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Part 5 of The Amazing Race stories
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2020-11-12
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2021-05-06
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The Amazing Race: Anime Edition

Chapter 10: Leg 5.2 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Chapter Text

Leg 5.2


Sora

Mikoto advanced on Sora and then grabbed his collar.

"Wha-"

"Why'd you do that?"

Mio and Taki instantly stood up to watch the commotion.

"What're you doing?" Taki asked.

"They lied to us to sabotage us!" Mikoto argued. "They told us this was a brute strength task to get Touma to do it!"

"What's so bad about Touma doing this challenge?" Mio asked.

"Well, have you seen his luck? Luck is a huge factor in a challenge of this scale." Mikoto said.

Sora opened his mouth to argue. "Look, I'm sorry-"

"No you're not," Mikoto replied.

"We're just really bad bikers and we need all the time we can get." Sora said. Mikoto dropped him and walked a few feet away.

"Fine. Whatever. Tell us whatever sob story you want. But I'm never trusting you again. Mio, Taki, take notes. I think we figured out who U-Turned team SAO." Mikoto outed.

Taki slapped Sora on the shoulder. "Not cool, bro. That's not technically cheating, but that's a real scummy thing to do."

Mio just stared as Sora sat alone.

Touma

Touma blew his nose into a tissue.

"God, and I have to do this while I'm sick and can't even smell the flowers?" Touma asked. He kneeled over to sniff the flowers. "Yeah, I can't tell."

Ritsu

After searching for around twenty minutes, Ritsu pulled out the clue from her pocket and read again.

"...okay…okay… oh, tulips, tulips, tulips…" Ritsu said.

"I was searching almost every flower bed in there, and I was like, is this really right? Did everyone who arrived ahead of us and left really take this long?" Ritsu asked. "So I just pulled out my clue, and then it told me what I was doing wrong."

"Okay, so I should narrow it down to tulips… wait, what do tulips look like again?"

Ritsu shrugged and ran up to Mitsuha.

"What is it?" Mitsuha asked.

"Do you know which flowers are tulips?"

"I figured since we still had Shiro and Touma behind us, it would be safe to tell Mitusha the secret in exchange for her telling me which flowers were tulips." Ritsu said.

"Why?" Mitsuha asked.

"The clue says we need to search for a tulip," Ritsu said.

"Oh. Oh… thanks." Mitsuha replied, gritting her teeth. "I totally overlooked that."

"So, then, which flowers are tulips?"

"I think, the ones in that field over there," Mitsuha said, leading Ritsu to the field of tulips.

Shiro

Shiro was rummaging through the flowers, touching each stem and squeezing it a bit before moving on.

"There's no way the fake one will not be plastic-y." Shiro said. "I'm pretty sure touching them is the only way we're going to be able to find it."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin biked their way back into Amsterdam proper.

"That's a really long bike ride," Kazuma said.

All of a sudden, a car honked behind them.

"Get the fuck outta the road!"

"Woah!" Kazuma shouted, swerving around. "Where the hell are we supposed to bike, then?"

"In the bike lane!"

The driver pointed to the bike lane, then flipped them off and drove away.

"Sheesh," Megumin said, as they biked over to the bike lane.

Souma and Erina

"Kazuma didn't leave too far ahead," Erina said. "We could catch up and get another wi-"

A car honked.

"What is it with tourists not biking in the bike lanes?!" he shouted. Then he started swearing in Dutch.

"What's his deal?" Souma asked. "Eh. whatever."

Touma

Touma looked through the tulips.

"This sucks, this really sucks." he said. He pulled a tulip out of the ground, only to see it's a real one.

"Fuck!" he swore, before standing up and dashing out of the garden.

Mitsuha

Mitsuha tugged at a flower before pulling it up, with a clue attached to the bottom.

"Yes!" she shouted.

"What does it feel like?" Ritsu asked.

"Here, just touch it."

Mitsuha handed the flower to Ritsu, who felt it a bit before giving it back.

"Thanks," Ritsu said. "That's really distinctive."

"Since Ritsu helped me so much, I figured I might as well help her a bit more before leaving," Mitsuha said.

