Chapter 79 – The Demon Who Forces You to Stack Stones on the Riverbed of Hell

 

All-Japan Women’s Volleyball National Team

Literally speaking, “All-Japan” means it covers all generations. From those, they aim to build the strongest women’s volleyball team in the country.

Only 29 players were called up this time.

Compared to the joint training camp for all age groups and the U-23 team held four months ago, where nearly 50 players participated, that means about a third have been cut since then. When you think about how many girls play volleyball across Japan, you realize just how rigorously selected these 29 must be…

“The players gathered here this time have been further selected based on their performance over the four months since the August camp. And since I’ve had the chance to see each of you, I’ll say this clearly. When I became head coach, I said this: ‘First, we’ll aim to finish in the top 8 at the World Championship, then win a medal at the World Cup the following year, and the year after that, win gold at the Olympics.’ I’m taking that back. At the World Championship next year—nine months from now—we will fight all the way to the finals, held in this very gymnasium where you’re standing now, and we will take home the gold. You all have the ability to make that happen.”

Before the training camp officially began, Coach Tashiro gathered the players and staff to share her thoughts.

“Also, I’m sorry to say, but just because you’ve been called up this time doesn’t mean this is the final selection. The number of players who can be registered for the World Championship is 20 plus 2 liberos. That means seven more players will be dropped. Or, a younger player could make a dramatic push and break into the team within these next nine months. This camp is part of that selection process. If you let your guard down, you’ll be cut before you know it.”

Hmm. First, she motivates us by saying we have what it takes to win a medal, then warns us the competition’s still ongoing. Of course, if someone tells you that you could win a medal on the world stage, you can’t help but get excited. You want to stay here as part of the national team and grab that medal. Then she says seven of you will be cut—and suddenly you’re desperate to survive.

That’s a skillful way of riling people up.

“Well, that’s enough serious talk. First, be proud that you’ve made it into this group of 29. You are the best volleyball players in Japan. And that’s exactly why I’ll say this—”

Coach Tashiro cleared her throat dramatically and said:

“You’ve done well to survive this long, my elite warriors.”

Ohhh!!

That sounded so cool!

Just as I was feeling moved, some of the staff (for some reason, they seemed to be on the older side…) burst out laughing.

What’s with that?! The coach just wrapped things up with a cool line—what’s so funny about that?

I glanced over and saw that the coach’s face had turned red. Not from anger—it looked more like embarrassment…

While I was still caught off guard, Aramaki-san, the team’s oldest member and the only one around thirty-five—actually, we might as well call her around forty—said something to the coach.

“Coach! No way! That line won’t work! Everyone here is under 25 except me, you know? Yuuri-chan just turned 16 on the 7th this month! Look at her—she’s completely blank!”

“Ahh… yeah. That one’s on me.”

???
What was that about? Guess I’ve got to ask.

“Aramaki-san, what did that last part mean?”

“Oh, uh, that line—‘You’ve done well to survive this long, my elite warriors’—is from a variety show that aired about thirty years ago. It was a famous line, and I think the coach used it to get a laugh and help ease the tension.”

Ohhh!
So first she inspired the players, then gave them a reality check, and finally used a joke to lighten the mood. That’s some thoughtful leadership!

“That’s amazing! So cool!”

Before I knew it, I was clapping. I mean, being a coach is tough—trying to manage the players’ spirits like this—

“Ow!”

For some reason, a fist came down on my head without warning.

“I apologize. My little sister’s only been in Japan for about two years, so she doesn’t quite know how to read the room yet!”

For some reason, Mika-nee was apologizing to everyone around us. Did I do something wrong? I was just trying to understand the situation…

“Mika-nee! What was that for?!”

“Quiet, Yuuri! Just hush for now! I’m truly sorry, everyone. I’ll have a proper talk with my sister later. Come on, Yuuri, let’s go. Be quiet and come with me!”

And for some reason I got dragged off by Mika-nee.

I don’t get it…

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

And so began the All-Japan Women’s Volleyball Team training camp.

It started with warm-up exercises, then moved into running, jumping, and other drills that were more like strength training. After that, we went into basic practice using the ball—like partner tosses and rallies. Basically, it was all stuff we usually do.

It’s like how in baseball, whether it’s little league or the pros, batters never skip their practice swings—even if their skill level or mindset is different. No matter the sport, the fundamentals are always important. That doesn’t change.

Then, just as we were about to start spiking practice, the coach called me over.

“Tachibana. From here on, you’re doing individual training. I want you to learn back-row quick attacks—the pipe—during this camp.”

…Ah. Coach Tashiro still misunderstands what I’m capable of based on the Spring High prelims the other day...

“Coach, as long as the toss is there, I can already do back-row quick attacks.”

“Hm? Is that so? Well, let’s try it out. Kawamura! Come over here for a second.”

Coach Tashiro called over Satsuki Kawamura-san, one of the only two remaining setters. Considering that, it’s probably safe to say she’s pretty much a lock for the national team.

By the way, Satsuki-san went to high school with Mika-nee. Even back then, she was apparently called the strongest setter of her generation. And now, she’s on the verge of becoming Japan’s top setter.

When I asked Mika-nee who was better—Satsuki-san or Mai-san, who's considered the best setter in high school right now—she said, “Even without factoring in that I know her personally, Satsuki’s still better.”

