In which Shiki opens up a bit without speaking of what she's not allowed to, Reki, Langa, and Miya meet a fellow skateboarder, and someone gets injured at the tournament. Oh no!

I was not originally intending on posting this month since it's TWEWYtober and I'm participating this year and the next chapter isn't done yet. But, considering today is October 12, I posted the chapter in honor of today being Shiki's birthday.

Shiki wakes up the following morning and slips the ring back onto her pinky finger. She checks her phone to see one missed message from Reki that had been sent rather recently.

Reki

after school langa miya and i are meeting the sk8 park

Reki

do u wanna join?

Shiki

Sure! Where and what time?

Reki sends her the address along with a time that sounds suspiciously like the time that his school lets out, but she makes a mental note of it anyways.

"Today will be the day," Shiki tells herself, then gets ready for her day, choosing to leave Mr. Mew behind.

She's the first one to get to the skatepark. That's fine, the others would probably be here any minute, so she plugs her earbuds into her phone and puts a playlist on shuffle. Revelation is the first song that plays.

She sits down on a bench and closes her eyes, letting out a small sigh as she does.

You don't have to promise every morning

Through the mirror

I can see the sadness in your smile

Behind the broken frame

Boy does that describe what she's been doing for the past almost three years, now. Not just her, Beat too. And Josh. And Rhyme, and Mr. H. And even Eri, who never really got the time to meet Neku, but understands how much he means to all of them and how his disappearance affected everyone.

But for Shiki, it hurts even more. Neku had stuck with her to the end, despite their very rocky start. Neku, despite almost killing her on the second day, fought through two more Games to get her back to the RealGround. Neku, despite absolutely hating her guts, taught her how to finally love herself. Taught her to live her own life and not just copy someone else's out of jealousy. Taught her that she was fine just the way that she was. And she believed him.

Neku taught all of them a little something, even himself. Well, maybe not Rhyme. She was gone by the fourth day. But even still. He, along with Mr. H's guidance, taught himself how to trust people again and stop blocking them out, and through that showed Joshua that even the most closed-off people could change. That humans could change for the better and were not all selfish. And finally, he taught Beat that he shouldn't live for the expectations people had for him, and just live for himself.

Beat was probably the most torn up about what happened to Neku, considering he had been with him at the time. She couldn't even imagine the pain of watching your best friend get shot in the back and then disappear in a matter of seconds, the moment when they finally thought their lives were gonna be peaceful again come crashing down in the backstreets.

Hear me scream, it is not your fault

Deep down underneath the spineless controls

Blinded by the fear

One day you will be filling up the will and start make anew

What you showed thi

"Boo!"

Shiki shrieks and instinctively throws her arms up to protect her head, jerking away from the threat. She opens her eyes to see a snickering Reki, a vaguely concerned Langa, and Miya standing behind the bench, a sly grin on his face.

"Not funny," Shiki pouts. "So mean. You're lucky I don't throw punches when I get startled," she adds, turning to Miya who only shrugs in response.

"Uh, why d'you think I approached from behind?"

Shiki pouts again, but drops the issue. "Are you all gonna practice for the tournament?"

"Yeah pretty much," Reki confirms. "Thanks for coming to hang out, though."

"You don't skate?" Miya asks.

"Nah, I have a close friend who does, though."

"You said his name was Beat, right?" Reki recalls.

"Beat?" Langa repeats, more than likely confused by the out-of-the-ordinary name.

"It's his nickname," Shiki explains. "His younger sibling goes by Rhyme."

"Are their actual names bad?" Miya tilts his head.

"Rhyme is just Raimu, but Beat's is significantly longer and he hates it anyway. Bito is their last name, though, so his nickname is more based around that."

"Do you think he'd be up for showing us some skating tricks?" Reki asks excitedly. Langa and Miya straighten up slightly, both interested.

"Maybe. He's usually free. Hold on, I'll ask him."

