#like i love dragon ball not the biggest fan but like woah

[speakeasier]

i was scrolling around the internet and i thought people were joking. but akira toriyama is actually dead and i'm genuinely so speechless. i really thought that was fake news. " D': "

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Dancer III: Tokyo Love Story

“Fantasy Hotel Room 308A.” That was the text he got from Lu MIngfei, known as Akira to Hydras, when he inquired of Erii’s location. He sighed loudly with annoyance. That was a Lover’s Hotel! And a well-known one at that.

He stilled his temper. It accelerated his breath and pulled against his stitches. That guy was getting bolder and bolder.

He kept to muted colors under his trenchcoat. A ball cap and sunglasses hid his identity on the street. When he arrived at the hotel is was during the day and no one was checking in so the front desk clerk was watching TV and didn’t even notice when he walked in. He took the elevator to the third floor and knocked on the door to the suite.

As Akira opened, he removed his sunglasses to aim the full force of his cold-eyed stare down at his Shatei.

Akira flinched. “It’s not what it looks like! This was the only-”

Chisei shoved his way inside. “Erii?”

She was sitting on the tatami in front of a TV that displayed a paused game of Street Thug, dressed in only a T-shirt and shorts. There were shopping bags everywhere and a variety of outfits strewn about the room. The trash bin was lined with bags from food delivery and filled with empty boxes of fried rice.

She grinned at him. “Big Brother!” She signed at him.

“How are you feeling?” He walked past Akira, giving him a slightly less intimidating glare. 

She gave him a thumbs up and popped up from the floor with the wireless controller which she shoved into his hands.

“I heard about what happened to our headquarters. What are we going to do now?” asked Akira

“Let me worry about that.” He turned back to Erii who had picked up her controller. He looked around at the clothing. There was also some jewelry and toys.

She was scrawling on the notepad and then showed him. “Akira bought me tickets to the six flags! They’re discounted because we go close to closing time! Brother come too? Please.”

He looked into her crimson eyes. He held out his hand and accepted the notepad and pen from her and wrote. “Okay. I’ll come.”

Akira, suddenly mindful of  the mess the room, gathered the clothes in a pile and started putting them away only to have Erii seize his arm and shove the notepad in his face.

“Erii wha... oh... oh! I uh... I guess I need to buy another ticket!” He looked up at Chisei and his face turned a little red. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Chisei’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Finish cleaning up.”

He returned to the video game. He wasn’t nearly as good as Akira but Akira played for hours at a time. He understood why.

When he first found Lu Mingfei without his memories and assigned him his staff to care for him and explain his presence, he didn’t notice the purchases that staff was making. Only a few days later, Erii had become more obsessed with online Street Thug. Particularly certain times of the day when she HAD to play online.

Usually, she was after him to play all the time, but he was suddenly free of her presence. She confessed to him that there was someone she enjoyed playing with because she actually had to try to win and sometimes she even lost.

Once it was clear that Mingfei was not going to get better any time soon, he brought him into the fold of the Hydras and they met for the first time. It wasn’t long before they realized. The moment she invited him to play as his knew underling, they recognized each other’s user names. They pointed at each other in recognition.

He had no idea all this was going on. They were joined at the hip after that. He took over her Pokemon Go! account, they started playing a larger variety of games, first as competitors, then as coop teammates, dominating Starcraft and League of Legends, and Call of Duty.

As High Patriarch he didn’t have time to monitor this and, at first, he approved of it. After all, he didn’t have time to play with her.

Now, here in the hotel, she beat him handily again and again. He couldn’t help but smile. When was the last time they played like this? He put one arm around her and hugged her close. “When are you going to let me win one, huh?” 

She held her hand in a sign of ‘never’. He glanced behind him and Akira ducked away around the corner where he was sitting next to a window. He took her notebook and wrote down. “Did he do anything inappropriate?”

She tilted her head. 

Chisei pursed his lips. How to explain?

She took the notepad and started writing and writing... and writing.... He blinked and then he waited.

She handed him the notebook.

“Akira took me out of home because he was worried that I might get lost because we were moving. I saw a store and I wanted to shop. He watched me shop. He said I looked pretty. He helped me get jewelry and then he helped me pay for it. I forgot how to cross the street and he told me how to cross the street. And then I got some shoes. I went to the toy store and I played the claw game. He spent all his change and didn’t get anything. It was funny but he got mad so we got more coins until we can win. I got a toy dog.”

“Then I saw the ferris wheel and I thought it was pretty so he got me the tickets.  And then we went to the hotel. He was upset about the fire. He took me to the hotel because he thought the street might be danger. Then we played video games. Then after that we woke up and played more games and I got fried rice.”

“I’m sorry if  any of that was inappropriate. He didn’t mean it. Can we still go to the six flags?”

Chisei gazed at the notebook for several seconds. He handed it back to her and nodded.

Erii wanted to soak before the trip to the amusement park. Chisei spent the time staring out the window of the hotel. The past twenty four hours was nothing but brutality, destruction, death and disillusionment. He saw more darkness on the horizon. And yet...

He glanced at Akira, who was fidgeting in the corner. “Thank you. I’m in your debt.”

“I... didn’t really do anything. She just dragged me around the city...” He laughed nervously.

“Just take it, Akira.”

He stopped chuckling, though he kept that strained smile on his face. “Oh... Alright.” The smile faded. “Did... something happen?”

“Let’s... not talk about it yet.”

The bathroom door opened. 

Erii walked up in a trendy, avant-garde dress with no sleeves or shoulders or back, black and white and red, with an elaborately patterned skirt.

He huffed a laugh at Akira’s stunned expression. She was very, very beautiful. “Alright. Let’s go.”

They got a taxi to the amusement park. Many families were leaving. There was almost no wait on the rides and it was full of young people who had lots of time and energy with little supervision.

He hung back at a slight distance and watched her drag him around. She had the map and didn’t always tell him where she wanted to go. He just followed her. First, was the rollercoaster because of course it was. He shook his head when she invited him. He was nervous about his fresh wounds and made a lame excuse about needing to use the bathroom while they got on board.

Erii was dying. How was he going to tell him? How was he going to tell her? Their relationship was doomed from the very beginning.

Akira was sick after the ride and they had to take a break while he lay on a bench.

The stars were coming out and the lights were coming on. The place would close in about an hour and a half but there was plenty to do... if only Akira could get up...

“Hey! You!” He turned as someone shouted at him. 

A man in clown make up was sitting in a glass box over a pool of water. 

“Oh... its this thing.” Chisei turned back around, ignoring him.

“Yeah you! You think you’re some sort of secret agent? What’s with those sunglasses? Trying to hide your crossed-eyes?” The man cackled like that was the biggest burn ever.

“Who wears sunglasses in the dark! What are you blind? If you’re not, you sure are now! MORON!”

He chuckled until Erii walked forward, arms stiff at her sides. 

“Woah! Heyheyhey!’ He grabbed her arm. “No... Erii...”

“Want a piece of this, little girl!” The clown taunted. “I bet you couldn’t dunk me! What you gonna do? Huh?”

“Erii!” Chisei barked. He pulled her away. “This is ... he’s paid to do this!”

The Clown continued. “Hey! You gonna let that girl stick up for you? Who’s the real pussy here? Eh?!” The clown, smelling blood and money, in the water turned up the heat. 

Chisei tensed. Okay, the guy was pushing his buttons now.

Akira sat bolt upright. He looked at Erii’s furious expression and Chisei’s desperate attempts to keep her from ending this carnival employee’s life.

He got up, still slightly dizzy. “HEY! You can’t talk to her that way!”

The clown got more excited. “What are you gonna do huh! Come here! Bring it! Your skinny arms probably can’t even hit the target! Hahahah!” He cackled as Akira came closer. “Come here and show her who’s the biggest loser tonight!”

Chisei clapped his hand over Erii’s mouth. Her eyes had gone completely yellow and she was furiously fighting him. Chisei was panicking as he saw all these people becoming curious about the spectacle and walking over. They were all in danger!

“Akira... you’d better...” He growled through clenched teeth. He watched as he paid the operator and received a single ball and was led to the to a line where he was to throw it.

The clown leaned forward. “Hey everyone come and watch this chick! Yeah, the only balls you got is the one in your hand!”

Akira tossed the ball up in the air and caught it and then turned and walked away.

“What are you doing? Chickening out already? Come back here!” 

Akira took about seven paces away, turned, lifted one knee and hurled it. The ball zoomed straight like a rocket, hit the target, pushed back the lever and shattered it.

The clown’s screech perfectly cut when he hit the water. 

The crowd that had gathered around whooped and hollered with glee. As Akira turned around, there was a flash of gold in his eyes.

Hot-shot. Just a little bit. He was skinny, a bit of a nervous wreck in normal circumstances. Anime fan, gamer and all around geek.

But now, he was acting like dunking a carnival clown was as much a serious thing as executing a criminal. It was the most ridiculous situation Chisei had been in in a while, but if you looked at Akira now, it was like he had slain a dragon. 

Chisei let out short laugh and looked down at his sister to see if she had the same opinion and his smile vanished.

The gold in her eyes was replaced by her usual color, but her eyes were wide and fixed on him, oblivious of anyone else, including him. Color rose in her cheeks. 

The carnival operator approached Akira with a large bear which he was surprised to accept.

Chisei watched as Akira came to her with the bear. She lifted her arms and accepted it. Not taking her eyes off his face.

Chisei was the last of his clan. His sole responsibility was running the Hydras. He thought he would be able to run away to France and sell sunscreen. Tachibana had promised him that if he defeated the Devil Clan and protected the family secrets, he would take over as High Patriarch and Chisei would be free. 

But now he just found himself on that same treadmill of responsibility. Defeating the Devil Clan, caring for his dying sister, and making sure that Cassell girl didn’t make it off the island.

Akira was from Cassell. Eventually, he would have to return there, by will or by force. This Akira persona was just that... a persona. It wasn’t real any more than her video games were real. He’d be naive to set that aside. That’s why he tried to keep him away from her for so long. But there was no way for him to completely do that so long as he let them play together and he didn’t stop letting them play together. How could he?

Erii would never understand even if he explained but she would obey him. He knew her. She trusted him. If he told her now to walk away from Akira, never talk to him again, she’d comply. She’d say okay and it would be a lie. Just like Akira’s okay at the tattoo parlor had been a lie. It would damage their relationship. Her life would be lonelier and emptier and it would be the last days of her life!

He walked up to Akira. “Good job. Now... I think we need to go to that Ferris Wheel before it closes.”

[mister-tom-a-dildo-lover]

58 for Harry and 61 for a pre-Marauders Era Voldemort. 🙏

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Harrymort

Tags: Alternate Universe Altogether, Pre-Marauder’s Era, Jealous Voldemort, Misunderstandings, Gossip, Humor,

58: “I’d die for you. Of course I’d haunt you in the afterlife but really, it’s the thought that counts.”61: “I love you. I’m completely and utterly in love with you. Please don’t get married.”

