3rd POV

"Inspector Kamata!"

Stopping in her tracks, the said red-haired woman turns around and sees a male co-worker of hers walking toward her from down the hall. "I have the papers you asked for. Everything is neatly printed for you," the male tells her as he stops in front of her and hands her a thin pile of papers.

"Thank you for your assistance," Kiriko tells the male as she takes a quick glance at the papers that were handed to her.

"It's no problem at all," the male inspector says with a nod, and then continues to speak. "Might I ask... What exactly are you trying to cover?"

"Just a case that recently came up. People these days are always sending out complaints and very little things are said. But this one caught my eye and I assigned myself to find out more about this certain fugitive," Inspector Kamata explains with a determined facial expression.

"Very well, then. If you ever need my assistance, you know where to find me," the male inspector tells Kiriko with a bow.

"I'll keep that in mind," the female inspector says with a smile as her co-worker turns around and walks down the hall.

But unbeknownst to the two individuals, someone of their interest was listening to the whole conversation from around the corner of the hallway. A smirk forms on Mr. Ainosuke's face right as the male inspector leaves. With an idea set in his head, he turns to look at the person standing beside him.

"Find out everything you can about her case and report back to me as soon as possible. You can do that, can't you, Puppy?"

The said purplish-black-haired male with a mole under his right eye responds to his master with a nod. His facial expression never changes from the calm one that is presently displayed. "Of course, sir."

"I knew I could count on you~"

(Y/n)'s POV

It was already dark and I'm sitting on one of the halfpipes that were at the skatepark I'm currently at. Langa told me he will pick me up in a little bit, so all I have to do is wait for him. A few minutes ago, I was practicing some of the tricks I already know how to do to improve a bit, but something's been on my mind for a while and it's been distracting me.

Ever since I got back from the vacation at the hot spring, I was thinking about my dad... The one person I still haven't found yet. If I was actually trying my best to find him, then I probably would have by now. I was trying, in the beginning, but it was as if it left my mind.

Things have changed ever since the day I met Reki and Langa. They really liked my company and it made me happy knowing that I have friends who care about me. I focused on doing what I love and making myself happy that I didn't realize I was drawing myself away from my mission.

Hanging out with skaters like me gave me a welcome that I needed to feel safe around out here.

.

.

.

But I can't let this feeling stop me. I promised myself, and my mom, that I would find my dad as soon as possible. So far, the first strategy I used to find my dad hasn't been working. I need to think of a new one.

I rest my head on my hand as I think of something, anything to help me. My legs swing back and forth as they dangle from the edge, my heel hitting the wall of the halfpipe one after the other. Letting out a sigh, I close my eyes as I'm deep in thought.

"Come on. Think. Think back on the times when Mom mentioned my dad to me. What did she say about him?"

It was as if my mind left my body as it was going through all of the memories I had with my mom, remembering the things she said to me:

"Your dad is an amazing man."

"He is very good at skateboarding."

"I remember the times the two of us would skate together at night when the moon was full."

"The last time I visited him, he introduced 'S' to me."

"I taught your dad most of the tricks that he knows."

My eyes shoot open as I remember that last sentence she said to me. 'She taught dad some tricks?' Looking down at my skateboard that is resting beside me, I realize something. 'My mom taught me tricks, too. So, if she taught Dad how to do the tricks she knows how to do, then that must mean our skating style is the same because we were taught by the SAME PERSON!!!'

"Oh, my god!" I say to myself after I practically blew up my own mind. "So all I have to do is look for a skater who skates and pulls awesome tricks like me. If he is as good as my mom explained, it shouldn't be that hard... That sounds like a good plan."

A smile makes its way on my face as I look up at the night sky, admiring the stars that shine as bright as a diamond.

"I'll find him, Mom. I promise."

Just then, the sound of a motor engine gets louder and louder, meaning that a motorcycle is getting closer. Looking up, I see a motorbike stopped by the side of the skatepark with one figure sitting on it as another on a skateboard stops next to it.

"Let's go, (Y/n)" I hear a familiar voice say from the bike. It was Langa, and Reki was the one on the skateboard. I smile as I slide down the halfpipe and make my way to the boys. As I do, I play out my whole plan in my head again to not forget it.

I made a promise and I'm not going to break it.

3rd POV

The presence of both (Y/n) and Langa got other skaters mesmerized. Once the two entered "S," they went straight to the enormous halfpipe and performed many awesome tricks, which caught everyone's attention.