Shiki

Hey Beat

Beat

yo wassup shiki

Shiki

I met some people in Okinawa who like skateboarding

Shiki

I mentioned you and they wanna see you do some tricks on your board

Shiki

You up for that?

Beat

oh for sure

Beat

always up for goin a round or two

Shiki starts a video call with Beat who answers it almost immediately. She's greeted by his familiar blonde hair, longer than it was three years ago and covering his right eye, black wireless headphones, and black jacket with the white bones on it. She flips the camera around so that the other three can see him.

"Yo wassup brothas?"

They all give amiable greetings.

"Heard y'all wanna go a few rounds. I can head over to the skatepark and show y'all some things I've picked up."

"How are you gonna show us while skating?" Miya asks the important question, tone unimpressed.

"Tha's a good point. Uhhhhh… oh!" They see Beat lean away from the camera to look somewhere else. "YO RHYME!"

There's a shuffling as someone else, probably Rhyme, enters the same room Beat is in.

"Indoor voices, Beat. Mom and Dad are gonna be mad if you're too loud."

"I don't give a damn what they think." They hear Rhyme give a tired but understanding sigh. Maybe it's just Shiki's imagination, but does Miya look like he relates with that…?

"What'd you need?"

"Come to the skatepark with me!"

"Now?"

"Yeah! You's been spendin' too much time inside, yo."

"Okay. Just lemme grab my board."

"Jus' hop on the back of mine, yo."

Rhyme giggles, "I'm not twelve anymore, Beat. I'm too big."

"If you say so."

When the two make it to the skatepark, Rhyme holds the phone and keeps it aimed at Beat. The groups take turns showing off tricks, giving each other tips while they continue. A few hours pass and their time together has to come to a close. S is starting in a few hours, and Shiki's phone battery is starting to run low, even with all the battery-saving functions that Mr. H had put on it.

"Hey, Beat, I'm gonna head back."

"Gotcha. You gonna work more on that hackin' thing?"

"Yeah. I learned how to hack into security cameras, so I'm hoping to get a lead. Though it's been nearly three years, so I doubt there's gonna be anything for me to find."

"Rhyme…" Shiku murmurs. The other three look confused, which is fine. They don't know what they're talking about.

"You sure about this, yo?"

"Yeah," Rhyme says, voice determined. They then slump slightly. "He saved me, y'know? If it weren't for you, Neku, and Mr. Hanekoma, I wouldn't be here right now…" A glance towards Reki shows that he just realized exactly what this conversation is about. "He helped save me, and now I wanna help save him. What comes around goes around, after all."

"Well, just try not to start any trouble," Shiki says.

"Right! I'll let you guys know if I find anything!"

There's an awkward silence as Rhyme leaves. There's a weird tension in the air, though Beat probably doesn't even feel it, given that he never really notices anything like that.

"U-Um, hey Beat!" Reki's more than likely trying to get rid of said tension.

"What's up, brotha?"

"Do you have any skating advice outside of anything physical?"

"Ya mean, like, emotional shit or whatev?"

"Something along those lines?"

Beat thinks for a moment. "Well, ya can't skate good if your head ain't clear, yo. You gotta be positive, ya feel?"

Langa hums in thought. "Current emotions affect skating performance? I guess Adam does always seem to be in a good mood."

"S'not what I'm talkin' 'bout, yo," Beat corrects.

Langa blinks, confused.

"'S like, back before I met Phones and Shiki, I always skated when I was angry. Don't matter if it was with my 'rents or with myself. Constantly beatin' myself up 'bout everythin' yo. Especially 'bout what Rhyme might think o' havin' someone like me as a big brother. My skatin' wasn't improvin' neither."

Shiki can easily see where this conversation is going.

"Kept lettin' everyone down and my 'rents were always on my case bitchin' 'bout everythin' so I figured, why try to do anythin' if imma just let 'em down. So I quit tryin' and gave up on myself so they would, too. And the funny thing is that they did. But then I met Phones, man. Didn't like 'im at first. Was a real asshole."

