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Love is a Battlefield
~Pairing: WMatsui~
~Part 3~
Silence before the Storm
-
On weekends the young boyish Matsui received a message from her friend to go out again to Shibuya. She dressed up in her favorite indigo jeans and red Scott t-shirt while glancing at the clock every now and then. Of course she didn’t want to be late again since this friend would always be on time…or actually being there early. She can’t predict or expect what could or would happen today at all. Her friend is already unpredictable enough.
“You’re early this time~”
Jurina heard that familiar voice and turned around seeing that tall raven-haired girl with her signature friendly smile. It made the Matsui girl shivered slightly from that creepy grin. That tall girl was wearing her casual clothing comparing to the first time they came out for hangout. She was in her plain long jeans and simple cute shirt. Also, she let her hair down so it could drift through the winds freely without restrain.
“Having an appointment with a kendo player means you need to be here before time…I got it right?”
“Hehe, yep. You won this time!”
Yuki smiled energetically as she seemed to be enjoying what she was doing. Obviously she did find pleasure in teasing and bullying Jurina by using the secret she held in her hands…and made use of it really well. The tall raven-haired girl came to her side and wrapped her arms around her without saying anything. Despite her suddenly approach, it seems Jurina is used to this already.
“Shall we go?”
“Where do you want to go?”
“How about the café? I haven’t eaten anything yet.”
“Sure.”
Both of them went to the café as Yuki requested so she could have her brunch. They were spending their time again at Shibuya as Kashiwagi demanded, and Jurina didn’t have a choice but to obey it. The young Matsui ordered a drink while Yuki ordered her meal of the day. As they were waiting, Yuki seemed to be staring at Jurina and made her feel slightly awkward.
“W-What is it?”
“Nothing~ get used to it, since I’m making you going out with me for the time being until the intense training is done for good. I need some accompany during my free time.”
“…And you picked me?”
“Why not? You are Rena-chan’s best friend.”
Yuki had that unreadable smile again and Jurina didn’t know how to deal with her friend at all. She sighed softly again and didn’t realize that Kashiwagi was actually staring back at her with such a straight face. In that midst of silence, Jurina just sat there in silence without saying a word too and just waited until Yuki would make some sort of move first. Then suddenly she smiled out with relief before looking out of the glass wall and just stared at the people passing by.
“We never hangout just between the two of us before, didn’t we? Both of us would be brought together when there’s Rena-chan around.”
“Now that you mentioned it…that’s true.”
“I’m glad I’m able to spend some private time with you. I actually do enjoy your accompany!”
Jurina was slightly surprised with how calm and friendly Yuki was speaking right now. Usually she could feel some tinge of sadist in her voice but not this time. She seemed to be honest with what she was saying and it made her realized that Yuki was just creating such an opportunity like this so they could be spending some valuable time together to enhance their friendship. They might be able to discuss some things that they wouldn’t want Rena to know…and obviously Jurina had that secret too. Despite the food they order arrived, Yuki went straight to the point to what she wanted to talk to Jurina.
“Can I see your hand? Your left hand.”
“E-Eh?”
“Let me see.”
“…Okay.”
Jurina gave her left hand to Yuki and the raven-haired girl rubbed her thumb across her palm as if she was trying to feel something. She nodded her head without uttering a single word and Jurina obviously knew what thoughts were running in Yuki’s mind. Few seconds later she pulled her hand away after she clarified her doubts.
“Why did you hide this from Rena-chan? You have a reason to do so?”
“…I would tell her if I could tell. I really have a reason I can’t tell.”
“Is it really something that could affect the stability of her mental state?”
“H-Huh?”
“The secret you’re hiding. If Rena-chan knows, will it affect her mental stability for training and the competition?”
“…I would say, yes.”
Jurina remained in silence but Yuki didn’t say anything further. She leaned back against her chair and had a soft sigh before she decided to put down that matter to the side for the time being. As the team captain, she didn’t want any matters to affect her team member’s metal stability because it would have an impact on their judgments and performances during competition.
“…Very well then, I guess Rena-chan can know this later.”
It was too easy for Jurina to even believe that Yuki just dropped this matter as if it was nothing. She blinked with surprise and couldn’t help but to ask back to the team captain about her thoughts.
“T-That’s quite surprising for you to…drop the matter down so easy?”
“I’m the team captain you know? I need to prioritize my team members before my own selfish curiosity.”
“Hehe, I think I like this ‘team captain’ side of yours.”
“Don’t try me, Jurina!”
“O-Oops sorry!”
Both of them looked at each other and let out a smile of relief. Jurina had felt more relaxed being around her and they began to exchange more words with each other on many private matters that Jurina couldn’t possibly share with Rena. The raven-haired captain listened quietly and nodded with a sweet calm smile. Their conversation kept on going and they were actually discussing about their own future career that they were aiming for after they graduated. Jurina wanted to become a writer, a fictional writer.
“That’s quite some interesting hobby you have. Writing stories are not as easy as people say, as it requires so much creativity. I admire that strength of yours.”
“Wow…you’re the first one to say that to me. Everyone that I told this always look down on it.”
“I guess it’s created from nothing. It’s hard for people to accept things that are created from a place they can’t understand or see.”
“…Yukirin, you should go be a counselor or psychologist or something! You sound pretty darn wise over there.”
“Haha! Surprisingly…that’s close to what I actually aim to be~”
Yuki talked about her future goal to become a psychiatrist. Partially because her father was also a psychiatrist and he’s running his own clinic. She’s actually interested in the concept of psychology. Her passion seems to be running in her genes. She did a lot of studies on her own time as well as things she learned at school. However, Jurina wasn’t able to see through that side of hers since she’s always quiet and hide behind her friendly smile. It seems today she had a chance to see a new side of Kashiwagi and it made her happy that she’s willingly to share her thoughts, ideas, and goal with her. They spent most of the time in the café and talking about many things together. It seemed Jurina was able to consult Yuki with several things she have in mind and was able to get the answer she wanted too.
“Damn, you should be my private counselor.”
“Take me out and buy me a meal, then I’m at your service for the day.”
“Haha! That’s a great deal. I’ll take that~”
“I’m glad to help you out Jurina~”
Both of them chuckled softly and it seemed they enjoyed each other’s accompany for the day. Jurina felt that coming out with Yuki isn’t as bad as she thought it would be. At first she believed she would be bullied and become her slave by using her secret, but they ended up spending time together chatting about many things that they seem to have in common. After they felt that they had stayed outside long enough, they decided to go back home and separated at the train station.
“I’ll see you at school on Monday, good luck with training.”
“Thanks, and I’m happy for you that the stress is gone from your face.”
“…Huh?”
“You looked really stressed out these past few days as if you have some dilemma in your mind, but now its gone. I guess you found your way and answer.”
