I Want To Catch You

Rin hadn't made a point to pay attention to any of the new girls on the squad, even though she knew she probably should. If Sae wanted to stay on this green earth, she would hand the captain spot over to her, and next year, this squad, and all the girls who hadn't graduated, would be all hers.

But she just figured she'd get around to it and left it at that.

The first real practice after the new girls had joined, she was feeling more pissed off than usual. Not only had Sae insisted on dragging her little detention freakshow to practice, but Shuto thought herself real accomplished for having personally invited so many of the new recruits. If only she'd put that much thought and effort into actually training. Then, to add insult to injury, the two new bases in their stunt group were fine, but hadn't gotten used to Shuto's weak ankles and poor dismounts and where they needed to put the extra support to keep the damn bimbo off the mat. As such, Rin had a lot of slack to pick up, and her arms and shoulders were burning a lot more than usual. She slathered them in muscle relaxant in the locker room, massaging as she went, thinking about how badly she needed a cigarette.

If Sae thought she was getting a ride home with her, she could wait. If she had anything to say about Rin's smoking, she could shove it up her ass.

Rin shoved her laundry and products into her duffel bag and pulled it out of the change room locker, slamming it shut once she was done. She'd been too busy huffing and puffing in her own mind to consider her surroundings, so when she found a yellow eyed face looking up at her from where the locker door had just been, she gasped.

"Hey," the golden eyed girl said.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Rin said back, in undeniable scold. "What the fuck were you doing there?"

The girl didn't answer. She didn't even flinch. She just said, "You're really good."

Rin paused. This is when she decided to take note on her surroundings. She looked up and around the locker room, which was down to its last couple of girls, none of which were paying them any mind. Rin looked back at the girl, who was still looking up at her, wide eyed, smiling. She must have been waiting for her. To...what? Tell her she was good at cheerleading, which must have been what she was referring to, because what else would she have meant it? That was a fact as obvious as this entire interaction was bizarre.

"I know," Rin said.

The girl laughed, her black and yellow pigtails shaking while she did so, like this was really quite funny. Rin hadn't been trying to be funny.

"You're Sae's sister, right?" the girl asked next.

This made Rin sigh. All she ever was and all she'd ever really amounted to was being Sae's sister. Born one year too late and sentenced to an eternity of being one of two. All she ever was and had was due to her status as Sae's sister. Oh, no wonder you're so intelligent, talented, beautiful. You're Sae's sister! As if all these accomplishments were not her own in the slightest.

"Did the identical surnames tip you off or...?" Rin had been trying to sound condescending, and she was wholly successful.

Still, the girl didn't flinch. She laughed again.

"It was the eyelashes, actually." She brought a finger to the space underneath one of her own eyes, brushing it downwards, like she was drawing lower lashes on herself. "The names confirmed it, but no. Lashes."

"If you already knew, then why bother asking?" Rin was getting annoyed now. She prided herself on only being an occasional smoker, but still, she liked blaming her irritation on nicotine withdrawal rather than a fundamental character flaw.