KON POV
“Oh. Silver Choco Coro is here.”
“Who are you calling Choco Coro desuno! I’m here to stop your barbaric act from……huh?”
It's not like I didn't understand what she meant. If I were in her shoes, seeing two loud boys dragging along a smaller boy to the rooftop, my thoughts would have immediately come to the same conclusion. The atmosphere is peaceful though, so I'm thankful she can see that much at least.
“Elizabeth, thank you for your concern, but we are doing fine. Would you like to join us for lunch?”
I put on the best cordial smile I could and invited her for lunch. Let’s just hope she can ignore the fact that we are currently parking our butt in a restricted area. There doesn’t seem to be another person following her. But if a teacher comes, I will book it straight away.
“O-ooh. I brought my own lunched box, but I will partake to keep an eye on you two desuwa.”
“*Chuckle*. Sure.”
“Whatever man.”
She spread a small thin blanket on the floor before unpacking her boxed lunch. Compared to mine, hers was more luxurious, with hot soup at the bottom box and all. She definitely came from a rich family. Although, that’s a big lunch; can she even finish half of it?
“Wow! That’s some feast right there. Yoink!~”
“Me too. Thanks, girl! Yoink!”
“Hey! Why are you taking my food desuwa!”
“Don’t worry about it Ojou-chan. Yum this is hella good.”
“Can you even finish them? Whoa…..this is awesome. You have a family chef or something?”
These two, I swear. They have less tact than a wrecking ball in a china shop. Though I have to admit, judging by the looks, luster, and smell of the dishes, it seemed like they were cooked to perfection. Mine seemed pale in comparison to hers, even though I was quite proud of it.
“Um, no. I never managed to finish them. My mom cooked a lot and she wanted me to share desuno.”
“Cheers to your mom, here, have some of my yakisoba bread.” Zack offered his half-eaten bread.
“Your mom is a cook? Must be a damn good one.”
“Oh yes, that is very correct desuyo! She works as the head chef of a 7-star restaurant! Everything she touches becomes delicious. The desserts are even better. They are like magic desuwa!”
I can see the sparkles in her eyes when she talks about her mom. She must love and admire her a lot. Still, a 7-star restaurant, huh? Getting past 5 stars already puts you in the top 1 percentile. I almost wanted to know which restaurant her mother works in.
“Hmm, then your father is a martial artist who taught you stuff?” Zack asked out of nowhere.
“Uh, yes? He used to be a detective, and he taught me Bartitsu for a while desuno. How do you know?”
Elizabeth quirked her eyebrows at Zack’s question. Well, there he is again with his tactless remarks. Although, this time I’d rather see how it plays out. It’s rare for Zack to show interest in someone he just met. The guy is aloof like the wind, but when he's interested in something or someone, it shows.
As for you, Venti, feel free to stay there and keep stuffing your cheeks.
“Just a guess. You could have a trainer for all I know, but when you stood up and faced me in class, your stance was quite solid. You have a knack for it.” He clarified
“I see, thank you desuwa.”
“So, *gobble* Oujo-chan applying for martial arts club? *Nom*.” Venti spoke between bites.
“N-no, I’m applying for tea ceremony club…. desuno”
She sounded unsure. I thought she would join a cooking club to emulate her mom, given how passionate she was when she talked about her. Even Zack and Venti found it weird.
“W-well enough about me. What about you guys? I won’t forgive you if you join some bullying club desuwa!”
“There is no such thing. We are joining the SpeedGear club.” Venti answered her question.
“SpeedGear club? You want to be a SpeedGear Star desuka?”
“Cough, Heck no. I’m not into those stage dancing stuff. Here, I’m talking about this.”
I wish Venti would stop talking while eating, but his reaction is funny. Didn’t know he had such an aversion to dancing with SpeedGear. Seeing him in a costume and dancing to a pop song will seriously make my day.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
I guess for most people who don’t know much about SpeedGear, that’s the first assumption they make when it comes to making it big. Like all kinds of sports and competitions, the celebrity aspect does take a fair share of its front face when it comes to representing the entire industry.
However, for those in the know, SpeedGear is so much more than that. Racing, streaming, athletics, marathons, and even pilgrimage aspects exist. Also, if one looks deeper, it doesn’t take long to stumble upon a caged battle or two. There’s even a showing of an underground tournament if one wants to delve in deeper into the dark web.
“This is…..”
“Yep, this is my caged fight last month. That guy is quite strong. Too bad his stamina sucked ass.” Venti pointed.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened at the display of a one-on-one fight from Venti’s phone. The guy got completely trashed, but at least he never gave up and fought until he collapsed unconscious. I would have thought that Venti would introduce her to the lighter aspect of SpeedGear by showing her a race or something.
“I-is he dead desuka!?”
“Nah, the guy is hardy. He will probably be back at it in a week or two.”
“Oi Venti, stop showing her those free wins. Show mine from 2 months ago.”
“Meh, yours is super lame. You were just wiggling around like a cooked worm.”
“It’s called drunken boxing, it’s quite fun if you mix it with Capoeira.”
