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Chapter Text

Oh she wasn't any ordinary feline.

Yes, she had a cute face, perfect calico fur coat, and pussy paws.

But, she also had sharp amber eyes, a tough masculine look that caused her to be misgendered multiple times, and the ability to control her qi at times.

She was born like any other felines, she loved yarn balls and she admired Momo the Cat from Magic Cat Academy, a quite popular game in the Doodle world. She was just so keen on Momo's magic ability against haunting ghosts, which she didn't have, so she practiced qi control instead. It worked out well on her, better than she thought when other cats complimented her on how she was almost like a ghost as she turned invisible, or when she saw their shocked faces as she braced herself into the water with only a pair of goggles on.

Though... There's always a downside to everything. Hers was becoming too masculine.

She had to practice hard in other to control qi, you see. From normal workouts, she went to the gym and learned karate. She tested herself by climbing to the top of a local mountain with almost no tools and stayed, trying to breathe with so little oxygen there. Sometimes she was caught running around town for what seemed like hours, and so forth.

There were periods when she was so tired, she was about to give in. There were moments she heard other cats talking behind her about how stupid she was to give up her femininity for something impossible. However, she kept going, knowing that there was no way to turn back anyway. She'd gone too far ahead.

At some point, she began her interest in sports, whether it's old-fashioned, newly-imported or street sports, she took part in everything. Only then had they realized her hard work had really paid off. She had become a strong athlete, both thanks to her body built from intensive training and her now amazing ability to control qi.

Soon she won every local contest. Not only that, but she was also glad to use her ability to help others out. They loved her, and she was happy that she managed to accomplish something that counts, like her idol.

Everyone living in that area knew her by the simple name "Lucky the Cat", but with the image of a young feline having a big, bright, burning heart. Creatures from afar that happened to pass by and heard about Lucky's story insisted her on taking an adventure, out of town, out of home's safety and testing herself in the trials of the world out there.

Lucky spent days, maybe months pondering on her options. Setting off did sound fun and challenging, which she didn't mind, but that also meant she had to leave everything else behind: her family, her friends, her childhood town that carried so many memories, the creatures that she still wanted to help out because she knew they needed that and... a little feeling there deep in her heart that she couldn't explain.

————————

Lucky was lying awake, staring at the plain ceiling illuminated by the full moonlight. She turned to her side to see a cupboard full of medals and trophies, and a big box that she used as a sports equipment storage instead of a cuddling spot, then unconsciously sighed.

"Do I really want to go..?" she quietly asked herself.

More to achieve, more to explore about everything and herself, but at the same time leaving all that she was familiar with? That's quite a price.

Lucky got up, unable to sleep contradicted a cat's nature, then again, she was out of the norm ever since she attempted to learn about qi.

She climbed through the circular window of her room onto the roof and sat there, letting herself taken by the peaceful view of her lovely town at night when everyone was sound in their own dreams. The lanterns shined dimly at each corner of the streets. The moonlight on the majestic night sky coated the town with a mysterious beauty. Breezy winds blew hard here on the roof so Lucky brought her lower limbs closer to her chest, her elbows rested on her knees and her chin in her paws as she closed her eyes, letting her body enveloped in the arms of nature.

Lucky only opened her eyes when she felt something on her nose. It's a cherry blossom petal.

She stared at it longingly, knowing that it wasn't from this town, before a wind carried it away again. She looked up and noticed that the position of the moon had changed since she came here, meaning that she'd felt asleep for a while and slightly giggled to herself.

Her amber eyes followed the petal until it was just a dot in the distance, then finally disappeared. Lucky wanted to travel, just like that petal. Freely.

"Should I..?"

"I think you should go, Lucky."

Came a voice from behind her. Bells, a sibling approached. She had a slim body that fitted perfectly in her white sleeping dress, making her look somewhat older than her actual age. Bright green eyes looked at her ever-so-gently. A gold bell jingled on her necklace.

"I don't know, nee-chan. I really do but..."

"But what?" Bells tilted her head, "What's been bothering you that it took so long to decide?"

"I just don't feel like I should leave. Everything I know, and everyone I love... it's all here in this little town. And I just think I haven't done much."

"Like?"

Lucky opened her mouth to answer but couldn't find any, so she closed it defeatedly.

"See? And sometimes, you've just gotta leave your safety zone, like you did back when you were determined to achieve qi control." Bells gave Lucky a side hug, "You said it yourself, this town is small, and a talented cat like you should be out there traveling, not stuck here. Come on, Luck, just think back how far you've gone since that little pussycat. Now you're the strongest known in town!"

Lucky looked at the town. I did give up my femininity for my ability. From her house, the mountain looked so small on the horizon, but she knew that wasn't it. The world's big. And I just have no idea where to start, where to go... What if I cannot find my way back here?

"If you're still pondering," Bells said as if she could read Lucky's thoughts, "Don't be afraid. I've never been out of town before but I know for someone like you, the stars will guide you. Gaze at the sky and give them your earnest wish, the universe will answer your call and lead you to where your dream can be found. And if you happen to be homesick, and once you've really challenged the world out there with the best of you, they'll guide you back home. Your heart can be the greatest pointer! Give it some faith, would you?"

Bells chuckled as she took out a little silver bell on a string and shoved it into Lucky's paws, "We'll always welcome you, and remember you. Keep this for good luck, from me, and be a champion before trying to return alright."

"Thank you, nee-chan," Lucky softly said, smiling at her dear sister, "I'll go."

"Great you decided! Aaaaaannddd I also have an idea about your next target."

"What is it? What is it?" Lucky excitedly asked.

"Here." Bells handed her an old-papered scroll, "I bumped into a traveling athlete earlier and he insisted you take on the Doodle Championship. It's once every four years, at a place called Champion Island. You have to win against seven local champions of seven sports, and they said no one has ever achieved that."

"Then I'll be the first!" Lucky stood up and raise a fist.

"That's the spirit! Oh, and I also heard there's a lot of interesting things on that island, like some of them have magic and stuff."

"Really!?? Then I'll have to start a new training session! This one's in a month, still time for that." Lucky put away the scroll and tackled Bells into a hug. "Thank you for encouraging me, nee-chan. I'll leave by dawn."

"So early?"

"It's the perfect time for a new training routine, plus leave me no time to rethink. See you again soon, nee-chan. Tell mom, dad and the others for me too!"

With that, Lucky climbed back to her room by the window and packed.

By tomorrow morning, Lucky the Cat was already out of town, taking on her new journey.

———///———

Chapter Text

Winds carried the little boat rocking on the big ocean waves. A certain feline was standing by the prow, arms crossed and had one foot on the wooden frame of the boat. She was wearing a blue sleeveless martial suit and a long red scarf covering up to her mouth, its tails flapping in addition to the rhythm of the waves.

It's been a month since Lucky left her hometown on a super hard training journey. A whole month since she decided to leave her little simple life behind and started a real journey, facing life itself. She had picked up some new skills along the way. She had met creatures she never heard of before. She had learned about how life can vary for each creature for each place and not a single same route as in her little home. She had helped many creatures willingly. And most importantly, the journey was a sharpener perfecting Lucky herself.

And she was ultimately ready for the Doodle Championship.

...

"Huh? Champion Island is a whole day sail from here? I better get going."

Lucky grabbed her pack and left the house of  Toko , a fawn she found lost with a sprained ankle a few days ago, not before saying thanks to his parents who let her stay overnight  and  sharing their little knowledge about Champion Island as a too generous way to show gratitude, in her opinion. She fixed the scarf and slightly bowed to the kind hosts one more time, then head to the village river port.

It was bright in the day, sunlight gave the sky a brilliant blue hue, made the clouds fluffy white, and reflected on the water surface as sparkling bits like a whole flow of diamonds. The village wasn't exactly big or small but the port was lively with people going back and forth because the place was close to where the river met the sea.

"Oh, you'll see more than just a busy port once you arrive at Champion Island during the Championship."  Someone had told her so but she didn't quite get it. Maybe it'll be super crowded?

Lucky approached  where the small boats were anchored and she was greeted by an old boatman wearing a  kasa .

"Oh, greetings, Shinobi-san. How can I help you?"

" Erh ... I'm not a Shinobi..." Lucky awkwardly replied.

"Really? You sure dress like one, and you also gave that kind of aura when you rescued  Toko -kun." The boatman gave a warm laugh as Lucky timidly fixed her scarf and mumbled a little 'thanks'. "Anyway, is there anything you need here?

"Oh, yes. I'd like a ride to Champion Island."

"Planning to take part in the Championship there? Not a surprise." The old boatman whistled, and as if having the signal, a younger boatman quickly came to his side. "Symphony will gladly take you there."

Symphony was a petite kid wearing an oversized  kasa  that his face was barely visible. He led Lucky to a boat further down the port and soon they were surrounded by the salty smell of the ocean.

It was a long day sail, Lucky at some point dozed off to the soft lullabies from Symphony's flute - his one-of-a-kind self-made instrument of a hollow paddle with holes. As he sailed, the sea waves and winds went by and through the flute-paddle, creating a high-pitched, somehow nostalgic melody.

She dreamt of adventures and challenges, of new and familiar faces she would meet. It was pleasant. Napping wasn't really her thing, being a bit overenergetic, but it's refreshing to feel that sense of the inner wonderland.

Of the dreams she aimed for so close.

Soon, she would be making them her reality.

...

Symphony used a rope to tie the boat to a wooden pole as Lucky hopped off, then he pulled a light yellow flag onto the pole and grinned:

"Just to make sure no one can mistake our boat for theirs. I'm going into town for the Championship Festival."

Lucky and Symphony followed a path decorated with white and red lanterns that filled with bustling chatters. There were a lot of athletes who came to compete against the seven champions like Lucky, travellers who wanted to enjoy the festival like Symphony, and even sports lovers who just simply came to watch. Everyone had a smile on their face, laughter was heard around, and excitement could be felt in the air. There were sparklers, confetti, and food stalls that gave an appetizing aroma.

Lucky looked around with the curiosity of a toddler kid, mesmerized by the festive and competitive feelings that surrounded her, much more than anything she had experienced before at small in-town tournaments.

Soon Symphony took off to somewhere as Lucky continued on the path among other competitors. Some would glare at her with looks of disdain when they realized she was a female, some even had side comments about her being too small for the Championship and should better quit before she'd turn into a crying mess over a loss, or that she should better be playing with yarn balls instead of playing sports against the Champions. Little did they know Lucky wasn't even close to bothered by those indirect insults, for she had confidence in herself, and that she had been through much more than just that.

Competitors one by one stepped close to a bright vermilion Torii gate at the end of the path, and one by one disappeared before appearing again on either side of the gate, a very few walking forward with heads high while the others turned back with a dejected look.

"Hah. Good luck getting through the Komainus' trial, pussycat." A tiger sarcastically said as he followed the line of failed competitors.

"Even Hu can't pass, you won't stand a chance, kitty." Another creature gave her a teasing look. "Awww, or you can have an excuse to go cry to your mommy."

To this, Lucky only grinned back:

"You won't know."

And she stepped forward.

White light covered her body for a split second before dimmed down. She found herself in a clearing in the middle of a... woods? And in front of her were a pair of Komainus sitting still on the two sides of a Torii gate, so still that they looked like statues.

"Welcome to Champion Island." A light, kind voice echoed in the space. With her cat sense, Lucky identified the voice coming from the Kumainu on her right.

"Every four years the strongest athletes in the world gather here to compete." Said the left Komainu with a low, somewhat fierce voice, its face gave a fearsome expression like a predator going after its prey, and had a ball in its paw. Lucky noticed the ball glowed blue as the two Komainus stood up.

"Step forward to the Torii and we will test your skills." Said the kinder one.

Lucky walked past the Torii to see golden lights drawing a ping-pong table in the air which became a real one as soon as the linings were completed, the Komainus standing on one side.

"This is a three-point one-on-two table tennis match. If you win against us, you may proceed to the Championship. If you lose, you have to return." The fearsome Komainu explained. "I'll serve."

With that, he sent an orange ball flying to her side of the table at the speed of sound. Lucky just heard a 'ping' hitting the table and reached to where she supposed the ball would be, attempted to hit it back but too late.

The ball hit the ground multiple times before coming to a stop, and a trail of thin smoke emerged from it.

That's so fast. Lucky thought as the fearsome Komainu's bat glowed blue and within a wave, he summoned the ball back into his paw. But I can still do this. I can reach that speed too.

She turned back facing the two Komainus, lowered her body center, and narrowed her eyes, determination could be clearly seen in those amber orbs, and as if for an effect, her scarf flapped although there was no wind.

The Komainu served the ball. This time Lucky could send it flying back. The Komainu countered. Lucky hit it back again but the Komainu returned it twice as fast, covered in red flame, aiming at the corner - the dead area of the table. Lucky practically shot herself to the edge and swung her arm. She could feel the heat of the ball as it burnt even higher and brighter to a purplish shade of white. The ball flew back to the Komainu's side fast and strong that they were unable to react in time.

Lucky : 1 | Komainus : 1

By the third serve, Lucky had adjusted to the speed of the game and scored one more point.

The Komainu served the fourth time. Lucky had another successful hit. Countered. She hit the ball again. The Komainu hit it, and she noticed her opponents seemed to have transferred some sort of energy into the bat, and as he hit the ball, that energy was transferred to the ball, forming the red flame.

Not really a surprise seeing the Komainus being able to perform energy circulation since they were powered creatures that teleported her here and created a table out of nowhere in the first place. However, as she saw one of them create a flaming force surrounding the ball this time, a thought occurred.

Maybe I can try it out. Lucky focused on her own heartbeat, things around seemed to dim down as white flares sparked in her eyes and a thin layer of white light glowed around her. It felt as if time slowed down, things turned black and what was left was the orange ping-pong ball flying to the corner of her side. She stood still and calmly inhaled.

'Ping!'

As the ball reached her side she grabbed her bat tightly by both front paws, took a leap up, and swung her arm in a large diagonal arc, creating a wave of air that pushed the ball back without even touching it.

She won 3-1.

The kind Kumainu snapped his fingers making the table disappear.

"You're stronger than you look." He said with amazement.

"Could this be..." The fearsome Komainu murmured to his companion, "The Chosen One..?"

-----/////-----

*Cultural/language note:
- Komainu: Japanese dog-like guard lion (pronounced  Kou -ma-ee-nu)
-  Kasa : Japanese name for the conical hat, a traditional kind of hat in East Asia
- Shinobi: Japanese for ninja. This wasn't mentioned in the game description but Studio 4⁰C stated on a Google Doodle YouTube video that Lucky was a "Ninja Cat"
- Torii gate: symbolic vermilion gates in front of Kyoto shrines. "The red gate" in the game actually featured the Torii

*Media belongs to Google

Chapter Text

A long time ago...

There was a land isolated from others, surrounded by sea. It was a peaceful, harmonious, and hospitable place. Inhabitants were various creatures living in a ruler-less community. Yes, no authority, no rules, just do what's right for each other. It was just normal to see mixed families on any part of the island. If anything, it was like true paradise.

There was a long, long beach with smooth golden sand that kept getting carried away and back by the cyan blue waves. The same could happen to anyone who let themselves dip into that tropical beauty, their soul would be so carried away like in a romantic movie scene. There was a thick groove forest farther on shore full of not-so-tall but lively trees.

And who could guess that right north of the beach was a volcanic area? There wasn't a volcano, but a geographic rift had leaked lava onto the surface, flowing in streams and pools. The land there turned black and hard as stone, but it got the benefit of being truly warm and comfy for a destressing vacation. There were some all-knowing, somewhat shy karasus willing to help you enjoy the best there.

Further north was a hill covered with a thick bamboo forest. Every breeze that flew by made a melody. Every bird that built its nest there gladly joined the orchestra. Every flow of water down the creek spun the waterwheel rhythmically 'tap', 'tap', 'tap'. The inaris there were known for their graceful appearance and creativity.

At the northernmost dock was a mountain range tipped in snow but had a series of hot springs on the side. The higher you climbed the more dangerous cliffs and slopes you faced, and there was a chain of caves too, the kind of cave that made you feel as if getting lost in a maze.

A few minutes walk west to the beach were the rocky dunes. Layers of flat rocks were carved into a fin-like structure by the force of the sea. The land went slowly up until the rocks became soil. For that natural advantage, the land was the main producer of the island's living, hence the super strong, helpful, and hardworking creatures, especially the ushis.

North to the place was a quite separate smaller island attached to the land only by a long wooden bridge. You could imagine it as a giant earth donut, seeing how seawater surrounded it and a lake right in the middle. This was where the kappas dominated - naughty, fun-loving amphibian boys that might freak you out at first sight but later reduced to just...annoying.

And then there's a boathouse village at the northwest. The water there was also shallow, much like at the beach, but the shore was muddy and hard instead of having soft sand.

So, there you go, the nameless paradise lost in the ocean!

Well, not exactly lost anymore since the first creatures drifted off there. They introduced the aboriginals to outside civilization, and the island began to have guests.

Don't take it wrong, as if the creatures on the island didn't enjoy having visitors. Quite the opposite, they loved seeing new faces around. Things changed rapidly. A port was built south and northwest, where the shore was clear and widely-opened. Business bloomed and the island had its first city in the Southwest named Scaly, after the rocky fin-like structure.

Then it started.

Supposedly... It was on the beach. It was normal for locals to have a run throughout the length of the beach here and then, but a tourist insisted on making it more serious, making it a race.

"It'd be fun!" They promised. "With a little competitiveness, you'll have tons of visitors wanting to try it out right here, and whoever wins gets to be famous and honored for this whole island to know, maybe the whole world! Isn't that great?"

Well, after a while, the coastal people were convinced and held an obstacle marathon. Sure enough, for the first race that took place, there were just about one hundred participants. The next race in the following was even more crowded, and so on. Though, some winners were disappointed, seeing how the game they got wasn't as close as they imagined it should've been. Not the whole island knew them.

And being the nasty nature of a fame-thirst being, those creatures demanded a real, physically visible honorary. Or they'll shut down the marathon.

After a while of debate, the coastal people decided to put a statue of the winner by the entrance of the way to the beach. The greedy winners were pleased. The game went on.

Following the marathon, a mountain-climbing contest was held featuring a similar price in the northern mountain area. Then the synchronized swimming contest at the small donut island, skateboarding at Scaly City, hotfield rugby at the volcanic area, table tennis in the bamboo forest, and archery at the boathouse village.

It would be perfectly fine and the island would still exist in harmony if it's not for the champions of different sports starting to have a grudge against each other and the locals of each sport looking down on the others. Tension was in the air for years. Creatures changed. You could see how the timid karasus became too confident about knowledge rather than keeping some in before. Or how the ushis became so brutal and rude. Or how the inaris became gracefully... sneaky. Or how the kappas were too confused by the enormous crowd gathering at their place for the contest that they became a bit cocky and "blinkard".

A hundread years from now, a man and an immortally beautiful woman came in an attempt to reunite the island. They tried to win all the sports, keyword tried, as each of them only managed to win one. Their names were Yoichi, the man who excelled in archery, and Otohime, an aqua goddess who was only good at synchronized swimming.

Nextly, a flock of snow owls accompanied by a flock of old tengus arrived. Again, each of them only succeeded in one sport: Fukuro the Owl beat climbing, and the Great Tengu beat table tennis.

The Onis who came to enjoy the heat of the volcanic ground tried on rugby and aced it. A tricky tanuki called Tanooki put on skateboarding and did too well that he became some sort of idol in Scaly City, hence the change of name after him: Tanooki City. And finally, a family of kijimunas, despite seeming vertically disadvantageous, were lightning fast and high on stamina so they took turns being the marathon champion in the household.

Not exactly stopping the tension between creatures from different areas of sports, much less reuniting them, but at least because the new champions were too strong, the grudge between competitors was replaced by a determination to take the champions down. At least that issue was tackled.

These champions had tried, working together to bring solidarity back to the islanders. However, creatures just kept looking down upon those who were from a different sports region with eyes of disdain, the look saying "I am better".

"This is not what sports meant to be!" Otohime had reasoned.

"Playing different sports doesn't mean you can't stay together," Fukuro stated.

"Uh-huh? Try to win  all  the contests here, then. Each of you can only do good in one sport, no more."

Were the champions taken? Were they shaken by those words? Were they dying wanted to reunite the island? Yes. They all had the same might but none of the islanders were buying that.

"So all-champ is the only solution, huh?" Yoichi sighed.

"The best we can do in this case is wait." The eldest kijimuna said.

So they did, trying to keep their place as champions as they waited for a Chosen One to arrive, someone strong and daring and have a heart great enough to defeat them. They wrote prayers for the island into scrolls and handed them to everyone who managed to win against them, as well as having a gold statue of the winner replace theirs. However, if that athlete couldn't gather all seven scrolls from seven victories, the statues would turn back into that of the champions as if it was a mirage. The scrolls would also dissolve into mist, into nothingness.

The karasus, ushis, inaris, and kappas, who had the story passed down in their families, knew the champions' plan so they decided to play along. They talked to the champions, then upon receiving their agreement, announced to the whole island that the Island Championship would be held every four years instead of annually to "give athletes more proper time to train" and because personally, the mentioned creature didn't like how everyone on the island kept glaring at each other with such intensity. Plus, to provide athletes with more guidance with the hope to find the Chosen One, they pondered on forming a "support clan", but despite how good the plan seemed, they couldn't help breaking apart because of the difference in the method of operation.

"We're hypocrites, saying how the island should be reunited yet here we are, fighting each other." The inari fixed on the ground with a solemn look.

"Then we should form each a team." The ushi suggested. "Work our own way. Invite athletes into one of our teams if they ever need our guidance."

"Then whoever got the Chosen One should announce it to the others! It'll be considered group effort." The karasu nodded.

"Kappa!" The kappa exclaimed in agreement.

"Then it is settled." The karasu looked among the others for confirmation as they all nodded, before he added: "Though, don't feel so bad when the Chosen One ended up in my team."

"Not so sure about that." The inari snorted.

That's how there was the "Champion Island" of today, named after the ultimate goal of almost every visitor there at the present, and how the four teams formed a friendly rivalry. It was also the champions who put their powers together to form the Komainus who would test everyone's heart and strength, so that a bluffy creature wouldn't mess up their long-planned plan, and also have them keep an eye on the islanders if there were troubles. Because, well - seemed like a fairytale - but the Chosen One always tended to show up wherever needed help.

—–—–—–—–—

Present...

The kind Kumainu looked at his companion in a mixture of surprise and happiness, though he tried to make it not too obvious.

"The one with strength and a great heart. She does give out that kind of aura." He murmured back. "We should keep an eye on her more than the others."

The fearsome Komainu nodded, then turned his gaze directly into Lucky's amber eyes:

"Congratulations, Lucky the Cat. You may proceed to the main game."

Strings of white light covered her body again, and in a flash, she was brought to the other side of the Torii, in front of the other athletes' dismay.

—————/////—————

Chapter Text

Lucky eagerly jogged up the path lined with pine trees and old wooden stand lamps, heading to the Island Center Square where she was to be given some sort of guidance to the game, as said in the scroll Bells had given her.

She took a few fleets of stairs up a hill, and on the top was a square - a literal square of flattened soil, surrounded by pine trees. There was a stone stand lamp at each corner, four in total, and all of them had mold thickly covering the surface as if haven't been in use for ages.

It took a while for all the qualified competitors to arrive in front of the square, and Lucky noticed the number was considerably small compared to the huge group of athletes before the Komainus' trial.

"Guess not everyone can pass," Lucky felt bad for the failed competitors. "They certainly had trained hard for years for this."

But, well, hard training wasn't the only characteristic contributing to your result.

As soon as they all gathered north to the square, the lamps lit up by themselves, all at the same time, radiating lights and vibrating the air differently.

A flame burst from inside out of the closer lamp on the right, red and orange flares consumed the whole stone object before shaping a wide breast, a beak, and a pair of claw-like limbs, then the fire started to burn out, revealing a bird with dark red feathers - of which those on his shoulders were still slightly burning - stood arms crossed and seemed like he only spared the competitors a side glance, no more.

Water flooded from inside the right further lamp. As soon as the water hit the ground, a certain amount flooded the nearby ground while the rest bounced straight up like light reflected on a mirror, surging higher than the lamp itself. Then the wall of water went slamming back onto the ground with such force as if of a miniature tsunami, splashing droplets on the competitors and revealing a beefy bull with blue hair, dark blue horns, and swirling hydro marks around his shoulders.

At the closer lamp on the left, as if the air had been compressed in there for a long time, winds blew out with a 'pop', sending a gentle breeze to the crowd. The main flow of wind from the lamp, however, was the opposite of gentle. It could be vividly seen as silky light-green streams of air moving around the lamp that seemed to be thickening and picking up pace in the process, until an air cocoon was formed. Just then the air lessened revealing a yellowish-white fox whose tail looked like it was made of steam, for its tip was a bit transparent and kept swaying freely.

And at the final lamp, on the far left, a tree sprouted. Its thin roots made way towards the ground, and seemingly that's it for a while. But suddenly, big, thick branches emerged from the ground and braided together into a humanoid figure decorated by small leaves. Then the leaves started to fall off and the stems unbraided themselves, detached from each other, and fell to the ground with a soft 'thump', slowly as a blooming flower, revealing a greenish creature with a carapace, a short yellow beak, and a nested water bubble atop his head.

"Greetings, athletes," roared the fearsome Komainu as he and his kinder company stepped out of the bushes opposite the competitors.

"At this point, each of you will choose to join one of the four teams, who to give you support and instructions on the games," the kind Komainu explained.

"Also, there's also a side competition between teams to see whichever provides the best guide and have the most potential athletes," the other added, "Your performance will be counted by points and added to your team's total score. At the end of the Championship, all members of the winning team will be honored - because only the Grand Champion of all sports will be honored individually. Do give it your best, and choose your team wisely."

With that said, the competitors rushed to the team representatives that happened to catch their interest while Lucky stood still. She wasn't sure she'd rather this team than that or whatsoever.

"Salutations. New students for Team Red? I'm a Karasu, the noble crow mascot of Team Red. Knowledge is the only path to victory!" the bird - the Karasu said. Many agreed to join his team as they seemed to share the same idea with the crow, who just ignored the ones that declined his offer for another team.

"HELLO! Are you strong enough to join Team Blue?" boomed the bull, "I'm Ushi, the strong bull mascot of Team Blue. Hard work is the only path to victory, can you keep up?"
Oh yes, a ton of tough-looking muscular guys joined him and well, others left because truth to be told, the Ushi's attitude was kinda frightening.
"Wow, you don't know what you're missing, kids," he commented on those who left for another team.

"Kappa. Join kappa?" the shelled creature said, confusing the crowd but also strangely attractive to some, "Kappa kappa kappa. Kappa? Kappa!! Kappa ka-PPA! Kappa kappa. KAPPA! Join kappa?" the Kappa stared at the athletes, who came to look at him with curiosity, and gave them back the pretty much same look, if not for his eyes seemed a bit dazed.
"He's asking if you want to join Team Green," the kind Kumainu came to translate, followed by a collective 'oohhhh' of understanding. The kappa's team was joined by a few.

"Pst. Wanna join Team Yellow? It'll be our little secret," the fox bent down a little and placed one front paw by her mouth in a whispering pose as she spoke quietly and playfully to the athletes in front of her, "I'm an Inari, the trickster fox mascot of Team Yellow. Life's just more fun if you're sneaky," the fox - Inari - said with a wink.

Lucky looked back and forth between the teams. Team Red was about knowledge - not exactly her style; Team Blue was about strength - but Lucky was more of the speedy type rather than blunt force because of her small frame; Team Green of the kappas seemed... watery - kappas were aquatic creatures from what she'd known, and Lucky wasn't keen on getting her fur wet. If anything, the Inari seemed fun to be around with, not so serious, yet not so laid-back. So she decided to join the fox's team, Team Yellow.

"Wanna join Team Yellow? It can be our little secret~"
That's how the fox greeted her once she approached.

"I'll join." Lucky replied as she nodded.

"Welcome to Team Yellow!" the Inari smiled in return.

It took a few more minutes for the competitors to settle with their teams of choice. Lucky took notice that to those who turned down Team Yellow's invitation, the Inari, still in her whispery tone, smiled at them with another wink and said:
"Ok. But shhhhhh! You never saw me."
The feline found the mascot's reaction funny, as had been told 'sneaky is fun', and snickered to herself.

Once things are set, the Komainus, who were standing watch the whole time, spoke up again:

"As I see, all of our competitors this year have picked your team of support," said the kinder Komainu, "With that settled, the Doodle Champion Island Games officially begins!"

He put absolute emphasis on his last word as the fearsome one held up his ball, which glowed blue at higher altitude and sent a tingling sound pleasantly vibrating the area. Flocks of doves set off from maybe all the trees on that hill, flying in curves across the sky, their pure white wings flapping in a peaceful beat, and their fair-feathered bodies made a bridge between clouds. Cheers and applause were heard from every direction of people celebrating the opening of the Games. Sparks and booms of confetti cannons littered any random locations.

The doves made a wide arc around the island before resting back in their nests somewhere in the branches and the cheering noises quieted down, though chatters still filled the air louder than anything before. It was for the inari's voice that draw her attention back:

"Now, for your first assignment: find and defeat a legendary Champion! You can follow one of the paths that surround this hill to find them and play sports. Or you can use this," the Inari handed every teammate a compass, "There's an island map in this compass, and it can also teleport you between the Torii gates where you should come to challenge the Champions. It's convenient, I know, but there are things you should be on foot to learn," the fox gave another wink, "Good luck and stay sneaky out there, athletes."

The three other teams also seemed to finish their first speeches - Team Green with the Komainu's help - as competitors began to head downhill to the paths leading to their destination for their own contest of choice: the Mountains, the Bamboo forest, Oni island, the Beach, Tanooki City, the Water Palace, or the Northwest port. So did Lucky. After taking a look over where each Champion was, she thought of challenging the table tennis Champion first, given that it's the sport she had to play for the trial before everything.

She made her way down by the north side of the hill before turning right, seeing multiple players decided to teleport instead but since the inari advised her to walk, she assumed there'd be something she shouldn't miss.

Chapter Text

Imagine a spider.

The hill was like a roundabout, encircled by a road significantly broader than others, and from that went eight paths leading to the seven sports champions' places plus the south port, like a big, earth-made spider.

There were rectangular stone tiles lined on both sides of these roads, effectively preventing the grass and wild plants from evading the walking way. At the start of each path to a sport's domain town, placed a statue of their respective champions, all made of stone, covered in mold and any possible organism that could live on a rough non-nutritious surface, some parts of the statue had cracked fallen down the ground as rocks and dust, and the statues themselves looked as if they would collapse at any given moment.

