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Vodka groaned as she kept her head low, letting the blood drip down from her nose and onto the tissue on her hand. The Uma beside her, Daiwa Scarlet, sat silently as she patiently waited for the other’s nosebleed to stop, holding a packet of tissue for Vodka to take in case her current sheet wasn't enough. Vodka let out a depressed sigh, just why is she like this? This was supposed to be a fun hang out and she ruined it with her nose.
“I think it’s stopped,” Scarlet said as she plucked a tissue and wiped the remaining blood on Vodka’s nose. “Geez, why would you choose to watch a romance movie when you know you can’t handle this kinda thing?” She questioned as she glanced back to the theater entrance.
“I didn’t know it was romance!” Vodka defended as she crumpled up the tissue in her hand and chucked it to the nearest trashcan. “Seriously, look me in the eye and tell me ‘The War of Tiger and Dragon’ is a romance movie title,” she pointed out, crossing her arms as her tail swished behind her.
Scarlet shrugged, “fair enough,” she agreed, before frowning. “Though, I guess we can’t continue watching in this case, what a waste.”
Vodka’s ears drooped, feeling guilty over their current predicament. “You can continue watching if you want.”
The red head gave her a look, “hah? Hell no, I ain’t gonna ditch you for a movie!” Scarlet exclaimed as she tugged Vodka’s jacket, “this is a hang out for a reason, why would I continue watching it if you won’t be there?” She argued before grabbing the Uma by her arm and dragging her away from the theaters. “If you really feel bad, then let’s head towards the arcade, I heard they just restocked the claw machine.”
Vodka’s face seemed to brighten up at the information, “I wonder if they have Big G’s plushie,” she pondered as Scarlet rolled her eyes.
“Nah, I’d say they have Tachyon’s plushie,” she guessed with a big smile on her face.
“Big G is cooler!”
“Tachyon is smarter!”
“Big G!”
“Tachyon!”
Their bickering continued throughout the walk towards the arcade, in which they finally stopped upon spotting the claw machine. Vodka quickly pressed her face to the glass, scanning the plushies visible, only to be disappointed when she couldn’t spot the purple hair of Gimlet. “She’s not here…” she sulked as Scarlet nudged her away.
“Move! Told you that Tachyon is gonna be— she’s not here either,” Scarlet too sulked upon realizing that her idol is not a prize option.
“Ah wait,” Vodka halted as her ears perked up. “Look, Machan is there,” she said, pointing towards a plushie of their friend.
Scarlet’s ears perked up, “you’re right!” She exclaimed happily, “hey, let’s get that for her, she’ll definitely be happy.”
Vodka nodded in agreement, grabbing her wallet for a 100 yen coin to slot in. The machine began playing the familiar music as Vodka began moving the claw towards the plushie. “Is this a good position?” She asked as Scarlet moved to the side of the machine to check.
“Go a bit to the back,” the red head instructed. “Too far, a bit to the front– yup! Stop there!”
Vodka hit the button upon hearing the cue, both her and Scarlet’s heart thumping as the claw grabbed the plushie right under its neck and began pulling it up. The two Umas went to clap their hands together at the success, before turning their attention back to the machine… and their faces went red when both of their own plushies were also being pulled up alongside Machan’s, with the Vodka plushie hanging onto the Scarlet plushie’s hand.
“Wha—!?”
“Huh—?!”
They both stood in place as the three plushies dropped onto the chute, giving them the win they never expected to receive. Scarlet was the first to break out of the trance, picking up the three prizes as Vodka took a little longer to process the event that just happened in front of her. The red head snapped her fingers in front of the brunette, bringing her back to earth with a startled yelp as Scarlet let out a sigh.
“Well, at least we got Machan’s plushie,” Scarlet pointed out as she held onto the crowned plushie. “We can think of what to do with the other two later.”
“I mean, it’s not like we can just throw them away,” Vodka pointed out, staring at the smiling plushie of herself and Scarlet. “We can just keep them, I mean, they’re literally just us.”
