Edited by: Tara Doraiswamy
There has always been something unapproachable between the two of them. Rei muses that thought as she stands behind a chain-link fence separating the sands and the parking lot.
Yuka Hoshina was always soaring, touching starlight in the ceiling every time she passed a long set, while Rei had made her place in the back court, connecting in minds and rallies.
Now Rei was out of court. Having quit volleyball three years back due to a ligament injury, she has long deposited childhood dreams along with her Number 11 libero’s jersey in the back of her closet. Rei didn’t mind the ground. The feeling of grass curling over bare feet was quite nice.
But there was something about watching Yuka play beach volleyball: the measured sprint to back court, feet sinking in the sand for a low set, long fingers swerving the ball in a split second. On firm turf, with stable footing and no resistance from the wind and sun, these reflexes would be formidable.
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you (Every Breath You Take by The Police)
It was only on court that Yuka had a calculating calm on her. There was concentration in her dark eyes, intentionality behind every movement, no ounce of energy was wasted. It was the only time Yuka seemed on fire. And the only time Rei could watch her without getting into a hostile awkwardness with her.
When Rei refused the court after recovering from surgery, Yuka had refused her. It had turned into a heated fight. She remembers the resentment, the way Yuka’s eyes had teared up in fury and betrayal.
Should I let go now?
Would I even know how to anyway? (Stay the Night by Benjamin Orr)
‘Friendship’ was too weak a noun for it. In dousing old passions for new dreams to begin, Rei had burnt a rivalry. Or a kind of partnership perhaps, which pushed and pulled them to become better outside of their specialties.
Despite minimal interactions in three years and moving to Delhi for college, Rei has followed Yuka’s journey.
Take your passion and make it happen
Pictures come alive
You can dance right through your life (What A Feeling by Irene Cara)
In a small coastal town that doesn’t seem to offer much, Hennessey’s well put-together girls’ volleyball team and its star setter, youngest to be scouted for the under-19 national team: Number 7, Hoshina is the town’s pride and joy.
White compression tee. Tall, lean, short hair pulled back with bangs framing the forehead. Every squat, every jump, every heave of the chest. Yuka is mesmerizing.
I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is when you’re in the world (Your Song by Elton John)
Rei jumps at the rattle of the chain-link fence as a hand grips it, looking up to meet Yuka who is watching her menacingly, a far likeness from the quiet girl who once filled her journals.
“Oi, dumbass,” Yuka snaps to get her attention.
Rei blinks, shaking herself back into the moment, sounds of blues and foam crashing on the shore fill the air.
“Join if you want to or get lost.”
Ah well, shit. That’s the most Yuka has spoken to her in years, and it’s not like Rei can decline the invitation. Not now. Not anymore.
——
Hennessey is flanked by hills and forests on the eastern border, with plenty of lakes spread all across and the sea just minutes away. It has the leisure of the 80s, like it never quite moved on from the decade, with its quiet suburbs, children riding bicycles through old forest trails, 5star wrappers and water guns littered on playgrounds and porches.
On a silent evening, you could hear the strings of a guitar ringing in the lane, or the drip of tap water that has been left open all morning. On a hot weekend, families trek the old plantations in Seminary Hills, follow its meandering paths, bending and clearing with depressions in earth, while teens drink soda in shady bowers.
We can build this dream together
Standing strong forever (Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship)
This was the backyard of Rei and Yuka’s childhood, when summers were filled with lemonade, volleyball, and little girls with dreams of playing in the centre court. Yuka lives it now, and goes far beyond it.
There were some basic things to do in Hennessy: a bunch of swimming holes some thrill-seeking young adults would dive into, arcades decorated with neon signs, an open-air theatre built circa 1984, and a few popular coffeehouses folks would crash in after school.
In spite of such reasonable hang-out spots, Rei finds herself skipping the sleepers of an abandoned joy train track in the middle of Seminary Hills, alongside a smug Yuka Hoshina.
It’s the ass crack of dawn and Rei is not a morning person, long sworn fidelity to the university night owl culture, unlike Yuka’s commitment to rise before the sun has risen and jog the peripheries of Hennessy. She can feel the setter’s laughing eyes, the upturn of lips hidden behind her collar as Rei stumbles along. Yuka is happy, at ease, having gotten her way. Stubborn, untouchable, strong.
So come with me and share the view
I’ll help you see forever too (Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You by George Benson)
Good, Rei thinks. Stay like that. Stay maddening and alive, stay yourself.
——
Despite having moved from outright explosiveness to general tenseness to shy affection in the span of two months, Yuka has been quiet about wherever they’re at right now. Rei is alright with that.
‘Cause I can’t make you love me if you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel something it won’t (I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Riatt)
When they lie sprawled on the comforter at Rei’s parents’ house, rewatching Haikyuu, Rei combs Yuka’s hair, turning her head in her lap.
“Stay the night?”
An old emotion passes over Yuka’s eyes, forehead scrunching up. She wipes it off quickly and snuggles into Rei more soundly.
——
Near the end of summer, Yuka Hoshina is scounted by the YNS Havsorn, a division one women’s V-league team based in Osaka. She will be moving in a month and a half.
Wherever you go, whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you (Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx)
Rei does not back away from leaping at the setter and tightening her arms around her neck, laughing as Yuka slowly loosens her grip around Rei’s sides and embraces her. Their popsicles lay melting over the maroon hood, under deep purples and pinks of sunset.
——
There’s only a week left before Rei and Yuka get on different flights.
So, things have been delicate.
Yuka sits on the pier of Futaha lake, grooming her nails as Rei splashes around in an effort to pull her in. Her last two attempts have reacquainted her with the strength and dexterity that goes into setting. Undeterred, she wades towards the setter, reaching up and folding her arms over the edge. Yuka observes her with narrowed eyes, thawing slightly when Rei flashes her a brilliant smile.
On and on, the rain will fall like tears from a star
On and on, the rain will say how fragile we are (Fragile by Sting)
Long, calloused fingers reach out to brush something on her cheek. Rei finds herself shivering despite the heat.
I’m sorry, she wants to tell Yuka. In a different world, I stand on the centre court with you. In this one, I want to realize some other dreams of mine. They’re as big as yours.
When the sun sets and dark violets and indigo paint the sky, Rei and Yuka dance in the car’s headlights, under a million stars, over unbridled greens, holding together something very fragile between them.
——
Yuka’s arrival at the Itami airport is a quiet affair. Just a handful of reports on an international rookie scouted by the league favourites.
A few months later, as volleyball lovers hold their breaths in anticipation, YNS Havsorn marches into court. The first match of the V-league commences.
A crowd has gathered in front of the big TV in student commons back in Rei’s university to watch the match. She cheers along with them.
Four service aces against the Sendai Lykos!
Number 11, 20 years old Yuka Hoshina is putting the reigning champions on the ropes.
I am a woman in love
And I do anything to get you into my world
And hold you within
It’s a right I defend over and over again (Woman in Love by Barbara Streisand)
In love with retro? Here’s a playlist with all the songs:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3UYVtGuxUkKel0IMHwNXNC?si=iMWKECkKRaSXhg2tfptwFQ