Author's notes:
So... Chapter 5 was split into two because I realized I had too much material for one chapter.
And now I find myself having to split chapter 6 in two again because it ended up too long for my liking.
Which means, I get to upload two chapters this month for your entertainment :)
You can consider it an early Christmas present. Maybe because Oichi features fairly prominently in both chapters.
As I decided earlier, I based the rallies more on actual matches I found on youtube. But I did try to invent some stuff myself so the rallies fit my narrative.
I also described the rallies with a little less detail, which hopefully makes them more engaging than I have the feeling they were in the previous chapter.
Anyway, both chapters will deal with Ushika's and Connie's feelings after their match against Ayano.
But I'm getting a little tired of writing their POVs, so starting chapter 8 I will be focusing more on Ayano's POV again and how she experiences recent events.
As mentioned before, our main characters will share the focus of this chapter and especially the next with Oichi and Mashiro.
Both girls will continue to struggle through their personal stories as we make our way to the quarter-finals which will begin in the new year for us.
also appearing in the next chapter are two curious characters who might seem oddly familiar ;)
Oh, and I finally realized it's Fredericia Girls and not Frederica Girls. Haha.
16:34
About three-fourth of the matches for the day had been played. Men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles;
Fredericia Girls badminton club dominated the women's doubles matches and the women's singles matches as usual, with all of their athletes winning a spot in the quarter-finals so far. But Mashiro wasn't planning to let them continue that winning streak.
The blonde tomboy looked from the large digital clock which was suspended from the ceiling of the tournament hall to her opponent, Saeko Ogatsu.
The short-haired brunette in the FreGirls black-and-blue one-piece uniform with the white cross on a red background was doing lunges to her left while they waited behind the officials to step onto the court.
"This will be fun," Mashiro heard Saeko say. "I've been wanting to have another match against you for ages."
The blonde saw her opponent turn around and face her with an arch smile.
"It really has been a long time," Mashiro dryly reacted.
"Hm-Hm. It is hard to believe we haven't met each other even a single time in a tournament since that time.
At this point, you played Yuika more than you played me."
Mashiro stared into the grey eyes of the girl with the messy dark-brown hair which reached down to her chin and pulled on the strap of the blue-and-yellow racket bag that hung over her shoulder.
Of course, Saeko was trying to get under her skin before the match with that Yuika remark.
"Do you also think I consider this a grudge match?" She asked the FreGirls student with a blank expression.
"Huh?" Saeko Ogatsu frowned. "I guess so. Seeing how upset you were about losing before and considering your personality. Who else are you talking about?"
"Never mind," Mashiro grumbled while looking at their umpire who was taking place in his seat. "Just some annoying jerk."
'Must be her sister-in-law," Saeko and the officials standing before them thought in unison.
The woman and the man in the black uniforms saw the umpire signal them to escort the athletes to opposite sides of the court.
Saeko and Mashiro quietly followed each of them and waited for the umpire to announce them to the audience after taking place on the bassline of each girl's court.
Mashiro's eyes climbed the upper balcony seats until they landed on her affectionate BFF Chizuko, who sat among her family, classmates, and a bunch of mutual friends.
She didn't realize she was being scrutinized herself by a pair of keen dark-brown eyes and two other pairs.
"This is going to be a great match," Mariyana gushed to her friends while standing near the railing around the tournament hall's balcony. "Ogatsu-san will fight with everything she's got for her team and Shiwahime-san would have thoroughly gone over Nakamura-san's strengths and weaknesses with her.
Nakamura-san, on the other hand, will stop at nothing to avenge the apparently painful defeat of years ago in the hope of being granted a revenge match against Shiwahime-san herself in the semi-finals."
"I've been wondering…" Izumi thought out loud while holding her chin between her fingers. "Nakamura-san will only be able to get the revenge she desires on Shiwahime-san if she beats you. You aren't planning on throwing the game aren't you?"
For a second, the lanky girl with the short white bowl cut thought she saw her Bulgarian friend who was standing to her left looking as if she was just caught lying.
"No way," Mariyana smiled. "That kind of nonsense only results in regret and frustration.
I want to go all out against a Mashiro who struggles against me with all her might."
