Connie watched her sister lunge to the right to return her opponent's drop shot.
Mariyana hit the shuttle in a high arc toward the shorter girl's left corner and returned to the center of her court while Ayano stepped back.
Ayano quickly jumped up and delivered a deceptive jump smash to the left corner of her opponent, but Mariyana managed to intercept by turning around her axis and using a backhand shot that sent the shuttle to Ayano's right.
The Kitakomachi student hurried to the spot and smashed the shuttle toward the left side of her opponent's court.
Mariyana moved fast and hit the shuttle before it landed, but the projectile hit the net on her side of the court.
"Another exciting rally!" Mami commented in the OB van studio. "Did you see how Hanesaki-san took control of the rally when Mariyana tried to corner her? Phenomenal!"
"It certainly is impressive how they both maintain this degree of focus at the end of a 46-shot rally," Hanabi reacted. "Mariyana has been succeeding in drawing some of the rallies out again. It does seem that she is counting on fatigue to hit her opponent after the taxing match Hanesaki-san played earlier today."
"The score is so close," Connie complained to her mother. "I would have thought Ayano was able to overtake Mariyana when they got to the end of the first game."
"Corrales-san is an impressive athlete anyway," Uchika ponderously commented. "But it seems you and Ayano have a weak spot she has been exploiting. And that weak spot is my training.
Corrales-san is reacting perfectly to every one of Ayano's movements. You can't anticipate another player's actions like that unless you spend a lot of time on intense study of their playing style."
"If this is the result of her father's training that man is a very impressive coach," Fuyumi nodded. "I'd like to meet him."
"So do I," The silverette's old friend agreed. "But there is more to Corrales-san than what you can achieve through working with a talented coach. And I suspect…"
Mariyana sent the shuttle in a high arc to the left corner of her opponent and saw Ayano move to the side.
The Kitakomachi student hit the projectile back almost immediately and moved towards the net when her opponent awkwardly lunged forward to return the shot.
She quickly hit the shuttle to the right of Mariyana.
"It's a feint!" Uchika exclaimed.
'Damn!' Ayano cursed internally as she saw the taller athlete step back and target the left of her court with a jump smash.
The girl in the blue-black-and-red one-piece uniform jumped to the left but she came too late to intercept.
"They're back level again," Oichi muttered.
"21 - 21," Chizuko commented with glee. "Quite exciting. They've been practically neck and neck during the entire game."
"They are fighting to keep pace with each other with tremendous intensity," Mashiro observed while Mariyana served for the next rally. "They…"
"Oh yes! Mariyana can be quite intense," Shingo suddenly spoke up to the blonde tomboy's left. "Our clubmate is a very passionate young woman."
Mashiro regarded the flippant young man with the wavy light-brown hair with a startled look.
"I don't know if it's her Mediterranean roots or perhaps it's because she's a les…"
"Shingo."
Shingo Takeda stopped mid-sentence and looked over his shoulder at Minoru who sat to Chizuko's left a row above him.
He saw the young man with the short black hair glare at him with his arms crossed.
"As I was saying…" The shorter boy continued while turning to Mashiro again. "I suppose it's because Mariyana is a lesbi…"
"Don't try it."
Mashiro successfully hid her embarrassment while Shingo looked behind him again.
"Don't try to stop me, Senpai," He playfully frowned. "You underestimate my power."
"I have the high ground, Shingo," Minoru growled while fixing his kouhai with a burning glare.
"Hanesaki-san got ahead again," Linna observed as Ayano's win was applauded by the audience.
"This simply won't do," Shingo frowned. "Come on, Mariyana! You can do it!"
Minoru joined in the chant with his clubmate and before long, Linna, Oichi, Mashiro, and even Lucas started shouting encouraging words.
"Come on, Mariyana! Go for it!"
Their friend was being bombarded by Ayano in the next rally.
Mariyana had to step back to return a high shot to the back of her court and hurried forward when her opponent lunged close to the net to drop the shuttle over.
The Bulgarian hit the shuttle to Ayano's right corner which allowed her to return to the center of her court.
'It's no use! Your father isn't here to help you get out of this!' Ayano addressed her adversary in thought while she sent the shuttle over the net with another drop shot. 'This is for Connie!'
Mariyana lunged forward and hit the shuttle to Ayano's left, making it easy for the shorter girl to return the shot.
She saw the projectile flying to the back of her court in a straight flat path and quickly sent it back to her adversary.
"Izumi!" Akemi cheerfully exclaimed while gently hugging her girlfriend.
"Yes! Hanesaki-san is going to use our…!"
Ayano gripped her racket with both hands and brought it to the right side of her head before whacking the shuttle to the far right of her opponent.
But right before the shuttle was about to hit the floor, Mariyana rushed to the side and hit the projectile over the net in a high arc while dropping onto one knee and one hand.
"Oh no!" Akemi exclaimed.
"I thought that was the end of it!" Connie exclaimed while half getting up from her seat. "Come on, Ayano! You got her!"
Izumi watched Ayano hit the shuttle with an uncontrolled movement.
"I was always afraid once seen everyone would see that attack coming," She sighed.
While the shuttle descended over Mariyana's court, Uchika and Chizuko thoughtfully observed how leisurely the girl crawled into an upright position.
"I thought so," Ayano's mother said while her daughter fixed Mariyana with a suspicious glare.
The shuttle landed just outside the line around Mariyana's court, leveling the score again.
Mariyana simply smiled at her annoyed opponent.
"So she can do it too?" Chizuko quietly spoke with a pleased grin. "How exciting."
"There's no need to be so proud because you trained yourself to surmise the trajectory of the shuttle from the movements of your opponent's body," Ayano quietly muttered. "Don't think you're the only one."
Turning her awkward grin into a cowed grimace at the sight of the shorter girl's scowl, Mariyana walked to the back of her court to pull a new shuttle from the dispenser.
The tall young woman with the long high fluffy black ponytail served the shuttle straightforwardly towards her opponent and moved to her right corner to intercept Ayano's return.
She hit the projectile to the left of the Kitakomachi student and was sent to the left of her court by the shorter athlete's quick return shot.
Ayano hit the shuttle to the right corner of her opponent again and moved forward when Mariyana hurried to the right and lunged forward to send it back.