On the pedestal carved the name of the Legendary Champion, then their ace sport, and as for the one Lucky encountered, it said "Tengu: Grand Champion of Table Tennis". The statue depicted an aged man in a yamabushi priest robe with a pom pom sash, a tiny tokin, and a pair of the one and only tengu's geta. He had a pair of small wings on his back, which contradicted his relatively large body build, and his face was highlighted by a long nose - not the elephant-ly long type, but you can imagine it as a 5-inch-long Pinocchio's nose. The tengu was standing arms spread, seemingly leaning on his left leg more than the right, making the famous "flamingo" pose seen in stereotypical martial arts posters, looking as if he was about to soar. Lucky couldn't help but wonder how the tengu could fly with those wings.

The feline continued on the path. Soon, the lines of stone tiles came to a stop and pine trees that grew sparsely on the sides were slowly replaced by bunches of bamboo. At the far left corner of the first crossroad Lucky approached placed a house-shaped street sign written "← Table Tennis", so she took a left that went straight to a riverbank, then a right heading to where the bunches of bamboo grew thicker.

The only way to cross the river was to use a wooden railingless bridge that stood solely and just wide enough to make one-way walking traffic. In normal status, Lucky figured it'd be chaotic and pretty much crowded because of creatures queueing to cross in a line on one side, and those waiting for the traffic to change direction on the other side of the river. However, as happened in most times, reality proved it differently; not even one-tenth the number of qualified competitors were there - in fact, only a couple of them plus Lucky herself  - and no locals were seen around.

They crossed the bridge, boards of wood that had been there for who knew how long went 'creek's and 'crack's under their feet, but surprisingly didn't actually break and let them fall into the river. The sound of water passing underneath, slamming against the bank as loud as waves of the sea, maybe even louder, but the atmosphere seemed... quiet. Like something's missing... As if... no one had passed this bridge for so long that it lacked the presence of living beings.

The path diverted a few more times after the bridge, leading the competitors deeper into the bamboo forest. Winds blew gently, leaving almost no sound as they pass by the leaves and stems except a silent high-pitched howl.

Lucky unintentionally shivered, feeling a chill sent down her spine. The atmosphere was too far different from a sports place, which was supposed to be heated and lively, and she wouldn't even deny it if someone stated that the Tengu's place was a bit creepy.

As she saw an Ushi standing by the side of the path, she paused and came to ask him if he knew why this bamboo forest radiated such weird sensations, to which he answered in a voice barely above a whisper:

"Because this town is completely abandoned..."

"But why?"

"After the tengus arrived, the winds are too strong, everyone left for Tanooki City."

"Tanooki City is the skateboarding city in the Southwest right?" Lucky asked - though more like stated - earning a nod from the Ushi, but when the bull's words finally sank all in, she wondered out loud:

"Wait- tengus? I thought the champion's name is Tengu."

"No, tengus are part human, part bird! Very powerful and mysterious creatures. And they love Table Tennis. The champion called himself Tengu after his flock left along with the other occupants of this place, leaving him the only of his kind here. Besides, his real name is just too long," the Ushi explained.

"Oohhh... Thank you for letting me know!" Lucky thanked the bull and ran to catch up with the others. She passed two stone lamps standing on either side of the path, marking the entrance to the abandoned town.

The Table Tennis's Torii gate was built at the foot of the hill, its bright vermilion stood out among the greenery of bamboo in the background like a bonfire.

As the three stepped forward, all walked past under the gate together, a powerful wind picked up, taking the leaves off their branches and raising dust that made them momentarily close their eyes on instinct, and almost lifted Lucky into the air. Then when they reopened their eyes, there he was, the Legendary Champion of Table Tennis, the Tengu, descended from the sky to in front of them, holding a fan that seemed to be made from bamboo leaves attaching to a stick in a semicircle. His face was red and wrinkled, and his gray thick beard made him look like an angry old man.

He paused midair, floating in front of them with his little black wings slightly flapping for only a millisecond before he made an upward swing with his fan, creating a tremendous blow of wind that was thousands of times greater than a normal fan should've created, hurling the three up and carrying them closely behind the tengu as he flew back uphill.

The short flying trip wasn't exactly pleasant, with them having nothing to tell the direction, and nothing to at least keep their own bodies not constantly rolling. At some point, Lucky managed to grab the long stick of one of the Tengu's sandals, and she realized they were being taken to the top of the bamboo hill.

When they finally landed, one of the other two - a husky - was so nauseous he threw up right then and there.

While the top of the center hill was clear enough to see the whole island below, the bamboo hill was covered in greenery from top to bottom, so dense that some areas were dark even in bright daylight.

There was just a small clearing with rocks of different shapes and sizes arranged in a rectangle with a stone stand lamp at each corner, forming a court. In the middle was a ping-pong table, new as ever and not a moldy stone one like the Komainus'.

"Now, who'll go first?" The Tengu asked, looking between the three.

The husky shook his head, clearly still a bit sick.

"I'll go." The third athlete - an Inari - stepped forward.

"Oh, an Inari family member, am I right?" the Tengu said, recognizing her features.

"I'm Kitsune Inari, and yes, from the Inari household," the yellow fox nodded.

"Well then, Kitsune, rules are simple. This is a one-on-one thirty-point match, and I'll serve."

Two opponents got in their position, and the Tengu served, only that he's using his fan instead of a bat.

The moment he swung, the wind started to circle the area. Kitsune swiftly returned. The more the Tengu hit the ball, the stronger the wind got. For an Inari who had some powers of her own over the winds, Kitsune was still clearly in trouble. The air swirled the ball, shifting its direction to the corners. Not to mention that after a few times of back-and-forths of both the Tengu and the Inari earning themselves some points, the number of balls increased.

When the Tengu served two balls, Kitsune could only return one, and when she managed to adjust to tackle double-ping-pong, it increased to three balls, and so on.

The inari darted on her toes from side to side, the steamy trail of her tail swaying as if in a dance, and her arm swung gently, making the sleeves of her pink haori flapped like wings yet each hit came out powerful, judging from the sound. However, Lucky noticed Kitsune was panting, and beads of sweat had trickled down her chin.

They had a balanced score of 29:29, but one moment of losing focus was what it took to miss. Kitsune lost.

As the sound of a whistle was heard in the air, signaling game over, the Tengu snapped his fingers, making all the balls pause midair then flew into the flaps of his haori. Kitsune had to set her front paws on her knees while folding in half, trying to catch her breath before straightening up again.

"Not bad." The Tengu commented as he came to give the inari a stick of two dango balls. "And you should recharge, if you're to challenge me a second time."

Kitsune received the small reward and then left the court, now standing next to the husky.

"I want to go next," Lucky spoke up. She was literally pumped when she saw the match, and there's no way she's gonna wait any longer, "I'm Lucky the Cat, a travelling athlete," she introduced.

"Alright, Lucky. And I supposed you don't need to hear the rules again?"

Lucky shook her head and got in position. Like in the last match she had with the Komainus, she lowered her body center and narrowed her eyes, ready to catch any of her opponent's movements.

The Tengu served and the winds picked up once more. Lucky made some hits at the right angle so that the opposing flows turned out beneficial for her, swirling the ball in tricky patterns. Because of that trick, she managed five points ahead, but then there was the double-ping-pong.

As the winged man served the second ball at a time, Lucky didn't panic, but that didn't mean she could return both. She just couldn't move fast enough to change her pose and return the second one.

You know... The feeling of watching was different from actually playing. Despite how well you know about a sport, viewing it in third person and first person views were like different worlds. It felt... easier from the sideline. And when you put yourself to the test, you'd see the true intensity.

That's the same case for Lucky. The Tengu was real good, and he was on a whole different level compared to the Komainus.

There was no room for mistakes.

Luck took a step backward so that she'd have more room to observe the patterns of movements as well as to have more room to shift her pose for a good hit. And it worked. The second time the Tengu served two balls at a time, she could return both.

While the balls were on the other side of the table, Lucky tried if she could use the "power hit" like she did at the trial, but found herself unable to, as the energy inside her hadn't built up enough for that, so she kept going the traditional way.

After a few more exchanges, the feline felt the inner power of hers surging, her vision came to a strange state of focus that the orange balls were so vivid while all other things dimmed down to a grayish background. Her body was covered in a thin layer of white light and her amber eyes sparkled white, her heart thudded for a split second before she took a small jump on the spot, then a leap and swung her arm in a diagonal arc, creating a wave of air that cut through the Tengu's winds, flaring the balls up in purple and sending them unstoppably fast each to one corner of the Tengu's side. They hit the table at the same time, and the champion wasn't able to reach one.

Lucky: 15 | Tengu: 6

Halfway there.

'Ping'
'Ping'
'Ping'

The Tengu served three balls and fanned the winds even stronger than before that the flapping sound from Lucky's scarf and Kitsune's haori could only be heard faintly. Having adjusted to hitting two balls, Lucky didn't have a problem doing it to three and returned all to the Tengu's side. The winged man, in one wave of his fan, sprang the balls back with a quicker pace in a blast of wind, covered in red flame. Lucky swung right to left, hitting one ball back in a swirl, then at that left position, she hit a second sending it back in a different direction from the first, and lowered her hand in the nick of time to drive the third away. All the impacts turned the flames from red to light purple and sped up the balls even more. And Lucky earned herself three points.

When the number of balls increased to four, then five, Lucky couldn't quite recall how she managed anymore. Her instincts took over, dashing and swinging her arm non-stop while her eyes had to keep skimming for the balls so she could hit at the right moment. The world seemed to narrow down to just her, versus the Tengu and his comet shower of orange balls. She couldn't help but miss some because they went to opposite corners.

Sometimes, she got the chance to make a "power hit", shooting all the balls that had touched the table on her side back to the Tengu's, which included the ones she missed but hadn't hit the ground yet. Then as she landed she had to regain the tempo immediately for more incoming balls.

Lucky: 25 | Tengu: 19

Now came the hardest part: Hexa-ping-pong, six at a time.

From the first serve of six, Lucky already missed two.

The Tengu simply used his fan to make a blow of wind, pushing the balls back. But Lucky just had no way to handle it all besides quickening her own pace.

She got to trick a ball into a corner and earn a point, but the Tengu had taken the lead from her by one point.

Lucky began to feel her surroundings seemed to slow down and thought to herself: It's now or never.

Her eyes shined brighter,

Streams of white flares covered her body,

Time seemed to stop before her,

Everything turned to a blurry shade of grey except the balls, which came bright orange.

She spread her legs a bit more for balance,

And leaped.

Lucky raised her arm and swung in a large diagonal arc, curling up herself in midair, and mustered all her force into the move.

If you watch in slo-mo, you'd see, that the feline had created a purplish shield that covered her whole side of the table, then cut it open with a swing of her bat. With that, all the balls that were before inside the "shield" went bursting out towards the Tengu's side, picking up the purple flames from Lucky's force shield in the process.

And if you watch from Kitsune and the husky's point of view, you'd see six flashes of purple light before the whistle filled the air.

Lucky had sent six balls to the other side, so fast the old champion couldn't react, and won by 32-27.

The whistle vibrated the air before a big silence. Lucky landed, and stood there dumbfounded, ignoring a bead of sweat that had made its way to the tip of her nose.

Then the Tengu suddenly burst into a laughing fit, laughing so hard he landed on his butt, so loud his voice boomed the area, and he shook Lucky out of her stunned state.

"Yayyyyy!" Lucky jumped out of happiness while smiling widely. "I won, I won, I won!"

"Congratulations, Lucky the Cat." The Tengu laughed. "You've defeated me. Well done." He came over and gave her a scroll tied by a thin red rope.

"My first sacred scroll!" Lucky excitedly pulled her fist holding the scroll onto the sky. "Thank you, Tengu-san."

—————/////—————

Chapter Text

Munching on the dangos, Lucky made her way back to the main road. The Tengu had sent her back in front of the Table Tennis Torii, saying she had no reason to stay while there were still more Champions she hadn't challenged. And as much as she wanted to watch the husky's match and Kitsune's rematch, the bird man was right.

One sport down, six more to win! Now the question is...

Where should I go next..?

Lucky took out the compass that the mascot Inari had given her. It was a pocket-sized bronze one, looking as normal as any other compasses except having a black zircon as the pivot instead of the usual bronze.

However, there's more to what the small thing let on: as Lucky pressed on its glass face, the surface slightly sank with a soft 'click', and the zircon lit up like an illuminated button switch. The gem turned from black to glowing white, then projected a hologram of the island map, hovering right in front of Lucky's eye level. The main roads were lined out, and the seven areas of the island were depicted separately that there was no need to draw boundaries. A space was visibly seen between each town and the center square. Seven different-colored emblems marked the location of the sports Torii's, and a cat face symbol pinned Lucky's current location.

If anything, this map/compass was like a GPS, minus the teleportation.

Tanooki City... The southwestern metropolis. Lucky recalled the Ushi she met on the way to the bamboo hill saying that all the people there had moved to the big city. Guess I should check there next. To see how's the city different from the abandoned town.

The pathway to Tanooki City lay opposite that to the bamboo forest so Lucky had to take a semicircle around the Central Hill. At the start of the path to the city, just like any others, there was a statue of the Legendary Champion of the local sport, all covered in mold and so close to falling apart. On the base written "Tanooki: Grand Champion of Skateboarding". It depicted a tanuki holding an umbrella, standing on a leaf-shaped skateboard with a mischievous grin.

Out of the seven Legendary Champions, Tanooki happens to be the youngest deity. The advertising scroll had described him. He took on skateboarding out of interest and ended up being a Champion for his fun-loving and mischief nature, which excites the crowd.

Not too far from the statue was an arrow-shaped street sign printed "←Skateboarding" pointed down a rather straight, clean, and wide road - it's leading to a city, after all. It took a good while until Lucky reached the first crossroad, where an Ushi with his loud voice guided competitors and visitors:

"This way to Tanooki City, metropolis of Champion Island and home to our skateboarding champion!" he said pointing to the road heading south, "But good luck finding him, he's always changing shape and hiding around in the city."

"Changing shape?" Lucky stopped in her track and asked the blue bull.

"Looks like you've never been to Champion Island before, nor heard much about it, am I right?" the Ushi replied with a question, but continued on before Lucky could have a chance to respond as if he knew well what it would be, "Besides being our Skateboarding Champion, Tanooki is also famous as a master trickster. He's agile and can disguise as many different objects to fool others around in a fun way, like a levelled-up game of hide and seek. It's hard to find Tanooki himself in the city named after him. Heh, if you try skateboarding, you might be fast enough to find him."

"Really? Then I have to go find and challenge him right now. Thanks for letting me know!" Lucky said and went down the south road.

It was at least twice the width of any of the eight main paths, the sides lined with concrete tiles. The pine trees and wild plants grew more sparsely the closer she got to Tanooki City.

Three pairs of stone lamps instead of the usual one pair marked the entrance to the big city, and standing by the last pair of lamps were the Komainus, the very same ones who tested her at the trial, and watched her and the other qualified competitors at the team selection phrase.

As Lucky approached, the kinder Komainu spoke up:

"Welcome to Tanooki City! There are lots to see here besides the skateboarding game, you should explore!"

"It is the largest city on the island, so it has whatever you think a city would have," the fearsome guard lion continued his friend's line, "The biggest part of the Championship Festival, underlying secrets," he seemed to wink, but Lucky thought she must've imagined it since a wink didn't really suit the fearsome Komainu, "and, plenty of motels and homestay for traveling athletes like you."

But I don't have any- A thought crossed the feline's mind at the mention of accommodation, but she pushed it to the back of her head for a bigger, fore-faced problem:

"Oh, do you guys know where I should begin to find the skateboarding champion Tanooki? I heard he keeps hiding around in the city and I have no idea what object he disguises as today."

"That's why the number of competitors up for skateboarding the last two Championships reduced, huh," the kind Komainu sighed, "So it's not because the sport's becoming less popular, it's because of the rumour."

"What do you mean?" Lucky tilted her head.

"Well, because of that saying you heard about Tanooki, many competitors have searched the whole city for its champion but couldn't, so they skipped skateboarding until someone else managed to find him, which is very unlikely to happen," the fearsome Komainu explained, "Because, during the Championship, Tanooki sits in the dojo at the center of the city."

"Oh, thank you. I'd be going now!" Lucky gave the guard lions a slight bow, then proceeded into the city.

Lucky came from a small town (and still preferred small towns to cities), so the crowd and the festivity in the air here in Tanooki City were beyond anything she'd ever seen.

Colorful flags and banners were everywhere and the quantity was far extended compared to those on the way from the South Port to the Central Hill. Red lanterns hung across the road 'shining' brightly as lit by daylight. Discount banners and posters hung from fabric eaves and on glass doors of stores. The queues from inside the stores made their way all out to the street and showed no sign of reducing in length. Others were just standing by the road, chatting, Lucky could clearly see the variety of creatures, and by varied, it meant really varied, to the point she could see a fish on a wheelchair chatting with an squirrel. She wouldn't even be surprised if Symphony was in that crowd.

Navigating herself through the bustling, Lucky spotted the skateboarding Torii up ahead, on a big yet relatively low podium. She tried passing under the vermilion gate, but of course, nothing happened.

The skateboarding dojo was quite easy to spot, honestly. Rooftops of the central buildings were decorated with gigantic models of a football, sneaker, neon board, dangos, or a tanuki head. Stood out among all of them was a very specific tanuki head - the model of Tanooki himself - bigger and positioned higher than others, on a purple roof.

The dojo was built in old mansion style with wooden walls, a tiled roof, and red, blue, yellow, and green lanterns hung on strings decorated the area; however, it also had modern textures, seeing as the roof was purple with a giant tanuki head on it, and colorful skateboards hung on the exterior wall. The building lay on top of a slight slope with stone stairs leading up, and the entrance was guarded by two Inaris.

Why Inaris, of all creatures? Simply because Inaris had their sneaky nature, fitting for the trickster champion.

Lucky entered the dojo, to a large main hall. The inner walls were all steel-plated, which is reasonable because they have to anticipate a ton of hits from beginner members who couldn't control their balance or direction. The wooden floor was filled with faded graffiti, and the walls hung a huge variation of skateboards. The dojo members were either on their skates, practicing tricks or simply gliding around for fun, or stood at a safe corner to chat.

The receptionist was a Shiba-inu wearing a light blue kimono. There wasn't any reception desk, by the way, so he's standing near the entrance, away from the skateboarder for the sake of his own life.

"Welcome to the skateboarding dojo," he said, "Feel free to stroll around and chit-chat with our members, but please stay out from the skating tracks."

Noticing Lucky seemed to look around for something, he added: "If you're looking for our Champion, he's in the back room, probably in some sort of object form."

Lucky thanked the Inu, then crossed the room to the opposite door which had a board written "Tanooki's personal indoor park" hanging on the frame. The back room was a bit smaller compared to the main room, though the space seemed much wider due to the lack of crowd. Similar to the previous room, the wooden floor had a ton of faded, colorful graffiti, and the steel-plated walls were almost covered by the biggest skateboard collection she'd ever seen. They were in many different shapes and sizes and designs, some of them she recognized from a magazine article about one-of-a-kind skateboards for expert collectors. That wasn't really shocking, considering Tanooki was the infamous trickster. Two half-pipe ramps took up nearly half the space of the room.

"That's our champion's personal collection," someone said from behind Lucky, making her jump, "May I ask what you're doing in here instead of being in the main hall?"

She turned to face an elk in a simple white yukata.

"I'm looking for Tanooki so I can challenge him. I was told to look here first." She replied.

"Hmm... So you're a competitor. Good start," the elk nodded, "I'm Toby, one of Tanooki's assistants."

"I'm Lucky the Cat, I'm a travelling athlete." Lucky introduced herself.

"Now, let's see... Hey Kugo! Where was he the last time we checked?" Toby shouted a random name and the following question was clearly addressed to that 'Kugo'. Lucky was looking around confusingly, when she heard a voice from on top of one ramp:

"He's in the backyard."

"Great. Lucky here wants to challenge him and happens to come to the right place. Wanna come too?" Toby asked Kugo, gesturing at Lucky with his front hoof.

"Hah, I kept wondering why the other silly competitors check every corner of the city for Tanooki, except this dojo," Kugo laughed and hopped down from his place, landing right in front of Toby and Lucky. He's a Shiba-inu, in a dark blue kimono.

"Let's go."

A small door leading to the backyard blended too well with the wall that Lucky couldn't see it there until Kugo opened it with a single push.

The backyard didn't have lawn, or trees, or any form of decor other than strings of lanterns. A wooden box lay in the middle of the ground, and a very suspicious-looking bronze pot on top of it. Lucky moved towards it, unnoticed that Toby and Kugo had stopped by the door and gave each other a knowing look, Kugo even tried to stiffen his laugh.

Lucky bent down to examine the pot, but nothing was out of the norm. Then she decided to open the lid.

As soon as the lid was picked up by the slightest bit, white smoke flooded out and the pot started to vibrate violently that Lucky stumbled backward. In a flash moment the pot bounced up with a 'poof', a head popped out from inside the pot and the lid disappeared, arms replaced where the handles used to be, a pair of legs and a tail grew from underneath and the box unfolded itself to become a very unique leaf-shaped skateboard. She barely had time to react before she felt her body being flung up.

The impact that picked the feline up in air was gentle, really, but somehow strong enough. Lucky did an upsidedown flip midair and hold on to the nearest thing she could reach, which happened to be a thin rope used to hang lanterns, then repositioned herself to land on the rope with two feet before straightening up as she quickly gained balance.

She could feel another weight being put on the rope as another creature also landed on it, right in front of her. He was holding a red umbrella in one hand and a fan with a sun design in another, he was balancing on the rope on a leaf-shaped skateboard without a single trace of trouble, and his outfit strangely resembled the bronze pot.

"Tanooki!" Lucky recognized the skateboarding Champion and said out loud his name.

The mentioned champion grinned mischievously:

"Hello there, athlete. Up for a game?"

Chapter Text

What a place for a challenger-athlete to meet a Champion: both balancing on a rope hanging across a backyard, a few meters above the ground, and none of them seemed to be bothered by their current position.

"Hi there, athlete. Up for a game?"

"Of course I am!" Lucky would've bounced, had she not been on the rope, "I've found you, so that means I can challenge you in skateboarding, isn't that right?"

"Ding ding ding! You're correct!" the tanuki pointed at Lucky with his fan as his grin widened, "But this is just the first level, Lucky. Think you can really catch me? Meet me at the Red Gate and let's skate together!" he then jumped down from the rope and opened his umbrella pointing upwards. But before he met the ground, he vanished in a thin veil of green smoke.

"Yess!" Lucky threw a fist into the air and cheered to herself, then also jumped down, landed perfectly on two and was about to rush to the Torii, but stopped herself after a few steps. Her expression changed to that of hesitation when a very certain thought crossed her mind. The feline turned to Toby and Kugo, and she could tell the why-are-you-still-here looks in their eyes.

"Nee, Toby-san, Kugo-san, I heard the dojo lends out skateboarding equipment?" Lucky said, but raised her voice at the end, making it sound like a question.

"I should've thought there's no way you'd have a skateboard in that little pack of yours," Kugo laughed, gesturing to the small cylinder attached to Lucky's belt, "We do have a collection for situations like this. Follow us."

The elk and the Shiba-inu lead her back into Tanooki's room, then opened another well-hidden door on the left to a storeroom the size of a gardening shed. Skateboards of several standard sizes were lined on a shelf to the right. Helmets, also in different sizes were put on display on the opposite shelf. Knee pads, elbow pads, and some other weird-looking-shaped protection pads filled a few boxes on the ground.

"You can pick whichever you see fit for yourself during the contest," Toby said sternly, "But you must return it afterward. You wouldn't like what'll happen if you don't."

"Got it," Lucky replied as she scanned the skateboard shelf. She picked a plain red one, a bit too big for her size but in good condition. Then she chose a matching red helmet with a white fish design which had holes that fit her ears, but skipped the protective pads.

Toby and Kugo didn't go to watch Lucky's performance, saying they had to stay in case someone else came to borrow some equipment, but they wished her good luck and gave her some good advice: basic points for skating on the rails, applause-scaled points for tricks, and extra for finding Tanooki somewhere around in the park, hiding as a tea kettle.

Lucky exited the dojo by the backdoor and took the chance to try out the borrowed board. She glided to the front ground, easily using her feet to change directions, and when at the stairs, she sped up and did a basic kickflip - well not really basic since she jumped higher and made the flip last longer than usual so that she wouldn't land on a step, trip and face-plant onto the street. And, well, except for that risk, which she already had under control, Lucky enjoyed the airborne time. In a good few seconds, she felt no gravity, and winds seemed to crawl under her fur.

She landed leaning a bit back to utilize the flip's momentum and skated slowly through the crowd to reach the Torii.

The vermilion gate looked like when she last checked it: a few competitors came and passed under it but nothing happened, so they ran off, probably to find Tanooki. Now that she thought about it, maybe Tanooki had sent that Ushi to the crossroad to mislead competitors, and see if anyone could find him first to be the first skateboarding challenger of the Championship. And if that theory was correct, then Lucky and only Lucky herself should be able to enter the game by passing under the Torii.

Holding the skateboard by one arm, she step forward, and suddenly, the area around turned dim as if someone had turned off the daylight.

But it was a clear day, and the sun was still shining on the sky as Lucky instinctively glanced up, though its light was rivalled by something else, something not normal.

The Torii was glowing, as red as if it was burning, and a single line of purple light drew a skateboard right above the gate, flashing like neon lights. The gate immediately became a spotlight, drawing possibly all the creatures in town with a lot of yelling 'The game had finally begun!'. Then streams of purple light, looking soft as silk, emerged from the skateboarding emblem attached to the gate, quickly wrapped around her like a cocoon, and unwrapped themselves just as fast to reveal her already in a different place.

She was standing between two stone lamps at one end of a concrete ground with launch ramps of different angles, rails without stairs that were absolutely not built in a straight line, enormous cement podiums with (yet some more) rails-without-stairs on top, and strings of colorful lanterns hung between metal poles: she's in a skateboarding park. The ground was surrounded by bleachers as like in a stadium, with all sorts of creatures hustling and pushing each other, filling the seats in a blink of an eye. When Lucky turned to look behind her, there was a single bleacher that stood higher than the rest, its only two seats were occupied by an Ushi and an Inari, both wearing head-mics.

"Ohayogozaimasu, minna-san! Nice day isn't it?" the Inari started to speak, his joking voice echoed through the speakers, "Today is the day we're all waiting for - the first day of our once every four years tradition: the Doodle Champion Island Games!!"

"I'm Ushi Kota, and this is Inari Haru, here as commentators of the skateboarding game," the Ushi continued. "Welcome to the first Skateboarding game in this year's Championship!"

Huge applause boomed in the park, along with whistles and stomps of possibly a dozen types of feet. Lucky saw the Inari was trying to say something, but his voice was muffled by the crowd, even with the help of the head-mic.

"Alright, alright, alright. I know you're all excited," Haru said once the cheering finally calmed down. "But what's a Championship without a Champion? Brace yourselves for another applause, folks, 'cuz I know you will, for our skateboarding champion, TANOOKI!!"

And perfectly timed to Haru's words was a 'poof' that followed, and a tanuki went parachuting out of nowhere with a red umbrella. When still a few meters above the ground, he suddenly folded the umbrella, and, believe it or not, started to street-dance with his leaf-shaped skateboard in the sky, before gravity pulled him down. Even then, he swiftly shifted himself for a stylish land and headed to the nearest launch ramp, shot himself up once more, and did a complicated trick combo that was highlighted by him turning into a kettle and back.

The air exploded.

Lucky felt her ears had popped - literally - the cheering was so loud it was like thunder because this time Kota and Haru joined them too. Tanooki's skills were good, he knew how to keep the balance even when there's practically nothing to lean on, in midair, and he was so fast his tricks looked like magic - Lucky saw how he added small details to common tricks to make them unique.

This time it took a while even after Tanooki's performance for the spectators to calm their overexcitement down.

"Now, as you know, a skateboarding game won't start until a competitor finds our Champion, and that creature will have the honor to play the first game of the Championship," Kota said, "For this year, we have a young travelling cathlete up for the test - LUCKY!"

Lucky grinned and waved when they also cheered for her.

"The target of the game is to do a solo performance," explained Haru, "There's no limit to what you can do, and the spectators will be your fairest judges," he gestured to a pole next to the commentator's bleacher, where hung something that looked like a super long thermometer whose length was the same as the pole's height. It had a strange purple liquid inside instead of mercury, and it was marked from 0 all the way to 10000, every one hundred, "Put it simply, the more they cheer for you, the more points you score on our clapometer, and you need more than 4500 points to win."

The purple liquid in the thermometer-like thing - the clapometer - was at the 0 mark.

"You have 2 minutes," Kota pulled out a whistle, "At the countdown to one. 3!"

Lucky put one foot on the skateboard and got in position

"2!"

"1!"

"GO!" Haru yelled as Kota blew the whistle.

She kicked start.

"And there she goes!" Haru said excitedly on the speakers, "Lucky is a new face on Champion Island, but let's see what she has to put on a show."

Lucky went in soft zigzags forward to the other side, softly using the slight movements of her hips to control the pattern before suddenly leaning to her right in a big bend towards one of the ramps on her side. She kicked the ground one more time, putting power into it to pace up the ramp and shot to the air in a blue-and-red blur.

"Heads up people, that's a nose-grab," Kota started commenting, "And - lookin' promising for our first challenger to win in one roll, I'd say - airborne one hundred eighty frontside!"

Lucky landed on the rails and glided in the crowd's applause, then made an artistic spin at the edge to avoid bumping straight into the opposite ramp. She heard the small 'clash' underneath of the wheel touching the concrete ground out of another thunder of cheers and Haru's yelling "One hundred eighty backside! Triple combo!"

The heat was getting on and on to the more rounds she took between the ramps doing trick combos, posing whilst gliding on the rails, and saw the park in a ton of weird yet interesting points of view that you wouldn't expect in a normal circumstance while doing so. In a special move of 'headstand helicopter', she saw the world swirling around upsidedown, before flipping back up and attempting - keyword attempt - to do an additional 'barrel roll'. Dizzy as a result of too much spinning, not only that she couldn't complete the roll, but she also made a completely off-balance crash-land: her back hit the ground and she felt her breath empty out of her lungs for a split second, light spots danced in front of her eyes with her surroundings wavering as if she was looking through some water surface.

"Ouch, that must be hurt."

Not that it's the worst I can get. Lucky pulled herself up, stumbled a bit and shook her head to chase away the light spots, then with another push, she continued her performance as if there wasn't any interruption.

The feline moved to a steeper pair of ramps. With the right pace, these worked much better than the previous ramps in launching her to the point that she could see the whole park below - if she did 'helicopter', and that's when she saw an unusually large bronze teapot somehow had made its way into the skating ground, below a string of red lanterns.

"You'll get extra points for finding Tanooki somewhere around in the park, hiding as a tea kettle." Kugo had said.

Instead of landing on the rails atop the cement podium below, she changed directions to landing on the ground, riding a fakie towards the suspicious tea kettle.

If it was Tanooki, how to 'find' him..?

