V1C3 Part5

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

5. READY FOR SUMMERYou think Aoki reads shonen manga?

This is the end of the first half of the first season, a.k.a the first tankobon volume. I’ll be going on a short hiatus for a few week before coming back.

Stan Odacchi!

Previous || Index || Next

Thrusting a CalorieMate bar into his mouth and holding a

sports drink in his hand, when he rushed to the washroom near the gym, he

suddenly ran into Aoki. Aoki took one look at Oda’s face and widened his eyes

for a moment, then cautioned him with a disgusted look on his face.

“You should stop it with that…in my opinion.”

“Can’t be helped. I didn’t have the time to eat lunch or go

to the washroom.”

The CalorieMate had sucked up his saliva and was sticking to

his mouth. He put the box that still had some left and the bottle on top of the

urinal and lined up next to Aoki.

Immediately

after serving as an assistant referee on the courtside, he immediately jumped

into his own team’s match, served as an assistant referee again on the same

court as soon as it was over, plus he had to keep an eye on the progress of the

entire boys’ volleyball division, support the participants and instruct the

other members… Needless to say, he didn’t have time to take a lunch break, and

he wasn’t allowed to go to the washroom since morning. Still, Oda only had to

watch the gym, but Aoki was frequently pulled back by runners from the

executive committee’s tent on top of that. This was the first time he was able

to make time to talk to Aoki face to face.

It was finally the day of the Seiin Ballgame Festival. Luckily,

the last few days were breaks in the rainy season, and the event was held on a

day that didn’t interfere with outdoor events. In fact, the weather was so

favorable that the temperature has reached July-like levels, and the executive

committee has been repeatedly urging people to be careful about heat stroke.

Boys’ volleyball had managed finish four of their six group

games without incident on the stage side of the gym. According to gossip, from

the first group Team C, led by Aoki, had two wins, and from the second group

Team F, led by Oda, had two wins, so it had already been decided that they

would clash in the finals. The remaining two games would be elimination games

that didn’t make it past the preliminaries, whether they win or lose, but since

points were added depending on the points won, the overall winner was still

unknown.

“It’d be interesting if we train Okuma to be a center.”

Aoki said next to him as he relieved himself. As ever,

Aoki’s shoulder was at the corner of his vision.

“Okuma’s on the rugby team, isn’t he?”

“Well, it’s just an idea. If we had a burly guy like that,

we’d look a bit stronger, right? Suemori-san said boys’ volleyball is soft.”

“It’s all about looks?”

“It’s important to look scary, you know?”

Well, when

he puts it that way, it’s true that even though Aoki is the tallest guy in

school, he’s more “long” than “big,” so he doesn’t look all that burly. He’s a

center whose traits are height and dexterity. Okuma’s likely to be a different

type of center than Aoki though…

“Well, enough about Okuma. I want Haijima more.”

“You’re pretty fixated on Haijima.”

“What kind of guy wouldn’t fall in love with that play?

You’ve seen him play two games, didn’t you?”

“I know he’s good, but that’s not enough. It’d be nice to

have a character who can speak up and get the team going, but he’s the complete

opposite of that. Your team isn’t attracting any amateurs, right? For events

like these, it’s better to have a noisy guy like Okuma.”

“So you want Okuma more than Haijima? Aren’t you being

pretty cold to him?”

He couldn’t help but sound grumpy. He understood Aoki’s

objective point of view. However, he got angry when he was told things

objectively.

“Hmm? No.”

Aoki’s voice was light, and his shoulders turned slightly

towards him.

“I’m talking about the ballgame tournament. The captain of

this team is you, and if that’s what you want, then I won’t object to it and

cooperate with you. If you want, I can find Haijima’s weakness so he can’t

refuse no matter what.”

“I don’t need that kind of shady business.”

When

he glared at him sideways, his shoulders shook with laughter. “It’s a joke.” It’s

scary because this guy actually does those things that seem like a joke.

“We don’t need Haijima’s weakness for him to join. The

problem might be Kuroba. He’s doing well so far today, but I don’t know what’ll

happen when he comes face to face with Haijima in the finals.”

“Just have them match up. A feud between freshmen would be

all cleared up if they just punch each other once hard and tell each other

their true thoughts, don’t you think?”

Aoki said carefreely while lightly shaking his hips up and

down, then tucked his thing back in and left the urinal.

In the case of you and me, we missed our chance to go

through the process of punching each other and saying our true thoughts, and

now we’re here… Oda watched the tall silhouette disappear across the label

of his plastic bottle with a look like he wanted to say something.

Even though he and Aoki had their disagreements, they always

ended up sidestepping the issue instead of getting into a serious quarrel. Even

though Aoki would attack others with a sharp tongue as much as he wanted if

necessary, but when it came to Oda, he would take a step back. He didn’t

have to retract his opinion if there was something about Haijima’s acquisition

he didn’t like. I’m not such a tyrant that I won’t respect the opinion of the

vice captain.

