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Their next match is against a newer, younger team. Known as Mis Snowman (which Yokoo personally thinks is kind of dumb), they"ve got a member up on the Fire Beaters, but they"re new enough that it shouldn"t matter much. Yokoo is looking forward to trying out their new moves.
She"d thought carefully about them, come up with some neat new tricks, and they"ve been practicing hard. Time to put them into action.
Miyata"s first up as jammer. Yokoo watches from the bench, waiting to see how this works out. Almost immediately, Kitayama, Fujigaya, and Tamamori form up a line across the track, linking hands to prevent anyone from passing. There"s a dismayed sound from some of Mis Snowman as all but one of their blockers are stuck behind the Fire Beater barrier. Nikaido skates out front with their remaining member, doing nothing more than glancing over at her, but the poor girl looks totally intimidated and Yokoo has to laugh.
Miyata and the Mis Snowman jammer make their way close to the pack.
"Yuka, Fuji!" Miyata calls out in quick succession, and then, "in three!" Kitayama stays up while Fujigaya and Tamamori drop into a low crouch, and with perfect timing, Miyata jumps right over their arms. They"re up again before Mizoredate can even think about following, and Nikaido"s glare keeps the remaining blocker, Abe Arashi, from even attempting to get in Miyata"s way. Miyata puts on speed and skates around for a second lap.
Four points.
The second time they try that trick, Nikaido clears the jump over Kitayama and Fujigaya. Their opponents are actually pretty good, though, because the jammer racing Nikaido attempts to duck under Fujigaya and Tamamori"s arms while they"re distracted. She almost manages it, too, but Fujigaya reacts quickly and kicks out to hook her ankle from behind, catching Shokkori off balance and taking her down, Tamamori hopping to avoid running over her fingers. Still, Yokoo is impressed.
"Damn it," Sakuma mutters, holding her hand out to examine her fingers. "Broke a nail."
"They"re fake, anyway!" Miyadate teases from where she"s fiddling with the wheels on one skate.
"They are not!" Sakuma protests. "They"re totally real!"
"We know, we know," Abe soothes. "Stop letting her get to you. She says the same thing every time!"
"They"re pretty," Sanada adds, glancing down at her own bitten nails. Sakuma follows her line of sight.
"You"re never going to let them grow, are you?"
"I"m trying! It"s hard," Sanada complains.
"Well, if you let them grow out a bit, I"ll do them for you," Sakuma offers. "So try harder."
"So girly~." Miyadate rolls her eyes and stands up, setting her skates under the locker room bench. "I"m going to grab lunch. Anyone coming?"
"Ooh, me!" Iwamoto calls.
"Then hurry up," Miyadate directs, and leans against the wall to wait for her teammate to get her shoes on.
"I can see up your skirt, Hikaru," Watanabe leers, leaning down so that she actually can.
"Screw you," Iwamoto hums, and straightens up. She grabs her purse from her locker and slips her arm through the handles, reaching out with her other to latch onto Miyadate when she"s close enough. "Let"s go. ♥"
Mis Snowman really does pick things up fast. They"ve copied the Fire Beater"s leap-frog within one jam, although the Fire Beaters have learned a thing or two, as well. The stopping block they"d copied from the American Demons puts a quick end to Mis Snowman"s attempts, because as soon as one of the blockers crouches down, the Fire Beater in front stops short. Other than Tamamori, most of them manage to stay on their feet when they do it, too.
Surprisingly, one Mis Snowman member manages a hop anyway, landing on her stoppers in front of her teammate, face-to-face with Senga, and, taking advantage of Senga"s surprise, darts right around her. Tsurara"s momentum is mostly gone, but she wasn"t nearly as behind as she would have been had she been taken down.
"Oh god, we"re going to diiiiiie," Sakuma whines when she sees the schedule.
"Hmm?" Fukazawa asks, and leans to peer over her shoulder. "...oh, crap."
"What? What?" Watanabe bounces on the balls of her feet, impatient. "Who are we playing?"
"The Fire Beaters," Fukazawa announces.
There"s a long moment of silence that follows, before chaos erupts.
"We"re dead. So dead!"
"Totally impossible!"
"Ahhh, seriously?!"
"But they"re sempai!"