Mitsuha ran out with Taki and ripped the clue open.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 5th Place

"Bike yourselves to Rikjsmuseum," Taki read. "Nice work out there."

Kazuma and Megumin

"Is this a museum?" Megumin asked. "Man, it's big."

"Never really thought of it much, but you don't really have museums in Belzerg, huh?"

They stopped in front of the museum and ran up to the clue box in front.

"There it is," Megumin said. She grabbed the clue and ripped it open.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 1st Place

"Detour," Kazuma read. "Cheese Wheel or Word Reveal?"

[D] Cheese Wheel

In Cheese Wheels, teams must find this cheese shop. After picking up a phone order, teams must match the cheese with the order, then transport the giant wheels of cheese to the address marked in the order. Once the customers are satisfied, teams will get a signature. Teams must then return to the cheese shop and present the signature to the cheesemaker to get their next clue.

[D] Word Reveal

Amsterdam is known as the "Venice of the North" due to these frequent canals peppering the city's streets. In Canal Spellin', teams must find this marked dock and get into one of these motorized boats. After searching around the designated length of the canal, teams will find several marked letters, which they must unscramble and present to the judge to get their next clue.

"We're doing Cheese Wheel," Kazuma said. "Alright, let's get outta here."

"Are you sure Cheese Wheel is a good choice?" Megumin asked.

"Well, we don't know if the word we have to unscramble is going to be easy or not. If we don't know it at all, we'd be screwed."

Ritsu

Ritsu stroked the petals of a flower.

"Oop," she said. "I think I got it!"

She tugged at the flower to pull it out as well as the clue on the bottom.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 6th Place

"You know, if you're having trouble, you should read the clue first," Mio said.

"I wasn't having trouble!" Ritsu replied before ripping the clue open.

"Bike your way back to Amsterdam," Mio read.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina arrived at the clue box. They pulled the clue out of the box, then ripped it open.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 2nd Place

"Detour," Souma read. "What do you think?"

"The canal," Erina said. "I don't want to navigate more than necessary."

"I can see that," Souma replied.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

"Cheese it is," Ryuko said.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna stopped by the side of the road to talk to some citizens.

"Hi, we're trying to get to this museum, we were wondering if you could help us?" Kirito asked.

"What's it called?"

"Rjk- Riks- rjks… museum."

"Oh, Rikjsmuseum, it's just down the street, then you turn left in around three blocks, over the canal, and you're there."

"Got it," Kirito said.


Mikoto sat on the ground, hands on her knees, eyes locked on the only other person in the area.

Sora glanced at her, then put a hand to his forehead and behind his neck nervously.

"Um," he said. "I really don't like attention like this."

"..."

"Can you look somewhere else?"

"No."

"..."

Touma

Touma plucked a flower out of the ground.

"Dammit!" he shouted, running out of the garden and throwing the tulip into the garbage bin. He came back, then pulled another flower before repeating the process.

"This place is going to be empty by the time I'm out of here."

Shiro

Shiro used the palm of her hand to brush over the tops of the flowers near the edge.

"Hm?" she asked. She brushed it again and then centered her attention on one flower. After pulling it out, she noted the clue that was attached to the bottom.

Shiro then grabbed the clue, threw the flower away, and then sprinted back towards Sora.

"I got it," she said. Mikoto sharply exhaled as Sora stood up and ran over, quickly throwing a glare towards Mikoto, and ripped the clue open.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 7th Place

"More biking?" Sora asked. "No!"

Shiro sighed as they grabbed their bike and ran it outside.

Ritsu and Mio

"We're in the back of the pack," Ritsu said. "But remember we've got the Express Pass!"

"I know," Mio replied. "I don't think we should use it immediately though, we should hold onto it for as long as we can until we're convinced we absolutely need it to survive."

Taki and Mitsuha

"That's a gorgeous museum," Mitsuha said. They dismounted their bike and ran to the clue box.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 4th Place

"Detour," Taki read.

"I think we should do the canal word scrambler," Mitsuha said.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin arrived at the cheese shop.

"Let's do this!" Megumin said. "Ugh! It stinks in here!"

"Yeah. It's cheese. It stinks." Kazuma said.