Oda still wasn’t convinced about how he was chosen as

captain in the first place. Whenever Aoki gave him his due because he was the

captain, it stimulated a deep sense of inferiority within him.

When the grade before them retired, Aoki was to be appointed

as the next captain. He had a mild and calm personality, able to keep an eye on

the whole team. He was the natural choice.

At the

same time, Oda was advised to switch from attacker to libero. The introduction

of the libero system had opened up a place for people with short statures to

play an active role. They could only substitute with a back row player and

couldn’t participate in the spikes and blocks in the front row, but a receive

specialist was an essential position in modern volleyball. It wasn’t that the

previous captain had any ill intent, but rather that he knew that Oda poured

more passion into volleyball than anyone else.

However, right with that timing, Aoki jumped into the

student council. As though he was purposely creating a situation where Oda was

compelled to be the captain—he couldn’t hold an important position on the

student council and be a team captain for club activities at the same time.

That was why Aoki couldn’t take on the role of captain. And under the current

rules, the libero couldn’t in effect be the captain. In other words, as long as

Oda had no choice but to be captain, he couldn’t switch to libero. Oda truly

felt humiliated at being stripped of the attacker position. Because Aoki had

sensed that.

What’s with you? Was that pity for me, who never grew

taller? Or was it the freedom of a tall guy? He was angry. However, he was

unable to lay bare such ugly emotions in front of Aoki and in the end, it

didn’t turn into a serious conflict at the time. The comfortable relationship

that they had since they started high school had somehow created a wall

instead, and there was an atmosphere where it would be too awkward to share

their feelings at this point.

Although

Aoki was his best friend and a trustworthy partner who was more easy to get on with than

anyone, he also harbored a strangely twisted gloominess towards him.

It was awkward, so he purposely waited for Aoki to leave the

washroom before he did so himself, but he saw a tall and narrow back staying in

the corridor in front of the gym. From the other direction, Suemori appeared

and suddenly spoke in a reproaching tone.

“Oda-senpai, why were you taking your time in the washroom? Please

don’t make me wait here.”

“I don’t remember telling you to wait…You could have given me

a shout if there’s anything to take care of.”

“I don’t want to go near the boys’ washroom.”

Oda nonchalantly put his hand behind him, feeling that the

food and drinks he brought out from the washroom were dirty. I’ve been

slightly thinking this for a while, but I wonder if Suemori hates men. But she

seems to be able to talk to Kanno normally.

“So, what’s up?”

“The old teacher collapsed.”

Aoki answered in place of Suemori.

“What!?”

The

advisor for the boys’ volleyball team was an elderly teacher, just as Aoki

called him. They’ve heard that he was rehired on a part-time basis once he

reached retirement age. Apparently, he used to play volleyball when he was a

student, but the form of the game of volleyball should be quite different

between then and now. He was like a fossil from his generation.

The advisor had been the referee for the entire competition

without a break since this morning. Even they, as active high school students,

were likely to collapse from the hectic bustle, so it would be even harder on

the elderly.

It seemed that he was feeling dizzy from the heat due to the

temperature in the gym having risen. They said it wasn’t serious, but the

referee’s chair was now vacant. There were still three matches left. Either Oda

or Aoki should be the referee for the remaining two games in the group league,

but the problem was the finals where C and F would encounter each other. Since

the other positions also had the bare minimum amount of people in them, there

were no extra hands.

“Well, I’ll do it.”

Aoki said without missing a beat.

“Aren’t you competing?”

“I don’t mind. From the start, I prioritized administration,

so if there’s not enough people, I was going to pull out and head over there,

but…ah, there’d be a problem with me refereeing a match with my own team.”

“You say that, but there’s no other way. I want to give

Kanno a chance to be in a game, and there’s no reason to bother pulling Kuroba

out. On the contrary, isn’t the balance better now that we have two experienced

people on each team?”

“Even

if it was still three on two, we won’t lose. It’s not that…it’s no fun if

you’re not gonna be playing.”

He felt like he was the only one being childish and having a

tantrum at a time when everyone had to back each other up, and his voice got

quieter and quieter. He couldn’t bear knowing that Aoki and Suemori were

exchanging worried-looking glances over his head. But he still didn’t like

Aoki’s quick and easy way of splitting them up. Was I the only one who was

looking forward to the match…?

“If that’s the case, let’s make it a little more

interesting.”

Aoki proposed in a light tone. When he looked up with

suspicion in his eyes, Aoki had a pensive look on his face with a faint smile

hovering at the corner of his mouth. He looked like that when he was about to

plot something.

“In other words, you’re saying it’s boring because you’re

not in it. In the first place, you say ‘take’, but do you even have their

approval…?”

“I’ll persuade Okuma. Of course that’s if C wins. If F wins,

you’ll persuade Haijima. However, if you lose, you’ll have to give up on

Haijima once and for all. —Kuroba!”

Aoki suddenly yelled. Kuroba, who had suddenly been poking

his head in from the metal doors on the gym side of the corridor, made a “Mrp”

sound and ducked his head.

