"Afternoon," Miss Yamada said as Naru opened the door.
"Hey," the non-committal reply came back.
"Now, I believe last session we got as far as the fitness gym incident?"
"That's right," Naru replied, dropping her bag next to the sofa and plopping down into the cushions. "Things actually quietened down for me after that. Not much changed for a week or two. Well, there was that one incident with the talent show. I actually had several days blacked out after that one."
"Hallucinogenic compounds in the theatre's new insulation material, wasn't it?"
Naru shrugged. "Something like that."
Miss Yamada tapped a stack of papers together on the desk, clearing things up for the counselling session. "So, while all of this was going on, were you talking about it with anyone? Your friend Miss Tsukino perhap-"
"She's not my friend," Naru interrupted tersely. Miss Yamada paused in mid-shuffle.
"I don't understand. You two have always been quite close with each oth-"
"She's not. My friend." Naru repeated, teeth clenched.
"...did something happen between you recently?"
"Oh, we've been clashing for ages. It just took me until recently to realize I didn't have to put up with it."
"Friends do clash from time to time though," Miss Yamada countered. Naru glowered at the counsellor, that new short temper that had landed her in counselling taking full hold.
"This is different," Naru insisted. Miss Yamada remained impassive. While breaking friendships over trivial things wasn't out of character for a teenager of Naru's age, Miss Yamada recognized forced anger when she saw it. Eventually, Naru succumbed to the impulse to fill the silence with justification. "I've had fallings-out with friends before. Rui went through a stage where she shut me out, back around the time-" She bit her lip and all her energy disappeared.
Miss Yamada blinked, straightening slightly as she saw the change. Up until now, Naru had alternated between sullen and dismissive, seeing the counselling sessions as either a waste of time, or a free pass out of classwork. But now...
"Your falling-out with Rui," Miss Yamada prompted. "Tell me about that."
The tennis court was surrounded, students from at least three different schools crowding up to get a chance at watching Rui Saionji practice. A large cheer rolled through the crowd with every serve, and an even larger one with every point she scored.
"Go Rui!" Naru called as the tennis ball sailed past her opponent's racket again. "You're the best, sis!"
Rui glanced over, smiling as she saw Naru and giving her a friendly wave before she went to collect a new ball.
"Huh, I never knew," Usagi said, looking askance at Naru.
"Knew what?"
"That Rui was your older sister."
Naru blinked a few times. "Huh?" Usagi hunched into her shoulders and pouted.
"Seriously, how could you keep something like that from your best friend?"
"You really are a nitwit sometimes, Usagi," Naru replied, trying to suppress an amused smirk as Usagi spluttered incoherently in outrage. "I'm an only child. Besides we have different surnames."
"That's- uh, okay, that's a fair point. But didn't you just call Rui your sister?"
"Well, Rui's mother's been a customer of our store for a long time. Rui and I have been playing together since we were little." Naru leaned up against the tennis court fence as she reminisced. "She only a year older than me, but she's always been a bit like an adopted big sister to me."
The two friends continued to watch for a while, before they noticed a murmur that was beginning to run through the crowd on their left.
"Wow, he's gorgeous!"
"Do you know him?"
"I heard he's an entrepreneur, just arrived in town."
"I heard he's the president of a new company."
Usagi and Naru both leaned back to try and see what the fuss was about. They caught sight of the person everyone was talking about. He was a tall man, wearing a crisp, lavender-grey jacket, light grey jeans and a faded yellow shirt. Up to the neck, he was every inch the well-groomed businessman you might expect: but then his hair. Oh, his hair. It cascaded down his shoulders in a vibrant brown mane that caused Naru's heart to flutter into her throat. And those piercing blue eyes...
Naru had to double-take as the man suddenly vaulted the tennis court fence in a single fluid motion. It almost didn't look real - had he even taken his hands out of his pockets to do that? - and by the time he landed cat-like on the court itself, all eyes were on him.
"Er... please don't enter the court without permission!" Rui's opponent called, a little half-heartedly. The man ignored her completely however, and turned to face Rui.
