Chapter 6: The Rise of E.A Sports

Eleanor scratched her head. She knew E.A. Sports needed a breakthrough if they were going to continue making the payments on the little warehouse Escanor had built them. He said it was a favor for taking over Duran's inherited buildings. But even so, Duran had insisted on paying for it. He probably feared that if he accepted it as a gift from Escanor that he would try to influence the business. It was a rational fear, but unrealistic.

Eleanor knew that Escanor expected nothing good or bad from the business. He seemed to respect Duran but showed no fear over his lineage and the past products that A.S.M. had sold. Escanor would always wave as Eleanor and her club would run by his favorite cafe. It seemed that Duran's idea of just interacting with the public and getting involved with those that were willing in the outskirts of Tokyo had brought some business, but it was barely enough. She wished that she could get more clothes and toys for the now one-year-old Gon. She connected to the Interwebs and tried to research product ideas when she saw it. It was stylish, it was practical, and it might even appeal to the inner populace of Tokyo, who seemed to only care about their virtual existence. She hurried out to Duran and Gon, who were playing in the yard.

"Time for a trip to the warehouse." She sang in a melodic voice. Duran looked up from tickling his son.

"Me and Gondor will be at your service in just a moment."

The moment passed, and after a few months of labor and heavy research, Eleanor was ready to debut her new product.

Duran was uncomfortable with this idea. But the business was now named Eleanor's Sports and Activities. So, maybe it was time to give more control over to Eleanor. He certainly hadn't had much success ever since the move. Most of their customers back in the old Aragonian territory were Aragonians, and since the takeover, most of them chose to avoid the “disgraced” Aragon family. He didn't mind Eleanor's idea; in fact, it was a good idea, utilizing the leftover polyester and nylon to bring back a formerly popular item. It was apparently still used in some parts of Europe and the P.N.W.A., but it hadn't been used in the Japanese region ever since the Interwebs came about after WWIII. This item was the sports bra. It was a great product offering support and keeping everything in place. It can even be worn in public by itself when paired with an activity. The act of keeping the breasts in place was seen as more modest than having them be loose and free.

This part of the idea is the part Duran wasn't a fan of. They were doing their normal jog through town, but Eleanor was sporting the sports bra. She seemed to be doing a good job advertising for the product. The part that Duran wasn't a fan of was that it also advertised Eleanor's assets more than usual. And that had caused the reaction to be much different than before. The people that were in town could be seen gawking, while a few of the ladies seemed bewildered by how the sports bra worked so well at keeping everything together, despite her quick pace. A young lady tried running at a similar pace, but her bosoms bounced all over the place and made it hard to run and apparently embarrassed her. Another couple pointed it out and seemed to be talking about the versatility of the bra. The man, Duran assumed, made a comment about how she didn't have anything to control in the first place. He gleaned this from how her face changed from a look of wonder to a glare while his face changed from a smirk to an apologetic, consoling expression.

Apparently, the situation would only escalate from here. It seemed that some of their spectators had taken to social media. Before long, people were literally rushing out of stores and peeking their heads outside their houses, which were crammed nearly on top of others in this part of town. The whole day led to headlines that read: “Eleanor Soma of the Clan of Soma Makes Rare Public Appearance." They would continue to say the likes of: "Despite her absence from the media scene, it seems she had aged like fine wine in the past decade. Truly a sight to behold."

Eleanor had faded away from the media scene after she married Duran. She had once been an icon, the model of the Soma family and the media face of the clan. Right alongside her younger brother, Escanor. They had been on the cover of more magazines and articles than anyone for a period of time. But now, she was just a mystery, to both the public and even most of the Soma clan. Her absence from the media was partly her own doing to help separate herself from the Soma clan name. The other part had to do with Duran, which saddened him in a way. The Soma clan had tried to keep it on the down low that she had married him, a Aragonian. Yet, all of that didn't matter. Now, the beauty queen of the Somas was back, and that is all the media needed.

The burst of media sky-rocketed our sales and business was booming. Eleanor reluctantly stepped back into the media scene. Soon, even the hobby of street running was trending, as pictures of Eleanor running with Gon in tow in a child backpack surfaced over the Japanese Interwebs. This had put E.A. Sports in the limelight for the first time ever. Sadly, their rise to fame probably wasn't for the right reasons. Either way, the sports bras were selling like the Shima clan's rice balls and curry - a claim to fame they grabbed a hold of and managed to keep steady even with the rise in popularity of Escanor's wonder pill. One of the consequences of their newfound fame was that in order to do their usual runs, Eleanor had to wear a light hoodie, an item that was also helping the business boom.

The business flourished with Eleanor as its face, and Duran had time to research other things. He decided to be up front with Eleanor about his desire to pursue what his ancestors had been so passionate and fixated on. Duran knew of the Aragonian legacy; his father and grandfather had told him how they used to be the leaders in archery. But researching how to make bows was really difficult. Duran had made some headway on strings. He had found out how, centuries ago, his people and many others, including the Native Americans, made strings using different types of material, ranging from string to tree bark. His ancestors particularly liked using hemp. Duran thought he might be able to work with hemp. Marijuana was fairly prominent on the island for medicinal purposes. He would just have to repurpose it again, maybe just find an excuse to grow some hemp plants or order some. In his further research, he found a way to string the raw materials into something that could potentially function.

The method that seemed most useful for bows was called the Flemish twist. Duran hoped that he could figure out the strings through experimenting with different types of material in the warehouse. He really wanted to pursue the hemp route but was afraid of the attention he might draw. Instead, he focused on nylon and different combinations of fishing lines. Duran had also delved into some research that was a little easier to stay incognito with. It was the more philosophical side of archery, the side effects, in a sense. During his laborious study of the Interwebs, he had dug up mention of the traditional Japanese way of the bow. Most of his findings were from books about Zen and Buddhism. It seemed that people had used the practice of archery as a way to help them reach inner peace, and from there, take the steps towards enlightenment. He remembered the letter in the package from Grizzies mentioning pursuing perfection through the art of archery while also using that to be the best person you could be. Or something along those lines. Duran thought he understood the concept and why his family had practiced and protected the way of the bow for so long.

It seemed that somehow, somewhere along the way, the journey of shooting the bow and arrow increased your discipline and focus, among other things. These increased attributes when applied to the sport, and if built up enough, would manifest in other forms of the archer’s life, whether it was intentional or not. Duran felt like he was so close but so far on his journey to rediscover the passion of his people. At the very least, he knew he was at the starting line of the journey that had shaped his people and the face of A.S.M. in the past. He knew it would be a long time before he could bring archery back to Japan, but he didn't let that discourage him. He would be excited enough if he could just rediscover the passion of his people that had built a business that lasted for centuries. Even though right now, it was a different business entirely and not even under the Aragon name. He was on his way to rediscovering what powered the heart of A.S.M.