Eventually everyone was gathered outside the clubhouse and started to walk out of the school grounds. Fuji and Eiji spent their time teaching Poppy Japanese pop songs and she taught them English songs in return. Eiji showed her a magazine of his favourite music, enthusing over the cuteness of various girl bands. They asked what sports she played and she explained that since university she hadn't had much time for serious sport, other than lacrosse for a college team. Fuji and Eiji were delighted to hear about lacrosse especially because it involved some very funny miming to explain how the game worked. Poppy smiled 'I do have one other interest but I'll save that for Sunday.'
'Nya! I want to know!' pouted Eiji.
'All in good time,' said Fuji to his classmate 'I like mysterious girls.' He smiled sweetly at Poppy who couldn't help but return the look. Eiji giggled as they arrived at the sushi restaurant. Trust Fuji to charm a lady just by smiling at her.

'Welcome! Welcome!' said Kawamura-San, in a scary English accent reminscient of his son. 'My son says we have English guest?'
Poppy nodded meekly, taking her shoes off before being bodily propelled in by Momo who was talking about all kinds of sushi very rapidly.
She sat crosslegged at a table as platters were brought out for everyone. Most things she recognised and tucked in happily. Some others took some persuading. Finally, she noticed Fuji sat quietly with his own platter. He smiled and offered her a roll. As she went to pop it into her mouth she noticed everything around her go very quiet. She pulled it away back into her line of vision and looked at it carefully.
'Wasabi?' she asked warily.
'Hai!' he smiled. She shrugged and took half-a-bite and then finished it off, before drinking a whole glass of water.
'Why do you want to eat something that hurts so bad?' she asked, taking some deep breaths.
Ryoma looked up. 'Because Fuji-senpai is a serious nutcase.' That made Poppy laugh so hard she nearly choked.

Momo asked something in Japanese to the freshman who sighed and rolled his eyes.
'Poppy, they want to know why you're here in Japan and at our school.'
'Will you translate for me?'
'If I have to.'
Aware that Tezuka was there to stay off any purposeful mistranslation on Ryoma's part. Poppy began to relate what she had told the captain earlier about her stay. The team seemed genuinely excited by the prospect of training with her observations which pleased her. Inui was already taking copious notes in his notebook.
'Hoi hoi! Poppysensei-chan, we should do something for you too!' cried Eiji.
'Well, be on time for training on Sunday'
'Ochibi! She's talking about you!'
'And help me improve my Japanese.' she finished, picking up a rather shiny piece of sushi and eyeing it suspiciously.

Just as she said that, Kawamurua-San approached with a glass of drink for her.
'Poppy-sensei, our best Nihonshu.'
'Oh, erm, wow. Thanks.' the blonde girl eyed up the glass. Sake, hmm. She took a large sip.
'Oosihi desu'
The sushi chef beamed.
Poppy took another sip. This was clearly strong stuff, which the guy seemed determined to keep her topped up on by the looks of the bottle perched on the counter.
She continued to watch the chatter about her, thinking about how she must find a gift to thank Ryoma for his patience with her, slowly sipping on the sake. She was aware she was still pretty jetlagged, although less aware that she had spent the last 4 days just nibbling on unfamiliar food, and slowly she became aware that she was a bit tipsy. Given she was in the company of junior high students she was also aware this wasn't a great idea, as nice as it felt. Fuji sat opposite her, Oishi diagonally opposite and Tezuka to her left. The four of them were able to have a reasonable conversation about the upcoming exams at school in English as Tezuka patiently translated back and forth any misunderstandings, with Poppy able to describe the sets of examinations she had sat through over the years. She explained she had a bacheolor's degree and was now studying for a masters, and thus had completed one set of university finals already. Ryoma came and sat down next to her, talking over her shoulder to Momo and Eiji.

