Chapter 4

Rei-san visited Yoshino-san on an evening three days after the match.

Rei, who had been so patient until now, had ran to meet Yoshino. When Rei had heard in the morning that her aunt had visited Yoshino in the hospital, she had dropped all her club activities that day and gone to the hospital. Because of all the tubes connected to Yoshino, it had seemed like she did not want to meet anyone.

``It's been a while.''

For someone who had had undergone heart surgery three days ago, Yoshino seemed very perky. So much so that she surprised Rei. Yoshino rose up from the bed and met Rei with her usual smile.

``You look pretty happy.''

``I'm not. Since they stopped the anesthesia, the cut hurt and hurt, but finally, they gave me an injection to stop the pain, and I felt better.''

``......It hurt?''

``You know. Where they cut the skin, mess with your heart, and close it.''

Yoshino said, as if she were simply reading out a recipe. But if you looked closely at her, you could tell it had really hurt. Rei was very surprised that Yoshino had gotten surgery, with her reaction like this.

``Yoshino - -''

Since they parted, Rei had wanted to talk to Yoshino many times. Now that Yoshino was right in front of her, Rei couldn't find any words to say.

``So, how long has it been?''

``Something like two weeks.''

``This is the first time we haven't seen each other for so long.''

``Yeah.''

Other than the school field trip, they had never been apart from each other for so long before. But because they were able to frequently reach each other on the phone, they didn't feel lonely without each other. It had been a very long time ago, and now that they remembered their experience, it made them happy.

``Rei-chan.''

Yoshino said, with a meek look.

``I'm sorry. I walked off without you, Rei-chan.''

``Eh?''

``If we had gone together, there would have only been one way. You would have lent me your shoulder, and I didn't want that. I wanted to be able to walk with you. That's the kind of relationship I wanted with you, like Yumi-san and Sachiko-sama's. That's why I wanted surgery. I wanted to build the body of a grand master, and walk beside Rei-chan, shoulder to shoulder. I wanted it to become equal between us.''

Yoshino said all of it in one breath. After that, it seemed like all words disappeared.

``Do you believe me? That I didn't give back the rosary because I hated you?''

``Yup. I understood.''

When she had gone up to face the Oonaka captain, her heart was not bleak with pressure, it was just as if there was a sense of loss, and the world had gone completely white. That was when she finally understood what it meant to win. She would win at all costs, and would not be touched by the person in front of her. No-one was standing between her and victory.

``I love you more than anyone else in the world, Rei-chan.''

Yoshino whispered.

``I love you more than anyone else too.''

Rei touched Yoshino's nostalgaic hair.

More than her father, more than her mother, Rei loved Yoshino more than anyone else in the world.

That's why she believed Yoshino's words. She was able to humbly accept what Yoshino had meant to say.

Rei had never seen Yoshino's face so close before. Now, the distance between them was closing, and their hearts had become very close. Rei felt as if she had gotten much closer to Yoshino-san than she had been before.

``Oh yeah. How was the match?''

Yoshino asked suddenly, as if she had just remembered.

``We won.''

Yoshino narrowed her eyes as if she did not believe Rei.

``Really? But wasn't Oonaka's captain that Tanaka-san?''

``It had gotten really complicated up to the finals, but the judges' final call was that we had won. Eventually, we won by only one match.''

``But wasn't she a third year and a third rank? Aweeeesome!''

Yoshino hadn't even hoped that Rei could beat Oonaka's captain.

Next year Yoshino would surely go and cheer Rei on, Yoshino said. And maybe because she would have had a year, Yoshino would be able to study cooking, and challenge Rei to a homemade lunch contest, and then Yoshino would laugh like a demon as she was crowned the ultimate grand master title.

``You are very happy. Did you really have surgery?''

``I did. Do you want to see the scar?''

``......Should I?''

``I want Rei-chan to see.''

Yoshino-san opened all the buttons on her pajama and removed it. She wasn't wearing anything underneath, because her entire chest was covered in a huge wad of gauze. There was not a single bandage other than that.

``They poked me with a lot of things, it was bad.''

Yoshino said, as she unded the tape. Peeling off many layers, Yoshino exposed her right chest, upon which was a scar about ten centimeters.

It was stiched into a line in the center. Rather than using stitches, they had used something resembling wire to seal the cut. For some reason, the scar resonated off Yoshino's princess white skin as a sort of medal.

``It'll blend in. It's not really visible right now as it is.''

``I see.''

Because she was a woman, it would be be better if she had no scars, but for some reason, things would not be the same if it disappeared. ``If it didn't blend in, I'd look like a female pirate.'' Yoshino laughed.

Yoshino said, after she layered the gauze back on, and buttoned up her pajama.

``Also, I'm going to start kendo.''

``Eh?!''

``Because I'm Rei-chan's cousin, I probably have some talent. Before I had cheered, but I would be more happy actually doing it with you than just cheering you on. And next year, I'd win against Oonaka's Tanaka-san and get revenge for Rei-chan.''

After the surgery, Yoshino had really started thinking big. Rei smiled wryly without thinking.

``Well, I hope I will at least be able to keep my seat as captain.''

Yoshino really was in a good mood. But she had to be corrected.

Because she was a third-year and she would graduate, Oonaka's Tanaka-san wouldn't be there next year.

Because they had just become friends, Yoshino had started resembling Yumi-chan a little.

Notice.

The patient had stripped off the gauze, but had put it back into place like a professional.

So we did not tell Yoshino-san and Rei-sama to be careful.