Chapter Text
“Afternoon, Ms. Saito!” One of the students greeted cheerfully. “Please tell me it’s a movie day today.”
”Unfortunately, no movie today.” The teacher shook her head, earning a sigh from one of the students. “But we will be learning all about solar energy, which is just as fun, right?”
“Absolutely not.” The student groaned out their response, dropping their head down onto their desk as another student came barreling through the classroom door.
Head over feet, the familiar red head plummeted to the floor with a shriek while his skateboard rolled straight toward his teacher’s desk. The woman pressed her heel atop the deck, causing it to reach it’s half as the now injured boy muttered out a quiet apology.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to skate inside, Reki?” The woman huffed, grabbing his board from the ground and shoving it under her desk for safekeeping.
“I know, I know.” The boy replied with a deep exhale, pushing himself from the cool tile with a groan in pain.
“Is there blood?” His teacher had asked, not ripping her gaze away from the papers on her desk. “Did you break a bone?”
”Well, no.”
”Then take your seat.”
”But what about-“
”You should know the drill by now, Reki.” Her stare alone shut the boy up, causing him to turn his heel and make way toward his seat. “You’ll be getting it back at the end of the day. You’re lucky I don’t give you detention. I’m sure any other teacher would do it happily.”
”You’re right.” The boy gulped, plopping his body into his chair before kicking his feet up onto the counter. “Which is why you’re the cool teacher, Ms. Saito.”
”Nah, a cool teacher would let us have a movie day.”
”Yeah!” Another student nodded along, slamming their hand against their desk in a rhythmic pattern. “Movie day! Movie day!”
The class quickly followed suit, all of them beginning to chant in unison while they banged the tops of their tables with their fists. God, these kids could be so relentless. The only one not joining in was Reki, though she was sure the red hair probably would have if he wasn’t aware he was already skating on thin ice, and class hadn’t even officially started yet.
An unfamiliar boy wandered his way into the room, his footsteps so unsure and hesitant as he poked his head in. Upon noticing his confused stare, Ms. Saito raised from her seat and welcomed the boy at the door.
“Hey there, come on in.” She smiled sweetly, motioning for the young boy to step forward. “You wouldn’t happen to be our transfer student now, would you?”
”T-That’d be me.” He stammered, taking another step into the room where the rest of the class could get a good luck at him.
“Perfect!” Ms. Saito grinned, clapping her hands together excitedly as her gazed began to scan over one of the binders of her cluttered desk. “I’m sure you’ve already been through this a hundred times today, but unfortunately I’m going to have to make you do it for your one hundred and first. Could you introduce yourself to the rest of the class for us?”
”O-Oh, sure!” He nodded, before growing very still and quiet as their watchful eyes evaded his every space. “..How should I start?”
”How about you just tell them your name and a fun fact about yourself?” She prompted with a shrug. “For example: My name is Ms. Saito! A fun fact about myself would be.. this is my first year officially teaching my own class! And I am so excited to share the wonderful world of science with all of you.”
”Woo..” One of the students called out unenthusiastically, her entire prior statement was met with the sound of crickets otherwise.
“Well, I’m sure whatever you have to say will be ten times more exciting than that.” Their teacher giggled out. “So, go ahead! Tell us a little about yourself.”
“Oh! Okay, uhm..” The pale blue haired boy pondered a moment. “My name is Langa, and I moved here from Canada.”
“Sounds great! It’s so wonderful to meet you Langa.” She replied with a sweet smile, finger tracing atop the seating chart she had pre-planned out. “We will actually be seating you right next to Reki. He would be the red haired boy in the front row here. Would you mind raising your hand, Reki?”
Without much hesitation, the boy swiftly raised his hand toward the sky and Langa shuffled his way toward his new assigned seat. Grabbing a dry erase marker off of her desk, Ms. Saito carefully wrote her name across the board in bold letters before carrying on with today’s lesson. Much to the dismay of her previously chanting students. Turns out the only way to keep them quiet was to threaten an after school detention. After that, the kids kept their mouths shut, and Ms. Saito was grateful. Truthfully, she hadn’t looked forward to staying later than she already had to either.
When the final bell rang, each student jumped from their seat and rushed out the door at first chance. All except two. Red haired Reki who anxiously paced in front of his teachers desk, awaiting the moment when his skateboard would be spared and returned to his possession. And then there was blue haired Langa, who moved slowly and quietly. Stacking all of his books together carefully as the rambunctious boy he was sat next to jumped from heel to heel.
”Cool your jets there, Reki.” Their teacher had chuckled, passing the boy his board. Excitement returning to his face as he felt the familiar grip tape scrape against his hands. “And seriously, kid. You gotta stop riding that in here. Next time, I really will have to give you detention. And to be honest, I really don’t want to.”
“Don’t you worry, Ms. Saito.” Reki bowed his head before racing his way out the class room door, immediately dropping the board onto the tiled floor as he reached the hallway. “I won’t be skating in your class anytime soon!”