Poppy realised she hadn't felt this relaxed in a while. Her studies were pretty demanding and it was nice to leave the 'grown up' world for a while and appreciate the age where school, sport and budding relationships were your greatest worries. She was brought out of her thoughts by Fuji asking about her family back home.
'Oh, I have a younger brother still in school. My mum and dad live some way from my university town but I see them every few months.'
'What is your town like?'
Poppy reached into her bag and got out a small photo album, flicking through to find her starting point.
'This is my college, with my room in it.'
'Wow! It's like a castle!' said Eiji looking over Oishi's shoulders. Suddenly Poppy had a crowd. Ryoma translated what Eiji had said and she nodded.
They flicked through the pictures of people rowing on little boats, Poppy's graduation, sports teams and people in fancy dress, the gorgeous chapel.
'This is where the famous carol service is held every Christmas. It's broadcast all over the world.'
The group continued to chatter and point out things in the photos, paying close attention to a photo of the university tennis team with Kaidoh and Momo picking out which of the men they felt they could beat based on stature.
'Poppysensai-chan, have you been to Wimbledon?' asked Eiji.
Ryoma looked up from where he had been studying a picture from the small album.
'Eiji-sempai'. He put his finger to his lips.
Eiji leaned over to find Poppy sleeping peacefully, head on the freshman's lap.
'That's probably a sign we should go,' grinned Momo. 'Come on, I'll help you walk her back.'
He scooped up the doll-like student.
'Man, she weighs nothing!' he said 'I'll just carry her until she wakes. You wheel my bike.'

Saying thankyou and goodbye to the Kawamuras, the regulars left with Momo carrying Poppy. They each went their seperate way to go home. With Eiji crying 'Kawaii! Kawaii!' to Momo's retreating back and Fuji taking a couple of photographs for good measure. Tezuka frowned slightly but said nothing instead turning to Echizen and Momo. 'Take care of her.'
'Hai!' they replied, setting off towards their neighbourhood.
'She must be tired from travelling' said Momo looking down at the girl still soundly asleep in his arms.
'Yeah. My cousin says she has to work hard for her course too.' agreed Echizen.
They walked in silence apart from the odd squeak from the bicycle Ryoma wheeled until they got to the Echizen residence.
'Hmm.' Ryoma considered his options. He didn't really want Momo to come face to face with his father but neither did he want to wake Poppy. Thankfully, he was saved by Nanako coming to the door and seeing Poppy sound asleep.
'Poor girl! Let's carry her inside between us, Ryoma-san.'
The seventh grader leaned his friend's bike by the wall.
'Night, Momo-sempai' he said taking the girl's upper body and his cousin taking her legs. Ryoma had to agree with Momo's assessment. The girl was incredibly light for her size and he vaguely wondered why.
'Night, Echizen! Don't be late for practise tomorrow.'
'Bye' the younger boy called vaguely.
He and his cousin took Poppy into the room where she was staying and put her into bed. She rolled over into a comfortable position, muttering a few words in English before sighing deeply into sleep.
Nanako flicked off the light and looked over to Ryoma now kicking off his shoes and putting them by the door
'Whatever have you boys been doing with her?' she asked with a broad smile.
'Just tennis stuff.' Ryoma replied, heading to the kitchen for milk.
'Hey boy!' his father was sat by the opening to the garden 'How are you finding our guest? Are you looking after her?'
'Uisu.'
'Fancy a match before bed? I'll give you a handicap.'
'Can't. I have homework.'
'Shame, shame. I'd have played with one leg if it had helped.'
'Che.Whatever.'

Ryoma took the milk to his room and looked over his maths assigment. His mind kept wandering to the events of the day though. He looked at the clock. 10.30pm. Time for bed if he wasn't going to miss practise the next day. A thought occured to him and he stepped out of his room to find his cousin in the hallway heading to the bathroom,
'Is Poppy going to be at school tomorrow?' he asked.
'No, not tomorrow. She will on Friday though. I don't know if she plans on going to your practise tomorrow afternoon though.'
'Okay. Night'
'Night, Ryoma-san.'
Ryoma got changed for bed and went to brush his teeth, Karupin trotting behind him and meowing at the bathroom door before Ryoma left and headed to his room. He put his head around the room where Poppy was sleeping to see his cousin had carefully unpinned her friend's hair, now laying in a mass of shiny curls. Pale, and lit only be the moonlight from the window, with her hair around her face Ryoma remembered how light Poppy was. She now looked more doll-like than ever. An English word occurred to him as he looked at her. Fragile. He frowned slightly, remembering that he had left the exchange student's bag by the front door. He went to retrieve it and dropped it off just inside her room, amazed at how heavy it was. He peeked inside, there were 3 heavy textbooks and at least a half-a-dozen notebooks. She's stronger than she looks, he thought. Just then something shiny caught his eye. A medal, a junior world silver in trampolining hung on a thick blue ribbon, was tucked into the pocket of the bag.
'Jumping.' he said to himself, pulling the door to. 'Sunday will be interesting after all'.

