A Thousand Cranes for a Wish (USHIJIMA X OC)

To Face Adversity

Mitsuki felt her eye twitch. Umeko's response was not what she was expecting. "So, you think you can talk to me like that now? You've gotten pretty ballsy after a year." Mitsuki took a step closer to Umeko in an attempt to make herself look taller. "You wanna say that again, Akiyama?"

Umeko tilted her head, "I said you were irritating. Are you sure your ears aren't just for decoration?" She was completely unaffected by Mitsuki's attempt to look taller than she actually was, Umeko was friends with the volleyball team members and all of them were tall.

"I can get my daddy to kick you out you know." Mitsuki glared daggers at Umeko. It had been a year since they last met and Mitsuki did not appreciate her verbal punching bag growing a spine. Umeko was supposed to be an easy target.

Umeko sneered. "Well, I guess you probably want to win through cheating, since you can't win with your level of skill." Umeko knew what pushed Mitsuki's buttons the most. "How sad, the daughter of the sponsor unable to even make it into the top five." She shrugged. "Now that I think about it, you couldn't even win 'people's choice', Isn't that right, Genius Mitsuki?"

"Y-You..." Mitsuki's scowl grew ever more terrifying. Umeko only told the truth and it irked her. Mitsuki was supposed to be better. She was supposed to be the best. Growing up Mitsuki was hailed as a genius. Every competition she attended she would place in the top three, no matter who her opponents were, to put it bluntly, she had an incredible amount of talent. But then this Akiyama came out of nowhere and knocked me off third place. I was supposed to be on the podium. The thought alone was enough to make her blood boil. "I am the superior artist; you are just a fraud."

Umeko dropped her smile. "I don't think you have a right to say that after what you did, or perhaps you need a refresher on what happened last year."

The second time Umeko participated in the competition she had foolishly put her bag down unattended while she took a quick walk. During the time she was away, someone had rummaged through her stuff and stole her rough draft. It was safe to say that by the end of the competition it was obvious who the thief was. "I had to redo my entire piece because of you."

"You can't even prove it was me." Mitsuki laughed and shook her head. "I didn't steal anything, I came up with the idea all by myself, perhaps you were the one who copied me?"

Never in her life had Umeko met someone so shameless. She grit her teeth unamused by Mitsuki's antics. "If I recall correctly that year, I placed first and you didn't even make it into the top five. I suppose that's retribution for cheating, huh?" Umeko smiled innocently. "How do you plan to cheat this year?" There was no point in continuing the conversation so Umeko simply walked past the pigtailed girl and waved. "I'm looking forward to what you have planned this year. Show me something good."

Mitsuki was rendered speechless as she watched Umeko walk off. This bitch. She is supposed to cower like the meek wimp she is. The only sense of superiority that Mitsuki had against Umeko had vanished. With how she acted it was hard to believe that Umeko was the pushover from last year. Whatever, with that arm she'll never win. Mitsuki smirked and looked at the item she was holding. Though just to be extra sure. Akiyama won't be using these.

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Once Umeko was out of sight she took a deep breath then let out a sigh of relief. "That was so scary..." She wasn't sure if she was exhilarated or terrified by what she had just done, if there had been more people Umeko would have definitely not been able to keep up her confident façade.

"I'm surprised you were able to say something."

Umeko jolted back and into a wall. She winced on impact then turned up to face the unknown voice. "Who are you?" Umeko studied the older woman suspiciously as she regained her bearings, Umeko kept her face neutral in attempts to conceal the sharp pain that began to throb in her hand.

"Oh my, don't be so on guard, dear." The blonde woman smiled warmly. "I'm Mitsuki's mother. I know we don't really look alike; she takes after my husband."

"W-Wha... I-I um." Umeko stumbled over her words, not sure on how to respond. Maybe an apology for speaking to her daughter that way? But... Umeko looked down at her feet in preparation to be scolded, she didn't want to apologize to Mitsuki, she was the one who started it anyway.

"You gave her quite the verbal lashing." Mitsuki's mother huffed. "Well, I suppose someone had to. I'll only let you off this time because Mitsuki did deserve it, so don't hang your head like that, ok?" She looked at her watch. "Besides, I believe it's time for you to get to your seat. The competition is about to start."

"Huh?" Umeko looked back up towards the woman bewildered. "So, I can go?" Her words were slow as she gauged the woman's reaction.

"Well of course. You are a competitor."

While Umeko didn't fully understand what just happened she was grateful to be dismissed. Umeko wasn't someone to kick a gift horse in the mouth. "Yes. Um, I'll be off."

"Have fun, dear."

Thankfully the set up for the competition was easy to navigate, there were only five areas in total and she only needed to learn the location of two. Once she reached her destination, she was a little out of breath, though fortunately she was able to make it to the exhibition hall within the allotted time. It was a plain white room with an abundance of windows lining the walls, so much so that it seemed like the walls were made of glass itself. There were separate workstations lined up in rows a few feet apart from one another to give each competitor enough space to work. Umeko wandered around before she found her name plate, canvas and the corresponding workspace.

"Students please take your seats and we will start shortly." There was a man wearing a tieless black suit standing on top of a small stage in the front of the room. He held the microphone in his hand and the most absurd hairstyle Umeko had ever seen in her life. Though she wasn't quite sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate that the style suit him to an unsettling degree.

As promised, it wasn't long before the man began to talk again. "Welcome to the Annual Youth Art Competition (AYAC)!" The announcer waved to his audience then pulled out an envelope from his inner suit pocket. "Inside this envelope is the theme for this year's art. But of course, before I open this, I'd like to say thank you to all the sponsors who have helped make all this possible and the colleges that have come to witness and nurture these future students."

A handful of people stood up and gave a quick bow. Half of them seemed to be wearing business suits while the other half was dressed in business casual. Umeko figured that the more formal of the two groups were the sponsors while the other half were college representatives.

The man on the stage cleared his throat. "Now, since this is everyone's third year competing, I expect you should all know the rules by now." Honestly speaking he didn't want to reiterate the rules, so he continued to talk and move on from the prior topic. "The only thing different about this year is that the first-place winner will get a full ride scholarship to any art program they so choose." There was a pause while the audience settled down. "Don't be too disheartened if you lose because regardless of where you rank there is a possibility that some college representatives will offer scholarships to the talents who catch their eye. The judging will be based on technique, creativity, overall aesthetic and how appropriate the artwork is to the theme. The three judges will decide first, second and third place while the votes from the general populace will decide the 'people's choice' piece."

He smiled brightly. "Now then let's get this underway, shall we?"

The man on the stage began to open the envelope at a seemingly agonizingly slow pace. "The theme for this year's Annual Youth Art Competition is...." He paused for dramatic effect, "...unexpected strength against all odds! You have three hours to complete this task. Please begin."

Umeko groaned internally. She absolutely hated when the theme was described in a sentence, there were just too many ways to interpret the wording. Unexpected strength against all odds? What kind of theme is that even? Umeko stared blankly at her canvas in attempts to understand the topic at a deeper level.

I have three hours. I can do this...