Author's notes:
I am going to try and keep each chapter at around 8000-10000 words.
I have taken to using bold text for flashbacks, so that's what is going on in the first scene of this chapter.
While last time we were seeing everything through Ayano's eyes, this time Connie will more or less be the point of view character and Ayano is taking a backseat for dramatic effect. Well, maybe not a backseat, because her match is the focal point of the events in this chapter.
The next chapter will focus on Nagisa.
I haven't been studying badminton matches as much as I would have liked yet and in keeping with my philosophy while I wrote the first chapter, I decided not to use jargon but tried to depict the events of every match in layman's terms. I hope this won't spoil the drama or visual interest of the matches.
I am going to flesh out my original characters in this and the next chapter because I am going to use them as catalysts for the interactions and adventures of the main characters. So I apologize if anyone is put off by the many OG's I am introducing, but I need them for the story I want to tell and I think their personal stories will enrich the background of Ayano, Connie, and Uchika's drama.
I haven't really talked about this, but from the start of the first chapter, my story deviates from the events of the anime while broadly including the main events of it.
So, Nagisa and Ayano had that match against one another, but things like Connie and Ayano going on a playdate with Yuika and Erena as chaperones didn't happen in this continuity.
Incidentally, I have been taking a look at the first chapter of this story. While I think it gets better towards the second half, I think it could use some improvement.
I wrote it over two years ago if memory serves correct in half jest and always wanted to continue it in a more ambitious way.
On the other hand, since so many people seemed to enjoy the chapter the way it was maybe I should leave it alone?
Any input on the matter would be appreciated.
With all that out of the way, I have nothing more to say than please enjoy the new chapter.
Several weeks before the finals of the Inter High badminton tournament started, Akemi Ono energetically pushed the door that led from Matsubara High's volleyball club's dressing rooms to the school's volleyball court open.
The cute blackette who had her voluminous hair done up in a long high ponytail walked into the sports hall with a beaming smile, wearing a white T-shirt with blue trimming and dark-blue shorts.
Next to her, a lanky girl with lazy orange eyes and a short white bowl cut about half a head taller than her girlfriend dawdled with a clipboard in her right hand.
Izumi Takagi was dressed in a grey skirt and white frilled shirt with a grey tie of the school's summer uniform.
The morose girl intently observed the members of the two teams who had already begun their match.
"Hanesaki-san's strokes already have a lot more power behind them and her stamina improved drastically from when you first agreed to train her, senpai!" Akemi gushed loudly as the peculiar duo stood still before the court. "You really are a genius!"
Izumi averted her gaze from her girlfriend's bright purple eyes and stared awkwardly at the floor.
"I am only able to help Hanesaki-san because you taught me so much about ball sports and kinesiology. And because I spent so much time watching you on the court," The flustered white-haired tomboy muttered the last line while holding her clipboard in both hands.
"Hahahaha! You're so funny, Izumi-senpai," Akemi laughed cheerfully. "You know? If you applied those training methods you developed for Hanesaki-san to yourself, you could become quite the athlete."
Izumi grew suddenly pale at those words and started sweating in fear. The clipboard clattered onto the floor.
"Please no!" She exclaimed in panic while leaning against her beautiful black-haired girlfriend and resting her face against Akemi's shoulder.
Akemi gently embraced the slender shivering girl and caressed her white hair.
"Please don't ever make me do any exercises or partake in sports!" Izumi continued her comically frightened supplication.
"Geez, senpai," Akemi smiled adoringly while hugging her peculiar girlfriend to her ample bosom. "Of course I won't. Why would I make you do something you don't want to do?"
"Thank you," Izumi quietly replied while standing up with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Haha. You are so cute, Izumi-senpai," Her girlfriend with the fluffy black ponytail giggled while patting the head of the taller girl.
"Ono-san! Ono-san!"
Izumi and Akemi looked towards their team on the court.
"It's your turn, Ono-san!" The coach called the latter.
"Alright! I'm coming!" Akemi energetically replied.
"Watch me, senpai. I'm going to win the match for you," She confidently declared
Standing about a little awkwardly without the shorter girl by her side, Izumi watched how Akemi prepared to serve.
Then, her girlfriend jumped up almost the height of her body. With a fierce look on her face, the girl with the long high fluffy black ponytail smashed the ball over the net into the court of the opposing team's terrified members.
Izumi observed with a deflated expression how her girlfriend scored point after point.
After about fifteen minutes a girl from Akemi's team who had been benched came over for a talk.
"Ono-san is amazing, isn't she?!" The black-bobbed girl in the white T-shirt and blue shorts gushed. "She's actually our back-up player, but whenever we are nervous about an opponent we can count on her to subdue them for us. It's great to be so athletic. And we're lucky she's available to help us for this derby."
Izumi's face grew troubled at those words and she looked at the floor.
"Yes. It is," She simply answered.
While the younger girl was called back to the bench by her coach, Izumi watched with mixed feelings how Akemi repeatedly floored the overwhelmed players of the visiting team with her cannonball smashes.
The whitehead in the grey uniform couldn't help getting aroused when she saw her athletic girlfriend dominate the court like that.
But as always, part of her wished she could emulate Akemi's and her mother's dedication to exercise and the pleasure they had in competitive sports.
Alas… All that attracted her in sports was the beauty of an athlete's body, the movement of their muscles, and the science behind it all.
Once the match was won Akemi came running back to her troubled girlfriend.
"Did you see me, Izumi?" The beautiful blackette in the white T-shirt and blue shorts inquired brightly while taking Izumi's left hand in hers. "I single-handedly destroyed the other team! It was a complete rout!"
"I did," Her girlfriend smiled softly. "You really were merciless."
"Of course," Akemi chuckled. "We have to show those Kitokomachi girls that Matsubara High won't lose to them in volleyball!"