In his thirty-four years on this gods forsaken Earth, Tom Riddle, now called Lord Voldemort by his acquaintances and gathering followers, hadn’t ever been this angry.  And he’d witnessed the aftermath of London being bombed by muggles for years, had dealt with the hatred of a teacher all because he could speak to snakes, and was bullied during his first year at Hogwarts because of his filthy, muggle name.

All the anger he’d gathered during those times didn’t even compare to the present.

Abraxas Malfoy had just revealed that night at his family’s Yule Ball, that Hadrian Evans, a Halfblood who’d joined Slytherin a year after Tom did, was supposedly in a relationship with some other Halfblood who was sorted into Hufflepuff. A Hufflepuff for Merlin’s sake!

Evans had been a… comrade. Tom didn’t like using the word friend because friends were used as leverage in dangerous situations. Unfortunately, it was rather common knowledge that there was something extra between them as evidenced by Tom’s last year in school.

He’d never joined Tom’s acquaintances during their weekly meetings, and felt that his Knights were ridiculous, but he would study with Tom, and give him advice. He knew the ins and outs of the Magical world even if he denied it. He was a fascinating creature of habit with interesting, and conflicting opinions on everything.

They also may have become involved to a minor degree a few times and Abraxas had assumed they were exclusively seeing one another. That was not the case, not that Tom Riddle hadn’t wanted more. Not that he would ever say anything. Tom wasn’t one to speak first on his true emotions. He felt it a weakness ever since he’d once witnessed a little girl get verbally flayed for exposing her feelings. They were used against her and he learned to not do the same with others.

And eventually, with his leaving school and going to work in Diagon when he couldn’t acquire a job at Hogwarts, they grew apart. And eventually he went exploring in search of old magics and information to obtain levels of greatness no others had achieved and Hadrian stayed in England.

And now Tom was back and had finally gotten word of Hadrian’s movements recently. Only to find out that he was involved with another.

His possessive side demanded that he find this other person and eradicate their existence. The more mature side told him he should sway Hadrian’s heart his way instead. Less of a chance at earning Hadrian’s wrath that way, and Tom wasn’t so blind as to forget the boy had equaled him in Defence. The only person who had. He and Tom had also drawn in the Dueling Club meetings and neither ever lost to anyone else.

Hadrian worked at Hogwarts. As the new History of Magic professor. Binns was finally gone. And if he somehow managed to obtain a job there, they’d be around one another constantly. He needed the DADA job.

Harry blinked in shock at the man who sat in front of him. He hadn’t seen Tom in a long time and the man seemed to be doing well. He was still ridiculously attractive too.

��You want to work at Hogwarts?” he asked, a bit baffled. Surely Tom woudl prefer the Ministry?

“I was told I needed more experience. That was why I was not hired right out of school, Hadrian.”

Merlin, how he said Harry’s name shouldn’t be legal.

“Well, I am the Deputy Headmaster now. I was allowed to work here after graduation but Dumbledore is the Headmaster so I think that’s why. He won’t want you here and we both know it, so I can only give you a letter of recommendation to help you. You should contact your old professors for letters as well, and then we can bring your case to the Board of Governors. I know a lot of your friends have a hand in that and they would be able to overrule Dumbledore’s decision when he refuses to give you the Defence position.”

Dumbledore hated Tom. Sure he was a bit sketchy, but that was no reason to be so blatantly rude to him all the time. Harry by extension, wasn’t the biggest Dumbledore fan. Especially since in order to get back at Tom for whatever bad things he thought the boy was doing, he’d show ridiculous favouritism to the Gryffindors and it was aggravating.

“You are brilliant.”

He flushed, enjoying the man’s praise. His infatuation hadn’t died off it seemed. Wasn’t that lovely?

“I’m a Slytherin too, you know.”

According to Witch Weekly, Hadrian was seeming some man named Gerald Renaldi. Tom’s glare managed to burn a hole right through the magazine and he ended up tossing it in the rubbish. The photo on the cover had been too cheerful and comfortable to be anything but romantic.

“Woah, are you okay, Tom?”

He fixed a charming smile onto his face and greeted his old… flame as he joined him at the table. “I am well, thank you for being concerned. How are you on this day, dear Hadrian?”

The man flushed and smiled. “I’m doing pretty great.”

He hummed, thinking back to the article. “Planning the wedding?” He’d only asked out of pettiness. He hadn’t expected the answer he received.

“Yes and it is so much work!”

The fact that he was able to keep his temper in check so Hadrian never found out about his anger, meant he was unparalleled in self control. He deserved an Order of Merlin for such masterful faking.

“I have to say that planning a wedding is so difficult and I didn’t want any part in it but mum told me I absolutely had to help. But thank Circe it’s almost over. Saturday is the day.”

Voldemort was assaulted by visions of himself wringing a dragon’s obscenely long neck in frustration while Hadrian walked down the aisle. The mounting anger made his magic react in an unpleasant manner that was difficult to hide. It fizzled beneath the skin demandingly.

All these dinners recently and he’d had to listen to Hadrian complaining about wedding invitations and cake flavours and clours. He had a lot to say and was exhausted all the time because of his hand in it all. 

And he just couldn’t control himself anymore! He was jealous. He was bitter. He didn’t feel comfortable seeing Hadrian in photographs with strange men! He wanted to be the one making him smile so widely. He wanted to be the cause of it all.

Reaching out, Voldemort took hold of one of Hadrian’s clenched hands, getting a wide-eyed look in response. He’d never done this before and decided to treat it like removing a muggle plaster from a wound. Just get it over with all at once. “I love you. I’m completely and utterly in love with you. Please don’t get married.”

There was a moment of staring between them, where he felt like taking a stroll through the Forbidden Forest and allowing the growing Acromantula Colony to have its way with him. But only for a moment.

Hadrian snorted then, and Voldemort couldn’t mask his offended expression.

“Oh Merlin, Tom!” the other man gasped, looking like he’d just been told the most hilarious joke. “I can’t believe you!”

“I honestly do not see the humour in this situation,” the growing Dark Lord confessed, put out by the response to his confession. It took a lot to admit his true feelings after all.

Hadrian’s bright green eyes glittered. “I’m not marrying anyone yet, Tom. My sister Lily however, has been having me help plan her wedding for months.”

Voldemort was gaping and he didn’t care. “But all the photos of you and Gerald Renaldi in the papers. Everyone literally says he is courting you.”

“Well he isn’t. I’m the most attractive teacher of Hogwarts currently, Tom. I’m more popular than Lily is. And they use photos of him and I while only using my surname to gain publicity. You’re such a goof.”

“How exactly, am I a ‘goof’?” he demanded, feeling offended and turned around.

“Because, Tom, I’d die for you. Of course I’d haunt you in the afterlife but really, it’s the thought that counts.”

Hadrian squeezed his hand back, having not moved during Voldemort’s minor conniption. “You sat here listening to me complain about a wedding for weeks, no doubt getting huffy and puffy over it, and didn’t decide to speak up until a week before the wedding you thought was mine. You are a bit of a twat, Tom. Could have saved us both the trouble.”

He was not a twat.

“At least I can now ask you to accompany me to the wedding.”

A/N: This was fun! ^-^

[arc-17]

Darkness - Part 1

A Choices Whodunnit Fandom Fanfic

Introduction: This is set within the Alternate Universe @rr-roe-es aka @choiceswhodunnit 's game here within the fandom, starting right before the third murder and prior events are covered in flash back here. Before continuing on in the other parts, 2, 3, etc. of this fic series. This is VERY AU obviously since some of these characters lived at different times (Kenna Rys specifically) and well… have, or will be dying LOL! Since the premise of this whole event has sparked my interest, and I’ve really loved working with everyone on these mysteries, and gotten a bit of my old Role Playing skills up and running again, I decided to write the events as if they were really happening to the characters, within this AU, from Ryan’s point of view. So… without further ado, here it goes. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Darkness. It was within and without, in his thoughts, his dreams when they did happen, and in the room around him. He’d never felt anything like this, but… he’d also never experienced anything like this before. Not before coming here that is, to this castle, before getting trapped in this… psychopathic murderous game. Hollywood Actor Ryan Summers rolled over in his bed, unable to sleep despite the ridiculously posh and warm surroundings, had the situation been different; it would have been a dream trip. But instead, his fellow guests have been getting killed one by one while he and the other survivors get to play Sherlock Holmes and figure out how the killer has been committing the murders. Obviously it’s one of them, Kenna was the only person he knew coming here and he’d trust her with his life. It could be the staff, but knowing Kenna, she’d only have people she’d trust with her life, so no, it can’t be one of them. “…I am among you...” The first note had said, and it was the first of many he was to find out. Ryan got up and walked over to his window, reflexively testing to see if it too was locked from the outside, just in case. It wasn’t, and he opened it a crack and left it open. Moving back he sat on the edge of his bed as the previous two day’s events replayed them in his mind.

~

Stepping out of the limo, Ryan pauses to take in his surroundings, the crisp fall air of the open country estate surrounding him as he took a deep breath, enjoying the lack of city smell as he took a moment, straightening the cuffs of his Armani Tuxedo. With a soft whistle he took in the sight before him of the sprawling age old structure, a castle built in a by gone era “Haven’t seen a castle like this since I was in The Prince of Dragons! You ever see that one Jeffrey?” He says to the valet as he closes the door for him. “I cannot say that I have sir, but you’ll find the lady of the house inside, just this way.” He motions for Ryan to follow, another servant taking care of his baggage. Upon entering the grand foyer he spots her immediately, closing the distance to give her a hug. “Kenna! It’s been to long!” Ryan grins, planting a kiss on her cheek as they parted. “Ryan, it’s good to see you, tell me how is Cassandra?” She smiled though, it didn’t reach her eyes which he should have noticed, like there was a sadness she was hiding, but he discounted it entirely. “She is doing wonderful, as always, has her Pilot’s License now, I think when the examiner found out what she did in that damaged Jet with Dave and Sam it helped.” He chuckled. “That is good to hear” she said looking over his shoulder at some more guests arriving. She then gave his had a slight squeeze. “Maybe… if,” she shook her head. “I’d like to hear about your friend’s Sam and Dave, later some time if you don’t mind.” “Of course, It’s quite the tale, the adventure that those two get themselves into” he chuckled and then moved aside as she went to great the others, watching the other guests arrive, taking an offered glass of wine as a waiter walked by. There were a few faces he recognized, though didn’t know them personally, such as Leo, former Prince of Cordonia. The tabloids were alive with the goings on there and the “contest” for his Brother’s hand in marriage and the crown. He knew personally how unforgiving the press could be, and how hard it was to keep one’s personal life private. And then there was also Benjamin Park, the writer. He was a fan, though he tried to keep it low key. And he’d heard rumors through his friend Dave that one of his comics would wind their way to the big screen, where Ryan hoped he’d get the chance to get a part. He made a mental note to talk to him later. Having finished his glass while surveying the group, Ryan sets it aside and taps who he supposed was a passing waiter. “Pardon me son, when you have a moment, I’ll take a Manhattan, but eh, make it the top shelf stuff” He says with a wink. The young man furrows his brows, “I am off the clock. Get your own drink!” he says briskly then, pauses realizing who was in front of him he beams and the next words almost fell out of his mouth all at once. “Oh boy! Love your work sir! I’ll be back in a second with the Manhattan, sir!” Ryan laughed, resting an arm on his shoulder to have him wait, having given him a full look to see he wasn’t dressed like Kenna’s staff, and had a drink of his own. “Woah easy there friend! My apologies, I mistook you for one of Kenna’s crew here, but I see that is not the case. My name’s Ryan Summers but I guess you already knew that.” He smiles extending his hand in greeting. “I’m Daniel, waiter by day, and family friend of Kenna’s… any other time!” Daniel says, grinning ear to ear as he shook his hand. “And say, let’s work together! I’m game for an alliance” Ryan chuckles again, the young man’s infectious enthusiasm for this adventure impressing him. “An Alliance eh? Excellent because I have no idea why we are here, other than this is some sort of special Mystery game, event, thing, with mandatory attendance.” “Hey, any excuse for a party is a good one, am I right? Cheers!” Daniel clinks his glass against Ryan’s.

