3rd POV

After the win (Y/n) made with Shadow, the two of them arrive back at the main area where a lot more people are gathered together. Adam is standing on the stage next to the box on the stand. He seemed to be overjoyed that (Y/n) had won the beef.

"What a wonderful performance made by Phoenix. And poor Shadow," Adam says as he looks down at the box in front of him. "Onto the next beef!" he then declares as he reaches a hand inside the cubic container. As soon as his hand feels a card, he picks it out of the box with his index and middle fingers holding the flat surface. "Who shall be the happy couple?~"

(Y/n) got more curious as she waited for Adam to say the name. She tried to see the projector from where she was standing, but considering that she was a short kid, she had to peek in the gaps between the people standing beside one another.

Upon reading the name on the ace-diamond card, Adam once again becomes overjoyed about who will be the one competing in the next race. He lets out a gasp as he reveals whose name is on the card to the audience while placing a hand over his mask in a dramatic gesture. "Oh! Snow!"

And there it was. (Y/n) reads the cursive writing on the card and was sure enough that Langa will be the next contestant up. She looks over at him, smiling in his direction as his ficus never leaves Adam. Looking back at the Matador of Love, she sees his hand hovering over the box, seeming a little too excited to see who Langa will be competing against.

"My heart is pounding with envy! Which of you lucky contestants get to skate behind that act?" he says as he reaches his hand into the box, placing his hand over his heart to feel it beating, getting an adrenaline of excitement at the moment. "Oh, pick me. Oh, my God, I hope it's me!"

After grabbing the card in the pile, he pulls it out of the box and reads the name on the card. "And the lucky opponent is..." Adam took a quick second to reread what the card said, only for him to shrug his shoulders as the projector shows the card in his hand. "Whatever," he says with boredom.

Out of curiosity, (Y/n) looks at the projector on the rocky wall, having to look between two random skaters, and sees the three-diamond card has the name... Joe.

She lets out a sigh of relief, knowing that her snowboarding friend won't become the prey to that predator. Not yet, at least.

Joe and Langa go to the starting line as many people on the sidelines are cheering them on. Langa, though, seems to be deep in thought. Throughout the first few minutes, Langa didn't seem to be focusing on the race that much. Even when the race started, he looked as if he was ignoring everything that was around him. The wind blew against his face, causing his short sky-blue hair to fly everywhere, which didn't bother him at all. Joe had the upper hand and gained more and more speed, even pulling a few incredible tricks to make the sharp turns and to go even faster. There was only one question on the snowboarder's mind...

'Where's Reki?'

Back with (Y/n), the poor child was trying her best to look up at the projector that was showing the current race. The crowd seems to be really into the race, which most likely meant that the beef was intense. She even heard a few words being spoken by Shadow and Miya, sounding amazed about how Joe was skating.

(Y/n) would probably have the same reaction as them if she was able to see over the crowd of people!

The girl lets out a puff of air as a tick mark appears on the side of her head. Now she's left with her own thoughts as she stands there. 'Oh, man! I can't see the race from here. And I don't feel like going to the abandoned factory now because I'm going to miss it. Maybe climbing up a tree would help me see the projector better. But what kind of trees are tall here? There aren't any oak trees growing anywhere near here. What other trees are tall? I don't see any cherry trees growing here either.' At the mention of cherry, (Y/n)'s eyes brighten as she turns her head to the one famous AI skater who was watching the race with an expressionless look on his face.

And just like that, it was as if a lightbulb turned on above the girl's head. 'That could work.'

Without a second to lose, (Y/n) walks over to Cherry with a curious look on her face. She grabs onto a part of his kimono and tugs on it as a way to get the male's attention. After feeling the tug, Cherry looks down at the girl. She looked so innocent and curious that it made him wonder what was on her mind.

"What is it?" he asks her in English, sounding patient as he wants to know what she would say in response to his question.

But without saying a word, she just lifts her arms out toward him, obviously asking if he could pick her up. Cherry was surprised by that request but quickly understood her situation and why she would ask for such a favor. The pink-haired male bends down and wraps his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground and holding her in his arms. Now he faces her in the direction so that both she and himself could see the projector that's projecting the race.

