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Tabitha's PoV

---

I stand in front and continue to stare fiercely at the brown-haired, orange-eyed Tiger as she stares back to me, her smirk full of scorn. At this point, the collision of our stares could've ignited a spark in between. My burning anger fighting against her flaming pride. I could just punch her right now, but I need to put up my act. The one who's strong, yet calm. That's the me I imagine myself to be. But... I really want to punch this piece of--

"Yo ~ am I seeing some girlmance here?" Riese nonchalantly chimes in with a straight face. My arm stiffens at his sudden intrusion, stopping me from my attempt to punch the feline in front of me. My brows furrow, my nose wrinkles, and my anger rises near breaking point. I grit my teeth, trying to suppress my anger.

"Riese, this isn't a good time for that!" Varu whispers loudly.

"Why not?" Riese replies with a carefree sounding tone. "I mean, if you chime during a staring battle it will definitely throw someone off. If you know what I mean." Varu didn't get it, but it took me a few seconds to realize that what Riese said was directed at me. I was shocked, but I took that opportunity to calm myself down. I loosen myself up, and let out a sigh.

"Anyways, Grit-senpai. If you'd be so kind, we're eating right now. I'd appreciate that you'd give us some time alone to eat lunch. If you have something to settle, settle it in court, where your match will be. Unless you have something else to say," Riese says. The Tiger glares past me to Riese and lets out a loud chuckle.

"Hah, you've got guts. You're better than this piece of trash right here," she eyes at Nicole, who is crying on her desk. "Lin, Mitch, let's go. We're just wasting our more precious time here," the Tiger turns to her back and starts walking away. The silver-haired Leopard looks, but I can't tell if it was an icy glare or an apologetic stare.

"My name is Linalette Leopas. I apologize for everything that happened, but I do know that Margarette will definitely gain victory," the Leopard says with a calm tone. I can't tell if she's mocking or not, but her voice sounds genuinely apologetic. "I did not want for things to go this way, but it's my duty to serve Margarette. I bid you all farewell," are her last words before she turns to her back and leaves.

"Aw, but I haven't even introduced myself! I had this awesome speech about Margie's awesomeness and how Linalette Leopas and Mitchie Tahn are always by her side. It'd be a waste, you know?" she says energetically as she trails behind the Leopard, her voice slowly fading to silent echoes in the hall.

Once the trio left the room, it was once again filled with peace again. Of course, it didn't feel that way for the feline beside me. Nicole's still crying on hear desk and murmuring words that didn't make any sense. I sit on her desk and beside her head and stroke her hair gently, comforting her.

I don't know what to say, nor do I have anything to say right now, but she's really gone through... something that one shouldn't have. Things like these should never happen to anyone, nor should anyone even do something like this to someone else. Someone as weak-willed like me... wait... me, no, that's not who--!

Before I can question myself further, Nicole suddenly grabs hold of my uniform and buries her head on my stomach, still crying. She starts to repeat the words, "I'm sorry," as she clutches on my uniform, like she's not planning to let go. As I continue to look at her, her image slowly blurred into someone with orange hair. Someone who I remember in the past. Someone who didn't went through the same thing as Nicole did, but someone who's equally, if not more hurt than her.

"I'm sorry... I never should've... tried to join..." she wheezes out the words as she continues to cry and sob.

"Look, you can do this. Don't give--" before I can continue, Nicole shouts at me.

"I can't do this!" Nicole looks at me, her eyes welling with tears and her lips quivering. "I'm not strong like you. You're always facing forward without any fear, you're always standing to matter how intimidating the persons around you are, you never flinch when you're faced with something terrifying! I'm not like you who could do these things. I always needed help in moving forward, but you don't. I'm weak, I'm a scaredy-cat, and I'm not good at--"

*slap*

Without any warning, I slap Nicole. I can see the shock in her face, but it isn't just Nicole who's shocked. I'm shocked for slapping her. My lips quiver as I stare at her, the shock in her eyes sending chills up my spine. She never expected anything like, but neither did I. Then, words start to come out of my mouth.

"You think that everything is just going to be alright once you give up? You should be happy that you're still able to play the game you love!" I yell at her, even though I try to stop myself. Words just continue to flow out. "There are people out there who can no longer play their games, but they still want to. And then there's you, who's just going to give it all up just because of one person? If you're just gonna give up halfway, you shouldn't have done it at all!

