The Miracle Match

"Miki, Yayoi, and Azusa-san are all dead," Iori announced. "This…sucks."

"Yeah, it does," Makoto muttered, tossing a piece of glass up and down. The sharp edge landed on her palm and lodged itself deep in her skin. She winced, pulled it out with the other hand, and continued tossing it.

"Why are you doing that?"

"Hm?"

"You're hurting yourself with that glass."

"Why do YOU care?"

"Because…I-I hate the sight of blood, OK?"

"Whatever…"

Ritsuko chuckled. "Come on, Makoto. Stop punishing yourself already."

"So that's it," Iori sighed. She watched as the piece of glass landed in Makoto's wrist this time. She blinked at it, pulled it out of her skin, and resumed her tossing. "Seriously, stop that. It's creepy and emo-ish."

Makoto ignored her.

"Azusa-san said herself that it wasn't your fault, OK?! Now cut it out!"

"The next match will be Hwoarang…"

Makoto and Iori whirled towards the announcer.

"…versus Yukiho Hagiwara!"

Makoto dropped the glass—and her mouth. She turned slowly to Yukiho, who had on the same expression. She took a deep breath, then another, then gave up ad started crying. Hwoarang, a red-headed teenager wearing a vest and a pair of tan pants, wandered out into the arena, looking around for his opponent. He was frowning, but Iori saw the cockiness in his eyes. She looked over at Yukiho, who looked terrified.

Makoto approached her. "Yukiho."

"Don't you dare make me any promises!" Yukiho cried.

Makoto froze. "Yukiho…"

"The last time you made a promise, Yayoi-chan died! She trusted you and she let her guard down, and…sh-she died!" Yukiho sobbed. "So please! J-just let me die! I can't let you blame yourself when I do!"

Makoto stared at her. So that was the reason. Yukiho set her face in a frown and nodded slowly.

"Swing around my shovel," she began slowly, "until…u-until I hear a crack. Right?"

Makoto smiled. "Right," she approved. "Just calm down. You'll be fine."

Yukiho nodded and wrapped her arms around Makoto's neck, moving her head against her chest. Makoto held her back gently.

"I'm scared," Yukiho whispered.

"Me too," Makoto admitted.

"But so was everyone else," Yukiho murmured. "Makoto-chan, I have to get out of this alive. …For you."

Makoto smiled. "Thank you."

"So, I'm going to go down there now, and I'm going to fight, and hopefully, I-I'll live. And if I don't…you have to make me a promise."

"You told me not to make any promises."

"I-I lied!"

Makoto giggled. "Right, anything for you, Yukiho."

"Then, promise me that if I die, you won't blame yourself. You'll remember that this was my choice, and that I knew that th-there was a very large chance I wouldn't survive, and that…I love you very much. O-OK?"

"Of course."

Yukiho pulled away from the hug and smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. She went to retrieve her shovel and then headed into the arena, waving until the last second.

Hwoarang looked at her. "Hey."

"H-hello."

"Is this your first year? Don't remember seeing you last year. I think I'd recognize such a pretty face," Hwoarang commented casually. He smirked slightly.

Yukiho squeaked and gripped her shovel.

Hwoarang looked at it. "Is that…a shovel?"

Yukiho nodded.

"…you fight with a shovel?"

Yukiho nodded again.

"…and you actually think…you can win. Against me. Using…a shovel."

Yukiho squeaked.

Hwoarang laughed. "I can't tell if that's cute, unusual, or just plain stupid," he sighed. "Well, it's not my problem. I have to win here. My mentor'll be mad if I can't even beat a little girl with a shovel." He chuckled and shook his head. "Man, that's funny…"

Yukiho frowned and gripped the shovel tighter. "I-I too," she choked out. "I-I too must win…! So that my best friend…my Makoto-chan! So that my Makoto-chan can finally smile again!"

Makoto watched her. "Yukiho…"

Hwoarang shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's your will to win versus mine, babe. And I'm not about to die here."

"Death is scary!" Yukiho announced. "I-I'm not going to die either…! And you're a man! That's even scarier!"

"Men…are scary."

"Y-yes!"

"…and, you fight with a shovel."

"…yes."

"...yeah, I've just decided that's amazingly cute, yet extremely stupid at the same time. Can I just get this over with and get back to my bike?"

"You have a bicycle?"

"Motorcycle. Not bicycle. Now stand still so I can kill you easier," Hwoarang ordered. He clenched his fists and ran at her. Yukiho screamed and ran away, then began digging a hole in the middle of the arena.

"What is she doing?" Makoto hissed. "Yukiho! Don't get in a hole! You'll trap yourself!"

By some miracle, Yukiho managed to hear her and ran out of the way of the half-started hole with her shovel, just as Hwoarang approached her. He ended up half-tripping on the dirt and landing on the ground. He cursed under his breath and stood up. Yukiho face him, trembling but looking awfully calm for a girl who fought with only a shovel. Hwoarang walked towards her, chuckling at the sight.

