Flower of Oarai

2 Baptism of Fire

The chaos that had reigned in the aftermath of the accident had not been clear-cut. The few that had witnessed it first hand and understood everything that had occurred hadn't all been on their side while those who had had to learn what had happened from the great mixing bowl of accounts from Kuromorimine and Pravda crews, what the audience had been allowed to see and what had been officially declared to have happened, had likewise been mixed in their views. Perhaps it would have been easier if everyone had been against them, then she wouldn't have been left guessing which girls secretly despised her and Miho. She could fight the ones who were open about it.

Worse perhaps than the bad feeling was the collective sense of guilt. Everyone had blamed themselves for the defeat; that somehow their own personal actions could have prevented the scenario from playing out the way it had. Kuromorimine had been confident in their superiority for such a long time that the defeat had absolutely devastated them. It had devastated her. They had lost a match. Koume and Miho had almost drowned. She had been injured. They had fed off each other's misery and seeing Miho and Koume's visible trauma had been as bad as her stitches.

With considerable cajoling, Erika had pried from Miho her mother's feelings about everything. She knew she was a hard woman, terrifying was the word many used, but Erika struggled to believe she could really condemn Miho for abandoning her post to rescue those in mortal peril. Had she been in denial about the lapse in safety as much as everyone else? Or did she believe, as Erika briefly had, that the Vice-Captain should have delegated the responsibility to another? Or was Nishizumi Shiho really that cold and would sacrifice the life of a student for a tenth consecutive championship win? The only person who had the answer to that was Shiho herself and she did not deign to explain herself to teenagers. Miho had said she wished for her to 'become strong' and Erika wondered if what that really meant as unfeeling as she herself apparently was.

She had allowed Miho to leave Kuromorimine though. Not just to leave Sensha-do but the school as well. There was no denying the kindness of that act. She knew many parents who would not have tolerated weakness and ordered her to 'deal with it', as it were.

Erika knew how Shiho felt through Miho. How Maho felt... She hadn't been able to discern anything from her impassive exterior and according to Miho, the only feeling she had expressed had been discomfort at hearing the other Kuromorimine students referred to them as the 'Nishizumi ladies'. Everything else... She had remained her usual closed book self.

"I never give up, and I never run away. No matter what."

The words washed over her as the river had, only this time the cold seemed to cut inside her as well. She could not believe the words were aimed at anyone, they were only the creed of the school but that didn't mean they didn't hurt. And as much as they stung her, they struck Miho far harder. Erika placed her hands on her shoulders and felt her quiver and not from her touch.

"Miho!" Soari's cheery voice called out. "Can we go hang out in your room?"

"I'd like to visit too." Hana added.

Erika put her hands down, sensing Miho relax immediately with the distraction of social anxiety to occupy her. "Yes!" She gushed and out of the corner of her eye, Erika saw Yukari tentatively raise her hand.

"Of course you can come, Fluffy." Erika told her and tried not to smile as Yukari gave one of her formal bows. Instead as Miho turned away, she caught Saori's eye and tried to convey her gratitude without speaking. Saori gave the slightest nod and then as she stepped forward, gently placed her hand on Erika's shoulder as she had for Miho, and Erika regretted ever looking down on her for her sunniness.

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She hadn't seen Miho's room after she had unpacked and if she hadn't already been aware of her love of Boko, it might have been extremely unsettling seeing a room full of bandaged and wounded plushies. The other three took it in their stride, Hana and Saori cooing over how cute they were while Yukari... She was happy but happy in such a way she looked as though she might cry. It passed though as Saori began giving cooking instructions and she eagerly offered to prepare the rice. Erika wondered just how lonely the fluffy little oddball had been before Sensha-do.