"Everything isn't just sunshine and happy days. There will be times when you fall so hard that you feel like giving up, times when you think that you shouldn't have done it, and times when you didn't do anything bad but bad things still happen to you," my voice starts to tremble, but I still keep on going on, no matter how much I try to stop myself. "But... even if your body hurts so much, even if your eyes are getting blurry, and even if you're in your last breath, you must never give up and just keep moving forward..."

I break into tears as I slowly lift myself up from the desk. I ask myself why I suddenly said those things, but those questions faded as I look into the eyes of my friends. The way they stared at me, with pity, with sympathy, just like how they stared at me back then.

My vision starts to blur, my head starts to hurt, and everything seem to be turning upside-down. I don't know where I am, but everything I know is starting to vanish right before my eyes. All that's left afterwards is an empty black void where there's only me floating in space. I hear someone calling me, but the voices start to fade as I start to hear footsteps that echo in the darkness. I don't know whose footsteps they were, but these footsteps were the only things I hear in this darkness before I hear someone sobbing. I see a silhouette of someone crouching and ten eyes watching her. They all watch her with pity, sympathy.

"I'm sorry for you. Don't worry, it'll be okay. Just continue living life." These words continue to echo in the darkness as the eyes start to circle around her. Then as the silhouette fades, the eyes turn their gaze towards me as they now revolve around me like I'm the center of attention. The words continue to echo, no matter how much I cover my ears with my paws and squint my eyes. "Please, just stop," I hear myself saying these words as I crouch.

After what seemed like hours, the darkness slowly burns into a scene of bright light. As my eyes slowly adjust to the light, I notice I'm curled into a ball on an empty area beside the school, somewhere where there doesn't seem to be any students passing by. I lightly touch the hard soil with my paw, feeling a bit of warmth up my skin. It makes me feel a bit better as I force out a smile, but the warmth disappears afterwards, making me retract my paw.

"Why am I so weak?" I say to myself as I pick up a small rock and throw it far away. I watch as the rock flies up in the air then slowly descends back to the ground. "If only... I could be as strong as a rock. That I don't break no matter how much I'm thrown, and I'll still be able to land on my two feet," I mumble to myself before I bury my face in between my knees.

"And why did I slap her?" I ask myself as I look down on the ground. "I... didn't mean to. I just... suddenly did," I look away from the ground with guilt, as if I just looked at Nicole straight in the face. "I'm... really a mess, aren't I?" I mock myself. But it's true.

I am a mess. I didn't mean to slap her. I meant to slap myself. Because she reminded me of back then. How I was always weak, but I had others to depend on so it's okay. It still hurts me in the inside, reliving those memories. But she's got it way easier. At least she's still standing on both feet. I envied her. I envied how I was back then. The way that I still had someone behind my back when I needed a support, same as I'm there for them. But those times are in the past. And they should just be buried and not remembered. Forever. Because those memories are just memories and they're never coming back.

I take some time looking at the sky, how the clouds just happen to be passing by. I can't help but feel a bit of joy, but it also makes me feel a lot of sadness, since everytime I look at the sky, I'm reminded of them. Same with Riese and the others. Being with them is both fun and painful, especially those times when I fake my smiles so that they won't have to worry about anything, but I still happen to enjoy it nonetheless. I don't know why but... I really am a mess, aren't I? I wipe away the tears that are rolling down my cheeks, then I hear someone calling.

"Yo, Miss Cycling Shorts, so this is where you've been huh?" I see Riese walking towards me with a paw slightly raised. He still has that annoying yet pleasant smile on his face, and those goggles that just makes him look weird. "Didn't think I'd find you here. That was lucky of me," he says as he crouches beside me. I just remain silent with his company. I'm expecting him to say something about what I did earlier, but he just continued to stare at the sky with a smile. I feel annoyed on how he just stares at the sky for no apparent reason, so I ask what he's doing here. "Waiting for you to stand up," he says nonchalantly.

"Oh... wait, then why did you crouch beside me if you're just waiting for me to stand up?" I ask him with my brows furrowed but he just shrugs back. "Seriously?" I grunted as I slowly stand up and dust myself. Riese also stands up and looks at me with a smirk. "What?" I ask him with an annoyed tone. He shakes his head and look up at the sky.