The girl with the high black ponytail watched the writing on the clipboard in Izumi's hand.
"Is that for Hanesaki-san?" She asked. "You said you were going to develop additional exercises for her."
Izumi's smile dropped at those words.
"I was planning a couple of new exercises for Hanesaki-san, but these aren't them…"
"She'll be excited to include them in her schedule," Her girlfriend smiled.
"Akemi…" Izumi tried to interject with a troubled expression on her face.
"Like mother like daughter, huh? You always felt so alien to your mother's profession and passion, but…"
"Mother discovered that I have been helping Hanesaki-san," Izumi said.
It was rare to see Akemi look concerned about something, but that revelation did the trick.
"Oh…" She muttered. "Oh no…
All eyes in the tournament hall were gathered on the two slender young women who had been competing for a place in the sixteenth finals in the left court on the side of the public cafeteria
The girl with the long high ponytail wore a navy-blue T-shirt with a diagonal white stripe and a star over her right breast and a white skirt.
She returned the shot of her opponent with the high light-blonde ponytail who was dressed in a thin diagonally striped sakura-pink T-shirt and a white skirt at a fast pace.
Hurriedly moving their long legs they took in new positions on their respective sides of the court.
Uchika and Connie watched the match from the public cafeteria side of the tournament hall's balcony opposite the climbing wall.
Ayano's mother observed without emotion or pity how the beautiful blonde girl whom she saw the back of desperately fought her exhaustion to try and keep up with her adversary.
Suzume Takahashi knew she had lost the match from the start and she hadn't been in any condition to keep up the fight since fifteen minutes ago, but she despairingly dragged her body along until the end.
Having successfully deceived her fellow competitor with her feint, Chizuko Yamamoto watched the heavily perspirating girl dive towards the birdie that was about to land on the far right of her side of the court.
Standing with a relaxed posture in the center of her or side of the court the elegant athlete with the long black ponytail smiled amusedly as the exhausted lissom blonde dove forward and collapsed on the floor without coming close to hitting the shuttlecock.
Suzume sat up and wiped the sweat from her haggard face with a long-suffering moan.
Breathing laboriously she became aware of the way her entire body hurt from the fall.
"I'm very sorry, Takahashi-san. I get so carried away lately. Are you alright? That looked like a nasty fall."
Suzume opened her eyes and adjusted her blurry vision.
"Aaah!"
The blonde recoiled in sudden fright, shielding her face with her left arm as she saw the beautiful black-haired girl who had glared at her with the eyes of a demon during their match kneeling before her.
Chizuko carefully touched the bruise on the upper-right leg of her defeated adversary and frowned.
"I really am sorry," She said with a wry smile. "Let's go to the first aid stand to get this treated."
The willowy athlete brought her arms around the back and underneath the knees of the apprehensive Suzume and smiled kindly down at the sylphlike young woman.
Effortlessly cradling the girl in her arms, Chizuko lifted her up and carried her embarrassed package off the court.
"Getting princess-carried by the Queen of youth badminton! I suppose that's Takahashi-san's consolation prize after losing the match." Connie heard a girl chuckle to her right.
"21-4 and 21-1. In case anyone here needed a visual aid to appreciate the mountain of difference in ability that exists between Yamamoto-san and her opponents - present company excluded," Uchika grinned. "She tore that girl apart like a child would a butterfly. And it was just another match to her. She didn't even need to put in any effort.
One has to wonder whether she became so much better this past year or whether she used to hold back out of consideration for the self-esteem of her opponents. If the latter is true, she really does deserve the title: Queen of youth badminton.
But the detached way in which she has been playing since last year's IH will be to Ayano's advantage. Or to yours, Connie. If Ayano fails to beat her against our hope. If you girls exploit her state of mind in the right way, you are sure to defeat her."
Connie regarded the woman in the black training pants and the black and white training vest of the Frederica Girls uniform and snorted.
"Even without exploiting that kind of weakness I'll defeat Yamamoto-san," She smirked. "I'm in the best form of my life. Yamamoto-san, Mariyana Corrales, Nee-san… None of them will pose a problem."
Her close-to-be adopted daughter's confidence pleased Ushika greatly.
The girl had good reason to feel so sure of herself. Together they had worked their way through an intense training schedule. Connie's diet had been strictly regulated.
More than that, Ushika knew that the blonde was mentally stronger now thanks to her dedicated care for the girl.
"We wouldn't be here today if I had a grain of doubt within me that you or Ayano aren't ready to take on Yamamoto-san or Corrales-san," She smiled at the girl in the black and white training suit. "But I don't want you to ever underestimate Yamamoto-san. From the moment you step onto the court against her to the moment you get into the shower I want you girls to be aware of her every movement and use every available weapon against her."
"I will," Connie nodded. "But at the same time: I am going to win. There's no point in acting like I'm not a hundred percent sure of that.
Now turn around," The confident blonde smiled affectionately while standing with her arms akimbo. "The bowtie in your ponytail is slipping down."
Being an obedient mother to her loving daughter, Ushika did as she was told.
Connie carefully untied the piece of cloth her mother was wont to bind her long hair with and gathered the strands together before reapplying the accessory.
While the blackette fervently hoped she could fix what she had been shocked to find had been broken between her and her oldest daughter a man in his thirties with stylish rectangular glasses and neatly combed dark-brown hair approached her.
"Hanesaki Uchika. I apologize if I'm disturbing you. My name is…"
"Nice to see you again, Enomoto-san," Uchika smiled confidently at the man in the black trousers and the red-and-white-striped shirt. "I remember you as well as you know me. Have you guys been enjoying the show?"
"What a show it has been,'' Hiroshi Enomoto chuckled while he crossed his arms. Yamamoto-san and Nakamura-san have been unstoppable as always. But they have some heavy competition this year. I'm sure Shiwahime Yuika aims to unquestionably replace Nakamura-san at Yamamoto-san's side. She may find that a harder task than she thinks because I have seen The King of female youth badminton bounce back from defeat before.