Yuki just read through her completely and that amazed Jurina. However the sadist persistent captain didn’t push any further with her personal matter and just have that friendly smile across her face. The young Matsui only nodded softly and thanked Yuki back for concern. She seemed to underestimate Kashiwagi’s observant skills.
“Thanks Yukirin, it’s all thanks to Mayu for giving me some help.”
“Mayu? I see. I’m glad she can help you out.”
“You two are good friends, are you?”
“You can say something like that, we knew each other for quite a long while.”
“Oh~ Ah, I guess I have to get going now.”
“I’ll see you later Jurina, I enjoyed our talk today!”
“Me too! Let’s do it more again sometimes?”
“Sure~”
Jurina get on the train and headed back to her home. She checked her cellphone and she had received a message from Rena. The young raven-haired friend was busy with helping her parents doing the shopping and was sent pictures of cute little things that Jurina would like. The shorthaired Matsui couldn’t help but to smile with contentment while thinking about her love, but then she was interrupted by a call from her old friend. She sighed softly before she picked it up since she knew what her friend was calling her for.
“Hey, what’s up?”
[Hey I just want to let you know I sent you the information you needed to know through the email. If there’s anything you want to know more just let me know okay?]“Yeah, I’ll check it out when I arrive back home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
[Yeah! Do you need a pick up?]“I believe I will, I’ll send you the details tonight.”
[No problem.]Jurina had another soft sigh before she started moving on with getting back home before her parents would scold her. She had many things to do and to starting tomorrow. She still feel bad that she didn’t tell Rena or her friends about what she was doing…but she didn’t how to tell without giving burdens to her. She’s horrible with conveying her thoughts into words properly to Rena without making things end badly. Sooner or later Rena would know what’s Jurina hiding from her, but Mayu’s advice made her felt relief with the decision she made. Even though her young Watanabe friend said she did nothing wrong…but somehow she couldn’t get rid of that guilt she had.
~XXX~
It has been few days later since Jurina and Yuki’s meet up. In Akiba High School, Jurina and her friends spent their quality time together on the roof deck of school. Everyone planned to go watch Rena’s competition in Annual P48 Championship and cheer for her matches. This championship is indeed one of a popular annual competition of Project48 School. Akane was the one that’s especially excited since this year would be first time she watched the kendo competition.
“I can’t wait to go watch! It will be my first time seeing Rena-chan compete.”
“I bet your coming this year again right Jurina~”
“Ah? Oh. Yeah. Well, of course I’ll be there.”
Jurina was slightly caught out of guard since she was busy eating her lunchbox. Airi kept talking about going to watch some other sports as well since she have a lot of friends that were competing as well. The Annual P48 Championship would be running for a whole week due to many sports competing. Martial arts would be the first in line in the early days of the championship. So Airi was inviting everyone including Rena to come join her as well since her match would be over in the early days of the championship.
“You could possibly join us right Rena-chan?”
“I guess it should be alright. I’ve been curious to watch other sports compete too, Jurina are you coming too?”
“Eh? Oh, yeah! Sure! Why not?”
“Aw Jurina, you’re just going anywhere Rena-chan is going!”
Airi teased her friends and Jurina just laughed out with a bright smile. She wasn’t embarrassed to admit the truth that she just wanted to go wherever Rena would be. The raven-haired Matsui just watched her Jurina’s radiant smile and it made her mind drifted off elsewhere. She’s unconsciously mesmerized by her smile and the life in those eyes without didn’t realize that her friend is calling her countless of times already.
“Rena-chan!? Are you listening?”
“Eh?? What?”
“Jeez Rena-chan! We’re talking about going out for ice-skate on your next day-off from training. It’s good that once in a while to relief some stress!”
“I don’t have any plans at the moment…it should be okay.”
“Awesome! Let’s go this next Sunday!”
Airi and Akane seemed to be excited with the plan. It made her realize that she barely has the chance to spend time with Jurina after she started her intense kendo training. The only times she get to spend time with another Matsui would be in school and rarely after school at their usual cafe. This would be a good time that she would at least have some time with Jurina again. The young shorthaired Matsui is quite excited with the plan she since she loved skating.
“I can’t wait for it~ I missed skating! I can teach you again Rena-chan~”
“I might need some help, I don’t think I remember what you taught me last time.”
“No worries~! All for you.”
Jurina giggled with excitement and obviously her two friends knew how the she felt towards another Matsui. If it is for Rena, it is obvious that Jurina would do everything for her and never get mad or annoyed. They couldn’t help but to wonder when would Jurina make a move on her childhood friend…or whether when would Rena realize her feelings for Jurina. If they couldn't wait they might try to speed things up for the two of them in the next hangout together.
~XXX~
Akane and Airi called Jurina to meet with them earlier before their appointment time with Rena at the front of the department store. Of course the shorthaired Matsui was wondering what was going on and thought that Rena would be here as well. They were sitting in the café having some light breakfast before they have some serious talk with each other.
“Uhm…so what did you want to talk? You guys are looking so scary today.”
“We’re going to have some serious talk Jurina.”
“Eh? Now I’m scared…did I do something wrong?”
“Yes! You did! Why are you being so slow!?”
Airi went straight to the point as they both told her that it’s obvious that Jurina loved Rena. They were already betting whether Jurina would make a move first or not. Since Jurina never told anyone about her romantic feelings for Rena, so she’s shocked that both of her friends knew about it for a long time already. The shorthaired Matsui sighed softly and ruffled her head with slight frustration across her face.
“So it’s…that obvious?”
“Of course! I didn’t think much of it at the beginning because you playfully kept asking her to be your girlfriend…but after we see how you look at her…it become pretty obvious.”
“Ah…do you think she knows about this?”
“Someone dense and naïve like Rena-chan? Hell no! So you better make it clear with her! Tell her you love her and seriously ask her out!”
Airi and Akane are suggesting how Jurina should make a move on Rena so that their ambiguous relationship would come to an end. It seemed young Matsui realized that she was called over earlier to have this love counseling. If she refused to make any progression with Rena today, she believed that both of her friends would come hunting her down. They gave her many advices of what to do and what they should do with Rena by the time she arrive.
“You get it? We’re giving you a hand here, so you better make use of it!”
“Y-Yes ma’am! Oh you guys are much more serious than I do…”
“Well, since you’re amazingly slow with this!”
“Oh shut up…I’m just not good with this!”
“That’s why we’re here for you Jurina, so better make a move.”
“…Yeah, I will.”