"It's nothing," Riese says. He really is a weirdo. I can't tell what's going on in that mind of his. "You know, there's a better alternative to slapping someone," Riese says out of nowhere. I puff my cheeks and shoot him a glare. "Like, taking a look at the sky, for example," he slowly raises his paw with his index finger raised and points at the blue sky. "When you looked at the sky, you felt happy, didn't you? I sure did, because it reminds me of us, the High Flyers Club. What does the sky remind you of?" Riese turns his head towards me and asks. I look up the sky and thought about his questions.

"It reminds me... of memories. Memories that... makes me happy, like how we trailed Ken to find his house, how we formed a star together with our fists, and how we always seem to have fun together," I smile weakly as I marvel at the vast sky that seemed limitless.

"Mhm. Then, what if the sky were to be gray. What would that remind you of?" Riese waves his paw in the air like he's wiping away the blueness of the sky and actually turning it gray and asks a question that doesn't' make much sense.

"Well, I guess it reminds me of... how... uh... like--" I try to think about it, but Riese suddenly interjects.

"How there's sadness before and after happiness, maybe? People tend to forget that everything is not just sunshine and happy days, correct?" he pauses and eyes me for a moment before continuing, "That's what's sad about it. They think that everything around them is sad, but we all have to know that there's joy in sadness. For example, some people think rain is bad because it's so gloomy and they can't have fun, but to the farmers, they praise the heavens for giving them rain. Others just don't think about other people's perspectives but themselves," he adds. I thought he was a different person because he wasn't smiling, but rather, a blank, emotionless face was looking at me.

"Well... I guess that's true", after saying those words, the emotionlessness in his face is replaced with a wide smile, his tail wagging excitedly.

"Right? The book that I read was so good I had to share that!" he exclaims loudly, lifting up his snout and putting his paws on his hips proudly. I'm slightly disappointed, thinking that Riese was actually the one to have thought of something like that. Still, what he shared was true.

"So... uh, where are the others?" I ask. Riese claps his paws as if he just remembered something.

"Oh, right, we separated to look for you. Didn't think I'd be the one to find you, though. But anyways, we should get going. Classes are going to start soon. Varu took the liberty of putting your lunchbox back in your bag. You know how he is, always thinking about others," he says before he starts to walk away, swinging his paws to the back of his head while staring upwards.

The way he's just so carefree, it makes me kinda jealous. He just comes and go and goes with the flow. He's annoying, childish, and very weird, but who's to say that I'm not all of those as well. I'm probably as annoying, as childish, and as weird as him. I can't help but just smile and laugh it off.

"Hey," I call out to Riese and he turns towards me, "thanks for... accompanying me." I thank him sincerely, but what I got was Riese looking back at me wide-eyes, as if he just saw something unbelievable. Even his smile disappeared from his face and was replaced with a straight face.

"Are you really the Tubby-tubs that we know?" Riese asks bluntly. I can feel a vein pop as my brow twitch in anger. But, as annoying as he is...

"Yeah, I am, Ri-Ri," I smile widely.

Riese is unique.

We arrive back at our room a few minutes before one. Other students are already going back to their seats and chatting with each other. At one side of the room, I see Ken waving goodbye to Varu and Rue, probably going back to his room. I slowly approach them, and they all greet me back with a worried look.

"Hey, Tabitha, where've you been?" Varu asks, forcing a smile over his worried eyes.

"That doesn't matter, because here I am and ready for the day's challenge," I say, hitting my chest lightly with a smile to reassure him. Rue sighs with relief.

"I'm glad that you're fine now."

"Yeah," is all I can say. I look away for a while, thinking on what I should say to them. After thinking about it for some time, I let out a sigh, "Uh... listen, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I don't know what came into me." I look down on myself, feeling ashamed.

"There's no need to be sorry. It's not like you did anything bad. If you want to apologize to someone, apologize to Nicole," Varu adds, making me feel guilt rise up my throat. I was probably showing it because of how suddenly flusters, "B-But it's okay! She wasn't offended by it or anything. R-Rather, it put some sense into her. You could talk to her about it, if you want."