She hit the shuttle straight towards her adversary and received it in the same manner.
Once more, the two athletes quickly exchanged the shuttle before Ayano sent it to her opponent's left corner.
Mariyana stepped back and hit the shuttle toward the left corner of her opponent, moving to the right to intercept Ayano's return and hit it back to the shorter girl.
She dipped forward in an instant to return Ayano's drop shot high and send it back to the Kitakomachi student's left corner.
Ayano stepped back and raised her racket over her head to deliver a quick smash which her opponent sent to her right corner.
But Ayano intercepted the birdie early and attempted to smash it into Mariyana's left corner.
"Oh my!" Mami sighed when she saw on her screen how Mariyana intercepted the shuttle and sent it back to Ayano.
She and her colleague watched with their viewers how Ayano immediately returned the shuttle to Mariyana's left corner, fixing the other girl into position.
"Another long rally, Hanabi commented.
Mariyana sent the shuttle back to her adversary, who returned it to the girl's far right.
She hurried to the spot and lunged to the side, sending the shuttle to the left of her opponent.
Ayano sent the shuttle to the center of Mariyana's court and received it in the corresponding position of her own court.
The Kitakomachi student hit the shuttle toward the right corner of the taller girl and received it in her left corner.
But expecting the shuttle to come to the same spot again, she was surprised by Mariyana's deceptive shot which landed on the far right of her court.
"Ayano got distracted by the length of the rally," Nagisa frowned. '22 - 23."
"Come on, Ayanon!" Yuu shouted in front of her. "You're the best!"
"Ayano! Get her!" Yukiteru aided while their friends clapped their hands rhythmically to support the girl.
"I hope she can level the score again," Riko stated.
Ayano returned Mariyana's service to the left corner in the girl's backcourt.
She stepped back when the taller athlete targeted her left corner and sent the shuttle to Mariyana's right corner.
Mariyana hit the shuttle to the far right of the shorter girl and returned to the center of her court, but saw that after moving to the right and hitting the birdie Ayano was unable to make the projectile clear the net.
"And that means the first game goes to Corrales-san with a 22 - 24 win," Mami Kashiwazaki stated. "A thrilling first game, in which both athletes fought for every point and never allowed the other an advantage of more than two points."
"Indeed, a match fitting for the finale of such an amazing All-Japan Badminton Inter-High as this has been," Hanabi agreed while Ayano and Mariyana walked to their coaches. "We have seen Hanesaki-san play more offensively in the second half of the game and putting the pressure on Corrales-san. The Okayama athlete had it rough trying to deal with that unexpected side of Hanesaki-san, but she managed to hang on for now."
"In spite of having lost the first game it does look like Hanesaki-san's strategy will start to weigh more and more on Corrales-san. Unless Corrales-san can find a way to keep the Kitakomachi student from having her way with her."
"Are you okay?" Erena asked a glowering Ayano while she wiped down the shorter girl's arms and forehead. "You are doing great. It's a pity you had some bad luck there in the end, but if you keep this up anything is still possible. It's just that you seem off somehow."
Ayano looked her friend in the eyes and sighed.
"Is there something that's bothering you, Ayano?" Coach Tachibana asked her. "The way you came to us just now… You seem angry."
"Hmmm…" The girl who had her black hair bound into a ponytail by way of a white handkerchief grumbled. "I don't really understand myself right now.
I feel annoyed by Corrales-san. I want to beat her. Not because I want to win the tournament, but because I want her to feel bad."
Erena observed her friend's half-averted face.
"That's not the best mental condition to continue the match with," Tachibana sighed while scratching his head. "You know… I know it sucks that you didn't get to have this match against your sister, but there will be other tournaments the two of you will enter. More prestigious ones too."
Ayano turned her half-ashamed/half-annoyed gaze on the handsome man with the blonde spiky hair.
"There are a lot of people who would like to see you win the tournament. Not least your mother and sister. And your manager, I believe," Tachibana smiled at Erena.
"But between you and me: If things are getting to you, don't feel obligated to push yourself for winning this match.
You are not competing in the senior competition yet. I don't want you to feel that kind of pressure before you have to.
Right now you are already at the top of your country's youth division and you achieved amazing things this week. Not just in badminton, but also in your personal life.
You gained a sister. You and your mother managed to understand each other better and you chose to accept her parental role again on your own terms.
You normalized your previously very troublesome and painful relationship with another athlete… Focus on those things rather than the way Corrales-san makes you feel."
"20 seconds!" The umpire announced. "20 seconds!"
"Ayano," Erena smiled. "I was just thinking: After what I heard recently about Corrales-san, you and her aren't that different.
You both come from families that went through a divorce. Only, her family got back together again.
You were both trained by a parent. Only, you completed your training under Kentarou-Sensei and Takagi-Sensei.
You are both talented athletes with similar strengths even if the focus of your style lies in defense when she is a more offensive style of player.
You are also both very affectionate people from what I can tell. And Connie managed to play a big role in both of your lives."
Erena slyly caught the subtle shows of emotion in her friend's expression.
"So try to think of Corrales-san as someone like you. A girl who went through hardship but is much beloved and a highly talented athlete."
Ayano absently nodded at her friend and left for her court while Tachibana observed his pupil with a worried expression.
"I don't want to second-guess you, Erena," The man said. "But I felt like I was getting her to relax. Are you sure you should have told her some of those things?"
"You are wrong about one thing, Sensei," The fashionable girl with the shiny shoulder-length black hair said. "I don't want Ayano to win this tournament. I want her to be happy.
Don't worry. Like I said before: I know how to handle my friend."
Mariyana moved to the left of her court to intercept Stoyan's smash and lunged towards the net to return Martin's drop shot.
Then she stepped backward to send Stoyan's long clear to the right corner of his backcourt but hit Martin's second drop shot out of the line to his left.
"Let's take a break!" A slender but athletic man with a neatly combed dark-brown hairdo stepped forward from the side of the court. "Mari is starting to get tired."
"Haha! She's not the only one," Martin Mihov laughed.
"Are you sure this isn't dangerous to your daughter to move about so fast, Alvaro?" His friend Stoyan asked as he walked to the side of the court to fetch the towel which lay on a nearby chair.
Alvaro regarded Mariyana who was doing some cool-down exercises on her side of the court.