Corrales-san from Bulgaria is another highly impressive newcomer. You nearly fought her in the finals of the European youth badminton tournament last year, didn't you, Christensen-san?"
Uchika and Hiroshi turned to Connie, who regarded both with a dour expression.
"We would have faced each other, but Corrales-san had to forfeit at the last moment. It's a pity because it would have been a challenging match," The blonde whose ponytail was bound in the same manner as her adoptive mother smiled.
"And then we have your two very own daughters, Hanesaki-san. Everyone in the press room is eager to have Hanesaki vs Yamamoto and Christensen vs Nakamura semi-finals," Hiroshi said with a disarming chuckle while monitoring every breath and word of his interviewees.
"That would certainly be a treat," Uchika smiled."It's what both Connie and Ayano are aiming for after all. But I think they are both aware that they will have to fight for every point once they reach the quarter-finals. There is always the chance of a surprise like last year's Shiwahime vs Nakamura semi-final match. And such surprises are more likely to happen this year."
Connie watched how Nagisa walked off the court next to the one where Chizuko just played her match. The Kitokomachi student just won a 21-10 and 21-12 victory over a girl about a head shorter than her with a long black braid tied to the back of her head.
That meant Yuika, Chizuko, and now Nagisa all qualified for the sixteenth finals, as expected.
'No surprises there in any case,' The Dane smirked.
"Very true," Hiroshi smiled. "This tournament reminds me of the 2001 All-Japan Badminton finals."
"Yes. We had some great matches that year," Uchika smiled with a nostalgic light in her eyes. "Some truly amazing matches."
"I especially loved your match in the sixteenth finals against Takagi-san. I never quite saw anyone giving you such a hard time in a national tournament before or since. Her resistance started to crumble by the second set, but it was quite a feat what she accomplished in the first set."
Uchika smiled at the amiable sports journalist. His proper appreciation of her friend's talents was one of the reasons she liked him.
"Yes. That remains one of the top ten favorite matches I ever played," She replied while her mind traveled to the past. "I don't want to pretend Nanami Makoto isn't incredibly talented, but Fuyumi's part in her being the nation's champion for the past four years cannot be underestimated.
If her schedule allows it, she might drop by. Nanami-san will have to start to contend with Yamamoto-san upon her senior debut next year after all. She and Fuyumi won't be able to downplay losing to Yamamoto-san as the result of a friendly encounter anymore."
Twenty-three years ago two second-year students at Nippon Sports Science University just finished dressing for a long session in the gym.
The taller young woman who had her hair bound with a piece of white cloth wore long blue gym shorts and a blue T-shirt with light-green horizontal stripes.
Her friend was binding her long fluffy silver hair in a high ponytail.
Uchika watched the young woman in the grey training shorts and the pale pink T-shirt who was sitting on the bench to her right.
"Hanesaki Rikuto asked me out on another date," She stated out of the blue.
Fuyumi got up while turning her eyes on her friend.
"Really? That's your third date!" The beautiful silverette exclaimed with far more excitement than the fact engendered in Uchika herself. "That means the two of you really like each other!"
"Yeah. He's a nice guy," Uchika chuckled.
She wondered why Fuyumi stared at her so strangely after that reply.
"What do you like about Hanesaki-san?" Fuyumi asked.
'He's good-looking and straightforward," Uchika shrugged. "And he's a good guy."
She could tell her friend wasn't satisfied with that answer.
"He doesn't really know a lot about badminton," The tall young woman with the black ponytail smiled a youthful suave smile. "But I don't need my man to be interested in what I love. He just needs to accept it."
"I guess," Fuyumi sighed in disappointment. "But a third date means we have to go shopping after lunch to doll you up."
"Shopping?" Uchika repeated with a blank expression. "I've got no time for that. I've got court practice in the afternoon."
Fuyumi was starting to get annoyed.
"What? You can't spare a few hours to go shopping for your date with me? Don't you want Hanesaki-san to think you are a stunner?"
"But he already does think I'm a stunner," Uchika replied with a chuckle. "You won't believe how he was staring at me during court practice the other day…"
"That's not the point, you idiot!" Her silver-haired friend exclaimed while practically pulling her hair out in frustration. "Of course he thinks you look sexy in a short skirt! We want him to think you look like a princess!"
"Hahaha! I'm already a Queen though, according to the journalists," Uchika joked. "Can't I just wear something of yours? We've got the same sizes. And I've seen you in some really pretty dresses. You dressed me up before."
Fuyumi found it hard to stay angry after that. Pouting at her friend with crossed arms, she wondered whether she could really get Ushika to come to her house and submit to about an hour of dress-fitting for the sake of something other than a formal occasion related to school or badminton.
"Great! Then we can start our training session," Uchika cheerfully concluded.
That decided the matter for her friend.
"I didn't come here just to spend time at the gym with you, Uchika!" Fuyumi exclaimed. "I want to go shopping and watch a movie with a friend once in a while!"
"Then go to the movies," Uchika replied with a blank expression. "I thought you wanted to try that new training course you said you developed, though. I'm really curious."
Fuyumi heaved a deep sigh and swallowed most of her frustration.
"Never mind, you damned idiot savant!" The silverette exclaimed, close to tears. "Why can't you get a clue?"
Uchika watched with an amused frown how her friend stormed out of the dressing room.
"There she goes again, getting all worked up over nothing," The blackette chuckled. "I don't get you sometimes, Fuyumi. But you're very cute."
"Oh! It seems your daughter's match is about to begin."
Enomoto Hiroshi's voice brought Ushika back to the present.
The woman in the black-and-white Frederica Girl's uniform turned to the right and saw Ayano walk onto the court previously occupied by Chizuko and Suzume.