"Are we still talking about badminton now?" Akemi chuckled while seeing the aroused blush on the cheeks of the tall blackette to her left.
"You sure like this crush of yours a lot. Don't you?"
Mariyana gazed down at Mashiro's back while resting her hands on the railing. A tender smile on her face.
"Yeah," She commented. "Yeah. I do."
As the umpire announced Mashiro and Saeko's match, Chizuko got up from her seat and put her hands to her lips.
"Take her down, Mashiro!" The young woman with the long high black ponytail shouted. "You are the best!"
The sudden outburst brought a joyful smile to Mashiro's lips and made the tomboy with the short blonde hair raise her hand and wave at her friends.
Happy about the support of her best friend, the athlete was startled by a loud voice calling her from the balcony behind her.
"Hey, Nakamura-san!" A competitive streak in Mariyana caused the blackette to exclaim to the alarm of her two friends.
Mashiro turned around with a bewildered look on her face.
She saw the Bulgarian stand proudly with her left hand on her hip and the pointer finger of her right hand pointed at the ceiling. The girl's voluminous long hair swooshed behind her from right to left.
"Let's go-go-go, Mashiro!" Mariyana energetically cheered.
The object of her affection rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned her attention on the court again while walking towards the net with her racket in hand.
At the net, one of the assistant referees flipped a coin to decide who would get first serve.
Meanwhile, Mariyana squatted down in despair and embarrassment.
"What the heck is wrong with me?!" The handsome girl with the long black hair whined while clutching her head with both hands.
"There, there," A sweatdropping Akemi grinned awkwardly while caressing her friend's scalp.
Mashiro looked to the left while Saeko was drinking from her water bottle by the side of her coach.
Through the double doors on the balcony level, two beautiful girls from her class entered hand in hand. A black-haired girl and a blonde. The two were inseparable friends. Both were of average height and had long straight hair. They were dressed in the green skirt and the green-sleeved white T-shirt of the Seishin Gakuen High School uniform.
With an eager smile on her handsome face, the boisterous girl with the long black hair pulled her unbalanced blonde friend along by her left hand.
"Wait!" The startled blonde whined with a panicked look on her face as she was helplessly pulled along.
"Hurry! They already started," Her friend called back.
Turning her attention back on her opponent, Mashiro saw Saeko take position to serve from the right side of her court.
Scanning her every movement, Saeko watched the blonde tomboy with equal vigilance.
'Don't think you can just pass me by on your way to your dream match against Yuika, Your Majesty,' The brunette grinned to herself. 'I have every intention of taking you out myself.'
There was another match between a young man with a slick dark-brown haircut from Akita Prefecture in a checkered blue-and-white uniform and his opponent with spiky black hair in a red T-shirt and shorts from Hiroshima Prefecture being played on the court next to them.
But the tournament hall seemed cloaked in reverential silence for the rematch between the two childhood rivals.
On Mashiro's sign that she was ready, Saeko hit the birdie towards her opponent.
Her cunning sleight of hand sent the projectile just over the net, but Mashiro lunged forward and whipped the shuttle in a high arc towards the right side of the brunette's backcourt.
Saeko stepped back and raised her racket over her head to smash the shuttle over the net again to the left of her opponent.
Mashiro hadn't expected a smash so early in the rally, but she stepped aside and pulled her right arm to the left.
Swinging her racket to the right, the blonde sent the shuttle to the left side of the other athlete's court where Saeko quickly arrived to whip it over the net again.
Mashiro stepped to the right and hit the shuttle just over the net again a little to the right of her opponent.
Saeko hit the projectile towards the back of the blonde's court, but the Seishin Gakuen student stepped back while raising her racket over her head and smashed the shuttle onto the brunette's court to her left.
Loud applause arose from the seats occupied by Chizuko and Mashiro's other friends.
"So fast!" Akemi laughed at Mariyana's side.
"Yes," Her friend smiled. "That was a great reaction. I hope she'll show us more of that speed."
Mashiro quickly served from the left side of her court.
Saeko moved her right arm to the left to return the shuttle that was sent to the far left of her court and swung it to the right, hitting the shuttle back to Mashiro's position.
Her opponent moved fast and hit the birdie over to the net to the right of her opponent.
