[SFW, Rivalry]
There were very few things in life that young Rei Murata could complain about. Especially after she had discovered her true self thanks to her dear Albert. Well, it was more like she helped him out of a slump, and then he helped her discover who she really wanted to be. But the details of that could really just be called semantics. The important thing was that they loved one another, and that they would do anything for one another.
Unfortunately for her, that meant that a certain somebody had her in her sights. A vengeful little girl who wanted nothing more than to keep her brother all to herself. And that meant that she had to eliminate those that stood in her way. Especially if they hadn’t earned her respect yet.
Alice Grimwald. Sister to Albert Grimwald, and the worst girl in the entire school. You wouldn’t know it from just looking at her, but she would carry a grudge if she as much as caught wind of you getting positively involved with her brother. And if she found out that you kissed him, then your ass was grass, plain and simple.
So, now that she knew everything about dear Murata, it was time for her to deal with her presence in her life. And the issue there… Was that she had inadvertently spurred her into the arms of her brother. In fact, if she hadn’t stolen the girl that her brother originally loved, none of this would happen.
However! Hindsight was 20/20, so what if she had screwed herself over? What was important was the present. And the present told her to deal with the nuisance, the thorn in her side, before it was too late. But how could she do it? If she went straight for the throat, Albert would never forgive her…
...The pink-haired menace had a devious idea, and thus a plan of equal deviancy was born. One that relied on two unlikely individuals…
---
“...A-Alice? What are you doing here?”
The voice of Rei Murata echoed through the otherwise empty hallway, blinking a couple of times as she looked at the pink-haired gremlin standing in her way. The last time she had seen her was when she had asked for a couple of tips in regards to dressing appropriately for her brother, and… Suffice to say, even she could figure out that the girl was barely restraining some kind of contempt for her existence.
“Oh, little old me? Why, I’m just here to see a friend.” Alice chimed, putting on the innocent yet dignified act. “And maybe challenge a rival to a bit of a game. Where everything’s on the line.” She explained, her gaze immediately turning sharp as she stared straight into the other girl’s eyes. Yeah. She was pissed. It was way too obvious at this point.
Rei felt a shiver run down her spine. She was going to die at some point when she faced that girl… “W-Well, what kind of game? I’m…” She paused, as something rolled across her mind.
If she was here, and she loved her brother that much, and she called her a rival… Then… Oh. Oh, she thought of her like that. Like a romantic rival, not as a rival in terms of sports or something.
The awakened girl’s worried look turned into a smile. An almost too confident one. “Alright. You want to play a game? I’m down.” She chimed. She was ready for this. In fact, if this was exactly what Alice was planning, then she had no choice but to treat this with as much importance as it deserved.
Her ‘rival’ felt her own shiver run down her spine, causing her expression to flicker just a moment. Where was that confidence coming from..? “H-Hmph. Our little game’s going to be a simple one. It’s just a contest of our athletic abilities. Pitted against one another. Races, jumping, throwing, all the kinds that you’d expect from an olympic athlete. Of course, if you don’t think you can handle it, you’re free to-”
“I’ll do it!” Rei cried out without a moment’s hesitation, her fist clenched as she stepped closer to the shorter girl. “Just watch, I might not be on the track team, but I’m not bad either. I’ll speed right past you, before you know it!”
Alice grit her teeth, before turning around. “Very well! Meet me outside after class, I’ll make the necessary preparations.” She paused, before turning around and relaxing her expression. “And tell my brother not to worry about us, we’re just having a friendly chat as gal pals. Isn’t that right?”
Despite the way she spoke, with that casual tone and utter lack of hostility… That, more than anything, managed to drain all the confidence from the awakened girl’s body. Mostly because if things really did take a turn for the worse, it would be terrible if Albert found out.
“G-Got it. See you then.” Rei muttered, deflated as she turned around, leaving the gremlin all by herself.
Alice bit her lip as she turned away as well. She had to make some changes to the plan. Especially now that her opponent proved herself a bit tougher than she had initially anticipated.
No matter. She’d still lose. And then Albert would be all hers once again...
---
When Rei arrived at the track outside, she expected to just see the younger girl waiting for her. But instead, there were two other girls there, alongside the pink-haired gremlin herself.
“Yo! Heard you’re Grimwald’s friend.” An approachable voice came from one of the girls, who seemed to be the leader of the three. At least, given the medal around her neck, she held some sort of prestige. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Aki Shizukawa, captain of the Track team. You’re… Murata, right?” She asked after introducing herself, holding out her hand as a gesture of good will.
The voice of the sporty looking gal with blue hair was a lot more pleasant to listen to than the girl she practically towered over. In fact, she seemed much more welcoming despite the way she carried the symbol of her glory around on her person at all times.