I take a few seconds of silence, thinking on what I should do, before answering, "Maybe later... when I know what I should say to her. But thanks for the worries, guys," I smile at them, and they smile back, reassuring me that everything will be fine. Because of this, I remember why I like this club now. They greet others with a warm smile that you just can't help but smile back, and they always seem to be there for you. It's the thing about the club, something that other clubs don't seem to have.

"Oh yeah, I put your lunchbox back inside your bag," Varu adds as I turn away and about to walk back to my seat.

"Riese already told me. Thanks, Varu," he nods, and I nod back before I go to my seat. The next teacher comes in, and everyone starts to go back to their own seats.

The classes pass by surprisingly fast, and throughout all of it I was thinking of ways to apologize to Nicole. I still don't know what to say to her, though. I acted like an idiot to her, slapping her so suddenly. If what Varu said was true and that it "put some sense into her", then I hope things will go easy and that she'll forgive me. But that's the thing, I don't know if she was really fine with it, and that maybe she was actually just holding in her anger. But it can't hurt to say sorry, right? Besides, I don't mind if she slaps me back.

Club hour starts, and Nicole stuffs her things inside her bag and dashes off the room quickly. I ask Riese and the others that I'll apologize to Nicole first, and they agree and say that they'll be waiting at the club room. After thanking them, I immediately dash out and follow Nicole, who's standing in front of the bulletin board, her eyes widened. I slow down my approach and look at the bulletin board as well. To my surprise, what I saw were flyers about tomorrow's match with Nicole and that Tiger, Margarette. And it's not just one, but multiple flyers were placed. Not only is this wrong, but it's just stupid. I look at Nicole, and her downcast look is really showing how hurt she is right now. Out of anger, I rip off one of the flyers and take a good look at it before ripping it apart.

Calline One and All!

An intense fight between two felines shall happen

tomorrow, at four in the afternoon

at the TENNIS COURT

Don't miss this chance as the Tiger fights against the Cat

This will be a fight you won't want to miss!

As I'm about to grab another flyer, students start to gather near the board while talking about the upcoming match. "Hey, this looks fun. Wanna watch it?" "Huh, I wonder who put up these flyers?" "Let's go, I wanna see who'll win." "Definitely the Tiger. I mean, they're genetically stronger than cats." The talk goes on and on. I grab Nicole by the wrist and pull her out of the crowd and leave behind the flock of students. We were able to find a room where there's no student, and I let out a sigh of relief and look at Nicole.

"Tabitha, can you promise me one thing?" Nicole suddenly asks. I nod in response. "I don't care if I win or not. As long as I'm having fun with the sport that I love, everything will be alright. Right?" Nicole smiles with tears. I'm mildly shocked on how she easily takes in what we just saw, but it makes me happy that she's alright.

"Yeah! And don't worry, I'll definitely be on the side and cheering you on," I reassure her, and she then lets out a sigh of relief.

"That's good, I'll definitely need it," she adds, laughing.

"Hey, since I'll be there cheering for you, you better win this thing, okay?" I tell her with a serious tone, "I'll be cheering for you with all my voice and you better not waste my moral support!" I add, and she laughs back.

"Well, even if I don't win even at my best, as long as I'm in the club, it's fine. After all, the Club Pres only said that if I had the guts, right? Your slap definitely revitalized it," I laugh nervously in response. I didn't think she was going to bring that topic now. "Don't think that I've forgotten that slap of yours. I'll definitely repay you someday," she says with a mischievous smile.

The more I look at her, the more different she becomes. She's not that weak-willed Cat that I once encountered at school. She's not that diffident Cat who was scared at joining the Tennis Club. She's not that scaredy-Cat that was crying on her desk earlier. She's grown up just because of a slap and a sudden yelling of a certain someone. That certain someone is very proud that she got this Cat to have some more self confidence, and she'll still be there to support her when the time comes. She'll definitely be there to support her. I'll definitely be there to support her.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow? I'm gonna be practicing at home now."

"Sure. See you tomorrow, then," I raise my fist and she bumps hers with mine. She proceeds to leave afterwards with a smile across her face.

"Think everything'll be alright?" Someone asks from behind me.