But Saeko swerved to the right with incredible dynamism and hit the shuttle with her racket in her outstretched arm.
The projectile went in a low arc over the net to the far right of Mashiro's court, taking the blonde tomboy by surprise and landing just before she could reach it.
Saeko grinned devilishly at her opponent who stared back at the FreGirls student with narrowed eyes and an enigmatic smile.
She positioned herself over the line running through the middle of her court with her right foot just over the line.
Mashiro patiently waited on the other side for her opponent to serve.
Saeko duly sent the shuttle over the net in a straight line towards the blonde tomboy who returned the object in the same way.
The fast back and forth repeated itself a second time until Saeko hit the shuttle towards the right side of her adversary's court.
Mashiro quickly dove to the right and hit the birdie towards the FreGirls student in a high arc in order to regain her footing.
Saeko raised her racket over her head and hit the shuttle back whereupon her opponent hit it towards the brunette's right.
Saeko moved the pace up and hit the shuttle towards Mashiro's far left, forcing the Seishin Gakuen High student to turn around in order to return the projectile with the back of her racket.
An uncontrolled motion, which saw the shuttle hit the net on Mashiro's side and drop onto the floor.
"Clever," Chizuko simply commented while closely following the match with her hands in her lap.
Next to the athlete in the navy-blue training vest and the white trousers sat her mother: A tall fashionable lady with short black curls who was dressed in a violet summer dress with a long white coat over it.
Chizuko's father, a former full-contact karate champion, was dressed in loose black trousers and a blue vest.
They looked to the left when they saw a brawny blonde man in a red T-shirt and white shorts who took the seat to their daughter's left, which she had been reserving for him.
"Hello Chizuko," Benjiro Watanabe greeted the girl. "I see I didn't miss much yet."
"Nope. They're still prodding each other so far," The Queen of female youth badminton smiled while she saw Mashiro win the fourth rally.
"I hope Mashiro wins this. It will be good for her self-esteem."
"Of course she'll win," Chizuko commented with slight annoyance. "Yuika might have taken her by surprise last year, but Mashiro is still my King. Don't look down on her ability."
"I don't mean it that way," Benjiro grinned at Chizuko's reaction.
"It's just that their last two matches aren't very good memories for her. So it will be nice for her to take revenge on Saeko.
But it must be said: that match also was an important turning point in the career of our friend. She worked hard afterward to be able to stand by your side."
"Yes," Chizuko smiled. "The next year saw the beginning of our reign together."
Mahiro's serve sent the shuttle towards Saeko's right.
The brunette had to spread her legs wide to be able to reach it, but she sent it quickly back to the right of Mashiro's court.
Saeko's opponent hit the projectile straight to the left side of her adversary's court, where the brunette turned around on her feet to hit it with the back of her racket.
The shuttle flew towards the middle of Mashiro's court where the blonde had ample time to return it to the far right of her opponent who had to hurry to hit the birdie high.
Mashiro stepped back to the rear of her court and raised her racket over her head to hit the shuttle back.
Saeko moved to the back of her own court to receive the blonde's wide shot and returned it to the left of the tomboy's court.
Her aim was lacking, however, and the shuttle fell just outside of the line at the corner of Mashiro's court.
"And long may it last," Benjiro smiled.
Ayano turned the corner at the cul-de-sac where Oichi usually did her praying during the tournament and walked off in the opposite direction towards the hallway where the dressing rooms for the badminton players were located.
Walking at a relaxed pace, the short girl with the black ponytail had left the practice court with mixed feelings.
She might have gotten what she wanted, but she didn't want to see her mother's face right now.
Hearing applause through the closed double doors to her right, Ayano stopped in her tracks and heaved a sigh.
Why did she allow Connie of all people to get her worked up like this after gaining her peace of mind about her mother moving in with her?
She was just tired. She'd feel better tomorrow.
"Hey, Ayano! Wait up!"
The Kitakomachi student looked over her shoulder and saw Nagisa walk up to her from around the corner.
The brunette tomboy in the black trousers and red-and-white training vest over a white T-shirt looked at her friend with a curious expression.
"How are you feeling?" Nagisa asked gently when they stood side-by-side.