She snorts at that.

"What? It's true, yo. I'll never forget what he said to me, though. He told me to go the distance for myself and not for others. An' he said it in that way of his where you feel like you can take on the world. When we finally got back and started doin' stuff as a group properly, even with Priss-Kid bein' a dick, skatin' on my board was easier. Felt right. Improved, too."

"I think I get it," Miya says. "If you're too worried about everything, you can't improve. And, personally, if I were in a situation like that, I doubt I'd get anything done."

"Are you in a bad headspace, Beat?" Langa asks suddenly.

"Dude, what I have told you about asking about feelings," Reki hisses at him.

"What makes you say that, Langa?" Shiki wonders.

"You were having trouble with some new tricks earlier," Langa points out.

Beat frowns, but it's not an angry one. Just… defeated. "Haven't had my head back in the game for awhile, yo. Not since Phones disappeared."

"D-Disappeared?" Miya sounds shocked.

"Did he go missing?" Langa asks. Reki doesn't say anything, already having known the full story.

"Yeah, man. Phones and I got pulled back into some shit we all thought was over. Damn, it happened right in front of me, man. If I realized what that Pixie-Chick was gonna do even a second sooner, I coulda stopped her."

"Beat," Shiki sighs. "It wasn't your fault. No one, not even Josh, knew what she was planning."

"I know! I know. Rhyme told me the same thing. But his back was turned, Shiki. I was talkin' to him and just saw his eyes go blank once she shot him."

"Wait- shot!?" Reki exclaims. Right. She hadn't told him about that part.

"When Priss-Kid showed up outta nowhere I thought he was gonna help us. But he didn't do anythin'. Then Phones up and vanished before he even hit the ground and Pixie-Chick ran off once Priss-Kid shot her in the arm. Then he left and I was the only one there, yo. I was frozen and couldn't do anythin' 'till the H-Man came and brought me to his cafe. I'm too damn worried 'bout Phones to be able to focus well on skatin'. But I try anyway 'cause I know Phones would want me to."

There's an awkward silence. No one knows how to respond.

"Yo, Shiki. Imma bounce, aight? Wanna try and get some'a these tricks down to show Phones when he gets back."

"Okay. Just be safe, alright?"

"I gotchu. See ya Shiki. You too brothas!" The video call ends, and Shiki can't bring herself to look the others in the eye fully.

"You, um, didn't mention that your friend got shot before he disappeared," Reki says, but there's no accusing tone in his voice.

"That… wasn't something I could just bring up," Shiki defends.

"Do you mind telling us what happened?" Miya asks.

"Well," Shiki bites her lip. "The context of it includes stuff I'm not supposed to talk about."

"It's okay, we don't need the context," Langa reassures her.

"C'mon. You look like you've been wanting to tell someone for a while," Reki tells her. He flashes her a grin. "What was it you said? Sometimes people just need a good listener."

Shiki sighs then returns the smile with a small sad one of her own. "Yeah, you're right. Um, Beat and Neku were forced to participate in this game, and their task was to get out of Shibuya. Based on um, past similar events, they thought it was a trap and went to go figure out what was going on. Mr. Hanekoma exposed that Coco was trying to trick them and Neku, Beat, and Coco ended up in Udagawa. I had gotten a bad feeling that morning so I had called Neku about it. After I hung up, it happened. Coco, um, shot Neku. Joshua apparently tried to save him, but he, Neku, and Coco all disappeared right after. We haven't seen nor heard of Neku and Coco since." One of the big details she omits is that Shinjuku was destroyed immediately after. Though… it's not like they would remember Shinjuku's existence in the first place.

The silence grows as the three in front of her process the dump of information and emotional baggage that she carries with her. She can't help but feel guilty telling them all this, between the bigger details surrounding it that she wasn't allowed to talk about and the vaguely uncomfortable looks on their faces.

"Um, do you have any leads so far?" Miya is the first one to break the silence, speaking slowly, clearly picking his words very carefully.