While the two were busy arguing, Elizabeth was watching the video with rapt attention. If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t that the fight where Zack was testing out a bunch of techniques he saw from ancient recordings? There's even the lost art of Savate’s peculiar hooking kick thrown here and there. I swear Zack’s fighting style can be classified as formless now with how unpredictable he is.
A formless practitioner at this age? What a savant.
“A-and Kon is fighting in a cage too, desuka?” She turned to me.
“No. I don’t think I ever will. Instead, I will take part in team races.”
“Team races?”
“Yes, there are several races you can do as a SpeedGear user. Run in laps, run over hurdles, hunt targets, Capture the flag. Here, this is an example of a hurdle run. My position will be the front of the team as a Pathfinder.”
“Hooo….”
“You can still get smacked down while racing.”
“Wha-! Such brute desuwa!”
Ugh, Venti, I know you are speaking the truth but please don’t pour oil into the fire.
“Intentional Maiming and death are forbidden. Sometimes accidents do happen, but that’s not the norm. After all, if things ever escalate, police will be involved, and that is never good for business.” I quickly clarified.
“Yep, yep, and holding back during a speed clash is like a bro code. But of course, since people still want to win, every time an enemy catches up to you, it tends to devolve into a grounded fight to make it ‘less accidental’.”
Thankfully, Zack here is supporting me in convincing her that SpeedGear has a safety net in place to prevent people from going murder hobo. To put it simply, it’s a collective responsibility to make sure people don’t poop on where they eat. That’s why the SpeedGear guild is made, to police not only others but also themselves.
“I see….. to prevent people from falling when they are running high up, they go down to the ground and fight it out like gentlemen, Desune.” Elizabeth nodded her head while thinking it over.
“Yep, but it’s a bit different when it comes to a Rondo.”
“A Rondo desuka?”
“A high-speed duel of sorts where both parties run and fight at the same time. The first to get left behind, lose.”
I tapped my phone a few more times to show her the fight between Aika Stormhunt and Magician. Those moments are defining for a Rondo. Launching themselves like projectiles, executing midair strikes, and then separating into a run before engaging again, it's like watching those cartoon characters clash. No matter how many times I watch it, the fight tickles my 8th-grade syndrome.
“…...”
Her eyes are bulging out now. I hope it was not too much for her.
“T-this……”
“This?”
“This is so cool desuwaaa! Like running around psheew and then jump kick like waapaaow. How do I become one desuka?”
I pulled back a little from her exuberant energy. She looked like one of those kids who had just discovered what ice cream was for the first time. It was kind of endearing. Zack, on the other hand, grinned from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat that had found a nuclear launch button. Did he plan on recruiting her?
“Why, it’s simple. You just have to buy a SpeedGear and join the club! Maybe the club has some gears lying around.”
“SpeedGear club…. but I need to join Tea ceremony club desuyo.”
“Not cooking club?”
“Ah, the cooking club is a bit…..”
DING DONG DANG!
“Oh, that’s the bell. Good chat, Eliz. Think about it for a bit. We can become a team.”
“Ah, ok. I will think about it desuno.”
She looked a bit dazed with all the information overload we had given her, and with that, we parted ways. We detoured to the bathroom first before class. No doubt Venti had something to say about this. Personally, I didn’t care if Elizabeth joined us or not. My job in the team was still to guide them to the path of victory regardless of the circumstances.
Although, it would be nice to know beforehand what she is capable of if she decides to join.
“So, you plan on inviting Ojou-chan? She doesn’t seem like much.” Venti started.
“Hehe, that’s where you are wrong, little Venti. Have you seen her stance when she confronted me?”
“Little my ass, and yea, she got moxie. I will give her that. She learned Bartitsu, was it?”
“Not only that, think back on how she stands.”
Hmm, how she stood during that confrontation.
She has this air of stability within her poise, which gives off the feeling of delicate equilibrium through discipline. Through that discipline, she lets it root starting from her left toe, and branches it into the way she carries her center of gravity and upper body posture. Instead of a fist, she adopts an open palm front. For grabbing? No, it’s for slapping I assume.
Add that to the list of favorite athletics activity of the eastern aristocracy, and narrow it down based on age and stature; You will get…..
“Ballet?”
“Atta boy, Kon!”
“Wait, you want her to be our Diva?”
Venti arrived at the same question as I had. She does have a certain gentleness to her when she puts on that stance. But a Diva? Can she sing? Can she even handle the specialized techno-speak and attune herself to our gears?
“Why not? She’s got a nice voice.”
“…...”
As per usual, we look every bit like slack-jawed apes every time Zack decides he wants to do something out of nowhere. It’s not so much about what he plans on doing, but it’s about how little thought he puts into it that stuns my brain.
“Don’t worry, it will work out.”
“I can’t decide which is worse. Zack scouting a potential Diva just coz she has a nice voice, or Venti’s fiasco in trying to get all of us laid in the red light district.”
“Hey! It wasn’t that bad! I just mistook the address for an Okama bar.”
Those were some dark times. I couldn’t unsee it even if I were to spend my whole life trying.
But for now, there's no rush for me to think about our fourth member. I'll just wait and see how things go when the time comes.
We can always consider collaborating with other teams.