Her daughter was dressed in the blue-white-and-black Kitokomachi High badminton club bodysuit and had her long black hair bound into a ponytail with a pink piece of cloth.
Ayano's opponent was a lanky girl half a head taller than her, with black hair tied into a short double ponytail at the back of her head.
The girl was dressed in a blue-and-pink striped T-shirt and short black shorts.
"Shimizu Yui shouldn't be a problem for Ayano," Uchika stated while folding her arms. "But she's the type that fights to the end and is able to stay focused when her opponent starts to tire. It will be interesting to see if Ayano accumulated the stamina to counter that."
"Hanesaki-san seems more toned than when I saw her play in the prefectural finals in any case," Hiroshi remarked. "She must have spent a lot of time in the gym."
Uchika watched the bespectacled brown-haired man in the black trousers and the white-and-red striped shirt lean his hands on the railing along the balcony to take a closer look at the athletes on the court closest to them.
She considered saying what was on her mind, but closed her lips at the last second and just smiled contentedly.
Connie observed her mother's affectionate smile and her misinterpretation of it stung her heart.
The blonde - who had her ponytail bound with a piece of white cloth like her mother - watched Ayano take her stance to serve.
Her soon-to-be adoptive sister did seem like she gained a lot of strength.
If she had been able to wash away her only two weaknesses, Ayano might have become a major contender for the quarter-finals after all. Thus Connie pondered.
But she still considered Mariyana and Chizuko her main rivals in the tournament.
Connie was wondering how Ayano would fare against Mariyana while the blackette brought a successful end to the first rally of her match with a smart shot that landed behind Yui in the far left corner of her court.
"Nice," Hiroshi clapped. "We already know Hanesaki-san has great eyesight and control, but that was a very risky shot. It seems she is trying to shake up Yui's confidence early on."
Uchika approvingly observed how Ayano controlled the following rallies. Her daughter forced Yui into long battles which she dominated with her superior tactical insight.
This meant that Ayano had confidence in her own endurance.
It also hinted at the girl not wanting to display her offensive abilities this early in the tournament.
"What do you think about your sister as an athlete, Christensen-san?" Hiroshi asked Connie out of the blue while taking a step back from the railing and adjusting his glasses with his right hand.
Without diverting her gaze from Ayano, Connie felt their mother's eyes on her.
As the blonde quickly thought of something not obvious but nice to say, her face lit up into a bright smile.
"I agree that Nee-san is a tactical genius and I think she also has amazing control," She said while turning to face Hiroshi and Ushika.
"However… I think Nee-san's greatest quality is her fighting spirit. She is the type who will fight to the end to win a match," A pleased Uchika heard her soon-to-be adoptive daughter say.
Then Connie's lips relaxed from their cheerful smile and bitterly pronounced the next words.
"But only when there is nothing at stake," She stated with a grim expression.
"It's a personality flaw that I have a hard time accepting," The blonde said while a memory of the lyrics; "Relax. Take it eeeaasy…" and a girl sitting on the floor in a dressing room haunted her mind for a fleeting second.
Confused by her own words, she haltingly stopped talking.
"I think… she gives up too easily… sometimes."
Uchika glanced at Hiroshi's intrigued eyes and quickly saved her daughter additional questions.
"There might be some truth to that," She said while bringing her right forefinger to her lips. "The trouble is also that Ayano never competed in a tournament like this.
We will be able to judge her fortitude from her matches against Shiwahime-san and Yamamoto-san."
The three of them turned their attention back to the match when Ayano's opponent managed to steal a point from her by using a feint to her advantage.
But Ayano quickly dictated the pace of the next rally.
"Hanesaki-san has a beautiful backhand," Hiroshi remarked while he and Ushika leaned over the railing along the balcony. "Very smooth and ergonomic, but it also allows for a huge power build-up."
"That backhand was one of the first things we trained on," A nostalgic Uchika smiled. "I learned it from Fuyumi and I taught it to Ayano and Connie."
"I can see that!" Hiroshi smiled while Ayano won her tenth rally. "Now that you mention it, your daughters both have a very similar backhand stroke to Nanami-san."
"Mother?"
Uchika turned her face around to Connie without getting up from her forward learning pose and saw the slight blush on the blonde's face whenever she called Ushika by that appellation.
"Yuika and the other girls just texted me that they're taking seats near the climbing wall. I'm watching Ayano's match with them if you don't mind?"
"Enjoy yourselves," Uchika smiled. "You didn't forget to reserve the practice court for you and Yuika to warm up before your matches?"
"It's taken care of," Connie joyfully replied with a wave of her hand while already walking away from Ushika.
"I am really happy everyone at Frederica Girls took such a liking to her," The blackette smiled as she watched how Ayano scored another point by landing the birdie just over the net. "I owe a lot to Shiwahime-san for that."
She and Hiroshi watched two more rallies while the grin on Uchika's face grew wider.
"Enomoto-san," She said by way of getting the journalist's attention while standing up and taking her smartphone out of her pocket. "I never showed you this, did I?"
Hiroshi frowned and adjusted his glasses while standing up and leaning closer to the living legend next to him.
"Take a look at this," Uchika said with a cheesy grin as she held her phone close to his face.
On the court next to the one where Ayano's match was taking place - in passing the corner of the balcony to the higher-up seats - Connie glanced at a black-haired girl with a long gradual bob who was wearing a white T-shirt with thin diagonal yellow lines over her chest and a navy-blue skirt, who finally finished her match against a shorter girl with a short black ponytail in a pink-and-white one-piece suit.
Oichi Shinoda walked over to the net with gnawing feelings of guilt.
"Thank you for the game," She bowed to Akane Kanagawa. "I'm very sorry about the problems you seemed to have with your shoes. I think it's incredibly brave that you kept fighting as you did during the entire match."