What’s important here is that among the players at this camp, Satsuki-san is in the "sensible person" category. She’s not like Yumi-san—also one of Mika-nee’s classmates—who would sneak up behind people while they were changing clothes.

“Sorry to call you over. I want you to help Tachibana practice back-row quick attacks.”

“You want me to practice back-row quick attacks with Yuuri-chan?”

Ugh, don’t look so uneasy, Satsuki-san...

“Sorry, sorry. But Yuuri-chan, you can jump about four meters, right?”

“Four meters is a bit much. My highest contact point is just under 380 cm.”

“That’s already more than enough to be considered unusual. And with that kind of contact height, I have to toss the ball 70 to 80 cm higher than usual. That’s quite a load for a setter.

For reference, the next highest jumper at this camp is Yumi, and even her max reach is 310 cm.”

…Huh? Is the national team kind of underwhelming? A max reach of 310 cm is about the same as Reiko’s, isn’t it?

“Just so you know, a max reach of 310 cm is really impressive for a girl. There probably aren’t even ten Japanese girls who can reach that high.”

Seriously? No wonder Reiko got called up to the U-19 squad.

Before we actually started practicing back-row quick attacks, Satsuki-san seemed unsure, but once we got going—

“Let me get a visual on your actual contact height, Yuuri-chan. Jump a few times without the ball.”

After seeing how high I jumped, she started the ball toss practice, and right from the start, the ball came exactly where I needed it. And on top of that—

“How was that toss, Yuuri-chan?”

“Ah, sorry. Could be a little higher.”

She adjusted the toss accordingly, and before long—

“Yuuri-chan, with back-row attacks, unlike regular spikes, there’s a distance from the net, so you don’t just jump upward—you need to jump forward too. Actually, you have to. Jumping forward adds weight behind your hit and turns it into a powerful, ace-level back attack.”

She even went as far as to critique my technique. All of this took about twenty minutes.

Satsuki-san was already able to toss perfectly for my back-row quick attacks like it was nothing. Of course, she could also toss for standard quick attacks up front.

Something that took Hina and Mirai months to master… she did it in just twenty minutes.

“Satsuki-san, you really are amazing! My big sister’s been practicing back-row quicks with me since August, but even now, her toss success rate in full drills is only about sixty percent.”

“Honestly, I think your sister’s amazing for being able to land sixty percent of those tosses after practicing since August.”

“?? Why’s that?”

“Tossing in volleyball is incredibly delicate. Even being off by five centimeters makes a big difference. But you, Yuuri-chan, jump really high—your sister has to toss nearly a meter higher than a normal player just for you. And she does that every day, just for your sake. When we had that training camp together this summer, your highest reach was around 350 cm, right? From there, in just four months, you increased your reach by 30 cm. That’s more than five cm per month. Your sister’s been adjusting her toss little by little every day to match your bamboo shoot-like growth. Every time she adjusts, you jump even higher, and she has to adjust again. She’s been doing that for four months. And the result is a sixty percent success rate. I’d say she’s incredibly dedicated.”

...

Well... maybe that’s one way to look at it...

...

I-It’s not like I’m the one at fault here.

...

Come to think of it, Hina really liked those pudding cakes they sell at the department store in the city...

They last for over half a day if you use ice packs, so they could work as a souvenir...

I-I mean, this is totally reasonable. I’ve become a girl and started liking sweets too, and after going through what’s bound to be a tough camp, getting a pudding cake as a reward before heading home isn’t strange at all.

Yeah. Nothing strange about it.

Even if it just happens to be Hina’s favorite cake, that’s purely a coincidence. I’m not buying it for her or anything. It’s not like I feel guilty toward Hina or anything.

Besides, as Mencius said, “There is an order between elder and younger.” It’s only natural for a younger sister like Hina to respect me. And for me, her elder brother, it’s only proper to look out for her. Yes. That’s why bringing home her favorite cake is perfectly reasonable.

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Chapter 78 – Training Camp

Around the time December had passed its halfway mark. With Spring Nationals just around the corner, third-years Tobita Mai and Miyamoto Chizuru from Kinhouzan Academy were headed for Tokyo.

It was for the U-19 national team training camp, which was being held in the city.

With Spring Nationals so close, it would have been perfectly reasonable to decline the invitation. But if players from rival teams were going to be there, then for the reigning queens to skip it and prioritize Spring Nationals would’ve been a blow to their pride.

And more than anything—

“There’s one girl from Matsubara Girls’ High joining too, right?”

“Tocchan, how many times you gonna bring that up? Yeah. Yuki-chan wrote on social media, ‘One of us is going too,’ didn’t she? You already knew that.”

One from Matsubara Girls’ High would be there. Naturally, that meant Tachibana Yuuri.

They had seen the recorded footage of the Spring Nationals qualifiers. When she spiked, it wasn’t just her arms but her whole upper body that rose above the net. Reading the volleyball monthly released just the other day made that make sense.

Her max reach: 378 cm.

A raw jumper alone isn’t too scary. But unlike in summer, she now seemed to have technique as well.

If possible, they wanted to check her out before the actual match.

That was also part of their reason for deciding to attend.

