[Fic] Ciaccona (for namae_nashi)
Title: Ciaccona
Author: link621
Recipient: namae_nashi
Pairing/Characters: Ohtori/Shishido, others implied if you squint, Hyoutei
Rating: PG
Summary: Ohtori Chou is the new girl at Hyoutei Girls Acadamy. On her first day, she joins the tennis club and quickly makes friends and meets someone special.
Warnings: Genderbending, femmeslash.
Notes: Recommended listening: Bach’s Ciaccona for solo violin Part 1, Part 2. Happy holidays to Vanilla☆Volley!
It had to be the worst, most thoughtless decision she had ever made.
There were few things in the world that were more terrifying than being the New Girl. Ohtori adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she gazed up upon the looming gates of Hyoutei Girls Academy. Just what was she doing there? They have an excellent music program, she reminded herself. Her mother insisted that teenage girls did better in all-girls schools - scientists in Australia did a study comparing students at an all-girls school to those of a co-ed school and found that girls immediately improved 15-22% on their marks in Math or Science as soon as they were separated from boys. Oh, and then they would not have to worry about their little angel meeting a boy and becoming distracted from the important things in life, her father butted in helpfully. Where he got such a strange notion, she did not really know. She never had shown any interest in her male classmates and she had made a promise to remain chaste until marriage - she wore a simple silver ring on her right hand as a token of that promise. Besides, she was an athlete, artist, and musician - she did not have time for such nonsense.
She chewed her lip watching other freshman filing past the gates - all of them had evidently just discovered makeup, wearing it so thickly that their faces were obscured. Each of them wore enough foundation that their skin appeared to be a completely different tone on their face than the rest of their body. It was evident they also had paid careful attention to their hair - some of them dyed their hair brown, others had straightened the life out of their hair. By comparison, Ohtori felt frumpy - her own hair was cut shorter, just long enough to hold back in a ponytail, to keep it from being unruly while playing tennis. All of the girls were also noticeably shorter than her - but more than that, they were petite. Even before Ohtori had her growth spurt, she had never really been petite - her shoulders were especially broad and she did not have dainty wrists and ankles.
What stood out most to Ohtori was that there was not a fine white gold cross adorning each of the students’ necks. She was used to going to school with her cross displayed rather than hidden under her uniform. Every day at her last school started with an hour for morning mass and time for contemplation before class. Moving to a secular school was more of a shock than any of the girls could have been - the cute, made up, petite girls that were widely preferred by the opposite sex were in great supply everywhere.
It was a nice spring morning, though - they were nearing the end of the cherry blossom season, but it appeared as though the trees on the campus were still holding on to the last of their petals. The soft, but distinct fragrance of the delicate flowers filled the air - warmed the air. It almost felt like summer.
“You lost?” The voice startled her out of her thoughts and she turned her attention to the girl standing directly behind her. Her uniform indicated that she was a second year, her bag that she was on the tennis team. Her silky, nearly ebony brown hair was pulled back carelessly in a ponytail and she wore a vibrant blue ballcap that clashed horribly with the soft colors of the Hyoutei winter uniform. Unlike the first years Ohtori had been observing, the upperclassman did not seem concerned with caking her face in makeup - or wearing it at all. She didn’t look too pleased to be stopping to help some New Girl.
Said New Girl reflexively bowed her head and shoulders, becoming instantly self-conscious of their height difference - it had to be almost a full head. Her upperclassman was average height and slender giving the illusion that she was smaller than she really was, to make matters worse. “I’m sorry - it’s my first day. I don’t mean to loiter.” She straightened and gave a small apologetic smile. “I was just on my way to turn in an application for the tennis club…”
The other girl shrugged. “I’m not the loitering police.” Thinking about it, she really didn’t look like the hall monitor or disciplinary committee type. Her shirt was not properly tucked into her skirt, a fact that was cleverly disguised by the way she wore the sweater vest of her uniform. “But, if you’re going to the tennis club, I can show you.” She motioned over her shoulder with a flick of her head that made her ponytail bob. “It’s this way.” She did not wait for Ohtori to decide to follow her before she started walking, but out of a habit of obedience, Ohtori did. “It’s Shishido Ryoko, by the way.”
Shishido. She would probably be following this person around for at least a couple of days while she was learning the ropes, so she took care to burn the name into her memory.
“Ohtori Chou. My first name is written like ‘butterfly,’” Ohtori elaborated, drawing the character in the air.
“Is there any other way to write it?” The older girl frowned as she spoke, her voice creeping up in pitch with uncertainty.
“…No, I guess not.” And that was not the way she had wanted to start off making friends at her new school - by looking completely lame in front of the first upperclassman she met.
Thankfully for her, her upperclassman just laughed it off. “Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s still nice to meet you, Ohtori.”
Ohtori nodded, feeling something swelling in her chest knowing that she had her upperclassman on her side. “You too, Shishido-san.”
“Oh - don’t call me that, that’s awful. It’s stuffy.” Shishido tugged on her tennis bag, though it immediately slid back to where it had been before on her slight shoulder. The bag was some sort of soft blue polyester with black and white accents and the name of the school emblazoned on the side in white embroidery. Maybe she was one of the “regulars” - the girls who had a permanent spot on the lineup for every tournament. Ohtori had heard horror stories about how hard it was to earn that distinction in a tennis club of 200 girls. One failure and you were out of the rotation - continued success and you could sit atop the whole school. She wondered what that person was like - the person who was the strongest out of the 200 girls that aimed to gain the distinction of being “Queen” at Hyoutei.
Before Ohtori could protest that it was the proper way to address Shishido and she would really be more comfortable that way, they were approached by a very vertically challenged girl with strikingly red hair. Her uniform was a mess - it made Shishido look proper by comparison. She also wore slouch socks over sneakers, something that Ohtori herself had not done since her young childhood. Somehow, though, it suited the girl - it was spunky. “Hey, Ryoko,” she drawled, yawning just after she did. Maybe “Shishido-san” was a bit stuffy, after all. “Where’s Ji-chan?” The redhead (also a second year from the look of things) fell into step with them.
“Skipping morning practice again, probably. Sleeping in like you.”
Shishido’s words obviously ruffled some feathers. “Che, doesn’t matter ‘cause I could beat you in my sleep.” Only then did she notice Ohtori who had been feeling pretty conspicuous, anyway. How would one miss a girl who was taller than almost everyone else in the school? “Who’s your friend?”
“I’m Ohtori Chou,” she said with a bow of her head - she really couldn’t manage much more and safely walk at the same time. “It’s my first day.”
“Mukahi Chigako. Nice to meetcha.” The redhead was also carrying one of the tennis bags that presumably belonged to the regulars from the club - so then she was on the team with Shishido. Part of Ohtori wondered if Hyoutei’s feared tennis team was actually abnormally short. Her own height had been a major advantage in developing the fastest serve on the circuit and being an imposing block when it was her turn up to the net. But she lacked in other areas, like speed and offense, which was precisely why she favored doubles. As though she were psychic, Mukahi chose that moment to ask, “Hey - so do you play doubles?”
“Chigako,” Shishido grumbled, rolling her eyes skyward.
“I… yes.” Ohtori glanced out of the corner of her eye at her upperclassman, wondering why the question offended her.
“Perfect!” Mukahi elbowed Shishido hard, nearly throwing her off-step. “Now you won’t have to be partnered up with Taki!”
The notion was obviously not one that Shishido thought was up for discussion, nor did she seem too thrilled with the suggestion in the first place. But if there was a chance she would get to play doubles, if there was going to be an opening to be Shishido’s partner, Ohtori thought the transition to a new school wouldn’t be so bad after all.
As expected from everything she heard about Hyoutei, practice was grueling, but rewarding - the freshman spent most of the practice either running laps, doing suicides or practice swings, or just assisting the regulars with their practice by doing all of the menial tasks such as gathering balls and setting up cones. As it turned out, “Ji-chan,” was also one of the regulars - Akutagawa Shiori - who only showed up to practice in the afternoons and the occasional morning when she could be bothered to wake up on time for practice. Mukahi explained that Akutagawa was “narcoleptic or something,” and that when she was awake, she had more energy than the rest of them combined. Apparently, she was also somewhat of an otaku, though what she was fangirling Mukahi did not explain.
It was Hiyoshi Wakaba, a first year in Ohtori’s class, that explained why Mukahi called Akutagawa by the nonsensical nickname. “She misread her name. Mukahi-senpai read the ‘Shi’ as ‘Ji’ when she saw it written out in Hiragana.” Apparently after that, the nickname stuck. Akutagawa was just too lazy (or too laid back) to correct the mispronunciation.
