Being the lackey to the villainess is a position that comes with its share of grief and hardship.
Especially when you are the lackey to the villainess of the first act.
The main villainess has it easy: She will generally deliver the villainess of the first act a crushing defeat before embarking on a glamorous arc of being an unstoppable threat until the heroine somehow survives the story without the main villainess ever having been dealt her just deserts.
Such had not been the fate of Serigaya Kaoruko.
Miki Sasashita looked over her shoulders through the open bathroom door at her poor tormented friend, who was lying in her hospital bed dressed in light-blue pajamas while watching the recording taken by a friend of theirs who was at that moment doing reconnaissance of the venue where the finals for the All-Japan badminton Inter-High were about to take place.
Kaoruko-sama looked so beautiful and majestic in her violet nightgown.
Miki had been feeling increasingly optimistic about the future since the nurses removed the I.V. line. Soon Kaoruko would be able to resume her life.
But that didn't mean Miki didn't feel for what her friend had suffered.
With a sad face, the short auburn-haired girl in the white floral dress rearranged the bouquet of chrysanthemums, daisies, and marigold she had brought Kaoruko in a tall blue lacquerware vase on the bathroom counter.
As if it hadn't been enough for Kaoruko to lose that accursed match against Hanesaki Ayano, Miki's wonderful friend barely survived the attempt on her own life in response to that loss and had to deal with a police interrogation and the resulting gossip.
Miki had been able to silence nasty tongues in their own school, but she was sure that Ayano and her friends must be having a good laugh at the expense of her talented and admirable Kaoruko-sama.
"How does it look, Kaoruko-sama?" The jittery girl asked with a smile as - in leaving the bathroom and walking over to the large hospital room windows to Kaoruko's left - she saw her tall friend with the long fluffy pink hair whose legs were covered with thin light-green sheets absorbed by her smartphone.
"Hm-hm…" Kaoruko replied.
But none of that mattered. Because Kaoruko would always have the love and gratitude of her best friend in the world.
Miki had known that her dear friend would survive the blood loss she had suffered and she knew that Kaoruko would survive the emotional trauma she had suffered.
Together they would triumph over their competitors eventually.
Miki looked out over the beautiful lawn which graced the ground floor of the ward they were in.
She looked up at the sun and placed her bouquet on the window sill with a smile.
'Yes!' She thought to herself. 'With my dedicated help, Kaoruko-sama will overcome this tragedy and return to the court to challenge and defeat Ayano Hanesaki in a glorious victory!
I will support Kaoruko-sama when she visits her bitter foe to apologize and together we will hold our heads up high among our peers, knowing that Kaoruko-sama was dealt a blow, but was able to deal honorably with the mistake she made afterward.
Once everyone witnesses how brave, forgiving, and honorable Serigaya Kaoruko is they will curb their tongues and gasp in amazement at how she deals with her lot and trains to become stronger than ever!'
"Hahahahahahahahaha…"
Kaoruko's sudden outburst of low laughter sent a shiver through Miki's spine.
The girl noticed that clouds had started to drift around the sun outside.
"Hahahahahahahahaha! Haaahahahahahahahaha!"
Miki thought she heard a peal of thunder outside.
"Ka… Kaoruko-sama? Is… Is everything alright?" The auburn-haired young athlete asked with a little jump before slowly turning around.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha!"
In the middle of the white hospital room - which seemed a lot darker than before - Kaoruko sat up in her bed with her smartphone in her right hand and her left hand placed on her left thigh.
A frightening light shone from the tall pinkette's intense pink eyes as they returned the bashful look of her best friend.
"Hostile sisters, heed:
Shameful victory haunts thee!
Meet your judge on court!
By Sanegaya Kaoruko. Hahahahahaha!"
Miki watched her darling Kaoruko-sama end her haiku with a truly evil laugh while the storm that had been brewing outside burst lose with a ripping lightning bolt.
She supposed it would take some time before they would be able to bow to Hanesaki Ayano in apology to the admiration of their peers.
"And here is my teacher's license," Tachibana Kentarou said while handing the document over to the brawny blonde young man in the red T-shirt and white shorts who manned one of two desks in the I.H. tournament venue's entrance hall.
He, Erena, Nagisa, and Ayano patiently stood at the desk which stood perpendicular to the long and wide hallway they were in while they were registered for the tournament.
"I see," The man from the organization dryly commented. "So you became a teacher, huh?"
"Huh? Yeah," Kentarou replied with a frown at the man in the red shirt and white shorts.
"Looks like the weather is changing," Nagisa observed.
Her teacher and team manager turned their heads to look through the large glass entrance doors to their left.
They saw an increasing drizzle coming from the sky outside.
A couple with a boy and a girl of about ten years old hurried into the sports center and lined up to use the swimming pool of which the entrance was located next to the reception desk to the left of the main entrance doors.
"Doesn't matter," Erena said. "If we're stuck here for a while the two of you can go swing your rackets on the practice court until the preliminary rounds start while Coach Tachibana and I have a drink."
