Ranko held both her arms up in front of her, her palms facing forward and elbows bent, her hips and knees sliding her left and right on the red vinyl mat in time with the music blaring from every direction at once. Just behind her on her left and right, Shiori and Tamiko bounced on their ankles, waving upward to coax the three thousand or so people on the home bleachers to their feet.

“Woo-hooo!” came a cry from the speakers, and as it did, Tanda and Yori both peeled off from behind Shiori and Tamiko and launched into double handsprings down the middle of the V formation the Yusue cheerleaders made with Ranko at its point closest to the crowd.

Etsuko and Kou paired at the middle of the formation, catapulting Ayame into the air for a double layout as the music commanded the crowd. “Celebrate good times, come on!”

Ranko turned to her right, facing Shiori, and she and the captain danced in place, letting their hips do most of the work. As they did, Tamiko remained on her left alone, and the remaining cheerleaders in the V formation went, one by one, across the formation performing handsprings as they traded sides, dancing in place when it wasn’t their turn to move.

“There’s a party goin’ on right here! A dedication to last throughout the years! So bring your good times, and your laughter too! We’re gonna celebrate and party with you! C’mon now!”

Ranko turned to face Tamiko, dancing with her as she had with the squad captain. At the back of the formation, Kou launched Mizuki into the air in synchronization with Aoi lifting Chinatsu, and both of the flyers danced for a moment in place on the shoulders of their bases before dismounting in single twists followed by a layout to the ground.

Yori and Aoi, the frontmost girls of the V formation behind Shiori and Tamiko, peeled into the middle of the formation and began approaching the back of the V in parallel back handsprings. As they did, Kou and Etsuko again launched Ayame, and Yori and Chinatsu flung Mizuki across the back of the formation, each of them performing a double tuck as they passed in the air to be caught by the opposite pair of bases from the ones that threw them, passing in the air over Yori and Aoi’s handsprings.

“Everyone, around the world, come on!”

Tamiko and Shiori threw themselves into chains of back handsprings, diagonally into the back of the V to cross in the middle of the formation. As they began, Ranko bent forward at the waist, touching her hands to the mat. Springing upward, she launched herself backward, completing two back handsprings of her own before firing herself high into the air, twisting thrice as Tamiko and Shiori passed under her.

“Celebrate good times, come on!”

All fourteen girls jumped up, throwing their arms into the air in synchronization as the music ended, and the Yusue home crowd on the bleachers erupted. The girls clumped together, hugging and bouncing on their ankles for a moment before clearing the mat to make way for the final wrestling match of the evening.

An enormous blonde boy in a black singlet emblazoned with a green cobra strode to the mat, and from the Yusue side, Saburo Kimura clamored out to meet him to the cheers of the Yusue crowd.

“Wooooo! Let’s go, Saburo!” Shiori and Tanda waved their pom-poms emphatically as Ranko looked away, rolling her eyes. With any luck, that kid’ll just, I don’t know, eat him or something, she thought to herself.

It was not to be, however. Not thirty seconds into the match, Saburo dropped to his knees, getting a grip on the larger boy’s ankles and rolling him to the ground. In a matter of moments, Saburo finished wrapping him and pinning him to the mat for the victory.

“Kimura wins again! He’s still undefeated! And that’ll be enough to win the meet for Yusue,” the announcer enthused through the public address system to the adulation of the home crowd and thirteen of the fourteen cheerleaders.

Tamiko nudged Ranko with her elbow, drawing her attention. “Hey, what’s the matter with you? Trouble in paradise again?”

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Ranko turned. “Huh? What are you on about, Tami? I’m just… tired, that’s all.”

“Well,” Tamiko said with a grin, “whatever he did, I’m sure you two will work it out.”

Shaking her head, Ranko stuffed her pom-poms into her silver gym bag. “Tamiko, I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know, you and Saburo?” Tami shook her head. “I know you didn’t bother to tell us, but half the school already knows. Well, half the cool ones, anyway. You suck at keeping secrets, girl.”

“Wait, what?!” Ranko whirled. “People are saying I’m with him?!”

Yori nodded, pulling the red-and-silver bow out of her hair and letting down her ponytail. “Oh, yeah. He’s been telling everybody who will listen about all your romantic dates. Makin’ me kinda jealous, honestly.”

“I… okay. That’s it. I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

Ranko glared, but Tamiko put her arm around her before she could stalk off. “Hey. It’s probably just a misunderstanding. He probably didn’t know you wanted to keep it quiet. It happens sometimes.”

“No, Tami,” Ranko growled. “I’ve never dated him, and I never would. He’s been following me around everywhere creeping on me, and I’ve had about enough of it! Disgusting fucking… Eugh!”

“Whoa,” Yori said. “Somebody’s pissed…”

“C’mon, Ran-chan. Let’s go get changed. There’s nothing you can do about it tonight.” Tamiko put her arm around her fuming squadmate’s shoulder, pulling her gently toward the locker room where most of their fellow cheerleaders had already retired. Most of the fans in attendance had already begun streaming out of the gymnasium through a pair of double doors at the far end of the building.

She sat on the wooden bench in the locker room, almost out of breath from anger alone. First I had to go through all that bullshit with Eiji, and now… fuck, I hate boys sometimes! She started to untie her shoes, still growling under her breath to herself.

“Ah, dammit. I forgot the squad binder.” Shiori started to pull her shirt on.

Ranko stood. “Hey, I’ll get it. I’m still dressed, and… I kinda need to walk this off.”

With a wave of acknowledgement from Shiori, the redhead pushed her way back into the nearly empty gymnasium, bending down and searching around the bench area for the white binder Shiori was almost never without. She found it just as a voice called out to her from behind, setting her skin crawling.

“Hey, Ranko! Looking good out there tonight, babe!”

Ranko whirled, fire in her eyes. “You! How fucking DARE you tell people we were…”

Saburo smirked, laughing. “Aw, don’t be upset. It’s not like it’s not gonna happen. I just gave the chatterboxes a little bit of a head start.”

“Alright. That’s it!” Ranko dropped into a forward aikido stance. He’s a wrestler. He’s all about momentum. I can use that. “Come on, you fucking pig. We’re gonna end this shit right now!”

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

Ranko turned to see Mr. Jibara, the wrestling coach, rushing toward her. “I know you weren’t thinking about starting a fight on school property, Miss Tendo!”

“But, you don’t understand, he…” Ranko snapped her eyes back to her would-be opponent.

“Whatever he said, there’s no reason to fight! Let it go!” The coach was almost upon them.

“I told you, Ranko,” Saburo sneered quietly. “I’m the king of this castle. I do whatever the hell I want around here, and I get whatever I want. Better get used to it, honey.”

“Come on, get back to your locker room.” The coach pulled at Ranko until she released her stance, still glaring over her shoulder at Saburo as she was led toward the double doors. “Don’t be mad, Tendo. I just saved your life, kid.”