August 31st, Friday, private residence 7:25 am Emma-Jean Kafu erupted out of her bed with a violent start, and tumbled out to fall on the floor-her alarm was in perfect working order, it seemed. Injured and droopy, she considered whether or not to sleep on the hard floor, risking deafness as she endured the alarm's drilling sound. Regrettably, she could barely keep her eyes open, and so climbed up to the small table in her room and slapped the machine with all her might, silencing it. The door opened not two seconds later, finally snapping her out of her blurry funk. She glared and spat acid at the intruder, but her emotions were wasted: it was May, dear beloved May, her adopted sister and one of the few people she could never be angry at. "Well, good morning, sunshine!" she exclaimed. Wiping strands of dark amber hair from her face, Emma-Jean muttered and forced herself to stand up. "Shut up, May. God, I have the weirdest sense of deja vu. What time is it?" "You should know, you set that alarm. C'mon, you don't wanna be late for your first day at school, do you?" "First day?" That's right, she was in college now. How could she forget something like that? But then Emma-Jean looked at her calendar and glared at her sister. It was last day of August, which meant she had been at school this semester for two weeks now. "You nut-bar, it's Friday! Tomorrow's the...crap!" "It's the what now?" May said. Combining willpower and stubborn fortitude, Emma-Jean vaulted out of the floor and dashed into the bathroom, wanting to get all the hot water before it was gone. May knocked on the door in an attempt to conclude their aborted conversation. "What were you saying now?" "Don't pretend you don't know, ding-dong! Tomorrow's that practice game! Zafe and all the others will be there!" "Practice game for what?" "You chowder-head, read my freakin' calendar! The soccer game! Anolis is going up against that new school- uhh, darn, I forgot which one!" "Carnegie," May suggested as she peeked at her sister's notes. "Yeah, that's the one! Hey, stop pretending you don't know!" May giggled and apologized. So, Anolis versus Carnegie, eh... And people dream dreams that transcend time Held in the arms of a still sea As they looked up at the birds and clouds It set their ephemeral souls on fire on a thousand mornings I bet they're taking flight to where the light is headed Now is the time to launch your dreams Off into the frontier that is carrying boundless dreams Farther and farther, dive in the sky "Meet the Competition" Leena asked for a congratulatory round of applause as Freya Hohenheim gently stepped onto the field, supported by her faithful duet. Everyone clapped as she smiled and thanked them for their support; they were happy to have their manager back and in good health (well, nearly all of them. Fleur rolled her eyes and only struck her palms together for show). "Sorry for worrying you all!" she exclaimed, waving in the air. "As you can see, I'm all right now. Luckily, I didn't slip into a coma or anything, and once I get some exercise, I'll feel ev- " "Oh no you don't!" Shiki exclaimed, guiding her mistress to the bench. "You only got released yesterday, and you weren't even able to walk until this morning! Do you want to put all your hard work to waste and collapse again?" "It's just a little stroll, Araya-chan," Freya muttered offensively. "Sierra never said I had to lay down all day doing nothing. Or do you want me to atrophy?" "No, milady, of course not! You're just not strong enough, that's all." "And how do you propose I become stronger? By resting?" "All right, you two, that's enough," Maria said, bringing them together and smiling. "The important thing is that our dear manager is fine and we can get back to the game." "Yes, that's absolutely right!" she exclaimed. "So tell me what's happened in my absence. I hope you haven't collapsed without me holding you up." "They managed," Leena chuckled. The team looked offended that Freya could think so poorly of them, even though they knew she was kidding. "I feel like we've gotten a lot better," Alice murmured. "Or most of us, anyway." "Have you been working very hard?" "We've tried," Fausta sighed. "But between work and school, it's been hard. Anolis may very well kick our asses tomorrow." "This from the woman who refused to back down from a challenge?" Fleur sang tartly. "You don't even have the right to complain seeing as you're still hobbling along." Fleur snorted and stomped her bad foot against the ground. "Hmph! For your information, I can walk quite sufficiently now. I just can't run, that's all." "So we're still down a player?" Freya said. Leena sighed. "It can't be helped. At least we have plenty of reserves, although I'm skittish about sending Essylt in. No offense, Essylt." "Of course not," she nodded. "But I'll do my best for Fleur's sake." She smiled eerily and waved at the vainglorious brunette, who rolled her eyes. "Still am having one more day before big next game," Nadia said. "After school now, plenty of time for having practice. Is like, what you say, stuffing big before test." "Cramming," Jennifer corrected. "Ugh, don't