Ace

Side Chapter #1: Kay

(This takes place after Saunders' match with Ooarai in the Japanese championship.)

This time, Alisa went too far.

Just after the match with Ooarai, after congratulating Miho and her team, Kay told the vice-commander that she'd like to have a word with her after they returned to the schoolship.

Alisa thought that it was yet another lecture about playing fair.

It wasn't.

Ten minutes later, the vice-commander left the club room, tears pouring down her eyes.

With the door slamming behind her, Kay sighed, uncharacteristically unhappy.

Walking over to her desk, she sat down, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

For a while, she felt relieved that something nagging was finally off her chest. Finally, she spoke her mind to that girl, and that would probably stop her shenanigans for good. Saunders will no longer have a reputation for being a cheater, if not a bad sport among the other schools anymore.

But as she cooled down, she began to regret what she did during the last ten minutes.

The Saunders commander had never seen her vice-commander this terrified before. She could even see tears in her eyes, the poor girl trying not to burst into tears during the entire ordeal.

Kay's heart sank.

Maybe that was too much...

Slowly, the commander got up from her desk, trudging over to a window.

Staring out of it, she looked at the modern, well-designed buildings of her school, the orange evening sun reflected off their white walls. Owing to the massive budget Saunders always had, the other schoolships were miles behind this one in terms of environment, and they had always eyed Saunders' wealth.

Looking down, she watched a few girls as they chatted amongst themselves underneath the evening sun, probably headed back home.

Kay knew she was just distracting herself from the issue at hand.

Why was I so mad?

Heh, dumb question, she mused to herself as she leaned forward, resting herself against the window sill, a small, sad smile appearing on her face as she looked up at the clouds. I've never forgotten.

And with that, her mind wandered off, her eyes staring back in time, to somewhere long, long ago...

8 Years Ago

Kay meekly and quietly left the teachers' office, walking down the corridor of her school with her head down as usual.

The day had gone usually for her; by "usually", that means the same old bullying that happened on a daily basis. It didn't help that the young blonde girl was the quietest one in the class and didn't dare raise anything up to her teachers, and that served to only fuel those flames as the insults, stealing, deliberate trippings and even assaults got even worse.

"Go complain to the teacher then!" were the usual taunts that were given to her, because they all knew she wouldn't. Too scared.

All Kay wanted to do everyday was go home.

With the day ended, with classes over and after being scolded by her teacher for not completing a piece of homework that was actually stolen by someone, Kay quietly walked home, her journey uneventful.

Unusual, considering that the bullying did typically continue after school.

It was probably way too late for them to stay around, or they got bored of it for the day.