Chapter Text
Daiwa Scarlet
Vodka always envied her, aside from the annoyance she felt from her absurd confidence, her “better than you” attitude. It irritated her to no end, especially since she was forced to share a room with her.
Oka Sho and Shuka Sho were almost her breaking point.
The crushing defeat of losing against her rival, wanting to finally prove that she was better, had gotten to her. Health concerns pulled her from the upcoming Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
“That was supposed to be my break.”
Being forced into “taking it easy”, reduced to only going to class and daily stretches, that thought was the only thing repeating in her mind.
“...-ke up! Hey!”
Vodka felt she was going insane. Her roommate was right up in her face. “What a sight to wake up to…”, she thought, feeling her ears twitch at the grating voice.
“Calm down, I’m up” she responded groggily after being, very rudely, shaken awake by Scarlet, forced to return to the fact she’s still not able to do anything. “Get out of my face, I can’t breathe”, Vodka complained, pushing her away while rising from her covers.
Getting the message, Scarlet turned on her heels, a bit offended by Vodka’s words, already in her tracksuit and heading for the door.
She stopped at the handle. “Trainer wanted me to tell you that you’ve got another appointment today, don't miss it.”
With that, the door clicked, and Vodka was alone again. “I hate this…” she thought, turning to freshen herself up before noticing an omelette and a bowl of rice on her desk, with a note next to it.
“You missed breakfast again, I saved some for you. Stop sleeping in so late!!”
Guilt crept up on her spine as she saw the time, and today’s date.
9 AM
November 4th, 20XX
Seven days before the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
“Scarlet sure is busy, huh…”
The smell of disinfectant in the air made her head spin.
“Vodka, we’re going to have you wait it out a bit longer. There are concerns for a fracture if you keep up your usual training and overexerting yourself during races.”
She was dizzy, staying silent, her throat tight and eyes burning. Not now, not now..!
“Thank you, doctor” was all she managed to creak out, trying to control the shake in her voice. The rest of the appointment was a blur, her vision fading out every detail of the white office and fluorescent lights. She let the team’s trainer ask the questions for her, obvious worry in his voice as he spoke with the doctor about how much she can do, the precautions she has to take…
“Man, I could really go for some reps at the gym…”
Vodka let her hair fall to her eyes, closing them and imagining she was literally anywhere else.
She was pulled out of her daydreaming by her trainer, careful hand on her shoulder, announcing they could leave. She decided to skip the car ride to the school, lying through gritted teeth that it’ll just be a bit of light jogging back to Tracen Academy. Somehow, her trainer fell for it.
Vodka took off the second his car left her vision, in a sprint to be anywhere except the hospital’s entrance. The wind pushing her hair and ears back was exhilarating, it reminded her what she truly lived for, for the freedom that came with running.
Finally smiling since her losing her Triple Tiara title after the Oka Sho, she ignored how tight her knees felt, tendons stinging every step. Imagining the bright sky and glowing green grass in front of her, a finish line just in her sights, she felt herself collide with something, someone. The rough, forced stop, taking her out of it for a couple moments.
“Aaghh, what the fuck?!” Vodka exclaimed, clutching her head, eyes shut tightly as her ears rang a little. “Hey! Watch where you're go-...ing”
“Of course it’s her, of course I had to run into Scarlet!” she berated herself after seeing who she hit.
“...Vodka?! What do you think you're doing?! That was way too fast!” Scarlet berated her, while Vodka looked down to cover her very clear embarrassment of the situation. “What the hell is up with me today?” she thought, kicking herself further down the hole she dug for herself.
Vodka felt Scarlet’s eyes burn her skin, looking away from her direction, the brunette didn’t notice that the other already got up, an extended hand to help her rise from her feet.
“Scarlet’s gonna be pissed, huh” thought Vodka as she grit her, apparently scraped, hands on the concrete, getting up with a slight wobble. Scarlet’s hand, placed firmly on her waist, caught her from another slip.
There was an odd silence between the two, broken by a yelp and writhe from Vodka to escape Scarlet’s grasp. A flurry of apologies and “I’m fine”s escaped her mouth as she felt her face and ears warm up.
Scarlet let her go, seeing the stress on her roommate's face, although Vodka’s desperation to get away from her seemed to contort her expression to one of hurt.
“Come on, Vodka. It’s way past the program, and curfew is soon. Let’s go back before Kiseki scolds us again for messing around.”
“Uh.. yeah, yeah… let’s go.”
Vodka’s eyes were glued to the ground the entire walk back to their building. She looked up for a second, catching a glimpse of Scarlet’s expression. “Ah man, I really am the worst, aren’t I?”
Arriving at their dorm, they both settle into their usual routines. Scarlet washes up and Vodka does some abdomen and leg exercises, too tired to pull out her dumbbells after the bad news from the doctor assigned to her case.
“Scarlet! Get out of the shower, you always take so long in it! Stop singing already!”
“Shut up! I’m almost done here!”
Vodka’s mind wanders as she's doing her set of crunches. Usually, their evenings were filled with bickering like that, but aside from her own shuffling on the floor and breaths, it was dead quiet.
The door creaking open startles her, and she can’t help looking in Scarlet’s direction with a flinch. Usually Vodka paid no mind to Scarlet getting out in just a towel, she usually forgot to grab her lounge clothes when going in anyways, but this time she let her eyes wander a bit around her form, how her undone, long hair stuck to her shoulders and chest under her towel. “She’s really beautiful, huh…”
“It’s free, Vodka.” announced Scarlet, snapping the other out of her trance.
“Oh, yeah, right. Thanks.”
Vodka kept her head down again, grabbing her things and rushing to the shared bathroom, their shoulders touching as Vodka basically ran in.
“What’s the actual fuck is up with me today?!”