They were seated next to one another in Ohtori’s class, by a grand stroke of luck, so she had someone to talk to while they were eating lunch. Hiyoshi was not as overtly pretty as some of the other girls, but she made up for it in drive - Ohtori could not remember meeting a more pragmatic person. She was one of the two youngest members of the regular line-up on Hyoutei’s tennis team and claimed that her driving factor was to dethrone the reigning queen of Hyoutei - Atobe Keiko. Ohtori had yet to see anything of their captain, but it seemed like everyone in the school knew who Atobe was and had an opinion of her. What Ohtori had gathered so far is that she was rich, exotic, terrifying on the court, and a pompous bitch. Yet, everyone who spoke of her (even Hiyoshi) did so with such fondness and love in their voice.
“So you’ll be coming, right?” Hiyoshi asked suddenly, picking at her rice with her chopsticks. Whoever had prepared her lunch had taken great care to arrange the food nicely - the little sausages were even cut to resemble octopi. Ohtori imagined her expression must have been completely blank because Hiyoshi snickered to herself. “I mean to the match. We have a tournament coming up in a few weeks - you should come cheer us all on. It’s a huge production, because of Buchou. She always gets the crowd going.”
Ohtori smiled, leaning a bit closer to Hiyoshi’s desk. “Are you playing in the tournament?”
The other girl tilted her head to the side. “It’s up to Buchou,” she said after a long pause. “They’re talking about putting me in doubles with Mukahi-senpai, depending upon how things go in this tournament. Mukahi-senpai is paired with Oshitari-senpai, normally.” There was another name that Ohtori had heard plenty about - Oshitari Yuuki. From all accounts, the girl had a following at the school. It seemed strange to Ohtori, but apparently Oshitari received a plethora of gifts on Valentine’s Day from the other girls at the school and many claimed that they wanted to be her “girlfriend.” Some of the girls were whispering about Oshitari at practice that morning - one of them was planning to confess love.
The girls at her last school were always whispering about the boys they liked, but not offering up any actual details to avoid looking like they were too interested (only to be called sluts behind their backs by the other girls, anyway). It was different, at Hyoutei - boys had not really been mentioned at all that day. Maybe there was something to be said for segregated gender learning, after all. Or maybe the only type of people who went to an all-girls school were like that. Ohtori felt heat rising to her cheeks thinking about it.
“Don’t tell me,” Hiyoshi said leaning back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest. “It’s your first day and you’re already in love with Oshitari-senpai?”
“Huh? Wh- No!” Ohtori blushed more, only looking more suspicious. Hiyoshi didn’t let it go for the rest of the week.
There were few places to truly achieve privacy on campus when it came time for Ohtori to practice playing violin. On most days, the music room itself was occupied by classes or by someone wishing to practice on the grand piano. There were sound-proofed practice rooms lining the hallway outside the music room, but they were always booked in advance for particular students and the schedules looked full for the next few months, at the very least. Ohtori checked back periodically every few days, but it quickly became clear that if she wanted to practice on campus, she was going to need to find good acoustics somewhere else.
The first obvious option was to use one of the bathrooms, but she already felt enough like an outcast just by being new to the school without being subjected to the public ridicule that would certainly follow if she were to practice in the bathrooms. Most of the classrooms were out of the question because of their shape - they would not carry the sound well (not to mention, it would be horribly disruptive to other students trying to study). The dining hall did not seem like such a bad option, but the theatre club would meet there on breaks when they did not have enough time to make it down to the performing arts building that was separate from the rest of the school on the massive campus. During club time, when the dining hall was generally open, Ohtori was with the tennis team.
She had resigned herself to practicing at home when one day she noticed the building on her way out of the school - she had no idea how she had managed to look past it before. It was a traditional design with a steeply slanted roof and a large, wooden cross adorning the front of the building. If there was a chapel on campus, it would be perfect for acoustics. And chances were at a secular school, the building was not receiving much use most of the time. It was a bit off the beaten path, but she would have somewhere to practice when she could take breaks during the school day or if there was no club.
The very first time she practiced there it was after tennis practice the day before the big tournament. The regulars were held behind to discuss the tournament with the coach and Atobe, but the rest of the club was dismissed earlier than normal. Ohtori made her way to the chapel, finding it empty just as she hoped. The interior was beautiful in the late spring sun - the light filtering through the stained glass cast bits of color across the pews and hardwood floor. A statue of the Virgin Mary stood before her at the end of the aisle, her head bowed in deep contemplation. Ohtori went to her, speaking a few words of prayer softly, and then made herself comfortable at the end of the aisle.
She had been working on the piece for months - the tryouts for the Tokyo Junior Orchestra were coming up at the end of the summer, and she was bound and determined to have the piece polished by the time they did. Ohtori was quick to lose herself in the piece, closing her eyes and just playing from the heart. She had memorized it long ago, it was one of her favorites by Bach - she listened to it many times as a child and picked it up easily as a teenager, despite the difficulty of the piece.
She was startled to receive applause for her performance. She opened her eyes to see Shishido sitting only a few feet away on one of the pews. She had respectfully removed her cap and her hair fell loose about her shoulders. Her tennis bag sat upright beside her, as though it were another person in the audience. “That was awesome.” She smiled, motioning to the violin with one hand. “What was that - Mozart?”
“Bach,” Ohtori corrected shyly. “Ciaccona,” she added, taking her violin away from her shoulder and holding it near her side.
“Ah - guess I don’t know the difference.” Shishido looked sheepish. “I never pay attention in music class.” Even so, the Ciaccona, the fifth and most famous movement of one of Bach’s most revered pieces, seemed like something that everyone ought to know. Ohtori recognized that she had the unfair advantage of studying music her whole life, of course. “But you’re really good - do you moonlight as a pro violinist?”
“Thank you, Shishido-san.” She ignored the exasperated look. “I’m trying out for the Junior Orchestra in a few months,” Ohtori explained. She went about putting away her violin and went to sit in the pew in front of her upperclassman, turning her body to face Shishido. “It still needs a lot of work.” She tilted her head to the side as it occurred to her that she had told no one where she would be after practice. “How did you find me in here? I was hoping not to disturb anyone by practicing here.”
Shishido motioned over her shoulder with one hand. “I heard music, so I came to check it out.” She laughed lightly, raising an eyebrow. “But how could you disturb anyone with that? You’re awesome.”
Ohtori chuckled in return, shaking her head. “Says the one who didn’t even recognize the piece.”
Shishido’s brow furrowed and her lips twisted into a pout. “Well - I know good music when I hear it, okay?”
A compliment was a compliment, though. Ohtori continued to smile, glancing down at the wooden pew. The pews looked new and unused… the pews Ohtori was used to were aged and well-worn with obvious smooth spots where many people proceeding her sat and the occasional declaration of love in the form of an etching in the wood. She looked back at Shishido to see that her upperclassman was still pouting - it was cute when she did it, but such an expression didn’t suit her. “I’ll be at your match tomorrow,” Ohtori said quietly.
“Oh yeah?” Her upperclassman lifted her eyes to look back at Ohtori. “Root for me.”
“Definitely.”
The atmosphere at tennis club on Monday afternoon, their next practice with full attendance from the regulars no thanks to Akutagawa, was palpably tense. It reminded Ohtori of the sort of summer days where it would rain in the morning and then be so humid and hot in the afternoon that it was simply difficult to breathe. The regulars were not speaking to one another - Atobe and Shishido in particular seemed to be exceptionally moody. Atobe was often fairly moody - but with an unruly team like hers, Ohtori couldn’t really blame her.
The doubles game had gone well - the doubles pair of Oshitari and Mukahi worked pretty well together, but Taki and Hiyoshi were much shakier. Taki, who was probably the most dramatic member of the team, was frustrated with the narrow margin that they had to claim victory. She was still arguing with Hiyoshi about who was really responsible for their failures. This was an early season game, after all - against Fudomine, she stressed as though it was significant.
But it meant that the way was paved for Shishido to play in singles one. Unfortunately, that was where things turned sour. In a spectacular over-estimation of her speed and strength, Shishido was beaten sorely by Fudomine’s captain Tachibana. It was a 0-6 loss for Hyoutei - something that was not tolerated. Normally, a regular with such a loss would be removed from the team and the next standby would be asked to practice with the regulars. Shishido knew her spot was in trouble.
When Sakaki approached Ohtori near the end of practice, her heart sank into her stomach with a solid “thud” when it hit the bottom. The other regulars stood around them in various stages of finishing up their regular practice exercises for the day. Shishido was crouched by her bag, sifting through the contents as though she was looking for something. “Ohtori-kun,” Sakaki began, folding his arms over his chest. “I would like to offer you a position on the regulars.”
At first, she had no idea how to respond. She started to stutter out an excuse to not make the decision right away, but was interrupted by Mukahi. “That’s awesome!” She thumped Ohtori on the back in what was probably meant to be a playful pat but nearly knocked the wind out of Ohtori. If Mukahi could bottle that enthusiasm and sell it, she would make millions.