remind me about tests, either. I've got a big one on Monday." "Cramming's always worked for me before," Valencia said, clapping extra loud to rouse herself. "Let's just see where this takes us. I'm going to run a few laps and then practice catching. Kasumi, Felicity, don't hold back!" She winked at the former and jogged off, with several other girls following. Fausta sighed and massaged her face; Leena touched her shoulder empathetically. "You okay?" "We are getting better," she confessed, feeling slightly flustered in the presence of a woman she admired, "but we're still not good enough. I've seen Anolis in action once, and it was enough to draw concern." "You're forgetting that we're the underdog here," Arina said. "Anolis has a record of playing well only against teams it believes are their equals, particularly their rival Triskelion. I doubt they've even heard of us. Do you really believe they'll bring their A-game to an obscure field like ours?" Fausta lit up as she realized the team psychologist was right. "Wow, I never thought of it like that. If we put up the illusion that we're as mediocre as our reputation describes, they'll get sloppy. But don't forget that Julius Caesar feared Cassius, who 'had a lean and hungry look'." "Good point. It will be a very interesting match." "And that's all you've got to offer," she sighed. Fausta then snorted and smiled at Leena in defeat. "I guess I should quit my bitching and get to it." "Couldn't hurt," she smiled. After everyone circled the field a few times, they assumed their positions and began their drills. Shannon immediately suggested that she and Fausta help Valencia with her task, since it would bring more variety with the shots. Durante thought it was a great idea and asked that they revolve one after the other, each one making a shot she would likely use in a real situation. "Pretty lady needz help with something too?" Nadia offered. Elisa nodded shyly and asked for help with driving the ball down the field. Freya threw them one from the cage and the two girls batted the ball back and forth between them as they traveled towards the other goal, where Lauren was doing pull-ups. She cheered for them and let the ball sail by. "You two look totally sexy out there, I mean it. Here, see if Valencia's ready for ya." They drove it back to their own goal and shot the ball before Durante could react. However, she obeyed her instincts and jumped after it, catching it on her arms. "Wonderful!" Terra exclaimed. "You're really getting better!" "But I'm still getting wiped out too soon," Val said, breathing hard as she threw the ball back. She called time and asked for a towel and some water. Meanwhile, Arina and Alice ran laps together, and they encouraged Amy to join them. "We'll bring all the A's together and confuse people," Essylt giggled. Amy didn't catch on for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes. She preferred practicing by herself and didn't pay much mind to anyone else until Leena called her out. "Nguyen, is there a problem? This isn't foosball. Pair up with someone and run through the drills. Here- go with Ofdensen. She looks lonely." "Thanks, Coach!" Lauren called. She grinned at Amy but didn't get quite the reaction she was hoping for. "So, uh, whaddya have in mind? I mean, you could try kicking and I could try catching if you want." "S-sure." Leena sent Jennifer to join them, and with Fleur walking around retrieving stray balls with Freya, everyone was doing something to keep herself occupied. Leena made sure that everyone ran through at least four different drills before the end of the day: she didn't want them neglecting anything. They were all weary when she blew the whistle and dismissed them, asking them to show up at the field tomorrow morning at 6:30 as they had for their first practice game. "So make sure you get plenty of rest beforehand. Remember to keep to your diets, also! I don't want anybody drinking anything but water or milk until the practice games are over! That includes sports drinks: I don't trust them." "Blech, milk," Nadia grimaced. "You mean we can't even have tea? Or juice?" Jen wailed. "No caffeine. Hot green tea is fine. Juice is okay, too, so long as it doesn't have unnatural sugars. Keep everyone accountable, and good practice today! Make me proud tomorrow, team." Fausta gave Leena a fairly confident nod, even though she still had her doubts about the team's abilities. No matter how anybody else played tomorrow, she would give it everything she got. Somehow she would redeem herself, even if she was the only one that knew it. - Felicity Velur, Hobbies: watching "House", collecting iPod songs; forward- Shannon Threal made an exception today and showered with the others, but only enough to wash off her sweat, and only because she had work later. The deli she worked at would be rough today: not only because it was a Friday and closing in on dinnertime, but because the rumor mill was saying that the team from Anolis University would be coming into town today, and with them, more devoted fans and followers than you could count. No doubt some of the others would be inundated as