Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 4 - Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5 – Newcomers Competition — The Role of a Substitute

First High, in this day, won women’s Crowd Ball. They got second place in both men’s and women’s Ice Pillars Break. Men’s Crowd Ball finished with third place as the result. It’s only the second day of the newcomers competition, but at this point they are provisionally in first place.

Even Marika has some amount of love for her school. And Alisa won today, after all. Marika headed to the microbus to return to Tokyo with a good mood.

Alisa told her that she would escort her until the bus left, but many people, including Marika, persuaded her to rest at her room along with Hiyori. The two of them were obviously very exhausted by the match. They took a short nap until dinner, but the most important thing right now is to rest their mind and body.

The scheduled departure for the bus is soon. Because she had been persuading Alisa, Marika will likely be the last one. She wasn’t in a rush to the point she had to run, but she was walking considerably fast.

“Marika-san.”

A voice called to stop Marika at the entrance of the parking lot. The voice that came from behind Marika was familiar to her, so she couldn’t ignore it.

“Urabe-senpai.”

The one who stopped her was her senpai from the Public Morals Committee, Aki.

“Do you need something from me?”

She is in a hurry for the reasons mentioned before. With a voice that didn’t hide her impatience, Marika asked what her business was.

“I asked the teacher to wait, so don’t worry.”

Kitou was serving as the guide/driver today too. He has been taking care of her every day. That’s why Marika felt guilty about needlessly troubling him.

“Understood. What do you need me to do?”

Consequently, she tried to end the conversation quickly.

“Honestly, this isn’t the kind of place to have this discussion.”

Aki scratched her head. While she has the appearance of an intellectual, this unrefined mannerism also suits her. In fact, many underclassmen of hers were drawn to this disparity. — It was mainly the female ones though.

“Marika-san. This is a proposal from Ichika-san. She wants you to replace her as the competitor for Mirage Bat.“

“Eh...?”

Marika froze.

“She looked rather mentally exhausted. If you’re willing to take Ichika-san’s place, come prepared to stay at the hotel tomorrow.”

It was obvious Marika would be confused, so Aki limited herself to simply convey what she needed to do for now without seeking an answer from her.

“Well, see you tomorrow.”

Aki slightly waved her hand and turned around.

“Ah, yes. Excuse me.”

Still confused, Marika bowed to her back.

◇ ◇ ◇

After 11pm. The ringtone of a phone call rang from Alisa’s portable terminal.

“Ah, sorry.”

Alisa picked up the terminal and started heading to the veranda.

“You don’t have to go outside. It’s Marika, right?”

Hiyori stopped her.

Alisa stopped, saying “Well then, sorry” and answered the phone call.

“Hello, what’s up?”

“Isn’t it time to sleep soon? I’m sorry to call at this hour.”

From the voice call, an apology came Marika through the earpiece speaker that was placed against Alisa’s ear.

“Not yet. Besides, we always talk at this time, don’t we?”

It’s like a routine that Alisa and Marika talk through a phone call before going to sleep. They’ve held back since Alisa started lodging here since Hiyori is in the same room, but at home they take turns calling each other every night.

“But I was thinking that you would be tired today.”

“I took a nap for an hour so I’m fine. Rather, I’m worried over whether I’ll be able to sleep properly.”

On the other side of the call, Marika said “That’s good” and patted her chest.

“There’s something I want to discuss with you...”

And then, Marika said to her, somewhat hesitantly.

Alisa intuitively knew from the tone.

“About Ichika?”

“...You knew?”

Self-conscious that her voice sounded uneasy, Marika asked back, seeming embarrassed.

“I knew... If it’s about this, maybe it would be better if it’s not just me listening. I’m going to put it on speaker, okay?”

Alisa said, and then switched the call to speakers.

“Hiyori, Mina was saying she wants to talk about Ichika.”

“—Alright.”

Hiyori knit her brows like she was saying ‘With me?’, but immediately nodded looking like she understood.

“Marika, you were told about the substitute thing too, right?”

“...Yeah. I heard it from Urabe-senpai.”

After hesitating for a moment, Marika replied affirmatively to Hiyori.

Marika, in truth, may have only wanted to talk about it with Alisa.

“What did she tell you?”

“She said that Ichika suggested it, that she wanted me to replace her as a competitor. And that she looked exhausted.”

Marika candidly replied to Alisa’s question.

“What Urabe-senpai said is true.”

Hiyori guaranteed its veracity.

“Mina, you know Ichika hasn’t been feeling well this whole time, right?”

