AN: To be honest, I hesitated putting this up on the web. Initially, I wrote these pieces in Chinese as a language practice of sorts, mainly because I was having a huge block on my other (more serious) fanfic, Of the Champion and Flowers. Then I was thinking, wouldn't it be even better practice if I translated them back to English? Maybe if my PhD doesn't go so well, I can go and be a professional translator! (facepalms...I must be going crazy from failed experiments)

So, if you notice that the flow of words are not as natural as OTCAF, then that's probably why. Most of these stories are just going to be crack pairings I dreamt up of when I was chatting with other Teru fans, so some degree of OOC can be expected, especially when the story is set in AU. Once again, I do play mahjong, but I'm not a really good player, so if you notice any bugs in the games, please kindly notify me and I'll rewrite accordingly.

The title of this fic comes from a line in OTCAF that reads "Because the Miyanaga Teru of three million parallel universes would all be the same subhuman existence that talked of high ideals with picturistic poetry only to be too scared to face herself." This might become one of the underlying themes subtly tying the pieces together, but you can mostly view them as independent from each other.

That's pretty much it! Sorry for the long rant, I'll keep it short in the AN of future updates. Enjoy!

1) From Idolization to Love (Seiko/Teru)

Part One

Fishing requires many things. There is skill, there is experience, there is the need for appropriate equipment, but most importantly, you need patience.

For someone who had always gone fishing with her most beloved grandpa, Matano Seiko had always kept this advice in her heart and used it in other aspects of life too. Patience trained both Seiko's academic and mahjong skills to be top-tiered, so it became an almost obvious consequence that she would be accepted into one of the nation's top schools in both fields, Shiraitodai High School, and following that, an equally obvious consequence that she found herself in the prestigious mahjong club.

But it was then that Matano Seiko encountered the first pinnacle in her life that she could not reach no matter how she tried.

The first time she met Miyanaga Teru? That was probably around a month after Seiko entered the club. As a new student, Seiko had tried very hard to improve from her very first day as a club member, but compared to the senpai who had one or two years of experience ahead of her, her skills were still a little green. As a result, she was not invited into any of the teams that competed in the school tournament, but it really didn't make much of a difference, right? There was only one winner, and it could only be last year's national champions, Team Torahime. Even though other teams in the school finals were considered of prefectural representatives level, they seemed, in comparison, like they were just there to fill the table, extras whom nobody noticed.

As someone young and hot-blooded at the time, Seiko thought that if she were to enter a team, it had got to be Torahime. Because in everything that she did, she had to be the best! What she had was patience, and so long as she continued trying, there was nothing that couldn't be overcome.

So when it came her turn to clean up the clubroom after practice, either from curiosity or ambition, she found herself slipping over to the waiting room reserved for Team Torahime, peeking from the doorway at the practice matches that were being played in preparation for the prefecturals. Four people sat at the mahjong table, three of them being third-year senior students, but one just got up, seemingly having been knocked down to negatives by the remaining second-year student.

The second-year sported a head of magenta hair that dangled down to her shoulders. Though her face was calm, it held a kind of overwhelming power that commanded others' attention. The arm she used to receive the point sticks was slender, but carried a strength that could undoubtedly summon a tempest. Without realizing, Seiko's gaze lingered.

"Who's standing outside? A freshman? This room is reserved for Team Torahime. If you don't have any business here, then stay away. Don't disturb our practice."

A second-year senpai just came out to scold Seiko. Although she was just a back-up player of the team, she was known for her arrogance, often bossing other club members around. Seiko might want to rebuke, but she was a smart girl, opting instead to lower her head and apologize. However, before she could even make a sound, she was interrupted by a voice from the one seated at the table.

"It's fine, let's have her come in."

"But, Miyanaga-san...you..."

"If she is interested, then let's have her play a round with us. We're just practising anyway." At this time, Miyanaga Teru shifted her gaze towards Seiko. Meeting those crimson eyes for the first time, Seiko was caught not knowing how to react except staring back dumbly while her senpai spoke again, "Sorry, I have not introduced myself yet. I'm Miyanaga Teru, second-year. It's an honour to meet you."

"No...no...it's definitely my honour, Miyanaga-senpai! I'm Matano Seiko."

"Then Matano-san, if you don't mind, would you like to take the place of Hiroda-senpai and play an East Round with us?"

As this was just a practice game, it didn't really matter whether or not they picked wind tiles to determine the starting positions. Everybody else on the table didn't seem to mind, so Seiko didn't dispute either, just sitting down on the adjacent seat counterclockwise from Miyanaga.

