The Grand Arena was alive with celebration. Street vendors flooded the walkways outside, selling roasted meats, spiced pastries, and drinks that steamed in the cooling evening air. Strangers debated tactics and technique with the passion of lifelong scholars. A man reenacted Takeshi's lightning charge with exaggerated gestures while his friends heckled corrections.
Leo watched it unfold from the delegation seating. Families eating together. People laughing, arguing, living.
Akane returned carrying enough food for the entire section. Skewers of charred meat dripping with glaze. Honey-drizzled pastries stacked in precarious towers. Cups of something steaming and fragrant. "I got everything they had. Figured we'd need energy for the finals." She distributed wrapped packages with easy efficiency. "Takeshi's still getting healed. Yuki's with him."
"Will he be ready?" Leo asked.
