[Old Mitakihara]
[The Amazing Race, Finish Line]
Quote Originally Posted by Kuroimaken View Post
Spoiler
Show
She had the right of it for the most part. This wasn't a sprint, but a marathon. Not in the sense that they needed to conserve actual energy, but in the sense that in most cases they had no real space to pick up speed. Surprisingly enough, in spite of his shorter stature meaning an equally shorter step, Makoto's advantage lay in his lesser mass. Each gamble posed a slightly lesser risk to him because of that. Of course, if she were paying attention, taking such risks would give away a trace of his personality to her.

Fortunately, that was something he could live with.

One particular point of ascension would prove tough to support two people. This was where he needed to pick up the pace. Spotting a certain crumbling formation, Makoto picked a piece of debris off the ground and suddenly threw it with great force. The impact shattered the formation outward, and he leapt forward off the ledge a moment or so after Nuan did. Two amazing things happened one after the other, in the reverse order that will be presented now.

First, by curling his body mid-leap, Makoto managed to gain momentum enough to dart past his opponent. By taking that position, he sacrificed upward momentum for forward speed - and that meant he would fall short of his expected goal on the wall. That SHOULD be what happened, except Makoto had thrown that rock with such timing that as he fell, so did the debris that would have prevented him from leaping at the same time as Li Nuan. And those selfsame debris were used as stepping stones for him to pick up even more speed and traverse the otherwise empty space between the ledges. His landing would be smoother, giving him a precious second or two ahead of his opponent.

Second, as he passed Nuan, she would have felt the very distinct and very bold sensation of something slapping her butt. This is isn't so much "amazing" as it is funny, but it had the intention of breaking her concentration for a moment. After all, a lady has her modesty.
If Nuan is upset by the crude gesture, she doesn't much show it. No doubt she had some emotional reaction internally (it'd be a silly thing to throw the race to find out specifics), but outwardly it's a twitch of a smirk and a maybe a raised eyebrow. Probably because having her butt slapped by a cocky teenager less than half her age and a head shorter than her is more absurd than it is offensive. Still, Makoto has the lead! For the moment, anyway. Maintaining it is tough - his smaller mass lets him lessen risks and make more frequent use of time-saving shortcuts, but Nuan is simply taller and leggier, and the advantage gained by every stride covering just a bit more ground is not something that be entirely written out.

Still, he's able to sustain his position until the final push - a leap out of a low-level window onto a stretch of raised highway. Nothing left between the two of them and the location Makoto had stashed his vehicle but a span of open asphalt. Some rubble, sure, a few weak points, but as close to solid, stable, flat construction as anything here. With both contestants' augmented mashou bodies spitting in the face of human limitations, it's an olympian sprint that seems bound to end in a photo finish either way.

Regardless, the agreed-upon finish line - the first to touch the bike, its sensors would serve as an impartial judge of whether that person was Makoto or not - is drawing close. Time to close things out...

[Neo-Mitakihara, Ward 4]
[Neo-Mitakihara Growth and Development Center]
Quote Originally Posted by strawberryman View Post
Spoiler
Show
Rio flinches a bit, surprised by the interruption. Ms. Minami had a way of being sneaky about her approach. Well... not that it was particularly hard to catch Rio off guard. "...um..." She hesitates after a few moments.

"Well, Mia the Justice-Spear says that the weight of the hero depends on how heroic their wish was..." Ah, Mia. A loud, slightly obnoxious mashou that nonetheless commanded a bit of a following thanks to clever marketing. She always finished her televised wraith hunts with a blood-boiling monologue. Probably... not the best model for self-esteem for aspiring mashou.
"Oh, that's not true at all! Mia is a fine young lady, but she still has a lot to learn about heroics. Some of the greatest magical girls ever had some of the simplest wishes you can think of. Wishes for friends, or family, or just... something they were passionate about. Misaki Umika just wished for someone to give her writing a chance, and she went on to help lead one of the biggest groups of magical girls before Wishcraft came around - and when it did, she helped with that too. And on top of that, Before The Dawn is something I teach my senior classes every year!"

"If there's one thing I've learned being a literature teacher, it's that there's lots of kinds of hero, and some of the greatest kinds are the ones that aren't anything like Mia at all." Ms. Minami nods solemnly at that. "...you should ask your mom about it! She deals with all sorts of magical girls in her job."