Without Rin's help, Sae was forced to search for this new girl all by herself. She tried skulking around in the woods where the smokers went, but had no success and was only really risking her own reputation and squeaky clean detention record, so she gave up. Nobody knew this girl, apparently.
She could have asked the office, but hadn't quite reached that level of desperation when she stumbled upon her in the fitness center the school offered on its lower level. She knew of the school's fitness center, as previous captains had often cast girls down to it if they were slacking in skills or gaining too much weight too fast. But seeing as she'd never found herself in either of those circumstances and the Itoshi's had a home gym, she'd never stepped foot in it.
She did know that all students, athletes or not, could use the gym, and that had been the knowledge that had brought her down here. That ass had been insane, after all. Sae hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.
The new girl was at the leg press. In nothing but a bright pink sports bra and matching tiny shorts. No body insecurity, Sae couldn't help but think. That's a good sign. Not that she needed any. The evidence of her athleticism was even more blatant than it had been in the school uniform.
Her thighs were massive and solid, barely even straining as they continually pressed what Sae guessed must have been more than she herself weighed. Even though they weren't doing anything but holding onto the handles, she could see the way her shoulders and biceps bulged. And even reclined and leaned back, Sae only confirmed what she already knew. She was tall.
All she really did was watch for a while. It's not like the girl noticed. She couldn't help it. It was infecting her mind. The way she could picture herself lifted by those arms, falling into them with perfect precision, no risk, the solidity this girl could add with those legs, that core. The perfect third, truly. Better than Rin, even. Everything Sae had been looking for. Everything she deserved.
Eventually, it came time to stop watching and actually recruit this girl. She didn't have the same type of obligation to recruit girls, her being the captain and all, but if she could recruit someone of her own caliber for her own stunting group, she was hardly above it. Besides, every girl wanted to be a cheerleader.
It was unclear how Sae hadn't noticed prior, but it struck her as odd that this girl didn't tie her hair up before coming down here. It was damp with sweat like the rest of her, but her blonde and pink hair fell off the sides of the head rest unapologetically, held out of her face by a thin black headband and chunky white headphones. She also hadn't bothered to wipe her eye makeup off, none of which had moved, not a single smudge, no sparkle out of place. That too was a good sign, Sae told herself.
The girl finally noticed her. She set the weight to resting position, kicked her legs over the bench, crossing them at the ankles, and took her headphones off.
"Hi, little Itoshi," she greeted her. Sae didn't know how she knew this, beyond a blatant resemblance to Rin, but it annoyed her more than she cared to admit. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'm older than Rin," Sae said, crossing her arms across the front of her cheerleading uniform.
"I said little, not junior." The girl shrugged a little. "Are you friendlier too?"
"Depends," Sae answered.
"On what?" the girl asked.
She tilted her head to the side on the head rest a little. It unsettled Sae a little, how this girl watched her. She was used to having the upper hand. She claimed it early and maintained the grip. For the first time, she didn't find it so easy to do. That being said, she didn't often want, or need rather, anything from anyone. She was usually the one with opportunities and grace and whatever else anyone wanted to hand out at her leisure.
"I'm the captain of the cheerleading squad," Sae said, by means of avoiding the question.
"You don't say?" The girl smirked a bit as she looked over Sae. Sae let her. The cheerleading uniform was a status symbol. That was why she'd made a point to be wearing it while she sought this girl out. "You don't just wear that because it looks cute?"
Bingo.
"It's a bonus," Sae said, shifting her weight a little to give her a better view.
"I can see that."
"How would you like one of your own?"
Sae thought this would be cut and dry, end of the conversation. Itoshi Sae came up to me in the gym and personally asked me to come to cheerleading tryouts! Can you believe that? That's what she pictured passing through the girl's mind, anyways.
Instead, the girl just snorted. "I'm alright, thanks."
Sae didn't quite understand that answer. Or rather, she didn't expect it. Or both. Once she did understand it as being a no, she figured that it was her who must be confused.
"There's no cost to you if you're on the squad," Sae said, deciding to start there, because the most pushback she ever got on cheerleading matters usually had to do with money. "We'd just give you one."
"Fuck, I'd hope so," the girl said, rolling her eyes.
Sae got the distinct impression that this conversation was not going well. It's not that she didn't understand. It's clear she did. But she was also making fun of her, like she was the one who didn't understand, which Sae realized, she might be. But the girl didn't pull her feet back from where they rested on the leg press and hadn't moved to put her headphones back on, so Sae pushed on.
"So?"
"So," the girl said. "I still don't want one."
"Why not?" Sae couldn't help but ask. Everyone does. Girls in this school would kill to be having this conversation with me.
"I don't really care about your little dance troupe," the girl said, shrugging. "I have more important things to do."
"Like what?"
"Bicker with cute girls in the school gym, of course."
The way she smiled, it looked like she was kidding. But Sae felt a little strange about it anyways, so she decided to believe it had just been a joke.
"We could do more of it if you join the squad," Sae said in her own attempt at humor.
"We could do that anywhere," the girl said. "Wearing anything."
Sae crossed her arms again. The girl mimicked her, deliberately and jokingly, tilting her head to either side in mock snootiness. It wasn't really that it made Sae feel strange again, but she didn't care to continue this conversation. She wasn't looking for friends. She'd come here for a reason.
"If you don't care about the dance troupe," Sae said, complete with finger air quotes that felt like a horrible betrayal of everything she loved. "What do you care about?"
"Not much."
"Bullshit."
That answer made the girl's grin grow and her eyes widen. It would have come across as offense if she hadn't been smiling. The answer clearly surprised and amused her.