They walked up to the storeclerk.

"Hello," he said. "I've got 'er phone order right here."

He handed them a receipt that had the names of four cheeses.

"Edam, Gouda, Beemster, Maaslander." Kazuma read. "Okay, Megu, start searching."

"Those wheels of cheese were massive." Megumin explained. "Like, they were almost half my height."

"Got it," Megumin said "Well, the Gouda."

"Alright, I found the Beemster," Kazuma said, lifting it off its pile, then dropping it onto the ground. "It's so heavy!"

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito and Asuna stopped their bikes by the clue box and grabbed their clue from within.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 5th Place

"Let's do the canal," Kirito said.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina biked their way to the edge of the marked canal.

"There it is," Souma said. They moved their bike over to the nearby bike rack and then locked it up before running to the side of the canal.

"Choose a marked boat," Erina read. Souma and Erina stepped into the nearest boat, tied on their life jackets, and then untied the anchor.

"How do we move?" Souma asked. "There aren't any oars."

"You're right next to the motor," Erina replied, pointing behind him.

"Oh, gotcha!"

Souma powered on the motor as they began moving through the canal.

"How do I steer?"

"Rudder's right behind you." Erina said.

"Which direction?"

"Are you blind? There's a sign right there that says which direction we should move!"

Erina pointed to a sign with an arrow pointing to the left.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin moved all their cheese into one spot.

"Okay," Kazuma said. "That looks like all of them."

"Now we just have to move them," Megumin replied.

"It's too heavy to just pick it up and walk it. We have to roll them."

Megumin picked up one wheel of cheese, but struggled a bit to pick up the second.

"Eh. Eh." she groaned, reaching over. Kazuma bent over and moved it up to her hand. "Thanks."

Kazuma picked up his cheese and began rolling it out the door.

"I can't fit it through the door." Kazuma said. "Reminds me of the long sword incident."

"One at a time." Megumin said.

Kazuma rolled one wheel of cheese outside, set it up on the wall outside the shop, and then went back in to grab the second wheel.

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina began moving their boat through the canal.

"So we're looking for letters," Souma said. "I have no idea how many letters we're searching for."

"Just look for as many as we can." Erina replied. "Look! There's a T sticker on the side of that boat."

"Okay, T…" Souma muttered. "T."

Sora and Shiro

"My legs are jelly," Shiro said.

"Yeah, same." Sora replied. "Oh my god I need to take a break."

Sora and Shiro pulled to the side of the road as they pulled out a few bottles of water.

"I really hope there's a taxi segment sometime soon." Sora said.

Mako and Ryuko

"Is this the cheese shop?" Mako asked. "Cheese, cheese, cheese!"

They parked their bike and ran into the (wrong) cheeseshop.

"What do we do now?" Ryuko asked.

Mako pulled out the clue. "We have to deliver four cheeses to some address."

They walked up to the storeclerk.

"Hi, do you have the order?"

"Order?" he asked. "Did you make some mobile order?"

"Um… yes?" Ryuko said.

"Name please."

"When we went into the cheese shop, we didn't know it was the wrong shop." Ryuko explained. "We thought the guy was just bad at English and there was something wrong with his speech, we didn't really notice he was trying to tell us he wasn't involved with the Race."

"Um, Mako and Ryuko?" Mako said.

"No, I don't have a Mako or Ryuko on here," he said. "Was it an online order?"

Mako leaned into Ryuko's ear. "Do we need to buy the cheese?"

"I mean, maybe." Ryuko said. Mako smiled and ran around the shop to pick up four small wheels of cheese.

The guy grabbed the cheese and tallied up their price, which they paid.

"Alright, have a great day!"

"Wait, but what about our clue?"

"Clue?"

"Like, where are we supposed to deliver this?"

"Are you… Grubhub or Uber Eats or something?"

"Um, no, we're on The Amazing Race."

"Oh, Amazing Race! I would never do that. I don't like the idea of being stuck on an island for forty days."

Mako sat deep in thought. "That's the wrong reality show. Big Brother is-"

"You're not working with The Amazing Race?" Ryuko interrupted.

"No."

