Lucky ran. The grounds were so wide that she felt like she could run forever. The heat emitting from the ground didn't bother her at all, nor that the almost suffocating atmosphere did. Having a small body had many advantages, one of which was being able to survive on low nutrious conditions.

"Saru!" the pheasant cawed as he passed a specifically large peach which they used as a practice ball in a straight shot to the monkey - whose name was Saru. He caught the ball by his tail and skillfully flipped it into his arm. He ran in a zigzag past the makeshift obstacles of rocks, then threw the ball up without looking:

"Inuzuka! Your turn!"

Before the ball touched the ground, the dog - Inuzuka - dashed by and scooped it. He ran for a while before dropping and kicking it at another direction:

"Captain!"

Momotaro, of course, effortlessly caught it. Out of the team, he ran the fastest and trickiest, no one could guess his next choice of move.

"Lucky!" Momotaro shouted her name, signaling before passing the ball to her. It was tossed high, Lucky sped up a little before taking a leap, her legs pushed against the ground and her tail waved in motion sync, hopping like a spring, she wrapped her arms around the ball, quickly embracing it then took a loop to land backward on two. She raised it above her head:

"Got it!"

She landed on the other side of the field. In the twilight they practiced one last time, with Lucky, Inuzuka, and the pheasant - Dori, being super uncomfortable. Inuzuka, like Lucky, had keen eyes in the dark, but at the state of half-light, it was hard for his eyes to adjust. Dori, on the other hand, was as good as blind by dusk, though he claimed to have received a special vision aid for nights like this.

"Good work, everyone!" Momotaro clasped his hands together, "But that's barely the warm-up. We all know it requires much more to defeat the Onis. Lucky, since you're new, there are a few things to know before the match. Basically, we have to NOT let any Onis grab the ball. The Red Onis are known to be strong, their footsteps can enrage earthquakes, but they're slow, so you just need to keep balanced at a steady speed. The Blue Onis are more difficult to handle since they're swift with those long limbs...you need to outrun them."

"In case of emergency, we also have a special booster to escape, though it barely lasts a minute," Inuzuka took on the explanation, "Captain Momotaro is specifically capable of shooing the Onis away, so when they come dangerously close, just pass the ball to him."

"Isn't it a bit... inconvenient? I doubt they would let him off guard that easily, being the team captain and all, that way he can never reach the ball before they do no matter how high we throw it," Lucky pointed out, "I actually have a way to fix that, but only when Momotaro allows me to do it," She looked at the mentioned boy.

"Go on."

"I can make a... link? Connection? Haven't come up with a name yet, but it links energy, powers, that sort of things between creatures as long as they are in my sight. For example, if you activate your skill, I can share it to whoever holding the ball."

"And that way, we can work better than running to a dead end! I'm glad we didn't start without you," Momotaro patted her shoulder, "But can you keep that up for the whole match tho? I don't want you to exhaust yourself too much."

"That's exactly its downside, I barely had a chance to practice further. It also depends on the amount of energy you put into your skill, the stronger it emits, the better, but not so detailed in body technique because transferring that into non-focus effect is extremely difficult," Lucky replied, then added, "Don't worry. I'm not that easily drained."

"Well then," Momotaro paused to look at their faces, one by one, "Let's go!" he nodded firmly.

The team went to the vermillion gate together. The old wooden bridge yet still creaked, it was nothing more than an aging being that dared to challenge nature and time.

Momotaro came first, followed by Inuzuka and Lucky, then Dori and Saru. Each step they took closer to the Torii was like a mechanism tearing open space; a portal was slowly opening under the gate as they went through.

They walked in an enormous, Oni-sized rocky plain. On the far other side, beyond the small patch of green was a mountain that looked like a face emerging from stone, smiling cheekily. Strangely, it looked like the face of Oni Island, except that one was flat on the ground.

Welcome, challengers,
To the sacred ground of ours
Where the great King sits
Watching us
Stomp across with victory;
To the brink of beasts and demise
Where many had shed
In vain
To our roaring battle cry;
Welcome to where forgotten creatures of old glory roam
Where the cloud cannot touch
And the sun is a bare dust
Under our skies copper red
In our realm where tiny mortals are to crumble
In the Oni's realm.

