Invisible No More

The annual tournament was well underway. 

Ren was doing her best not to fidget in-place as the judges elaborated their decision. She had gone out and performed her routine to the best of her ability, but there were at least twelve others in her bracket. She had spectated a tournament before, but being a competitor was an entirely different feeling.

Ren looked to the crowd to try and distract herself, but it didn't help. She had been told that the tournament was large, but she didn't realize what that meant until this moment. There were hundreds of competitors and spectators spread throughout the gymnasium. She was in one of six rings, which meant a lot of eyes were on her. 

As if that wasn't enough, her grandparents were part of the audience. She had been shocked to find out that they were going to be there, but it seemed that Sensei had convinced them. His promise of them being impressed with Ren's skills likely played into the 'talented child' illusion that they wanted to feed into. They probably thought she would be happy to have them there being supportive. Her biggest fear, however, was that they might take class away from her if she didn't perform well enough for them.

"We've made our decision," the head judge announced, pulling Ren's focus back. "Contestants, line up!"

Everyone in the division, including Ren, came together and stood at attention. It was time to see if her hours of practice had paid off. 

"Third place," the judge announced, "Haruki Yamane!"

Everyone clapped in applause as a boy stepped forward. He bowed to the judges and took his third-place trophy.

"Second place," the judge announced, "Rin Aizawa!"

It was at this point that Ren's heart sank a bit. The two who had just received trophies had nailed their forms. Instinctively, she was already plotting how she was going to convince her grandparents to let her stay in class when she couldn't even place third. 

"First place," the judge finally called out, "Ren Shirahane!"

The crowd erupted even louder, filled with other classmates from her school. Ren stood there in a momentary daze. She eventually realized the judge was waving her forward, and she quickly snapped back to it. She stepped forward, taking her trophy with a dumbfounded expression.

It was the first trophy she had ever won.

"That's it for this division! The contestants may now disperse while we prepare for the next one!"

As instructed, everyone began heading off towards their respective families and classmates. Ren stood still, basking in the moment of excitement and reprieve. She wanted to be humble in this moment, but she could feel that she was grinning from one ear to the other. 

"Great job, Ren!" Sensei stepped out from the crowd to speak with her. "Your hard work really showed out there."

"Thanks. Hopefully, it was enough to warrant my grandparents coming out to see."

"I think it will be," he assured her. "I'll go talk to them now before they head out. Why don't you go and help out at the director's table?"

"Yes, sir!"

She practically skipped away like a schoolgirl. As she approached her bag to put down her trophy, several classmates gave their congratulations. A barrage of back-pats and "good jobs" washed over her, filling her with tons of positive energy. By the time she was heading towards the director table, all of her anxiety had been replaced with her vibrant energy.

"Good job out there, girl!" Riku called out as Ren approached the table. "I'd say it was close...but it wasn't!"

"Thanks, Riku! Sensei sent me over to see where I could help out?"

"Great question. Let's see..."

Riku took a moment looking over the roster of volunteers and who was currently stationed where. He poked his head up from time to time to glance over at the different stations. He was stumped for a bit, then his eyes lit up as a lightbulb went off. 

"Actually..." Riku thought aloud. 

He turned and directed Ren's attention towards the far corner of the admin area. She could see that a desk and table had been put over there. The desk contained a computer, a printer, several stacks of paper... and Sota. 

"I think everyone's favorite sulky 'Senpai' could use some assistance," he stated with a grin across his face. "He may be a machine, but he's been over there plugging away for over six hours. I'm sure he could use a helping hand to get ahead and maybe catch a break."

"Great! I'll go help Senpai, then."

Riku opened the gate to the director's area so Ren could head off towards Sota's location. She was kind of relieved to be given that assignment. While she was very bubbly and social, even she had limits. Having some time in a quieter area with someone who was more laid back would be a nice place to recharge. 

"Reporting for duty, Senpai!" Ren announced, snapping to attention once she arrived at his desk. 

Sota looked up from the laptop, startled to see Ren standing there. After a moment of thinking, he peered behind her and looked towards the central director table. Sure enough, he saw Riku grinning in the distance, waving at him tauntingly.

"I see," Sota muttered, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Alright, then. Take a seat and we'll see what you can do."

Sota explained the gist of what his role was for the tournament. He walked through it with the same calm clarity that he typically taught with. This, however, was more than just a new form or move. The entire tournament rested on this process going smoothly.