“Chigako,” Oshitari murmured, a hint of a warning in her voice. Her hair was a mess from practice and sweat gleamed on her forehead, but she still looked enviably beautiful with her true black hair and her dark eyes. She was wearing her usual “Harry Potter glasses” (so she had described them). The strange thing was that Ohtori was under the impression that Oshitari could actually see just fine without them. She was too afraid to ask - she felt like it was probably one of the trade secrets that made Oshitari one of the most popular girls at school. Now speaking to the coach, Oshitari added, “That’s unprecedented, promoting a first year who is so new to the team to the regulars.”
“It was you, once,” Atobe put in, stepping forward with her hands on her hips. She glanced at Oshitari from below blonde eyelashes. Her eyes were the clearest shade of grey-blue that Ohtori had ever known. “And you may remember I took over captaincy on my first day of school.” She gave a small smile, looking at Ohtori. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Normal people don’t walk into school and declare themselves Queen,” Oshitari pointed out under her breath. It did not escape Atobe’s notice.
“Coach,” Ohtori said, putting her teammates out of her mind for a moment. They were going to continue to squabble regardless of anything she said or did. “There isn’t an open spot on the regulars.”
“There is.” That was all Sakaki said. With that, he went to chase off a few students who were loitering around to see what was going on with the club.
Atobe was now distracted - her attention turned to Shishido. Ohtori followed her eyes to see that Shishido was now kneeling on the court. Her hair was still pulled back in its usual ponytail, but she had removed her hat. In her hand was something shiny - something metal. Something sharp.
In unison, she and Atobe moved closer to Shishido. “Ryoko,” Atobe said just as Ohtori was saying, “Shishido-san.”
She did not respond. The others had not taken notice. Taki was now gossiping with the others about how she overheard Sakaki dismissing Shishido from the club - that her defeat was an embarrassment to the club and their school and that she would not be welcome with her attitude and abilities. Ohtori felt a small tremor develop in her; no one deserved to hear those words. Shishido was no doubt heartbroken and feeling worthless. That’s why it was bad that she had something sharp and pointy. With a glance at Atobe, Ohtori could tell Atobe was thinking the same thing.
Shishido reached one hand behind her head taking hold of the ponytail. In her other hand, she lifted the pointy object - scissors. Ohtori only realized what she was going to do when it was too late - the scissors cut through the hair just above the tie that held the ponytail and it dropped limply in Shishido’s hand. Her hair was left jagged and in desperate need of being properly cut. She turned to look at them both, her eyes bright and her brow set in determination. It was not the picture of heartbreak that Ohtori had expected.
“Whoa - Ryoko!” Mukahi pressed herself up against the fence surrounding the court. “What the hell?”
“Oh my god, you look so cool!” Akutagawa joined Mukahi at the fence, looping her fingers around the chain link. “You could even go shorter - that would be super cool. I bet you’d look just like an idol!”
They were missing the point. “Ryoko,” Atobe began, her face serious. “You excel in doubles - you knew that.”
Shishido nodded. “Yeah, but I’m going to have to work on that, too, if I’m going to get back on the team.”
“No you won’t!” Ohtori interjected, slipping back out of the courts and past her upperclassmen that were standing by the fence. She intercepted Sakaki as he was headed back to the school building. “Coach,” she said, bowing deeply just a mite too quickly and paying the price for it with blood rushing to her head. “I would like to forfeit my position on the team.” Never mind that it had been one of the things she was working toward since the first day she arrived at Hyoutei. Never mind that it was a real honor to receive the distinction of being hand-picked by the coach to be on the team. “Please allow Shishido-san to fill my spot on the roster,” she begged, not looking up from how she was bowed.
“Interesting,” murmured Sakaki. “And what do you think of this?”
Shishido’s voice came from much closer than Ohtori expected. “I… can’t accept this. I will need to work hard to earn a spot back on the team.”
Ohtori straightened and turned to look at her upperclassman. She really did look like an idol with her hair in such a choppy, layered cut. “But I wouldn’t want to be on the team if you’re not there,” she insisted. “I need your guidance if I’m going to pursue doubles. You’re the best on the team when it comes to doubles.” She could not help but feeling like she really ought to close her mouth before she spouted any more unsolicited compliments.
The older girl at first looked stunned - her lips parting slightly and her eyes widening. It gave way to confusion as her brow creased and her lips twisted into a pout once more. “You’re really…”
“Don’t you see?” Atobe seemed to come out of nowhere, stepping between the two girls and their coach. “This is what I told you would happen. It’s an ideal situation.” She looked like some sort of Greek goddess with her hair in perfect, loose, movie star curls around her shoulders and her hands rested imperiously on her hips. It was as though she had known this would happen - as though she had already devised a work-around before Ohtori even offered to give up her spot. Atobe’s insightfulness was notorious, but it was still shocking to see it happening first-hand.
Sakaki nodded, looking to Shishido. “Then Shishido keeps her spot. You two will be working on doubles,” he looked to Ohtori as he said this. “Taki, you may turn in your jersey.”
“What?” Taki sputtered, the beginnings of a full protest bubbling out of her mouth before she was interrupted.
“The decision is final. You are all dismissed.” With that, he was gone.
Ohtori turned her attention to Taki. She wanted to say something - to apologize for taking Taki’s slot on the roster. It was quite clear from the look on Taki’s face that she was not feeling much up to talking about their feelings.
Shishido smiled. “Keiko, you-“
The blonde shook her head, somehow not disturbing the natural way her hair lay against her body. “Don’t thank me yet.”
It did not take long for Hyoutei’s “Silver Pair,” to be well-adored amongst the students. When Ohtori and Shishido teamed up, no one could defeat them. As the weeks passed, they spent more time together off the court - they ate lunch together, often in Ohtori’s classroom since she was not allowed up onto the third floor where Shishido’s classroom was located. They would meet up when they were walking distance from school and walk the rest of the way together - their feet would fall at the same pace, Shishido in long strides, Ohtori in short strides. They always seemed to be doing the same thing at the same time when they were apart - a quick phone call would reveal that they had both just brushed their teeth.
The only thing Ohtori kept to herself was her violin practice, but even then she was often visited by Shishido who would sit for as long as it took for Ohtori to feel satisfied with her progress. She always removed her cap out of respect and would sit in the second pew beside her bag, just silently watching. She applauded after every performance. Sometimes, she would even stop to say something to the statue of Mary.
When Oshitari convinced Shishido that she really ought to get her hair cut, Ohtori and Shishido went together. They both went short - Shishido’s so short that it would naturally spike, Ohtori’s just long enough to lay more or less flat against her head. Shishido still looked just like an idol to Ohtori, even if she didn’t wear makeup and usually wore well-loved sneakers with her school uniform when they were walking together to school.
Saturday night, they decided, was movie night. It seemed like such a good idea at first, but then it came to actually going to the video rental store to pick something out. Their tastes were so different that they could not even reach an agreement when they were looking at a list of Ghibli films - Ohtori wanted to watch Grave of the Fireflies, Shishido had a preference for Princess Mononoke. Finally, Ohtori had a brilliant plan to resolve the dispute. They would each pick out their favorite movie and then have a second move night next week. That night, they would watch Shishido’s favorite movie, the next week, they could watch Ohtori’s. It seemed simple enough.
“But it’s not really just one movie, is the problem…” Shishido was explaining as she led them to the proper section of the video store - the Science Fiction and Fantasy aisle. “It’s more like a trilogy.” She picked up a bundle of DVD boxes that were held together by a rubber band and displayed it to Ohtori.
She tilted her head. “I’ve never seen it before.”
Shishido’s appeared to be utterly appalled. “You’ve never seen Star Wars? Everyone has seen Star Wars!”
“Not me,” Ohtori responded, a bit taken aback by Shishido’s sudden enthusiasm.
Needless to say, the indiscretion on Ohtori’s part was quickly remedied.
“What’s that?”
“Rosin. Try not to touch anything, Shishido-san.” Ohtori went through her purse to grab her wallet so she could pay for the rosin and get out of the store. Shishido was regarding the items on the shelves like they were shrunken heads rather than musical instruments and all the necessary items for their up-keep.
“This is boring,” Shishido declared. But, it had been her idea - since Ohtori sat through Star Wars despite all of her reservations, Shishido said she would come to the music supply store to pick up the things that Ohtori needed for her violin. It seemed like a fair trade-off at the time. And if Shishido thought this was boring, obviously she had not really been paying attention during Episode I.
Ohtori did not respond, getting in the line for the register.
“What’s this?”
“A double-reed - it’s probably for an oboe or bassoon.” Shishido took the information in, just examining the small plastic case that contained the reed. For someone who claimed to be bored, she sure was enjoying asking lots of questions. As Ohtori watched, her face suddenly brightened.
“I’ll get you this one!” She held up a book of sheet music - the composer was named John Williams. Ohtori knew the name, but she could not place it. “Will you play it for me if I buy it?”
