(Y/n)'s POV

Morning finally came after the night I raced against Shadow. I am currently laying flat on my back on one of the benches inside the Drive-In I always stay at as my hands find themselves on my head, slightly brushing through my (h/c) hair as I process everything that happened last night.

"Did I really just race against Shadow...? Or was it just a dream?" I ask myself with my eyes closed shut. After a few more seconds, I open my eyes and look down at my skateboard that was underneath the old table.

Letting out a sigh, I grab it and then get up from the bench. I take off my sweater and skirt, leaving only my (1/f/c) shirt and leggings on. I walk over to the door and open it, making sure to close it on my way out of the Drive-In.

I place my skateboard on the ground and hop on it, using my foot to push myself along the sidewalk. As I skate a few blocks down the Drive-In, I think about whether or not I should go to "S" tonight. After everything that happened last night, I don't know if I'll encounter Shadow again. Who knows what he would do when he sees me?

I shake that thought aside and focus on what I'm doing right now. 'I should go look for Reki and Langa. If anything, they should be at the skatepark. Langa did say that Reki was teaching him how to skate, so maybe I can help him with that.'

With that in mind, I skate off to the skate park, hoping that the two teenagers are there.

3rd POV

After a few more minutes, (Y/n) made it to the skatepark. Once her eyes scanned the area, she saw that it was as empty as a ghost town. There was no one using the park or anything. This shocks the girl and makes her wonder why her two friends weren't there.

"Hmm. Where are they? I figured they would be here practicing. Are they practicing somewhere else?" She asks herself.

The nine-year-old stops to think about this. Where would Reki and Langa be at this hour? It's only the morning and--

Realization finally hit the girl, like getting hit in the face with a skateboard. Of course, no one's going to be out in the morning! "Ugh! That's right! School still exists!" She says, mainly to herself, as her hand grips a few strands of her (h/c) hair. She looks up and lets out a sigh as she wonders. "I wish there was another way to get smarter. I want to know what people are saying here."