"Shut up, shut up!" Miyadate shouts, and jumps up onto a bench to get everyone"s attention. "Look," she says, once everyone is quiet. "Yes, they"re older. Yes, they"re more experienced. Yes, they"re more popular. But that doesn"t mean we don"t have a chance!"
"Yes it does," Fukazawa whispers, and Miyadate glares at her.
"We just need to practice hard. We"ve still got over a month before we have to face them. Abe!"
Abe"s head snaps up. "Huh?"
"Set up a practice schedule. I want us all here whenever we can get a free slot."
"Yes, sir." Abe ducks behind Iwamoto when Miyadate jumps off the bench at her, roaring in indignation.
"We"re gonna die," Sakuma whispers, and Fukazawa nods her head in frantic agreement.
Despite their quick learning curve, Mis Snowman isn"t doing well. It"s refreshing to see a team try so hard, though, and Yokoo smiles from her place on her team"s center bench. Tsumetada hasn"t managed to stay on her feet for an entire lap yet, seemingly tripping over her own nerves if one of the Beaters don"t take her down first.
Shokkori isn"t doing much better. She"s quick and agile, and Yokoo can see the potential, but she can"t seem to cover her back, yet. Even though she slips through cracks in the pack that most people wouldn"t manage, she"s easy to take out from the side or behind. She"s got speed on her side, and nicely controlled skating, but her balance is precarious. As long as no one touches her, she flies around the track, but just a light hip-check sends her sprawling. She hasn"t made it through the pack even once.
Tsurara seems to follow in Kitayama"s footsteps, definitely the best in her group at using her stoppers. She"s not so fast, but she"s hard to knock over, constantly hopping on her toes for stability. Her methods are a little questionable, though.
"Does she even know what the wheels are for?" Yokoo asks of Senga, sitting next to her. They watch as Tsurara runs on her toes, using the traction to dart back and forth on the track, forward momentum slow, but covering enough distance from side to side to keep Fujigaya and Miyata behind her for a bit. It also keeps Hyogai from passing, however, and trapping your team"s jammer behind you clearly isn"t the best tactic.
Senga tilts her head as she follows the pack"s progress. "Tama-chan needs to look behind her," is all she says.
Tamamori is clearly a mind reader, because it"s only a few more seconds before she glances back and sorts out the situation. Trailing after Yuki isn"t really necessary at the moment, and so Tamamori drops back, slow enough that Tsurara has to stop short to avoid colliding with her. Fujigaya and Miyata swing around to either side of her and roll past, Miyata reaching behind her to grab Tamamori"s hand and whip her back into place on Yuki"s heels.
Hyogai shoves Tsurara in the shoulder as she passes. "Idiot," Yokoo can read her lips, even if she can"t hear her.
Senga laughs beside her. "Nice teamwork."
"They"re not that scary," Sanada says to Nozawa as they walk from the station. Sanada has to work a shift at the cafe this afternoon, but Nozawa has agreed to wait for her. She has to study, and the cafe is as good a place as any.
"Hmm?" Nozawa asks.
"The Fire Beaters," Sanada clarifies. "I mean, you see Fuji-san pretty often, too. She"s nice, right?"
Fujigaya Tomoko sometimes works the same shift with Sanada at the cafe.
"Mmm," Nozawa says. "I guess." She doesn"t usually talk to Fujigaya, but the woman seems nice enough. She"s bright and cheerful at work (even when she"s obviously tired), flirts with the customers, laughs freely. But Nozawa often accompanies her girlfriend to work, and she"s also seen Fujigaya first thing on Saturday morning for the opening shift; she"s not the friendliest before she"s had her coffee (but then, neither is Nozawa). She makes fun of Sanada, too, but while Nozawa sometimes thinks her comments are a bit on the hurtful side, Sanada takes them in stride, so Nozawa does nothing to defend her girlfriend. And admittedly, Sanada does have a tendency to mess up orders more than most people. Fujigaya might snap at her sometimes, but she"s also infinitely patient in teaching (and re-teaching) Sanada how to properly use the cappachino machine.
"Do you think we"re going to get squashed?" Sanada presses.
Nozawa considers it. Fujigaya isn"t Fuji Fighter for nothing, and neither is Kita Crusher. The rest of the Fire Beaters are pretty fierce when they need to be, too. "...nah, we"ll be fine," Nozawa lies.
"Ah, Kaoru, your dance club"s here," Nikaido says.