Ayano searched her heart for the answer but found that answer too complicated to share at the moment.
With another deep sigh, she lowered her head and stared at the floor.
"Did you achieve what you wanted by winning that match?" Nagisa tried again by asking a more specific question.
Ayano raised her eyes to her senpai again. The two of them regarded one another for a few seconds while awaiting her answer.
"It's not like Mother is bound to honor our agreement," Ayano said at last. "But I feel confident that she will. So I have peace knowing that I won't be confronted with them around the house unless I let Mother know I'm okay with it."
Nagisa observed Ayano's sad expression with a sympathetic smile.
"I can't pretend to understand what you've been going through. But I can imagine it's been painful," She said.
"I can't tell you how your Mother feels right now. I don't know a thing about your relationship with her."
The brunette averted her eyes for a moment.
"I want to be your friend, you know? I want to be a good senpai and give you the advice and the support you need…"
Ayano could tell her that she was doing enough. A tender smile appeared on her face. She was happy just knowing that Nagisa wanted to be there for her.
"I just think that right now you aren't wrong in acting on your feelings. If you don't feel like you can handle being around Connie or your Mother then you shouldn't question what you just did. You acted out of self-preservation and they should understand that."
"Haha. Thank you, Nagisa," Ayano laughed with misty eyes. "That's actually exactly what I needed to hear.
I don't know how Mother feels. I don't even understand Connie anymore. But I don't want to try and understand them right now.
Right now I just want to clear my mind and win this tournament for myself and my friends."
"Hahahaha! Who says you're gonna win the tournament?" Her friend laughed while pulling her sagging racket bag back over her shoulder.
"I know how to beat you now. So I'll treat you to the same pleasure after I deal with Yamamoto-s…"
"Do you think you can take her on?" Ayano asked the stuttering tomboy with a smirk and a tilt of her head.
Nagisa looked at her friend with a dreamy smile for a moment. Then...
"Hey, Ayano… Let's go to the dressing room so you can shower and we can go to the hotel," She kindly suggested. "I got a really great story to tell you."
At the same time, Erena stood at a short distance from Connie in the practice court.
The blonde and her mother had been standing around lost in thought after Ayano left, so Erena searched for a way to exploit the situation to improve the relationship between the three.
Before she was successful she noticed Ushika suddenly walking up to Coach Tachibana.
The woman tried to keep her face straight, but Erena could tell that what happened had hit her hard.
"Kentarou-san…" Ushika began hesitatingly while standing before her colleague with honest eyes. "I am deeply ashamed of my actions.
I can't deny that I acted irresponsible and unprofessional here. However Ayano insisted, I should have firmly denied her request…"
Tachibana stood with folded arms and a stern expression before the woman as she looked aside to check on her other daughter.
Connie was watching her mother with concern.
" I only made things harder on my family by giving in to Ayano," Ushika sighed while hanging her head. "But I also undermined your authority and responsibility towards Ayano…"
"Listen, Shindou-san…" Tachibana Kentarou sighed with compassion.
Ushika looked up at him. Wondering what he wanted to say.
"I have known Ayano as a brilliant athlete with great potential. When I met her that was the only thing she was to me.
I was amazed at what she could do and I wanted to train her and use her to get our team to the Inter-High finals.
It took time for me to gradually learn that Ayano was struggling with feelings of loneliness and…"
Erena heard a slight whimper to her right and saw Connie grimace while hanging her head low.
"... As time progressed I was increasingly confronted with feelings of inadequacy. I found myself unable to be of much help to Ayano as a teacher or a coach."
Ushika's expression became as despondent as Tachibana seemed.
"Ayano…" The woman sighed while balling her fists.
"Luckily Ayano found solace in the many friends she made in our club. Not least the dedication of her very loyal and persistent childhood friend," Tachibana smiled while looking towards Erena.
The girl smiled appreciatively at the compliment. Then she considered her teacher's words more carefully.
"Why are you calling me persistent? That's an oddly dubious word," She demanded with a threatening scowl.
Tachibana burst into a relaxing laugh.
"But anyway…" He concluded. "Ayano found the help I found myself unable to provide for her and I think her friends were able to help her as much as anyone could.