“I know.”

Marika nodded to Alisa’s question with few words.

“I thought it was maybe my fault.”

And then added that.

“You might think that, but you’re wrong.”

Hiyori repudiated Marika’s misdirected self-blame.

“I think part of it is her feeling pressure from you being a substitute, Marika. But that pressure didn’t intensify when she saw you come here to support.”

“You think so?”

“I do. The ones who care about that are other people.”

Hiyori asserted with no hesitation.

Marika didn’t reply back.

“At any rate, if that is still worrying you, why don’t you try talking to Ichika directly tomorrow?”

Alisa proposed to Marika, who was still wavering.

“...You think that would be better?”

“If you don’t, you won’t be able to accept replacing her either, right?”

“Yeah... I’ll do that. Thank you, you too, Hiyori.”

The hesitation had faded slightly from Marika’s voice.

◇ ◇ ◇

10th of August, scheduled for today’s third day of the newcomers competition is the first half of Monolith Code and men’s and women’s Pairs Speed Shooting.

Monolith Code is carried out in a round robin tournament, with each school having 8 matches divided into ten rounds. Today is rounds 1 through 5 and tomorrow will be rounds 6 through 10.

The matchups are decided by each school’s representatives drawing lots. No matter which school, there will be two rounds from those ten where they won’t have a match, but whether this works in their favor or against them is entirely dependent on luck.

On the other hand, Pairs Speed Shooting has a qualification round with 3 groups of 3 schools in the morning, and in the afternoon a final league with the first place from each group. Also, the Speed Shooting qualification round groups are also decided by lots.

Right now, representatives of each participating team are drawing lots at the tournament headquarters.

And in First High’s tent, Marika was having a conversation with Ichika with Shiina and Aki present.

Marika and Ichika sat opposite each other at a table in a corner of what looked like private compartment divided by a thick cloth. So that the two could speak with no reservations, Shiina spread out a soundproof field inside the partition. Not only they couldn’t hear sound from outside, there are also no concerns over being eavesdropped.

“Wanting to withdraw, is that what you truly want, Ichika?”

After being silent for a while, it was Marika who started the discussion.

“— That is my intention.”

Ichika hesitated slightly and then clearly admitted it.

“This will cause trouble for you, Marika-chan, but even if I force myself to participate in my condition...”

Ichika bit her lip.

“...I don’t think it will end well for anybody. Especially for me.”

Her voice, seemingly being wrung out, had traces of engraved carved in it. A tone that so eloquently recounted her conclusion she finally arrived at the end of all her worrying.

“I don’t think it’s trouble for me. A substitute is exactly for that, right?”

Marika replied, speaking indifferently, neither consoling her nor being sarcastic.

Nevertheless, it didn’t give the impression she was being cold. It was a natural tone to say something natural.

“Rather, I’m happy since I can show the results of my practice.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that too.”

A moderate smile appeared on Ichika’s face due to Marika’s deliberately slightly evil line.

“I see... I want you to tell me one more thing, is that okay?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

Ichika nodded, strangely, with no wariness.

“Then I won’t hold back. Ichika, what do you want to run away from?”

“Run away... Saying it so bluntly straight to my face, it hits quite hard...”

Ichika smiled like she was deprecating herself.

A frail expression, that couldn’t help but elicit feelings of sympathy.

“It’s not the case that you didn’t want to participate in Mirage Bat from the start, right?”

But Marika didn’t stop the conversation there.

“Marika-san, going any further would be...”

Shiina, unable to just watch, intervened to try to stop her.

“That’s right.”

But, in order to interrupt her, Ichika herself continued the discussion.

“Of course I was happy to become a part of the team at first. There was pressure too, but my feelings of wanting to do my best were stronger than that. But, over time...”

“The pressure got heavier?”

“My anxiety got heavier.”

Marika asked, and Ichika replied back with an answer different than expected.

“It came to a point where I was thinking about nothing but what I would do if I failed to meet expectations.”

“When did that happen? When you came to the venue on the bus?”

“I started thinking about it before that. But just like you said, Marika-chan, I got so anxious I couldn’t stand it in the bus.”

Ichika’s tone changed to one that was like she was talking about someone else’s problems.

Shiina also didn’t try to stop them anymore.

“The only reason my condition seems to have improved right now is because the state of anxiety I’m telling you about became the norm. I believe it’s likely that if I stand in front of the Mirage Bat stage, my legs will freeze and I will become unable to move.”