“Then I want your plushie,” Scarlet declared.
Vodka’s tail stood tall as her face went red. “Wh– why—?! Aren’t you supposed to grab your own plushie?!” She pointed out as her ears flicked like crazy.
“D-Don’t make it weird, dummy!” Scarlet argued, her own face now flushed with pink. “I’m just thinking, if I see your face all the time, it’ll motivate me to work harder!”
“I’m literally right here?!”
“Well seeing two of your faces will drive my motivation further!”
“That doesn’t make sense, is the real deal not enough?!”
“Why are you acting like a jealous girlfriend?!”
And upon hearing that word, Vodka began bleeding everywhere once more from her nose.
“Waaah! Stay away, you're gonna get blood everywhere!”
After the hang out ended horrendously with a second nosebleed, both Umas retreated back to their dorm once they had delivered their gift to their fellow friend. Changing into their sleepwear, Vodka laid on the bed with the Scarlet plushie propped up against the wall, while Scarlet herself went to study with her Vodka plushie propped up right in front of her.
Vodka poked the Scarlet plushie with her finger as she pondered lightly, her head tilting to be met with the gaze of her artificially smiling plush version of herself from Scarlet’s desk while the redhead studies, her eyes focused on the book she’s memorizing from as her pen moves to take notes. Vodka looked away, focusing back to the plushie as she poked a bit too hard, causing it to fall backwards. The brunette let out a sigh before fixing its position, her tail swaying softly behind her as she began inspecting the doll in front of her.
‘Damn, I know the doll’s manufacturing place is crazy high quality but this is detailed as hell,’ she thought, rubbing a finger on the sewn fake mouth. ‘Got the fang right too,’ she commented, ‘It's kinda cu—’
Vodka stopped herself from continuing the thought, surprised by her own thoughts as her face went red. Scarlet? Cute? Not in a million years! Not even as a marketable plushie!
Vodka's gaze once more landed on the plushie version of herself across Scarlet’s desk, who seemed to have finished studying for the night. “Hey, I’m gonna shut the lights now, kay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Vodka replied to her as the room turned dim, Vodka heard the shuffling of sheets as her eyes adjusted to the dark. She wasn’t exactly too tired today, it's gonna take some time before she could actually fall asleep.
Once the darkness became clear for her, Vodka decided to hold the Scarlet plush up, staring blankly at the toy before sighing. “What am I doing…?” She muttered to herself as she got up to place the plushie on her desk, facing towards the Vodka plushie on Scarlet's desk.
Vodka plopped herself back to the bed after that, facing the wall as she waited for fatigue to finally consume her, letting her fall into a deep slumber till the next day.
In over a few days, Vodka began to notice that Scarlet had begun to interact more with the plushie. It was no longer a display item, but something she had gotten emotionally attached to. At first Vodka ignored it, Scarlet does love cutesy stuff and she had to admit, her plushie version of herself is quite adorable. But then she began putting accessories on it and even spoke to it fondly, and it annoys the brunette.
A lot.
Vodka tried to do the same thing with her own Scarlet plushie, strapping it to a toy remote car and driving it everywhere. It was fun at first to chase Scarlet around with it, but of course, her legs are faster than a mere toy car. So Vodka got bored, and the plushie once more became a simple display item as she gave the toy car to Golshi instead. She's still not sure if that was a wise idea.
As days go by, the more Vodka can't stand what Scarlet's doing. Multiple times she thought she'd been called to find out Scarlet was talking to the plushie version of herself instead. If not, she would get annoyed if Vodka called her for something! The uma was at her wit's end, what's so fun talking to something that couldn't even reply back?
“The real deal is right here, you know,” Vodka suddenly spoke out without thinking, she wanted to bang her head to the wall upon realizing what she had done, but it's too late now.
Scarlet looked back at her with a slightly annoyed look. “Yeah, but she's annoying, at least your plushie self won't complain about anything I do.”