Maybe it worked like how she found him as the pot: as she approached the kettle, she swiftly flipped and removed the lid, barely had time to turn around when green smoke puffed out, a tanuki on a leaf-shaped skateboard was standing in place of the tea kettle. He winked and disappeared within a leap.

"Hide and seek! That's a Tanooki specialty!" Kota shouted, now that the spectators were applauding by all forms of noises they could create.

"Fifteen seconds left!" Haru announced.

Lucky rocketed to the nearest ramp. Time for her final blow.

"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."

Lucky launched up, and on top of the ramp, she took a leap on her own, so that she was launched at least five feet higher than the skateboard, then curled up and spun, with her red scarf adding the effect to make her look like a fire wheel - and weren't those flares that crackled out from her calico fur?

"Three."
"Two."

Lucky landed beside a line of rails with one foot on the ground to stop the motion of the board, and also to rebalance herself.

"One!"

The whistle blew, signaling time's up.

The feline checked the clapometer: the purple liquid inside had changed into light green when she wasn't looking, and the markings changed from 0 to 100000. The liquid was at the 32000-or-so-so level.

"Impressive performance," said Kota, "That fire wheel move is amazing, isn't it guys?"

The crowd cheered in agreement.

"And what's more important than a super cool ending move," Haru continued, "Is that you've earnt yourself more than 32000 points. This means that..."

Tanooki appeared next to her, without his skateboard for the first time, and spun his umbrella above them until a small cylinder fell down - Lucky caught it at the same time when another applauding explosion came and confetti was thrown filling the sky.

Lucky raised the Skateboarding scroll in a victorious fist to the air, as Kota said:

"You're the first Skateboarding Champion of this year's Island Games, Lucky. Congratulations!"

Chapter Text

"Princess Otohime lives in a beautiful underwater castle, you can see it from the red bridge west of here. She welcomes all to join her in her Artistic Swimming dances..."

The street sign pointed to a long narrow wooden bridge that was just enough for at most two to pass at a time, leading over a strait to a distant islet. Like the bridge crossing the river to the bamboo forest, it had been standing there since who-knew-when, the wooden boards creaked under her feet, threatening to collapse with every step she took but never did to some unknown miracles. However, there was also a noticeable difference: the area was bursting with not only competitors, but also spectators.

Apparently, this islet was much, much more welcoming than the forest: the paths were neatly tiled with stone plates, there was a smooth transition between the sandy beach and the well-mown dark green lawn; willows grew on the side, their leaves put up a majestic look; here and there were funny-looking short moldy-green-leaved trees with orange trunks, alongside trees that grew vibrant red leaves despite it was summer, both their names she couldn't tell; and for the central attraction was a beautiful red bridge, the one you could expect from an old east-Asian romance scene, crossing a lake that reflected sunlight, glowing like a gem.

The entrance path led to a small pool lined with stone plates, separated from the lake, its water so still that Lucky would've doubted it being the Synchronized Swimming contest place, hadn't for the Torii standing steadily on the middle of the surface. Things looked way too calm to have a competition going on.

Lucky took a step back and breathed in, stabilizing her inner energy, and concentrated on her feet, then quickly went forward. But instead of falling into the water, she walked on it. Yes, on the water surface. That's one of Lucky's specialties: walking on liquid surfaces as if they were solid. Let's say she was... not so keen on getting her fur wet in the first place, hence trying to figure out a way to make contact with water without actually doing so. In other words, one of the first techniques she learned was to create a thin veil of air covering her body, acting as a sort of shield against water - in this case, she only focused on her feet to save energy.

The feline passed under the vermillion gate, then looked back at the blue emblem on the gate expectantly, yet nothing happened.

"So this one comes with a condition like Skateboarding?" Lucky mumbled to herself. Back at the Otohime statue, there were also a few small shiny gold sculptures of different creatures laid on the pedestal, by the princess's feet - sculptures of competitors who had earnt the Artistic Swimming scroll. Basically, one would have a small gold sculpt like that by the feet of the statue depicting the Legendary Champion they had defeated; Lucky had found out about that just by reading the advertising scroll.

"That means the dancing place is accessible, but how..?" Lucky passed the Torii for the 9th time.

"If you don't mind me asking, how would you compete in Artistic Swimming if you don't swim?" someone snickered.

A yellow fox - an Inari - was standing by the pool, watching Lucky as if she was something entertaining while using the sleeve of her pink haori to muffle her snickers.

"Ah, Kitsune! So you've defeated the Tengu?" Lucky came to the fox's side and asked, because she did care, having seen how the latter struggled in her first match.

"Of course I have! I'm an Inari, I can't lose to him twice," Kitsune humphed, but her smile showed that she wasn't mad at Lucky for the question at all. Then she looked at Lucky and smirked:

"So, Lucky the Cat, this year's first winner of Table Tennis and Skateboarding, is afraid of water? How ironic," she said mockingly.

"I just don't like getting wet, those two are different!" Lucky exclaimed, "But now that you mention it, how can we get to Princess Otohime's contest?"

"Didn't I tell you already? Swim," Kitsune said simply and jumped right into the pool.

Lucky adjusted the air veil to cover her entire body, thin enough that she could move easily in water but also sufficient to breathe, then followed Kitsune.

The pool was definitely wider than it looked, as deep as the sea. Lucky couldn't make out where the walls or the floor were supposed to be, there seemed to be no boundaries at all. Noises from above sounded so far away; and the light, although shimmering brightly on the surface, it was getting dimmer and dimmer the deeper she dived, to the point that all remained was a thin cyan aura in the midst of the navy environment.

Lucky was reaching the floor, her hands slightly touching the seaweed. Among them were a few coral colonies, all pearl-white and similarly shaped like arrows... Wait, arrows!?

They all pointed to what seemed like a mountain range with a strange halo radiating from behind. Well, if there's a castle in this gloomy kelp forest, it should be glowing, right?

The feline swam towards the "mountain range" - which turned out to be a slope with spiky top upon closer view - to the other side and entered an abyssal plain where grew the most beautiful coral reef she'd ever seen. From the top of the surrounding ground went down to the bottom in layers of rocky planes like a stadium where seats were placed all-messed-up, and on each ledge was a coral colony, either squirming with life or being the breathtaking solid remains, colors ranging from magenta to fresh green. And there, laid in the middle of the plain, was the underwater castle complex, all with red-painted wooden constructions with aqua bamboo drapes sealing the windows from outer looks, and thatched roofs that were gold-plated and elegantly curled up like raising dragon heads at the edges.

The biggest building at the center had its entrance made of white marble that formed a hall leading in and did not have a door. After all, that wasn't really necessary since - although Otohime didn't show it purposely - it is clear that the princess possessed great powers. The main castle seemed to be enlightening the area, casting an emerald glow on the rocks. And the surroundings, it's no longer dark and navy here, but instead bare the colors of the sky on a moonlit night, with sparkling bubbles constantly floating up out of nowhere like little stars.

Lucky landed in front of the marble hall, on the stairs, a funny tingling feeling set in her lungs and she realized it must've been Otohime's gravity-redefining work: she could walk as if she was on land.

The hall was brightly lit with golden lights that resembled pearls in shells. A few fish were swimming back and forth, possibly the guards.

She entered a lobby built out of pink marble instead of white and with additions of some yellow and blue, with the exception of the opposite wall which was blue. This specific one was decorated with branches of some exotic plant in glass cases, the uppermost line of the wall had carvings depicting something like a very peaceful aquatic era, and there was an alcove where placed a throne, in front of a large circular window. Sat on the throne was a gorgeous blue-haired woman, a gold helm on her forehead a pair of scallop-shell earrings dangling on her sides and her slender figure tucked in a blue-and-white fairy's robes. Otohime looked at the approaching contestants with a kind smile, though she remained still the whole time. Standing by her were a man holding a fishing rod and an old turtle.

Kitsune was already there, and different from other competitors who couldn't help but gaze at everything with awe - Lucky herself included - the Inari was standing respectfully by a pillar, only shot a glare at one of the creatures who were acting out of manners once a while. Then she noticed the feline coming.

"Hey, you're not lost," she said monotonously.

"You think I would?" Lucky crossed her arms, feeling offended.

"No, no," Kitsune dropped her cool face and chuckled, "Or perhaps yes, as I arrived here about 10 minutes before you. But don't worry too much, there are a ton of reports about getting lost on the way to this palace."

"That's not reassuring, you know that?" Lucky gave the fox a blank look.

"Whatever~" Kitsune airily waved it off, "And if my guess is correct, the competition is starting in no time."

Lucky turned around to see Otohime got up and spoke in a gentle voice but loud enough to catch everyone's attention:

"Good morning, athletes. Welcome to my castle, where shall be held the Synchronized - or as some of you may prefer the simpler term, Artistic - Dancing contest. I am princess Otohime, but there's no need for formalities if you don't want to, and I'm the current Champion of this sport until one athlete wins all seven sports within one Championship, who will become the Grand Champion."

"Well, before all of that, let the dance..." Otohime swiftly got to the middle of the lobby with the man and the turtle followed suit. She then pulled the flap of her robes, the man swung his rod upwards as if trying to fish something, and the turtle pulled out a pair of sunglasses. That's all the gathered competitors could see before they felt themselves being picked up in a whirlpool and their eyes instinctively squinted because the lights suddenly became blinding, but then dimmed down just as fast. They opened their eyes and gasped. In front of the alcove placed a DJ table, the man and the turtle, both in sunglasses, jocking an upbeat tune in low volume. The plain marble floor had turned into a purple, pink and yellow checker, a bigger-sized version of what you'd expect from a dance game machine in the arcade. A disco ball had descended from the ceiling, and below it was the princess in a short sleeveless dress and jade bracelets and anklets.

"Begin!" The princess continued her left-off sentence while everyone mouthed the silence 'oohhh', even Kitsune couldn't contain her excitement.

"This dance consists of two phases." Said Otohime. "Phase One is 'Beat'. You may dance your way, show your style and do anything as long as you keep grooving. Phase Two is 'Spotlight'. A spotlight will go on, starting from me, then randomly pick one of you. I cannot guarantee how long it will last on each individual because the time span is also random, therefore you've gotta make the best once standing under the light. When you're not, however, you shall not stop dancing as every move counts." She paused and looked around to watch their expression. Once they all seemed to understand, she spoke:

"Then, music on, shall we? Let's think of this as a party you're having with your friends, be natural. I wish you all the best."

The man turned up the volume. Music filled the room and Lucky could feel them echoing against the walls. The aquatic guards led a big crowd into the lobby, whom altogether formed a ring, and well, they brought the atmosphere Otohime told the contestants to imagine - this felt like a real party now.

The first phase went smoothly for the feline. She danced to the rhythm, mostly enjoying it herself, and even snapped her fingers to create a purple glimmer just for a show a couple of times.

Then the light from the disco ball went dark, and from it, a single spotlight illuminated Otohime standing in front of the DJs. The music switched to a song with slow heavy notes, each went with some smaller ones. The princess slightly yet elegantly kneed a bow, then started her own dance moves with a series of taps on her toes, each tap made the floor ripple and small bubbles came floating around her, coated with light that they looked like pearls. She then raised her arm, dismissing all the bubbles and tapped the last ripples, just before the spotlight turned to another one, beginning the Spotlight Phase. The tune came faster, more joyful with lighter beats.

In the spotlight phase, all while kept dancing, Lucky thought everyone did fantastic, in their own way of course. A kangaroo tap-danced, fast and strong enough to make the iconic tapping sound regardless of being barefooted and underwater. A rabbit and a badger shared the spotlight for a pair dance, their movements completely in sync.

As random as it was, the spotlight turned to Lucky. She took no time for hesitation but pulled out her best moves right away, combined with some red or purple glimmers trailing by her paws. In the process of her part, she got a chain of fast, consecutive notes, possibly the highlight of the song, to which she quickly improvised into a twirl at the spot, followed by an acrobatic flip and ended by a peace, exactly when the spotlight turned to the next contestant.

After Lucky was a mouse who skipped with her long tail. And Kitsune, swaying with golden aura glimpses resembling autumn leaves.

The music was getting slower, then ended by a significant strong note, and light illuminated the whole room again.

There was a moment of silence. All dancers froze at their spots, statued in their end poses.

"Pwee~weeet!" Someone whistled. There was some clapping, next a couple more, and the lobby was filled with applause. The athletes looked at one another, nodding and smiling, then simultaneously bowed to the crowd. Winner or not, Otohime was right. This felt like a friendly game, and fun was above competitiveness.

"Great dance, everyone." Otohime happily said. "Now Huston, Hilda, please come forward."

Huston the Kangaroo and Hilda the Mouse went in front of the princess while the others stayed.

"You two were both good dancers there, unfortunately, a little off-beat, with Huston a bit too fast and Hilda a bit too slow," Otohime commented. She drew two sticks of two dangos and gave one each, "You cannot receive the scroll yet, not now. You just need some minor adjustments so keep trying, okay? Hope I can do that to you next time."

Huston and Hilda nodded, taking their rewards with resigned expressions on their faces.

"And Vanille, Morgan, Lucky and Kitsune?" Otohime called out for the other four to come to her, "Congratulations. Nice moves, all of you, and I think you all deserve these." She bent down, for she was too tall compared to any of them, and handed each a scroll tied by a red string that made a bow.

Lucky raised her own scroll with a grin and cheered to herself:

"I've got it! Third scroll and four more to go!"

Chapter Text

Lucky got out of the pool, dismissed the air veil and opened the holo-map to check her next destination.

Kitsune shot up in a rather loud splash and sent some water splattering out, before slowly landing next to the feline. Then, again, she chuckled at Lucky's widened eyes on her.

"All Inaris have wind power, I thought you should've guessed that when you met Ume," The fox explained.

"Ume is the mascot Inari's name right?" Lucky recalled the team selection. Ume Inari did make a whole wind cocoon poofing out of a stone lamp for an entrance.

"Uh-huh," Kitsune nodded.

"But, about the team selection..." Lucky remembered, there was no other Inaris other than Ume!
"I didn't see you there."

"Of course I didn't go to the selection. All Inaris are born dedicated to Yellow Team, our family's team, so that's not necessary," Kitsune said with pride, "So, do you have your next target in mind or are you taking a nap here and now as your species would?" she asked.

"Not ALL cats nap always, you know?" Lucky retorted, but again, she was an exception in almost all 'usual' cat activities.

Artistic Dancing was probably the least tiring contest here, still, she had used up a lot of energy to maintain that veil as well as create the sparks, so she needed something where she wouldn't burn herself out entirely. It's true that she could've taken a rest for a good few minutes or so, and it's not because of Kitsune's teasing tone that she decided to do otherwise, but rather because there was literally a whole great sports event going on that made her feel restless.

Lucky checked the holo-map: her choices were either Archery at the Northwest Docks, Climbing at the North Mountains, Rugby at Oni Island - which was another islet opposite to her location, or Marathon at the beach.

Climbing was out of the question, Lucky had experienced enough to tell how tiring it was to climb a snowy mountain...

"I'm going to the beach," she decided, "Uhm, I guess, catch you later!"

With that, she took off, back to the main island, and followed the path back to the main road. It was about an hour past noon, the early summer heat was getting on with blinding light beams but as if it could affect a cat's spirit anyway. She jogged, her scarf and her tail fluttered to her movements, the winds were so refreshing, it was barely a day that she had started to enjoy this place. And there's that sensation, every time she passed by the Central Hill, something indescribable and different from all that she'd ever known about living creature's sensations...

"Oi!" Her ears slightly twitched from someone's shouting, followed by a specifically strong wind that almost knocked her off her feet, then a familiar figure in pink came running - though her footsteps were so light she seemed to be floating - towards Lucky.

Kitsune slowed down once she spotted the lone figure of a cat with a red scarf and called out to her, but got careless in the process that she let the winds she created to speed herself up off-leash. She didn't realize it until Lucky got hit and was almost picked up in air. Oh how that cat kept surprising her, Lucky quickly unsheathed her foot claws to hold onto the ground. There was a slight change in her essence, like a barrier that made the winds slip by without further harm to her body, then she shouted out loud:

"Be careful everyone!!!"

"Ah! Sumimase!" Kitsune snapped her fingers, and the winds died down at once, "Sorry..!" she apologized to no one in particular.

Lucky drew her legs from the soil, retracted her claws, and looked at Kitsune's panicking fit:

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Lucky was worried. If Kitsune couldn't hold the winds she created, she might be in some trouble...

Kitsune felt Lucky's essence change back to normal when the winds ended, before receiving her concerned question.

"I'm fine, just got a little distracted. Controlling the air isn't easy, you know?" she sighed silently, "You're going to the beach, aren't you? I'll go too."

"Really?" Lucky beamed, "Let's go, then!" It's not like she couldn't handle things on her own being the adaptive creature she was, but having company was always better than being alone!

"You don't even wonder why I suddenly want to go with you?" Kitsune said, amused, when they continued the walk to the beach.

"I do, a little. But there's nothing wrong with athletes sticking together, especially when we're in the same team," Lucky replied.

"It is true, to some aspects," Kitsune chuckled.

They soon reached the bank. The grass on the lower ground was significantly in a darker shade of green and definitely wet because there was a forest full of water-bound plants at the intersection between the higher land and the beach - the Kijimuna's natural habitat. Down a few stairs were a wet trail that went beside the forest, Lucky could easily smell its dampness and felt that under her bare feet as it shifted from wet soil to soft sand. The feline was sorry to admit that she hadn't been to a beach before. Her small town of Wiira was relatively far from the sea - it was in fact fifty days' travel from Champion Island that Lucky had to run through woods and fields and across rivers instead of taking the usual path just to make it within a month! She couldn't blame Bells for telling her about the Championship so late though, as she was the one who kept hesitating that her sister had to step in. Another reason was that her parents were always too busy to take family vacations. Taking care of five kittens sounded tough.

By the first step on the sand, Lucky almost fell. It felt like snow, but dryer and warmer, and she knew exactly which one she preferred. She paced up on the tip of her toes, a cat's light and agile steps left almost no marks as she got to the Torri with a green emblem, excitement filled her chest. When she passed under it, she felt something itchy, like a burn on the fur on her neck, so she reached into her scarf. There was definitely a mark there, a square fitting inside a circle on the side of her neck.

"Say hello to the Checker Mark, Lucky. That baby stays until you finish the race," said Kitsune as she came after. Lucky witnessed the process that had happened in her own neck on the fox's: a glowing green stamp appeared, then its light turned into withering light sparks in the air, leaving an area of outstanding brown fur the shape of a square fitting inside a circle, which size barely exceeded that of a beetle, "An old forest magic that only the Kijimunas and the von-Schwarz frogs can practice. Us Inaris have tried before but failed to replicate it. Even using it was hard for those who can, so they save it for the Championships. They record the moment when you cross the finish line pretty accurately, though the downside is the burning part."

"Who are the von-Something frogs?"

Man, the strange name triggered Lucky curiosity.

"Von-Schwarz. A family of magic frogs. As far as I know, the first of them arrived here long before our Seven Champions, but they're physically weak so they avoided taking part in anything. Otherwise, they're useful before matches because they can do precise weather forecasts." Kitsune answered, then a thought crossed her mind. She suggested. "Hey, if you're so keen on that, why don't you go see them in person? I can lead you." Now it is your reaction that matters, Cat.

"It'd be really nice, thanks!" Lucky said, delighted that she beamed as brightly as the sun. "Maybe after the race, if you don't mind." She looked at the fox, who nodded.

"We didn't have our fur burnt for nothing, after all." Kitsune had to refrain herself from a sigh, relieved. "The next race is starting soon. Let's head to where the Kijimunas assemble, shall we?"

A small part of the grove stood solely on the seaside. Among the trees stood out a banyan, its branches so wide they cast a shadow on the sea and ran down its trunk, making one with the roots. And for the trunk, Lucky could swear that her family could fit a life in there, given if it was hollow. The leaves were of emerald green, not just because of sunlight but also because of the ancient energy it bore, and you don't have to be as sensitive as Lucky or Kitsune to sense it.

Lucky took a round around the tree, unaware that Kitsune was slowly out of sight, and in a flash, the fox was gone.

Chapter Text

Lucky failed to notice that the Inari had left her side. She was so into making out the figures moving among the high branches, each of them about the same size as her, constantly disappeared and reappeared again and again in the shades of the greenery like ghostly silhouettes - no! Ghosts were supposed to be blurry and fluidic, while these ones were much more sprightly.

The Kijimunas! Lucky muttered in astonishment. The mangrove mischiefs were swift in their trees similarly on the ground, she had heard that frequently enough. The feline took one step closer to the old trunk of the ever-aged tree, tracing from the wrinkles on the bark to the creatures above whose action unknowingly tempted her to come up there with no clear reasons at all, when her keen ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind her.

Scurrying footsteps on the sand, it was, and the rustling of palm leaves. They came and quieted down as fast.

Lucky stood still, making sure she did not make a sound. Was it just her imagination?

Here was that sound again, this time closer to her back. She turned around in alarm but found nothing.

Just when she was facing the sea, she heard it behind her once more, so close that it made her flinch.

Wha-..? She thought and turn around halfway before getting dragged by the wrist.

The creature who was dragging her was barely taller than her but vividly sturdier in build, his skin red as if he'd overslept in an oven, his hair was dirty blonde like straw and came in strands of straight-cuts as if he used to have a bowl cut but later changed his mind and let it grow so long it reached his knees. He had a man-bun on top of his head, which Lucky couldn't help but think of a wagging duster, and the only thing that covered his body from being exposed to public eyes was a piece of palm leaf. He was holding a large round leaf in his free hand as an umbrella.

Despite his short legs, he was so fast even when he was just walking that Lucky found herself jogging after him. At a certain point on the beach where a path of wet sand started, she saw several Kijimunas assembling - old and young, some also had blonde hair, some had caramel brown, dusty light or grey, their skin were all similarly red, but what's more special was that a couple of them were sitting on wheelchairs. Three-wheeled wheelchairs composed of wood sticks as the frame and large round jades as wheels, though where they got those jewels from remained a mystery even for the knowledgeable Karasus. At this time of the day when the sun gave out most of its heat, many would prefer the shades of the bamboo forest or the coolness of the pool, so there were only half a dozen of them including herself, and Kitsune who was talking to a familiar-looking stone creature with her back to her.

The lighter Komainu was wearing a striped shirt, the one that referees often wore, and holding a signal gun. He was in serious conversation with Kitsune, apparently, and kept nodding at something she said while the fox spoke as soft as a breeze that Lucky wouldn't be able to pick out anything even if she had the intention to eavesdrop.

"I think that's everyone for this race, Agyo!" the Kijimuna who drag Lucky said.

"Right," the Komainu - whose name was now Agyo - snapped out of his talk with the Inari, "This is the second race of this Championship, at noon hours," he said aloud, "You will be racing against Kou, the current Kijimuna Champion," he directed at the aforementioned Kijimuna, "As well as some of his family.

"In front, you see, is the running track of fine wet sand, sturdy and especially what you'd want to stick to under this of the heat. Run outside the track and you won't be able to keep up with the soft sand and extreme hotness. In addition, since Kijimunas have quite a bad relationship with crustaceans and cephalopods, if not to mention they despise each other-"

"They'd try to sabotage the race," Kou huffed, "Watch your feet."

"To win the Marathon scroll," the Komainu continued, "Not only that you have to outsprint Kou, but also win first place."

"Wait..." an ape made a questioning manner, "So there can only be one winner?"

"Haven't you checked the statue?" Agyo replied with another question. Oh yes, Lucky had seen what the Komainu meant. There was one singular little sculpt of a winner on the base of the Kijimuna statue. Even Table Tennis, the sport that most competitors saved for last because of its uninviting location had more winners than this.

"Now that all is clear," Agyo cleared his throat, completely ignoring the dumbfounded ape, "On your mark!"

All assigned racers took a spot at the beginning of the track. Lucky asked before taking her spot:

"So your name is Agyo?"

"You've never asked, have you?"

"Not really," Lucky chuckled awkwardly, "But now I'm curious about your friend's name."

"Get set!"

Lucky lowered her body, her front paws slightly touching the ground in a starting position, but hesitated when she saw the impaired Kijimunas also placed their hands on the wheels.

"Is this even fair..? Racing against impaired creatures..."

"Do not underestimate the capability of the Kijimunas," Kitsune said while preparing herself, "They are the most energetic creatures I've ever known, and that is, I grew up on Champion Island!"

Agyo turned his gun up to the sky.

BANG!!

Kou started with an already incredible speed, followed tight behind by an old Kijimuna on cyan wheels, his arms showed quite the opposite of what so-called aging bones, rolling his wheelchair as strongly as a miller-man in their golden time.

Kitsune was running third, bending the blows that were supposed to be against the fox with her haori into a force that sped her up, creating a pointed shield in front of her that opened her way like a piercing dart. Coming fourth was Lucky, running carefully so not to get Kitsune's dust into her eyes, steadily getting faster as well, as the part of her feet had reduced to barely a tiptoe. If someone couldn't look closely enough - which was the case for almost every spectator of the race - it seemed as if Lucky wasn't even touching the ground.

Lucky struggled behind Kitsune at first - her windshield kept pushing her back, and if she used up her strength just to pass the fox, she'd run out of juice for the actual goal - winning against Kou. Then she tried out a different strategy, letting the wind redirect her sideway but tried not to get backward, she reached the lane that wasn't affected by Kitsune's power, to some degree even had that contrary blow that helped her move forward more easily. She was now after the old Kijimuna, and was, very certainly, passing him in no time when a sharp pain shot up from her foot.

She tripped and nearly planted her face on the sand, but there was definitely sand in her eyes. Lucky blinked furiously, trying to get it off as she started to run again. Through her watery eyes, she saw a puddle of something that looked like pincers. Kou wasn't kidding, crabs were attempting to sabotage the race, though the feline didn't expect them to be playing ambush nor be this small of a size. Like this very one, she didn't even notice it until she literally stepped on it, receiving a harsh pinch on the foot in return. The mark that those pincers left remained there for days.

"Argh..." The feline groaned as she was trying to get back into the race. Kitsune had already passed her while at it and she was falling fifth.

The wet sand at least made the stinging pain subside, so Lucky quickly resumed her pace, ran past the Kijimuna, and was attempting against the fox again, when an octopus popped out of nowhere. Its tentacles wagged, completely blocking the path.

"Oh get out of the way you nuisance..." Lucky heard Kitsune mutter before skillfully dodging the tentacles.

Now that Lucky realized how she was wrong, thinking Marathon was easy. Sure, she was a running kitten, spending half her life until now venturing the corners of her hometown of Wiira, but that had nothing to do with getting through an enormous octopus in the middle of a racing track. Looked like she couldn't win anything here without putting on a show after all.

Lucky took a few small, rapid breaths, then let out one that exhaled all the air inside to switch to a pattern of shallow, light breathing, and at the same time her tail twitched and she launched herself as if breaking out of something.

The watching crowd gasped. The feline in one blink turned into a transparent figure, running through the octopus. She proceeded to run through some crabs on the way without a scratch, and passed the Inari's windshield like it was thin air alone, before reappearing solid.

Meanwhile, Lucky was trying to catch her breath while maintaining her speed. That one technique was what Lucky had been practicing lately and hadn't fully mastered. She would run out of breath too quickly to her liking and had to dismiss the effect.

She passed the old Kijimuna and carefully watched her footing for crabs to avoid. There was another octopus ahead, but she managed to get past this time. Lucky's speed only went up the more she ran. Seeing a crab ahead and her own breath had steadied, the feline made a shift of essence again. At a bend of the edgy track, she saw a sign saying 200/400m, which meant she had made it half the way, and was the runner-up! Only halfway left to make it to the top.

Lucky was running so fast that the scenery on the side went by like a blur. The distance between the cat and the Champion was becoming less, when a very squishy, large thing blocked her, tripping her by the knees and making her roll over. She didn't even notice to have dismissed the effect herself! Of course, unconsciously, her need for air had resumed her fast-paced breathing that was required for the technique back to normal.

She pushed herself back up and gave another shot, but the chances were small. She already saw the finish line ahead. Lucky aimed at it, using the last bits of her strength, running like a starship that exhaled sand dust instead of fire and gases.

Almost there-...

A cool sensation slowly made place on her neck, the exact place where the checker mark was. Lucky slowed down and finally stopped, her heart beating its way out of her chest and her breath took a while to slow.

Kou was standing ahead of her...

So she couldn't make it past him in the end, huh?

"For the top three of this race," Agyo, somehow already standing by the finish line, announced, "Lucky the Cat, Second place. Kitsune Inari, Third place. Kou Kijimuna remain Champion."

"On a road without moving obstacles like that, Lucky, I bet you've already beat me," Kou commented as he gave Lucky a stick with two dangos - refuel for almost-there place.

"Running past those obstacles is the thing in this race, isn't it? I didn't do good enough, but next or the time after next time, I'll take that First place!" Lucky said cheerfully and took a bite of the snack.

"Oh, and Inari-san-"

"Just call me Kitsune. Pretend I'm just any ordinary creature," Kitsune shook her head.

"It's new to see a member of the Big Four joining us this year," Kou gave her a stick of one, "Thought you Inaris were only good at being secretive and all that stuff, turns out you guys are good at keeping an athlete in."

"It's because you guys never dare to visit our home," The fox shrugged.

"You know "the thing", that is," Kou fiddled with a strand of his hair apologetically.

Yet leave all of it for us to handle. Kitsune thought, but decided not to word it. This island had had enough of disharmony in the short fifteen years since her birth, let alone before. She was here to reconnect, not put more blame on others. The inhabitants had their reasons to fear the problem while her family did not, for it was related to their natural ability, and their willpower to protect their home. It was only reasonable.

"Kit-chan~" a male fox called out to her. He had a head-mic and was wearing a purple yukata.

"Haru?" Kitsune recognized her cousin. "Why are you here?"

"Tanooki is taking his lunch break," an older female fox answered for him, "We got here just in time to see our most promising two of the Team racing against each other."

"But seriously, Ume, nice work convincing Lucky to join our Team. She is indeed promising~" Haru chimed, "Looks like you have less chance to win after all those years of training, Kit-chan."

"I still do not fully sure that I have the right ability to win all of this, cousins," Kitsune calmly said, "I found something hard here and there... If anything, all those difficulties only confirm my belief that Lucky is here to win. She is that Chosen One."

Ume widened her eyes, revealing her hazel orbs:

"The Chosen One... The Komainus told me she has that potential too."

Haru looked at Lucky, who had found a place in the shade to sit down and was wrapping her injured foot with some bandages.

"You ought to support her, Kit-chan. In my place, I cannot do anything."

"I know, I know. That's why I decided to accompany her." Kitsune nodded.

"But remember to be sure not to meddle with her work of effort, Kitsune. Who knows what that will lead to." Ume said.

"You don't need to remind me." The younger female smiled. "After all, you two of all Inaris know the best how much I want to return harmony to this island."

"Dying to do it," Haru playfully flicked Kitsune's forehead.

