V1C5 Part6

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6. LANDING, AND…The last chapter part of Chapter 5! How would everything be resolved…?

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When

Kuroba turned on his phone, which he had turned off that morning, he found that

he had received dozens of notifications of incoming calls and texts. There was one

call from home, a few from his cousin who had been calling him in the morning,

and the rest were from their seniors on the volleyball team (most of them were

from Oda and Okuma, who seemed to have called during every break period between

classes. During lunch period, they called every three minutes. It was spam calling

by that point). By the way, Haijima’s phone, which was put on vibrate and

thrown into the bottom of his bag, had run out of battery and was silent. The

battery was low because he often forgot to recharge it, and it seemed to have

completely drained while receiving so many unwanted calls.

Kuroba had received the most texts from his cousin, but the

beginnings of each one was so aggressive that he was frightened and put off

reading them, checking the one from Oda first.

“It’s true. The suspension has been lifted, and practice

will resume tomorrow.”

“Why today all of a sudden?”

“Don’t know. He didn’t write any more than that.

Oda-senpai’s texts are always short. They’re as short as my grandpa’s who just

learned how to text.”

They parted ways with Minami-sensei at the Shinkansen ticket

gate at Shinagawa Station. When they saw her trying to buy a train ticket as a

matter of course, they hurriedly blocked the coin slot with his hand. It was

embarrassing to have two tall boys to be walked all the way to the platform,

and he didn’t want to be treated like a child, so they firmly turned her down.

Once

on the platform, there were a few minutes to spare before the train arrived, so

Kuroba finally called Oda. Haijima put his bag by his feet and leaned against

the railing, casually looking around. It was a weekday evening, so the

passengers for the downbound train were all adults in suits. The indoor

platform, illuminated by pale white lights, was quiet, and the echoes of voices

caught one’s ear.

Right after he dialed the number and put the phone to his

ear, Kuroba let out an “Ugh” and his cheeks tensed. It seemed that he had

answered immediately. That was fast…Haijima was slightly put off.

Haijima could only hear Kuroba’s side of the conversation,

so he couldn’t get the complete picture. As he listened, Kuroba’s responses

became more and more mumbled, and the huge boy began to fidget like a girl.

After a few moments of waiting, he took the phone away from

his ear, looking relieved.

“Take over. It’s better that the rest is explained to you.”

He said and passed the phone to him.

He was a little, or rather, very uncomfortable, but he said,

“…This is Haijima,” into the phone. He hadn’t spoken to Oda since the morning

meeting on the third day of the Fall Tournament, when their withdrawal was

announced. He passed him on the school day at the end of summer (Kuroba had

skipped), but the situation hadn’t changed at all, and he couldn’t bear to see

the pain and disappointment seeping out of his body.

“Really,

all you two do is cause trouble together… I’ve been pushed around by you guys a

lot this year. You picked a fight with Meisei High? It looks like you two have

been having a lot of fun while the team couldn’t play games, huh?”

He suddenly

said sarcastically in a tense voice. Haijima could understand why Kuroba

groaned, “Ugh.”

“If you were unlucky, you could have picked a fight with the

entire team. You guys are Seiin team members. I’m responsible for your actions.

This time, Meisei was kind enough to not make an issue of it, but in some

cases, I might have had to go there to apologize.”

“…I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t refute a single thing, so he could only

apologize.

Oda cleared his throat on the other end of the phone. The

voice he heard next no longer sounded accusing. It was a compassionate voice

that sounded a little embarrassed.

“And by the same token, if the Meisei people had done

anything to hurt you, I would’ve gone over there and beat them up.”

He thought he had given up on him, but now he was reaching

out to him again—he was no longer the Oda who he had once looked down on. He was

the smallest on the team and always tried to protect his team members with all

his might. He was still the same Oda from when he first approached him.

“You’re a real problem child, but it can’t be helped. Our

ace duo is you two, Haijima and Kuroba. I’m counting on you. We can qualify for

the Spring Tournament.”

His heart thumped.

“I’ll explain it to you, since Kuroba himself already

knows it and there’s no point in explaining to him. Cutting straight to the

point, a witness came forward.”

When

he looked at Kuroba while listening to Oda’s voice, Kuroba looked away and

scratched his cheek as though to evade him. The fact that the punishment was

lifted meant that the truth about the second day of the Fall Tournament, which

Kuroba had been stubbornly keeping quiet about, was revealed and the suspicions

of his involvement in the fight had been cleared.