It looked as if this kid, Daniel, was a ball of anxiety and excitement. He probably was relieved to not only have a night finally off, but to have something to do on top of it. “Well said!” Ryan grins. “Cheers!” He returns, meeting his glass to his. He then pauses; taking a sip as he took a glance around the room then motioned with his glass. “You know anyone here? I only know Kenna, our host, though I recognize a couple of the other guests.” “Some of them are familiar. But, I’ve worked so many places, I’m not sure if we met or it is just Deja vu.” Daniel answered, looking across the room, taking it all in. “Mhm! True” Ryan nodded, taking another sip. “The faces do start to blur after a while, after so many get-togethers and shindigs. Well, it’s been a pleasure,” Ryan said extending his hand again, “I’m gonna go see if I can speak with our hostess and see where they took my luggage. I’ll be seeing you around Daniel.” He says with a warm smile, which Daniel returned as Ryan left; weaving is way through the guests. While he was looking for Kenna, he stopped when a tall young man tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Mr. Summers? I was wondering if you had a moment. My name’s Sean Gayle and-” he was saying, extending his hand in greeting when Ryan interrupted him, his face lighting up as he recognizes the young man, taking his hand and shaking it, clapping him on the shoulder warmly as well. “Hey! Sean? As in The Sean Gayle #5?! Heck yeah! I’m a big fan of yours!” “Yep, that’s me- Wait, you’ve heard of me? That’s awesome! I’m a big fan of your work!”

“Awesome buddy! So uh… got any clue what’s going on here? Kenna is being all… mysterious about why she invited us here, other than the whole mystery thing. Personally I think she’s been reading too many Agatha Christie Novels.” Sean shook his head “To be honest, I’m pretty confused by it all. Half these people are from my college, but the rest I don’t know. Do you recognize anyone?” “Kenna’s the only one I actually know, but I recognize Benjamin Park over there, he’s the one with glasses. He’s a writer.” Ryan said with a quick nod. “I think I’ve seen some of Benjamin Park’s work. He works in comics, right?” “Yes, comics, and good ones if you haven’t read them yet.” Sean nodded. “I’ve read a couple here and there- a friend of mine is a collector.” Ryan smiled “Really? Hmm... I’d like to meet him some time then. Keep this on the down low but I am a fan too. Just like to keep a few things away from the paparazzi, if you know what I mean.” “I’m sure my friend would love to meet you- he’s a great guy. And oh, I understand. It’s hard when everyone seem to know every detail about you.” Ryan nods in agreement, looking around a moment, taking a sip of his wine when he spots another face he knew. “So as far as others I recognize… hmm ah! And over there is one of the Princes of Cordonia, I believe the one that abdicated the throne. The cute one with him in the pink dress looks familiar too but I can’t place where I’ve seen her.” Sean looks over at Leo and the Lady Hana, as he later found out was her name, frowning slightly in thought. “I thought he looked familiar- he used to be on all the gossip websites. I’ve no clue who the girl is, though. His girl, maybe?” he said with a shrug then turns slightly, and points across the room. “The red head over there is my friend Quinn, and the girl with her is Michelle. We actually just got back from…. an Island getaway, so we nearly missed out on this.” Ryan smiles as he looks over at Sean’s friends. “An island getaway with those two? That sounds rather romantic. Reminds me of the time I played a down on his luck smuggler in the South Seas, got the worst sunburn though.” Sean laughed, “Romantic is the farthest thing from it I’m afraid- we were with a group, and some of the people there weren’t our biggest fans… ” He laughs again, “And sunburn is something I’ve been lucky enough to avoid in life.. You got to always slip slop slap!” “Yeah, you got that right! And the natives were restless eh?” Sean grins slightly “Just a little. But they turned out to be pretty great people once they got to know us. Sean then looked around, brows furrowed for a moment. "On a serious note… any clue what we all have in common? Seems like a weird group.” Ryan shrugged. “As for this group, your guess is as good as mine. You know Kenna our host?” Sean shook his head, scratching the back of his neck. “I know of her, but we haven’t met until tonight. I thought tonight may be something to do with Hartfeld, like a fundraiser… but it doesn’t seem like it.” Ryan nodded “Same impression I had, fundraising but… no long winded speeches and checkbooks spotted yet, guess we’ll find out together then” Sean laughs warmly “Yes! And so far nobody has come over to shower me in compliments, which is usually the big sign they’d like me to be generous.” He then goes quiet a moment, sipping his drink thoughtfully before changing the subject. “So tell me, how do you know Kenna?” “I met Kenna a ways back at a promotional event for one of my films, her and my friend Cass knew each other and kind of went from there, been friends since. She’s also lent the studio some of the artifacts in her collection for use in the films I’ve been in. And I think they want to use this castle at some point as well.” “Oh wow, that’s great!” Sean grins. “It would be amazing to see some of the artifacts she has- the history behind them would be incredible. I’m surprised they haven’t already used the castle- have you been here before?” Ryan nodded his agreement “Honestly I would like to see them as well. May not look it but a bit of a history buff myself. And no, this is my first time here actually.” Sean smiled thoughtfully as he continued “I think we’re all secretly a history buff. I only just recently became a fan of it myself.” He pauses, sipping his drink and he looks around at the others. “From what a few of the others here have said, nobody has been here before.” From what Ryan could tell, Sean clearly had some misgivings of this whole event, and was on edge, looking around and this crease of a frown always at his temples, something was nagging at him, but it wasn’t for Ryan to pry into. He’d only just met the guy after all. “Then it shall be a new adventure for all of us then.” He responded. Sean sighs, running his hand over his forehead. “I guess I should check in on Michelle and Quinn, see how they’re doing.” He smiled slightly to himself as he looks over at them. “If I’m honest, I hate this kind of thing, so I’m glad to have them here.” Ryan follows his gaze and smiles, then with a final sip he emptied his glass then setting it aside, he extends his hand again. “Well, I’m going to go do the rounds and see if I can’t sweet talk one of the servants into telling me when dinner is going to be served and when I find out more I’ll let you know. And maybe later we can get a chance to see that famous Number Five throwing arm in action!” Sean flashes a smile, shaking his hand firmly. “Sounds great- if you find out, let me know. I’m starving.” He laughs slightly. “And if you can find a football I’ll be more than happy to throw it around! Might break a few things in here though, so best take it outside.” “It’s a deal then! I’ll find a football, and then introduce me to your friends over dinner.” Ryan smiles with a wave as he moves off to continue his search for Kenna or one of the servants. “I’ll see you at dinner!” Sean nods in response, smiling back before moving off to meet some of the other guests. The rest of the night was a little blurry for him at the moment; he remembers meeting a couple other people, James another student at Hartfield University, a writer, who had written the script for that Indi Film that Hollywood was buzzing about. Brandon, a nice kid who worked the coffee shop at the same School, he too wanted to team up for whatever “Mystery Event” Kenna had planned. He also met Quinn, Sean’s friend, her smile was infectious, as was her laugh, and Jess, who went on this amazing cruise and had this crazy to do list with her family from her Grandma’s will. Also a girl named Brooke, a friend of Benjamin Park’s, who at last he also finally got to meet and plug his name in for a role in the upcoming adaptation of one of his comics. None of that mattered anymore though, not after the events that happened at dinner… That scream will stick with him for the rest of his life, which if things continue as they are, won’t be for much longer.   (Parts 2, 3 and 4 coming soon!)

[tzudism]

Memory Lane: Maybe It’s Better

Bonus Chapter: Mimo

“Almost there honey! Keep pushing!”

“The baby is almost out Mrs. Myoui! One more push! There we go! It’s a girl!”

My parents said my screams were so loud when I came out that they thought they were in for trouble when I was born. Yet, somehow I ended up like this, as quiet as a mouse. My parents keep telling me that I need to speak up louder that way people will know what I want to say. But that was the problem. It’s not that I’m not loud enough, it’s more like you’re just not listening. One day I was coming home from middle school, and I was a little late because my teacher was telling me about how great I did dancing for the school play “The Nutcracker” the previous week and showed me a program that sounded really interesting.

“I really think you have a talent for this Mina. If you start developing your skills now, there is no doubt in my mind that you can be a beautiful dancer in the future.”

The thought of that really peaked my interest. I always enjoyed dancing in my room and trying to copy what people were doing on shows or online, but I never thought about actually pursuing it. As soon as she finished explaining, I ran straight home to tell my parents about it, but they weren’t having it. I told them the reasons why I was late, and about the dance program, but all they were focused on was how I was late and that I was only in my first year of middle school and that I could’ve been hurt. They didn’t even take one look at the pamphlet my teacher gave me. I don’t think raising my volume would’ve affected the outcome of that day. In the end, I never went to that program. In all my life there have been only two people who ever really listened to what I have to say. The first is my childhood friend Momo. We met in kindergarten and we’ve been inseparable since. She loved dancing just as much as I did. Momo was more into hip hop and I was more of a ballet type of dancer, but that didn’t harm our friendship at all, as matter of fact we taught each other stuff we learned as we grew up. A while after that day arguing with my parents, Momo and I were walking around after school, and we saw a rhythmic gymnastics tournament going on at the gym. I heard rhythmic gymnastics had a lot of the same principles that ballet had, but of course they were different, after all gymnastics was a sport. I was intrigued nonetheless.

“Hey, do you want to check that out?” I said.

“What? Why?” Momo questioned, “I thought we were going to go eat?”

“Oh c’mon please? Look they’re selling nachos inside.” I say pointing at the sign.