No one could see it because of his mask over his mouth, but a small smile started to stretch now that he was holding her up. Joe was right... He did have a soft spot for (Y/n). And now here he was watching his childhood friend race against Snow, the well-known snowboarder in "S," with the child he felt like he had a connection with.

(Y/n) looks back up at the race and sees Langa already catching up with Joe. He was going way faster than before and it made the girl wonder what convinced him to go faster. They had just made it to the abandoned factory with the six-pack skater still in the lead. He made his own route when entering the building while Langa took the easier route, which was on the catwalk. Langa looks down at Joe and sees him skating toward a steel beam that was hanging from a rope that was attached to a hook.

(Y/n) saw what was coming, but was confused about what he was planning on doing. There was no other way to get past it unless he pulls an ollie. 'He might pull an ollie at the last minute,' the child predicts in her head, but she was not expecting to see what he actually did.

Joe uses all of his strength to kick his skateboard up and have the front wheels ram into the steel beam, giving it the most amount of potential energy as it swings to its highest point. This makes a passageway for Joe to safely continue skating forward, dodging the incoming beam as it swings back down.

The (h/c)-haired girl's eyes go wide after watching that. She never thought doing something like that was possible. The crowd around her and in the factory cheer loudly after the tricky move as Joe starts to get closer to the finish line. she looks back at her snowboarder friend and waits to see what he does to try and get first place. He's got to have something in mind, right?

Before she could ask that out loud though, she looks with astonishment as she watches Langa jump over the bars of the catwalk with his skateboard and land on the same trail Joe took that was leading straight towards the swinging beam.

"He's heading right towards the beams," Miya points out as he watches with the same facial expression as (Y/n)'s.

"Does he know what he's doing?" Shadow then asks as his eyes never leave Langa's skating figure.

"I seriously doubt he's got the leg strength for this," Cherry comments as he continues to hold (Y/n) in his arms. He was so focused on what was happening on the projector that he didn't see the girl's determined look on her face.

She knew Langa did that for a reason and knowing that he is always full of surprises, she was pretty sure that whatever he'll do will be just as good as Joe's trick.

Surprisingly, Langa was able to dodge the steal beam swinging towards him at its high speed by pulling an ollie and jumping over it with ease, for him at least. He lands safely, but the beam is swinging back toward him. This catches everyone off guard, but he manages to ollie his board up once again, having the wheels to be pressed against the side of the piece of metal as it gives him a slight push forward. He rides on it until it reaches its climax, launching him and causing him to soar through the air. He was able to catch up with Joe as he lands on his skateboard in front of him, catching the green-haired male off guard for a quick second.

The group was surprised to see Langa pull that off while (Y/n) had a proud look on her face. "Did he just rip off Joe's power move?" Miya asks, his voice full of shock and dismay at his comeback.

Cherry could see Joe trying to keep up with Langa as his speed increased only slightly. His heart was feeling a pang of concern as he continued to watch, his arms around the child he was holding tightening a bit from worry. "Kojiro," he mumbles to himself.

.

.

.

It was a close result, but Lang ended up winning the race. The teenager tumbles to the ground after his skateboard snaps in two, causing him to flinch from the skidding halt.

The cheers from the crowd get louder, their cries of joy filling up the entire factory and main area of "S." And in the crowd, (Y/n) yells out triumphantly for her friend's win. "Yeah, Langa!" she yells out those words in Japanese. She got the chills just by watching the boy and that hyped her up even more.

In the end, Langa had to get his board fixed after it broke, and the only person who could fix it is Reki. With all of the hope he still had inside him, he runs off with the two broken pieces in his arms. It made (Y/n) wonder why Langa looked so anxious when he ran off. He looked as if he was looking for someone, which made the girl wonder what was on his mind.

After everything calmed down, Adam claps his palms together to get everyone's attention as he's now back on stage. "Congratulations, Snow! You really do go above and beyond to exceed my expectations! We're all so lucky to have you!" he declares as he sounds so overjoyed for Langa's win in that beef. But now that that race was over, it was time for the next one.