Ohtori nodded. “Sure - once the tryouts are over, I can start learning new material.”
Shishido smiled to herself victoriously.
“Is this Star Wars music?” Ohtori asked, sitting next to the statute of Mary. Shishido had moved up to the first pew from her usual sitting place.
“Huh? Oh, what makes you think that? I just recognized the name of the composer, is all.” Shishido shrugged it off.
Ohtori turned the book to face her, clearly displaying, “The Theme from Star Wars,” to her doubles partner.
Shishido still looked unfazed. “What? I told you I know good music when I hear it.”
“So, you remember in Fantasia how they talked about music telling a story?”
Of course Ohtori remembered; she was the one who selected Fantasia as their movie over the past weekend. Shishido had suddenly taken a liking to classical music and Ohtori thought it was a decent introduction to classical music to show her a Disney movie that included many of the more famous pieces including Shishido’s favorite part, the dancing flowers during the Nutcracker Suite. She had been humming bars of it to herself ever since they watched the movie. Ohtori was just appalled that no one had dragged Shishido to the Nutcracker ballet before and promised that they would go together when it was more seasonal.
“Yeah,” Ohtori said agreeably running light rosin over her bow. When she was finished, she put the rosin back in the violin case in the small pouch intended for such things. She also kept an orange peel in there to help with the negative effects of humidity on the wood instrument and a pencil which she used to make notations to her sheet music. “Like in Sorcerer’s Apprentice, you mean?”
“That’s the one with Mickey, right?” Shishido leaned back in the pew, draping her arm over the back of the wood seat. The latest edition to her wardrobe was a large, clunky watch with a huge leather band. It was actually a men’s watch, but Shishido loved that it was unruly. She had no choice but to remove it when she played tennis - it limited the range of motion in her wrist. “Well, I was thinking - this piece you’re performing… does it tell a story?”
The Ciaccona was not a story piece - not exactly. Many hearing it for the first time would be moved to tears by the raw emotion, the melancholy that laced its way through the piece. “Not exactly,” Ohtori said, resting her violin on her shoulder and testing the tone with a few slow strokes of her bow over the strings. It sounded just a little bit sharp. She adjusted the strings as she continued to talk. “Bach wrote it after his wife passed away and many historians believe that the piece is inspired by his feelings about his wife’s passing.”
Shishido went quiet, turning that over in her head. “Huh,” she said finally after a pause. Ohtori watched her - waiting for her to finish her thought. “I guess I probably would have seen that if there were pictures to go with the music.”
Ohtori smiled. “Close your eyes, this time,” she suggested. “Maybe you’ll see something different.” Shishido complied with the request and Ohtori put the bow to strings.
The tennis season coming to an end was a relief. Ohtori and Shishido finished the season undefeated. They were able to compete in the National tournament, though they were not the ones who ultimately took home the championship title. Ohtori expected Atobe to be disappointed with how things went, but she actually seemed to be genuinely happy for the winners. Wednesday afternoon, a few days after the tournament was over, Ohtori overheard Atobe on her cell phone speaking with a florist requesting that they send flowers to the winning school with a nice message regarding their match. The sheer number of flowers, she thought Atobe said ten dozen red roses, was what left an impression on Ohtori. Her captain was just full of surprises.
But as the tennis season came to a close, it gave Ohtori the time to focus more on her violin. She played the Ciaccona beautifully at her audition and was offered a spot in the Junior Orchestra. They were starting her at second chair violin - she would be playing the same part as the first chair violinist who was a year her senior and had been with the Junior Orchestra for five years. It was quite a distinction and an honor. The music teacher at school encouraged her to use one of the private practice rooms on campus, even offering to rearrange the schedule to make one available, but Ohtori insisted that she had the perfect practice spot. She enjoyed having Shishido with her to listen in.
But her time was still divided between violin and the upcoming school festival. Their class was considering doing a haunted house (something that Ohtori was not so sure she was going to be able to handle… she startled easily) championed by Hiyoshi who insisted that it was their opportunity to get the better of the upperclassmen. “Everyone will be doing a maid café,” she explained, over lunch, sure that her logic was flawless. “If we do a haunted house, it’ll be something different. We could all dress like zombies like in The House of the Dead 2!” She looked enthused by the prospect.
On the other hand, Mukahi who had joined them for lunch that day looked less thrilled. “Are you still going on about that game?”
“Scared, Mukahi-san?” Hiyoshi leaned a bit closer, smiling devilishly.
“No!” Mukahi flushed the color of her hair, poking moodily at her food with her chopsticks. “But if you’re going to wear makeup like that, why not just do a zombie maid café, or something.”
Ohtori smiled. “That’s an interesting idea, Mukahi-senpai.” She took a drink of her water, glancing at the clock to see how much time they had left on lunch. Seventeen minutes - not long enough to try to meet Shishido at the chapel and practice.
“You gonna be okay by yourself in the Maid Café of the Undead?” Hiyoshi asked ominously, her voice distant and dark like the Crypt Keeper.
Mukahi swatted at Hiyoshi’s shoulder in protest. “Yuuki said she’d walk around with me - she’ll be the one that’s scared.”
“Good call bringing someone tall to hide behind.”
“Wakaba!”
Ohtori smiled, looking between them. “I think it’s a good idea, actually,” she put in. “It’s a compromise, since a lot of the others want to do the café. We could all wear the spooky makeup with our maid uniforms.” Shishido would probably think it was super cool, too - she liked those sorts of movies, like Night of the Living Dead. They watched it in October in celebration of Halloween, which Ohtori admittedly knew nothing about. Shishido told her it was a holiday where people in the Western world dressed up like monsters and went around asking strangers for candy - and got it. Shishido sounded thrilled about it, but Ohtori wondered if it was really so safe for children to be going around asking complete strangers for candy. It sounded like the start of a safety video about “Stranger Danger.”
It was a little more difficult to convince their teacher of their master plan than it was to convince Hiyoshi and Ohtori that it sounded like fun, but the rest of the class was on-board for the zombie maid café. Hiyoshi and Ohtori were voted to take charge of the project.
The day before the festival, the first floor of the main building was busier than an airport during Golden Week. Ohtori and her parents went to Hawaii a few years back for Golden Week and it had been a nightmare to navigate the airport between all of the holiday travelers and the sheer popularity of their destination. Girls were darting in and out of classrooms with supplies, costumes, and food. One of the first year classes was going to be putting on a play - it sounded like they had chosen a play about a princess because they were all talking about how pretty she looked in her fairy tale dress. Ohtori was even approached to ask if she could play the prince since she was tall and had short hair. She refused - her own class project was going to be consuming much of her time over the course of the festival.
But that was how she came to encounter Kabaji in the hall while Ohtori was on her way to get changed into her costume for the café for a final fitting. Kabaji was dressed in what appeared to be a prince’s costume complete with a silky white cape with gold lining. Her short, black hair had been spiked up and back to give it a more masculine appearance. She was the very picture of a prince. It was a wonder that she had not been picked above Ohtori to be approached for the role first.
When Kabaji noticed Ohtori staring at her, Ohtori lifted her hand in greeting with a smile. “You look handsome,” she assured.
“Thank you,” Kabaji murmured, though she looked like she felt more embarrassed than handsome.
“Of course she does,” Atobe agreed, stepping out from the classroom beside Kabaji. She had a way of just appearing right when you least expected her - today dressed head to toe in the most beautiful dress Ohtori had ever seen. Her lively curls were done up in a complicated arrangement on her head. The ice blue of her dress brought out the stunning color of her eyes. Unlike most of Ohtori’s classmates, Atobe had curves - she filled out the dress nicely, her bosom nearly spilling out of the corset. “Who could be better suited to the role of prince?”
“Buchou… are you going to be in the play, too?” Ohtori held her own costume against her chest - a maid outfit with some artistic tears and grime for an undead sort of effect.
Atobe laughed at the very notion, waving a hand in the air dismissively. “Heavens, no. I am playing the part of Sleeping Beauty in my classes’ play.” She motioned to her dress with one hand. “This is my final costume change of the night - don’t you like it?”
“Very much,” Ohtori assured quickly. “Who is going to be playing the prince, then? Your class doesn’t have many tall girls.”
If she had been thrilled about her costume, Atobe was less thrilled about the answer to Ohtori’s question. “Yuuki is. Ryoko is her understudy, so we can only hope that Yuuki comes down with dysentery.”
Ohtori laughed lightly. “It seems like most people would be glad for Oshitari-san to be their prince.” She must have said the wrong thing - Atobe looked even less pleased. Ohtori quickly offered, “But anyone would want you to be their princess, Buchou.”
Her ego was satisfied. Atobe nodded in agreement. “Of course they would.” She motioned to Kabaji. “Come, Kabaji. I need to practice my lines.”
“Yes,” Kabaji said agreeably and they disappeared into another classroom to practice.