“You

and Nagato both don’t want Haijima to join, right? You were listening in on our

conversation just now. Since it’s like that, crush them to bits. Treat this

match like a real game.”

***

The chief referee for the finals was Aoki. The assistant

referee, the point displayer, and two linesmen were all members of the team who

weren’t playing in the game. The other two linesman and the ball retriever were

help from the girls’ team, including Suemori.

It was past four o’clock in the afternoon, but heat was

coming down the roof, which had been scorched by the midday sun, and

accumulated indoors. The windless court wasn’t just completely covered in heat,

but also some kind of strangely oppressive atmosphere.

As the team members took their positions around the court,

they sensed a strange tension in the court that went beyond a mere school

event, and their expressions tightened. Only Aoki had his usual relaxed expression,

and he wondered what he was scheming. The way the already-tall Aoki stood on

the referee’s stand and looked down at the court already somewhat made it a

“tower.”

There

were some spectators gathered along the walls and on the stage. The gallery

installed on the second floor was also overflowing with students in sportswear.

He thought that since it coincided with the futsal and softball finals, the

spectators would be drawn to that, but it seemed that a surprisingly large

number of people had come just to watch. Across the partition net, on the other

side of the court, the girls’ basketball game was being held. The random

bouncing of a ball other than a volleyball was jarring to his ears—he might be

getting a bit nervous himself. He shrugged his shoulders up and down to release

the extra energy. He was already sweating just by standing.

Team F got the serve through rock-paper-scissors. Haijima

would serve from the right back row, and Oda would start diagonally from him at

the front left. The opposing Team C’s starting order had Kanno at the front

right and Kuroba in the back left. With two volleyball veterans placed

diagonally from each other and sandwiching and supporting the amateurs, both

teams had the most suitable formation.

Kuroba, getting ready to receive, kept pulling at his

T-shirt and wiping the sweat off his face an unusual number of times. He

wondered if it was just his imagination that the movement of his legs seemed

heavy. Even though he was always jumping around on the court even when there

was no need for it, now his feet were clinging to the floor. He’s pretty

nervous. The fact that the crowd was much bigger than for the group league

no doubt played a role.

What are we going to do for this game? He felt like

it had become a farce starring the boys’ volleyball team, but of course he wasn’t

going to lose on purpose. We’re going for the win. It was out of the

question to give up on getting Haijima because of a single loss in a in-school

match. If that was the case, he shouldn’t have taken this bet, but it was also

out of the question for Oda to not buy a fight that had been sold to him.

He called Haijima, who was heading for the service zone, to

a stop and he turned around and asked him something.

“It’s okay now, right?”

“Yeah. Do it with all your power.”

He

heard the sound of the safety lock inside Haijima disengaging. In the previous

two games, Haijima was banned from doing jump serves. It would no longer be a game

against an amateur team if he did so, and someone were to get hit in the face,

they risked injury.

“…Eleven months.”

Haijima muttered in a low voice, cast his gaze to a point on

the other side of the net and narrowed his eyes.

“Did he get a little better?”

He smiled faintly. The depths of his eyes were boiling, as

though he was even taking in this heat and transforming it into a part of the

heat within him. Stimulated by that fighting spirit, Oda also felt his entire

body trembling.

Just

you watch… He

glared at Aoki, but couldn’t meet his gaze with Aoki on the referee’s chair.

Haijima’s jump serve even drew the eyes of the first-timer

spectators. He placed the ball in his left hand, stretched his arm directly

before him and stood still. A beat of dignified silence that took the watcher’s

breath away. The moment he tossed the ball up high with a spin towards the

ceiling, there was a big “Ooh.”

From

his graceful and refined form, as though he was dancing in the air, he let

loose a sharp jump serve. Contrary to the slickness of his form, Haijima’s

serve was quite unpleasant. It had a unique twisting spin, partly due to him

hitting left-handed, and the one who was receiving was under immense pressure.

Drawing a curving arc, it accurately aimed for the area Kuroba, who was

positioned in the back row, was guarding. Kuroba, who didn’t say he was good at

serve receives, managed to hit it with his arms with a panicked look on his

face. Fortunately, it went up high, so his teammate went right below it and waited.

Who was going to hit it?

Was Kuroba, who received it, going to hit it himself?

“Right court!”

He was astounded by the instruction that came from the

referee’s chair.

Oi, wait a minute!? Is that even allowed!?

The ball was set to Kanno on the right court. Oda jumped to

block in surprise, but Kanno dexterously shifted the core of the impact and changed

it to a straight spike from the angle of a cross-court hit. Tch, he’s good… The

spike that was as sharp as a needle went through a narrow course.

While landing, he turned his head to follow the whereabouts

of the ball. He thought it might have been on the border of the sideline, but

Nagato the linesman didn’t hesitate to indicate that it was in. The person who enthusiastically

shouted “Yes!” from outside the court in place of Kanno, who had landed soundlessly,

was…Suemori. I get the feeling that there’s a lot of officials that are

emotionally attached to the opponent’s side, but…?

