chapter eight
Kenma cautiously took a seat on a smaller seat. he was really not used to having conversations, and every fiber of his being was telling him to get out before he had to do any more social interactions.
"Well I suppose it a few things, that drive her," the old man looked down, to the shiny wood floor, "One would be that she is naturally very competitive. She grew up with her twin, and they would often compete with each other." he paused again, eyes filling with pity, "They don't talk anymore. He moved to Miyagi when they were eleven. An incident had happened the year before, and their relationship never recovered," Now Kenma was interested, was that why she felt like she needed to be the best? what was the event?
"Um... what happened between them?" Nekomata smiled, a sad smile, one filling the air with remorse.
"Her mother died when she was ten," another long pause, filled the room with silence, "They were both there when it happened. Her brother, Riku, blamed her for the death, she did too. I think that Aiko chooses to be the best at everything, to distract herself. Right now, it is all that fills her up. She loved her family very much, but her mother is gone, her brother moved away, and her father distracts himself with so much work, she has to live with me," Kenma was taken back, this girl... she is still able to be kind, funny, and silly through all that?
"It was only after the death, did she really start to care about soccer. She would practice till she passed out. She practiced, practiced, and practiced until it was her whole life. She stopped playing the piano, she stopped drawing, she stopped calling her father. All of that practice paid off last year, her team was second place in the nationals, and she won the best captain award..." Nekomata looked at the ceiling, "she wasn't satisfied after that game, she yelled at herself in her room for hours for not getting first place."
"Oh, well... thank you for telling me this," Kenma reached for his bag, and bid the old coach good night. There was more to the story. Kenma knew that, but as he looked to the ground, he knew it would be best to hear it from her,
"Oh, and Kenma, thank you for helping Aiko home today,"
[time skip to the weekend]
After the confrontation with Kenma, Aiko had received a call from her aunt.
Kana Nekomata was pretty, smart, and the caretaker for her twin. Kana had been the younger sister to Aiko's mother. her and her aunt had always been pretty close, sometimes people mistook them for sisters.
" Oba-san! Hello, did you need something?" should I ask if Riku is alright?
"Hey, Aiko! I know you have your training camp coming up, after I found out it was in Tokyo, I thought maybe me and your brother should come up to visit?" Riku? That would not end well! "And besides, he and his band have a concert to play at, in Tokyo!" Aiko's heart lifted at the thought of the wild and fun group of boys,
"Of Course! I'm not so sure about Riku though, I-i mean is that a good idea?"
"I'm sure it will be fine! Plus, both of you will be pretty busy that week anyway, so you will be too tired to argue!" the young girl could hear the determination in her aunt's voice, and decided to give in. Kana had been trying to mend their relationship a lot since her mom died.
She hung up the call and flopped herself back on to her cozy bed. My ankle will be better soon, I should call some of the second years to see if they wanna hang out, why does pineapple grow on a bush? I wonder what it's like to eat in space, did I remember to do my homework? Nope, oops...
Her thoughts carried on like this until she fell into a blissful sleep.
Next week will be exciting...