Ichika probably assumed that tone because she has reached the point where she has to view herself objectively like that to suppress her anxiety.

The true form of the anxiety tormenting Ichika.

“— I understand.”

Marika didn’t ask about that.

Marika avoided clarifying the truth of the anxiety, avoided cornering Ichika.

“I’m relieved you didn’t decide this without thinking it over properly.”

Marika had no interest in the truth behind Ichika’s personal anxiety. But she did question whether Ichika was sincere.

“Leave it to me. I’ll work hard enough to make up for you, Ichika.”

Marika said, making a show her hitting her chest. Ichika involuntarily laughed at the boyish gesture that wouldn’t be done even in modern manga.

It was certainly Ichika’s own emotions that caused that smile.

“President. Please register the change of competitors!”

Marika stood up straight and deeply bowed to Shiina.

Overwhelmed by her energy, Shiina’s eyes wandered around as she said “Y-yeah...”.

◇ ◇ ◇

When each of the representatives at the Monolith Code and Speed Shooting draws returned, Marika was still in the middle of talking with Ichika.

When the discussion between them ended and they left the partition, the boys all had the same frown.

“What happened?”

Shiina caught Saburou and asked.

After a short exchange of “Was the matter settled?” “Yeah”, Saburou, with a tone similar to a sigh, began to say “It’s the Monolith Code matchups...”

“It’s a round-robin so we would face them at some point... But we’ll be facing Third High in the third round.”

“What is the problem with that?”

Shiina asked, curious. Marika and Aki, listening beside them, also couldn’t understand what the problem was.

“Our opponents in the first round are Second High, in the second round Ninth High. And then Third High in the third round.”

“...It gets tougher and tougher, huh...”

“Third High’s opponent for the first round is Ninth High, and they don’t have a match in the second round.”

“Wow...”

Shiina understood why the boys were frowning.

According to Nine Schools Competition speculation, the favorites to win Monolith Code are First High and Third High. Second High and Ninth High follow them. There is no data for the newcomers competition so predictions don’t have a basis, but is it believe that the power dynamic will be similar to the main competition from the results of the previous years.

In other words, First High will be fighting against strong schools consecutively. Moreover, if Ninth High, who they will fight in the third round, loses against Third High in their match beforehand, they will likely challenge First High with intense fighting spirit.

While First High is tired from the matches against Second High and Ninth High, their opponent in the third round is a Third High that had a bye in the second round. It was impossible to think of it as anything other than bad luck.

To the matchups that are expected to be tough battles, Shiina also made a face similar to the boys.

Marika went to Alisa’s side and, right there, Joui, who is participating in Monolith Code, had an even more pained face than his upperclassmen.

“Joey. What are you planning to do when you already look so wimpy before the matches start!?”

His childhood friend, Koharu — who stubbornly denies their relationship as ‘childhood friends’ — hit Joui’s back with her palm and gave him a pep talk. By the way, it made really loud noise.

“I have no intentions of losing, but...”

His response was evasive. Also, he didn’t say anything about being slapped. He’s probably used to it.

“I just feel kinda guilty.”

The one who drew from the lot for the matchups was Joui.

“It can’t be helped, right? Draws are all about luck.”

“That’s true, but it is said that ‘winning and losing are down to luck’, right? Isn’t this a bad sign?”

“Joey, ‘fortune and misfortune come in turns’. Bad luck and good luck balance each other out!”

“I wonder... I feel like ‘bad luck comes in crowds’, though”.

“There is no proverb like that!”

In the vicinity of where these two kept yapping at each other, their friends maintained a distance of one, two steps away from them.

“Ah, Mina.”

Alisa talked to Marika. She spoke as if she hadn’t noticed her until then.

“Did you hear everything you wanted to hear?”

“Yeah, I did.”

Marika replied, looking at Alisa in an unnaturally straightforward way. — Put simply, she was looking away from Joui and Koharu who were messing around.

“Were you convinced?”

“I was.”

But the exchange of questions and answers between the two wasn’t to avert their eyes from the quarrel.

“That’s good...”

Hearing Marika’s answer, Alisa smiled of relief from the bottom of her heart.

“Then about you appearing in Mirage Bat, you’re okay with that, right?”

Mei stepped into the conversation.

“Yeah, I will.”

“I see... The situation is unfortunate for Ichika, but let’s do our best together.”

Mirage Bat, unlike other solo events, has two competitors per school. First High’s other competitor is Mei.

“That’s right. Let’s give it our all.”

Thus, Marika got promoted from her position as a substitute.