“Still, if our reasons for going are things like ‘Didn’t wanna look like we were running away’ or ‘Want to scout out Yuuri-chan,’ doesn’t that make us sound kinda petty?”

“Shut up.”

＝＝＝＝＝

Tokyo, somewhere —
The venue where the All-Japan Women’s Volleyball team had trained in summer was now hosting the U-19 national team.

Even if you’re reliable teammates here, by next month you could be opponents. And so—

“It’s been a while. You look well.”

“Same to you. Glad to see you’re doing good.”

Tobita of Kinhouzan and Tsukanezawa of Ryuusenzan shook hands as they exchanged greetings. But there wasn’t much warmth in the air.

To Tobita, Matsubara Girls’ High was a fearsome unknown. But Ryuusenzan was a fearsome known.

January’s Spring Nationals, August’s Inter-High, September’s National Sports Festival—each was a narrow win. Especially Tsukanezawa standing before her—up through August, she relied heavily on raw physical power, but by September, she had added technique to her game. The video from November’s Spring Nationals qualifiers showed she’d polished it even further. Already boasting towering height and exceptional athleticism, now she had skill too. That was a lot to handle.

If one were to point out a flaw, perhaps it was her lack of teamwork? This might sound biased, but based on past experiences, there were moments where, even in situations where a Japanese player would usually pick up on the atmosphere and go along with the group, she would stick to her own way.

Meanwhile, from Tsukanezawa’s point of view, Tobita was a formidable opponent she couldn’t afford to underestimate. Her core strength and balance were remarkable. Even if the first touch was slightly off, she could still set up quick plays like it was nothing. Being teammates on the U-19 squad, Tsukanezawa had experienced firsthand just how accurate her sets were. The ball would land exactly where it was needed. Yet her form had no quirks, making it impossible to predict where the set would go when she was on the opposing team.

Her only real flaw in volleyball might be her stubbornness. Tsukanezawa had seen many of her inflexible, high-handed sets. Of all the Japanese players she knew, Tobita was the only one more oblivious to the mood than she was herself.

(If she weren’t so stubborn, I feel like we could get along a lot better...)

Unfortunately, neither of them realized they were missing each other’s good intentions.

On the other hand, some had already cleanly separated Spring Nationals from U-19 in their minds.

“Oh! Isn’t that Kanade-chan? We’re finally on the same team!”

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it, Miyamoto-senpai!”

Kinhouzan’s third-year ace Miyamoto and Ryuusenzan’s first-year ace Kanade Kindaichi were on good terms.

In the small world of competitive volleyball, players who stand out from a young age often have relationships that go beyond simple acquaintances, even if they’re from different years.

And—

“Ah, it’s Kanade!”

“Kanade! Long time no see!”

“Ah! Chika! Masami! It’s been forever!”

U-19 representatives weren’t chosen only from players who were going to Spring Nationals. From Himesaki High, which had just missed qualifying, first-years Okino and Tokumoto were also invited. Kanade, Okino, and Tokumoto had all played together on the U-16 team and had been close since then.

“We couldn’t make it to Spring Nationals, but since we got called up, we came anyway.”

“I didn’t even play in the qualifiers—I was a sub—but somehow I got picked anyway.”

“Hmm, maybe the selection isn’t just based on the qualifiers. They probably look at Inter-High and the Sports Festival too. More importantly, though—Chika, your team’s opponent in the qualifier finals was amazing! I saw the video—they said someone jumped like two meters, right?”

Flinch!

Tobita and Tsukanezawa both reacted.

“Ah, that foreign jumper, right? She was incredible.”

“When she spiked, her belly button was above the white tape on the net! It didn’t even make sense!”

“I totally thought that footage was edited! Either that, or wire-fu!”

“Right?!”

The first-years chattered excitedly.

Tobita and Tsukanezawa, listening in, were clearly affected by the conversation.

(Tocchan, Tsuneyan, if you wanna join in, just go ahead and join...)

Nearby, Miyamoto gave a wry smile and decided to throw them a lifeline. By the way, “Tsuneyan” came from the “tsu” in Tsukanezawa.

“Hey, hey. Kanade-chan, Chika-chii, Macchan—mind telling us that story too? That girl who jumps super high, her name’s Yuuri-chan, right?”

“You know her too, Miyamoto-senpai?”

“Just her name. But if we’re gonna be in this training camp together, I’d like to get along, y’know?”

Miyamoto said with a bright smile. For reference, “Macchan” was a nickname from Tokumoto Masami.

But then—

“We actually came here together with the girl from Matsubara Girls’ High, but Tachibana-san isn’t participating in this camp.”

“What?!”

“Pleased to meet you.”

Miyamoto’s shout and the new arrival’s polite greeting overlapped perfectly as the representative candidate entered the arena.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

"Got it. Your name’s Rei-chan, huh? I’m Chizuru. You can call me Chizuru-neesan."

"You don’t have to take what this dummy says seriously."

Miyamoto’s offhand comment is immediately countered by Tobita. Incidentally, it’s “dummy” (アホ) and not “idiot” (バカ) thanks to nearly three years of dorm life education in Osaka. And the one selected from Matsubara Girls' High wasn't Tachibana Yuuri—it was Murai Reiko.

"But it’s a bit of a letdown. I heard one person from Matsubara was coming, so I thought for sure it’d be Yuuri."