The man in the dark-blue shorts and the white-and-blue horizontally striped T-shirt smiled fondly at his daughter, excited about her upcoming entry in the European Junior Championships and the opponent she hoped to meet there.
"Mari can take this much…" He told Stoyan and patted the taller, older, and slightly more obese man on the shoulder. "... and more, I trust. Thank you for helping me train her, friends."
Martin and Stoyan were part of a club of about 9 people who had been coming together to rent one-third of the sports hall in the school Alvaro worked at for recreational badminton.
The Spaniard joined them not too long after he began his job as a maintenance worker there.
Ever since Mariyana started getting interested in playing badminton all of the other members - but Martin and Stoyan especially - have been helping Alvaro out with the girl's training. Often forgoing having a regular match recently in favor of having a two-on-one against Mariyana.
"I can't believe she is going to compete in the European Championship now," Martin chuckled.
"Junior Championship," Alvaro corrected while they watched his daughter perform some ankle stretches.
"Against Uchika Shindou's daughter no less," Stoyan gushed in response to Martin's statement.
"Yes. That's something I'm a little confused about," Alvaro said with a frown. "Mari?"
Mariyana turned her eyes on her father. The girl in the dark-blue shorts and the T-shirt with black shoulders got up and walked over to him.
"So we know Uchika is training Connie Christensen and is planning to adopt her," Alvaro stated. "But did those girls in Denmark tell you anything about Uchika's real daughter?"
"I told you before dad," His daughter laughed before continuing more seriously: "I thought it was strange at the time, but Ayano never came up. Not even when I asked the badminton coach whether she ever heard Connie mention her."
"It's peculiar how Uchika seems to spend so much time in Denmark training this girl, yet she leaves her actual daughter at home in Japan," Alvaro pondered.
"Maybe she can't take Connie to Japan yet and she thinks Connie needs her supervision more than her daughter?" Mariyana shrugged. "Ayano's been doing pretty great in competition if your translations of those articles you found on the internet are reliable."
"She still could have had Ayano come to Denmark with a student exchange program like you did," Alvaro said while Martin and Stoyan started a conversation with two other members of their club on the next court.
"Anyway, that's their own business really. I was just wondering what was going on there."
"Poor papa. You'd love to meet your heroine, wouldn't you?" Mariyana teased.
"Héhé," Alvaro chuckled. "Well, I can't. We can't spare the money to have me join you at the EJBC. But I'm sure I'll get my chance someday."
"I'll win the championship and ask her to come and visit us," His daughter joked. "On one condition: That you and Mother kiss on your date after you visited Nadia's grave together."
"Ah… You drive a hard bargain, Mari," Alvaro smiled awkwardly. "But I'll kiss Karolina without binding you to an impossible promise."
"Wear what I selected for you, alright?"
Alvaro brought his hand to the cheek of his daughter and caressed her head.
"I don't want you to wear anything too morbid," The girl insisted. "I know you both want to go and say you're sorry for how things turned out, and I love that. But afterward is supposed to be a joyful occasion. And you'll both dance."
"Hahahaha!"
Mariyana silently smiled at her father's amused laughter until he rubbed the back of his head and coughed a little.
"Dance…" He chuckled. "I don't know if I can still feel the rhythm like that."
"Don't worry about that. Whether you'll feel it or not, the rhythm is gonna get you," Mariyana winked. "I never saw you dance like you did in Mother's diary."
"We danced a few times when you were younger. At some parties."
"My father who gave up wealth for love and my mother who fought tooth and nail for love will fall in love all over again tomorrow.
The place you'll eat at will have a swing jazz band performing, so it'll be the perfect moment to pull each other close and dance on your toes."
"Don't do that. Please… It's embarrassing," Alvaro teased with a growly sort of laugh. "You're just no good at it."
"I may not be Shakespear but that won't keep you my rhymes to hear."
"Just terrible. Hahaha! Please stop," Alvaro waved while walking over to one of the chairs by the side of the court to pick up his racket.
"Are you going to take me on, old man?" His daughter grinned and moved her racket like some kind of imaginary whip while putting her left hand to her thigh.
"Half-court singles for half an hour!" Alvaro smiled. "More reflex training."
"Good," Mariyana said. "I am ready."
Hina saw Ayano lunge forward to drop the shuttle over the net and slide to the left to return Mariyana's drop shot.
The Kitakomachi student hit the shuttle toward the slight space between her opponent and the line on the left side of the taller girl's court.
Mariyana was able to catapult the projectile up with an astoundingly quick backhand shot and managed to arrive on the right side of her court on time to return Ayano's smash.
"I'm suddenly thinking…" Hina heard to her right.
The short tanned brunette turned her eyes on Yõkuro and noticed Yuika's sister fascinated by Connie's back.
"Were you talking to me or to yourself?" She spoke up in a slightly annoyed tone.
The wiry black-bobbed girl next to her raised her head a little before looking at her companion with a slight grin.
"Well…?"
"It's troubling," Yõkuro sighed. "But I'm afraid it's inevitable now."
"What a tease…" Hina groaned. "What is?"
"Well… I was looking forward to having a friendly rivalry with Connie going on next year when my friends and I join Fredericia Girls Badminton Club.
But I just realized with everything that happened and Connie and her sister being friends now… She's probably going to join Kitakomachi next year, isn't she?"
The sudden eureka moment dilated Hina's pupils as if she was at a festival watching the fireworks.
"Nooo… waaay…" The tanned tomboy reacted in slow-motion.
"They're probably going to live together and that is going to happen in Kanagawa where Ayano lives," Yõkuro sighed. "My dreams are shattered and hopelessness befalls me."
"Hang on…" Hina frowned. "But Connie might still commute to Miyagi, no? All her friends are here!"
"Only you next year," Yõkuro replied while raising an eyebrow at the shorter girl.
"Oh, reality? Why must you be so mean?" Hina sighed.
"Didn't know the two of you are so close?" Her companion casually inquired.
"Phuh! Connie is arrogant, headstrong, a crybaby, and she always begs you for your takoyaki when we eat out with the girls from the club.
But she's an asset to the club and she's fun to hang around with when she's not putting on airs."
"Hmm…" Yõkuro grinned. "Took a lot to say that, didn't it?"
