Doodle Champion Island Journeys!

13.

Look between the eyes...the eyes of what? Fluffy couldn't give any clearer explanation since he didn't even know himself.

"It's a saying passed down for decades among the islanders. And none of us truly knows what it implies."

"Then, why would you guys go spread it anyway? It might be just a riddle."

"I believe it's not, and might relate to as far as the fate of Champion Island. A Karasu once told me that, and those crows don't know how to joke."

"Have you ever told anyone else about it?"

"No, not yet. It always seems to be an unsuitable circumstance to be brought up. Consider it, Lucky. Also, use this," Fluffy gave the younger cat a glass bottle with a cork, and a small metal spoon which had a long handle, "I doubt any random containers can store lava. These pieces of equipment are designed to suit any exotic ingredients."

Look between the eyes for your sweet lava prize... It didn't make sense. She tried crossing her eyes to "look between the eyes", but all she saw was the pinky tip of her own nose.

Lucky blinked. She was walking down the main path from the Rugby Torii to a good spot where she could collect the requested lava. Definitely not somewhere near the gate because one, it was too steep and high that with her small frame she could barely reach, and two, it'd be awkward if a team of competitors spotted her scooping lava.

"Hey, Luckyyyyyy!!" she turned to see the white dog from Momotaro's team waving at her. There was the rest of the team - the pheasant, the monkey, and Momotaro, sitting having the peaches that their leader had brought.

"Oh, hi again!" Lucky waved back.

"We want to thank you for finding Momotaro, Lucky," he said.

"Anything to help the team out!" Lucky grinned.

"As promised, Lucky, and Momotaro agrees to it too. You can join our team for the match," the monkey said.

"Huh? You guys haven't started yet?" Lucky asked. It was quite some time since they met. Half an hour at least.

"We can't play on empty stomaches, can we? Energy restoration is priority before a match!" replied Momotaro.

Speak of hunger... Lucky suddenly heard a growl from her stomach. Man, she didn't realize she was hungry until it hit her. All that helping sure took a lot and dangos and tea were just not sufficient.

"...can I have a peach too?" shyly, she asked, while adverting her eyes and blushing ever-so-slightly.

"Of course! Here, sit with us," Momotaro tapped on a spot next to him as he and the monkey moved aside to make space for her, then gave her one of the peaches. She took a bite out of the squishy, juicy flesh, its watering sweetness lingered in her mouth.

"So yummy..!" the dog suddenly exclaimed.

"Peaches are my favorite!" the pheasant chirped, pecking his second-third-whatsoever serving.

Lucky, too, enjoyed the sweet meal: "Thanks, Momotaro."

"No problem," replied the team leader, "And we did promise to let you join our team for the match, didn't we?" he gave Lucky a blue badge that had a peach printed on it, "Welcome to the team."

They kept their promise. She'd have a team to compete in the sport. On the other hand, she felt bad to reject their offer now. She couldn't leave the task undone when Lady Usagi counted on her to clear the way to the hot spring, when Fluffy was waiting for her to return with the lava. It's just selfish.