The following day, Thursday, passed with little to note for Echizen bar his team mates enquiring at morning practise where the exchange student was.
'Don't know. She might be in later' was all he would say in reply. He recalled she had been sunny and happy at breakfast, apologising for falling asleep and giggling as Ryoma and Nanako related the way they had carried her into the house, but as he was leaving for practise he heard the student say to his cousin that she would be studying in the university library for most of the day as she had a report to file soon.

Poppy did come to their afternoon practise but she remained in her normal clothes and stayed on the sidelines with the coach, watching the second-years play.
'Nya! Why isn't she watching us, ochibi?' cried a disappointed Eiji
'You probably scarred her for life in the showers yesterday' teased Fuji
'No fair, nya!'
The regulars soon forgot the presence of the college student though, practicing hard for the upcoming tournament. They watched each other carefully and tried exercises to test their agility with ankle and wrist weights.
Tezuka and Ryoma worked together as a doubles team attempting to get 5 points against their team mates. This exercise continued for a while, long enough for Poppy to walk around the perimeter to watch. Tezuka noted her presence seemed to spur his team on further, especially Eiji who tried increasingly daring and acrobatic jumps, but she seemed to be only half-watching making endless notes in her notebook and taking photos of the court and facilities.
'Tezuka? Tezuka? Are you okay?' Tezuka focussed on Oishi's worried face.
'Um, yes. Thankyou.'
'I was just saying we should call practice to an end, unless there is something else you need to do?'
Tezuka realised he must have been watching Poppy longer than he thought. He frowned.
Oishi gathered people around to stand in formation.
'Thank you everyone for a good practise. Regulars please collect a map from me as to where Sunday's activities are taking place. Good bye.' the captain shuffled the papers in his hand.
'Good work everyone!' came the chorused reply.

Poppy sat on a bench and waited for Ryoma to appear. Momo, Eiji and Ryoma all came out together with the senior looking pained and the other two looking devilish.
Momo called out 'Poppy-chan! Do you like burgers?'
She looked up, furrowing her brow as she attempted to translate.
'Hai, Su kii desu.' she replied slowly.
'Great,' said Ryoma 'Eiji-senpai definitely won't refuse if you're with us.' he grinned
'Oh, you cheeky monkeys!' Poppy smiled 'Okay then. Burgers it is.'
'Yay!' cried Eiji jumping on her back to give her a crushing hug.
'Geez. What do you weigh, elephant?' the student said dropping her bag under the weight. Momo picked it up.
'Argh, heavy!'
Ryoma pulled his cap down and smirked. 'I picked it up yesterday. I brought it back on the bike and didn't realise it was so heavy until I brought it into the house'
'She must have half a library in there!She must do!' Momo exclaimed, hoisting it over his racket bag.
'Something like that ...'
The pair of them stopped and watched the scene unfolding in front of them. Now she had a good grip around Eiji's legs, Poppy was walking a good distance away from them with him.
'How is she doing that? He must weigh more than her ...' Momo said in a low voice.
'Muscle mass'
Both of them jumped to find Inui behind them, pushing up his glasses. The rest of the regulars had followed behind and were watching Eiji and Poppy exchanging piggy backs.
Fuji smiled. 'She has spent a long time stretching and working those muscles. Longer than any of us have been alive'.
'Yes,' Inui confirmed 'I would say there is an 85 chance she has been a gymnast of some sort from an early age.'
Ryoma recalled the medal he had found in her bag.
'Yep.' he confirmed 'I'm guessing we will found out more on Sunday.'
'She's full of mystery.' said Momo with admiration. Just then his stomach growled. 'Wish I was full of burgers though.'