"Never mind," Hina pushed the blackette who was leaning into her back a nudge. "Why are you so let down she'll Fredericia Girls?"
Yõkuro leaned back in her seat and rested her arms behind her head while looking wistfully at the ceiling.
"Well… A lot of friends from my middle school club will come to Fredericia Girls. That's fun and I love that we'll be together again next year.
But I was looking forward to making new friends too and having some real competition in the club next year."
"I see…" Hina said.
"And don't tell her this," Her friend whispered while leaning closer. "But I kind of wish Nee-san was a year younger or doubled her year so I had her as a senpai in club."
"Hahaha," Hina chuckled. "That would have been fun, I bet."
"Yeah," Yõkuro smiled while watching Ayano and Mariyana return to their coaches for the interval.
"I'm a little worried, Mother," Connie whispered. "Does Ayano seem to be getting tired to you?"
Uchika watched her daughter talking to Tachibana Kentarou with a tilt of her head.
"It's been about 46 minutes," She said with a look at the hour on her smartphone. "Corrales-san has been trying to draw out the rallies and Ayano was able to keep her from achieving that to an extent, but they still have been playing for a long time.
Ayano also doesn't seem like her heart is in it."
"Corrales-san only has a two-point lead. I don't think we should worry about Ayano's chances," Yuika added while leaning forward in between mother and daughter. "But I do think I can see what you're talking about."
"It would be disappointing for her to have come so far only to lose the final of the tournament," Fuyumi said.
"No. Winning the tournament doesn't matter," Uchika disagreed.
"What?! But Mother!" Connie reacted while Fuyumi turned a shocked expression on her old friend and Yuika looked intrigued by the statement.
"It wouldn't matter if Ayano lost the tournament," The woman repeated while watching her daughter with concern. "What matters is how she would lose."
"It may seem like you're giving her what she wants," Coach Tachibana told Ayano. "But after you have tried to take both of you out of your usual style so far if you start to play defensively now and force more netplay as you have already been doing she will be forced into your element where you feel confident and she will have to adapt how she's been playing."
"Alright. I'll try it out," Ayano nodded while she wiped the sweat from her face and stared at the court.
'I'll try what I can do by playing how I usually play. But I can feel my body getting tired. That match against Chizuko lasted too long. And this match has been no less intense,' The girl thought to herself.
With a sidelong glance, she noticed that Mariyana was listening to her coach while staring at the friends from her club in the bleachers above.
'At least she knows what she's playing for,' Ayano sighed. 'I don't know why I should win. I know I'm fighting for my club. For my friends. I know there are a lot of people here who are cheering for me. Most people in fact seem to be cheering me on. I know Mother and Connie want me to win. And Nagisa and Riko. And Chizuko. And possibly Yuika.
Would Mother be disappointed if I lost?'
Ayano remembered what her opponent said to her on the day they first met:" We want to make our mothers happy."
'Easy for her to say,' The athlete with the short black ponytail reflected gloomily. 'Her mother was always by her side. Her father too. He never stopped training her because he thought it would be better that way. Her parents are still married too, even if what Erena said was true and they had a falling out. And now she made a friend out of Connie whom she knew all that time before I met…'
The source of her annoyance with Mariyana hit Ayano with a violent awkward blush the moment she was called back to the court by the umpire.
With her badminton racket in hand and her eyes on the floor, Ayano slowly made her way to her side of the court.
With some embarrassment, she raised her eyes to her opponent and saw Mariyana standing ready to serve.
'It can't be!' Ayano thought in wonder while Mariyana frowned in waiting for her signal to start. 'Have I just been resenting Corrales-san because I was jealous of her?!'
Realizing that she was about to be penalized, the Kitakomachi student awkwardly nodded at the Bulgarian.
Mariyana opened with a high service, sending Ayano to the back of her court.
Her opponent returned the shuttle with a smash to the Okayama athlete's left and moved to the right to intercept Mariyana's defensive shot.
Ayano lured the taller girl close to the net with a drop shot.
When her opponent lunged forward and hit the shuttle up in a high arc, she stepped back and smashed the projectile to Mariyana's left again.
Mariyana hit the shuttle over the net with a drop shot and lunged forward to return her opponent's drop shot over the right side of her net.
With a wallop, Ayano smashed the shuttle onto the left side of the Bulgarian's court.
Under loud applause, she saw Mariyana grin approvingly at the clever shot.
'Corrales-san has no ill feelings towards me,' Ayano reflected while she prepared to serve. 'It's just my bad luck that my family was broken up and my mother left me for so long. The fact that her family stayed together and her father never left her has nothing to do with me.'
At her opponent's signal that she was ready, Ayano served the shuttle to Mariyana's right with a long clear shot.
The Bulgarian moved to the right and returned the shuttle to the shorter girl's left.
'I can't blame you for my misfortune,' Ayano thought while attempting a drop shot on Mariyana's left side of the net. 'And I can feel myself getting tired while you still seem full of energy…'
Mariyana hurried to the left and whipped the shuttle up in a high arc.
'I can't undo what happened to me and you may have had a less painful life than I had,' Ayano addressed her adversary in thought while stepping back to intercept the shuttle. 'But I can still have just as much fun playing badminton as you do!'
Mariyana chuckled with glee as Ayano's smash came at her.
"I have a present with me for a good girl who properly went to training and cram school while I was away," Uchika smiled warmly at her daughter at the dinner table.
"Really? A present for me?" Ayano asked with wide happy eyes.
Cho and Masashi sat with them at the dinner table with the emptied plates and dishes spread out on the low table.
"I don't think there is any girl so good and well-behaved in this house," The latter chuckled.
"Hmm-hmm," Uchika nodded. "For you."
"Really?" Ayano playfully sang while half-leaning over the table and tilting her face. "A present for me?"
"Hahaha!" Uchika laughed while going to the refrigerator in the corner and pulling out a large box decorated with tiny drawings and a beautiful curling ribbon around it.
"It seems my cute daughter is acting cute today," The woman in the salmon-pink sleeveless shirt and white trousers grinned while she placed the box on the table. "Like saying I got fat in Europe."
"I think Mother got a little bit fat though," Ayano teased while pinching her mother's belly.
"I didn't!" Uchika exclaimed with a good-humored roar.
