Work Text:
Sayo woke up early on the morning of March 20th. The moonlight pierced the dark sky over Tokyo; its iridescence was reflected whenever she stared out the window at some of the different reflective surfaces on the street. She carefully flicked the light on, the brightness quickly spreading throughout her room. Looking out the window, she noticed that none of the neighboring residences had a single light on. Well, it’s only 3:30 am, she thought. It’d be natural for them to be sleeping at this hour. She spent a few seconds looking at the dimly lit road on her side of the house before silently walking to her closet and retrieving her Hanasakigawa school uniform. Upon changing into her school uniform and neatly tying her hair into a ponytail, she looked at the mirror, observing her shipshape appearance, then looked at the digital clock near her bedside. Perfect, 3:40 should be slightly ahead of schedule. Quietly opening her door, she observed the hallways’ darkness, making sure that she slipped out of the house concealed. She grabbed her bag, double-checking that she had taken everything she needed to give her twin the best birthday in her life so far. I’m still on schedule, she thought.
The lampposts on the streets emitted a faint glow that lit the streets enough to make them visible but didn’t shine into the houses. Sometimes, a few swallowtail butterflies crowded around the source of light, swarming it. What was the name of the band that had a very butterfly-related theme? Morfonica? The enchanting nighttime scene of her walk to the train station distracted her; halfway to her destination, she checked her watch and saw 3:47. “Shit!” She quietly cursed to herself, and she began to run. Speeding past the buildings that towered over her, her only focus was on making it to the train station to make the four o’clock train. At least I’m not Shirasagi-san or Matsubara-san, she thought as solace. Though she was sticky from sweat when she arrived, she was glad she ran when the train’s sound rang through the station at 4:00 am.
“Train from Tokyo to Shizuoka.” The sky was still pitch black when she boarded the train, though artificial light still lit the train car she sat in. For the first few minutes of the train ride, she sat alone in the car, silently watching the natural scene pass as the train moved southwest. Upon the completion of the first tenth of the ride, she pulled a thick book out of her bag; it was a college textbook about astronomy, and she skimmed the walls of text in the massive book for the remained of the ride, paying no attention to any passenger who may have left or entered the train as well as any announcement of stopping, though she paid attention to the announcement of Fuji, the penultimate stop on the train ride.
Shizuoka was completely foreign to Sayo, who was completely accustomed to Tokyo’s atmosphere and way of life. While they were both in Japan, she wasn’t adjusted to living in a coastal city or near a port; even though Tokyo had a large port and sea presence, she had never even been near it. In contrast, the sea had a link to nearly every place in Shizuoka. The markets’ products were filled with seafood, such as fish, eel, and the rare shark fin. Even though the sun barely shone in the eastern portion of the sky, many people still hustled onto public transportation to make it to their jobs. She checked her map, pinpointing the location of Shizuoka university and planning her route. I’ll make sure I fulfill my duty to Hina.
Shizuoka University’s Science Department building towered over Sayo’s figure, though it wasn’t tall compared to many skyscrapers in the world, such as the Shanghai Tower. Taking in a final sharp breath, she entered the domineering building that contained the dreams of many aspiring science students. An assistant glanced at her and said, “I am an employee here; are you here for the astronomy competition happening later in the day?”
She softly smiled. I must make it up to Hina, she thought. “Yes, please register Hikawa Sayo from Hanasakigawa to enter the astronomy competition.”
“Hikawa-san, you are already registered; please enter that room on your left.” Sayo complied, walking through a set of tall double doors into a room. She glanced around to gauge her competitors, though they didn’t initiate any contact; the type of people who entered this type of competition wasn’t inclined to social interaction, after all.
Hina woke up in the Hikawa residence in Tokyo. Even though she scoured the house, she found no trace of Sayo. “Hey mom and dad, do you know where onee-chan is?”
The only response her parents gave was to shake their heads. I guess I’ll watch the boppin’ Shizuoka Astronomy Competition; it’s kinda sad I wasn’t able to sign up, but whatever.
Sayo sat on her palms as people filed into the room. You have prepared months for this competition; you will do fine, she rationalized as the number of people in the room slowly increased. Applying the ideal gas law to an inappropriate situation, she mused that the room's pressure was a bit too high for most people. Nervously twitching her limbs, she didn’t notice another girl around the same age as she was approaching her. “Hey there! You looked interesting, so I thought I should talk to you before the competition starts.”
“Aah!” Sayo defied gravity, rocketing out of her seat.
“Looks like I startled you; my name’s Suzuki Atsuko,” the other girl said, extending her hand. She was of relatively average height; Sayo estimated that she was around 161 centimeters tall from an initial observation. She had raven hair, though there were some portions of lighter shades that contrasted the monochrome black that decorated the strands extending from her scalp. Its length was neither short nor long, resting slightly below her shoulders. The albedo of her light brown eyes sometimes disguised them as a shade of green, which Sayo found to be very odd.