Waving good bye to the rest of the group at the gates Eiji, Momo, Ryoma and Poppy headed for the local fast food joint.
'Do you eat burgers at home?' Eiji asked Poppy. She considered the question 'They are popular but I have never eaten them much. I like them though.' she said pushing open the door of the restaurant.
'Ah, senpai's treat, yes?' asked Ryoma slyly.
'Okay, okay. Just don't bankrupt me. I don't get my allowance for another week!'
Poppy watched this exchange as Eiji take out his wallet. She patted his hand.
'I'll buy them' she said.
'Yay!' said Momo 'Burgers all round!'
As the girl at the counter took an order that seemed to stretch on for eternity from Momo, Poppy assessed the menu, ordering a milkshake and a single burger before handing over her card. She signed off the receipt and looked at Ryoma.
'I'm so glad I can't make rapid Yen to stirling conversions, ' she said rolling her eyes at the size of the order being prepared for them. 'I suspect that was equivalent to my airfare.'
Ryoma grinned. 'You offered!'

They took their trays over to a table and Momo began unwrapping his mountain of burgers. He stopped for a moment and looked at Poppy's small shake and burger.
'Is that all you ordered?' he asked in disbelief.
Ryoma looked at the tray. 'I think he means that you aren't eating a lot.'
'Oh well. I'm still adjusting to food here and ... oh, I'll tell you later. It's fine.'
Ryoma studied her for a moment before turning to Momo 'She says mind your own business and eat it before it gets cold.'
Momo grinned and continued to tuck in.
'Poppysenpai-chan, is your work hard?' Eiji asked looking over the notebooks Poppy was rearranging in her bag.
'Hard? Sometimes. My course has a lot of work.'
'You must relax though?'
The college student seemed to become even more intent on digging through her bag.
'Oh yeah, sure. I, er, go out with friends.'
'Do you have a boyfriend at home?'
'Er, no. Not right now.'
Ryoma looked at Eiji wondering where this conversation was going. Even Momo's eating had slowed to a considered pace to hear what was going to happen next.
'Aww, that's sad. Maybe Ochibi can be your boyfriend?' Eiji grinned
'Shut up, Eiji-sempai!' the freshman pulled at his fringe
Poppy smiled a little and looked up at the freshman fuming in front of her.
'I think Ryoma-chan probably deserves a girlfriend with more time than I have.' she said reaching over and ruffling his hair. She sipped the remainder of her drink.
'I really need to be getting back,' she said as Ryoma finished his meal, 'I'm helping with a literature class tomorrow.' She looked at her diary.
'3rd year, class 2. Anyone you know?'
'Hai! Oishi-kun and Tezuka-buchou are in that class.' confirmed Eiji.
Ryoma stood up and pushed his chair underneath
'Catch you later.' he said, to Eiji and Momo.
'Bye, Poppysensai-chan, Bye, Ochibi!' said Eiji, waving. Momo, with a mouthful of burger, gave a big grin and waved at the pair heading out of the door.
'Hmm, Ochibi gets all the cute girls.' said Eiji wistfully 'Maybe, I should start wearing a cap and being rude too?'

Poppy and Ryoma caught a bus to go back to his house. As she sank gratefully into the seat she looked at him fiddling with his tennis bag and pulling out a magazine.
'How was your practise?'
'Okay.'
'Do you like your team?'
Ryoma considered this. 'Yeah, they're alright. Their tennis is improving.'
Poppy smiled and looked out of the window. It had begun to rain softening the view out into the Tokyo suburbs.
'Rain. Ugh. I could get this back home, y'know. Much cheaper.'
'It rains a lot here in Tokyo. Not good for tennis.'
Just then Ryoma's phone began to ring in his bag. He pulled it out and answered
'Fuji-sempai?'
They seem a close-knit gang, thought Poppy as she listened to Echizen speak rapid Japanese into his phone, punctuated with an occasional snigger.
Ryoma rung off. 'That was Fuji,' he confirmed 'he wondered if you would like to play tennis with him and Eiji after practise tomorrow.'
'Oh, well. Sure. But I can't play.'
'They want to teach you.'
She smiled. 'Well, okay then. But only if you come too.'
Ryoma looked up, straight into the gaze of his companion.
'Of course. I'll be bringing the video camera.' he smirked.
She laughed and swatted his head 'Cheeky! Aren't you meant to respect your elders?'
He responded by phoning Fuji back, deliberately speaking in English 'She says yes, she'll take you all on and thrash you in straight sets. No she has never played before. That's the low opinion of you she has'. Poppy was left yelling 'not true! not true!' in the background as Ryoma continued in Japanese, until he rang off and pressed the bell for their stop.
She followed the boy off the bus and headed up the hill for the house.
'What are you doing tonight?' the blonde girl asked him.
'Homework. Might play my dad.'
'Is he good?' Poppy asked innocuously.
Ryoma snorted 'Good enough to beat me every day.'
'Really? I guess that's where your natural talent comes from'.
'Nah, I got mine with tokens off a cereal packet.'
Poppy giggled. 'I don't know what you're like in Japanese but you're funny in English.'
Ryoma pushed open the gate to his house and stepped inside, the exchange student just behind.

