Akane leaned to her left, gripping the toes of her outstretched left leg and extending herself as far as she could on the floor. She looked out over the fans assembling in the bleachers. Most of them were clad in gold and white in support of the home team, but there was the occasional small cluster of purple and blue shirts identifying a group of Minato University supporters. If you were here, Ranko, our side would still be louder than them. When you decided to become a cheerleader, you weren’t screwing around, baby. Sadly, Ranko’d had to go into work early, as Ayako was going to help tutor her for her upcoming math exam that would determine whether or not she’d advance to her senior year of high school. As much as Akane wanted her fiancee with her, as she had been for nearly every match since Akane returned to the volleyball team, she knew Ranko had made the right choice.
That’s okay, princess, Akane thought. We’re gonna win this one, and then we’ll be in the tournament. You’ll be here when we win it all, just like I was for you. I promise.
Akane stood from the rubber gym floor, jogging over to Nanami. The green-haired star outside hitter she’d recruited to rejoin the team with her smiled up into the stands, rubbing the back of her left fist in a circular motion.
“Oh, good, she came?”
Nanami turned with a bright grin and a nod. “I finally convinced her! I don’t see yours anywhere, though.”
Akane nodded. “Finals. You know how it is.” She motioned to Nanami’s torso. Nanami and Akane were the last two members of the Mystics on the court for warmups; their teammates were already back in the locker room getting into their uniforms. “You about ready to head in and get ready?”
Flashing a few more signs to her girlfriend in the stands, Nanami turned toward the visitors’ locker room. “Sure.” The pair walked side-by side until a young, diminutive brunette wearing the home team’s uniform jogged over and waved to Akane urgently. “Omigods, you’re a Ranko fan too?”
Blushing with a little laugh, Akane looked down at her shirt, which bore her fiancee’s pink romaji signature, the logo for Ranko and the Dapper Dragons. “Yeah, I think you could probably say that.” She shyly brushed a wisp of hair out of her eyes, reminding herself to put on a headband when she got changed. She’d needed to get a hair cut for a few weeks now, but she hadn’t had time. She hadn’t let Ranko out of her sight while the threat of her father loomed, and only Hana’s promise to look after her had allowed Akane not to skip the pivotal volleyball match.
Nanami waved, her eyes shining knowingly. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full. I’ll see you inside, Akane.”
“That’s so crazy! I can’t wait for her full album to come out! She’s so fucking good! I’ve only heard Rise and Sneak on the radio, but I bet there’s gonna be so many other good ones on there!” The blonde volleyballer tittered wildly.
Akane blushed, remembering the first morning Ranko had sung You’re My Song for her in bed. She smiled softly as she thought of Ranko’s diamond engagement ring, in which the song’s title had been engraved. “Yeah, you’re probably gonna love it.” A part of her considered bragging that her Discman in the visitors’ locker room currently contained a pre-release copy of Ranko’s first CD that the Yokai team had sent her for approval, but thought that might make the girl try to mug her for it.
The volleyballer bounced on her heels in excitement with a little squeak. “I’d give anything to see one of her shows sometime. I’ve heard she’s even better live! I wonder if she’s ever gonna go on tour! Have you ever seen her live before?”
Akane laughed. Oh, baby. What I’d give if you were here. You’d be hiding under the bleachers from this one.
“You, uh… you could say that, yeah! I, um… I actually work part-time in the bar she performs at!” Akane grinned proudly, fidgeting with the tiny silver-and-sapphire ring on her left hand with her thumb.
“No shit? Shut. Up. You’re so lucky! I’d work there for free just to get an autograph! So, you’ve, like, gotten to talk to Ranko before? No freaking way!” The blonde looked like she was about to bounce out of her shoes.
“As a matter of fact,” Akane said with a satisfied smile, “I was with her all last night.” I wouldn’t exactly call it “talking,” but she was definitely making a lot of noise…
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The blonde grabbed Akane’s forearm excitedly. “You gotta tell me everything! What’s she like? Is she awesome? I really hope she’s awesome! So many stars are total jerks to their fans. But I bet she’s awesome. She just sounds like she’s awesome.”
Shaking her head, Akane laughed loudly. This chick might be more obsessed with Ranko than I am, and I’m gonna marry her. “Yeah. She’s pretty awesome. But, hey, I gotta go get changed, alright?”
