3rd POV

The time was midnight, which meant that the race between Adam and the two young skaters will take place that same night. (Y/n) was wearing her skating outfit since earlier she had Langa drop her off at the usual spot he always would and had her get the needed stuff. She could feel her heart rate increasing when walking with Reki and Langa to the others. She doesn't know if it's out of fear or excitement. It could be both, but who knows?

Everyone started to notice Langa's and (Y/n)'s presence just as they were caught up with the group of skaters they were familiar with. They turn around once they hear people around whispering stuff about them.

"You showed up," Shadow was the first one to speak.

"Adam here?" Reki then asks. "Not yet," Cherry answers the redhead's question.

"I bet he'll make a grand entrance for his comeback," Joe states, which confuses Langa.

"What's that mean?" he asks as (Y/n) tilts her head to the side a bit as she notices the curious tone of voice Langa had when asking. "Like shoot himself out of a canon," Reki guesses.

Miya walks beside him as he says, "False. He's probably just running a little behind. It happens." As the cat boy says that, Reki's face changes to a dumbfounded look as he stares at the boy.

"Do you ever laugh?" he asks while looking away.

Suddenly, the sound of people cheering broke their conversation short, which caused them to look in the direction everyone was looking at. A long, red carpet then unrolled itself in front of Langa and (Y/n) just as the lights turned off. A spotlight then shines down on the familiar-looking Matador of Love skater as he skates down the carpet. The sudden appearance made (Y/n) look up as she wondered where the spotlight was coming from.

'Things just get weirder and weirder, huh?' She then shakes her thoughts away as she looks back at Adam with the best brave expression she can pull. 'Now's not the time for that. I have to focus. My life might be on the line.'

"Here we go," Langa then mumbles just as Adam was only a few inches away from him and the group.

Once Adm makes a complete stop, he flips his cape and a bouquet of red roses appears in front of the snowboarder. The boy does nothing more but stare at the flowers with an emotionless expression. "A symbol of courtship and celebration. To you. To me. To us~" Adam says with a smirk.

Nonetheless, with an emotionless approach, Langa takes the roses while saying, "Thanks." Reki looks taken aback by what Langa did as a shocked expression appears on his face. "You don't have to accept them," the redhead mumbles to his friend.

Adam's attention then falls on the little nine-year-old who was looking up at the pro skater with a curious look on her face. With a smirk, he gets down on one knee in front of her and another bouquet of roses appears from his cape. The girl's expression changed to a shocked look as she wondered how he could pull out that bouquet from thin air. These roses looked different than Langa's though. They had a yellow color to them that shaded into a red color at the tips of the petals.



"The rarest ones of them all. The flames of these roses symbolize the passion and desire in one's heart. When in doubt, you always find a way to set your soul on fire~" the Matador of Love says as his smirk does not disappear.

Although (Y/n) couldn't understand half of what Adam was saying, she took the bouquet and mumbles a quick "Thanks," in Japanese. Adam's smirk grows bigger, almost as if something clicked inside him just by hearing the tone of her voice.

He stands back up as the girl nuzzles her face in the flowers and takes in their sweet fragrance. 'As much as how beautiful as they are, I'll probably burn them. I mean, they kind of do look like fire.' (Y/n) thinks to herself, but then hesitates. 'Maybe I'll just keep one.'

Adam then looks at Joe and Cherry with a cheery smile. "Are you rooting for the snow bunny and fire birdie?" he asks them.

"I'm not sure," Joe answers as Cherry sends the dark-blue-haired skater a glare. "Don't even start that, Adam. You're the one who ditched us first," the AI skater tells him.

"Is that what happened?" Adam then asks with an innocent look while he shrugs.

Back with Reki, he glares at Adam before looking at his two friends. "Are you two ready?" he asks them. Langa looks back at him and gives him a reassuring smile. "Yes, I am," Langa tells him.

Knowing that (Y/n) doesn't understand Reki, he taps on her shoulder, which snaps her thoughts away from the roses in her arms as she looks up at her friend. "Are you ready?" he asks her, to which she nods in response.