“Anno—” Vodka held her tongue, offended. “Why? Because I'll point out whenever you're overworking yourself to death?” She grumbled, her ears folded behind her.
That seemed to hit a sore spot considering Scarlet stopped whatever she was doing to glare at her. “What about that?”
“Admit it, if I hadn't stopped you all the time when you're pushing past your limit, you'll probably spend most of the year in the infirmary,” Vodka spat, nothing's stopping her now. “Yet, you always denied that. Tachyon-senpai even had to sedate you one time!” She reminded the red head as she clenched her fist. “It's as if you're trying to replace me or something.”
Ah, so that's why she was so uneasy.
“That's not true!” Scarlet argued, “none of that is true at all! Have you ever considered that I just liked the plushie?”
“Not when that thing is literally just me!” Vodka pointed rudely. “What? Too scared of facing the real deal that you turned to face the artificial one?”
That hit a nerve, if her tail swishing behind her is anything to say. “You want a race to prove that?” Scarlet challenged her roommate.
“Bet! Actually, let's do that now! Hop onto your tracksuit and I'll seeya in the field!”
“At this hour?!”
“Why, you chickening out now?”
“Never!” Scarlet huffed as she quickly headed towards her closet to grab her tracksuits. “You're going down!”
Both umas made their way to the tracks, warming up before a run as the wind blew over them, giving a sense of seriousness and intensity to their challenge. “So what happens when one of us loses?” Scarlet asked all of the sudden, catching Vodka off guard.
“Dunno,” Vodka said as she stretched, she never thought this far. “Maybe if you lose, stop talking to that damned doll so much.”
Scarlet gave her a look, “you’re really acting like a jealous girlfriend you know?” She pointed out, and Vodka quickly reached to her nose in case she started bleeding, but luckily, not this time. “Fine, but if you lose, you don’t get to dictate what I do with it.”
“Deal!” Vodka accepted quite enthusiastically. “I'm boutta beat your ass!”
Both of them got on their running stance on the track, legs inching to start moving as they counted down.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“Start!” Vodka yelled as both umas started their duel, legs moving as fast as they could take them as they got to their usual strategy. Scarlet sped up, distancing herself from Vodka who chose to conserve her energy for the final spurt while still tailing Scarlet a few lengths behind her.
The run was like any other practice runs they've had done, except with the intensity of an actual race. They turned on their first corner, then the second, and then the third before finally reaching the final corner when Vodka began to speed up as Scarlet tried to maintain her position.
400 meters.
200 meters.
50 meters.
Both of them crossed the Hishi Amazon cut out without realizing until a few seconds later, slowing down to a halt as they both tried to catch their breath.
“So who won?” Scarlet asked as she panted.
“I… don't know,” Vodka answered as she looked back at the cutout, realizing their mistake. “We didn't have a referee,” she pointed out, expecting a yell from Scarlet, only to hear laughter bursting out of her chest instead.
“What the heck?” She laughed as she sat down on the track. “All that running and we don't know who won.”
“Shaddup, I forgot about that in the heat of the moment,” Vodka pouted as she sat down. “Guess in this case it's a draw.”
“So none of us won or lost,” Scarlet giggled before completely lying down, limbs spread out. “Oh well, this challenge was kinda stupid anyway.”
Vodka's ears perked up, “yeah, kinda,” she agreed before laying down right beside her. “Guess you're not gonna stop talking to that doll.”
“Nah,” Scarlet said. “I'm gonna stop, that race was like a revelation to me. Talking to the real one is a lot more fun.”
“Why did you even start talking to that thing anyway?” Vodka asked, turning her body to face the red head. “I wasn't lying when I said it felt like you were trying to replace me.”
Scarlet was silent, then sheepishly looked away. “I don't know,” she admitted. “Just, lately it's been hard to interact with you.”
“Huh? That doesn't make any sense!” Vodka exclaimed.