"Sorry that it’s just me."

"It’s not like I’m mad or anything. I was just wondering why Yuuri didn’t come."

Tobita voices a perfectly reasonable question.

"Maybe it’s because of nationality stuff? If both your parents are Japanese like you guys, you probably haven’t dealt with this, but one of her parents is foreign, right? Unless she clearly states her nationality as Japanese like I did, it can get complicated."

That comes from Tsuganezawa, who also has a foreign parent. Her mother is Dutch, but since she was born in Japan and raised by her paternal grandparents, she only speaks Japanese in her daily life.

...Her mother-given name "Annaliese" is probably weeping.

"No, it’s not a nationality issue. Yuuri was called to a different training camp, so she’s not participating in U-19 he—"

“What?!”

Reiko’s explanation is cut off by Tobita, who instantly catches on.

"Tch… Now that I think about it, that makes sense. Of course she’d be called over there…"

"Mai, what’s going on?"

"Anna, I’m pretty sure Yuuri’s in Yokohama right now."

"Ah!"

"Wait a second, Tocchan, Tsuneyan. Don’t just figure it out between yourselves. Let me in on it too."

"Before that, let’s just confirm—Yuuri is doing a 6-night, 7-day training camp in Yokohama at the same time as ours, right?"

To confirm, Tobita asks Reiko. Her answer is—

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
One day earlier
Somewhere in Kanagawa Prefecture
Perspective: Tachibana Yuuri
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

There’s this huge, fancy gym in front of me that looks like it could totally host an international match. …Well, in about nine months, it actually will.

"There you are! Yoo-hoo, Yuu! Man, with that hair and your school uniform, you really stand out!"

"Would it have been better if I wore a suit like Mika-nee?"

"You’re cute and eye-catching no matter what you wear, so it doesn’t make much of a difference, honestly."

"…More importantly, Mika-nee, why am I here?"

"Huh? You came here on your own, didn’t you? Or did Ryou-nee tag along or something?"

"That’s not what I mean! I’m asking why I was invited here!"

"Well, duh. Ryou-nee as your guardian, plus me and Hina’s family, we all agreed on it."

"What about what I want?!"

"Yuu, the world runs on democracy, okay? And Ryou-nee, me, and Hina all voted yes. You get where this is going?"

"That’s just tyranny of the majority!"

Just side note, when the Tachibana family does a household vote, there are eight total votes. The breakdown is four for Ryou-nee, two for Mika-nee, and one each for me and Hina.

It might sound unfair, but in principle, Ryou-nee and Mika-nee don’t flex their vote power and usually prioritize what I or Hina want. That said, when Ryou-nee really puts her foot down, her decision becomes the family’s direction.

"Okay, but let me flip the question—if your big sister asked, 'Come participate with me,' would you say no?"

"I’d say yes without hesitation."

"Then it’s fine, isn’t it?"

"It’s not fine! The process matters!"

I really wish they’d put themselves in my shoes.

One day out of nowhere, my homeroom teacher Sakakibara-sensei tells me, “You’ll be officially excused for the training camp, so don’t worry about school and give it your all.”

But the one who answered wasn’t me—it was Hina. And she said, “It’s okay! Our whole family is behind her 100%!” Like, how am I supposed to process that?

"But honestly, if people around you hadn’t pushed for it, I doubt you’d have signed up on your own."

…My sister really knows me too well. If they’d asked me in advance, there’s a pretty high chance I’d have said, “It’s too soon.”

sigh…

How did it come to this?

I entered the gym with Mika-nee. On the schedule posted at the entrance, under usage for the next seven days, it read:

All-Japan Women’s Volleyball Team – Domestic Training Camp

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Bonus Chapter – Data Section

Tachibana Hina

Height: 174.0 cm
Reach: 226 cm
Spike: 290 cm
Block: 284 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 2nd / 216

“Ehh~. Well, I’m the big sister, after all. So this is just the natural outcome, right?”

Tachibana Yuuri

Height: 155.9 cm
Reach: 204 cm
Spike: 378 cm
Block: 363 cm ※
Final Exam Ranking: 3rd / 216

“There has to be some mistake! I demand a retest!”

※ In actual matches, she doesn’t jump this high when blocking. If she did, she'd end up blocking with her chest or stomach instead of her arms.

Shirasagi Mana

Height: 162.7 cm
Reach: 208 cm
Spike: 283 cm
Block: 277 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 4th / 216

“The Tachibana sisters during exam week are terrifying. Just what are they fighting against?”

Arimura Yukiko

Height: 143.5 cm
Reach: 185 cm
Spike: 251 cm
Block: 243 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 7th / 216

“Once you get a good score, if the next one's bad people say the first was a fluke… so I have to keep it up…”

Nabekawa Kaori

Height: 178.8 cm
Reach: 232 cm
Spike: 298 cm
Block: 275 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 48th / 216

“To be honest, Reiko beat me in every subject except the two math ones.
Yuki, Mana—thanks for the study session!”

Murai Reiko

Height: 176.6 cm
Reach: 231 cm
Spike: 310 cm
Block: 297 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 61st / 216

“Math just isn’t going well...”
(Biology basics went fine, but Math I and Math A really dragged my score down.)