Part 2
Author: link621
Recipient: namae_nashi
Pairing/Characters: Ohtori/Shishido, others implied if you squint, Hyoutei
Rating: PG
Summary: Ohtori Chou is the new girl at Hyoutei Girls Acadamy. On her first day, she joins the tennis club and quickly makes friends and meets someone special.
Warnings: Genderbending, femmeslash.
Notes: Recommended listening: Bach’s Ciaccona for solo violin Part 1, Part 2. Happy holidays to Vanilla☆Volley!
It had to be the worst, most thoughtless decision she had ever made.
There were few things in the world that were more terrifying than being the New Girl. Ohtori adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she gazed up upon the looming gates of Hyoutei Girls Academy. Just what was she doing there? They have an excellent music program, she reminded herself. Her mother insisted that teenage girls did better in all-girls schools - scientists in Australia did a study comparing students at an all-girls school to those of a co-ed school and found that girls immediately improved 15-22% on their marks in Math or Science as soon as they were separated from boys. Oh, and then they would not have to worry about their little angel meeting a boy and becoming distracted from the important things in life, her father butted in helpfully. Where he got such a strange notion, she did not really know. She never had shown any interest in her male classmates and she had made a promise to remain chaste until marriage - she wore a simple silver ring on her right hand as a token of that promise. Besides, she was an athlete, artist, and musician - she did not have time for such nonsense.
She chewed her lip watching other freshman filing past the gates - all of them had evidently just discovered makeup, wearing it so thickly that their faces were obscured. Each of them wore enough foundation that their skin appeared to be a completely different tone on their face than the rest of their body. It was evident they also had paid careful attention to their hair - some of them dyed their hair brown, others had straightened the life out of their hair. By comparison, Ohtori felt frumpy - her own hair was cut shorter, just long enough to hold back in a ponytail, to keep it from being unruly while playing tennis. All of the girls were also noticeably shorter than her - but more than that, they were petite. Even before Ohtori had her growth spurt, she had never really been petite - her shoulders were especially broad and she did not have dainty wrists and ankles.
What stood out most to Ohtori was that there was not a fine white gold cross adorning each of the students’ necks. She was used to going to school with her cross displayed rather than hidden under her uniform. Every day at her last school started with an hour for morning mass and time for contemplation before class. Moving to a secular school was more of a shock than any of the girls could have been - the cute, made up, petite girls that were widely preferred by the opposite sex were in great supply everywhere.
It was a nice spring morning, though - they were nearing the end of the cherry blossom season, but it appeared as though the trees on the campus were still holding on to the last of their petals. The soft, but distinct fragrance of the delicate flowers filled the air - warmed the air. It almost felt like summer.
“You lost?” The voice startled her out of her thoughts and she turned her attention to the girl standing directly behind her. Her uniform indicated that she was a second year, her bag that she was on the tennis team. Her silky, nearly ebony brown hair was pulled back carelessly in a ponytail and she wore a vibrant blue ballcap that clashed horribly with the soft colors of the Hyoutei winter uniform. Unlike the first years Ohtori had been observing, the upperclassman did not seem concerned with caking her face in makeup - or wearing it at all. She didn’t look too pleased to be stopping to help some New Girl.
Said New Girl reflexively bowed her head and shoulders, becoming instantly self-conscious of their height difference - it had to be almost a full head. Her upperclassman was average height and slender giving the illusion that she was smaller than she really was, to make matters worse. “I’m sorry - it’s my first day. I don’t mean to loiter.” She straightened and gave a small apologetic smile. “I was just on my way to turn in an application for the tennis club…”
The other girl shrugged. “I’m not the loitering police.” Thinking about it, she really didn’t look like the hall monitor or disciplinary committee type. Her shirt was not properly tucked into her skirt, a fact that was cleverly disguised by the way she wore the sweater vest of her uniform. “But, if you’re going to the tennis club, I can show you.” She motioned over her shoulder with a flick of her head that made her ponytail bob. “It’s this way.” She did not wait for Ohtori to decide to follow her before she started walking, but out of a habit of obedience, Ohtori did. “It’s Shishido Ryoko, by the way.”
Shishido. She would probably be following this person around for at least a couple of days while she was learning the ropes, so she took care to burn the name into her memory.
“Ohtori Chou. My first name is written like ‘butterfly,’” Ohtori elaborated, drawing the character in the air.
“Is there any other way to write it?” The older girl frowned as she spoke, her voice creeping up in pitch with uncertainty.
“…No, I guess not.” And that was not the way she had wanted to start off making friends at her new school - by looking completely lame in front of the first upperclassman she met.
Thankfully for her, her upperclassman just laughed it off. “Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s still nice to meet you, Ohtori.”
Ohtori nodded, feeling something swelling in her chest knowing that she had her upperclassman on her side. “You too, Shishido-san.”
“Oh - don’t call me that, that’s awful. It’s stuffy.” Shishido tugged on her tennis bag, though it immediately slid back to where it had been before on her slight shoulder. The bag was some sort of soft blue polyester with black and white accents and the name of the school emblazoned on the side in white embroidery. Maybe she was one of the “regulars” - the girls who had a permanent spot on the lineup for every tournament. Ohtori had heard horror stories about how hard it was to earn that distinction in a tennis club of 200 girls. One failure and you were out of the rotation - continued success and you could sit atop the whole school. She wondered what that person was like - the person who was the strongest out of the 200 girls that aimed to gain the distinction of being “Queen” at Hyoutei.
Before Ohtori could protest that it was the proper way to address Shishido and she would really be more comfortable that way, they were approached by a very vertically challenged girl with strikingly red hair. Her uniform was a mess - it made Shishido look proper by comparison. She also wore slouch socks over sneakers, something that Ohtori herself had not done since her young childhood. Somehow, though, it suited the girl - it was spunky. “Hey, Ryoko,” she drawled, yawning just after she did. Maybe “Shishido-san” was a bit stuffy, after all. “Where’s Ji-chan?” The redhead (also a second year from the look of things) fell into step with them.
“Skipping morning practice again, probably. Sleeping in like you.”
Shishido’s words obviously ruffled some feathers. “Che, doesn’t matter ‘cause I could beat you in my sleep.” Only then did she notice Ohtori who had been feeling pretty conspicuous, anyway. How would one miss a girl who was taller than almost everyone else in the school? “Who’s your friend?”
“I’m Ohtori Chou,” she said with a bow of her head - she really couldn’t manage much more and safely walk at the same time. “It’s my first day.”
“Mukahi Chigako. Nice to meetcha.” The redhead was also carrying one of the tennis bags that presumably belonged to the regulars from the club - so then she was on the team with Shishido. Part of Ohtori wondered if Hyoutei’s feared tennis team was actually abnormally short. Her own height had been a major advantage in developing the fastest serve on the circuit and being an imposing block when it was her turn up to the net. But she lacked in other areas, like speed and offense, which was precisely why she favored doubles. As though she were psychic, Mukahi chose that moment to ask, “Hey - so do you play doubles?”
“Chigako,” Shishido grumbled, rolling her eyes skyward.
“I… yes.” Ohtori glanced out of the corner of her eye at her upperclassman, wondering why the question offended her.
“Perfect!” Mukahi elbowed Shishido hard, nearly throwing her off-step. “Now you won’t have to be partnered up with Taki!”
The notion was obviously not one that Shishido thought was up for discussion, nor did she seem too thrilled with the suggestion in the first place. But if there was a chance she would get to play doubles, if there was going to be an opening to be Shishido’s partner, Ohtori thought the transition to a new school wouldn’t be so bad after all.
As expected from everything she heard about Hyoutei, practice was grueling, but rewarding - the freshman spent most of the practice either running laps, doing suicides or practice swings, or just assisting the regulars with their practice by doing all of the menial tasks such as gathering balls and setting up cones. As it turned out, “Ji-chan,” was also one of the regulars - Akutagawa Shiori - who only showed up to practice in the afternoons and the occasional morning when she could be bothered to wake up on time for practice. Mukahi explained that Akutagawa was “narcoleptic or something,” and that when she was awake, she had more energy than the rest of them combined. Apparently, she was also somewhat of an otaku, though what she was fangirling Mukahi did not explain.
It was Hiyoshi Wakaba, a first year in Ohtori’s class, that explained why Mukahi called Akutagawa by the nonsensical nickname. “She misread her name. Mukahi-senpai read the ‘Shi’ as ‘Ji’ when she saw it written out in Hiragana.” Apparently after that, the nickname stuck. Akutagawa was just too lazy (or too laid back) to correct the mispronunciation.