"That's frickin' crazy!"

"It's like they're flying!"

"You're killing it, Snow-boy!"

"Fly high, Phoenix!"

Reki smiles at the sight of his two best friends skating up the ramp and showing off what they can do. "Everyone loves them!" the redhead says to himself, which causes Miya, who was standing beside him, to look at him.

"I don't know why you're gushing over it," Miya says. Shadow then looks at the red-haired teen just like how Miya did. "The only thing anyone knows about you these days is you're their friend. Or maybe their groupie," the clown skater explains, which causes the said boy to look in the two skaters' direction with an annoyed look on his face.

"Who cares if I'm their friend? And what in the heck is a groupie?" Reki asks the two.

Miya lets out a quick laugh after hearing what Reki said. "That's funny. 'Groupie.'"

"It's like your new nickname is 'that one who's not Langa or (Y/n),'" Shadow adds as he looks away from the redhead with a sly smirk plastered on his face.

Reki seemed to have taken that to heart as he was now thinking about what Miya and Shadow were saying because his face turned into a shocked expression. He then glares at them, trying not to agree with what they're saying. "Shut up," he mumbles darkly.

Suddenly, the sound of girls and other skaters cheering could be heard throughout "S." Curious, Reki, Miya, and Shadow look in the direction everyone is looking and see Cherry and Joe walking in as the girls start fangirling.

"Looking sexy as always, Cherry!"

"Please look over here!"

"Joey-Joe! I need your musk!"

"I wanna rock climb those abs!"

"Cherry, you rock!"

Upon intersecting with one another, Joe nudges Cherry with an annoyed look. "Outta the way, cinnamon stick-boy," the green-haired male says.

"I will not be insulted by a feckless ape!" Cherry then says as he tries kicking Joe's leg out of his path, but the said male dodges with ease.

"Why don't you cry about it? You move like a robot. A pissy one," Joe tells Cherry with a smirk, trying to annoy him, which sort of worked.

"Carla," Cherry says as the nose of his AI skateboard runs into Joe's ankle, which causes him to flinch and yelp in pain, and then he falls to the ground due to him losing balance while hopping on one foot. The pinkette does nothing more but stare at his childhood friend with an uninterested look on his face. "Tch. Who's pissy now?"

But just as Cherry was going to take a step forward, Joe grabbed onto the skater's ankle, which causes him to trip and fall faceplant on the ground. The six-pack skater smirks at this. "Guess your machine doesn't love you as much as you love it."

And just like that, ladies and gentlemen, the matchablossom duo started their argument match, yelling out things at each other.

"Her name is Carla!" Cherry yells with an irk mark on his head.

"Can you hear yourself?!" Joe then yells back.

"Quit pointing at me!"

"You're pointing at me!"

"You need to learn to be nice!"

From one side of the halfpipe, (Y/n) stares at the two with a confused look as her dominant foot rests on top of the tail of her skateboard just at the edge of where she was standing with the other end sticking out over the ramp. She doesn't know why those two are always fighting.

"Are they sure those guys aren't a married couple?" the child asks, mostly to herself, as she then skates down the ramp and continues to perform her tricks with Langa.

After some time, now it was just (Y/n) and Langa skating, each one skating on a different halfpipe as everyone else around was watching them skate with stars in their eyes and complimenting how good they are every now and then.

Langa's pace is so much more advanced than any other skater at "S." All he has to do is skate and he's off. It just surprises the group how fast he was able to know how to do so much for only a few months. It surprises him as well.

Going back up the ramp, everyone watches as Langa launches himself up high into the air with the amount of momentum he gained a few seconds earlier. Reki's eyes go wide upon seeing that.

"Wow! How was he able to gain that much air?" the redhead asks.

"Well, he's gone. He's higher up than any of us now," Miya states while observing the snowboarder as he spoke.

"Must be one of his snowboarding techniques," Cherry says, which causes Reki to look at the pink-haired male with curiosity. "If he can catch that much air, he'll quickly become a greater threat throughout 'S.' He's got guts. He doesn't back down under any circumstance. His body never curls up. His core remains strong. Every move he makes suggests he's had substantial training."

Reki looks back at the light-blue-haired teen with an astonishing look on his face. "Oh, yeah. He said he's been snowboarding since he was two," Reki says, which proves Cherry's point a bit.