As for what happened today: I have to conclude that she forced you into this match because she felt she needed to.
In giving in to her I believe you helped her as much as anyone could. It might seem now that you only ended up further apart from each other.
But… Perhaps Ayano felt that she needed to carry out this plot of hers not just in order to push you away."
Ushika and Tachibana shared a meaningful look.
"I can't say what goes on in Ayano's mind," He continued. "Being so good at keeping others from figuring out what she thinks is part of what makes your daughter so formidable an opponent on the court. So I don't want to give you false hope.
But in my humble understanding of Ayano, she may have carried out this plan in part to get you to fight for her as you did."
"Yes perhaps…" Ushika sighed.
"I think we can agree that what happened here can stay between us, Shindou-san. But please, don't stop fighting for that girl.
Being apart from you hurt her deeply and you are the only person who can properly heal her.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go check up on her and Nagisa before we return to our hotel room to rest."
" Yes. Thank you, Kentarou-san," Ushika said with a bow of her head. "And thank you for all that you have done for Ayano. I am certain that you helped her more than you think."
Tachibana bowed the woman a greeting and he walked towards the stairs with his bag, expecting Erena to follow him.
When he reached the top of the stairs, however, he looked behind him and found the girl's eyes on him while she was still standing by a despondent Connie.
It did not take the man long to understand that Ayano's friend felt there was something she might do for the girl in the practice court.
With a nod, he walked into the hallway before him and turned to the left in pursuit of his other club members.
Left on her own, Erena once more anxiously observed Ushika and Connie.
Both seemed deeply affected by what had happened. Perhaps she shouldn't take advantage after all.
She could approach them about finding ways to get closer to Ayano the next day.
When Ushika heaved a deep sigh and started to walk towards her and Connie, Erena decided to go with that idea unless either woman opened up to her.
Connie looked up at her mother when she too realized Ushika was coming towards them.
With sad eyes, the Danish girl swallowed and parted her lips.
"Mother… I am sorry. I behaved very hostile towards Ayano when we first met. She is right to resent me. I…"
Ushika stopped in front of the girl.
Raising the blonde's tearful eyes to her own by way of lifting her chin, the woman in the FreGirls uniform smiled sadly.
"I know you and Ayano clashed before I arrived, my kind girl. Don't worry about that. It's the kind of thing that happens between sisters from time to time.
What happened here wasn't your fault. I saw how you fought for the sake of bringing your sister and me together again.
Thank you, dear Connie."
Erena watched how the woman pulled her daughter closer and hugged the affectionate girl.
"The person who hurt Ayano is me, Connie," Ushika told her daughter when they parted. "I had my reasons for doing what I did, but I never realized my actions would cause Ayano so much pain.
Kentarou-san is right. I need to find a way to heal my daughter."
Ushika walked towards the table at the foot of the stairs and placed her badminton racket in her bag with the shuttles they had used during their match.
With a swing of her body, she pulled the bag over her shoulder.
"Will you be alright! Connie?" She asked with a kind smile.
Connie nodded quietly at the woman she loved and admired.
"I'm sorry," Ushika told her. "But I need to be on my own for a few hours. Promise me you'll go to join the others in the upper-balcony seats and watch the matches together or stay with your friend here," She nodded to Erena.
"I promise," Connie said. "Don't worry about me, Mother… Please be safe. I love you."
"I love you too, Connie. We'll see each other in the hotel for dinner.
Good evening, Fujisawa-san."
Ushika threw each girl a sad smile and ascended the stairs, leaving them behind in the practice court.
Connie hung her head again and walked to the table where her sports bag lay with her racket in hand.
The girl in the black-and-blue one-piece uniform with the white cross on a red background placed her racket on the table and sat down in the brown plastic chair her sister had awaited her in.
Erena saw the blonde leaning her right elbow on the table and leaning her chin on her hand.
With a deflating sigh, Connie looked up at the door at the head of the stairs in front of her.
Erena walked over to the stairs and sat on the second step, leaning her lower arms on her knees.
"I want to thank you for what you said to Ayano and for the effort you put into the match," She said while looking up at the blonde.
Connie lethargically lowered her eyes and regarded the girl in the dark-brown short skirt and matching vest over a blue shirt.
