So the concept behind this story is that it follows the year that Seigaku takes Nationals, but with Kaori and a few other OCs thrown into the mix. Each chapter is going to be a song title, but this is not a song fic. It is just purely the inspiration for the chapter.
Kaori woke up and got herself ready for school. Her cousin would be taking her in early since he had practice and it would give her time to adjust to school. She packed a bag for dance since she was considering trying out for the team. She went downstairs and was greeted by a western breakfast.
"Morning sweetheart. Eat up before Shuichiro comes down and you have to leave. Oh, this is for you to wear since my brother-in-law thought it would help you if you decide to run or dance. Your appointment is today. Shuichiro will go with you," her aunt said handing her a knee brace.
Kaori nodded and put the brace on. She ate up her breakfast and was greeted by her cousin. They both got ready and then they headed off to school.
"We are meeting up with Tezuka if that's okay," Oishi said.
"That's fine. So what do you think if I decided to try out for the dance team?" Kaori asked.
"I'm not sure. I know they are talented, but they haven't really won much in the past few years. It might be good for you to make friends there though."
"I wasn't asking about their record or making friends. I was asking if it would be smart if I danced," Kaori said nodding to Tezuka, who had met up with them at this point.
"But your knee isn't strong enough to be dancing again!"
"Shuichiro, I have been going to my regular practices back home, now granted I was in pain, but I still danced. I cannot just sit still. I'll make you a deal, I won't make a sure decision until after we get back from my appointment today."
Her cousin nodded at her statement. Kaori noticed that Tezuka was fairly quiet and it bothered her a little bit.
"Morning Tezuka-san!" Kaori said trying to get him to smile.
"Morning Oishi-chan," Tezuka replied.
"Please call me Kaori. I won't take it as any disrespect."
She only noticed him nod at what she said in agreement. Kaori shrugged it off and they continued their walk to their school. Kaori walked into the building and to the office to get her class schedule. A student walked into the office and showed her to her room.
"Do you have any questions?" The girl asked.
"Yeah, do you know where the dance team is. I want to try out," Kaori asked.
"I don't know. They suck. Don't waste your time with them."
Kaori stood there dumbstruck at what was said to her, "Okay, thanks."
The girl left her and once she was out of sight, Kaori picked up her bag and went searching for the team. After a few minutes, she found the space that the team was using. When she entered the room she found about five girls sitting on the floor, one of them being Akana.
"You actually came! Thank god!" Akana said getting up and hugging the girl.
"Is this everyone?" Kaori asked.
"Yeah sadly. Most of the seniors left and we are the only ones remaining. We need to have at least ten members to compete. Only four more now!"
The door opened and a younger woman walked through and the other girls got up and stood in a straight line. Kaori put her things down, changed her shoes, and then went to stand in line with them.
"You must be new. I'm Suzaki-sensei. You do have to audition for the team though. Nothing too much. I can tell that you are a good dancer already," Suzaki said.
"Okay, but I do want to let you know that I have a knee injury, so some of my turns and jumps are limited at the moment," Kaori said.
"Well then, show me what you can do without straining it too much."
The other girls moved to the side and Suzaki moved to the stereo and turned on a song,"Give me a little something. Not too long, just something that will make me want to have you on this team."
Kaori listened to the song and got caught up in the movement and started dancing and not realizing it she did about thirty seconds of an improv dance and didn't put too much weight on her left knee if she didn't need to. When she was done the teacher and the other girls stared in awe at her.
"That was amazing. I didn't even know that you had the injury," Suzaki said. "I can easily say that you made the team, but I want a regular update from your doctor on your condition. What is you name by the way?"
"Osihi Kaori," she spoke.
"Makes sense. I heard of you from some people in the States when I visited around your Nationals. You certainly do live up to your name. Now everyone, we need four more girls to be considered a threat for regionals. Kaori, you are going to be our main selling point, if that's okay. With people knowing that a national winner is on our team, will make them come and want to join."
"Oh, I understand that one all too well."
"Let's get started on the group routine. Kaori, do what you can so you don't hurt yourself even more."
After about a half an hour, the girls were dismissed and they went to their classes. Kaori waited outside until the teacher called her in.
"Please, introduce yourself," the teacher smiled.
Kaori looked around the classroom to see if she knew anyone, but she noticed that Tezuka was in her class, "Hello, I'm Oishi Kaori, but please call me Kaori. I'm from Los Angeles, California in the United States."
Kaori was shown her seat and she sat next to Tezuka, but was welcomed with some glares from the female classmates.
Great. I have crazy dance competitors and now crazy fangirls! I really have to ask Shuichiro about what is up with them.
The day went smoothly and when lunch time rolled around, she saw her cousin peak in the door. She wondered how he found her.
"Shuichiro, how did you find me?" Kaori asked.
"I asked Inui. He has data on everyone here," her cousin said.
"I just started and he has data on me!"
"You get used to it. Anyways, remember you have your appointment after classes. We are leaving practice early to get there."
"Right. Oh, I made the dance team. Apparently there are only six of us total. I'll be sure to be out of practice in time."
"Good and congratulations, but I thought that you weren't trying out until after your appointment today."
"Well, I decided better now than later! I promise I am taking it easy!"
Her cousin left and she was met with even more glares. She rolled her eyes before saying, "He is my cousin so you can stop staring."
She sat down and waited for the day to be over so that she can go to dance and go to the doctors. The teacher dismissed the class and Kaori grabbed her things and went to the dance studio. The girls were in there and a couple more new girls came in. They looked young, but Kaori didn't mind. Suzaki sensei walked into the room and saw the new girls and smiled a little bit. All of the older girls and Kaori lined up and waited further instruction.