"You really don't recognize me, do you Tachibana-san?" The man from the organization chuckled while tilting his face and crossing his arms behind his table.
Kentarou, Nagisa, and Erena watched the man with wonder as he leaned back in his plastic chair.
Ayano was smiling and waving at a toddler with his mother who had been staring at the racket bag of the girl who - like Nagisa - was dressed in a blue-and-white training vest and black training pants.
"Hmm-erm…" Kentarou sweatdropped as he brought his right hand to his lips.
"Oh my… How embarrassing," His apparent past acquaintance chuckled again while rubbing the back of his head. "I thought I'd made a more lasting impression even if I lost our match. The last I.H. of our youth. Semi-finals."
"Nnnnno way!" Erena and Nagisa saw their coach suddenly remember with an animated laugh. "Watanabe-san!"
"Yep. Watanabe Benjiro. Who fought against your superior skill for 102 minutes until I had to give up."
"Oh my! I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you. That was such a hell of a game. I thought I was going to die on that court!"
"Hahaha! You and me both," Benjiro laughed.
"This man is amazing, girls," Kentarou smiled at his students. "I haven't met a badminton player with more endurance."
"Endurance? That's a little ironic when I quit playing competitively after university," Benjiro laughed.
"Really?" Nagisa interjected. "Did you get injured?"
"Nonono," The brawny blonde man shook his head. "It wasn't anything like that luckily. I just helped out the Japan Badminton Association one day and started to enjoy organizing the sport I love more than I did playing it.
That doesn't mean I don't love playing every now and then of course, but it's more exciting to me to enable others."
"That's pretty cool!" Erena enthusiastically spoke up. "I became the manager of this team so I could keep an eye out on that brat over there, but I've been enjoying the work and watching the matches a lot..."
Upon hearing Ayano referenced, Nagisa turned around to search for her teammate who had vanished from sight while they had been talking.
When you entered the complex, to your left was the reception, where people paid for use of the pool, the gym on the second floor, the squash, or the climbing wall.
If you walked past the reception and onwards, the broad thirty meters long hallway Nagisa and her friends were standing in eventually split apart into two narrow passages that ran on either side of a thirty meters long bar with lots of tables and chairs to the left of the left passage and to the right of the other.
The seating arrangements you could access via the left passage were placed alongside large windows with a view of the recreational part of the complex's swimming pool.
The tables with barstools on the right of the right passage were placed alongside similar windows with a view of the large sports hall where the tournament would be taking place, but which were currently obscured by large black cloths.
To the left and right of the central hallway, before it split apart to encircle the cafeteria, a flight of stairs ran up to the second floor on each side.
Uniquely to the right, there was also an elevator.
Nagisa stealthily looked at her dashing coach and manager, who were wearing a white T-shirt and beige shorts and a blue vest and black skirt respectively.
Seeing the two animatedly talking to their new friend, the short-haired brunette glanced at the LCD screens behind her whereupon the tournament brackets were listed.
She would check that out later.
Without giving notice, the brunette tomboy walked off in the direction of the flight of stairs on the right side of the entrance hall.
She had seen people enter the hall from behind it and had heard Benjiro say that the tournament hall's seats were located there.
As she had expected, around the corner behind the flight of stairs there was a pair of opened double doors which led to the balcony around the tournament hall and to the upper balcony stadium seats to the left and right of the large sports hall.
Nagisa found Ayano standing behind the black steel protective railing that ran along the balcony, from where she was observing the JBA people who were working underneath her on the tournament hall floor.
"You wanted to see the venue, huh?" She asked her friend.
"Do you feel the excitement too, Nagisa?"
The short-haired brunette in the blue-and-white T-shirt and black skirt stretched and looked down at the four courts that were spread out below them.
Then she looked around at the other players who were walking and lazying around while the people who organized the I.H. tournament were busy double checking if the linoleum flooring didn't show any bumps, whether the microphones worked properly, and changing the bags in the garbage containers.
"Yes," She replied. "Yes. I'm excited too."
Ayano pointed at the farthest court from them on the right side.
"That's where I will crush Connie and bring Mother to her knees," The short black-haired girl grinned. "Mark my words."
"Maaaybe not that excited," Nagisa grimaced.
She watched her teammate's grin slowly settle into a contented smile while the girl leaned her arms over the railing.
"Are you really okay, Ayano?"
Ayano turned around and looked up at the taller athlete with a tilt of her head.
Nagisa crossed her arms and heaved a deep sigh while closing her eyes. Then she looked her friend in the eyes with a warm smile.
"I know we've had a rocky friendship, but I think we know we can trust one another now.
I want us to do well. I want us to do great… I want you to do great and knock everyone's socks off with me.
But I know you have been through hell this year.
The situation with your mother.
Serigaya-san bullying you and going as far as trying to kill herself. The police interrogation… "
"But I'm fine with all that now, Nagisa," Ayano said in her deceptively innocent way.
