第63Q

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Yasu hated moving to new places. As much as she loved her parents and supported their careers in the sports world, transferring to different places for work was what she hated about their work as athletic trainers for many Japanese national teams. She had left her first childhood friend, Kiyoshi, who first felt out of place because of his height but found basketball as his passion after meeting up with her every evening at the street ball court, right before her enrollment in Rikka Elementary School.

After settling down at a place where she thought she could call home, she searched high and low for any nearby street ball courts, but couldn't find any. Instead, she took part in the school's mini-basketball club that was surprisingly dominated by female students. Though she was the only first-grade student, she gained the respect of the upperclassmen when she had proven herself that she was as eager as them to learn and improve her skills in basketball.

Seeing how much she could contribute to the school, the older girls convinced their coach to let her join the team to participate in tournaments, and the teachers didn't need to contemplate thanks to her outstanding results. And starting from third-grade, Yasu began intensely training for basketball tournaments for the following years.

Moving to a new place was not only a time for a new beginning, it was also a time to meet new people. When following her parents to give out homemade sweets to introduce themselves to the new neighbours, Yasu befriended Imayoshi, who lived with his father and younger sister next door. Imayoshi gave Yasu's parents the impression of a well-spoken and kind boy, and they entrusted him to look after the girl whenever they were away. On weekdays, the two would walk to school and back despite attending different schools, and used that time to get to know each other. On weekends, they would go over to their homes, depending on the situation, to complete their homework and hang out, sometimes even using her school gym to play basketball with each other.

Time passed, and Yasu was becoming well-known as the ace of the Rikka mini-basketball team after winning consecutively in tournaments with her team. But she thought good things had to come to an end when she felt sharp pain in her feet at the end of the final match.

At first, she thought it was nothing, thinking that she had overexerted herself like she usually did, but the pain intensified with each step she took on the way back. Luckily, Imayoshi was there to catch her when she collapsed from the unbearable pain, and he took her to the general hospital where they, including Yasu's family, found out that she had plantar fasciitis.

"Aren't you sad to have something that gets in your way of doing something you like?" That was the question that people often ask her when they knew about her condition and she wasn't fazed by it, a response that surprised them, as well as herself. Sometimes, she even asked herself how she really felt about having chronic pain. She didn't really know, even after having it for few more years, she still didn't know how she truly felt. But all she knew was that it was a sign for her to do something new, and finally hung up her jersey and put away her basketball trainers.

After she graduated from Rikka Elementary School, Yasu's parents had to move to a new place again due to work matters. Though it happened at the right time, Yasu was very reluctant because of one simple reason - she would be leaving Imayoshi, who was a brother to her during those six years.

Whenever her parents and Giichi were away, especially the latter who took up a master's degree to help his sister and those who had the same condition as her, Imayoshi was there whenever she needed help. He would accompany her all the way to her classroom to make sure she was safe, and gave her piggy-back rides home whenever the pain in her feet was overwhelming. He would even constantly drop by her house to check up on things and took care of her whenever she felt pain. But between having a chronic pain and the pain of leaving the person she grew up with, Yasu thought the latter was even worse, though Imayoshi assured that they would meet again someday.

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