The pit at midnight swelled with humid heat and the murmurs of the crowd. The Vortex live stream displayed a viewer count of three thousand, and even through a smartphone screen, the excitement of the over two hundred gathered skaters was palpable. The monitors in the DJ booth showed the feed from Gate Zero, the starting point. A tall figure stood there, his bluish-silver hair swaying in the night breeze. Ranga. His clear, pale blue eyes were fixed intently on the pitch-black darkness stretching before him—the Black Pipe, a full hundred and eighty meters long. The skateboard beneath his feet creaked faintly. "[gentle]Aren't you afraid?" Adam, standing beside him, narrowed his golden eyes behind his mask. He combed his fingers through his long silver hair and continued in a theatrical voice. "[gentle]Your board sounds like it's about to burst into tears at any moment." "[serious]...This is enough." Ranga answered curtly. He knew the truth. This was the board Reki had hastily repaired, and it might only hold up partway through the Black Pipe. Even so, he couldn't back down now. He had hurt Kiriko. He had doubted Reki. He had brought all of this upon himself. Time had stood still since that night of the downpour. A Fadeless staff member raised the signal for the countdown. "Beef, start!" The two of them shot out of Gate Zero simultaneously. Their wheels bit into the concrete of the abandoned ruins, scattering a grating, high-pitched noise. On the straightaway leading to the tunnel entrance, Adam pulled ahead by half a body length. "[excited]Now then, welcome to my domain, little boy!" The darkness opened its mouth. The Black Pipe—absolute darkness. The walls were covered in graffiti drawn by skaters of the past, but now nothing was visible. Ranga held his breath, cutting through the curves relying only on the sound of the wind and the vibrations of his board. Creak. It groaned again. The joint between the deck and the trucks was starting to rattle. The vibrations traveled up through the soles of his feet, growing stronger bit by bit. Ranga tucked his chin and stared only ahead. In the pit, the crowd buzzed at the sight of Ranga on the monitor. "[scared]This is bad... that board is seriously done for!" "He's pushing it too hard, get off before it breaks!" The Vortex comment section accelerated. *'His board's totally broken'* *'Forget the skill gap with Adam-sama, this is a whole other issue lol'*. In a corner of the pit, Reki was pale as a ghost. His face, visible beneath his bandana, was drenched in sweat. "[scared]It's my... it's my fault..." As Reki murmured in a trembling voice beside him, Miya narrowed his deep green cat-like eyes. "[angry]That's not what you should be saying right now! Just shut up and watch!" He raised an index finger to silence Reki. Miya's small fist was clenched tight. Inside the darkness, Ranga gritted his teeth. His board made a nasty creaking sound, and the light at the Black Pipe's exit began to appear, small and distant. Adam was already near the exit, accelerating while drawing a beautiful line. The absolute champion was pulling completely away from Ranga. And then, the moment they approached the cliff turn—commonly known as Death Corner—it happened. CRACK! Ranga's board groaned loudly, the metal fittings of the trucks screaming in protest. He nearly lost his balance and dropped to one knee at the cliff's edge. Screams rose from the spectators. The Vortex feed showed the cliff below—the dark limestone slope and the darkness beneath it. "[scared]Aaah!" Reki yelled, and at that moment— WHOOSH! Parting the wave of spectators, a single skateboard cut onto the course at breakneck speed. Long black hair reaching her waist was tied up high in a ponytail, and her narrow, sharp eyes glinted fiercely in the lights. It was Kiriko. "[serious]I'm entering too!" She shouted at the Fadeless staff acting as referees and slid straight into Death Corner. "[cold]This was originally a beef against me, wasn't it? Will you accept two-on-one?" Adam slowed his pace, just slightly. Behind his mask, his golden eyes widened with amusement. "[gentle]...Truly excellent. Very well, young lady." In that instant, Ranga and Kiriko's eyes met. No words were exchanged. Kiriko's dark eyes still looked a little wet. A sharp pang struck deep in Ranga's chest. But more than that— (*We did this so many times at Hangar 7.*) The close-contact training in the abandoned hangar. The sensation of Kiriko's hand touching his shoulder. Her voice saying, *'Not there, your shoulder. Put your shoulder into it.'* The angle of the hips, the timing of the weight shift—his body remembered. Without a word, the two of them assembled an improvised coordinated line. Kiriko held the wall from the outside, blocking Adam's field of vision. In that split-second opening, Ranga slipped inside and sealed off the absolute champion's drafting—the technique of sticking right behind someone to steal their air resistance. "What—!?" For the first time, Adam's perfect line was disrupted. A loss of a few tenths of a second. At the exit of Death Corner, Adam was forced to take a wide arc to regain his balance. Vortex's viewer count surpassed four thousand. "[excited]Huh, what is this!?" "[surprised]Ranga and Kiriko just passed Adam!!" They didn't let the broken rhythm escape. Ranga and Kiriko raced side-by-side and burst into the pit at the goal area. Vortex's speed measurement displayed the victory of the Kiriko-Ranga pair on the monitors beside the course. *'WINNER: KIRIKO & LANGA'* The crowd exploded. Cheers and roars shook the pit. Immediately after the goal, Ranga's board could no longer withstand the strain and he nearly collapsed. He managed to land somehow and dropped to his knees. As Ranga gasped for breath, his shoulders heaving, Kiriko rushed over to him. "[whispers]Ranga...!" Sweat