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3. A DOG & A GIRAFFEAoki truly is yabai (i’ll let you decide what that means)

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Perhaps to no one’s surprise, Oda was the first to arrive at

the club room. Aoki couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking that he was too

enthusiastic.

The volleyballs were wiped dry one by one and their air

pressure adjusted, then laid out in front of the bench by the wall. Each of the

no-longer-new Molten practice volleyballs, made of stretched white, red, and

green leather, were darkened by the sweat of the team members’ hands.

“The captain doesn’t have to do this kind of thing himself.”

“I wanted to do it. It’s atonement, I guess…”

Oda said with a muffled voice while carefully wiping the

last ball. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back bent.

“…I was the first one to abandon him…”

“No one here thinks you abandoned him.”

Aoki

sat down on a corner of the bench. He was about to pick up the ball between his

feet before he noticed. “Nanafu Seiin High School” ——Their

school’s name was written on the balls to prevent them from getting lost when

they brought one to a game. The name of their school, written in magic marker,

were arranged so that they were all pointing upwards and facing Oda. Oda wasn’t

the type to consciously do such a methodical thing. He could clearly imagine

him in the club room by himself early in the morning, gazing at the school

names on the balls he had finished maintaining one by one with deep emotion,

and then naturally having them facing him as he lined them up.

“If you hadn’t been the captain, we might have been torn

apart irreparably. Because you were the captain, everyone held their ground to keep

their fighting spirit alive under the circumstances. I think you should be

proud of that.”

“That’s because you were putting it all in order behind the

scenes.”

“I didn’t follow up on the guys below me. I was simply

working for your sake.”

Aoki was so angry at Kuroba that he seriously wanted to send

him flying, and he didn’t believe Kuroba’s claims of innocence as much as Oda

did. When Kuroba Itoko’s testimony revealed the specific circumstances, the

others seemed to have some sympathy for the state of mind in which you would have

a verbal gaffe with a girl you liked, but Aoki didn’t feel any sympathy at all.

He only felt disgusted that it became such a serious matter because of an

idiot.

“That too…Aoki, are you sure you’re okay with this? You

would have been able to focus on your exams if you had just retired.”

“Shin.

Don’t drag that up again.”

He tilted his body and put his elbow on the back of the

bench, and then scratched his head.

“There’s no time to feel guilt. You’ve been waiting a long

time for practice to start again. You need to look like you’ve been looking

forward to this day more than anyone else. Don’t look down like that, you’ve

got to look up until the first and second-years arrive.”

When he looked into his face again, he thought, This guy

has become an old man. Of course, he had become an old man as well. When he

looked at Kuroba and Haijima now, he thought Oda’s skin had becoming shinier

than it was when he was a first-year, but he had gotten skinnier, or no, only

his face had gotten skinnier because his body should have gotten thicker with

muscles.

It’s already two and a half years ago now, since the day

I met that tiny guy who poked me in the back from the seat behind me and started

talking about super aces or something like with a sparkle in his eye. He was as

innocent as a little kid who didn’t have enough brains to realize that he can’t

actually become a henshin hero, and the Oda at that time didn’t doubt that he

could become that super ace.

“I’m…happy.”

Oda

whispered and sniffled. He wiped his eyes on his shoulder, and when he looked

up, his expression was bright while still looking embarrassed. No, I think

you’re pretty unhappy, Aoki thought. If he was in Oda’s situation, he would

have been so despondent that he would have hit rock bottom.

He was sure he would be fine from now on because he was a

positive person at heart, after all. This single-minded volleyball fanatic was

forced to give up on his dream of becoming an ace due to the hopeless barrier

of the physical gap, and even though he agonized over his complex, he could

still call himself a happy person.

“Hey, there’s something I want to apologize to you for.”

Oda gave an unnatural cough as he rolled the ball in his

hands, looking awkward, though his back was no longer curled.

“What, there’s no need for that anymore.”

“I heard a rumor that

you had a girlfriend and were going on dates, and I was really pissed off that

you were having fun at a time like this.”

He couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter. Oda looked

at him with an artless and naïve face, so he covered his mouth and turned his

eyes away, saying, “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“You’ve been in contact with the girls from other schools to

gather information about the Kuroba incident, right? Well, even if you weren’t,

it’s a given that you’d be popular. You’re tall and smart.”