Senga lights up. "They came? Ah, they said they would, but I wasn"t sure..."
Nikaido has to smile at her girlfriend"s excitement. "Well, I didn"t see Hamanaka, but the guys are here."
Senga nods. "I think Hama-chan has an exam in a few days. She"s probably studying." She bounces a bit on her stoppers. "Ah, but the others came! I"m glad." She drags Nikaido with her to peek out into the stands. "Where, where?"
"Over there."
"Ah! And Tottsu came, too! Let"s go tell Hiromi!"
Totsuka doesn"t usually come to watch, since his work schedule tends to clash with their jams. But this time he"s there, too, sitting up next to Tsukada, Kawai along for the ride, and, more unusually, Goseki, too, still in his suit and seemingly straight from the office. There"s a tall young woman sitting next to him, also in a suit, but Nikaido doesn"t know who she is.
"Hey, Hiromi!" Senga calls, and Nikaido centers her balance and lets Senga pull her along, rolling across the floor. She makes no effort to stop, either, just lets herself crash into Senga"s back when her girlfriend stops, draping herself across her shoulders and leaning around to grin at Kitayama.
Kitayama smiles and shakes her head. "What"s up?"
"Tottsu"s here!"
"Is he?" Kitayama leans over and digs her cellphone from her bag, flicking it open and, Nikaido assumes, checking her messages. "Ah, he is."
"Isn"t that good?" Senga urges.
"Yup." Kitayama tosses her phone back where it came from.
Senga pouts when she gets no further reaction. "Bah, you"re boring."
"Mmm."
She turns her head to grin at Nikaido close up. "They"re totally gonna get married," she whispers, only it"s not exactly quiet. Nikaido laughs as Kitayama clicks her tongue at them and shoos them away.
"Go get ready," she says. "We"re on in ten."
"Hey," Sanada calls as they stroll in.
"Hey," Takada Sho answers, looking up from behind the counter.
"How"d you get here so fast?" Nozawa demands. Takada goes to the same school as her, and she"d left right after classes let out.
"Huh? I just got here." He proves his point by tying the strings on his apron behind his back.
Nozawa blinks. "Oh. Okay. I didn"t see you on the train or anything."
"I saw you, though." Takada gives them a knowing smile, and Nozawa blushes.
"Whatever," she mumbles, and ducks her head, going to find a table out of the way toward the back.
It"s not like she and Sanada were acting strange or anything. Nozawa wouldn"t in public. But she supposes that to people who know, or people who are looking... the way she feels about Sanada clearly shows on her face sometimes. But Nozawa knows she doesn"t have to worry about Takada. He"s known for a while about her girlfriend, and he"s never said anything. She trusts him.
Fujigaya appears from the back room, coat slung over one arm and ready to leave, done with her shift. She pauses by Nozawa"s table.
"Hey, Yuki, heard about the jam." She smiles, a pretty smile that Nozawa can"t read anything into, even though she tries.
"Uh, yeah..."
"Study hard," Fujigaya advises warmly, and then breezes out, calling goodbye to her coworkers as she goes.
Nozawa stares after her, a sinking feeling in her stomach. "We"re gonna die," she whispers to herself.
Yuki stares. Kitayama is playing last blocker for her team, but for all it matters, she could be the only blocker. There"s a green flash as Nikaido goes flying by, and Kitayama gives her a high five as she passes. She"s skating backwards, so she can see exactly where Yuki is. She"s close enough to tower, but Kitayama grins up at her. She doesn"t even have to anticipate Yuki"s moves. Yuki keeps pace, clearly dismayed.
Nikaido laps her thrice before getting bored and calling an end to the jam.
Miyadate stares up at Fujigaya"s back as the woman skates away, waving goodbye.
"Ryoko, get up!" Sanada calls across the track. She"s jammer at the moment, on her way around for another pass.
Miyadate pushes herself to her feet, wincing at the throb in her elbow. She"d slammed down pretty hard, and it"s tough to get moving again. She catches up with the group before Sanada gets there, though, and works on trying to open a space for Sanada to pass. She manages to edge out Kita Crusher in time to let Sanada slip past, but the Fire Beater spins suddenly in revenge and Miyadate can see her grin close up, just before she slams down on her face again. Miyadate groans. She"s getting way too familiar with this track.
Iwamoto feels a bit ninja, sneaking around like this. Sakuma crouches next to her, the two of them hidden behind a bush.
