Wednesday 21 June 2017, Glastonbury, England
It's been two days since Akko arrived at the Luna Nova Summer Camp, she's been having the expected fun, experiencing already some new adventures, even getting into some trouble. On the first day she learned how to skateboard and gave Hannah and Barbara a hard time, on the second day she stayed at the green team room with Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka, getting closer to the girls, taking advantage of the rainy day to play videogames, since it didn't stop raining for even a minute that day, or when it stopped the rain would come back, but on the next day the forecast said it would be sunny again, which Kagari couldn't wait to get back to skateboarding.
In the morning the sun is drying the remaining puddles of water, and Croix helped a bit by sweeping the water that had accumulated, taking it to the grass around, which would leave it drier after lunchtime when the skateboarding track would be open again.
13:00
Akko had spent the morning in her team's room, doing some more touch ups, as well as playing a bit of video games with Sucy, just looking forward to skateboarding, so much so that she went to the canteen already carrying the board around her waist, sat down at the table to eat lunch and soon Amanda arrives joining Atsuko for a chat.
" Good morning Akko, ready to really learn what skateboarding is all about? Now we'll teach you some manoeuvres, plus you won't be going down those silly little ramps," O'Neill said, rubbing Kagari's head with a closed fist.
" I've been waiting for this since yesterday, let's see if the so fucked up Amanda O'Neill knows anything, because more like you just keep thinking yourself anyway " Akko simply replies in the best way for her friend.
The time goes by and the Japanese girl goes eating with such a hurry, just waiting to go to the skateboarding track to learn more of those maneuvers that Amanda talks so much about. As soon as she finishes, Akko goes to the skate park with O'Neill, noticing that it was already dry and there were some girls trying some maneuvers, with that the redhead puts her skateboard on the ground and starts to give some stretches, besides breathing very deep, the brown girl is just waiting.
" Well now come on, first thing you have to do is stretch, staring like that won't help you when you're learning to do some manoeuvres," said Amanda, and with that Akko even started to do some very quick stretches.
" Ready? Now what? " Answers Kagari after she finishes stretching.
" Do you know Ollie? Show me " Amanda asks the first question to her friend who starts to make the first Ollie.
Akko still does half still, which comes out even a little from the ground, then starts trying to do it in movement, which also even comes out something, O'Neill was meticulously observing Kagari's movements, noticing already some things, so much that he already made a point of signalling her to stop.
" Okay, I see that you know how to do the Ollie, so I give you a tip, flex your knees more to give impulse, leave your feet further back, they are still too close to the screws, besides the fact that your front foot needs to move like this, this way the tail rises as much as the nose " O'Neill is showing it with her hands and soon Kagari is putting it in practice, still in the first attempts without leaving much, but starting to notice a pattern with the feet moving, until one comes out that surprised Amanda.
" Wow! That one I felt was loud," Akko said excitedly.
" Well, you still have a lot to learn, but this is the right way, don't forget to always practice a good Ollie, this way you can improve more and even get a higher height, the way it is now you can climb on a low crate, now let's have one more, check this out " Amanda starts trying to do some varials, but in the first attempts it doesn't go very well, until she starts to get used to it, getting it right some of the times, which already leaves Kagari with shining eyes.
" Woah! Shove it! I've seen that one a lot at Tony Hawk's, it's like magic, the skateboard spins " The Japanese girl was trying to observe very attentively until Amanda stopped.
" This one you pull the tail back and it will give a little turn, with the front foot you leave it straight and just give a little jump that the skateboard will fit, it's pretty basic " said O'Neill and with that Kagari started to try.
This was more complicated for Atsuko, she was trying more and more, still unable to make the skateboard turn much, or when she did the front foot didn't follow, what she couldn't fit very well, until O'Neill remembers an idea she had, goes to her backpack with skate tools and comes back with a shape without the wheels and the truck, this while Kagari was still trying. In the meantime she'd managed to get one in and was celebrating, then Amanda arrived with the shape.
" I know an easier way to learn, try to do it with just the shape, it will be easier " The redhead put the shape on the floor and did a variation that worked well, leaving the Japanese all amazed.
" Woah! It actually feels better, because of the truck I feel a bit weird, like I'm stepping on something that's going to fall off at any moment " Akko said, taking the Skateboard in her hand and showing it to Amanda.
" That's it, these trucks are too high, you're still learning how to skate, of course you'll be afraid, I'll give you some adjustments, try to do it with the shape only, you'll see how much better it is " The brown one agrees with her head, the one with green eyes takes Akko's skateboard, starts to tweak it a little using her tools, lowering the skateboard a little more, even using wedges on the trucks.