well; it would be difficult getting off work early. "I'm heah," she said to her manager, a tall wiry man with hard eyes and dark stubble. He grinned sickly and, instead of barking at her, pointed at everything he expected her to handle for the day. Here, take this order; we need that lettuce chopped up; the grill needs cleaning; ask Barney to take his break; put the cash drawer in the vault; fill up the soda syrup. He was deathly quiet, and therefore, the best manager you could ask for. It wasn't a glamorous job and the pay was debatable, but it kept her busy, she could wear fairly nice clothes, and she could have as many free lunches and leftovers as she could handle. Like anyone who works at a place long enough, Shannon had her familiar customers she recognized and even a few she could address by name. Jennifer paid her a visit and hung around to chat and eat, and Elisa came by as well (with Nadia in tow), offering a sweet smile. She even spotted Kathlyn coming by to get lunch for two. "Prr Gardnna," Jen mumbled between bites. "Uff we- scuse' me- keep this up, she'll be out of business. Maybe we should make this our new hangout spot instead." "I didn't know we had one, officially," Elisa replied. "Try some othah place," Shannon said snappishly. "I don't want all yah lesbo-cooties in my place. It's bad enough we sheah the same field and showah room." "You are not to liking us?" Nadia whimpered. Shannon grunted and thrust her lunch into her arms. "I ain't comf'table with it, is all. Most of ya seem like okay people, with a few glarin' exceptions." "I'm not a lesbian," Jen defended. "Terra's not either, I don't think." "I don't see how you'd know," Elisa said. She excused herself suddenly and stepped aside: a handful of other girls were streaming towards the counter. Nadia waved at them: she loved messing with strangers' minds by acting friendly to them. "So what's good here?" said the one at the front of the line. She peered at the menu closely, juggling with the myriad of possibilities. "Please tell me you've got a vegetarian meal. Meat makes me so sick." "Beef iz bad," Nadia agreed. The woman had a vivid handmade tunic on with colors of red, blue, white, gold, and green stitched into the fabric, woven as tiny lozenges that ultimately created the image of a motherly sun embracing a silent, expressionless Earth. She also had a headband, moccasins, and a long skirt, all made by her hands, all pointing to her affinity with the earth. "We just got a meatless menu, ovah there," Shannon pointed. Since we all know that "vegetarian" usually doesn't mean "salads only", the menu offered a creative variety of dishes that were surprisingly popular: mushroom lasagna, curry rice, grilled cheese and tomato soup, various flavors of ramen, sushi, and Greek pizza, just to name a few. "Oh wow, you guys are on the ball! That's pretty metropolitan for an out-of-the-way burg like this. Uh, Voirrey, what do you want?" "I'll be happy splitting whatever you get," answered the woman directly behind her. She was dressed like a girl fresh out of Wall Street, black blouse and hosiery, a womanly tie and designer perfume. The two girls couldn't be more opposite and yet they seemed inseparable. "Cheapskate," snorted Nature girl. "That's another one you owe me. Well, I know how you hate olives, so I'll have two slices of Greek pizza!" "Ass," Voirrey murmured. "Comin' right up," Shannon smiled, amused by their bickering. She cooked half the orders and rang up the other half according to her schedule, but for a few hectic minutes every day, she did both. "What's the holdup, you two?" she heard an antsy voice say. Shannon hated impatient customers and couldn't help feeling angered: she was only one person, after all, and the line was growing dangerously long. "Why can't you two ever agree on something as simple as food?" "Different people have different tastes, Ash," Nature Girl retorted. "You're certainly one to talk about disagreeing," Voirrey added. Ash pouted. "Sonata and I have very similar tastes, I'll have you know. Oh crap, there's only one person working there!" "Yeah, for a few minutes," Shannon called. "I gotta handle both fronts for awhile since there's a gap between coworkers." "Sorry I sounded impatient! Now why did you two have to go and ask for something complicated like Gree- " "Two slices," Shannon said, presenting them in individual boxes. Voirrey's companion paid for them and stuck her tongue out; Voirrey left a tip for Shannon's troubles. "Maybe should all be coming to Lily for meal," Nadia remarked as she saw the line increasing. Shannon's coworker (along with her manager) was nowhere in sight and the poor woman was rushing just to keep up with demand. This was not a job for wimps and Shannon had to continuously demonstrate how tough she was. She barely spoke, unless to yell about "being swamped", and was always on the move. "What's Lily?" Nature Girl asked. Nadia explained the basic concept of the Lily Club, and she lit up with a grin. "Wow, cool, yeah! Wish we knew about that before! Rey and I just stopped ay the first place we could find! We don't know our way around very well." "Are