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Silence Suzuka approached the table and her legs almost gave out.
Her table. Hers and Special Week’s. The one by the window they’d shared every day for over a year and traded food and stories and hopes and dreams, had an intruder.
A Mejiro.
“Spe-chan why are you…” Suzuka murmured, “…getting filled by her?”
“Mmph! Szzka-san!” Spe offered, turning to Suzuka, her mouth full of a pastry held by a smiling Mejiro Bright.
Bright waved at Suzuka with her other hand. “Oh, hello. Would you like one? It is a family recipe. Fifty years old.”
“That’s… mine,” Suzuka said pointedly.
“Oh, where you sit?” Bright politely moved the plate over to make space. “There’s—”
“No. Spe’s mouth.”
Mejiro Bright, considering that, fell into silence. Suzuka slid between them and sat down.
Spe swallowed, radiant as she turned. “Suzuka! Bright’s been makin’ me try the whole box. They’re SO good. What’s even in ’em, Bright?”
“Patience, mostly.”
“You can’t put patience in a sweet.”
“You can. It takes about a year, and then you have a tree.”
Bright’s fingers went back into the box, and Spe watched them eagerly as they selected another pastry and brought it up, casually reaching across Suzuka as she did so.
“Open, please,” Bright said.
Spe opened.
“She is hungry, this one.” Bright explained to Suzuka, guiding the pastry into Spe’s mouth. “Aren’t you, dear?”
“Mhm!” Spe said, taking another bite. “Hungry as a—”
“Stop feeding her,” Suzuka said.
Bright did not stop.
Suzuka gave the pastry a hard look, imagining it reduced to crumbs by her gaze alone, as Mejiro pastry took a place that should be reserved for her taiyaki alone.
Spe happily chewed and swallowed it. “Suzuka’s right, I can’t eat too much before the festival tonight, there’s going to be so much food there! And games!”
“You like games, Spe?” Bright asked.
Spe nodded. “Especially the crane game! But I’m not very good at it,” she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. “I lost nine-hundred yen last time.”
“Then I shall win you one,” Bright declared. “I shall stand near it and be patient, and one will come to me. They always do, in the end.”
“You’d win me one?!”
Suzuka set both hands flat on the table. “She already has one.”
“I do?”
“She will. I am going to… win the plush for Spe-chan.”
“How lovely,” said Bright, looking at Suzuka. “We could both win Spe a plush.”
“I’ll win her the big one. The biggest.”
Bright’s eyes widened but she continued guiding another pastry past Suzuka and into Spe, who accepted it eagerly. “The one with the jumbo plushes is the most difficult one at the arcade. You must be very good at the crane machine, Suzuka.”
Suzuka’s ears flicked and she looked away. “I…”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you played arcade games, Suzuka-san!” Spe said, eyes shining. “You really are great at everything!”
“Um…” Suzuka paused, looking into Spe’s eager eyes. “I mean, I never…”
Spe was leaning closer now.
Suzuka closed her eyes. “Your shampoo smells nice,” she said quietly.
Spe blinked. “What?”
“I said…” Suzuka took a breath, eyes hardening with intent. “I’ll win you a plush tonight. The biggest one.”
“Will you?” Bright asked serenely.
“I will.”
“How lovely. Then we shall both stand near the machine tonight, and be patient. It does the choosing, you know, not us.”
“Yay!” Spe cheered. “We’ll all go watch Suzuka win!”
“…Yes.” Suzuka stood. “If you’ll excuse me…”
She turned to go, a little too far, and ended up walking to the cafeteria door in a series of left-handed spirals. Spe waved to Suzuka as she went and returned to the next pastry, and Bright watched Suzuka go with a smile.
“Suzuka,” El Condor Pasa began. “Is everything all right?”
“Fine.”
El Condor Pasa was currently sitting on a bench with a half-eaten bento, forgotten the moment Suzuka had walked out of the cafeteria and began circling the bench like a shark.
“It’s just, you’ve been circlin’ me for ten minutes…”
“It’s nothing.”
El set her bento down beside her. “Bueno. Tell me the nothing.”
“…Mejiro Bright. Is my rival.”
“Your rival?” El asked. “Like McQueen and Teio are ‘rivals’? Oh. Oh. Does Special Week know you two are—”
Suzuka gave her a flat look. “Not like that.”
She looked away at a half-peeled flyer for Team Spica on the nearby post.
“Spe-chan is my… roommate. Bright is my rival for Spe-chan…” Suzuka said. “She shouldn’t be. She was feeding Spe. I should be the one feeding her. I’m her roommate. I watch her sleep—”
“—ya watch her—”
“—and I wake up to her face… that’s the scenery that’s mine. And now the Mejiro is in it…”
“…Okay.” El nodded slowly. “That’s a lot of nothing.”
Suzuka sat down next to her. “I budgeted.”
“So Bright,” El said. “Bright’s the rival. For Spe. And you gotta beat her so you can hold the lead alone, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Alright! So we’re winnin’ her for ya,” El said conspiratorially, leaning in. “Good. What’s the plan?”
Suzuka’s ears perked up. “You’d… help me?”
“Of course! What are friends for!”
Suzuka dipped her head, accepting that explanation. “I said I’d win Spe-chan a big plush at the arcade tonight. But… I’ve never played the crane before.”
El’s eyes went wide. “The jumbo plush? That’s the hardest machine in the arcade!”
“I know.”
“Even Teio hasn’t been able to—”
“I know.”