"Dammit," Ryuko said. "Come on, Mako, let's get outta here."

They left the confused shopkeeper as they ran to their bikes and hopped on.

"We just wasted tons of money," Ryuko said.

"But hey, cheese!" Mako said, grabbing one and taking a huge bite out of the rind. Then she began choking on it because the rind was wax.

Souma and Erina

"We've got T, E, C, and I," Souma said. "We don't know how many letters there are but I don't think you can make any word with CET and I."

"Look. That poster by the side of the canal. It has the letter N on it."

"Good find," Souma said.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin wheeled their giant cheese wheels through the streets of Amsterdam.

"This is a lot more taxing than I realized," Kazuma said.

Megumin lost her hold on one of the cheeses as it began rolling forward into the street.

"Nooo! Come back, cheese!"

"Fucking hell," Kazuma said, dropping his cheese and running after Megumin's.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 6th Place

"Roadblock!" Ritsu read.

"Detour." Mio corrected.

"Detour!" Ritsu read.

"Canal," Mio said.

"Canal!"

Touma

The camera panned over the flower fields, now with several blank patches peppered around the garden.

"No, no, no!" Touma shouted, veins popping out of his forehead.

Mikoto sat down at the gate, hands on her knees.

"This sucks," she said. "At this point, unless there's some kind of challenge or some team gets lost, I'd bet that million dollars that we're not going to survive."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha climbed into their boats.

"HEY!" Taki shouted.

"WHAT?" Souma replied, looking over his shoulder.

"WHAT DO THE LETTERS LOOK LIKE?"

"THEY'RE LETTERS."

"YEAH, BUT WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?" Taki asked.

"THEY'RE MADE WITH LINES AND CURVES."

"That's not very helpful."

Souma and Erina

"I don't know what he wanted me to say," Souma said. "But we've got six letters. N, N, C, E, T, I."

"We've been here for a while and we can't find any more." Erina said. "I think at this point it's safe to start unscrambling."

"Cen.. Centi?"

"Cenni." Erina muttered. "Nope, not a word."

"Nicen?"

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin continued rolling their cheese.

"What's the address again?" Kazuma asked.

Megumin handed him the receipt as he looked it over.

"Okay, it should be coming up soon. It's one of these houses."

They looked at the house addresses and rolled their cheese until they found it. Megumin knocked on the door as the resident came to the front.

"You've got my cheese?"

"Yeah," Kazuma said. He pulled out the receipt. "You need to sign here."

"Got it," he said. "Just leave the cheese on the doorstep; I'll bring it in myself."

The man signed the receipt and then gave it to them. "Give it to the shopkeeper."

"Thanks," Kazuma said. "Let's go."

He and Megumin began booking it back towards the cheese shop.

Mako and Ryuko

"This is the right shop, right?" Ryuko asked.

"For TAR? Yes." The shopkeeper said.

"Thank god," Ryuko said. "Mako, stop eating that cheese!"

"But we bought it and it tastes so good!"

"You can eat it once we get back to the Pit Stop."

Mako groaned. "Fine."

They grabbed the receipt and began looking through the shop for the correct cheeses, which they found with little to no effort as they picked them up and began rolling them.

Kirito and Asuna

Kirito put the life jacket onto Asuna.

"I'm not a kid, Kirito, I can put it on myself."

"Okay, fine, I was just trying to be a good boyfriend, but if you insist."

Asuna sighed. She reached for the strap, but it had fallen somewhere behind her and she couldn't reach it.

"Kirito…" she said. "Can you help me?"

"Wow."

Souma and Erina

"I can't help but feel like we're missing a letter here." Souma said.

"I got it," Erina said. "It's INCENT."

"Like incense? Because that's spelled with an SE."

"No, Incent. Like incentivize. Incentive. Like that."

"I've never really seen that word alone before, but it's worth a shot."

They moved their boat towards the judge.

"Do you have the word?" he asked.

"Incent." Erina said.

"Nope, I'm sorry." he replied.

"Hmm…" Souma said. "What if it's a name?"

"Well if it's a name, it could be anything." Erina replied.

"Well, what about Vincent? There's a chance that we're not having all the letters, and there's a possibility that Vincent would work."

