Episode 16

**The Strange Fates of Two Generations of Young People Who Were Caught Up in The Ego of Adults** (大人のエゴに巻き込まれた若者たちの二代に渡る数奇な運命 *Otona no ego ni makikoma reta wakamono-tachi no ni-dai ni wataru sūkina unmei*) is the sixteenth episode of the anime Birdie Wing.

## Plot

The All-Japan Girls High School Doubles Tournament came to an end with Eve and Aoi becoming the champions. However, tensions rise between them as they found out that Kazuhiko was their father, but they had different mothers.

## Summary

Eve and Aoi are watching as Kaede and Mizuho attempt to keep their hopes for a Championship with their putt on the 15th Hole. Aoi is still not quite recovered from her last swing and is leaning on Eve for support. Kaede is pleading for her partner to land the putt, while Mizuho is still trying to comprehend how Eve could have made her Idol Kazuhiko's famous Rainbow shot, the one she's tried to replicate but couldn't. She launches her putt and Amane thinks it's going to fall into the cup, but Ichina say that it's off and watches as the ball rolls just past the cup, ending the Match with Raiou Academy winning the Championship 4 & 3. Eve is ecstatic over the win, but Aoi is recalling Eve telling her that her father is Kazuhiko. Aoi recognizes that his name was that before he married Seira and assume that they are half-sisters.

At the Trophy Presentation, Eve and Aoi celebrate as every one of their friends and rivals react. Amane, Ichina, Captain Jinguji and Coach Amuro are all applauding, Kaede holds the runner-up plaque with a scowl, while Mizuho looks bemused in defeat. In Nafrece, Eve's little sisters are cheering and Klein and Lily High-five each other. At Koran Academy, Coach Date watches on his phone while having a drink, while Kuyo and Kaoruko watch from the practice range. Kuyo is incensed while Kaoruko also sports a bemused smile at their rivals' victory. At Raiou Academy, the rest of the Golf Team celebrates their teammates' achievement. the Finalists stand together for photos as Kinue notices that Coach Amuro is no longer with them.

On a nearby shaded bench, Amuro and Seira discuss things. Seira asks what he knew about Eve, if he knew about her. He tells her there were hints but he had no way of knowing for sure, not until she made Kazuhiko's Rainbow Shot. Seira assumes that Eve's conception must have happened when he was on the Pro Tour in Europe, which Amuro tells her that she's from Nafrece. Seria thinks it's ironic that her father was so taken by Kazuhiko, and now by a girl who shares his bloodline, paired with his granddaughter. Amuro says that this twist of fate happened 20 years ago, when the three of them were in the prime of their careers.

In a flashback 20 years ago, a younger Gozo announces that the Amawashi Group will be starting the Athens Golf Brand. He tells Amuro, Seira and Kazuhiko that the key to their golf brand becoming the world-wide leader is the three of them, the best amateur golfers in the country. He tells them that winning isn't enough, they need to become legends in the sport. easily getting through "Q School" to reach the Pro Tour, dominating the Japanese circuit. Seira's hopes to move to the US Tour are dashed by her father, who tells her that she's top 10 on the US tour at best. He wants her to win the Japanese Tour three years straight first. He then tells her that the PGA Tour Stop in Japan will be sponsored by Athens Golf. Both Kazuhiko and Reiya will enter it for the opportunity to move on to the US Circuit, as well as marry Seira. He tells a shocked Seira that he intends Athens to become a multi-generational company, and that her children will forge their own legacy. He knows that she has fallen in love with Amuro and tells her that he just needs to win the Athens Japan Classic and they can be married.

At the practice range they frequent, Seira tells Amuro about her father's plans and is frustrated that she's just a pawn in his schemes. Amuro tells her not to worry and shows her a new golf club, the RX Shaft, that the company developed for him, he says it will win him the tournament, making her smile. On the last day of the tournament, however, Amuro's dreams are shattered as he collapses on the course, with both Kazuhiko and Akihiro Date, who was also playing in the tournament, coming to his aid. His collapse forces his withdrawal from the tournament, giving Kazuhiko, who trailed him by a stroke at the time of his collapse, the victory, and the ticket to the US Tour, which he took. He moved to the European Tour and doesn't return to Japan for three years.