Team C’s first point was engraved.

“Oi, why is the referee giving out instructions?”

He snapped at the referee’s chair.

“If there are any objections, you can write them down on the

record sheet later.”

Aoki

said calmly, then quickly blew the whistle to prompt Team C to serve. There

was no way they were going to prepare a record sheet used for official games

for a ballgame tournament.

“Do it in one go, Haijima.”

He turned his back on the referee’s stand in indignation and

said that aloud in order to calm himself down. However, Haijima only sullenly

muttered, “You haven’t gotten any better at defense though,” and it seemed that

he didn’t care about the noise around him or the subtle and complex actions of

the staff members. The intensity of his concentration after entering the court

was astonishing, but…he felt that he was slightly different from the previous

two matches. Isn’t his mind too focused on one point?

At the end of where Haijima’s eyes were fixed on, Kuroba

was, as ever, looking around restlessly while worrying about sweating profusely.

The complete opposite of Haijima, his concentration was scattered. It was a

face that screamed that Aoki’s implication was bad.

Team C, under Aoki’s instructions (which he still couldn’t

wrap his mind around), had adopted the strategy of gathering the ball to Kanno.

The scene where Kuroba hit didn’t return immediately, but even so, that scene came

when it was 3-3 in the beginning, the rotation moved three at a time and Kuroba

in the front right was directly facing Haijima in the front left over the net.

The first setting of this set came from Kanno to Kuroba.

At

Haijima’s instructions, a triple block was set up. Oda in the back row prepared

to back them up. “That’s a hell of a jump from that guy!?” The jumping power of

Kuroba, who was high enough for his chest to comfortably show up over the net,

made the crowd go wild. Completing the rotation of his shoulders by arching his

whole body in midair, his body bent back and his arms swung out, as though

releasing a nocked arrow. This dynamic spiking form, which could be called the

splendor of volleyball, was the usual Kuroba, but…he’s not looking at the

blockers at all. The ball didn’t pass over the net, getting caught on the

white band and falling to Team C’s side.

Right when F-team took the lead with 4-3,

“Time out.”

The head referee requested a time-out.

Oi…I’ve

never heard of this.

“Why hasn’t he fixed that habit of his yet?”

Haijima turned on him as soon as they gathered courtside.

Team C was making a circle around the tower that was Aoki. So why was the chief

referee coming down from the referee’s stand and being on the bench of one

team? After glaring at the other party who made his temple spasm, Oda turned

back to Haijima.

“It already became solidified within him when he joined in

April. There’s no problem in practice games, but he always gets like that when

it’s a game with a lot of pressure, and to be honest, he’d be useless in an

official match.”

For

last year’s middle school prefecturals, Oda only went on the second day, so

Kuroba, who apparently only participated on the first day, went unchecked. When

he first joined the club, Oda was simply excited that an unexpected find had

burst in. In fact, when he was used in the May practice match, he couldn’t find

any problems. There was an inconsistent feeling to him, like he was developing,

but his energetic play was pleasant to watch, and his strangely likeable

character also helped to energize the whole team.

Although they haven’t acquired Haijima yet, he was confident

that their attacker lineup was in good order with this, and then the prefectural

tournament in the start of June—

The god of volleyball seemed to like secretly digging

pitfalls.

An odd habit had begun to show up. He either failed his

spikes entirely that got caught by the blocks and got himself out, or it got trapped

by the net. It wasn’t like his form was messed up, but he couldn’t settle it. Even

when he asked the person in question, he vaguely answered with a somewhat

spaced-out expression, like his feet weren’t on the ground, that even he didn’t

know why it was like that.

“…Why…”

Haijima grumbled, glaring at his feet with a gaze that could

scorch through the floor.

“Stumbling over something like that…”

Haijima, that’s exactly how I feel about you, Oda

thought. If you ask me, I’m jealous of the both of you, and just looking at

you makes me irritated.

“Hey, we

have to do something about him. It seems that it has something to do with

Nagato and the second round of the middle school prefecturals?”

At this point, I

should create a front that would make Haijima take a step closer to us, even

forcibly. Thinking that, he tried inducing him.

“The middle school prefecturals…?”

Haijima raised his head and furrowed his brow.

“Sometimes players fail in their debut matches and suddenly

fall to pieces.”

“They said it was my fault? But…”

His voice jumped up for an instant. He immediately closed

his mouth sullenly and looked down again, fiddling with the taping on his

fingers in front of his stomach. He thought of him as a player who didn’t have

the habit of making other people read his mind, so that behavior was

unexpected.

“What was I supposed to do…I was waiting, on that day…but,

he was the one who didn’t come…”

He

felt like the view before him was suddenly blocked by a thin, but hard, shell.

***

Even

after the timeout, Kuroba’s play was lackluster. It would have been excusable

if he had been blocked by the volleyball team members, but he was messing up

because he was minding the blocker, who was an amateur ten centimeters shorter

than him and just standing in front of him. Really, when he was good, he was

great, but once his gears went out of whack, he quickly fell apart on his own.