Maejima Mirai

Height: 163.3 cm
Reach: 210 cm
Spike: 289 cm
Block: 275 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 98th / 216

“We’re going to Spring High, but I don’t want people whispering ‘she only cares about volleyball,’ so I’m doing the bare minimum.”

Tohira Asuka

Height: 168.7 cm
Reach: 217 cm
Spike: 288 cm
Block: 281 cm
Final Exam Ranking: 141st / 216

“I-I work really hard at volleyball, and it’s not like I’m failing or anything, okay?”

 

Other Schools – Data

 

Kinhouzan Academy High School

Tobita Mai (3rd Year)

Height: 176.4 cm
Reach: 225 cm
Spike: 298 cm
Block: 290 cm

Miyamoto Chizuru (3rd Year)

Height: 186.1 cm
Reach: 238 cm
Spike: 305 cm
Block: 296 cm

 

Ryuusenzan High School

Tsukanezawa Anna (3rd Year)

Height: 197.3 cm
Reach: 262 cm
Spike: 322 cm
Block: 315 cm

Kindaichi Kanade (1st Year)

Height: 163.7 cm
Reach: 211 cm
Spike: 295 cm
Block: 288 cm

Nagamori Hijiri (3rd Year)

Height: 187.0 cm
Reach: 238 cm
Spike: 294 cm
Block: 285 cm

 

Keiran High School

Hirayama Mari

Height: 177.4 cm
Reach: 233 cm
Spike: 301 cm
Block: 284 cm

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Chapter 77 – School Marathon Event

 

This is the end of the update streak.

Mid-December. The final exams are over. In many ways, they’re over. Dang it…

Hina has been unbearably annoying ever since we got all our test papers back.

What was that “Of course I won, I’m the older sister” nonsense? I beat you in the last practice exam, didn’t I!?

That humiliating event is behind me now, and all that’s left is to wait for winter break… but before that, just like at the end of the first semester, there's a rush of events.

One of those is the marathon. It's held near the school—though it's actually more than a kilometer away—but anyway, the course loops once around a park and its quiet surrounding area. That’s our school’s marathon event. The distance? A solid 15 kilometers. That doesn’t change whether you’re in first, second, or third year. The only difference is the staggered starting times.

Anyway, I was dreading this marathon. It’s not that I hate running or anything.

“So why are you dreading it?”

Tajima-sensei, our P.E. teacher, asked me that during gym class before the marathon.

“The marathon takes up almost half the day, right?”

“Hm? Well, the third-years start at 10:00, second-years at 10:30, and first-years at 11:00. Some of the slowest first-years take up to four hours to finish, so yeah, it ends around 3 p.m. I guess you could call that half a day.”

“So that means we have to wait outside until the last person finishes? In December? In the freezing cold!?”

Exactly. That’s why I was dreading it. I absolutely can’t stand the cold. When I’m outside, I usually deal with it by standing upwind of Hina, who’s bigger than me—both height-wise and, well, chest-wise—and sticking close to her to block the wind. But with the marathon, I’ll be outside for a long time with no cover. If that’s not something to dread, I don’t know what is.

“Sigh… I could finish 15 kilometers in about an hour. But having to wait in the cold until the last person crosses the line…”

Please don’t call me heartless. I just really dislike the cold.

“Geez, Yuu-chan, you’re so selfish.”

Hina said that from right next to me, but I ignored her. I didn’t argue back either. If I said the wrong thing and she refused to be my windbreak, I’d be in serious trouble.

“…You seem to be misunderstanding something. The teachers stay until the end, sure, but you students can go home once you’re done running, you know?”

“…Huh?”

“Haven’t the first-years been told yet? We’ll take attendance before the race starts, but once you finish and submit your time, you’re free to head home.”

“W-Wait, just hypothetically, if I finished in about 30 minutes, could I go home after 30 minutes?”

“Haha, if you can actually run it in 30 minutes, sure.”

Yes! That fired me up instantly. Like I said, I don’t hate running. I hate the cold. And if I can shorten my time in the cold by putting in some effort, I’ll do exactly that. But for some reason, my sudden motivation made Tajima-sensei panic.

“W-Wait a second, Tachibana. There’s no way you can do it in 30 minutes. Be reasonable. It’s 15 kilometers, okay? Even the men’s world record is 41 minutes. The world record for 1 kilometer is about 2 minutes 11 seconds, even for men. So you’d have to keep a world-record pace of 2 minutes per kilometer the whole time to make 30 minutes. It’s impossible, okay?”

“Ahaha, of course. I know I can’t run it in 30 minutes. Even my best time for a single kilometer barely goes under 2 minutes 30 seconds.”

“R-Right… Wait, did you say 2 minutes 30 seconds per kilometer for a girl…?”

“My minimum goal is under 45 minutes. Ideally, under 43.”

“W-Wait a minute, that’s probably a world record!!”

Tajima-sensei said something or other after that, but I wasn’t really listening anymore.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

And so, the day of the marathon arrived. The only required item of clothing was the school-designated gym uniform, but there were no rules about shoes or anything else. I was equipped with a running watch that Yamashita-san and the others gave me—it cost 50,000 yen, had GPS, could measure lap times per kilometer, and was unbelievably light—and running shoes that were just as light. I did a bit of an unusual warm-up routine.