“Shin…can we please stop talking about this?”

He interrupted Oda’s talk, which was making his temples

throb. I’m even getting a little angry…but it’s fine if he doesn’t get it,

though.

The

reason for Kuroba’s silence wasn’t only the incident with Kuroba Itoko—Aoki had

almost found his way to Kuroba Yorimichi from his own route. If Kuroba Itoko

had been even a day late in coming to the school to talk, he had intended to

tell Oda about it. However, Kuroba Itoko’s testimony was enough to convince the

school that they should not lose their right to take on the Spring Tournament.

If they could just get that back, that was probably enough for Oda. There was

no need for him to hear about the good-for-nothing things that happened outside

of school.

The sound of clattering bags and footsteps made the hallway

outside noisy.

“’Sup.”

Okuma first showed up with his large body along with an

abridged greeting. “I’m sleepy,” he yawned loudly with a convenience store rice

ball still in his mouth. “Hey,” From behind Okuma, Hokao, Uchimura, and Kanno

appeared in that order, and the cramped club room became stuffy in an instant.

“Hey.”

The two of them, responding to their kouhai, naturally spoke

in unison. As he had motivated him to do earlier, Oda had thrown out his chest

and had an expression that was full of enthusiasm. Even if he hadn’t told him

to do so, he was sure that he would have naturally done so in front of their

kouhai.

They seemed to have all stopped by a convenience store, as

even Uchimura and Hokao were stuffing their cheeks with rice balls and bread.

“Is that everyone’s breakfast?” Oda’s bright face turned a little sullen. He and

Aoki looked at each other, thinking that each person had their own family

circumstances and that it was a little too early in the morning, however,

“We’re

prepared to devote every available moment to practice, Senpai.”

Kanno, who was sipping a carton of milk under his hood, said

quietly. Even though he didn’t raise his voice, there was fighting spirit in

his words. Uchimura and Hokao nodded at that. Aoki was able to leave the second

years as they were because Kanno was their mainstay.

“That’s right,” Okuma undauntedly raised his voice which was

nothing but loud. “I wanna show the captains the results of my secret training.

Call me the super center from now on.”

“I’ve heard of super ace, but not super center.”

“Then I can just make it up. The one who comes up with

something first wins, right?”

“Alright…we’re going

to measure our vertical jump for the first time in the while before practice.

I’ll treat the guy who beats me. I won’t let anyone pass me yet, though.”

Perhaps influenced by Okuma’s energy, even Oda proposed to

do something vigorous and got up. Why do men immediately start competitions

when they get together like this? Only Aoki coldly shrugged with a sidelong

glance at the group that got fired up just like that.

However,

he realized that the atmosphere of this kind of sports club had seeped into him

before he knew it. If Oda hadn’t asked him to join this sports club, he

wouldn’t have joined, and he would have finished his three years without being

exposed to this atmosphere. If he hadn’t been called out to from the seat

behind him two and a half years ago—if they weren’t “Aoki” and “Oda,” his high

school life would have been completely different from how it was now. Being the

vice captain of the boys’ volleyball team, Aoki Misao, felt so natural and

comfortable to him that he couldn’t imagine a different high school life now.

“So? The third-years are the first to arrive, then the

second-years, and then the all-important first-years are the last to arrive

like they’re executives.”

He looked at the doorway, but there still seemed to be no

sign of the remaining two.

“Those two are hopeless…”

“Nnn? What are you talking about, I’m not the one who

arrived first?”

Oda said in puzzlement. “Nnn?” Aoki asked with the same

expression on his face, and Oda looked at him as though it was obvious.

“Of course it was Haijima. He was waiting in front of the

club room to borrow the gym key from me. And then he grabbed the key and ran

like he couldn’t restrain himself. He really loves volleyball, doesn’t he.”

An even more hopeless volleyball fanatic who can make the

volleyball fanatic Oda say that and smile wryly…come to think of it, we do have

one.

“When Kuroba

came here just before you, he heard about that and rushed after him.”

Aah, he

understood. He would like to see Kuroba be a little more reliable, but for the

time being, that kind of relationship was typical of the two of them, he

supposed.

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