"Don't say that," Nagisa sighed again while putting her right hand through her short hair. "How can you be fine with all that?"
"Well… I have you, and Erena, and Coach Kentarou, and Grandpa and Grandma. I know I'm loved and I know I'm cared for.
I have had a rough time of it, but right now I am just looking forward to the tournament, and the rest of summer break after that."
"Well, that's good to hear," Nagisa smiled. "Although I still doubt that the things you went through recently are things you can just get over like that.
So, what I wanted to say was: If at any time you feel troubled or sad, I hope you will come and talk to your senpai no matter what I'm doing at that time. Okay?"
"Hahaha," Ayano laughed. "You are awfully smug since you beat me, Nagisa. Maybe it's time for a rematch."
"I'll give you a rematch whenever you're ready. As long as you understand what I just told you."
"Yes, senpai. Thank you for looking out for me" Ayano smiled. "Don't worry. If ever I feel things getting me down again, I promise to talk to you guys about it."
Nagisa saw the short blackette turn back to look at the courts being set up. With a somehow brighter smile than before, she liked to imagine.
She really was excited about her matches. The current top of the country was assembled at the venue.
The Kitakomachi student saw lots of familiar faces and some new ones and was eager to see how the familiar players had improved since last she played them and how good the unfamiliar players were.
She knew that Ayano had improved lots since their match in the preliminaries.
The blackette had been training separately from the other club members in someplace she didn't even want to tell Coach Kentarou about.
Nagisa was quite curious about her kouhai's training schedule because during that time she and their coach marked tremendous improvement in Ayano's endurance and strength.
While pondering that question, the brunette's gaze fell on a cute girl with a brown bob who was sitting in the bleachers to her right with her coach.
The girl had lost to Nagisa when they played each other the previous year, but Nagisa knew she had improved a lot since then.
She had glanced at the tournament brackets that they'd face one another in the preliminary rounds later that evening.
She good-humorously winked at her opponent and saw the girl raise her hand with a smile.
A second later the girl looked away, visibly intimidated.
Nagisa turned her eyes on the shorter girl next to her who was still wearing a nasty leer.
A slap to the side of Ayano's head turned her expression back to normal.
"Are you trying to get another interview at the police station?" Erena, who had found her friends after she and Kentarou had a chat with his old friend, scolded Ayano while lowering her hard hand.
The victim of the punishment she just meted out massaged her crown with a cowed grimace.
"Aw, Erena!" Ayano whined. "They said I wasn't to blame for what Kaoruko-chan did to herself."
"If you don't want to get into feuds with bully's you shouldn't antagonize random strangers either."
"I think that's sound advice," Coach Kentarou agreed. "What happened was sad. But luckily Serigawa-san is recovering.
Meanwhile, this business has brought Kitakomachi's badminton team some infamy for all the wrong reasons.
I expect you all to be on your best behavior so that the only way we will make a name for ourselves here is through our athletic achievements."
"Don't worry about that, Sensei," Nagisa grinned. "Ayano and I will make you proud."
Kentarou looked at the shorter girl beside the short-haired brunette while the sound of a slight commotion could be heard to his far left.
"I'll play nice," Ayano grinned but averted her face when Erena looked her in the eyes.
"They're here."
The club's manager turned her face in the direction Nagisa, Ayano, and Kentarou were looking.
Several boys and girls who had been sitting in the grey plastic upper balcony stadium seats on the left side of the sports hall were getting up and walking towards two tall girls who had just entered the balcony through the double doors on that side.
"Yamamoto Chizuko and Nakamura Mashiro," Coach Kentarou said. "The reigning Queen and King of the Japanese female youth competition for years past."
"Also known as Kiyohime and Shirogane," Ayano quipped before rubbing the back of her head.
"Ow! Come on, Erena! That hurts."
"Don't speak ill of others," Her glaring friend with the long black hair scolded.
Nagisa and Kentarou stared at the cheerful girl with the long black ponytail who was wearing a navy-blue training vest and white pants and the tomboy with the short blonde haircut in the white-and-green training vest and white pants as they greeted the girls who flocked around them.
"To be honest… She's not exactly wrong," Tachibana Kentarou grimaced.
Still rubbing the back of her head, Ayano saw Chizuko turn her way and flash her a bright smile while Masahiro stood leisurely listening with her arms crossed to a very chatty girl with a light-blue bob who was wearing a white and blue training top over a white skirt.
Ayano slowly curled her lips up and treated the number one of the country to her creepiest grin.
The elegant young woman with the black ponytail wasn't bothered by it at all, however.
She just seemed to look excited in reaction before she was accosted by a handsome boy with wavy brown hair who wore a white T-shirt with a broad black stripe down the front and back and black shorts.
"I guess you got her attention, Ayano," Coach Kentarou smiled. "They are the ones to beat here, after all. They are probably curious about the new challengers."