They waited for Rena to arrive at the time they made an appointment with each other in front of the ice skate ring. As Jurina went up and she saw Rena leaning against the wall waiting for them to come…she was slightly nervous with how her raven-haired friend was in her cute pink dress. Airi and Akane called her and caught her attention immediately. So after they all met they went to check the rounds and realized that the round is available 10 minutes ago. Without further ado they went straight in to enjoy skating. Jurina was really fast with wearing her rented ice skate boots and had to wait for her friends to finish up. While Airi and Akane were to be done with wearing their boots, she could see Rena struggling how to tighten it up so it wouldn’t be too lose while skating.
“Let me help you Rena-chan.”
“O-Oh, thanks.”
Jurina kneeled down and helped Rena wearing her ice skate boots. Airi and Akane realized how the puppy Matsui girl was slowly making a move with Rena. When they’re done, both Airi and Akane went straight into the ring since they are pretty good with ice-skating. Since Rena have a trouble walking on the floor, Jurina has to hold her hand and escort her princess to the ice ring. She looked over and saw her other two friends just somehow ditched them so they could have their private time together. Without further ado Jurina started teaching Rena how to skate easily.
“Do you remember how to walk?”
“I’m not so sure…I think I do?”
“Here, hold my hand. I’ll help you.”
Jurina came to stand in front of Rena and held both of her hands while she slowly skated backward to allow her raven-haired Matsui to slowly move forward. The boyish looking watched Rena struggling like a child and she couldn’t get rid of that smile across her face. She kept encouraging Rena and it didn’t take that long until Rena could be able to walk on her own. At least her body still remembered the lessons she took with Jurina.
“Not bad~ you’re getting there Rena-chan!”
“Thanks to you, I’m getting a hand on it.”
“Shall we go a little faster? Here, hold my hand.”
“Don’t bully me okay?”
“Of course I won’t! Trust me.”
She gave Rena a sweet soft smile and held her hand gently before Jurina took her out from the edge of the ring. The shorthaired Matsui adjusted her speed according to Rena’s pace. She made sure that her lovely friend is relaxing while skating. Without both of them realizing, the two little stalkers were watching both of them enjoying their little lovely moment together and was proud that she’s making a move on Rena. They just stayed on the side of the ring and watched both Matsui girls having their lovely moment without interrupting.
“You’re doing good now Rena-chan! Shall we go a little faster?”
“I guess so? Just don’t let go okay…?”
“Of course, I won’t let you go! Never~!”
She replied back energetically and held Rena’s hand tighter. She slowly guided her around the ring while making sure that the raven-haired wouldn’t lose her balance for going too fast. Jurina watched her without blinking and smiled the whole time. She could see Rena was enjoying the breeze brushing against her face and let out a huge smile of enjoyment.
“Ah~ this feels amazing…!”
“Hehe! I’m glad you like it!”
Rena saw her big wide smile and made her heart skipped a beat. The warmth is passed to her from her hand and just captivated her mind. However, she didn’t really question that feeling that bloomed inside her chest. They continued skating until the round is over. Then the next place they headed for karaoke before they dispersed and start heading back home. It was a long and enjoyable day for everyone and Jurina had her sneak peek at Rena and could see her having that relaxing smile across her face. Obviously it made the shorthaired Matsui smiled with relief and was happy that her love is smiling.
-
Right at the train station, Airi and Akane suddenly just came up with a crazy excuse to make Jurina and Rena go on the train first. It seemed Akane and Airi had to go buy a birthday present for their close friend and so they would take later trains instead. It automatically forced Jurina and Rena to go alone on the crowded train. However, the raven-haired girl felt that they should stick together since she could stay late anyway.
“Are you guys going to be okay? Are you sure you don't want us to accompany you two too?”
“Don’t worry Rena-chan! You need to have a good sleep right? You have training tomorrow!”
“But…”
“We’ll be good! Just go home with Jurina first ok?”
Both Airi and Akane were persisted to make the two Matsui girls go ahead of them. The raven-haired sighed without a choice and went onto the train with Jurina. They gave each other their farewells before they boarded it, and that was when Jurina caught a glimpse of Airi’s wink. That instance she realized that her two friends was trying to create an opportunity for her to be alone with Rena once again. However…things don’t always happen according to the plan. The train was too crowded that both Rena and Jurina were standing against the door.
“Its just so packed…are you okay, Rena-chan?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”
“I hope Airin and Churi won’t get such a crowded train too…?”
“It would be a lot worse after us. So I guess we’re lucky in a way.”
“Hmm…I guess so—Whoa!?”
The train had a surprise turn without the two girls aware of it and the moment of people pushing Jurina from behind made her crashed forward to Rena. Her head literally banged against the glass window behind Rena and at least she managed to push her hand against the door. However, Rena was right in front of her. Her body literally pushed Rena against the door and as she slowly pushed her head away… she realized that their face was just so close to one another. Their eyes grew wide with surprise and they blushed at the same time in sync without realizing it. Rena could feel Jurina’s body pushing against hers and she could feel the warmth emitting out from her body. She could feel her breath against her lips and they didn’t know what to do because it was too crowded…Rena couldn’t move at the slightest and neither Jurina could. However, the shorthaired Matsui broke the silence first and whispered softly to Rena.
“Uh….s-sorry, that I can’t move right now…”
“It’s okay…neither could I.”
“M-Mmm…”
Jurina didn’t want to make Rena uncomfortable, but then the raven-haired girl didn’t mind it since it couldn’t be helped. However, she enjoyed the sound of Jurina’s heartbeat…she could feel it leaning right against her body. She tried to hide the chaos inside her stomach and chest when she thought about the position that the two were in. She actually tried to not think about it but she couldn’t possibly do that…the more she tried to ignore the more she couldn’t refuse the turbulence that kept on going inside her endlessly.
-
Even it was a short while on the train, it was insanely endless for both of them. A second being in that awkward position felt like forever. The moment the door was about to open, Jurina pulled Rena in towards her to make sure she wouldn’t fall on her back when the door opened. Loads of people would be squeezing themselves out through the tiny little door. After the huge load of people went out, Jurina and Rena followed right after them and were finally freed from the crowd. They could see that the sun was about to set soon and decided to head back home before they would worry their families.
“I’m glad I came out with you guys today, I enjoyed it a lot.”
Rena spoke up and Jurina could obviously tell. She had been observed the raven-haired girl the entire time, for countless of years they were together. Jurina could tell whenever Rena was upset, angry, happy, or excited. She would be the only one to know everything that’s going on inside the raven-haired’s mind. The shorthaired Matsui only nodded firmly with a big energetic smile across her face.
“Me too! I’m happy that you’re able to come out with us. It’s good to relax once in a while during your hard training months.”
“Yeah…it’s all thanks to you. Jurina, I wonder what would I do without you beside helping me like this.”
“Aw Rena-chan~! You’re just being too sweet!”
“I mean it though!”
“Rena-chan…?”
“I’m really naïve with a lot of things people find it as a common knowledge…you know that. I always think that just know and understand kendo is more than enough, but things doesn’t work that way.”