"Well, let's try it." Erina said. "No harm in trying."

They looked towards the judge. "Vincent?" Souma asked.

The judge stood and stared at them. "That's correct."

"Wow, I never would've gotten that." Erina said. "Why Vincent?"

He handed them the clue, which they ripped open before even moving away from the judge.

Souma and Erina: Currently in 1st Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Souma read.

[i] Proceed to Pit Stop: Van Gogh Museum

Vincent Van Gogh was one of the most famous Dutch painters, and his museum here, the Van Gogh museum, will now serve as the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here at the mat may be eliminated.

Souma tried to power on the motor, but it sputtered and died.

"Seriously?" Erina asked.

"W-It's not my fault!"

"Just jump into the water then," Erina said, standing up and jumping into the canal to swim to shore.

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin ran into the cheeseshop.

"Here's your damn receipt," Kazuma said.

"Here you go," the shopkeeper said, handing them their clue.

Kazuma and Megumin: Currently in 2nd Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Megumin read. "Yes, no more bikes!"

Sora and Shiro

"Yes!" Sora said, biking in front of the museum. "Finally! We're here!"

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 7th Place

"Detour," Sora read. "Let's do the canal."

"We can do that immediately," Shiro replied. "Oh no, more biking."

"Dammit! "

Touma

Touma brushed his hand against a flower, then rooted it from the ground.

"Yes!" he said, thrusting the clue upwards. "I got it! After literal hours!"

Mikoto noticed him, then stood up. "Come on!" she shouted. "We don't have all day!"

He dashed towards her and opened their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way to Rikjsmueum," Touma read.

"If we end up surviving from some kind of miracle," Mikoto said. "The evil twins are on our radar."

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko rolled their cheese wheels.

"It should be coming up," Ryuko said. "Right here."

"Here?" Mako asked.

"Yeah," Ryuko said. Mako ran up and knocked on the door.

"We've got some cheese for you," she said.

"Thanks," the resident said. "Hand it over. I'll sign it."

Kazuma and Megumin

Kazuma and Megumin rode in their taxi to the Pit Stop.

"I think this might be our first first place," Megumin said.

"Yeah," Kazuma replied. "It might be. Assuming no one beat us on the other Detour."

Souma and Erina

Souma and Erina sat in their taxi.

"We've been doing really well so far," Souma said. "But another 1st place will be welcomed."

"We don't strive for anything lower," Erina replied. "We come from a super competitive atmosphere. There is no 2nd place. It's win or lose."

Kazuma and Megumin

"It'll be coming up here," the driver said, stopping.

"Alright, 1st place, here we come!" Kazuma shouted.

Souma and Erina

The chefs packed up their bags and closed the door of the taxi.

"Okay, where is it?" Souma asked.


Kazuma and Megumin ran around the corner, approaching the Pit Stop.

"Woo!" Megumin shouted, jumping onto the mat.

"Kazuma and Megumin," Hinata said. "You're the first team to arrive."

"Yes!" Kazuma shouted. "Finally."

"However-"

Their smiles both faded as they looked straight at him.

"Nah, I'm just kidding."

"I hate you." Megumin said.

"Too soon." Kazuma replied.

"You're team number one!"

Kazuma and Megumin: 1st Place

"I knew we could do it," Megumin said.

"Eh, I was pretty doubtful, but I guess I'm just too used to Aqua's existence bringing our success rate way down." Kazuma said.

"For winning this leg of the race, you have won a trip to Iceland."

"Alright," Kazuma said.

"Do you not care about Iceland?"

"Not really," Kazuma replied. "I was hoping for money. Eh, I guess we can wait till the Finish Line for that."


Souma and Erina ran up to the Pit Stop mat.

"Souma and Erina," Hinata said. "You're team number two."

Souma and Erina: 2nd Place

"Dammit," Souma said. "Whatever. We'll redeem ourselves tomorrow."

"You two do know that you're already the highest performing team at this moment, right?" Hinata asked.

"Well, when it comes to this race, on the final leg, 2nd place isn't enough." Erina said. "Let's just consider these first eleven legs as training for that."