Adam reaches his hand into the box that was in front, speaking as he pulls out a card. "All right, darlings, why don't we see about the next beef?" After reading whose name was on it, his smile remains on his face as he reveals an ace-heart card with his own name written cursively on it. "Oh, my~."

(Y/n)'s eyes go wide as she sees the card on the projector and starts to grow worried. Whoever goes against him will have a hard time trying to beat him. Will he end up winning or will his opponent find the potential to actually beat him?

Adam thinks for a moment before throwing his card to the side as he looks down at the black box that is practically giving off a strong aura as it contains the remaining qualifying names that still have yet to skate. "The only way I'll agree to the race is if I'm guaranteed a good time," he says as he reaches his hand into the box ad quickly takes out the first card he feels. He seemed excited at first, but upon seeing the name on the card, his smirk faltered.

On the five-diamond card was the name... Cherry.

Joe sees the name of his childhood friend and his worry intensifies as he looks at the screen from where he was. He didn't know what else to feel. The AI skater was going up against the Matador of Love.

"Kaoru."

Cherry takes everything into consideration for the moment as he places (Y/n) back down to the ground. He knew that this would be his time to shine, and maybe even win against Adam if he tries hard enough.

'I do hate to disappoint. But here we are. I'll be the one going against Adam!'

(Y/n)'s POV

I was running towards the starting line with my skateboard head close to me in my arms. I don't know why, but I felt as if I needed to see Cherry before he raced against Adam. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance, signifying that the beef was about to start. I had to hurry. I have to satisfy my urge of seeing Cherry first.

After a few more seconds of running, I see Cherry standing beside Adam in front of the starting line. The race didn't start, good thing. It looked like Cherry and Adam were talking to each other, but I didn't know what they were talking about. It didn't matter, any.

Just as I got out of the crowd, I heard a familiar voice call out, "Cherry!"

I look to the side and see Joe running towards Cherry, almost out of breath. It looked like he ran all the way from the finish line just to get here. Cherry remained silent as he waited for Joe to say something, but he never said anything. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just didn't know what to say.

I was just standing there, but neither of them seemed to notice my presence. So without saying anything yet, I put my skateboard down and run to Cherry. I wrap my arms around his waist in a tight hug. He felt tense, probably surprised by my sudden appearance, but I didn't let that stop me from speaking to him.

"Please... Be careful," I say the first word in Japanese, but then whisper the last two words to him in English. Cherry seemed to have eased off a bit as I felt his hand rest on top of my (2/f/c) hooded head. I look up at him and saw his reassuring eyes looking down at me.

"I will," He whispers back to me in a kind and soft voice. I smile up at him as I let go of the hug and stand beside Joe picking up my skateboard before doing so. The two adults share a few Japanese words with one another before Adam started to get impatient.

But before Joe could leave, I heard Cherry whisper something to him, almost along the lines of, "Watch over her." Joe nods his head as he takes my hand and takes me with him towards the main area of "S." Right as we got back with Shadow and Miya, the race had already started and the two pro skaters were already neck and neck with each other.

"So fast!" I hear Miya says as I stand in a spot where I'm able to see the projector projecting the whole race.

I watch both Adam and Cherry gain more speed after each turn they take on the track. There came to a point where they were at a straightaway and Adam looked to be gaining more speed. I know there was a turn coming up a few feet away from them, but was he planning on doing something now? Especially this early in the race?

I didn't ask questions out loud. I just continue to watch, hoping to get my answer soon enough. And as if God has heard my prayers, I see Adam lift up the nose of the board and pull a 180-degree turn, then slamming the board back down to gain more speed. The Love Hug. 'Scratch that. I wish God didn't hear my prayers so that Adam wouldn't have done that. Is that how that works?'

Adam had his arms out as the gap between him and Cherry started to get smaller. But what got me looking surprised is that Cherry closed his eyes. I felt my heart rate get faster as I worry for his safety.

"He closed his eyes!" I understood what Miya said as he shares the same shocked expression as me. Shadow was just as confused as the both of us as his eyes never leave the race. Joe was the only one who didn't look shocked or confused. He knew something that I didn't.