The sound of sirens blaring could be heard throughout the mountain as Langa, (Y/n), and Adam are now standing in front of the starting line. The traffic light above them starts the countdown...

Red...

Red...

Red...

Red...

Green

The sound of the skaters around cheering could be heard as Adam takes out a case filled with his cigarettes. He opens it and takes one out, which catches Miya's attention. "He's doing it again!" the cat boy says to himself.

"Yup," Reki says as he stares directly at the fierce skater.

But oblivious to Adam, he didn't realize that the two other skaters he was going against didn't pass the starting line until someone in the crowd pointed that out. With the cigarette in his mouth, he turns to his side and sees (Y/n) and Langa still standing there with their skateboards underneath their foot.

(Y/n) remembered what Langa had told her earlier that night when he dropped her off at the usual spot. His voice could be heard ringing through her head. "When the lights turn green, don't skate. Stay exactly where you are and we won't have that much of a problem when skating against Adam." The nine-year-old lets out a quiet sigh through her nose as she looks at the track ahead of her. 'I trust you, Langa.'

When Langa's eyes lock with Adam's through his mask, the pro skater takes the cigarette from his mouth and devilishly smiles at him. "Sorry I was late, Snowball," he tells Langa. He then directs his attention to (Y/n), who is trying her best not to look at him. He smirks at this as he drops his cigar and uses his foot to stand his skateboard up in a ready position. "Anywho, shall we begin?~"

The traffic light starts the countdown again, which causes the other two skaters to get ready.

Red...

Red...

Red...

Red...

Green

And with that, the three of them were off. (Y/n) struggled in the beginning, but she was able to obtain her balance and focused on the race.

Reki suddenly grew worried for his friends and shouted out to them. "Careful!" he shouts, which catches Cherry's attention. "They made a good move," He says, which confuses Reki and causes him to look at the pink-haired skater. "Adam won't push too far ahead of them. He needs a challenge or he'll get bored."

Back with the skaters, Adam was ahead of the two as he looks back at them. "Long-distance love is so hard to maintain," he says but stops when he realizes that the gap between him and the other two was increasing.

(Y/n) had remembered something else that Langa told her earlier that night. "For Adam to do the Love Hug, he needs to be on a straightaway. So if we keep our distance between him on the straightaways, we'll be okay." 'So the only times we could try and pass Adam is on the corners.' (Y/n) thought to herself. She breathes in and then exhales with her eyes closed before looking ahead of her.

"We can do this."

Looking ahead, the nine-year-old noticed that a corner was coming up. This was the chance for her and Langa to try and pass the pro skater.

With the three skaters thinking of the same thing, they gain enough momentum to put themselves in front of Adam. But now that the corner was coming up, they had to act fast. "You can do it, (Y/n). Now," Langa tells the girl, which causes her to nod in response, already knowing what he was talking about.

With (Y/n) ahead of the snowboarder, she takes the first move and performs the Casper Slide she was able to pull off at the skatepark. Remembering how Langa taught her, she makes sure to keep her balance while sliding against the inner bump on the track.

Struggling to keep her balance, she managed to hold on until the two came up to a straightaway. She ollies herself out of the Casper Slide along with Langa and continues to skate at full speed.

Adam, on the other hand, saw this as an opportunity. "Now!" he says, which catches Langa's attention as the said boy turns around and stares at the fierce skater, who is dancing around while on his devilish skateboard. "The time has come! Fall into my bosom!"

Langa didn't like how this was looking. He looks back at (Y/n) and speaks in her direction. "(Y/n), go on ahead. If anything happens to me, just keep going. Don't look back!" the teenager yells, which causes the girl to nod without turning her head to look at him. The only thing she was focused on was getting to the factory in one peace.

In fact, she was too focused that she didn't even notice that Adam had reached Langa and started dancing with him. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest. Something about this feeling made it so familiar, but so much different. It was like the feeling she felt when she skated against Shadow that one time. Except, this time, it feels ten times stronger. 'I can't tell if this feeling is a good thing or a bad thing.' (Y/n) thinks to herself.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice someone approaching her from behind. It wasn't until she felt a hand rest on the left side of her waist that sent a chill up her spine. Too afraid to find out who was there, she relied on her listening to find out.

