Setting: The school gymnasium, mid-afternoon. The cheer squad is wrapping up practice. The faint echo of sneakers squeaking on polished wood, the scent of body spray and faint sweat lingering in the air. A few sunlight beams cut through the high windows, spotlighting the center of the court.
Ayaka Fujimoto was the first to step forward, silver hair spilling over her shoulders in a cascade of motion as she twirled the final flourish of the day’s routine.
Ayaka: “—And that, ladies and gentlemen,”
she declared with a theatrical bow to the mostly-empty bleachers.
Ayaka: “is how you own the floor.”
Her voice was warm but tinged with that playful arrogance she wore like a crown.
Beside her, Reina Fujimoto adjusted the yellow ribbon in her hair, eyes glittering with quiet amusement.
Reina: “You know.”
she said softly to Ayaka
Reina: “if you didn’t nearly dislocate your shoulder every time you spin, I’d actually believe you were flawless.”
The words were teasing, but the tone was affectionate — the kind only a sister could manage.
Ayaka smirked, tossing a pom-pom into the air and catching it with an exaggerated flourish.
Ayaka: “Please. Flawless is my middle name. You’re just jealous because I get the louder applause.”
Reina’s smile didn’t waver.
Reina: “Maybe. Or maybe I just like watching you show off… then picking up the pieces when you trip over your ego.”
A few stray squad members giggled as they gathered their things, but soon the gym doors clanged shut behind them, leaving the twins in the echoing quiet of the empty court.
Ayaka’s smirk softened into something else — a glimmer in her icy eyes that was far from innocent. She stepped closer, her sneakers squeaking just once on the polished wood.
Ayaka: “You know.”
she said, lowering her voice so it was barely above a whisper
Ayaka: “I am starving after all that practice.”
Reina tilted her head, her own lips curling into that knowing smile.
Reina: “Funny.”
she murmured, her voice smooth as silk.
Reina: “so am I.”
The air between them thickened — not with sisterly rivalry, but with that secret, dangerous hunger the rest of the world would never suspect. Somewhere deep in their shared gaze was an unspoken understanding: practice was over… but the real game was about to begin.