"Thank you for the game," Akane replied with a confounded look as she straightened up.
Still feeling troubled, Oichi approached her coach and her boyfriend who were standing at the side of the court.
Azusa Suzuki already knew what kind of face her protegé was going to make at the end of the match as soon as Akane's problems with her shoes showed no signs of letting up after changing her pair a second time and switching out her socks during the second break.
The blonde with the high ponytail who was wearing white trousers with navy-blue accents and a blue T-shirt heaved a sigh and made an effort to smile immediately afterward.
"Way to go, Oichi!" The stout handsome young man with the wavy black hair next to her excitedly exclaimed as he pulled his girlfriend in his arms.
"That was really amazing how long you held out in that match," Azusa said with a fond smile at the proud boy in the black trousers and the light-blue shirt and his blushing girlfriend. "I confess I was a little worried, but you did great."
"But Kanagawa-san had to endure…"
"You kept returning those shots to her for nearly fifty minutes, Oichi," Jiro Nishimura told his girlfriend while caressing her cheek. "Both of you delivered a terrific performance. You totally deserved to win."
Oichi looked in the adoring eyes of her senpai in their school's church society volunteer club and fought against her self-reproach.
"I prayed The Lord to allow my opponent the opportunity of fighting me without being hindered. It seems this time too, it did not please Him to allow my request."
"I'm sure He has his reasons," Jiro smiled before putting his arm around Oichi's shoulder and hugging her once more.
But one thing I'm sure of: He approves of everything you have been doing here."
"I wonder…" Oichi whispered sadly.
"Oichi?" Azusa appealed to the young woman in a tone that revealed her inability to hide her frustration any longer.
Oichi and her boyfriend put an end to their embrace and the blackette stood before her coach, trying to smile for the woman's sake.
"Kanagawa Akane has been in the top 20 of junior badminton for the past three years. With or without God's help, you don't defeat an athlete of her caliber if you haven't earned the right to participate in this tournament."
Oichi felt guilty for the look her coach was giving her.
She supposed Azusa was right. Being an experienced player, the woman should know.
But ultimately Oichi was only reminded of the fact that she was wronging one more person besides the players who had to let her move up in the brackets while they wanted to be at the tournament so much more than she did.
The rays of sunshine that made her feel better - like the lines on her T-shirt which represented God's love - were her classmates and friends from the church society volunteer club whom she could see cheering in the seats above the balcony behind her coach.
The girl with the long gradual black bob happily waved back to them.
They, Coach Azusa, and Jiro were the reason she kept playing at her best.
Oichi turned her eyes back on Azusa and nodded with a genuine smile.
"You understand? Good," The blonde nodded back, unable to stay angry at the through-and-through kind-hearted girl under her care. "Now go take a shower and meet us in the cafeteria on the first floor."
Watching Oichi pick up her bag with her towels and her racket - which Jiro had just put in there - and walk off towards the central hallway on the minus one lever floor of the complex, her coach and boyfriend sighed in unison.
"Should I have told her she can do her dance before she comes to the cafeteria?" Azusa suddenly reflected.
"No. I think Oichi is aware that we expect her to pray before she takes her shower," Jiro said while staring at the brown double doors his girlfriend disappeared behind.
"That girl.." The woman with the blonde ponytail behind him muttered while grabbing her material. "A prodigy, a saint, and a mystic.
I am starting to think God really is helping her. If He is, I should pray for Him to stop. Because He is holding her back by doing this."
Azusa and Jiro walked towards the double doors to the central hallway on the basement-level floor together.
In passing the width of the hallway to the stairs they saw Oichi indeed doing her peculiar dance with her earplugs in and her eyes closed.
After observing the girl they both doted on, they ascended the stairs. Having reached the ground floor, however, Jiro stopped in his tracks.
"Sensei? I supported you when you asked for my help to take Oichi on this path because I wanted Oichi - who always thinks of everyone before she thinks of herself - to have something besides God to lose herself in. I wanted Oichi to have something she can enjoy for her own sake. Something she can do only for herself."
Azusa saw the earnest look in the dark-brown eyes of the stout boy with the wavy black hair.
"Since badminton only seems to make her feel miserable, I find it is not this thing which I want for her. So when she loses this tournament I am going to tell her that she doesn't have to continue training with you for my sake."
"I understand," A downcast Azusa sighed. "I found myself thinking along similar lines.
It's just that neither of you understands Oichi's potential! I am certain she could reach the finals of every All-japan tournament in the coming years with proper training!
But if she doesn't enjoy badminton she isn't going to achieve that. You can't achieve your best form by doing it for others. Not even Oichi can do that."
"I agree," Jiro nodded. "Thank you for understanding, Sensei."
"You are a really good boyfriend, Nishimura-san," Azusa smiled. "I'm happy that Oichi has someone like you who loves her."
"I know Oichi is no great beauty - though I think she's the cutest," Jiro solemnly stated. "There's a lot of people at school who even consider her to be a bit of a weirdo, what with her peculiar way of praying.
But her personality has made her the most popular and beloved girl in the entire school.
Knowing that out of all the boys in school she ended up loving and trusting me, I take that trust very seriously."
Azusa couldn't help a chuckle at Jiro's speech.
"Don't underestimate yourself, boy," The woman said while patting her companion on the shoulder. "Oichi is a saint, but you're quite the catch yourself. Come. Let's go and say hi to her classmates for a minute before heading to the cafeteria."
Mashiro Nakamura passed the devoted duo on their way to the double doors which opened onto the tournament hall balcony.
The blonde tomboy just bought two coffees and a bottle of sparkling water in the cafeteria on the building's second floor and brought the refreshments to Benjiro Watanabe and his colleague, Aoi Murata.
The brawny blonde twenty-something and his stout thirty-something Japan Badminton Association colleague with the two short braided black pigtails were busy manning the tables near the double doors to the balcony where spectators paid their entrance fee.
