Characters' Galleries:
MAKI AIKAWA

Anchor, witness, counterpoint, mirror, support. A friend in need is a friend indeed. What would become of Hiromi without Maki being around? She'd probably get lost into the maelstrom of her own brilliance. Maki is spontaneous, funny, frivolous, a continuing bubbling of youthful impulses... and a sponge for confidences, a jewel box for secrets, a shoulderer of sorrows, a heart of gold. Maki has a mission, perhaps not even knowing it so: to keep Hiromi from drowning her spirit in the closed world of her tennis success, to keep her from losing the once-in-a-lifetime adventure of being a young girl. How couldn't she? She is her best friend.

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