Now, my superhuman physical abilities come from something like magical power or ki or… I’m not really sure how to explain it, but it’s that kind of mysterious power. I can generate it inside myself, but I can also draw it in from outside. You could say it’s like external ki, if you’re into Chinese martial arts. So, to absorb some external ki, I went off a little way from the others, took a few deep breaths, and slowly regulated my breathing.

Whether I really managed to take in any ki or not—I have no idea. But you’ve gotta believe. Belief is everything.

After finishing my warm-up, I stood at the starting line. The second-years had started thirty minutes earlier, and the third-years an hour before that. I’d probably catch up to the second-years somewhere along the course.

Later on, I heard from Hina that apparently I looked so intense before the start that nobody dared speak to me.

"First-years, get ready to start. On your mark..."

Bang!

With the light sound of the electronic starting pistol, I dashed off. I don’t know if the ki thing worked, but my body felt light. I kept accelerating.

The first kilometer: 2 minutes 40 seconds. Good! Just as planned.

Just before the 5km mark, I started spotting students in the green gym uniforms of the second-years. This was probably the tail end of their group.

Passed the 5km mark in 13 minutes 22 seconds. Not bad—still on schedule.

Since I’m the type who can’t really do a huge final sprint, I’ve just got to keep running at a steady pace the whole time. So far so good.

Up to this point, I was managing a steady 2:40 per kilometer pace, but gradually my speed began to drop.

I passed the 10km mark at 27 minutes 11 seconds.

By that point, I was seeing more and more third-years in blue gym uniforms.

And then—at the finish line...

The large digital timer at the starting point read 1:43:16. Since it's shared across all years, it couldn't be helped. Considering I started an hour later than the third-years, my actual time was 43 minutes 16 seconds.

Hmm... I was aiming for under 43 minutes, though.

If I’d kept up the 2:40 pace per kilometer, I would've finished in 40 minutes. I feel like I could've pushed a little harder...

“Huh? Yuuri? Wait, don’t tell me—you already finished!?”

Someone called out to me. Huh? It must be a fellow first-year, but I thought all the first-years were still running...

I turned around to see three very familiar third-year faces. It was Eri-senpai and her friends.

“Ah, long time no see, senpai.”

Though I say “long time,” they actually came to the gym the Monday after we qualified for Spring High to congratulate us, so it’s only been about three weeks.

“They said once you finish the marathon, you’re allowed to go home. So I gave it my all.”

“Well, sure, you’re allowed to leave once you’re done, but most people wouldn’t push themselves just for that.”

“Ehh~? But staying outside in this freezing weather for hours is impossible for me…”

“Yuuri, you’re as out of sync with everyone as ever.”

For some reason, my totally reasonable opinion made them smile wryly.

“By the way, Yuuri, aren’t you getting some pork soup?”

“Pork soup?”

Looking over, I saw that Eri-senpai and the others were holding plastic bowls and disposable chopsticks.

“You didn’t hear the explanation, did you? Let me tell you—after you finish, you can get a bowl of pork soup. It’s warm and tasty.”

Ohh, I see. Looking over, there was a line of people in blue tracksuits. A few green tracksuits were scattered in there too.

“…Sorry, I don’t have the guts to line up in that crowd.”

Just imagine it—being the only first-year lining up among all those third-years. That’s pretty nerve-wracking.

“Well, yeah, I get that. We’ll line up with you.”

Still, it’s not like lining up takes forever—five minutes at most. Just chatting makes the time fly.

“—Wait, senpai, were you at the second and third qualifiers for Spring High too? You could’ve said hi…”

Turns out Eri-senpai and the others had come to support us at both the second and third rounds of Spring High qualifiers. They only missed the final round because it clashed with a mock exam.

“Sorry... but honestly, it already felt like a completely different team from when we were around…”

“I heard you even had a match against the basketball club and absorbed their skills after winning. But seeing it in person…”

“Also, when we got to the venue, it was packed, like a real prefectural tournament. And most of the people there seemed to be there for Yuuri, so it was hard to approach.”

Ahh. Now that you mention it, the stands were pretty full during the Spring High qualifiers. I think Asuka said something about scout squads from other schools coming to check us out?

“Eh?! Scouts from other schools were there?”

“Yuuri, that’s amazing…”

“Well, compared to how you were back in June, your growth is obvious to anyone.”

Ah, so it is noticeable. That’s right! I’ve grown a lot since June!

“You noticed, huh? Get this—when I measured recently, I was a C cup!”

Hehe, kinda embarrassing to say, but I can’t help it. It’s true, after all...

“Yuuri, some things about you never change.”

“Like, not even a little…”

For some reason, Eri-senpai and Miho-senpai looked exasperated. And then—

“Yuuri! You traitor! Tell me right now—how did you get bigger!?”

Yui-senpai accused me of betrayal...

“Well, first of all, I started drinking this milk brand called ‘Drops of the Earth’ that Yuki recommended—every single day…”

Then I shared the bust-enhancing tips I’d heard from Ryou-nee and Hina. Before long, even Eri-senpai and Miho-senpai were listening with serious expressions. Apparently, the tips I got were all stuff they’d done back in elementary and middle school.

