[A/N: Around next month, I may not be as active, so I'll try to create chapters beforehand and schedule the posting instead of manually doing it.
I won't be able to check or reply to the comments, but I'll try to like them when I see them. This is because I am moving abroad for my university.]
Everybody ran to the van and jumped in. Soon after, they spotted Rudolf and Ace running toward them. Ace is holstering her roommate over her shoulder.
"Ye Dun't leave ush behind!!" Ace said with a heavy accent. Kazuo stared dumbfounded before chuckling. He got into the driver's seat and revved up the engine.
A horde of fans and reporters is chasing after those two from behind.
Mejiro Palmer is groaning from the sudden movement and shakiness before Ace jumped into the side door and landed on the van's floor.
Rudolf jumped toward the empty spot beside Echo Eclipse; Cameroun and Nishiki simultaneously shut the side door, and Kazuo drove away.
"Hew~ Sh'afely away frum 'em," Ace wiped her forehead before Palmer smacked her head from behind.
"You're using the accent again; they won't understand you." She sighed, then she spotted Echo raising her hand.
"I can understand her accent," she smiled brightly, not minding the fact that Symboli Rudolf is currently resting her head onto Echo's shoulder.
"Eh?" all the girls in the van said at the same time, before Ace brightened up with excitement, "Yer frum Hokkaido tooh?"
Echo Eclipse nodded, then Katsuragi Ace started bouncing up and down on the van before banging her head.
"Owwww!!"
"Really? Finally! Now I'm not the only person who can translate her accent," Palmer excitedly responded while rubbing the bruise on Ace's head.
"Translating accents is not that impressive; I can do it too." Rudolf closed her eyes as she said coldly.
Little did they know that, after getting her interest piqued by Echo Eclipse, she delved into and studied the Hokkaido accent just in case. She knows that Echo's family and friends may speak with the accent when she visits her family.
Doesn't hurt to be prepared.
"Girls! Put on your seatbelts, don't want any accidents in my van!" Kazuo shouted from the driver's seat.
Ace and Palmer found an empty seat beside Mach and put on their seatbelts.
Rudolf had already put on her seatbelt the moment she sat beside Echo. The van went silent for a few seconds before Bizen Nishiki asked.
"By the way, what was that thing you did at the last stretch of the race?" She asked curiously, and both Ace and Rudolf glanced at each other before shrugging.
"Dunno," "No clue."
Echo stared at them for a bit, rewinding time in her mind. Remembering when the reddish, green dome appeared from Rudolf, Rudolf said something.
Echo poked Rudolf's cheek, and she turned to Echo, confused. Echo asked, "I remember during the last stretch, you said 'Emperor Zone'."
"Eh? I did?" Rudolf responded, confused. She didn't remember saying that thing. Her memory during that time was hazy, like she was a cloud floating in the deep sea.
Ace tilted her head, "Did I say something similar as well?"
Echo nodded, "You said 'World-Conquering Great Ace'."
"Eh? I said something like that??" Ace started blushing. She didn't expect to say something so bold like that.
Rudolf turned to the rest of the girls, "Did you hear us say that?"
But to Echo's shock, they didn't. They said that they could only hear the crowd's cheers or something similar. This made Echo ponder why she could hear Ace and Rudolf's words so clearly.
"... Zone?" Echo tilted her head as she mumbled out. She remembered a section on her status screen. It was empty, so she never paid it any mind, but her instinct was saying she was correct in her assumption.
Perhaps what Rudolf and Ace did was unlock their zone?
Echo excitedly turned her head to Rudolf, asking, "Let's call it a zone! Also, can you activate your zone again?"
Rudolf shook her head and pointed at her palm, which was heavily shaking and sweaty.
"No, I doubt I can, even in peak condition. Right now, Ace and I are running on adrenaline. We would collapse otherwis-" thump. Everyone turned their heads toward the direction of the sound; it was Katsuragi Ace, slumping onto Mejiro Palmer's thighs, in a heavy sleep too.
"Like I was saying, we are on the brink of exhaustion." Rudolf lets out a deep sigh as she continues resting her head onto Echo's shoulder. "Really... Damn... Exhausting after the race."
Rudolf's eyes blurred as she blinked repeatedly, wanting to continue being awake; she turned her head toward Echo. But strangely enough, Echo looked more mature, taller, and older than the moment prior. Her mind felt like it was floating away from her body, not even questioning how Echo became more mature and taller.
The matured Echo chuckled, smiling with satisfaction at Symboli Rudolf. She then leaned forward toward her with parted lips, inviting Rudolf in.
Rudolf noticed this and dazedly lifted her head, pressing her lips against the matured Echo's lips, before her vision went black. Falling asleep onto Echo's shoulder.
Echo froze, surprised at what Rudolf had just done. Then she raised her fingers and pressed against her cheek, at the spot which Rudolf had pecked.
"Eh?" Her eyes were wide as saucers, and her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. A red hue slowly appeared on her cheeks and nose.
She didn't even realise what had happened, only remembered an intense, relaxing citrus scent overwhelming her nose; then she felt a 'Chuu' on her cheek.
She turned her head toward her friends; none of them had realised what had happened and was talking like always. From this realisation, she exhaled a breath of relief.
'I-Is the side effect of Zone really that deadly?! W-Why did she kiss me?! W-Whaaaaaaa-' She started internally screaming, trying to figure out what was happening and why.
For the first time, she became hyper-aware of Rudolf's features: her rosy lips, her sharply closed eyes, the way the sweat glistened on her skin, the curves and straightness of her long brown hair, and those striking white blaze streaks.
Her brain began to shut down; she wasn't prepared for this at all.
Echo.exe is shutting down.
...
..
.
"Hehe, look how cute I was in the past. So innocent and naïve~," the mature Echo Eclipse chuckled while viewing the scene from another dimension. She remembers experiencing this before and instinctively avoided looking at Rudolf for a few days.
"Heh, never could've thought that it was future me who orchestrated the whole thing, but everything comes full circle. This is necessary." She hums as her long black hair sways from the wind, closing her eyes and enjoying the warm sunlight on her skin. Reflecting light from the ring on her ring finger.
"But sheesh, I was really dense without any interference. But that's at least one of the reasons why Rudolf fell in love with me, heh." She opened her eyes and stared at you.
"Now then, viewers. Readers. I'll end my monologue; I don't want to spoil what's to come either. Heh." She waved at you, and everything went black.
"This is the end of this chapter. So be patient for the next~ I won't be in it though, hehe."