and droplets of the rain that had just begun to fall dripped from her soaking wet ponytail. Kiriko's hand gently reached out toward Ranga's back. Ranga stood up. And then, he grabbed Kiriko by the shoulders. His fingers clutched her wet jacket, creasing the fabric. "Kiriko... I need you!" His voice was loud enough for the two hundred spectators and four thousand Vortex viewers to hear perfectly. "For skating, for times like this, for everything! I can't do this without you!" The pit fell utterly silent. The DJ's hands stopped, and everyone watching the monitors held their breath. Only the sound of the rain echoed, pouring down. "[sarcastic]...Took you long enough." Miya's small murmur broke the silence. Following it, Reki raised his voice, a mix of tears and laughter. "[laughing]How many episodes did that take, seriously! You're way too good at reading the room, man!" A burst of laughter erupted. At the same time, cheers and applause. The Vortex comment section overflowed with *'lol he did it lol'* *'Laughing at this way-too-late confession lol'* *'But it's precious'*. With her face wet from the rain, Kiriko burst into tears. Large teardrops streamed down her cheeks. Her shoulders trembled once, slightly. "...You finally noticed." She murmured in a hoarse voice. A drop of rain fell onto the small crescent-moon-shaped scar on her left temple—a scar from playing with Ranga when they were children—and splashed. Ranga gently placed his hand on Kiriko's cheek. His thumb wiped away the trail of tears. And then, still soaking wet, the two of them pressed their lips together for the first time. Only the cold of the rain and the warmth of each other existed there. The cheers of the crowd enveloped them like another storm. Outside that circle, Adam stood wearing his mask, a composed smile on his face. "[gentle]That was quite amusing, little boy." He approached and gave Ranga a light pat on the shoulder. His wet silver hair glowed pale blue in the moonlight. "[whispers]But the real show is just beginning. Look forward to it." After a glance at Kiriko, something still lingered in his golden eyes. Adam melted away into the crowd. Ranga tried to understand the meaning of those words, couldn't, and fell silent for a moment. But Kiriko gently took his hand. Their wet fingers intertwined. "[whispers]I'm not giving you to anyone anymore." Ranga's cheeks flushed bright red. "[surprised]...Me neither." Seeing this from right behind them, Reki shouted at the top of his lungs. "[laughing]You two are so late about it, it's actually moving!!" The surrounding spectators were wrapped in another wave of laughter. --- The next day. A perfectly clear, cloudless sky over Grind Base—the Uruma City municipal skate park. As Ranga and the others gathered, a skater in a flamboyant costume approached with a bow-legged gait. It was Shadow. "[excited]Actually... I'm the one who leaked the photo!" At this loud confession, Ranga and the others all froze. Miya's cat-like eyes narrowed into a glare. "[angry]Hah!? And you had the nerve to just waltz over here after that...!" "[excited]Just hear me out! I thought if Ranga-kun's followers increased, S would get even more exciting!" "[excited]Ranga-kun is the beacon of hope for the Okinawa skate scene! I'm his biggest fan! So, I just wanted to make him more famous, you know...!" As Shadow launched into his impassioned speech, Kiriko silently gave him a half-lidded stare. Reki yelled. "[angry]You think that makes it okay!? Do you have any idea how much I agonized over this!" "[sarcastic]Seriously... don't expose people's dark history photos with that kind of motive, are you stupid?" Miya put a hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh. Everyone's strength left them, and they collapsed onto the ground. Only Ranga looked straight at Shadow. "...Shadow, thanks." "Huh?" "[gentle]You did it for me, right? I'm happy you called yourself my fan, too. But don't do it again. If you do it next time, it's a beef for real." When Ranga said this with a serious face, Shadow's face lit up and he nodded vigorously. "[excited]G-got it! I'm sorry!" Miya muttered under his breath. "[sarcastic]...So it just ends like that, seriously?" Everyone nodded with a wry smile. *Well, I guess this is fine*—that kind of atmosphere drifted beneath the blue sky. --- A few days later, at dusk in Moon Beach Park. The wind from the sea carried the scent of the tide. Ranga and Kiriko walked side-by-side along the promenade. Ranga scooped up some of the purple sweet potato ice cream in his hand with a spoon and brought it to his mouth. "[gentle]Kiriko, I'll give you half the ice cream." Saying that, he held out the spoon to Kiriko. Kiriko, a little shyly, reached out her hand—but just before she could take it, Ranga unconsciously shoved all the ice cream into his own mouth. Chew chew. "............" Kiriko glared at Ranga with half-lidded eyes. Ranga noticed her gaze and tilted his head. "[surprised]Huh, why are you mad?" "[cold]...I'm not." Kiriko's temple twitched slightly. Everyday life had returned. A daily life that seemed unchanged since that night of the beef, but had definitely changed. Ranga's smartphone vibrated with a Vortex notification. A message from an unknown ID. *'To the little boy. I'll show you the true fun of S. Look forward to it. —A'* Ranga showed the screen to Kiriko. "[serious]Maybe another beef." For just a moment, Kiriko stared at the words with serious eyes. Then, she immediately looked up. "[serious]This time, I won't let you go alone." Ranga smiled a little. "[gentle]Okay." Beyond the horizon, the sun was slowly beginning to set. Things would surely happen from now on, too. The storm might not be over yet. Ranga took Kiriko's hand. Her fingers squeezed back in response. In Ranga's other hand, the empty Blue Seal cup rustled with a small sound.