The Sad, Barefoot Cheerleader

She is sad because some joker took off with her shoes.  

Her name was Komi Yuzuki, but everyone just called her “Yuzu.” Captain of AU High’s cheer squad, queen of pep rallies, undefeated in school spirit, and owner of the shiniest yellow pom-poms in the entire district. Her ponytail had bounce. Her moves had attitude. Her smile could practically turn off the fire alarm.

But not today.

Today, she sat on the edge of the gym floor, barefoot, emotionally bruised, and clutching her pom-poms like they were emotional support plushies.

Because someone—somebody—had jacked her shoes.

And not just any shoes. Her custom, limited-edition, sparkle-accented, size 6½ cheer sneakers with her initials embroidered in glitter thread. The “Y.Y.” stood for Yuzuki’s Yassification. They were legendary.

And now?

Gone.

How did it happen?

One minute, the squad was running their pre-game routine. Yuzu had kicked her shoes off for a quick stretch, because she was classy like that. Then boom—Coach blows the whistle, the squad lines up, and when she jogs back to her spot—

Shoes. Vanished.

She looked around like, “Is this a prank?” but no one laughed. No “gotcha,” no giggles. Just a suspicious trail of glitter and a single hot Cheeto on the gym floor.

“This is a hate crime,” she mumbled, crossing her legs with exaggerated drama as she sat down, cheeks pink with frustration.

Her teammates tried to console her.

“It’s just shoes, Yuzu.”

“That floor’s clean-ish.”

“You still look cute barefoot!”

But Komi wasn’t having it. “I’m the face of pep. The barefoot face of pep right now. Do you know how un-iconic that is?”

The gym door creaked. She turned slowly.

There he was.

Dylan. Freakin’. Martinez. The prankster of AU. Serial gum-swapper. Probably born holding a whoopee cushion. And on his back?

A drawstring bag.

Bulging.

Komi narrowed her eyes. “Dylan,” she said coolly, “is there a reason you’re carrying a suspiciously cheer-shoe-shaped bag?”

Dylan just shrugged. “I dunno what you mean. You think I’d steal your kicks? That’d be…so middle school.”

“You literally once replaced Coach’s whistle with a duck call.”

“Hey, that duck call changed lives.”

The squad watched like it was reality TV. Yuzu slowly stood up, barefoot pride be damned. She marched right over and, with zero hesitation, yanked open the bag.

Inside?

A single shoe. Her left one.

“Nooo, my sweet lefty!” she gasped.

But the right one? Missing.

Dylan blinked. “Weird. I definitely had both…”

A loud quack echoed from the equipment closet. Everyone turned.

The door creaked open. A duck. Holding her other shoe in its beak.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL—”

And that’s how Yuzu, AU’s barefoot queen for the day, ended up chasing a duck across the gym while yelling, “DROP THE SHOE, YOU FLUFFY MENACE!”

Moral of the story? None.

Just a sad, barefoot cheerleader, a duck with suspicious taste in footwear, and a prank war that would go down in school history.

Yuzu eventually got her shoes back.

But she never stretched barefoot again.

Trust issues: activated.