Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Newcomer
The Hiroshi Sato Elite Girls' School in Tokyo is regarded as the best talent factory for young athletes in the whole country and you can consider yourself lucky to be accepted there at all due to the high entry hurdles. Katara is one of these young talents. Just a few weeks ago she was still at an ordinary high school in Hokkaido and now, on the first day of the summer vacation, she crosses the extensive grounds armed with two Nordic walking poles to keep fit. Among other things, she enjoys the beautiful fresh summer air on this Saturday morning.
Fortunately, it's not too hot yet. So it seems like the best time to be active at this early hour and wishes the other early riser Ty Lee from the swimming club a cheerful good morning. "Yay Katara-chan you are out and about early? Can't you sleep?” asked Ty Lee.
“Good morning Ty Lee-san, I'm just doing my morning exercise” said Katara.
“Hey, just like me,” said the enthusiastic 17-year-old student.
“How are you?” asked the tennis player.
“Very well, there's nothing going on, the school is all ours” said Ty Lee.
“It's also summer vacation,” said Katara.
“That's exactly why it's so great,” said Ty Lee.
“And what's so great about being on the school grounds during the summer vacation?” asked Katara.
“I have the Olympic pools at the swimming club all to myself,” said the captain of the swimming club.
“I see,” said Katara.
“You should definitely stop by during the summer vacation Katara-chan” said Ty Lee.
“I'll think about it,” said the tennis player.
“Great, see you Katara-chan” said Ty Lee with a grin.
After a brief, entertaining conversation, the slim, 17-year-old girl finishes her little warm-up and does a few easy stretching exercises on a bench.
According to her smartphone, she has been running for exactly 50 minutes and has covered a distance of 5.9 kilometers.
That is reason enough to return to the luxurious girls' dormitory at the elite school for breakfast in her room.
Not everyone is as friendly as Ty Lee; the various successful sports clubs are in direct competition with each other and always want to achieve more than the others. This is exactly what Katara felt in her first week at school; friendship seems to be a foreign concept here and it is precisely this competitive spirit that spurs Katara on to train harder in order to win the national tennis championships this time.
This is her last chance before graduation.
At the same time, it is incredibly difficult to make some real friends here.
She really misses her classmates from Hokkaido and, despite her training, is determined to visit them during the summer vacation.
Theoretically, you can invite a few friends in exchange for an uncomplicated request to the student council, but if Katara has to stand in front of the mighty entrance gate of the girls' dormitory every time, that might not be such a good idea after all.
No one would dare come in here voluntarily.
Each time, Katara can't shake off the feeling of entering another world and marches through the gate without hesitation to enter the ground floor of the ten-storey girls' dormitory. Everything here shines and sparkles, and Katara thinks she is in a little fairytale castle, staring up at the ceiling in fascination as she admires the pretty chandelier. “You shouldn't stand under it for too long, otherwise it will fall down and you'll be knocked out,” said the strikingly tall, made-up schoolgirl of the same age. “Ouh...have a good morning Kyoshi-senpai” said Katara.
"Senpai? You're three months older than me,” said Kyoshi.
“Um sorry,” Katara said quietly, looking rather intimidated by the size of the karate club member, is she really a high school girl? Katara always asks herself this question when she sees this girl with the colorful make-up on her face. There is always a strange silence when the two meet by chance. Somehow the tennis player doesn't manage to find the right approach to Kyoshi. Maybe she is simply shy?
“And do we want to go or do you want to stand here for the whole summer vacation?” asked Ragni. The captain of the karate club appeared with a fully packed travel bag and pressed it into her girlfriend's arms. “The hot beaches of Okinawa await us,” said the martial artist.
“We can go,” Kyoshi says soberly and bows politely before the two of them leave for their well-deserved vacation.
Katara would prefer to forget this embarrassing encounter and runs up the stairs to the 5th floor.
There is absolutely nothing going on in the otherwise crowded corridors of the girls' dormitory.
Almost all of them are probably away somewhere at the start of the summer vacation.
Either to the beach, summer camp or straight to training camp. Katara would also love to travel somewhere more comfortable in this weather, but when she enters her little kingdom and sees the math homework on her desk, she would love to bury her class teacher Tenzin in the school garden. The man definitely has it in for the tennis player, he always looks at her grimly.
However, the hunger gnaws at the athlete's mind and she marches into the small tea kitchen, first takes a bowl out of the cupboard to fill it with a little chocolate muesli and peels the apple with a sharp knife, cuts it into small pieces to refine the breakfast, the whole thing is rounded off with oat milk from the fridge. Ready is the poor man's meal. The other inhabitants of the house are sure to be served caviar, fish or other delicacies by their maids. Their captain, Azula, is sure to be served the whole thing in bed and fed as well.
“I hope you enjoy, your royal highness,” said Katara sarcastically, finding the thought of playing in a team with such a strong player strange. The two have had a passionate rivalry for years. The last 3 years Azula has always won the duels in official matches, especially the last match a few weeks ago in Tokyo was a particularly frustrating experience for the young 17 year old schoolgirl.
6:4 - 6:4 - 6:1.
This is how the semi-final between the two ended and, as expected, the black-haired beauty won the championships for the third time in a row.
At the end of the second set, Katara also picked up a stubborn hand injury, which severely affected her game and left her crying on the court. As a result, she has not been able to take part in the tennis team's training sessions and has taken the opportunity to observe Azula's style of play more closely from the sidelines. Her slim, athletic physique is simply perfect, her serves from the baseline are a blast and her elegant movements make Katara's heart beat faster every time. It doesn't sound like she's thinking about a rival, more like she's in love with Azula.
Katara shakes her head vigorously several times and desperately needs to cool down.
The brown-haired schoolgirl quickly takes off her sweaty sports clothes and stands under the shower to clear her head.