Prologue

A great deal has happened in the past year. Against all odds, we revived our school's tankery team, defeated an until recently undefeated opponent, and won the tournament, preventing our school from being shut down and me from being held back.

At the time, I could not have believed any of this would happen. And now, I find myself occasionally wondering why I was so reluctant to get involved, considering what I had to gain through my participation, and would have lost had i not.

The reason is because I am a different person than I was back then, and my past self would not- and more importantly, could not- have done what I did. I have changed much since I was a small child, and will change again in the future. As such, I have chosen to chronicle these changes and the reasons behind them, so that I can never forget the person who I once was or lose sight of the person I hope to become.

Chapter 1: Matching Paces

Have you ever felt as though you were on a different wavelength from the rest of the world, as though you cannot alter your own nature to conform to the rest of humanity, while they cannot accommodate the way you live?

Throughout history, people have been unable to fit in for many reasons related to their lifestyle, such as their gender preference, For me, it was my tendency to sleep inwhen I was forced to get up early and go to school. It's hardly the most meaningful point of difference, but it was noticeable how much I differed from the vast majority of people, who followed the "early to bed, early to rise" creed, unless their job specifically required them to work at night.

Whenever I tried to get out of bed in the morning, it was a struggle to wake myself up and remove myself from the bed while I was still tired. Almost paradoxically, I was at my most energetic at night, when most people were exhausted from a long day and ready for bed. I heard that my blood pressure has always been low, which could account for this, but the fact that an abnormal medical condition contributed to my different hours only served to drive home how different and almost unnatural I was.

At times, I felt closer to Nemu, our family cat, than I did with my fellow humans. She kept her own hours, often walking around late at night while sleeping wherever she wished during the day. Even when and how long she slept changed on her own whims and needs. She was on a different schedule than the rest of the family, and she didn't mind at all.

I didn't make many friends while in school for that reason. I mostly slept through lunch breaks when I wasn't eating. I didn't have many interests in common with most of the people, being not motivated enough for the serious students, not at all suited to athleticism in the same way that those who liked sports were, and lacking the interest in various other people's hobbies. For me, it seemed as though associating with others would demand much of me, going at their pace rather than my own. In retrospect, this sounds arrogant of me, but at the time, I couldn't imagine how making accommodations for others could possibly be worthwhile.

My family had various reactions to this. My dad didn't believe in having me force myself to open up to others. My mom and grandma, who were stricter and shorter-tempered, believed that learning some social skills would be good for me and would make forming friendships easier in the future. Then again, when I asked them "But what if the people I reach out to aren't worth becoming friends with?" both of them simply shrugged and said, "good question."

And so, with no skills at reaching out to people, and no way to know who was worth my time and effort, I ended up eating lunch and going home alone for much of elementary school. But all that changed one day a certain girl walked into my life and never left.

"Reizei-san?" a girl with orange hair said as she walked over to me one day in class just before lunch as I sat at my desk. "How'd you like to have lunch with me?"

"Takebe-san, was it?" I said, and she nodded with an "Mmm-hmm," in response. "What brought this on?"

"Well, I just noticed that you've been having lunch alone all this time, and I wondered if you'd like company."

I was ambivalent toward this, but figured the effort to shoo her away was not worth it. Besides, I reasoned, it could be fun.

"Sure, I guess," I said.

"Ok, great!" Takebe-san said, bounding off toward the lunchroom with a spring in her step as I tried to keep up at a leisurely walk. A few feet into the hallway, she stopped and turned around as I walked to catch up.

"Oh, and can I call you by your first name?" Takebe-san said, seemingly out of the blue.

"Already?" I said. I didn't know if there was any set length of time required for friends to earn the privilege of first name basis with each other, but it certainly didn't seem to be anywhere nearly as soon as the first conversation.

"It's what friends do, right?" Takebe-san said. "You can do the same if you want."

Some might have dismissed how easily she made her gesture as a proof of its frivolity. Indeed, she was less formal with her friends than many of my other classmates. But I saw it as proof that she had simply come to see me as a friend that easily.

"All right, Saori," I said, as we continued toward the cafeteria.

"Then let's go, Mako!" Saori said, walking as quickly as ever, only slowing down to let me catch up.

Even considering how I did things, Saori did, in more ways than one, like to take things quickly.

Lunch proceeded as usual, with the standard breaking of the ice between friends- talking about our hobbies, our interests and so forth. For me, this was something I had barely done at all, but I noticed that to Saori, it came naturally, almost as though she were reading off a script she had memorized by heart. And yet, for every answer I gave, from casually mentioning that I liked reading and taking naps (due to not being able to think of anything else), to mentioning my parents and grandmother, she listened with rapt attention responded with great enthusiasm, finding what I had to say fascinating. She seemed to be the sort who could become friends with everyone easily.

I had to wonder- there were so many other people she could go out and meet, and likely many people she had already befriended so why would she choose me?

"Just as I expected, you're a really interesting person, Mako," Saori said, almost sensing my unspoken question. "You don't talk much, but when you do, it seems like you've got a lot of intelligent things to say, like you've not only learned a lot, but notice a lot every day. It feels like I'm not only getting to know someone who's really great to talk with, but someone not a lot of other people may know about."

"Many people say I stand out from others," I said. "But talking with you helps me see a little bit of what it's like to be energetic and outgoing; doing all that would be too tiring for me. How do you manage all this?"

"I suppose I just do what comes naturally to me," Saori said. "But I think that you get out of life what you put into it, so that's why I reach out to meet others and do new things, while giving it all I've got."