"Definitel--oh my GOD! Ken, don't scare me like that!" I yell at Ken, who's standing behind me silently. I didn't even notice him. "How long have you--," before I can finish my question, he interjects.

"I've been here the whole time. This is our room, I'm the cleaner for the day," he says. I blink a few times, thinking how the hell was he here the whole time and us not noticing. "I also just got back from throwing the garbage when I saw you two talking," he adds.

"Oh, no wonder. But still, you're damn quiet," and I mean that as a complement. "And you clean up fast." I look around the room and see that everything's clean and orderly. I'm impressed.

"It's less of a mess than what the club room once was," he adds before picking up his bag.

"Oh crap, forgot my bag! Uh, go on ahead, I'll be with you shortly," I say before dashing out of the room and back to our room. After swiftly picking up my bag, I run up the stairs. Before I go up another floor, I hear someone familiar talking. Someone familiar who I despise so much.

I creep through the hall and listen to where the voice is coming from. I can hear the voice getting louder, so I'm definitely going the right way. As the voice gets louder, I can kinda hear what they're saying now. "We just need to make her stop, and I have a plan for that. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. It'll surely bring her down, and then I'll crush her," the voice says before I hear something being slammed. I nearly jolted, but manage to keep it silent. "That's all for now. Let's go," the voice says as I start to hear footsteps. I immediately run silently and up the next flight of stairs and stop.

This... isn't looking good. That was that Tiger's voice, and she says that she has a plan to "crush" Nicole. This is bad... I have to stop them, but I shouldn't get the others mixed up into this. I'll just... stop them myself. If there's anything, I could at least persuade them. It's risky since I'll be alone in doing it, but I have to try. I don't want to make Nicole worry more. I said to her that I'll be supporting her on the sides, and I'll definitely be doing that. I'll stop them, I have to.

"What are you doing?" I jolt and scream at the sudden question. I turn around and it's just Ken.

"Geez, stop popping up out of nowhere like that. It scares the hell out of someone, you know!" I yell at him, but he just cocks his head.

"I was waiting for you to move, but you just stood there," he says bluntly. I forgot to mention that he still has his emotionless face and monotonous voice. He was never the type to talk much, but this is a bit too much for me. I can't handle more of his surprise attacks.

"Alright, alright, I'm moving now. And please don't scare anyone like that again. Not just for me," I say.

"I once tapped Rue's shoulder, he still freaked out," he says. Honestly, it's normal seeing as how easily scared Rue is, "And he knows I'm with him... I think he forgot," he adds after a long pause. Okay, now that's just... kinda sad.

"You need to work out your... invisibility-ness," I tell him. He cocks his head again then nods in response.

"Alright."

"Alright... then let's go?" I say, pointing at the club's direction before walking towards it. Ken follows me, and we go inside the club room.

Throughout the whole hour, or what's left of the club hour, I pretended that everything's okay, that everything was fine. I kept my smile and remained as energetic as I could, not letting that discussion about Nicole drag me down. Of course, it's engraved in my mind as if it was carved on it, not able to erase it, but can only cover it up. That's all I can do for now.

And the day slowly ends.

---

The next day, I hear many people talking to each other about the match today as I walk to my classroom. I'm really skeptical if I'm able to pull it off. I decided to just have a small talk with that Tiger, one on one, just me and her. I don't know why, but on the flyers was a phone number. It was risky, but I called that number last night and it really was hers. I persuaded her that we have a little talk, and she agreed to. Man, I really hope things'll go well, but what else can I do? I don't want the others to be part of this problem, and I don't want to tell Nicole about it.

I open the door and see students talking to each other here as well. The news really did spread like wildfire. I slowly approach my seat and sit down, pondering on what else should I say to convince her. As I continue thinking, someone slams her paws on my desk and whispers loudly.

"Tabitha, guess what! They're going to shorten the classes today so that the game will start at three!" Nicole's eyes were sparkling with innocence.

"Shorten... classes?" I ask her, a bit surprised since shortening of classes is very rare and with the occasion only an exhibition match, even rarer. In fact, I've never heard of something like that.

"Yep! I'm super pumped. I really hope that things go well," she says with a downcast smile, gently clasping her own paws.

"Yeah, me too," I mutter.