“…”
“But with you always there to cheer me up I feel like I have the courage to challenge myself in many things…I’m able to come this far because of your help. I wouldn’t have such a wonderful day like this if it wasn’t for you.”
Rena spoke up softly and left a deeply touching speech to her. It made Jurina’s heart skipped with how much her love flattered her. Comparing to the past, the current Rena knew a lot more of things than her past self. She used to be way naïve than this, but she would always be naïve with Jurina’s romantic love towards her. The puppy face Matsui couldn’t help but to pat Rena’s head gently and caught her attention.
“I promise didn’t I? That I will always be by your side no matter what, and I will always be.”
“Jurina…thank you for everything. You’re the only one I could trust and lean onto at times I needed help.”
“I’ll be there even though you don’t need one!”
“Hehe, I know you will, silly.”
Time flew by so fast when they were enjoying each other’s accompany. This was the first time Jurina actually heard Rena’s actual thoughts towards her like this and never thought that she would feel that way. It gave such warmth to her heart and she couldn’t hold back her smile at all. By the time they were done with their emotional conversation, they have arrived at Rena’s place first.
“Then…I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
“Yeah, have a good dinner, bath, and sleep!”
“Don’t worry I will.”
Jurina watched Rena walked back into her house but then a feeling inside her guts made her stop the raven haired before she wouldn’t hear her call. She did receive a lot of push and encouragements from Airi and Akane who tried to push those two together. Since the two of their friends gave them the chance to be together…Jurina decided to take the risk and just speak it out. She called her out and with utterly nervous inside her guts.
“R-Rena-chan!”
“…Hm? What’s a matter Jurina?”
“…”
“Jurina?”
“Rena-chan! Won’t you be my girlfriend?”
Jurina popped the question and Rena froze at that instant. Despite she heard it so many times…but this time it’s different. Usually she wouldn’t feel anything. She knew that Jurina was just being the typical Jurina, but she couldn’t get rid of this weird breathtaking feeling that’s consuming her. She looked back into Jurina’s eyes and felt a tinge of seriousness behind those lively eyes. She froze at that spot and is not responding to anything, eventually it made Jurina slightly worried about her.
“…”
“Rena-chan…?”
“…”
“Uh, Rena-chan?”
“…”
“Rena-chan?? Could you hear me?”
Rena snapped back to reality realizing that Jurina had been calling her so many times. She blushed instantly and just suddenly had the urge to rush into her house. She felt like wanting to run away from that situation as quickly as possible. She didn’t turn back to look at Jurina and just left the poor puppy girl dumbfounded in front of her house.
“I-I’m sorry!!”
~BAMM!!~
She apologized and slammed her door hard. Jurina was left in confusion for the very first time…and she thought that Rena would be giving her usual response. She reacted differently than usual and it seemed as if she was nervous or embarrassed. Jurina wasn’t sure what was going on but she knew that she’s making some sort of change. She started having hope once again that her naïve Rena-chan would start to realize her romantic feelings. Since there’s nothing that she could do, Jurina headed back home for now.
…On another hand, the raven-haired Matsu was leaning against the door and she felt her heart beating hard against her ribs. She felt like tons of butterflies were roaming inside her stomach and had this weird aching pain in her chest. She could feel the heat rushing up her cheeks and she tried to calm herself down.
“W-Wha…why am I panicking? Ah…this feeling…uh…”
The feelings she was experiencing was so complicated that she couldn’t understand it at the slightest. She never had these feelings towards anyone before and let alone Jurina. However, she couldn’t run away from these feelings when Jurina asked her out…it felt as if her heart would burst out from her chest. She decided to dip herself in the hot bath to cool her mind down and at least it calmed her nerve down.
“Rena-chan, it’s time for dinner!”
“Y-Yes! I’ll be there mom!”
Despite of all the efforts she tried to understand this crazy feeling blooming inside her chest, she couldn’t come down to any conclusion at all aside from the fact that she used to have this feeling before. It only happened when she was about to be competing in a big match…it's a feeling of extreme anxiousness. However, she still didn’t understand why she was having this insane nerve wrecking feeling like this when there’s nothing to be nervous about at all…
~XXX~
“Rena-chan, are you okay? You seemed to be anxious.”
“It’s nothing much…I just have several things to think?”
The next morning, Rena had been wondering what was that mysterious feeling she felt yesterday. She couldn’t help but to be curious despite she didn’t have that feeling anymore. Her mother sighed softly and tried to figure something out that could make her beloved daughter smile again, and obviously using her favorite food is the best choice.
“Just make sure you don’t stress out too much dear. It’s best to be at your best shape before the big competition since you always have that crazily anxious feeling before matches. How about this? I’ll go buy melon pan for tonight’s snack?”
“Eh~ that will be awesome mom!”
Rena became cheerful once again after her mother mentioned her favorite ‘melon pan’. It made the older lady smiled with relief to see the bright expression on her daughter’s face once again and it was about time for Rena to depart to go to school.
“I’ll be leaving now! See you later mom!”
“Have a good day sweetie.”
Rena wore her shoes and left the house with a good mood. However, she didn’t expect this one person to be waiting in front of her house at this early morning. That shorthaired Matsui friend of hers waited for her out of blue, and Rena didn’t expected it at the slightest. They made an eye contact with each other and Rena suddenly felt her heart skipping again…she flinched back slightly before she could’ve said anything to her. However, she wasn’t as nervous as yesterday. She wasn’t panicking over this unknown feeling unlike yesterday.
“Morning Rena-chan! Let’s go to school together!”
“You’re up pretty early today…?”
“I had a morning run, it always good to keep yourself healthy every now and then~ shall we get moving?”
“Y-Yeah!”
Rena quickly closed the door and the gated before she left with Jurina. It was as if nothing happened yesterday and Jurina was in her usual cheerful mood as always. She told her about Airi and Akane sending loads of complaining texts regarding how packed the train was. Rena just kept listening to what her friend despite her mind was gradually drifting off. Time sure flew by so fast when she’s just with Jurina, by the time she realized it again they already arrived at school.
“Ah right…by the way are you free right after school? Like, today.”
“Today? Well…not exactly, I have to go somewhere.”
“Oh okay, then that’s alright.”
“What’s wrong? What did you want to do?”
“Just…I think you could come to the dojo again?”
“Ahh, I rather not…the competition would be in 2 weeks. I think I shouldn’t be there to keep interrupting you guys.”
“…You do have a point. I’m sorry that I’m not thinking that straight.”
“Don’t worry! Let’s get going to class before we’re going to be late!”
The day went on in its daily routine. Every one sitting in their seat and writing notes down from the board onto their respective notebooks. Having a short small break before their school days continued until lunch period. Rena was still thinking about that anxious feeling inside her chest and she couldn’t get rid of it, and that was when she decided to pay a visit to one of her friends that was in a few rooms down the corridor.