"Good Afternoon. I'm glad you could make it. I'm going to do a simple combination routine and you are to perform it for us. I want everyone to do this. I want to make sure I am picking the right girls," Suzaki said.
The girls lined up and they followed the moves. Kaori felt like she was at home doing this and it didn't go unnoticed. After about a half an hour Suzaki watched the girls do the small routine for her.
"Thank you. Now, I am glad to say that all of you are part of the competition team! I will name the captain and vice-captain," Suzaki said. Most of the girls were expecting Kaori to be the captain because she was talented, but Suzaki was reluctant to put the girl in such a high position on her first day. "Our Vice-Captain is Oishi Kaori and our Captain is Kanai Akana."
Kaori smiled at the girl that she thought of as her friend and Akana smiled back and they hugged each other.
"Now, I'm going to let you go early, but tomorrow morning, you all better be ready to work hard on our group routine for prefectruals!" Suzaki said.
The girls nodded and then were dismissed to go home. Kaori had a large smile on her face when she went to the tennis courts to wait for her cousin. The team greeted her and she just nodded. Kaori noticed Tezuka talking to their coach and then walking away followed by her cousin.
"Ready to go?" Oishi asked his cousin.
"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be," Kaori said and the three of them started walking. Kaori was confused at first as to why Tezuka was following them. "Sorry to ask, but are you coming with us Tezuka-san?"
"Ah, but for a different reason," Tezuka answered plainly.
Kaori raised her head in a nod, "So, Shurichiro, I was names Vice-Captain today."
"Congratulations. Who made Captain?" her cousin asked.
"Kanai. She deserved it though, she has been on the team for forever. So how was your practice today?"
"Usual. We have our ranking matches and our tournaments coming up."
"Sounds interesting. I hope I can make it to a few matches while I'm here. I remember you telling me about you guys last year when I would talk to you."
"Ah, this year though we are looking really good for Nationals this year too."
"Sounds amazing."
They arrived at the doctor's office and the three of them were in the waiting area for their uncle to show up. Kaori had only met him a few times, but she was looking forward to getting better. The nurse called Tezuka in first. Kaori sat patiently while her cousin was in the appointment with his friend. She was curious as to why Tezuka was there, but she didn't pry much. The door opened and the two tennis players walked out. Her cousin had a sullen look on his face, but Tezuka's was almost unreadable.
"Uncle said you could go in when you were ready. Do you want me to come with you?" Oishi asked.
"No, I'm fine. Done plenty of these believe me, but is everything okay with you?" Kaori asked.
"Ah," Tezuka replied.
"Not sure how to take that, but I'll be back in a few minutes," Kaori said walking into the room. She sat down while her uncle smiled at her.
"You are looking good Kaori," her uncle said.
"Thanks. It feels good to be here for some reason," Kaori smiled.
"Well, I got your last x-rays and you are showing some improvement. I can say that you are showing enough that you should be able to compete in about a week, but that is only one dance. Your father told me how you were doing up to four dances per competition. We will see when you come back for your follow-ups how far you can go, but you still need to do some strengthening exercises to help the muscles get better. I have some stretches and recommendations that will help with that," he said giving her a list. "Do these twice a day and you should see some improvement."
"Thank you. That is some good news. So can I start doing a little dancing now?"
"A little. Let me guess, you are on the dance team. Don't over do it, no intense turns on your left. Leaps should be fine if you are wearing the brace. Small steps, Kaori."
"I understand, believe me, I want to get better."
"Good. Now I have something else to talk to you about. When I talked to your father, he spoke about you being quiet withdrawn after the incident."
"Oh, yeah. Well you would be too if you lost everything that you worked hard for. I guess not dancing and seeing her kinda did that to me."
"It's all perfectly clear, but he just wanted me to ask and see if there were any other problems surrounding what happened."
"Not really. Even though I have been her about two days, I can already feel better. I'm not as stressed out over things and I know having a positive attitude will help with healing."
"Exactly. That's good to hear. If you start to feel off about things let me know right away. I don't have anything else for you and if you don't, I'll see you next week for another follow up."
"Thanks!" Kaori said getting up and walking out of the office with a smile on her face. When she left she noticed her cousin and Tezuka still sitting there.
"How was it?" Oishi asked.
"Good. I got clearance for at least one dance if my next two appointments look clear," Kaori smiled.
"Anything else?"
"Just how I need to watch myself and not withdraw from people."
Kaori watched her cousin's face fall into a frown.
"Don't worry! I'm fine, I'm feeling a lot better. You don't understand the anxiety that I went through when she was around. I would avoid seeing her and then not being able to dance just made me feel..."
"Worthless," Tezuka said causing both of the Oishi's to look at him.
"Yeah. Twelve years of my life gone in a flash. I though I would never get to this point again."
"But you are getting better," Oishi said.
"While I might be getting better, who knows I will ever be the same again."
"Stop making it seem as if you were worthless from the beginning."
"Shurichiro, you weren't there. You didn't hear the things I heard that night," Kaori stopped and took a deep breath trying to fight back the tears.
"Sorry for bringing it up."
"No its fine. I have to get over it sometime, but it might not be right now. But talking about it does help some. I'm just not ready to tell a lot of people about what happened."
They remained quiet for the rest of their walk home. The cousin's said goodbye to Tezuka and finished their walk home. Little did Kaori know, the person who would be able to help her the most, is someone that she would least expect.
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