we smile at the moon

SIXTEEN | FIGHT SONG PT. 2

IT WAS THEN when a large, magical scroll appeared in the middle of the room. They didn't have to use that, honestly—there was a perfectly good electronic screen right there, but she supposed since it was a duelling competition, the organisers had thought it would be better to use more magical means of announcement.

It was a list of everyone up next, their opponents, the time and the arena. One fourth of the competitors had already been eliminated, since the people who'd lost their first match had had to have another match. My eyes scanned the list for my own name. Jeremy Choi. Oh my, another Hong Kong student. There were quite a few present, and I'd already heard plenty of Cantonese and Mandarin being spoken while I was walking around.

Adelina raised her brow. "I'm against a tough one." I glanced at her name. Lucina Mclean.

"You know her?" I asked.

Adelina said, "She was one of the people representing England in the European Youth Duelling Championships. One year older than us. She lost first round, but like, she's still good enough to be chosen as a representative."

"You think you can beat her?"

"Most likely, yes. But not easily."

"No one said it would be easy." I paused for a moment. "Have you ever heard of Jeremy Choi, or is he just a nobody like the rest of us?"

"Never heard of him." That was assuring. Besides, even if I lost, I just needed to win my second match to continue anyways. Though third round onwards was eliminations. I didn't think I'd make it very far in that. Most of the mediocre people would already be gone, and I was more or less in that group.

Caitlyn's eyes were narrowed as she glanced at us. "I'm not in luck."

Adelina's eyes darted to Cait's name before she winced. "Oh, fuck, that hurts."

Tana Chandler. Cait immediately explained, "Another representative in the Youth Championships. I'm out of luck on this one, better prepare myself for the second game."

"You might stand a chance," I said encouragingly. "Just do your best."

"Going to be extremely difficult," Cait hummed. "Oh well."

From Theo's expression, his opponent wasn't anyone special. I almost wished I could switch Adelina or Cait's opponents with his that very moment. It would be what he deserved.

Though perhaps I ought not be thinking that, since we were on the same team, after all. And I really should be putting aside my private grudges right now and being supportive.

But it simply wasn't my style. I, Honoria Song, was someone who held grudges. I didn't forgive easily, and I had no intention of forgiving right now because they hadn't apologised. They hadn't done anything to tell me that they knew what they did was fucked up.

Fuck both of them, honestly.

It had run through my mind once or twice that I ought to get over it, but I couldn't. For damned sake, I had to see both of them multiple times every day. Every time I'd put them out of my mind, I'd see their faces and the memories came rushing back up again. The anger.

No, I was content with the situation right now.

Perfectly, perfectly content.

Coach told us to get up and stretch again a few minutes before our matches started, and Cait, Adelina and I stuck together while hopping around to get into shape once more. Despite tough opponents, neither Cait nor Adelina looked particularly worried. They both had faith in their abilities. Adelina, in my opinion, still stood a high chance of winning. And even if Cait lost, she had another round to get back into the competition. It wasn't the end of the world if she lost.