The shock of the beef declaration that happened on Monday night still burned hot in my chest. Every time Kiriko recalled Adam's golden eyes, she felt something cold run down her spine. She absolutely could not lose. She couldn't hand Ranga over to a madman like that. Tuesday after school. Humid, muggy air clung to the city of Uruma. Ranga walked with Kiriko through the door of the skate shop "Demi-Glace." Colorful decks hung on the walls, the rubbery smell of wheels packed tightly on the shelves. The usual, calming atmosphere. Reki was in the back behind the counter, working on something with a tool in his hand. His usually bright reddish-brown hair looked somehow deflated today. When he saw Ranga's face, his shoulders clearly flinched. "[excited] Yo, Reki! Yesterday was insane! You gotta hear this, this Adam guy—" As Ranga rushed over in his usual way, Reki set down his tool in a panic. "[scared] Ah, Ranga... sorry! I've got an order my mom asked me to place, gotta do it right now!" No sooner had Reki said that than he scurried off into the storage room in the back of the shop, not even trying to meet Ranga's eyes. The door slammed shut. Ranga stood alone in the shop, frozen mid-gesture with his hand half-outstretched. (Why's he running away? What's gotten into him all of a sudden?) "...Reki's acting weird, isn't he." "...Yeah, he is." Kiriko stared at the closed storage room door with a complicated expression. The distance between them lately had finally taken the form of outright "flight." The culprit who leaked the photo was an insider who knew the S course. And now, Reki was avoiding Ranga. Inside Ranga's chest, the worst-case theory he hadn't wanted to think about spread slowly, like a black stain. Ranga lowered his brows in distress and whispered softly to Kiriko. His face, troubled over his best friend yet somehow missing the point, was as obliviously airheaded as ever. "[whispers] Hey, Kiriko... you think maybe Reki hates me now?" "[surprised] Huh?" "[sad] I was thinking all day yesterday if I did something to hurt him... Like, maybe that time I accidentally stepped on his snorkel. He was super mad about that..." Ranga delivered his off-the-mark deduction with a dead-serious face. Kiriko's temple twitched as she raised her voice without thinking. "[angry] No, you idiot!! Why a snorkel!? When would you even use one in Okinawa!? And anyway, that's not the issue here!" Just as Kiriko shouted her retort, the shop owner Oka called out from the back in a lazy voice, "Keep it down back there." The two exchanged glances. Doubt and tension hung heavy in the muggy air. --- Meanwhile, at Uruma Municipal Skate Park "Grind Base." The afternoon sun beat down white on the concrete half-pipe of the skate park. On its edge sat a single small shadow. Short black hair that flipped up like cat ears. Only the tips were dyed light blue. His large cat-like eyes were a deep green, and right now they were fixed on a point in empty space, as if glaring at something. A cat plushie keychain dangled from his skate bag. It was Miya. He wasn't even on his board, just silently scrolling through Vortex. The genius boy of "S" couldn't seem to focus today. "[sarcastic] Uh, if voyeurism's your hobby, I'm gonna start charging admission, okay?" Miya snapped without even turning around. At his sharp words, Kiriko stopped in her tracks involuntarily. Ranga looked around, glancing this way and that. "[gentle] ...You noticed us pretty quick." As Kiriko approached, Miya turned only his face toward her, looking listless. "[sarcastic] Felt a gloomy bloodlust hitting my back. So, what? You here with that troubled-face Canadian? Betting the date rights for the beef or something?" "[surprised] Whoa! How'd you know!?" Ranga's eyes went wide with surprise, and Miya sighed in exasperation. "[sarcastic] Anyone watching Vortex would know. So, what do you want?" Kiriko stepped forward and looked down at Miya with a serious face. "[serious] It's about the photo leak. I need your help with a technical analysis. You're the only one who can examine the Vortex logs." Miya spun the smartphone in his hand, looking bored. "[sarcastic] Why should I? Sounds like a pain." Just as Miya turned away, Ranga suddenly thrust his face close to Miya's. His clear, light blue eyes peered straight into Miya's green ones. "[gentle] Miya, you're a genius, right? This is something only you can do." A pure gaze, without a single cloud. A straightforward look of trust, with no hidden motives. Miya faltered for a moment, his cheeks flushing slightly as he averted his face. "[whispers] ...Can't be helped." Miya muttered under his breath, then sat down on the bench and pulled out his own smartphone. His fingertips were already tapping the screen without hesitation. The three sat side by side on the bench. Miya's fingers dismantled Vortex's back-end logs at astonishing speed. In less than five minutes, his fingers stopped dead. "[serious] Got it. The photo was posted at 12:17 AM. Thirty minutes before that, the last access point for the account used to post it was a GPS location near Gate Zero at the old Camp Falcon site." Kiriko gasped. Ranga blinked, completely lost. "[cold] In short, the culprit was an insider who was at the S venue on the day of the first episode's race. Pretty