Shiki shakes her head. "No, not yet. But, I know he's okay."

"Did he find a way to leave you a message of some kind?" Langa asks.

"No, but I trust him. And," she gives an annoyed sigh. "My friend Joshua clearly knows exactly what's going on with him, but he won't tell us anything. He just giggles and gives some kind of cryptic remark whenever we ask him."

"God I hate when people are cryptic," Miya groans. "In games or otherwise. Why can't they ever just give a straight answer?"

"I know, right?" Shiki agrees. "Joshua would just say that nothing about him is straight and then just move on. How do you even respond to that without coming off as rude?"

"Hmm… does he owe you any favors? You could use that to negotiate."

"Ugh, no. Technically, Beat and Rhyme owe him a favor for something from two years ago, and he would absolutely bring it up."

"Damn," is all Miya says and Shiki just shrugs at him.

There's another pause, but with a lot less tension this time.

"Do you guys wanna bug Shadow into driving us to Crazy Rock?" Reki suggests.

"Do you think he'll drive us again?" Langa asks.

Miya snickers, "We'll just use the same tactic as last time."

"Which is…?" Shiki wonders casually.

"Get into his car before he heads to S. He's always there so it's just a matter of convincing him to take us with him," Reki explains.

"And he's okay with that?"

"Nah, not really. But he doesn't take much convincing anyway so there's no harm done."

"Well, if you say so…"

As they begin to leave, the irritatingly familiar sensation of being watched causes Shiki to spin on her heel and stare into the trees.

"Something wrong?" Miya asks. Langa and Reki give her worried looks.

"Nothing, I just… it felt like we were being watched just now."

Miya looks past her into the treeline and gives it a long look. "...let's get out of here, then."

Shiki doesn't know how they got the locked van open, but they did somehow and had all piled in. Shadow had yelled at them as soon as he sat in the driver's seat, not noticing them until after he had shut his door. But between Langa's blank and Reki's pleading face, Miya's smug grin, and the numerous apologetic looks Shiki was shooting him, he gave in within three minutes and they were off.

Shadow ends up letting them out early so they can go on ahead while he parks the van, so they go search for Joe and Cherry who aren't hard to find once they spot the crowds of fangirls surrounding them.

When they reach them, Joe has two girls hanging off his arms as he flexes for them, the remaining girls by his side swooning. Cherry's fans are simply watching from afar, seemingly respecting his decision to not mingle.

There's a fair amount of time before the tournament starts so the group decides to move to one of the practice areas nearby. The fangirls, reluctantly, do not follow, knowing that their presence would not help any of the skaters concentrate on the practice. They don't care much for the other skaters besides the one they idolize, but they do stay out of their way to be polite.

Langa practices some of the more complicated mid-air tricks, Miya right beside him. Reki tries one of the same, but trips up while in the air, falling onto the ground in a heap. The whole group, sans Shadow who decided to watch from afar, moves to assure Reki that he nearly had that one. When Reki tries again out of their insistence, he manages to pull it off and they cheer for him as he grins.

They keep going for a while, Joe and Cherry joining occasionally to show off, Shiki feeling second-hand fear of falling watching them perform complicated tricks until they notice the crowd begin to gather around a stage that definitely had not been there two days before.

"Damn, how are we gonna get through that crowd?" Reki groans.

"I wanna be able to see the stage," Langa complains.

"But if we just waltz in there, we're gonna get crushed!" Miya exclaims. "Just look at how many people there are!"

"Leave this to me!" Shiki exclaims. "Link hands for a sec."

She extends a hand which Reki takes, his other linked with Langa, with Miya bringing up the rear. She guides them through the crowd effortlessly and gets them to a mostly open spot right in front of the stage.

"We're not crushed!" Is the first thing Miya says when they let go of each other's hands (Reki's and Langa's linger for a moment, but no one comments on it).

"Is getting through crowds your superpower?" Langa asks.