----------------------------------------
“And there you have it, Mystics fans!” The radio announcer could barely sit still at his table at center court as he shouted exuberantly into his silver desk microphone, having already loosened his deep purple tie. “It was a nail-biter, but by just one set, the Minato Mystics have done the impossible – winning twelve straight matches to climb out of the cellar, and now, to the collegiate volleyball championship tournament! We’ve just seen history! Another absolutely dominant match from Nanami Ikehara and new squad captain, freshman Akane Tendo!”
Akane ran at Nanami full-tilt as the ball bounced out of the court, the girls slamming into each other with an excited hug. “We did it, Nani! Holy shit!”
The green-haired girl waved smugly over Akane’s shoulder at the dejected Yokohama Unicorns squad, whom the loss had just eliminated from the regional championship tournament to be held two weeks from Saturday. “Take care, ladies! Have a great night!”
Akane pulled back, giving Nanami a bit of an admonishing look. “Hey. We can be happy we won, but let’s not be bad sports, okay? They played hard, too.”
Nanami’s smile faded, looking up to her friend a bit guiltily. “No, you’re right. Sorry. I just… After, ya know, what happened, I didn’t think I was ever gonna get to feel like this again.”
Nodding, Akane put her arm around Nanami’s shoulder. “I get it, but at least some of those girls have gotta be seniors. For them, they won’t. Let’s not make it harder on them. C’mon. Let’s get showered and get outta here. I can’t wait to get to the Phoenix and tell Ranko the good news.”
Nanami grinned. “Speaking of which, is Ranko’s mom still gonna hook us up?”
Akane shrugged. “She hasn’t said otherwise. Last I heard, if we won tonight, she was gonna throw us a party next week sometime.” She blushed a bit at the thought of Ranko waiting tables for her teammates at a celebration of the volleyball team’s accomplishments. Not for all the money in the world would either of them have believed it possible after Reiko, Fumiko and Saki had helped trigger the first angry performance of Sneak.
Akane suddenly stopped walking, her head turned toward the home team’s bench. “Hey, I’ll catch up with you, okay?”
“I thought you were in a hurry to get out of here! Make up your damn mind, Tendo!” Nanami shook her head with an incredulous laugh, her green pigtails swaying over her shoulders. I swear, that girl.
Quietly approaching the home team’s bench, Akane sighed at the lone member of the Unicorns squad still in the gymnasium. She sat hunched over on the bench, a gold-colored gym towel draped over her head like a hood to hide her tears.
“Hey. Mind if I sit down?”
The distraught blonde looked up, nodding. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Sure. Congratulations. Good game.”
“Yeah, you too. Sorry your season had to end like this.” Akane frowned. It was harder to celebrate a victory when she had to watch the agony of their opponents’ defeat up close like this, especially in the eyes of a girl who had been so excited just a few hours earlier.
The Yokohama freshman shrugged, replying in a hollow, dejected monotone. “It happens, I guess. Good luck in the tournament.”
Akane spied a discarded scorebook on the floor, walking over and picking it up. A search of the surrounding area quickly turned up a pen on the scorekeeper’s table. Armed with both, she returned to the metal bench, sitting gently next to the blonde. “What’s your name, anyway?”
“Natsuko,” the girl replied between sniffles.
“Okay, Natsuko. My name’s Akane. Good to meet you!” She smiled warmly. “Now, here’s what I want you to do.” Akane started jotting down a note on an empty score sheet, ripping. it out and folding it in half when she was finished. “In the Minato district, down by the harbor, there’s a little bar called the Phoenix. Two-story red brick building, red sign out front. Can’t miss it.” Unless your name is Ryoga.
Akane offered her the paper. “Come on a Friday night. You’re gonna look for a server with blue hair. Her name’s Mei. Give her this, and she’ll know you’re my friend and sit you in the VIP section for Ranko’s show. We’ll make sure you get to meet her after. I bet we can get her to sign something for you, too. Sound good?”
Natsuko looked up, blinking the tears from her green eyes as she took the folded note with a trembling hand. “You… you mean it?! You’d do that for me?! But… why?!” The sadness was almost entirely gone from her eyes already.
Akane blushed. “Well, like I said, I know Ranko pretty well.” She fidgeted with her promise ring with her thumb as she spoke. “And, how excited and happy you were during warmups when you saw my shirt? I happen to know that making people feel that way is the whole reason Ranko does what she does. I think she’ll be honored to meet you, Natsuko.”