you new to town?" Elisa said. They all were, she replied: Voirrey, Ashandra (one called her Ash), Sonata, and herself, little Paola. "A lot of us came here to watch the game," she explained. "And there's more than our little group. I think...uh, Tamarit and Reekau are in the line, somewhere. I know they followed us here- uh, yep, there's Tam now. She sees us. Hi! And you know that if Reekau's here, those girlfriends of his aren't far behind." "Erase the plural!" screamed a young lady near the head of the line. The crowd turned to glance at her and she shrank under their collective stares. "That would be Emma-Jean," Sonata said. "I should correct myself: she's just a friend who happens to be a girl. But it's much more fun to tease her about it." "Is it really," Ashandra wondered. A beautiful, tomboyish woman was now at the head of the line, paying for two meals. She volunteered to help Shannon, and though she wasn't an employee, Threal was in no position to object. "Thanks!" she exclaimed, wiping her face with a hand cloth. "My asshole of a coworker's late, as always! He always manages to sneak in once the crowd's thinned out! I'm Shannon, by the way." "Lothella," she smiled. Emma-Jean pointed at her as she donned an apron. "There she goes again, acting all girly! I swear, she's always losing her head like this! One day it'll just roll off, mark my words!" "Hi, honey!" Lothella waved, smiling gaily. Emma-Jean waved in an embarrassed manner. Nadia peered at the young woman closely, as if the two knew each other, but were separated by a great distance and the memory was difficult to grasp. "Have I been...seeing you elsewhere?" she asked. "No, I don't think so." "I know you have been familiar. Iz like looking at person I knew." "Well, I've only met three people with Russian accents, and they were either guys or really old people...but you do seem kind of familiar, I'll give you that." "So which side are you all rooting for?" Elisa asked. The girls glanced at one another warily. "That's sort of...difficult to say. We're all here to watch Anolis- " "It's just that we have different reasons," Sonata said mysteriously. Paola nodded. "Yeah. Some of us are from Anolis, and some...well, they're sort of our enemies." "Enemies?!" All the girls from Carnegie and half of the newcomers squealed; they were equally surprised by this statement. "I think you mean your rivals, honey," Voirrey corrected. She smiled slyly and slapped Paola on the rear. "I know it sounds a little cliché, but Paola and I are lovers who happen to be on rival teams." "Ah, sorta like Romeo and Juliet," Shannon exclaimed. "Uh, something like that. Ash and Sonata are in the same boat. Actually, a lot of people from Anolis and Triskelion are a couple." "Not us!" Emma-Jean exclaimed proudly. She looked over at Lothella, who was humming merrily and looking perfectly at ease in the kitchen. She groaned. "God, could she be any more femme?! And you call yourself a lesbian!" "What can I say, I despise being conventional!" she chirped. Jennifer laughed; she was starting to like these people, even though they would be cheering for her rivals. "Maybe we could give you guys a tour of the campus while you're here. Is this everyone that's in your group?" "Oh no, we came in droves," Ash replied. "This may be a practice game, but we love our teams and we support them no matter where we go. Besides, some of us are...friends of the players." "I think it's sweet that you came all this way to cheer for them!" Jen exclaimed. Ash coughed. "Uh, yeah. There's also people from Triskelion, of course, here to see how Anolis plays, as well as tailgaters like Emma-Jean and Sister Kanagawa who mooched a ride." "With my girlfriend," Emma-Jean reminded them. "Oh, cool. I don't think Carnegie will get that kind of following for awhile." "It's still a young school," Sonata said. "Things like this take awhile to catch on. Here, let's see what kind of delicacy the 'Headless horsewoman' made for us." Lothella took deep offense to that and wailed. "Guys, seriously, quit using that name! It's just a coincidence!" Sonata grinned as everyone took their meals and sat down. Lothella was finally relieved as Shannon's partner arrived, and of course, he didn't receive so much as a glare from the manager. "So what about you all?" Paola said as Voirrey picked off the olives from her pizza. "Are you Carnegie regulars or just roadies with nothing better to do?" "No, we're students," Jen said. "We've really been looking forward to this game." "Why? It's just for practice. You'll have plenty of those." "Apparently the Chairman of our board of directors made a wager with the Dean," Elisa said. "He proposed that the team plays three practice games to justify their existence here, and if they can't win two, they have to be disbanded." "That's bull crap!" Paola snorted. "What kind of ass does this guy think he is?" "Mr. Fitzgerald was against team from beginning, or so people have been saying," Nadia told her. "School had surplus budget and wanted money for extra...extra...um, sorry, very big word." "Extracurricular," Jen said. "Yes, right, bingo! So many people say