ＩＮＦＩＮＩＴＥ - ＳＫ８ ＴＨＥ ＩＮＦＩＮＩＴＹ (ＮＯＴ ＥＤＩＴＥＤ)

CHAPTER 23 - QUALIFIERS

WORDS BETWEEN -   - MEANS THOUGHTS

POV - (L/N) (F/N)

"Huh, where am I?" I looked around, it was pitch black. I was still skating at the pier but I just couldn't see it. "Welcome back, (F/N)." 

I looked at where the voice came from. It was 17 year old me. "The zone, huh. It's been a while since I came here."

The last time I was in the zone was when I was 17 and going up against Adam. 

"Last time I was here, it was because I was about to lose all my feelings for skating to be just like Adam." "That's right." "Then why am I here now?"

My past self smiled. "Nothing much. I just wanted to see you again. You seem to love skating a lot more than before." "Really?" 

I thought about everything that has happened so far. "Well, I was able to reunite with my old friends and started to care for these kids as they skated. I really love teaching and skating with them."

The other girl smiled. "That's nice. Well, I'll leave you to it." "Thank you." 

"No, thank you. Now go kick Ares' ass and Adam's ass. Oh and also finally tell him your feelings." I closed my eyes and smirked. "Of course."

When I opened my eyes, I passed the finish line. When I turned around, the man was not there yet. 

I stood at the finish line, tapping my foot on the ground and counting mentally in my head to see how long it would take for him to catch up.

Everyone standing there stood silently even after Ares pulled up. The man stopped right in front of me, out of breath. 

"500 000 yen please." I held out my head. Ares gave me a glare and signaled someone to give me my phone.

"Thank you!" I faked a smile at the man who handed me my money. I opened the suitcase to count the money just in case I might get less than the promised amount. "Nope, all 500 000 yen."

With that, I got my money and Ran and Rin also got their money and we walked out of the place with a shit ton of money. 

"We should blow all this money." "Ran, we are not going to the mall." "Give it to Koko, you owe him money, right?" "On second thought, let's just go home."

The next day, it was time for me to leave. "The past few days have been fun." Ran and Rin smiled as I pulled them into a hug. 

"It has." Once the hug was broken, I held onto my 2 luggages, mind you I only brought one. "Don't cause too much trouble once I leave."

I shot a look at Ran. "Oh come on!" "I'll keep an eye out for him, (F/N)-chan." "Thanks, Rin. Well then, I'll be off." 

I waved at them and started to walk into the airport. "(F/N)-CHAN!" I turned around to them, confused.

"Kick ass and kiss ass!" I widened my eyes in embarrassment. "You're so weird!" Once I checked in though, I texted our group chat. 

'I'll definitely kick Ainosuke's ass and I'll think about kissing Kojiro. Not like I didn't already.'

I ignored the chats as the brother started to blow up my phone. "Oh just you wait, Adam." When I arrived home, it was around 10 p.m. 

"I'm home." I heard a response this time, snoring. I walked to the living room to see father passed out on the couch.

"Sorry I left without any warning, father. I hope you can forgive me." 

Draping a blanket over him, I went into my room to get cleaned up and ready for 'S' tonight. I arrived at 'S' rather late tonight. I ran over to where the 1st group was getting ready. "Miya! Good luck, honey!"

The said boy looked over to me. "Mom!" I flashed him a smile and a thumbs up which he returned. 

I saw Adam looking at me but I quickly went to go look for the rest. "Joe, Cherry, Langa, Shadow." The group turned to me.

"Mona Lisa!" "Welcome back!" "How was your trip to Tokyo?" I smiled. "It was pleasant. Hope I didn't miss too much." 

"Nope, nothing happened while you were gone." Just then, the siren blared and the skaters were off. Adam took off first with Miya following.

I could tell Miya was surprised at the sheer gap between us. In the end, Adam came first and then Miya. Next up was Joe's and Langa's group. 

"You got this Langa." "Not gonna wish me good luck, Mona?" I look at the green haired male. "You're good enough as it is."

The man wrapped his arms around me and placed his head on my shoulder. "Come on, (F/N). A good luck from you won't hurt." 

I looked the other way. "Geez, good luck, Kojiro. Happy?" The man smiled and pecked my cheek. "Much better."

I felt glares coming my way but I couldn't care less. As the 2 walked away to go line up, Cherry walked up to me. 

"You seem different. Did something happen in Tokyo?" I looked up at the taller man. "No, not really. I just caught up with some friends." "Hm. If you say so, dear."

During Joe and Langa's race, the other people in the group were targeting Langa. I watched in horror as they tried to knock him down. 

"Langa!" When he was able to get out of their trap, I felt like I could breathe once again.

"Thank goodness." "This is boring." "The qualifiers are a farce. It's obvious who's gonna win." "And if you lose here, I'm gonna laugh at you." 

When it was time for Cherry and I's race, I started stretching.

"Carla, what was Adam's time?" "Exactly 4 minutes." "Are you really competing with his time?" "Of course." "Hmmmm." 

I closed my eyes. "Okay!" When the lights turned green, everyone started skating.

Since it was only qualifiers, I didn't take it seriously at all. I started near the back while Cherry was in the lead, leaving everyone in the dust. 

"Is Mona Lisa not trying at all?" "Maybe. I mean, it's just qualifiers." "Yeah, but if she fails, she's not gonna compete!"

Once I felt Cherry had passed the finish line, I quickly dropped my stance and started going faster than normal. 

"I don't even know why Cherry likes skating with calculations. It's all about..." I quickly held onto my board and used a nearby rock as a ramp to jump the race course.

"MONA LISA!" "THAT'S DANGEROUS!" I grinned once I landed and made it past the finish line. "Having fun and being crazy." 

The group ran up to me and started to shake my shoulders. "Are you crazy!?" "You could have gotten injured!" I started to laugh. "There's nothing to worry about."

Joe flicked my forehead. "Hey!" I held the sore spot. "That's for being reckless." He looked at me before grinning and wrapping his arms around me. 

"But that was awesome!" We started to laugh together before paying attention to the next game.

Shadow was in the lead when some random dude overtook him. "Who they hell is that?" "Reki?" 

As I looked closer to the man, I knew who it was. "No, that's not him." -No, not Reki... That's Tadashi.-

When Shadow tried to use his bombs on the man, he quickly used his board to hit the bombs right back at shadow. 

"He's registered under the name, Snake." 'Snake' was the first in his section to pass the finish line. "Carla, what's his time?" "3 minutes 58 seconds."

I widened my eyes. "Woah." "A new record!" "He beat Adam's time!" "How the hell is this guy!?" When no one was looking, I went to go talk to Tadashi. 

"Tadashi." The said male turned around and widened his eyes when he saw me. "(F/N)-chan." "There must be a particular reason why you joined the tournament, correct?"

The man stared at me before nodding. "Yeah, I want him to renounce skateboarding. But that's if I win." I smiled in contentment. 

"Well then, I wish you all the best, Tadashi. Good luck." The man gave me a small smile. "Thank you, (F/N)-chan. I wish you good luck as well."