A group of small Onis sang and chimed as they banged on their leather drums and the ground with their stone clubs in a wild rhythm. They were small because they were children Onis that hadn't taken off their shirts, but they were already huge to Lucky, whose height barely reached their shoulders. Their voices were shrill and hoarse, Lucky couldn't quite catch what they were implying but she could guess from their tones and attitude that her team wasn't welcomed at all.

"Warau Oni Realm," Momotaro whispered, "Land of the Laughing Ogre, their 'King'. This is their true plane of existence, as well as of other oni brethren."

He stroked the ground with his flag - a red-and-white pole with a rectangular white fabric that had a peach and three yellow circles like a clan flag, as he spoke loud and clear:

"Red Oni, Blue Oni, in the death of the day, we challenge you to a match for a new Champion!!"

"YOU DARE!?"

A voice rumbled the place, and came a pair of red and blue Onis as tall as mountains. They both wore solely a loincloth. The Blue Oni had a single horn on his forehead while the Red Oni had two, "Momotaro, the start-up hero with his gang, and Lucky, the rumored to-be-champion? You can TRY."

"We will!" Inuzuka literally barked.

Ha ha ha
You are no match to an Oni
You are no match to two
You are no match for our Great Legacy!

The children Onis chimed again. Lucky felt the heat getting more and more intense.

"Get ready, guys!" Momotaro commanded, "But don't be brash, okay? This place is bordered by lava," he reminded in a quiet tone.

A small blue Oni gave them the ball. Dori gave it to Lucky.

"You should start the run, Lucky!"

"Right," she nodded.

Lucky held the ball in her right arm and stood at the center of the starting area. Momotaro, Inuzuka, Saru and Dori stood in a line behind her.

Okay, this is getting scary. They are SO huge, definitely the biggest opponents I've ever met. Sweat trickled down her face. She wiped it off and kept forward to the small patch of greenery on the other side, her goal. From the corner of her eye, she saw a single Karasu amongst the Onis. He pulled out a whistle and put it in his beak, and blew it.

TWEEEEEEEEEETTTTT!!

The game had begun!

Lucky picked up pace quickly before slowing down to a steady yet decent speed to sprint whenever needed. Rugby wasn't about who's fast or slow - well, not mostly - but about the quick-witted one to handle the situation. Lucky had to watch where she was going to avoid tripping and hitting something - the fatal mistake - but at the same time watch out for incoming rivals. She could turn her hearing up, but only momentarily as this place - Warau Oni Realm - was chaotic. It already had loud rumblings in the background because of the magma flow and the disturbing noises of onis and ghouls. So if she picked up her ears for too long, it sounded just as if punching her eardrums, giving her a headache. Lucky darted her eyes side to side. She ran between two round boulders and was about to pass a couple of peaked ones to get to another session, when she picked up the sound of heavy footsteps coming straight at her. She looked to her left where the sound came from, and saw the Red Oni running straight for her.

The feline looked to the right. The closest teammate within range was Momotaro. She ran for a bit more, waiting for the Oni to come closer before calling his name as she passed the ball to him in a straight shot:

"Momotaro!"

The Oni immediately changed his target from the cat to the peach boy.

"Saru!"

As he was almost caught, Momotaro passed the ball to Saru, who took a curve so that he wouldn't be chased to a dead end by the border of the field, running in front of the Oni who once again went after whoever holding the ball.

The Red Oni was losing Saru, who was dashing to enlarge the distance, when he was surprised by an upcoming Blue Oni from literally nowhere. He was running out of steam, and was surrounded from both sides that he couldn't pass the torch to any of his teammates.

"Lucky!" Momotaro called out to her, and she understood right away. She was required to connect Momotaro's skill to Saru.

She started to try developing this technique one and a half years ago, at the release of the Magic Cat Academy II game disk. The game featured some new spells of Momo, one of which was "borrowing" a shield from a jellyfish. At that point, Lucky had already gone over her childish dream of becoming a sorceress, but under Bells' encouragement had found the alternative of Shinobi practice, though she formed her separate way instead of following the traditional regulations. However, she was still intrigued by the new magic, especially the shield. Momo didn't create a shield, she borrowed it from a jellyfish. Lucky wondered if she could do something like that too... waterproof someone using her own energy. The instructions written in old archives only mentioned the connection of spirit between creatures of the same level, but that shouldn't help. Didn't anyone of them think of helping others? Who were unable to control their qi at will?