“I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just…going to meet with Yukirin.”
Rena left her friends and Jurina could feel that her raven-haired friend wasn’t at her best condition. It seemed she had something in mind and she couldn’t possibly share with them? Airi and Akane wondered what’s wrong with Rena and Jurina couldn’t give them an answer. However that was when the two girls started to interrogate Jurina about their moments after they separated. Part of Matsui felt that Rena should’ve left her behind with these two nosy girls that wanted to know every single detail about her progression.
“How did it went!? Did you make a move??”
“Uh…I think? I stupidly popped the question again. I didn’t really think that straight at that moment…”
“What’s her reaction?”
“She apologized and then ran away.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah?”
Airi and Akane giggled softly and Jurina wasn’t sure what those two were thinking. However, they loved the respond that Rena had and kept interrogate for all the physical hints that the naïve raven-haired could possibly gave out. The shorthaired Matsui did her best to give an explanation and it seemed to satisfy the two of them even more.
“Good job Jurina~ push harder!”
“Uh…okay? I’ll try?”
“You need to make her realize your feelings!”
“But guys…she’s having a competition coming up. I don’t think this is the right time to just make her confuse. She needs to focus.”
“Wah~ you’ll be a good girlfriend to Rena. Since she have someone so understandable and sweet like you to look after her.”
“O-Oi! Cut the crap out!”
Jurina blushed with the compliment that two of her friends gave. Just hearing people saying she is Rena’s girlfriend made her embarrassed and nervous. Airi and Akane couldn’t help but to tease Jurina even more as they made used of the time very efficiently while Rena was still away. Despite it would be Jurina’s dream to be in a romantic relationship with her childhood friend…she would still want to prioritize Rena’s feelings above herself. She would love to be with Rena, if she shared the same interest and feelings as her.
-
Rena finally arrived at Yuki’s classroom and she saw her sitting with her friends. She went it without further ado and that was when she caught her team captain’s attention. They had an eye contact and Yuki realized that Rena had something she wanted to talk to her. She slowly got up and turned to her classmates.
“Sorry guys, I’ll be right back, maybe?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I forgot that Rena-chan and I have something to talk about our Annual P48 Championship.”
“Ah okay! Take your time!”
Yuki lied with such a poker face and the two raven-haired ladies went up to the roof deck to have a private talk with each other. The moment Rena came in to see her she felt like she had something she wanted to talk to her about and wondered what could it be about. She could tell that something was on her best friend’s mind very easily, since Rena isn’t a good liar like her.
“So…what’s wrong Rena-chan?”
“Well…I’m quite nervous since yesterday…and I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Is it about the competition?”
“I don’t know…I think so? I think it is.”
“…Don’t worry about it Rena-chan, you’re strong. We prepared for this together didn’t we?”
“Yeah, but still—”
“—it is hard to shake off that feeling, right?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“I was thinking of trying something nice and relaxing today. We need to release those stress and tensions we have. It’s not good to push yourself too hard and just make you stressed out even more.”
“…Hehe, you’re just amazing Yukirin. Just by talking to you calms me down so much. As expected from our team captain…you’re the best, do you know that?”
“Aw! That’s so sweet of you Rena-chan. You’re flattering me too much!”
Yuki giggled and ruffled her head with hint of embarrassment. Sometimes she isn’t good with accepting compliments from sincere people like Rena, but it made her much happier than receiving any other normal comments. She knew that her best friend was speaking the truth without trying to impress her or anything, and that’s why she could trust Rena completely without doubts.
“I trust you, Rena-chan, and I trust everyone in our team. Let’s do our best, without regrets. Okay?”
“Hai,
taisho*!”
(Taisho* = captain)
“H-Hey! Cut it out! It’s kind of weird to hear that from you. Yuko-chan, you, and I have the same rank though!”
“Speaking from someone who skipped the previous grading examination. You could’ve become a
shodan* if you didn’t skip it!”
(shodan* = 1st Dan / 1st level black belt)
“Oh, whatever~ I just want to be shodan* when I’m in my senior year, not now. ”
Yuki just shrugged it off and it made both of them laughed together. It seemed their little talk had calmed Rena’s anxiousness down and she was able to focus on the upcoming training and competition once again. She smiled with contentment to have Yuki as their team captain…with their current team, she believed that Kashiwagi would be the most suitable team captain. Rena was not sure what it was but she’s certain that Kashiwagi had this special ‘something’ that made everyone united under her presence. How coincidently the bell rang and it was about time they have to head back to their class. They headed back together and returned back respective classroom until the end of their school day.
-
“Ok, competitors for Annual Championship! Gather up here!”
Takahashi called everyone up together after every team members gathered up at the gym. Today was one of the days that the AKC has a regular training, which means that all current members of AKC and beginners came for their usual training session. Only Sashihara didn’t join because she was leading the regular training, and she’s likely to hear this information brief for over countless times from Takahashi-sensei.
“Your team captain has something to tell you guys.”
She passed the talking to Yuki instead and then she turned to all her team members with a friendly positive smile across her face. The competition would be in two weeks from now and it would be crucial to maintain a proper diet and nutrients to keep the members healthy. All those little details were things that she kept reminding them.
“Guys, let’s do our best. Let the hard training we did show its results out on our match…and we will win. I believe our team is awesome so let us kick some asses out there!”
“Haha! What a badass team captain~ Let me join the fun too Yukirin.”
Yuko laughed out loud and tightened her fist with excitement. Other team member’s spirit was built up and Rena could feel a lot of encouragement and motivation given from Yuki. That was when Takamina and Yuki made sure everyone take care of herself and do their respective shinai maintenance before the competition day. Soon after they finished the preparation talk, Yuki moved on to telling the plan to everyone about the training today.
“It would be our fun training today~ I made sure that everyone will have a good sleep tonight so… Sasshi~ we’re going to start now!”
“Oh? Okay~”
Sashihara turned to the members and only the current ones went to wear their men armor while the beginners stepped aside to watch the rare training that would happen once a year. That was when the members realized what Yuki was referring and they knew that they’d be gone after the training is done.
“Guys,
men o tsuke*, and make your line~ Takahashi-sensei, you’re joining us right?”
(men o tsuke* = put on your men)
“Obviously, I won’t miss the fun.”
The members watched their teacher skipped away with a smile and sighed with anxiousness. Only Ikoma didn’t know what was going on but other members that were here last year would obviously know what was going on.