Cho laughed boisterously as her daughter picked her granddaughter up and lifted her over the table.
Ayano lay giggling in her mother's lap as the woman tickled her.
"You did put on a few pounds, Uchika," Masashi chuckled at the sight.
"Haha. I guess I have no choice but to admit it," Uchika grinned sheepishly. "Danish food is too tasty and too rich for my own good."
"Don't worry, Mother," Ayano smiled. "We'll have those few pounds of fat worked down to tight muscles in no time on the court."
"Yes, we will. I'm looking forward to seeing in what ways your new coach improved your game."
Ayano happily smiled up at her loving mother before crawling into a sitting position next to her.
"But what is in here?" She asked while carefully fondling the cherry-red ribbon around the package on the table.
"You'll find out by opening it," Cho suggested with a swirly motion of her hand.
Ayano peered at the box with a frown.
"It almost looks too pretty to open," She said.
The four of them stared expectantly at the box Ayano was weighing in her hands.
"I can only tell you that what is inside more than outweighs the attraction of the packaging," Uchika promised. "But I suggest you carefully unfold the wrapping paper and take a magnifying glass to it later, because there are some very pretty drawings on it."
"I know! I'll take a picture and send it to Erena," Ayano grinned.
After doing just that, the girl carefully picked loose the pieces of sticky tape that held the decorative paper around the box.
Peeling open the four top corners of the dark-brown box and lifting a covering of golden-painted cardboard Ayano's eyes met with six rows of twelve different chocolates.
"I know it will be hard, but you better be frugal with those," Uchika warned. "But I know it will be hard. That's why I bought a big box."
"They're chocolates!" Ayano exclaimed taking one of the bite-sized bonbons in her mouth and biting on it. "Hmmm…!"
"Hahaha!" Uchika laughed. "Instant addiction."
"These are so good!" Ayano smiled while holding the box under the noses of her grandparents. "Grandma, Grandpa! Try them."
"I found these in a sweet shop located in a comic-book museum I visited with my discovery in Brussels," Uchika stated with some pride. "After enjoying them in our hotel room I went back on the last day of our visit to order this box. I knew Ayano would love these."
Cho and Masashi shared a look while enjoying their chocolates.
"Your discovery…" The latter said. "You've been going to Europe pretty often for quite a few years now. You told us you've been training people there, but you never elaborated much about whom exactly you have been training."
Uchika heaved a controlled sigh and adjusted her sitting position.
"I know I've been a little too secretive about this perhaps," She said. "But I wanted her to be a surprise for Ayano."
"Her?" Ayano frowned at her Mother with a full mouth.
"Héhé," Uchika grinned.
The woman took her smartphone in hand and showed Ayano a picture of a pretty girl standing next to a cottage-style house who smiled and waved at her.
"This is Christensen Connie," Uchika said. "I discovered her by accident in a small badminton club near Copenhagen. She lives with her Grandfather in that house. I stay with them there when I come to visit."
"She very pretty," Ayano observed.
Then she looked at the girl's arms and bare legs.
"Is she good?" The blackette asked.
"Héhé. Wouldn't you like to know?" Uchika smirked.
"Yes. I would."
Mother and daughter smiled at each other.
Uchika fondly caressed Ayano's head.
"I'm sure if you both keep improving the two of you will have a great match together in a few years' time."
Then she started to gather the empty dishes on the table.
"For now let's put your box of chocolates back into the refrigerator and wash the dishes together."
Ayano smiled in anticipation of meeting the girl her mother was training in Denmark as she folded her present up again.
Her grandparents helped Uchika gather the plates and dishes as the four of them got up.
The girl looked forward to a tough practice match with her mother. She was surely going to meet with a lot of talented opponents this year, starting with Serigaya Kaoruko. The Prefectural tournament was going to be a blast!
"What a thrilling match that was!" Mami gushed as her viewers saw her co-commentator Hanabi standing in between Mariyana and Ayano on the raised platform a few meters next to the court the two athletes just finished the women's final on. "I really thought it could still go either way up until the last minutes.
One thing's for sure though: Okayama's Corrales-san and Kitakomachi's Hanesaki-san had a great tournament and kept showing us their extreme talent up until the final rally. Which is why we are still waiting for the applause to die down so that Yoshida-san can start to interview them.
In about fifteen minutes we will have the men's final to feast our eyes on, in which Okayama brings forth another strong contender, Takeda Shingo, who will face Fukui City's Ichida Hyousuke. An exciting newcomer against the young man who has been leading the men's youth competition for several years now.
But I believe we can now go to the tournament hall where Yoshida-san is ready to start her interview."
With a broad smile, Hanabi stood with Mariyana to her right and Ayano to her left.
Both young athletes stood beside the young woman with the short black ponytail seeming content and tired.
"Thank you, Kashiwazaki-san," Hanabi - dressed in a pair of black linen trousers and a classy deep wine-red shirt - said while looking straight at the camera.
"A match fought as close as they come," The young woman introduced her interviewees. "And just when it seemed we were in for a third game after Hanesaki-san made up for the deficit she suffered around the interval and took the lead Corrales-san was able to outmaneuver her aggressive and fast-paced opponent.
22 - 24 and 19 - 21. Like I said before: A final worthy of the amazing tournament this has been for our female single players."
Ayano faced Chizuko's classmate as she held the microphone to her face.
"You dethroned a Queen - a Goddess some say - today, Hanesaki-san. Is it disappointing to lose the final after that?"
Ayano watched Mariyana's blank expression.
"I can't say it wouldn't have been nice to win the tournament. But it was fun having the final match against Corrales-san," She smiled before continuing in a mock-fierce tone: "Even though she stole the match I wanted to have against my sister."
Laughter filled the tournament hall at the quip before Hanabi turned to Mariyana.
"Do you feel sorry about what you did?" She asked the taller girl with a grin.
"I very humbly beg forgiveness. But the two of you can have that match whenever you want since you'll be sisters, right? I probably won't get a chance to compete against either of you for a while and it was really awesome!"
Another peal of laughter rose up at Mariyana's typical honest flippancy, which made Ayano chuckle just as heartily.
