Yakusoku (Avara Stadium Book 1)

Workroom D

The robot was finally put together the day before the qualifiers, a full two days later. The thing was the size of a shopping cart. No one built robots that big.

Staying power. That was their key word. Staying power. That was what Akiko had always lacked.

What if she'd stayed outside her house in the rain just one more hour? What if?

The building for the Firefly Tournament proper was at least nicer than the converted convenience store where they'd taken their registration. It was a stadium in Kanagawa prefecture, after all, nothing to screw around with.

It was about as empty as Akiko might have expected from a nobody's tournament at fourteen o'clock on a Thursday, but Akiko recognized the faces that mattered. There was Naoki, with an unassuming robot that had a low form and prongs on the ends—and Akiko knew it was an unhooded double-core, but she hadn't installed the split-surge on their design. And similarly, Naoki hadn't contacted her once since she stood him up like she had, and now when he saw her, he flushed and forced himself to look away.

Seems like he was embarrassed rather than angry. That was good. She'd take it.

More importantly, through the big double-doors, inside the lobby, she saw Tess in a skirt and blazer, and her heart fluttered in her chest. She was having an argument with one of the attendants, a haughty-looking man who kept his arms crossed, and god damn it Tess looked amazing when she was angry.

"Oh, that's the agent, isn't it?" Himawari peered through the doors at her too. "She's supposed to be a real hard-nosed type. Came here from America to do robotics work and I've heard she does not screw around. Kind of surprising she'd be at a small place like this one."

Yeah, surprising doubly so for Akiko. She swallowed, just staring, wondering when Tess would notice her, her heart hammering in her chest. Everything about the way Tess moved was enchanting, even her curt gestures and growing irritation.

"You're just... staring," Himawari said. "Hello... are you there?"

Tess whirled away from the man, locked eyes with Akiko, and stopped.

Himawari looked over at Tess, and then back at Akiko. "Do you two, uh, do you know each other?"

"Shut up." Akiko started walking, and Tess visibly relaxed. Himawari stumbled after her, walking in the robot—which they'd decided in the last minute to name Stabilizer—but Akiko barely even noticed he existed anymore.

Akiko was smiling when she got up to Tess, like actually smiling, just a genuine smile on her face that she couldn't even help being there. Tess still looked tense, though, and Akiko's heart ached thinking oh god she hates me now I did something wrong.

"Hi, Tess," Akiko said. "It's good to see you again."

Tess bowed. "It's good to see you, too. I..." She cleared her throat. "I suppose now I have to treat you like a work partner."

Akiko raised her eyebrows. "How do you treat your work partners, anyway?"

Tess grinned. "I'm really mean."

"Oh." Akiko's heart sank. "I mean, that's fair."

Tess turned and strode past her, but whispered when she walked past, "I've been thinking of you all the time."

Tess marched past her as Akiko felt like she was about to melt down onto the floor. She staggered and leaned back onto Stabilizer, and Himawari yelled something to get off the robot but fuck him.

"How do you know Chandler?" he said, after failing to get her off the robot.

"Oh, you know," she said. He stared, like he was waiting for a response.