Everybody's scores returned to 25000, playing with the 70th Interhigh rules of no red fives, no daiminkan pao, and the possibility of multiple yakuman. The game opened with Seiko's dealership. Even though this was her first time playing Miyanaga, no matter through what she heard or watched on televised recordings, she had a certain sense of the latter's play style. If she couldn't beat her easily after East 1, then she just had to make East 1 never end! Thinking this, Seiko didn't hesitate the slightest bit as she daringly dumped the east tile that was both her seat and prevalent wind. What she needed was speed. She didn't have time to wait on two more east tiles!

"Pon!" calling on a 2-wan in the third turn.

"Pon!" calling on a north wind in the sixth turn.

"Are you trying to go for a toitoi, Kid?" the third-year seated across from Seiko said with a smile. Seeing as Seiko opened the round with an east discard, she was probably going for speed and was unlikely to keep dragon tiles that others would reserve to obtain yaku. In that case, let's discard a hatsu!

"Kan!"

But there were already three hatsu tiles in Seiko's opening hand. All she was waiting for was a chance to open up the third meld!

"This time it's on the dead wall, huh?" Seiko muttered to herself, reaching out to take down the tile that she knew would bring her victory...

"Tsumo, rinshan kaihou. Toitoi, hon'itsu, yakuhai hatsu. 6000all"

"You seem to have some energy, Kid! If we played by the daiminkan pao rule, wouldn't I be in big trouble? Hahaha," the senpai who had dumped hatsu chuckled, dropping the point sticks off for Seiko. However, what Seiko was more interested in was the expression on Miyanaga...since when did her purpose of coming to the Torahime practice become the wish to see a change on this still countenance?

What was she waiting for, really?

Very soon, Seiko received her response. Even though Miyanaga kept her face as stonelike as ever, the gaze that peeked out her bangs became sharper, spreading a chilling aura to all four corners of the table. Then there was that mirror, a fantastical mirror that erupted from the ground to stand behind Seiko...it seemed as though it saw through something, something most important to her.

That person was becoming serious...

Seiko formed fists from her trembling hands. Clenching her teeth, she glared at the tiles that came up from the table upon her press of the button. Scared? No, how could Matano Seiko be scared of just this little drizzle in the breeze? Incoming storms disturbed the waters, luring fish to surface. This was the perfect time for a big catch!

It was still East 1, her dealership. In that case, let Miyanaga-senpai witness her strength!

The tiles seemed to resonate with her thoughts. Once again, a closed triplet of yakuhai sat in her starting hand, which also contained a pair of dora. If she managed to make a triplet from the dora, that would at least be a hand of 4-han. Then...

"Pon!" Seiko declared a triplet of 5-sou in an early turn. Even though there were no red fives according to the rules, she still had to thank Miyanaga for discarding a tile in the middle of the sequence so soon.

Wait...a tile in the middle of the sequence? Could she already be at...tenpai!?

Since it was early in the game, Miyanaga didn't have many discards, so Seiko didn't have any tile that was absolutely safe to play. The safest was probably the triplet of haku in her hand, right?

She couldn't just lose her dealership so easily. Throwing away a han from the yakuhai? Who cares. There was still a haku left - she could just draw it back!

Seiko discarded a haku.

"Ron, 1900."

...it was really Miyanaga!?

The last haku was actually in her possession, reserved as a single wait on the final pair that made up her winning hand. All for a yakuhai, closed seat wind north, hand that was worth 1-han, plus the 300 points bonus?

No, this was probably the start of "that".

The consecutive wins of the Champion!

"Ron, 2000"

"Ron, 3900"

Miyanaga just won off Seiko's tiles no matter how she tried to dodge. Even though in the opening hand she won 18000 points, still sitting at the top even after losing 7800, what came after was East 4 all last, Miyanaga's dealership. Last time it was a 3-han hand. This time it would definitely be larger, approaching 10000 points at the very least. Even without a renchan, so long as she won off Seiko directly, Miyanaga would be able to make a reversal for top place.

No, this shouldn't be Seiko's thoughts now.

Work hard, aim for the top, never admit defeat. Scared of losing? There was no need. What was there to be scared of? Even if she were to lose, as long as she continued to try her best, one day she'd win!

Besides, she didn't intend to lose now either.

There was a perfect opportunity in her starting hand - a pair of east that would give her yaku if she made a triplet. Furthermore, it was Miyanaga's seat wind, so even though Seiko couldn't guarantee that she didn't have other yakuhai, at least holding onto east would take away one of the opportunities for Miyanaga to win quickly, right?

