I will always watch over you.
Be it now or tomorrow.
For I am here to be your support.
Please rely on me more.

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
-Four Rhythms Across the Blue-
-Minamo Shirase's Route-

"Hah…! Hah…!"

I have a hard time catching my breath, but I don't seem to have any trouble doing a 200m sprint.
The routine stamina training I've done with prez seem to bear fruit.

"Amazing, Masaya-san… I can't even last in 100m sprint…"
"Considering how Shirase-san treat you, I bet he praised you even though you've just finished half way?"
"My brother is not that soft! … Maybe."
"You don't seem confident with it."

After deciding to come back to FC, I have a training together with Minamo-chan.
But she is only there to accompany my training since it would be too boring to train by myself.

Being trained by Shirase-san himself, Minamo-chan is capable of tuning Grav-Shoes and modifying them to a certain extent.

Hence, I ask her to tune my Grav-Shoes as I do my training.

"How is it, Minamo-chan?"
"It will be done in 2 minutes. The balancer has been turned off too."
"Great."

I doubt I can fly as properly as Asuka, but I should be able to handle it.

"Masa—"

Just as Minamo-chan calls me, my phone rings.

"Sorry, Minamo-chan, I have to take this… Hello?"
"It's me."

It's the voice of a person I know too well.

"—Aoi-san."

Minamo-chan looks tensed upon hearing the name.

"I heard from Aoyagi, are you returning to FC?"
"… Yeah. I've decided to beat all of you."
"Heh… You look better than I thought. I'm glad you decided to return to FC."
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me."
"Looking at how things are, your best bet would be joining Avalon. Irina is still scouting you, right?"
"That was my plan. It's the fastest route to international after all."

I could imagine Aoi-san smiling.

"I see, I'm looking forward to see your performance. Don't let me down."
"Obviously."

With that, Aoi-san hangs up.
Minamo-chan looks at my face worriedly.

"Are you okay, Masaya-san?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine. The tuning should be done by now, can I test it now?"
"S-Sure!"

.

…

…

Dear God.
I honestly don't get how Asuka can fly on these things so smoothly.
Now I feel bad for ever thinking it's not going to be as hard as I thought.

"A-Are you okay? Let's stop for today…"
"No… If I can't handle this, I won't stand a chance in front of Asuka and Inui. I have to master this as soon as possible."
"That so? Then want me to be your sparring partner?"
"Huh?"
"E-Eh?"

Minamo-chan and I turn toward the owner of the voice.
She stands tall with her hands on her hips.
Her blonde hair reflects the sunlight which makes it hard to see her face without squinting.

Turns out it's the former captain of Fukuhara, and Shindou-san's former second, Reiko Satouin.
For extra note: Her real name is Reiko Satou, the –in in her name is just something she put in to look more elegant which I don't see where the point is.

"Satouin-san. What brings you here?"
"I heard you're coming back to FC, so I think it wouldn't hurt to check on you."

Rumors fly like wind.

"I see, but I don't think I need a partner for training yet…"
"You don't need to be so shy. Come on, follow me."

I look at Minamo-chan who doesn't seem to know how to respond.

"I guess we have no choice."
"Right…"

Minamo-chan looks troubled, but she doesn't disagree.

.

…

…..

"Are you sure it's okay for us to use Fukuhara's facilities? We are not even students now."
"You don't need to be so reserved, Hinata Masaya. After all, Satouin family has funded most of Fukuhara's facilities. Which means it's up to me how I want these facilities to be used."
"Pretty sure that's an abuse of authority… (Minamo)"
"Let's start right away, I don't think you will need a second for practice."
"… Got it."

I look at Minamo-chan who looks nervous.

"Good luck, Masaya-san."
"I'll be right back."

With that, I fly to first together with Satouin-san.

"I think this is the first time we play against each other, Hinata Masaya."
"Now that you say it, you're right."
"I've always wanted to fight you at least once, since you're the man who prez look up so much."
"I'm nothing special, really. Shindou-san is just exaggerating."
"Is that so? I doubt prez's eyes would be wrong. But I have to warn you, though. FC is different now."
"… I see, you released your balancer as well."
"Otherwise, I can't compete. The difference in power is too great."
"That might be right."

Then, we go quiet and look at the second.

"We start in 3 seconds."
"Got it."

It's just a practice match, I don't have to be so nervous.
I start counting in my mind.

3…
2…
1…

Just as I'm about to reach 0, Satouin-san and I fly in a straight line.

"—As expected, I can't beat the speed even with my membrane manipulation."

Deciding it's pointless to chase after her, I jumped to the second line.

"… Hinata Masaya, you're not planning to release your balancer?"
"I want to see how far can I go with my balancer on. Come at me, Satouin-san."
"Don't regret it."

In no time, she touches the second.

That's 0:1.

She accelerates to the third now.
But I'm already there waiting for her on the second line.

Strangely enough, she doesn't go into low nor high yo-yo.
It's like she has absolute confidence in her speed.

I'm going to stop her.

I reach my hand when she's close enough, but…

"—!?"

She disappears.

No, she slips past me in a very smooth movement.
Like a fish.

"I hope you didn't think that's going to be enough to stop me, Hinata Masaya!"
"As expected of Satouin-san, but—!"