Ryoma's evening went as he had expected. A labourious and dull maths assignment with an embarrassingly easy English quiz to follow and a match against his father where his old man irritated him even more by asking questions about Poppy then he did by not playing seriously.
'Maybe we could set you up for marriage?'
'I'm 13.'
'Soon you'll be cursing the missed opportunity of a beautiful unattached woman in the house'
'I'm not you, dad. Besides how do you know she's unattached?'
'Ah, interested are you? Well, it was one of the first things I checked when Nanako asked if she could stay.'
Ryoma rolled his eyes and concentrated on trying to get a few points past his father. It didn't work. After the game ended and his father went up to bed, Ryoma went to the kitchen to collect his milk.
Nanako and Poppy were there
'...don't stay up too late working. We have lots of shopping to do on Saturday. I can't wait to show you around when I'm finally free of classes.' Nanako smiled.
'I won't, I promise. Just need to read through this report and then I can send it tomorrow.' Poppy replied patting a pile of papers that looked to be half-an-inch thick by Ryoma's estimation.
'Okay then, good night. Night Ryoma-san.' his cousin patted him on the shoulder as she walked past.
'Night.'
Poppy looked up. 'More milk? You should keep a cow out the back'
Ryoma got another bottle out. 'You should have one too. You're too light'.
Poppy smiled wanly. 'You're right.' she opened the top and began to drink it.
'Inui thinks you're a gymnast.'
'The tall guy with the glasses?'
Ryoma nodded.
'Well, he's mostly right. I was a gymnast for a long time, in the end I finished as a trampolinist. I was pretty good too. But I retired 4 months ago.'
'Retired?'
'Yeah, 23 isn't a bad age for retirement. I could have maybe pushed it for another year but there are no major competitions to work towards now so I picked my degree and career instead. We aren't like tennis players, you know. Our knees give out much quicker. As a gymnast you reach the peak of your career and abilities age around 18 or 20, just when most sports people seriously get going.' The English girl smiled. 'Maybe I picked the wrong sport. The prize money is better in tennis, for sure!'
She looked at the milk in her hand. 'I'm still adjusting my calorie intake. I used to eat loads all the time, knowing I'd burn it away in training but my metabolism isn't the same now and I know my muscles aren't going to be as strong as they were. That's why I'm so light though. It's a requirement for being small and springy.'

Ryoma thought about not playing tennis. 'I can't imagine retiring from something you're still good at'
Poppy sighed and looked at him. 'It's heartwrenching. I still join my trampoline club friends and I'll probably train kids back home as a hobby but its never the same. That's why you have to commit yourself to things without regrets. Everything comes to an end one day and you only ever want happy memories of trying your best. I never won everything I entered but I remember trying hard each time and trying to learn from everyone around me.'
'Is it hard losing in a competition?'
Poppy looked at the boy in front of her and wondered how honestly she should answer him. She sighed again, opting for full disclosure.
'Yes. It really hurts. Sometimes it feels like you've been kicked, especially in a sport where judges make the decisions about deductions, and you just never want to get up and do it again. But you gather up your kit and the next day you go back to training because it's what you do.' Ryoma thought for one horrible moment that she might start crying but instead she breathed out slowly and looked up with a big smile before glancing at her watch. 'Oh, my. It's nearly eleven. I need my beauty sleep.' She stood up, gathered together her papers and leaned over, kissing him gently on the cheek before he could swat her away.
'I'll see you tomorrow morning.' she said, leaving the freshman behind with his hand still on the fridge.
'Bye' Ryoma said absently, finishing his milk while thinking about the conversation he had just had. He picked up Karupin's toy mouse from the floor and took it up to his room.