The Cherry Project - Chapter 15 "Only one angel..." Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, December 1991. Written by Takeuchi Naoko. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, 4.98. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The crowd cheers. Yuni and Haruna look toward the rink. Chieri's dad sits in the stands. Mori watches nervously. Chieri steps up to the rink. "Number 5, Asuka Chieri-san." She skates onto the ice. Kouichi and Hiroshi watch her. Canty leans against the wall. Chieri looks around. "Tsuzuki...?" she thinks. "I don't see him anywhere..." She stands still as the music starts playing. "I started late!" "It's all right!" says Kouichi. "First is your special double axel!" "Where is Tsuzuki...?" thinks Chieri as she jumps and spins. She lands roughly and continues skating. "Cherry!?" "I can't think of unrelated things!" she thinks. She holds the pendant hanging from her neck. "Calm down, concentrate... Tsuzuki must be somewhere... Oh... Yes, no matter what form it was in... Tsuzuki has always watched me..." She skates to the music. "Hiroshi's music that I love... The music I pair skated to with Tsuzuki at the school fair. Back then, I was so nervous. Oh, I like this part. A kind of mellow piano... We've had trying times, too... Tsuzuki..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Flight 802 to New York..." Tsuzuki watches Chieri skate on the televisions in the airport lounge. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Tsuzuki..." she thinks. "Right? Haven't I become able to skate a little better since then? Right, Tsuzuki...?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Asuka's skating is somehow fascinating in her first performance," says the announcer. "She's skating!" "Isn't she pretty?" Tsuzuki watches the television. "What am I doing here..." he thinks. "Running away?" "Tsuzuki..." "I haven't finished one thing..." He turns to his father. "I made a promise..." he says. "That I'd pair skate with whoever wins. If I can't keep my promises, then I can't follow after you." "You made a promise to me as well, didn't you?" says his father. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chieri finishes her performance. "Cherry!" says Kouichi. "That was great!" She runs off the ice. "Hey..." she says. "Where's Tsuzuki...?" Kouichi and Hiroshi look at her. "Isn't he coming today...?" Her marks appear on the scoreboard. "Cherry!" says Yuni. "That's great! Four 5.7s!" "Even 5.8 is too low for the Princess..." thinks Chieri. "She'll get perfect sixes! I can't do this! This won't be a match at all! If I don't succeed with the quadruple in my free skate, I won't reach her!" "I'm leaving right away," she says. "I have to practice. Tsuzuki said I could use his private rink anytime. The locker key he gave me before is the key to the rink." "Tsuzuki..." she thinks. "If I go to his rink, will I see him? No... If he's at home, why wouldn't he come here?" Her eyes water. "Oh no, don't cry... Has something happened to him? I want to see him right away..." Kouichi grabs her hand. "Cherry!" he says. "Tsuzuki hasn't let anyone else use that rink before." "That key is a very important key," said Tsuzuki. "I didn't intend to bring anyone but my skating partner." "Cherry... You believe in Tsuzuki, right? You can use up all your power in the match, right?" "Quadruples are possible if your jump is high," says Hiroshi. "It takes timing on the ice of one second out of minutes." "Members of group four," says the announcer. "The warm-up period has ended. Please step off to the rinkside." The skaters clear the rink. "Number 21, Canty Akiyama-san." "Whoever wins... I'll pair skate with." Canty skates onto the ice. "Asuka Chieri..." she thinks. "Nobody can reach me. I have my skating. I can only skate that. Even if Tsuzuki comes back... Or if he doesn't come..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chieri enters Tsuzuki's private rink. "My free skate..." she thinks. "Can I do it? Am I capable of beating the Princess? With the same music as the Princess, 'Emperor'. In what way should I skate...?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day two, girls free skate. Chieri looks at the bulletin board. Girls Singles Original Program Results 1st - Canty Akiyama, Takanawa Wing 2nd - Suda Mari, Partnered Organization 3rd - Imano Junko, Sichizun 4th - Asuka Chieri, Takanawa Wing She sees Canty walk by. "Oh, how cute!" says Yuni. "That looks good on you, Cherry!" "Pure white," says her dad. "It used to be that everyone wore white for figure skating suits." Chieri hugs him. "If I wasn't your daughter," she says, "I wouldn't have gotten to know skating..." "Hehe..." says Haruna. "You have fairy wings like Giselle." "Oh, Haruda!" says Yuni. "These are angel wings!" "Is Giselle a ballet?" says Chieri. "Haruda, do you know a lot about ballet?" "Asuka-san," says Haruna. "You went to see it, didn't you? That ballet. My little sister was in it. Tsuzuki-kun, he told me he wanted to show it to you because it would be sure to help with your power of expression." Chieri gasps. "I knew it..." she thinks. "It was Tsuzuki... Always, when I most want to see him... He's not with me..." "Number 23," says the announcer. "Canty Akiyama-san. Her music will be 'Emperor'." "Are you watching us somewhere now?" thinks Chieri. "You're not here... How can I communicate this feeling?" She watches Canty skate. "The Princess... Like an angel... She's beautiful..." "She did it!" says the announcer. "A quadruple! At the young age of thirteen! She's the girl genius, Princess Canty! A spin with both right and left! She's dancing to 'Emperor' on top of the ice." "You're communicating it," thinks Chieri. "You always rule the heaven of the rink from your height. Your skating of high class..." "Nobody but the Princess can