"Hello there, my little birdie~"

Finally having the courage to look up, she sees the familiar Matador of Love skater looking down at her with those red-illuminated eyes hiding in the darkness of his mask. But that wasn't the only thing that shocked her the most. 'Wait! Did he just say that in English?!' was the only thing ringing in (Y/n)'s head.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? But, no matter. I always have my ways to find your deepest secrets." Adam told the girl as the side of his skateboard makes contact with hers, which causes her eyes to go wide.

"N-no way," (Y/n) mumbles, not wanting to believe what she's hearing. With a chuckle, Adam brings the nine-year-old closer to him as he grabs onto her arms.

"Besides that, you are an excellent skater, except you require more lessons. You may have sprouted wings, but you still haven't learned how to fly at your fullest potential." (Y/n) tilts her head in confusion after what Adam said. But, looking ahead, she sees that the two were heading straight for a corner with side ramps, which causes her to tense. Adam seemed to have noticed her action and his smirk grew. "Let's have a little test flight."

With that, Adams turns the girl around so that she's facing him and grabs hold of both her hands, which startles the said girl. "Fly, my birdie! Fly!" Adam yells as he swings the girl and spins the skateboards the two skaters are on. The sudden rotation causes (Y/n) to get lifted off her feet as she screams while holding Adam's hands for dear life.

Her scream dies down to a whimper as she can feel her hood almost slipping off her head. Her fake phoenix tail waves in every direction as it is caught in the drag of the wind. After a few more seconds, the child's feet find themselves back on the surface of her skateboard as she makes sure that her gloved hands never leave contact with Adam's.

(Y/n) has never felt her heart rate increase this much before. This feeling was, in a way, new to her to the extent that she doesn't know exactly how to feel at the moment. The confusion is written in her eyes and facial expression. Adam seemed to have noticed this...

"Oh, Phoenix, what's with this face? Is this flying lesson ruffling your feathers?" Adam asks the girl, but she doesn't respond right as the two continue spinning along the side ramps.

(Y/n) did not like the position she was in and could feel herself leaning back a bit too much, so she tries her best to bring herself forward as much as possible, but the whiplash she is receiving is preventing her from doing so. With all of the strength she has, she is only able to lean her head forward, which causes her hood to fly off her head, revealing her (h/l) (h/c) hair that is getting caught in the wind.

'I don't understand what's going on. I could almost feel my heart pumping out of my chest, but I don't feel any emotion right now. Is this normal?' (Y/n) questions herself in her head just as she and Adam are right back on a straightaway.

Adam lets go of (Y/n) and breaks his skateboard away from the girl's, which catches her off guard for a split second. "Wonderful! You're quite the pupil, but you and I have a lot in common," the Matador of Love says as he looks back at (Y/n) with a smirk. The said girl had decreased her speed a bit on her skateboard so that there is a huge gap between the two. Now that they were on a straightaway, there could be a possible chance that Adam could pull the Love Hug.

"Y/n!" The sudden sound of her name being called gets the young girl's attention as she looks behind her.

From behind, Langa is catching up with (Y/n) but is also making sure to keep his distance from Adam. "Are you all right?" the snowboarder asks with a concerned yet serious facial expression. To answer his question, (Y/n) nods with a blank expression on her face even though she wasn't quite sure if she was all right, to begin with, which didn't go unnoticed by the teen.

Langa was debating whether or not to ask again, but something else had caught his attention. Up ahead, Langa notices that the three of them are heading towards another corner with side ramps. 'Another corner! You Love Hug won't work now!' Langa thinks to himself with a determined look on his face. He leans forward to create less drag from the wind and gain more speed, which persuades the nine-year-old to do the same.

"I want another bite," Adam's voice was heard just as the three skaters entered the corner track. The two youngsters look up at the pro skater just as the said older male lifts the nose of his board off of the ground and pulls a 180-degree turn... WHILE ON THE TURN!!!