El sighed. “Alright, alright. This is just gonna be harder than I thought.”
Suzuka looked out at the courtyard. “Maybe… I should just tell Spe I can’t—”
“No. No no. Ya can’t scratch the race before the gate’s opened.” El grabbed her by both shoulders. “Listen to me. Ya don’t move tonight, what happens?”
“…Spe-chan goes with Bright.”
“And?”
“And Bright tries to get the plush.”
“Bright wins her the plush!” El cried, throwing her arms in the air. She put her hands on her cheeks. “And Spe says: Good golly, you’re the best, Bright-san!”
“Spe doesn’t sound like—”
“And then they go to her dorm together.”
Suzuka went very still.
“Ya see the problem now?” El asked. “There’s no choice. You gotta win that plush, look her in her eyes as ya hand it to her.”
Suzuka took a shaky breath. “I… I do.”
El nodded. “You do. This is a real fight now, amiga. But I’ll be in your corner, every step of the way.”
Suzuka looked at her and smiled softly. “Thank you, El.”
“I’ll be cheerin ya on as you win the plush AND Spe’s heart!”
“…Thank you, El.”
“And I’ll be there when Grass Wonder sees ya take Spe and needs someone to comfort her.”
“…Thank you, El?”
“And I wipe the tears from her beautiful blue eyes an’ she rests her head on my shoulder and I run a hand through her chestnut hair that shines like amber with that new shampoo she—”
“…El?”
“—uses and just finally Grass is lookin’ at me and not Spe and not you and it’s just me and her under the fireworks and—”
“El.”
“—and me supportin’ ya!” El coughed. “Cause we’re friends!”
Suzuka looked at El.
El’s ears flattened and she sank back into the bench. “I think we need help.”
“…Yes.”
El steered Suzuka into the dorm room by both shoulders like a wheelbarrow.
“Sit DOWN, besties!” Palmer threw her arms wide. “Spill it. The love guru is in session.”
“There’s a situation,” El jerked a thumb at Suzuka. “A whole, cómo se dice, tangle.”
“There’s no situation,” Suzuka said. “She’s mine.”
“Ooh, possessive. I LIVE for possessive.” Palmer steepled her fingers. “Walk me through it, no cap.”
From the side of the room, Daitaku Helios made a small sound as she looked at her phone.
Weiii.
Palmer turned. “Okay, first, how’s THAT goin’, Helios.”
“So good. Ruby left me on read eight days ago.”
“...Bestie.”
“Bestie-week of my life! She’ll text back eventually.”
“I bet!” Palmer agreed. “It’s crazy though, ya know there’s a whole WAITLIST of girls who’d text you back!” Palmer said. “Fire girls! Sittin’ real close, even! Right now!”
“Aw,” Helios said, smiling. “The fans?”
“The fans! Yeah.” Palmer clapped once and spun back to Suzuka. “Okay! So, what’s the tea?”
“There’s… a girl,” Suzuka began.
“Yeah, that’s how they all start,” Palmer nodded.
“...she’s my rival.”
“Aww, so you two are already—”
“Not like that,” Suzuka and El said in unison.
Suzuka’s tail lashed. “She— Spe-chan, is my roommate. And there’s a rival trying to… take her from me.”
“Ooh, ok, tough. But like, roommates, right? What’s that mean here, exactly? Is it a running partner thing or—”
Suzuka nodded. “I like to watch Spe run…”
“Ok, good, so you got a little crush—”
“...And sleep.”
“—or not.”
“And sometimes she sleeps on my shoulder.”
“So you two are, like,” Palmer tapped her index fingers together. “Roommates roommates.”
“Roommates roommates,” El repeated. “Me ’n Grass are roommates…”
“Aw, El!” Palmer said. “How’re things on the Wonder front? Taking any ground?”
El perked up. “Yeah! Grass got this new shampoo that smells fantastic!”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Nope!”
“Well, keep trying!” Palmer said with a smile.
It then morphed into a grin. “Wait, wait wait wait. You,” she pointed at El. “Are helping her.” She pointed at Suzuka. “You want to set Suzuka up with Spe for good so that Grass forgets about her, huh?”
El’s ears shot up. “N-No! It’s because Suzuka ’n I are such great friends—”
“Yes,” Suzuka cut in. “El is right. Grass should forget about Spe-chan.”
“Lucky for you, Suzuka, yours isn't unrequited.” Palmer said. “That’s the hard one, right?”
“Sí,” El agreed.
“Totally!” Helios chimed in.
Palmer looked at Helios. “Yeah, totes! Haha. So you,” she said, turning back to Suzuka, “just gotta beat your rival for Spe’s heart. EASY!” She spread her hands. “Who’s the one to beat?”
“Bright.”
Palmer blinked. “As in—”
“Mejiro Bright.”
Palmer was quiet for a moment, mentally recalibrating, as everyone looked at her.
“Oh. Ohoho,” she finally laughed. “How splendidly awkward. One simply does not expect, of an afternoon, to be retained against one’s own blood—”
“Palmster. You’re doing the voice,” Helios said.
“I am not doing any voice!” Palmer stood clumsily, knocking over the chair.
“So… your advice?” Suzuka asked.
“None. I understand it from the inside. And I would like, very much, to not.” Palmer backed up toward the door.
Suzuka frowned. “I thought you were the guru.”
“The expert!” El nodded.
“Yeah, you’re so good with this stuff!” Helios said.
“This one’s above my pay-grade. It’s a Mejiro thing.”
