Chapter 13

Archery Skills

"Ahhhh, I don't get it!" Honoka drops the bow in frustration, seeing how Umi shot bulls eyes every time. "How do you even do this!?"

"Honoka, you missed like 3 times," Umi says. "I know it can be difficult, but you don't have to throw a tantrum about it."

"I know, but still…" Honoka groans. "I thought archery would be super easy, but actually doing it…ohhh, maaan!"

Earlier, Honoka wanted to try out on archery when no one is around, so Umi promised her after club practice, she can teach her. But so far, all the effort she tried putting into is pretty much futile right now. She can't even land a single hit on the target. She's pretty devastated right now, but Umi knows that a girl like her would not give up so easily. She has seen her time and time again how determined she is when trying to save the school from shutting down, so Honoka's not THAT weak.

"Honoka," she says as she puts a hand on the ginger's shoulder. "Let me show you one more time. Watch closely, okay?"

Honoka brightens and nods. She stands up and Umi readies her bow. Baby blue eyes focus on the bluenette and how she positions herself, plus her correct posture. She pulls back the bow with her arrow, pauses for a few seconds, eyes focusing on the target and lets it loose. The arrow goes as fast as the speed of light and hits a bulls eye once again. Honoka applauds.

"Now it's your turn," Umi says.

"Okay!" The ginger pumps both fists and turns toward the target. She readies her bow and pulls back the arrow. However, her aim is a little bit off, as far as Umi can tell. She decides to help her a little bit. Coming behind her, she puts one hand on the ginger's, and the other on her shoulder to help her take good aim.

"Like this…okay?" she says softly.

"M-Mmm~!" Honoka nods. "Thanks, Umi-chan!" She focuses on the target as hard as she can. She pulls back the arrow just a bit more and then releases it. The arrow quickly hits the mark and fortunately, hits a bulls eye. Honoka's baby blue eyes widen in surprise, followed by a happy gasp and then jumps up and down. "I did it! I did it~!"

"I knew you could do it, Honoka," Umi says, smiling.

The ginger jumps and hugs the shy girl. "Thank you, Umi-chan~! You're the best teacher~!"

"T-teacher…might be too strong of a word…" Umi stutters.

"Aw, come on~! You went through the trouble of teaching me archery, so you're a good sensei to me~"

The shy girl blushes heavily and turns her head away. "Just making sure that once you handle something like this…you'll be good…as me someday…"

This makes Honoka squeal and hug her tightly. "Awwww, Umi-chaaaaan~! You're truly the best girlfriend in the world~!"

"H-Honoka! Get off me!"

"I don't wanna~! You were so cute when you said that to me~! That means a lot~!"

"Stop…stop being S-SO SH-SHAMLESS, HONOKAAAAA!"