"I'm mostly curious about the rest of the complex at the moment," Nagisa announced with an arch smile. "Are you guys up for a little reconnaissance stroll?"
"Sorry, but I promised Erena I'd introduce her to a few other people I know. Coaches and people who work for the JBA," Kentarou said while his smugly smiling team manager linked arms with him.
"You two check the place out. You can find us in the cafeteria in about an hour."
After seeing their coach and manager ascend the stairs to the first floor where more JBA people were at work in the meeting rooms and the large party hall they had rented to host a cafe for players and visitors during the tournament, Nagisa and Ayano walked along the passage between the bar and the seating arrangements close to the large windows that provided a view of the tournament hall.
At the end of the passage - just before the passages on either side of the bar joined into the central hallway again - there was a play corner for kids with stuffed animals, building blocks, and other toys.
It was just before noon, so there weren't many people in the cafeteria. But some of the visitors to the pool started taking seats and ordering drinks.
"I don't see why Tachibana-sensei has to flirt like that with my M…" Ayano grumbled before the concerned look on Nagisa's face made her swallow the last word.
"So you're in Yamamoto-san's crosshairs, are you?" The taller girl sweatdropped after the remark she just heard. "Are you at all nervous?"
"If I meet her, I meet her," Ayano shrugged while looking at the children's corner as they turned into the central hallway. "I don't see why I should be afraid of Yamamoto Chizuko, since I'm not Ishida Hyousuke."
Nagisa chuckled in amusement at her friend's sly grin.
"You joke," She said. "But you know every one of her opponents this past year has been Ishida-san to her."
The two passageways on either side of the bar rejoined into the central hallway only for a few meters before it split apart at the head of a broad flight of stairs that led to the basement level floor.
On either side of that flight of stairs, the central hallway split again into two passages with a flight of stairs leading to the top floor and a scarlet door leading to public restrooms to the left and right of each passage respectively.
Those passages formed a balcony overlooking the downward flight of stairs and rejoined one last time into the central hallway which stretched out for another ten meters before large open glass double doors led to the cafeteria's outside terrace.
"Do you think we can take them?"
"Yamamoto-san and Nakamura-san?" Ayano returned with a blank face while they descended the broad flight of stairs.
While turning her eyes on Nagisa, the short black-haired athlete saw her friend frown curiously at something ahead.
On either side of the last tread of the stairs was a plain concrete pillar. Straight ahead was the end of the basement floor's central hallway, leading to large glass emergency doors.
To the left were dark-brown double doors that lead to basement level changing rooms of a swimming pool used by schools.
To the right - on a lower level - were two squash courts and a long hallway with the press room, the changing rooms for the squash players, and those for the participants of the Inter-High tournament.
Right by the open dark-brown double doors to that hallway Ayano and Nagisa saw a tall girl with long wavy black hair frantically looking around for something on the floor.
The two young badminton players slowly descended the last treads of stairs while watching the girl look around with her back to them before she turned into the basement level central hallway in the direction of the scarlet doors on the right side of it, which on this floor too led to public restrooms.
"Excuse us, but can we help you?" Nagisa called out to the young woman.
The first thing Ayano remarked about the girl as she turned around to face them was that she wasn't at all startled by being suddenly called out to, even though she didn't appear to realize there were other people nearby just a second ago.
The second thing was that the girl was gloriously beautiful and had a clear, kind face with keen dark-brown eyes.
As she turned her eyes on the two Kitakomachi students, the girl instantly jumped back and landed on her bottom.
Ayano and Nagisa watched in amazement how the wide-eyed girl stared up at them.
"Боже мой! Това са те. Наистина са те," They heard the handsome young woman mutter while sitting on her bottom before them and leaning on the palms of her hands.
"I'm sorry! I must apologize!" The suddenly highly excited blackette exclaimed while jumping onto her feet and bowing low.
Ayano and Nagisa cautiously took a step backward as the girl straightened her body and aimed her shiny black eyes at them.
"I'm really sorry for startling you both, but oh! This is so exciting!" The girl in the crimson long-sleeve T-shirt and the dark-blue linen trousers exclaimed while practically dancing around with her brown cloth bag over her right shoulder.
"You are Aragaki Nagisa and Hanesaki Ayano, aren't you?"
The two embarrassed young athletes nodded in sync while staring up at the strange girl they had walked in on.
"I can't believe I just met you like this," The girl muttered again. "The two rising stars of Japanese high-school badminton!"
"Alright," Nagisa blushed." I think you're going…"
"That's right," Ayano grinned. "Today is your lucky day."
"That match you played against each other was so beautiful… You didn't spare each other one bit. I loved it so much," The wide-eyed girl gushed while staring at embarrassed Nagisa and smug Ayano.
"I… I believe you were looking for something?" Nagisa muttered in an attempt to get out from her number one fan's intense admiring eyes.
"Oh! That's right! I lost my shuttlecock keychain. I have it tied to my bag here normally, but when I opened it to take out my thermos can and have a drink I noticed I lost it!"