Sayo regained her composure. “It is good to meet you, Suzuki-san; I presume you are here for the astronomy competition as well? My name is Hikawa Sayo. If you are, then good luck.”
Atsuko laughed as if Sayo had just proposed something preposterous. “Sayo-san, no need to wish me luck right now; there competition will be at least 30 minutes from now.”
“The form said it will start at 9:30, and it is currently 9:20, meaning that it will be only be 10 minutes from now, Suzuki-san,” Sayo said, raising her eyebrow.
“Come on, Sayo-san, haven’t you ever been outside? These types of events always start 30 minutes late at least,” Atsuko said, stifling laughter.
“Wouldn’t it be damaging to the university’s reputation to start this late?” Sayo began to question her rigid schedule and planning. I expected this out of Tsurumaki-san, but a prestigious university such as Shizuoka’s? Impossible.
Before Atsuko could deliver another witty remark, an announcer appeared. “Contestants! Get ready for the first round of the competition.”
“Well, good luck Sayo-san.” Atsuko quite literally dragged Sayo to the room the announcer was directing them to, much to Sayo’s annoyance.
The second room was practically identical to the first; the decor and wallpaper were the same, as well as the atmosphere. “There will be four rounds for this competition. The first round is a written contest with 50 questions and 30 minutes. Since there are 144 of you here, only 14 of you will be able to move to the second round. The contest is multiple choice, though points are deducted for incorrect answers. Scoring is purely based on correct and incorrect answers, and time is not a factor. The tiebreaker is the hardest question answered correctly.
The second round is similar to the first round, though there are a few differences. While the first round did not limit time for each individual question, the second round had a limit of 30 seconds per question. The questions will be read aloud, and contestants will input their answers into an answering system that will read their inputs. Incorrect answers do not deduct points, and time is a tiebreaker, with correct answers being the main factor. Five contestants will continue on to the third round.
The third round consists of a system similar to the second round, though speed has become a major factor. The first one to buzz in through the buzzer system will have the opportunity to answer the question; a correct answer is worth one point, and incorrect answers are worth none. The two with the most points advances to the next round. The questions are similar in difficulty to the second round.
The fourth round has the same format as the third round, though the difficulty of the questions will be increased greatly. Any questions?”
When the room fell silent, he proceeded with his speech. “Please enter the room where the first round will be held.”
“You know, if you draw the kanji for ‘person’ on your hand, it will relieve your stress,” Atsuko said, glancing at Sayo.
“Thank you for your advice, Suzuki-san; I will make sure to make good use of it.”
After another staff member had introduced the rules regarding the first round, Sayo stared at the question paper on her desk. She was seated near the front and center of a sea of people, but she didn’t particularly mind her placement. A bubbling sheet sat to her right, ready for her to fill her answers in. At first, the characters blankly stared at her as if they knew they were above her. However, she repossessed herself; grabbing her pencil, she sped through the test at breakneck speed. Devotion always bears fruit, she thought. When the time was called, she confidently handed her sheet in. Atsuko gravitated to Sayo as if they were opposite electromagnetic charges. “How do you think you did, Sayo-san?”
“I’ll lets the results speak, Suzuki-san,” Sayo responded, half smugly and half humbly. And the results did speak; Sayo got seventh and Atsuko fifth.
“Looks I scored higher than you, Sayo-san.”
“May the true winner between us be decided in the fourth round, Suzuki-san.”
The next two rounds flew by, with them fulfilling the prediction of deciding the victor in the fourth round. However, by the fourth round, Atsuko’s steam had been exhausted; the extensive knowledge and quick recall required about the absolute magnitude and stellar classification proved mentally exhausting. Sayo quickly swept the round, taking home the winning prize of a world-class portable telescope. “That was good, Sayo-san; you were truly remarkable in this round.”
“I think that such praise is appropriate in this occasion for you as well, Suzuki-san.”
One announcer, however, decided to throw a curveball question that Sayo hadn’t exactly prepared for in the competition. “Contestant Hikawa,” he said, “what motivated you so much to win this competition?”
Sayo paused for a moment, debating whether to give her true, personal answer. “For my later secondary school years and my earlier high school years, I was unkind to my younger twin sister. I have recognized my previous faults, and I have wished to make it up to her. Today is her birthday and astronomy is her passion, so I thought it fitting to earn this. Even though it took months of arduous study, I would say that it was worth it.” The whole audience gave her a standing ovation at her short yet tearing response.
When Sayo returned home, Hina immediately tackled her, sobbing into her torso. “Wahh! Onee-chan! I love you so much.”
Sayo stumbled on the impact, quickly regaining her balance. “H-Hina! Don’t tackle me like that; the telescope might break.”
Hina’s green eyes sparkled, looking at the instrument that Sayo had brought back. “I love you onee-chan! Though, I did hear your boppin’ speech. You have to let me in your room now, hehe.”