Suzuka looked down. “...I want Spe-chan in my scenery. The view from the front, why you run… You’re a runaway like me. You understand it, right?”
“I—” Palmer faltered. “I mean, yeah, I get it, but this…” She looked at Helios. She looked back at Suzuka. “Fine. Okay. I’ll help.” She sat back down. “So what’s up between you and Bright?”
“Bright said she’d win Spe-chan a plush,” Suzuka said.
“So then,” El continued, “Suzuka got ahead of herself—”
“—As runaways do,” Palmer said with a nod.
“And promised to win Spe a jumbo one.”
Palmer’s jaw dropped. Helios’s phone clattered to the floor.
“You didn’t,” Palmer said.
“O.M.G.” Helios covered her mouth with a hand.
“And you aren’t, like, secretly super good at claw machines are you?” Palmer asked Suzuka. “’Cause that’d make this whole thing just super simple—”
Suzuka shook her head.
“—great.” Palmer finished. She looked at El. “Mejiros. Claw machines. We need backup.”
Helios didn’t look up from her phone. “You guys go. I’ll wait here in case Ruby texts back.”
“...Bestie,” Palmer said.
“Bestie!” Helios agreed.
“So,” Mejiro McQueen began, sitting at a library table with a book in front of her, eyeing Suzuka, El, and Palmer. “You’ve brought them to me.”
“Kinda, it’s a whole thing,” Palmer shrugged.
“Honestly, I don’t know why. These things are your hobby, not mine. Between training and studying I haven’t the time for romantic frivolity—”
“Ma-kween!” a voice called.
The librarian scolded its owner.
“Ma-kween!” Teio whispered as she bounced over to the table and slid in beside McQueen.
“...Hello, Teio.”
“Hi! Wow, your hair is so shiny today,” Teio said, tilting her head. “I wanna put my whole face in it.”
McQueen’s face flushed. “...T-Thank you, Teio.” She coughed. “But please, we’re in the middle of—”
“War,” El said.
“War?” Teio asked.
“War.” Suzuka nodded. “Spe-chan.”
Teio gasped. “Uh oh. Did she and Oguri face off over the last cupcake again—”
“No, no that.”
“Phew! Because last time Prez said, like, ten first-years needed counseling!”
“It’s about… Mejiro Bright,” Suzuka said. “She’s my rival.”
McQueen and Teio stared at her.
“Wow! You and Bright?” Teio asked.
“I— I wasn’t aware…” McQueen coughed. “You and my sister were so close—”
“Not like that,” Suzuka, El, and Palmer said in unison.
“Suzuka wants Spe,” Palmer explained. “Bright wants Spe. Bright is Suzuka’s rival for Spe.”
“Oh. Oh, I see,” McQueen straightened up. “I understand the dilemma. And you have come to me for an impartial arbiter. That is the correct decision.”
“Impartial? You’re her sister,” Teio reminded her.
“And Suzuka is my teammate,” McQueen retorted. “Regardless, I would not let personal relationships cloud my judgement.”
“Oh, right, the reason I came to find you!” Teio said. “At the festival tonight, there’s a cake eating competition. Let’s enter!”
McQueen turned to her and frowned. “Teio, I’m on a diet. I cannot simply—”
“Please?”
“...Fine.”
“M’kay!”
McQueen turned back to the others. “As I was saying, my judgement is clear and impartial. You made the correct choice in coming to me,” she said, lifting her chin proudly. “I will honor your trust and do such as the duty of my dignity calls to resolve this matter—”
“Actually,” Palmer coughed. “We needed Teio.”
McQueen faltered. “Teio?”
“Me?” Teio asked.
“Sí,” El said. “Suzuka told Spe she would win her a jumbo plush tonight before Bright could.”
Teio’s face lit up. “A jumbo plush? From the claw machine?”
El nodded. Teio looked at Suzuka, eyes wide with awe.
“That’s the hardest machine at the arcade! But— do you even play claw machines?”
“...No,” Suzuka said.
Teio’s face split into a grin. “Wait, so you’ve only got, what, four hours to master the hardest claw machine in town? You know what that’s the sound of, McQueen?”
“Conspiring against my own sister?” McQueen asked, miffed.
Teio jumped up on the library chair, her arms in the air.
“A MIR—”
“—ACLE!” Teio finished proudly, outside the library.
They were kicked out for making too much noise.
The five of them stood in the late afternoon sun as McQueen held her face in her hands.
“Two Mejiros banished from the library in one afternoon. This is a stain on our legacy…”
“Worth it.” Teio was rolling out her shoulders. “Besides, there’s no time for studying McQueen. We’ve gotta go to the arcade!”
“Wait.” McQueen had lowered her hands, looking at the others. “This was never about a plush. Suzuka wants Spe’s attention on her instead of on our— instead of on Bright.”
Palmer nodded. Suzuka was quiet which was its own response.
McQueen gave her a serious look. “Suzuka. Spe is an outgoing Umamusume. You can’t help her finding friends in others.”
Suzuka idly rolled her foot in a left-handed circle. “But… Spe-chan—”
“—likes you for you,” McQueen said. “Not— arcade games and stuffed toys and wars for her attention. She likes to run beside you and eat with you and sleep with you—”
Suzuka’s face went red. “...We haven’t—”
“—I mean as roommates!” McQueen pushed through, fighting her own flush. She took a breath. “My point is, you do not need to engage in these games for Spe-chan’s attention. You, yourself, are enough.”