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio arrived at the canal, where Kirito and Asuna and Taki and Mitsuha were paddling around.

"Alright," Ritsu said, climbing into the back. "We just need to keep a keen eye and not get distracted."

"Right, because not ever getting distracted is what we do best." Mio replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

"I don't know if it's a Dutch word or an English word," Taki said.

"Come on, use your brain." Mitsuha replied. "How would they expect us to come up with a Dutch word?"

"I don't know, it could be like Sauerkraut or something."

"That's not even Dutch."

"You get the gist."

"No, I really don't," Mitsuha said.

"Whatever. We've got T, V, E, and N."

"Could it be VENT?" Mitsuha asked.

"Worth a try." Taki said. They moved over to the judge. "Vent." Taki said. The judge shook his head and shooed them away.

Mako and Ryuko

Mako and Ryuko ran back to the store and handed him their receipt.

"Here you go," the clerk said, handing them their clue.

Mako and Ryuko: Currently in 3rd Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Ryuko read.

Kirito and Asuna

"I mean it has to be an English word," Kirito said.

"I mean, it could be a name." Asuna replied.

"It could, but I really hope it's not like Slarjarbar or something."

Taki and Mitsuha

"I'm starting to see something," Taki said. "Maybe INVENT?"

"That does fit," Mitsuha said. "Let's try it."

They moved their boat towards the judge.

"Invent?"

"No, sorry," he replied.

"Dammit,"

Kirito and Asuna

"Seven letters," Kirito said. "That's all we could find."

"Well, if we can't find the last letter, that's probably all there is." Asuna said. "T, N ,V, I, N, C, E"

"Is Vince a word? Wait, no, then you have an N and a T left," Kirito muttered. Asuna slapped his shoulder.

"Vince? Plus N and T? Doesn't that spell Vincent?"

"It does…" Kirito said. "Sounds like the best option."

Asuna steered their small motorboat towards the judge.

"Vincent." Asuna said.

"That's correct," the judge said, pulling their clue out and handing it to them.

Kirito and Asuna: Currently in 4th Place

"Make your way to your next Pit Stop," Kirito read.

Ritsu and Mio

"We've got five letters," Mio said.

"How many are there?"

"I don't know,"

"Shouldn't we start thinking of possible scrambles while we look, then?"

"That's not a bad idea, but that's kind of multitasking and I don't know if we can do both efficiently." Mio argued. "I guess I can't stop you though."

Taki and Mitsuha

"Cenvin… no, that's not even a word…" Mitsuha muttered.

"Mitsuha," Taki said. "I'm thinking about switching."

"Switching Detours?" Mitsuha asked.

"Yeah. I mean, this is honestly really difficult."

"But we've spent so much time here."

"I know, but think about it. Sora and Shiro were behind us. We know they're going to do this over the cheese rolling, and the fact that they're not here means that we've at least got some leeway."

"Fair." Mitsuha said. "Alright, let's do it."

Taki and Mitsuha moved their boat back to the dock.

"Where are you going?" Ritsu asked. "Did you get it?"

"No, we're switching." Mitsuha said.

Taki and Mitsuha got out of their boat and ran to their bikes, where they set off.


"Mako and Ryuko," Hinata said. "You're team number three."

Mako and Ryuko: 3rd Place

"Alright," Ryuko said, hi-fiving Mako.

Ritsu and Mio

"Intent?" Ritsu asked.

"No, we found a V and a C," Mio replied. "We need a word that has those two letters in it."

"Vic… Victor?" Ritsu muttered. "No…"

"Actually," Mio replied. "I think you're onto something with the name."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it could be the name of a famous person who lived here or something."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha arrived at the cheese shop.

"Hi, what do we need to do?" Mitsuha asked.

"You need to find these cheeses in my shop, and deliver them to this address." the cheesemaker said, handing them their receipt.

"Looks like the cheeses are labelled," Taki said. "Right here. It says gouda."

"Okay, then it seems we don't need to worry much about this first half." Mitsuha replied.

Ritsu and Mio

"Cent… Nivcent…" Ritsu muttered. "Oh my god, it's-"

"Vincent." Mio cut off.

"You… You totally stole my thunder!"