With really nothing else to do, she decides to stay at the skatepark for a while now that she was there. (Y/n) won't waste this time. She likes practicing, especially when it comes to skateboarding.

~~~~~~~~~~

As the hours flew by, things started to get busier. At a restaurant called Sia La Luce, a calligrapher, along with his boss, is sitting at a table waiting for their food to arrive. Their conversations were mostly about their business and nothing more.

"I believe we made the right decision in requesting you for the job. Our female clients were thrilled to have you," Tamashiro tells Kaoru Sakurayashiki, the calligrapher.

"I'm honored I could be of service to you," Kaoru tells his boss.

A plate of spaghetti was then placed in front of Mr. Tamashiro, catching the two men's attention. Standing there was a tall, muscular man with dark green wavy hair. You could tell he was the chef of the restaurant because of the white chef top and red apron he was wearing.

"Always good to see you, Mr. Tamashiro," Kojiro Nanjo told the businessman as he holds another plate of spaghetti, which is most likely for Kaoru.

"Joe!" Tamashiro greets Kojiro, making it obvious that he knows the guy. "I want you to meet a valuable client of mine. He's a master calligraphe--" Tamashiro didn't get the chance to finish his sentence because he heard his phone ringing, catching the other two men's attention. He takes his phone out and stands up. "Uh, excuse me." After that, he walks to the side so that he can talk to the person calling him.

While he's doing that, he's hoping that Kaoru and Kojiro can talk and get to know each other. But, oblivious to him, the two already know each other. Kojiro leans in and mumbles to Kaoru. "You saw her, too, then? The kid who slaughtered Shadow that night."

"I'm working right now, you dimwit," Kaoru tells his childhood friend.

"So am I, douche. And it's my restaurant. I can talk to you whenever I want," Kojiro says as he eats a tomato from the plate of spaghetti he was still holding. Kaoru gets annoyed by this as he sends a glare to the green-haired man.

"Then perhaps you should post that policy outside, you dopey gorilla!" Kaoru says as he snatches the plate of spaghetti from Kojiro's grasp. This causes the said man to glare back at the pink-haired calligrapher.

"Says the four-eyed food snatcher?" Kojiro says, making Kaoru face him with an annoyed look. "I ordered it!" The calligrapher said.

"You're getting this!" Kojiro says as he tries to kick Kaoru's ankle, only for him to lift his foot and slam it down on the chef's foot. They get annoyed with each other and start fighting, trying to step on each other's feet while calling each other names.

"You oafish clumsy cow!"

"Pumpkin-spiced turdlet!"

Kaoru's boss hears the mumbling while on the phone and turns around out of curiosity, only to see the two men acting as if they were never fighting in the first place. Sometimes this makes people wonder if they really are friends or if they hate each other's guts.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's already the next day, almost around the time school ends. (Y/n) didn't go to "S" the night before because she was still worried about Shadow. But tonight she was definitely going because she had already promised herself she would.

(Y/n) is skating around the sidewalk while holding a sandwich that she more than likely found in a trashcan near the abandoned Drive-In. She is currently heading to the skatepark. She remembered that Reki and Langa weren't there the day before in the morning, so she was smart enough to leave the Drive-In in the afternoon.

As she finished up her food, she looks to the side and sees the skatepark. What also caught her attention were two familiar teens practicing there. The sky-blue-haired boy was on the skateboard while the redhead was sitting on one of the halfpipes. It was Reki and Langa!

Seeing the two figures caused her eyes to shoot open wide. She runs toward the two after picking up her skateboard from the ground. "Reki! Langa!" She yells, catching the two boys' attention.

Their faces brighten up at the sight of the nine-year-old. "Hey, (Y/n). How's it going?" Langa asks the girl with a smile as he gets off of his skateboard.

"It's going well! I just wanted to see what you guys were up to today," (Y/n) says as she places her board down, spreads her arms out, and runs around Langa as if she was a bird of some sort with a cute smile on her face. Langa chuckles at her behavior as she stops in front of him. "I came here yesterday, but didn't see you guys."

"Hmm. We still must have been in school," Langa stated, deep in thought. A thought then came into his head as he looks back down at the girl. "Did you skip school just to see us?"

Realizing her mistake, her eyes widen as she thinks of an excuse. She didn't feel ready to tell the boys that she lives in an abandoned Drive-In and doesn't have any parents. Well... Parent. "Uh... Not really. I'm homeschooled, so I just kinda take breaks between lectures," (Y/n) says as she scratches the back of her neck while giving Langa an innocent smile.

"Hey!" Reki yells from where he was sitting, getting the two kids' attention. "What are you two talking about? Remember, I can't understand what you guys are saying in that language."

"Oh, right. (Y/n) was just telling me that she's homeschooled and took a break to visit us yesterday, but we were still in school," Langa tells his redheaded friend. Reki places a finger to his chin while thinking out loud.

"So, she's homeschooled, huh?" Reki says to himself, making (Y/n) wonder what he was saying. Reki only shrugged as he closed his eyes. "I guess that makes sense since she just moved here and doesn't understand Japanese."

If (Y/n) knew what Reki said, she would have let out a sigh of relief. But because she doesn't, she only hopes that the two of them fell for her lie.

Now (Y/n) goes to where Reki is sitting with her skateboard in hand. She sits on the concrete floor next to the halfpipe Reki is sitting on as she watches Langa try to maneuver his skateboard in a specific pattern. As she's watching, Reki gives out instructions to him, ones that the girl does not understand.

"It's all about tempo!" The redhead tells his friend as he starts to move his skateboard side to side while keeping the nose of the board above the ground. "Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock."