Suzuka looked down, considering this.
El leaned over. “She’s just sayin’ that cause Bright’s her sister,” she whispered.
“I— I am not!” McQueen huffed.
Suzuka looked up sharply, eyes narrow. “I will win the plush.”
“I believe in you!” El cheered. “Cause if ya don’t, Bright will! And if she does—”
“—she takes Spe back to her dorm room,” Suzuka finished, glaring at McQueen. “...That will not happen. It simply won’t.”
Palmer looked between them, watching the fireworks and uncertain if she should say anything. Meanwhile, Teio had her hand on her chin, deep in thought. Her eyes brightened as an idea came to her.
“Ohh, so you just want Spe’s attention?” Teio asked. “I know the perfect way to do that, I saw Sirius do it to Prez just the other day!”
McQueen rolled her eyes. “Teio, please, don’t encourage— eep!”
Teio had taken a step toward her and placed a hand under her chin, tilting down with her thumb and forefinger to stare McQueen in the eyes.
McQueen’s face went beet red. She opened her mouth but nothing came out as she stared dumbly into Teio’s blue eyes.
“SEE? Instant attention. Works every time.” Teio said as she let go, delighted with herself.
McQueen remained exactly as she’d been left, chin tilted and red in the face.
“T-Teio,” she managed, breathlessly.
“Yeah?”
“Y-You can’t just—” McQueen shook herself off, brushing her clothes.
“You’re pretty red, huh?” Palmer noted.
“It’s hot. Outside. Where we are. Because someone got us kicked out of the library,” she retorted, with a pointed glance at Teio, who shrugged.
Suzuka had watched the whole demonstration with the focus of a student auditing a master class. “...Show me that again.”
Teio stepped toward McQueen again.
“No!” McQueen said quickly, stepping away. “I mean, that’s not necessary right now. Don’t do it again. In public.”
Teio blinked. “Just in pub—”
“—I think the plush is a wonderful idea,” McQueen interrupted. “Let’s head to the arcade. Immediately.”
The arcade near Tracen was two floors of noise and neon, every machine flashing and sounding its jingle. The festival had brought even more than usual to the district, food vendors hawking their wares and crowds of people milling about in and out of the arcade.
Suzuka took one look at the crowds and began to veer leftward.
El and Palmer grabbed her shoulders.
“Stay strong, amiga,” El said. “Remember who you’re fighting for.”
“You’ve got this!” Palmer cheered.
“C’mon, hurry up!” Teio said, bouncing ahead. “We gotta get to the machine with the jumbo plushes before it’s taken!”
McQueen walked behind them. “Really, must we be in such a hurry? We have all day for Suzuka to win the—”
“Hey, Mac!”
McQueen’s face paled as Gold Ship emerged from the crowd behind her. She turned. Gold Ship was wearing a red shirt, black pants, and a cloth band around her head.
Gold Ship grinned. “Yeah, you thought I forgot, huh? You promised to help me with the yakisoba stand! C’mon, best posture for grill-work in the school, you’re born for it.”
“I— There’s been a complication,” McQueen said. “An urgent matter requiring— Gold Ship!” McQueen broke off into frantic protests as Gold Ship grabbed her and began dragging her away into the crowd.
“Look at this crowd, Mac. We’re not sellin’ yakisoba, we’re plantin’ flags,” Gold Ship said as they walked away.
“T-Teio! Do something!” McQueen cried out.
“Don’t worry, McQueen. I’ll make Suzuka a master at the crane game!”
“That’s not what I—” McQueen’s words were drowned out as she and Gold Ship were swallowed up by the crowd.
“Huh.” El said. “Now I’m kinda hungry.”
“Me too,” Palmer said with a nod.
“One Mejiro down,” Suzuka whispered, watching McQueen vanish. “One to go.”
Palmer’s ears flicked. “Um… what?”
“One down, one to go,” Suzuka whispered again, eyes closed. “One down, one to go. One down, one to go…” she repeated as she stepped behind Teio and into the crowded and noisy arcade.
“That’s the spirit, c’mon Suzuka,” Teio said, guiding her in.
El looked at Palmer. “Teio’s got this. Wanna get churros?”
“I’m down. But, churros?” Palmer asked. “You think they have those here?”
“Of course!” El said, gesturing wide. “Every great festival has churros!”
“Gently, gently… NOW! Grab it just like—” Teio mimed the whole motion beside Suzuka, who was leaned over the machine, staring at it with the same intense focus she showed at the starting gate.
The claw closed on the giant Special Week plush and lifted it a nose off the pile.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes—” Teio cheered.
The claw dropped it.
“Noooo!” She wailed.
“...It let go,” Suzuka said, to the glass, staring at the plush’s resting place, from which it had refused to budge for the past hour.
“It ALWAYS lets go!” Teio said. “This is the hardest machine in the arcade. But you got it off the pile this time, that’s progress!”
Suzuka fed another coin without breaking eye contact with the plush.
“That’s the spirit. We’re building somethin’ here.” Teio slapped the side of the machine like a coach slapping a flank. “Drive the inside line. It can’t corner.”
“It has no corners,” Suzuka said.
“THINK like it has corners.”
The claw reached down, bouncing off the Spe-plush head and grabbing empty air.
“Agh, it’s taunting us,” Teio pouted. “Stupid robots!”
Behind them came a horrified gasp.