They were seated next to one another in Ohtori’s class, by a grand stroke of luck, so she had someone to talk to while they were eating lunch. Hiyoshi was not as overtly pretty as some of the other girls, but she made up for it in drive - Ohtori could not remember meeting a more pragmatic person. She was one of the two youngest members of the regular line-up on Hyoutei’s tennis team and claimed that her driving factor was to dethrone the reigning queen of Hyoutei - Atobe Keiko. Ohtori had yet to see anything of their captain, but it seemed like everyone in the school knew who Atobe was and had an opinion of her. What Ohtori had gathered so far is that she was rich, exotic, terrifying on the court, and a pompous bitch. Yet, everyone who spoke of her (even Hiyoshi) did so with such fondness and love in their voice.
“So you’ll be coming, right?” Hiyoshi asked suddenly, picking at her rice with her chopsticks. Whoever had prepared her lunch had taken great care to arrange the food nicely - the little sausages were even cut to resemble octopi. Ohtori imagined her expression must have been completely blank because Hiyoshi snickered to herself. “I mean to the match. We have a tournament coming up in a few weeks - you should come cheer us all on. It’s a huge production, because of Buchou. She always gets the crowd going.”
Ohtori smiled, leaning a bit closer to Hiyoshi’s desk. “Are you playing in the tournament?”
The other girl tilted her head to the side. “It’s up to Buchou,” she said after a long pause. “They’re talking about putting me in doubles with Mukahi-senpai, depending upon how things go in this tournament. Mukahi-senpai is paired with Oshitari-senpai, normally.” There was another name that Ohtori had heard plenty about - Oshitari Yuuki. From all accounts, the girl had a following at the school. It seemed strange to Ohtori, but apparently Oshitari received a plethora of gifts on Valentine’s Day from the other girls at the school and many claimed that they wanted to be her “girlfriend.” Some of the girls were whispering about Oshitari at practice that morning - one of them was planning to confess love.
The girls at her last school were always whispering about the boys they liked, but not offering up any actual details to avoid looking like they were too interested (only to be called sluts behind their backs by the other girls, anyway). It was different, at Hyoutei - boys had not really been mentioned at all that day. Maybe there was something to be said for segregated gender learning, after all. Or maybe the only type of people who went to an all-girls school were like that. Ohtori felt heat rising to her cheeks thinking about it.
“Don’t tell me,” Hiyoshi said leaning back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest. “It’s your first day and you’re already in love with Oshitari-senpai?”
“Huh? Wh- No!” Ohtori blushed more, only looking more suspicious. Hiyoshi didn’t let it go for the rest of the week.
There were few places to truly achieve privacy on campus when it came time for Ohtori to practice playing violin. On most days, the music room itself was occupied by classes or by someone wishing to practice on the grand piano. There were sound-proofed practice rooms lining the hallway outside the music room, but they were always booked in advance for particular students and the schedules looked full for the next few months, at the very least. Ohtori checked back periodically every few days, but it quickly became clear that if she wanted to practice on campus, she was going to need to find good acoustics somewhere else.
The first obvious option was to use one of the bathrooms, but she already felt enough like an outcast just by being new to the school without being subjected to the public ridicule that would certainly follow if she were to practice in the bathrooms. Most of the classrooms were out of the question because of their shape - they would not carry the sound well (not to mention, it would be horribly disruptive to other students trying to study). The dining hall did not seem like such a bad option, but the theatre club would meet there on breaks when they did not have enough time to make it down to the performing arts building that was separate from the rest of the school on the massive campus. During club time, when the dining hall was generally open, Ohtori was with the tennis team.
She had resigned herself to practicing at home when one day she noticed the building on her way out of the school - she had no idea how she had managed to look past it before. It was a traditional design with a steeply slanted roof and a large, wooden cross adorning the front of the building. If there was a chapel on campus, it would be perfect for acoustics. And chances were at a secular school, the building was not receiving much use most of the time. It was a bit off the beaten path, but she would have somewhere to practice when she could take breaks during the school day or if there was no club.
The very first time she practiced there it was after tennis practice the day before the big tournament. The regulars were held behind to discuss the tournament with the coach and Atobe, but the rest of the club was dismissed earlier than normal. Ohtori made her way to the chapel, finding it empty just as she hoped. The interior was beautiful in the late spring sun - the light filtering through the stained glass cast bits of color across the pews and hardwood floor. A statue of the Virgin Mary stood before her at the end of the aisle, her head bowed in deep contemplation. Ohtori went to her, speaking a few words of prayer softly, and then made herself comfortable at the end of the aisle.
She had been working on the piece for months - the tryouts for the Tokyo Junior Orchestra were coming up at the end of the summer, and she was bound and determined to have the piece polished by the time they did. Ohtori was quick to lose herself in the piece, closing her eyes and just playing from the heart. She had memorized it long ago, it was one of her favorites by Bach - she listened to it many times as a child and picked it up easily as a teenager, despite the difficulty of the piece.
She was startled to receive applause for her performance. She opened her eyes to see Shishido sitting only a few feet away on one of the pews. She had respectfully removed her cap and her hair fell loose about her shoulders. Her tennis bag sat upright beside her, as though it were another person in the audience. “That was awesome.” She smiled, motioning to the violin with one hand. “What was that - Mozart?”
“Bach,” Ohtori corrected shyly. “Ciaccona,” she added, taking her violin away from her shoulder and holding it near her side.
“Ah - guess I don’t know the difference.” Shishido looked sheepish. “I never pay attention in music class.” Even so, the Ciaccona, the fifth and most famous movement of one of Bach’s most revered pieces, seemed like something that everyone ought to know. Ohtori recognized that she had the unfair advantage of studying music her whole life, of course. “But you’re really good - do you moonlight as a pro violinist?”
“Thank you, Shishido-san.” She ignored the exasperated look. “I’m trying out for the Junior Orchestra in a few months,” Ohtori explained. She went about putting away her violin and went to sit in the pew in front of her upperclassman, turning her body to face Shishido. “It still needs a lot of work.” She tilted her head to the side as it occurred to her that she had told no one where she would be after practice. “How did you find me in here? I was hoping not to disturb anyone by practicing here.”
Shishido motioned over her shoulder with one hand. “I heard music, so I came to check it out.” She laughed lightly, raising an eyebrow. “But how could you disturb anyone with that? You’re awesome.”
Ohtori chuckled in return, shaking her head. “Says the one who didn’t even recognize the piece.”
Shishido’s brow furrowed and her lips twisted into a pout. “Well - I know good music when I hear it, okay?”
A compliment was a compliment, though. Ohtori continued to smile, glancing down at the wooden pew. The pews looked new and unused… the pews Ohtori was used to were aged and well-worn with obvious smooth spots where many people proceeding her sat and the occasional declaration of love in the form of an etching in the wood. She looked back at Shishido to see that her upperclassman was still pouting - it was cute when she did it, but such an expression didn’t suit her. “I’ll be at your match tomorrow,” Ohtori said quietly.
“Oh yeah?” Her upperclassman lifted her eyes to look back at Ohtori. “Root for me.”
“Definitely.”
The atmosphere at tennis club on Monday afternoon, their next practice with full attendance from the regulars no thanks to Akutagawa, was palpably tense. It reminded Ohtori of the sort of summer days where it would rain in the morning and then be so humid and hot in the afternoon that it was simply difficult to breathe. The regulars were not speaking to one another - Atobe and Shishido in particular seemed to be exceptionally moody. Atobe was often fairly moody - but with an unruly team like hers, Ohtori couldn’t really blame her.
The doubles game had gone well - the doubles pair of Oshitari and Mukahi worked pretty well together, but Taki and Hiyoshi were much shakier. Taki, who was probably the most dramatic member of the team, was frustrated with the narrow margin that they had to claim victory. She was still arguing with Hiyoshi about who was really responsible for their failures. This was an early season game, after all - against Fudomine, she stressed as though it was significant.
But it meant that the way was paved for Shishido to play in singles one. Unfortunately, that was where things turned sour. In a spectacular over-estimation of her speed and strength, Shishido was beaten sorely by Fudomine’s captain Tachibana. It was a 0-6 loss for Hyoutei - something that was not tolerated. Normally, a regular with such a loss would be removed from the team and the next standby would be asked to practice with the regulars. Shishido knew her spot was in trouble.
When Sakaki approached Ohtori near the end of practice, her heart sank into her stomach with a solid “thud” when it hit the bottom. The other regulars stood around them in various stages of finishing up their regular practice exercises for the day. Shishido was crouched by her bag, sifting through the contents as though she was looking for something. “Ohtori-kun,” Sakaki began, folding his arms over his chest. “I would like to offer you a position on the regulars.”
At first, she had no idea how to respond. She started to stutter out an excuse to not make the decision right away, but was interrupted by Mukahi. “That’s awesome!” She thumped Ohtori on the back in what was probably meant to be a playful pat but nearly knocked the wind out of Ohtori. If Mukahi could bottle that enthusiasm and sell it, she would make millions.
