The scene shifted to a classroom.
The chalk writing on the blackboard was crooked, and the air smelled of chalk dust and expired lunches.
Kenjaku stood at the lectern, holding half a piece of chalk and droning on about a problem nobody wanted to hear about. Below him, Takaba raised his hand, his posture as proper as if he were attending a flag-raising ceremony.
"Mr. Xuefeng Juan, your lips are purple. Heart trouble?"
Kenjaku slapped the desk, sending up a white cloud of chalk dust.
"You can't outrun me. Wanna bet?"
The next second, the two of them were on the sports field. Kenjaku held a Qiaolezi ice cream in his left hand and a Sprite in his right, running faster than a rabbit. His monk's robes snapped behind him like a flag in the wind. Takaba chased him furiously, his shoe soles smoking from the friction, almost within reach of Kenjaku's hem.
Kenjaku suddenly looked back, his mouth spreading into a Naoya-style sneer.
"Can't catch me-mad yet?"
Takaba screeched to a halt and clutched his head, his entire face scrunching into the confused guy meme. Meanwhile, Kenjaku's feet found nothing beneath them, leaving him suspended in midair.
"Am I... in midair?" He glanced down. An enormous inflatable castle covered the ground, its bright colors resembling a flattened rainbow cake.
He landed in the castle and bounced high into the air, folding his arms across his chest with a solemn expression.
"Inflatable castle. Step right up, thirteen-hundred-year-olds versus thirteen-year-olds."
As soon as he finished speaking, a gigantic Milk Dragon mascot slammed into him from the side, sending him flying. The mascot's head was pulled off, revealing Takaba's innocent face inside.
"Sorry about that-" He scratched his head. "I thought my mom had bought me tickets to the gladiator arena."
Takaba