Teio and Suzuka turned to see Rice Shower and Mihono Bourbon standing behind them. Rice Shower looked like she’d tried to cover Bourbon’s ears but, being too short, her hands just ineffectually rested on Bourbon’s shoulders.
“B-Bourbon!” Teio said. “What are you doing here?”
“I am in the arcade with Rice Shower.”
“I see that,” Teio chuckled, scratching her cheek. “You know I meant, like, I don’t hate all robots, just, like, the claw machine—”
“It is alright.”
“—not that you are a robot—”
“It is alright.”
“—but if you were a robot I wouldn’t think—”
“It is alright.”
“—less of you,” Teio finished lamely.
Rice beamed, looking at Bourbon. “Bourbon-san is too kind. She took me to the arcade to see the prizes!”
Teio sighed, relieved for the change in topic. “That’s nice! Suzuka’s trying to win a prize from this one. Do you want to try?”
“Negative,” Bourbon shook her head. “I am forbidden from standing within two meters of the machines.”
“Th-they break,” Rice explained.
“Ahh…” Teio nodded knowingly.
Whirrr. Click. Whirrr. Click.
Suzuka fed another coin and nudged the joystick.
Bourbon’s gaze settled on the machine. “The claw exerts forty newtons of grip force.”
Suzuka fed a coin.
“The target plush masses two-point-one kilograms. It cannot lift it.”
“Hweh?” Rice said.
“It is calibrated to fail. Payout occurs once in approximately two hundred attempts.”
Suzuka’s hand stilled over the coin slot.
“That’s not the spirit!” Teio cut in. “It can corner if you BELIEVE—”
“It cannot corner. It is a claw.”
“THINK like it has corners!”
“It does not have corners. I have measured it.”
Suzuka looked at Teio. She looked at Bourbon. “…Which of you do I listen to.”
Neither answered. Suzuka fed another coin.
Rice’s hands fluttered. “S-Suzuka-san, wait— maybe you shouldn’t—”
The claw closed on nothing and rose, empty.
“Eep!” Rice flinched as if she’d been the one to lose it. “Th-that’s— that’s two hundred yen now, isn’t it? I-I’m so sorry, please— maybe stop before—”
“Two hundred attempts is the expected value,” Bourbon noted. “She has completed sixty-one.”
“S-sixty-one!” Rice’s hands closed on Suzuka’s sleeve before she could think— “Th-that’s enough, Suzuka-san, please, you’ll—” Then, horrified at herself, she let go. “...I-I’m sorry. I can’t— I can’t make you stop, can I—”
Suzuka fed another coin. Rice made a small, doomed sound.
“Rice Shower. We should move on before this one breaks too.”
Bourbon turned to leave. Then, instead, she drifted one step closer to the machine, leaning to read the angle of Suzuka’s claw.
“Two meters,” Rice whispered.
The machine beside them died with a long, sad descending jingle and went dark.
“B-Bourbon-san, the two-meter rule—”
“I was curious,” Bourbon said, already retreating.
“I told ya they’d have churros!” El said proudly.
At the food court, El and Palmer were sitting, with a greasy paper-lined bowl of sugar-and-cinnamon dusted churros between them.
“I guess,” Palmer shrugged, taking a bite of one. “I mean they’re not bad, but isn’t this just, like, fried dough?”
“It’s an art,” El said, gasping in mock horror. “Did you see the price, though?” she went on, lowering her voice like she was confessing a crime. “Six hundred yen. For one. Festival markup’s a robbery, amiga. A heel move.”
“So why’d you buy, like, eight?”
“Cause a true competitor doesn’t flinch at the entry fee!” El declared. “…That was most of my money, by the way. But they have all flavors! Matcha, chocolate, sakura—”
“Sakura?” Palmer said between munches. “What’s a cherry-flavored churro like?”
“No idea, never had one!” El said. “But I bet it’s great. I love cherry flavor!”
“Oh really?”
“Ya know, Grass has this cherry-flavored chapstick. I’ve always wanted to taste it.”
“If you asked, I’m sure she’d let you—”
“—While she’s wearin’ it.”
Palmer sat a half-eaten churro down and looked at El.
El looked back, eyes wide behind her mask. “...Oops."
“Damn," Palmer said.
Ears flat, El dropped her forehead onto the table.
“I mean damn,” Palmer repeated. “You’re down that bad, huh?”
“Estoy sola,” El mumbled into the table.
“No, no, get it all out, that’s what I’m here for, bestie.” Palmer said. “I’m Tracen’s expert in yearning.”
“Because you’re the love guru?”
“...Yeah, because that.”
“How can ya help me Palmer? Grass doesn’t know I exist!”
“Grass knows you exist, she just, you know,” Palmer gestured around. “Doesn’t think of you like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like rivals.”
“Rivals or rivals rivals?”
“We’re not doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
Palmer sighed. “…Rivals rivals,” she said, hating that she knew exactly which one El meant.
El picked up another another churro. “It’s just… what can I do to get her to see me like that?”
“You have to be brave, sis! Tell her how you feel!”
“Ya think? But what if she—”
“Trust me, she won’t,” Palmer said. “You guys are, like, best of friends right? Total besties?”
“Yeah. Besties,” El said, ears flat. “And that’s all Grass sees me as. Platonic best friends. Just like you see Helios.”
“Just like I see—” Palmer paused. Her ears twitched. “Look, El, you just— try starting small, okay? Tell Grass you like how her new shampoo makes her hair shine.”
El looked up, curious and hopeful. “Ya think that would work?”