“Ooh nachos!” She said sounding content.

As soon as I entered inside the gym, I could feel adrenaline rush throughout my body. I saw all the different girls dancing and throwing balls and batons in the air and catching them with zero effort, not even looking, and twirling around ribbons making them look like dragons soaring through the sky.

“I want to do this.”

“Hmm? Mwhat wash thaf?” Momo said with a mouthful of nachos.

“This, rhythmic gymnastics, I want to do this!” I said aloud.

“Woah Mina, you’re actually speaking at the average person’s volume. You really must be serious.” She teased as she wiped cheese off her face with a smile.

“Shut up, and yes I am serious.” I was determined to become a rhythmic gymnast.

After the competition ended, I went to our school’s coach and asked how I could join. He handed me an application and as soon as I went home, punctually this time around, I explained to my parents how I felt when I saw the performances at the gym, and how I wanted to be able to do the same. And for once in my life they actually really listened to me, and not only that, they let me join too. From that day forward rhythmic gymnastics was my only focus. Two years later, Momo and I were walking home together from our respective clubs, Momo in dance and me in rhythmic gymnastics.

“Mina! Let’s get ice cream! I’m hungry!” She exclaims.

“You’re always hungry Momo.” Then my own stomach growls, “Oh umm, but ice cream does sound pretty good.”

We walk over to the convenience store nearby and we both buy some vanilla ice cream cones.

“Momo slow down you’re going to get a brain-“

“AHHHH!”

“- freeze…”

Momo was older than I was, but sometimes she acts like a child and I can’t help but take care of her like she is one. After her brain freeze passes, she goes back to munching on the ice cream cone not having learned her lesson, but this time nothing happens thankfully.

“Gosh, Mina you eat so slow.”

“No, I eat at the speed of the average human being, you just eat way too fast. Look you can’t even keep track of where all the ice cream goes. You have some here dripping down your cheek, I’ll wipe it off.”

I move in closer to wipe off the ice cream and as soon as I do, I get this weird feeling coming from Momo. I look up and see her staring into my eyes. This was a strange feeling, which I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.

“Mina listen I think I…I think…I might…”

“What is it Momo? We’re best friends you can tell me anything.”

“Right…best friends! Oh of course we are!”

“Yes Momo best friends haha, so what were you saying?”

“Oh umm, I think I might still be craving another ice cream. Can we go back and get another?” She smiled faintly.

Momo seemed a little off that day, but I figured she was just really hungry. Every once in a while, that year things like that would happen again. Momo and I would get close, Momo would look like she had something to say, and then it would end up being about food. And every time that happened I would get this weird sensation, and whenever I asked Momo what was on her mind, and it always ended up being about food, for some reason I felt slightly disappointed. The next year, it was our first year of high school. I was extremely excited because I would be able to compete at gymnastic competitions at the national level now, that is if I was good enough. I was pretty confident in my skills at this point. I had been training for about three years now and I won quite a few medals back in middle school. But that was then, high school was supposed to be on a whole new level. Luckily, I still had Momo by my side to keep me company. I found it amazing how we’ve been able to stay together since kindergarten. Momo herself has been keeping up with her dancing, I would say she’s the best dancer in the state, but don’t take my word for it, all the medals and trophies she’s won herself can prove it. When we came into high school quite a few people knew about us already. Mostly because we’ve both been doing competitions since middle school and frankly we won most of them. Since we’ve always been together there was this rumor going around that we were the Dynamic Dancing Duo of the school, and we were only freshman. I entered a lot of competitions in my freshman year, purely out of excitement, but I didn’t expect high school studies to be so hard. Some competitions I would place first, but when school got rough there were times where I wouldn’t place at all. My grades where shaky too, it was really hard to go all in on both school and dancing, so I tried to slow down a bit after midterms. At the end of the school year I had one last competition, but it was right after finals. My parents said that if I fail any of my finals they would pull me out of the competition and possibly pull me out of rhythmic gymnastics in general. I didn’t want that so I put all my focus on the finals coming up. I aced them all. As soon as finals passed, I put in as much practice as I could. I felt confident that I was going to place first this time. Momo meanwhile also had a competition of her own. So we were both really busy and couldn’t hang out often. Coincidentally both our competitions were on the same day. So we promised each other that we would hang out together with our medals as soon as we won. The day of the competition I woke up to a text.

“My competition got moved a couple hours, so I’ll come by and cheer you on Mina! Good luck little penguin!”

Momo will be able to come see me? Now I really have to win. I take a deep breath and get ready for what lied ahead. I arrived at the venue with the team and this was probably the biggest gym I have ever been in. This was an important competition because first and second place qualified you for nationals. Of course, I was going for first place. As soon as we entered the gym, I see Cheng Xiao. We’ve been trading places between first and second the past few years. Well, except this year because of school. Oh, is she coming closer?

“Hey there Mina, are you prepared this time around? You barely placed third last time, and you didn’t even place at all the competition before that.”

“Just worry about yourself Cheng Xiao.”

“Hmph well I hope you are, I miss these things being actual contests.”

She walks away and I take another deep breath as we enter into the main stage. I sit down and listen to some music to calm my nerves. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve won my fair share, but I still get nervous before every competition. I’ve never been able to compete on a national level, and to be able to on my first year of high school would be amazing. Suddenly, someone wraps their arms around my shoulder.

“Hey Mina! How you doing?”

I look over my shoulder to see who it is.

“Oh Momo, I’m so glad you’re here, I am so nervous right now. This is the biggest stage I have ever performed on and I really want to qualify for Nationals and I haven’t been doing well lately and-“

“Mina calm down. You’re putting way too much pressure on yourself. Why don’t you try simplifying things for a bit?”

“What? How do I do that?”

“Why don’t you do what I do? Right before I go on stage, I find someone cute watching in the stands, and I tell myself that nothing else matters, but I’m going to make them a fan of me. I dance for that person and nothing else matters. Then if at the end of my performance, I see that person smiling or clapping for me, then I’ve done my job.”

“Maybe I’ll try it, does it really work?”

“Yupp! You got this little penguin.”

“Thanks you big raccoon.”

“Ugh can you stop calling me a raccoon, it’s so not cute.”

“But you call me penguin all the time!”

“That’s because you actually look like a penguin! You even walk like one! I, on the other hand, look nothing like a raccoon!”

I grab my phone and show her reflection at her face.

“Oh…ok maybe a little.”

“Hey Mina, it’s time to gather up, sorry Momo you’re going to have to leave now.” My coach says.

“Alrighty then, hey Mina I’ll be cheering for you!”

“There’s no screams allowed in this gym, if you’re too loud they’ll kick you out.” My coach glares.

“Yeah yeah I get it.”

I smile as I watch Momo wave as she walks backwards towards the stands where the audience sits. The competition starts and I’m set to go last. Oh great. I sit and watch as I see great performances from people like Yuju and Yein. Soon enough it’s Cheng Xiao’s turn. She’s using the ball just like I am. This makes me worry even more. If she does really well, which I’m sure she will, people are going to have higher expectations of me when it’s my turn. I watch carefully, as she starts up her performance. I can’t help but leave my mouth wide open as she performs because she’s gotten even better than she was the last time we competed, and she won first. There was one move where she left the ball between her calf and her thigh and flipped over and it left the crowd in awe, including me. When she finished her performance the entire audience filled the gym with applause, and I was among them. How was I supposed to top that?

Next up, Mina Myoui. Once again, next up, Mina Myoui.

Oh god. My heart starts beating faster and faster. Then I remember what Momo told me earlier. I look into the stands to find someone cute.

“This is so stupid.” I thought to myself.

“You got this Mina!!”

I turn to the voice and its Momo screaming from the top bench in the crowd. She then ducks down and hides her face so security doesn’t see. I can’t help but giggle as I see my idiot friend making a fool of herself. As I keep looking in her direction I notice that Momo styled her hair different than usual, probably because she had her own competition later that day. She curled the ends of her hair and I enjoyed the way they bounced and swayed as she moved her head around looking to make sure security hasn’t seen her. Momo looked cute today.

“Maybe I’ll dance for Momo.”

I take another deep breath and head towards the stage. Earlier in the practice stage, I messed up and dropped the ball on my final move. I hope that doesn’t happen again. I shake my head and look at Momo. She smiles and I smile back at her.

“I’ll make Momo my fan today.”

The music starts and I begin my routine. Everything goes smoothly, and well to be honest I’m doing even better than when I practiced. The ball didn’t just feel like a prop I was using, at this moment it felt like the ball and I were the same. Now it was time for the final move where I throw the ball in the air and spin onto the floor and catch it, where I messed up earlier. I throw the ball into the air with no fear, spin onto the floor and extend my hands out, and the ball lands onto my hands and I set it down and strike a pose and smile. I did it. I really did it! I stand up and run to my coach and give him a high five. Then I look into the stands and look for Momo. I find her and she’s standing and clapping and screaming out my name. My heart begins to pound and I’m smiling from ear to ear.

It’s now time to announce the placements, everyone please be silent.

The moment of truth.

In the third place is…Yein Jung.

Applause arises for Yein as she takes the stage to accept her medal.

In second place and the first person to be sent to Nationals is…Mina Myoui.

Wait…second place? I head over to the stage and accept my medal and smile. If I’m second place that means…

Finally, for first place and the next person to be sent to Nationals is…Cheng Xiao.

Cheng Xiao comes to the stage and accepts her medal, along with a bouquet of flowers. After the photographers leave I shake Yein’s hand and she tells me to kill it at Nationals.

“Hey Mina.”

I turn around and Cheng Xiao has a smile on her face.

“You really did bring it this time. I was scared you were actually going to beat me. Who knows, maybe at Nationals you just might.”

“You watch Cheng Xiao, I’ll definitely get you at Nationals.”

We smile and shake each other’s hands and walk off the stage. I head into the tunnel and I hear someone running towards me screaming, and I already know who it is.

“MINAAA!!!! You were amazing! Those judges don’t know what they’re doing, you totally deserved first place!”

“Thanks Momo, but I know when I lost. Even I have to admit Cheng Xiao’s performance was brilliant. The only way I could’ve won if she made a mistake and she didn’t. But you know what? That’s ok, we both made it into Nationals and over there on an even bigger stage I’ll take her down.”

“Wow Mina, you have so much confidence! I like it haha. Did you do what I told you?”

“What do you mean?”

“To find someone cute and dance for them, did you find anybody?” she smirks.

“Yeah I did actually. She’s REALLY cute too.” I tease.

“Ohhh a she huh? Who was it? Do I know her?”

“I will never tell!” I scream as I run away.

“Hey! Mina! That’s not fair, I taught you the trick you should at least tell me who you used it on!”

“Nope! Never!”

“You’re at least going to go watch me later right!?”

“Of course! I’m going to get dressed then go watch your competition!”

“Ok! Let me know when you get there and I’ll go find you!”

