Chapter 7
Medal Round
It was time for Kagome’s semifinal match. Winning this match would be no small feat; her opponent was the #1-ranked archer in the world. Surely this would require an excellent score for her to have a chance at advancing.
Although the Korean archer was ranked higher in the world rankings, Kagome had qualified higher in the qualification round, so the Korean archer was to go first. She skillfully shot a 29 for her first end, putting the pressure on Kagome right from the very start.
Kagome felt a little nervous, but the fact that she was battling neither Kikyo nor a fan favorite took some of the pressure off her. Her accuracy was dead-on, as she put all three arrows into the bullseye for a 30-29 lead after one end.
Kagome’s brilliant start caused the crowd to cheer loudly, and thus the pressure was on the Korean archer. She misfired on one of her shots, ending up with a 7, before hitting the bullseye twice to score an end of 27. Kagome knew she now had an opportunity to increase her lead, and she did just that, with an end of 29 that widened the gap to 59-56.
The third end was where it all came together for the Korean archer. She regained her focus and shot all three of her arrows into the bullseye. Now with momentum in her favor, the pressure swung back over to Kagome, who ended up shooting a 27. This meant that after three ends, the score was tied at 86.
“Let’s go, Kagome!” Sota called from the stands, as his sister walked off the field a bit disappointed. Kagome heard his voice, but she did not look up to see her little brother. Right now, she had to regain her composure. It did not help her at all to hear the crowd cheering as the Korean archer put two more arrows in the bullseye. The final arrow hit the 9 ring, and this set the bar at 29 for Kagome’s final end.
Walking out onto the field, Kagome knew that there was only one way to finish this match with victory in this end: shoot a perfect end. The pressure was on. One misfired arrow outside of the gold area on the target would eliminate her from gold-medal contention. She took a deep breath, then fired away.
Her first shot hit the bullseye dead-on, drawing a cheer from the crowd. Her second shot was just as excellent, and now she needed one more bullseye to win the match. A hush settled over the stadium as she prepared to shoot her final arrow of the end.
Bullseye.
And with that, Kagome was on to the gold-medal match, with a 116-115 victory over the #1-ranked archer in the world. The two archers shook hands, before Kagome waved appreciatively to the cheering fans. She walked off the field with a huge smile on her face. She, Kagome Higurashi, was an Olympic medalist.
The Japanese archery officials walked over to congratulate her. They told her that she had clinched at least a silver medal, with the possibility of gold still available if she would win the final match. Of course she already knew this, which was why she was so happy. She had gone from not even thinking about the Olympics to now knowing that she would be standing on the medal podium, receiving a medal of some sort.
However, even as she felt the joy of knowing she would win a medal, she also felt the worry of having to face Kikyo in the gold medal match, especially with this dream InuYasha had and how he was acting like it meant something to him. It did not help that Kikyo had already taken an early lead on her opponent, 30-27.
Kagome refused to watch the rest of Kikyo’s match, or even look at the scoreboard, for fear that it would make her more nervous. However, she could tell by the cheers that Kikyo was doing well. And, in fact, she was. Kikyo was well on her way to victory, as she easily defeated her opponent by a final score of 117-109.
The Japanese archery officials were in utter ecstasy. The nation of Japan would be bringing home both the gold and silver medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They congratulated Kikyo, who gave no reaction, as if victory was expected. In the stands sat a very conflicted InuYasha, who now knew that Kagome and Kikyo were about to battle it out for the gold medal.
As the two Korean archers battled each other for the bronze medal, Kagome sat there, staring at the ground, extremely nervous. Her deepest fears had now come true: she would be facing Kikyo in the archery match of a lifetime. With all InuYasha had said, and with the way he was behaving, she feared that this match was not just for a gold medal. It was perhaps for InuYasha’s heart. Now, more than ever before, losing was not an option. She figured she would have to be perfect in order to defeat Kikyo, or at least very close to it. But as she thought about these things, she overheard a voice.
It was InuYasha’s. There he was, on field level, talking to the Japanese archery officials. She could not make out exactly what he was saying, but she did hear that dreaded name – Kikyo – in his conversation. Why he had to come down here now was beyond Kagome’s understanding, but all it could possibly do was make her more nervous.
It seemed like only seconds to Kagome before the bronze-medal match was over. The archer whom Kagome had defeated was the victor, 112-111, making her the bronze medalist. That meant that it was now time for the gold-medal match, whether Kagome liked it or not. She sighed, realizing it was finally time to face Kikyo.
The public address announcer read the names of both contestants to the crowd, and both Kagome and Kikyo received great cheers. Each of them took their bow, then prepared for the match to begin. Since Kikyo had qualified first back in the qualification round, she would go second in the match, putting Kagome up first.
Kagome took a look up at her family in the stands, who looked a little on edge themselves. She then focused on the target and launched her first arrow, which hit the bullseye. As the crowd cheered over her 10, she felt a bit of the tension lift off her. She then put both of her next two arrows in the bullseye as well, giving her a perfect 30 for her first end.
