"Now, Momozono Miki with the uneven bar!" the announcer announced. He then recited some script about Miki's winning history which had been said in each and every competition where Miki took part.
Miki concentrated. She ran, she jumped, and she twirled. So far so good. Now the landing. The thing she feared most. She let go of the uneven bar, did a double salto, and landed on her two feet, or so she thought. She put too much weight on her weak ankle, she collapsed to the mattress. Tears rolled down her eyes. Not because she fell, she fell all the time, but because she had let her fans, her trainer, and herself down. Plus, her left ankle hurts badly. Mr. Tanaka quickly ran towards her and helped her up. She sat on the bench trying to wipe her tears while Mr. Tanaka helped massaging her hurt ankle. Soon her score was announced. It was 8.0. The lowest she ever got.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tanaka," Miki said regretfully.
"It's okay, dear. You've done your best," Mr. Tanaka said, although deep down he was very disappointed.
Next up was Michiko. She scored 9.8, the highest so far.
"At least one of your gymnasts will certainly qualify, Mr Tanaka," Miki said weakly.
"It would not be the same without you," Mr Tanaka said. He then left to congratulate Michiko.
Miki smiled weakly. She was happy for Michiko although disappointed in herself. Miki tried to stand up. She hopped on her right foot, put on her biggest smile and congratulated Michiko.
"Thanks, is your ankle okay?" Michiko asked.
"It's fine," Miki said. "But I think I'll pass the next round."
"What? You're not going to compete?" Michiko asked.
Miki shook her head.
"Are you sure, Miki?" Mr. Tanaka asked.
She nodded firmly. "I don't think I can do much in this condition. I'm gonna go change."
"Let me help you," Mr. Tanaka said.
"No, Michiko needs you. I'll be fine," Miki said and hopped away.
Soon the announcer announced that Miki pulled out from the competition. He told the audience to cheer for Miki for all her contribution to the world of gymnastic for the past five years. The camera was on her. She smiled and waved. She then disappeared behind the curtain that separated the competition area and the change area.
After putting her favourite pink jumper and white training pants, she washed her face, combed her hair, and headed to the first aid room. She needed to do something to her hurt ankle. As she hopped along, a gentleman approached her.
"That was a bad fall you had," a voice said.
Miki looked up. She blinked several times. She saw a very familiar face. She couldn't believe who it was. She rubbed her eyes, she thought the pain made her imagine things. "Are you who I think you are?"
The gentleman smiled. "Who do you think I am, Momozono Miki?" He winked at her.
"Akama!" Miki almost screamed. "It's you! Why are you here?"
"To watch you," Akama replied. "Wasn't your best performance apparently."
Miki sighed. "Yeah. I guess my time is up."
"What do you mean?" Akama asked.
"It's time to retire. I'm getting too old for this sport," she said.
"Oh come on! You're still very young," Akama said.
"Not for gymnastic, no" she said. "Anyway, enough about me. How are you? It's been so long. I'm heading to the first aid, why don't you come with me." Miki started hopping again.
"You look like a rabbit hopping like that. Let me help you," Akama said. He grabbed Miki and carried her before she could say anything.
"Whoa, still as strong as ever," Miki laughed.
"Well, you're still as tiny as ever," he teased. 'And still as beautiful', he added in his heart.
"So, tell me, how have you been?" Miki asked.
"I've been climbing Mt Everest."
"I knew you would do it."
"You knew?"
"Oh come on, it's all you ever talked about," Miki teased.
"Haha, really?"
"Hey, thanks for coming down here," Miki said. "It's nice to see a familiar face after such a nasty fall."
Akama smiled. "Anytime."
"You can put me down now, we're here," Miki said when they reached the first aid room.
Gently Akama put Miki down. "What do you need? Let me get it for you."
"I just need a bandage. To prevent my ankle from swelling bad."
Akama grabbed a bandage and handed to her. Miki sat on a chair and started bandaging her left ankle.
"Have you been in touch with the others?" Akama asked.
Miki shook her head. "No, I guess I've been too busy with gymnastic. I received letters from Akane once in a while, though."
"Really? That's great. You know that girl is your number one admirer."
"Yeah, she's really sweet. What about you? Any contact with anyone?"
"Nope, I lost touch with everyone. A little hard to communicate when you're on top of the mountain, you know."
"True," Miki laughed. "What brought you here?"
"I'm taking a break, so I thought I'd go to Tokyo and see how everyone doing. But I don't know where everyone is now. I saw the advertisement of this competition on TV so I thought I come to see my favourite girl."
"Your favourite girl?" Miki asked sceptically.
"Well, you were the only girl," Akama explained.
Miki laughed. "That's more like it."