After a few more ticks, Langa falls off the board and lands on his back, making (Y/n) flinch at the sudden impact he made on the floor. Reki sits up straighter as he looks back at how Langa's posture looked when he was on the skateboard.

"Your front foot's the one that always comes off, bro," Reki states as Langa sits up.

"I'll try it again," The sky-blue-haired teen says as he stands up completely and sets his foot back on the board. He seems hesitant to get back on and Reki noticed that. "Footwork bugging you or what?" Reki asks him.

"Feels scary that my feet aren't attached," Langa states, causing Reki to tilt his head to the side as he thinks to himself.

"I'd be more scared if they were attached and I had no control," The redhead says. Remembering what had happened the first time Langa duct-taped his feet to the board by the street-- where he almost got badly injured by the truck-- he looks back at the boy, already knowing what he wanted to do. "No duct tape again! You almost died, remember?" He tells Langa as he slides down the halfpipe. (Y/n) had stars in her eyes after seeing how he slid down. She suddenly had the urge to try that out, so she started to struggle to climb up the ramp.

As she's doing that, Reki walks over to Langa. But as he does, a ringing noise came from the snowboarder's phone. He pulls the device from his pocket and looks at his screen. Reki looked concerned after Langa let out a sigh of defeat and looked as if he lost to a game.

"What's wrong?" Reki asks him.

"No work," Langa answers back.

"Is that a job you applied for? Probably your interview. Man, you gotta prepare!"

"That's not it!"

"Oh, come on. I bet it's not that you're saying the wrong things. It's that you don't say enough..." Reki says to Langa as he grabs his friend's cheeks and starts to pull, forcing the said boy to make a funny yet emotionless face. While doing that, you could see (Y/n) in the background sliding down the halfpipe while saying, "Wee!" each time she goes down, climbing back up, and then repeating the process. "...and you never smile!" Reki adds.

"I didn't even get to interview," Langa says, his cheeks still spread apart. Reki gets confused by his answer.

"So it's your resume? All right then, show me how you're filling those out," Reki tells him. Langa pulls out the paper and shows Reki. The redhead was expecting to see at least a lot done, but there was barely anything on it. "Oh, jeez."

"Yeah, I don't know how to read or write all that well," Langa says with a deadpan look.

"Do you want me to fill it in for you?" Reki asks Langa.

"No way. What if part of the job is having to, like, write things down?" Langa says as he stands back. Reki does the same as he thinks of a solution. The only thing you could hear is (Y/n)'s little voice repeating the words, "Wee!" every few seconds.

"Then plan C."

The next thing you know, Reki and Langa are standing in front of Oka, the manager of the skateboard shop, with their heads bowing down to him. "We're begging you!" The two teens say as Oka is standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. They just finished explaining the situation Langa is having to the manager and are hoping that he could hire the sky-blue-haired boy. While they were doing that, (Y/n) was looking around the shop that was suddenly new to her, oblivious to see that a certain fennec fox had little interest in her and started to follow her wherever she went.

"That's why I should hire him?" Oka asks the boys in front of his desk with their heads still hanging.

"There has to be something! Please?" Reki begs as Langa raises his head to look at the manager, only for the redhead to force his head back down with his hand. "Pretty please?" Langa then bags as Oka sweatdrops.

The brown-haired manager didn't find this amusing but let out a sigh anyway, knowing that he probably won't stop hearing their complaints if he declined. "Okay, fine. I'll talk to the owner," He says, causing both teens to gasp as they look up at him with the look of hope in their eyes. "That just means I'm seeing what's open, that doesn't mean you're hired."

"I'll take it," Reki says with a smile as he grabs onto Oka's work coat from his side of the desk while on his knees. "Me too," Langa then says as he follows the same action Reki does. Oka lets out a groan, already regretting what he did.

Looking over the teens' shoulders, he notices the nine-year-old girl crouched down while looking at some skateboard equipment-- along with the little fennec fox sitting down beside her, observing the girl's looks. He's never seen her before and never really asked who she was when the three of them entered the shop.

"Hey, you guys never told me who that kid was. Has she always been hanging out with you or did you guys just recently meet her?" Oka asks Reki and Langa, causing the two of them to turn and look at (Y/n).

Reki smiles as he looks back at his manager. "We just met her a few days ago. She had moved here to Okinawa and pretty much likes to hang around with us. You won't believe this, but she raced against Shadow that night I delivered that skateboard to the client." After hearing what the redhead said, the manager's eyes widen as he looks at the girl, then at Reki, then back at the girl, and back at Reki.

"Wait, so this is the so-called Phoenix everyone has been talking about?" He asks out loud, saying the nickname in English, causing Reki to tilt his head to the side in confusion.

"Phoenix?" He questions out loud. His friend notices him struggling to know what that English word meant, so he translated it for him.

"It's what you called (Y/n) that night, but in English," The sky-blue-haired boy said, causing Reki to let out an "Oh," in an understanding manner.

"I don't know if you saw it on the internet, but that's what people are calling her by. Man, she must have skills to know how to skate at such a young age," Oka says as he looks at (Y/n). By that time, the girl had noticed the little fennec fox sniffing her. She smiles down at the little creature and starts to pet him, causing the said creature to let out a little purr noise, liking the attention she is giving him.