“Oh dear, this is going to be tough…”
Rena sighed softly, but Yuko and Sayaka seemed to be excited to get to spar with their teacher when she’s trying to bash them into a pile of meat. They hurried to the line and wear their men on to get ready for the tough day today. Ikoma seemed to be puzzled and that was when Rena went to her side and told her what would be happening. She felt slightly bad for her but nothing could be done…it is a good experience in a way. She told her that each member that would go to the Annual Competition would make their own line while other non-competitors would be sparring with them. It would be a
sanbon-shoubu* match for every single partner. They needed to fight until they could score the point.
(sanbon-shoubu* = 3 points match)
[/i]
“Uh…so when would it end?”
“Through out the whole training.”
“E-Eh!? Two hours of sanbon-shoubu!?”
“That’s why Yukirin said… we’re going to have a good sleep tonight.”
“Ahh…this is scary…”
“Don’t worry, it is a good experience. You might enjoy it like Yuko-chan and Sayaka…maybe? Let’s go put on our men on.”
“Hai, senpai.”
They went to the line and quickly wore their men as others were waiting for them. With a total of six members forming their own row, other non-competitors stood in front of them in a line before the match would start. Takamina came out quickly and she was already in her gi-hakama and the only armor she wasn’t wearing was her men gear.
“Okay guys, here we start! 2 hours sanbon-shoubu! HAJIME!”
She called for the start and the first match of each line and the match began…only thing that people could hear were clashes of swords and powerful kiai echoing in the dojo. All the non-competitors had a chance to fight with all members but there is no such thing as break time for the competitors. It’s a long continuous match with every single member in AKC. The young member dove in and tried to aim for the men but he was too slow. Yuko deflected his sword and slashed through his torso from the right. It’s a loud clear and clean cut for kendoka Oshima.
“DOOOOOUUUU!!!!!!!”
~BAAAAAAMMM~
“Ahh! That’s Oshima-san’s signature
men-kaeshi-dou*!”
(men-kaeshi-dou* = block and counter men strike with dou strike)
The fellow juniors were excited to watch their senior fight seriously like this. It’s not that easy to be able to fight with your own senior seriously because they’re not under the pressure of ‘MUST WIN’. This would be the only time they could get close to a feeling that they’re actually competing against their fellow seniors.
“MEEEEEEEENNNN!!!!!”
~BAAAAAAMMM~
Another row struck a loud clean cut and that was kendoka Yamamoto. The juniors watched in awe with how fast she and powerful her cuts were, her style was very similar to Oshima. She had won her match and another player came in line. She murmured to herself softly and had a smile across her face.
“Here we go…the 7th wins!”
Yuko and Sayaka literally won every single match with 2-0, which was a clean win to the two of them. Despite they fought powerfully and swiftly in a flash, their stamina had not dropped yet…they’re still waiting until Takahashi-sensei would come into their line to obliterate them into a lump of meat. However, they suddenly heard that familiar kiai* from another row…which was on Ikoma’s row. It seemed the Red Ogre of Akiba had joined the sparring. It’s so easy to tell that Takahashi-sensei was being very softy and lenient on Ikoma, however, she still looked brutal. She didn’t let her run through and she only kept pushing the young girl until she’s cornered against the wall of the dojo. Even though her nickname is ‘midget’, her kendo battle style was no different from an erupting volcano. Her spirit would burn her opponent down as well as crushing them. Only thing she did was doing swift combo cuts on Ikoma while she was cornered against the wall. She was utterly helpless on what to do until Yuki yelled out loud to cheer for her teammate.
“Ikoma! FAITO!!!!!”
After her yell, other members started to cheer for Ikoma who was being bullied and smashed by Takahashi-sensei. All non-competitors started to cheer for her as well as the competitors who were focusing on their respective match.
“Faito! Faito!! Ikoma-chan!!!”
“Ikoma-chan!!!”
“C’mon you can do it Ikoma!”
That allowed the young helpless girl pushed back against her teacher and struggled to strike back. She didn’t know what to do but she had to do something. She needed to do something to get out from here. That’s when she realized that she needed to win against her teacher if she wanted the match to be over. She dashed in forward right after she pushed Takahashi away and went in for that straight men cut.
“MEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN!!!!!”
~BAAAAAM!!~
It gave a nice pop sound and she crashed straight into Takahashi who ran back so to allow Ikoma to do her follow up
zanshin* through. That was when the teacher nodded and patted her head. She let Ikoma won the match and she was dreadfully drained from those 2 minutes against Takahashi-sensei.
(Zanshin* = remaining spirit after the cut is executed.)
“Good job, remember that feeling, Ikoma-chan.”
“H-Hai sensei!”
The minutes continued…even though Ikoma was dreadfully tired, she wasn’t allowed to stop until the training session was over. The non-competitors were starting to get some sore legs and arms despite they’re not on consecutive sanbon-shoubu* for two hours straight. Then suddenly an unexpected guest had arrived at the dojo that was so loud and filled with spirit. She took off her shoes and dragged her bogu bag onto the dojo floor, and that caught the young member’s attention.
“’A-Ah! Maeda-senpai!”
“Hi everyone~ It’s been a while isn’t? Where’s Takamina?”
“Takahashi-sensei is in the line waiting to fight with Sayaka-senpai.”
“Ah I see, I guess I’ll get change.”
She went to the changing room as she put her bogu bag onto the side so that it wasn’t blocking anyone’s path. That made everyone excited that they would get to see Maeda Atsuko’s kendo skills. She’s one of the rare returning members of AKC. She had been busy with her job and so she barely have time to drop by during the training hours. However, today was one of the days she wouldn’t want to miss this chance, as she wanted to see how everyone improved since last year. She changed pretty quickly and wore her armor immediately. She smiled with this familiar stinky sweaty scent engulfing the whole dojo and she still have that old zekken showing that she’s affiliated to Akiba Kendo Club.
“Hm~ Let’s see who should I warm up with? Ah! There’s a new girl here too? Ikoma-chan hmm…? I guess I’ll warm up with Sasshi first.”
She went in line and thankfully there weren’t a lot of people. After Sashihara finished her opponent in less than 30 seconds, she saw her next opponent walked towards her. The name of the zekken made her slightly surprised and realized that her senpai finally arrived. They bowed in and then Atsuko approached her young junior.
“Is that alright if I do a round of kiri-kaeshi, and then we do sanbon-shoubu?”
“Hai.”
The beginners and young juniors watched the old member did her relaxing warm up before the real intense match. Then suddenly, Maeda smiled and then bowed her head to her in order to ask for permission for a condition during their sparring.
“
Tsuki*, ok?”
(tsuki* = thrust to the neck)
“Ah…Hai.”
“Onegaishimasu~”
They bowed in and then finally started their match. Without further ado, Atsuko thrust her sword in to stab at Sashihara’s neck but then she quickly deflected out to counter her with a men strike…but then she saw that coming and just charged against Sasshi so they would be in tsubazeriai*. They made a very powerful opening for their match and Maeda was impressed with how much Sashihara improved in a year.