what they want to use surplus for, and Miss Rosewood says she will have the football team. They voted for hers instead of Mr. Fitzgerald's music hall." "Couldn't they have both?" "The budget was only big enough for one," Jen answered. "Oh. Well, can't this Fitzgerald guy just do a fundraiser and get the money himself?" "Obviously not, or he wouldn't be using his energies to get rid of us," Elisa said. "Makes sense," Paola relented. "How many of these games has Carnegie won so far?" "One out of three. This next one could make or break us." "Oh," she grimaced. "Oh, gosh. Well, shoot. I really hope they make it. I mean, I'll still be rooting for my friends, but...yeah, I'll be cheering for you guys, too, for what it's worth. Something like that shouldn't happen. You shouldn't have to hinge your entire career on just one game. It's stupid." "Most of us thought the same," Jen said. She then nodded to Shannon and added, "But some of us understood why it was necessary for our development. We'd never improve quickly enough if we were told to 'take our time and get used to it gradually'." "Sounding like Arina!" Nadia grinned. Jen chuckled as she drank her water. "Yeah, I do, don't I? So about that tour." "You don't have to bother," Sonata assured them. "We won't be staying here very long anyway." - Nadia Khovansky, Hobbies: drawing, making friends; defensive midfielder- Amy Nguyen's soccer training may have been over, but she still had a martial arts class to attend, and as usual, Terra was coming with her. She brought Fausta along to fulfill a "certain promise", and Fleur decided to tag along as well, since she heard there was a jogging track and she wanted to exercise her foot. "Y-you sh-sh-shouldn't p-press yours-self," Amy murmured. "I should," she replied stiffly. "It needs movement. There's no...way I'll be able to make it for tomorrow, but if we lose, I don't want to sit on the sidelines twice. Besides, it's out of its cast, see?" "It's your body," Fausta muttered. The gi she wore was very comfortable but not all that stylish; she had wanted something a little closer to her own tastes. Terra decided not to admonish her as she started warming up; Amy stretched alone while Fleur started pacing. "Come over here and join us, Amy," Terra offered, smiling gently. "Fausta and I won't bite." "Let her do as she will." "Is that your answer to everything?" she muttered. Fausta grunted as she revolved her right shoulder. Even after all this time healing, it still hurt to move... "I just don't think it's polite to interfere in people's business. So will you be teaching me, or do we have an instructor?" "I can teach you if you like. I'm not like a master or anything..." "I suppose it'll be good enough," she sighed, rotating her good arm. Terra snorted at her. God, what a bitch! Why does she act like that, even at work? Does she think she owns the world or something? "Something wrong?" "Huh? Nah. What would you like to work on first?" "My legs," said Fausta. "And don't do anything that will put strain on this arm." "Right, so no grappling or flips, I take it." Fausta gave her an even stare which, hidden behind, held an inferno of impatience. "Obviously." Bona fide asshole, she sighed as she demonstrated some basic moves. Still, she's really tough, and amazingly tenacious. And...yeah, drop-dead gorgeous, too. Hell, she even smells nice! Tsk...damn it, why is she wearing perfume to a dojo? "You sure nothing's wrong? You're making faces." "These are difficult moves to pull off," she covered. "Let's see you try them and not wince." "Did you just talk back to me?" she said sharply. Terra turned red, but Fausta laughed. "And here I thought you were just a quiet little dork like Granveldt. So tell me something about yourself." Holy Buddha in Nirvana, did I just...break the ice with her? Is that all it really takes? "Watch it, you oaf!" Terra's revelation was broken as Fleur nearly fell over, stumbling against the mat and catching herself in Amy's clutches. Another student had crashed into her after being shoved away from a match. "Sorry there," he laughed, offering a kind hand. "We got carried away. Are you two all right?" Amy nodded stiffly, but Fleur, safely caught in her arms, was shaking and perspiring. Her face was pale, and her eyes burned. "It hurts," she said hoarsely, clinging to Amy like a child. "God damn it all, it hurts like Hell. You made it worse. Don't just stand there, call an ambulance." "Oh no, did I really hurt you?" Fleur kicked the poor man in the face when he bent down to check, but this caused her to howl loud enough to jar everyone in the dojo. She had stumbled in a way that strained her bad foot, twisting it and putting a great deal of pressure on it very suddenly. The dojo's medic cleared a path and examined it, tenderly removing Fleur's shoe and stocking. He sighed with relief as he noticed the bruise. "It's not too bad. The pain will wear off soon. How long have you had this?" "Almost a week," she grumbled, too awash with pain to snap or shout. The medic whistled. "Your recovery is incredible. Most sprained ankles take twice as long to look this good." "Happy days. It