We wave goodbye and I head towards the locker room to get dressed. After the bus drops us off back at school, I head over to my mom who’s waiting for me in her car.

“You were wonderful Mina! You deserved first place, I’m not just saying that as your mother but as your number one fan.” She says with a smile.

“I know mom, thank you. I made it to Nationals anyway. I’ll get the gold spot there, where it really matters.”

“Do you know when that is?”

“It’s in six months, so we have half a year to prepare our routines, which is good, I have to get a lot of practice in if I want to beat Cheng Xiao.”

“Well your father and I will be rooting for you all the way. By the way he says he’s sorry he couldn’t make this one, work called him in last minute.”

“Yeah it’s ok, I understand.”

“But I told him you made it to Nationals and he is so proud of you, he said he’ll make sure to attend that competition even if he loses his job.”

“Wow ok he doesn’t have to go that far haha.”

“Oh you know your father he likes to exaggerate. So, off to Momo’s competition?”

“Yes please!”

Momo’s competition was not on as big a scale as mine, but the venue was still pretty big. No one was going to go to Nationals or anything like that here, just a simple winner take all. My mom drops me off at the entrance as she goes to find parking. I run inside and text Momo that I’m here.

“Mina! Over here!”

I turn around and see Momo in a black crop top and jeans with a flannel at her waist. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail with only her bangs loose. She looked totally different from when she came to watch me.

“Why did you keep your bangs? You didn’t want to tie them up either? They won’t get in the way?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Besides I think I look mean without my bangs.”

“What do you mean by that!?” I laugh.

“Momo! The competition is about to start, c’mon!” shouts Momo’s instructor.

“Let’s go, I saved you a seat next to me backstage, my parents will text yours and they can sit together too.”

Momo grabs my hand and we head backstage.

“Are you sure I’m allowed back here?”

“Yeah of course, I made sure to ask beforehand. Look, our seats are right there.”

As soon as we sit down the lights dim in the auditorium and an announcer comes out and the spotlight shines on him.

“Welcome everyone! We have a wonderful show for you today with many wonderful dancers ready to compete for the top spot!”

“How many people are competing today?” I ask Momo.

“Five people are competing today.”

“Oh wow, when are you going up?”

“I’m up fourth I think.”

The announcer finishes up his opening statement and starts to introduce the first contestant.

“First up we have Seulgi Kang! Everyone give her a round of applause!”

I’ve been to many of Momo’s competitions before and Seulgi was always a constant presence. She was older than us so she had a lot more experience, and it showed in her performance. When Momo first beat her I was scared she would be offended, but she was very nice and humble and congratulated Momo. If there was anyone that I respected here it would definitely be Seulgi. Her performance today was amazing as usually, she showed a lot of improvement that even someone in a different field like me can see the work she put in. When the music ends everyone in the audience gives a loud applause.

“Wow what an amazing first performance! Let’s see if our next performer can top that!”

Wow, no pressure.

“Everyone give it up for Chungha Kim!”

Chungha? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before at any of Momo’s other competitions.

“Is she new? I don’t recognize her.” I ask Momo.

“Yeah I’ve never seen her before either. This should be fun, it’s been a while since someone new came to compete.”

Chungha takes the stage with a smile, but as soon as the music turns out her expression changes in an instant. Her moves hit hard and each of them were precise and without a single flaw. I don’t know how to explain it, she just knew what she wanted to do and without a single hesitation she just did it. Her movements were very fluid and seamless. It was clear that Seulgi’s strong first performance didn’t faze her one bit. Before I knew it the music stops and I’m lost. It’s over already? I kind of wanted her to keep going.

“Chungha Kim everyone! Give her another round of applause! Simply stunning! Now for our third performer today, we have Sia Yoo!”

“I told you to just call me YooA!”

The audience laughs as the girl glares at the announcer.”

“Terribly sorry, may I present to you ladies and gentlemen YooA!”

YooA composes herself as she walks onto the stage. YooA’s way of dancing was very different from Seulgi and Chungha. YooA was all smiles and used that to her advantage. She winked and flipped her hair at all the guys in the audience and that definitely caught their attention. But she wasn’t just flirting, YooA had serious skill too. She moved in perfect synchronization with every beat, not even a millisecond off. Suddenly YooA focused her attention to the girls in the audience and you could even see and hear some of them swooning over her performance. Now that I think about it, as soon as it was over I actually think more girls were screaming than guys.

“Wow what a performance! Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?”

Man this announcer is cheesy.

“Now for our fourth performer, and returning champion, Momo Hirai!”

Finally it was Momo’s turn. She gets up from her seat and heads towards center stage. I wave my hands in the air and flail them around, I wanted to scream Momo’s name, but in all honesty I doubt I would’ve been loud enough, so I just kept flailing my arms. Suddenly, Momo turns in my direction and winks at me. My mind goes back to when Momo told her about the trick she does to calm her nerves. Is she going to dance for me? No way, right? I assure myself it wasn’t me after all Momo and I are just friends. Although, I did choose to dance for her during my own performance. But, that was just a spur of the moment thing. Maybe it was the same for her? Before I can put any more thought into it the music starts and I revert my attention back to the stage. Momo gets into position and her facial expression changes with the music, almost similar to Chungha, except Momo didn’t change to a simple serious expression, but rather she changed her personality to suit the music playing. Momo has been like this ever since she started dancing. On a normal day, Momo is this hungry little goofball, but as soon as she stands on that stage and the music starts playing, she transforms into something different, yet she’s still Momo. Her moves in perfect sync with the music, her expressions affected everyone in the audience, including me, sometimes it felt as if she was staring only at me and I suddenly had this odd nostalgic feeling that I couldn’t quite pin down where I felt this before. I shake my head and focus back on Momo who is setting fire on the stage. The whole crowd screams at her every move. I knew how hard Momo worked for this performance, even though she’s the returning champ she didn’t slack off, she practiced every day as if she was coming back from a loss. Her performance ended and the audience cheers loud and gives her a standing ovation. I look to my left and see a girl biting her nails. Oh right there was one more contestant. Who made this arrangement that she had to go right after the reigning champion? In what world is that fair? Momo makes her way back to her seat after she bows in front of the audience. She high fives her instructor and sits down next to me.

“You did great! You were definitely the best performer today! Actually that might’ve been the best performance I’ve seen you do ever!”

“Thanks Mina, but that’s not true, I messed up a few times in the beginning. I just hope nobody noticed.”

“Well if you did, I know I didn’t notice anything, and I’ve watched you practice every day.”

“Remarkable performance! Nothing less from our returning champion! And now for our final performer of the night! Lalisa Manoban!”

“Just Lisa is fine, thank you.”

“Oh my mistake, Lisa it is! Everyone a quick round of applause for Lisa!”

This guy should really ask what the contestants want to be called before he introduces them, this is the second time today.

“Hey, do you know her? I don’t think I know her either.”

“Oh Lisa? Yeah I know her, she doesn’t compete often, but when she does she kills it. Being after the reigning champion won’t faze her one bit.”

“Really? I saw her biting her nails earlier, during your performance.”

“Oh that? Haha, that’s just a bad habit of hers.”

The music comes on and Lisa just bursts out on the stage. Was this really the same girl who was biting her nails earlier? She moves so quickly, yet so precise. She was moving with purpose and she had this, for lack of better word, swag about her. I regret thinking that Momo made her nervous, because she looked right at home on stage. I wonder, why she doesn’t compete that often?

“Why doesn’t she compete more often, she’s amazing!?”

“Apparently her parents are really strict. They call her house ‘The Dungeon’. She can only compete when her friends manage to sneak her out.”

Her parents prevent her from performing and she can still dance like that? Lisa is something else. Soon her performance ends and some of the audience give Lisa a standing ovation as well. She sure deserved it, I wish the rest of the audience stood up as well.

“Amazing! Another applause for Lisa everyone!”

This time all of the audience gave Lisa a standing ovation. Lisa had a huge smile on her face, she seemed so happy.

“Have the judges reached their decision? You have? Wonderful! Can I have the card now please? Ahh thank you. Now for third place!”

The room was silent, waiting for the first name to be called.

“Welcome back to the stage everyone, Chungha Kim!”

Chungha walks to the stage with a smile and waves to the audience who give her loud cheers.

“Now for second place, please clap for La…Lisa everyone!”

Lisa covers her face in shock as she heads up on stage. For someone who barely competes, due to strict parents, I’m sure she was overjoyed. She takes the second place trophy and waves it in the air and jumps around. Three other girls cheered louder than anyone else, I’m sure those were her friends that snuck her out here.

“And now for first place, ladies and gentleman for the second year in a row I present to you Momo Hirai!”

Momo gets up and has the biggest smile on her face. I think I see tears welling up in her eyes. She wipes them off and heads towards the stage. She grabs her trophy and photographers take pictures of the three as they hold their trophies in the air. I feel so happy for Momo that I’m flailing my arms in the air again. This I start screaming Momo’s name and she turns to me and smiles and shakes her trophy in the air. She actually heard me? Momo for some reason was always able to hear my voice no matter how loud it was or how low I spoke. Momo came running off the stage and ran straight to me. She jumps up into the air and I catch her and we spin around laughing.

“I did it Mina I did it!” her smile was so bright, I thought my heart was going to melt.

“Momo I’m so proud of you! I can’t believe you won this award, not once but twice!”

“Me neither! You know what this means right?”

“Sleep over at your house?” I say with a smile.

“Yupp!” She smiles back.

Later that day, my mom drops me off at Momo’s front door. I knock, but the door is open.

“I’m here!” I say poking my head out the door.

I see Momo running around getting stuff ready.

“What are you doing?” I laugh to myself.

“Oh you’re here! Oh my gosh did I leave the door open!?”

“Yeah you did haha, what’s going? You’re a mess Momo.”

“I was supposed to clean the house before you came over, but as soon as I got home I knocked out. I literally just woke up ten minutes ago.”

“You know you don’t have to clean up your whole house, besides I’ve been here plenty of times Momo, I’ve seen this place at its worst haha.”

“You know what, you’re right, I’m too lazy to keep doing this anyway. Wanna eat?” She says with a smile, “All this cleaning made me hungry!”

“You’ve only been cleaning for ten minutes.”

“Yeah that’s ten minutes I could’ve spent making and eating food Mina duh.”

Well, she got me there. Momo orders her favorite jokbal and jajangmyeon from the Korean restaurant across the block.

“Mina why aren’t you eating? The foof if amafimg!” She says stuffing her face.

“I don’t know, I just feel like it’s missing something.”

I head to the fridge and look around.

“Ah ha!”

I grab a bottle and sit back down. I look up and Momo is looking at me strangely.

“You know Mina, you don’t have to eat ketchup with everything right?”

“Hey, don’t judge me, I can’t help my love for ketchup, it makes everything better.”

I smile and pour ketchup all over the jokbal. Yes, this is exactly what I needed. I grab a glass and fill it with water, as soon as I sit down Momo is looking at me strangely again.