"I saw that the two of you were dry, so I thought I'd bring you these," Mashiro smiled while placing a cup in front of each of the two individuals in the red T-shirt and white shorts.
"Mashirooo!" Benjiro boisterously greeted the young woman with the short boyish blonde hairdo. "As always, you are so kind. As expected of the King of women's youth badminton."
"Please, Benjiro..." Mashiro sighed in exasperation. "I hate that embarrassing nickname. I prefer them to call me Shirogane to that."
"What's wrong with being the King?" Aoi teased. "Or are you and Yamamoto-san having a lover's argument?"
"Hilarious," Mashiro deadpanned. "We all know they only call me the King because of my hairstyle."
"Well they could have just as well called you Delinquent because of your hairstyle," Aoi grinned.
"Your hairstyle is one thing," Benjiro added. "But the way you and Yamamoto-san ruled over youth badminton for so long the appellations are more than accurate. And you really did rule together in more than one way. Youth badminton won't be the same next year when the two of you make your senior debut."
"Heh… Maybe only Chizuko will…" Mashiro grimaced while looking toward the tournament hall through the double doors.
Aoi turned her head around and tried to see the expression of the girl who stood behind her and Benjiro.
"You haven't been slacking off in school again, have you?" She asked in a concerned voice. "Nakamura-san? Didn't you already skip a year because of low attendance?"
"What did you expect from me? I really am a delinquent after all," The King of youth badminton replied, prickly due to the touchy subject. "I'll wrestle myself through entrance exams as I did with my first year's finals thanks to Shimada-san's help. I just needed more time to train…"
Benjiro took the payment of three girls from Mariyana's school who came to support their classmate during her match later in the day and turned around to face Mashiro with a kind smile.
"Relax Mashiro," The man said. "We're worried. That's all."
"Badminton isn't your whole life, you know?" Aoi added. "I understand that this sport is important to you. It's important to me too. But you can't neglect your education because you want to… take revenge."
"It's not about revenge!" Mashiro exclaimed. She lowered her voice abruptly when she noticed a family of four approaching the table Benjiro and Aoi sat at to pay for admission to the balcony seats. "I may have spent too much time training to perform at my best here. That's just normal, isn't it?"
"That's true," Aoi hesitatingly replied. "But if it comes down to a choice between school and badminton you should divide your time wisely. Seriously, Nakamura-san. You don't want to become a ronin. You keep telling us how your sister-in-law is always on your case. Imagine what a riot she'd have for an entire year at the least if you had to stay at home and study to make up for this year."
"I know," Mashiro grumbled while leaning her back to the wall behind her with crossed arms.
It's not like the threat of her hateful sister-in-law hadn't been looming over her for the past year since she decided to up her training so she could beat Yuika at the IH. Mashiro knew she really couldn't afford to become a ronin if she wanted to protect her last ounce of self-worth and peace of mind.
"But I'll make it. I know I will. My grades haven't dropped that much compared to last year. It's not as bad as my first year of high school at all. And the university I am applying for is within my reach. If I cram really hard after the IH it'll be alright. We're not going to participate in the World Junior Championships because Chizuko was disappointed by the opposition last year and I'm not in any major tournaments in the fall."
"You really plan your entire year together, don't you?" Benjiro laughed.
"Chizuko and me?" Mashiro smiled once more. "Yes. About five years ago we started checking with each other what tournaments we'd be in.
We did the Asian Junior Championship together three times. The India Junior International Grand Prix. The German Junior… We have had a lot of fun together. Chizuko is my best friend as you know."
"That's pretty special. Even though you go to school in different prefectures you are so close," Aoi smiled.
"Well… We don't really live that far apart. And we see each other on LINE almost every other day. I was the one whom she called in tears when Ishida-san turned out to be such a macho asshole…"
Benjiro and Aoi showed each other a pained grimace at the last remark, which Mashiro made with feeling while two of Ishida Hyousuke's club mates walked through the double doors to go and watch his match.
"I still get angry over the way he treated her," The blonde tomboy said with a bitter scowl. "To think she fell for such a loser."
"So… Are you ready for your match in a few hours?" Benjiro asked to change the sensitive subject.
Mashiro frowned at the back of her friend's head.
"Of course I am ready," She shrugged. "Inoue Nozomi hasn't improved drastically this past year. I'll easily beat her like always. Not that I'm not nervous about our match. Talking to you guys always takes the edge off."
Aoi looked behind her and shared a smile with the blonde tomboy while Benjiro took the entrance fee of a young couple and stamped their hands.
"The real challenges will come with the quarter-finals. I guess I won't be playing Shiwahime-san," Mashiro said with a dark grimace. "But Corrales-san and Christensen-san are both very talented too. Chizuko wasn't kidding when she said the competition is fierce this year."
"Thank you for the compliment, Nakamura-san. I think you are a very talented athlete myself."
Aoi and Mashiro looked to their right, where they saw Mariyana Corrales appear from behind the wall behind them with two young men from her club.
The young woman approached the table where Benjiro was sitting, the stout male athlete with short black hair and the somewhat shorter and slimmer boy with wavy light-brown hair on either side of her dressed in the same white training pants with a violet vertical stripe over each in-seam and side-seam and a violet long-sleeve vest with diagonal white stripes over the left chest as Mariyana.
The cheerful blackette flashed Mashiro a quick wink while she and her companions showed Benjiro and Aoi the entrance cards around their necks which had been distributed to the players upon registering for the tournament.
Minoru Taniguchi and Shingo Takeda immediately walked through the double doors discussing one of the matches being played there.
"It's a pity we have our matches at the same time, though I'll be sure to sneak a peek at how you're doing while I play," Mariyana said. "Let's do our best, okay!"
Mashiro suspiciously observed the fist-pumping girl.