"And I'm glad Christensen-san and I became friends after all," Mariyana continued. "I would have loved it if Hanesaki-san had made that drop shot and was able to get level and overtake me, but I made a promise to someone, so I had to give it my all. You were really awesome, Hanesaki-san. Thank you again for an amazing final match."
"Thank you too," Ayano laughed when she saw the taller girl bow for her. "I was a little out of sorts during the first game, but I am glad I was able to give it my all in the second game. I'm sorry I couldn't win for my friends, but I promise to win the final next year for Kitakomachi High."
"Speaking of next year, what are your plans after this?" Hanabi asked while still facing Ayano. "I don't mean next year specifically. Maybe you can tell us what other tournaments you are planning to compete in later this year and beyond?"
Ayano was facing the upper-balcony seats where her friends from Kitakomachi were sitting. She could see Nagisa and Riko watching her. Yuu and Yukiteru were waving. Gaku and his sister were watching and giving her a thumbs up.
But she had her back to her mother and sister and she rather wanted to see their faces when she said the following.
"My plans, for now, are to have a relaxing shower and watch the remainder of the men's final with my friends," Ayano said. "And after that… I feel like I owe my mother and my sister a crepe. So I would like to go to a crepe shop nearby to treat them."
"That sounds like a plan," Hanabi smiled.
"As far as tournaments go… I'll have to check with my mother, but I'd like to compete in the India Junior International Grand Prix which Yamamoto-san wants to take me to. And I'd love to participate in the Korea Junior International Challenge."
"Something to look forward to. I hope Yamamoto-san can get me a vivid account of the Indian Grand Prix if you join her.
And what about you, Corrales-san?" Hanabi continued after a sly grin. "I hope we haven't seen the last of you in our country or in general."
"Ah… I don't know about that," Mariyana sadly smiled. "I will of course finish my year at Okayama. But I'd love to come back to this beautiful country.
I made some good friends here and there is someone in particular whom I love to see more of. Well… That may not be possible.
But I am certainly going to compete in the All Japan Junior Grand Prix this year! Maybe I can have a match against Shinoda-san or Yamamoto-san there! Other than that I can't reveal any plans yet. But I want to play lots of tournaments next year, whether here or in Europe."
Having concluded their interview both girls finally walked to the dressing rooms to shower, talking things over along the way, Mariyana and Ayano managed to get on friendly terms by the time they got to the closest door where Ayano moved toward first.
"I hope you and Connie can play the final at the All Japan Grand Prix," Mariyana said. "I'd like to see it myself. But I'm also really crossing my fingers for a match against Yamamoto-san there."
"Thank you," Ayano smiled. "I hope Connie and I get to have a match together at the Indian Grand Prix before that though. "I want to play her at her best in a tournament."
"She's really cool, huh? I love how cunning she is. She can really send you on the wrong path with her range of deceptive shots."
"Yep. Connie's got a lot of those," Ayano laughed. "But I'm ready for them."
"Well, I'm going to undress in the next room then," Her companion sighed while pulling on her T-shirt. "Things are starting to get smelly and I want to get into something fresh. See you in a few minutes."
Ayano waved back at the Bulgarian as the taller girl walked up to the next door and opened it. Then, the Kitakomachi student pulled down the handle of the door behind her.
As Mariyana flicked on the light in her dressing room Ayano was startled by the sight of someone sitting on the bench by the far wall.
"Hello Ayano," Uchika smiled at her daughter. "Sorry for frightening you."
"Mother…! Why were you sitting in the dark here?" Ayano whined as she put her sports bag down on the bench lining the long wall to her left.
"I wasn't sitting in the dark," Her mother protested. "The light went out and then on again.
Anyway… I wanted to see my beautiful talented daughter after she played the final of the All-Japan Inter-High Tournament."
"I lost though," Ayano said while she unzipped her bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "I wanted to win. For my friends. For Connie. For Nagisa and Erena. For Yuu and Sora. For Sensei… some perverse side of me even wanted to win to show you were a better trainer than Corrales-san's father.
Funny how a competitive streak can make you feel."
Uchika watched her daughter drink after she spoke those last lines in a blasé tone.
She couldn't say the words didn't sting just a little. But she could tell Ayano was only teasing her.
"I just wasn't fit enough after my match against Chizuko. And Corrales-san was just too good. I don't feel bad having lost to her. She's really good."
"I'm glad you can say that," Uchika smiled before looking at her joined hands with a guilty frown.
Ayano put her bottle of water aside and started to pull her change of clothes from her sports bag. Then a pair of towels. And then a plastic bag that contained her shower gel and shampoo.
"Hey Ayano," Uchika called her attention.
The Kitakomachi student turned her eyes on her mother as she released her shoulder-length black hair from the white handkerchief that kept it together.
"What do you think of your first major tournament?" Uchika smiled. "Looking back on it now, how did you feel measuring yourself against all of those highly talented and highly motivated first-class athletes? How did it feel to try and keep up with that superhuman body of Yamamoto Chizuko? How did it feel to be on your toes every single second so that Shiwahime Yuika didn't overwhelm you with her techniques and her cunning? How did it feel to take on Corrales Mariyana many of whose strengths correspond with yours but whose style is the opposite of yours?"
A sparkling feeling made Ayano smile and she found it hard to look her mother in the eyes for a moment.
"It… It was really cool," She grinned. "At first I was making my way through the preliminaries, making sure I didn't let anyone catch me by surprise. But really, most of those girls weren't much of a challenge to me. But Yuika was so intense. I felt constant pressure from her.
It was as if I had been leisurely lifting 5-kilo weights but then all of a sudden I was doing some really heavy lifting.
It was so hard to try and outsmart her. Trying not to let her outsmart me. But it was so exhilarating. So awesome to have someone of her talent make it really hard for me.
And when I finally won I felt like I was drunk… Or at least that's what I think being drunk will feel like."
Uchika tilted her head and turned her left eye up at the ceiling as her daughter gushed.
"Hmmm… It kind of does," She smiled. "But what you experienced feels much better than being drunk."
"Chizuko was different. She was actually kind of frightening at first.
I wasn't completely holding back before the first interval. It was scary to see how fast she can move.
I studied how she moved in her matches against other girls, but to be up against her myself it took something out of me to realize that I could only throw myself into her rhythm and try to keep up.
It was like jumping into a rushing stream and fighting to stay afloat."
