Hitsu and Racer barreled through the finish line. Racer jumped and skidded on her feet to slow herself to a stop while Hitsu fell. He tumbled and rolled before stopping on his back. The crowd sat still, the race was so close they were unsure who won.
"Talk about a photo finish!" Matt yelled. "Let's check the instant replay!"
Everyone looked to the nearest broadcast. In slow motion, Hitsu and Racer approached the finish line. The camera zoomed in and revealed by just a few inches who first place belonged to.
"Racer wins it by a hair! The Weaving Witches take first place!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as Matt announced the result. The camera cut to Racer as she jumped up and down in celebration.
From the ground, Hitsu looked up at the sky and heard the crowd's applause. He scoffed, he was sure a large portion of the crowd was cheering his loss over Racer's win, but that didn't matter, he had made a lot of people smile. Suddenly, Hitsu's view of the sky was blocked out by a group of people.
"It was a close one," Nox said with her hair still somewhat wet.
"We made it to the next round," Jinsuke said as he let out a sigh of relief.
"You alright boss?" Sel asked Hitsu.
"We should be asking you that," Enai told him, "I told you to let it rip nit blow yourself up."
"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Sel argued.
"If you hurt yourself we would have been out of the tournament moron!" Enai shot back.
"Come on guys break it up," Jinsuke said annoyed as he stepped away to calm the arguing teammates.
Suddenly it was only Hitsu and Nox.
"You guys did great," Hitsu said, "sorry I couldn't keep it up."
"You tried your best right?" Nox said as she offered Hitsu her hand, "That's all we can ask for."
Hitsu smiled, Nox always knew just what to say. He took her hand and she helped pull him to his feet. In the other lanes, teams finished one by one. The ones after fourth place visually displayed their frustration and disappointment that their time in the tournament was up. Some of them shot dirty looks at The Voyage, it seemed they would blame them for their loss even if they wouldn't have won anyway.
Once Jinsuke had gained control of the other members of the team they made their way off of the track to await the result. Before long Hitsu was quickly approached by Racer, her other teammates following following behind the much quicker girl.
"Hitsu!" she shouted happily, "That was so much fun! Can we race again sometime?"
"Sure," Hitsu chuckled, "though I'm not sure I can beat you."
"The results are in!" Matt's announcement cut into the conversation. "In first place, The Weaving Witches!"
The broadcast screen showed the result on one half and a live video of the teams being announced on the other. The crowd cheered at the appearance of The Weaving Witches who in response smiled and waved.
"In second place, The Voyage!"
The camera panned slightly to the left to show the dirty, wet, or burned Voyage members. The crowd was less receptive. There was a sprinkling of cheers, some quiet murmurs, and a loud chorus of boos.
"I guess that's to be expected," Hitsu sighed.
Suddenly, Hitsu felt his arm being lifted without his control. Ida had stepped next to him and raised his arm as a sign of respect. Quickly the other Weaving Witches did the same and the startled Voyage members stood with their hands to the sky. The boos stopped as the crowd seemed just as surprised as The Voyage and a loud chatter of confusion could be heard inside the arena walls.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Hitsu said concerned, "they'll turn on you if you associate with us."
"Who cares?" Ida said with a smile, "You earned our respect so we will show it."
Hearing the crowd's reaction the camera feed quickly cut. Someone running the show must not want to linger on the negativity.
"U-uh, the third-place team is The Twilight Runners!" Matt quickly announced.
As the results continued The Weaving Witches lowered The Voyage member's arms.
"Hey," Ida said, "you guys want to watch the Group B event together? I think our assigned viewing areas are next to each other."
Hitsu scoffed in disbelief, this girl was serious, wasn't she? Somehow Hitsu wasn't expecting her kindness even after all this time.
"Sure," Hitsu answered, "we'll see you guys up there."
The two teams split to go see the medical staff and meet up with their headmasters. As The Voyage made their way to retrieve Juno, Sel slung his arm around Jinsuke's shoulder near the back of the back.
"So let me get this straight," he said quietly, "I'm getting my ass kicked and you find time to hit on Ida?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Jinsuke responded without looking in Sel's direction.
"Really?" Sel said amused, "Because she seemed interested."
"She was?" Jinsuke said surprised.
"Eh, don't worry about it," Sel said as he started walking ahead, "you have a fear of spiders anyway."
Sel laughed wickedly as Jinsuke chased after him, their other teammates looked on in confusion.
...
"Alright ladies, gentlemen, and all others," Matt announced, "it's time to find out what the second event of the day will be!"
The crowd cheered as the Group B teams made their way onto the arena floor to prepare for their elimination event.
"There they are!" Racer said as she leaned over the protective railing.
Karen grabbed her by the collar and gently pulled her back into her seat.
"She's right," Nox said, "there's Futaro's team."
Hitsu's and Ida's teams sat together in The Voyage's private viewing area. There were more than enough seats for the ten of them, let alone a team of five.
Jinsuke sat next to Sel a row behind Hitsu, Nox, Ida, Racer, and Karen. He thought about trying to sit near Ida but she had retrieved Spot from Mirai. The fear coursing through his veins kept him a comfortable distance away.
Futaro's team stood not far from Koji's. Unnoticed by most, the two shot competitive glances at one another.
"Futaro's team is going to compete directly against Koji's," Enai said.
"I hope he can knock that jerko out of here early," Stacy said.
"That might be hard," Reika said in a quiet voice as she remained mostly hidden behind her hair. She was the only person to sit in the third row.
"You're right," Hitsu agreed, "I have a feeling Koji's team won't go down easy."
The slot machine reappeared on the big screen and roared to life. Everyone in the arena and watching at home held their breath as the next event was about to be announced.
...
End of Episode 64