I do a boost flight and accelerate toward Satouin-san.

I can't rely on the boost in sprint, but if it's just to dogfight it has a speed comparable to Released Grav-Shoes for a short time.

"—Guh!"

I scored 1 point by touching her back from the top which sends her down below the second line.
Then, I turn my body in an arc and gather the energy under my Grav-Shoes.

An Airkick Turn.

"—Kyah!"

In a flash, I manage to score another point.
That's 2:1.

Just as I'm planning to pursue her, she gets a hold of herself and escapes.
It won't be wise to keep on the chase.

So I decide to jump to the third line.

"Not bad, Hinata Masaya. Despite using the balancer you still managed to score."
"Thanks for the compliment. But I could've done better."
"Though, I hope you don't think that's all I can do."
"Huh—"

Before I realize it, Satouin-san has reached the third to even the score and is currently floating above the third buoy.

This strategy…

"[Bird Cage]…"
"That's right, it's not as perfect as Inui Saki's, but I kind of get how it works."

Ever since the Fall Tournament, people are trying to replicate Inui's Bird Cage.
It's a despicable move but not many can execute it well, so there's no change to the rule.
Even so, this strategy is loathed by many people because it destroys the excitement of FC.

This strategy can be countered by releasing the Grav-Shoes.
Because Released Grav-Shoes can give explosive flight power to chase the one doing [Bird Cage] and putting the [Bird Cage] user in a disadvantage.

But.

It would be a different story if both skywalkers are using released Grav-Shoes.
The skywalker needs to be at least as good as Asuka to retaliate.

Which means, I'm at a great disadvantage.

If I try to pursue her, she will go straight for the fourth leaving me in the dust. I can't afford to waste my stamina by doing consecutive boost flight.

The way I'm now, I can only do 4 more boost flights before my stamina depleted.

But if I don't pursue, the match will end as a draw. It's not a bad result, but the stall will be very irritating.

Unless…

"So, what will you do, Hinata Masaya?"
"…"

It seems like have no choice.
I bring my knees to my chest, trying to reach for a certain button on my Grav-Shoes.

"…"

Satouin-san watches me in silence.
But, she is smiling.

"I'm glad you're taking this seriously, Hinata Masaya."
"It's not like I have any choices, you know."

Upon pressing the release button, my Grav-Shoes' wings grow larger.
It's the true form of Grav-Shoes.

"Here I come, Satouin-san."
"Bring it, Hinata Masaya."

.

…

…

"Urghhh…! How frustrating!"

The match ended by 4:3.

I had a hard time adjusting myself to the flight power, but I still managed to get a hang of it.
Thanks to that I can win, but I know it's not enough to go International.
I need to train harder.

"I'm sorry, Satouin-san…"
"Don't apologize! It irritates me more that I lost to you who never fight using Released Grav-Shoes before!"
"Uh… But I'm amazed you could replicate [Bird Cage] you know."
"That still doesn't make me happy!"

I want to say it's all thanks to the hellish training Aoi-san gave me back when I was a skywalker.
But I think she won't accept it.

"Amazing, Masaya-san! You won!"
"W-Wha!?"

Just when I land on the beach, Minamo-chan jumps into me.

"Thank goodness… I really am happy for you…"
"—Minamo-chan…"

Having someone who is happy for your achievement… Feels really good.

"… I don't think I know that person."

Satouin-san looks displeased for some reason.

"Oh, this is Minamo Shirase. She is the little sister of Shirase-san. We've known each other for a long time."
"Shirase… You mean Aoi-sensei's second?"
"Yeah."
"I see. Nice to meet you, Shirase Minamo. My name is Satouin Reiko, remember that well."
"Y-Yes! (Minamo)"

Looks like she is going to stick with the –in for the rest of her life.

"Anyway now that you know you can put up a fight against Released Grav-Shoes, what's your plan?"
"I plan to join Avalon."
"Avalon… Inui Saki's team?"
"… Yes. It's the fastest way for me to go international."
"And your second will be…"

Satouin-san looks at Minamo-chan.

"Yes, she will be my second."
"I see, I will respect your decision. But why would you choose her?"
"Because she is the one who made me realize what I truly long for."

I could see Minamo-chan blushing.
To be honest, it's very embarrassing to tell this to other people.

"No hesitation at all, huh…"

Satouin-san gives me a wry smile.

After a short silence, she smiles widely.

"Then, do you mind if I follow you?"
"Huh?"
"Let me follow you. Don't worry, I won't join Avalon or something. I just want to support you in your way to international."
"But you're not—"
"Obligated? No, it's what I want to do. I want to see your return. After facing you just now I realize I've started to be interested in you."
"—!? (Minamo)"

Minamo-chan perks hearing what Satouin-san said.

"N-No! You can't!"
"Oh, and why is that, Shirase Minamo? Is he your boyfriend?"
"N-No…! But you still can't!"
"I don't understand, care to explain?"
"Uhhhh…!"

I've never seen Minamo-chan so agitated, I wonder what happened…

"Anyway, regardless of your agreement or disagreement, I will follow you. And that's final."
"… Do as you wish."
"Hehehe."

Satouin-san smiles at my reply.

It's not like I'm against her coming along, but for some reason Minamo-chan is glaring daggers at me.
What a curious start for me…