Langa's breath hitched as his eyes grew wide. He thought...

~~~~~~~~~~

Spectating the screen of the race, the others couldn't believe what Adam was doing. He was about to perform the Love Hug on the turn. Their anticipation of Adam only pulling that trick of his on a straightaway was surprisingly false. This man is not human!

"No way," Cherry Blossom says in disbelief with a slightly worried facial expression.

"I thought he could only do that on straightaways!" Miya says out loud with so much shock written in the tone of his voice.

"He's anticipating Langa and (Y/n)'s moves now!" Joe states, which gets a certain agitated redhead even more agitated.

"Is he tracing?" Shadow questions. Reki's heart rate increased beyond normal and he felt like he would lose his mind out of emotional instability.

"No! Langa! (Y/n)!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~

(Y/n) didn't know how to react. Her arms were left dangling on either side of her with her knees slightly bent so that she could at least have some balance as the gap between her and this psycho skater started getting smaller. Her eyes were wide to the point she was zoned out and couldn't process anything out of fear.

Adam slams the front wheels of his skateboard on the smooth surface of the side ramps, which builds up more acceleration to his speed. To a child who sees a grown man heading towards them at full speed with their arms outstretched towards them, this is scary.

On the other hand, Langa breaks out of his shocked state and looks at the nine-year-old from behind. He noticed the sudden fear in her and had to help her get out of it. She would be the first to get hurt because of how fast she was going ahead of the snowboarder. He didn't have enough time to react as fast, so he did the only thing he could do.

"Welcome back! My arms have missed you so!" Adam yells with a devilish smirk plastered on his face.

Langa took his chance now.

"(Y/n)!"

The said girl perks up at the sound of her name being called from behind her. Though she was now focused on Langa, her eyes had never left Adam.

"Love Hug!"

"FLYYYYY!!!"

With a quick rotation and tip to the nose of the board, both (Y/n) and Langa find themselves soaring through the air, avoiding the predator's claws while doing so. The sudden disappearance of the two young skaters confuses the pro skater, which causes him to look up at the beautiful scenery.

As if in slow motion, Langa glided through the sky as droplets of snowflakes were falling around him. But, just slightly above him, (Y/n) looked as if she had sprouted wings that were made of fire as sparks emitted from them, melting away the snow to assert dominance.

Adam could not believe it. He had found the ones he had been looking for. Not only has he found an Eve, but has also found hope, passion, motivation, a light, an eternal flame...

A spark.

~~~~~~~~~~

The crowd around Reki cheers as they watch intensely how Langa and (Y/n) launched themselves over the Matador of Love without a single scratch. The whole group, including the redhead, couldn't believe it.

"Am I seeing this?" Shadow asks with his eyes wide open in shock.

"They avoided the hug," Miya says in disbelief.

"Like it was no problem," Reki then adds, barely a whisper coming out from his mouth. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he saw it happen right in front of him. Those two kids were something else.

From behind the three, Joe had a look of impressment on his face. He never thought those two would make it out of there easily. Especially (Y/n). If anything, he thought that she would have been the first to go down, but she most definitely proved him wrong. On the other hand, Cherry had a look of astonishment written all over his face, even though he was trying his best to hide it. Something about that nine-year-old sparked an interest in the AI skater.

"I've never seen that technique before," Cherry says to himself, his voice being low enough for Joe to hear. "Those two are freaks," the green-haired skater says with a smirk on his face. Looking to the side, he notices that his pink-haired childhood friend is deep in his thoughts even to know what's going on around him.