“Ok, what is it now?”

“How can you drink water?”

“Well you know, I kind of have to, since I enjoy being alive?”

“But it has no taste! We have soda in the fridge you know?” Momo then chugs down a coke and goes to the fridge to grab another.

“Water does have taste!” I refute.

“Ok, what does it taste like then?”

“It…well…water tastes like…water!”

“Mina you’re supposed to be the smart one.”

“Shut up, besides you know there’s water in soda right?”

“That’s good then, so I’ll sit here and stay alive drinking my soda, which has taste by the way.” She smiles proudly and takes a sip of her soda.

“I…just…whatever.” I pour more ketchup on my jokbal defeated.

After we eat, we sit down and binge kdramas that we missed out on because of school and practicing for the competitions. We decided to watch ‘Weight Lifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo’. I laugh every time Bok Joo and her friends are eating because it reminds me of Momo way too much. One of the characters hit a little close to home because she was a rhythmic gymnast like me. It showed her and all the other gymnasts struggling to keep their weight steady for competitions.

“Mina, you don’t put yourself through that kind of training do you?” Momo looks at me worried. “You’re not going to go the bathroom and throw up after this, are you?”

“No of course not, I learned to manage my eating well enough that I can enjoy eating delicious food like this every once in a while and not feel guilty. Don’t worry, Momo I don’t starve myself.”

“Ok good!” Momo smiles looking content.

It was late at night by the time we finished the series, Momo and I had tears running down our eyes.

“They’re so cute!” Momo cries.

“I know! I love them so much!” I cry back.

“Hey Mina?” Momo asks as she wipes her tears.

“Yeah? What’s up?” I sniff.

“Have you ever…been in love with anybody?”

“What? Momo you’re my best friend, if I was in love you would be the first one I would tell. And to answer your question, no I’ve never been in love. I’m too focused on school and rhythmic gymnastics to even think about dating.”

“Well…what if you didn’t have to date?”

“What do you mean?”

Before I knew it Momo leans in and kisses me on the lips. I was so surprised, but I didn’t back away. I just froze and stayed still.

“Mina I think I’m in love with you.”

“You…you think?”

“You know that trick I taught you earlier today? Where you pick someone cute and dance for them? Well, ever since I started performing, I’ve always been performing for you. Only you.”

“So earlier today, when you performed…that was for me too?”

“Yupp.”

So I wasn’t imagining it.

“Look Mina, I don’t want to lose you as a friend, but I don’t think I can hold back my feelings anymore.”

“I don’t want to lose you either Momo, I don’t know what to say. I’m not ready for a relationship right now.”

“That’s why I asked, what if you didn’t have to date?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“We don’t have to say that we’re dating or anything like that…” Momo comes in closer, “…just if every once in a while, if you don’t mind, I can do this with you, I’ll be happy with just that.” Momo kisses me again, this time she doesn’t back off, instead she puts her arms around me and I don’t think about anything, I just go along with it.

What do I do? I don’t want to hurt Momo, she’s my best friend. She’s my oldest friend, she’s always been there for me, and if I lose her I’ll lose the only person that has ever understood me better than anyone else. I back up a little from Momo.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it for so long. Was I smothering you?”

“No, it’s fine. Momo you’re my best friend, I’m not sure how I feel about this right now, but I want you to be happy, and if this will make you happy then I’ll do it.”

“Mina wait, stop.”

I didn’t expect Momo to have such as serious look, I thought she’d be happy.

“I don’t want you to do this because you feel like you have to, or because you think you’ll lose me. Mina you will never lose me, no matter what. I want you to do this if you want to, not because you have to. If you don’t like this we don’t have to do it, its fine.”

Momo begins to stand up, but I grab her arm and bring her closer to me.

“I never said I didn’t like it.” I lean in closer and I kiss her.

Ever since that night, Momo and I start secretly kissing everywhere we went. Sometimes we would plan it out, other times we would surprise each other. It was mostly Momo doing the surprise kisses, I was never bold enough to kiss her in public, especially at school. The only time I had enough confidence to surprise her was when we at each other’s houses. I still wasn’t ready for a real relationship. After all, there was only one month left until Nationals, and we’re just about to start our sophmore year, I didn’t have time for a real relationship, but if it was just doing this much and if it was with Momo, then I could handle that. In fact, I looked forward to it. But then one day, I was walking with Momo after school and I noticed people staring at us as we walked by.

“Do you know why they’re staring at us Momo?”

“Apparently a few people saw us kissing during vacation, rumors are going around that we went even further than that too.”

“WHAT!?” I scream out loud, but no one seemed to notice.

“Was that you trying to scream?” Momo laughs.

“I DID scream, what are we going to do? What if these rumors reach the teachers and then they call my parents?”

“Mina, you’re over-exaggerating, rumors hardly ever reach teachers. Besides, this will blow over soon enough. Like last week I heard a rumor that Nayeon has bunny teeth because she likes to eat rabbits. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

“Well in some places eating rabbits is considered a delicacy.” I retort.

“Ok, but can you see Nayeon having rabbit teeth BECAUSE she eats them?”

“Ok, yeah that part is stupid.”

“Rumors will come and go, don’t worry too much.”

“Ok, I guess you’re right. Hey, don’t forget I have an exhibition competition to practice for Nationals in two weeks. You’ll be there right?”

“Will you be dancing for me?” Momo teases.

“Only if you’re there, otherwise I’ll dance for some other cute girl in the stands. I mean it Momo!”

“Well then now, I HAVE to be there!” she jokes.

Two weeks later, I head turn to the stands and Momo is nowhere to be found.

“Mina!”

I turn around hoping its Momo, but it’s not.

“Oh it’s just you Sana.”

I met Sana this year, we have history class together. She’s fun to hang around with so we’ve gotten pretty close.

“Hey that’s rude of you! I come to support my friend and this is how she treats me? Hmph!”

“I’m sorry, I just thought you were Momo is all, I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Did you text or call her?”

‘My phone is in my bag, which is in the locker room. I can’t go back for it now, it’s too late. I thought she’d be here, she promised me she would.”

“Oh well, I’m sure she’ll be here. You two are two peas in a pod.”

I raise my eyebrow at that odd remark.

“Umm I guess?”

“Anyway I’ll be up in the stands rooting for Mina! Don’t worry I’m sure Momo will make it in time!”

I hope so. I’m the last person to go up, after Cheng Xiao and Yuju. This was just exhibition, so only two other people showed up. Of course Cheng Xiao showed up, because she couldn’t resist going back up against me and having the chance to beat me again. Yuju came just to try to prove to herself that she was better than the last performance she gave, where she didn’t even place. Yuju went up first, last time she performed she messed up, but this time around she performed perfectly and elegantly. When the music stopped she had a huge smile and looked content. It was Cheng Xiao’s turn up next and she was magnificent as usual. But then, the unthinkable happened. She threw the ball up in the air and when she came into position to catch it she ended up a few inches off. The crowd was shocked, she managed to finish perfectly after that, but her face showed that she wasn’t happy at all. Finally, it was my turn and I went up onto the stage. Momo still wasn’t around. Part of me was hoping that she would make this grand entrance and yell out my name cheering for me, but I turned around and looked at the door and no one came through.

“Fine…” I said to myself, “…I’ll just find someone else to dance for.”

I look into the crowd and see this girl with a bob cut looking directly at me. She’s cute, I’ll dance for her, by the end of this performance she’ll be my fan. I do my routine and my anger at Momo made me work even harder. I stay focused on my every movement, I want to make a performance so good that Momo is going to be sorry she missed it. I never once missed any of her competitions. I don’t care if this is an exhibition, she should’ve been here. I would’ve been there for her. I realize suddenly I’m in my ending position and the crowd is applauding. I get up and bow in front of everyone and head to my seat. I look at the girl in the stand again and she’s still looking at me, smiling and clapping. I guess, it worked, maybe she’s my fan now. Suddenly the announcer heads up on stage.

“I know this is just an exhibition, but in every competition, there is a winner. And today, that winner is Mina Myoui!”

I won? I won! I run up onto the stage and hold up my trophy and smile. This is proof that I was on the right track, the track to winning at Nationals. As soon as I got off the stage, someone taps me on the shoulder.

“Hi Mina, congratulations on the win, you were beautiful out there. You made a fan out of me.”

I was completely in shock. I can’t believe I actually made a fan out of this girl. Although, I can’t show her how surprised I am. I displayed so much confidence on stage, if she finds out I’m some shy girl in of the stage, I might lose her.

“Oh really? That’s good because that’s what I was intending to do. I like to find a cute girl in the stands and tell myself that I’m dancing for her. This is the first time one actually came up to me though. What's your name?”

"Son Chaeyoung. So were you really dancing for me?"

"I always dance for the most beautiful girl in the room. After I saw you, it was easy to choose."

She blushes, and she gives me her number and tells me we should hang out sometime. Is this really happening right now? As I look at her face up close I realize that she’s even cuter than I thought. She has these cute dimples that show up whenever her mouth moves and I can’t but lose focus whenever they show up. After Chaeyoung leaves I head to the locker room. I get dressed and as I walk out of the locker room, I see someone barge through the doors of the gym. It’s Momo.

“Mina oh my gosh, did I make it? I totally forgot about the competition today, I thought it was next week.”

“The competition is over, I won by the way.”

“That’s amazing! I know this is just an exhibition, but that’s still amazing! Congratulations!” Momo comes in to hug me but I push her away.

“You promised me you’d be here. And you’re telling you just forgot?”

“Mina, I’m sorry. I messed up I know, but it won’t happen again I promise.”

“Ok.”

“Do you want to go home together?” Momo asks hesitantly.

“…No, I want to be by myself right now.”

I arrive at home and decide to change into more comfortable clothes. I reach into my pocket and throw my phone onto my bed. I notice a paper fell out of my pocket. I pick it up and it’s Chaeyoung’s number. I figured why not, the day couldn’t possibly get worse, and put her number into my phone and text her. She replies, and we talk all night. After that, we kept talking for months. We started hanging out more often and I realized that there was something different about this girl. Whenever I practiced, I caught myself thinking about her. Whenever I thought about her, I practiced even harder. She made me want to get better. I wanted her to keep being my fan. But was that really it? One day I saw Chaeyoung at school and she was wearing a brown leather jacket, with black jeans and knee high boots, and my heart stopped for what seemed like forever. That’s when I realized, I had feelings for Chaeyoung. I decided I was going to ask her out, not right now, but maybe after Nationals, which was only a few weeks away. At least that’s what I thought I was going to do. One day after school, Chaeyoung texts me and asks me if we wanted to hang out. I needed to practice, but since this was Chaeyoung I pushed my schedule a little to make room for her. When we met, I looked at her and saw that she was wearing the same outfit, that same leather jacket with black jeans and black leather boots as not too long ago. She looked amazing, I knew then and there that I couldn’t let this girl slip from my hands.