Palmer shrugged. “No, but it’s a start, right? And you build up your confidence and keep going from there until you can tell her how you feel!”
“Sounds scary.”
“And, look, worst case scenario, Grass only wants to stay friends—”
“—Oh no.”
“—I said worst case. Best case, who knows? But what I do know, is if you keep doing this,” Palmer said, gesturing at El, who had her head resting sideways on the table and was forlornly munching on a churro. “You’re gonna stay besties for life.”
El perked up. “You’re right. No great wrestler ever won a victory by staying out of the ring!” She leapt up and threw her arms around Palmer. “I’m gonna go find Grass right now and tell her I like the smell of her hair!”
“Maybe not that—”
“You’re the best love guru at Tracen!” El said, dashing away.
Palmer sighed and looked down at the churros. “Best love guru at Tracen, huh? Expert in unrequited yearning…”
She picked up a churro and held it up. “Golden. Star shaped. Like little sunbeams…” she trailed off. “I know a little sunbeam…”
Palmer pulled out her phone. Her thumb hovered over Helios’s name. It stayed there a moment. Then she put the phone away. “...Yeah. A start.”
“Palmer?” a voice said from behind her.
Palmer spun around. “G-Grass Wonder!”
Grass smiled and walked to the other side of the table. “I hope you don’t mind if I sit? I’ve heard you were good at giving… advice. On certain things.”
Palmer winced. “Yeah, I, um, people say that. What’s up?”
Grass took a seat, surveying the table. “I didn’t know you liked churros.”
“Me neither.”
Grass’s smile fell as she looked around. “It’s about… Spe-chan. I—” Grass took a breath. “I want to be her rival.”
“Her rival or her rival rival—”
“Rival rival,” Grass said. “But I just… feel like she doesn’t see me. Even though I see her.”
“Well, that’s—”
“On the track, running behind her.”
“Yep, I figured—”
“And in my dreams.”
“Right.”
“And my five-year plan.”
“Well,” Palmer said slowly. “I can try to help with that. It’s kinda my speciality.”
Grass flashed her an honest smile. “Thank you, Palmer-san. It’s good to know you’re an expert in unrequited feelings.”
Outside, at a yakisoba stand, a tired and grease-stained McQueen’s ears perked up at the sound of a muffled scream.
“Was that Palmer?”
“No driftin’ on the job, Mac!” Gold Ship called from the grill.
“You don’t pay me anyways!” McQueen retorted.
“I pay you in experience!”
McQueen grumbled and resumed shoveling yakisoba into containers. She saw someone approaching and looked up to see Grass Wonder.
“Oh, hello Grass,” McQueen said. “Pardon my appearance. I was conscripted into another one of Gold Ship’s schemes.”
Grass smiled. “That’s quite all right, I’m glad to see you’re enjoying the festival. Have you seen El or Spe around?”
McQueen shook her head. “I have not, at least not around here. Have you seen Palmer? I thought I heard her earlier.”
“She’s at the food court, weeping into a bowl of churros.”
McQueen paused. “...Why?”
“I’m uncertain,” Grass said. “I think it had something to do with— oh, Spe-chan!”
Grass’s eyes lit up as she caught sight of Special Week through the crowd, and swiftly began moving through it.
McQueen watched her bolt. After a moment she set down the spatula and took a careful step toward the gap in the crowd. “Well. If everyone is congregating, perhaps I ought to— the machine situation may require an arbiter, and—”
A hand closed on her collar without Gold Ship looking up from the grill.
“Mac. A flagship don’t abandon the fleet mid-crossing.” Gold Ship hauled her back to the counter. “You got the wrists of a champion griller. Mejiro posture, born for the spatula, it’d be a crime against the festival to waste ’em on romance.”
“It is not romance, I am simply—”
“We’re rich, Mac!” Gold Ship slapped a fat, grease-spotted wad of yakisoba earnings onto the counter beside her. “Look at that haul. Festival gold.” She paused. “…You still don’t get paid.”
McQueen sank her hands wrist-deep back into a mound of shredded cabbage, mortified, and watched through the crowd as everyone else’s rivalries happened without her.
Suzuka watched helplessly as the claw closed in on empty air.
“No…” she said, closing her eyes.
“It missed,” Teio confirmed.
Suzuka pulled out her wallet and opened it. “I have no money.”
“Let’s look under the machines, there’s gotta be something—”
“Suzuka-saaan!” Spe arrived at a sprint, Bright drifting serene in her wake. “Bright said we should come watch you win me a JUMBO one! In front of everybody!”
“...In front of everybody,” Suzuka repeated. She looked down at her empty wallet.
“Oh dear, did you already try?” Bright asked. She dug out her own wallet and handed a coin to Suzuka. “Here, try again.”
Suzuka stared at the tainted coin before reluctantly putting it into the machine.
She nudged the joystick, positioning it above the jumbo Spe. The claw wobbled as it came down, deflecting off the head, and grabbing a small nearby plush.
“You got one!” Teio cheered. “You finally grabbed a… plush,” she trailed off as the claw emerged from the pile with a small Mejiro Bright.
It wobbled as it brought it over and dropped it, the plush tumbling down the chute.
Suzuka stared at the plush before grabbing it and holding it at arm’s length as if it were a fish.
“Congratulations, Suzuka,” Bright said warmly.
“Hooray!” Spe cheered. “And it’s one of you, Bright! How lucky is that?”