Typically, I had assumed that you only needed to exert the effort necessary in order to get a desired result, and anything further was a waste, like spending 200 yen on something that should only cost 100. But, I began to wonder; might it be possible that your returns were proportionate to your investment?

The bell rang, signaling that it was time to return to class, and Saori and I, having finished eating, got up to leave.

"Let's go for lunch again tomorrow, Mako!" Saori said as we headed back to class.

I had previously gone along with everything else Saori had done. But now, faced with the possibility of doing it again, I gave my response with a note of decisiveness in my voice, seeing no reason to doubt my decision.

"Sure thing, Saori," I said.

I had lunch with Saori many times over the next few weeks, to say nothing of all the years to come. At the time, I didn't fully realize the significance of the friendship I had made, or its permanence, but talking with my mom taught me some lessons I didn't fully comprehend until later.

"Mom, I made a new friend at school," I said to my mom after school about two weeks after meeting Saori for the first time, when it no longer seemed strange to call her one. "Her name is Takebe Saori."

"That's wonderful to hear, Mako," Mom said. "So, what's she like?"

"She's... interesting…" I said, not quite having developed the vocabulary to describe friendship. "She's different from me- very energetic and outgoing- and I have to get used to that, but I like being around her."

"That's what being friends with others is all about," Mom said. "You should have at least some common ground, but through talking with others and interacting with them, you can become exposed to new things."

"I suppose, but it's a bit tricky getting used to it," I said.

"All relationships have a bit of give-and-take, including the one between your father and I," Mom said. "You might end up doing things that aren't quite your cup of tea for Saori-chan's sake, but she in turn might end up making compromises of her own for you."

"How do I know that I'm not blindly going along with everything she does and changing for the worse?" I said. I knew a little about peer pressure at this age, and I regarded the idea of being forced to alter your behavior to fit in as utterly odious.

"Good question, Mako," Mom said. "I suppose that's an answer you'll have to find on your own, but balance in all things is critical. I'm sure someone as smart as you will be able to figure it out, but Saori-chan is a good girl- you know that much already."

While I knew enough to realize that sticking around Saori was worthwhile, it took me a long time to understand what Mom meant.

Through making a friend who was in many ways different than I was, I ended up forcing myself outside my comfort zone, a process that would eventually result in my participating in my school's first tournament win. Back then, I never would have believed that I would have achieved such a thing, but I arrived at that point through a gradual process, at my own pace.

Author's Note: This is a story I wrote about Mako's perspective on, among other things, her past, her present at Oarai and some events mentioned but not shown in the show. I chose Maho because she has quite a bit of backstory, almost as much as Miho, and her stoic personality makes it an interesting task of showing what she feels, especially since her reactions are fairly understated. It's also worth showing how she changed over time, and becomes more willing to commit herself, try hard and do things that are difficult for her.

The story will also incorporate Saori, Mako's mother and grandmother, and Sodoko at various points, and look at their relationships with Mako.

Related to that, does anyone else wonder why the writers chose Yukari's point of view for the manga and Saori's for the light novel? The former doesn't shed much light on Yukari apart from what we know already, and mainly serves to give her perspective on Miho, which may be why they had her eavesdrop on Miho's conversation with Kikuyo in Chapter 10. I am, however, interested in seeing translations of the light novel if there are any, particularly whether it reveals anything about Saori's long-time friend Mako that isn't in the anime or manga.

This story will incorporate the "Out of Character is Serious Business" trope from time to time, and a running theme will be how characters act when they are faced with something they are completely unprepared to deal with, resulting in their usual patterns of behavior breaking down. Another theme will be characters doing things that are difficult for them or that they don't like in order to better themselves or achieve a goal.

In showing things from Mako's perspective, she may often make excuses for her actions, but a large part is showing what is inside her head, what causes her to be lazy as well as what motivates her, and how she changes over time.

Not much happened in this chapter, but this was primarily to establish Mako's character, and show that reaching out to others is a significant step to her, as Saori mentions in the manga that she does not have many friends.

Various bonus segments will include other characters' perspectives, as well as a few other shorts, from Mako's perspective or others.

Omake

"So Mako's making friends?" My mother-in-law, Reizei Hisako-san, said as my husband and I spoke with her while my daughter Mako was upstairs doing homework.

"Yes," I said. "It's a girl named Takebe Saori-chan, whom Mako said came over to her and invited her to lunch one day."

My husband smiled and nodded. He and I both viewed this development as a good thing. For him, it meant that Mako would be able to make friends without trying too hard or forcing herself too much. For me, it was the first step on a journey for Mako, of making sacrifices and compromises, finding those who would do the same for her, and broadening her horizons and opening up to others. Hisako-san smiled for a moment, then launched into one of her usual rants.

"About time!" Hisako-san said. "I was worried she'd never learn to talk to the other kids her age. Hopefully next time, she'll take the initiative instead of waiting for it to drop in her lap. It's a good thing Saori-chan isn't from the wrong crowd like some delinquent."

"But you are quite happy about this, aren't you, Hisako-san?" I said, noticing that when she wasn't complaining about how long it had taken Mako to make a friend, the smile had never left her face.

"Well..." Hisako-san began, almost sheepishly, "Yes, you could say I am."

"She understands you quite well, Mother," my husband said, with a chuckle.

Forming relationships between two people, even compatible ones, was by no means an easy process, as my husband had found out in his initial attempts to break the ice and get closer to me. But in doing so, we gained many happy memories, learned much from and about each other, and brought a daughter into the world together. It was now up to us to raise that daughter, to teach her important lessons, and help her to live a fulfilling and happy life.