"What do you mean by that, Itoshi senior?" she asked.
"Your body," Sae said, motioning to her. That only amused her more. But Sae continued. "I can tell you're not a weightlifter. You don't move like a weightlifter moves. This is obviously just supplemental."
"You can tell that much from how I'm laying here?"
Sae shook her head. "It's how you walk."
The girl's smile became less amused and more impressed. She let out a single beat of laughter and then sighed. "I play a bit of tennis."
"It's not that," Sae said, fairly certain that it wasn't.
"I used to be a gymnast," she then admitted. Then it was Sae's eyes that were going wide.
"This is perfect," she whispered.
"What was that?" the girl asked.
"Used to?" Sae asked.
"Used to," the girl said solidly, like there would be no elaboration.
Sae cleared her throat. "What did you specialize in?"
"Trampoline," she said. It wasn't ideal, but Sae could work with that. It wasn't rhythmic or anything, so she'd take it. But the girl was still watching, still smiling. "And bars. But don't go thinking I'm half bad on the floor."
Fuck.
"I need you," Sae said, with so little shame she surprised the both of them.
"You need me, huh?" the girl said back. She pursed her lips a little, looked up at the ceiling, like she was pondering. Her pink eyes found Sae again. "Alright, I'm listening."
"I'm looking for a third," Sae said.
"Damn," the girl said, making this choking noise. "And I thought this was about cheerleading."
But Sae didn't understand the joke.
"I'm the captain this year, and I'm going to be the front spot," Sae said. It didn't dawn on her that this girl might not know cheer terminology, because the only people she ever really spoke to were people who had known these terms since they were children. "I'm the best flyer. I want the best stunt group. I deserve it."
"So, what?" she asked. "You want me to come lift you into the air and catch you or whatever?"
It was so not or whatever, but Sae felt like she was making progress, so she shrugged and said, "Pretty much."
"Just you?" she asked.
"Yes," Sae answered. "Just me. You'll be my back spot, and I'll be your flyer."
The girl made her pondering face again.
"And if we ever do stunts where only one base is required." Sae didn't know what this girl's fixation on her was, exactly, but if it got her to nationals, she wasn't above dangling herself in front of this girl to get there. The fixation, whatever it was, wasn't exactly one sided. "I'll use you then, too."
"Okay," the girl said.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that." The girl pulled her feet back and placed them on the bench again, indicating the end of the conversation. "I think it'll be fun to throw you around a bit."
"It'll be hard work," Sae warned. Lightly, but still.
The girl watched her in that same strange way. "Still."
"Okay," Sae said. She smiled, kind of. She couldn't help it. She could have clenched her fists and jumped and squeaked in glee if she would have allowed herself. "I'll see you at try outs then?"
"Wait, wait, wait," the girl said, waving a single finger out in the air between them. "Tryouts? I didn't even want to join the squad. I only agreed to get you to stop pestering me about it. Why would I come try out?"
"Well," Sae said, her smile dropping. "Everyone has to. It's not a big deal. I'm sure you'll make it."
"I've lost interest." She reached for her headphones again. "But if you want to do this again sometime, you know where to find me."
"Wait," Sae said then, her hands jutting out. "Okay, fine. You don't have to try out."
"Just like that?" she asked.
"Just like that," Sae confirmed. This would probably get her in trouble with Oliver, and it would definitely get her in trouble with Rin, but she didn't care. She was the captain. That was something to deal with later. "You're in."
The girl smiled. She leaned up and reached for her phone that was sitting in the cupholder of the machine. She clicked around on the screen a little and turned it towards Sae. The new contact screen was displayed.
"Be a doll and give me your number, would you? That way you can text me about our first practice, and anything else that goes on in that pretty little head of yours."
Sae figured that was reasonable enough. She reached for the phone and did as she was told.
As she was typing in her number, the pink eyed girl asked, "So, friendly little Itoshi senior, do you have a first name?"
"Obviously, I do," Sae said, handing the phone back. She could have just let her read it, but figured maybe a little friendliness would be the right move here. "It's Sae."
"Sae," the girl said, trying it out, stretching the word as far as it would go. "Huh."
"Do you have a name?" Sae asked back, suddenly realizing she'd never asked.
"Sure do," the girl said with a nod. She reached a hand out towards Sae. "Shidou Ryusei."
"Shidou Ryusei," Sae repeated, all the syllables of normal length, like a normal person would do. She took her hand and shook. "Welcome to the squad."
"Pleasure's all mine, flyer," Shidou Ryusei said back, tightening her grip as Sae tried to let go. Their hands remained locked longer than a handshake should typically last. "Can't wait to get my hands on ya."
When Sae finally got her hand back, she waved it, and was about to take herself through an awkward goodbye, but she paused.
"Um," she said, wondering why exactly she was dragging this out after getting the yes she'd come for. "You don't smoke cigarettes, do you?"
Shidou Ryusei scoffed. "No. I'm not a fucking loser."
"No," Sae repeated, pleased with the answer. "You're perfect."
Ryusei watched her a while, her mouth turning up at one side. There was something odd about that girl, and Rin was definitely going to have her head when she showed up at the first practice, but again, that was something to deal with later.
By the time she was letting herself out the door, Sae was giddy. She was cheerleading captain, undisputed best flyer on the squad, and the third she'd just landed for her stunt group was this gymnast powerhouse who already knew how to tumble. She could have screamed.
The two of them were going to be a match made in heaven, and with Shidou Ryusei at her side, she was going to be able to achieve everything she had promised for herself this year.