”Reki!” The teacher huffed out, rushing to the hallway with a look of frustration. “When I said no riding in here, I meant inside! Not just my classroom!”
”Oh, my bad! Maybe be more specific next time!”
”He really can be such a pain.” She had tried to laugh it off, hoping one of her superiors wouldn’t notice how she kept turning a cheek to the boys antics. “Langa, you’re still here?”
”Yeah, sorry.” The boy replied, shoving his couple books into his book bag. “Just going a little bit slow today. Trying to get familiar with my surroundings. So many new rooms and people.”
”It can be so exciting, can’t it?” She questioned, beginning to pack away her laptop. “But I know it can also be so overwhelming. So, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask one of your teachers. We’re always looking out for you guys. Like I said, this is my first year officially teaching. Which means we’re both kind of new.”
”Thanks, Ms. Saito.” The boy replied with a grin, now making his exit from the class room. “That helped me feel a little bit better.”
”Well I’m glad.” She nodded, flicking the classroom light off as she readied her keys to lock up the door behind her. “Now, get on home. And watch for skateboarders. Lord knows Reki almost runs into me everyday after school on that thing.”
”Does he really?” Langa almost laughed at the comment as it caught him off guard.
“Sure does.” She chuckled, shoving her keys into her pocket. “So keep an eye out, okay?”
She hoped her warning would aid the boy in anyway it could. The truth was, the streets were riddled with skaters, day in and day out. Most people found it annoying, how they weaved their way through traffic and gathered in groups outside of local businesses. As much as the world liked to view skaters as nothing more than delinquents and degenerates, they were relatively and mostly harmless. It was all in good fun. Sure, there were a couple people who liked to take things too far, but every group had it's fair share of bad apples.
Heels clicked against the sidewalk as she began her walk home, ready to relax after her long day of work. It was time to run along to her quiet house where her cat patiently awaited her arrival. Grade a couple papers from yesterday's test, enjoy a book with some hot tea, and take a nice long bubble bath with scented candles. That's how most people relaxed, right? Warm drinks while soaking the tub. Good books in dim lighting. Sure, all of those things were well and good, but nothing helped her destress the way that skateboarding did.
So, she took a left turn at the fork in the road. Taking her usual Monday detour to her favorite little skate shop in town run by her new friend, Shokichi Oka. He was one of the few locals she'd grown close to in her short amount of time spent in Okinawa, and quite frankly, the only one of them who was aware of her little hobby. Her first couple times in the shop she had tried to brush off as looking for a board for her nephew, thinking up whatever little excuse she could, but Shokichi was quick to see through the lie. Of course, it didn't help that she had perfectly answered every question he had asked her about what kind of "board" her nephew was in search for. So, he found out, but was polite enough to keep her little secret. Even went as far to give her Reki's work schedule so she knew what days she could narrowly avoid the boy in the shop. She didn't need the rambunctious red head blabbering his mouth to his peers about how their science teacher actually knows how to skateboard.
"Good afternoon, Shokichi." Her voice sung through the air as she opened up the shop doors. "Got my new deck in yet?"
"I'm wounded you'd expect anything less from us." He had replied with a chuckle, quick to snag the deck and place it on the counter in front of him. "So what do you think, Hoshiko?"
"It's perfect." She hummed, eyes sparkling as she stared down to the galaxy design, fingers slowly following the stars painted in the sky. "I ever tell you how lucky I am that I met you?"
"Couldn't hurt to tell me more."
"Well, you're the best, Shokichi." She chuckled, sliding a couple bills across the counter toward him. "Say, did that other thing ever come in?"
"Sure did." The man nodded, putting the cash into the register before pushing a small pin in the shape of an 's' towards the woman. "But remember the rules, tell no one. If you're seen talking about it outside the mine -"
"I'll live to regret it. I've heard your whole speech already, don't worry." Hoshiko giggled along, shoving the pin within her pocket as she began to put her new deck away into her bag. "Oh! By the way, you get a date with that daycare girl yet?"
"I wish." Shokichi sulked, throwing head down in shame. "Somedays it feels like she hardly notices me."
"I'm sure you'll get there soon, Shokichi." She called back, the shop door swinging behind her. "Believe in yourself!"
"Hey, Hoshiko, wait!" He had tried to call out to the girl, but could only watch as her figure rushed past the shop window, unable to hear him from the other side of the glass. "I have to tell you something else important about that pin!"
But, it was too late.
Hopefully, it wasn't too important.
Standing in front of a full length mirror to inspect her outfit, she gave out a quiet huff. White hair now pulled up into two pigtails with a plain black mask covering half of her face, and some subtle winged eyeliner smudged around her eyes. She had attempted to dress in black from head toe, despite the little silver earrings in the shape of a star that dangled from each of her ears. There wasn't much use in showing up in some flashy get up, not when she wanted to remain undetected. Not like she'd see anyone she knew, other than maybe Shokichi, but the risk was still there. In a way, it made things seem more exciting than they really were.
Her first time actually going to "S."