'As impressive as that was, I noticed how blinded the girl was by her fear. Her action was nothing more than a reflex,' Cherry thinks in his head as his eyes never leave the gigantic screen showing Langa and (Y/n) skating along the track.

~~~~~~~~~~

Looking back, Langa notices that Adam was no longer on his tail nor was he in sight. He smiles at this and looks back at (Y/n). "Good going, (Y/n)! Now keep going! Don't slow down until you reach the factory! I'll be right behind you!" the teen tells her with a reassuring tone in his voice.

Meanwhile, (Y/n) didn't know what to think. One second she was in pure shock, and the next... she was flying. It was a lot to take in at that moment. It was as if she was not in control of herself right as Adam performed his Love Hug. 'What in the world did I just experience? And why am I feeling like this again?'

Ba-dump

Ba-dump

Ba-dump

Shaking her head, she looks back toward Langa and nods her head in response, trying to make it look as if she was paying attention by faking a determined look on her face. But, turning back around while kicking her foot against the track, she couldn't get the image out of her head. The amount of fear she had inside of her made the scene very hypnotic.

'Woah. I never thought anyone could do that while skating. I don't even know why I thought racing against Adam was a good idea in the first place. Now I understand why Reki didn't want Langa and me to skate out here. Adam is a crazy man. He seems like the type of person who would stop at nothing to get what he wants and desires. And why did he say that he has ways to find out my deepest secrets?'

That sudden thought caused the nine-year-old to tense up as her eyes widen in shock. She now realizes that she doesn't a hundred percent know this man and yet he's saying stuff like that to her. She was too afraid to find out if he actually did know the truth about her.

'How could he possibly know my secrets?! He doesn't know a single thing about me! At least, that's what I know of... I hope.'

While (Y/n) was rambling things in her head, she didn't realize that Adam has caught up to Langa and is trying to reach the girl before they make it to the abandoned factory. But the girl was also blind to see what was around her. She seems to be skating faster than the two skaters behind her as she lost all her mind about what is going on in the real world.

Reki and Miya noticed this, which causes the two to make a quick worried glance at each other, as everyone else around was focused on Langa and Adam. "Whoa! Looks like he's gonna go toe-to-toe against him," Joe states as his eyes don't leave the screen.

"He's struggling, though. Snow doesn't seem to be the one he's targeting," Cherry Blossom then points out toward (Y/n), who is skating her little heart out without any hesitation.

"She's skating way too fast. If she wobbles even a little..." Miya says to himself, but pauses, sounding too concerned to list the terrible outcomes that could happen.

"Too late to pull out now!" Shadow says, which leaves Reki to his thoughts.

He notices that she doesn't have a clue about what's around her. She looks too focused, but at the same time looks lost. So far, ever since she dodged Adam's love hug and was skating ahead of Langa, she hadn't blinked once. He took this as a sign that maybe she was in her own little world. Almost like she was in the zone, but he could see the worries in those eyes of hers.

"Snap out of it, (Y/n)," the redhead mumbles to himself, making sure he kept his voice low. But after a while of thinking to himself, the sound of sirens blaring could be heard in the distance. This brings all of his senses back as he looks around for the source of the noise, only to figure out what it was soon enough.

"For real? We've never had a cop problem before," Shadow says, answering Reki's question.

"Why now of all times?" Joe then questions as he looks behind him. The green-haired male turns back around to look at the screen, but the servers were already shutting down, which meant that he could not see the three skaters' current state. He grunts at this. The last time he saw, (Y/n) was skating way ahead of Adam and Langa, which made him worry even more.

"Kojiro, what are you waiting for?" Cherry asks Joe in a low voice, using his real name when doing so. Joe didn't break his eye contact from the screen as he responded to his childhood friend.

"That Phoenix kid is skating way too far ahead of Adam and Snow. If she keeps that up, then she'll be the first to run smack into the cops. We have to help her," Joe says as he then looks at Cherry Blossom, who was looking at the six-pack skater with a disbelief facial expression.

The pink-haired pro skater lets out a sigh of defeat after hearing what the male said. "You dopey gorilla," he mumbles to himself but thinks back on his reasoning. If she was to be stopped by the police and wouldn't know what to say because she doesn't speak the language, then they'll get the wrong idea and will try to send her back to America. With that scenario playing in his head, he has no other choice but to comply. But it's not like he was that worried for the kid.

