Chapter 1:
"I'm leaving ahead today." Takeru told the room, already preparing his things to leave early.
The room was silent for a second before it erupted into chaos.
"WHAT?!" Riku yelled as he looked at his teammate who loved Stride more than his own life. And now he wants to leave? Without running first? Why?
Ayumu rushed to the window, "Is the sky going to fall today?!" Hozumi grabbed Takeru by his shoulders, "Are you really Takeru?! Or maybe you're an impostor who's faking to be him! You can't fool us!"
Heath pulled Hozumi back using the collar of his shirt. "Calm down. I'm sure there's an explanation for this." Kuga nodded at his side, his arms crossed as he stared at Takeru, "Why are you leaving early today, Fujiwara?"
Before Takeru could respond, the door to their clubroom slid open, where Sakurai stood, together with Dan-sensei. Riku dashed towards their Relationer, and hid behind her before pointing an accusatory finger at Takeru.
"Nana-chan! Listen to this! Takeru wants to leave early! And he hasn't even run yet!"
Sakurai could only laugh sheepishly, as she replied, "We know, Riku-kun. He told us about it beforehand." Dan-sensei sighed as he pushed his glasses up his nose, "Stop overreacting, the lot of you. We still have practice to do."
"Then," Takeru said, as he bowed slightly, "I'll be leaving first." With that said, he left behind his teammates, who were still confused over his odd actions.
"Oi, wait up-!" yelled Riku as he tried to grab Takeru, but missed.
Sakurai tried to calm Riku down, "Maa, it's alright Riku-kun. As we said, it's important for Takeru-kun to leave early today." Kohinata leaned in close to Sakurai, "That's right! What's more important than Stride for him that he leaves early today willingly?"
Sakurai could only look at her teammates in amusement as they all crowded around her, curious about what could make Fujiwara Takeru, a guy who loves Stride more than anything, leave practice early. She could only glance towards Dan-sensei for help, who sighed.
"Apparently, his cousin is coming today, and he's picking her up. She would be living with him from now on, and will be attending Honan Academy as well."
Dumbfounded, Riku could only gape at Dan-sensei. His cousin? He didn't know Takeru had a cousin. All he would talk about was Stride after all, and his weird fondness for Kobe-Taro products. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know much about him at all, and hearing that he had a cousin was making him curious.
Kohinata hummed thoughtfully. "So Takeru's cousin will be going to this school as well, huh? Do you think she'll join Stride?" he exclaimed, excited at the thought of another member. Even though they had won End of Summer, and had been more popular, it didn't necessarily mean that they accepted new members easily.
Recruits who either joined just for the fame or for Sakurai Nana were rejected immediately. Though Fujiwara interviewed the applicants with his tendency of molesting other people's legs and Riku kept glaring at any guy that might look at Nana weirdly, between the two freshmen, the club was able to weed out potential club members quickly.
The problem however, was that most dropped out after only a few weeks of training. It disappointed them, sure, but they were resigned to it already. It took a lot of determination and passion to take up Stride, and their applicants simply didn't have those.
(Ayumu cried out in the background, 'I was forced to this though?! What passion?!')
Nana smiled, "Well, it would be nice to have another girl around the club." Kohinata cheered, "Yes! Maybe next time Diane-san won't force me to wear another girl outfit if she's around!" Heath snickered, "If she didn't stop even with Nana here, what makes you think she'll change her mind just because we added another girl to the team?"
Kohinata flailed at Heath, wailing, "Don't ruin my dream, you stupid child-model!" "Hah?!"
Nana chuckled at the usual chaotic sight of the club. Well, hopefully, even if this mysterious cousin didn't want to join the club, she'll be able to be friends with her anyway.
A/N: PLEASE READ!
I have only watched the first season of the anime, and I have no idea what the second season is all about. I don't read the manga either. So please don't be mad if you feel like I have forgotten about some people. Also, I'm tweaking the timelines a bit. Heath and Kuga are only 2nd year students, and so will be the other 3rd years from other schools. Because seriously, I can't imagine writing a fic without them.
I think that's it, I might add a few more warnings next time. Enjoy!