Amuro is in a hospital bed, looking at a golf magazine with an article on Kazuhiko, who's been winning on the European tour over the previous three years, as has Seira on the Women's tour in Japan. He says he has to overcome a big lead by him. He tells a dejected Seira that he'll be back soon but before he can continue, she throws her arms around him and pledges that she'll never leave him. At some point, she becomes pregnant with his child but upon telling her father, he slaps her for having a child with, in his estimation, a loser on the golf tour. She tells him that she'll die before she gives up the baby, that it will be a great golfer. He tells her to get rid of it and Seira refuses. Kazuhiko arrives at that point, looking like he's come back from the horrors of war. He tells them that he knows the situation after visiting his friend in the hospital, and asks to marry Seira on the condition that she's allowed to keep the baby and they will raise it as their own, as well as continuing his golf career.

Months later, Seira gives birth to Aoi, her child with Amuro. Kazuhiko would win the Japanese Tour for more four years, and have a second place finish at the British Open. Amuro and he end up teaching Aoi the fundamentals of golf together. By the time she was seven years old, Aoi was already averaging an 87 on her rounds, then Kazuhiko tells Amuro and Seira that he's going back on the European Tour. Kazuhiko would die a year later in what was described as a boating accident in Nafrece.

Back in the present, Seira asks Amuro if her husband had a child with another women. Amuro tells her that he's sure that he wasn't aware of it, but when he did, that was why he decided to return to the European Tour. Seira deduces that Eve is that child.

On the roof of the Hotel, Eve looks out on the golf course, dressed in the clothes she always wore in Nafrece, recalling her own childhood. In another flashback. Eve asks her mother, Eleanor why she doesn't have a Dad. Eleanor tells her that her Dad works in a country far from them and that he's very busy and can't call them. Eve recalls that for the first seven years of her life, it was just her and her mother, as she had no relatives to speak of. She remembers the day she finally met him. He showed up at their apartment, telling Eleanor that he had searched for her for years after her family made her leave him. She introduces her to her father, in a tearful reunion, he tells her that she is his one and only daughter.

He spends the next year teaching her golf, and like his stepdaughter Aoi, Eve is a natural at the sport. He would spend his free time with her and her mother when he wasn't on the tour. On the roof of their apartment, he shows Eve his Rainbow Shot, telling her the same thing that Amuro told her before the start of the Finals, " A Heart without Uncertainty will leave a Rainbow in its wake." To celebrate Eve's eighth birthday, the three of them board a cruise ship, but a massive, storm-generated rogue wave capsizes the ship, killing both Eleanor and Kazuhiko and injuring Eve, who washes up on the shore alive but with no memories. She's found by a much younger Klein and Lily who take her to an underground doctor, and not long after, she meets Leo, who begins her training in earnest.

Back in the present, Eve assumes that Leo was a friend of her father while Aoi approaches her. Eve asks her if she should be in bed, but Aoi says she's better. She begins to ask Eve something but Eve tells her that she had lost all of her memories before she was eight years old, and only regained them when she made the shot that won them the tournament, telling her that made it worth coming to Japan. Aoi says she didn't know she had lost her memories, and Eve tells her that she never told her. She tells her that because she met her, came to Japan and competed in this tournament, that she's remembered who she is, and she's grateful to her for that. Aoi, looking concerned, asks her about her saying that Kazuhiko is her father, showing her a photo of her, Seira and Kazuhiko, similar to the picture at Gozo's house.