"Wow, Senpai," Ren exclaimed. "I'm a bit surprised. You're so discrete back here, but this seems like the most important role out of anyone."

"Maybe," Sota said, handing her a stack of papers. "Let's not mess it up, then."

Once the two began working together, Sota was shocked at how much faster things moved. Given her intensity in class, it didn't surprise him that she was a hard worker. Her ability to parse and organize information, however, was very impressive. He knew Ren was a quick learner, but he hadn't expected her to be as helpful as she was. In all honesty, he typically preferred to handle everything alone because others would typically slow him down. 

"That should do it," Sota announced after about an hour of collaboration. "If all goes to plan, all the brackets should be set for the rest of the day. I have to say, you were a big help."

"Thanks, Senpai! Does that mean you'll get to compete today, too?"

"Not likely. I should be on standby in case something goes amiss..."

A complete fabrication. In reality, he had no desire to compete with how little he practiced outside of class. He did not feel like making a fool of himself in front of so many people. Running the back-end of the tournament gave him an excuse; he was going to take it. 

"I should be all set here, if you want to go help somewhere else?"

"If it's alright with you, Senpai, I'd rather hang here if that's okay? N...not that I'm trying to get out of helping. It's just a lot of mayhem out there and it's a bit more peaceful here."

Sota's instinct to deny her almost kicked in, but he found himself pausing. After months of training and teaching, he had started to grow a softer spot for Ren. Protocol was to tell her to go help somewhere else, but...

"Have it your way," Sota sat back in his chair and looked out over the tournament. "I can't say I'd act any different. Its nice to hang here in the background. Somewhat ironic for me to crave being invisible..."

"Because in our real lives, we've tried to fight so desperately not to be?"

Sota stiffened at Ren's words. They terrifyingly accurate to what he was thinking, but it was a much darker tone than what he was expecting from such a bubbly ball of energy. She had said them so gently and in such a matter-of-fact way. 

"Yeah," he finally managed. "I definitely won't argue that the world is cruel..."

"The world is cruel," Ren repeated, a voice bitter and cracking a bit. "The people in it are worse. They're selfish, conniving... will sacrifice you at a moment's notice..."

Sota sat silently. For whatever reason, the cheery Ren was venting about some heavy topics. It was something he rarely let himself do, so he simply remained silent and allowed her to do so. 

"But you are not one of those people, Senpai..."

Ren turned to look at him. Sota expected some sort of sorrow after such a speech, but instead only received a warm and gentle smile. 

"Remember that if nothing else, I see you," she stated, "and I appreciate everything you've put into helping me get better."

Such a heartfelt compliment after having called out the world's cruelty was jarring to Sota. He wasn't really sure how to address the compliment, nor Ren's turbulent speech beforehand. He knew what it felt like to be invisible, however, and he knew that opening up to conversation could go a long way.

"Thanks, Ren," he acknowledged, smiling back at her. "So, what do you think about...?"

In an effort to lift Ren's spirits a bit, Sota decided to spend some time simply talking with her. They had never really interacted outside of a classroom setting, so he didn't mind giving her some time. He expected that after a half-hour, she would be in a good headspace and he would know a bit more about her as a person.

What he didn't expect, however, was for the conversation to go on as long as it did. It wasn't planned; the conversation just kept going, Their interests, their viewpoints, their mindsets. It seemed like on every wavelength, they could just naturally interact without it feeling awkward. Very quickly, minutes became hours and the day flew by.

"Hey, you two gossip-queens," Riku's words broke their conversation. "The tournament's wrapping up. Let's start getting things packed up."

"A...already?" Ren leapt from her seat, fear in her eyes. "I was supposed to start helping in the kitchen for the family dinner! Oh man, Sensei's gonna let me have it..."

With that, she rocketed off towards the gymnasium exit. Sota was a bit thrown off by the shift in tempo. One minute she was there, the next she was gone. 

"Soooo," Riku crept close to Sota. "We gonna talk about your lover's conversation with Ren, or..."

"I'll hurt you."

"Fine, jeez!" Riku pulled back, still teasing. "I won't let anyone know what happened. Queen's honor."

"Nothing happened!" Sota called out as Riku darted away. 

Setting aside Riku's antics, however, something had happened. , both Sota and Ren knew it, and it was almost unsettling. Neither would admit it to themselves, but both knew that whatever had begun that day wouldn't be easy to walk away from.