"Do you see them?" Sakuma whispers, peeking out.
"Not yet." They"re waiting for Senga and the rest of her dance team to show up. It"s hard to spy on the Fire Beaters" skating practices, but Miyadate figured that even watching them elsewhere might help them figure out some defense.
"Oh, there!" Sakuma points, and Iwamoto looks in the direction she indicates. "Hamanaka"s here."
They"ve researched well, and it"s easy for Iwamoto to recognize Senga"s teammate. The girl pauses when someone calls her name, and then Yara jogs up to walk next to her. Iwamoto recognizes their leader, too, although she can"t hear what he"s saying.
Tsukada Ryoichi shows up while Yara"s preparing their music, connecting miniature speakers to some sort of portable player as Hamanaka switches her heels for sneakers.
Sakuma clicks her tongue in annoyance. "Where"s Senga?"
Iwamoto shrugs. She eyes Hamanaka"s shoes, a pair of leopard-print things that are even uglier than her heels were. "What the hell are those?" she asks, mostly to herself. "They"re atrocious."
"Huh?"
"Ha..."
"Finally!" Iwamoto is interrupted by Senga"s arrival. She"s already in workout clothes and immediately joins the others in stretching, dumping her bag on the nearest bench next to Hamanaka"s.
"Let"s get closer," Sakuma suggests, tugging on her arm, and Iwamoto follows, slipping along behind her as they scuttle to get nearer and still stay hidden by the foliage. She"s focusing on not letting her own heels sink into the soil (dirty shoes are a crime) and doesn"t notice when Sakuma stops suddenly. She crashes into her back and nearly sends them both sprawling.
"What the hell?" she hisses, and then hisses more in pain when Sakuma digs her claws into Iwamoto"s arm.
"So cool~," she breathes, and Iwamoto can practically see the stars in her eyes.
Yamamoto Ryota"s arrived.
Watanabe stares up at the final score. The imbalance is almost funny, or so she tries to tell herself.
"Hey, look. We have points!" Fukazawa says, and her smile is blinding, not reaching her eyes at all.
"It could be worse," Abe throws in. "We could be dead."
As it is, only a few of them even need ice packs.
"They didn"t even need to kill us to beat us. They barely touched us," Nozawa points out. "I can"t decide if that"s a good thing or not."
"Not," Watanabe says, but she doesn"t feel too bad, anyway. They tried.
She lines up with her team to congratulate the winners.
"Ohmygod, ohmygod," Sakuma chants, fanning her face with her hands, nails flashing as the jewels on them catch the light.
"What?" Iwamoto asks, not sounding entirely interested.
"He CAME," Sakuma answers, sounding faint.
"Who came?" Watanabe inquires, the clear insinuation written across her face. Everyone ignores her.
"RYOTA." Iwamoto shakes Sakuma off before she can get a good grasp on her arm; she still has faint marks from last time.
"Who"s Ryota?" Sanada wants to know.
"Just a guy on Senga-san"s dance team," Iwamoto explains, and throws Sakuma a dirty look. "Chiho fell in looooove."
"But he"s so CUTE," Sakuma gushes. "And the way he MOVES. Ohmygod, have you seen him DANCE? Waaaahhhh..."
Iwamoto rolls her eyes as Sakuma clearly gets lost in her daydream. "See?"
"Point him out to me?"
"Why do you care, Yuna? You don"t even like guys."
Sanada pouts. "I"m just CURIOUS, that"s all. Geez."
"Good game," Fujigaya says, and Nozawa stares at her. "No?" She prompts, when Nozawa clearly isn"t going to answer.
"Ah..." Nozawa isn"t sure what to say. She doesn"t think it was a good game at all.
"Hey, come on," Fujigaya encourages, slinging an arm around her. She glances sideways at Nozawa like she"s sharing a secret. "Did you try your best?" she asks.
"Yes," Nozawa says honestly.
"Did you score some points?"
"Yes."
"Did you learn anything?"
"Yes."
"Well, then I"d call it a good game, wouldn"t you?" Fujigaya smiles and Nozawa can"t help smile a bit herself.
"I guess," she agrees ruefully.
"You all show a lot of potential, so keep it up." Fujigaya lets her go and gives her arm a gentle squeeze. "I"m looking forward to next time."