"Everything you said is true," She sadly stated. "I made everything worse. I hurt Nee-san's feelings and made her resent Mother because I wanted to have her all to myself.
I caused Nee-san to break Mother's heart because I was self-centered and thought Nee-san enjoyed the love I had missed out on. A love I didn't feel she deserved.
I didn't spare a moment to think how Nee-san suffered as much as I used to after Mother left her behind in Japan."
"Well… That certainly was a disgraceful and self-centered mindset you used to have…" Erena sighed while she sat up to comb her long black hair back with her right hand.
She couldn't help saying so. Where did someone get the audacity to think they can judge what another person is worthy of or not? Erena wasn't a person who had much tolerance for such absurd notions.
To her surprise, Connie started to weep while hugging herself.
Erena watched the blonde's lip crumple up while tears flowed down her cheeks.
"I wish I could go back and do it over…" The FreGirls student bawled. "Nee-san must have felt so horrible with the things I told her after the practice match we played against Kitakomachi."
A gentle smile appeared on Erena's lips as she saw Connie shiver and weep.
"The fact that you managed to realize for yourself how wrong you were to act that way back then proves you aren't a bad person," She comforted her new friend.
Connie wiped her eyes with her arms while new tears streamed from them.
"... And I'm convinced that if we work together you can redeem your past behavior," Erena continued.
The girl sitting before her gradually started to calm down. After her tears stopped coming, Connie looked at her new friend with sad eyes.
"What does it matter…?" She muttered while her eyes wandered down to the floor at Erena's feet. "Nee-san hates both Mother and me. She probably doesn't even want to talk to us anymore."
"I think you already tempted her to listen if you have something reasonable to say to her," Erena smiled. "Remember how she hesitated to walk into the hallway after you told her she shouldn't forget how Shindou-san fought for her? I think the way you fought for her yourself must have surprised her. If we can…"
"The two of you are starting to get quite friendly, aren't you?" Erena heard a girl observing behind her in a warm voice while Connie looked up at the person at the top of the stairs above her. "I feel a little jealous."
The Kitakomachi student turned around and saw Yuika smiling down at her with Oichi standing behind the black-bobbed girl.
"Hello Erena. Nice to see you again," The Fredericia Girls captain greeted kindly.
"Oh! Hello Yuika," Erena greeted while getting up and walking around Connie to make room for their visitors.
Yuika saw her stand behind Connie while reflexively rubbing the blonde on the shoulder.
She slowly descended the stairs until she stood on the concrete platform opposite the other two girls.
Oichi followed the lead of her warm-up partner, but walked onto the floor of the practice court and stood watching her companions at about a meter distance.
Connie turned her eyes on the girl with the gradual bob and wiped her eyes a last time.
"I told you about my new friend whom I have had a few training sessions with here, Connie?" Yuika smiled while extending her arm towards the person in question.
"This is her."
"Pleased to meet you," Oichi smiled with a slight bow. "I am Shinoda Oichi, representing St-Joseph's Kobe High School."
"Pleased to meet you," Connie replied with a nod of her head. "I am Christensen Connie from Fredericia Girls High School."
"Nice to see you again, Shinoda-san," Erena smiled cheerfully. "I didn't know you and Yuika used the practice court together."
Yuika felt like a murder suspect facing the judge when Erena turned her eyes on her with a very meaningful look, but she showed her friend a smooth grin in return.
"We helped each other with a couple of great warm-up sessions, haven't we, Oichi?" She asked the St-Joseph Kobe High student.
"I would have had a much harder time at the start of my match without you."
"Oh!" Connie suddenly exclaimed. "I'm sorry, Yuika. How was your match?"
"I beat Hirano-san in three highly taxing games. It was a very exciting encounter."
"Good," Connie smiled for the first time since the start of her doubles match against her sister. "Well done Captain. How is Saeko doing?"
"Ogatsu-san is performing very well against Nakamura-san," Oichi chimed in while looking from Connie to Yuika. "You said you hoped for great things from her and I didn't think she'd have much chance against Nakamura-san, but it's been a really close game so far."