Ayano saw their number one fan hold up the brown bag that hung over her right shoulder for them to see.
"I'm sure I still had it before I descended the stairs," The tall girl with the long wavy black hair said.
The three of them looked around, spying the floor of the basement floor central hallway around the flight of stairs and near the stairs to the squash courts.
It was Ayano who spotted the gadget, which was lying next to one of the dark-brown double doors to the dressing room hallway.
"Here it is," The short blackette said as she walked over to the keychain, kneeled, and picked it up before walking over to her new friend.
"Thank you so much," The girl smiled while accepting the slight object in her hands. "You have great eyes. But I already knew that."
"You've been watching our matches?" Nagisa asked uncomfortably while crossing her arms.
"Sure, sure," Her new friend grinned and nodded while she deposited her Keychain inside of her bag for safety. "I saw a lot of great matches during the preliminary rounds. This tournament is very exciting.
Please call me Mari. I'm from Bulgaria in Europe."
Mari smiled at her friends while her keen eyes observed their blank expressions.
"My father absolutely loves badminton and I'm not ashamed to say he managed to infect me with his obsession. I always wanted to visit one of the Asian greats and nagged my parents to help me get into a student exchange program.
And last year I finally did it!" Mari giggled excitedly. "I can't believe I'm in Japan while a tournament is taking place that will turn the status quo of the nation's competition for women on its head."
"Hahahahaha!" Nagisa laughed out loud while two male badminton players walked into the hallway to the dressing rooms behind them.
"Sounds like you are expecting great things here."
"With the girls who are gathered here?" Mari smiled self-assuredly while slightly lifting her chin and looking down at the brunette tomboy. "Absolutely."
"Do you play?" Ayano bluntly asked the girl, causing Mari to burst into a short giggle.
"Sometimes," The handsome Bulgarian shrugged. "I promised my mother to prioritize my studies. The scores she wants to see on my tests and exams are a riot.
But we want to humor our mothers, don't we?
I did get pretty far in a local tournament once. That was so much fun."
Ayano stared silently at the animated Bulgarian.
"Want to go to the lobby to see who you'll be playing?" Mari asked with a bright smile. "I'm really curious."
"I actually want to see the dressing rooms first," Ayano coldly replied.
"Why? They're just dressing rooms. I was just there.
I guarantee there's nothing in them that you'd want to see," Mari said while kindly looking down at the shorter girl.
"I want to check out the dressing rooms and the practice court," Ayano insisted in an even tone.
"Suit yourself. You'll go with me, won't you, Aragaki-san?" Mari begged while pulling on an uncomfortable Nagisa's arm.
"Please come. It would be so cool to check out the tournament brackets with you."
"Erm… I actually wanted to go check out the dressing rooms with Ayano," Nagisa protested.
"Aw… Really? I'll share my Kasugai fruit gummies with you," Mari said while resting the back of her hands on her buttocks and rocking from left to right with a cute smile.
"Are they…?" Nagisa muttered.
"Kiwi flavored?" Her friend with the long wavy black hair nodded.
"Ah… Ayano…" Nagisa pleadingly turned to the shorter girl. "Let's…"
"You go with her," Ayano smiled. "I'll quickly check out the dressing rooms and I'll join you upstairs in a few minutes."
"Cool!" Mari fist-pumped. "Let's go then."
The lively girl linked arms with Nagisa and walked off with her into the basement level central hallway which ran underneath its floor level counterpart behind the flight of stairs.
"I was amazed that you were able to play like that against Ayano with a knee injury," She said. "At least it looked like you had a knee injury. But your knee seems a lot stronger now."
Ayano watched the two of them disappear through a tunnel the central hallway narrowed into with a sour expression on her face.
"I play badminton because I like the game and because I enjoy competing with strong players," She sulked. "Not because I'm humoring Mother."
The short blackette turned around and walked towards the hallway where the dressing rooms were.
She stood still just before the opening of the dark-brown double doors that led to it.
On one of the squash courts below her, a man and a woman just started their game.
She could vaguely hear the sounds of the JBA people working in the large sports hall at the end of the hallway.
Slowly Ayano's right foot moved to the right.
"Oh! Hello there."
Ayano turned around. A tall stout girl with a long black bob of which the short side-swept bangs were cut gradually longer until her hair length reached lower than her shoulders at the back of the neck leaned over the wooden railing of the central flight of stairs, looking at her.
The girl was wearing a white training jacket with navy blue accents and matching pants.
"You are Hanesaki Ayano, aren't you?" She asked while descending the stairs.
"I am Shinoda Oichi. I hope we can be friends," She bowed politely when she stood on floor level with Ayano.
"Nice to meet you," Ayano bowed, somehow feeling very comfortable in Oichi's company.
"It's so great to be here, isn't it?" Oichi observed while gazing around at her surroundings. "I give thanks to the Lord every day for bringing me this far."