"Yeah, no kidding," Reki agrees. "It was super crowded, how'd you do that?"

Shiki raises an eyebrow at them. "If you thought that was crowded, just check out the Scramble Crossing during daylight. It's insane."

"But isn't that in Tokyo," Langa points out.

"I didn't mean that literally," Shiki sighs. "But if you really wanna see, I think there's a twenty-four hours a day stream of the Scramble floating around online somewhere."

"I've been there a few times," Cherry notes from behind her, Joe standing behind him. "Traversing through it is quite daunting."

Shiki shrugs, "I live in Shibuya so I have to pass through there nearly every day. It's second nature at this point."

She likes the crowd here at S for one simple reason. The positive energy they emit would cause any passing Noise to not take any interest in the area and more than likely be repelled by all of the positivity.

Before anyone else can comment on that, the lights shut off. Multiple small firecrackers go off around the stage as a blur shoots out from the middle, spotlight focusing on the figure who is unsurprisingly Adam, who yells a greeting and then something about finding the one who loves skating the most as the crowd explodes into loud cheers.

Shiki finds that stupid, really. A person's talent at something does not directly amount to how much passion they have for it. Something she and Eri know well.

"What kind of greeting is that?" Reki mumbles, barely heard over the crowd.

"At least he's acknowledging the non-binary?" Shiki supposes.

A box on a small pedestal emerges from the crowd as Adam starts to draw playing cards.

"I wonder who our first challenger is," Adam purrs, pulling two of diamonds out. "...Shadow!"

"All right!" Shadow yells as the crowd cheers.

"And his darling partner is… Reki!" His name is written on a four of diamonds.

Reki gulps nervously as Shadow turns to him. "Guess we're gonna have that beef after all?"

Shadow barks a laugh. "Damn, almost forgot about that. Well, I ain't goin' easy on ya."

Reki manages a shaky grin, "Right back atcha."

"Reki, I'll meet you down at the finish line," Shiki tells him. "Langa needs to stay up here if his race is next. Don't want him to lose for not being here right away, y'know?"

"Yeah, I gotcha," Reki says quietly. Shiki frowns at him.

"Hey, you made it this far. Don't chicken out now."

"I know! I just-"

"Continue that line of thought and I'm gonna make really loud chicken noises and embarrass the heck out of you," Shiki threatens. "You're gonna be fine, so don't worry about it. You've seen Shadow race before, right? Try to use that if you can."

"Got it. Thanks, Shiki."

"See you at the bottom!"

When she gets to the finish line, the race has already started. Shadow is in the lead, but Reki manages to keep close. Shadow tries a few of his sabotages, but Reki manages to avoid them all. Shiki notices the amount he uses in his attacks is lower than what he normally would. He was trying to avoid hurting Reki, wasn't he?

Shadow lets loose a bag of marbles by the last turn, causing Reki to have to slow down a bit as they enter the straight shot towards the mine itself, in which the finish line was located. To Shiki, the mine building reminded her more of the inside of an abandoned factory or maybe even a mill, but it was a mine to her surprise.

The echoes of skateboards start to echo near them as the crowd steadily grows louder. Shadow and Reki are neck and neck, taking turns pulling ahead of each other. Shadow crosses the line first as they both come to a stop.

The crowd cheers for both. Mostly for Shadow since he was moving onto the next round. Despite not winning, there's a grin on Reki's face.

"Aw, you were so close too!" Shiki laments.

"Heh, I'm just glad that I got to participate at all," Reki grins.

Shadow approaches them, "Since when were you so good? Thought you were gonna steal all of my thunder for a minute there."

"Rematch after the tournament's over?" Reki requests. "That was so frickin' fun, dude!"

Shadow offers a wicked grin of his own. "Yeah, sure, I'll beef with ya again, tiny."

The three of them make their way back to the top. Langa, Joe, and Cherry all congratulate Shadow and offer their condolences to Reki, who simply waves him off. Langa seems more distraught over it. Shiki guesses that Langa had wanted to go up against him himself.