"Yes," Yuika smiled fondly. "Saeko is fighting with all she's got for Fredericia Girls. Shirogane can't be underestimated, but if Saeko can keep this up it might become a close match."
"Your next match is against Fredericia Girls' Yamoto-san, isn't it, Shinoda-san?" Erena asked the girl in the white T-shirt with thin diagonal yellow lines over her chest and a navy-blue skirt.
Yuika grinned uncomfortably as Kitakomachi badminton club's manager glanced at her with a stern look.
"Yes. We reserved the practice court to get me a good warm-up.
I… My coach told me Yamoto-san seems to have injured herself in her previous match…" Oichi uncomfortably mentioned.
"But she is still an athlete almost on par with both Yuika and Christensen-san. So It is good that I have Yuika to prepare me for our match."
Erena watched the girl with a concerned look while standing behind Connie with crossed arms.
"Are you sure it is a good idea to have warm-up sessions with…" She began.
"Now that we found you two here..." Yuika interrupted her. "... I was wondering why neither you nor your coaches came to watch my match. I feel a little hurt, to be honest."
Erena glared at her cunning friend, but she now faced the problem of explaining things to her.
The blackette stepped aside and peeked at the girl sitting in front of her.
Connie was sitting with downcast eyes again and lost in thought. It wouldn't do to discuss the events of the last hour in the Danish girl's presence.
What Connie needed now was to have her mood lifted by a change of thought.
But Erena was aware that Yuika cared a great deal about Connie and had a right to know what had brought her friend so low.
"Listen Yuika…" She quietly spoke. "Can I talk to you upstairs for a moment?"
Yuika frowned while Erena walked over to the black-bobbed girl and tilted her head at Connie.
"Hey, Connie?" She said. "Is it okay if I tell Yuika what happened so you don't have to?"
The blonde looked up for a moment and smiled weakly, causing Yuika to worry for the first time.
"Yes. Thank you, Erena."
"Hey, Connie?" Yuika said while squatting in front of the girl. "Don't forget: Me and your other friends at FreGirls will always be there for you, alright?
Whatever happens. You will always have a home. Even if I have to hide you from my parents in my room, you'll always have someone who loves you."
Those words put a smile on Connie's face and she leaned forward to pull her Captain into a mutual embrace.
"Hang in there, okay?" Yuika said when she got up again. "I'll let Erena tell me the whole story and I'll come and deal with you when you want me to."
Connie watched her friends ascend the stairs. Then she sighed.
The girl grabbed her water bottle from the table and drank, obviously deriving little satisfaction from the liquid.
She looked at the bottle and placed it in her bag.
"Do you want some melon soda?"
Connie turned her head to the side as if she only now realized Oichi was still standing beside her.
The girl in the white T-shirt with thin diagonal yellow lines over her chest and a navy-blue skirt opened the sports bag hanging from her right shoulder and pulled out a plastic bottle with a green liquid.
"I have two more," She said while holding out the bottle to Connie. "You looked like you wanted to drink something besides water."
"Ah… Thank you. You're very kind," Connie smiled while she accepted the bottle and opened it.
"You're welcome," Oichi smiled. "I always admired the parable of the good Samaritan and wish to be of help where I can."
"It's funny to find a fellow Christian here. Even if I'm not very religious myself," Connie commented.
Oichi saw the blonde take a long drought.
"Hmmm…"
The stocky girl with the halo-like black bob smiled contentedly at the pleased yummy sound her new acquaintance made.
"There is also Corrales Mariyana," She suggested. "She's a Christian too."
Connie didn't react. She simply placed her bottle of melon soda on the table beside her.
"Are you really the adopted sister of Hanesaki Ayano?" Oichi tried.
Her companion grimaced and hesitated for a moment, but she looked up at the Catholic girl and parted her lips.
"The adoption procedure isn't finished yet. It's just a formality though. We'll soon be sisters for real…"
Another deep sigh escaped the Dane.
"Do you like Hanesaki-san?"
Connie looked at Oichi with some amazement at that question. It's not something she had really asked herself before.
While it's true that she had come to regard Ayano as a similarly afflicted person as herself only recently and wanted to make amends for how she behaved towards her before, she never considered how she felt about the person Ayano.