Akko was trying to do varials in the shape alone, and soon she could see how much easier it was, although she still didn't fit, she was already losing her fear, hitting it once in the fourth attempt which made her celebrate a lot, then she was trying more times just to see if she was getting to do it more naturally, as she was trying, she was improving in relation to the maneuver, I don't know if you can't do it, but you can't do it if you can't do it if you can't do it.
" I think it's better now for you to try the varial, show me how you're doing there " Akko starts to show how she can do it with the shape, doing both the backwards and forwards shove it which even astonishes O'Neill a little.
" Look how much easier it is on the shape, but I want to improve on the skateboard " said Atsuko excitedly taking the skateboard and already starting to give it a try.
Kagari was surprising, thanks to the training with the shape she was using and putting in practice, even though she still made a lot of mistakes, she could notice that standing still she hit with more chances, but moving, she was still going very slow to achieve something, even so Amanda was surprised with Kagari's fast learning.
" Check it out Amanda! I learned the varial! The adjustment you made on the skateboard really improved it! I know how to do the spinning and jumping thing, that's awesome, I thought that was just a video game thing," said the excited Japanese girl.
" It's not bad at all, you just have to practice a little more and soon you'll be good at it, now let's go to the next one, this is also one that anyone can learn in the first day " Amanda gave a little impulse and started to give a manual, with this the Japanese girl was looking well, until O'Neill stopped doing it when the shape gave a scratch on the floor and with this she had already understood.
" This is the manual, I've seen it many times, so I have to stand behind and keep balancing without dragging the shape on the ground " said the Japanese woman who was starting to try the manual.
It wasn't that difficult, the brown girl noticed how it could be done even with some ease, managing to balance, but right at that moment she loses her balance when passing by a stone that had been left on the track and with that she slips with everything, making the skateboard splash forward and she falls on her butt on the ground what she could notice when she fell that it was a pebble and with that she already threw far away, kind of not caring much.
" Akko! You look cool! " shouted Amanda.
" I'm fine, it was only a pebble of nothing " confirms Atsuko, who keeps trying the manual again.
She wasn't very satisfied with just doing the manual with the tail, noticing how easy it was to keep the balance for a while and soon started to try the manual nose, where she could already see that the difficulty increased, so much that she made a few mistakes, even going a few exits forward, stumbling a lot and almost falling on the ground, but she didn't give up, even getting some balance, until she could fit a manual nose well.
" Alright... I still don't have that much manual nose balance, that's too humiliating Akko, my strength is over there, I want to see if you will be able to learn so well, since it is much more challenging " Amanda pointed to the half pipe and with that the Japanese only agreed with her head.
Both arrive on the top of the smaller ramp, and with that O'Neill was already showing Akko how to drop, making the movement with the body and arriving on the other side to the point of flexing the knee and with that it was like something that made Kagari's head explode, noticing that two days ago she almost lost some teeth for not knowing how to react with a ramp like that, she was watching the Japanese girl going from one side to the other, arriving on the top fitting, some rock n' roll, besides also some nose, until coming back on top.
" Well first of all you have to learn to flex your knees well, you want to try to dodge, I'll help you, the best thing to do is to have the help of someone to learn, that's how I could learn to dodge, Ursula taught me by holding me " said Amanda and with that Akko arrived at the ramp already a little afraid with the tail of the skateboard stuck in the iron of the ramp.
On the first attempt she held on tightly to Amanda's hands and threw her body to go down, but unfortunately she didn't go very far, falling backwards, which luckily thanks to O'Neill's hands, she wasn't hurt that much, going back to the second attempt, this time the redhead advised her to throw her body forward and that's exactly what she did. It
wasn't such a successful attempt since when she threw her body forward she couldn't flex her knees and with that the skateboard went and she stayed, but this time Atsuko could notice one more thing.
The third attempt, was one in which Amanda talked about her knees and with that Kagari only agreed with her head, she could go down a little reaching almost the end of the descent, but she still hadn't flexed enough for the movement to be accomplished, but she could already notice something.
" You are learning Akko, congratulations, that's how it is, now you have to flex your knee more and follow the skateboard, loosen your body more, you are looking like a statue so hard " Amanda said to Akko that was only nodding in agreement.
The fourth attempt was already having progress, she managed to flex more the knee, following the emotion of the ramp and was even getting more to the other side, but to get down the skateboard splashed. In the fifth attempt the same thing happened, she gets down and looks at Amanda noticing that she wasn't helping much, in fact she was only hindering, so the Japanese girl goes with more courage, she sticks to the ramp and takes a deep breath.
