Member
Sato Hashimoto
/// Warakuma High, Archery Range
Ueno offered a weak and shallow thanks for the equally as weak and shallow encouragement he gave. She began to make her way to the line-up, when yet another vaguely familiar face approached and offered his own ‘kind’ words. Though, Sato was a little quicker to remember Akira due to his rather unforgettable streak of actions in the Archery Club. The words Akira gave weren’t particularly hurtful (at least, in Sato’s opinion) but they were both rude and uncalled for, especially when Ueno was obviously on edge due to being ‘forced’ to participate in the tournament. Ueno herself was clearly upset by the comment though, and she blubbered off a few things Sato didn’t quite understand.
Not soon after, Ueno made her way away from Akira and over to where she needed to be, equipment in hand. Sato watched her and the people in the line for a bit before walking past Akira, pausing as he did so. “Don’t be an ass,” Sato said with a lazy glare. It wasn’t exactly the epitome of a good retort but people like Akira got off on seeing people get mad over comments like that. “We can kick you off for disorderly conduct you know.” Happy with his own words, Sato walked off from Akira and to the other side of the room, where he could get a better view of person that was currently shooting.
Sato found a comfortable position against the wall again and kept a focused eye on the competition. He had missed the first dude’s shots, but he caught a good look of the arrows before they were pulled out of the target. An alright attempt, from what Sato could tell. The next three people went after and they did pretty decently all-around. The hope for Ueno he once had slowly died out by the time that she got to the front, bow and arrow in hand and ready for her first shot.
Which was an unfortunate flop. Pretty much literally, too. The arrow seemed like it just fell from the bow, not even going halfway to the target before crashing into the ground, seemingly burning up into nothing in everyone’s eyes. It wouldn’t even stick even if it got to the target. A crushing silence fell over the previously raucous crowd and Sato couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for her. Even if she could manage to get the next shot done well, there was no way she’d be able to salvage that mess of a shot in the long run.
Ueno poised up for her next shot. She visibly gave more power to the shot, and for a brief moment, Sato had a little bit of hope for this girl. Maybe she could get not last! It would be a wonderful day for all to see this happen. But, what did happen was far from Sato’s— and everybody’s— expectations. The arrow flew out of the bow’s notch with little grace. Fortunately, the arrow found itself straight into the target, and Lady Luck was on nobody’s side but Ueno’s. The underdog of the show had managed to get the best shot so far, a perfect bulls-eye, right after she had made the worst shot. Another silence fell over the crowd, but a stunned one instead of a pitying one. Nobody knew how to react. Not Rokoru, not anybody, and especially not even Ueno herself.
Soon, however, someone started clapping. It slowly started up until it became a resonating sound, every clap like one on the back for this girl who showed up a week ago and just pulled off a bulls-eye. The applause was a bit short-lived but it was pleasant while it lasted, and soon Rokoru ended up stammering something over the crowd’s murmuring. “W-well, next up is Ai Aibe, Kuro Funai, Madoka Koyanagi, Osamu Mae, and Mari Hayakawa…” An awkward path in the pool of people opened up and the called persons emerged from the waters, making their way up to the front, giving a few wide-eyed stares to Ueno as they passed her. It was clear that nobody was really sure if they could top that, besides maybe Mr. Perfect whom had recently arrived, as Sato knew very well.
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Rokoru Ishiara
/// Warakuma High, Archery Range
“… and because he took first place, that leaves second place to our lovely Saya Ueno! The wonderful grand prize of coffee courtesy of my wallet has already been taken, so all we can over you is one free wish from anybody currently in this range. I’d like you to decide today if you could, just for everyone’s ease.”
Rokoru leaned back in the stool he sat on until the back of his head hit the wall, preventing him from falling. Mika had such a way with words when she wanted to. A fantasy of going out with her distracted him from the words the girl was saying, but it wasn’t like he didn’t already know what she was saying. So and so won expectedly, Ueno deserved to win one of the prizes for that happy accident, and then she’d go on to list the full rankings. He himself had gotten a mediocre score, placing somewhere in the middle, but it wasn’t like he really cared much in the first place. First or second place would’ve been nice though, especially since Mika would have to accompany the winner in the case of the first place prize, and that would be his second place demand minus the hassle of actually asking for it.
After a little bit of waiting through the rankings, Rokoru rose from his seat, not bothering to unfold his crossed arms, and walked over to where the Ueno girl was. He quietly cleared his throat before looking straight at her. “Nice job,” he said, giving a legitimate smile, which felt unfamiliar on his normally stern face. “it was impressive.” After he gave his compliment, Rokoru wandered off from the girl to the front of the crowd. He replaced Mika and readdressed the eyes waiting for more words from him. “First place, go talk to Mika regarding your deserved victory spoils.”
“Second place, it’d be nice if you could decide who’s doing what right now. Or, at least before I leave.” Rokoru shot a glance in Ueno’s general direction in a weird attempt to make sure she was paying attention. She seemed to respond to his attention rather well. Well enough to be able to use to his vantage in situations like the current one.