“Chaeyoung, I know you’re the one that called me here, but I have to get something off my chest.”

She looked surprised.

“Oh? What is it?”

“Chaeyoung I...I like you. I like you a lot. These past few months with being around have been amazing. When I practice my routines, I can’t help but think of you. I can’t help, but practice harder for you. You make want to be a better dancer. You make me want to be a better person. Will you go out with me?”

I thought my heart was going to explode because of how fast it was beating. Chaeyoung stood there with a smile on her face.

“Mina I like you a lot too. You make me feel really special. Yes of course I’ll go out with you!” She says as she smiles, showing off her cute dimples that make me go crazy.

So Chaeyoung and I started dating, I kept it a secret because I didn’t want anyone else to get between us. Plus, all the attention this could give me would distract me from training for Nationals. So except when I was at school, or with Chaeyoung, all I did was practice. I practiced as hard as I could, I was going to win, I was going to win for Chaeyoung. Everything seemed like it was going well until one day, while I was practicing my routine, I got a call from Chaeyoung.

“Is it true? Have you and Momo really been more than just friends? Did you really do those things that they’re saying about you guys?”

I’m shocked. How did she find out about this? I couldn’t say anything until I realize I’ve been quiet for too long and that I need to speak up.

“Yes. It’s all true. But wait Chaeyoung! Ever since I met you I told Momo that I didn’t want to be with her anymore. We never were officially dating. She took it hard, but she understood that you make me happy. So please don’t be mad at her. I’m sorry I never told you about it before, but when I realized that you didn’t know about the rumors I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I was afraid of what you would think of me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m glad you were honest with me. Thank you.”

But the truth was, I wasn’t being completely honest. While it was true that I haven’t done anything with Momo since Chaeyoung and I started dating, I still haven’t actually told her about us yet. I realized that I needed to change that soon. I decided to take care of it the next time we’re alone together, whenever that was. Finally, it was time for Nationals, and I was a nervous wreck. The stadium we were to perform in was massive, how was I supposed to find any cute person in this crowd, yet alone my tiny Chaeyoung? Time flew by faster than my heart could race, and believe me it was racing. So many people I had only heard about from online articles like Cao Lu, Chanmi, Eunji, and many more were here and as I watched them perform, all I could think about was how in the world do I stand a chance?

Now up next, Cheng Xiao.

Cheng Xiao is up next? Oh no, and I’m right after her. I take a deep breath and try to relax. I watch Cheng Xiao perform flawlessly. She was definitely determined to make up for the mistake she made in the exhibition competition not too long ago. Every time she tossed the ball into the air she had full confidence that she would catch it, and that she did. She didn’t even look at the ball at certain points in her performance. I could hear gasps from the crowd as she kept going. My anxiety sky rocketed. Soon enough, Cheng Xiao is finished and the crowd goes wild. I walk nervously up the stage and Cheng Xiao gives me a smile as she passes me. I look into the ocean of people around me and I just can’t focus at all. I feel like running off the stage when I look to my left and see Momo on the sidelines. She waves her hand in the air and brings over another person next to her. It’s Chaeyoung. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders. Then it hits me, what was Momo doing with Chaeyoung? Does she know how I feel about her? I take one more look at Chaeyoung and take a deep breath. This is what I practiced for, I’m going to win, not just for me, but for Chaeyoung too. I close my eyes as the music starts and next thing I know when I open my eyes and I’m in my ending position and I hear the crowd roaring. I stand up and realize that the crowd is cheering for me. I think this might just be the loudest they’ve been all day. I turn around and see Momo and Chaeyoung jumping for joy cheering for me. I run down to them and hug them both. I see my parents here too and I run down to them and hug them too.

“Dad you made it!” I yell happily.

“I told you I’d be here even if it got me fired!”

“Wait you didn’t actually get fired did you?” I ask cautiously.

“No honey, of course not, I got the day off to see you. You were beautiful out there. I am so proud of you Mina.” I smiles and I hug him tighter.

“You make us so happy Mina, win or lose you were absolutely stunning out there today.” My mom says as she brushes my hair.

“Mom were you the one that brought Momo and Chaeyoung here?”

“Yupp, I was going to bring only Momo, but she begged me to bring along Chaeyoung too. I didn’t even know who she was! Are you two close? You never mentioned her before.”

I look over to the two girls, “Yeah you could say that.” I smile. “I’m going to go over to them ok guys?”

“You go be with your friends honey, we’ll be right here.” My dad says.

I run back over to the girls and we look at the stage as the announcer walks up.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming the the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition this year. And I also want to thank all the contestants today that tried their utmost best, and gave us a magnificent show today. You were all truly amazing, but there can only be one gold medalist today.”

I look to Chaeyoung and she holds my left hand as we wait for the announcement. I turn to my right and look at Momo and she just looks at me and smiles.

“And third place today goes to…Cao Lu!”

I take my 500th deep breath of the day and I feel like my lungs are going to collapse.

“Second place today goes to…Cheng Xiao!”

I look at both Momo and Chaeyoung and I hold my breath for one last time.

“And now finally first place and the gold medal today go to…Mina Myoui!”

The crowd begins to roar again and I can’t believe what just happened. Out of all the gymnasts in all the nation, I won the gold medal.

“What are you doing!?” Momo screams.

“Get up there!” Chaeyoung yells, and she pushes me up towards the stage.

I accept the medal and wave to the crowd, tears start falling down my face. All my hard work has paid off.

After the awards ceremony, people start to leave, and I head down to my parents.

“Mina, we’ll head over to the car, Momo and Chaeyoung will keep you company while we bring it over.” My mom says.

As soon as my parents leave, Momo pulls me over to the side.

“Mina we need to talk.”

“What is it Momo?”

“Mina…I love you. You know this. I know you might still be mad at me for that the competition I missed-“

“No, Momo I’m over that, it was months ago.”

“But, you haven’t kissed me since then…it’s because of Chaeyoung isn’t it?”

I pause. If there was ever a time to tell her about Chaeyoung and I, it was now.

“Momo, I have something to tell you. Chaeyoung and I…we’re dating. For a little while now, actually.”

“Wh…what? I thought you weren’t ready for a relationship? That’s what you told me right?”

I felt so bad, I can’t believe I did this, to my best friend.

“Does she know about us? What happens if I tell about the things we did? Will she still like you then!?”

I have never seen this side of Momo before, and I’ve known her all my life.

“She knows already. Her friend Tzuyu told her. Chaeyoung knows everything, and we’re still together. Nothing changed.”

“I…I’m sorry Mina, I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m not myself right now.”

“I can tell, don’t worry Momo, I understand. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me. I should’ve told you earlier. I feel terrible about all of this.”

“Does she make you happy Mina?”

“Yes, she does. She makes me really happy.”

“Then that’s all I really want. Go be with your girlfriend. I’ll call my mom to pick me up, if your mom asks, just tell her I had to be somewhere else.”

Momo smiles at me and leaves.

“Momo wait!”

She stops and turns her head.

“I’m not going to lose you right…right?”

“Like I said Mina, you’re my best friend, and I love you, more than anything in this world. You’ll never lose me.”

She waves goodbye and walks away. I turn around and see Chaeyoung and my heart feels a little better.

I get a call from my mom and she says that their outside, and that we’re going to my favorite sushi restaurant to celebrate. My heart hurts a little because, that place was only my favorite sushi place, because Momo loved to eat there. I wanted to find her and bring her with us, but I couldn’t see her anymore. After Nationals, Chaeyoung and I became official. This was new to me, because all I ever did before this was sneak around with Momo. Although, as the months went by, I became more comfortable, but I also noticed that Chaeyoung has been a little distant lately. One day, I catch her on her phone reading old texts from Tzuyu. We’re Chaeyoung and Tzuyu more than just friends before? That would explain why she told Chaeyoung about Momo and I. I started wondering if I wasn’t doing enough, if Chaeyoung was starting to lose interest in me. I decided to try and get into things that Chaeyoung was into.

“Hey Chaengie, what animes are you into lately?”

She looks at me confused.

“Why do you ask? I thought you weren’t into anime?”

“I don’t know, I thought maybe I’d give it a shot.”

She laughs a little, “What happened to, ‘Just because I’m Japanese doesn’t mean I have to like anime!’ huh?”

She got me there.

“Ok, I just thought I’d give it a chance because you like it so much.”

“Hmm ok, well there’s this one called Toradora, it’s a classic! You should definitely watch it, and after we can talk about it!”

I watched the first episode and stopped there. I just couldn’t get into it. I don’t know how Chaeyoung does it. A few weeks later, I texted Chaeyoung if she wanted to watch the sunset with me. I borrowed my mom’s car and picked her up to go watch it. I try to spark up some conversation by telling her about future competitions coming up, but she seems disinterested.

“Hey Mina, did you ever watch that anime I told you about?”

“Oh umm, which one was that one again? Toru…daro?”

“Toradora.”

“Ahh right that one! I haven’t finished it yet. It’s just not very interesting to me. Sorry Chaeng.”

“Oh no it’s fine.” She sounded a little irked.

“Oh we’re here! Hopefully we can hike fast enough to catch the sunset by the beach.”

Chaeyoung is not a good hiker, it turns out her short legs couldn’t keep up, which I thought was kind of cute. Next thing I know I see Sana sitting down next to someone. I had told her about this spot not too long ago, but I didn’t think she’d be here today too.

“Hey Sana! Is that you!?”

I run closer to catch up to them, then I realize the closer I see that the person Sana is with is Tzuyu.

“Sana! I knew it was you! When you asked me about this place I didn’t think I’d find you here so soon haha. Oh Tzuyu! Oh no we weren’t interrupting something were we?”

“No, nothing is going on its fine.” Tzuyu says, she sounds a little disgruntled.

“Tzuyu you know Mina? She’s the friend that told me about this place. I had no idea you guys knew each other. I also had no idea you were coming here today Mina. Did you bring your girlfriend here too?”

“Yeah Tzuyu is in the same science class as me, actually we’ve had some of the same classes throughout all of high school I think. Yeah, Chaeyoung is here too, I wanted to show her the sunset here, looks like we were a little late though maybe next time.”

It’s too bad that we missed the view, I turn around to Chaeyoung, “Babe what are you doing over there still? Sana and Tzuyu are here! Come say hi!”

“Well it’s getting dark, Tzuyu and I should probably leave now.”

“Oh here, let me help you with some of your stuff.”

For some reason I couldn’t shake off this weird feeling that something bad was about to happen.

I help Sana with their stuff on the long walk back. When we get to the cars, I realize Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were missing. Suddenly, Tzuyu appears puffy eyed.

“Hey Tzuyu what took you guys so long? Where’s Chaengie?”

“She’s somewhere behind me. Sana let’s go.”

“Whoa Tzuyu is something wrong? Your eyes are all puffy have you been crying?”

“Just get in and drive please.”