Ayano remembered Coach Kentarou saying something about an outsider from a catholic school who unexpectedly made it through the preliminaries thanks to a string of lucky breaks.
"I remember you," She said. "You defeated Ueda Akari."
"Yes," Oichi nodded. "It's really embarrassing how that strange air conditioning malfunction aided me to such a degree back then.
But it was the Lord's will that the match played out like that.
Ueda-san said that I couldn't help what happened when I apologized to her for the way in which I won our match."
"Ueda-san is a pretty strong player," Ayano said. "You might have had divine aid, but it's still quite a feat to have beaten her."
"You are really strong too, I hear," Oichi smiled excitedly. "Nakamura Mashiro and Yamamoto Chizuko were talking about you earlier. They expect you to go far in the tournament."
Ayano tilted her head.
"They do?" She asked.
"Oh yes," Oichi nodded eagerly. "Yamamoto-san says she looks forward to your match."
Ayano realized that meant she and Chizuko would meet in the brackets at some time. She wondered when.
Maybe she should have gone up to the venue's lobby with Mari and Nagisa.
"You don't sound impressed? I would have thought being singled out by the number one female player in the youth competition would boost a person's pride.
Or perhaps you feel bothered by the weight now resting on your shoulders?"
"I'm not really thinking about playing Yamamoto-san yet," Ayano simply stated with a shrug. "I…"
"You did seem like you had something else on your mind before I called out to you," Oichi observed with a curious look.
Ayano stared back. But she couldn't detect any kind of bad intent in the inquisitiveness of the girl with the long gradual black bob.
She could hardly tell Oichi something she wasn't able to put into words for herself, however.
"I was wondering whether I'd chosen the right path," She finally confessed while staring at the concrete floor with an annoyed grimace.
"Oh! I see," Oichi softly stated with an awed look.
"Maybe I should go back," Ayano said, looking up at her new friend while chewing the inside of her mouth.
"The Lord tests us in many ways," Oichi smiled. "We are often made to wonder which path we should choose.
For me, I often prayed and asked for guidance ever since our coach saw me play at a church sports event and asked me to join the school's badminton team.
I won matches in the preliminaries against girls whom everybody considers to be much more talented than me.
I have been troubled about this because I know that those girls wanted to be here more than I did.
But I have a lot of people who are rooting for me now. So being here, I am grateful to Christ for having guided me.
Therefore I will continue to work hard so as not to disappoint my friends and coach."
"I see," Ayano muttered.
"I believe we might have met just now so that I might help you in your choice, Hanesaki-san," Oichi continued. "But I understand if you don't want to talk about private problems with a stranger.
I can only tell you that - in my experience - when faced with difficulty, the straight and narrow path is the one that will bring you home."
Ayano saw the girl in the white-and-blue training suit turn her face to the left towards the hallway in which the changing rooms were to be found.
The hallway that led to the courts where they would be competing with each other in a few hours' time.
"I hope to see you later, Hanesaki Ayano," The devoted athlete smiled. "But I have someone to meet up with in a few minutes. May God bless you."
Ayano saw her new friend walk into the hallway and look left and right before turning a corner to the right at the end of it.
She heaved a sigh and walked forward.
It wasn't really a narrow path, but it was straight alright. The walls were grey brick and the doors dark-brown.
There was a single closed door to Ayano's right. The next one was open. Ayano saw an older obese sports journalist and a woman of the same age with glasses who was sitting at a table with a cup of tea talking.
The next door to her right was closed too, but the two doors to her left were open.
Those were the doors to the dressing rooms for the men and women who used the squash courts.
There were two more doors to the left and two to the right before the hallway led to the tournament hall.
Ayano saw Yuika walk out of the closest door to her right.
Dressed in the red, white, and blue T-shirt and the black shorts of her team, the young athlete with the black bob smiled instantly as she saw Ayano while turning to her left.
"Hello! I was wondering whether you guys were here already." She greeted the shorter girl. "Are you alone?"
"No. The others are in the cafeteria," Ayano replied curtly, but not unkindly.
"Oh. But you wanted to explore the battlefield before the battle?" Yuika grinned. "I can relate.
I'm here with Connie and Saki, but the others will be here too in a few hours.
I was just on my way to the practice court to have a swing with a girl who intrigues me."
The two young women stared in silence at one another for about a minute.
"So, what do you think about the competition, Hanesaki-san?" Yuika asked with a curious look in her eyes.
Knowing Yuika, Ayano carefully considered her words. She couldn't allow Connie's friend to get too good an idea of how she estimated her and Nagisa's chances.
"I think everyone's mostly hoping they won't be up against Yamamoto-san or Nakamura-san too soon," The blackette said. "But then you probably worry less about them."
"Hahaha," Yuika laughed loudly. "Because I beat Nakamura-san last year?
I don't expect that makes it any easier to beat her this year.
Shirogane went through an extreme training regimen for the sake of taking revenge on me...
And I am as nervous about playing against Yamamoto-san as everyone.