(Tsubazeriai* = hand guard fighting area)
“Eh~ Good…I’ll get serious, Sasshi!”
“I will too…Maeda-senpai.”
They shared their short moment before they both stepped away into a distance away from one another. Then suddenly she kiai loudly that it made everyone stunned except Takahashi-senpai. That signature kiai that only belonged with Maeda Atsuko made her realized that she finally had arrived to the dojo again. She leaped in and her men cut was so fast, but then Rino closed the distance by crashing against her and both felt like they just ran into a brick wall. Sashihara yelled like a banshee back as her fighting response. Without further ado, Maeda pushed her away to leap backward in order to do a backward cut at the torso.
“DOOOOOOOUUUU!!! / TSUUUKIIIIIII!!!!!!!!”
~BAMMMM!!!!! / THUDD!~
That was a loud crack on the dou but then it didn’t make Sashihara stop at the slightest. She slid her right hand away from the handle and thrust forward with her left hand gripping on the end of the handle to extend her strike. Everything looked as if it happened within a blink of a second. Both of them clashed with pure confidence in their strike and both strikes were powerful enough to be scored. Atsuko didn’t see that coming and was pushed back with that powerful tsuki on her and Sashihara immediately pulled her shinai back into her hand. She immediately backed off with a zanshin, ready for the next clashing second against her senior. Everyone watched in shock and realized how the two strikes would be counted as a score…Maeda was about to award that to Sashihara but then she refused, because the dou strike was more than powerful enough to be awarded too.
“No, that’s not good enough. I will not lose to you Acchan!”
“That’s what I like! Bring it Sasshi!”
-
Atsuko and Takamina surely enjoyed their fights with their little juniors and get to bash them up even more. As time passed by they realized they needed to get more serious or else they wouldn’t be able to win. The more serious they were the more it showed how much their little juniors had grown up. However, Atsuko didn’t seem to show any mercy to anyone except the new member, Ikoma. After she enjoyed bashing everyone up, she started giving out more openings for them to try to strike and score the point.
“Guys! This is your last match, show what you’ve got!”
“Hai!!”
Takahashi-senpai yelled out loud and caught the competitors’ attention. Yuko dashed in immediately towards her opponent and swiftly strike the right wrist before her opponent could react to anything. She finally won her last match and she’s deadly exhausted. She could feel her body aching and then she could hear loud clashes from another row away from her. Despite it’s almost two hours, the fierceness of that match didn’t drop at the slightest.
“TSUUKIIIIII!!!!!! / TSUUKIIIIII!!!!!!”
Both thrusts missed and grazed passed the side of their necks as they missed their target at the same time. Both of them held their center strongly and made both strikes deflected from one another. They went into hand guard distance and Kashiwagi suddenly leaped back and flicked her shinai down to aim at her opponent’s head. However, her senior realized that hit coming and so she deflected it out. In a blink of second, she leaped in and thrust her sword with both hands towards the target.
“TSUKIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!”
~THUDDDD~
Kashiwagi got pushed back but she managed to regain her balance, however Maeda didn’t hold back and she leaped in one more time to do one-handed thrust right at her throat.
“TSUUKIIIIIIIII!!!”
That ridiculous momentum made her fell back onto her bum immediately. However she got up immediately but she wasn’t fast enough since Atsuko flicked her wrist to strike the head while Yuki was still lying on her back. She tried to block it but then her senior hit her right wrist when there was an opening. She showed no mercy on her junior and another young kendo players froze with fear and shock.
“KOTE!! MEN! DOU!! MEN!!! KOTE!! KOTE! KOTE! DOU! MEN!! TSUKI! TSUKI!!”
However, Yuki got up while ignoring the fact that she’s being bashed down onto the floor. She controlled the center once again before she ran in to strike for a men, but that was just too naïve of her to underestimate her senpai. Atsuko smacked the sword out from Kashiwagi’s hand and then swiftly get the score on the men.
“C’mon Yukirin! Faito! Faito!!”
“You can do it Taisho!!! C’mon Yuki!!”
Yuko cheered for her team captain that was fighting and finally they were having a distance apart…it was a calm before a storm. The young junior was panting after her short battle with her demonic senior…she dashed in for the head again but Atsuko knew that was coming, she planned to disarm her for good but then the direction of the sword changed. It curved down from the right and slashed onto her torso.
“DOOOOOU!!!!”
~BAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!~
Yuki still dashed forward and crashed into Atsuko with full force. It made her lost her balance and had to jump away from Kashiwagi as the junior stole her position. That made the senior smiled and awarded that strike to her without any doubts. That was the end of her match and she was dreadfully tired. Finally the two hours finished and every single member was dead on the floor except Sashihara and Yuki. Their stamina was ridiculous like a beast. They were exhausted but they’re not at the very of death yet. As Maeda and Takahashi went for a round with every single member, obviously they obliterated everyone… literally every competitors. Everyone had taken their men armor off and had a long relaxing break for chitchatting and feedbacks. Sayaka and Yuko were talking about how many matches they won today and it seemed Oshima-senpai had more wins by two matches.
“Dammit! I won’t lose next time Yuko-chan!”
“Bring it on Sayanee!”
Atsuko went to Yuki’s side and gave her a tap on the shoulder with much proudness in her heart. She was excited that her cute favorite kouhai was able to use her signature strike, katate-tsuki, with that kind of power. She was proud that she taught that technique to captain Kashiwagi back in those days when she’s still busy in AKC.
“Yukirin! Your katate-tsuki* is amazing! As expected from my cute kouhai~”
“No one could beat your tsuki though, senpai…I could even remember that feeling right now…Gah.”
“Aw, oops, maybe I just let my stress out a little?”
“That’s not little at all Acchan!!”
Yuko went up to her and sighed with how painful the tsuki thrust that Maeda did on Yuki, Rena, Sashihara, and herself. For every single one of them, she literally thrust them powerful onto the wall, following up with continuous men strikes and more thrusting strikes until they find a way to break off…It was as expected as the Blue Ogre of Akiba. Also, Maeda gave them advices that could be a great tip to their fighting, but generally she didn’t advice what to improve. It’s more about what they should focus during their match.
“Okay! So everyone…that’s a very tiring day! We die in training but at the competition…we will be a boss and kick everyone’s ass!”
“Yeah!!”
Yuki gave her last speech before they decided to head back home. They would be no more extra training and only just regular training next week. They would do normal exercises with everyone to cool themselves down. As they were packing their stuffs, Atsuko went to see her junior and had a little last chat with her.
“By the way…that last cut…who taught you to do that
gyaku-dou*? That timing, power, and that zanshin…that’s definitely not something that someone in Akiba kendo club taught you, right?”