The witness was Kuroba’s cousin, Kuroba Itoko.

The injury that Kuroba sustained on the third day of the

Fall Tournament was caused by Kuroba Itoko. On the way home from the game the

day before, he had been pushed down the stairs with a fist punch on the karaoke

floor of the amusement building. The bowling alley that had been the site brawl

that even involved the police was on the first floor. It was true that Kuroba

had been in the same building during the time of the commotion, but the floors

were completely different.

Today, Itoko visited Seiin, accompanied by Kuroba’s mother,

and spoke about what had happened on that day, thus establishing Kuroba’s

alibi. It seemed that she hadn’t known about the withdrawal or suspension until

she asked Kuroba’s mother. When she found out about the situation, she hurried

to the school to ask for the punishment to be lifted.

“A punch? You…”

Apparently, he had rolled down a whole floor of stairs. It

was probably because of Kuroba’s flexible body that he escaped with only a

little pain in his back and no aftereffects. When he turned to him with

amazement in his eyes, Kuroba reluctantly mumbled, “No, there’s circumstances around

that.”

“The girls at Itoko’s school were making a big deal, saying

that she brought her boyfriend, so I said something like, Who’d be the

boyfriend of this ugly tanned unpeeled onion, I’d at least think about it if

it’s a peeled onion…I said something along those lines…and then I got beaten

down.”

You

can’t even call those circumstances. He’s just an idiot.

Why has he been so stubborn about keeping quiet about

something so meaningless until now…

“…I didn’t want Itoko to apologize,” Kuroba said with a sour

look on his face. “I was told that I have low awareness, and that’s right, so I

don’t care how much you get angry at me, but Itoko was the one who was hurt…”

“That’s all? That’s the reason why you kept silent?”

If she had invited him to karaoke during the tournament and

injured him, then Itoko would have been thoughtless by all means. Even if it

was a misunderstanding, the police had contacted the school, so their

withdrawal from the Fall Tournament might have been inevitable no matter what.

However, if he had told them right away, things wouldn’t have gotten so

complicated. Even if he didn’t want to put the responsibility on his cousin,

that wasn’t it…he thought.

That’s all, Kuroba stated definitively.

It was strangely stubborn thing to do for Kuroba. While it

didn’t quite make sense, he did somewhat understand that that was the line

Kuroba wouldn’t budge on.

He was

always irritated by Kuroba’s lack of competitive spirit and lack of greed when

it came to important things. But in the end, those might also be his good

points. The reason why Kuroba flared up at Meisei today was because they had

insulted Haijima. There were probably some people who were able to show their

strength not for their own desires, but by being stubborn for someone else’s

sake.

“Haijima, your condition?”

His eyebrows knitted together at Oda’s voice, and he

answered clearly.

“I can play.”

“The Spring Tournament qualifiers start at the end of

September. It’s less than a month away, but I’m not giving up yet. So, you

think we can make it in time?”

They couldn’t ignore the loss they suffered due to the suspension

of club activities for a month in the summer. They had to rebuild their

scattered team in one month. They were at a great disadvantage compared to

other schools.

But Haijima didn’t hesitate to reply.

“I’ll get us there in time.”

He could see Oda nodding in satisfaction on the other end of

the phone.

“Go ahead and do what you want to do. We’ll go all out

throwing ourselves into it. If we don’t do that at least, then it’ll be

embarrassing to say that we’re aiming for Nationals. I’m sure what you’re

looking at is much higher, but…we won’t let you be alone.”

His heart raced at the powerful words, and he could feel his

blood flowing faster all at once. His hot blood was flowing through his entire

body.

I can believe it…I can believe that here, I can start

over.

“…Yes.”

His voice trembled slightly as he answered, gripping the

phone tightly.

There was a light at the end of the dimly lit tracks, and

the train they were planning to board appeared in front of them. The

announcements in the station hastened the passengers’ legs. The train slid into

the other side of the railing he was leaning his back against, and the lukewarm

breeze brushed the hair on the back of his head.

He handed the phone

back to Kuroba, who put it to his ear again.

“Oda-senpai. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you this

time with my reckless actions.”

He said loudly and bowed vigorously on the spot. A

businessman pulling a small suitcase on wheels started in surprise as he walked

past them.

The stop time of the train was short, so they had to get on

immediately. As he reached for the bag at his feet, he called out, “Kuroba,”

but Kuroba was almost bowing at a right angle, and still talking into the

phone, he said, “Senpai.”