"You were taking too long!" Mio argued.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. Let's just get it checked."

They moved their boat towards the judge.

"Vincent," Mio said. The judge nodded and handed them their clue.

Ritsu and Mio: Currently in 5th Place

"Yeah!" Ritsu shouted. "Let's go!"

Kirito and Asuna: 4th Place

"Seems you've made a recovery since last leg," Hinata said.

"Well, we weren't U-Turned, so we don't really have an excuse to come late." Kirito said, laughing and scratching the back of his head.

"We're trying our best to not let it get to us," Asuna replied. "Rage isn't going to get us very far."

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Detour," Touma read.

"I think we should do the cheese," Mikoto replied. "There's just too many variables for the second one."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro arrived at the canal.

"If we have to bike more, or row, or something, I'm gonna lose it." Sora said. They parked their bikes and locked it up before running down to the boats.

"They're motor boats," Shiro said.

"Thank god."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha rolled their cheese out of the door.

"These wheels are too big," Taki said. "If you lose one, you really have no choice but to drop the other because it's super hard to bend over while holding it."

"Seriously, who's going to eat this much cheese before it spoils?" Mitsuha asked. "It doesn't matter. Let's move. Chop chop."

Sora and Shiro

"Keep your eyes open." Sora said.

"I don't need you to keep reminding me. I know what we're doing." Shiro replied. "I see a V… a C… and a T."

"Well, there has to be some vowels at least in there." Sora replied.

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha continued rolling their cheese down the street.

"Hey," Taki said, running up to a man who was putting on his helmet and preparing to bike. "We were wondering if you could help us find this address."

"Alright," the guy said. "It's just around two more blocks down the street."

"Got it," Mitsuha said. "Thanks."

Sora and Shiro

Sora and Shiro moved their boat over to the judge.

"At that point, we hadn't found all the letters, but we figured it would be a good idea to try to arrange what we had and see what came up, see if there were words we could form that had a gap, things like that." Shiro explained.

"Convict." Sora said.

"No."

"Victor."

"No."

"Victory."

"No."

"Incentive."

"No."

"Invect."

"No."

"Incest."

"Oh, god, no!"

Ritsu and Mio

Ritsu and Mio dashed to the Pit Stop mat.

"Ritsu and Mio," Hinata said. "You're team number five."

Ritsu and Mio: 5th Place

"Yeah!" Ritsu shouted. "We survived again!"

"It's leg five." Mio said. "Seven more legs to go until we finish this journey."

Taki and Mitsuha

Taki and Mitsuha laid their cheese outside the customer's yard.

"Alright," Mitsuha said. "Just sign here, please."

The man signed it, then handed them the receipt.

"Looks good," Taki said. "Let's get back to the shop."

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto arrived at the cheese shop.

"We just need to find four cheeses," Touma said. "Doesn't sound so difficult."

"It might be for you," Mikoto replied.

"W-What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

Sora and Shiro

"Victorian."

"No."

"Vincent."

The judge looked at them, then handed them the clue.

"You got it correct," he said. "After… who knows how many attempts."

Shiro snatched the clue away from him as they opened it in the boat.

Sora and Shiro: Currently in 6th Place

"Yes, taxi!" Sora shouted. "Fuck yeah!"

"My legs still hurt," Shiro replied.

Sora began to steer them back towards the dock.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto began rolling their cheeses out of the shop.

"This is a lot heavier than it looks," Touma said. As he looked down at his cheeses, Taki and Mitsuha ran and slammed into him.

"Ow!" he said.

"Are you two okay?" Mikoto asked, staring at Taki and Mitsuha.

"Ng.." Taki said, standing up. "We're fine."

"I'm alright, too." Touma said, sarcastically. "Thanks so much for asking, Biribiri."

Taki and Mitsuha stepped around them and ran into the shop.

"Here you go." Taki said, handing over the receipt.

Taki and Mitsuha: Currently in 7th Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Taki read.

Sora and Shiro

"It feels so good to have someone else drive us." Sora said. "Hey, driver, faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" he argued.

"We didn't see anyone at the Detour," Sora said. "So for all we know, we could potentially be in last place. I'd say it's unlikely, but it's possible."