“Ok yeah I’ll do that. See you Mina.”

“Yeah no problem I’m going to go look for Chaeyoung. See you guys at school I guess.” I go and run off to the hills.

“Chaeyoung! Chaengie where are you!?” I screams out.

“I-I’m over here!” Chaeyoung yells back.

“Oh good I found you. Tzuyu came back from here looking like she cried a bunch. Do you know what happened?”

“It’s because of me. It’s because I kissed her.”

“Oh I se…what!?” I say trying to comprehend.

“I’m sorry Mina. It’s over between us.”

“Why is this happening so suddenly!? Did I do something wrong? Did Tzuyu tell you something about me again?” I plead.

“No she didn’t, she didn’t do anything, it was all me. Mina I’m so sorry, but I can’t keep lying to myself anymore. You were so good to me, and I truly did cherish every moment we spent together, but I realized that Tzuyu truly is the one I need in my life and I’m going to get her no matter what.”

Everything is happening so suddenly, I just wish I had more time to think.

“I see, are you really sure about this? Is there really nothing I can do to change your mind? I’ll do anything Chaeyoung, anything.”

“I’m sure Mina, I’m so sorry.”

Chaeyoung turns around and hugs me.

“Mina I’m so sorry, I am so sorry.” Chaeyoung holds me tighter and cries her heart out.

“It’s ok, I’ll get better eventually. I’m just glad you finally realize what you really want. I hope you find happiness in whatever happens in the end. I still love you Chaeyoung, even if you don’t feel the same.” Tears start falling down my face now too.

“I’m sorry, I’m such a terrible person.” Chaeyoung yells out.

“No, no you’re not. It’s ok. Let’s go I’ll take you home now.”

When it was time to go to school, I notice that Chaeyoung isn’t here today. I text her during science class to see if she’s ok, but I don’t get a reply until later. She said something about, her allergies acting up, but I didn’t believe it. I notice Tzuyu gets a text as soon as I do. Is she talking to Chaeyoung too? I talked to Sana earlier and she told me that she and Tzuyu were going to the fair together. What is Tzuyu doing? I write on a piece of paper to meet up after school, she says she’ll do it, but she has plans with Sana. I just nod my head and try to focus on class. I wait for Tzuyu on the side of the school and wait for her. A few minutes later, she comes by and sits next to me on the grass.

“I heard from Sana that you two are going to the fair together.”

“Oh that’s right you two are friends. Yeah we are, why do ask?”

“Because I want to know what you plan to do about Chaeyoung.”

“Are you two still together? If you are then I won’t go near her, at least not in any romantic sort of setting, I’m not that kind of person.”

“I know you’re not Tzuyu. And no, Chaeyoung and I are not together anymore.”

Saying those word brought tears to my eyes that I just couldn’t hold back.

“I’m sorry, I’m still not over it. Chaeyoung probably still feels bad about it too, it’s probably why she isn’t here today.”

“No need to be sorry. I have experience with heartbreak, trust me, it’s ok to cry.”

She grabs a few tissues and gives them to me.

“Anyway, I didn’t ask you to be here to watch me cry. All I want right now is Chaeyoung to be happy. If she isn’t happy with me then I can’t do anything about that. All I know is that she wants to be with you. If you are the one that makes her happy then I’ll learn to live with that. But, if you hurt her any more than she already is, then you’ll have to answer to me. If you go to that fair with Sana, and you realize that your feelings for her are stronger than what you feel for Chaeyoung, you tell her right away. I understand that Chaeyoung didn’t do that for you when she and I started dating, but I can promise you that she didn’t do it on purpose. Nobody deserves to hurt anymore. Ok?”

I was determined to makes sure that Chaeyoung was happy in the end at all costs. This must’ve been what Momo felt back then. I wonder how she’s doing? I haven’t really talked to her in a while, no matter how hard I tried. It felt like she was keeping her distance from me.

“Hey, Mina?”

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry for everything, I wish neither of us had to go through any of this.”

“Me too.”

Tzuyu didn’t seem like she was a bad person, she was just put into a difficult situation. I know how that feels. A few weeks later, I start feeling a little better. I put all my focus back into rhythmic gymnastics, and that help me keep my mind off the pain of hearing that Tzuyu and Chaeyoung were now dating. My friend Sana on the other hand was struggling. She looked even worse than I was a few weeks ago. She even says she’s going to win Tzuyu back. But, whenever I see those two together, I know that’s not going to happen. Although, the thought of being with Chaeyoung again didn’t sound too bad, so I let her keep imagining it was possible, just in case. I realize now that I shouldn’t have done that, because a year later Sana embarrasses herself buy doing some ridiculous dance in front of the whole school to ask Tzuyu to prom. It obviously didn’t work, which I think everyone except Sana saw coming. As I was walking home that same day, I saw Momo sitting on my front porch. We haven’t talked in a while, so I was surprised to see her.

“Hey Mina.” Momo stands up and walks towards me, “It’s been a while.”

“A while? Try a over a year Momo. I thought you said I was never going to lose you? After Nationals last year, you basically disappeared. If we didn’t go to the same school I thought I was never going to see you again. I know that it’s partially my fault for basically not talking to you either and putting all my focus on Chaeyoung, but I thought you would at least start talking to me again when she broke up with me. Instead, all you did was send me a few texts! Where have you been Momo?”

It takes a while for me to calm down, Momo waits for me to catch my breath before she speaks.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to be there for you when Chaeyoung broke up with you I really did, but I was afraid of what I would do. I was afraid that if I saw you in that emotionally broken state, that I might take advantage of that and try to win you over. But, that’s not what I wanted. So I decided to wait, to wait for you to feel better before I talked to you again. And well here I am.”

“Were you really thinking that far ahead?”

“Of course, I would never want to take advantage of you like that, I don’t even want to give myself the chance. You deserve more than that.”

It’s right here where I realize that Momo has always been worried about me and she always cared for me. When it came to everything, from my diet, to my sleeping schedule, even when she was not around, she still cared.

“Mina?”

“What is it Momo?”

“I still love you Mina.”

My eyes widen as I wasn’t expecting this.

“I told you that you would never lose me and I want to make good on that promise, I won’t do anything to hurt you. It’s ok if you don’t feel the same at this moment, but if you just give me the chance to show you how much I care about you, I promise to make you the happiest girl in the world.”

Those words out a smile on my face.

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that Momo Hirai?”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I would love the honor of taking you to prom.”

“The honor is mine. Do you want to come inside?”

“Are you sure? Are you parents home?”

“Yeah they are, but I’m sure they won’t mind, my parents love you.” I smile.

In a few weeks time, prom rolls around. I felt bad for Sana who was by herself so I convinced Momo to bring her along with us. When we arrived at the venue Momo and I put our corsages on each other. When we finish and I look around, I can’t find Sana anywhere. We head inside and look all over the beautiful venue and finally we find Sana in the lobby after everyone get’s inside. She looks like she’s not in a good mood, I figured we’d find a place with the least people to relax. Momo manages to find a big table for us to relax at.

“Psst Mina.” Momo whispers.

“What is it?”

“I’m starviiiiiing.”

“I don’t want to leave Sana alo-“

“Hey I think the line for food is starting up.” Momo points towards the door.

Sana offers to stay at our table to watch our purses.

Momo has a huge smile on her face, now that she gets to eat.

“Momo, I know you don’t know Sana that well, but I’m glad you were willing to let her join us today.”

“Oh of course, I wouldn’t want anyone to be alone on prom night, it seems so sad. It’s one thing to go stag, but it’s another to be by yourself.”

As soon as we get our food, I see Momo’s eyes open wide and she rushes back to our table.

“Sana quick get up! The food is going to run out soon! You should hurry before the line gets too long and you’re going to have to wait even longer for food!” Momo yells out.

I smile and yell at Sana to run too. After she comes, back with a plate of food she seems pretty happy which makes me glad.

“You guys were right, the food looks amazing! I can’t wait to eat!”

“It tashtes amashing choo, the shamon ish sho goodf.” Momo says with a happy look.

“Momo you’re talking with your mouth full again, just focus one thing at a time please.” In all honesty I love the way Momo eats. It sounds a little weird I know, but I love the fact that she doesn’t hold back, no matter who she’s in front of. I found it cute in a weird way. Suddenly I get flash back to middle school when we went to get ice cream. Momo was always a mess, even back then. I remember when I had to wipe the ice cream she had on her cheek from eating too fast. I realize that back then, I had a feeling that I never felt before until recently. I look at Momo as she continues to stuff her face, and she quickly turns to me smiles and goes back to her food. I know now that, I was looking for something that was right in front of me the whole time. How could I have missed it? I was ignorant, and now it might be too late, at least I hope not. After everyone has had their fill of food, I look at Momo who’s looking at the other joy of her life, the dance floor.

“Hey Sana, we’re going to go dance, will you be ok right here?” I ask.

“Oh yeah sure, I need to sit and relax with my food baby anyway.” she says holding her stomach.

I grab Momo’s hand and we start heading down to dance. I didn’t care what anyone said, I didn’t care what they thought, all I knew is that I wanted to dance with Momo. So I did just that. I don’t think I’ve danced formally with Momo before until now. I thought she would be a little stiff, but Momo actually knew how to dance with a partner really well. Soon a slow dance comes on and I look in front of me see Sana talking with Dahyun. It seems I don’t have to worry about her anymore. I look straight into Momo’s eyes.

“Momo, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? You didn’t do anything?”

“I’m sorry for leaving you for Chaeyoung, I’m sorry for taking so long to realize what I felt deep down inside only just now.”

“Mina, what are you saying?”

I close my eyes and lean into Momo lips as we sway along the dance floor. I used to only want to do this in secret, but now I don’t care who sees. I let go of her lips and rest my head on her shoulders.

“Momo I love you.”

Momo stops moving and I look up and she’s smiling.

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch what you said there?”

I was surprised, normally Momo can hear me no matter what.

“I said, Momo I love you!” I say louder.

“Yeaah no, maybe if you lean in closer, I think the music is too loud.” She jokes.

“I SAID, MOMO I LOV-“

Momo kisses me on the forehead and stand there in the middle of dance floor stunned.

“You finally said it, I love you too Mina.”

We dance the rest of the night away in each other’s arms, and there’s no where I’d rather be.

Four Years Later

“Ok kids gather around! It’s story time!” I say out loud.

“Wow Mrs. Myoui, you were actually pretty loud!” the kids laugh.

“Haha very funny, who wants to hear the story of how we were able to get this big building just for us?”

“Oh I do!”

The kids turn around and see Momo raising her hand.

“But you’re in the story, Mrs. Hirai! Don’t be silly!”

“It doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear it!” Momo laughs.

She looks at me with endearing eyes and sits next me. I look around the walls and see all the trophies and awards we’ve earned, and I turn back to Momo and hold her hand.

“Ok kids, this is how MiMo Dance Studio got started.”