"Onto the next beef!" Adam announces, drawing another card. "Who shall be the happy couple? ...Ohh! Snow!"

"You're up, Langa," Reki says, nudging Langa's side with his elbow, as an ace of diamonds with Langa's name written in fancy cursive is shown into the camera.

"Ah, my heart is pounding with envy! Which of you lucky contestants get to skate behind that act?"

Shiki frowns as Adam gushes while drawing another card. Adam was an adult, wasn't he? And Langa was a minor. Hadn't anyone ever taught him how not to be a total creep?

"And the lucky opponent is…! ...whatever." Adam lazily shows the card he drew, revealing a three of diamonds with Joe's name on it.

"It's you and me, Snow," Joe says, turning to look at Langa. "Good luck, kid."

Joe moves to the start line as Reki and Shiki approach him.

"You got this," Shiki smiles.

"We believe in you, Langa!" Reki cheers in a teasing tone, causing a smile to appear on Langa's face.

"Yeah. Will you wait for me at the finish line?"

"'Course, my man," Reki assures him. He and Shiki then take off towards the finish line.

They watch on the screens down at the bottom of the track as Joe and Langa pull ahead of each other at each turn. At the next turn, Joe increases his speed drastically which even Shiki knows is highly dangerous. To their surprise, Joe goes off a ramp and uses his foot to slam against the wall and propel himself further down the path, picking up more speed. Langa following close behind.

Langa pulls more fancy tricks and does not give up on his pursuit, even when Joe takes a massive lead. Langa solves the problem with one simple step. Going skating directly off a cliff instead of turning. They're both right outside the mine.

Glass shatters as Joe sails in through a boarded-up window, miraculously not cutting himself in the process. Joe presses his board against a metal beam to move it out of the way, trying to keep his lead. Langa, however, follows him and jumps over the beam, using the swing momentum of it to propel him forwards.

Langa barely surpasses Joe as they both pass over the finish line. Joe skids to a stop. Langa on the other hand… his foot goes cleanly through the back of his board and he falls to the ground.

The crowd goes wild as they declare Langa as the winner. Joe congratulates Langa and expresses that there are no hard feelings between the two despite Joe losing to him.

"Langa are you, okay?" Reki worries.

"What am I gonna do?" Langa moans softly.

"What's wrong?" Shiki asks. "Oh…"

Langa's board is snapped in half.

"That's some hard luck," Joe sighs. "Just buy a new one before your next match."

"But…" Langa whines. He turns to Reki. "Can you fix this?"

Reki moves to inspect the board and remains silent for a few seconds before declaring his verdict. "Nah. It's dead."

"What?"

"Don't worry, dude. We can just make a new one."

"The newer something is, the more durable it is," Shiki points out with a smile. "Besides, I don't think Reki'll let you down with the new one."

"Yeah, she's right!" Reki agrees.

"Hey, let's head back up," Joe suggests. "Adam will be selecting the next contestants soon."

The three agree and head back up to the top. They're nearly at the top and can hear Adam's voice broadcasted around them as he selects the next two racers.

"All right darlings, why don't we see about the next beef," Adam says, pulling out a card. His own name is on an ace of hearts, the only other different suit seen so far. (Snake's card is an ace of spades, but his and Miya's card, a six of diamonds, never get pulled.) "Mm the only way I'll agree to the race is if I'm guaranteed a good time."

Adam pulls out the next card, a five of diamonds, and doesn't announce it, only gives what could possibly be an unsure frown. Cherry's name is on the card.

"Kaoru…" Joe mumbles under his breath before rushing to the start line to see Cherry and Adam lined up.

Adam and Cherry seem to be in a small discussion as Joe reaches them, Reki, Langa, and Shiki not far behind.

"Cherry!"

Cherry turns to Joe as he rushes up to him. Joe struggles with his words for a moment, before giving Cherry a worried look.