While we were chatting about silly stuff like that, it was finally my turn in line. The pork soup I got was filled with ingredients, and—

“Mmm, yummy…”

Maybe it was because I was tired from the run, but the warm, hearty soup was honestly really tasty.

“Running 15 kilometers is tough, but getting this kind of delicious pork soup at the end makes it worth it.”

That was my honest impression, but Eri-senpai and the others gave me an awkward look.

“Well, Yuuri, you’re a first-year, so it makes sense you didn’t know…”

“This pork soup, the way it’s handed out every year is totally random. If you finish early, it’s full of stuff. But if you finish late, there’s basically nothing left.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen such a loaded bowl of pork soup as a third-year. Up until now, I thought the idea that this marathon had hearty pork soup was just an urban legend.”

No way. That would put the first-years—who start a whole hour after the third-years—at a huge disadvantage. That’s gotta be an exaggeration… or so I thought, but I heard later that the second-place first-year, Reiko, who lost to long-distance track team ace Hamura by a close margin, had a finishing time of around 61 minutes (121 minutes after the third-years started).

And the pork soup Reiko got? She said, “Well, it’s free, so I guess this is about what you’d expect.”

The faster first-years like Hina, Asuka, and Mirai got, quote, “one slice of pork and a single piece of vegetable.”

Yuki—who’s not great at long-distance runs (probably because she’s short and has smaller strides)—said hers was “miso soup, not pork soup.”

And those below average in the year? They got something lukewarm and watery instead of anything warm.

…Did they really need to highlight grade-based inequalities in pork soup, of all things…

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

A little story afterward

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

“Tachibanaaa! Come run track with me! You don’t hate running, right? C’mon, how about in March, after Spring High? There’s a proper marathon event where you can get an official time! I’ll run too, so let’s do it together!”

Ever since the marathon, Tajima-sensei has been pestering me with passionate “join track!” invites, and honestly, it’s getting a bit much. Apparently, my time from the school marathon beat the women’s world record, which only made his recruitment more persistent.

Now then, what am I going to do about this...

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Chapter 76 – The Spring High Feature in Monthly V-Ball

It was early December, just after the second term’s final exams had wrapped up. All that was left was to wait for the results. I felt like I’d done pretty well, but for me, it's not about getting a high absolute score—what matters is whether I beat Hina. Judging from her expression, though, she seems confident too. Can’t let my guard down.

Meanwhile, the December issue of V-Ball, a monthly volleyball magazine that Asuka is probably the only subscriber of at this school, went on sale.

On the release day, during a break, I ended up reading it together with my classmate Hina, like usual. Asuka had picked it up that morning on her way to school from a convenience store—apparently, she asked the store to stock it on release day each month.

By the way, the Tachibana household has three copies of this issue preordered at a nearby bookstore. One is for browsing, one is for keeps, and the last is for sending to our dad overseas.

On the cover of the December issue of V-Ball are the words “Spring High Special” along with high school players wearing their team uniforms, and...

“Is that a foreigner on the cover?”

A striking red-haired woman—pretty enough to rank above Asuka but below Hina—was featured.

“Look who’s talking.”

That was Hina’s line.

“You mean the red-haired girl? She’s Japanese. Her name’s Anna Tsuganezawa, and she’s half-Dutch. Like Tobita-san, your acquaintance, she was also selected for the U-19 national team.”

Oh, I see.

Despite the “Spring High Special” title, there are actually two “foreign-looking” players on the cover—myself and this Tsuganezawa person. So it’s not Asuka, the captain, but me who’s featured? Usually, Asuka would start reading from the first page, but today, she humored us.

She skipped the boys’ Spring High coverage and turned straight to the girls’ section. The first spread featured Osaka’s No. 1 representative: Kinhouzan Gakuen High School.

[The Queen Kinhouzan: Following Summer and Autumn, the Spring Title Is Within Reach. No Weakness in Sight.]

That was the headline, accompanied by photos and an article on the team. Let’s see...

Average height of 184cm (excluding the libero), the highest in girls’ volleyball. Kinhouzan triumphed in both the Inter-High and the National Sports Festival with their powerful, high-reaching play. Their ace, Miyamoto, had struggled during the Nationals but regained form during the Osaka qualifiers. With sights set on a year-long championship streak, there appear to be no weak points.

The article praised them as a well-rounded powerhouse with height, strength, and technique. In the featured players section were Mai-san and the ace, Miyamoto-senpai. With two U-19 stars leading the team, the piece basically said it’s no surprise they’re so strong.

Next up was Ryusenzan High School, Tokyo’s No. 1 representative, also on a two-page spread.

[Settle the Spring High Score at Spring High! Taking Down Kinhouzan – Fourth Time’s the Charm!]

That was their slogan. Apparently, they were champions two years ago and had won last year’s Inter-High, but ever since last year’s Spring High, they’ve lost only to Kinhouzan and now have no titles this year. With the deepest bench in the nation, they have five players selected for U-19 and two first-years previously called up for U-16.

Impressive.

Their featured players were also two people. One was Tsuganezawa-senpai, the striking girl from the cover, and the other was a fellow first-year like us named Kanedaichi, who had been the ace for U-16.

Tsuganezawa is the tallest among all registered players at 197cm, while Kanedaichi is 163cm. According to the article, they're a duo with the greatest height difference among all teams—excluding liberos.