It had been ten turns, but because of Miyanaga's calls, the tiles that Seiko should've drawn to form pairs were taken by the other players and discarded. In that case...

"Chi!" taking Miyanaga's 3-pin, Seiko shifted the drawing order, knowing she would then obtain the tile that Miyanaga would've gotten in the next turn. When it came her turn again, she drew in a 4-wan. Looking at Miyanaga's open 333-wan and 678-wan melds and her discards of predominantly pinzu and souzu, could it be that she was aiming for a chin'itsu?

Aiming for the same suit as the player seated ahead of you in the drawing order was one of the stupidest ways of playing this game, but it would make it less probable for Miyanaga to win off Seiko. Keeping 4-wan, she discarded 9-sou. If Miyanaga's draws were really so miraculous, then the wanzu to follow would now fall into her hands instead!

Seiko reached iishanten very quickly, just waiting on an east tile for yaku, then she would be at tenpai for a hell wait on 3-wan. But just before her next turn, Miyanaga's discard was pon'ed off by the smiling senpai across from her.

"Sorry, Kid. Seeing your wishful face made me want to disturb the drawing order a bit, hehe," she said, then made a discard.

That was what the third-year student said, but it was hardly the real reason for her call. The tile she pon'ed off, north, was her yakuhai. Now that she had yaku, her hand with a closed triplet of dora could finally reach tenpai, so her call was inevitable.

But because of this, Seiko's tile fell into Miyanaga's hand instead.

"Kan"

It was the last 3-wan, added into Miyanaga's existing triplet. And that wasn't it. The new dora indicator was 2-wan!

Please don't rinshan kaihou. She mustn't rinshan kaihou!

Luckily, the rinshanpai wasn't what Miyanaga needed. If that were so, Seiko still had a chance!

Even if she couldn't hell wait on a 3-wan, she could draw in a tile to make a pair for reaching valid iishanten again. Drawing in a fresh tile that had yet to appear on the discards, she dumped the relatively safe 2-wan, waiting for the player after her to draw and discard, then the player across from her...

"Ron"

For the first time, Miyanaga won off a tile that wasn't Seiko's, but the senpai who was at tenpai!

"Tanyao, sanshoku doujin, four dora, 18000."

"Teru...you're such a bully...wasn't there a consensus to let the newbie have fun today? Why did you turn around and snipe me instead?"

"That idiot isn't me. She won't pick someone to snipe." Another starting player of the Torahime team, Hirose Sumire, who had thus far watched silently from the side spoke, "Also, it was senpai's fault for not trusting Matano's strength in taking down Teru. Knowing the north tile was a trap, you still called a pon, so you just have yourself to blame for this."

"Sumire is so harsh! Senpai's heart is bleeding..."

As though having predicted that her senpai would start whining, Miyanaga ignored her, turning instead to Seiko, "Matano-san played pretty well. When you have time, would you like to come and practise with us again?"

"Eh!? I...I can really come again?"

Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed to Seiko that Miyanaga's gaze turned slightly more gentle...

"Of course. I look forward to Matano-san's growth as a player."

Day by day, a year passed by quickly. Even if the senpai who had scolded her the first time she visited Team Torahime's room were to get a stroke from frustration, it wouldn't change the fact that it was Seiko who had become a starting member of the team after the third-years graduated. Being invited into the team, and later to become a starting member was what Seiko probably considered the most important achievement of her life thus far, and this brought her much happiness that she never thought she'd obtain. To watch Shiraitodai accomplish two consecutive wins from backstage, to see her admired Miyanaga-senpai become the Interhigh individuals champion, and later repeat this feat in the Spring Tournament, Seiko got to experience all this and also witness a different face behind the monstrous exterior of the one who stood at the pinnacle of high school mahjong. The Miyanaga-senpai she knew would buy snacks for them, arrange play records that she wouldn't need herself, but analyzed for the sake of the other members. She would stay late to clean up the club room after practice, cook for them during training camp (then again, her food was so horrible that Hirose-senpai ended up ordering take-out instead)...all these little fragments that made up who Miyanaga Teru really was, Seiko silently collected them all, feeling happy just from watching by the sidelines. But what this naive complacency really showed was that Seiko's courage to stand by this lonely Queen had long been extinguished. Even though she thought she was stepping closer, she was really being left far behind.