“Lucky…” Suzuka mumbled. “It wasn’t the big one…”
“But you won one, nevertheless,” Bright said. “A small Bright. How curious. I shall keep standing here, and we shall see what it decides—”
“I won’t fall for it. I won’t let you take Spe to your dorm.”
“—What?”
“That’s the spirit!” Teio shouted, invigorated. “You can’t give up! You have to make a miracle!”
Suzuka’s eyes hardened. “You’re right, Teio… I’ve lost my way many times today but…” she looked at a confused Special Week. “Victory will be mine.”
Off to the side, Bright drifted to a second machine, placed a single coin, and hummed to herself. “Hmmm, hm-hm-hm…” She waited. The claw lowered, closed, and brought up a small Bright plush of its own. “Oh my. A little me. How thoughtful.” She tucked it away with the others.
“Bright, you keep winning yourself!” Spe said, eyeing the two or three Bright-dolls.
“It seems I am the flower this garden wishes to give. Nevertheless,” Bright said, returning and stepping up to the machine with a coin. “You’re out of money, aren’t you, Suzuka? I have just one left, so I would like to try and win Spe the jumbo plush.”
Suzuka watched helplessly, the sounds and lights of the arcade muted as she could only see Bright’s coin descending toward the slot.
“SUZUKAAA!” a voice suddenly shouted.
El, who had been walking past, was sprinting toward them while digging into her jacket. “This is the last of my money! Take it from me!”
She flung the 100-yen coin. It glinted across the neon-lit arcade.
“This is for both of us, amiga—”
Suzuka, eyes locked on the machine, didn’t register it. She caught the coin one-handed and dropped it in a second before Bright could.
“Those reflexes,” Teio said in awe. “So this is the speed of the Otherworldly Front-Runner.”
Bright closed her hand around her last coin and slipped it away. “After you, then. The patient thing has already arrived.”
Suzuka turned toward the machine, staring at the controls with the utmost concentration. She took a deep breath.
“You got this, Suzuka.” Teio said. “You’ve done the groundwork. Now you just gotta win.”
“You can do it!” El cheered from beside her.
“She might, she might not,” McQueen said, having walked up behind them. Her brow was furrowed as she looked at the scene. “But I find a plush is hardly relevant to determine the value of a relationship.”
“Our enemy’s helper arrives.” El said, turning toward her. “You doubt the value of the jumbo plush because you know Suzuka will claim it.”
“Hello, McQueen,” Bright said. “Goodness, an enemy? I have never been anyone’s enemy before. I should like to be a gentle one.”
McQueen nodded, acknowledging Bright’s greeting but kept her gaze on El. “I doubt the value because a Mejiro’s claim is absolute.”
“You cannot claim hearts! They are won in the fire of the ring.”
“They are established through pedigree and proper courtship.”
“You won me a prize in the shooting game at year’s festival,” Teio spoke up.
“Teio,” McQueen hissed. “That is irrelevant to the current discussion.”
“Isn’t it?” Teio asked, stepping up. “Or was it because you didn’t want me to beat you?”
“A Mejiro does not worry about being beaten at games—”
“Just ‘establishing a claim?’” Teio pressed.
McQueen sniffed and leveled her gaze on Teio. “Perhaps,” she said coolly.
“Of the game?”
“Of my rival.”
“Hehe, even if I let you win?”
“You did not—”
“—Did too!”
“Tokai Teio, do not say you let me—”
“Or what, McQueen?”
The two had drifted closer until they were inches apart, noses almost touching, the air between them charged with competitive spirit.
“Um…” Bright said, looking between them. “Are you two—”
“Rivals,” they said together, without breaking eye contact.
“Rivals rivals,” El whispered.
“My. Twice over,” Bright said. “That usually means a thing matters.”
Whirrrr.
Everyone’s attention turned to the machine as Suzuka, still laser focused on it, had begun maneuvering the claw with the final coin.
“Left,” El whispered.
“Right,” McQueen whispered.
“Right there,” Teio said, vibrating in anticipation.
“Do your very best, Suzuka,” Bright said. “The claw, like everything, comes to those who wait near it.”
Suzuka ticked the lever an inch. Stopped. Pressed the button.
Everyone held their breath.
The claw descended.
Whirrr. Tick. Tick. Tick.
It latched onto the jumbo Spe’s head, the gearbox straining to lift the oversized plush.
“Come on,” El urged.
“Make the miracle,” Teio said.
“...Please,” Suzuka whispered. “Spe-chan…”
The jumbo Spe breached the surface of the stack, and everyone gasped. Dangling from it, hands stitched together, was a jumbo Suzuka plush.
“A double jumbo,” Teio said breathlessly. “That’s, like, so rare!”
“How rare?” El asked, eyes locked to the pair as they dangled precipitously from the claw.
“Super rare!” Teio squeaked.
Suzuka had stopped breathing as she watched the claw slowly inch its way over to the chute, flinching every time it wobbled and threatened to drop its prize.
Whirrrr. Click. Thunk.
She exhaled as the prize landed in the chute. She reached in and grabbed it, holding it up with shaky hands. She held it up to the light, staring at it intently, as if trying to discern if it were actually real.
“...I did it.” Suzuka smiled for the first time that day and turned around with the prize. “I did it. Spe-chan, I—”
Special Week wasn’t there.
Everyone turned around.
“...Huh.” Teio said.
“Where’d Spe go?” McQueen asked.
Suzuka looked down at the double jumbo, crestfallen. Her ears were flat and her eyes wet as she blinked back tears.
