Kuromura Aki

Finally, Saturday came. After today, I would not need to spend extra time with Torikawa every night, training in the kyudo room anymore.

He looked very relieved too. "Freedom reigns after today!" he exclaimed as we walked to the kyudo dojo, "Don't worry, Kuromura, we'll win for sure and then we can call for pizza delivery and celebrate-"

"Have my ears failed me, or did I hear you say "we"?, as in "you and I"?" I stopped and asked pointedly.

"You, me, we!" he said as if it was normal for me to spend more time with him, celebrating over a victory not yet won. "Or we can pig out overnight at those 24-hour restaurants! I have some coupons so we won't need to spend too much. What do you say?"

"I say you stop crapping. For one, I'm not interested in spending more time with you. And I've better things to do, like my art assignment. If you find "celebrating" so important, why don't you go "pig out" by yourself? I'm sure it will be better for you if I'm not around to glare at you perpetually all the time."

"You're so anti-social," Torikawa pouted like a kid denied of a toy and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"So I am. And there's nothing you can do to change that."

"We'll see," he grinned widely as if he'll never be able to do that ever again. Which is possible, considering the fact that I am capable of punching his face beyond recognition.

"Torikawa." One of the seniors in the kyudo club called out to confirm his attendance.

"You'll take the first round."

"You trust me so much to let me start?" Torikawa raised his eyebrow at my decision.

"I trust myself. Which is why I am taking the remaining rounds as there's a high possibility that you may lose the first round."

"You're mean, you know that?"

Torikawa picked up his bow and arrow, stood up and took his place.

"Two tries in each three rounds. Neither one of you should try all three rounds. From the middle ring, the points are four, three, two, one and the rest are zero. The party with the higher points wins that round. The team with better scores two out of three rounds wins, of course. The prize: servitude from the other team for two months.

"Scared, Kuromura?"

I am slave to no one and never will be.

Torikawa turned back suddenly and gave me a victory sign. I rolled my eyes at him before he grinned and turned back to take his aim.

He did not pull back the bow string to his full strength on his first try, sending the arrow weakly towards the target board and hitting the ring of one point. Torikawa grimaced and turned to give me an apologetic look. I kept my stony expression as he took his second aim. At least the second try was better by one point.

His competitor took aim and had up having one point more than us till now.

"I knew something like this would happen," I said coldly as I stood up for my turn.

"You know I'm no good at this," Torikawa retorted.

"And that too."

"You're mean," he stated before kneeling back down on the floor.

"You're going down, Kurokawa," Rika gave a thumbs-down sign as she smirked and walked pass me.

"It's Kuromura."

"Whatever," she raised he bow, took aim and released. She was over-confident and did not take her time to aim, sending the arrow to the 3-point ring. Her second try landed in the middle but was very near the boundary between the middle and 3-point ring.

"Beat that," she looked smugly at me.

I raised my bow and took aim. The arrows landed in the bull's eye one after the other.

"You got lucky," she looked displeased. "The heavens must have taken pity on you and didn't want you to lose so badly. Be thankful."

Ignoring that, I went back and knelt down beside Torikawa.

"One round to each. I hate tie-breakers..." Those gloomy vibes seemed contagious, a complete flip from the confidence he was giving off before.

"Sit up straight!" I hissed and smacked his back, causing him to jolt up. "Never let your opponents know what you're feeling. It just gives them confidence and our last round will be affected."

"I'm not taking the last round anyway..." he droned.

Torikawa Sekai

"Things can happen..." Kuromura said and left it hanging. What she had meant I did not ask, as I was busy praying to what mysterious gods and deities that I had ever heard of in my sixteen years of existence.

The girl who went up first got up again to position herself.

I stared intently at her and pressed my forefingers to my temple. I am telepathing to you... miss it... miss it... Kuromura shook her head and I could just imagine her rolling her eyes.

SMACK! Three points. I gaped.

SMACK! Another three. I dropped my head.

"Sit up straight!" Kuromura hit me across the back of my head, "Stay alert."

"For what?" I rubbed my head and sulked at her. She kept quiet but I could see her sending icy glares to the targets for a brief moment before she stood up for her turn.

As she walked to the front, she bumped into Rika, who was running towards her partner, and both their bows clanked onto the wooden floor.

"Watch it, Kurotaka!� Rika snapped and bent down to pick up her bow, got up and walked towards her partner.

Kuromura took her place and everything was going smoothly until she started to pull back the sting. She frowned slightly but continued to stretch it.

Suddenly, it snapped and Kuromura's hand was thrown back.

"What happened?" I asked when I rushed to her side. "You okay?"

"I think my wrist is sprained," she turned her hand in different directions and winced, her eyes squinted in pain. "The string shouldn't have snapped... I checked it just this morning..."

I turned to the direction of Rika's snickering and, was she smiling just now?

...Their bows clanked onto the floor...

"Watch it..."

She must have switched the bows and Kuromura ended up picking a tampered one.

"Rika! It must be her!" But before I could stand up, Kuromura pulled me back with her other hand.

"We have no proof. She could have planned this all along anyway."

"Torikawa, can your team continue?" The senior member asked.

If we give up now, it would mean that we admit defeat... that we are weaker... But how can I take over Kuromura? Our standards are so far apart...

"...Obviously you lost your pride..."

"I'll take over Kuromura," I picked up my bow and stood up. The senior nodded.

Rika and her friends snickered behind me, making me more nervous than I already was. My hands were still shaking when I let go of the arrow and it must be luck that I hit the three-point ring.

If it really was luck, then how was I going to get three points again to at least put us at a tie and hopefully postpone this until Kuromura's wrist healed?

Damn! There was no way I could do this on my own!

"Have you forgotten what I had taught you?" Kuromura called out from her place at the back. I turned to see her giving me her usual glare. But there was something else behind that coldness. There was a message that she wanted to convey to me, about something that I had not yet understood.

She had put in so much effort teaching me and had put up with me for so long even though I knew that all Kuromura wanted to do was to strangle or butcher me. The least I could do is to stick to what I had learned and concentrate.

I looked into her eyes gave a thumbs-up sign, but I doubt that she would be much reassured.

Pulling the string back, I took aim and locked in my focus on the target. Images of the past few nights in the kyudo dojo with Kuromura flashed through my mind while I tried to empty every other thought besides the ringed board.

And then, I saw it.

Winning was just the surface of what Kuromura wanted me to learn. The real thing, hidden subtly underneath, was about standing up for myself and to depend on no one else for my own fights.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, it was all so very clear in front of me.

SMACK!

...To be continued

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