Fine then, she'd be the pioneer. The point of this was balance. She needed to read the receiver's energy to adjust hers - this part proved to be challenging, as the substance was so faint that it was invisible to mortal eyes while Lucky was never taught to access a different plane of vision, and the fact that her qi had grown so strong now. However, like a radio channel, once the frequency matched, there should be a link already, though similarly faint and fragile. Then she would have to strengthen that link using a bit more of her energy and all...

Lucky sensed a change in Momotaro, and saw a fiery red aura burning around his body, composed of heavenly fragments, perhaps from his home on the mountain: highland stream, peach scent, rainwater, and Fukuro's snow. A blazing amount of pure radiance was emitting into the environment. Honestly, Lucky hadn't met with that kind of power before - as she hadn't met with so many different powers than hers at all.

In this situation, she worked as a medium between two entirely different levels of energy. She raised hers until it reached Momotaro's, had the link, then tried to maintain it while lowering to balance with Saru, then the second link. Lucky proceeded to adjust her energy rate to be somewhat between Momotaro's and Saru's so the flow could go.

Suddenly, the Onis surrounding Saru let out cries of pain and anger as they ran away with puffy eyes. It worked! Saru took the chance to sprint. Once he had a decent distance from the Onis, Lucky immediately broke the connection.

"Dori!" the monkey passed the ball to the pheasant, having run out of breath, and let the latter continue the run.

Dori caught the ball in his beak and flew. Their team was gaining the lead, when Dori quacked in surprise and tossed the ball up in air, himself nearly crushed by the Blue Oni who had caught up and was attempting to get the ball, losing a few feathers. Inuzuka scooped the ball in his arm before it touched the ground or was caught by the Red Oni.

He entered a new session of the field where numerous pointy boulders were emerging from the ground like a barrage. The Red Oni just casually stomp on everything, but Inuzuka had to went around, which lead to almost losing many times. The rest of the team were also having trouble in the area, and the Blue Oni was getting close. Inuzuka scanned his sides. Lucky and Saru are rapidly advancing by hopping atop the boulders.

BAAAAMMM!!!

The Red Oni had slammed his hand on Inuzuka, and picked up his fist with the dog and the ball inside.

Oh no. Momotaro thought. We lost..!

But the whistle wasn't blown yet. The Karasu observed the match with a poker face, it was hard to guess the reason why.

"WHY haven't you ended the match?!" yelled the Red Oni.

"Because, a match can only end when either side loses," the Karasu calmly said, "Apparently that did not happen."

"But I got the-" the Red Oni opened his fist, just to be stunned that Inuzuka wasn't there. Momotaro, too, was shocked.

"Captain, Dori! Over here!" Saru waved his hand from the other side of the barrage, and there was Inuzuka, running with the ball still in his arm!

The moment when the Red Oni slammed his hand onto Inuzuka, things seemed to slow down for Lucky. She had no time to call Momotaro for his skill, no time to wait for him to fully activate it so she could link it for the dog. She had to act quick: linking herself with Inuzuka, she used her intangibility effect, quite the same one when she competed in Marathon, minus the speed since it'd leave her completely beat. Inuzuka kept running with his eyes closed, ready for the contact, oblivious that he was going through stone like a ghost thanks to the feline. Only after exiting the area and intact, he opened his eyes and was utterly confused about how he could do that by running blindly without hitting something or being caught. Then he spotted Lucky shortly after him, panting, almost tripping over her own foot. Saru paused once he heard the Oni's tantrum to call the other two over.

"L-Lucky! You did that!?" Inuzuka asked his teammate, worry hinted in his voice.

"I had no choice, you know. Or we'll gonna lose to that," she answered between short breaths, "You better not waste my effort," she added jokingly.

The Onis, after the Karasu's statement, had checked the field and saw Lucky and Inuzuka reaching the other side of the field, started chasing them with rage at such speed that trembled the earth.

"Lucky, I believe you still have something up your sleeves?" the dog turned to Lucky.