(gyaku-dou* = reverse dou strike, a strike on the left side of opponent’s torso, as usually its on the right side.)
“Ah…yeah, a good friend of mine from the dojo I used to train taught that to me.”
“She must be really good! I wish I could have a fight with her!”
“Maybe some day, senpai.”
They all headed back home together as Takahashi and Atsuko offered to drop them at their house instead. Yuko, Yuki, and Sayaka went with Takamina while Ikoma and Rena went with Maeda. They took their bogu and shinai back home to clean it up before the important competition. As soon as Rena arrived back home, she just wanted to take a shower immediately. She was more than thankful that her mother already prepared her bath for her and allowed her muscles to relax in the hot tub. She had a very relaxing and casual family time. After her shower she had her dinner with everyone, and then enjoying her melon pan in front of the TV show with her parents. After this day, it would be her recovery day until the competition. She didn’t forget to dry out her bogu and kept her shinai in the bathroom in order to keep it moist in the steam. She lied down in bed and felt that she could fall asleep anytime…she’s dreadfully tired from today, but she enjoyed every second of it. However, before she had the change to fall asleep…the cellphone in her hand vibrated and it was a call from Jurina. She picked it up immediately with surprise and contentment inside her chest.
[Evening, Rena-chan! I hope you’re not sleeping yet?]“Not at all, how are you?”
[I’m good~ I heard from Yukirin you had that 2 hours sanbon-shoubu? Maeda-san came too didn’t she?]“Yeah we did, and she came to obliterate us into a pile of meat.”
[Aw! I missed my chance to meet with her! It’s been a while. I wonder how’s she doing.]“I guess she’s busy as usual, with her job that is.”
[Anyways, I want to tell you…stay healthy, have a fresh positive mind, and I wish for the best for you!!]“Aw…thank you Jurina.”
[You must be tired, I shouldn’t be bothering you anymore. Good night Rena-chan!]“Good night Jurina, see you tomorrow.”
[Yup! Sweet dreams! Love you~]She blushed softly and smiled with happiness. Those words that Jurina spoke her to warmed up her heart and she felt so relaxed and comforted. Those words didn’t seem to surprise her at the slightest as if she knew that her childhood friend cared a lot about her. Jurina didn’t hang up her call yet and Rena finally gave her respond to her.
“Sweet dreams to you too…and me too.”
She hung up the call first and smiled with contentment. She was happy that she’s able to talk with Jurina before she went to bed. Rena decided to go to bed early since she needed to wake up tomorrow for school. She knew that she would have a terrible sore and made sure she applied some cream before hitting the bed. She hugged her little side pillow and smiled to herself quietly…as she had a great feeling that she would have a very good sleep tonight.
~XXX~
Meanwhile, Jurina was still holding her phone at the balcony after Rena hung up on her. She was blushing and felt her heart bursting out from her chest. She wondered whether Rena actually said that she loved her too? Ever since that day they went out for ice-skating, Rena seemed to be different somehow. But in the back of her mind, she felt that Rena wouldn’t be interested in having a romantic affection to anyone. She doubt that her friend would even realize that if she ever have one… Out of blue, her phone rang out loud and disturbed her little daydreaming moments.
“Hi, what’s a matter?”
[Hi Jurina! Just want to check on how are you feeling now?]“Well…I’m pretty okay, I think my body still remembers how to do many things.”
[Ah, I’m glad that it is with you. I’ll pick you up tomorrow as usual.]“That will be great though, thank you.”
[Don’t worry! We’ve prepared all the documents already so…just make sure you’re at your top shape. We’re worried about your…yeah.]“Don’t worry about me…I’ll be fine. It’s getting better than before and I just need to be careful.”
[Just don't push yourself, and good night.]“Thank you, good night.”
She hung up the call and Jurina only sighed softly. It seemed that call had ruined her lovely fantasy since it pulled her back to the reality. She looked up into the sky worrying about the inevitable future, as Jurina knew what was going to happen. It seemed that it’s still worrying her despite she made her decision already. She had a lot of things to think about, but the day would come in much faster than what Jurina expected…two weeks would feel like nothing to everyone when they’re all occupied with their own problems and duties to deal with.
Time flew by so fast that by the time they realized it again…tomorrow would be when the day that P48 Annual Championship would begin, and the day that the martial arts category would be competing. Obviously, Kendo is one of them. All kendo members of Akiba headed to bed earlier than usual as they had a plan to meet in front of their school before they all headed together to Nippon Budokan…. They met up at 5am in front of the gate and the members that arrived earlier were full on covered to protect themselves from the incoming morning winter. They were all also wearing their team jacket as well. Everyone had arrived except for Rena and Sashihara, and Yuko seemed to be a little impatient. Mayu also came with them since she was invited by Takahashi-sensei to come watch the kendo matches with her.
“Damn! Sasshi is always slow!”
“Don’t worry, Rena-chan texted me that she would check on Sasshi for us. We still have to wait for Takahashi-sensei to get the van to pick us up.”
Yuki leaned against the wall of the school with such a calm expression, as if she wasn’t so nervous about this competition at all. Yuko, Sayaka, and Ikoma showed signs of restlessness and nervousness. It would be weird that they wouldn’t have this feeling since it's a big competition after all. After waiting for a while, it had been 10 minutes past 5 and it made others wondered where were the other two members and their kendo instructor.
“Where is sensei and others? Aren’t they taking too much time?”
“Don’t worry Yuko. We’ll arrive at the Budokan before time.”
“But—!”
Then suddenly, they could hear the sound of the van coming towards their direction and they knew immediately that it was Takamina that came. It was as Yuki said and then she grabbed her stuffs while the little freshmen walked by her side to load their stuffs onto the back of the van. The moment everyone was done loading their bags, they jumped into the van and spotted the other two members that were waiting for them. Obviously they were surprised since its Sashihara and Rena, the two members that were running late. Yuko couldn’t help but to start yelling at the two of them because they were making everyone in the team worried about them.
“Oi! You guys are late!”
“Ah~ I bet Takahashi-sensei picked you guys up right?”
Yuki entered right after Yuko and seemed to predict that this could happen. It was as she thought after all. Takamina got a call from Rena to pick them up at Sashihara’s place since they wouldn’t make it in time if they walked from her home to Akiba High School. So that was why Takamina was running late to pick up the other members. Sashihara was not a morning person and so she had her pillow so she could sleep in the car before they headed off to Nippon Budokan. The team captain didn’t say a word and allowed her members to prepare their own mindset before they’re going to compete. Rena just looked out through the window of the van and remained in silence just like what everyone was doing…and no one uttered a single word through out the whole ride, not even Takamina. Everyone needed this precious moment to mentally preparing themselves for the
battlefield that awaited for all of them.
-
-
~END PART 3~