Well…" The tomboy with the black bobbed hair grinned while looking at the door opening behind her and to her left. "Almost everyone."
Ayano frowned in dissatisfaction at the person whom she knew the comment hinted at.
"In any case, Nakamura-san won't be our problem until the final. If either of us makes it there," Yuika continued. "Is Fujiwara-san here too?"
Ayano nodded in affirmative, realizing Yuika was probing her curiosity by the sudden remark and change of subject.
"Erena is upstairs in the cafeteria with Coach Tachibana-san, meeting with other coaches and team managers."
"She is taking her task to heart," Yuika chuckled. "It's a pity I have a playdate right now. But I'll meet up with her later."
The black-haired Frederica Girls Captain stepped forward with resolute strides, swinging her racket bag loosely in her right hand and winking at her friend in passing.
When she had walked past Ayano for about two meters, the shorter girl spoke up to her surprise.
"You already saw the tournament brackets?"
Yuika frowned and turned to face Ayano.
"You haven't?" She asked.
Ayano shook her head. She knew the Frederica Girls Captain was quite aware she hadn't.
A curious grin slowly appeared on Yuika's face.
"So you know who my opponents are?" Ayano asked with a blank face, trying to see why Yuika wanted her to ask the question.
"I do," Yuika just grinned. Swinging her racket bag back and forth in her right hand again.
Then the black bobbed tomboy turned ahead and continued to walk towards the double doors Ayano had entered the hallway through.
"I certainly do," She chuckled.
Ayano watched her walk onwards until she passed the dark-brown double doors and turned to the left out of sight.
Then, a man from the maintenance team came into the hallway pushing a cart before him.
He casually observed Ayano and wheeled his cleaning cart into the men's changing room for the squash court users.
Ayano turned around and walked on.
The moment she passed the first door to the dressing room for the female players, Connie took a step on her way out of it.
The blonde saw Ayano and her expression became dark. Then she smirked.
"So you came to check out the dressing rooms too, nee-san?"
Ayano didn't answer. She just stared at the taller girl.
"You know... I wanted to be the one to send you home," Connie said with a nasty expression on her face. "But I noticed the girls you're matched up against.
I guess you'll be going home long before we might meet in the brackets."
She watched the stoic expression on Ayano's face and snorted before moving to walk towards the courts past the end of the hallway.
"How come you aren't nervous to face Yamamoto-san?" Ayano asked.
"How come?" Connie smirked. "Because Chizuko is just another junior badminton player."
"A junior badminton player who defeated both the Japanese and Malaysian champions in friendly encounters two years ago and soundly defeated the winner of the men's Inter-High finals last year."
"Chizuko is just another player," Connie repeated with a nasty glare. "Or have you forgotten about the championship I won in Europe?
That's an entire continent. Not just Japan."
"Yes," Ayano retorted with a nasty leer. "But this is Japan. Not Europe. And Yamamoto-san reached second place in last year's World Junior Championship."
Connie tilted her head and showed the shorter girl a vile grin before turning around and walking towards the end of the hallway.
"Don't worry about me, nee-san" She said while Ayano saw her about to turn the corner in her white, blue, and red Frederica girls T-shirt and black shorts.
"I'll defeat Yamamoto-san when she's done with you."
Ayano watched the girl disappear behind the corner. Frustration about Connie's confident attitude welled up inside of her.
In a spur of the moment, she walked briskly in pursuit of her unofficial younger sister.
At the end of the hallway there was a gallery with to her right a series of black metal emergency exit doors and to her left a space where mobile basketball goals and other sports equipment were stored.
Connie stood right in front of her, watching how the people from the JBA were finishing up their prep work for the tournament.
"Grandpa and grandma said Mom wants the two of you to move in with us. I want you to change her mind," Ayano suddenly sullenly demanded as she walked up to the Danish athlete.
The two exchanged an angry glare.
"Don't worry. Once she learns what a disappointment you are, Mother will quickly give up on that idea," Connie bit.
"Or she'll try anything to get my attention and forget all about you," Ayano spat back with a mean-spirited glint in her eyes.
"I wouldn't count on it!" Connie furiously reacted while getting in the face of her bellicose new sister.
"We'll see who turns out to be a disappointment!" Ayano reacted with equal vigor. "I'm certainly not nervous about facing you on the court!"
On the diagonally opposite corner of the tournament hall, up near the upper-balcony seats located to the right of the position from where Nagisa and Ayano had looked out over the courts earlier, a pair of keen eyes was carefully observing Ayano and Connie
They weren't Chizuko's nor Mashiro's eyes. Even though both of the athletes were sitting in those very grey plastic seats.
"I do hope you're not planning on sulking about the tour brackets all day, Mashiro," The first sighed while turning her eyes on her friend, who sat a row higher behind her.
Mashiro couldn't help bursting out in laughter at the notion of the tall beautiful black-haired athlete scolding anyone for carrying a grudge.
Chizuko read the blonde's mind and showed her a peeved glare.