"Recklessly do it," Ume poked Kitsune's side.

"It's just a few years at first!" Kitsune pouted, "Weren't you two reckless too?"

"Okay okay, enough of that," Ume laughed, "I should get back to my task if I don't want our Leader to be angry."

"I've gotta get back to work soon," Haru looked at the sun, "Good luck, cousin."

-----

Lucky put a couple of herbal leaves on the pinch mark then wrapped several rounds of bandages. The slight pain was still there but that shouldn't be the problem: she had had numerous injuries before. All the same, she decided to rest a little to recover her strength or her limbs would get stiff later on.

She wandered on the beach, outside the track there were almost no crabs, thankfully.

"I've lost my table tennis bat. Can you help me find it, please please pretty pleaseeeeee~! Or my cousin will be mad for sure~" an Inari came shaking her shoulders and saying in perhaps her most pleading voice. She looked smaller than Kitsune and had less of the other's graceful composure.

"Sure! Where should I start?" Lucky agreed to help without a second thought.

"Oh thank you! I think I last had it somewhere on the beach," the fox pondered, "And please be quick. Oh if Kitsune finds out about this, I'll be good as dead!"

"Find out about what?"

Speaks of the devil...

"E-Eh nothing you should know!"

"Lost something again, Akira?" Kitsune frowned at looked at Akira accusingly.

"Errrr... No?" the younger nervously tried to lie, but failed miserably.

"So what did she ask you to look for, Lucky?" Kitsune turned to the cat, who was standing there, seeing the two Inaris arguing, unsure whether to interrupt.

"It's nothing much, Kitsune. I'll just go fetch it while you two are - uhm - talking," Lucky sweatdropped and made her excuse to leave the scene.

"You don't have to do that, Lucky," Kitsune crossed her arms, "It's Akira's fault that she's careless. Let her find her things on her own for once so she'd remember next time."

"But I cannot just don't help her. Who can tell, she can be the coolest player there will be! Besides, I've said 'yes' already," Lucky smiled.

Kitsune sighed. She knew Lucky had a strong will and it was almost impossible to refrain that cat from doing anything of everything.

"Yeah~ Just listen to your friend and be easy on me for once, would you?" Akira attempted to tease Kitsune, but then squealed as she received a glare from the older fox.

"Fine, I'll help. But that has nothing to do with you keep asking for help from random creatures about your lost things instead of actually trying to find them yourself," Kitsune said, and started to search the beach with Lucky for the bat.

"I swear, this is the nth time already! And why on earth did she bring a table tennis bat to the beach!??" Kitsune grumbled to no one in particular when she created some blows to see if the bat was covered under the sand.

"There are some weird ways to train, you know?" Lucky replied while looking around. Her eyes were good enough to spot things that were not completely covered, "My sister knows nothing about body concentration and sports and stuff - maybe just a little of figure skating - but that's it. But she supported me nonetheless when everyone was against my idea. I mean, I wouldn't have been here without her."

"Where are you from?" Kitsune abruptly asked.

"A small town named Wiira."

"Fifty days from here, small and rarely have far visitors. Most of them prefer the city a day away." Kitsune spoke. "I've seen that name mentioned in very few manuscripts. Your town does not know much of our kind and the abilities that are practiced on this island, Lucky. It's good that you have a supportive sister. I, too, have Haru and Ume by my side. However, effort counts, don't you agree?"

"Of course! There are times that it means everything," that was the most obvious answer.

"Whereas my cousin Akira... She has hopes and dreams, but too wayward, too dependent, you get what I mean? She's always asking for help even for things that she can totally do by herself," Kitsune shook her head.

Lucky couldn't think of anything to argue.

The search went on all the way to the other side of the beach. Lucky was first to spot an object lying near the Torii - a brand new table tennis bat.

"Wow, what a nice table tennis bat..." Lucky said to herself in awe. New sports equipment, who wouldn't like that? "I should take it back to its owner!"

"Kitsune! I've found it!" Lucky shouted out to the Inari.

"Can I shoot it straight onto her face?" Kitsune bluntly asked, even summoning a wind sphere that she'd use as a slingshot.

"C'mon let's just return this properly," Lucky grabbed Kitsune's hand, giving her no chance to protest.

"My beautiful bat! You've found it!" Akira gladly took the bat, caressing it as if it was a fragile baby, "I wish I had something to thank you..."

"It's nothing, really. I'm happy to have helped!" Lucky waved her hand dismissively.

"Then, I can't wait to get back to training. Thanks again! And you too, cousin!" Akira held her bat tightly and gave them a bow, then left.

"So," Kitsune asked Lucky, "Now that my annoying cousin is handled, what's next?"

"Rest a bit?" Lucky answered, "I mean, we've been active all morning. Maybe I'll take Rugby, since the next race isn't after hours," the cat sat down under the shade of a fruitless palm tree.

"Best of luck then. I have some tasks for the Team to be carried out at the bamboo forest so I'm taking my leave now. We'll see each other again soon."

"See you later, Kitsune."

"Oh, and one more thing. Lucky, give me your compass," Kitsune gave out her hand.

Confused, Lucky tilted her head, but gave her compass to the fox anyway.

"If you need my help, there's a way to contact me, although please don't tell anyone. This is kinda forbidden for me." Kitsune said, as red auroras formed like flares flickering around the compass. Lucky noticed a red button had appeared on the bronze frame.

"Press it if you want to call me," Kitsune returned the compass to Lucky, who looked at it with the profound curiosity of a child. "I have the only compatible here." She showed hers, which also had a red button. "I expect you won't be using it much, but just in case you get lost or something. This island is more than its surface puts on."

-----/////-----

10.

Lucky wouldn't deny that she was concerned, and a bit scared.

Half of the wooden bridge leading to the volcanic islet was slightly burnt, nearly as good as coal, creaking. And with the ocean waves washing below, that was extreme.

Who even thought that building a wooden bridge to a literal volcano was a good idea anyway??

Warm and cozy, that was Lucky's first impression upon setting foot on Oni Island, except for the heavy smell of ash hanging in the air. The ground was full of rifts, as if the earth itself was torn apart and pieced back together. The flow of magma below could be seen in a glimpse here and there, glistering under the thinnest parts of soil or around the poles of rock that had been pushed up above usual ground level by the force of the fiery nature. There were also constant rumblings, and maybe a few sparks would shoot out causing a few burns, but that was it of the lava inside the volcano pits. Supposed the eruptions had stopped long ago, so the place could be considered safe to be used as a rugby field. If not, small creatures like Lucky could barely make it out alive, crushed by larger ones also running for their lives.

The construction of this islet was of rocks as black as coal rising on different levels in the middle of the sea, bearing magma inside. She quickly found the Rugby Torii, adorned by a simple yellow emblem of the sport, standing solely by a cliff looking down at an enormous lake with lava instead of water, and the same scorching vermilion substance was pouring down from a stage of higher ground in form of waterfalls. The lake stretched far and wide, there wasn't much housing. In fact, the only building in sight was the dojo - a big house of dark wood, vibrant red, definitely-flame-resistant frame, and dark beryl roof.

As usual, cross under the gate to take part in the game.

But there was one tiny- no, really big problem.

Her competition would be the Red and Blue Onis, plural form. She needed a team. There was no way she could go solo with a whole team of years-skilled Onis. If there was only one of them, Lucky should be confident she could, having the advantage of agility and a few tricks up her sleeves. But when there were many, with the Blue Onis' height and speed, along with the Red's size and strength...

"With that, victory is in your hands, students! Go for it," a Karasu was leading a group of five athletes to the gate. Lucky stepped aside as they walked under it together and disappeared.

"Oh, a lone contestant, I see, and definitely not our student," the Karasu looked at Lucky, squinted their eyes judgingly, "Identify yourself."

"I'm Lucky the Cat, from Team Yellow," Lucky honestly answered, seeing no point in lying. Anyhow, Karasus were creatures of practical knowledge in the same way that Inaris were creatures of majestic secrets, so they could tell anyway.

"And do you know how to join in a game of Rugby?"

"I think I need a team. There's no way I can go against a bunch of giant Onis alone. I saw even your team advised your 'student's to form a team of five," Lucky pondered, then looked back at the Karasu.

"You see, there is another way around if you cannot find any of your teammates around who is willing to form a team," he said, "Momotaro, a local, is specially trained to go against the Onis as the new Rugby Champion. This year is also his first setting out along with his friends. Perhaps you can ask to join."

"And... How can I find him?"

"Just look for peach designs. Momotaro's team should've gathered far from here."

"Thanks a lot!" Lucky beamed. But then it hit her:

"Why are you helping me? Thank you, really, but didn't the mascot of your team say you guys don't want anything to do with other teams' members?"

"I doubt you'd find any of your Inaris here, in the volcano. Besides, knowledge is meant to be shared, regardless of what my family puts on," the Karasu crossed his wing-arms behind his back, "If anything, I wish the inhabitants of this island would be less carefree..." he walked away.

Lucky tilted her head in confusion. The islanders she'd met so far were all hospitable and nice! Well, couldn't say she had met enough to conclude something, but the Karasu's tone made it sound so bad, as if this island was in a cold war.

The curious and helpful nature of the kitten kicked in, she wanted to find out what was that the Karasu meant. There might be a chance of him saying it out of annoyance - she knew a thing or two about how frustrated geeks could get being interrupted, but again, no. She sensed none of that in his voice, but rather something similar to Kitsune's voice when the fox told her that they had to part for she had a team task elsewhere, and to keep their enhanced compasses a secret. It was hoarse with grief, rebelliousness, and a tint of hope at the end of the road.

She could've asked Kitsune, but she wouldn't dare to interfere with the Inari's work. Maybe the Champions knew something! So she ventured down the path and crossed a small rotten bridge above a crack of lava, to a ground with nine red stand lamps. They were mostly decoration though, as the environment itself was bright enough. Five lamps on one side, and the four rest on the other along with a specifically large building - the Rugby Dojo, laid at the foot of the lava waterfalls, connected to the ground by a wooden board.

She was about to enter, when she noticed from the corner of her eyes, a group of three creatures standing together, looking extremely worried.

Without hesitation, she approached them. She tapped the closest one to her - a snow-white dog - on the shoulder.

"Uhm, hey, sorry to interrupt, but you guys seem troubled."

"Oh, no, sure we are..." the dog sighed.

"What's wrong?" Lucky felt anxious for them, too.

"Our team captain Momotaro has gone missing! How will we be supposed to play without him? He is the only one who can stand against the Onis. Without him, we're toast!" the dog's ears drooped.

"And it's the day of the big game, too! WE'RE DONE!!" the monkey in the group screeched, holding his head and trembling.

"We're done for, DONE FOR!!!" the pheasant quacked, his raspy voice did nothing but add more tension. Lucky just had to step up:

"Everyone stay calm. Maybe I can help to find him!"

"You would do that for us?" the pheasant stopped his panic series and looked at Lucky with widened eyes.

"I certainly will! Can't let your big day be ruined, can I? I think Momotaro is just too busy preparing for the match that he forgot about time, so no worries!" Lucky smiled, her optimism seemed to have lightened the mood well.

"What team player!" the dog exclaimed, sounding like a bark, "Monkey last saw him heading north, climbing up the mountain. Hey, if you manage, I think we can ask him to let you join us for today's game if you're in need of a team."

"Thanks for your offer. I'll begin searching the North Mountains first!" Lucky waved and took her leave.

"We hope you find him fast!" the dog waved back.

Lucky took out the compass and pressed on the glass face, opening the map. The cat face was near the yellow symbol of Rugby. She reached to the blue symbol of Climbing positioned Northernmost, alongside some snowy mountains, and as her hand went through the illusional dimension, streams of night-blue sprung out from the black zircon, embracing her in a warm touch of a dark spinner. She felt weightless when the world around her blacked out fast as a blink, and the cocoon of dark aura untangled. Instead of the fiery atmosphere, Lucky was met with something completely different, polar opposite: She was standing in front of a Torii with a blue emblem, in midst of a beautiful greenery, on a mountain landing. A long fleet of stone steps led down to the main road, running alongside some waterfalls pouring out from the rocks and narrow climbing walls. Behind the gate stood a steep climbing wall with very few holds, some of them even...moving?

Lucky looked around the light-colored grass littering with small white blooms and patches of snow, mountain breezes blew by, giving her a slight chill under her fur and making her scarf flutter in such a scene that the witness can easily think she was an ascending hero for a split second.

She saw a peach, a big, round, juicy, silky pink peach that seemed to glow under the highland sunlight, bedded by a couple of fresh green leaves, lying on the ground.

"What is this... a peach?" she muttered as she picked it up. Peach designs on his rugby team's clothings... Something clicked in Lucky's head: his name, "Momotaro" literally meant "peach child", so this could be a sign of him!

"Momotaro must be this way!" She'd gotta keep looking for more peaches to see.

Lucky walked closer to a river that would soon fall down, and spotted another peach on the side, by the path between the climbing wall and the river.

"Another peach! I must be on the right track!" Lucky smiled to herself proudly.

The first peach was already quite big that she had to hold it with two arms, but she managed to tackle the second as well in what's like a big hug.

At the end of the road was a big building that by now, Lucky could tell immediately to be the dojo - the Mountain-Climbing Dojo, to be precise. Designed to fit its Champion sport, the house had the majority of brown palettes. In addition, the second floor somewhat looked like a gigantic nest and on top of the construction was a golden perch, as expected from Fukuro - a snow owl.

Another part of the road turned right, to a small stone bridge over the river. As soon as she reached the other side, she found a third peach laying by the edge, but also spotted something else, much more concerning.

A lady rabbit was standing by a huge pile of snow, so huge that it completely blocked the way up a fleet of stairs leading up greater heights. There was no other way up as the slope was too steep for any ordinary creatures to climb even with equipment. Two stone lamps on the sides of the stairs were barely visible under all that snow, but enough to signal that whatever up there was an important destination.

Lucky placed the two peaches among the third, then came to the rabbit lady to see if she was any help.

"Greetings, weary traveller," the rabbit lady's warmly greeted her with a bow, the cloud patterns on her clothes seemed to shift around. Her eyes were closed, unknowing why, but Lucky read her face: the slight frown hidden by her gentle composure, the corner of her mouth going down, and that tint of worry in her voice.

"I wish I could invite you to relax in my humble hot spring, but alas..." She talked breathily. "One of Fukuro's snowballs has blocked the entrance!! There is no way in or out!"

"Right this morning Mrs.? Because of the Mountain-Climbing contest?" Lucky asked, round-eyed.

"Oh why, Fukuro is the master of creation! He wants a real challenge that worths his skills, so he makes snowballs and animated climbing holds and a wall so high that one fall was deadly!" She scrunched her nose in disapproval. "Of course, that last part is covered thanks to some sorcerers, but still, Mountain-Climbing is the only sport without a winner so far since Fukuro claimed Champion. Not just making the Chosen One harder to show up, but crushing our lower lives as well! A heavy giant pile of snow right at the entrance of a hot spring, my poor business venture... I'll be ruined!"

Hearing the rabbit lady's tone changing to grief, Lucky was taken back. The things about Fukuro, and the fact that someone's earning is threatened because of a contest, sportsmanship was reduced to as good as nothing, and that's the one thing Lucky could not stand.

"Is there any way around?" she asked to make sure what she heard was true.

"No! And believe this old bun, it takes forever of manpower and water from the hot spring to remove that, and how should I matter enough to convince anyone to leave their festivals to come help? We'd need something like a super fire arrow to melt that much snow fast. How can I afford that?" the rabbit sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, young one. Perhaps you can enjoy my hot spring another time."

"Hmm..." Lucky looked down. She'd be lying if she said she could totally cover that because when she left home in such a hurry, she didn't bring much money in her little pack. And she'd already spent that little amount on her way for some food and the boat trip. But she also hated to let the lady down: she had the teleportation compass, aid from an Inari, and more than enough energy to look for a specific arrow on an island!

"I don't have any money, but maybe I can find one!" she reassured the rabbit.

"Oh, you sweet child," the elder put a hand on Lucky's face, caressing her cheek lovingly. "I suggest you check with Fluffy at the Arrow Shop in the North-west Docks. He might be able to help!"

Chapter Text

Lucky wouldn't deny that she was concerned, and a bit scared.

Half of the wooden bridge leading to the volcanic islet was slightly burnt, nearly as good as coal, creaking. And with the ocean waves washing below, that was extreme.

Who even thought that building a wooden bridge to a literal volcano was a good idea anyway??

Warm and cozy, that was Lucky's first impression upon setting foot on Oni Island, except for the heavy smell of ash hanging in the air. The ground was full of rifts, as if the earth itself was torn apart and pieced back together. The flow of magma below could be seen in a glimpse here and there, glistering under the thinnest parts of soil or around the poles of rock that had been pushed up above usual ground level by the force of the fiery nature. There were also constant rumblings, and maybe a few sparks would shoot out causing a few burns, but that was it of the lava inside the volcano pits. Supposed the eruptions had stopped long ago, so the place could be considered safe to be used as a rugby field. If not, small creatures like Lucky could barely make it out alive, crushed by larger ones also running for their lives.

The construction of this islet was of rocks as black as coal rising on different levels in the middle of the sea, bearing magma inside. She quickly found the Rugby Torii, adorned by a simple yellow emblem of the sport, standing solely by a cliff looking down at an enormous lake with lava instead of water, and the same scorching vermilion substance was pouring down from a stage of higher ground in form of waterfalls. The lake stretched far and wide, there wasn't much housing. In fact, the only building in sight was the dojo - a big house of dark wood, vibrant red, definitely-flame-resistant frame, and dark beryl roof.

As usual, cross under the gate to take part in the game.

But there was one tiny- no, really big problem.

Her competition would be the Red and Blue Onis, plural form. She needed a team. There was no way she could go solo with a whole team of years-skilled Onis. If there was only one of them, Lucky should be confident she could, having the advantage of agility and a few tricks up her sleeves. But when there were many, with the Blue Onis' height and speed, along with the Red's size and strength...

"With that, victory is in your hands, students! Go for it," a Karasu was leading a group of five athletes to the gate. Lucky stepped aside as they walked under it together and disappeared.

"Oh, a lone contestant, I see, and definitely not our student," the Karasu looked at Lucky, squinted their eyes judgingly, "Identify yourself."

"I'm Lucky the Cat, from Team Yellow," Lucky honestly answered, seeing no point in lying. Anyhow, Karasus were creatures of practical knowledge in the same way that Inaris were creatures of majestic secrets, so they could tell anyway.

"And do you know how to join in a game of Rugby?"

"I think I need a team. There's no way I can go against a bunch of giant Onis alone. I saw even your team advised your 'student's to form a team of five," Lucky pondered, then looked back at the Karasu.

"You see, there is another way around if you cannot find any of your teammates around who is willing to form a team," he said, "Momotaro, a local, is specially trained to go against the Onis as the new Rugby Champion. This year is also his first setting out along with his friends. Perhaps you can ask to join."

"And... How can I find him?"

"Just look for peach designs. Momotaro's team should've gathered far from here."

"Thanks a lot!" Lucky beamed. But then it hit her:

"Why are you helping me? Thank you, really, but didn't the mascot of your team say you guys don't want anything to do with other teams' members?"

"I doubt you'd find any of your Inaris here, in the volcano. Besides, knowledge is meant to be shared, regardless of what my family puts on," the Karasu crossed his wing-arms behind his back, "If anything, I wish the inhabitants of this island would be less carefree..." he walked away.

Lucky tilted her head in confusion. The islanders she'd met so far were all hospitable and nice! Well, couldn't say she had met enough to conclude something, but the Karasu's tone made it sound so bad, as if this island was in a cold war.

The curious and helpful nature of the kitten kicked in, she wanted to find out what was that the Karasu meant. There might be a chance of him saying it out of annoyance - she knew a thing or two about how frustrated geeks could get being interrupted, but again, no. She sensed none of that in his voice, but rather something similar to Kitsune's voice when the fox told her that they had to part for she had a team task elsewhere, and to keep their enhanced compasses a secret. It was hoarse with grief, rebelliousness, and a tint of hope at the end of the road.

She could've asked Kitsune, but she wouldn't dare to interfere with the Inari's work. Maybe the Champions knew something! So she ventured down the path and crossed a small rotten bridge above a crack of lava, to a ground with nine red stand lamps. They were mostly decoration though, as the environment itself was bright enough. Five lamps on one side, and the four rest on the other along with a specifically large building -  the Rugby Dojo, laid at the foot of the lava waterfalls, connected to the ground by a wooden board.

She was about to enter, when she noticed from the corner of her eyes, a group of three creatures standing together, looking extremely worried.

Without hesitation, she approached them. She tapped the closest one to her - a snow-white dog - on the shoulder.

"Uhm, hey, sorry to interrupt, but you guys seem troubled."

"Oh, no, sure we are..." the dog sighed.

"What's wrong?" Lucky felt anxious for them, too.

"Our team captain Momotaro has gone missing! How will we be supposed to play without him? He is the only one who can stand against the Onis. Without him, we're toast!" the dog's ears drooped.

"And it's the day of the big game, too! WE'RE DONE!!" the monkey in the group screeched, holding his head and trembling.

"We're done for, DONE FOR!!!" the pheasant quacked, his raspy voice did nothing but add more tension. Lucky just had to step up:

"Everyone stay calm. Maybe I can help to find him!"

"You would do that for us?" the pheasant stopped his panic series and looked at Lucky with widened eyes.

"I certainly will! Can't let your big day be ruined, can I? I think Momotaro is just too busy preparing for the match that he forgot about time, so no worries!" Lucky smiled, her optimism seemed to have lightened the mood well.

"What team player!" the dog exclaimed, sounding like a bark, "Monkey last saw him heading north, climbing up the mountain. Hey, if you manage, I think we can ask him to let you join us for today's game if you're in need of a team."

"Thanks for your offer. I'll begin searching the North Mountains first!" Lucky waved and took her leave.

"We hope you find him fast!" the dog waved back.

Lucky took out the compass and pressed on the glass face, opening the map. The cat face was near the yellow symbol of Rugby. She reached to the blue symbol of Climbing positioned Northernmost, alongside some snowy mountains, and as her hand went through the illusional dimension, streams of night-blue sprung out from the black zircon, embracing her in a warm touch of a dark spinner. She felt weightless when the world around her blacked out fast as a blink, and the cocoon of dark aura untangled. Instead of the fiery atmosphere, Lucky was met with something completely different, polar opposite: She was standing in front of a Torii with a blue emblem, in midst of a beautiful greenery, on a mountain landing. A long fleet of stone steps led down to the main road, running alongside some waterfalls pouring out from the rocks and narrow climbing walls. Behind the gate stood a steep climbing wall with very few holds, some of them even...moving?

Lucky looked around the light-colored grass littering with small white blooms and patches of snow, mountain breezes blew by, giving her a slight chill under her fur and making her scarf flutter in such a scene that the witness can easily think she was an ascending hero for a split second.

She saw a peach, a big, round, juicy, silky pink peach that seemed to glow under the highland sunlight, bedded by a couple of fresh green leaves, lying on the ground.

"What is this... a peach?" she muttered as she picked it up. Peach designs on his rugby team's clothings... Something clicked in Lucky's head: his name, "Momotaro" literally meant "peach child", so this could be a sign of him!

"Momotaro must be this way!" She'd gotta keep looking for more peaches to see.

Lucky walked closer to a river that would soon fall down, and spotted another peach on the side, by the path between the climbing wall and the river.

"Another peach! I must be on the right track!" Lucky smiled to herself proudly.

The first peach was already quite big that she had to hold it with two arms, but she managed to tackle the second as well in what's like a big hug.

At the end of the road was a big building that by now, Lucky could tell immediately to be the dojo - the Mountain-Climbing Dojo, to be precise. Designed to fit its Champion sport, the house had the majority of brown palettes. In addition, the second floor somewhat looked like a gigantic nest and on top of the construction was a golden perch, as expected from Fukuro - a snow owl.

Another part of the road turned right, to a small stone bridge over the river. As soon as she reached the other side, she found a third peach laying by the edge, but also spotted something else, much more concerning.

A lady rabbit was standing by a huge pile of snow, so huge that it completely blocked the way up a fleet of stairs leading up greater heights. There was no other way up as the slope was too steep for any ordinary creatures to climb even with equipment. Two stone lamps on the sides of the stairs were barely visible under all that snow, but enough to signal that whatever up there was an important destination.

Lucky placed the two peaches among the third, then came to the rabbit lady to see if she was any help.

"Greetings, weary traveller," the rabbit lady's warmly greeted her with a bow, the cloud patterns on her clothes seemed to shift around. Her eyes were closed, unknowing why, but Lucky read her face: the slight frown hidden by her gentle composure, the corner of her mouth going down, and that tint of worry in her voice.

"I wish I could invite you to relax in my humble hot spring, but alas..." She talked breathily. "One of Fukuro's snowballs has blocked the entrance!! There is no way in or out!"

"Right this morning Mrs.? Because of the Mountain-Climbing contest?" Lucky asked, round-eyed.

"Oh why, Fukuro is the master of creation! He wants a real challenge that worths his skills, so he makes snowballs and animated climbing holds and a wall so high that one fall was deadly!" She scrunched her nose in disapproval. "Of course, that last part is covered thanks to some sorcerers, but still, Mountain-Climbing is the only sport without a winner so far since Fukuro claimed Champion. Not just making the Chosen One harder to show up, but crushing our lower lives as well! A heavy giant pile of snow right at the entrance of a hot spring, my poor business venture... I'll be ruined!"

Hearing the rabbit lady's tone changing to grief, Lucky was taken back. The things about Fukuro, and the fact that someone's earning is threatened because of a contest, sportsmanship was reduced to as good as nothing, and that's the one thing Lucky could not stand.

"Is there any way around?" she asked to make sure what she heard was true.

"No! And believe this old bun, it takes forever of manpower and water from the hot spring to remove that, and how should I matter enough to convince anyone to leave their festivals to come help? We'd need something like a super fire arrow to melt that much snow fast. How can I afford that?" the rabbit sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, young one. Perhaps you can enjoy my hot spring another time."

"Hmm..." Lucky looked down. She'd be lying if she said she could totally cover that because when she left home in such a hurry, she didn't bring much money in her little pack. And she'd already spent that little amount on her way for some food and the boat trip. But she also hated to let the lady down: she had the teleportation compass, aid from an Inari, and more than enough energy to look for a specific arrow on an island!

"I don't have any money, but maybe I can find one!" she reassured the rabbit.

"Oh, you sweet child," the elder put a hand on Lucky's face, caressing her cheek lovingly. "I suggest you check with Fluffy at the Arrow Shop in the North-west Docks. He might be able to help!"

Chapter Text

Super fire arrow, Fluffy, Arrow Shop, Northwest Docks, got it! But first things first: she needed to find Momotaro.

Promising the rabbit - or as she called herself, Lady Usagi - to go to Fluffy's place as soon as she finished her work here on the highlands, Lucky jogged towards the peaches she had left on the ground. The third was as big as the previous two, so she placed it on her head before picking the other two up in both arms. Third time's the charm, she must be getting close to Momotaro by now!

She noticed a triangular house by the cliff, next to the river where it started to descend in height to form a waterfall. There were chatters, she could tell two male voices - one of an old man and the other of a teenage boy, and an old female voice.

Lucky came to the front of the house, which viewed the lower grounds, and met the owners of the voices: an elderly woman in a floral pink dress and a man with some kind of... leaf on his head? Their hair was in the color of white pepper, their wrinkled faces kind and gentle as forever when they spoke to a young boy. He had black hair tied in a small ponytail plus a white bandana to prevent his bangs from poking into his eyes, a sturdy build, dressing in blue and red the same way as the dog, pheasant, and monkey.

He was the peach boy she was looking for, Momotaro.

"Momotaro... there you are!" she exclaimed as she made her way to the group of humans.

"Oh, hello Lucky!" he paused the conversation with his parents and turned to the approaching cat, seeming to have learnt her name somewhere already,  "And you have... ah, of course, I knew I must've dropped some of my peaches on the way back. Thanks for getting them," Momotaro took the peaches and put them in a big sack, freeing her from the weight.

"So, what are you doing all the way out here?" he asked.

"Your teammates are getting ready for the big game! They're worried about you," Lucky replied, "They thought you'd gone missing."

"There's nothing to worry about! I just came to visit my parents before the game." Momotaro reassured her, then he turned to his parents, gesturing his hand to the feline as he introduced: "Mum, Dad... this is Lucky, the amazing athlete I was telling you about!"

Wait... they were talking about me!?

"Why, hello Lucky! Nice to meet you," Momotaro's father greeted.

"We've heard a lot about you. Our son is very grateful for all of your help..." his mother said.

My help... but I didn't really do anything for him, did I? Except for picking up the peaches and telling him about his teammates... She was taken aback by the tone of their voices, as if she'd done something so great such as saving their lives, but in fact, she barely knew them until this moment. She was simply an athlete chasing her goal.

Oh my... "Well, it's nice to meet you both!"

"Well, we better get back to the Rugby game," Momotaro spoke up, unconsciously helping Lucky out of her awkwardness.

"Be careful with the Oni, and don't forget these peaches for your friends," the mother put the sack over his shoulder as she reminded him.

"Right! Thanks Mum. See you both soon!" he bid them goodbye as he left for the game. Lucky was about to leave, too, to the Northwest Docks as promised with Lady Usagi, but was held back by Momotaro's father calling her.

"Why don't you stay for a little snack, Lucky? I figure you should be tired from the games. Three in one morning, that's quite a record!"

"Thank you, sir, but I need to go elsewhere." Lucky politely refused. "I already promised Lady Usagi to help reopen her hot springs..."

"Then what about some tea, hun? Anyhow, I doubt working for her is an easy task," the mother smiled, "That lady used to be known as super mountain girl back in her prime time, age sure takes away many things... I'm glad you've decided to help. At least let us get your lungs warmed up for the go. It won't take long."

"O-okay. Thank you very much!" Lucky followed the couple inside their house.

"My name is Yamane and my wife's Hana. Just call us by our names, there's no need for formalities, got it?" the father - Yamane told the cat girl.

Their living room consisted of a chessboard, a console table, and a tray with a tea set by the backdoor.

Hana poured some tea into a red ceramic cup and handed it to Lucky. She held it near her face, letting herself enveloped in the sweet scent of mountain herbs. She closed her eyes. Ah, it was refreshing indeed. How long was it that she had felt to not be on the run? A whole month, perhaps, maybe more.

"Hmm, the tea smells delicious," Lucky took a sip. The warmth ran from the tip of her tongue to the bottom of her lungs, spreading in her body. She felt as if something that had been straining her was cleansed, she felt lighter. Her tail swayed in relaxation.

"Said, do you mind telling us about your family? I wonder what has nurtured you into such a young talent," Yamane spoke, making Lucky become flustered at the title, "It was mountain works, in our son's case. We were too old when we had him, so as a result, he does most of the housework while it's supposed to be the other way around, with him was just a kid."