"Don't worry, I just need to be strong. Not everything can be solved by giving up, right? Everything will definitely be fine," Nicole widely smiles, not knowing that someone is out there plotting on some dastard scheme. Damn that Tiger, I really wish she could just die. "Tabitha? What's wrong? Your paws are shaking," Nicole asks worriedly.

"Huh? Uh, no, everything's fine. I'm just, excited for this afternoon," I reassure her with a smile.

"Well, if anything's wrong, I'm here, okay?"

"...Thanks," I nod, and she nods back. She proceeds to go to her seat and starts humming some pop music that I sometimes hear on my Dad's radio.

"So, you think that artificial wings are coming anytime soon?" Riese opens the door and enters, with Varu following him.

"I honestly think that's impossible," Varu replies, closing the door behind him. "The best we can probably do are jetpacks in the future."

"Jetpacks sucks since they use fossil fuel. It ruins the environment, and they're non-renewable resources."

"Well, they could find a way to not use fossil fuels."

Varu and Riese go to their respective seats and continues their talk about artificial wings. Rue then joins in, and they continue talking about stuffs that usually bore me. But this time, I'm not bored with it. Rather, I'm glad they're just talking, nothing's bothering them, and they have nothing to worry. As for me, instead of joining them, I continue to think about the match today. I really hope things'll go well, Nicole.

-

It's still around a few minutes before 2:30, and everyone's already excited about the exhibition match while others are saying that they're just going to go home than watch it. If you're not a fan of sports, that's natural. I ready my bag and watch as the clock slowly ticks and moves its second hand upwards.

"Class dismissed," the teacher says suddenly. Many of the students were shocked, saying that it isn't time yet. "It's not my decision, it's your adviser's," he says before leaving the room. The students, although a bit hesitant, leave the room one by one.

"Tabitha, let's go," Varu says.

"Uh, you guys go ahead. I'm gonna go somewhere first, 'kay?" I tell them with a smile. Before Varu can say anything, Riese chimes in.

"Alright. Let's go and cheer on Nicole."

"But shouldn't we accompany Tabitha first, at least?" Varu asks.

"Nah, it's fine. She'll definitely be there. Trust her," he says with a wide smile. Varu grunts with worry and follows Riese. Rue stays behind, looking at me with a worried look.

"Stay safe, wherever you're going... 'kay?" Rue says before walking away. Does he know? Or is he just the type to worry about someone? Either way, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'll have to go to the place where she and I are gonna meet. On the third floor, the other side of the hall, opposite direction from the club room.

I slowly ascend the stairs, the halls all empty since we seem to be the only class who were dismissed first. It's kinda creepy, and as I slowly approach my destination, the more uncertain I am about this. What if things don't go well? What if I'm not able to persuade her? What if everything will just go... wrong? But it's too late to think about it now that I'm in front of the door of that room.

Hesitatingly, I reach towards the door's handle. My paw stops a few inches from it, shaking uncontrollably. I grip my wrist, trying to calm myself down. C'mon, I'm strong, I can do this. I breathe in deeply, and with all the courage I can muster, I swiftly open the door. In front of me, the Tiger sits on a chair, her black stripes blending with the darkness of the room. Her smirk was unpleasant, but I try to ignore it and go inside.

"I honestly didn't think you were coming here, little kitty," she says. I just glare at her, not responding to whatever she's going to say, since there's only one thing I have to say to her. "I was waiting since noon. You really made me wait, didn't you? And here I was, so ready to get off this ugly chair and prepare myself for the game. Hey, what's with the cold shoulder? You should be glad that you have the courage to stand up to me."

"Stop this nonsense and fight her fair and square," I coldly say to her.

"Huh? What do you mean? I am going to fight with her fair and square. What do you take me for? Someone who'd cheat her way to victory? No, no," she shakes her head, "I am the type of person that crushes those weaklings who think that they're so high and mighty that they could win. They think they can just get everything that they want if they try? No, no, no matter how hard others try, they won't be able to surpass others. And that's the lesson I'm gonna teach that runt, that she shouldn't mess with the elite."

"And what makes you think that you'll be able to break her spirit?"

"Because you won't be there cheering for her," was what she says before something blunt strikes me from behind. I slowly lose my consciousness as everything starts to turn black. I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I go through this...? Nicole... be safe.