“Mmhm. Rei Murata. Nice to meet you, Aki.” Rei chimed back, reaching out to take that hand. Shivering just a little as they shook hands, noticing that a bit of sweat was still sticking to her palm.
Aki blinked a couple of times as she let go of the girl’s hand, before laughing. “You know, I thought I knew a Murata. Glad to see you’re happy with yourself like this.” She smiled, showing all the support for the girl’s path in life that she could. Just a glance and a handshake was all it took.
“I’m happy that you two are getting along, but are you done fellating a fellow competitor’s ego, Shizukawa?” Alice spoke up, barely restraining her annoyance with this entire setup. She thought she had this entire match in the bag, but now that her actual rival was showing courtesy towards her rival in love… She didn’t like her chances.
The sporty girl looked down at her armrest, putting her elbow on her head. “I dunno, are you done being caustic?” She chimed, causing her shorter rival to fume violently. Oh, she knew how to rile her up. And the angrier the pink gremlin got, the more the taller girl enjoyed herself.
“Alice, Aki, we don’t need to fight with one another.” The last girl there, who had been politely waiting for her turn to speak, finally spoke up to stop the two rivals from beating one another with their words. “We have a little game to help Alice win. Isn’t that right?”
Aki nodded, throwing her hands behind her head. “Just grilling Alice for her bad manners.” The blue-haired girl explained. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to Murata then, Kotobuki?”
“May I? Oh, that’d just be delightful.” The black-haired and gentle-hearted girl said as she bowed before Rei. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Tomoe Kotobuki. I’m one of Alice’s dearest friends, and I hope to help her win this little game. I hope that’s not a problem, Rei.”
The awakened girl nodded, reaching her hand out in a playful way. “You don’t have to be so formal, Tomoe. We’re all friends here, aren’t we? Friends don’t need to be this frigid.” She said, trying to lighten the mood just a little. Despite the fact that a certain girl was currently busy burning the rope on her patience in the background.
“...F-Frigid? T-That wasn’t my intention, but…” Tomoe blushed a little, thinking she had done something to offend the girl… Only to sigh and take her hand, shaking it slightly. “I’ll try and be better, Rei. And…” She paused, before reaching over and planting a cute little kiss on the awakened girl’s cheek. “Aki’s right. You’re beautiful, with that confidence in yourself shining through…”
Rei blinked a couple of times after being kissed and hearing those sweet words run their way into her ear, prompting her to blush much more than the black-haired girl did. “I-I… Ah-” She mumbled, unable to get the words out of her mouth after that compliment.
“Are you both done trying to embarrass me? Or are we going to actually get this show on the road? Because I’d rather not listen to you compliment her all day long.” Alice spoke up, her arms crossed. In fact, now that she brought extra attention to herself, it was clear that she was wearing her uniform for proper track competitions. Complete with the number she had given herself. 33.
Tomoe nodded as she stepped back to her friend, patting her on the head. “I just wanted to show her the kind of respect that she showed us. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? That’s what my dearest Mother always told me when I was younger.” The black-haired girl said, showing off her own number as she spoke her mind. 88.
“You’re doing great, Kotobuki. Don’t let Grimwald’s fits get in the way of your kindness.” Aki shot back, as she punched her hand into her palm, showing off her number as well. The gold-colored 1 contrasting her black tee. “So, what’s first? Running? Tossing stuff? Or the triple jump?”
Alice cleared her throat, before stepping onto the track and looking towards her singular friend and her two rivals. “We’ll be running. Get set up. As soon as we’re done running, we move onto the other activities. Without stopping for a second. If you even dare lose your breath, you’re a goner.”
“You really never give people a break when you have a problem with them, do you, Grimwald?” The blue-haired sporty girl said as she got into position, stretching a little as she kept an eye on the glaring gremlin looking up at her. Without actually giving her the chance to shoot back after what she had said…
Tomoe nodded a little as she took up her own position besides the pink-haired girl. “She just wants to make sure that we all show our best performance. After all, this is a game with love on the line. At least, that’s what Alice told me when she tried explaining this plan.” She gave her thoughts on the matter, kneeling down and putting the fingers against the ground…
Rei could feel the sweat running down her brow as she came over to the other three girls, stretching a little herself as she kneeled down. She could feel the pressure… But at the same time, she wasn’t about to give up here. She had come this far. She’d find a way to break even against Alice, to show her that she was serious about her love.
The gremlin looked to her competitors as she got into position proper. “Ready?!” She cried out, as their hearts beat as one, waiting for the starting call…
“GO!”
---
An hour had passed. But due to the pain in their muscles, it felt like they had just run a marathon. Or had passed out for a good half day. That was how much they had put into their little competition…
“So… Phew…” Aki let out a deep sigh, being the least winded of the three actual athletes at this point, as she looked at the board she had been tallying scores on. “According to this… I won the running round…” She grinned, looking back at the other competitors…
Who were all in each their own state of completely and utterly trashed. Whether it was Rei, Alice or Tomoe, each of them had practically collapsed onto the ground. They were lucky that the grass below them was soft to cushion their fault, otherwise they would’ve probably drawn blood at this point.