If Oohoshi didn't enter the team, perhaps she wouldn't have realized all this, right? Along with Shibuya Takami and herself, Oohoshi became a starting member this year, but the talent she possessed was what Seiko admitted she would never have. Without much effort, Oohoshi gained the name of "one loved by the tiles" to stand alongside Miyanaga-senpai. Who would know how hard Seiko had to work just to win once under Oohoshi's 5, 6-shanten safety zone? And then how much more work she had to put in to cooperate with the other two players to force Oohoshi into showing her double riichi ability? Even so, the only person who could consistently win against Oohoshi's full power was none other than Miyanaga-senpai herself. Even the experienced Hirose-senpai could only snipe Oohoshi with a big hand once in a while, let alone Seiko whose only way of ever beating Oohoshi was to pile the tile mountains into a circle!

Only someone like her could walk into the heart of someone as strong as Miyanaga-senpai, right? After a year of interaction, Seiko learned how to tell Miyanaga-senpai's emotions through the subtle differences in her gaze, but never once did she ever see her smile aside from the exaggerated grin she displayed in public. She would've never imagined that Senpai's lips could curve in such a subtle, yet genuine and warming way...

...yet this smile was of course not for Seiko herself. It was for Oohoshi, who was sleeping with her head cushioned on Miyanaga-senpai's thighs.

When she came across this scene the rare time she visited the roof, why did Seiko feel a sudden ache in her chest? It felt like the time when she accidently fell overboard as a child. The sea was an emotionless cold, yet it stubbornly clenched onto her, pulling her farther into the depths. She wanted to cry out, but what came out her mouth were soundless bubbles, making her lungs scream painfully for oxygen. Yet when she gave in to the urge to breathe, the water that gushed in burnt her trachea till she writhed uncontrollably. The light beyond the surface became increasingly darker, all her surroundings losing colour along with it.

"Seiko, is something the matter?"

The person's face had returned to its usual cold, staring down from high above her. Seiko's eyes were stinging, probably because the setting sun was too bright, reminding her that she shouldn't stare at it directly. She lowered her gaze, shaking her head a little.

"Not really. I just came to get some fresh air. Sorry for disturbing. I'll head back down now."

She ran down the stairs without turning around, heart pounding as though wanting to break through her chest. Didn't her friends consider her confident and optimistic? Why was she becoming like...

...like a school girl who just realized her crush was taken?

Since when did she even develop this kind of unexplainable feeling towards Miyanaga-senpai - a feeling that would never be returned?

How disappointing, this weak self of hers. What was the use of thinking about this anymore? Knowing this to be impossible, the only route left was to give up, right? The sun would still rise from the east tomorrow, the Earth would continue spinning. All Seiko had to do was to keep working hard as always, because nothing would change. Yes. This couldn't even be considered a heartbreak, right? Because Miyanaga-senpai had known nothing, and would never know, reason being Seiko had always and would continue to keep her feelings in her heart.

This was good enough. That was all she wanted.

Just before the school tournament, Seiko was assigned to vice captain position. This had always been her dream for the past year, a position that would allow her to protect the points others had collected and expand on their lead to leave everything for her most trusted senpai, but this year, her senpai chose to switch to the vanguard position, leaving the important responsibility of captain for Oohoshi. This probably showed her absolute trust for the first-year.

If that were Senpai's choice, Seiko would follow, doing her best in what she had to do. No matter whether it was the school tournament, or the prefecturals, Seiko never once relaxed, playing to her very best in every match. Even against relatively strong players, she continued a plus-points streak, never staining Torahime's reputation as the "strongest in history". But even when they won the privilege of representing West Tokyo, Senpai's face did not display the slightest bit of happiness. When Hirose-senpai asked about it, she just replied, "They're not even qualified to be my opponents." So the opponents Seiko deemed to be relatively strong were just time-wasting obstacles in Senpai's eyes? As expected, Seiko's role in this team was probably nothing more than for filling up the roster.

At the nationals, Shiraitodai was the first seed and wasn't even required to play in the first round, automatically qualifying. In the second-round, Shindouji's Shirouzu was strong, but under Miyanaga-senpai's tremendous lead, even she could only aim for second place to enter the third round, thus didn't make the slightest attempt of targeting Seiko. Play stably, pass on the responsibility to Oohoshi...just by doing this, they easily made it to the semi-finals.

The vanguard match of the semis was the first time Seiko saw Miyanaga-senpai's surprised expression. Even though she didn't disappoint by winning more than 90000 points, Seiko knew, this was probably the first time she had witnessed Miyanaga Teru playing seriously. Senriyama's Onjouji Toki seemed capable of foreseeing the future, shifting the drawing order so that the girl who had initially just hogged the dora, Achiga's Matsumi Kuro, managed to win a baiman of 16600 points off of Senpai when she gave up her play style towards the end of the game. To think that the time a year past when Seiko first played with Miyanaga was a serious game? How naive. In reality, she probably wasn't even comparable to the girl who retained her smile even through all difficulties, Shindouji's Hanada Kirame.