"Many prominent sports have excellent finesse and are blessed with strong backbones," Cherry continues to explain. "Langa must've had an exceptional early instructor. He's been honing his talent for a while."

"If it was something he was into, I'm sure he could be on the Japanese national team," Miya points out with his cat-like eyes staring at Langa's movement.

"All of this in a matter of months. I wonder how great he'll become," Cherry then adds while not taking his eyes off of the boy they were all observing.

Reki looks down as he considers everything, thinking about his friend being better than him when he was the one coaching him in the beginning. "He's that good? Amazing."

"But check out (Y/n) over there. She's not any different from Langa," Joe points out, which causes everyone to look at the said girl who had just landed a trick from the halfpipe. Her hood never left her head as the wind travels through her jacket.

"The kid's not as shy as she was before. She's showing off this time and she might not even know that," Shadow says with his arms crossed over his chest as Miya nods with a small smile, agreeing with what the clown skater said.

Cherry observes the girl with an astonished look. It surprises him that (Y/n) is the youngest skater who has ever skated in "S" and he wonders more about her backstory. "As much as how talented she is, she stands out. She ensures she gives it her all when it comes to endurance. She had informed me that it was her mother who taught her how to skate at a very young age. An instructor like her must have taught her well," Cherry explains.

Miya and Shadow, not knowing this information, look at the AI skater with shocked looks.

"So her mother is a skateboarder?" the cat boy asks, to which Cherry nods his head in response as he speaks. "That is correct. (Y/n) also told me that her mother knew about 'S' and that is how she is able to enter past the gates."

The clown skater gets more curious about that certain topic and speaks what's on his mind. "So that must mean that her mom is an amazing skater if she taught the kid how to skate like that. Now it makes me wonder why she doesn't just come out here with her kid if she knows about this place," Shadow states his opinion out loud.

Cherry Blossom wonders about this, too. There is still so much that he doesn't know about that girl. It's so bothersome to not know one's past just by looking at their eyes. A secret or lie can be hidden in a person's facial expression. You would just need to know how to reveal each one.

Reki, who was listening to the conversation but never took his eyes off (Y/n), reflects on the times he saw the girl soar through the air. He can never have the ability to do that. He doesn't have that much confidence like her. She sees one thing and goes for it without any hesitation.

As the others watch her, the said girl they were just talking about lands a trick and prepares to go up the ramp again. (Y/n) is trying not to overwork herself as she gets lifted up into the air and lets gravity do most of the work for her. She feels she could go faster, and that is what she's intending on doing. But while doing so, she is too lost in her own mind to comprehend what's going on around her.

'Come on, (Y/n). You can do it. Just go a little faster. Take to the sky... And fly.'

Skating back down the ramp, she bends her knees as her body switches directions and then faces upwards, shooting up into the air like a rocket. The increase in acceleration causes (Y/n)'s hood to fly off her head as the wind travels through her sleeves, snapping her out of her trance. Her eyes widen at the scenery around her.

The first thing she saw was the night sky. It was as if the stars were trying to lure her, telling her to continue to flap her nonexistent wings to go higher. From that height, she didn't feel like coming back down anytime soon. All she wanted to do was go up. But gravity took over once again, causing the girl to have butterflies in her stomach for a split second.

Her heartbeat pounds harder as a smile creeps onto her face. This is why she likes skating. She gets to experience new things each day.

On the sidelines, Reki was shocked at what the nine-year-old did. But that shocked face falls and a frown replaces it. He knows he is nothing like (Y/n) and Langa. He doesn't see how they view skating.

Miya seemed to have noticed Reki's silence and turns to look at him with a questionable look. "Reki?" he questions, which snaps the said boy out of his thoughts. He shakes his negative thoughts out of his head and smiles to try and hide what he was truly feeling.

"I'll be back. I'm gonna go grab a drink," Reki says as he walks away from the group. Reki gets his soda and stops by a rock wall as he starts to twist the cap of the plastic bottle. Just as he was about to take a sip of his drink, he overhears a few things that a group of guys is saying about (Y/n) and Langa's skating.

"I think Snow Boy and Phoenix Girl are a few of my favorites now!" one boy comments, which causes Reki to stop whatever he is doing.

"Duh! They're the best I've ever seen," another boy states as they watch the two skaters they were talking about on the halfpipe.