“I… Oh… Goodness…” The black-haired beauty muttered as she slowly pulled herself off the dirty ground, feeling every muscle in her body aching and crying out for ice. “I didn’t think I could do something that strenuous, but I guess hanging around Aki and Alice has done something for my fitness. Now, if only it’d actually earn me a little bit of spare change…” The dignified girl lamented her lack of personal spending cash, before collapsing back on the ground below.
Her pink-haired friend grit her teeth as she slowly lifted herself onto her ass, the fire in her lungs serving to keep her from moving much more than that. “Cut the suspense, Shizukawa… Just reveal who won the damn thing…” She didn’t even have energy to keep up some sort of facade. Her energy was entirely devoted to trying to stay awake after everything she had spent…
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Grimwald. I’m getting to it.” Aki shot back, grinning a little as she grabbed the water bottle she had wisely prepared for refreshing purposes, and poured the entire thing over her to cool her down. “Alright… Next up, the jumping games. Overall, Murata won those.”
Rei slowly lifted herself up, only to collapse onto her front again as her arms were nowhere near strong enough. “Eheheh… guess I beat you, Alice…” She chimed. She was on the verge of passing out, her daydreamy thoughts of Albert treating her with the utmost care blending together with her ability to properly perceive the things happening in front of her…
“You’re getting ahead of yourself, Murata..!” Alice grit her teeth as she stared daggers towards the blue-haired girl. “Stop soaking yourself too, Shizukawa! Who won the throwing games!?”
Aki laughed a little, enjoying the thorough pain and misery of her rival. Especially when she started getting angry. Whenever she got this angry, she always acted like a spoilt brat who didn’t get the toy she had asked for. “You did, Grimwald. You’ve got the meanest throwing arm out of all of us. I don’t think I could throw a ball that fast, or nearly crack a wall when you misfire.”
This was enough to satiate the pink-haired gremlin, a smug smirk appearing on her face. “Excellent. Glad to see that you understand that I’m worth more than you where it matters.” She just let all the mocking language slip out, knowing that neither of the three really cared. They knew the kind of girl she was underneath her kind facade.
Only one issue remained. They had tied. “...Shizukawa. Who got second in all the games?” Alice asked, a dreadful feeling crawling up her spine. She couldn’t possibly have realized a critical flaw in her plan… Could she? There was absolutely no way that she had been beaten thanks to a technicality, right?
Aki started to grin as she circled the two second place finishes underneath the scoreboards for the jumping and throwing games. One familiar, three-letter name. One that would strike immediate anger within the heart of the pink-haired girl.
“I did.” She chimed, as the name written in both positions was Aki. Thanks to the fact that they were playing by overall points, she netted just enough to raise her overall score beyond both of her fellow first place finishes.
Rei blinked a couple of times, surprised that this was how it turned out. “Well, uh…” The exhausted girl muttered, blinking a few more times to try and get the image of Albert out of her vision… “I lost, but… It was fun, wasn’t it?”
Her opponent, the ever vengeful and ever raging Alice, had nothing to say. Because she had broken so hard that she passed out right then and there, collapsing into the dirt. If she had been able to process what just happened, she would’ve probably been screaming to the heavens above.
“Well then, I thought she’d launch into one of her really silly and horribly angry rants. Guess I’m free from that part today.” Aki said as she walked over to the awakened girl, reaching her hand out to help her up. “Can you stand, or do I need to go carry you all home?” She asked, offering courtesy to all three of them.
Tomoe slowly but surely pulled herself up, using nothing but her own gradually recovering strength. “I’ll be fine, Aki. But thank you for offering.” She chimed, giggling a little as she winced. Her body was still screaming in pain. “I’m just happy to have helped out, even if the plan resulted in failure.”
“You’re just happy that she spent time with you, Kotobuki. I don’t know what you see in that girl.” The blue-haired girl said, prompting the black-haired one to laugh in response. She wasn’t wrong, not wrong at all.
Rei slowly grabbed the sporty girl’s hand, pulling herself up bit by bit. “Thank you, Aki. You were amazing out there, honestly…” She muttered, a little surprised at the sheer prowess of the Track Team Captain…
“And you were amazing for standing up to Grimwald. So, I think we’re even. And I think after she’s slept on it, she’ll think you’re better than she originally thought too. So don’t worry about her challenging you to yet another game.” Aki explained, patting her newest friend on the back.
The awakened girl smiled. From being challenged out of nowhere, to bonding with members of the Track Team… Today had been a good day.
And as for Alice, she definitely needed the long sleep all of that rage and frustration brought with it...