"I do. How could you tell?"

"I watched the noon Marathon race," he grinned from ear to ear, "I don't think I can be faster than aggressive Onis. The honor's yours," he winked, and she got the signal.

It's so close, just ahead, the rare patch of grass that stood out from its dreaded red and black canvas of the surrounding. Lucky and Inuzuka were running side by side with the dog still having the ball. The Onis were getting nearer...

Two gigantic hands came at Inuzuka at the same time, but he ducked and tossed the object to the cathlete. Lucky, having been ready the whole time, only waited for that. With a kick start, she bolted rapidly, a few electric sparks even crackled from her fur, and before they knew it, Lucky had already landed on the finish line. She raised the ball above her head, hopping happily, and for the moment totally forgot her exhaustion:

"We won! We won against the Onis!"

Momotaro, Inuzuka, Saru and Dori also joined her at the spot, cheering.

"That's amazing, Lucky! How could you hide those skills from us?"

"I didn't expect to have to use it... hehe~"

"So are you the new Rugby Champion now, captain?"

"Not yet, but we're halfway there."

"We did it, we did it, WE DID IT!!"

The Karasu blew the whistle, signaling the end. The children Onis were disappointed and went silent. And the Red and Blue Onis fell on their bottom, leaning onto each other, catching their breaths. The Oni King... their grin somewhat widened, though insignificant.

"You really meant it by returning stronger, Momotaro," said the Red Oni.

"I keep my promises," the peach boy responded.

"But if you are to replace us, then you already know it's not that simple," the Blue Oni grumbled, "About Lucky, you've proved enough to qualify as one of this year's Rugby champions. These are your rewards," the Red Oni took out a scroll, he was so big that the sacred prize felt like a piece of charcoal in his hand. He dropped it into Lucky's.

"Yayy! This is my fourth one!" Lucky was excited.

"That's a record," Momotaro hummed, "There's only one before you who could do that in a day."

"Don't forget your treat," the Red Oni gave her a stick of three dangos, "You small flammable creatures sure have learnt your ways around."

"Thanks," Lucky received the small snack, but the touch felt numb. Looked like the tiredness had finally got her. She felt her legs giving up, so she let herself slump down with a big exhale, her breath still shaking.

"Lucky!? You didn't just burn yourself out for the match, did you?" Momotaro kneeled down to her level and checked her.

"I'm good. That effect I used for Inuzuka at the stone barrage was a bit overwhelming, but it's not the first time so-"

"You can make Inuzuka walk THROUGH the Oni's hand AND stone? How long have you been practicing for the Championship!?" Dori asked loudly.

"It's been...five years? Yeah, since my first training, but I only know about the contest lately. It's like, much more interesting than usual ones, and much harder as well!"

"What do you expect? This is CHAMPION ISLAND we're talking about! And trust me, this place is more than just strength," Momotaro said, but refused to explain further when she asked.

~

Lucky wandered down the path leading to the Central Hill. Night winds blew cool and gently. Ruffles of the trees sounded so distant, as if hearing nothing at all, that strange feeling of emptiness whenever a day ended. The sun had already been down in slumber behind that purple skyline, and the thin grey clouds put a mysterious veil onto the dancing stars.

At some point, she bumped into Symphony, who was heading back to his boat to sleep for the night. Lucky asked to join him, to which he gladly accepted.

"They're talking about you a lot," Symphony said when the two settled place to sleep on the little boat by the harbor, "The talented cat who will win it all."

"I wish," Lucky smiled, "It won't be easy, but I'll try. That's why I came here after all."

"In tight-budget journey? I can tell," he teased her. Voyagers to Champion Island tended to be more invested in their trip. Lucky was the first case he'd ever given a ride who offered him no more than how the ride should've cost.

"That's my saving, thank you very much."

"I thought you're a hometown hero! Shouldn't you have earnings or anything?"

"I'll never take that kind of reward," Lucky said simply, "If helping others was a kind of paid job, then they'd just take heart for granted."

Gazing at the night sky, her first day on Champion Island sure was eventful, and she couldn't wait for the new day to come. So many things to discover, so many things she hadn't known under the mesmerizing sceneries of this place, and there's still sports to win!

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