"Yeah, but who is that redhead kid that's always hanging around them?" the third boy in the group then asks, to which his friend responds back.

"Who knows? Who cares?"

"Oh yeah, that dude. Just some rando who latched onto them. No one important."

This struck a nerve in the redhead boy. His grip on the soda bottle tightens as he rethinks everything that he just heard from the group behind him. It's not just him who thinks he's nothing. Even other people are seeing him as nothing. He's like a stray cat who's grown attached to his close friends.

It wasn't until then that he realized that he fell too far behind. He never thought that things would turn out like this.

Timeskip

Throughout the day, (Y/n) had been practicing more with the Japanese words, hoping that she could at least know the basics of speaking the language. It was like a routine she made for herself. At the skatepark, she would sit on the bench, memorize a few words, and then pull a few tricks on her skateboard while repeating those same words to help make them stay in her head.

But as the hours passed, She noticed that the day was starting to pass and wondered how long she's been out. She takes out her phone from her pocket and looks at the time, realizing that Reki and Langa should be getting out of school in a little bit. A smile then appears on her face at the thought of seeing her two best friends.

"Huh. I should probably go meet up with them and see what they're up to," the nine-year-old says gleamingly. With that said, she stretches her arms before picking up her skateboard and holds it under her arm as she walks toward the boys' school.

Holding her phone out in front of her, she opens an app that would give the location of the boys' phone on a map. The girl sees how far they are from her and gets on her skateboard after seeing that she isn't that far from the school.

It's a good thing she knows how to read maps and knows which way to go because she probably wouldn't have made it to the campus as fast as she got there. By the time she reached the building, school time had finished and students were already walking home.

Looking around, (Y/n) tries to see if she can find a duo of red and light blue in the huge group of teenagers. She got a few stares from the boys and girls around because it made them wonder why a nine-year-old girl was standing outside of a high school building, but the child ignored them because she was on a mission to find her friends.

Just as she had the feeling of giving up, she saw familiar red and blue-colored hair. Looking at the two students, she recognized them as Reki and Langa. A smile spreads across her face as she stuffs her phone in her pocket and runs in the two boy's direction with her skateboard held close to her.

Reki and Langa were walking along the sidewalk, so (Y/n) decides to cut them off before they could reach the intersection. That's exactly what the girl does. She goes in front of them with a bright smile while saying, "Hi, boys."

Langa hears her voice and looks down at the source of the sound, seeing the familiar sight of (Y/n). He smiles at the sight of her as he waves at her. "Hi, (Y/n)."

Just as they were walking closer to her, (Y/n) notices that Reki hadn't acknowledged her presence yet, which confused her. He was just looking down at the sidewalk with a blank expression on his face. This made her wonder if whatever was on his mind was more important than her.

Brushing that aside, an idea pops into her head. Maybe having her arms spread out for a hug would get his attention. Putting down her skateboard, she does that with a smile hoping that he at least saw that action in his peripheral vision. But to her surprise, the redhead still doesn't notice her. In fact, he didn't know she was standing there because it looked as if he was going to walk right into her.

Seeing that he wasn't going to stop walking anytime soon made the girl step to the side a bit as his arm brushed past her. (Y/n) looks up at Reki with a questioning look as she watches him continue to walk toward the intersection. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes but she tried her best to stop them from being exposed to the air. It hurt her. It's not the fact he ignored her that hurt, it's seeing his current state.

He looks so depressed and dead inside. Earlier that day, Langa had a suspicion about his behavior, but he just figured that he stayed up late at night to build a new board. But seeing how he didn't even stop walking to say hello to (Y/n) made things a bit more suspicious.

The snowboarder stands beside (Y/n) as he calls out to him. "Reki!" the said boy stops in his tracks at the sound of his friend calling out his name. He looks in the direction of Langa with a questioning look.

"Yeah? What's up?" the redhead asks.

"(Y/n) is here. She was trying to hug you, but you ignored her," Langa informed his friend.

"(Y/n)?" Reki questions out loud as he tilts his head to the side. It wasn't until he looked down on Langa's right that he now noticed the nine-year-old girl standing there with a confused facial expression. His eyes go wide as he mentally curses himself for not knowing that his younger friend is there. "Oh, shoot. Sorry, (Y/n). My mind was wandering somewhere else," Reki says as he walks up to the girl and wraps his arm around her shoulder as a side hug.

