[x] Right hand, red

I turned my head away from the spinner and prepared myself to move. From the clues presented during the previous rounds, there was only one possible outcome. Even before the fairy maid spoke, I had already lunged for the circle that was closest to Flandre.

"Right hand, red!" cried the referee.

Exactly as planned. In a split-second, I would block off the vampire's escape route. She would have no escape this time. It was a checkmate. Or so I had thought.

"Oh shi -"

Time slowed as I realized that Meiling was reaching for the exact same circle. She had already began shifting her weight to that side. If I touched it first, then there was a good chance that she would lose her balance. I immediately halted my movement, ignoring the pain as I twisted my shoulder the wrong way.

"W-w-wait!"

Thinking the same thing, Meiling had performed some gymnastics of her own and managed to grab a different circle. And at that moment, I realized our mistake.

"How predictable."

Faster than my eye could follow, the little sister slammed her palm on the red circle. The impact and surprise of her move shook me off balance. And as I started to fall to the side, Flandre grinned widely at me.

"Foolish human. This is the end..."

"Damn it!"

She was right. My shoulder still hurt, and I was unable to recover from this kind of position. In one or two seconds, my left elbow would hit the ground. And it would be my loss. Damn it! I closed my eyes and cringed.

"..."

Five seconds passed. Then ten seconds. I had still not hit the ground. Then, I heard her voice call out to me.

"Don't give up!" said Meiling.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. The gate guard smiled gently at me. Meiling had somehow stopped me from falling by leaning her left knee against my leg. Realizing this chance, I quickly regained my balanced and grabbed a nearby red circle with my right hand. Then, I looked up at the referee. The fairy maid gave us a thumbs-up. Flandre clicked her tongue, disappointed.

"Tch. Almost got you that time..."

"It isn't over yet," I said. "And it won't be over until you finally lose!"

"That's right!" said Meiling. "Even if it's Miss Flandre, there is always a chance that we can beat her!"

The little sister chuckled to herself as she watched us defy her.

"You two sure are persistent. Perhaps its time for me to start playing seriously..."

Something gleamed in her eye. I braced myself for the worst.

"Referee!" cried Flandre. "Spin it again! Again and again until I have these two fools groveling before me!"

"Ah! Y-yes, Miss Flandre!"

The fairy maid then prepared to