“Chigako,” Oshitari murmured, a hint of a warning in her voice. Her hair was a mess from practice and sweat gleamed on her forehead, but she still looked enviably beautiful with her true black hair and her dark eyes. She was wearing her usual “Harry Potter glasses” (so she had described them). The strange thing was that Ohtori was under the impression that Oshitari could actually see just fine without them. She was too afraid to ask - she felt like it was probably one of the trade secrets that made Oshitari one of the most popular girls at school. Now speaking to the coach, Oshitari added, “That’s unprecedented, promoting a first year who is so new to the team to the regulars.”
“It was you, once,” Atobe put in, stepping forward with her hands on her hips. She glanced at Oshitari from below blonde eyelashes. Her eyes were the clearest shade of grey-blue that Ohtori had ever known. “And you may remember I took over captaincy on my first day of school.” She gave a small smile, looking at Ohtori. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Normal people don’t walk into school and declare themselves Queen,” Oshitari pointed out under her breath. It did not escape Atobe’s notice.
“Coach,” Ohtori said, putting her teammates out of her mind for a moment. They were going to continue to squabble regardless of anything she said or did. “There isn’t an open spot on the regulars.”
“There is.” That was all Sakaki said. With that, he went to chase off a few students who were loitering around to see what was going on with the club.
Atobe was now distracted - her attention turned to Shishido. Ohtori followed her eyes to see that Shishido was now kneeling on the court. Her hair was still pulled back in its usual ponytail, but she had removed her hat. In her hand was something shiny - something metal. Something sharp.
In unison, she and Atobe moved closer to Shishido. “Ryoko,” Atobe said just as Ohtori was saying, “Shishido-san.”
She did not respond. The others had not taken notice. Taki was now gossiping with the others about how she overheard Sakaki dismissing Shishido from the club - that her defeat was an embarrassment to the club and their school and that she would not be welcome with her attitude and abilities. Ohtori felt a small tremor develop in her; no one deserved to hear those words. Shishido was no doubt heartbroken and feeling worthless. That’s why it was bad that she had something sharp and pointy. With a glance at Atobe, Ohtori could tell Atobe was thinking the same thing.
Shishido reached one hand behind her head taking hold of the ponytail. In her other hand, she lifted the pointy object - scissors. Ohtori only realized what she was going to do when it was too late - the scissors cut through the hair just above the tie that held the ponytail and it dropped limply in Shishido’s hand. Her hair was left jagged and in desperate need of being properly cut. She turned to look at them both, her eyes bright and her brow set in determination. It was not the picture of heartbreak that Ohtori had expected.
“Whoa - Ryoko!” Mukahi pressed herself up against the fence surrounding the court. “What the hell?”
“Oh my god, you look so cool!” Akutagawa joined Mukahi at the fence, looping her fingers around the chain link. “You could even go shorter - that would be super cool. I bet you’d look just like an idol!”
They were missing the point. “Ryoko,” Atobe began, her face serious. “You excel in doubles - you knew that.”
Shishido nodded. “Yeah, but I’m going to have to work on that, too, if I’m going to get back on the team.”
“No you won’t!” Ohtori interjected, slipping back out of the courts and past her upperclassmen that were standing by the fence. She intercepted Sakaki as he was headed back to the school building. “Coach,” she said, bowing deeply just a mite too quickly and paying the price for it with blood rushing to her head. “I would like to forfeit my position on the team.” Never mind that it had been one of the things she was working toward since the first day she arrived at Hyoutei. Never mind that it was a real honor to receive the distinction of being hand-picked by the coach to be on the team. “Please allow Shishido-san to fill my spot on the roster,” she begged, not looking up from how she was bowed.
“Interesting,” murmured Sakaki. “And what do you think of this?”
Shishido’s voice came from much closer than Ohtori expected. “I… can’t accept this. I will need to work hard to earn a spot back on the team.”
Ohtori straightened and turned to look at her upperclassman. She really did look like an idol with her hair in such a choppy, layered cut. “But I wouldn’t want to be on the team if you’re not there,” she insisted. “I need your guidance if I’m going to pursue doubles. You’re the best on the team when it comes to doubles.” She could not help but feeling like she really ought to close her mouth before she spouted any more unsolicited compliments.
The older girl at first looked stunned - her lips parting slightly and her eyes widening. It gave way to confusion as her brow creased and her lips twisted into a pout once more. “You’re really…”
“Don’t you see?” Atobe seemed to come out of nowhere, stepping between the two girls and their coach. “This is what I told you would happen. It’s an ideal situation.” She looked like some sort of Greek goddess with her hair in perfect, loose, movie star curls around her shoulders and her hands rested imperiously on her hips. It was as though she had known this would happen - as though she had already devised a work-around before Ohtori even offered to give up her spot. Atobe’s insightfulness was notorious, but it was still shocking to see it happening first-hand.
Sakaki nodded, looking to Shishido. “Then Shishido keeps her spot. You two will be working on doubles,” he looked to Ohtori as he said this. “Taki, you may turn in your jersey.”
“What?” Taki sputtered, the beginnings of a full protest bubbling out of her mouth before she was interrupted.
“The decision is final. You are all dismissed.” With that, he was gone.
Ohtori turned her attention to Taki. She wanted to say something - to apologize for taking Taki’s slot on the roster. It was quite clear from the look on Taki’s face that she was not feeling much up to talking about their feelings.
Shishido smiled. “Keiko, you-“
The blonde shook her head, somehow not disturbing the natural way her hair lay against her body. “Don’t thank me yet.”
It did not take long for Hyoutei’s “Silver Pair,” to be well-adored amongst the students. When Ohtori and Shishido teamed up, no one could defeat them. As the weeks passed, they spent more time together off the court - they ate lunch together, often in Ohtori’s classroom since she was not allowed up onto the third floor where Shishido’s classroom was located. They would meet up when they were walking distance from school and walk the rest of the way together - their feet would fall at the same pace, Shishido in long strides, Ohtori in short strides. They always seemed to be doing the same thing at the same time when they were apart - a quick phone call would reveal that they had both just brushed their teeth.
The only thing Ohtori kept to herself was her violin practice, but even then she was often visited by Shishido who would sit for as long as it took for Ohtori to feel satisfied with her progress. She always removed her cap out of respect and would sit in the second pew beside her bag, just silently watching. She applauded after every performance. Sometimes, she would even stop to say something to the statue of Mary.
When Oshitari convinced Shishido that she really ought to get her hair cut, Ohtori and Shishido went together. They both went short - Shishido’s so short that it would naturally spike, Ohtori’s just long enough to lay more or less flat against her head. Shishido still looked just like an idol to Ohtori, even if she didn’t wear makeup and usually wore well-loved sneakers with her school uniform when they were walking together to school.
Saturday night, they decided, was movie night. It seemed like such a good idea at first, but then it came to actually going to the video rental store to pick something out. Their tastes were so different that they could not even reach an agreement when they were looking at a list of Ghibli films - Ohtori wanted to watch Grave of the Fireflies, Shishido had a preference for Princess Mononoke. Finally, Ohtori had a brilliant plan to resolve the dispute. They would each pick out their favorite movie and then have a second move night next week. That night, they would watch Shishido’s favorite movie, the next week, they could watch Ohtori’s. It seemed simple enough.
“But it’s not really just one movie, is the problem…” Shishido was explaining as she led them to the proper section of the video store - the Science Fiction and Fantasy aisle. “It’s more like a trilogy.” She picked up a bundle of DVD boxes that were held together by a rubber band and displayed it to Ohtori.
She tilted her head. “I’ve never seen it before.”
Shishido’s appeared to be utterly appalled. “You’ve never seen Star Wars? Everyone has seen Star Wars!”
“Not me,” Ohtori responded, a bit taken aback by Shishido’s sudden enthusiasm.
Needless to say, the indiscretion on Ohtori’s part was quickly remedied.
“What’s that?”
“Rosin. Try not to touch anything, Shishido-san.” Ohtori went through her purse to grab her wallet so she could pay for the rosin and get out of the store. Shishido was regarding the items on the shelves like they were shrunken heads rather than musical instruments and all the necessary items for their up-keep.
“This is boring,” Shishido declared. But, it had been her idea - since Ohtori sat through Star Wars despite all of her reservations, Shishido said she would come to the music supply store to pick up the things that Ohtori needed for her violin. It seemed like a fair trade-off at the time. And if Shishido thought this was boring, obviously she had not really been paying attention during Episode I.
Ohtori did not respond, getting in the line for the register.
“What’s this?”
“A double-reed - it’s probably for an oboe or bassoon.” Shishido took the information in, just examining the small plastic case that contained the reed. For someone who claimed to be bored, she sure was enjoying asking lots of questions. As Ohtori watched, her face suddenly brightened.
“I’ll get you this one!” She held up a book of sheet music - the composer was named John Williams. Ohtori knew the name, but she could not place it. “Will you play it for me if I buy it?”