"Yes. Let's meet each other in the quarter-finals," She simply replied.
"Your Japanese pronunciation is very good, Corrales-san," Aoi remarked.
"Oh? Thank you," Mariyana smiled. "When I knew I was coming here I started studying in every free moment I had. I want to be able to properly understand what people are saying, after all. And Japanese is a very musical language I think. It sounds very melodious, so it's fun to talk.
Are the two of you going to get a chance to watch some matches?"
"Oh yeah. Don't worry about us," Benjiro smiled while leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "We divided up the preliminary rounds and we drew straws to decide who gets to see which match from the quarter-finals on. There are always two people who get to watch a game."
"Yes. We have a large group of BJA employees and volunteers here, so it works out," Aoi nodded.
"Good. I hope you have as much fun as we do," The tall young woman with the long wavy black hair who stood in front of Aoi smiled.
Minori calling out to her drew Mariyana's attention to her companions.
"I'm sorry," She grimaced apologetically. "But I really want to see Hanesaki-san's match and it seems they're already in the middle of the second set, so I gotta hurry. See you later."
Scowling suspiciously, Mashiro watched the Bulgarian run up to her friends.
"She's friendly," Aoi smiled. "I'm eager to see her play. You have a high opinion of her, Nakamura-san."
"Hmph… She wasn't that friendly to me earlier," The tomboy behind the thirty-something with the two braided black pigtails grumbled. "I don't trust people who can be casually unkind to a certain type of person, but act all sociable and cheerful in public."
"Don't assume things after two meetings, Mashiro. I understand where you're coming from, but she might just have had a bad day when you first met."
Mashiro looked into the eyes of her brawny blonde friend in the red T-shirt and white shorts as he leaned back over his chair. She wanted to think he was right, but there was something to Mariyana she could quite put her finger on.
"Mashiro!" An affectionate voice called out to her. "I'm sorry I'm late. Thanks for waiting."
Mashiro looked to her right, from where Chizuko came running up to her in her navy-blue training vest and white trousers.
"Chizuko!" The blonde tomboy grinned. "You better believe you're sorry. Hanesaki-san's match is almost over."
"Oh no!" Her friend with the long high ponytail despaired. I really wanted to see how she handled Shimizu-san. Hi Benjiro. Hello Murata-san."
"Hello Yamamoto-san."
"Hi Chizuko,"
The stout woman with the two short braided pigtails and her younger male colleague greeted the two-times champion of the Badminton Asia Junior Championship.
"I'm so sorry I can't stay and chat, but I really want to see Hanesaki-san play," Chizuko bowed. "Come on, Mashiro! Let's go!"
Benjiro watched how Mashiro walked through the double doors on his right, her friend pulling the young woman by the hand.
"I completely lost track of time, talking to Takahashi-san. And then Kanagawa-san came in and I realized how long I was in the dressing room for. It's bad enough I couldn't watch Aragaki-san's match, but… " He heard Chizuko whine as the two athletes turn to the left.
"Hahaha. Those two will never change," Benjiro chuckled.
"You are really close to them, aren't you?" The man's colleague who wore the same red T-shirt and white shorts as he did asked. "They're very easy to talk to and Mashiro is quite open about herself, but I haven't got a bond with them as you do."
"I've been working in the junior division from the start after all," Benjiro smiled nostalgically. "I watched those two grow up into the amazing young women they are now. I followed Mashiro's despair at not being able to best her friend and her gradual acceptance of that fate, and I followed Chizuko's gradual despair at realizing how few people there are in this sport who can pose a challenge to her and her present frustrated state.
I think this is the tournament that will change all that. The last IH of their careers before they turn 19."
"Is Mashiro's home situation really as bad as you both make it seem?" Aoi asked, abruptly revealing what was really on her mind.
Benjiro looked his colleague in the eyes for a moment.
"Her parents and oldest brother are… not very nice people," He quietly shared.
"Well… but they've been sponsoring her hobby, haven't they? They can't be that bad."
"True. But Mashiro has amassed enough prize money by now and funds the most expensive parts of her hobby - like trips overseas and such - herself.
it's a special breed, people like her parents," Benjiro continued while staring darkly at the people walking into the complex via the large glass doors several meters in front of him to go to the swimming pool. "I know the kind. That's why I can understand what Mashiro has been going through. The only reason they've been allowing her hobby is so they can complain about it. They love to stab at her self-worth whenever they feel like it.
Her sister-in-law fitted right in when she married Mashiro's oldest brother.
Mashiro's second oldest brother has been living alone and cut all ties with his family. He asked her several times to share a place with her when she turns 20 next year and goes to university, but Mashiro doesn't like the idea of cutting ties with her parents."
"Poor girl," Aoi sighed. "And such a nice girl too. Well, she does have a chip on her shoulder, but if she grew up in such a psychologically abusive family life I don't wonder at that."
Connie watched Ayano perfectly return a shot from Yui Shimizu which the black-haired girl in the blue-and-pink striped T-shirt and short black shorts had aimed for the back left corner of her sister's side of the court.
Now, Yui had to hurry towards the birdie as it was about to land in the corresponding corner on her own side of the court.
'Why would you try to push away your own mother?' The European champion pondered deeply while leaning her chin on the palm of her right hand and her right elbow on her right knee. 'Is this a trick or are you stupid?'
After Yui failed to properly hit the shuttlecock and was forced to drop it, Ayano prepared to serve on the right side of her court.
'If your mother returns to you after a long absence and tells you that she wants to adopt another girl as her new daughter, shouldn't you fight for her affection with everything you got? That's what a person would normally do, wouldn't they? So why aren't you doing that?' A frustrated Connie wanted to ask her sister.
She saw Ayano confuse Yui by dropping a low shot just over the net, which her opponent barely picked up. Ayano quickly returned the birdie, hitting it just inside the court behind and to the right of left-handed Yui.