"Use your weight more when you hit the ball!" he called. Rui tilted her head, not sure what to make of this. The man moved into position on the other side of the net, accepting the proffered racket from the now-flustered girl Rui had been playing against.
"Okay, try now!" He called, spreading his feet and getting ready to receive the ball. Rui threw the ball in the air, bring the racket up over her head in a powerful serve. Any other player would have been scrambling to catch it, but the man barely even flinched. A single deliberate step, and a single deliberate one-handed swing, and he'd caught the ball in the exact centre of the racket, sending it back with a... it was hard to work out, he followed through in a way Naru hadn't ever seen before. It put her in mind of a fencer parrying a thrust, almost. The ball shot back across the net and... curved? Weaved? It did something strange, because Rui was caught flat-footed, and the ball struck her on the wrist, knocking the racket from her hand.
"Rui!" Naru called in alarm as the tennis player cried out in pain and clutched her wrist. The man, seemingly unconcerned, made his way around the net.
"A fly could have landed on a serve like that," he chided.
"Who are you?" Rui demanded.
"Masato Sanjoin; just an eccentric coach." He walked over and picked up Rui's tennis racket. "Just think of putting your weight behind the ball," he said, handing it back to her. Then,turning to look at the other tennis students, "Someone come out here and receive her serve!"
"Ooh! Me! Me! I'll do it!" one of the boys called, suddenly in position in the tennis court.
"Hey how did you get in there?" one of his friends called.
"First come, first serve!" the boy quipped back, getting in position to play. "Ready when you are!"
Rui didn't reply. She was intently focused on the ball. Tossing it into the air, she brought her racket back... and then with a thrust that put her entire body behind it, drove the ball across the court. It was too fast to follow properly; before the boy even had time to react, the ball had struck him in the side and knocked him off his feet, before burying into the sandy surface of the court with a small explosion of dust. A gasp of amazement went up from the students at the sudden spike in Rui's serving power. Rui herself turned to thank the man for his advice; only to find that in the midst of the action, he'd managed to disappear without a trace. Eventually, she shrugged and went back to practice. "Next!" she called. Another one of the boys stepped up, holding his racket braced and ready. Rui tossed the ball in the air again; and once more the serve drove its way across the court with enough force to knock her opponent over. "Next!" Rui called, not even stopping to check if her current opponent was alright.
She didn't stop for the next opponent either. Or the one after that. All the students watched in awe as she methodically mowed down every single opponent who tried to face her. Before long the once-eager volunteers were pressed up against the far netting of the court, afraid to even approach the boundary lines.
"Wow, she's so cool!" Usagi enthused. Naru, however could not share the enthusiasm. Something was... off about Rui. Yes, she could get very driven when it came to her tennis but the fact that she hadn't even *apologized* for the near-constant injuries her new serving style seemed to be causing, let alone attempted to avoid causing them.
"Oooh, I'm running late," Usagi left the fence, looking back to see if Naru was following. "You coming?"
"Actually, you go on ahead," Naru replied. "I'm going to stay and try to catch a word with Rui."
"Okay then, see you around!" Usagi said with a wave and a smile. Naru returned it as best she could.
Rui continued to practice for the rest of the afternoon. Well, if you could call it practice. No-one survived more than a single serve from her. And her attitude towards her opponents didn't improve - if anything it became worse. More than once she actually broke one of other girls' rackets without so much as an apology. Finally everyone there had taken all they could cope, and Rui was left on an empty court.
"Hmph, amateurs." Rui turned away, heading to the back line of the court to do some warm-down exercises. Naru hesitated. Maybe Rui was just out of sorts from being embarrassed in front of everyone by that Mr Sanjoin person. Maybe it would be better if she came back later... no. Rui was her friend, and had been for most of her life. True they didn't get to see each other as much these days, but Rui would have dropped everything and come running if she knew Naru was in trouble. Naru wouldn't do anything less for her.