Connie remembered how she and Ayano first met. The doubles match they played together. The Kanagawa prefectural finale between Ayano and Nagisa she went to watch with Yuika. A defiant Ayano confronting her and their mother. A dogged Ayano pursuing her to help keep Ushika from moving in with her.
A sublime Ayano showing more strength than Connie thought her capable of combined with the stupendous talent she possesses.
"Nee-san is cute," She finally concluded. "She's short and strong. I kinda don't get how short she is for her age while being so strong.
She seems nice to hang around with. I think Nee-san doesn't talk much usually, but she immediately opened up to me when we first met and she was very helpful.
She must be a kind person…"
Oichi's lips formed an "O" when she saw her companion grimace and grow quiet.
"So that's how Hanesaki-san is?" She asked. "I don't know that much about her. Most of the other players are rather frightened of her.
I had the feeling she wasn't a very happy person, so I worried about her."
"Hmm… That's partly my fault," Connie bitterly reacted.
"Do you think so? Hanesaki-san did say something that made me think she wanted to get along better with you."
That made Connie sit up.
"Nee-san said that? Are you sure?!" The blonde asked energetically.
"I won't claim those were exactly her words," Oichi simply replied. "She was expressing disappointment in the way you interacted. But it seemed to me that she would have liked it if the two of you got along better."
"Really? That's the best news in days! It means I still have a chance to apologize and maybe get closer to Ayano."
Oichi was instantly cheered up from her own worries by seeing her companion so hopeful.
To her confusion, she saw Connie look troubled again before raising her eyes to her.
"You know… You probably shouldn't have so many warm-up sessions with Yuika," Connie said with some embarrassment.
Oichi looked from the door to the hallway to her left to Connie and tilted her head.
"Yuika… is very perceptive," Connie whispered. "She might have told Chikage if she noticed things about your playing style she can exploit."
"Oh? I don't mind that though."
"But you should," Connie insisted with a half-annoyed and half-embarrassed expression.
Oichi combed her hair back from her left ear and glanced awkwardly at the floor near her left foot.
"I've been playing badminton since I was in elementary school, but I was never in a very competitive club. I played mainly for fun and to make friends.
I often let people I played win if I got the impression they preferred it that way.
Then when I started school at St-Joseph's I joined the church volunteers and I didn't have time for badminton club anymore.
But one day during our sports festival, Azusa-Sensei saw me play.
After she saw me lose she confronted me about throwing the game.
I didn't really want to play competitively but Sensei rather overwhelmed me, and my boyfriend liked the idea so I gave in to them.
Since then I've been training hard. Harder after realizing how many students started cheering for me.
But I've been feeling troubled since the preliminaries for the I.H. started.
I beat so many girls who all seemed like they wanted to win so much more than I did."
Connie listened attentively to her new friend's story while drinking from the bottle of melon soda she got from her.
"I tried to throw a few matches after I got to the prefectural finals and the preliminary rounds at the tournament proper,
but He…" Oichi said with some annoyance and an accusing upward glance. "... always seemed to fix it so that I would win.
after that, I tried to play earnestly, hoping that He would allow me to lose. But He never did.
So when Yuika offered to be my warm-up partner I realized she must have an ulterior motive and I hoped she would succeed."
"So you wanted Yuika to check you out so she could help Chikage?" Connie asked in surprise.
"I hope she can help Yamoto-san win," Oichi sighed. "Anyway… As soon as I do lose, I will tell Sensei that I want to quit our badminton team and go back to the volunteer committee. This entire year has been so troubling to me. I was happier and more at peace doing volunteer work for the church."
"Ah… I would be sorry," Connie smiled. "I'm enjoying getting to know you. Obviously, you should do what makes you happy. But I hope we can become friends?"
"I enjoyed talking to you myself, Christensen-san…"
"Please call me Connie," The blonde said with a grin. "I'm a foreigner anyway."
"I would be honored if you could likewise call me Oichi, Connie. And I would like to exchange our contact info if that is okay with you?
I would very much like to become your friend… "
"Great!" Connie exclaimed.
Both girls pulled their cellphones from their sports bags and touched them to each other.
"... Even though you are a heretic and an apostate," Oichi teased her momentarily frowning new friend.