"Halt!" cried the referee. "Attack left, malparré, point left. That's bout."
Adrian watched as Franziska triumphantly pulled off her mask and tucked it under one arm, putting her hand out for her opponent to shake. The other girl, sweaty and red-faced with exhaustion, gave it a quick shake and stalked off. Adrian nearly felt bad for her. Nearly.
Hurriedly marking down the score (5-0, the usual), Adrain rushed over to help Franziska unhook. Franziska barely acknowledged her whenever she did this, but Adrian knew it is probably because she was still in the zone. She wasn't there for the appreciation anyway.
"Wonderful last bout, Miss von Karma," came their squad captain's voice. Adrian looked up from her task to see Lana smiling down at Franziska.
"Yes, well," Franziska replied, unhooking her blade. "Perfection is tantamount, as always."
Adrian carefully fed the line back into the reel, making sure not to let it snap back by itself. (Phoenix had once broken a reel that way-Mia had not been pleased. Maya had had to console him for days.) "Next time, try letting the opponent come to you," she heard Lana say. "I'd be curious to see how your defense has developed."
Franziska scoffed. "My defense is no less perfect that my offense." She removed her glove. "I simply see an immediate attack to be most effective with many of my opponents." She wagged her index finger up at her captain, a smirk pulling at her lips. "They're intimidated quite easily."
"Well, yes," replied Lana with a small smile. "You're quite terrifying." Just then, the ref tapped on her shoulder, and she turned to speak to him.
"Do you need anything, Franziska?" asked Adrian timidly, having finished her reeling task. "I can get it for you."
"Not at the moment," replied the German girl. The she said, "Come. Miles appears to be finishing off the last of the sabre bouts."
Delighted that she had been invited along, Adrian trotted up beside Franziska on the trek to the other side of the gym, where the saberists had been conducting their bouts. The rest of their team had gathered in a crowd on one side of the strip, opposite the visiting school's crowd. Adrian could see Phoenix and Maya standing together, cheering loudly, while the other saberists stood solemn, watching the bout intensely.
The score was 4-2 so far. Although Adrian's blade was épée, she enjoyed watching the other fencers. Each blade had a unique method of execution; each required a different set of skills. Adrian found it incredibly interesting.
"Come on, Edgeworth!" yelled Phoenix, a fist thrust in the air. "Finish him!"
At that very moment, his opponent managed to bypass Miles's nearly impenetrable defense and score another point. The other saberist gave a very loud, obnoxious roar of triumph.
Franziska's lip turned down in disgust. "Such foolish behavior in itself should warrant a penalty." Adrian was inclined to agree. Loud, celebratory opponents were a pet peeve of hers, despite being only a beginner.
She couldn't see his face very well, but Adrian thought Miles looked very grim beneath his mask. She felt slight pity for him; Franziska would certainly chew him out for this.
"En garde!" said the ref. "Ready!"
Miles tensed in his stance, every mental gear visibly turning.
"Fence!"
The opponent, overeager, leapt forward, but Adrian saw the trap a mile away.
Miles, now fully focused, parried the attack with ease-he had mastered the strategy of letting an opponent, blinded by their previous victory, fall into his waiting snare. The opponent, thrown, went for a repost, but Miles was faster. With a beautiful overhead sweep, he deflected the opposite blade and slashed downward, directly onto the opponent's helmet. The buzzer went off.
The ref's call was drowned out by the cheer of Adrian's team. Miles, triumphant but ever the gentleman, swept his helmet from his head and shook the opponent's hand firmly. "Good bout," Adrian heard him say.
Beside her, Franziska scoffed, her arms crossed. "A bout so less than perfect, it barely deserves to be celebrated." Adrian chuckled.
Miles was flocked with supporters; Phoenix, despite having been to blame for Miles's initial screwup, immediately threw an arm around the protesting boy. Maya and the others joined in, ruffling his hair and thumping him on the back. Adrian was sure he was being smothered. The opposing team, their pride wounded, sulkily gathered their equipment and began lining up to shake hands.
To Adrian's surprise, Franziska remained by her side, her arms still crossed. "Your bouts were much cleaner, Franziska," she ventured. "You'd practically won them from the very beginning."
"Indeed," said Franziska, watching the procession clamor by with a stern face. "It seems at least one other person here has been paying proper attention."
Adrian knew that that was a compliment from Franziska if she had ever given one. She tried to hide her smile.
~::~
A/N: Hello! This shenanigans started as a series of headcanons with a friend of mine, which turned into an idea for a (very late) birthday present. I plan to update this as often as possible, maybe with 3 or 4 more chapters (the content of which will actually begin to implement shipping content). We'll see how that goes, though. Exams are coming up.
Anyway, reviews are very much appreciated! Thanks for reading!