"In any case, the moment she loses her first match will show that Yuika's no match for me," Mashiro said while crossing her arms again with a sullen look in her eyes.
"But I wanted to show her that in person."
Chizuko regarded the tomboy with the short spiky blonde hair and sighed before turning her attention to the courts.
"You'll have plenty of opportunities to face her on a badminton court in the future. A badminton career doesn't have to end after you graduate from high school, thank God," She attempted to comfort the other girl.
"Yes, yes. I know. And there are plenty of other interesting girls we can compete with this year," Mashiro sighed while rolling her eyes. "You told me a hundred times.
Aaah… I suppose you're right. I'll put Yuika back in her place when we're in college. I am curious about that Christensen-san, though."
Chizuko and Mashiro idly regarded the continuing argument on the diagonally opposite side of the tournament hall.
"She seems like an aggressive type. Someone I can take my frustrations out on," Mashiro grinned.
"And just like you hope that Yuika will beat me so that you can face off against her after all, I am most interested in playing that Bulgarian girl."
"Mariyana Corrales?" Is that a Bulgarian name? I don't know with those European names," Mashiro wondered while the subject of the conversation was approaching them next to the upper-balcony seatings' side railing.
"I learned that Corrales-san's father is a Spanish immigrant," Chizuko smiled. "Her mother is Bulgarian.
It seems that she and Christensen-san would have faced off against each other in that European competition the latter won.
Both of them swept through the competition in their race to the finals, but for some reason, Corrales-san forfeited at the last minute before their match began."
"That is strange," Mashiro frowned.
"That it is," Her friend with the long black ponytail grinned, having noticed that Mariyana was standing right next to them.
"I wonder what happened to her at that time and why she hasn't appeared in any other major competitions.
Nevertheless, I have seen footage of her matches and her skill cannot be underestimated.
She is the person I want to meet on the court this week most of all."
"That's quite a compliment coming from you, Yamamoto-san," Mariyana smiled without taking her eyes from Connie and Ayano. "I wouldn't mind if we were granted that match you hope for."
Mashiro turned to her left and observed the tall handsome girl with the long wavy black hair and the gorgeous tan who stood next to her in a crimson long-sleeve T-shirt and dark-blue linen trousers with only the upper-balcony seat railing separating them.
"Oh? Hello Corrales-san," The blonde tomboy greeted the Bulgarian. "But speaking of dream matches, you will have to go through me if you want to face Chizuko on court."
The blackette turned a suddenly terrifying grin on the girl next to her, making Mashiro shiver in spite of herself.
"You?" Mariyana coldly giggled. "I will tear you to pieces without breaking up a sweat."
"H...hey. Let's be friends, okay?" A pale Mashiro stuttered.
"Besides… I too have my dream match," Mariyana smiled as she turned her eyes on Connie again and slowly stepped forward until she leaned her hands on the black steel railing that ran alongside the balcony around the large tournament hall.
She saw that Ayano had just walked away in anger from the argument she and her sister had been engaged in.
Connie seemed extremely frustrated: turning around to go in pursuit of the blackette at first but changing her mind and briskly crossing the large tournament hall behind the huge black cloth that was hung down a scaffold to separate the courts from the large climbing wall that ran along the side of the tournament hall opposite the cafeteria.
"Everyone else here is just icing on the cake, even though there are some opponents I really look forward to. But the main event for me will be finally having the match I missed out on against Connie Christensen," Mariyana grinned in delight while she saw the blonde disappear from sight.
Still annoyed by her confrontation with Connie, Ayano retraced her steps through the long grey hallway with the doors to the changing rooms left and right of her.
The short athlete with the long black bob was planning to complain about what had happened to Erena at length after she was able to join Mari and Nagisa and checked out the tournament brackets.
She should have checked the brackets back when they were waiting in the lobby instead of daydreaming and looking around.
In glancing to her right at the end of the hallway, Ayano noticed that the man from the maintenance team was still busy scrubbing the showers in the dressing room for the male squash court users.
A young man walking into the hallway startled her when he came through the dark-brown double doors.
But Ayano's frown turned into a bright smile when she recognized the handsome broad-shouldered athlete with the confident gaze and neat dark-brown haircut who kindly nodded at her.
Before moving aside and past him Ayano blocked the way of the young man in the red-and-black shirt and the black-and-white shorts who had his racket bag slung over his shoulder.
"I think you are very brave to be here," She grinned up at the handsome athlete.
His left eyelid twitched for a moment as Ayano walked by him and out of the changing room hallway into the central hallway
"Oh, aren't you funny?!" He yelled over his shoulder. "Maybe you girls should spend a little less time gossiping and a little more in training, huh?!"
Then, Ishida Hyousuke strode briskly forward with an irritate gait until he walked into the first of the changing rooms reserved for the male badminton players.
Ayano ascended the stairs to the ground floor with a broad grin on her face, comforted by the knowledge that at least there was someone in the building who had it worse than her.