feels like my bone broke through skin," Fleur cursed, gnashing her teeth. The medic smiled faintly. "You're perfectly fine, miss. Just take some Advil and rest easy. You're actually rather fortunate! If Miss Nguyen hadn't caught you, we would have called that ambulance." Fleur nodded weakly, an animal too injured to fight back. "Thanks. You already got your hug, so don't expect anything else. Let me sit down. Ow- SHIT!!!" "So she's not in any danger?" the young man said. The medic shook his head. "She should be perfectly fine early next week, at the rate her wound is going. You'd think a woman that frail-looking would be hurt worse." "It amazes us too, sir," Fausta said. Amy laid Fleur down on a bench and offered to get her something, for which she sighed stuffily. "Just get some damned Tylenol, an ice pack, and a glass of water. I'm fine." "Are y-you s-s-sure?" Fleur nodded furiously and Amy was on her way. The young man visited her to apologize, but a single glare sent him scampering. "I really didn't mean to," he muttered, scratching his hair. He was a good-looking sweet young man, maybe a little too thin, but in great shape. He had his shirt off and his skin was glistening; Terra almost had a nosebleed when she first saw him, and even Fausta was impressed. He walked over to them with his student in tow, bowing apologetically. "I'm real sorry about your friend. We didn't mean to get carried away. I was just caught off guard, and she's getting stronger." "No long-term harm done," Fausta said. "So are you two regulars?" the girl asked. "We're sort of new, so I guess we're not used to the place." "This one's the only veteran," Nazario said as she pointed to Terra. "Her and the girl who caught our little princess." "Oh, cool. I'm Dorian and this is Amika. We're visiting the area with our friends and thought we'd take a look around. I, uh, hope you don't mind us crashing your dojo." "Not at all," Terra smiled. She introduced herself, Fausta, Amy, and Fleur. It turned out that Dorian was a fairly accomplished martial artist, and Amika was his friend and student. They both came to watch Anolis's practice game, along with a much larger group of friends. Nobody had the heart to tell them that they were on Carnegie's team; they felt it would ruin the newfound friendship. They practiced and chatted together, though Amika and Amy stayed out of most of the conversation, naturally gravitating towards exercise or else Fleur's needs. "She's a wonderful gymnast," Dorian remarked fondly. "One day she'll be better than me." "Is she your girlfriend?" "Nah," he laughed humbly, "just a good friend. She's got someone and so do I." Rats, Terra grumbled. "So what do you guys do for fun?" "I like video games and anime whenever I'm not at the dojo." "I prefer real art, like opera and Thin Man films, as well as fashion and history." "Cool. And those two?" "They're not very...interactive," Fausta murmured. "As far as I can tell, though, Amy's a nice girl, just not comfortable around people." "I've been there," he said somberly. "And...uh, Fleur, was it? What about her?" Fausta chuckled. "I wouldn't go so far as to say she deserved that, but..." "Come on now, it can't be that bad! Miss Amy seems to like her." "She's just taking care of her. That was no lover's embrace you saw earlier. Come to think of it, I don't believe Fleur loves anybody, not even herself." "What about you?" Amika said. Fausta gave her a solemn, romantic smile. "Well...hmm, that's hard to say. It's not easy to get on my good side, but a few people here and there have figured out the trick. I guess you could say I only like people who have a definite goal in mind, and put forth all their energies into reaching it- and once they do, they work hard to keep it. People of great passion and intensity." "Like yourself, in other words," Terra pointed out. Fausta shrugged. "There's nothing wrong in finding comfort in familiar territory." "So you two are basically like fire and ice," Dorian said, meaning Fausta and Fleur. She raised an eyebrow. "That's...one interpretation. But even an Ice Queen has a few redeemable traits. Fleur...I'm not so sure of." Luckily, Miss Lacroix could not overhear their conversation: she was more concerned with her foot. Amy was giving up a lot of her time in caring for her, and she was actually a pretty decent nurse. Fleur was like an animal now, and Amy was good with animals. "Any b-better?" she whispered. "Yes, it's feeling fine now," she replied. "The pills helped. You know, you're not so bad at this. Had any experience with broken ankles before?" "Mm-hmm, m-m-mostly on d-dogs and cats." "Oh? A karate veterinarian, eh?" "It k-k-keeps me f-focused...and I alw-ways liked anim-m-mals." "It shows," she replied courteously. "Of course, now I'm definitely out of the game. Won't Leena be disappointed." Amy didn't catch the sarcasm and nodded. "Mm-hmm, it'll b-be difficult on Al-lice and Ar-r-rina. B-but you'll g-get well s-s-soon." Fleur smiled flatly, and decided to put Amy in the "people I don't dislike" category, which had a very sparse population and was normally difficult to get into. - Lauren Ofdensen, Hobbies: baseball, Adult Swim, Utena; goalie/reserve- Lauren was starting to wish her work schedule was a little more consistent. She hadn't bothered to shower in anticipation of spending several hours immersed in automobile humours, and instead, she was asked to be the receptionist for the day. So now here she was, a little smelly and a little dirty- not to mention a little bored- wishing she had known about this earlier. But her day wasn't completely without its perks. Jackie brought in some Krispy Kreme and gave her the crullers; she got to read, study, and watch TV so long as she didn't have a customer; and best of all, she got to look at all the pretty faces that came her way. The one that surprised her the most was Felicity's. "Hey!" she grinned. "Fancy running into you here, huh?" "Yeah, how coincidental I should meet a maintenance technician in a mechanic's." "That's not what I meant, dipweed. So what's an upscale babe like you doing in a dump like this?" "Just a standard checkup. I do it every six months whether it needs it or not." Lauren humbly shirked and shook her head. "Well, I'm not a gynecologist, but I'll see what I can do..." "My car, Lauren! I just need some people to look at my car!!" "Relax, Felicia," she sang. "I'm just shittin' with ya. God! So what's the make and model?" "A 2012 Honda Acura, cobalt blue. There's nothing inherently wrong with it; I just like making sure of that." "Hmm, you take good care of your vehicle. Come on over here and fill out the paperwork. So whaddya think about the game, huh? Are we gonna win or what?" "I don't know," she murmured. Lauren made a meaningless gesture and leaned forward. Felicity had an enchanting scent that hinted at her upper-class status, something Lauren could never approach. In fact, the only way they were able to interact was due to the game. But that sort of thing never mattered to her: she hated the idea of a "social barrier" and thrived to leap over that wall as often as possible. "So you wanna hang out sometime? Not like a date, I mean, unless that's your thing. Just chill together." "No thanks. There, finished." Lauren wearily glanced at the document and pointed to a chair. "Why don't you park your kiester and chat? It's lonely and boring here." "I have other things to do." "So...what, you gonna walk there?" she snorted. "It'll take at least an hour for us to look it over- more if we find something wrong. Come on, sit down, relax! Tell me something about yourself." "No thanks. I don't live very far anyway." "Shit, girl, what's your hurry? You don't got work, unless you changed your schedule around, and it's too early to sleep. There's a Fazoli's nearby if you want supper, and if it's me, just come on out and say it. You got a hot date?" "No, I'm just busy." Lauren rolled her eyes and decided to give up. If Felicity was going to be that way, fine. "All right, god! I'm only trying to be nice here. I may not care about the game, but you all seem okay. I guess I'll stay outta your way from now on. God!" Felicity turned around to leave, but had to wait for two more people to come through the door. Lauren's failure put her in a bad mood, and not even two pretty faces could cure her at once. She tried, though, bless her. "Hi, sorry to bother you. We're from out of state and our car's sort of in disrepair from the journey. Do you think you could, uh...see what's wrong with it?" "Sure, no prob. You're not in any hurry, are you?" "Uh, no. We're here for the soccer game." "Oh? Which one?" "Carnegie and Anolis." "No way!" Lauren grinned (abstaining from casual foul language in front of strangers). "You hear that, Felicity? We finally got fans!" "They're probably here for Anolis." She smiled dryly at them. They were older women- not quite Leena's age, but certainly close. "Are you alums?" "We actually work for the university," said the eldest. According to the paperwork they filled out, her name was Zafe; her companion was Salin, and since the two were not relatives, Lauren thought...well, it wasn't anything entirely wholesome, I can guarantee that. "We're sort of bound by employee standards to attend." "You mean you have to go?" "Uh, more or less," Zafe smiled. "Are you two students?" "Yes. We're sort of obliged to attend as well." "Ah. Has Carnegie been around very long? I've never even heard of it, let alone it had a team." "It's a real small school, and it's pretty new," Lauren said. "I think they've only been around for three years, but they teach a whole bunch of unique classes. The team actually got started early this month." "They're that new?" Salin said. "Why in the world is a beginner team being asked to practice with us? It doesn't sound fair." "I know what you mean, lady. Our esteemed Chairman made the call. He made some retarded bet with the Dean. Nothing good can come from it." "Maybe we should have words with this man," Salin murmured. Lauren could already tell that these were good people, not like her. They were looking out for the team and cared more for its well-being than she did. She decided to slip them an employee discount. "The game's today, and they can't back out now," Felicity