“Hey, hey,” El said, patting her on the back. “Ya can still give it to her!”
Suzuka looked at her. “...I wanted Spe-chan to see me win it.”
“I know,” El reassured her. “But trust me. Givin’ someone a plush ya won at the arcade, is like, the most intimate thing you can do!”
“...Um. I guess,” Suzuka said, her tail swishing. “I just—”
“—I mean,” El continued, “obviously most intimate aside from—”
“Suzuka-san!” Special Week’s voice called out. Suzuka perked up immediately.
Special Week approached with Grass Wonder by her side. Grass had a smile on her face and was carrying a candied apple. Special Week had two.
El made a sad, strangled noise at the sight.
“I got you a snack,” Special Week said. “You were so serious over here, I figured you’d forget to eat— oh, wow, that’s a huge plush! Two of them! And it’s us!”
Suzuka lifted the plushes up, showing them to Special Week. “...Yes. I won them… for you. The big ones.”
Special Week’s eyes shone as she leaned over, looking at them. “They’re stitched together! I’ve never seen that before.”
“It’s super rare,” Teio supplied.
“A miracle, even,” McQueen said dryly.
“Wow, Suzuka-san is amazing!”
“Um… Spe? I want to tell you something…” Suzuka said, stepping toward her, holding the plushes under one arm.
“Yes, Suzuka-san— eep?!” Spe broke off as Suzuka’s other hand came up underneath her chin, her index finger trailing Spe’s jawline and lifting the shorter girl’s head.
Spe looked into Suzuka’s eyes breathlessly, red as a tomato. The candied apples fell from her hands and onto the floor with a splat.
Suzuka, equally red, looked into Spe’s.
“...Um. The view from the lead…” Suzuka began. “My scenery… I want you in it.”
Spe mutely nodded.
“...That’s all,” Suzuka mumbled, quickly removing her hand and stepping away.
The two stood before each other, red in the face, staring at the ground and hands fidgeting.
“Wow. That was…” El began, pressing the back of her hand to her mask.
“Amazing,” Teio whispered.
“Beautifully forward,” Bright said.
“Messy,” McQueen grimaced, looking at the candied apples on the floor. “The arcade’s going to get ants.”
Spe looked down. “S-Sorry Suzuka-san, I dropped your—”
“—It’s ok, Spe-chan. Let’s… go get more.”
Spe nodded and the pair walked away, moving awkwardly as they were close enough side-by-side for their tails to brush with every step and pretended not to notice it.
Grass Wonder's tail flicked as she watched them depart, and she looked down at her own candied apple.
Bright considered the chute thoughtfully. “Didn’t Suzuka say she was out of money?”
“It’s okay,” Teio said, wiping her eyes. “She’ll make a miracle.”
“I would posit that a food stand is an unlikely site for a miracle,” Bright said. "Though I have been wrong about the locations of miracles before.”
McQueen reluctantly pulled some Yen notes out of her pocket. “Such an endeavor as it was, Gold Ship did share some money from the yakisoba stand. I suppose we should go help them.”
“Hooray! McQueen gonna make the miracle!” Teio cheered, bouncing off. McQueen followed with a smile, Bright beside her.
Bright held up one of her accidental Bright-dolls, looking at it. “For you, Spe. I shall be napping, but the doll will represent my interests.”
Grass watched them depart and then turned to El.
“Um, El?”
El blinked. “Y-Yeah, Grass? What’s up?”
Grass’s other hand came out from behind her, revealing a small Grass Wonder plush. “I know it’s a bit presumptuous, giving you a plush of myself, but… I won this and wanted you to have it.”
“Ya wanted— me—” El broke off as she accepted the plush, holding it like a baby animal. Her mouth opened. Closed. Open again. “To have this?”
Grass nodded.
El stared at the plush. Then, at Grass’s eyes. She blinked hard to avoid getting lost in those blue oceans.
Grass smiled. “Hehe. You’ve gone quite still, El. I half expected you to challenge me for it.”
“But… what about Special Week?” El asked dumbly.
Grass tilted her head. “What about her?”
“She’s your, ya know, rival.”
“And you’re my roommate, El. And my best friend.”
“Roommate roommate?” El whispered.
Grass frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.” She looked at El, who was flushed under her mask. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Fine,” El wheezed. “Just… I’ll catch up.”
Grass nodded, accepting this and turning. Her tail brushed El’s legs as she did.
El’s legs almost gave out.
Later that night, the food court had cleared out as people had gone to see the festival fireworks. El Condor Pasa sat alone, holding a Grass Wonder plush. On another table sat a bowl of what appeared to be tear-soaked, half-eaten churros.
Seiun Sky wandered in. “There you are, El. Was wondering where you went. Everyone’s gone to see the fireworks—”
From behind, in the darkness, Seiun couldn’t quite make out much other than El was breathing heavily with a Grass Wonder plush pressed to her face.
“...Never mind.”
El spun around, pulling the plush away like she’d been burned by it.
“Sky! Wait, Sky, I—”
“Nope. Don’t wanna know.”
“I was just sniffing it!”
Seiun paused and turned, eyeing El with disbelief.
“...Is that supposed to be better?”
“Isn’t it?”
Seiun stared at El.
“...It smells like her shampoo,” El whined.
With a sigh, Seiun kept walking. “We’re at the fireworks if you wanna join. But maybe don’t do that in front of the others.”
As she left, Seiun rubbed a hand over her face.
“I want outta my generation.”