"Fine" Cherry says as he looks at Joe. "But we must hurry if we want to reach her in time." Joe smiles at his childhood friend's obligation as the two of them start running in the direction of the finish line. (Y/n) would most likely be close to the factory by now, so if they get there, then they'll get to her right before the cops do.

(Y/n)'s POV

At first, everything around me felt to have disappeared, but it all came back when I heard the sound of a siren blaring in the distance. Confused, I look back to see if there was anything behind me, but I saw nothing...

'Wait! No one's skating behind me! Where did Langa go?' I start to freak out after realizing that I was skating by myself on the rocky track. I noticed how fast I was going, so I tried to slow down as I look around and figure out where the sound of the sirens are coming from.

It wasn't until a flash of red and blue was seen in the corner of my eyes. Looking back ahead of me, I see what looks like a pair of lights shining in the distance as it gets brighter and brighter at the very second. For a brief second, I wondered what that light was as my eyes squinted from the brightness, but my thoughts went towards one possible solution, which caused my eyes to widen in shock and fear.

"Oh, no! It's the police!" I yell to myself as I was able to visibly see the police car with its red and blue flashing lights along with the loud siren noise it was making. I also noticed how close the car was getting to me, so, out of reflexes, I swerve my skateboard to the side and swiftly dodge the police car as it hits the brakes when I did so. I heard the policemen shouting something at me as they got out of the car, but I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I paid no attention to it. All I focused on was getting away from them.

My heart rate started to increase way faster as the sirens didn't seem to have stopped. This is very scary for a nine-year-old like me. I've never dealt with the police on my own before. Whenever I did encounter a cop, my mom would always be the one to talk with them while I stayed to the side and avoided eye contact because he was technically a stranger to me.

The sudden thought of my mom entered my mind. I could feel a frown forming on my face as an image of her appeared in my head. I tried to fight back the tears that my eyes were collecting as I focused on kicking against the ground to gain more speed while my thoughts were still running.

'Mom... I don't know what to do. I need your help. I feel so lost. You said in the past that no one really leaves you unless you stop remembering them. I will never forget you. So please... give me a sign to show that you're listening. Save me from this situation I'm in right now.'

"Hey, kid!"

The sound of someone's voice coming from behind me snapped me out of my praying moment. It couldn't be the cops yelling at me from their police car because of how far they are, and they don't know that I only speak English. The only people who do know I speak English are...

Looking back, I see two familiar figures on skateboards skating toward me. One of them was muscular while the other one had a long ponytail that was flailing in every direction from the drag of the wind. It didn't take long to realize who they were.

"Joe? Cherry?" I question out loud as both of them caught up with me and are skating beside me.

"Follow us. We'll get you outta here," Joe told me as he gained more speed and started to lead me to the side of the track. I couldn't tell if the cops were still behind us, but I didn't bother to look back as I was too afraid to find out if they were. Cherry stayed beside me the whole time, probably to make sure I didn't fall behind. We skated onto another trail that would lead us back to the main area of "S," which made me feel more at ease knowing that these two pro skaters are helping me.

Now that I stop and think about it, this is the first time I ever heard one of them talk to me in English. The last time I saw Joe, he was speaking Japanese to Reki and Langa as we ate ramen. He seemed to be focused on getting us off this mountain as fast as he can as I noticed him gaining more speed, but that didn't stop Cherry and me from catching up.

Speaking of Cherry, he didn't speak to me at all yet. In fact, I don't think he looked in my direction ever since he and Joe got here. It almost looked as if he was trying to avoid me... but I could be wrong. He could probably just be too focused on what's in front of him at the moment.

Upon arriving at the main area of "S," Joe and Cherry come to a full stop and grab their skateboard, to which I copy their action. At this time, the whole place looks deserted as no one was in sight. Picking up my skateboard, I see Cherry run to a motorcycle with a pattern that is very similar to his AI skateboard that is parked by the fence. Joe and I follow after him, but I stop running when I hear the sound of police sirens getting louder. Looking back, a look of fear appeared on my face as the scary noise was getting louder.

Joe tells something to Cherry in Japanese something along the lines of, "... (Y/n) .. with you ... .... her home." Those were the only words I could understand so far. All I'm guessing is that I'm going to go with Cherry and he's going to take me back home. Cherry seemed hesitant for some reason but nodded his head in agreement.

