This is the story of Ayame, a young artistic gymnast who, due to a stroke of fate, can no longer practise her sport. In search of a new purpose in life, she comes to Sendai from her home town of Sapporo by chance to work in the house of a famous fig...
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Ayame barely had time to think about the job in Sendai that she had applied for on Sunday evening during the new working week. She had enough on her plate at her current job.
She was working five hours a day in a kindergarten as an afternoon care assistant. Although she had no special training for this work, her positive and engaging manner had managed to convince the head of the kindergarten that she was the right person for the job. And no one has ever regretted this decision!
Ayame knew how to introduce the children to exercise like nobody else. She prepared little sports games for the little ones, with lots of music and dance elements. Her past as a gymnast was more than enough to make this task easy for her. Even if she had to put up with minor restrictions due to her injury.
Her direct colleague, who was a children's teacher, was enthusiastic about this wonderful addition to the childcare concept right from the start. And so Ayame had a small income, which made her initial time after her rehabilitation a little easier.
Nevertheless, she was now 24 years old, and somehow she had to move on after the shock of the Olympic Games and everything that followed. She loved working with the children. But she had the feeling that there was more waiting for her.
A job as a housekeeper for a professional athlete in Sendai? She didn't think that would be the solution to her dilemma. But it would be a next step that she could take without too much effort. She probably didn't need any special training for it, and that was what she preferred in her current situation. She wouldn't have to decide on a new training path or course of study straight away and would gain time. She would also earn a lot more, and that was not unimportant.
When she got home later than usual on Monday, tired and a little exhausted because kindergarten had been more stressful than usual, she just wanted to take a quick bath, eat something and then go to bed.
Sakura was already sitting in front of the TV, balancing a small tray of snacks on her legs, which she helped herself to. "You're late today!" she said in Ayame's direction. "Yes, it was exhausting today. And then we also had a team meeting after supervision time. I'd forgotten all about that... Now I'm completely exhausted. I'm going to have a quick hot bath."
"Mmm, that'll do you good!" replied Sakura. She was a little worried about her best friend. Lately, she seemed tired and drained. Sakura knew that Ayame didn't really know what to do next in her life. At 24, most people have a concrete plan. And Ayame had been so thrown off track that it was now doubly difficult for her to get back on track. Sakura hoped that Ayame would soon find a new purpose in life, even if it meant that they might no longer live together.
Ayame felt better. After the bath, a small dinner and a short talk with Sakura, she had recovered somewhat. Nevertheless, she had already retired to her room and was still checking her emails, as she had received four messages. She wasn't thinking about her job application at that moment... so it hit her like lightning when she saw that one of the messages was probably a reply to her application!
Suddenly her heart was racing! She didn't understand exactly why, as she had inwardly expected to receive no reply at all, a very late reply or a rejection straight away. Panic suddenly rose up inside her. She picked up her laptop, jumped up and ran back to Sakura in the living room, who was still snacking in front of the TV.
"Sakura!" "Gods, what's wrong, Ayame! You startled me, suddenly you're standing in front of me and screaming!" "Sorry, I'm very sorry!" Ayame blushed slightly. She hadn't meant to scare her friend. "Naaa, no problem, I can see that something's wrong! What happened?" "I... I..." Ayame sat down next to Sakura, opening her laptop. "I received a reply to the job application."
"No, that's not true! So fast?" Sakura exclaimed excitedly. "What are they writing?" "I... I haven't even looked at it yet. I didn't dare without you..." "Ha, well, let's do it together then!" "Ok...!" Ayame opened the email with trembling fingers and the two young women began to read it together:
Dear Ebihara-san,
thank you for your informative application documents, which you so kindly sent me. I would like to take this as an opportunity to invite you to an interview. I would therefore like to invite you to my office in Sendai on June 15, 2026, 3:00 p.m., if you can make it. Please see the footer for the address. If this is acceptable to you, I look forward to your reply and confirmation.
Thank you for contacting me and I send you best regards, also on behalf of my son,
