j_is_busy

She finds her at the shrine. Air Groove isn't surprised; it's the first place Matikanefukukitaru's trainer had told her to check after she didn't show up for practice. It's been the first place to find her since she first arrived at Tracen, and it's never going to be anything but the first place to check. Still, it's almost disappointing. If Fukukitaru is going to skip practice, she could at least be smart about it. She could at least give something that lives up to the uma that Air Groove knows she can be.

...No, that's rude. She knows that it's not that simple. There is not a single uma for whom it's that simple. Still, it's frustrating.

At any rate, she's running around with a broom for reason. She's trying to brush all the sand off the stones, Air Groove realizes after a moment. Who even knows why; there's sand everywhere, and there's a light breeze. Those stones are never going to stop being sandy. She sighs.

"You skipped practice."

"Ack!" yells Fukukitaru, nearly throwing her broom to the ground. "Air Groove! The Student Council Office, I was exorcising a curse that had been placed upon it, I swear!"

Groove grimaces. "I don't actually know what you're talking about."

"O-oh," Fukukitaru says, and she slowly picks up her broom. She holds it close to herself, almost defensively, as she looks at Air Groove. "Well, in that case, don't worry. If you don't even know where the ill fortune came from, you certainly won't notice what I had to do to get rid of it."

"I doubt it. Your trainer told me to tell you that you were already on your last chance."

Fukukitaru pulls the broom even closer.

"He's worried."

"I didn't realize how late it had gotten," Fukukitaru says. "I was cleaning the shrine! Shiraoki-sama told me that the gods here are very angry! Luckily, not to worry! By pacifying them, I'll bring great fortune to all of us! Tell Trainer-san that I'm about to win our debut for sure!"

Air Groove looks around the shrine. It's neat. Any graffiti, litter, or ill will seems to have been brushed away. It's just Fukukitaru and her broom now, trying to clean off stones that will never be clean. The problem, of course, is that Groove believes her. Fukukitaru is many things, but one of them is a terrible liar, and she's not lying now. Her hands are trembling slightly.

"Your trainer is worried," Groove says again. "He's also said... Your debut is supposed to be soon. You are better than this."

"I am trying to keep the shrine clean," Fukukitaru says. "I can't win if I don't keep the shrine clean, I know it. I lost my last scrimmage because it's too dirty for sure!"

Groove doesn't know what to do, is the thing. Her trainer hadn't been lying when he'd said she's on thin ice. He's the second trainer to try to take on Fukukitaru; the first had quit when she'd refused to run without about fourteen lucky items. There's a spark in her, though. Groove knows, one day, Matikanefukukitaru will be a name spoken in legend. It's not fortune, or a godly premonition; it's that Air Groove believes in her.

Groove had vouched for her, after all, after the first trainer had said he refused to keep training her. Groove will vouch for her again. But if she keeps on doing these things...

She doesn't know how to help.

"You don't need gods to win," Groove says.

"I do," Fukukitaru says. "If they're angry, it doesn't matter how fast or slow I am! I won't be able to win!"

"Give me a broom, then," Groove says.

"What?" Fukukitaru says.

"Give me a broom. We will clean these stones, and then you will make a late time for practice. The school has lights on at the track tonight. You will meet your trainer."

Fukukitaru gives her a look of naked distrust. Air Groove tries not to let it hurt. Finally, though, her face lights up. She cheers, raising her palms to the sky. "Praise Shiraoki-sama! Great fortune! With your help, this shrine will be spotless, and Taiki and Tannhauser will win their debut races too! Thank you! Thank you!"

Then, before Air Groove can say anything else, she shoves a broom into with more energy than she's seen out of since her debut was scheduled. It's as though some great burden has dropped from her shoulders, as though this promise of helping sweep alone was enough to take away the stress and anxiety of her debut.

It's foolish. This does nothing to help prepare for her to run.

Air Groove stays with her until it's nearly sunset, and then they go back to Tracen together, Matikanefukukitaru happily rambling to her like she's her new best friend. Air Groove suspects she'll have to deal with a lot more nonsense like the 'curse in the student council' and 'sweeping out the shrine'.

Besties........ :)

SHB K'ainh