The girl accepts it, nonetheless, but it didn't feel like he did it out of happiness. After that, (Y/n) walks down the sidewalk with the boys as her board was held under her arm. Everything was silent until Langa's voice was heard by the two skaters.

"What time do you wanna meet up tonight?" Langa asks Reki, to which the said boy looks at his friend with a confused look. "There's a match, isn't there?" Langa clarifies while waiting for his friend to reply.

Reki looks down with a bored look plastered on his face, looking as if he didn't care about the topic they were talking about. "Yeah, guess so. I've got errands to run so I can't," the redhead replies to Langa.

(Y/n) tilted her head to the side as she tried translating what was being said. The only thing she understood was that Langa asked Reki for a time to meet so they could go to "S," but she guessed that he can't for some reason.

"At midnight?" Langa then asks.

"Why don't you two go without me? Cool?" Reki briefly tells Langa.

It confused the light-blue-haired boy that his friend wasn't planning on going to "S" that night. He never backed down on going to the abandoned mine before. Nevertheless, he complies with his decision and doesn't think that much of it. "If you're sure," Langa tells Reki.

With that said, Langa looks down at (Y/n), only to see her eyes scanning the sidewalk, but not intentionally. It looked like something was on her mind because her facial expression looked like a serious one. She never looked up at Reki when the two were conversing since she was talking to herself in her head. She couldn't stop thinking about when Reki ignored her.

'Did I do something that caused Reki to not look at me?'

Timeskip

That night at midnight, Langa and (Y/n) arrive at "S" just in time because everyone has been hearing that Adam might show up anytime soon. Upon getting off of Langa's motorbike, the two skaters notice Miya skating towards them.

"Langa! (Y/n)!" the cat boy greets them as he gets off his skateboard. "Where's Reki?" he then asks with a curious look on his face. Langa takes off his helmet as (Y/n) does the same before he answers back.

"He said he had to run an errand tonight," the snowboarder says.

"Oh. What, is he a vampire?" Miya asks with a bored and suspicious expression.

(Y/n) looks up at Miya when he said that. She didn't know why he called Reki a vampire, but there had to be a reason. She didn't think of a reason, though. Just like before, her mind was thinking of something else. Something has been bothering her for a while ever since she met up with the boys a few hours ago.

(Y/n)'s POV

Ever since Langa and I got here, I've been skating on the track to practice my speed and turns. But while doing so, I was thinking about the time Reki ignored me because I couldn't stop thinking about it ever since I saw him.

I wanted to know what was on his mind. I didn't like seeing him like that. In fact, I don't like seeing any of my friends looking really sad. If there was a way for me to find out what was bothering him, I could probably help him out.

As I skate down the rocky road, my eyes are locked on the ground as a way to avoid any bumps or cracks, but also to know what's coming up ahead of me. Skaring on the turns isn't that hard. All I have to do is keep on going faster so that I could get used to this speed. I'm not intending to go that fast, just a good amount of speed would be fine.

I try to focus on what's around me, but my mind would wander somewhere else, which is something I can't do right now. I shake my head in hopes that those thoughts of my redheaded friend would go away. 'Snap out of it, (Y/n). Don't think about Reki right now. You can figure things out with him when you see him again...'

.

.

.

.

.

'I wonder what Reki's doing right now.'

Without even realizing it, my speed starts to pick up. I had no sight of what was going on around me. It's as if I'm so focused in my head that my mind is playing tricks on me. As my mind leaves, my body continues to respond to any obstacle.

'Reki's my friend. I should know the things that make him sad or upset so that I can help him overcome those things. But what am I doing right now? I'm skating at a secret, abandoned mine that is known to only a little of the public. I bet things would be a lot easier if I knew how to speak Japanese fluently. I wouldn't have to keep asking Langa or Cherry or Joe for help with translating. I'm still learning to understand the language and feel that I'm getting nowhere at this rate.'

I feel myself lean to the left as I turn in that same direction, but the drag of the wind felt kind of strong to my liking. It was almost as if I was going too fast.

'...Am I causing Reki to feel like this?'

I feel my hood fly off my head as I lean forward, getting goosebumps as the wind travels through my (2/f/c) jacket.

'If I'm doing something that's making Reki feel sad, then I want to change whatever it is I'm doing.'

I try gulping down my negativity, but it lingers back.