“Senpai, I want to go to the Spring Tournament. With

everyone at Seiin. I want to spike the ball from the center court at the Spring

Tournament. I saw the same scenery that Haijima…that that guy could clearly see

inside his mind for sure. I know you know this, Senpai, but that guy is

insanely greedy. He’s called the genius setter and he’s got a lot of things,

but he’s not satisfied with that at all. He’s always trying to get more and

more… Something that he wants the most, something that can make his eyes

sparkle, that thing must be a great treasure, isn’t it?”

Haijima,

who was stooping to grab the strap of his bag, looked up in shock.

Kuroba also looked up from his bow. The overly serious

expression on his face when he was talking to Oda melted away, and a soft smile

appeared on his face.

“You’ve conveyed it to me properly…I understand what you

wanted to say, and what you’re thinking.”

Speechless for a moment, Haijima stared at Kuroba’s face. He

bit his lower lip and searched his body for something to say, but in the end

all he could do was nod.

“So Senpai, we’ll see you at practice tomorrow!”

Kuroba said with great enthusiasm and hung up the phone this

time. “We have to hurry!” They both ran along the railing as the departure bell

rang. It was a station where there were only passengers riding the down-bound

train. The other passengers had already disappeared into the train cars, and

people were already starting to come and go to catch the next train.

“Let me tell you one thing, though.”

Kuroba looked over his shoulder and shouted over the

surrounding noise. As he ran behind him, Haijima, who was struggling to slung

his bag over his shoulder, looked up in puzzlement.

“You think I’m not that greedy? I’m even greedier than you

are. I’m the one who wants to be your ace by taking on you, who’s an incredible

setter, and everything you want, so really, I’m the greediest.”

Kuroba

went first and rushed through the doors from the opening in the railing.

However, Haijima stopped without thinking and stood still on the edge of the

platform.

As though in a panic, Kuroba turned around and extended his

hand from inside the car.

“Oi? Don’t get emotional, get in.”

He avoided Kuroba’s hand, clenched his fists at the sides of

his body, and looked down.

“Haa? Emotional? I’m not,” He answered in a slightly hoarse

yell.

The bell stopped, and the platform fell into a strange silence

for a moment. With his toes on the edge of the platform, he looked up and

stared directly at Kuroba’s face.

“My talent and everything I want are all a considerable

amount of stuff. If you really want it, then be prepared. You can’t get them

with a lukewarm resolve. I’m going to go even higher than I am now.”

He lowered his voice and stated that like a challenge.

Kuroba’s eyes widened for a moment, then muttered with a look of amazement on

his face, “You really said that yourself.”

And then, the corners of his mouth lifted, giving a peek of

his canines. “Bring it on.” When he smiled like that, his usual spoiled-child

impression faded, and an expression reminiscent of Kuroba Yorimichi, tough and

somewhat outlaw-ish, flashed across his face.

Haijima also narrowed his eyes and smiled. He kicked off the

platform with all his might and jumped to where Kuroba was without any more

hesitation. It was just about the doors were about to close.

The

air outside was cut off, and a feeling of entrapment, like a thin membrane had

come down around his ears, descended upon him. The scenery of the platform,

which had been static, began to move outside the small window. Neither of them

said anything right after getting into the train, but leaned against the walls

on both sides of the deck and looked out the windows.

They soon passed through the station building and the night

view of the city opened up before them. Through the door glass, where the two’s

faces were faintly reflected on both ends, the black shadows of the skyscrapers

in the distance slowly drifted by, while the neon signs on the buildings in the

near distance streamed by so quickly that his eyes couldn’t keep up.

It’s been a long day… He had been recalling the

events of the day. He felt like he had a lot of adventures, but when he thought

about it, it was just a day trip. They were heading west and would be out of

Tokyo in no time. In less than ten minutes, they crossed the prefectural border

into Shin-Yokohama.

“I guess our escape is over.”

Kuroba muttered dully.

Escape. Haijima repeated silently. This was indeed an

escape. It seemed that both Kuroba and himself were running from uncomfortable

situations they were in.

But let’s go home now. We’ve made a place where we can

return to, and everyone’s waiting for us.

And

there is definitely an opportunity to come again in the not-too-distant future.

Next time, the whole team will definitely come here together to fly the flag of

Seiin High School, the representative of Fukui Prefecture, and present a

challenge to the “whole nation.”

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