Asuka glides through the sewers, the wheels of her skates clicking noisily against the concrete. The thing about being a jammer in a roller derby is that she has to be fast, though tonight that doesn't seem to be helping. There are policemen everywhere, the sound of their boots echoing through the tunnels, so Asuka can't ever know if the two chasing her have given up, or if it's four now and they're trying to encircle her.
She stops at an intersection that looks far too familiar. Past the luminescent paint that marks the outline of the derby rink, the rest of the sewers and maintenance tunnels look the same. There are eight walls and four channels of sludgy water, none of it lit past the reach of Asuka's headlamp, no markings on anything to tell her where she is.
There's a light shining down one of the tunnels and shouting behind her. Asuka sucks in a breath and skates forward, presses her legs together and leaps. She clears the channel in front of her with inches to spare and races on, away from the voices. She looks back to check if she's lost her pursuers, doesn't see the other light beginning to bob on the wall up ahead, where the next intersection is.
She hits something at full speed and goes down, a rolling heap of limbs and skates. She shouts; she's thrashing; if anyone is going to catch Asuka tonight, she'll make them earn it. Her headlamp flashes in the other person's face, and there's blue hair and pale skin. Asuka recognizes the gold star on her opponent's helmet, the symbol of the team she was supposed to be playing until the cops came. Asuka knows this girl's name is Rei, that her team is one that Asuka's has always had trouble beating, and that Rei somehow always makes her heart want to beat faster.
"Get up," Rei whispers. Her voice takes Asuka by surprise; it's softer than she'd expected, nothing like how it sounds when Rei is shouting at her teammates. "Come on."
Rei's wrist closes around Asuka's and yanks her onto her feet. Their collision has attracted attention, and there are more voices coming their way. Rei looks at Asuka, and Asuka knows she's weighing her options: they can run together, or Rei can leave Asuka behind as injured, slower bait. She decides in a second, tightens her grip on Asuka's wrist, and quickly skates back the way she came, like Asuka's pulse beneath her thumb is telling her how fast she needs to go.
"What do you think they're after us for?" Asuka asks. They've found a little safe haven, an unlocked and probably forgotten supply closet that Rei only noticed as they shot past it.
"Trespassing. Illegal gambling. Delinquency and vandalism too, probably."
They've switched off their headlamps so their lights won't give them away, but somehow Asuka knows Rei is smiling. She wishes she could see what must be a cosmically rare event: the only expressions she's ever seen Rei wear are 'neutral', 'angry', and 'determined'.
"Trespassing, I get. Gambling, maybe. But vandalism?"
"Someone had to paint the rink there."
"Not any of us. I wonder how they found us, even."
"Probably someone got careless on their way here."
Asuka hears Rei shift against the wall, adjusting to keep the low-hanging shelves from digging splinters into her shoulders. She notices Rei hasn't objected to her use of 'us', but then again, being chased through the sewers is a bonding activity in a category all its own.
In the distance there are people shouting, running, but none of the telltale sounds of roller skates. Everyone else has made it out, Asuka hopes, or found their own hiding places. "Where do you think everyone else is?" she asks. She knows she shouldn't be so talkative, but she's running on frayed nerves and her last dregs of adrenaline.
"I know my team had a plan to get out," says Rei. "I hope they did. I don't know."
"You didn't swap phone numbers?"
"No. In case anyone ever got caught and had their phone with them."
"Oh. That's smart, I guess."
"I'll just have to find out when we meet up again next month. If we do." Rei pauses, sighs, another sound that sends chills across Asuka's skin. "I hope your friends got away. I like your team."
"They're not my friends. Just teammates."
"I see."
Rei falls silent again. Outside the voices have gone; there's only the soft lapping of the water and chirping of crickets. Asuka doesn't want to think that they might be rats. Something warm settles on Asuka's leg, and she flinches away, knocking over something metal with a loud rattling. "Hey!" Rei hisses. "It's me!"
"Don't scare me like that!" Asuka shoots back. Rei's fingers are tracing a circle around her knees, feeling where the blood from her scrapes has crusted over.
"I'm sorry I ran into you," Rei says.
"That's the first time anyone on skates has apologized for hitting me."
"We weren't on the rink."
Rei begins to withdraw her hand. Asuka stretches her arm out blindly, and her fingers bump up against Rei's. She feels Rei hesitate, then to her surprise Rei's fingers are sliding between hers, their arms coming to settle on their legs.
"Are you afraid of the dark?"
"I'm not," Asuka says.