"I can imagine," Uchika smiled while leaning against the wall behind her with her arms folded. "But I knew you could do it. I knew that if your coaches had built your stamina up high enough you would be able to beat Yamamoto-san. From the moment she started to dominate youth badminton I knew I wanted you to be able to compete with her and feel the rush of measuring yourself against someone who is so incredibly adept at the sport."
Ayano quietly regarded her mother.
"I made some terrible decisions, my dear beloved girl," Uchika said. "I disappointed myself and you several times. I hurt you… I didn't realize how much at first. Which is in itself something I am deeply ashamed and saddened about.
And I did it all for this."
Ayano blinked at her mother as the woman paused in her speech. She had begun to understand her mother's reasoning behind her actions through a newfound insight into the flaws that - mingled with her intimidating qualities - made up the woman who was Shindou Uchika.
Hearing Uchika explaining herself confirmed a lot of the things the young woman had surmised during the past few days.
"I won't claim that becoming a top athlete is worth the pain I caused you. It is always a tough life. A life of sacrifices and struggle.
But if I can succeed in somehow healing you with the love I very much feel for you, my wonderful girl, I hope that if you do decide to walk the path I once envisioned for you, it will bring you the satisfaction I wanted you to feel at the exertion of your incredible talent against athletes of similar talent."
Ayano turned her eyes to the floor. Not out of awkwardness, but because she wanted to organize her thoughts and feelings.
"I meant what I said before," She started. "I can't forgive you for leaving me yet. You say you want to heal my wounds… I hope you won't take that intention lightly, because I will need a lot of that love."
Uchika felt a thud of determination in her heart when her daughter fixed a pair of intense eyes on her.
"But in spite of the past two years, I do have two things that I am grateful to you for, Mother:
Thank you for bringing me up in this world of badminton when initially you didn't intend for me to follow in your footsteps.
These past days have been amazing and I can't imagine most people get to feel what I have felt or what I have been able to do with my body and my brain.
And thank you for training Connie and bringing her to Japan for adoption. I think we'll both be very happy to have each other as sisters."
Uchika stared at her daughter in disbelief at Ayano's last words.
"Ayano…" She slowly spoke. "Does that mean…?"
"I want you to fix my heart which you broke, Mother," Ayano smiled sadly. "So yes, of course, I want the two of you to move in with us."
Uchika wanted to control herself, but she still jumped up to pull her daughter close.
"Mother…!" Ayano whined while blushing awkwardly but happily in her mother's embrace. "I'm sweaty and sticky!"
"My darling Ayano," Uchika said, hugging Ayano's cheek to hers while a tear rolled down her other cheek. "I'm so happy that you're giving me this chance.
Thank you, my girl. I promise like I did before: I won't leave you to yourself as I did ever again. Any trip overseas will be with both of you from now on."
Ayano put her arms carefully around her mother while she enjoyed the warmth of the hug.
"Does that mean Connie and I can go to the Indian Junior International Grand Prix with Chizuko and Nakamura-san?" She asked with a sly smile.
Uchika opened her eyes, frowned, and grinned at the question.
"If you keep up the good work at school and in training I'll take you both there and treat you to dosas and murgh makhani if you make it to the quarter-finals," She smiled.
Sometime later the first to leave the dressing rooms was Mariyana.
The Bulgarian had been relieved to find Ayano wasn't so abrasive to her anymore and she was happily surprised to find Uchika with her daughter when she opened the door to the shared showers.
The three of them had a nice time talking and laughing while Mariyana and Ayano showered.
Thinking of a joke Ayano told earlier, the tall girl with the long wavy black hair stepped into the hallway wearing the white-and-violet training suit from her club.
She was shocked to find Mashiro waiting in the hallway for her.
"Ah…!" The blonde tomboy in the white-and-green training suit reacted first. "Hello."
"Haha. Hello," Mariyana awkwardly replied. Not understanding why the girl she had adored from afar for most of the tournament was now right in front of her for no apparent reason.
"So… Congratulations on your victory," Mashiro said while fixing her eyes on Mariyana's left shoulder. "It was a great match. Hardfought too.
You were both exciting to watch.".
"Thank you. Ayano is a tough athlete. She's not really my preferred kind of opponent though. I like being up against more offensive players like Yamamoto-san or you, or Christensen-san. But it was a fun match. I…"
"What exactly was that sign you made after the first interval?" Mashiro interrupted in a rather tense tone while a slight blush spread over her cheeks.
"Ah? Erm… I just meant to say that I was going to win the match for you," Mariyana chuckled while rubbing the back of her head. "I was going: I. V-sign. Four. You."
"In front of everyone?" Mashiro stated with some annoyance.
"Hahaha…" The girl in front of her laughed nervously. "Diiid you not like that?"
"You know? I don't get you!" Mashiro complained. "You say a lot of strange things to me. Then you beat me in that mean and underhanded way. But after that, you scold me for wasting my time on people who don't care about me and you do stuff like dedicating your match to me or something…
Those were my parents you were talking about, weren't they? And then you assaulted my sister-in-law just when she was bullying me as usual. Why?
Why did you do those things? Why are you mocking me one moment while you seem to care about me the next?"
Baffled by her beloved's honest inquiry, Mariyana felt she might as well tell the truth.
Uncharacteristically demure and with a nervous blush the Bulgarian replied while curling her hair with her left forefinger:
"Ah… Well, it's because Mashiro is cute."
Mashiro's face became bright red as she finally found herself able to place Mariyana's actions in the correct context.
"... I also really like how important your friends are to you and I love how passionate you are about badminton," Mariyana continued with an enamored smile and in an increasingly boisterous voice. "You put everything you got into both. That's so sexy. And I love how proud you are and your voice is so cute…"
"Alright! Enough!" Mashiro exclaimed while folding her arms and casting her gaze down as if she'd like to bury her face in her shirt.
"Thank you…" The blonde blushed. "I… I think you are really handsome too… And kind… Thank you for trying to protect me."
Staring at Mashiro who was struggling to regain her composure, Mariyana's lips curled up into a bright cheesy smile as she realized her feelings might be answered.
"Ahem… So…Let's go to and Chizuko and your friends to watch the men's final," Mashiro awkwardly suggested while extending her arm. "It seems to be a tight match between Ichida-san and Takeda-san. You and your friends performed great for Okayama Prefectural High School. I bet they'd like to see you return to them next year."
