Trojan Horse

12 - On The Wrong End of a Metaphorical Gun

The self-proclaimed King of Exy kissed Kathy's cheek in greeting. Whatever Riko and Kathy said to each other was lost in the audience's racket, but Kathy was beaming when she leaned back. Riko took the last few steps to Kevin the siblings' couch alone and stood over them. He was smiling, but neither Minna, Kevin, nor Neil was stupid enough to think he was happy. The only look in his eyes was murder.

Only after the crowd quieted down did Riko speak. "Kevin. It's been so long."

There was a scuffle and crash in the audience. Minna didn't want to take her eyes off Riko, but it was instinctive to look. Renee was sitting sideways in Andrew's lap, one foot braced against the ground to keep him from shoving her off. She had a hand over his mouth as they both stared up at the stage. Matt had one of Andrew's wrists in both hands. Wymack had the other. The looks on the Foxes' and Trojans' faces ranged from horror to fury.

Riko moved, and Minna forgot about her friends in favor of staring at Riko in terror. Riko ignored Neil completely and held his hands out to Kevin and Minna in invitation. The siblings stared at it for a couple seconds, then slipped a hand into Riko's and let Riko pull them to their feet. The crowd applauded as Riko embraced Kevin and Minna, apparently oblivious to how slowly they returned the hug.

Riko let go and held Kevin and Minna at arm's length. "I think you've shrunk since I last saw you. Don't they feed you two? I always heard southern food is heavy."

"I run it off on the court, I guess."

"What a miracle."

There was an edge in his voice, but Kathy smiled and gestured between them. "It truly is a miracle. Take a good look, everyone. Your golden pair is back, but for the first time ever, they're rivals. Riko, Kevin, Minna, we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for tolerating our incessant fanaticism."

She motioned for them to sit. Riko backed away from the siblings to sit on the other couch. Kevin and Minna sank back onto their cushions, but they were paying more attention to Riko than where he was going. They both ended up closer to Neil than they had started. Minna could feel Kevin trembling—or was that her?

Kathy looked at Riko. "From what I've just heard from Kevin and Minna, it sounds like none of you have spoken in a while. Is that right?"

"It is," Riko said. "You sound surprised."

"Well, yes," Kathy said. "I didn't think it possible for you to grow apart."

"A year ago it would have been impossible," Riko said, "but you have to understand how emotionally crushing December was. The injury was Kevin's to bear, but we all suffered for it. Some of us couldn't handle the reality of what that accident meant, myself included. Kevin and I grew up at Evermore. We built our lives around that team and our pair work. I couldn't believe we'd lost it. I couldn't accept that our dreams had collapsed. Neither could he, so we withdrew from each other."

"But for nine months?"

She looked at Kevin, so he answered, but his voice had lost its easy edge for something duller. "Perhaps it was inevitable. We all made Exy the center of our lives, Kathy. We showed you our best, but we didn't show you what it cost us. Juggling three teams, university and high school classes, and public pressure was wearing us down, but we refused to admit it. We didn't want to believe we had limits."

Kathy nodded. "I can't even imagine that stress and pressure. I suppose it had to put a strain on your friendship."

"We are human sometimes," Riko said, "and therefore we can't help but have our differences, hmm, Kevin? Minna?"

"No family is perfect," Minna agreed quietly.

Kathy nodded sympathetically. "Can I just say it was terrifying when you three disappeared? The last we heard, you three had gone skiing to celebrate the end of the semester, and then no one saw any of you in public for a month. I feared the worst, but I didn't realize what the worst really was until Coach Wymack made his announcement."