As she walked off the field to loud cheers, she could feel a sense of relief. Maybe, perhaps, she could win this thing after all, even with her archrival Kikyo as her nemesis. But it only took a minute for that relief to dissipate. Kikyo nonchalantly shot all three of her arrows into the bullseye as well, and just like that, the score was tied at 30.
With the pressure back on, Kagome began to lose a little bit of focus. The thought of Kikyo besting her was just enough of a distraction to cause her to slip up and put her first two arrows in the 9 ring. She recovered with a bullseye with her third arrow, but it was too late; she had opened a window of opportunity for her opponent.
Kikyo pounced on this chance Kagome had given her to take the lead. She shot her first two arrows into the bullseye, before a 9 with her third arrow. That end of 29 gave her a 59-58 lead after two ends.
Kagome now knew she was behind, but she refused to allow this to bother her. Instead, she walked out onto the field as if she had the lead. By gaining some confidence in her abilities, she allowed herself to relax just enough to relieve the tension. Her grip on the bow was perfect, and so were her next three arrows – all landing in the bullseye.
Maybe this caused Kikyo to feel some pressure, maybe it did not affect her. But for whatever reason, Kikyo ended up shooting two of her three arrows of the third end into the 9 ring, with a 10 for her other arrow. The tables had turned; going into the final end of the gold-medal match, Kagome led Kikyo by a score of 88-87.
As the fourth and final end was to begin, it was Kikyo who prepared to shoot, as since she was behind, she had to go before Kagome. There was not a bit of tension visible on her face. While Kagome was a nervous wreck, she seemed completely calm. It showed in her results – three straight bullseyes to score a perfect end of 30.
Kagome walked onto the field, perhaps to take her final shots of this Olympic competition. She knew what she needed – a perfect 30 to win, an almost-perfect 29 to tie. It was just like the previous match, where she shot a perfect final end to win. However, this was with the added pressure of being for a gold medal, as well as being a match against her archrival Kikyo. One small slip could cost her the match.
She took a deep breath, holding her bow firmer than ever. She launched her first arrow towards the target, and it landed squarely in the bullseye. After some brief cheering, she let her next arrow fly, and it too hit the bullseye. This meant that the entire Olympic tournament came down to the next arrow. A bullseye, and Kagome was Olympic champion. An 8 or worse, and she was the silver medalist. She took aim at the target, then let her twelfth arrow of the match go.
It just missed the bullseye, hitting the 9 ring.
The crowd let up a loud sigh as Kagome failed to win the match, but then they cheered, because this meant that the match would be going to extra arrows. Kagome was not eliminated with her near-miss, and neither was Kikyo. The two would now shoot one extra arrow each, with an attempt to break the 117-all tie; Kikyo first, Kagome second.
Kikyo looked like a moving statue, with absolutely no emotion on her face. It was as if ice water was pumping through her veins, as the pressure of a gold-medal Olympic match did not affect her at all. Maybe it was because she did not understand the magnitude of the event. Or maybe, she just figured she was going to win anyway. Whatever the reason, this clearly helped her, as she shot her arrow right into the bullseye, putting the pressure back on Kagome.
Kagome now came out onto the field with no chance to win with this arrow, only with the opportunity of extending the match. This was even more intense than her previous arrow. But regardless of the pressure, she managed to hit the bullseye with her arrow and force the match to continue.
The action shifted back to Kikyo. The stoic priestess gave absolutely no signs that she was affected by Kagome’s excellent play. She simply took aim at the target and landed yet another arrow in the bullseye.
Kagome walked back to her spot on the field where she was to shoot her arrow, wondering if this match could possibly end well for her. Again she was shooting with no chance at immediate victory, although with plenty of chances at a loss. But regardless of this fact, she was able to tie the match once again by putting her arrow in the bullseye.
A couple of Olympic officials called the players over to them to explain the situation. This arrow would be the last for each player. If the match remained tied even after this arrow, the officials would measure their arrows. The archer who had the arrow which was closest to the absolute center of the target would be declared the winner. This meant that merely scoring the same as the other player would not be enough; no matter what, a more accurate shot on this arrow would be necessary to win.
Kikyo again was the first archer to shoot. She again looked as if this was no more than a practice round, as she was as calm as ever. However, this time she failed to hit the bullseye; her shot was just slightly off to the right, landing in the 9 ring. And with this, a golden opportunity was created for Kagome, both literally and figuratively; she could now win the gold medal with a bullseye on this shot, her third extra arrow.
All the pressure in the world was upon Kagome now. As she held her bow and prepared to aim, thoughts raced through her mind, thoughts of every single thing that made this arrow so important. A gold medal. The pride of her country. The hopes of her family. Her school, its archery club and the instructors there. Her own self-confidence. But most of all, the opportunity to defeat Kikyo in front of InuYasha as well as thousands of people. With all these things in mind, she let the arrow go.
It flew in the air for what seemed like hours. But as it came down and hit the target, there was no doubt to everyone that the match had been decided.
Kagome’s arrow had landed in the 8 ring. She had lost the match, and the gold medal. Kikyo was the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion and gold medalist.