do proud skating like this," says Hiroshi. "I guess not..." says Chieri. "I can't skate like this..." "Cherry," thinks Hiroshi. "You're not a copy machine anymore." "If there's something you want to skate," he says, "fight it in four and a half minutes." "Defeating yourself..." said Tsuzuki. "Nobody can do it but you." The marks appear on the scoreboard. "Look at this!" says the announcer. "Six, seven... eight 6.0s! Eight of the judges are giving perfect sixes! The winner is decided, it's Princess Canty!" "The only thing I can do..." thinks Chieri, "is communicate my emotion...!" "You have wings, Cherry," says Hiroshi. "Fly as high as you can." "Number 24," says the announcer. "Asuka Chieri-san." She kisses her picture of the young Tsuzuki. "As high as I can..." She skates onto the ice and jumps into the air. "I don't believe this...!" says the announcer. "Wonderful skating, with no approach run! It's the junior girls' second quadruple!" "Oh..." thinks Chieri. "I remember! My heart pounded like this the first time I saw Tsuzuki skate. Ever since then... Tsuzuki has been... My 'Emperor'. Ever since then, I've been pursuing him. And pursuing him, I've fallen so in love with skating. Only you can make me skate like this." The crowd watches her. "She's pretty! And on top of that, such speed! It's like the rink feels small!" "That looks fun! I'd like to able to skate like that." "Tsuzuki..." thinks Chieri. "Where are you? Watch by my side... Come here... I can't make it without you... I'm so filled with Tsuzuki..." She skates faster. She jumps up into the air, spinning, and floats above the ice. The crowd gasps. "It's like... There's somebody next to her..." "I like skating alone," she thinks. "But together is more wonderful. Much more, with the person you love..." She leans horizontally and spins in a circle, as if held above the ice. "A death spiral...! By herself!?" "Don't you feel that way too, Tsuzuki? Wanting to skate as a pair..." She jumps up, and is held in the air. "A lift...?" "Oh..." she thinks. "If you were here now..." The crowd watches her. "This must be a pair program, right?" "Why is she pair skating alone...?" "Kind of sad..." "Where's her partner?" Tsuzuki walks down the stairs to the rink. Chieri's eyes meet his. "Look..." she thinks. "This is destiny. You and I... So many times now... We've had chance meetings of destiny..." She skates to a stop, and bows down. "Tsuzuki... I love you." The crowd cheers. "Skater Asuka has captured the hearts of all-Japan!" says the announcer. "This...! What an unexpected skater! She's nailed to the ground! Her program composition, her choreography, it's an entirely new four and a half minutes! A free skate like she was watching someone next to her..." Chieri picks up a bouquet of flowers from the ice. She skates to the side of the rink. Tsuzuki stands there, holding another flower. "You didn't injure your hips?" She smiles. "I forgot about that when I was skating." He hands her the flower. "I thought you might take off like an angel," he says. "I wondered what you were thinking of while you were skating... I was always watching." Chieri holds the flower to her face. "Of you..." she thinks. "I communicated how much I loved you... Did it get through?" Canty watches them. "Nobody but you could express that..." she thinks. "All those emotions..." The first score appears on the board: a 6.0. "Say..." says Chieri. "Even if I become a grandmother, I'm not going to quit skating. So... It doesn't matter how many years it takes. Even if it's just one time." Another 6.0 appears. "I won't ask him to enter a tournament with me," she thinks. The board displays six more 6.0s. "Someday..." she says. "Someday, will you pair..." Tsuzuki puts a finger to her lips. "Would you be my partner?" he says. "I'll become strong as well," he thinks, "not to lose to you. I will make my dream of pair skating come true. I will follow my father at his company." "You've done well to make it this far," he says. He takes her arm. "I want to have the girl I love..." he thinks. "I won't leave Cherry anymore..." He pulls her close, and kisses her. They wrap their arms around each other. "Nine 6.0s!" says the announcer. "All the judges are giving 6.0s! The winner is..." Chieri turns around. "Turning around," she thinks. "That's where I first saw Tsuzuki. On top of that thin, blue ice..." The crowd cheers. Canty walks through the hallway. She stops as she sees Kouichi. "I knew from the beginning," says Canty, "that I would lose... Tsuzuki was my angel. But that girl, too... She was beautiful like an angel... I'm not suited for their world..." "That's not true," says Kouichi. He puts his arms around her. "I can see angel wings on your shoulders." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This year's world championship is broadcast from here in New York," says the announcer. A man enters the office. "Mr. President," he says. "All the members have gathered. The conference..." "Ah," says Tsuzuki's father. "Excuse me, I'll be a little longer..." He watches the television. - "Representing Japan last year in the world championship was this pair, Tsuzuki and Asuka," says the announcer. "We look forward to their first exhibition at Rockefeller Center." Tsuzuki extends his hand. Chieri smiles. "Say..." she thinks. "We must be drawing up angels to the rink. We have magic..." She feels her chest. "My heart is pounding so hard..." "Cherry," says Tsuzuki. He takes her hands into his as they kiss. "My only one angel." "Your kiss before we step onto the rink... I feel I will be able to skate wonderfully." The end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original manga copyright © 1991 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1998 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko | The Cherry Project | Volume 3