Episode 3

**Two Players Only Match** (2人だけの試合 *Futari dake no Shiai*) is the third episode of the anime Birdie Wing.

## Plot

"One course, with all my strength... I want to play golf with you." In order to fulfill her promise with Aoi, Eve talks directly to Catherine, who manages the underworld with Rose. She managed to sneak into the final day of the "U15 Women's World Championship". Eve declares war on Aoi. Aoi can't help but look forward to her game as other players who witness her Eve's shot lose her confidence one after another. The match will be a one-on-one fight between Eve and Aoi. What is the future of the match between the two?

## Summary

The night before the Final Round, Rose brings Eve to Catherine's Offices to meet her. Eve offers herself to Catherine as payhment, which she rejects, telling her guards to show them out. Rose then offers to agree to an earlier proposition Catherine made. Catherine tells her aide to invoke a Sponsor's Exception to allow Eve to play in the last round of the tournament. Eve wants to know what Rose agreed to, but she tells her not to worry aobut it for the moment, it got her what she wanted. She tells her that she will outfit her with golf attire and clubs from the shop.

Eve tees off from the 383-yard, Par 4 1st hole, as Aoi watches in awe, knowing she kept her promise. The other golfers in her threesome are shocked at her drive while Eve sees Aoi at the bottom of the tee and ponts the driver at her, telling her that their match is on. Amane runs to catch up with Aoi. As she reminds her that she's not teeing off until the last group, she sees Eve at the tee box, realizing it's the same girl from a few days before. She scans the player roster and finds a Sponsor's exemption for "Eve Aleon" for the final round only. Eve steps down as the other two golfers hit their tee shots and tells Aoi that they're playing 18 holes of stroke play, and she'll be using all of the clubs. Aoi agrees and watches her walk down the fairway, telling Amane to give her Eve's score every three holes.

Rose and Anri are walking along the 408-yard, Par 4 3rd hole, and Anri is shocked to see Eve preparing to tee off. Rose tells her that Eve is out there as advertisement for her golf shop, and points out that the two others she's playing with for the round have already been crushed after two holes. Rose explains that Eve's game is simple, she tries to get the ball as close to the pin as possible, and because of her experience gambling on golf, she's used to taking risks, where her opponents, who don't gamble like her, fail. She points out as the other two golfers' shot land in and short of a bunker, the two girls playing with Eve are going to go through 15 holes of a living hell, because Eve sees golf as just a way to defeat her opponent, and refers to her as "the Rainbow Bullet."

On the practice range, Helene Robert is upset that she's seven strokes off the lead, when she hears some of the other participants saying that a girl with a sponsor's exception scored an eagle on the thrd hole and was already three-under for the round. Rushing to a nearby monitor, Helene sees Eve and is angered. Aoi, on the other hand, is enjoying the spectacle as Eve tees off at the 420-yard Par 4, Fourth hole. Back at the bar, Lily is worried about Eve as she hasn't been around for a couple of days, which Klein tells her to not worry. The girls tease Lily about a boyfriend and she chases them until Jessica finds Eve playing at the Junior Golf Championship. Klein is surprised that she's there, wondering how that happened.

Eve's group have moved on to the 370-yard, Par 4 Fifth Hole, where Eve's shot has landed in the rough, giving her opponents some hope. However, Eve's shot lands on the highest point of the green and rolls back stooping a couple feet short. Eve is surpised it didn't roill in prompting shock in her opponents. Over on the first tee, Aoi's group is teeing off. Amane runs up and singals with her hands that Eve is four-under after 5 holes. She rationalizes that if this motivates Aoi into an even better win, then it's a small price to pay.

As the tournament progresses, the golf range at the Raiou Girls Academy is busy as the school team is honing their skills . First-year students Haruka Misono and Ichina Saotome talk about their rrespective abilities. Ichina prefers to become a caddy, citing her short stature as an impediment to her golf game. She wants to be Aoi's caddy, but that role is already filled by Amane. Haruka suggests she caddy for her, bragging she was the third-highest amateur golfer during her middle school years. She considers herself Aoi's main rival, something Ichina seems to doubt. The team leaves the range when Aoi starts her round. Ichina declines to join the watch party, since she knows there's nobody who can challenge her at the Championships.

Eve has reached the green on the 356-yard, Par 4 Ninth Hole, putting for Birdie, which she sinks to go 5-Under after the front Nine, sinking four birdies, an Eagle and one bogey. Eve watches as Anri runs back up after an errand for Rose. Rose tosses Eve a hamburger, telling her to eat before she tackle the back nine. Inside the wrapper, Anri wrote that Aoi was 2-under after five holes, and Eve wonders why she's not doing better.

Aoi is on the 472-yard Par 5 Sixth hole, preparing for her third shot. She realizes that the winds have changed on the course, which is why she missed her second shot. She sinks her shot for an Eagle on the hole, moving to 4-Under. Eve reaches the 14th Hole, and launches the same Blue Bullet as before, but with the tree branch no longer in her path, the ball lands easily on the fairway, setting up an excellent second shot, which she lands right at the hole. Amane realizes that Eve is a true rival to Aoi. Eve and Aoi up their game as they progress through the rest of the course. Back in Japan, the girls at Raiou are cheering her Eagle as she goes up to 10-Under, but in the back of the room, the Team's Advisor and Senior Captain, Reiya Amuro and Kinue Jinguuji, both know that Aoi is losing the match. At the same time, at the rival Nadaminami Girls Athlectic Academy, the current reigning Junior Champion, Mizuho Himekawa, and her golf doubles partner Kaede Oikawa, have also come to the same conclusion, taking into account Eve's single round score. Mizuho is pleased, telling her partner that the world is a very big place.

Lily and Klein make it to the course as Eve finishes her round. She tells them she's fine and they'll talk after she turns in her score. Eve finishes the round with a 10-under 62, with two Eagles, eight Birdies, and two Bogeys. As she leaves the scorer's tent. she finds Rose waiting by the Leaderboard, telling her Aoi just teed off at the 17th hole and that she's a stroke behind her. Eve comments that she'll catch up, since that's what she would do. As she sinks her shot on 17 for a birdie, Reiya tells Kinue that despite being a first-year student, Aoi is the core of the golf team already.

Eve is sitting on the grass by the 18th hole , and Lily wants to know why she entered. Eve merely looks over at the approach as Aoi sets up her shot. Aoi and Eve exchange knowing looks as Aoi's shot lands on the green short of the hole. Her next shot will end their round and assure her win. As Aoi hits what should be an easy putt, Rose smiles wickedly, as the ball uncharacteristically rolls wide and misses the hole.

## Characters

* Catherine
* Eve
* Aoi Amawashi
* Rose Aleon
* Anri
* Reiya Amuro
* Kinue Jinguuji
* Haruka Misono
* Ichina Saotome
* Mizuho Himekawa
* Kaede Oikawa
* Lily Lipman
* Klein Clara

## Trivia

* Eve's Red-wing Logo appears on the ball at the end of the opening credits.
* At the start of the final round, Aoi has a total score of 9-Under Par, a seven-stroke lead over the next five golfers, including Helene Robert, at 2-under Par.