To be honest, he thought it was better for him to withdraw, but Aoki, Team C’s captain

as well as the referee (this dual role was strange no matter how you look at

it), didn’t seem like he was going to replace him.

He could see the frustration building up in even Haijima

every time Kuroba made a mistake. Even so, the thing that differentiated

Haijima from Kuroba was that his play never wavered, or rather, became

frighteningly sharp. Not necessarily in a good sense, as he even covered his

teammates’ minor mistakes all by himself and ended up excluding the amateurs.

It felt like the sullen aura emanating from Haijima’s entire body made it seem

as if the temperature on only their side of the court had dropped down a notch.

It was out of the control of even Oda and he called to him less and less, and

he thought that he could imagine the atmosphere in the second round of the

prefectural tournament Nagato was talking about now.

His irritation towards the two who didn’t appreciate at all

the value of the treasures that had been given them became stronger. If it were

those two, there was no doubt that they would be able to stand at the forefront

for the next ten or twenty years. Was it asking too much of freshmen to be less

small-minded when they had such high physical potential? But, if he had those

two’s potential, he definitely wouldn’t waste it. A super-ace who was trusted

by his team for his solid decision-making ability as well as enlivening the

team as a mental pillar…He knew that he couldn’t be that kind of player

anymore, but he still dreamed to this day.

The

fifteen-point system was shorter than he expected. When Haijima rotated from

the back row to the front row and match-upped against Kuroba with the net

between them again, they entered the final stage of the first set. Kuroba,

obviously bending back, took a receiving stance like he was shrinking away from

the net. While glaring at Kuroba’s disgraceful behavior with a gaze that could

burn the net to ashes, it was perhaps at this moment that a circuit somewhere

in Haijima’s mind snapped.

The serve was Oda’s. His thoughts were so focused on the two

of them that his aim was a bit fuzzy, so the easy and half-hearted ball ended

up falling right in the middle of the opponent’s court. He ran back to the

court, fed up with himself as he thought that he might not be better than

Kuroba today. That was when it happened.

“Hit the ball, Kuroba!”

Haijima shouted. His carrying voice suddenly pierced through

the court where all talking had decreased, and everyone on his own team was

startled.

As in the first round, the set flew from Kanno to Kuroba.

Almost as if by spinal reflex, Kuroba suddenly did a run-up and leapt. Haijima

blocked it perfectly.

However, this time as well, Kuroba’s spike didn’t even go

over the net before it was blocked.

They both landed on the floor at the same time, the net

between them. Right then,

“Stop screwing around!”

Haijima

kicked the floor right after he yelled that, and then barged into the other

court from under the net and tackled Kuroba. At this unbelievable situation,

Oda froze in the receive stance, unable to move. It’s different for baseball

game broadcasts, but I’ve never seen a brawl at a volleyball game, and I

didn’t think he was the type to lose his temper like that!?

Everyone on his own team was dumbfounded, and everyone on

the other team jumped out of the way, startled. After blowing Kuroba all the

way to the center of the court, Haijima immediately went to straddle him and

grabbed him up by the collar as Kuroba was hitting his back and coughing.

“Don’t run away! At least give one decent shot! If you’re

this nervous for just a ballgame tournament, you’re not cut out for this, so

just quit!”

He was yelling at him, looking like he was about to bite his

nose off.

Kuroba’s back lifted off the floor.

“Hey…stop it, Haijima!”

Oda came to his senses and hurriedly passed under the net.

Right when he was about to pin Haijima’s arms behind his

back, Kanno wedged himself in between them and said, “Senpai.” While keeping

Oda back, Kanno looked at the referee’s stand. Oda widened his eyes and looked

up at the stand, where he saw Aoki leaning against the top of the pole and

grinning down at the two first-years on the floor.

“If they had just one big fist fight and told each other

how they really felt…” Their conversation in the washroom flashed across

his mind.

Hah!?

No way, don’t tell me you were expecting this!?

Kuroba, who he thought was just going to let this happen,

surprisingly grabbed Haijima’s wrist and yelled back.

“I’ve never been in a game where I had to lose successfully,

and I don’t know how to do that, so of course I’m not cut out for this!”

“What are you talking about…”

Haijima was speechless. Kuroba, hesitating to say further,

glared at Haijima at point-blank range as he moved his lips soundlessly. Then,

he suddenly cast down his eyes, drew in his chin, and pressed his fist that was

grabbing the front of Haijima’s chest to his forehead. It looked like a gesture

of prayer.

“…’Cause, he said that you’d come back if we lost… Hey,

isn’t this enough… Come back already…”

Come back already.

Those were words that Oda couldn’t think of or say in his

position. They made him realize he didn’t need any pretense, and that all he needed

was such clumsy, straightforward words.

Haijima, having lost his outlet for anger, just looked

bewildered. His face, looking like those straightforward words didn’t penetrate

his stubborn heart very well, made Oda irritated again.

“Hai…”

Right when he was about to interject, unable to keep quiet

anymore,

Beep!

