15Sashiko sat down on her bed, looking out the window at the city. She wasn't in the city, in fact most of the girls at her school lived in the suburbs like she did, with only a few commuting from the urban areas. Some even came in from more rural parts, and at least a couple lived in a richer neighborhood altogether. She considered herself to be lucky that she could have an entire house just for her and her family. Only two sisters and a brother, it was actually a pretty small family all things considered. Her mother provided for them all on her own, like so many other families. She let out a long sigh.
"What are you thinking about?"
Sashiko looked back into her room, to where Ming was sitting on a cushion and reading a book. She shook her head. "I don't know… have you…" She wasn't really sure if she wanted to ask the question on her mind, or how to ask it if she did want to. Best to push on through. That's what Naru would tell her, anyway. "Do you know anything about your dad?"
Ming stopped reading and looked up to her, surprised. "My dad?"
"Yeah." Sashiko turned back to look out at the city again. "You only have a brother, right? So your dad wasn't around for a lot of your life. What do you remember about him?"
She put the book down, trying to think of how to answer that. "I was only two when he left. I don't really even know what he looks like. I guess… he never really was a part of my life, so I never thought about him much."
"Never? At all?"
"I didn't say that." Standing up, Ming made her way over to the bed and sat down next to her friend. "Was growing up with your dad… fun? Was it better that way?"
Sashiko turned away from the window. "I don't know. I think… having him around now would be different than having him around then was. But then, I really can't imagine what it would have been like without him."
"I suppose that's fair. I can't really imagine what having a dad would be like. I- Oh, shit, we need to get to sleep."
Sashiko looked over to the clock, seeing the late time. "Oh, you're right. We could be in trouble." She quickly scampered off the bed and went to turn off the lights, rushing back to the bed and climbing into the blanket.
It wasn't long before the two girls were fast asleep.
"Lorra!"
Sae stormed through the halls towards the girl who had earned her ire. Other girls darted out of the way, ducking into rooms or even their lockers to keep out of her path. The girl she was after, Lorra, turned to face her, a little disoriented by the sudden shout directed at her. Sae grabbed her and pushed her up against the lockers.
Lorra quietly reached out and patted Sae's shoulder. "I'm sure that whatever it was, I either had a good reason, or I didn't mean it, or it wasn't me."
Sae shook her, pressing against her with her weight. "What's the big idea with the longbow competition? You were put on the board for the longbow competition by the student council's sports committee, so what's your explanation for this?"
"The longbow- what? What are you talking about? You're not even in the longbow competition. What does that have anything to do with you?"
Sae pushed up, lifting Lorra off the ground. "Are you dense? That's the damn problem! Why am I not on the bracket? Why am I not on any of the brackets for any of the sport competitions? Someone had to have made the decision!"
Lorra let out a long sigh. She was starting to piece together the issue. "Okay, I think I know what happened. Can… can you let me down, and I'll explain?"
Growling, then letting go and stepping back, Sae put her hands on her hips. "This better be good."
Lorra straightened her clothes out and brushed herself down. "First of all, I know I never saw your name go past me. So I never had the opportunity to make a declaration either way. That means you either didn't apply, or you weren't even qualified to be considered."
Sae pounced on her, grabbing her shoulders in a vice grip. "You've got to be kidding me! I applied! I applied to all the sports competitions!"
"Ow." Lorra didn't react other than that statement, but instead continued. "Anyway, that would mean that you weren't qualified."
"I'm qualified, you bitch!"
"I just told you I have nothing to do with that decision. Look, the most likely cause is your grades. You can't compete if your grades are bad-"
"My grades aren't bad!"
Lorra leaned over to look around Sae and see if anyone else was willing to step in. Everyone scattered, hurrying off to their own interest. She rolled her eyes. "Again, I don't decide that. We get the girls who are qualified from the school board, the deacons, and the teachers, based on grades, and a few other considerations. If they didn't want you in, then I can't put you in, especially now that the bracket has been finalized and posted publicly on the school forum."
Sae just glared at her for a few seconds, then turned and storm off. As soon as she was out of sight, Lorra deflated. She was good at handling these kinds of situations, but it really took a toll on her. After a moment, once life started returning to the hallway, she went back to her locker and did her best to get ready for the day.
The teacher clapped her hands together, blowing on her whistle to get the girls moving. They ran out to the side of the court on the school's roof, most of them sitting down and crossing their legs in the sun shining through the overhead net mesh. Two girls, however, picked up a pair of long sticks with paddles on the ends and went to take their place on either end of the court.
"Okay, girls, keep it inside the court this time." Their teacher walked to the center of the court with a metal ball. The ball had a silvery sheen to it, with thin lines tracing shapes around it. She held the ball up in one hand. "Alright. Corrin, are you ready?"
Corrin nodded to her, crouching in preparation to launch herself into the bout. "I'm ready."
"Mirra, are you ready?"
"Yes, ma'am." Mirra clutched her paddle like it was dear to her.
"And begin in three…" The teacher let go of the ball. "Two…" She stepped back and off the court. "One."
The two girls moved in an instant, both swinging their paddles towards where the ball hovered in the air. The curved ends of the paddles connected in the air with a loud bang, the two meeting almost perfectly and fully enclosing the ball. It turned into a contest of strength to see who would slip first, who would give out and let the other push through to take the ball.
Mirra moved first, twisting her paddle and scooping the ball away from Corrin, flipping it up into the air where it hit the mesh and bounced back, slamming into the floor of the court and bouncing back up. Corrin had to dash back to get space between them as Mirra spun and smashed the ball with her paddle, rocketing it towards her opponent. Corrin defended with the handle of her paddle, knocking it up and twirling away. Instead of going up and then falling in an arc, the ball slowed to a stop and rested in the air for an instant before Mirra spiked it into the floor.
Corrin had to hold her paddle over her head to block the ball again, knocking it aside harmlessly, though the impact sent a bad vibration along both her arms. Before the ball came to a stop, she jumped forward and slammed her handle into it, knocking it forward with moderate force, and then dashed to the side. Mirra responded again by spiking it, sending it ricocheting up to where it bounced off the mesh and was flung down. Corrin, who had gained some distance between her and the ball now, swung her paddle in a wide arc and hit the ball with all the force she could muster.
Mirra felt the rush of air as the ball sailed past her. She laughed at the miss. "What are you aiming at?"
"Your back."
Hitting the meshed net behind Mirra, the ball bounced back and struck her in the back, bringing a surprised cry of pain from her as she crashed into the ground. Her paddle clattered away from her on the court floor.
The teacher blew on her whistle, then walked over and knelt down beside Mirra. "You okay?"
Mirra groaned. "My back is broken."
Convinced not in the slightest, the teacher grabbed her and lifted her to her feet. "Come on, don't be a baby. Girls don't cry."
"Yes, ma'am." Painfully staggering her way back to the rest of her class, Mirra tried her best to ignore the barrage of insults being thrown at her.
"You fell for the same tactic she uses every time."
"What an idiot."
"All power, no brain."
Corrin, for her part, held out her paddle for the next girl to take. Once she'd passed it off and the next match started, she sat down at the end of the row of girls and laid back. She could hear the next match start. The average match lasted thirty seconds, and she started counting down. It was always fun for her to track numbers like that, across matches, across days, and compare them to the overarching average.
As one of the girls competing was slammed in the chest by the ball, one match ended and another went on to start. Every week, on the same day, their class came up to the roof to play rounds where the teacher had randomly assigned each match. Every week, each girl in class would face a different opponent. Corrin had beaten half the class by now, and the other half knew that she was the only one still undefeated. Not that she minded having a target on her back.