"You don't wanna die, huh?" he asked her.

"Of course not," Yukiho answered, forcing herself to stop trembling. She took a deep breath and gripped her shovel harder, recalling her instructions.

Swing it around until you hear a crack.

Just swing it around, Yukiho.

Swing it until you hear a crack. That would mean I won, right? Right. I-I can do this...!

She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, opening them just in time to squeeze them shut in fear upon noticing that Hwoarang was only a couple feet away from her. She screamed and swung the shovel with all her strength at what she hoped was his head.

There was a sick sloshing sound. A splatter of something wet flew out and hit Yukiho's face. She kept her eyes closed, afraid to see what she had done. There was a thump, the crowd gasped, and then deafening cheering broke out. Yukiho turned around very slowly, opened her eyes, and walked out of the arena. Tears spilled from her eyes. Somehow, by some miracle, Yukiho had won her match.

It took a moment for that to sink in. The second it did, a huge smile broke across Yukiho's face and she ran up to the waiting area, tears of joy pouring from her eyes. She was greeted by Haruka, then Hibiki, Takane, and Ami joined her in a group hug. To her surprise, Makoto didn't go to greet her. When she was done hugging everyone and had laid her bloody, metal shovel on the ground, she ran to her best friend and tugged on her sleeve.

"Makoto-chan! Makoto-chan, did you see that? I won! I really did it, Makoto-chan!"

Makoto nodded slowly. "Who knew…you could do such a thing…"

"Win? Yes, I-I was really surprised…" Yukiho blinked. Makoto didn't move. "W-what's wrong?"

Makoto pointed out at the arena. "I'm just…startled," she responded.

Yukiho looked where she was pointing, observing her opponent's corpse for the first time.

It was headless.

Yukiho screamed. "W-w-what the…?!"

Makoto smiled slightly. "You swung the shovel, alright. But unfortunately for him, you swung the edge of it at his neck so hard that it sliced his head clean off. It was a startling move. None of us thought you could be so brutal."

"I-I just wanted to kill him!" Yukiho whined. "Not…decapitate him!"

"You did kill him," Makoto corrected her. "Just…not in the way you were planning. I'm really happy for you, though. Really!"

Yukiho smiled and took her hand, leaning gratefully against her shoulder. "I-I'm tired."

Makoto smiled warmly and slid her arm out of Yukiho's hand and around her shoulders. "You did amazing," she praised. "I'm so proud of you, Yukiho."

"Thank you," Yukiho breathed. "I love you, Makoto-chan. Please smile from now on."

"Of course, Yukiho. I love you too."

"As sweet as this is, girls," Ritsuko interrupted, "we should start preparing ourselves for the next match."

Makoto and Yukiho nodded. A blanket of peace settled around the girls for the first time in a while. If even Yukiho could beat her match, then obviously the others would be fine. Smiles lit everyone's faces, even Makoto's. The foursome of girls they'd met on their first day approached, and Alisa and Xiaoyu instantly stole Yukiho away from Makoto and trapped her in a hug.

"Yukiho! You were great out there!"

"Yes, it's sad that Hwoarang is gone but I'm very happy for your victory."

"Th-thank you," Yukiho stuttered, giving the girls a hug back. "I didn't know I could fight…"

"Neither did we," Lili said. "Well, if a weakling like her could accomplish such a thing, then fighters like us should have no problem! The competition this year is fierce, but somehow…somehow it seems very relaxed. As though…some of the fighters are going easy on their opponents. I don't understand."

"…THAT MAN CALLED ME 'BABE' ONCE!" Yukiho suddenly screeched. "O-oh my gosh…"

"Are you OK?!" Xiaoyu gasped, grasping Yukiho by the shoulders.

"I'm…I-I killed a man…and that man called me 'babe'…and he was a man…and…oh my gosh…I killed him…" Yukiho proceeded to pass out into Alisa's arms. Alisa looked awkwardly at Xiaoyu, who led her to a chair, where she placed Yukiho. The two girls fanned her while Lili chuckled at the scene.

"She'll be alright, I presume?" She looked over at Makoto, who laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Makoto promised. "She does that a lot."

"You laughed," Leo pointed out.

"Hm?" Makoto looked at her. "Oh…yeah, I guess I did. Ehehe…"

"It's nice to hear you laugh," Leo told her. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh."

"Really? That's weird. Well, I'm feeling better for some reason," Makoto admitted. She looked over at Yukiho. "She always has that affect on me."

"Do you…like her or something?"

"Yeah."

Leo blinked.

Makoto blushed. "O-oh, no…! N-not like that kind of like, we're just best friends, really!" she insisted quickly. "S-stop looking at me like that! I'm not a lesbian, OK?!"

"Alright…" Leo nodded slowly.

"I'm serious!"

"Right…"

"Stooop iiit~!"

Leo laughed. "You're fun to tease~"

"You're a jerk!"

Leo laughed again. Makoto glared at her for a moment before joining in. The other idols smiled and waited for the next match, confident.

No matter what faced them, they would be ready.