“Oh, you guys done yet? It looks like you guys pretty much

said it all.”

A fake cough and Aoki’s voice, dampening the tension, came

down from the referee’s stand.

“If that’s the case, the two of you, leave the court.”

He said, calmly holding up a red card.

“Fighting

in volleyball is unheard of. And freshmen, don’t say that this is just a

ballgame tournament, because this is a lively event that I worked myself to the

bone to prepare for without sleeping. They really do need to pay me for this.”

***

After seeing the overall results at the administration tent

with his own eyes, he returned to the gym. The gym, where the partition net was

removed and cleanup had ended, was empty, but the net and poles still remained

on only the stage-side court where the boys’ volleyball match had taken place.

It was as if only the net wouldn’t admit that the match was over. The

enthusiasm for the finals that had engulfed the court had now been cooled by

the evening air, and he suddenly felt lonely.

There

was a figure standing before the net. Like the net in front of them, it seemed

like they still wanted to continue the match. Well, he was kicked off the

court after doing one set, so I guess I can’t blame him for wanting to rampage

more. The taping on his hands hanging down on the sides of his body still

haven’t been undone yet.

“Haijima.”

Though his back reacted slightly to his call, he didn’t

attempt to turn around. He goes at his own pace, eh. Oda smiled

wryly as he approached him.

“They didn’t put the net away?”

“I asked them to leave it. I’ll put it away.”

Just like on the first day of team practice one week ago,

Haijima lifted his chin and looked straight at the white band of the net. The

sunlight shining through the window weakened and it dimmed considerably in the

gym, but he could see a light in his eyes. A dazzling light that welled up

within Haijima, as though he couldn’t contain his feelings of dissatisfaction.

“This wasn’t set up at 2.4?”

“Oh, we only raise it to 2.43 at the finals. ‘Cause it’s a

game full of experienced players.”

With his hand on the net, stroking it sideways, Oda walked

to the edge of the court and put his hand on the pole. Since the protective mat

was removed, his palm touched the cold metal directly. The surface of the old bronze-colored

pole was rough with copper rust stuck to it.

“We’re going to a family restaurant for the team’s

afterparty, so meet us at the school gate at six-thirty. Don’t worry, us

third-years are paying.”

“Please don’t count me in.”

He was

given an annoyed reply. There are still not enough reasons? Oda sighed. Even

though it’s so obvious that he’s longing to play volleyball, what exactly is

holding him back? Is there something else besides the Monshiro Middle incident?

This guy who’s fundamentally arrogant and seems to not care about other

people’s feelings is clearly afraid that something is going to happen.

“You know, volleyball really is a sport that chooses people.

Well, what you do in it depends on the person. It’s not a sport where you can

carry the ball by yourself, and even if one person is skilled, you can’t win.

I’ve told you this before. Remember it.”

“I got kicked in my ass.”

Since Haijima was pouting with a bitter look on his face, a

laugh unintentionally slipped out of his mouth as he recalled it. He immediately

stopped when Haijima was getting more and more sullen.

“There’s also the fact that the difference in our sizes frankly

makes me cry. It’s a cruel story, isn’t it. No matter how hard a guy like me works,

even if I think I won’t lose in athletic ability, skill, attitude, or anything,

I just can’t beat a big guy in that one factor, height. Why did I fell for

volleyball, of all things?”

Too many of the words people hurled at him came from his own

mouth. When he explained it to people, they made doubtful faces and couldn’t

sympathize with him very much, so these days he had learned to ignore that kind

of talk. Aoki wouldn’t understand this much either. They might show their

understanding for me, but they wouldn’t have any sympathy for me.

Haijima

didn’t worry over his answer. He tilted his head, as though thinking, This

guy’s asking something weird, and stated it definitively. He said it like he

was talking about the completely natural activities of living beings, like

saying, Don’t calves stand up after they’re born?

“Isn’t it because there’s nothing more interesting than

volleyball?”

Aah…I knew it.

I had a feeling he’d say that. What’s for us, the

very simple truth of the world.

I wanted words from someone other than me. I wanted

someone to affirm to me that it’s okay for even someone like me to be devoted

to something. If a man with much more talent than me, who possibly loves

volleyball more than me, said that to me, then I can believe that the time I

dedicated to volleyball was never a waste.

Is there anything in this world that is as interesting as

this, that can make me as passionate as this? The exhilaration when you release

a powerful spike. The feeling of solidarity when a brilliant combination play

is executed. The sense of accomplishment when you persevere and break away a

rally with your teammates. The feeling of conquest when you force the

opponent’s ace to yield with a kill block. That intoxication, when your

concentration is at its peak and the team’s hearts are one, and you can clearly

see the ball’s trajectory as an unbroken line——

Something hot welled up in his throat, and he suddenly felt

like crying. But, it was too early for that. He still hadn’t accomplished anything

yet.

So he

bared his teeth and smiled instead.

“That so? Well, for me, I love volleyball to death. It’s the

only thing where I’m confident that I won’t lose to anyone.”