"Well... I'm the middle child in a family of five, there's nothing much. It's not like we had a tradition of training like I do or anything, this is just the path I chose that differs," Lucky pondered on what else to say, but found herself lost for words.

"That's a happy big family you have there. Five children!" Hana commented happily.

"My wife and I wanted to have a child for years, so long that your hair was no longer black," Yamane said, "Then one day, we found a peach floating down the river, and saved it from the hard fall. We cut it open and inside was a baby! That's how we found our son, Momotaro. So whenever there are peaches, Momotaro isn't far behind!"

"He's a strong one, like a gift of the mountains. When he was fourteen he joined the Championship for the first time, though this time he had decided to set his aim on Oni Island only, to be the new Champion of Rugby. Replace the Onis, after presumably a hundred years of their reign! Hope he comes back to visit us soon, his training sessions usually take days so this time may last for the whole Championship!" Hana said, "I've started to miss him already..."

"Oh..." that's all Lucky found herself reacting to a mother's longing, "Well, I wish him victory! I'll try my best to win as well!"

"What spirit! You are a nice lassie, Lucky. And we shouldn't waste any more of your time. Good to have a small talk with you." Yamane nodded firmly and gave his hand for a handshake, to which she returned.

Chapter Text

"Uwahhh!"

Lucky jumped from the sudden cold touch. Ironically, the Archery Torii - the teleportation post to the Northwest Docks, was planted on water. Unlike when she came to the Bridge Garden, prepared for a water sport, this time she totally did not expect to be thrown directly into the sea!

The feline hopped onto shore, rubbing her wet feet on the sand. A seaside, it might be, but not a beach. The long, big Marathon Beach and the small, narrow Bridge Garden Beach both had soft sand and shallow waters clear of obstacles for visitors to lounge. The Northwest Beach, however, had targets placed on boats and fans attached to bamboo sticks on floats, drifting around. The sea went deep so suddenly that it came in the color of navy instead of aqua.

She followed the only path that lead further into the docks. The ground there was rough, soils and sand the same, and lacked nutrition that there were more rocks than plants. A few lanterns placed on the side were not painted red as often seen in other parts of the island, but were left brown the colors of the wood from which they were made. And there was a rather bizarre sight of arrows sticking on a particularly large boulder.

The road took a turn to a fleet of stairs leading up to a boat-shaped house built on a stone platform. The design, the decorations, and the stand lamps at the entrance, all of that pointed out that the building was the Archery Dojo, also the residence of the Champion, Samurai Yoichi.

Oh crap...

Lucky just remembered something she forgot to ask.

She was new here, this is her very first day on Champion Island. She had no idea how many housings are there in which area.

Yet too eager to help, she forgot to ask Lady Usagi what Fluffy's Arrow Shop looked like, or which corner it lay.

Hopefully, there weren't too many arrow shops here, in the territory of Archery!

Lucky came to a pig man standing by the end of the stairs, fidgeting. He seemed distressed somehow and if it's not really that he did not need any support, she still had to ask for directions, or at least some information on how to find Fluffy.

"Uhm, hi, mister..?"

"Arrows... Arrows everywhere..." he said under his breath, addressing nobody in particular as if in a trance.

"Are you OK?" Lucky asked, trying to get his attention as he was indeed unsettled.

"Of course not! Look around. There are arrows everywhere! What a mess!" his tone switched to complaining, "I am the royal arrow collector. Yoichi-sama trusts me to collect all the arrows and bring them to him for target practice..."

"So-..."

"But there are too many of them!" he snapped and cut off before Lucky could even form words, "I'll never get them all in time!" He whined.

"Then, I can help you collect them!" Lucky offered her help, to which received back a look of disdain from the collector:

"You? You look like you've never picked up an arrow in your life..." he examined her head to toe.

"Well, that's probably because I haven't," Lucky crossed her arms and returned with an unimpressed expression. What can be expected from a young cat born in a distant town? "But I'm willing to learn!"

"Very well," replied the collector, "I suppose I've got no other choice. See those arrows scattered on the ground? Red arrows, green arrows, yellow arrows, and blue arrows. Pick them all up, sort by colors, and be gentle. You won't believe how fragile these things are in the wrong hand. Then bring them to me."

"Yessir roger that!" Lucky saluted jokingly and started picking up the arrows. Some were pretty easy with their bright-colored fletchings on the ground, others were harder: like a green arrow laying among the grass, or a red arrow in the shadows of a boulder.

If there was something you could learn from games of hide and seek, that was how to search effectively. And that was, coincidentally, one of Lucky's favorite games. She began from the nearest patch, gathering an armful of arrows and brought them to the collector, who jolted and gave her wide eyes, as if not actually believed that she could do it. In the corner of her eyes when she turned away to grab more arrows, she saw him sitting down in the shade of a tree and taking a nap without a second thought.

Really!? I thought he was serious about doing the work for Yoichi-san! Now he's taking a nap? Lucky thought and was about to wake him up to remind him of his task, but refrained herself. He might be tired after this morning, with the contest on fire and everything...

She scanned the shore, the entrance path. Okay, seemed like they're clear! She placed the arrows she had managed by the sleeping collector, then continued on into the docks in search of more.

There weren't as many arrows the farther from the Torii as both competitions and practice sessions would take place there, with the floating targets. The feline had only found a dozen so far when she encountered a blue fish scrambling out of the water with a bow in panic:

"Oh no... What am I going to do?"

"What seems to be the problem?" Lucky questioned.

"I shot my lucky arrow higher than I ever have!" the fish exclaimed.

"Oh, but that's great news!" Lucky smiled.

"No, it's awful! It landed on the roof of Yoichi's castle! And I can't go that far away from water. I'll never see my lucky arrow again!" he wailed.

"Maybe I can find a way up to the roof! Wait here, alright?" Lucky gave it a thumbs-up, glanced over the area one more time, then went back and put the rest of the arrows beside the pig man - still sleeping without a care in the world - before walking up the stairs to the dojo.

"Welcome to the archery dojo!" the lobby was empty as all the members and students were out on practice and contests. Arrows with red fletchings laid neatly on shelves.

The feline went to the stairs at the back, leading up into the Champion's office. Yoichi was there, as if waiting for her, and greeted the athlete the moment she entered.

"Sorry, can I get on your roof? A fish shot his arrow all the way up there and he cannot go get it himself., Lucky asked the samurai for permission, to which he accepted.

"Remember not to be too mesmerized by the sight up there, cat," said one of his assistants, "The sea here is not so friendly.

"Meet me at the red gate on the beach if you want to challenge me. I'm always up for a game of archery!" Yoichi told her.

Lucky came up the rooftop balcony. It was relatively small with a lone green arrow.

"The lucky arrow! This must be it," she picked and studied it, "...looks like any ordinary arrows to me tho...

"Well. better get this back to him before he gets too worked up-... Huh??"

She saw a boat house. Right, this was a dock town so there were numerous boathouses, but this one seemed significantly different, from look to sensation. It looked bigger than the others, with wood outings as clean and light as new, a red-painted roof, two red-and-gold drapes for decoration hung sides to the door, and above it, a circle board carved with three arrows - must be the Arrow Shop!

Lucky made her way back to the fish: down the stairs, one right and forward to reach the northwestmost part where she met the fish.

"You won't believe it," she said, meaning it for a nice surprise, "I found the arrow!"

However, she was the one surprised when the fish responded in confusion:

"What arrow?"

"Your lucky arrow, what else? The one you lost on the roof!" Lucky gestured her hand with the arrow matter-of-factly.

"Oh, but that was so long ago! I found a new lucky arrow since then!" he held up a similar arrow.

"...what?"

"Yeah, isn't it beautiful?" he ran his fin on the shaft as softly as if it was a newborn.

"...it looks just like all the other arrows," a normal arrow, to be straightforward. Just like one of those she picked up for the royal collector.

"Yeah, but it's lucky! I've got a great feeling about this. Maybe I can get it all the way to the top of the mountains!" he got the optimism.

"Oh great..."

Don't get her wrong, she just felt a bit exasperated because he simply did not need her help in the first place, having replaced his lost thing in a flash but still put on a drama that had made her feel concerned for real. Why, an aquatic archer was admirable, and it would be such a pity if his water boundness prevented his spirit to grow! But now she got an extra, ex-lucky arrow, she just got the sense of dejectedness that she wanted to burry away.

Since when were lucky items so replaceable? Lucky unconsciously touched her cylinder pack - something important to her was in there too, would the next they be not? Maybe fish years were just much faster than General Years, or cat years.

The fish jumped back into the water, and Lucky went onto the wharves that worked as a street to the boathouses. She walked straight ahead, then turned right, remembering the shop being that way.

There it was! The Arrow Shop. She had acknowledged from Yoichi's rooftop that the docks weren't that big, so this was it. She slid open the door and stepped in.

The interior was airy, the floor was slightly shaking from the ocean waves. There were tapestries of blacksmiths and warriors of old times, especially emphasizing the images of archers and arrow forgers. A few flasks containing liquids in shades of cyan held by nets hung on the wall. A row of circular windows without curtains shone the yellowish light of late afternoon on the display of a huge collection of arrows that came in - surprisingly - many shapes and sizes to fit almost every athlete's type of height, strength, bow, and shooting pose.

"Welcome to Fluffy's Arrow Shop," greeted a plump white cat with a gigantic bell on his fat neck.

"You're Fluffy..?" Lucky wanted to confirm.

"Of course. What would you want at my shop? A designed quiver of arrows for felines? Or a personally-forged one for yourself? Do you have many exchange currencies?" he squinted his eyes by the last question, looking at her with doubt.

"Eh... about that, I don't really..." she scratched her head.

"Well then, feel free to browse. Just don't touch anything," he concluded and started to return to his desk when she spoke:

"Do you have a super fire arrow?"

Straight to the point, Lady Usagi's request.

"A super fire arrow? Oh my... why do you need something so rare and dangerous?" he asked.

"A giant snowball has blocked the mountain hot springs! So we need it to-..."

"The hot springs are closed?! But where will I go on holiday?" he cut her off, wide-eyed, "Listen, kid. I'll do anything to help it open again! At no charge!"

"That's amazing!" Lucky said happily. "So you'll give us the super fire arrow?"

"Not at the moment, since it is an explosive item, I don't pre-forge it before order. Besides, for an arrow so powerful, I need special components..." he took an old manuscript from the desk and flipped it to a specific page, "Looks like I've got almost everything in the studio. Just one core ingredient that I cannot preserve: bring me lava from Oni Island to the east, and the arrow shall be yours. It's the only place here with fire brethren, and there's an old saying, odd, but indeed worth telling you if there might be an opportunity to clarify it once you're there: 'Look between The Eyes for your sweet lava prize.'"

Chapter Text

Look between the eyes...the eyes of what? Fluffy couldn't give any clearer explanation since he didn't even know himself.

"It's a saying passed down for decades among the islanders. And none of us truly knows what it implies."

"Then, why would you guys go spread it anyway? It might be just a riddle."

"I believe it's not, and might relate to as far as the fate of Champion Island. A Karasu once told me that, and those crows don't know how to joke."

"Have you ever told anyone else about it?"

"No, not yet. It always seems to be an unsuitable circumstance to be brought up. Consider it, Lucky. Also, use this," Fluffy gave the younger cat a glass bottle with a cork, and a small metal spoon which had a long handle, "I doubt any random containers can store lava. These pieces of equipment are designed to suit any exotic ingredients."

Look between the eyes for your sweet lava prize... It didn't make sense. She tried crossing her eyes to "look between the eyes", but all she saw was the pinky tip of her own nose.

Lucky blinked. She was walking down the main path from the Rugby Torii to a good spot where she could collect the requested lava. Definitely not somewhere near the gate because one, it was too steep and high that with her small frame she could barely reach, and two, it'd be awkward if a team of competitors spotted her scooping lava.

"Hey, Luckyyyyyy!!" she turned to see the white dog from Momotaro's team waving at her. There was the rest of the team - the pheasant, the monkey, and Momotaro, sitting having the peaches that their leader had brought.

"Oh, hi again!" Lucky waved back.

"We want to thank you for finding Momotaro, Lucky," he said.

"Anything to help the team out!" Lucky grinned.

"As promised, Lucky, and Momotaro agrees to it too. You can join our team for the match," the monkey said.

"Huh? You guys haven't started yet?" Lucky asked. It was quite some time since they met. Half an hour at least.

"We can't play on empty stomaches, can we? Energy restoration is priority before a match!" replied Momotaro.

Speak of hunger... Lucky suddenly heard a growl from her stomach. Man, she didn't realize she was hungry until it hit her. All that helping sure took a lot and dangos and tea were just not sufficient.

"...can I have a peach too?" shyly, she asked, while adverting her eyes and blushing ever-so-slightly.

"Of course! Here, sit with us," Momotaro tapped on a spot next to him as he and the monkey moved aside to make space for her, then gave her one of the peaches. She took a bite out of the squishy, juicy flesh, its watering sweetness lingered in her mouth.

"So yummy..!" the dog suddenly exclaimed.

"Peaches are my favorite!" the pheasant chirped, pecking his second-third-whatsoever serving.

Lucky, too, enjoyed the sweet meal: "Thanks, Momotaro."

"No problem," replied the team leader, "And we did promise to let you join our team for the match, didn't we?" he gave Lucky a blue badge that had a peach printed on it, "Welcome to the team."

They kept their promise. She'd have a team to compete in the sport. On the other hand, she felt bad to reject their offer now. She couldn't leave the task undone when Lady Usagi counted on her to clear the way to the hot spring, when Fluffy was waiting for her to return with the lava. It's just selfish.

"Wait, hold on. I'd love to, and I appreciate that you guys let me in even though I haven't had a single training session with you..." Lucky held the badge in her palm and took a small breath, "But I can't. I'm busy this afternoon and I don't think I'd finish it in time for the game. You guys should go on and enter the game as planned. I'll find another group later. I don't want your goal delayed because of me."

"But why? What are you busy with? Aren't you here for the contest?" asked the monkey, "And you don't look like going on a vacation, either."

"Well, yes, of course I'm here for the Championship. But, erm, unexpected happens..? I had promised Lady Usagi to help reopen her hot springs, and I've spent too much time helping the royal arrow collector, that fish archer," Lucky spilled the beans, frowning worriedly. Time sure counted a lot when you came to think of it, "And sitting here. Sorry but I was hungry!" Lucky waved her hands frantically, "I'd be going now. Wish you victory!"

Momotaro looked at Lucky, as she attempted to return the badge, he shook his head.

"About that, we can wait."

The rest of the team turned their heads to their leader, who remained calm, seemingly deep in thought.

"We actually planned to play by dusk. That's the best time to go against the Onis, I'm just so impatient I wanted to start as soon as possible," finally, Momotaro spoke up. Lucky felt like she got what he was about to say, she couldn't help but feel relief, "You can have that much time to do your things. Just return to this spot right after sunset, okay?"

"Got it, captain Momotaro!" Lucky came back to her cheery voice.

"So, what did Lady Usagi ask for that you came here now?" Momotaro asked.

"For lava. We need it for Fluffy to craft a super fire arrow, which she needs to melt the snow blocking the hot springs entrance," Lucky answered, pondered a bit then continued, "Speaking of which, Fluffy told me an old saying that he thought helpful, though neither of us understood: 'Look between the eyes for your sweet lava prize'. Do you happen to know it?"

"Never heard of it before, actually," Momotaro shrugged.

"I have," the monkey raised his arm, "In a conversation between an Inari and an Ushi. Though that's it. They didn't mention the meaning."

"It must be hinting something on Oni Island, because it says 'lava prize'. Unless it points at a hidden magma flow, or somewhere that lava is a scarce resource," Lucky thought out loud.

"That's not the case. The islanders want nothing to do with the Onis, or anything related to them. They think Onis are scary monsters," Momotaro explained.

"They really look fearsome in the statue..."  Lucky had to admit. They were big and tall, with horns and claws and fangs as wild as beasts of ancient times.

"They're even more ruthless in real life. That's why I set my goal to become the next Rugby Champion. There needs a change in gameplay style," the leader placed a finger on his chin, "Personal business aside, I have an idea of what "the eyes" refer to. Can you open your map?"

Lucky took out the compass and pressed its glass face. The holo-map flickered appear. Momotaro pointed at Oni Island:

"If you look here, the island resembles a Red Oni face. You see? The horns, the mouth, and these pitches are..."

"The Eyes," Lucky continued his sentence. The north coast of the island had two pointy streaks of land that went further into the sea like horns. The large lava pit to the south curved into the form of a cheeky grin. And two smaller ones were like piggy eyes.

"Exactly. I almost forgot areas on Oni Island are named like that. The Left and Right Horn Cliffs, The Mouth, and The Left and Right Eyes. This spot is called Between The Fangs. If you check between The Eyes north from here, you might figure out what that 'lava prize' means."

"Right. Thank you, I'll be back soon!"

Lucky went to the Left Fang lava stream to the west, then turned north. There was yet another creeky, almost burnt wooden bridge crossing The Mouth, which led to the other side where waterfalls of the hottest, deadliest liquid ever existed. She soon approached an average lava pool that she assumed was The Left Eye. Looking east she saw a trail of ash escaping endlessly from a hole, possibly The Right Eye.

She began scanning the area in the middle. It was a rocky, rough ground, though flat. Onis were snub-nosed, apparently. Lucky then found two pits, which were small but went deep and could fit her into a harsh fall down the boiling red substance below. And nearby was... lava in a bottle?

She picked it up. Yup, that's lava alright, safely sealed by a cork in a glass bottle.

"Wow!" Lucky exclaimed, "Here's some lava already in a bottle. How thoughtful!"

The feline took a look around, yet no one was in sight.

"Who could've prepared this..." she wondered. Something miraculous, something psychic, a single glass bottle should not be left in the middle of a plain like this forever without being spotted, nobody could refill a bottle and put it here every time that happened. And what was its purpose, if not for her to come and take it? Lucky was confused. The old saying did guide her to an easy task accomplishment, but it wasn't explicable at all. One more addition to the secrets of this island for her to learn, but first, shouldn't let Fluffy wait.

"I better take this to the Arrow Shop straight away!" Lucky said to herself and teleported to the Northwest Docks using the compass.

"There you are! I thought you've gotten yourself lost or something!" as the feline was traveling back to Fluffy's shop from the Torii, she was caught by the royal arrow collector who had woken up, at last.

"No, I didn't. I've picked up all the arrows so I left to do other things," Lucky retorted.

"Unexperienced, and it's not quite enough. There are five arrows missing. And they are of the elite type: thin and durable. You haven't found all of them," he said, as if Lucky was in the wrong.

"Find me five blue arrows and then bring them back here! And be quick about it! The sun is starting to set!"

Lucky looked at the horizon. The man was being exaggerated, but partly true, it seemed, as the sun was beginning to reach the skyline in a golden shine like a glimmering touch. She needed to be quick.

Lucky spotted one at the bottom of the stairs up the Dojo:

"A blue arrow! That's one, four more to go!"

She found the second by the sea, to the left of the building by doing an extra high jump at the spot.

"Another blue arrow!" she was glad for her own finding, "Two down, three to go!"

The feline went down the path to where she met with the blue fish. That was the place where she had searched the least, it was possible that she'd missed something. And certainly, on the wharves just north to it laid the third arrow.

"Three down, two to go!" she counted.

Lucky headed the way to Fluffy's Arrow Shop, and surprisingly, there was one in front of the shop!

"That's four... I just need one more! But I should give this lava to Fluffy first so he can make the arrow for Lady Usagi."

She entered the shop, and came Fluffy with his greeting "Welcome to Fluffy's Arrow S-" he cut himself off, recognizing her, "Oh, it's you again."

"I found the lava! Take it... Be careful, it's hot!" she quickly gave him the bottle. She already felt its immense heat through her pants when she attached it to her belt, but holding it barehanded felt like burning

"Oh my. Yes... This is exactly what I need... A sufficient amount," he examined the cork, "Huh? This bottle is not mine."

"Yes. I know what that old saying means now, probably," she mumbled the last part, "When I checked between The Eyes - those are Oni Island locations - I saw this! The 'lava prize'!"

"So it's some kind of fore-vision to guide you? Intriguing..."

"Also, here's your stuff," Lucky gave him back his bottle and spoon.

"Give me a couple of minutes and the arrow shall be done," he told her as he walked to the backroom, where 'clings' and 'clangs' were coming from.

Lucky exited the shop and went down the wharves heading back to land that went by the Archery competition area. It was temporarily closed as it was getting dark, but then she saw it.

The fifth arrow, lying alone on a cape of land.

"At last! Five blue arrows!" she jogged to grab it, "I better take them back to the arrow collector. I bet he'll be excited to see them!"

The cathlete got back to the arrow collector and gave him the bunch. She could swear he almost shrill! But he managed to calm himself down and took a breath before saying:

"Oh! five blue arrows, and so fast!" he gathered all the arrows Lucky had picked for him earlier into a larger quiver, "Yoichi will be so proud of me!"

Lucky was speechless. What did he even do? She was the one who collected those arrows. All he did, as she had witnessed, was standing, complaining, sleeping, and commanding her. She didn't hide her displeasing frown, making him realize his wording and fixed it in a panic:

"Us! I mean us, of course! Thank you for your service, Lucky. Yoichi will be an even stronger Champion now," he literally squirmed. Lucky's appearance wasn't that intimidating, at least she thought so. At this point, she didn't even bother to wonder why he knew her name. Time's ticking, she needed to get the super fire arrow to Lady Usagi, then be at Between The Fangs by sunset for the game with Momotaro!

~

As soon as Lucky left, Momotaro told the dog:

"Please travel to Tanooki City, find two commentators called Haru and Kota, and tell them about the saying and Lucky's doing. If you happen to bump into Wataru or Makoto, make sure to let them know as well."

"I'm starting to wonder why you lied and delayed the match on purpose, captain," the monkey asked.

"Shush, don't spill anyone about this, because it is not time yet, but the Komainus and I had a discussion, that the mage had revealed that the athlete with bright heart had come to win this Championship. You cannot contain to see the islanders literally avoiding each other, can you?"

"And you think that'll be Lucky?"

"All clues up to now lead to her, don't you think?"

Chapter Text

"Here you are! But be careful, it's quite... explosive." Fluffy reminded Lucky, emphasizing each and every word slowly as he handed her a single arrow in a glass cover that fit perfectly, allowing no space for it to bounce around when moved.

"Thank you! I'll take it to the hot springs straight away!" Lucky nodded and took the arrow in two hands. The glass cover was sturdy yet so thin and transparent as air, allowing her to take in the features of the arrow closely. The shaft was relatively thicker than that of normal arrows, seemingly coated in auburn as the wood from which it was made, but upon further observation turned to a slim mosaic that constantly shifted and whirled in a thousand shades of amber, blending together alluringly, radiating as much heat even visually as its lava component. And it was still as it was lively like a piece of stained glass. The arrowhead was a long brown cone yet sharp at the tip that Lucky could imagine herself being cut if to hold it carelessly by bare hand, carved with fire patterns that glowed red from the inside, as alive as a fire itself. And the fletchings were stormy grey, each composed of a very neat piece of fabric woven tightly from a uniquely slender and smooth type of thread, stretched on a frame slightly visible to be golden in color. The arrow seemed to be shaking as of having a life on its own, excited and nimble like its shimmering core, like fire.

It was powerful, merely by its look, left alone the energy it had in store when unleashed. Lucky closed her fingers around the definitely-not-a-stick object, and watched her step as she slowly exited the store. Fluffy held his laughter:

"Oh, you don't need to be that cautious. Just make sure not to drop it. A little shake won't provoke it, but a crash surely will."

Lucky let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding, until now:

"It feels destructive..."

"It is, if mishandled. But Lady Usagi would know better than that. Hopefully I'll get a discount next time I come," He snickered.

She stepped out in the late oceanic gusts of wind blowing harder than the rest of the day, cold, salty winds, almost as strong as Kitsune's powers. Though unlike mountain winds, they didn't cut, more like scooping any creatures in the area as a whole. She held the arrow close to her chest as she tried to stand against the blows while taking out the compass, letting herself enveloped in the night blue streams. It swirled to total blackness, but thanks to the arrow she felt extremely warm, then she was teleported to the Mountain Climbing Torii.

It turned dark faster in higher altitudes. The lack of lamps turned the place into a half-light, shadows of the trees and mountains dancing in the rare lights of fireflies and house fireplaces. Lucky felt uncomfortable, rather annoyed at this kind of condition as it was hard for her eyes to adjust, and once they did things seemed blurred and monochromatic.

Lucky managed to get to the hot springs with no problem and gave it to Lady Usagi.

"The arrow! I can't believe you actually found it!" she exclaimed.

"It wasn't easy, but I hope it works!" Lucky said.

The rabbit lady removed the glass case, drew a bow fairly as her height out of nowhere, and nocked the arrow onto it.

"Stand back!" she warned as she aimed the arrow at the sky.

Lucky took a few steps back. Lady Usagi released the string, the super fire arrow shot up high shining in golden patterns starting from head to tail along with a white flaming trail, like a little dragon, sparkled like a star once it reached its highest point before heading straight to the pile of snow on the ground.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

It was one split second it touched the snow and there was a loud explosion. A spot or orange appeared and rapidly widened into a blasting circle, melting and wiping away the snow clear from the spot.

"It worked!! I'm back in business!" her happiness changed to slight worry, "...oh, and hopefully everyone inside is safe too!"

"I can never repay you for all your help," she turned to Lucky, "Please enjoy the hot springs free of charge... forever!"

"Wha- REALLY!?"

It was a small business, keyword small, yet she was let to use it with NO CHARGE?? Saying Lucky was shocked was an understatement.

"It's not good for business, I know, but sometimes you have to do what's right!" Lady Usagi said firmly.

"I cannot take all the credits then... Fluffy crafted that arrow and let us have it for free. I'm just a deliverer."

"Spare this old bun, child. You volunteered to help me and that counts. Fluffy will also have something in return, of course. I know this epic item isn't from thin air. We'll have that the next time he comes."

"Then, thank you! I should be going now, I guess..?" Lucky waved at her, unsure if she'd have the time to enjoy things here. Probably should make up some time for that. The nature of Champion Island is beautiful.

"Take your time, dear. No need to rush," Lady Usagi waved back. Her gentle smile had so much love, that it felt like the mountains were smiling too, embracing her from the cold.

Chapter Text

Lucky ran. The grounds were so wide that she felt like she could run forever. The heat emitting from the ground didn't bother her at all, nor that the almost suffocating atmosphere did. Having a small body had many advantages, one of which was being able to survive on low nutrious conditions.

"Saru!" the pheasant cawed as he passed a specifically large peach which they used as a practice ball in a straight shot to the monkey - whose name was Saru. He caught the ball by his tail and skillfully flipped it into his arm. He ran in a zigzag past the makeshift obstacles of rocks, then threw the ball up without looking:

"Inuzuka! Your turn!"

Before the ball touched the ground, the dog - Inuzuka - dashed by and scooped it. He ran for a while before dropping and kicking it at another direction:

"Captain!"

Momotaro, of course, effortlessly caught it. Out of the team, he ran the fastest and trickiest, no one could guess his next choice of move.

"Lucky!" Momotaro shouted her name, signaling before passing the ball to her. It was tossed high, Lucky sped up a little before taking a leap, her legs pushed against the ground and her tail waved in motion sync, hopping like a spring, she wrapped her arms around the ball, quickly embracing it then took a loop to land backward on two. She raised it above her head:

"Got it!"

She landed on the other side of the field. In the twilight they practiced one last time, with Lucky, Inuzuka, and the pheasant - Dori, being super uncomfortable. Inuzuka, like Lucky, had keen eyes in the dark, but at the state of half-light, it was hard for his eyes to adjust. Dori, on the other hand, was as good as blind by dusk, though he claimed to have received a special vision aid for nights like this.

"Good work, everyone!" Momotaro clasped his hands together, "But that's barely the warm-up. We all know it requires much more to defeat the Onis. Lucky, since you're new, there are a few things to know before the match. Basically, we have to NOT let any Onis grab the ball. The Red Onis are known to be strong, their footsteps can enrage earthquakes, but they're slow, so you just need to keep balanced at a steady speed. The Blue Onis are more difficult to handle since they're swift with those long limbs...you need to outrun them."

"In case of emergency, we also have a special booster to escape, though it barely lasts a minute," Inuzuka took on the explanation, "Captain Momotaro is specifically capable of shooing the Onis away, so when they come dangerously close, just pass the ball to him."

"Isn't it a bit... inconvenient? I doubt they would let him off guard that easily, being the team captain and all, that way he can never reach the ball before they do no matter how high we throw it," Lucky pointed out, "I actually have a way to fix that, but only when Momotaro allows me to do it," She looked at the mentioned boy.

"Go on."

"I can make a... link? Connection? Haven't come up with a name yet, but it links energy, powers, that sort of things between creatures as long as they are in my sight. For example, if you activate your skill, I can share it to whoever holding the ball."

"And that way, we can work better than running to a dead end! I'm glad we didn't start without you," Momotaro patted her shoulder, "But can you keep that up for the whole match tho? I don't want you to exhaust yourself too much."

"That's exactly its downside, I barely had a chance to practice further. It also depends on the amount of energy you put into your skill, the stronger it emits, the better, but not so detailed in body technique because transferring that into non-focus effect is extremely difficult," Lucky replied, then added, "Don't worry. I'm not that easily drained."

"Well then," Momotaro paused to look at their faces, one by one, "Let's go!" he nodded firmly.

The team went to the vermillion gate together. The old wooden bridge yet still creaked, it was nothing more than an aging being that dared to challenge nature and time.

Momotaro came first, followed by Inuzuka and Lucky, then Dori and Saru. Each step they took closer to the Torii was like a mechanism tearing open space; a portal was slowly opening under the gate as they went through.

They walked in an enormous, Oni-sized rocky plain. On the far other side, beyond the small patch of green was a mountain that looked like a face emerging from stone, smiling cheekily. Strangely, it looked like the face of Oni Island, except that one was flat on the ground.

Welcome, challengers,

To the sacred ground of ours

Where the great King sits

Watching us

Stomp across with victory;

To the brink of beasts and demise

Where many had shed

In vain

To our roaring battle cry;

Welcome to where forgotten creatures of old glory roam

Where the cloud cannot touch

And the sun is a bare dust

Under our skies copper red

In our realm where tiny mortals are to crumble

In the Oni's realm.

A group of small Onis sang and chimed as they banged on their leather drums and the ground with their stone clubs in a wild rhythm. They were small because they were children Onis that hadn't taken off their shirts, but they were already huge to Lucky, whose height barely reached their shoulders. Their voices were shrill and hoarse, Lucky couldn't quite catch what they were implying but she could guess from their tones and attitude that her team wasn't welcomed at all.

"Warau Oni Realm," Momotaro whispered, "Land of the Laughing Ogre, their 'King'. This is their true plane of existence, as well as of other oni brethren."