'If only my mom was here. She would help me figure something out.'

"Y/n."

'Huh? Who said that?'

"Heads up."

'It sounds muffled.'

"On your right."

'Why can't I see what's in front of me?'



"Y/N!!!"

The sudden yell snaps me out of my thoughts, startling me in the process. Because of this, I jerk back and lose balance as I feel gravity start to bring me down toward the ground. But the impact never came as I feel a hand grab firmly on my arm and pull me forward, which helps me to regain my balance on my board along with my focus.

I look to the side to see who it was who saved me from falling and possibly getting a bad injury, and I see Joe looking down at me with a concerned look on his face. I let out a sigh of relief, only realizing how fast I was skating and that my speed started to slow down.

"Oh, hey Joe," I greeted as I try to hide my sadness as best as I could from him. He seemed to have noticed something wrong with me because he asked me a question afterward.

"Yo, kid. You doin' okay?" He asks me.

I didn't want to lie to him, but yet I didn't want to tell him what was wrong. Not now, at least. Just thinking about what made me feel this way brought back the negative thoughts again. A small frown appears on my face, so I turn to look away from Joe so that he doesn't see my expression.

Not wanting to give him the cold shoulder, I just nod in response to his question.

I didn't know if Joe was still looking at me with that concerned look of his, but I could tell that he wanted to ask again just to make sure. His hand still grasps my arm as a way to help slow me down on my skateboard, which I appreciate him doing, but the way he tightened his grip a little made it feel that he was still worried about me.

But before anything else could be said, I heard a strange noise coming from above us, and I bet Joe heard it too because he looks up in the direction ahead of him. My curiosity gets the best of me, which causes me to mimic his action.

When I look up into the sky, I see a helicopter hovering over the central area of "S" with a spotlight shining down on everyone. My mind immediately thought of Adam when I first saw it because of the red and black color design it has. And speaking of the devil, that said person jumps out of the hovering helicopter and is falling towards the ground filled with a crowd of people. At first, I thought he was going to land on his feet like that, but here I am watching as a parachute comes out from the backpack he had behind him, which slows his fall.

Once he was some feet above the ground, he takes off the parachute, skates down a large pipe, and then lands safely on his skateboard. If I was being honest, that was a cool entrance he just made.

I feel Joe lightly pull my arm along with him and lead me toward the crowd. We stop at a good distance so that we weren't in the crowd, but we were able to see Adam surrounded by people. I pick up my skateboard with my left hand as my right arm shifts a bit so that I was holding Joe's hand. In the corner of my eye, I see Cherry skate and stop on the other side of me so that I was now standing in between the two adults.

Adam started talking about something that I couldn't quite understand in Japanese. The only things that I could get out of his speech were being good to see him, him having exciting news, something about a top... and a tournament?

"A tournament?" I mumble to myself in a questioning way.

I didn't know if I was hearing this right, but it sure got the people excited. Next to me, I heard Joe and Cherry mumble something to themselves, but I wasn't able to make out what they said.

Putting all of my attention back on Adam, he continued to talk about signing up and competing in the tournament, which almost made me question how I would sign up until I saw everyone looking at their phones. I got curious and decided to pull my phone out of my jacket pocket. After putting my skateboard down, I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone with my hand that is not holding Joe's and looked at the screen. I got a notification and saw many chibi Adams posing with a heart in the center that had some writing in it on my screen. The words were translated for me, so I was able to read out the phrases, "I'm waiting for you."

As I process everything in my head, I look back at Adam to see him looking in my direction. Once I made eye contact with his dark eyes that are hidden by his mask, a smirk spreads across his face, which causes me to flinch a bit. I mean, who knows if he's looking at me? He could be looking at Cherry or Joe. But still, it gave me chills.

"Don't be scared, darlings," I heard his voice say in English, which made it ten times more creepy knowing that he was talking to me. "Daddy knows you can handle it~"

Out of instinct, I put my phone back in my pocket and reach out to my left. I feel Cherry's hand and grab onto it, hoping that holding it would calm me down. By the way Cherry's hand flinched, it made it obvious to me that he was not expecting me to do that. But as a response, he squeezes my hand in a comforting manner.

The way he introduced the whole tournament was intimidating and scary in a way, but some part of me is telling me to be excited about it. If everyone I see is happy about it, then why aren't I?

'Should I sign up or stay on the sidelines?'