What happened to giving up? The gap between Senpai and herself wasn't something that came up overnight. Having long decided that she would just stay behind Senpai's back and silently follow, Seiko gathered her remaining courage to step onto the vice captain stage. She was Shiraitodai's number five, with a strength comparable to the ace of most prefectures. Even against Shirouzu, who Senpai had warned to be careful against, she had retained a positive score in the last round. There should be no problem this time either. At any rate, Oohoshi was their captain, so all she had to do was to play normally. But aside from a slight advantage at the very start of the game, Seiko lost, hand by hand, bit by bit being plunged into absolute despair. The points Senpai had fought hard to collect were being tossed out Seiko's hands into the enemies' vaults, the once distant King that Shiraitodai was collapsed down to a position where they too had to fight for a chance of advancing. With all this happening, Seiko couldn't even remember how she managed to finish the remaining games.

"Thanks very much for the match," she spoke this out of politeness, then left the vicinity as quickly as she could. How much did she wish to return to the past so she would never have gone to the Torahime practice room that day? If she had not done so, she would never have been invited into the team, never becoming a starting player, never losing so badly. How could she even go back to the waiting room now? Her steps lost their previous power, becoming so light that they seemed unable to even carry her own weight. No, she couldn't fall down, couldn't sway here. No matter how much she lost, she couldn't lose her dignity too. But even having said that, she still didn't know how to face her teammates, how to face Senpai. Was Seiko no different from the contestants at the West Tokyo Prefecturals whom Senpai deemed to not even qualify to challenge her? It was just that she was lucky to have been basked in the light of her teammates to travel this far with them? Even if the starting players of her team didn't think this, someone in the mahjong club would definitely say something. Yet who could blame them? Even Seiko believed the same thing.

"Matano-senpai!"

Ah, a golden-haired figure appeared before her...without realizing, she had already walked all the way back here.

"Oohoshi..."

"Thanks for working so hard to increase the challenge for me!"

Seiko should be angry by such a provocative statement, but she wasn't in the mood of rebuking, "You really won't save me any face, huh?"

"This is the first time I've seen you lose that bad."

"I was targeted."

"Is that so?"

So what if this were so? So what if this were not so? The person who lost was Seiko herself. There was nothing to blame other than being too weak.

Seeing Oohoshi, who seemed to be grinning from genuine excitement over this difficult situation, Seiko could only beg her for the very first and only time.

"My position in the team is already really rocky, so please, Oohoshi, don't lose." Pulling on the girl's face, she struggled to smile, "You have to win!"

"Alright! I'll win, because the word 'to lose' doesn't exist in my dictionary."

Watching Oohoshi's shadow fade into the distance, then rethinking how she begged a minute earlier, Seiko wanted to slap herself. There was so much more she wished for. Why couldn't she be just a slight bit stronger? Why couldn't she be a little more like Oohoshi to stand beside that person so dear to her?

...because she had given up. Even before the game, before this match, before anything ever happened...

When the captain match ended with Shiraitodai advancing only in second place, Seiko finally understood all this.

Oohoshi lost to Takakamo, but did she blame Seiko for losing too many points so Achiga could take their position? No. She solely concentrated on how to beat Takakamo a hundred times in return. Hirose-senpai, who had lost the least points of everybody in their team except Miyanaga-senpai, strived to get rid of her tell and use it to her own advantage in the finals. Yet Seiko herself? She was just hoping that Oohoshi's performance would make her own failures more acceptable. How stupid and weak-willed!

"I...I will work hard to improve too!" Seiko finally declared.

Having heard what everybody had said, Miyanaga-senpai just gently replied, "Un. As long as we win next time."

Senpai had never just trusted Oohoshi alone. She placed her trust with everyone.

It wasn't about who relied on whom, who should receive the glory of victory, who should receive the blame of failure...

...because Torahime belonged to all five of them.

Staring at Miyanaga Teru, Seiko remembered the strength that had captured her in the past:

The feeling back then was not idolization. She was impressed by Miyanaga's existence. It inspired her to become just as strong.

She couldn't keep giving up anymore! No matter how far she had already been left behind, she would work hard to catch up to her, to make it by her side!

(Seiko/Teru story to be continued next time...)