He stroked the ground with his flag - a red-and-white pole with a rectangular white fabric that had a peach and three yellow circles like a clan flag, as he spoke loud and clear:

"Red Oni, Blue Oni, in the death of the day, we challenge you to a match for a new Champion!!"

"YOU DARE!?"

A voice rumbled the place, and came a pair of red and blue Onis as tall as mountains. They both wore solely a loincloth. The Blue Oni had a single horn on his forehead while the Red Oni had two, "Momotaro, the start-up hero with his gang, and Lucky, the rumored to-be-champion? You can TRY."

"We will!" Inuzuka literally barked.

Ha ha ha

You are no match to an Oni

You are no match to two

You are no match for our Great Legacy!

The children Onis chimed again. Lucky felt the heat getting more and more intense.

"Get ready, guys!" Momotaro commanded, "But don't be brash, okay? This place is bordered by lava," he reminded in a quiet tone.

A small blue Oni gave them the ball. Dori gave it to Lucky.

"You should start the run, Lucky!"

"Right," she nodded.

Lucky held the ball in her right arm and stood at the center of the starting area. Momotaro, Inuzuka, Saru and Dori stood in a line behind her.

Okay, this is getting scary. They are SO huge, definitely the biggest opponents I've ever met. Sweat trickled down her face. She wiped it off and kept forward to the small patch of greenery on the other side, her goal. From the corner of her eye, she saw a single Karasu amongst the Onis. He pulled out a whistle and put it in his beak, and blew it.

TWEEEEEEEEEETTTTT!!

The game had begun!

Lucky picked up pace quickly before slowing down to a steady yet decent speed to sprint whenever needed. Rugby wasn't about who's fast or slow - well, not mostly - but about the quick-witted one to handle the situation. Lucky had to watch where she was going to avoid tripping and hitting something - the fatal mistake - but at the same time watch out for incoming rivals. She could turn her hearing up, but only momentarily as this place - Warau Oni Realm - was chaotic. It already had loud rumblings in the background because of the magma flow and the disturbing noises of onis and ghouls. So if she picked up her ears for too long, it sounded just as if punching her eardrums, giving her a headache. Lucky darted her eyes side to side. She ran between two round boulders and was about to pass a couple of peaked ones to get to another session, when she picked up the sound of heavy footsteps coming straight at her. She looked to her left where the sound came from, and saw the Red Oni running straight for her.

The feline looked to the right. The closest teammate within range was Momotaro. She ran for a bit more, waiting for the Oni to come closer before calling his name as she passed the ball to him in a straight shot:

"Momotaro!"

The Oni immediately changed his target from the cat to the peach boy.

"Saru!"

As he was almost caught, Momotaro passed the ball to Saru, who took a curve so that he wouldn't be chased to a dead end by the border of the field, running in front of the Oni who once again went after whoever holding the ball.

The Red Oni was losing Saru, who was dashing to enlarge the distance, when he was surprised by an upcoming Blue Oni from literally nowhere. He was running out of steam, and was surrounded from both sides that he couldn't pass the torch to any of his teammates.

"Lucky!" Momotaro called out to her, and she understood right away. She was required to connect Momotaro's skill to Saru.

She started to try developing this technique one and a half years ago, at the release of the Magic Cat Academy II game disk. The game featured some new spells of Momo, one of which was "borrowing" a shield from a jellyfish. At that point, Lucky had already gone over her childish dream of becoming a sorceress, but under Bells' encouragement had found the alternative of Shinobi practice, though she formed her separate way instead of following the traditional regulations. However, she was still intrigued by the new magic, especially the shield. Momo didn't create a shield, she borrowed it from a jellyfish. Lucky wondered if she could do something like that too... waterproof someone using her own energy. The instructions written in old archives only mentioned the connection of spirit between creatures of the same level, but that shouldn't help. Didn't anyone of them think of helping others? Who were unable to control their qi at will?

Fine then, she'd be the pioneer. The point of this was balance. She needed to read the receiver's energy to adjust hers - this part proved to be challenging, as the substance was so faint that it was invisible to mortal eyes while Lucky was never taught to access a different plane of vision, and the fact that her qi had grown so strong now. However, like a radio channel, once the frequency matched, there should be a link already, though similarly faint and fragile. Then she would have to strengthen that link using a bit more of her energy and all...

Lucky sensed a change in Momotaro, and saw a fiery red aura burning around his body, composed of heavenly fragments, perhaps from his home on the mountain: highland stream, peach scent, rainwater, and Fukuro's snow. A blazing amount of pure radiance was emitting into the environment. Honestly, Lucky hadn't met with that kind of power before - as she hadn't met with so many different powers than hers at all.

In this situation, she worked as a medium between two entirely different levels of energy. She raised hers until it reached Momotaro's, had the link, then tried to maintain it while lowering to balance with Saru, then the second link. Lucky proceeded to adjust her energy rate to be somewhat between Momotaro's and Saru's so the flow could go.

Suddenly, the Onis surrounding Saru let out cries of pain and anger as they ran away with puffy eyes. It worked! Saru took the chance to sprint. Once he had a decent distance from the Onis, Lucky immediately broke the connection.

"Dori!" the monkey passed the ball to the pheasant, having run out of breath, and let the latter continue the run.

Dori caught the ball in his beak and flew. Their team was gaining the lead, when Dori quacked in surprise and tossed the ball up in air, himself nearly crushed by the Blue Oni who had caught up and was attempting to get the ball, losing a few feathers. Inuzuka scooped the ball in his arm before it touched the ground or was caught by the Red Oni.

He entered a new session of the field where numerous pointy boulders were emerging from the ground like a barrage. The Red Oni just casually stomp on everything, but Inuzuka had to went around, which lead to almost losing many times. The rest of the team were also having trouble in the area, and the Blue Oni was getting close. Inuzuka scanned his sides. Lucky and Saru are rapidly advancing by hopping atop the boulders.

BAAAAMMM!!!

The Red Oni had slammed his hand on Inuzuka, and picked up his fist with the dog and the ball inside.

Oh no. Momotaro thought. We lost..!

But the whistle wasn't blown yet. The Karasu observed the match with a poker face, it was hard to guess the reason why.

"WHY haven't you ended the match?!" yelled the Red Oni.

"Because, a match can only end when either side loses," the Karasu calmly said, "Apparently that did not happen."

"But I got the-" the Red Oni opened his fist, just to be stunned that Inuzuka wasn't there. Momotaro, too, was shocked.

"Captain, Dori! Over here!" Saru waved his hand from the other side of the barrage, and there was Inuzuka, running with the ball still in his arm!

The moment when the Red Oni slammed his hand onto Inuzuka, things seemed to slow down for Lucky. She had no time to call Momotaro for his skill, no time to wait for him to fully activate it so she could link it for the dog. She had to act quick: linking herself with Inuzuka, she used her intangibility effect, quite the same one when she competed in Marathon, minus the speed since it'd leave her completely beat. Inuzuka kept running with his eyes closed, ready for the contact, oblivious that he was going through stone like a ghost thanks to the feline. Only after exiting the area and intact, he opened his eyes and was utterly confused about how he could do that by running blindly without hitting something or being caught. Then he spotted Lucky shortly after him, panting, almost tripping over her own foot. Saru paused once he heard the Oni's tantrum to call the other two over.

"L-Lucky! You did that!?" Inuzuka asked his teammate, worry hinted in his voice.

"I had no choice, you know. Or we'll gonna lose to that," she answered between short breaths, "You better not waste my effort," she added jokingly.

The Onis, after the Karasu's statement, had checked the field and saw Lucky and Inuzuka reaching the other side of the field, started chasing them with rage at such speed that trembled the earth.

"Lucky, I believe you still have something up your sleeves?" the dog turned to Lucky.

"I do. How could you tell?"

"I watched the noon Marathon race," he grinned from ear to ear, "I don't think I can be faster than aggressive Onis. The honor's yours," he winked, and she got the signal.

It's so close, just ahead, the rare patch of grass that stood out from its dreaded red and black canvas of the surrounding. Lucky and Inuzuka were running side by side with the dog still having the ball. The Onis were getting nearer...

Two gigantic hands came at Inuzuka at the same time, but he ducked and tossed the object to the cathlete. Lucky, having been ready the whole time, only waited for that. With a kick start, she bolted rapidly, a few electric sparks even crackled from her fur, and before they knew it, Lucky had already landed on the finish line. She raised the ball above her head, hopping happily, and for the moment totally forgot her exhaustion:

"We won! We won against the Onis!"

Momotaro, Inuzuka, Saru and Dori also joined her at the spot, cheering.

"That's amazing, Lucky! How could you hide those skills from us?"

"I didn't expect to have to use it... hehe~"

"So are you the new Rugby Champion now, captain?"

"Not yet, but we're halfway there."

"We did it, we did it, WE DID IT!!"

The Karasu blew the whistle, signaling the end. The children Onis were disappointed and went silent. And the Red and Blue Onis fell on their bottom, leaning onto each other, catching their breaths. The Oni King... their grin somewhat widened, though insignificant.

"You really meant it by returning stronger, Momotaro," said the Red Oni.

"I keep my promises," the peach boy responded.

"But if you are to replace us, then you already know it's not that simple," the Blue Oni grumbled, "About Lucky, you've proved enough to qualify as one of this year's Rugby champions. These are your rewards," the Red Oni took out a scroll, he was so big that the sacred prize felt like a piece of charcoal in his hand. He dropped it into Lucky's.

"Yayy! This is my fourth one!" Lucky was excited.

"That's a record," Momotaro hummed, "There's only one before you who could do that in a day."

"Don't forget your treat," the Red Oni gave her a stick of three dangos, "You small flammable creatures sure have learnt your ways around."

"Thanks," Lucky received the small snack, but the touch felt numb. Looked like the tiredness had finally got her. She felt her legs giving up, so she let herself slump down with a big exhale, her breath still shaking.

"Lucky!? You didn't just burn yourself out for the match, did you?" Momotaro kneeled down to her level and checked her.

"I'm good. That effect I used for Inuzuka at the stone barrage was a bit overwhelming, but it's not the first time so-"

"You can make Inuzuka walk THROUGH the Oni's hand AND stone? How long have you been practicing for the Championship!?" Dori asked loudly.

"It's been...five years? Yeah, since my first training, but I only know about the contest lately. It's like, much more interesting than usual ones, and much harder as well!"

"What do you expect? This is CHAMPION ISLAND we're talking about! And trust me, this place is more than just strength," Momotaro said, but refused to explain further when she asked.

~

Lucky wandered down the path leading to the Central Hill. Night winds blew cool and gently. Ruffles of the trees sounded so distant, as if hearing nothing at all, that strange feeling of emptiness whenever a day ended. The sun had already been down in slumber behind that purple skyline, and the thin grey clouds put a mysterious veil onto the dancing stars.

At some point, she bumped into Symphony, who was heading back to his boat to sleep for the night. Lucky asked to join him, to which he gladly accepted.

"They're talking about you a lot," Symphony said when the two settled place to sleep on the little boat by the harbor, "The talented cat who will win it all."

"I wish," Lucky smiled, "It won't be easy, but I'll try. That's why I came here after all."

"In tight-budget journey? I can tell," he teased her. Voyagers to Champion Island tended to be more invested in their trip. Lucky was the first case he'd ever given a ride who offered him no more than how the ride should've cost.

"That's my saving, thank you very much."

"I thought you're a hometown hero! Shouldn't you have earnings or anything?"

"I'll never take that kind of reward," Lucky said simply, "If helping others was a kind of paid job, then they'd just take heart for granted."

Gazing at the night sky, her first day on Champion Island sure was eventful, and she couldn't wait for the new day to come. So many things to discover, so many things she hadn't known under the mesmerizing sceneries of this place, and there's still sports to win!

Chapter Text

Waters of the South Port rocked the boat like a cradle. Symphony was fast asleep. He was a boatman, after all, who specialized in transporting individuals and couples on extended trips where he would often have to wait overnight for the returning sail, so he was so well used to sleeping out like this. For Lucky, however, this was the longest and farthest she had been from home, and couldn't find sleep yet despite being exhausted from the match. Curiosity, it might be. Maybe excitement. Make it both. Her amber eyes relaxed as she traced the shapes of constellations.

The fabric of sky zoomed wide and far, on the vast ocean without anything in its stretch. Where the sky met the sea, a strange halo seemed to be flickering from a different plane of existence, alluringly yet so distant that any pursuit would give up to an easier target at hand, something else that was reachable regardless. The stars were shining as always, on a night sky lightened by the festival lamplights that they lost their twinkles. Nonetheless, they were much, much closer, that she thought she could just outstretch her arm and harvest one from the universe. It was late September, Lucky didn't remember which constellation would be up there, perhaps Bells or Sun, her older brother, would know. As for her, she just connected random sparks with her eyes, imagining wings of doves and hooves of antelopes - the creatures of endless voyages and freedom - and exotic trees and random shapes that just didn't make sense.

You know... memories worked the best when the mind was at peace. Nostalgia only kicked in once the stream of life come to the plains where it just flowed slowly without any sudden turns. When you were experiencing something, as much as you wanted to treasure it, you wouldn't be able to do so at the fullest, for any creatures would always be caught up in a split moment that diverted their heart elsewhere. Sometimes - no, most of the time, enjoyment came not with a clear image of memory, a half-solid treasure of mind, but rather an inexplicable vague sensation. Not only enjoyment and happiness in general, but so were other kinds of memories: sad ones, grief, humiliation, even ones that didn't come with a specific emotion at all. When you were surrounded by familiarities, everything that took place might seem so normal, as if bound to happen, but upon a gaze to the horizon clear from blocks of residence, feelings would come rushing in. Detached from the environment one was so accustomed to, they would have a more significant sense of...reminiscence.

Maneki Lucky was never a regular girl in the first place. It wasn't rare for female felines to have calico coat, but what differenciated her from others was her personality. She used to, well, almost, pick up a fight with a guy over a daycare play back then as she didn't want to play princess just to be rescued by any prince charming. She wanted to be a hero too, or at least be the kind of princess to yeet her dress out the window and fight her way out herself. Her caretaker wasn't fond of the idea, and so were the boys. Lucky was a cute girl, but she was also brave and independent. That set her into quite a lot of trouble for roles in school plays, as she couldn't stand faking herself as an all-so-graceful belle, but she also didn't fit playing a hero for her young feminine voice. It left her with minor, sometimes unsettling roles like a talking tree or something. In other words, although she appeared like a fluffball full of innocence and a carefree attitude, she had been restraining herself, for she had no reason to make a scene.

The Halloween game disk that Maneki Bells brought back actually changed her course of life. It's weird to be grateful for a game character, huh? But Lucky's young mind translated the game as: there was nothing wrong to show your true power. As for the rest... you know it - long days and nights of library searches for magic, tombs of shinobi secrets found in the basement of the local library, painful sessions of honing her skills, drained numb limbs yet with an overjoyed smile when she finally discovered what would be closest to miracles... It was like a dream. The cat breathed out, she didn't know what else to think.

Lucky raced with a thousand thoughts in mind, though somehow she felt more like flying with them dreamily. The mush of memories all blurred into a big mess that it was hard to process. Her eyes grew tired.

"For someone like you, the stars will guide you on your way... and show you the way home."

There seemed to be a path drawn by those glimmering dots on the sky... She had come a long way. Very long.

A single sakura petal travelled from a faraway land, carried by the winds to her town of Wiira. A single being in the empty sky of a mild town, so close yet in a space so vast in quietness it seemed just out of reach.

Why did she suddenly feel its presence? She didn't even know what its essence was like yet she just felt like that! Strangely, it was like that piece of spring originated from here, a non-verbal messenger who rode the winds, seeking for someone...

Lucky's eyelids heavied down a close, and she drifted to sleep.

~

It was almost midnight.

If someone happened to be awake at this unholy hour, had keen eyes in the dark and some really good luck, they'd get the chance to catch a glimpse of Inari Kitsune in a whole different look.

She wasn't in her red kimono and pink haori, standing high and neat even when on a run, her yellow fur radiating an almost godly glow that could not be missed, and her steamy tail waving gracefully. She was now without her red eye makeup, her fur somewhat darkened, she looked more like a normal fox tucked in brown clothing that blended completely in the shadows like nothing but air.

What's more, her attire was a mess when she landed on a random rooftop deep in the bamboo forest in a small gust of wind. Kitsune, before she set off as an athlete, had been easily one of the best scouts of the family. She was agile and strong, but this time she had failed the mission entrusted by the leader. A child of the winds, huh? It took her the whole evening yet no process was made.

How long would it take for her beloved home to return to its former glory that she only knew via tales? She couldn't tell.

Anyhow, as much as she had secrets of her own, this was not one of those. This notion must be informed to the leader at once.

"So you have failed. I can see."

The leader's voice echoed faintly in the room as soon as they saw Kitsune.

"My apologies. I did not expect him to be able to see through my deception," Kitsune dared not to look at them in the eyes and stared at her own feet instead.

"I understand, Kitsune. It was my fault as well for not realizing that you are yet ready to face him in such a mission. Now go give yourself a rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day. And worry not about the issue, child, we are exposed by this failure yet it is not the end for anyone, or anything. It is barely the beginning."

More than just that, things were going into motion. The Leader of Team Yellow, the honored Rider of the Moonlit Winds, just as well as the three other leaders, knew that they must be patient with fate. It was their work to set reels in their correct places, year by year. There happened a couple of unconventional things, but they believed those were just the trials to claim the Grand Champion.

Kitsune, on the other hand, was just a young kit. At least she was young compared to other Inaris. She was a powerful one, but being young and inexperienced was her weakness. She held great respect for the Legendary Champions and wished to reach their level someday, unaware that she was already so close but kept refusing it. She obliged to team orders without messing around in high discipline. Not necessarily a bad thing, but she was too determined to be good. Inari Haru was also known for his recklessness, to the point of giving up the Team to be a commentator, thinking that it'd aid the Championship. He had grown a second tail, being over 100 years old by now, and he didn't regret it. Kitsune, however, tightened her identity as an Inari of Team Yellow. She often wondered how Ume, who was reaching her 300s to grow a forth tail, could stay sane feeling the sensation of disharmony over their own home all this time. That, was enough to prove how much of a glass cannon she was, for Inaris were supposed to have extended calmness.

~

Wataru Karasu strolled alone in the Tanooki City library. It was supposed to be closed, and it would be a shame if a member of the knowledgable family of Karasus was spotted wandering in a public library, but there were some certain things that only this specific place could serve.

He had no room for stupid mistakes, nor the time to lounge around. One small sound might alert the librarian and he couldn't risk getting caught. Haru and Kota had promised him back-up if necessary, and it's not that he wasn't grateful nor doubt their ability, but they were required to present at the park for their job on the second day of the Championship in perfect condition. They were commentators, and they had to lift the atmosphere, not dragging it down by their sleepiness.

The doorway to that place was always changing for security issues, and to prevent accidental wanderers to enter it a second time. Pale moonlight crept through the blinds of the louver, illuminating the shelves in a weak yet marvelous aura that Wataru thought he was seeing in monochrome of an abandoned archive.

Wataru quickly scanned the shelves. Other creatures might need a special vision to spot such ancient magic, but he could view it even with naked eyes. He soon spotted what he needed on the bottom shelf: a brand new dictionary in a spotless plastic cover. He cared not about the content of this book, nor its cover. Just the purpose it served tonight.

He pulled it out slightly, carefully not to take it out from the shelf completely. Following that, a small rumble was heard. Wataru moved aside as a trap door appeared where he just kneeled moments ago. He opened it, revealing a ladder leading down. Despite being at least a hundred years old, the door made no sound. He took out from his pocket a single remote that resembled a car's smart key and pressed the button, sending a signal to the two commentators guarding outside that they could leave. Then he proceeded to climb down the ladder. Above his head, the trap door closed by itself and disappeared without a trace.

Wataru didn't enjoy going all the way down here, but as he realized that the mage's request was more important than his own opinions, he did it anyway. She was getting desperate, and had disappeared for days. They needed her, and the mage also needed their support, or she'd lose herself anytime soon. Unlike Inaris, Karasus could not tell spiritual sensations, but could read the state of mind - and the mage was close to her breaking point. Dangerously close.

For some reason, out of all creatures, no matter what they said, Wataru believed that the emergence of the Champion could solve her problems too, that he prayed that Lucky lived up to the expectations upon her.

The night was tranquil, but definitely not still as how it was pictured. Always, there were always workers of the night.

~

"Morning, Symph," Lucky yawned and stretched, feeling refreshed after the night.

"Morning," Symphony got up as well, "So, another long day, huh?"

The sun was just rising. The clouds were coated in pink like slices of sashimi in the pale sky. Over the East, shades of gold and orange were brightening up the horizon along with the Earthen star. And to the West, it was still dark and somewhat ominous. Lucky thought she saw a spark of red over there for a split second, but she shook her head. Probably just because she wasn't fully awake yet that her eyes were fooling with her.

After cleaning up and preparing themselves in the restrooms at the harbor, Lucky once again headed to the Center Hill. Every athlete who competed was guaranteed two meals a day on the island, so she would have to get her breakfast first before anything else.

"Over here, Lucky!" Ume Inari waved from the shade of a tree. There were a few more athletes with her, all of them from Yellow Team. The yellow fox pulled a pair of chopsticks out from the sleeve of her haori:

"Just in time. Shall we start the day with a little sight warm-up?"

Chapter Text

Ume Inari opened a wooden box. It was filled with steaming cooked rice and paper seaweed in perfect rectangles. She tossed the content in the box up in air without hesitation and calmly watched as the rice and seaweed were reaching the height of the branches above yet touched none of them, while the group of athletes eyes the scene in shock.

"A-are you crazy!?" one of the teammates cried and attempted to "save" the thrown food though knew all effort would be in vain: rice was soft and could easily be scattered if grasped even only the slightest bit tighter or looser than the force needed, and seaweed papers would be blown away upon a small indirect impact in the air, a gentle breeze for example.

"Hold on, she got this," Lucky stopped them from standing up. Ume's face showed absolute confidence as if having the occurrence planned, and the feline believed that the one Inari that Kitsune talked so highly about would not disappoint by any means.

As the food halted to a free fall, a gust of wind picked up. The rice was circled and mounded into identical balls, wrapping each ball with a piece of seaweed to form dozens of onigiris. Then she continued to use the wind to gather them and caught them with her chopsticks so rapidly that her right hand was merely a windy green blur of her haori sleeve, arranging them neatly on a wooden tray that she pulled out without anyone noticing.

Ume placed the tray in front of the stunned athletes, smiling brightly:

"Serve yourselves! Don't worry about the seasoning, the wind did everything. Oh, and please do tell me if you want extra fillings or more food. I'm glad to help."

"Wind powers!?" the athlete before exclaimed, "I know there are elemental manipulators out there but at this perfection, making rice balls using wind alone? How is this even-??"

"Shhh~ Looks like you've spotted something intriguing about us! But my bad, we're not the Karasus. We are the Inaris," Ume put a finger on her chin, "And our secrets shall be sealed. Find it out yourselves."

"Fine," they huffed and picked a ball, "Not like I'm that interest to bug into anything that's not related to the contest anyway."

Lucky took a rice ball for herself, too. It was quite hard to catch the whole thing in sight, really. The wind smelled of salt and lilies. Its flows rolling the rice as if each had a life of its own, but that was actually just the art of a skilled, multitasking mind. Compared to Kitsune, Ume was on an entirely different level.

The cathlete munched on her breakfast portion, the warm taste spreading on her tongue. Ume was clearly watching over them, though her look brought more comfort than just holes on their head, like that of a mother watching her children, humming a soft tune, which later turned to a song of a language no one could tell. Strangely, it felt both familiar and foreign to Lucky, something she'd expect herself to know yet an invisible barrier of sort had prevented her to put a finger on. She got herself the fifth onigiri. Her head unconsciously played along to the rhythm. It was somewhat enchanting, the air felt so light of a peaceful land void of fear and arguments.

The fox was sitting atop a branch, her feet dangling. Whenever an athlete ordered for more food, she didn't showed a sign of hearing the request, she didn't move at all, but a wind picked up and carried another serving of onigiri in a greenish cocoon, like the one which Ume had showed up yesterday.

Lucky stuffed herself with the nth ball. She needed a lot of fuel for the day. Never, ever run with an empty stomach. Her experience was anything but pleasant. She was planning to take on Archery next before re-challenging Kou, and there's the saying that hunger made your eyes blurry. Though that couldn't stop her head to keep thinking about the huge difference between Ume and Kitsune: Kitsune was barely able to manifest the winds she created, merely using them as a booster for her physical strength, taking form of a gust of wind; while Ume could, well, Lucky found herself lost of words to clarify it - Ume made it seem so simple and easy, the winds were like her extra hands, she could even teleport with it!

"Alright my champions," Ume stopped her singing and spoke, "I suppose it's time for you to set off. It's bright and shine and the spot of the Ultimate Champion awaits for no one," she clasped her hands together, "Venture into town and start your second day of challenges and fun! Good luck."

Everyone was gathering their stuff and set off. One by one, they went downhill in different directions, some teleported right on spot. Lucky pulled out her own compass to check the locations before devouring the last rice ball and stood up, heading Northwest. She could see the vibrant red fans and floating targets on the waters of the docks, and Yoichi himself on the beach, grand-looking on his mechanic horse with his bow and quiver. It was just yesterday when she had met him personally inside his very palace, and while she was the competitor here, he challenged her, or at least she considered it a challenge. Not like she was bothered, quite the opposite, she was estated that a Champion saw her as worthy enough to make the move first.

The Central Hill was quite low compared to the heights she had reached, but the atmosphere here was refreshing nonetheless. She loved the light sun rays of the morning and the cool breezes of mountainous woods, so she unconsciously started running, taking in her favorite sense. She leaped on a few branches, as agile as a squirrel that nothing was shackled and left a sign of anything passing by, just a couple leaves ruffling on her skin, nature cushioning her feet. Her red scarf fluttered to her steps, and a smile plastered on her face, like that of a child in their own world of play. Soon, with a pleasant stretch, she reached the old harbor.

She saw first thing sight of a badger - the one she had met with back at Otohime's contest, and at the morning meal with Ume and the rest of Team Yellow - Morgan, raising his bow high and shot a furry of green arrows toward the clusters of target-on-boats and fan-on-sticks which were constantly gliding through the waters. The badger himself, too, was running along the shore to get a good aim at as many targets as possible, sometimes even leaped on the large boulders nearby and soak his feet in sea water trying to get closer. And Yoichi was also there, on the back of his wheeled ebony horse, his legs soaked and his cast was covered by waves, which were surprisingly foamy today. He had a quiver full of red arrows over his shoulder, and raised his own bow firmly and calmly. With one single arrow, he shot through three targets at once. The Torii wasn't on the sea anymore - it was floating in the sky, shining bright white. Instead of the usual orange emblem, attached on it was a scoreboard, no less, showing a countdown stopwatch in the middle and Morgan's and Yoichi's current scores. Morgan's, which was on the left, was significantly lower than the samurai's, and it seemed that he was in vain trying to catch up. His force was strong enough to send an arrow flying over the targets, yet his aim hadn't got enough of accuracy, or so Lucky assumed from observing. A coal-grey rabbit whom he danced with at the contest, Vanille, was cheering him on on the side. "Cheering", to put it lightly, but she was actually hopping, stomping the ground with her strong feet and shouting Morgan not to lose, which, obviously, didn't come true.

"There. Told ya I tried my best." Morgan said as he passed the bow and quiver to Vanille to compete next.

"Geez, and there you are, being so laid-back in times like this! Our city didn't memorize this island and choose us for nothing, y'know?" Vanille made a 'whatever' gesture then held up the bow, stepping closer to the waves:

"I'm your next challenger."

The icon of Morgan's head on the Torii scoreboard changed to Vanille's, and numbers were reset. As a tweet was heard and the stopwatch started running again, the rabbit began shooting arrows. Unlike her friend, Vanille shot with much better stability, almost knocking out all the targets she aimed at. Still, Yoichi always seemed to be one step ahead. It was quite a close call, but Vanille couldn't manage. A few more shots and she could've, probably, so her arms trembled from disappointment.

Then it came to the last one waiting in line - Lucky.

Honestly, Lucky hadn't got much experience in archery of all sports. Well, technically any sports that were related to weapons. Not like she had a chance to encounter such things in her way-too-peaceful hometown - though she did not complain, only while travelling to Champion Island had she actually held a bow. Aiming and shooting were no stranger for a game-keen like the feline, yet wielding something almost as long as her own height was no doubt difficult.

She picked up the bow anyway. In fact, it seemed to reduce in size to fit better with her form.

"Let me explain the rules again, since you weren't here with Morgan and Vanille," Yoichi said, "You ought to take down as many targets as possible within 1 minute and earn a score higher than mine in order to win my scroll. Targets give more points than fans; however, there's a catch. Fans are much closer and more vulnerable, but you have to literally shoot them down, not tear a hole through them, to be counted. Targets are father, and of course tougher, but it will be down as long as your hit lands strong enough, and hitting the bullseye is unnecessary. You may mobile among this beach, but do not go further than the Torii. Got it?"

"Got it." Lucky nodded.

"Taking those fans down is even harder than bullseyes, if you ask me," Morgan grunted, "You have to hit a slim critical point between the fan and the bamboo stick."

"Really?"

"Watch closely, Lucky," Yoichi raised his bow as Lucky came beside him - waterproofing herself with some air-boots - and released. A single red arrow glided through the air to the thinnest spot on the said target.

And the fan fell into the sea.

Shooting that thing down would be anything but easy, especially when she was against a skilled samurai.

At first, things went well. Lucky closed her right eye and stood with her body side to the right as she took her aim. The first arrow didn't reach, so she put more and more power into the next until one landed on the big target and took it down with a splash. Silently cheering to herself, Lucky tried to keep on the momentum. She did miss some targets by mere millimeters, and tore holes on fans without shooting them down, but she also got quite some achievements as well: two fans and one big target, all three at the same time!

"Lucky, concentrate! You're falling behind!" yelled Morgan.

The moment the feline took notice of it, targets were swarming all over the place, so many that she could feel like shooting with her eyes closed and actually hit. All the same, that gave out quite a shock, it was overwhelming that Lucky barely knew where to head to. The confusion drove her down in agility. Blunt force was enough to take down any random targets at this rate, and soon the same would be of the fans, but Lucky was in such a panic that she couldn't think straight. She drew the arrows clumsily, and somehow got them tangled in the bowstring, even shot in some weird misdirection from the one she intended. A complete mess of herself. Vanille, who was still watching with her friend, shook her head with a pitied smile:

"She cannot make it, that's for certain."

"Say it for yourself. None of us managed," Morgan replied, "Creatures tend to end up strained from winning Archery and Mountain Climbing, no? At least that's stated in the old record."