" Are you sure about that Akko? I didn't really get to learn how to dope until I came up still holding Ursula's hand," O'Neill said.
" I feel a bit limited with your hand holding me, my body is stuck to your arm, I want to try it even once without you holding it just to see if it works well," said Kagari, who was already very determined.
With all the willpower she leaves the tail on the iron of the ramp, throws her body down, feels the thrill of speed and the wheels of the skateboard going, only that she is still a little behind with the weight and when she gets down the skateboard splashes, falling backwards and the Japanese girl doesn't give up, she gets up, picks up the skateboard, even feeling a little pain from the fall. She goes
back to try, it was already the seventh attempt she
was making to learn to ride a ramp, in this attempt she goes down, the skateboard goes together, the body follows, she flexes the knee, arriving at the ramp on the other side, where she flexes the knee almost getting close to the iron on the other side and with this she even stops a little and celebrates.
" Yay! I did it! You saw that Amanda! I did it! I learned how to dope! It's so cool, I want to try it again! " Said Akko as she went back up the ramp, trying to drop again and this time she managed to drop normally, which was making Amanda even more awestruck.
" All right, all right, I guess you must be a little monster or something, how dare you drop that easy like that? I was scared to death of hitting the back of my head on that iron and falling backwards, you really have something else Akko " Amanda said.
" I don't know, I just think it's fun, I'm even afraid of falling, but I know that if I don't fall it's because I didn't try, I have to try, I've already fallen a lot on a bike to learn, I've already fallen a lot to learn how to walk, in life we fall, but we get up hahaha " Said Kagari rubbing the back of her head laughing quietly, until Marianne arrives near the two and gets all ninja"like around the girls.
" What's up girls? Check out what I learned to do, I know how to climb on a skateboard in a cool way, check it out haha " said Marianne.
Leclerc put the skateboard on the ground facing her feet and then gave the biggest push which made the board do a few spins and in these spins she managed to fit it right to the point of standing up which even made her surprised to have hit it.
" Really, Marianne? Even a baby can do something like that, it was one of the first things I learned, although I didn't spin all that because I wasn't stupid enough to fall off my cousin all the time, you must have been at it all day, right? " I'm sure you've been at it all day, haven't you?
" I really wanted to do that one without the flipped skateboard, you know the flip flops guys do, I always see them and for me it's the biggest witchcraft " said Kagari and Amanda rubs the back of her head.
" So Akko, I'm still learning how to flip, I don't think I can teach you, but the way Mari climbs the skateboard is the easiest thing in the world is just leave the skateboard upside down and climb on top, like this! You see how easy it is " With this statement the Japanese even gets in shock to think that Amanda who was the best skater in Luna Nova, at least for the Japanese, who decides to try this way of climbing on top of the skateboard.
" Woah! I did it! It's really easy Mari, it's really cool, I just don't know how you try to make it spin more often " Akko said all amazed and happy with the maneuvers.
" Damn, you really don't know how to play, I spent all day yesterday learning how to climb on top like that, my foot hurts like hell from the number of times I ended up in my cousin, it's a hell of a pain, but I didn't give up, at least now I've perfected a good way to climb on top " Marianne said with her arms crossed.
" I don't even try, I just do it with a little twist, falling for a cousin is the worst thing there is," said Amanda.
" Good anyway, teach me more Amanda, I want to see more manoeuvres manoeuvres, I'm eager to improve, I want to learn more things " Akko said eagerly and with that O'Neill only agrees.
" I'm not much of a street skater, my business is on ramps, I like to fly, but to fly you have to have a good Ollie and also a good balance, now come with me I'll teach you a few more easy tricks " said Amanda and with that Marianne also joined in learning a few more tricks with the redhead.
A little way from there, Ursula and Croix were watching from one of the windows, Akko learning to skateboard, seeing how she had the potential to learn things, which even made Callistis crack a smile on her face.
" She has huge potential, this girl learns things really fast " Ursula said.
" Besides she is a good friend, I could notice before yesterday that she preferred to face the consequences alone than to hand over her friends to me, that shows that she has a good sense of friendship and loyalty, she even looks like someone " Croix said while her wife gave a silly little smile.
" She's really going to be quite a skater, I just want to see when they arrive if it's going to be that good, you know how good they really are, especially the younger one " Ursula said.
" Now we have a possible competition... You could then think about training her more, what do you think my love? " said Meridies looking at Callistis' eyes from behind her glasses.
At this even a silence takes over, but it was clear that Ursula kind of agreed with the idea of training Kagari to learn how to skate better, as if there was something else she had seen in Akko, or even a memory of her own past.
See you, radical witches...