Jow speaks to us, saying something that has to do with... Closing his eyes to be blinded by the illusion? No. I think he said that Cherry closed his eyes so that he wouldn't be blindsided by the illusion of the Love Hug. But it still worries me because the corner was coming close and Cherry can't see what he's doing.

But right as the corner came up and the distance between the two skaters became only millimeters, Cherry leans back with his gloved hand scraping the rocky floor and he dodges the Love Hug. He goes into the turn now that he was in a good angle and now he's in the lead.

"Whoa! He dodged the Love Hug," I say to myself as my eyes remain focused on the race being projected. The others beside me talk amongst each other, more than likely talking about how Cherry was able to get past Adam.

But now that I look at it, I see the way Adam's facial expression is. He looked as if he was expecting Cherry to dodge his trick. It also looked like he hardly even tried to knock down the AI skater. 'Is Adam up to something?'

After a few turns along the track, Adam was able to catch up with Cherry. But Cherry seemed like he wanted to play a little dirty and nudged his skateboard against Adam's. The two skaters looked as if they were conversing about something, but whatever it was about seemed serious. Does it have to do with something that happened in the past? I never really got the chance to know what happened between those two and I never asked about it.

Adam seemed to have slowed down a bit and was behind Cherry. Miya and Shadow seemed happy about that and cheered for their friend, but I could see the worry in Joe's eyes. It was almost as if he was watching an ordeal event of the race. I couldn't help but feel the same way.

Sooner or later, the two skaters were almost at the abandoned factory. A sense of relief fills up my entire body as I let out a sigh. It shouldn't be that hard from here on out. 'You can do it, Cherry! I believe in you!' I thought, almost feeling as if I could say that telepathically to him from the race.

But right as I got my hopes up, I see Adam gain more speed and was now in front of Cherry. He was leaning slightly ahead to create less of a drag against the wind. I felt my breath hitch as I saw that. 'Oh, no. Is he going to pull another move right before they enter the factory?'

All of a sudden, Adam started dancing on his skateboard, which seemed to have hyped many of the people in the crowd around me. I felt my heart rate quickening with adrenaline as I watch the scene unfold. My worries for Cherry increased after each upcoming second.

"Cherry..." I mumble under my breath.

At that moment, I see Adam's legwork subside as his foot steps down on the tail of his board, causing it to flip as he jumps off and runs in the direction Cherry is skating with his board strongly in his grasp. I was shocked and taken aback by that action as I wonder what he was going to do... until it happened...

"Wait, what is he...?"

BAM!!!

My eyes widen at the sight of Adam's skateboard making contact with Cherry's masked face. I can't believe it! The Matador of Love just struck the AI skater with his devil-looking board! I inhale a gasp as I take a step back. Everyone around me practically did the same thing as they saw what happened.

Without even realizing what I'm doing, I yell out, "Cherry!!!" I grab onto my skateboard as I try to run toward the starting line of the track, but Joe's hand grabs onto my gloved hand to prevent me from going any further.

"(Y/n), don't! It's dangerous!" Joe tells me, but I don't listen. I slip my hand out of my glove so that now I'm free from his grasp. I hear Joe call out my name as I ran towards the starting line, running past people while doing so. Once there, I hop on my skateboard and ride down the track as fast as I could. I needed to make sure Cherry was okay.

I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest and it started to hurt as it was mixed with the feeling of adrenaline. My throat was aching as I felt tears welling up in my eyes which were then carried off by the wind that blew against my face. I could hardly breathe as I haven't realized that I was holding my breath the entire time.

"Ch-Cherry..."



A/n: Thank you all for waiting this long for me to publish at least something today. I really need to fix my sleeping schedule, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Just a heads up for everyone... I won't be publishing anything for the first few days of July because on Fourth of July weekend-- which is this upcoming weekend-- I'll be going to Anime Expo! I'm so excited about that! I'll be going there for three days with my sister. On Sunday, my sister and I will be cosplaying Reki and Langa, while on Saturday and Monday, I'll be cosplaying Levi Ackerman.

I still need to get some of our stuff ready for those days, but I can't wait! Thanks again for reading this chapter and I hope to see you in the next one!