Her phone buzzed away in her pocket, causing her cat to skedaddle from across the room in a search for the sudden noise. Pulling the device from her pocket, she noticed a text from Shokichi.
"Can't make it tonight. Might have a date? Stay safe. Also, -"
Suddenly, her screen went black. A small empty battery displayed itself across the screen and she gave out a little huff. This was the third time today that it died, she figured it was probably just time to get a new phone since this one clearly couldn't hold a charge anymore.
"Well damn." She mumbled, sticking the device back onto the charger before snagging her car keys from her coffee table and replacing them with her glasses instead. "At least he managed to get himself that date, huh Luna?"
The tiny white cat in front of her merely stared back with nothing to say. Causing the woman to chuckle to herself before making her exit from her home. Locking the door behind her, she was off. Sun slowly setting on the horizon, she had pushed her palm up to shield her ways from it's light, but tried staring on ahead despite how it hurt. She was stuck in traffic, cursing beneath her breath, hoping she wouldn't be late when she noticed a couple shadow's leaping through the air; skateboarders, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind where they must've been going. All laughing along as people poked their heads out of their car windows, screaming at them to "knock their shit off." Truthfully, it reminded her of being young again. Not that she was that old or anything. Twenty five was just a weird point to be at in life. It's like when you grow up, you're supposed to retire all of those silly little things from your childhood. You're expected to, but Hoshiko couldn't do it. Not with skateboarding.
So, she arrived to the abandoned mine shaft known as "S." Proudly displaying her pin at the entrance to gain access, but suddenly grew shy upon entering. Skaters of all different ages rolled around aimlessly, some gathered in groups laughing along, all with giant smiles planted on their faces. Having fun. It was like a breath of fresh air as she noticed them all pilling toward the starting track. Perhaps, she didn't need Shokichi's hand to hold after all. She was starting to believe she'd be fine after all.
"Come on, isn't anyone gonna challenge me?" A husky voice beckoned the crowd, muscular arms swinging through the air. "It's all all fun and games here. Just a harmless little race.”
The mysterious voice came into view with a built body and messy dark green locks atop his head. It wasn't difficult to figure out his name as the crowd began to roar and cheer in response, many people calling out for "Joe" - saying nobody would willingly race against him, because why would they want to lose? Hoshiko figured this meant two things; the man before her was utterly talented, and renown around these parts. Though, she'd never seen his face before.
"Nobody wants to race against a gorilla who's just gonna screw around the whole way down."
Another man stepped forward who appeared to have quite the acute following, girls fawning over him as he stepped toward Joe. This man seemed to be the polar opposite of Joe with his thin statue and long silky pink hair. Hoshiko began to laugh loudly upon hearing the comment, being taken off guard by this man she now knew as "Cherry" and his bluntness. Though, it appeared she was the only one laughing at the joke as surrounding eyes began to snap their attention toward the woman in the back row.
"You think that's pretty funny, huh?"
The sea of people that had once surrounded her had now perfectly departed straight down the middle, allowing easier access to the woman. Catching the laugh in her throat, the woman forced a quiet cough, trying to suppress the sound and make a smooth recovery. But it turned out to be anything but smooth. All hers were on her now, including Joe and Cherry.
"Thank goodness there's one woman here who understands what an absolute baboon you are." Cherry had scoffed, crossing his arms against his chest as he took a cautious step toward the woman.
"Say, you ever shut up?" Joe began, eyes narrowing toward Cherry before returning to the woman in front of them. "I see you've got a board yourself. Real pretty one too. No scuffs or scrapes on it anywhere. Any chance you're ready to ruin it?"
"Is he challenging her?"
"She'll say no, she has to!"
"Who is she anyway? I've never seen her before?"
Commotion and whispers began to ensue from the surrounding crowd. Feeling simultansiously like hundreds of little devils and angels on her shoulder as they spoke. Hoshiko could only stare ahead quiet to the two men as they slowly made their way closer to the girl. Upon Joe directly calling her out, she wasn't sure what to say. She wanted to run and hide at this very moment. Go anywhere except on some track she'd never raced before, especially someone they'd considered to be the best of the best.
"What do you say?" Joe persisted with a smirk. "You wanna race against a gorilla like me?"
"I, uh.." Her voice died within her throat as her palms began to sweat. "I can't, uh-"
"Can't skate?" He chuckled. "Not surprised. You holding that for your boyfriend or something?"
And it was like something snapped in her during that moment. Feeling her blood begin to boil up as the bulky green haired man in front of her sent her that sinister smirk, brushing her off as he turned his heel. Cherry let out a quiet sigh, secretly disappointed that he couldn't witness the outcome he had been so hoping for. The two men had seemed to lost their interest, until the sound of wheels scraping against pavement hit against the ground. Cherry could only smile beneath his mask as he turned his head.
"I wouldn't put your foot on that if you aren't willing to race." He warned the woman. "The rules of 'S' are once your feet touch that board, you've made your decision."
"Oh, I'm gonna race." She replied with eyes narrowing toward Joe, planting a firm foot on the deck of the board. "I challenge you, Joe."