Naru opened the gate to the court, carefully pulling it to. "Rui?" she asked. Rui didn't reply, or even look in Naru's direction. Clearing her throat and summoning a bit more courage, Naru approached her. "Rui, did something happen?" Still no response. "If you need my help with anything, please, just let me know-"
"It's none of your business," Rui replied tersely, finally acknowledging Naru's presence. Naru flinched - the look Rui had fixed on her had been cold and sneering, as if Naru had crawled out from under a rock. Cheeks burning, she mumbled an apology and backed away. Rui didn't even wait to see if Naru had left before she went back to her exercises.
"Sorry for the short notice," Naru said again as she poured a cup of tea. Usagi waved the apology off with a smile.
"It's okay, I don't mind." She smiled sunnily. Naru drooped in response. "Is there something on you mind?" Usagi asked, looking a bit concerned.
"I just... I don't know how to say this," Naru replied. "I'm just... I'm worried about Rui. I mean, she's abusing tennis equipment, she'd never have done that before. It's like she's a completely different person."
"Maybe she's just on edge because of the tournament coming up?" Usagi suggested.
"I thought that might be it at first but... it's something else." Naru paused, her throat tightening. Her eyes welled with tears as she remembered how Rui had so callously brushed her off. It would have been hurtful coming from anyone, but for someone who'd been there for her as long as she could remember... it felt like she'd lost a friend.
"What's happened to her?" Naru wondered out loud. "It's something terrible, I just know it, but she won't tell me anything." She put her hand over her mouth to muffle the crying that she felt sure was about to start.
"I know!" Usagi suddenly declared, leaning forward on her hands. "Why don't we investigate what happened? I'll help you!"
"Usagi..." Naru began, not sure what to say.
"Chin up!" Usagi said, patting Naru reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm sure there's a reason she's been acting this way. We just need to find out and then everything will be back to normal!"
Naru smiled through her tears. She'd been so caught up in the fear of losing one friend that she'd forgotten she had another. "Thanks Usagi," Naru said, wiping her eyes dry.
"We'll sneak out after dinner and do some reconnaissance," Usagi said, already scheming. "I'll go down and ring my mum, let her know I'm staying late."
Naru sat back as Usagi slipped out the door of the bedroom. She'd needed that. Usagi's irrepressible optimism was currently the only highlight of her afternoon.
A brief mental image of the mysterious man who'd talked to Rui this afternoon floated into her mind, and Naru was surprised to feel herself blushing slightly.
Well, maybe not the only highlight, she admitted to herself.
"So this is it?" Usagi asked as they arrived outside the tennis school.
"She practices here after school," Naru explained.
"Hhhmm..." Usagi mused to herself, looking a great deal more thoughtful than usual.
"What's wrong?" Naru asked.
"Oh! Ah, nothing! Nothing!" Usagi twittered, as transparent as she ever was when caught out. She went back to staring at the tennis school: probably coming up with a plan of some kind, Naru decided, based on the way her expression cycled from frowning to smugly conniving.
Before Naru could ask Usagi what she was thinking, there was a cry of pain from somewhere behind the fence. Thoughts of stealth completely discarded, the two friends ran through the front gate, circling round the main building to reach the court out the back. Naru let out a gasp, hesitating as she took the scene in.
Rui was there, and she was still practising - had she been practising all evening? And her opponents... they definitely weren't students. If anything they looked like professional athletes. Professional atheletes who were currently pleading with Rui to stop. Rui didn't even seem to care; she was already getting ready to serve again, and there was... Naru couldn't put her finger on it, but there was a wrongness about her, like air shimmering in the heat. Whatever it meant, Naru knew she had to put a stop to this before it went any further.
"Stop!" she called out, running out into the court to put herself between Rui and the athletes (who immediately took the chance to run to safety).
"Out of my way!" Rui shouted across the court at her.
"No!" Naru retorted. "Rui, stop acting like this, please!"
"Get out of my way Naru!"
"No!" Naru drew herself up, staring her friend down.