A whistle-like sound twittered in the air, announcing times out. Lucky lowered her tired limbs, breathing, and knowing that she had lost, without even looking at the scoreboard she knew, for this feeling felt that way of defeat. Still, she dared one glance at the floating Torii above. The score difference was just too huge to be filled by any chance. Like a difference sky, out of reach. The feline might be able to work against Kou next time, but against Yoichi? Seemed impossible.

Yoichi pulled out the usual participating reward, a dango of two - so close already, keep trying. He gave it to Lucky, then looked at all three of them as he spoke:

"My Archery challenge is about the skills of a warrior, as wielding a weapon should never be taken lightly. You need strength, accuracy, calmness, observation and swiftness in both decisions and actions. In practical situations, you need to possess all of that in order to pull off an effective task with minimum damage to your surroundings and least sacrifices possible.

"Feel free to practice at my dojo, or seek for aid. Until you see yourself grasping a hold of those qualifications, I'm always ready for a re-challenge."

"To the dojo we go, then," Morgan said as if it was the most obvious thing. Vanille and Lucky nodded and together they headed to the large palace.

Chapter Text

Running nonstop while firing a fury of arrows, rolling and leaping, shooting stationed target might not be the closest to the real test against Yoichi, but the exercise did one way or another improve their skills in this specific sport. One of Yoichi's men was in charge of training Lucky, Morgan and Vanille, who, taking advice from the Champion himself, went to the dojo in hopes of honing the qualifications that the challenge called for within at most five days - before the Championships ended. Although so far they'd only been repeating the same actions all over: wielding a bow while constantly moving, representing mobile targets. They had to beat a stopwatch, plus beat each other through the process due to an instinctive competitiveness between them. Simple yet effective, Lucky had learned to observe a wide ground instead of focusing on one objective as she usually did, the same way Morgan improved his accuracy and Vanille improved her counter speed. 

For a young athlete, Lucky was fast to learn and finished her own training before the other two, so she excused herself to the balcony for some fresh air. It was comforting, as always, to be enveloped in nature's breeze and take the world in view, all at once, when her amber eyes spotted something odd in the distance. Maybe it wasn't there yesterday, maybe she just simply missed it because of her viewpoint, still, in the middle of summer, where winds blew freely and clouds scattered and light reached everywhere and everything, a thick, rainy cloud hanging atop the bamboo forest was suspicious. Last time she checked, that hill only had powerful winds, not heavy rainfall. And the grey cloud showed no sign of going away, either.

Strange.

The more the feline observed the scene, the more concerned she became. Even across the island, she could see the bamboo trees shaking furiously. No, more like being violently bent under extreme pressure. Bamboos were well known as a resilient, enduring kind, yet Lucky was afraid that they were to break into half any moment now.

There's no way she's gonna stay still like this, not gonna do. The rematch could wait. As if Yoichi would disappear the moment she left anyway, but her heart refused to ignore this seeming problem.

She took a leap down from the balcony, successfully landing on the edge of the platform on which the dojo was built before quickly hopping down one of the large boulders by the edge of the waters, then to the ground, and ran southeast.

Lucky reached the central road in no time. These north parts were rather silent. After all, the main attractions were the Bridge Garden, Tanooki City, even the Marathon Beach, all located in the south. There was only one sole sound that drowned out everything, the rumbling sound of the waterfalls descending from the mountains of Champion Fukuro. Droplets of water splashing from the fall sprinkled on her body and had long wetted the grass. The waterfalls went alongside a steep fleet of stairs leading upwards to a Torii, where you were supposed to challenge the champion, yet the look of it made it seem like a pathway to heaven. Wonderful sight, no kidding, it almost caught her off guard.

Soon leaving behind the roar of water, Lucky continued her little trip to the bamboo forest. The feline was now standing in front of the Torii lying at the foot of the hill. This feeling, it was like deja vu. Just yesterday, she was standing right here, with Kitsune and a husky, side by side they stepped up and challenged Champion Tengu, and were taken on an absolutely unpleasant flight to their competing spot somewhere in the forest. But to an energetic girl such as Lucky, and in an eventful place such as Champion Island, a day felt like forever. She won her first scroll here, and while still hadn't got all seven, she was back, and it wasn't that bad to return. Without any competitive spirit that had her eyes locked on her opponent and without the nervousness of first impression, she could spot things she hadn't noticed before. The path leading to the Table Tennis Torii didn't simply end there, it sidetracked and went into the grove, before going straight up.

Lucky glanced onto the sky and gulped. She hated, hated, hated being wet, and the only thing that the daring heroine was known to be afraid of was - typically yet ironically - water. Still, she took a deep breath and braced herself under the shower.

It rained so hard as if the sky itself was falling apart, the cold slithered under her fur coat, making her shiver, and weighing her down. Lucky could barely see anything in front of her eyes but distant silhouettes lurking among the trees. Blinking the water that was threatening to crept its way into her eyes away, she saw more of those silhouettes, which she realized to be houses upon closer look. Seemed like she had entered a village. Lucky quickly took shelter under the closest roof and knocked on the door, asking the host if she could have some questions about the weird phenomenon happening, yet no one answered. The feline tried knocking again and again, excusing herself in louder and louder every time, but still, it was just silent that returned.

"Ohayo!" Lucky yelled, trying to drown out the sound of the rain for the nth time, "Can you tell me something about this r- AHHHH!!!!" Lucky had been knocking on the same spot so forcefully that she ended up punching a hole through the mat door. "Gomene gomene! I didn't mean to break your door, really!" she blurted out as she slid open the door, "I'm truly sorry for intruding but..."

Her words halted. The sight before her eyes had left Lucky speechless. The house was empty, with twigs and dried leaves scattered on the mud-stained mattress as if a devastating storm had swept by. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and anywhere possible, the flanks keeping the house up were moldy and almost rotten, and the mat doors as well as the mattresses should be considered nothing more than lumps of fiber, the one they used to wash the dishes. Even the door felt like falling apart when she opened it. Clearly, this place had been abandoned for far to long that it had lost itself to the hands of time. The window frame was broken, so she could tell where all those leaves and mud and dampness came from. She peeked her head out to check the surroundings.

Thanks to the roof, Lucky could see things a bit better now. This was, indeed, a village, judging by the way there were clear paths big enough for two wagons to move at the same time going through the forest. The houses were quite distant from each other, though all shared the similarity of stationing by a cluster of bamboo trees. She had missed some houses on the way here as they laid deeper in the forest, far from the route, so instead she had gone straight to what seemed like the village's center. The house where Lucky was taking shelter was located near a relatively wide clearing which she guessed as the village square. There was a stone statue of a table tennis table placed right in the middle, with four stone standlamps arranged by its four corners just like at the Tengu's Table Tennis competition ground, except that all five stoneworks were all moldy. However, wherever she looked, the greenery of background remained. The bamboo grove stood tall under the relentless rain, barely letting go of the now wet as mud soil even where their leaves were hardly staying up against the heavy droplets. Then Lucky noticed how the trees started swaying as gusts of wind picked up and splashed water into her face. She quickly ducked below the windowsill, just in time before another blow entered the house, its howl pitched in her ears and stayed echoing even long after it ended. Lucky was surprised how this building managed to stand at this rate.

The feline stood up beside the window, avoiding standing where she could easily take a direct hit since this power would certainly send her blasting off to who-knows-where, as she glanced outside and widened her amber eyes: there it was, the power that had forced even bamboos to bend so hard, now it felt even more dramatic at closer range. It was ascending from the higher parts of the hill, but where exactly was what Lucky could not tell. She clawed herself to the floor and took a stance, just in case she had to withstand a side effect, which was like, happening every moment now, because of how airy the house was. She dared not to lean out further than the window frame, her heart beating like crazy and her breath as fast as the winds, her golden orbs shrunk, trying to pinpoint as many clues as possible that could lead her to the source of this problem.

Once the winds had calmed down and the trees slowly stood up straight again as if nothing had happened, Lucky exited. She ran past a notice board on her way heading up south to the square, a wooden board with a small ceramic cover to prevent the board from being wet, and surprisingly it really wasn't! If anything, the board was good as new, contrast to the decaying house. The two pale lanterns hanging on its sides shone a dim light, just enough to read the contents on display, which wasn't any posters or announcements anyway. It was, in fact, a ranking podium of four teams, along with the current points earned. Apparently, Team Red was on the lead, followed tight by Team Yellow. Not far being was Team Blue, and lastly, with a desperately low score, was Team Green. She thought it had something to do with the number of members too, not just each teammate's ability alone. Team Red's mascot and Ume Inari of Team Yellow did well on recruiting. Team Blue's motto of strength was quite impressive as well, but Team Green was just... well, Team Green.

Observing something from one single viewpoint gave super limited results. The tracks she traced ended by the east side of the square, so it's either farther north or farther east that the winds came from. And the bamboo forest? It covered every inch of this hill, this area. She needed another hint. That's when she made an accidental glance toward the nearest house and was met with a pair of airy green eyes, though it only lasted in a split moment before they disappeared, while Lucky jumped to realized that the eyes belonged to a creature sitting in the dark. Excitedly she entered the house:

"Excuse me! Can I ask you something?" Lucky said, but before anything else she was taken back. Outside, the rain blocked her vision, but after shaking off some of the annoying water on her fur, she recognized who that shadow was: Kitsune Inari, in a form that was clearly wasn't the Kitsune she knew. Sitting in a house in terrible condition as like the last, the fox was a mess. Her fur was messy and dirty, it's golden glow almost vanished. She was wearing a single shirt and pants instead of a full set kimono, so she had no longer her gracefulness of a proud long lasting family but a normal villager. Her face features wasn't lined in red and yellow highlighting her eyes and nose anymore, and her tail wasn't steaming. Her clothes were nearly torn, as if she had to withstand some serious impacts not so long ago. And she was shivering, breathing hard from exhaustion and probably from the cold, too.

"Kitsune! What happened?" worried, Lucky shouted, "Why weren't you at the team's meetup this morning? And what happened to you? You look so beat up, did you sleep last night?"

"One question at a time, Lucky." Kitsune said calmly, "First things first, I don't have to go to the meetup for breakfast because I can have it at home since I'm local. Does that make sense?”

Lucky nodded.

"But more importantly, what happened to you? You look like you just got swept or something." She asked.

"Almost true, actually." Kitsune chuckled, "Don't you remember anything about this town?"

"This town..?" Lucky repeated as she recalled what she had learnt yesterday: this town is completely abandoned.

"This town is completely abandoned. Its people had left long ago since the tengus arrived when unbearably strong winds made it hard to live." Lucky answered.

"Correctly." Kitsune nodded, "And there you are, trying to call for someone?"

"I kinda...forgot about that?" Lucky scratched the back of her head awkwardly, "I was trying to find out about this weird rain and that powerful wind that could bend bamboos a few moments ago. I got so worried that I forgot what that Ushi told me yesterday."

Kitsune sighed and sat up straight, leaning to the wall, too tired to stand up, and said: "I don't know about the rain, but I'm letting you know, everyone left this village not after the tengus' migration nor some random powerful gusts, it after the Tengu arrived at the games."

"Why? The Tengu seems friendly, and he's very good at Table Tennis!"

"Well that's the problem. Everyone loves the Tengu, but he plays Table Tennis with his fan." Kitsune explained, "The winds didn't coincidentally show up. He plays so well that it creates tremendous wind too strong for anyone to live nearby. We've experienced part of that at our matches. But one, the real impact is always on the outer ring as a leftover force of his windy twisty hits. And second, my guess, is that we have both accustomed to enduring such power better than normal creatures, so you haven't realized that yet. Others, well, they were forced to move elsewhere, mostly chose Tanooki City where it's safe and has plenty housing, if they didn't want to be crushed and thrown away every single day."

"Oh, how terrible! Has anyone asked him to stop??" Lucky questioned, wide-eyed.

"I tried sneaking into the Dojo and swapping his fan, but he's too fast and caught me! Twice! And don't even think of taking it by force. When I was being kicked out, I tried to use my wind powers to blow it out too, but then he managed to grab the fan and used my power against me. And...you can see the results right here."

Lucky sat down in front of her friend, pondering. Then something clicked:

"Is this the mission you told me yesterday at the beach? The team's mission was to go save this village?"

"Quick thinking, Lucky. It's been abandoned long enough, so the leader decided. I was had to go stop the winds. The rain is a new thing though. Even the frogs couldn't predict it coming," Kitsune sighed again, "A longer way to go. I don't know if we can make it if problems keep rushing in like this."

"Then... I'll try! Let me try the mission!" Lucky suddenly said in response to her friend's troubled look, "I'm no local, but I'm worried too. An abandoned town, a threat of nature's force, and a friend of mine is burnt out, how can I give a cold shoulder? Besides, I'm also part of Team Yellow, so let me continue the mission for you!"

"Really? The Tengu when it comes to his property is totally different from the Tengu in the Championships. This isn't something to be taken lightly, Lucky." Kitsune felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders, but she couldn't help being concerned.

"I don't know if I'll have any better luck, but I'm happy to try!" Lucky said cheerfully, a smile plastered on her face that brightened the mood, and she clenched her fists in a way to show her positive determination.

Kitsune locked eyes with the young feline. Her amber eyes sparkled and had not even a glimpse of fear nor childish recklessness, just the boldness to try, and that was enough to convince the Inari.

"Wow, you are so brave, Lucky, for someone who has seen his worst," Kitsune, too, smiled, "The Tengu is in the Table Tennis dojo north of here," she gave Lucky a replica of Tengu's fan as she said, "Swap the fan and there will be no more powerful winds going on rampage. I count on you for this. Good luck!"

Lucky took the fake fan and nodded before heading back out, once again facing the rain. She ran between houses, taking cover under their tattered roofs, until she reach a path leading upward from north of the square. It rained more heavily than ever, so she crossed her arms above her head in a protective manner, yet big sharp-like raindrops hurt her bare arms and threatened to enter her ears.

Hopefully stopping the winds will stop the rain too. Lucky thought as she ran past a pair of stone standlamps on the sides of the path. Their light was out long ago, unable to withstand those gusts, let alone rainwater. Winds bring storm clouds, don't they? Maybe Kitsune can reverse its effect with the fan and her wind powers.

Another pair of unlit standlamps unraveled a divine aura, marking that she was going the right way. It was said that the Champions were regarded as Legendaries because they themselves were deities capable of defying nature, hence the sensation they gave out felt special as well. The dojo, used to be home to numerous tengus and held honor of all Table Tennis Champions before him, radiated such aura. And she didn't need to master the art of inner energy - qi - to feel it. The mere sight of ancient stone objects standing still and high in the darkness of the sky had told enough.

She came past four more pairs of lamps before making it before the closed doors of the dojo. Water dripped from the deep blue double-layer roof of the second to the first floor and then to the ground like a waterfall, and the building was like a secret cavern behind that water curtain. Two statues of human-bird stood on both sides of the door - tengu statues. Yet much unlike the Tengu, they had huge, curved, majestic wings, wore simple robes reaching their knees secured by thin sashes, and their crests - their hair - were styled in beautiful curls. Their eyes were big and sharp, their claws were large and sturdy, and they each held a normal table tennis bat pointing towards the dojo. Their poses resembled that of the "god bless you victory here" kind of statue than just welcome decorations, and she was right. When Lucky entered the dojo, she found six more of them, standing in three pairs, making a way leading to a fleet of stairs behind a door at the end of the room.

Lucky climbed the stairs up the second floor, and was almost blinded by the light there.

Eight lamps illuminated the room from every corner. Four ping-pong tables, red and blue, were placed on caramel mattresses on the sides of the room, along with some stacks of neatly-placed table tennis balls, leaving a space from the door leading straight to where the Tengu perched, sleeping, on a blue mattress. Behind him, his iconic fan hung on the wall, shining invitingly. On its side, above the windows - which were in perfect condition and totally not broken out of their frames, by the way - were regular bats hanging in a line as a form of decor.

Very carefully, Lucky approached him.

Very, very carefully...

Suddenly, the Tengu stirred. Lucky froze on her spot, praying Kami-sama to give the Champion a lullaby or something or she'd be done for. Being caught and thrown out meant failing the mission, and giving up on a quest before even reaching the goal was such a boomer. She'd rather get caught trying than screwing up from the beginning.

"...it's your serve...zzz..." the Tengu snored, then went back to sleep peacefully.

Lucky quietly let out the breath she was holding, feeling that her heart had skipped a beat. She went around him to the fan. The thing itself felt magical, Lucky couldn't help but stand there in awe, before sticking out a hand. She didn't notice the feathers on the Tengu's black wings vibrating.

"There's the fan! I almost got it..." Slowly she closed her fingers around the handle, when all the sudden, the Tengu boomed:

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?"

Startled, the feline turned to face the Champion's back. He was sitting still, yet his voice shook her to the bone. She couldn't believe Kitsune could bring herself to sneak in twice! She stammered in panic:

"N-nothing!! I was just looking around!" She tried to sound as calm as possible, but all the hair on her body straightened up in a goosebump, giving her away.

"Then look around somewhere else!" the Tengu growled grumpily, "I see you eyeing my beautiful fan. It's mine!"

"Oh, of course it's so beautiful!" Lucky quickly regained her confidence and played along to the story, with a bit of trouble and some stuttering to find the right words to put together, "I was actually admiring it, Tengu-san."

Lying is bad, but it's good when it's meant to help. Someone had told her.

"Aha!" the Tengu boomed, again startling the young athlete, "You have very good taste. Everyone admires my fan. Some have even tried to take it from me!"

One of which is Kitsune Inari.

"Looks like they've failed," Lucky forced a nervous laugh, "I'm not surprised. You are so fast and observant!"

"Exactly! You'd have to be invisible to get past me!" he declared proudly, before frowning, "Which reminds me... where is my invisibility cloak??"

"You have an invisibility cloak too??" Lucky asked, taken back. How powerful can this deity be?

"I did," he confirmed, "but it's been missing since that little octopus came to visit me and was admiring it," he grumbled.

"Oh, do you think the octopus stole it??" Lucky's head automatically put two and two together and wondered out loud.

"..." the Tengu was silent, just to almost knocked the cat on her butt with yet another outburst: "WELL NOW I DO! How dare that sneaky cephalopod take my cloak! I'd give anything to have it back!"

Lucky knew this was the chance she could not miss, before the Tengu could rethink his words, she asked smugly:

"Even your fan?"

"Yes!" this was the answer she expected, as well as didn't. Who knew the Tengu would give up the fan so easily for the cloak?

"Bring me my cloak and I'll give you my precious fan!" he said.

"But... how am I supposed to find someone who is invisible?" that's the big problem.

"The user will not be completely invisible unless they know how to seal their presence the right way, which that cephalopod doesn't. You can tell the cloak is nearby if you see sparkles in the air. They couldn't have gotten far. Search the bamboo forest!! Bring my beautiful cloak back to me!"

Lucky nodded and hummed to signal that she had understood, then left the fan be and exited the dojo.

Then it hit her like a truck: how exactly would she find some random little sparkles, in a whole hill of thick bamboos, in the middle of a rain?? She had to start somewhere, but there was no clue on where specifically. Just 'the bamboo forest'. Thankfully it wasn't the whole island, or the Championship would end before she knew it.

Oh well, she started by searching on the sides of the path on her way back down. She couldn't jump as high as she normally did because of the rain, but high enough to cling to the nearest bamboo tree and take a thorough look around. Seeing nothing suspicious, she leaped to another tree on the other side of the road. Just like that, she kept leaping in a zigzag while keeping her eyes peeled for some sparkles. Assumed the thief already left the forest? No, she couldn't let that possibility take over her head until she dug up this whole place.

At the end of the path, when she was clinging on a tree on the right, she spotted it: a few golden sparkles among the trees glittering in a good shape of an octopus, behind a house. Lucky swore she could even see a blurry image of the octopus snickering without knowing that she was being watched. A smug smile drew on her face. She never thought it would be that easy, with the culprit being so close to the dojo. Now all she needed was to retrieve it, so she moved among the stems fast and took a shortcut, landing right in front of her.

The octopus stepped back, standing between two home standlamps, which were more scrappy and not as elegantly carved as the street ones, probably preparing for a surprise, but unfortunately for the frankster, Lucky saw her only too well.

"Aha!" Lucky exclaimed as she suddenly bolt to grab one of the octopus' tentacles, and so, the one who was supposed to scare, got scared.

"W-what?? How can you see me?" the octopus questioned as she took off the cloak, looking more annoyed than startled.

"I just followed the sparkles." Lucky grinned, pointing at the glistening cloak hanging on a tentacle, making it half-invisible.

"...what good is an invisibility cloak if you can see the sparkles??" the octopus groaned and rolled her eyes.

"It isn't your cloak in the first place!" Lucky put her hands on her hips, "Why did you take it from the Tengu??"

"I was gonna use it to scare the Kijimuna on the Marathon Beach! We're always playing tricks on each other, khehehe." she explained as if it was the most obvious thing.

So it's not just the octopuses trying to throw the race, but both Kijimunas and octopuses play tricks on each other that usually?? Now that's something new...

"Well that's to reason to steal!" Lucky replied sternly, "Let's take this back to the Tengu right now."

The octopus looked at Lucky head to toe, probably trying to see if she could get away with it, but then she remember how fast the feline could move in an instant to grab her tentacle tightly, and that she just jumped down from a tree for goodness sake! So she settled with a whine instead:

"Aw darn, you're no fun~ I'll have to think of some other way to scare the Kijimuna... khehehe."

"Any way that doesn't involve stealing, if you please?" Lucky gave her a raised eyebrow, to which she nodded, pouting.

They made their way back to the dojo. Lucky frequently glanced at the octopus to make sure she didn't run away, since she was still holding the cloak, as Lucky's opinion was to have her directly return it. But the cephalopod seemed to be enjoying herself. Moist, aqua creature, fair enough.

They entered the dojo after Lucky had shaken out all the water in her fur once under the roof. They climbed onto the second floor, and the moment they stepped foot - or tentacle - in, the Tengu's eyes shot open:

"Oh, my beautiful cloak! You found it!"

"Yes, and this little octopus has something she wants to say to you..." Lucky nudged the cephalopod.

"S-sorry for taking your cloak without asking, Mr. Tengu." she nervously said.

"There!" Lucky beamed, "Now that it's back, can I have the fan?"

"Oh, absolutely not!" he said without hesitation.

"What?? But we have a deal!!" Lucky retorted. She didn't want to get herself wet without earning anything.

"I can't play Table Tennis without my fan. You don't want to stop me from playing, do you??" he stated, reading her feelings only too well.

"No but..." Lucky fiddled with her fingers, staring at the ground and lowered her voice, "the wind from your fan is so strong the villagers had to leave. The town is empty!"

"...THAT'S why everyone left? I thought they were all scared of me." he crossed his arms, eyes closed as he frowned, realizing it for the first time. He was lonely, no doubt, and he thought it was because of his demon-like red skin, or that he lost a leg, or that his wings were small yet he possessed incredible power of the air, or because of his grumpiness. Lucky quickly reassured him:

"No, they want to come watch you play! You know, they actually love you."

"The wind is just a fun trick! I'm happy to stop if it helps the villagers." he grabbed his fan from the wall and played it with his finger before using it to flip a ball into motion from the nearest stack, bouncing it on the fan.

"Why didn't anyone ask me? We could have solved the problem long ago, ohohoho." he laughed.

Maybe because you really look scary... Lucky thought, but kept it to herself.

"...You're right. I'll try to be more straightforward next time," she muttered to herself.

She also took the chance to ask the Tengu about the rain, just to be disappointed that he didn't know a thing about it, and couldn't sue it away either.

"The rain is ruining the perfect weather for a match!" he grumbled, "I'd be glad if you can make it end for me too. My other table is gonna end up in ruins if this doesn't stop."

Then he fell asleep again. His hand, as if moving on its own, still bouncing the ball with the fan.

Lucky returned to the house where she found Kitsune to report about the success: the winds were stopped for good now. Kitsune, who had recovered, curiously pointed at the replica fan still hung in Lucky's belt.

"Turns out, we just need to politely ask the Tengu to stop it! It's just a misunderstanding." then Lucky explained the thing about the winds.

"A performance with winds, huh. Really impressive, though he might be overdoing it," Kitsune commented, "That, or he couldn't contain himself. Either way, it's good to know that his ability to compete in a match and the wind on loose aren't connected," she inhaled.

"The wind has stopped and the villagers are safe to return. The place might need some renovation, but great work. You are really incredible, Lucky!"

"Thanks," Lucky smiled, blushing a little, before shivering. The cold had finally gotten her.

"Stand still. Let me just..." Kitsune grabbed Lucky's arms and took a deep breath. Greenish streamers made of wind materialized between the fox's fingers before turning orange and wrapping around the feline's arms. They then proceeded to envelop her whole body in its gentle light and warmth, drying her up. It was so comfortable, Lucky felt like dozing off at some point, but managed to bring herself together. When Kitsune let go, the wind cover slowly dismantled, revealing a perfectly dry and clean Lucky the Cat.

"Wow, you're amazing, Kitsune!" Lucky exclaimed, "Too bad we have to walk in the rain again."

"Well, at least you are warm now. You'll catch a cold if you stay wet for so long."

"And Kitsune, you mentioned a frog earlier, right?" Lucky asked, "Is he, by any chance, a von-Schwarz frog you told me of yesterday?"

"He is." Kitsune nodded, "Froggy von-Schwarz, he is the forecaster here. We can go meet him now, if you want."

"Of course I do! The frogs in my neighborhood can never, ever tell the weather." Lucky giggled, "Hope you don't mind."

"It's our job to show our fellow teammates around on this island, after all. Don't sweat it."

Kitsune slid open the door with Lucky following behind. But the first thing that caught their eyes were a lone figure standing by the edge of the land, overlooking the sea, none other than Ume Inari.

"Hello cousin, Lucky. I see you two have accomplished the team mission very well."

"All credits to Lucky. She got it done with flying colors." Kitsune said.

"No no no it's teamwork. Without your guide, I wouldn't know what to do!" Lucky shook her head.

"Still, I didn't have the bravery to talk face-to-face with the Tengu like you did!"

"Oh, I would love to hear all about it, Lucky, Kitsune. But save it for later. There is a legend that I see fit with this situation." Ume spoke softly.

"The rain? What about that?"

"True heroes shine in their own disadvantage. Legend says that the true masters of Table Tennis would light lanterns around their tables to call forth stronger spirits to compete against," Ume looked up the sky when she said, "Bring a fire under the rain an awake the spirit deep in a petrifying slumber," she pointed at the stone table in the square.

"Do you dare to try the same, Lucky?" Kitsune asked Lucky.

"Why me? You can create flames yourself, right? You are most suitable." The cat questioned back.

"The ability to create fire doesn't matter here. What matters is your capabilities, and certainly the athlete who defeated the Tengu in one go would suit better than me."

"If you say so... Yes! I'm not sure if I'm qualified to be called 'master', a chance to compete against spirits is exciting all the same.”

"Then, you can use this!" Kitsune raised her left arm. Inside the wing of her pink haori was a dot of orange light floating inside.

"An enchanted flame. It will live on as long as there is air and no water. Now I'm lending it to you. Return light to the lamps around the table in the square and free the petrified spirits, if you can against the rain. And you only have one shot." Ume explained.

"I'll make it count." Lucky nodded. She cupped her palms together, focusing her energy into it. Purple flares danced around her fingers, swirling into a ball. She drew it near the flame and sucked it in. The dot shone like a firefly in a bottle. Lucky held it by both hands in front of her chest. Even though she knew her air veil would protect the flame well, she just get like doing this.

"Go ahead, Lucky. We're right behind you."

Not too rush, they walked to the square.

Lucky decided to start with the lamp on the northwest edge.

She put the ball she was holding into the lamp. There was nothing to burn, nothing to fuel to set the stone ablaze. The fire and the lamp were like two separate beings unable to unite. She just held it there as nothing happened. The flame flickered impatiently, like a spirit...

Lucky had learnt of a myth back the time burying herself in the library in search of magic, the myth of the spirits of nature. Normally, they were apart, distinct, revolving around each other yet avoid contacting for the sake of balance. If one crossed the boundaries, another would jump in to eliminate the overgrown part, no more. They needed a will, a might from a living being to bond. That myth had taught Lucky to open her heart more to an extent that she could 'call' for some of their aid with the price of lending her energy. Such as when she covered the Table Tennis balls in purple flames and shot them back or when she sped up lightning speed in the Rugby game. All she needed was to concentrate.

She closed her eyes and poured out her wishes. The spirits of this game, Table Tennis, they should still be here. She wanted a good match, the joy of challenges and forget everything else in the time being.

She withdrew her hands, cupping the flame in. She had lit the stone lantern. Fire danced on the stone walls before curling into a sphere resembling a yellow will-o'-the-wisp. And by resembling, it wasn't just a lookalike. It also felt like one: a cold fire. Lucky put a hand back in, lifting it gently as if it was as fragile as glass, tried to send more energy to it. Yet no matter how much she tried, it wouldn't warm up.

It's not casting any heat...

Maybe if she lit all of them, the fire would all be more, lively?

She lit the second lantern on the northeast edge.

It seems so powerful.

This fire looked bigger than the last. Lucky looked back to check. The fire was actually getting bigger!

She lit the third one, going in a clockwise pattern.

The flame is so bright!

It shone in the rain like a fallen star.

She lit the last lantern.

I can't stop looking at it.

It's light was... enchanting. All four of them. A strange temptation arose in her just by looking at them, leaving her confused, and had her eyes glued. She felt like... something was stirring. Something great.

Lucky heard a crack.

Crack crack crack...

Lucky, Kitsune and Ume whipped their heads to the source: the stone table. A crack had appeared on its face, and it was widening, until the whole stone piece was covered in cracks.

Then it shattered. Pieces of stones fell to the ground before crumbling into dust, revealing a red table. On the side of the table facing south, the ground shook and open. A vermilion gate grew from the earth, a red symbol of Table Tennis embedded on top.

A Torii.

When the gate ultimately stopped rising, a powerful gust emerged, announcing their arrival.

The spirits were awakened, summoned, and now called for their challenger.

Ume Inari clasped her hand together:

"Well done! Your new challenge awaits. Come to the gate to play the game."

Chapter Text

Lucky stepped forward and went under the Torii. Scenes shifted and she felt like being attacked by a blinding light from underneath. The feline knew that she was being teleported to her competing destination, it wasn't something new to her anymore, but it was fascinating all the same.

She also saw them: the spirit, very vaguely, they glided in front of her eyes, circling as if examining her worth. Blazing orange, pure red, stone grey, leaf green, dim purple, abyss blue, and shining golden

Then they cleared out, leaving her space to take in the environment. Lucky blinked. At first, everything was just a blur of shadows. Then they started to materialize. Lucky realized she was standing on a glass stadium. Underneath it, the ground was covered with grass and pebbles. Laid on it, the same red table, looking good as new. By the four edges of the stadium stood four stone standlamps, shining the fire she had lit, and glowing the radiance of powerful spirits. The place was surrounded by bamboo trees so tall, she couldn't see the top of some. Lurking among them were other, less vivid spirits in black and white, though seven of them had colors that stood out: neon purple, aqua cyan, wood orange, icy blue, sunset red, lava yellow, and ocean green - they represented the spirits of the champions, watching her.

