking off between the two.
Only Cai Hong appeared oblivious to their conflict as she continued to cheer happily while munching on the candy I gave her.
This is fine... right?