"Move!" Rui commaned, and a feeling like ice-water down her spine made Naru step back. Rui was looking at her with inhuman malice... no, not Rui, Naru realized in horror. That wasn't Rui looking at her from across the court. It was something else. Something... familiar.
"MOVE!" Rui shrieked, taking her racket in both hands and drawing it back. Usagi moved, as if realizing what was about to happen, and then a wall of air slammed into Naru and carried her off her feet. The roaring thunderclap of air knocked her senseless before she even hit the ground, and in her last moment of consciousness, she realized why Rui's strange manner seemed familiar. The sensation she'd felt: it had been the same as back in the jewellery shop on that day. The same feeling as when her 'mother' had turned to look at her with that terrible, predatory smile.
Naru's eyes opened.
"Owww..." she moaned. Her head was pounding, her elbows were scraped and she felt like she'd been hit in the stomach with a basketball. She looked around. She was lying beside a small row of shrubs, tucked in next to the tennis school building.
I must have been knocked out of the court, she thought to herself. Rolling over, she picked herself up, wincing as her bruised limbs took her weight. She looked around. There was no-one around - wait, was that a flash of movement? She'd caught a glimpse what looked like a person on the far corner of the school building but it couldn't be - no-one could jump that high. In any case, she had a more immediate concern.
"Rui!" Naru called, seeing her friend's unconscious form lying on the court. Stumbling over her feet, ignoring the bruises, she rushed up to Rui, picking her up and cradling her shoulders in her arm.
"Rui! Rui, are you alright? Rui!"
There was no response for a few seconds. Then, Rui shifted, and opened her eyes slowly.
"Naru?" Rui murmured in confusion, moving into a more comfortable sitting position. "Ow, my head... where am I?"
"You're at the tennis school. You were knocked out, are you okay?"
"I think so..." Rui looked up at the sky and frowned. "Hold on, it's night? What... what happened? Last I remember I was at school and... I was training? I think?"
"...you don't remember anything?" Naru asked. Rui thought for a bit.
"...nothing. I was training and then... everything's a blank."
"So... you're not angry with me?" Naru asked, her voice wavering slightly. Rui sat bolt upright and looked at Naru in alarm.
"Of course not! Why would I be angry with you?" she hugged Naru tightly. "You're my friend, you always will be!"
"Ow, bruises!" Naru squeaked. Rui loosened her hug and smiled apologetically.
"Naru! Ah, Rui, you're awake!" Naru and Rui looked up to see Usagi running round the corner of the building.
"Where have you been?" Naru asked, looking at Usagi in curiosity.
"I, uh... I went to get help!" Usagi replied. "Yeah, I just got a friend to ring the ambulance. Isn't that right, Luna?" She looked down at the black cat who was tagging along at her heels. Luna for her part looked... exhasperated? It was hard to tell with cats. She ran off shortly after that in any case.
Funny, Naru thought to herself as Usagi helped her lift Rui up. I don't remember her having her cat here when we arrived.
"Did you see what caused that gust of air?" Naru asked Usagi as they left the court. Usagi shrugged.
"Freak storm maybe? I dunno, I was a little preoccupied."
"Going to get help you mean?"
"Yeah, going to get help. I'm responsible like that." Usagi poked her tongue at Naru mischievously.
"And that's more or less it," Naru finished up. "Rui had no memory what happened, so we went right back to how things had always been. Now see, with Usagi, "how it's always been" is the problem. She's always been flighty and unreliable. The only thing that's changed is that I've run out of patience."
Miss Yamada didn't respond. Her eyes were closed and her fingers were pressed firmly together, supporting her chin.
"So when did you next meet Mr Sanjoin?"
"Wh- I... I didn't," Naru stammered."I never saw him again." Miss Yamada raised an eyebrow, eyes still closed.
"I don't need a psychology degree to see through that one," she observed dryly.
Naru didn't respond for a long time. Finally, with a sombre look on her face, she looked up at Miss Yamada.
"It was a few weeks later," she began. "I got this letter in the mail..."