Wherever she was, it wasn't raining, and that's a good thing.

There was a bat on the table. Naturally, Lucky came to pick it up.

The moment she closed her fingers around the object, light purple flare-like streamers came flying out as if reacting to her touch.

"So the color of your spirit is light purple, how intriguing," she heard some voices say in unison, "We thought it would be golden, like your eyes."

On the other side of the table, the spirits merged and transformed to bear the appearance of the Tengu, holding a fan like his. "He" opened "his" mouth to speak, but the voice came out echoing just like before. The spirits took shape of the reigning Champion, but they could not mimic his voice. However, this "Tengu" seemed bigger and stronger somehow, the pressure made Lucky feel like she shrank - not that she wasn't small already.

"You have the will to light a fire in the rain and a great fighting spirit. Show us what you've got, challenger. You know the rules. The winning score is 50."

Lucky nodded, signalling that she had understood, and took a stance. She stood on the tip of her toes so as to move faster, lowered her body, eyes locking on the "Tengu"'s movements, and her hand gripped tight on the bat. The sound of a whistle twittered in the air. The match had started.

Whoosh

Lucky moved on the nick of time to hit the ball by the edge of her bat, unable to comprehend. It was so fast. Too fast. She reacted just in time before she lost a point within one second short. However, the panic hit didn't get the ball to where she wanted. The spirits easily returned it, and it dropped to the ground on her side with a cold 'ping'.

The feline checked the wooden scoreboard hanging on a tree nearby: 0/50 - 1/50

"The Tengu" pulled out another ball and served. The spirits showed no mercy, they gave no warning at all. It's either face the challenge with the best of everything you'd got, or get creamed. Though this time, Lucky had got herself ready. She returned with a delicate swirl to the opposite corner and it actually scored her a point by missing the blow from the fan by a the tip of a hair.

Third serve. She thought she was getting to it. The pace, the power, she was adapting to the match. Lucky scored another point by a special hut that took a lot of risks: she would hit it directly to where she predicted the opponent would move to, but make it swirl in a way that the ball would change directions in a v-turn as soon as it hit the table. There were chances that the ball wouldn't change directions, or the swirl backfired and landed the ball on her side, but it's the beginning, which meant that risks where to be made.

Lucky : 2/50 | Table Tennis Spirits : 1/50

Although she had earned points to her advantage, Lucky had the feeling that it was merely the warm-up. That feeling was proven to be true when the spirit-made Tengu served a second ball.

Here comes. Do NOT panic. Lucky reminded herself repeatedly while dealing with the two balls. Gusts had started to pick up, accelerating the balls' speed further. On the other hand, it was hard to swing a flat object when standing before the wind. At first, due to being served continuously, the balls landed on almost the same spot that Lucky took the least movements to counter, but two exchanges and they ended up on the two corners. The feline aimed yet another tricky, twisty ball from her right side, knowing that it'd fly to their left which was frail against swirls, before rushing and stretching the best she could to at least make a blind hit rather than giving it up. And believe it or not, both hits actually made it.

After that, the number of balls increased to three, then four, every time she scored, it went up drastically until it reached as much as eight. During that time, Lucky managed to score, obviously, but struggled greatly in the process to the point that she went subconscious and let her instincts take over. Her orbs shrunk and wavered. Her tail twitched. Beads of sweat rolled down on the sides of her ears, touched the corners of her blurry eyes, tipped her pink nose and wetted her cheeks. Her breath was fast and shallow, she felt like her heart had popped its way up her throat. Once a while, when she felt herself building up enough energy in her body, she sent them to the balls, stopping them midair in a split moment as she took a big leap, her eyes flashed white and she swung her arm holding the bat in a diagonal arc, sending all the balls to her opponent's side. The power she forged into this iconic move of hers toppled the spirits' speed, but it also put a toll on her stamina. Lucky needed to end the match, quick. She had been missing way too many balls to hold. She knew it would end soon anyway, without looking at the scoreboard. It's either she pulled out her final move, or the spirits with their eight balls sent her on a frantic.

The sound of a whistle twittered in the air again, signaling the match had had a winner.

Lucky dropped to the ground and lay flat, trying to catch her breath. Her arms were shaking and numb from intense actions. She might've blacked out for a while as well when she closed her eyes, but when she reopened them, nothing changed. The spirits, bearing the appearance of the Tengu, stood above her head, staring down at her expressionlessly. She widened her eyes and immediately sprung up on two feet at a safe distance.

"Looks like I lost, didn't I?" Lucky smiled sadly, wiping the sweat off her face using her arm. While she couldn't handle all the balls, the spirits could, and landed the deciding hit when the feline hadn't built up enough energy for her shot.

"Quite close, but not yet. There are unnecessary movements, wasted opportunities, and there are flaws in your breathing pattern when you shifted to pull off your move," they commented, "However, good concentration, agility, and strength itself. We can consider not dismissing you as a challenger, yet. Come back when you think you are able to stand your ground against us."

Lucky nodded as a circle of light arose from her feet and turned everything to a bland white.

"So, how did it go? How did it go??"

The sound came even before the creature. Kitsune was showering her with questions, seeming more excited than usual. Lucky shook her head:

"I lost."

"Haahhhh?? Seriously? Those spirits are that strong? Oh I'm so so jealous with you now," Kitsune whined.

"Mind giving me details or you wish to keep the story to yourself?" Ume said nonchalantly, though a hint in her voice showed that she was curious. And so Lucky told them the whole thing: the spirits taking shape of the Tengu, the spirits lurking among the trees like the Champions and other creatures watching, and the intense match. Well, the legend never said that it would be easy. Lucky placed her hand on the table, staring at it longingly, forgetting the rain on her head for the moment. There was something she would never say out loud, but this journey, this place...

It was like the world of miracles in her wild dreams.

Chapter Text

A frog was on the bank of the stream that descended from the top of the bamboo hill, holding a leaf umbrella to cover his sensitive skin from the bullets of raindrops. His brown eyes were following the unusually violent flow of the water body with great concern. The rain had caused the water level to surge without control. Thankfully the stream was rather short on the surface before reaching the sea so he didn't have to worry about any flooding area rather than this one. However, he needed to find a way to save the bridge that was being drowned below those waves for it lead to an important spot that the Tengu favored. He had already chanted a spell to shield that place, but he wasn't sure how long it would be able to stand. Froggy von Schwarz, as he was called, wasn't the best sorcerer around. Despite the family's magic origin, none of the frogs were able to perform what was deemed worthy of the title. The only trait that was kept and inherited for generations was their ability to predict the weather.

His bubble-like shield bounced dangerously and would pop nay moment given. Where was that sorceress when he needed her the most? For all he knew she had disappeared since the day before the Championship and never came back, left behind a tough request for Wataru Karasu, causing him to vanish soon after. The sorceress's powerful magic or the young Karasu's practical knowledge, just one of the two should be good to solve this problem, but now he had neither.

That's when he felt slight changes in the air patterns around him. Inaris, who bore the soul of the winds, tended to have that impact on their surroundings without knowing it. Froggy saw the Inari cousins walking to him with a cat he hadn't seen before, maybe one of the athletes joining their team. If that so, then they must be leading her to the Extreme Challenge over the Tengu's second table on the other side of the river, which he was trying to protect. He wasn't a sports expert, so he couldn't tell what they saw in this young cat, and it didn't matter. He needed to announce indefinite delay of Extreme Challenges and get Ume's help. The mascot's wind powers were quite decent, if not as powerful as a deity.

"You want to cross? Sorry, with all this rain the water had completely covered the bridge!" he said as soon as they came.

"The rainwater WHAT!?" Kitsune yelled.

"The rain had gotten bigger since morning, Ume, Kitsune," Froggy put his hand under the water, "And this stream is obviously not big enough to lead all that water into the sea, so the tides rose."

"Have you tried any altering spells?" Ume asked, her posture calm unlike her impatient cousin.

"I've gathered quite a group to try, but the clouds kept gathering as if there was some kind of magnet. I've also asked the Tengu to blow the clouds away but it also failed, terribly."

"The Tengu is really uncomfortable with the rain going on," Lucky spoke, "The weather is off the mood, so he cannot play well or won't host a game at all! And he said that it can also destroy his 'other table's, wherever that is."

"The first table is near the dojo, on top of the hill, you already know that?" Froggy asked, though more like stated and continued before Lucky's nod, "The second is on the other side of the river, see? It's where you're taking your Extreme Challenge."

"That's where you're wrong, Froggy," Kitsune snickered, "Lucky isn't here for any challenges. She's here to see you!"

"Hi, I'm Lucky the Cat, an athlete of Team Yellow," Lucky introduced herself, "You see, I've been admiring magic and sorcerer since forever, but back at my place it's just a fantasy. So when I heard that Champion Island was filled with deities and magical creatures, and then heard that there was a whole family of weather-telling sorcerers, and that you're one of them, it's like a dream come true! I just cannot help asking Kitsune to give me a tour," Lucky said, slightly blushing and playing with the rim of her scarf. She knew that she made a fool out of herself confessing such things.

"Froggy von Schwarz. It's said that some parts of this world are blinded from miracles. Looks like you're from one of those," Froggy replied, offering a webbed hand to shake her furry one, "May I ask who do we owe the honor of introducing our kind?"

"A character from a game I loved as a kid... Sorceress Momo." Lucky said quietly as she looked away. She had gotten over the fact that magic shouldn't be her thing and found her own way of doing the impossible, yet she was still rather embarrassed to admit to be such a game freak.

"Huh? Momo from Magic Cat Academy? That's a cool game in the arcade. I've been into it lately too!" Kitsune bounced. Her reaction made Lucky happy to know that, again, building your dream from a game wasn't a sin.

Meanwhile, Froggy's eyes widened, though it went unnoticed since his eyes were already round in the first place. "Momo" was more than a familiar name to him, someone who barely set hands on video games, and he was bewildered. A coincidence, it might have been, but the fact that Lucky eventually ended up here showed that there might as well be an underlying link he might've missed, and that this very girl could be the key to a puzzle they had been trying to solve for years.

"Uhm-hm," Ume cleared her throat, cutting off Froggy's longing phase and the young duo's chatter, "You two can go play at Tanooki City later, as well as you can dream later, Froggy. Shouldn't we focus on something else?" She pointed to the other side of the river.

"Of course, yes," Froggy frantically inflated and made a croak, before blowing a bubble by his nose to the size of his palm. He threw it to the other side of the river, as the small bubble paused midair and turned into a glimmer drawing a circle around the table. When the glimmer dimmed down, a new bubble formed, protecting the table from water just in time before the older one popped.

Lucky stood awestruck. It wasn't that waving a wand thing she imagined, but it's still another form of power. She had seen the Inari's winds, Tanooki's shape-shifting, Otohime's underwater space, Momotaro's charm, so forth. Now it's Froggy's protection bubble. They made her feel so pumped. And when pumped, creatures tended to act boldly and enthusiastically.

"The rain... Did it just come out of nowhere or was there anything changing at that time?" Lucky questioned.

"It's been raining since that strange boy arrived this morning..." Froggy tapped a finger on his sac.

"Stranger? Do you think there's some connection?"

"Hm. Never thought of that, actually. But fair point. Maybe he can make it stop!" Froggy hit his palm with the other fist in a 'bingo' gesture, "Would you ask the boy? The whole village would be in your debt!"

"Sure! So, where should I start looking for him?"

"What about behind the dojo?" Ume suggested, "I've seen a weird kid head North into the bamboo grove, that's for sure."

"'kay! I'll be off now!" Lucky waved as she paced to the path lined with stonelamps again.

"Oh thank you! And best of luck! After so much rain I think we could all use a sunny day." Froggy said.

"Don't hate me for this, but looks like we have to part again. I'll only be holding you back, and besides, I've gotta catch up with your four scrolls!" Kitsune pulled out her own compass, "See you later."

"Go ahead, Lucky. Consider this an official quest assigned to you since you did well on the last one of my cousin's," Ume waved back.

Lucky didn't hesitate to run. The faster to make this rain stop the better. Soon she was met with the statues of tengus, but instead of stepping in, she took a turn to the left and walked by the side of the building, between the wall and a range of bamboo trees.

Eeekk!!

Lucky let out a yelp. It wasn't just the soil so wet like mud, but the ground behind the dojo was literally flooding. Tiny creek slithering out from the patch told unspoken words of how much of overflowing water there was, and would be.

There was also a figure that reminded her so much of bamboo mushrooms, except that they were purple instead of usual white. Turns out, it was a humanoid creature with a purple cone-shaped shade covering from the top of their head. The shade reached all the way to their ankles, acting as a raincoat. The creature underneath had pale skin as blue as water, face shaped like a droplet, droopy black eyes staring nowhere in the sky, thick eyebrows, and a nonchalant smile. And he kept muttering:

"Rain...yes...keep raining..."

Carefully waterproofing her feet, Lucky approached the mushroom-like creature:

"E-excuse me?"

"Oh hello kitty cat," he answered in a smooth dreamy voice, "Isn't today a wonderful day?"

"It is," the sun, the winds, the smells and every other sensations in the air, plus the heated Champion Games, it should be perfect, "But it would be even better without the rain," Lucky answered honestly.

"Oh but that's what makes it so wonderful. I LOVE the rain!" the boy said fondly, "I'm Amefuri Kozo and rain follows me everywhere!"

"Follows you?" Lucky wondered aloud. Amefuri seemed so proud of it, though it felt more like a curse to the feline.

"Yes, and I love sharing it wherever I go!"

"If you love sharing it, why have you stayed here for so long?"

"My plan was to share my rain all over the island. But when I got here, the wind from the Tengu's Table Tennis swings blew my rain ticket away," Amefuri shook his head.

"Hmm, maybe I can help you get a new one!" Lucky had learnt that Tanooki City had all the facilities as of any others, so shouldn't it have a train station?

"I'll check the train station in Tanooki City! Wait for me."

Lucky turned her back to Amefuri and made a safe distance so not to pull the boy along with her - if that was even possible - as she took out her compass to teleport. Before the dark streamer fully covered her senses, she heard him muttering: "Wow... You must love the rain as much as I do."

She sweatdropped. If only I loved the rain as much as you do, things would be a hundred times easier for me in everything.

When the streamers dismissed, Lucky once again found herself enveloped in the light and noises of the city. The sweet smell of a ton of good food served by locals filled the air. It wasn't hard for the feline to ask a random creature about the train station and get a wholehearted direction pointer. The lanterns hung above the street were in a uniform yellow, unlike before when they were in four colors similar to the four team's. Then suddenly, the lanterns changed from yellow to red. The elderly dog whom she was talking to must've noticed her gaze and explained:

"During the Champion Island Games, the lanterns in town change color to match the winning team!"

"So just before... Team Yellow was in the lead, then someone in Team Red earned more points and they got the position?"

"Precisely. It's been like that since the lantern color mechanism activated. Those teams are in a fierce competition for the team prize."

Then I better hurry. I need to help my team as well!

"Thanks for your help. I'll be going."

Lucky turned west at the Torii and headed into town. If she continued straight, she would come to the Skateboarding Dojo where resides Champion Tanooki. But instead she turned right. According to instructions, she should find the station at the end of this block.

The sound of wheels hitting a railway confirmed her destination. She spotted, at the end of the block, the road took a left turn and went parallel with a train track guarded by an Ushi and fenced by a mobile barrier. Next to the crossing was a small light blue building with a circular board depicting a ticket hung above the door.

So this is the train station. Lucky thought and walked inside.

The station was rather empty. It only had two rows of seats, a large glass window overlooking the railway, and an employee by the counter. The feline found it surprisingly funny when she realized that the ticket lady was a calico like her. While Lucky had very few spots on her body with her orange and grey patches mostly on her ears and tail, the employee had grey ears, orange whiskers and the rest of her face white. A canine tooth stuck out of her mouth made her charm point. And her fur was longer, messier than Lucky's. A name tag pinned on her blue, gold-lined uniform: conductor Tetsudo Tama.

"Good afternoon. What can I do for you?" Tama greeted.

"Hello. I'd like a train ticket to tour the island please!"

"I'm sorry. With all the sporting events we're completely sold out..." Tama smiled apologetically.

"Oh no! There's to way to get a ticket at all??" Lucky didn't mean to scream, but she was taken back. What about the bamboo forest? And the Table Tennis games? And Amefuri? And the team quest??

"Hmm... The owner of the Noodle Shop down the street is having a promotion. Maybe he can help." Tama reassured her with a glimpse of hope.

"I'll check. Thank you so much!"

Lucky exited the station to go down the street. Shortly, her nose picked up the drooling smell of ramen soup. She stepped onto the pavement where there wasn't any house on that block. For some reason, the Noodle Shop wasn't facing the road like normal shops would, but instead facing the same way as the station and had the road on its right. Lucky pushed aside the blue-and-yellow curtains to enter. There were only two customers: a brown mountain rabbit, and a peculiar chubby white cat. The cat was happily chugging down his sixth-or-something bowl without a care to the world while the rabbit glared at him, disturbed.

"Ohoho, welcome! What can I get you?" The shop owner said. He was a pink octopus in a cream-colored apron and a hachimaki with a pink sun symbol. Admittedly, his eight tentacles gave him the privilege of multitasking, therefore could serve multiple meals efficiently.

"I'm looking for a train ticket. I heard you might have one." Lucky answered.

"Oh, you must be referring to our special promotion. For every 50 bowls of ramen you order, you get a free train ticket to tour the island!"

"50?? I'd be so stuffed with noddles that I wouldn't be able to compete!" And I was planning to re-challenge Yoichi after this too! I wouldn't be able to move at least until tomorrow eating all that noddles, And I cannot risk falling behind for so much as a day!

"Compete? Oh, I remember. Are you the first to defeat Tanooki this year, in the first performance showdown? The one they said to be promising of a Champion?"

"That's me, Lucky the Cat." She grinned proudly. Gotta say, she did pretty cool at her first game.

"Then today is your lucky day! Take advantage of our Champion Discount,for those who have defeated Tanooki only: 50 bowls free to help you train!"

"Oh my..."

There was no way Lucky could consume ALL of that right now. No. WAY. On the other hand, she needed to get the ticket for Amefuri Kozo or else he'd flood the entire area. Worse case scenario, raise the sea level and cool Oni Island, changing their habitat. She nervously fidgeted.

"Don't worry, you don't have to eat them all at once. Well have them waiting for you when you're ready," the shop owner said two of his tentacles already started crafting noodles and two more were stirring soup, "And don't forget your free train ticket! A Champion should travel in style, ohoho."

"Oh, thank you. This is perfect!" Lucky gladly took the ticket, considering sharing her surprise noodle portion with Ume and Kitsune, who had helped her a lot so far. Froggy too, if he managed a break from his forecasting work. Maybe Vanille and Morgan too, they must be starving after all that training.

"And, uhm, I'll be back for all the noodles!" Lucky said before heading out.

"Any time! Tell your friends about us, and good luck in the game!"

Lucky gave a thumbs up in response and teleported back to the Bamboo Forest. She got to Amefuri behind the dojo.

"Rain, rain beautiful rain..." He was still muttering the same thing, enjoying himself.

Too bad Lucky had to cut off his daydream.

"Good news, Amefuri Kozo! I found you a train ticket!"

"Oh my, a tour of the whole island. How wonderful!" he smiled at the ticket in his hands, "Let's go, Ame-chan! Everyone will be so excited to see us!"

Amefuri Kozo raised the ticket toward the sky as it glowed. Quite similar to the compass, streamers of yellow and black sprung out and covered his body before all disappeared. The rain boy had boarded the train.

Soon the sky cleared and the rain stopped. The sun had showed itself, shining like always. The moist winds carried a deep scent of wet soil and leaves, and the air suddenly felt so refreshing. Lucky shrugged her fur dry and thought as she watched the rain cloud 'travelling' in the distance, certainly, the yokai loved this island as much as she did, and despite the unwarning attitude of his, a slight surprise shower sure was fun!

Chapter Text

Passing the Komainus' trial didn't mean you were on the same league as the Champions. That just meant that you're quite enough to survive from being humiliatingly crushed in their challenges. That meant that you were able to put up a little fight even if it was desperate. There was a huge difference between those who dreamed of miracles and who made it happen with their own paws before those godly skills and power. The line between the two kinds only started to show when you stood in front of both. Vanille Konneta learned it the hard way as she and her friend Morgan kept losing to Yoichi no matter how hard they tried, even after the quick training at the dojo. There just seemed to be something preventing them to win despite all the tricks they used. And there didn't seem to be anything wrong with their aiming and shooting either.

The rabbit also noticed in the number of athletes around. There hadn't anyone but the three of them - including Lucky the Cat - came here since early in the morning. Not that there were a lot in the first place, but this was even less than expected. It wasn't that hard to guess why actually. Vanille could see that they'd be swarming at the dance contest since it seemed easy, just to realize it wasn't their disco. Gracefulness, swiftness, a mind calm as waves and a heartbeat sync with the rhythm. Many showed that a strong body had lost its natural flexibility, while others failed to sync. If it's not Artistic Dancing that persuaded competitors of an impossible goal, Marathon, Rugby and Table Tennis would do the rest. Racing with the number one sly creature on their home turf, outrunning gigantic yokai's, beating a light and small ball against the wind. Yeah, most of the competitors probably had seen their limit and gave up already to enjoy the festives in Tanooki City instead, happy that they where enough to be qualified. Morgan and Vanille were different. They heard of this lost island when they were small and dreamt of conquering it since. They wanted to do so, but at the same time knew it was as hard as growing wings. They were the ones waiting for miracles. It's not a bad thing to have hopes, yet their situation looked really silly.

Then Lucky came. Vanille had no idea where that kid had been to while they still hadn't done with their practices but she looked about to catch a cold or something. Nobody could imagine the cat had got herself soaked for saving a village from winds and rain and forgot that she was wet to play in a super hard Table Tennis match just to sweat a bunch more. Although Ume dried her up and all, the coldness that water had left on her skin underneath that tri-color fur remained, making her shiver whenever a gust pass by. Lucky shrugged it off as if nothing and asked for her rematch, which ended up another loss. However, every time was a close call. Lucky almost won a couple times already if not for Yoichi aiming at a bomb before her and set a bunch of targets knocking down, earning some last-minute points and won. That cat had something up her sleeves. Morgan was exhausted with his own matches playing nothing but like a copy of the last. He had tried taking different approaches, changing, yet somehow against Yoichi he was just forced back into his old track. The samurai knew the optimal angles, optimal moves, and his skill was off the roof. However, the cat seemed to power up too, losses after losses. Then when she said she'd settle it with a last rematch, he felt like she was saying it seriously, not just a self-assurance.

Lucky fixed her scarf and wiped the sweat off her eyes as she received the bow and quiver from Vanille. The badger and the rabbit backed to a distance to watch.

The feline twitched her ears and tail before she let her whole body relax, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she reopened them, her orbs seemed to shine, like storing a thousand golden stars inside.

And she already had a strategy.

It's not exactly the kind of strategy used to deal with your opponent, it's more like a strategy to juice the best from how the game played.

The familiar sound of a whistle twittered, starting the match. Yoichi rode his horse to the left side of the beach, so Lucky ran the opposite and took the right. If she could not face the samurai head-on, then she would have to find some space to handle her own.

The first targets started floating out from the sides, a couple fans stuck up from the waters. Lucky shot down the big targets first, since she found it faster to muster force into the arrows than aiming that slim stick that held the fan into the bamboo tube. And she was going pretty well. Their scores were only an inch away from each other, and none was giving up the lead.

Then the number of targets increased, in contrast to the need to aim way too carefully. Lucky's shots weren't a hundred perfect accurate, so she wasted a few arrows, but that was enough for Yoichi to make a sprint and left her behind by at least 500 points. The cat flinched when she heard a loud boom of an explosion. So it came. The zero-point bombs.

The thing was that, even though they didn't give points, they destroyed every single target around, and whoever shot down that bomb would earn those points. After clearing his area, Yoichi immediately headed to Lucky's, and his arrows seemed to ALWAYS come before hers. She ran off to the other side of the beach, where she unleashed a fury of arrows, gaining the momentum to speed up in the process. Lucky didn't feel like losing another time, she wanted to finally earn the scroll from this game so badly. The frustration of multiple failed attempts might not show on her face, for she was a happy-go-lucky of her namesake, but that was different from didn't feel it at all, which she did.

A bomb appeared on her side, and shooting it down gave her quite some points, but Yoichi was still way ahead of her. And he was heading her way again. After about half the time, the samurai had changed his strategy: instead of working on scoring his own, he would shadow his opponent, preventing them from scoring much. Lucky knew it, so she tried shooting faster than he could, putting her soul into it, and the arrows were lit purple, piercing through the air so sharply that the fans fell even when the arrowhead barely touched them. And no more thinking rough. She let her instinct kick in and do the work. It would just create dead moments between her shots, and that's the bad thing in this game against the time. And believe it or not, Lucky wasn't the only one with such instincts. All athletes who had reached the level of competing here had developed a system better than supercomputers that estimated movements, speed and power almost precisely.

The point was balancing out.

Then again, an explosion was heard. Yoichi was ahead of her, again.

"LUCKY!!!" unable to withstand anymore, Morgan yelled into the field, "Destroy the bombs. Forget points, destroy them and you'll be equal!"

"And aim more carefully! You're wasting too many arrows!" Vanille added.

Destroy the bombs once they appear, don't let Yoichi hit first, got it. Lucky couldn't reply, but she listened and counted it a plan. To Vanille's advice, however, Lucky pushed it aside. It's not like she didn't want to ignore the rabbit's help, but it's just so hard to follow something that was not your style of doing things, right? So instead of wasting time aiming, she just increased the number of arrows shot - three at a time, nonstop, while running back and forth. Honestly, that kind of plan did the same - if not better - effect as perfect aiming. She knocked down numerous targets and fans, her points surging. Lucky then saw a bomb floating out on Yoichi's side, and once in reach, her work would be all for nothing.

She sprinted, merely looking at what she shot since her eyes were now locked on the red explosive object. Lucky then took a leap, nocked one arrow into her bow, closed her left eye and then fired it like a shooting star crashing right into the bomb with purple streamers gleaming in the air after and around her arms. The bomb exploded, blasting off two targets and about three fans nearby. Not letting her lead go, she continued to shoot even midair. Lucky landed with a soft 'thump'.

She just knew to keep going, aiming and shooting, destroying two more bombs before the whistle announce time's up.

Lucky dropped the quiver to the ground and put the bow nearby. Whether she won or not, her arms ended up aching from this intense fight, though she'd prefer to emerge victorious.

"Yo, you did it cat!" Morgan came and shook her by the shoulder. She rubbed the sweat off her face and looked at the scoreboard on the Torii:

Lucky: 6500 | Yoichi: 5700

"Man, even my heart raced watching your competition," Vanille put a hand on the place of her heart, "By ten seconds left, he was still a couple hundred points ahead of you. But then you were like, like a sea monster or something. Clearing every target in your path. Almost. But that eight hundred points were worth it. I'm so happy for you!"

"T-thanks!" Lucky beamed, still catching her breath, "I won, I FINALLY won!" Lucky bounced with joy.

"Indeed," Yoichi said, riding his house to her side, "Although you didn't exactly followed my requirements for Archery, you showed me the color of your spirit as a fierce frontier. This is your well deserved reward."

Yoichi bended down and handed Lucky a scroll. Lucky closed her fingers around her fifth win, and raised it to the sky:

"Archery, check!"

"Good for you, Lucky. Now it's my turn!" Morgan smirked. He had been struggling so far, but seeing Lucky's amazing match was like receiving extra energy. The badger realized he was feeling the excitement like never before. Well, it's hard to have such feelings when you were surrounded with creatures unable to match with you - except Vanille, but the two had been together for so long it's more like two equal birds, flying yet never reached their max speed. They needed a higher goal, surging wings of a different kind, to stimulate them to kick up.

Lucky the Cat, she stood her ground in front of Legendary Champions whose powers were parallel to deities. At the dance contest, not gonna boast, but Morgan thought the three of them performed some pretty splendid dances. When they picked up Archery together, they were on the same position and had to retrain all the same. However, after that, Lucky paced up surpassing them, even though she was clearly younger. No wonder why he'd heard things about a certain feline member of Team Yellow. They said she was the promising Grand Champion and her four scrolls were prove - now that she had earned the fifth. Morgan had always had a sensitive scope on life. The energy Lucky forged in her body wasn't just her determination to win, it showed others how much a living being could be, and boosted those who accept her. He knew she wasn't showing off, it's just the creature she was.

It's just the kind of creature everyone could be.

Fairytales, they never lied. Morgan and Vanille were sent out by their hometown, Hikari City, to uncover the mysteries of the rumored lost island, Champion Island, and how would they find out anything if they couldn't be as good as a fellow competitor?

Morgan knew he could forge his own energy too. Somehow, someway.

He picked up the bow and quiver.

The privilege of being a badger was that he had long claws, which he had practiced to be as strong as metal. So he only needed to use two of those claws to pull the string. That shortened the time to pick up an arrow each time. Running wasn't his best, so he picked the option to station in the middle of the beach and relied on his system. If Lucky took advantage of her speed, then he'd take advantage of his strength, sending arrows to the farthest side.

Vanille widened her eyes when Morgan shot through about three fans and hit a bomb, charring down three targets and a fan nearby, and won. And that bomb just popped up from the left side of the area, it's so unreal he managed to shoot that strong!

When Morgan received his scroll, the rabbit stepped up.

"Vanille, looks like I win this time~"

"Just you wait." Vanille huffed. Long-time friends, long-time rivals and partners, she couldn't afford to be left behind.

Out of the three, Vanille was the only to mind where every arrow go. By the beginning of the game it had her equal with Yoichi, but as it went on she was falling behind. She took too long pondering, taking perfect aims. Vanille was a creature of reason, yet the mind couldn't solely race to the heat of the battle.

"Vanille, relax! You're being too cautious!!" Morgan yelled out, "Listen to your heart, didn't I told you? Let your body work by itself!"

"Faito~!" Lucky cheered, "Your aim is great, just stop wondering if it's right! Don't hesitate!"

"Work on instincts, huh?" Vanille mumbled between her breaths, "Hesitation only delays, but it takes gambles to let the mind go." Vanille lowered her arms:

"What is life without risks then? I broke my legs on the ring, I was willing to come here!
"The next match, is mine."

She signaled to end the match. Lucky tilted her head in surprised and asked Morgan if she was alright, but he waved his hand dismissively:

"Nah, this means she's ready to win."

Morgan wasn't wrong. Vanille had her head high as she looked at the scoreboard above. She won by only 100 points, but she got very few arrows wasted, not even as many as a dozen.

Vanille earned her scroll, and she couldn't help but smile. The three of them, they had conquered the second hardest Champion, and showed the best of who they were, together.