Skaters 101 (but without the skating)

Execution of The Plan

Gabrielle stretched her quadriceps as she waited outside the student hostel. On every other normal day, at this time, she would be on the track in the park, heels slapping against the artificial ground in time to the beat of the music playing in her ears. She always looked forward to those times, when it was only her and the nature around her.

Today was different. She had a mission to fulfill and she was sure going to do it right. Also, it wasn't like the whole class's grades were banking on this.

The door to the student hostel opened, and a tiny figure with a sling bag walked out.

As quietly as she could, Gabrielle stalked the girl, closing the distance between them.

However, she couldn't quite reach her. It was strange. It seemed like the faster she walked, the faster the girl in front of her seemed to walk.

Concentrating on the figure ahead of her more than the ground, Gabrielle accidentally stepped on a branch.

Crack!

Straightaway, Yulia whipped her head around.

"Go!"

Gabrielle took off after Yulia, who was already sprinting away. "200 meters to the crossroads!" She heard Nathan's voice coming out from the phone in her pocket. Ignoring the burning in her calves, Gabrielle doggedly chased Yulia to the crossroads.

A drone flew overhead silently, monitoring their movements.

"Team Cheetah: Intercept!" Nathan shouted.

Nam and Shoma, each positioned strategically at each crossroad, jumped out from where they were hiding and rushed towards Yulia.

Yulia, aware of the impending danger, suddenly stopped. She waited until the both Shoma and Nam's arms were almost in reach of the sling bag she had, and sidestepped both of them neatly.

Unable to stop themselves, they collided with each other, the impact sending them both flying.

"Sorry." Yulia couldn't resist a look back, a look of pity sent towards Shoma. She hoped he wasn't hurt in any way.

~

"Look where you're going next time." Shoma groaned, rubbing his shoulder where he had knocked it against the ground.

"I was looking! It's just that Yulia was blocking my view, so I couldn't see you!." Nam complained. "She's taller than you, Shoma!"

The last sentence triggered Shoma's feelings of insecurity, making tears well up in his eyes.

Suddenly appearing out of nowhere, Yuzuru began to berate Nam furiously.

"How dare you say that to my son! Shoma is not short, he's just...um...vertically challenged." At the same time, he was swiping tissues from Pooh-san's back like it was his lifeline and wiping Shoma's eyes with them.

"Multi-tasking at it's finest..." Nam muttered under his breath.

Nathan's voice came out from the phone in Yuzuru's pocket. "Oi Yuzu! You're supposed to take over Gabrielle's spot and chase Yulia if Plan Intercept failed!"

"Oh, sorry!" Yuzuru shot up from being bent over Shoma, whipping his head around, checking for signs of Yulia. "Where is she?"

~

"Gone, you idiot!" Nathan spoke into his phone. He watched Yuzuru's shoulders shrug in disappointment from the computer screen in Boyang's room. "Oh well, you can rest and comfort Shoma for now. I'll get her location and send someone else on her." He quickly dialed Alex's number, for they were not in the group call. "I need Yulia's location right now. Do you have her?"