The Cherry Project - Chapter 12 "Only one angel..." Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, September 1991. Written by Takeuchi Naoko. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.01, 3.98. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I can't hear the music!" She looks at Mori. "What? What is coach saying!? Not even her voice... I can't hear anything!" "-san, Asuka-san!?" "My legs won't move! The rink... It's scary!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Cherry can't skate!?" says Yuni. "Coach, what do you mean she can't skate!?" "She's deaf..." says Mori. "And she can't move her legs. Just as she approached the rink the day after the block tournament, she suddenly became that way. The doctor says there's nothing wrong with her. The cause is in her mind. She instinctively feels she might be a copy machine, and her fear about that has caused her to reject the rink. The one who chose Asuka-san's free skate music to be the same as the Princess's... It was Masanori, wasn't it. Masanori knows this girl became a copy machine to rush herself. To correct her, did he set off on such a hard way? Is that why Asuka-san's become unable to skate?" "She's not sure to break yet," said Tsuzuki. "Masanori... Do you believe this girl has the strength to overcome this ordeal...?" "I'm thinking of withdrawing her from the east Japan tournament," she says. "Coach!" says Yuni. "I want to enter her! But... There isn't time. I don't want to overwork her and put her to waste... I think it would be better to slowly rehabilitate her. Spend some time on her." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why!?" thinks Chieri. "How come I can't skate!? The rink shouldn't be scary. My legs have to move." She approaches the rink. "The rink's getting smaller. It hurts... The Princess!? I'm scared!" "Cherry!" says Yuni. She puts her arms around her. "Why can't you skate!?" "It looks like the Princess on the rink..." thinks Chieri. "It's that Princess replica." "She'll never make it like that." "I feel like I'm going to be crushed... I can't do this... Somebody help me... Tsuzuki..." "Cherry?" says Yuni. "Are you all right? You have us, we'll help you. You don't have to rush. Take your time, and keep with it. We're the Cherry Project. We'll always back you up, okay? Leave it to us. There's Haruda, and the coach, right? Hiroshi, Kouichi, and me... And then there's Tsuzuki..." "What are you talking about, Yuni," says Chieri. "The Cherry Project ended back at the school festival... Now Tsuzuki... He doesn't have any relationship with me at all anymore..." "We won't ruin her like this." "Cherry," says Yuni. "Believe in Tsuzuki-kun!" "Believe in him..." thinks Chieri. "I'm always thinking about you," he said. "I want to see him..." thinks Chieri. "Hold me tightly now... But Tsuzuki..." "He must have become the Princess's coach intending to pair skate with her!" "What do you mean, believe in him?" she thinks. "What about Tsuzuki am I supposed to believe in?" "Don't tell Tsuzuki..." she says. "That I can't skate..." "Cherry!" says Yuni. "Please!" "I don't want him to find out about this," she thinks. "He'll get his hopes up again. It's good that I can't skate anymore. Now I should quit skating... I can give up on Tsuzuki this time..." "You like skating... Don't you?" said Tsuzuki. "I ask that you not say you're going to quit." "You should be stronger than this." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Don't you think this feeling is all right?" Canty skates to a stop. "My free skate music..." she says. "I think I should change 'Emperor.' It's taken on a bad image. With a new program, I could expand further..." "That's not necessary," says Tsuzuki. "This music fits you, and we've already perfected it to such a degree." "Tsuzuki-kun!" Yuni steps into the room. "Continue," Tsuzuki tells Canty. "Cherry..." says Yuni. "She can't skate anymore!" "I see..." says Tsuzuki. "You see...! Is that all!? Why won't you go see her!? Do you plan to keep being the Princess's coach!? Why!?" "Since I've taken over as her coach, I plan to make Canty into a higher level skater than she is now. That's the job of a coach. Nothing else." "Fine!" says Yuni. "I don't know you anymore, you jerk! It's your fault Cherry can't skate now, Tsuzuki-kun!" She runs out of the room. Tsuzuki looks down. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kouichi and Hiroshi step outside Green Garden Academy. "Yuni!?" Yuni runs to them. "Tsuzuki-kun is too cold!" she says. "He's terrible! Cherry... I feel so bad for her." "Yuni... You told Cherry recently, right? To believe in Tsuzuki... Right now, Tsuzuki is putting his dream on hold to take a chance on Cherry." "I'm not going to search for a partner much longer," says Tsuzuki. "I've decided what to do. I know what I have to do. I'm going to make that girl recover from being a copy machine!" He looks at them. "The Princess asked me to be her coach..." "You're going to do it!?" says Kouichi. "But Tsuzuki! What about pair skating!? What are you doing!" "Not as a pair skating partner..." says Tsuzuki. "I have to train that girl better as a singles skater." "When Tsuzuki enters high school," says Kouichi, "he'll have to quit skating. We don't have time. Instead of using his precious remaining time to find a partner and pair skate, Tsuzuki chose to train Cherry. We believe... Tsuzuki chose that path to someday pair skate with Cherry. If he can't be with her, we'll be by Cherry's side. Right?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chieri looks out at the rink. "Let's go without practice for a while," said Mori. "After you get some rest, we'll start again, okay? Don't overwork yourself..." "I've come again..." she thinks. "The rink..." She steps onto the rink. "My ears..." She slips and collapses, holding tightly to the railing. "I can't skate. No matter how many times I try, the rink won't accept me. Why!? Why can't I skate!?" "You should be stronger than this." "I want to skate, but... Why!?" Her tears fall on the ice. "I'm scared... I'm not strong at all. Oh... I might never skate again." Kouichi and Hiroshi run into the room. "Cherry!" Hiroshi turns. "Hey..." "Hiroshi!" They see Tsuzuki standing in the observation room above, watching. "Tsuzuki!?" "Tsuzuki..." They turn and leave. Tsuzuki looks down at Chieri. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original manga copyright © 1991 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1998 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko | The Cherry Project | Volume 2