Mariyana watched how the blonde turned around to face the hallway exit, Mashiro's arm still invitingly extended by her left side.
"Alright!" Mariyana exclaimed while startling the blonde tomboy by glomping her from behind. "It's my first date with my cool and gorgeous Mashiro!"
With Mariyana's arms wrapped around a deeply affected Mashiro and her head resting on the blonde tomboy's left shoulder, the two girls started their walk through the hallway towards the main hallway on the basement floor.
"You are right! My victory will help me get permission to study at Okayama next year too. Maybe when dad makes a reputation for himself as a trainer he can get a job here in Japan. The two of us can share a place when we go to university together. And after we find jobs we can get…"
"Hey! Stop getting ahead of yourself!" An overwhelmed Mashiro protested while wrestling to extract herself. "You're heavy, so let go already!"
With undaunted happiness, Mariyana released the blonde from her embrace and linked arms with her instead.
"We are going to look so beautiful in wedding dresses," Mariyana teased her beloved, who blushed from happiness and embarrassment, as they walked through the double doors at the end of the hallway.
The blonde tomboy heaved a deep sigh. But when she looked up and found Mariyana gazing down at her with a peculiar look in her eyes she felt her entire body warming up and a strange calm soothing her mind.
Mariyana lowered her lower arm over Mashiro's until her right hand gently held the blonde's left one.
Then she moved closer to the shorter young woman and kissed her while caressing Mashiro's right ear and cheek with her left hand.
A short but passionate kiss later, Mashiro saw the Bulgarian smile with pure bliss.
"Geez! There's just no limit to you!" The perplexed blonde whined as her lover turned the corner and pulled her along.
Seeing the coast was clear, Benjiro carefully walked out of the dressing room closest to the double doors on the right side where he had used the toilet with a contented smile, feeling happy for Mashiro.
"Hihihi. I embarrassed my cute Mashiro. Auw! Hahaha!" Mariyana exclaimed after Mashiro pinched her in the arm.
"Don't start kissing me out of the blue in public!"
"But there's nobody here," Mariyana laughed. "Auw! Hihihihi!"
"And stop addressing me with my first name! You're acting as if we are already dating! We are not!"
"But we are dating!" The Bulgarian just laughed again while her girlfriend heaved another nervously happy sigh on their way up the stairs to the ground floor.
Several hours later, after the exciting second game of the men's final and a rowdy party she happily escaped from to have an amusing video chat with Alvaro Corrales and his wife via Mariyana's cellphone, Uchika flicked off the television set in the living room of the lounge she had spent the week in with Connie.
With a deep sigh, the woman rested her right hand on the little glass table beside the comfy white fauteuil she was sitting in.
The knuckles of her fingers touched the glass of lemon sour on the table.
Uchika lifted the glass and brought it to her lips, letting the sparkling liquid moisten her throat.
A thought struck her and she lifted her cellphone from the same table, pressing a speed dial button on the screen.
It took a while, but he accepted the call at last.
"Hello. What are you calling for? You told me all about Ayano's match already," Shintarou Hanesaki asked his ex-wife.
"Hello Shintarou," Uchika said. "I just felt like having a talk after the party. I hope It's not inconvenient?"
Shintarou was taken aback a little by the unusual nature of the call. But he could tell from the sound of her voice that Uchika was slightly drunk.
"No," He said. "I just had a small celebration with my colleagues about the deal we struck here.
It's been quite exhilarating what we accomplished. Much as Ayano's and Connie's feats. Finals and semi-finals. They sure are a couple of impressive girls."
"Yeah. They are," Uchika smiled fondly with her cellphone close to her ear.
"They're still at the party?" Her ex-husband asked. "Where are you now?"
"Oh no. We are the hotel. The girls are talking in the bedroom. Hahaha. They went pretty wild at the party. Connie is a party animal. I wasn't quite ready for that. Hahaha."
"Hahaha. Oh really?"
"Yes. She and Ayano were dancing and cheering together with Corrales-san and Erena mostly. But Aragaki-san joined in at times and those boys from Okayama and Saeko and Chikage. And Shinoda-san and a girl from Germany I think, whom Corrales-san kept dragging from their seats. They had a lot of fun."
"They must be pretty tired now," Shintarou deduced. "I remember those parties could get pretty wild back in the days."
Uchika was silent for a few seconds, wondering if she should say it. But she felt like bragging just a little bit.
"I had a video chat with a fan during the party," She smiled.
"A fan?"
"Corrales-san's father. Apparently, he knew I would make it big from my first international on. He was kind of funny. He kept wanting to talk about matches I barely remember. He's a really nice man. His wife is nice too."
"I see," Shintarou commented. "So you had fun too?"
"Yes," Uchika chuckled. "Although it was fun just watching the girls laugh while talking to Fuyumi again. But I really feel tired now. I must really be getting old."
Shintarou snorted amusedly while his ex stretched.
"What you mean is you're finally becoming human. Get used to it."
"Hahaha," Uchika giggled. "What do you mean? Am I going to have to lie down after dinner too now?"
"It helps digestion," Shintarou protested. "I'll keep recommending it to you. But I know you'll just keep laughing at me."
"Hahaha. Well, I'm finally going to lie down too now, Shintarou. Thank you for listening to me."
"That's alright. I'm glad Ayano is willing to live with you and Connie now. That's a great relief to me."
"Yes. To me too," Uchika sighed.
"Alright then. See you later, Uchika. Tell Ayano I love her and… Well… Just tell them both I look forward to seeing them next week."
"I will. See you then, Shintarou."
Switching her phone off, Uchika drank the last of her lemon sour and got up.
She got a bottle of sparkling water out of the fridge in the corner and took her rolled-up futon from beside the door to the bedroom under her arm.
The woman slowly opened the door to the bedroom, not knowing whether her daughters would still be awake.
Uchika was met by the cute sight of Ayano and Connie lying asleep on the double bed facing each other.
She stood completely still for a moment, taking in the peaceful image, and smiled.
Then she rolled her futon out and undressed down to her underwear, taking a blanket from a cupboard against the left wall before extinguishing the light in the living room and closing the door.