"Yeah. But what sucks for her is that since she came from America, she only understands how to speak English. So she would have to ask Langa to help translate what is being said around her, and I'll have to ask for his help to translate what she is saying," Reki explains.

Oka tilts his head to the side as he lifts an eyebrow. "Do her parents speak Japanese?" He asks the boys, to which they shrug.

"We don't know. We've never met her parents. We hardly ever see them around with her," Langa says. The manager lets out a sigh as he closes his eyes.

"Well, she needs to be careful. I've heard that people nowadays will send kids who only speak English back to America if they are seen without their parents for a while," Oka states, causing Reki to look at him with a bewildered look.

"Wow. That's cruel," The redhead says as he then looks back at (Y/n), who is quietly playing with the little fennec fox. "I hope that doesn't happen to her. We like hanging out with the kid. But it makes me wonder if she misses her old home."

The boys stare at the girl, almost wishing they could read her mind and know what she's thinking about. Langa then speaks to break the silence.

"It makes me wonder the same thing. But there are times when she looks determined. Almost as if she lost something and will not stop until she finds what she's looking for. I just wish I knew what it is... or who."

(Y/n)'s POV

Nightfall has finally come and I'm already at "S." I still have a feeling that people will be looking for me after the race I did against Shadow, so, to keep a low profile, I decided to sneak my way past the crowd and stay near the huge rocks.

I've been laying flat on my stomach on this rock for a while now, looking down at the crowd. Throughout the time, I would catch a glimpse of Shadow. He looked as if he was ready to murder a certain someone who beat him against a "beef."

With my chin resting on my arms crossed over each other, I try to see if I could find a clue... any clue. Knowing that my dad is a skateboarder shouldn't be the only clue I've got. There have to be more clues, there's just gotta be. So maybe if I just lay here and observe the crowd from a bird's eye view, then I might be able to catch a glimpse of something... right?

'I can't give up. I won't stop until I find you, Dad. Come on, just give me a sign.' Looking up at the night sky, I could see how beautiful it is outside. I always liked looking at the stars. They always keep me at ease. Letting out a sigh, I close my eyes, feeling calm. 'I'll do this for you, Mom.'

From a distance, I could hear a familiar voice yelling loudly. Looking down, I was able to see Shadow talking to a guy with a boombox, trying to make sure his voice was heard over the loud music playing on the radio. I felt as if a sweatdrop formed on the side of my head as I watched the clown skater with a deadpan look.

"I just pray to God that he isn't my dad," I mumble to myself.

All of a sudden, the sound of cheering could be heard. This could only mean two things, 1) someone's going to "beef" against someone, or 2) some famous skateboarder is showing up at this current moment. Turning my head to where the people are looking, my line of vision ends up on the skate track, where I see two skaters casually skating alongside each other.

One of them had dark green hair and was very muscular. That had to be Joe. Just like Cherry, I always hear that name being said as clearly as day by the people around me in "S." Speaking of Cherry, that's the other skater that is skating alongside Joe. I saw him that night before my "beef" against Shadow, there's no way I would forget a skater with pink hair like him.

All of the girls seem to be so fond of the skaters on the track because I can hear them fangirling and yelling things in Japanese. 'Man, if only I knew what they were saying.'

3rd POV

As the two founder skaters were skating, Cherry was able to see a turn on the track up ahead. Wanting the help that he needs, he speaks to his board, Carla. "Carla, calculate angle," He tells her, to which the board responds back to him. "Copy, Master."

Carla does a quick scan of the track before she speaks once again. "One hundred sixty-two degrees." With that in mind, Cherry is now able to turn at the exact moment the corner came up with ease. Using his gloves to scrape against the ground to properly turn, Joe finds his way to skate beside his childhood friend.

"Huh! What a wuss! You're skating 'according to your calculations?" He asks as he skates towards a huge rock. He skates over the rock to launch his board up, then uses his hand to grab onto the solid object and maneuver himself back on track. When landing, he lets out a sigh as he looks back at the pink-haired skater guy. "Good luck. If there's no risk, there's no fun."

There must have been a rock on the track because now Joe finds himself stumbling after his wheels ran over something. Cherry didn't seem amused as he passes the green-haired skater, who caught his balance after almost falling off his board. "Idiot," The pink-haired skater mumbles.

"You're brave, Pinky," Joe says as he catches up with Cherry.

"Carla, please educate the imbecile," Cherry tells his board as the two are skating neck-to-neck with each other, to which she responds. "Joe the imbecile cornered at 65 percent. This is highly inefficient."

"Dude, you're talking to a machine?" Joe questions, causing his friend to look at him with an offended look. "She's Carla. Have some respect!" "Carla? Figures you'd give your board a girl's name since you can't get a real one!" This struck a nerve in Cherry as he is now shoving Joe to the side, letting his anger get the best of him.

From the rocks, (Y/n) watches the two shove each other as they skate. She had already climbed down from the rock she was previously laying on and was ready to call it a night. As much as she didn't want to leave, she didn't want to risk being seen by anyone, knowing very much that this will catch a certain clown's attention. So, to risk that, she stays close to the rock she is hiding behind, thinking of a way to sneak out of "S."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oblivious to the nine-year-old, someone had already seen her as he watches through the cameras on his phone from his office. A devilish smirk forms on his face as he watches (Y/n) hide behind the rocks.

"No need to be shy, little birdie. I know how much you love to skate~"