It was funny that Haijima countered with an extremely

serious expression, “I won’t lose either.”

“…Haijima. To be honest, it was for my convenience that I

wanted you to join. I’m a third year now. Even so, I want to play as many games

on the court as possible, even if it’s just one game. Even if it’s just for a

day…even just for a minute, just a second, I wanna play volleyball. Can I

borrow your strength for that reason? All of your strength…”

Wouldn’t I get the opposite result with that way of

talking? No, it’s fine. These words shouldn’t make Haijima build a wall around

himself. He seems to be terribly stoic to me and everyone else, but he won’t

reject someone who’s facing volleyball seriously. Ultimately, it wasn’t about

whether you were skilled or not, or whether you were tall or short. Whether you

are serious about volleyball or not—that was the only line Haijima drew.

That’s why there was no reason to hesitate to step in.

I’m holding the key to the door.

He

really felt like he was gripping a small key in his right hand. Of course, when

he opened his palm, there was no key actually there. However, he turned to

Haijima and held out his hand as though to show it to him.

“Won’t you believe in me, Haijima?”

Haijima was silent for a while, staring at Oda’s hand with

downcast eyes. He loosened his tied lips.

“…Spring Inter-High.”

A whisper slipped from his mouth.

“…You’re serious about going there, I see. A weak team that

has never won a proper game within the prefecture is aiming for it, thinking

they can seriously go there. The 2.43 meter net is for that reason, I see.”

Those eyes with a sharpness that seemed to pierce through

anything before them were directed towards Oda’s face. He was surprised that something

he only mentioned briefly a week ago seemed to have remained in Haijima’s mind.

However, he was also convinced that just showed how strong his feelings were.

By all rights, he shouldn’t be the kind of athlete who was stuck smouldering in

a place like this.

He wasn’t saying it in a way that was making fun of him. On

the contrary, if he was the one who poked fun at him even slightly or was

ambiguous in his answer, he would without a doubt slap his hand away on the

spot.

Neither deception nor half-hearted seriousness was allowed

in front of this guy.

“Yeah. Now, all the actors are in place. I seriously believe

that this year’s Seiin will definitely become a team that can go to Nationals.”

Oda also looked back into Haijima’s eyes with a piercing

gaze and answered.

If you

take this hand, I will have to meet your expectations with all my power. I’ll

repeat it again with force in order to convey that resolve. There’s no need for

complicated reasons. I’m sure that only straightforward words would reach his

heart.

“I

want you to believe in me. Lend me all of your strength.”

***

“Why the hell are you smiling? Did Haijima say he was going

to join?”

Aoki jeered at him when he stopped by the administration

tent. Am I smiling? Oda wondered, patting his cheeks. He might be.

“Who knows. Well, he’ll be coming to the next practice, won’t

he?”

“Hoo. Personally, I don’t like it, but well, that’s good I

guess.”

Aoki said that in a twisted and unstraightforward way. Oda,

while wondering in astonishment, Weren’t you the one who set this up?,

dragged a free folding chair over and sat diagonally across from Aoki. He

leaned over the long table, thrusted his face at him and lowered his face, as

though it was an interrogation in a detective drama.

“So,

from when and how much of it all was within your calculations? Since you

brought up that betting match in front of Kuroba, right? Since you stirred me

up by saying you were more interested in Okuma than Haijima? No way, you’re not

gonna say you were the one who arranged for Haijima to be in volleyball, are

you? I don’t think it’s possible, but does that mean the ballgame tournament

itself is a huge charade…”

“I must be the world’s greatest swindler then. You’re giving

me too much credit. Originally, I planned to have Team F win the championship,

and I wanted to go to the lodging house on the refreshing highlands and getting

Haijima while we’re at it…that was all I was thinking. Well, the dream of the

highlands lodging house is completely gone now. I really did want to go there.”

All but one of the administration tents that were lined up

with their eaves side by side in a corner of the first sports ground were

dismantled, and the lower grade members of the executive committee were

clearing away the steel frames and sheets while bickering noisily. All of their

voices had a listlessness to them, like they had finished burning, and they

didn’t sound grating to his ears. Rather, the noise soaked pleasantly into his

tired body.

On the grounds, members of the baseball club were doing

somersaults. The clock tower behind the back net displayed the time of 6:15.

The brightness of the sky dimmed, and grey clouds started to appear. According

to the forecast, apparently it was still going to be clear during the day, but

the rainy season was going to return during the night. There was the scent of

approaching rain. The warm wind, which contained moisture, made his arms and

body sticky again after his sweat had finally receded.

The

uncoated paper with the overall results for today was posted on the

tent’s support. If he thought that there was more enthusiasm about this year’s

championship than last year, there was apparently a secret prize that was going

to be given to the supreme general of the winning team. The contributor was the

executive committee—of course Aoki was the one who was holding the wallet. That

prize was the group accommodation at a lodging house on a highland area in the

prefecture for summer vacation. It was a form of taking advantage of the fact

that the captains of the major sports clubs were spread out across each of the

third year classes and stirring up the competition between each team.