After Cherry got on his motorcycle, he motions for me to get on as I hear his voice from under his mask speak to me in English for the first time. "Get on. I'll take you home," He tells me, to which I nod and go over to the bike. I strugglingly get on the motorcycle and sit in front of him with my skateboard clutched to my chest since I didn't have a helmet with me. He puts his hands on the handles with his arms on either side of me and revs the motorcycle as he said a few last words to Joe.

I look at the muscular male and smile at him. "Thank you... for helping me," I say, which causes Joe to look at me. He then gives me a warm smile along with a nod as he had his arms crossed over his chest. "No problem, kiddo," He lastly says and then takes a few steps back.

Cherry might have taken this as a sign to drive off, because he did, which caught me off guard. I tried to look back to where I last saw Joe as we rode past the gates, but I couldn't because Cherry was sitting behind me and his arm was preventing me from leaning out to the side. "Wait, what about Joe?" I ask Cherry, sounding a bit worried for the male.

"He'll be fine. He has his own ride," Cherry tells me as I hear the sirens of the police cars dying down, which made me calm down as I let out a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn't have to worry about anything else. "Where do you live?"

My grip tightens on my skateboard after I heard Cherry's question. I didn't really think this through since I was too worried about the cops getting us. 'Quick, what do I say?! I don't want him to find out that I live in an abandoned Drive-In without any parents. What if he sends me back to my old home in America after he finds out?'

Thinking of an answer, I just say whatever comes to mind. "You could just drop me off by the skatepark. It's close to where I live." Cherry didn't seem to question me about my answer because he nodded and focused on driving the motorcycle.

'Wow. I was able to dodge that question. That was some good thinking I did. This will at least give me more time to think of an explanation if Cherry was to ask about it later on...

.

.

.

'Cherry wouldn't tell the cops that I'm not from here and don't have parents if he found out, would he?'

3rd POV

The two skaters arrive at the skatepark where (Y/n) usually goes to. Upon arriving, Cherry stops the motorcycle and lets go of the handles, giving (Y/n) the chance to get off with her skateboard under her arm. The girl looks back at the AI skater with a smile.

"Thanks, Cherry. That was nice of you and Joe to help me out back there," she thanks him, to which he nods and looks away. Cherry was never good with kids and didn't know how to deal with them. Nonetheless, he looks back at the girl just as she turned around to walk in the direction of her "home." Something has been on Cherry's mind throughout the ride to the park and it has been his desire to get an answer. So he asks...

"Does your parents know you're out here late at night?"

This question causes the girl to stop in her tracks as she tenses up with her eyes wide. Her heart rate increased a lot as her breath hitched a bit. She prepared an answer for a question like that during the motorcycle ride, she was just too nervous to say it. So, with a gulp, she turns back around to face the pink-haired male before she speaks.

"Uh... Yeah-- I mean, it probably wouldn't matter if my mom knew or not because she works late at this hour. Besides, she was the one who told me about 'S.' She gave me the sticker to get in and taught me how to skate when I was four or five years old," (Y/n) explains, hoping that that's all that he needs to hear to be satisfied.

Cherry took a few seconds to think to himself before he speaks again. "Is your mother a skateboarder?" he asks the girl, and she nods, already wanting to leave to escape the tension. But the pro skater didn't seem to be finished as he rethinks what (Y/n) said.

She never mentioned anything about a father figure in her answer, which made him wonder a few possibilities about it. It was either her father is deceased or he left her and her mom. He didn't know which one it was.

"Is your father a skateboarder as well?" Cherry asks, which makes (Y/n) look up at him from where she was standing. She holds her skateboard close to her chest as she thinks of an answer. She didn't like the situation she was in and wanted to just leave and forget about it. She doesn't know why Cherry is asking her these questions, but it's making her feel uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but... h-he's no longer with me and my mom," the girl says as she looks down, hoping that the ale didn't catch her stutter in her sentence.

The AI skater didn't feel like asking any more questions. He could tell that she didn't like the topic and felt a tad bit guilty for asking more questions. Snapping out of his thoughts, he puts his hands back on the handles of his motorcycle, which catches (Y/n)'s attention.

"Get home. And get some sleep," he tells her. (Y/n) nods one last time before she turns around and walks in the direction of the Drive-In.

Cherry watches the girl walk away. But as he sees her small figure get farther away from the motorcycle, it makes him wonder if she's hiding something that she doesn't want anyone to find out. As he squints his eyes a little, he pulls his mask off his face and inhales deeply.

'Who are you, Phoenix?'