"Back off, Needy Gorilla. You're smothering me." Joe is not amused by the quip. "Don't fret about Adam; I'll ruin him, you'll see."

Shiki watches as Joe gives a cocky grin back at Cherry. It's forced, she can tell. He's really worried. And that worries her, too. She knows that Cherry is one of the top racers at S, but the stories she's heard about Adam and how he races, along with Joe's own worry, is more than enough to make her cautious.

"If you lose, I'll never stop laughing at your ignorance."

Cherry rolls his eyes. "Do me a favor: don't get frustrated and work out too much, Muscle Brain."

"Um, not that it isn't adorable," Adam interrupts. "But how long does the little comedy act go on? I believe it's time to start the race."

Joe gives one last word of caution before joining the crowd at the side of Shadow and Miya. A loud buzzer counts down and signals the start of the race.

Both Adam and Cherry travel at the same insane speed. When they reach a corner, Adam suddenly pulls ahead, only to turn around to start skating towards Cherry. The crowd yells something about a 'Love Hug' and it being used early, but Shiki has no clue what they're talking about. She can only assume it's the move Adam is currently performing.

To Miya and Shiki's shock, Cherry simply closes his eyes and keeps skating. Cherry, with his eyes closed, makes the turn and dodges the Love Hug at the same time as the crowd cheers loudly. Cherry manages to maintain his close lead all the way down to the long stretch in front of the abandoned factory.

Adam increases his speed and effortlessly passes Cherry once they're partway through. Then, Adam starts spinning in place on top of his board, to the crowd's confusion and amusement.

One second, Adam is standing normal, then the next he's sprinting top speed at Cherry, skateboard in hand. Then, as if he were a baseball player, swings.

Shadow, Reki, Shiki, and Miya instinctively flinch as a sickening crunch can be heard as Adam's board makes direct contact with Cherry's face. People in the crowd scream.

Joe and Shadow don't waste a second, Joe grabbing on his board and heading down the path as Shadow sprints to the parking lot to grab his van. They can only watch as Cherry gets thrown back, skidding against the ground for a few seconds before coming to a stop.

Adam says something, but it's low and quiet and Shiki can't make out what exactly he's saying. Then, he calls out to Snow, and Shiki doesn't think she's wanted to strangle someone more than she does at that very moment. Which is saying a lot, when you have someone like Joshua as a friend.

Shadow's van follows Joe down the track a moment later. Snake watches the events unfold, fists clenched and a distressed look on his face.

"I-Is Cherry gonna be okay?" Miya whimpers.

"After a hit like that…" Langa trails off numbly.

"H-He's okay… he's gotta be," Reki chokes out.

"Cherry's gonna be fine," Shiki tells them. They all give her anxiety-ridden looks. "He's strong. Something like this isn't gonna keep him down."

"R-Right," Miya nods.

The crowd around the murmur about Adam's display of brutality. Shiki wonders if Adam losing popularity with the population of S is a consolation of some sort. Then again, Cherry is also one of the most popular skaters here.

Shadow reaches Joe and Cherry and they both get into the van and drive off. More than likely to a hospital. Adam leaves and no one stops him.

Wordlessly, Snake moves to the start line for the final race of the day. Adam doesn't need to announce anything; Miya and Snake are the only two who haven't raced yet.

"I guess I, um, should do the next race," Miya says quietly. He looks up at the three in front of him, an almost vulnerable look in his eye. "Wait for me at the finish line?"

"Of course," Shiki says immediately. "Good luck, Miya." Langa nods in agreement.

"You're gonna kill it," Reki tells him, forcing a grin.

Miya returns his own forced smirk, "Like I need you to tell me that, Slime Boy." He joins Snake at the start line and the other three depart to meet them at the end. They don't miss how his smile drops as soon as he looks away from them.

Halfway through the race, Miya gives up.

Next time: Cherry gets his skateboard back, uhh that's all I got so far. We might get super close to finishing up the SK8 side of things, tho.