reasoned. "Yes, but- don't take this the wrong way- it's a bad idea to send an inexperienced team against Anolis. There's nothing sporting about it." "The Chairman did it on purpose," Lauren grumbled. "He doesn't want us to win." "And your Headmaster agreed?" "Apparently she thought it would be good for us to play a challenging team." "A challenge I can understand, but..." Zafe cut herself off before she could say anything rude, not that it bothered Lauren or Felicity. One was used to more cutting barbs; the other barely cared at all. "Anyway, thanks for listening to our opinions." "No, thank you for humoring us," Lauren grinned. "You seem like pretty cool people. It's too bad our two schools have to be enemies right now." "Yes," Salin proclaimed dramatically, "if only we had met under different circumstances, we could have been friends!!" She laughed and asked their names. Lauren then eyed Felicity suspiciously: she had stuck around long after saying she would leave. "I thought you were busy, Felicia. What happened to that?" "I...I just got distracted," she muttered, gathering her belongings and trying to hide her red face. She desperately yearned for human contact but couldn't afford any distractions now, not before the big game. Practice or not, it mattered to her: she was determined to prove herself even if she had to be cut away from all humanity. Lauren shouted that she would call Felicity about her car, then sighed and turned her focus to Zafe and Salin. "You two wanna hang out with me? I'm so bored, I'm about ready to read the store magazines." "How much time did you say it'd take?" Lauren shrugged. "Usually about an hour to figure out what's wrong. After that, who knows." "I saw a Fazoli's not too far away," Salin said. "I could grab some lunch and we could eat it here." "Aw, sweet! You'd seriously do that?" The older woman smiled and Lauren clapped for joy. Zafe smiled warmly as she got their orders and left. Lauren was still stricken and shook her head in amazement. It took a lot to impress her. "Dude, I gotta say, that's one awesome lady. Please tell me she's single." "Sorry," Zafe laughed. "But she's with a good person- and me too, before you get any ideas." "Hey, a girl's gotta try, right?" - Terra Tu, Hobbies: comics, anime, RPGs, Tae Kwon Do; left back- After taking a few extra hours to rest and prepare themselves, Carnegie's fledgling soccer team returned to their "holy ground" for one last pep talk from the Coach. Nerves were frayed, stomachs churned, pulses soared, palms perspired, and prayers were muttered. Unlike Laudendale, which had been an equal match for them, Anolis played at the national level and was reputed to be one of the best. Even veterans like Shannon, Fausta, Felicity, and Kasumi understood their talent, and if they weren't certain of their victory... "Come on, everyone, there's no reason for us to give up now!" Maria and Shiki were standing before them in lieu of their mistress, who was still more or less bound to a wheelchair. "We may be up against a superior opponent, but that's no excuse to play sloppy! Give them an inch and they'll walk all over us!" "Our best bet would be to take advantage of their assumptions toward us," Arina murmured thoughtfully. "From what I've gathered, Anolis believes we're inferior and inexperienced. If we can blitz them in the opening minutes, we'll have an excellent chance to score, but we have to play like we mean it. After that, it's a matter of attrition." "And our ability to catch their power drives," Valencia said, nervously ribbing Lauren. "I know you'll all do fine," Leena said. "You may be inexperienced, but you still have your strengths. Just don't get carried away and think the fate of the world rests on this match. We still have one game left if we don't do well, so let's not beat ourselves up." "Too bad I can't help," Fleur sighed, sounding anything but remorseful. Amy still gave her the benefit of the doubt, even if nobody else did. "Y-you'll get b-better s-s-soon. J-just take care of th-th-that f-foot. W-wish us l-l-luck." "Good luck," she said dismissively. The team took a deep collective breath and walked out of the locker room, but Fleur clung onto Amy's arm and pulled her back. She kissed her quickly on the mouth and smirked. "Extra luck for you." "Th...thanks," Amy whispered. She felt like her whole body had turned red as she followed her teammates. Maria and Shiki helped carry Fleur to the bench, where she was asked to help Kathlyn with staff duties. The team saw two remarkable sights awaiting them on the field. One was Freya, beautiful and golden, gingerly standing out of her wheelchair and waving a Carnegie pennant. The other was their opponents. "I don't believe it," Jen whispered. "Sonuva bitch," Shannon hissed. "Aw, shit," Kasumi groaned. "This certainly complicates things," Fausta murmured. Tamarit, Ashandra, Voirrey, Lothella, and Amika were stretching on the field as Zafe and Salin gave them some final directions. "They're on the team?!" Elisa squealed. "They're on the team?!" Dorian gawked. "What a revolting development," Lauren sighed.
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