She saunters away, hips swaying in a flash of sparkles, and throws a wink over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd surrounding her team.
"See?" Sanada says, from beside her.
Nozawa jumps. "Ah!" she says, clutching her chest. "Don"t do that!"
Sanada ignores her. "She"s nice."
"Hey, just in time!"
Totsuka looks up at Tsukada"s announcement to see Goseki making his way down the stairs toward them. He"s trailed by a pretty young woman clutching her purse nervously.
"Hey, Gocchi," Totsuka greets, and keeps tabs on Goseki"s companion out of the corner of his eye as they make casual chitchat for a few minutes. It"s been a few weeks since he"s seen Goseki, and Tsukada, too. Everyone"s been really busy with work. But after a bit, Totsuka starts to feel a bit bad; it"s poor manners to ignore someone like that.
"Gocchi, care to introduce your friend?" he says pointedly.
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Goseki laughs, and motions her forward. She ducks her head, shy, even though she"s taller than all of them, probably even without her heels.
"Hashimoto Ryoko," Goseki says, and she mutters a polite greeting as well. "She"s one of the new receptionists at work. Just joined a few weeks ago. But she seemed interested in the jam when I said where I was going."
She sits with them for the rest of the evening, quiet, but Totsuka doesn"t worry much. She seems fascinated by the game.
"She likes you," Goseki says later, when they have a moment alone.
"Hmm," Totsuka answers. "Does she?"
"She"s really pretty..."
"She is," Totsuka can readily agree, but he"s not interested, and Goseki picks up on that quickly.
"Ah, I knew it!" he laughs. "You"re totally done. Crusher"s got you hooked for good, huh?"
Totsuka smiles. "You knew that before."
"I did, I did. It"s still funny."
"If you say so."
"Well, I"m totally keeping this one," Goseki says.
"But she likes me?" Totsuka questions, just to see what Goseki will say.
Goseki grins.
"I lied."
"Oh wow, can I see your nails?" Senga asks, smiling brightly.
Sakuma looks around, but no one comes to her rescue, and faced with both sempai (do these two go anywhere without each other?), Sakuma feels trapped.
"Uh... sure?" She holds out her hand and jerks in surprise when Senga latches on.
"Wow, these are so pretty! Aren"t they pretty, Nika?"
Nikaido nods, feigning indulgence, but there"s a spark of actual curiosity, as well.
"Do you do them yourself?" Senga continues.
"Y-yes," Sakuma says, and feels slightly proud.
"Show me how!" Senga demands, not letting go.
"You suck at doing your nails," Nikaido says.
Senga pouts at her for a second, then brightens up again. "Then you can do them for me! Here." Sakuma tries not to fall over as Senga yanks on her hand. "Show Nika."
Sakuma nods. "Yeah, sure." Now if Senga would just give her back her hand...
Fukazawa tries not to laugh. Sakuma is glaring at Iwamoto across the arena, and Iwamoto is lucky that looks can"t kill, because otherwise she"d be riddled with icicles or something, just like Sakuma"s stage name.
"That bitch," Sakuma spits, and Fukazawa coughs to smother her snort.
Iwamoto is currently talking to a guy that Fukazawa doesn"t recognize, but he"s cute enough. Great smile, she thinks as he laughs at something Iwamoto says. Iwamoto"s already in her street clothes, showered and changed, matching skirt and heels and being all cutesy in a way that she usually isn"t. Fukazawa can see why Sakuma is pissed off, but...
Iwamoto tugs on the guy"s arm, and they"re coming this direction.
"I"ll kill her," Sakuma mutters, and shakes off the placating hand Fukazawa places on her arm. Still, she plasters on a smile.
"I wanted to introduce you all," Iwamoto starts when she gets close enough. She waves her hand in Fukazawa"s direction. "Fukazawa Tomoko," she states, and Fukazawa bows slightly as the man does the same. "And," Iwamoto continues with a winning smile, "Sakuma Chiho."
Sakuma bows as well, smile frozen to her face, but Iwamoto"s new friend doesn"t copy the gesture. Instead, he steps closer and touches Sakuma"s shoulder, waiting until she straightens up again.
"Hi," he says. "Yamamoto Ryota."
Fukazawa can see Sakuma"s eyes go wide when she realizes what Iwamoto"s done.
"You played well," Yamamoto says.
Sakuma squeaks.