simple story, right? You guys are just scared to suspect your friends." Miya's sharp tongue cut through the heavy silence. In Ranga's mind, the face of his best friend—the one who had just run away from him earlier—floated up. (No way... was it Reki?) A sickening thudding began in Ranga's chest. Miya glanced at Ranga, then turned a cold stare toward Kiriko. "[sarcastic] While I'm at it, I'll say this. Are you even practicing properly for the beef? It's written all over your face—you're scared of Adam." Kiriko started, and reflexively shot back. "[angry] I-I'm not scared! I'm practicing to win." But her voice wavered slightly. As if seeing right through it, Miya snorted. Beside her, Ranga stared intently at Kiriko's face and spoke. "[gentle] Kiriko, you're really strong. You seem totally fine even against Adam. I seriously respect that." An unconscious, heartfelt compliment. Kiriko choked on her words and looked down. A tiny voice slipped faintly from her lips. "[whispers] ...It's because you're here that I'm fine." That murmur vanished into the wind, never reaching Ranga's ears. --- Night fell. A half-moon hung in the sky above the old Camp Falcon site. Kiriko put on her helmet and skated alone through the "Black Pipe." A tunnel of total darkness, roughly 180 meters long. Countless graffiti drawn by skaters on its walls floated up, reflecting faint light. To beat Adam, she had to memorize this darkness not with her "eyes" but with her "body." That was Kiriko's judgment, and so she had snuck in for a late-night solo training session. Only the sound of wheels biting concrete echoed through the tunnel. Kiriko steadied her breathing and lowered her center of gravity. She was in good form. Just keep going back and forth like this, and burn the course into her body— That's when it happened. Click. The makeshift lights set up by skaters on the ceiling all went out at once. Total darkness. She couldn't even see her own hand. "[scared] What—" She lost her balance. Her body tilted sharply, and her board, out of control, slammed into the wall. With a dull crash, Kiriko's body was thrown against the concrete wall. A searing pain shot through her knees and elbows. The skin on her palms was scraped off, blood seeping out. (D-Did someone cut the lights...?) Groaning in pain, Kiriko crawled toward the exit. Adam's face flashed through her mind. Sabotage was exactly the kind of thing that madman would pull. She finally managed to reach the exit where the moonlight shone in. There was a figure. Kiriko braced herself. But standing there, head hanging low, was a boy with reddish-brown hair. "[surprised] ...Reki...?" Reki flinched and looked up. His eyes were darting wildly, and his lips trembled. "[scared] Why are you... here...?" "[sad] ...J-Just coincidence. I was just passing by." Reki's words were painfully forced. There was no way he'd just happen to pass by these ruins so late at night. "[angry] There's no way—" Just as Kiriko started to speak, a loud, breathless voice rang out from behind. "[surprised] Kiriko! Are you okay!? I just got a message from Miya—" Ranga came sprinting up the slope at full speed, helmet tucked under his arm. And then he stopped. His light blue eyes slowly took in Kiriko's injuries, and his best friend standing awkwardly beside her. "[sad] ...Reki. Why are you here?" It wasn't an accusatory tone. Just a terribly sad voice. Unable to bear the three gazes on him, Reki stepped back. "[sad] I'm... going home!" As if fleeing, Reki ran off. A damp night breeze blew through the space between the two left behind. Silently, Ranga crouched down beside Kiriko. He grimaced at her scraped knees and elbows. Then, he pulled off the towel draped over his shoulders and, without a word, began wrapping it around the wound on her wrist. "[gentle] ...Sorry. You should've just left me out of this." Ranga said as he tied the towel tight. Kiriko quietly shook her head. "[sad] There's no way I could leave you out of it." A heartfelt voice, her usual coolness crumbling. Ranga stopped his hands from wrapping the towel and looked at Kiriko's face. "[gentle] ...Why?" Kiriko held her breath for a moment, then looked down. Her eyes grew slowly moist. "[whispers] ...Because we're childhood friends. That's all." Her lie was so clumsy it was almost painful. Behind those glistening black eyes, unspoken words swirled. For the first time in all of this, Ranga realized it clearly. The center of his chest ached with a tight, bittersweet pang. (What... have I been making Kiriko look like that for?) He knew he had to say something. But he couldn't find the words. Silence filled the space between them. Just then, Ranga's phone vibrated in his pocket. Vortex. Looking at the screen, a message from Miya glowed. '[serious] Found something else. The account used for the post—there's one registrant whose IP address matches the one used when signing up for S. I'm going to Ranga's place tonight.' Those words pushed Ranga's suspicions closer and closer to despairing certainty. Four days until the battle with Adam. Torn between suspicion toward his best friend and unfamiliar feelings for his childhood friend, Ranga simply stared out at the dark ruins of the night. Deep in his chest, he heard the faint sound of something beginning to crack.