The footsteps and voices return, coming closer. They've been attracted, no doubt, by the noise Asuka made. Asuka looks up into the darkness, trying to find Rei's eyes to seek comfort in; makes out only the shape of her head and shoulders. She doesn't understand how Rei can stay so calm, why her heart isn't beating so quickly that her lungs must strain to catch up. Asuka's hand trembles against hers; she tells herself it's the cold, not because they might be found or because Rei is so close to her.
Rei's silhouette moves closer. "Asuka," she says, and the sound of her voice leaving Rei's lips stills the harshness of Asuka's breathing for a fleeting second. "That's your name, isn't it."
"Yes," Asuka says. She hadn't imagined Rei would ever take notice of her name. Her stomach flips restlessly, like it knows their pursuers are nearly on top of them, though all Asuka hears is a sort of muffled buzzing about her ears.
"You're too loud." Rei's hands are upon her shoulders, the fuzzy outline of her head inching towards her. "Asuka!"
Asuka doesn't hear the loud bursts of air that escape her parted lips; she hears only the buzzing and Rei's voice, distorted, like it's coming to her through water. There are the sounds of the police, too close for Rei's comfort, but to Asuka they might be whispers lost in the tunnels.
Rei sucks in a breath. Her nose bumps against Asuka's, and then their lips touch. Asuka barely feels this; she's lost in the stars flashing before her eyes, and only when she notices the lack of air coming to her lungs does she realize Rei is there. There are lights too that come from beneath the door: sweeping cones of flashlight radiance, slipping under the crack and threatening to intrude on them both.
Asuka lifts a hand, places it on Rei's neck. It's warm, flushed, damp with sweat. Asuka disregards this and presses herself forward, mouth running clumsily along Rei's. The world around her has returned to stereo; the feet and voices have begun to retreat, and by logic, now so should Rei. Yet she remains, first for several seconds, then a minute, until the sounds have once again faded save for those of the moving water. Then there is a stillness, one that Asuka and Rei are all too content to sit in, until Rei reaches up and switches on her headlamp.
Asuka squeezes her eyes shut, shielding herself from the sudden brightness. Surprised, she doesn't think to hide her face, conceal the pinkness on her cheeks and the longing in her eyes. "Rei?" she whispers, her voice uncharacteristically timid. Rei's surprised her now three times, and such unexpectedness keeps throwing Asuka off.
"I'm sorry," Rei says. "I wanted to see your face." Her hand goes out to touch Asuka's cheek. "You were hyperventilating."
"Was I?"
"I didn't want us to be caught."
"So you kissed me for a minute straight." Normal breathing has returned to Asuka; her tact has not, not yet. She sees Rei pull back and pink tinting her cheeks.
"Yes," Rei says. "I did."
Asuka goes quiet, pretending to listen for the police. She's aware that Rei's eyes never leave her, that Rei has pulled her legs closer to her body, like at any moment she might stand and try to go.
"You know, you can come over here," Asuka says at last. "It doesn't look very comfy with all the shelves."
"There's nowhere else to sit."
"You could sit on me." Asuka grins, the light from Rei's headlamp flashing against her teeth. "We've kissed. I'm pretty sure lap-sitting isn't too far from that."
"I can see why you didn't have any friends on your team," Rei says with a laugh. She gets up, almost bumps her head against the shelves. Asuka reaches up for her hand and pulls her down so Rei can straddle her crossed legs. "Do you think they'll go soon?"
"Probably. We should wait just a little longer. Then we can go home." Asuka glances at the door, then down at her hands, suddenly uncertain of where to put them. She feels Rei grip her wrists, then bring her arms around her waist. "Rei?"
"I noticed, you know. All those times you watched me from the penalty box. You were nicer to me than to the rest of my teammates, too. You never knocked me over."
"You're too pretty to be all bloodied up," Asuka mutters. Her cheeks flare once more with heat, but Rei giggling in that gentle way of hers, and it's making Asuka's heart do silly things.
"We're not going to get caught, right?" Rei says. "So it'll be safe if I give you my number."
"Are you sure? We technically just met. I don't even know your last name."
"It's Ayanami." Rei finds Asuka's pocket without looking down, her slender fingers dragging Asuka's phone out and tapping in her number. "Not like you weren't going to find that out in a minute."
"Mine's Soryu."
"Asuka Soryu." Rei slides Asuka's phone back into her pocket and leans down over her. "Don't get carried away then, Asuka Soryu. Text me sparingly and only if you have something interesting to say."
"Does asking you on a date count as interesting?"
"I guess it might." Rei's hands slip around Asuka's body and press against the wall. "Or you could tell me about yourself."
"Why can't I do that now?"
"Because we're supposed to be hiding, and that means being quiet."
"I don't know about that. Maybe you'll have to shut me up."
"You know I'll have absolutely no problem with that, right?"
Asuka leans up the rest of the way, her lips just touching Rei's. "Precisely."