“I know!” Scarlet answered with a scowl, “it's just, lately I feel weird when around you.”
“Again, you're not making sense.”
“Let me finish! It's just, lately… my stomach doesn't feel right or my chest feels tight… and for some reason it only happens with you!”
‘Huh?’ Vodka blinked, her face heating up, ‘hold on— is she—?’
“It's frustrating! I can't focus well and my mind is just– I don't know– I can't get my mind off you!” Scarlet continued, oblivious to what she is currently spouting. “So I began talking to the doll, tryna stop this from continuing. Clearly it didn't work considering I'm still feeling that way around you.”
Vodka failed to notice when her nose began bleeding once more, but when she did, she quickly wiped it with the sleeves of her tracksuit. “Scarlet, do you really not realize what you just said…?” She asked.
“What did I say? So is it weird!?” Scarlet exclaimed.
“No… remember the movie we watched a few weeks ago? The one where we thought it was an action movie?” Vodka reminded her, her ears flicking around as her tail wagged behind her.
“What about it?”
“Don't you think your symptoms are quite similar… to the love interest's behaviour when she was around the protagonist?”
It took a few seconds before Scarlet's face flushed deep to match her name. “Forget everything I said!” She exclaimed as she pushed Vodka away.
“Easy for you to say! Not so easy when you said it so clearly in front of my face!” Vodka exclaimed back, facing away the red head as her nose now bleeds freely like a fountain. “Not to mention, that was a l— love confession! To me! From you! How am I supposed to forget that!?”
“I don't care how, just get that out of your head!” Scarlet cried as she rolled to the other side and curled up into a ball, too embarrassed to face her rival as she crawled up to her.
“Why? Is it that bad to crush on me?” Vodka asked, she isn't sure why. But she felt that same uneasiness again, when she thought Scarlet was replacing her. She waited patiently for an answer, her heart thumping louder with each second Scarlet chose not to reply, and her breath caught in her throat when Scarlet finally turned to face her.
“No… it's not bad at all,” Scarlet answered, and Vodka's ears perked up, waiting for a continuation. “I'm just… I don't know how to make this whole crushing on you thing.”
‘What the heck?’ Vodka thought in her mind, her tail wagging. “You can't just act all cute like that,” she muttered, unaware she had said that out loud.
That gained Scarlet's attention however, who turned to completely face Vodka once more. “What about you? What do you think of me?”
“I…” Vodka stopped in her tracks. What did she think of the uma waiting for her answer in front of her?
“You're… on hell of a rival, Scarlet,” Vodka sneered, “but also stupidly stubborn and a workaholic. You work yourself half to death, nag me all the time, and—” she paused for a moment as she realized that she had a deeper feeling for her dearest rival. “You're cute… very cute… and I…”
‘I have a crush on you too,’ Vodka finished in her mind, she didn't need to say it out loud, for Scarlet seemed to realize her feelings were being reciprocated, if Vodka's nose is honest as it is.
“So then…” Scarlet fidgeted, “what do you want us to be?”
“What do you want?” Vodka asked back. “You were the one who confessed to me,” she excused, though honestly, she isn't sure what she wanted for their status.
“We can date,” Scarlet said as she sat up, “but I'm still not done beating you yet!” She exclaimed, pointing at Vodka who was wiping her nose with her sleeves again. “We're still rivals to the core! So don't you dare get easy on me now that we're more than just that!”
Vodka grinned, nodding in agreement, “right back at ya!”
Scarlet smiled as she helped the Uma to get back on her feet before realizing something, and her face went pale. “Vodka, did you tell Fuji we were gonna be out here?”
“Huh? No? Both of us rushed out here at the same time—” now it was Vodka's turn to become pale, and not from the loss of blood.
Both of them looked back at the dorm building as the lights were going out one by one, signifying that the occupants residing there were hitting the hay one by one. “Oh, crap.”
[New Condition: Night Owl]