In the boys’ volleyball division, Oda’s Team F defeated Team

C to win the championship. The referee Aoki’s blatant support for Team C in the

first half was camouflage, and after ejecting the two first-years, he devoted

himself to making fair and impartial judgements in the second half—or that was

how it seemed. Skillfully weaving in a few advantageous judgements for Team F,

he manipulated the outcome. He’s a crook through and through…but since it’s

a school event, I can just barely forgive him, but if he pulled this kind of

thing somewhere else, I’ll be done with him.

However, they didn’t perform so well in the other events,

and in the end, Team F had to settle for second place overall. The guesthouse

on the highlands was to be given over to another club.

“Aaah, I guess we’ll have to do it at school this summer

too. It’ll be harsh without air conditioning though.”

“You know, you’re pretty practical even though you don’t

look it…”

“Dunno what you mean by not looking practical, but I’ll

accept the compliment. Well, the things you can get with cheap tricks aren’t

that important, and there are plenty of things you can’t get…” a loud yawn

slipped out from his wide mouth.

“Are you going to the after party? The first and second-years

worked hard today, so we gotta thank them.”

“Sorry, but I’ll have to pass. I don’t mind splitting the

money in half. I didn’t sleep for three days to finish up preparations.”

“Three days? And yet you managed to get in two games.”

“It’d be tough to do three games. When the old teacher

collapsed, I thought in my head, ‘I’m saved.’”

He

leaned back deeply on his folding chair, causing it to creak, and when he bent

his neck and tilted it left and right, there was a cracking sound. Though he

wondered if it was okay to speak that way about an elderly person, it seemed

that after he rested in the infirmary for nearly an hour, he had readily

recovered and went along with the teachers to their after-party, so perhaps it

was okay for Aoki to say that, considering all his toil.

During this ball game tournament, which included preparations,

while Oda was just saying he wanted Haijima like a spoiled brat, just how hard

was Aoki working, even using his influence, for the sake of the whole team? When

it came to Haijima, even though he wasn’t supposed to have agreed to it, he

considered Oda’s feelings and took action like it was a matter of course. It

had completely slipped from his mind, but it was time to think about summer

training camps.

Since they knocked on the door of the boys’ volleyball club

in April two years ago, he had helped him one-sidedly until now. The prodigy

who had student council duties, and who on top of that could get accepted to

Kyoto University, probably had any number of things he could do besides

volleyball, unlike Oda. He felt a deep sense of guilt that because he invited

him that day—because they were “Aoki” and “Oda”, an unexpected intrusion ended up coming into Aoki’s life.

“Ah, hey…thanks for everything…”

It was

too embarrassing to say it now after two years, and he couldn’t look him in the

eyes. He was grateful for the gap between their lines of sight right then.

Every time he was covered for, it only deepened his own sense of inferiority,

and he had never thanked him face-to-face until now.

Good grief, it’s not

just my outside, I’m also tiny and worthless on the inside.

“But, sorry…you’re going to have to go along with my

selfishness for just a little longer.”

His debt would increase even more in the future. It seemed

that Aoki won’t be able to concentrate on his exams for a while yet.

“…That’s just like you.”

Aoki mumbled to himself, his head still turned away. From

Oda’s position, he could only see his chin moving slightly, and he had no idea

what expression he had on his face.

“You’re giving me too much credit. I’m feeling guilty now.

Playing volleyball with you is what I want to do right now, and I’m not doing

it unwillingly. I don’t need to be thanked at all. I’ve been saying this since

before, but me not liking Haijima is completely my personal feelings, and I’m

the one who’s just being selfish. I don’t really care about going to university

or not, and I don’t mind if you want me to lower my rank so we can go to the

same place…I’m basically just driven by my ulterior motives.”

“Ulterior motives?”

There was the sound of water drops hitting the roof of the

tent. The people working outside the tent looked up at the sky and exclaimed,

“It’s starting to rain?”

“…You don’t have to understand.”

Aoki raised his head slowly, like a giraffe stretching its

neck to find leaves that were just right, and stifled another yawn. Then, he

turned towards him and lifted the edge of his mouth.

“Let’s go to Spring Inter-High. I’ll follow you until the end.”

For Oda, that thin, ironic smile was more reliable and

trustworthy than anything.

The prefectural preliminaries would start at the end of

September, two months later. If they won there, his retirement would be

extended until the final representative deciding match in November. And if they

managed to win the representative deciding match, then it would be until the

nationals in January——.

Just one game more. Just a day, a minute, a second longer. In order to delay

the “end” just a little bit longer, they third-years would clumsily make every

effort with all their ability.

When

the rainy season ended, their final summer would arrive. There was no doubt

that that summer would be like a condensed version of the rest of their lives

after graduation. His doubts about his career path cleared up. He would put all

he had into everything he could do and wanted to do right now. He didn’t care

if the next few decades would be the rest of his life. Even if he burned out

here and had nothing left within him, he wouldn’t regret it now.

Previous || Index || Next