Taki and Mitsuha

"I'm not sure if switching Detours saved or lost us any time," Taki said. "But at the very least, Touma and Mikoto are starting, and assuming they don't get lost, it should take them around twenty minutes to find the place and ten minutes to run back."

"They could have the Express Pass, though." Mitsuha said. "Remember? Souma and Erina won the express Pass and had to give it to someone on the last leg. We don't know who has it."

"But they're in the back," Taki said. "If I were them, I definitely would've skipped the Roadblock, or at the very least the Detour."

"Maybe they're not just that bright?" Mitsuha asked.

"Well, they go to Academy City, so at the very least we know they're not dumb." Taki replied.

Touma and Mikoto

"What are you doing? Roll!" Mikoto scolded.

"Sorry," Touma replied, continuing to roll. "One of my cheese wheels was caught in a rock or something."

"Jesus christ, get it together, idiot! We can't make up time if you're stalling like that."


"Sora and Shiro," Hinata said. "It seems like you've had a tough day."

"Yeah." Sora said. "Please tell me we're done with bikes for the rest of the race."

"I can tell you… that you will not have to bike for your primary transportation any longer."

"I'll take it." Sora said.

"You're team number six."

Sora and Shiro: 6th Place

"Sixth?" Shiro asked. "Who did we pass? We know that Touma and Mikoto and us were the only ones-"

Then, Taki and Mitsuha began running into the scene.

"There's your answer," Hinata said. "Taki and Mitsuha."

"Hey," Taki said. "Tell us we're still in it."

"You're still in it. You're team number seven."

Taki and Mitsuha: 7th Place

"Far from ideal, but we survived," Taki said. "Come on, give me a hug."

"No." Sora said.

"I was talking to my girlfriend, you stick figure." Taki said.

"That's... one of the more unique insults I've heard." Hinata said.

Touma and Mikoto

Touma and Mikoto dropped their cheeses off at the address.

"And that's that." Mikoto said. "Let's go back."


Touma and Mikoto exchanged their receipt for their clue.

Touma and Mikoto: Currently in Last Place

"Make your way by taxi to your next Pit Stop," Touma read.

"Alright, well, hopefully someone choked on the other side of the Detour." Mikoto replied. They quickly hailed a cab and hopped inside.


"Touma and Mikoto," Hinata said. "As you can probably guess, you are the last team to arrive.

Touma and Mikoto: Last Place

Mikoto sighed. "Yeah."

"Are you feeling angry right now?" Hintata asked.

"Of course we are," Touma said. "If we had just read the prompt with no intervention by Sora, we would've likely had a better chance at catching up to the rest of the group. I guess that just didn't happen."

"I don't appreciate the siblings' play style, but it's still a play style, and we fell victim to it." Mikoto replied.

"So I heard you have really bad luck," Hinata interviewed. "How much of a factor do you think that was today?"

"That was, definitely, the defining factor." Touma said. "If I had even average amounts of luck, I guarantee you that we would've beat Sora and Shiro 100%."

"Well, your luck's not all bad." Hinata said. "Because this is a non-elimination leg."

"Really?" Mikoto asked. "We're still in it?"

Touma stayed speechless.

"You're still in it." Hinata said. "However, please note that sometime during the next leg of the race, you will have to face a Speed Bump, an additional challenge that only you have to do. You must complete the Speed Bump and then check in in front of at least one other team in order to survive the next leg."

"We're ready," Touma said. "We can redeem ourselves."

"Another shot at the race, another shot to knock out those two pesky siblings. Get ready, we're coming for you." Mikoto said.


Race Stats:


Next Time on the Amazing Race: Anime Edition

Teams embark on a nationwide race throughout Germany.

"What the hell are they doing?" Sora asked, driving a car, looking at Ritsu and Mio's car.

"It's not working!" Ritsu said, fiddling with the shifter.

The chefs finally get into their element.

"We don't make sausages often," Souma said. "But this is by far, one of the most in-our-element challenges on this race."

And Touma and Mikoto face even more struggles.

"The train's full." Touma said. "And the next train leaves almost two hours later."

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