Ohtori nodded. “Sure - once the tryouts are over, I can start learning new material.”
Shishido smiled to herself victoriously.
“Is this Star Wars music?” Ohtori asked, sitting next to the statute of Mary. Shishido had moved up to the first pew from her usual sitting place.
“Huh? Oh, what makes you think that? I just recognized the name of the composer, is all.” Shishido shrugged it off.
Ohtori turned the book to face her, clearly displaying, “The Theme from Star Wars,” to her doubles partner.
Shishido still looked unfazed. “What? I told you I know good music when I hear it.”
“So, you remember in Fantasia how they talked about music telling a story?”
Of course Ohtori remembered; she was the one who selected Fantasia as their movie over the past weekend. Shishido had suddenly taken a liking to classical music and Ohtori thought it was a decent introduction to classical music to show her a Disney movie that included many of the more famous pieces including Shishido’s favorite part, the dancing flowers during the Nutcracker Suite. She had been humming bars of it to herself ever since they watched the movie. Ohtori was just appalled that no one had dragged Shishido to the Nutcracker ballet before and promised that they would go together when it was more seasonal.
“Yeah,” Ohtori said agreeably running light rosin over her bow. When she was finished, she put the rosin back in the violin case in the small pouch intended for such things. She also kept an orange peel in there to help with the negative effects of humidity on the wood instrument and a pencil which she used to make notations to her sheet music. “Like in Sorcerer’s Apprentice, you mean?”
“That’s the one with Mickey, right?” Shishido leaned back in the pew, draping her arm over the back of the wood seat. The latest edition to her wardrobe was a large, clunky watch with a huge leather band. It was actually a men’s watch, but Shishido loved that it was unruly. She had no choice but to remove it when she played tennis - it limited the range of motion in her wrist. “Well, I was thinking - this piece you’re performing… does it tell a story?”
The Ciaccona was not a story piece - not exactly. Many hearing it for the first time would be moved to tears by the raw emotion, the melancholy that laced its way through the piece. “Not exactly,” Ohtori said, resting her violin on her shoulder and testing the tone with a few slow strokes of her bow over the strings. It sounded just a little bit sharp. She adjusted the strings as she continued to talk. “Bach wrote it after his wife passed away and many historians believe that the piece is inspired by his feelings about his wife’s passing.”
Shishido went quiet, turning that over in her head. “Huh,” she said finally after a pause. Ohtori watched her - waiting for her to finish her thought. “I guess I probably would have seen that if there were pictures to go with the music.”
Ohtori smiled. “Close your eyes, this time,” she suggested. “Maybe you’ll see something different.” Shishido complied with the request and Ohtori put the bow to strings.
The tennis season coming to an end was a relief. Ohtori and Shishido finished the season undefeated. They were able to compete in the National tournament, though they were not the ones who ultimately took home the championship title. Ohtori expected Atobe to be disappointed with how things went, but she actually seemed to be genuinely happy for the winners. Wednesday afternoon, a few days after the tournament was over, Ohtori overheard Atobe on her cell phone speaking with a florist requesting that they send flowers to the winning school with a nice message regarding their match. The sheer number of flowers, she thought Atobe said ten dozen red roses, was what left an impression on Ohtori. Her captain was just full of surprises.
But as the tennis season came to a close, it gave Ohtori the time to focus more on her violin. She played the Ciaccona beautifully at her audition and was offered a spot in the Junior Orchestra. They were starting her at second chair violin - she would be playing the same part as the first chair violinist who was a year her senior and had been with the Junior Orchestra for five years. It was quite a distinction and an honor. The music teacher at school encouraged her to use one of the private practice rooms on campus, even offering to rearrange the schedule to make one available, but Ohtori insisted that she had the perfect practice spot. She enjoyed having Shishido with her to listen in.
But her time was still divided between violin and the upcoming school festival. Their class was considering doing a haunted house (something that Ohtori was not so sure she was going to be able to handle… she startled easily) championed by Hiyoshi who insisted that it was their opportunity to get the better of the upperclassmen. “Everyone will be doing a maid café,” she explained, over lunch, sure that her logic was flawless. “If we do a haunted house, it’ll be something different. We could all dress like zombies like in The House of the Dead 2!” She looked enthused by the prospect.
On the other hand, Mukahi who had joined them for lunch that day looked less thrilled. “Are you still going on about that game?”
“Scared, Mukahi-san?” Hiyoshi leaned a bit closer, smiling devilishly.
“No!” Mukahi flushed the color of her hair, poking moodily at her food with her chopsticks. “But if you’re going to wear makeup like that, why not just do a zombie maid café, or something.”
Ohtori smiled. “That’s an interesting idea, Mukahi-senpai.” She took a drink of her water, glancing at the clock to see how much time they had left on lunch. Seventeen minutes - not long enough to try to meet Shishido at the chapel and practice.
“You gonna be okay by yourself in the Maid Café of the Undead?” Hiyoshi asked ominously, her voice distant and dark like the Crypt Keeper.
Mukahi swatted at Hiyoshi’s shoulder in protest. “Yuuki said she’d walk around with me - she’ll be the one that’s scared.”
“Good call bringing someone tall to hide behind.”
“Wakaba!”
Ohtori smiled, looking between them. “I think it’s a good idea, actually,” she put in. “It’s a compromise, since a lot of the others want to do the café. We could all wear the spooky makeup with our maid uniforms.” Shishido would probably think it was super cool, too - she liked those sorts of movies, like Night of the Living Dead. They watched it in October in celebration of Halloween, which Ohtori admittedly knew nothing about. Shishido told her it was a holiday where people in the Western world dressed up like monsters and went around asking strangers for candy - and got it. Shishido sounded thrilled about it, but Ohtori wondered if it was really so safe for children to be going around asking complete strangers for candy. It sounded like the start of a safety video about “Stranger Danger.”
It was a little more difficult to convince their teacher of their master plan than it was to convince Hiyoshi and Ohtori that it sounded like fun, but the rest of the class was on-board for the zombie maid café. Hiyoshi and Ohtori were voted to take charge of the project.
The day before the festival, the first floor of the main building was busier than an airport during Golden Week. Ohtori and her parents went to Hawaii a few years back for Golden Week and it had been a nightmare to navigate the airport between all of the holiday travelers and the sheer popularity of their destination. Girls were darting in and out of classrooms with supplies, costumes, and food. One of the first year classes was going to be putting on a play - it sounded like they had chosen a play about a princess because they were all talking about how pretty she looked in her fairy tale dress. Ohtori was even approached to ask if she could play the prince since she was tall and had short hair. She refused - her own class project was going to be consuming much of her time over the course of the festival.
But that was how she came to encounter Kabaji in the hall while Ohtori was on her way to get changed into her costume for the café for a final fitting. Kabaji was dressed in what appeared to be a prince’s costume complete with a silky white cape with gold lining. Her short, black hair had been spiked up and back to give it a more masculine appearance. She was the very picture of a prince. It was a wonder that she had not been picked above Ohtori to be approached for the role first.
When Kabaji noticed Ohtori staring at her, Ohtori lifted her hand in greeting with a smile. “You look handsome,” she assured.
“Thank you,” Kabaji murmured, though she looked like she felt more embarrassed than handsome.
“Of course she does,” Atobe agreed, stepping out from the classroom beside Kabaji. She had a way of just appearing right when you least expected her - today dressed head to toe in the most beautiful dress Ohtori had ever seen. Her lively curls were done up in a complicated arrangement on her head. The ice blue of her dress brought out the stunning color of her eyes. Unlike most of Ohtori’s classmates, Atobe had curves - she filled out the dress nicely, her bosom nearly spilling out of the corset. “Who could be better suited to the role of prince?”
“Buchou… are you going to be in the play, too?” Ohtori held her own costume against her chest - a maid outfit with some artistic tears and grime for an undead sort of effect.
Atobe laughed at the very notion, waving a hand in the air dismissively. “Heavens, no. I am playing the part of Sleeping Beauty in my classes’ play.” She motioned to her dress with one hand. “This is my final costume change of the night - don’t you like it?”
“Very much,” Ohtori assured quickly. “Who is going to be playing the prince, then? Your class doesn’t have many tall girls.”
If she had been thrilled about her costume, Atobe was less thrilled about the answer to Ohtori’s question. “Yuuki is. Ryoko is her understudy, so we can only hope that Yuuki comes down with dysentery.”
Ohtori laughed lightly. “It seems like most people would be glad for Oshitari-san to be their prince.” She must have said the wrong thing - Atobe looked even less pleased. Ohtori quickly offered, “But anyone would want you to be their princess, Buchou.”
Her ego was satisfied. Atobe nodded in agreement. “Of course they would.” She motioned to Kabaji. “Come, Kabaji. I need to practice my lines.”
“Yes,” Kabaji said agreeably and they disappeared into another classroom to practice.
Part 2