“Yeah! Go, Akane!”
Ranko stood, clapping enthusiastically and bouncing on her ankles as the white ball her girlfriend had struck sped past two brunettes in red jerseys and bounced off the rubber floor of the court. She wore a jewel tone purple crushed velvet shirt over the black pleated miniskirt she wore in the Rise poster, a matching purple ribbon in her hair. Minato Mystics colors. On more than one occasion, she’d blushed as she realized that both her outfit and her actions were reminiscent of her training as a cheerleader. It might have been a little embarrassing that the once-unthinkable pastime had wormed its way into other areas of her life, but just then, she did not care in the slightest.
She was so grateful to be in the stands. She’d stayed away from Akane’s previous three games, all victories, out of respect for Akane’s wishes. Tonight, though, Akane had invited her specifically to come. Hana and the girls had rearranged the schedule to give her the night off. They would have accommodated just about anything to see the youngest girl in the family smile again, and it was a good thing. Akane had asked for her to be there, where she hadn’t been welcome just a week before, and not for all the riches of heaven and earth would she have missed it.
There was another reality that Ranko and Akane had discussed, which she hoped wouldn’t come to pass. After the performance of Sneak, Akane had taken her downstairs to introduce them to the team, but the drunken girls had already left. After that, they had decided that, while they would not go out of their way to introduce Ranko to the volleyball team, they would not hide her anymore either. That meant, much to Ranko’s sadness and Akane’s worry, that any of her games could potentially be her last. Ranko prayed that Akane’s excellence on the court would be enough to spare her Nanami Ikehara’s fate, but Akane was prepared to accept it if it came to that. At least, she said she was. As overjoyed as Ranko was to be there supporting her love, she dreaded that her demand to be let out of the closet would cost Akane dearly in the end. She hoped Akane thought she was worth it.
“Man, can you believe that kid? She’s incredible!” The older man in the row behind her, dressed in khakis and a green polo shirt, snapped pictures with an expensive-looking camera. With every breath, she had to resist the urge to swivel around in the bleachers and tell him that she was in love with the athlete he was marveling at, and the titan of the volleyball court was coming home with her. It may have been true that Ranko, at least, back when she was training every day, was a more physically gifted athlete than Akane, but when it came to actual sports, where things like knowing the rules and teamwork mattered, there was no match for Akane Tendo. Ranko could not have been prouder of her.
As Ranko turned to look up at the man behind her, he stood excitedly, anticipating something exciting happening on the court. Ranko whirled just in time to watch the ball ricochet off of someone’s forehead and fall to the floor just as Akane’s feet did. A loud horn sounded, indicating that at a score of twenty-five to eight, the game had ended in favor of the Mystics.
“Can you believe that,” the man behind Ranko asked, turning to the woman to his left. “That Tendo girl scored seven points by herself tonight. Seven!”
Ranko coughed, saying something under her breath.
“What was that?” The man leaned forward, trying to hear her over the revelatory crowd.
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“Eight,” Ranko said with a wide grin, bursting with pride. She may not be announcing their relationship out loud, but she would be damned if she let someone undersell her lover’s achievements. Ranko had been paying close attention. By the end of the game, she’d almost figured out the rules.
The man in the green polo shirt laughed. “Well, I suppose you’re right! Thank you, young lady!” He pulled out a notepad, scratching out a number and replacing it with a pencil he had tucked behind his ear.
Ranko blushed, smiling. “Happy to help.” She stood, making her way down the steps toward the court, waiting for Akane’s team to finish their celebration. She leaned on the metal railing separating the bleachers from the sidelines, just hoping Akane would catch a glimpse of her before returning to the locker room to change.
To Ranko’s surprise, her girlfriend approached the railing, stretching her arm overhead to its full extent so she could just barely reach Ranko’s hand. “Hey, beautiful. You made it!”
Ranko blushed furiously. Over the last year, she had mostly learned not to blush as much at being called a girl, or even a young lady, but hearing someone call her beautiful never failed to send the blood rushing to her face. Especially Akane. She often wondered if Akane did it on purpose, just because it made her uncomfortable in the best possible way.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything, Akane. I’m so proud of you.”
Akane grinned up at her. “Yeah? Well, I’m proud of you too. I love you.”
Ranko opened her mouth to answer, but Akane was swept up by a group of her teammates and carried jubilantly in the direction of the locker room. The redhead leaned on the railing, watching her love being celebrated with a blissful smile. You deserve it, Akane. You’re the best, she thought to herself as her love disappeared from view behind the double doors.
Reiko and Saki lowered Akane to her feet in front of her locker, joining in with their teammates as they chanted Ten-do! Ten-do! Akane blushed, looking around at her teammates. “Thanks, you guys.”
Saki smirked, nudging Akane with her elbow. “I guess, when you’ve won four game MVPs in a row, you can finally get people out to watch your games, huh? We’ve never seen anybody in the stands for you before, not even your family. That red-headed chick kinda looked familiar, though, didn’t she?. She reminded me of that terrible waitress with the bitchy attitude from that little dive bar you hang at, come to think of it.”
Akane swallowed hard. She could say nothing. She could laugh it off. She could call Ranko her cousin again. There were a thousand ways she could have deflected Saki’s words. Akane chose to deploy none of them. She had given her word, and she would not go back on it even though she had every opportunity to do so. Besides, she would not let what Saki had said about Ranko stand unchallenged.
“Actually, Saki…” Akane whirled, looking her dead in the eyes and speaking over the girls chanting her name, a pointed offense in her voice. “That woman’s name is Ranko. She’s a singer and songwriter. She’s got that new song, Rise, on the radio.” And now, a second original song, which Akane declined to mention. Saki had been there for the ignoble premiere of Sneak, though Akane strongly doubted she remembered it. In fact, she very much hoped not.
“And you’d better get used to seeing her around, because Ranko is my girlfriend.”
The chanting immediately stopped, and a shocked silence fell over the locker room.