'Our mother is a really kind, gentle, and supporting person. Why would you want her not to move in with you again?'
"What's with you watching your sister's match when everyone is here to leer at Ishida-san's sexy butt?" A playfully annoyed voice near the blonde's right ear asked.
"Yu...Yuika!" Connie exclaimed in surprise while holding her hands up in a defensive gesture to the grinning black bobbed girl.
"I didn't know you leaned that way, Connie," The Frederica Girls Badminton Club captain mercilessly teased. "I should have been less vigorous during the intimate bathing sessions I treated you to. It seems I awakened something within you."
"Shut up, stupid!" A blushing Connie protested. "It's nothing like that! Stop making up weird scenarios just to toy with me!"
"You seemed angry," Yuika remarked in a more serious way while crossing her arms. "Did you have another confrontation with Hanesaki-san earlier? Or was it something your mother said?"
Seeing her Captain's concern for her, Connie's expression changed.
The girl with the long blonde hair looked down at her hands while she talked.
"I don't understand why Nee-san doesn't want us to move in with her. I thought she would take the opportunity to bond with Mother and make up for the time they were apart. I thought that outburst from before was just that, but it seems Nee-san really wants to push Mother away."
The two girls watched how Ayano's opponent arrived on the far right side of her court to intercept the birdie which Connie's sister had shot there from the corresponding position on her side of the court.
Feeling that she successfully cornered the Kitokomachi student, Yui Shimizu pulled her racket in front of her chest and hit the shuttlecock sharply. The powerful shot sent the projectile in a long arch over the net towards the left back corner of Ayano's court.
To Yui's shock, Ayano kicked off with her right foot and jumped to her left.
Connie watched how her sister in a fluid motion brought her racket from her right hand to her left and hit the shuttlecock with the top of her racket.
The birdie hit the floor on Yui's court in the spot the girl with the two short black ponytails on the back of her head just left to take a position in the center of her court.
"How peculiar," Yuika remarked.
Connie turned her eyes on the girl sitting to her right.
"I was getting the impression you were the one who wanted to push Hanesaki-san away," The black-bobbed girl in the black-and-white training vest and trousers observed with a piercing look.
The taller blonde next to her turned her guilt-ridden eyes back on her adoptive sister.
"What are you looking at her for again?" Yuika sighed. "I told you the only object of attraction here is right in front of us."
Curious about Yuika's intention, Connie observed Hyousuke Ishida serving for the first rally of his third game against Ryoichi Chiba.
She could only see the back of the young man in the red-and-black T-shirt and the black-and-white shorts, but she readily agreed he had a very handsome figure.
"Look at that beautiful tight hard ass," The blonde heard Yuika say in quite a vulgar tone. "Those big square shoulders and that large muscular back. Who would ever think of pushing a sexy hunk like Hyousuke-kun away from her? What do you think, Saki?"
"I know I wouldn't," The doubles player with the long high brown ponytail grinned conspiratorially at her friend.
"Apparently Yamamoto-san would," Connie saw Yuika grin while her captain leaned her elbows on her knees and watched how Hyousuke hit the shuttlecock in the left corner behind his opponent with the short spiky black hair.
"Hyousuke-kun is a big macho baby who cares far too much about the opinions of his macho baby friends, but once his brain started to function properly again he did do a lot of pleading and apologizing. Yet, Yamamoto-san still coldly turned her back on the boy she is so in love with."
Yuika turned her eyes on Connie with an amused grin.
"Hanesaki-san and Yamamoto-san have quite a bit in common," She explained. "From their playing style to their personality.
There are differences of course. Yamamoto-san is much more outgoing and confident for example."
As the last rally of their match approached its end, Yui Shimizu attempted to fight it out just a little longer by building up to an attack close to the net.
The blackette with the short twin ponytails at the back of her head sent Ayano to the back of her court with powerful long shots.
An amused smirk appeared on Uchika's face upon realizing how the match was going to end.
"Hanesaki-san and Yamamoto-san are gentle people," Yuika continued. "But they are not nice people..."
Yui thought she had created the opening she needed when she forced Ayano to retreat all the way back to the right corner of her court in order to return the shuttlecock.
The girl in the blue-and-pink striped T-shirt and short black shorts pushed her body weight onto her right leg in order to leap towards the net.
At the same moment, Ayano hit the shuttlecock hard towards the line on Yui's right.
Having already started the motion for her energetic attack, Yui quickly swung her left arm to the right in the hope of intercepting the unexpected shot.
The motion caused her to lose her balance and she landed humiliatingly on her back while the birdie landed next to her.
"If either of them gets hurt by someone they love, the world will burn for it. And both of them have the means to make that happen.
Woe to the ones who hurt them, because they will do all they can to make life a hell on earth for those poor souls," Connie heard her captain say while she saw how Ayano coldly walked up to the net and waited for Yui to get up and greet her.
"But that is where we come in," Yuika grinned again. "The King and the Queen rule the junior badminton competition for women and the Frederica Girls badminton club fills in the spots right below them. It was always like this.
But under the current circumstances, I think the time is ripe for Frederica Girls to step up and undertake a coup d'etat for the sake of the people..."
Uchika saw Ayano grin cruelly at her defeated opponent as they shook hands. But when Yui left the court to receive some words of comfort and inspiration from her coach, Ayano still stood before the net and slowly raised her eyes upward.
For the second time in her life, Ushika's heart contracted when Ayano looked straight up at her and she saw the look of utter revilement in her daughter's eyes.
"A wounded King. A Queen turned Tyrant. A demon lord challenging her dominion. If we win the last IH of our youth, Frederica Girls badminton club will be hailed as heroes by everyone present," Yuika told the confused blonde who sat next to her while Connie feared for her mother, her sister, and for herself.