Eve asks why she has that photo. Aoi tells her that Kazuhiko married her mother 16 years ago and that they have the same father but different mothers, and that they are sisters. Eve begins to laugh as rain approaches them. Aoi asks what's so funny, and Eve tells her that her father said she was his one and ONLY daughter in the world. Aoi says it's impossible, that he was her father as well. Eve tells her that her father wouldn't lie to her, or is it possible that Aoi's father lied to her, shocking the girl. Eve asks her if she's really her Dad's daughter, Aoi screams back at her that he was with her since birth, that he taught her how to play golf, and that she was the one who was lying. Eve says she's not lying, and Aoi says the same thing. Eve looks at her and says that someone else is lying to them. Eve's words are following by a bolt of lighting that hits close by, as the rain drenches both of them, Eve says that Aoi can guess who's lying. In her head, Aoi remembers Coach Amuro being there alongside her father teaching her golf and she can't accept the notion that he's her real father. Eve looks at her and says that she knows who it is, but Aoi refuses to accept it. Eve walks to her and takes her face in her hands, reminding her that her parents are dead, but Aoi's mother is still alive, and to ask her "Who's My real Father?" Aoi continues to claim Kazuhiko is her father, but Eve says that if she want to keep believing it, she can, but she tells her that there is a inside her, she can create a rainbow with her swing, that she can create her father's shot. She then tells her that she's done playing cooperatively, that the two of them will settle their score once and for all in the next tournament. As Eve walks away, Aoi looks up to the skies and asks, "Tell me... Who am I? Whose daughter am I?"

In the lobby of the hotel, Seira sits alone as she contemplates Eve's presence, a girls who carries her husband's genes. She thinks back to her conversation with Aoi's father, Amuro, asking him what she should do. He tells her not to change anything, Aoi is her and Kazuhiko's daughter, she should continue with her father's plan to make her the youngest winner of a major golf tournament, and promises to help her in any small way he can, but to leave Eve alone. Kazuhiko married her to protect Aoi, and had he not, she may not have been born, so he wants to repay that debt to him.

As she thinks, Amane approaches her, surprised to see her. Seira congratulates her on the victory, but she downplays her role, saying that Eve and Aoi were the reason they won. She then tells her that she met her before in Nafrece, at the U15 Women's Championships, when she played under the alias, "Eve Aleon." A shocked Seira recalls her investigators telling her that Eve had ties to the mafia there. Seira nearly collapses as she vows to protect Aoi, even if it means breaking her promise to Amuro.

As Amane checks if Seira is all right, a drenched Aoi exits the elevator and walks towards them. She asks her who her real father is. Amane starts to correct her by saying that Kazuhiko is her father, but Aoi screams at her to be quiet. Seira then lies to her by saying that Kazuhiko is her father, and she can check the family registry or her birth certificate to confirm it. She asks her mother if she's telling the truth, and Seira asks her if she doubts her mother. Aoi apologizes for her question, citing the stress from the tournament. Seira tell her that come October, she will enter the Japan Women's Open, chaining the girl to her grandfather's cruel plans once more. Seira tells her she will be by Special invitation and that she's going to be the youngest winner on the pro tour, advancing Gozo's agenda another step further.

As Eve and Ichina relax in the resort's Onsen, Aoi asks for a favor. She wants Eve to participate in the tournament as well, so they can settle their rivalry once and for all, but Seira grabs her and tells her No, vowing to protect her daughter by any means necessary.

## Matches

### All-Japan Girls High School Doubles Tournament (Match Play)

#### Finals

* **Eve and Aoi Amawashi** vs. Mizuho Himekawa and Kaede Oikawa, 4 and 3

## Characters

* Eve
* Aoi Amawashi
* Amane Shinjo
* Ichina Saotome
* Reiya Amuro
* Seira Amawashi
* Kazuhiko Hodaka (flashback)
* Eleanor Burton (flashback)
* Mizuho Himekawa
* Kaede Oikawa
* Kaoruko Iijima
* Kuyou Iseshiba
* Lily Lipman
* Klein Clara
* Emily
* Jessica
* Charlotte
* Akihiro Date
* Leo Millafoden (flashback)

## Trivia

* This is the first episode of the second season to not have the opening or ending credits, though the opening and ending songs are still played.
* A production note, The golf brand name has changed from Athena Golf to Athens Golf, most likely a translation error during the earlier episodes.