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The airport wasn’t busy, which Yuri took as a positive. It made it much easier to look for their new arrival while others piled out of the terminal. She kept her eyes peeled but her attention was pulled by Mari tugging on her sleeve. Yuri looked to her then to where her gaze pointed.
Walking out was Ruriko, bag in hand. Her eyes scanned the area before landing on Yuri and the rest of the racing club. Ruiko’s face split into a smile as she ran towards them.
The sound of joy that came out of most of them went off practically unanimously. Arms opened in a strange mass of limbs as the group pulled their friend into a group hug.
“It’s been so long,” Michi whined.
“I know,” Ruriko sighed. She pulled back enough to look at the group of women. Some of them practically close to tears with joy. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back with Emi and Mika.”
“Don’t apologize for that,” Yuri chastised with a smile. “We get it.”
“Yeah,” Emi nodded. “Someone had to stay back with Hongo.”
“As much as he thinks he has to be some lone wolf hero,” Mika scoffed. “He and Hayato both need people with them. Whether they want to admit it or not.”
The group all nodded in agreement with similar hums.
Mari moved to loop her arm with Ruriko’s. “We only have you for a week. I don’t know about the rest of the girls but I plan on making the best of it.”
The shorter woman giggled at the comment. The others giving another nod in agreement with Mari before aiding her in dragging Ruriko and her things out of the airport.
***
“One lap around,” Emi explained. “We’ll see who’s been practicing.” Her eyes slid over to Michi at the comment.
“Hey,” she called out with a pout. “Why’d you look at me when you said that?” Michi threw her leg over her bike. “I practice all the time!”
Emi only laughed at her reaction. “I didn’t mean anything by it; honest!”
Her words didn’t pull the humored pout off of Michi’s features. The snickers and giggles that bubbled around them did, however, cause Michi’s pout to crack into her own chuckle.
Each woman took to their bikes and started to rev up their engines.
“Ready?” Mari called out over the sound of engines. After a moment, she counted down. The moment she hit ‘three,’ the line shot off.
Dirt practically exploding out from behind them as the tires of their bikes zoomed down the path.
All of them reveling in the feeling of wind in their hair. The giddiness of their friend being with them once more. The joy of life singing in their bones.
The threat of Shocker hung over them like clouds. Ever present and threatening to rain down on them. Danger was a part of their lives now. They accepted that when they joined the Club. When they joined the fight. Each of them doing their part to assist the Riders.
Despite the danger they accepted into their lives to protect their loved ones and the world itself, it was moments like these that really made their hearts sing. The bikes they rode connected them to each other. They connected them to Hongo, Ichimonji, Taki, even Tachibana.
It also connected them to the wind. The wind that powered their Riders. The wind that brought breath into their lungs and sang through leaves and grass. Something as simple as wind brought joy and hope. It brought calm and excitement. Whether it was the wind gently blowing against their skin at the beach or the wind throwing back their hair while they raced down dirt paths.
The wind always whispered a promise for tomorrow. The wind whispered hope.
***
The group finally came towards their end goal. Mari and Yuri neck and neck with Ruriko hot on their tail. Behind them, Mika, Emi, and Michi were closing in fast.
Yuri leaned forward. Her eyes locked with Mari, a smile pulling at both of their faces. Their fight for first ended when they both slid past the finish line.
Ruriko passed the finish line herself almost immediately after them. The three of them pulling off their helmets as Mika, Emi, and Michi pulled through.
“Who finished first?” Yuri questioned excitedly. Her eyes jumping from Mari and Ruriko.
“I’m sure I did,” Mari said with a confident smile. She also looked over to Ruriko. “Right?”
Ruriko looked between the two women. Feeling the other three’s eyes on her as well. She thought for a moment hard on what she saw in the moment. It was so close, it was almost impossible to tell. Instead, she just smiled at them both and said, “Definitely a tie.”
Mari and Yuri’s smiles dropped for a moment as they blinked at her. Then blinking at each other. After a pause their smiles came back full force accompanied with bright laughter. The other women joining in soon after.
When the laughter subsided, Yuri gave a happy nod to the others. “From what I could see it looked like a close race all around. I guess we all have gotten really good at this.”
“I say next we challenge the boys,” Emi chimed in.
Michi gave a clap of her hands and another laugh. “That would be so fun!”
“And we can show off what we can really do on a bike!” Mika added.
Ruriko’s smile grew warm. “Yeah, that sounds fun. Maybe we can convince them some time soon.”
The girls looked at each other. Simultaneously nodding in agreement. Getting the boys, especially the Riders, to relax and have fun once in a while was an unknown, yet high priority of the Tachibana Racing Club.
Behind the Riders saving the world would always be friends ready to save them just the same. Whether they recognized it or not. Wherever these strange heroes found themselves, no matter the land or the war, they would never be alone.