…They specifically excluded liberos. That’s definitely because of our team. The height gap between Kaori and Yuki is 35cm, which is actually 1cm greater than theirs.

The next two-page spread was ours.

[The Smallest, Shortest, and Most Unconventional Team in Tournament History Brings the Storm!]

Well, the tagline alone is pretty rough. We’re supposedly a “dark horse,” but if we’re famous enough to be written about, are we really one? Anyway, let’s read.

[Matsubara Girls’ High School is a highly unconventional team. With only eight members, including the libero, this is the first such case in tournament history. Their average height is 168cm, three centimeters shorter than Tokiwagi Girls’ Academy, who made waves 13 years ago as the ‘Tiny Titans of the Heisei Era’ with an average of 171cm. Naturally, they rank dead last in average height this tournament. In fact, you’d have to go back before the introduction of liberos to find a team this short.]

[Including the libero, their average height drops to 165cm—the shortest since Ashiyama Commercial High School in 1974. Other unusual aspects include (omitted)…]

[Despite these disadvantages, Matsubara is not a weak team. Their ace, first-year Yuuri Tachibana, has a spike reach of 378cm. Her spikes, delivered from such height, are powerful to the extreme. National team coach Tashiro even remarked, ‘In terms of serve and spike alone, she’s already world-class—even by pro standards.’]

[The players are also known for their athleticism. Despite being the shortest on average, their spike and block reach are both above the national average.]

...Girls’ volleyball is scary. Even 168cm gets you labeled short. That means even Asuka’s considered petite.

Two players were featured for our team too—myself, and surprisingly, Yuki. Not Reiko?

[Even among the already short Matsubara Girls’ team, the two shortest players are ace Yuuri Tachibana and libero Yukiko Arimura. Tachibana’s height of 155cm is the shortest among all players excluding liberos, and even with liberos included, she ranks fourth shortest. Arimura, at 143cm, is the shortest among all registered players, and the only one under 150cm. However, just like the saying ‘Small but spicy,’ these two are not to be underestimated. As the heart of the offense and defense, respectively—]

Ah… I get it. They intentionally chose Yuki over Reiko to make a “short duo” angle featuring me and Yuki. I see. I do. But still... My shoulders trembled with frustration, and I couldn't hold it in.

“Who are you calling 155cm?! I’m 156!”

What I couldn’t forgive was how they listed my height as 155cm. During the recent physical exam, the equipment malfunctioned and measured me 2mm short, but even then I was 155.9cm. That practically is 156cm!

But neither Hina nor Asuka took my complaint seriously.

“Come on, calm down, Miss 155.”

“It’s fine. You’re still in the 150s, so you’re short either way. Right, 150-chan?”

Th-this girl! She secretly shaved off six whole centimeters!

“I’m not 150! I’m 156!”

“Isn’t it better to be underestimated for being short? Makes it easier to win. So 155’s fine.”

“Besides, being small—everywhere—is a good thing.”

“Wh-who’s small everywhere?!”

“Hmm? I never said anything about that. But I hear smaller’s easier on the shoulders, you know?”

“Exactly. Hina’s totally right. I’m actually kind of jealous of you, Yuuri.”

“That just sounds sarcastic!”

It was a hopeless battle, facing off alone against these two with their models' bodies. I had no choice but to call on a fellow member of the modest-bust club: Kayo.

“Kayo~! The bust monsters are bullying me~!”

If I said that, surely she would…

“Sorry, Yuuri, you’re the enemy now.”

“Huh? Why?!”

“Big-chests are the enemy! Off with them!”

...For some reason, Kayo had decided I was one of the bust monsters too. I don’t get it…

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Chapter 75 – Toward Spring High, Part Two

 

It’s been three days since the qualifiers ended, but I still feel that heat—no, that thrill—lingering inside me. Honestly, even though I joined midway…

On the court, students are energetically practicing from early in the morning. One of the best things about becoming a teacher is receiving that vitality of youth from your students. That kind of energy is something only high schoolers can give off. They’re full of strength and spirit from the get-go. It feels like that enthusiasm rubs off on me and gives me a boost too.

And then, one of the few troubles I’ve faced since becoming a teacher—or rather, a teacher at a girls’ school—is…

“Aa am Cee!” (I am C)

“The heck you saaay?!”

I don’t know what triggered it, but the younger Tachibana sister and Maejima started arguing.

And the topic was, well… a little...

Girls, there’s a young man right next to you, you know? Okay, maybe I’m already an old guy in your eyes, but still!

Not that I mind, but… so the younger Tachibana sister is a C cup, huh...

Wait, no no! I’m a teacher. I can’t be flustered by something like this...

One pair of high school girls wrestling right in front of me...

And from what I overhear, the younger sister is an 81 and the older one’s an F...

No! Calm down, be KOOL, be KOOL...

At times like this—precisely times like this—yes, it’s time for the classics!

The sound of the bells from Gion Shōja,
Echoes the impermanence of all things.
The color of the sal trees' blossoms
Reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline.
The proud do not last,
Just like a dream on a spring night.
The mighty fall at last,
Like dust before the wind...

Whew…

The Heike Monogatari, with its tragic beauty, truly is a masterpiece. All things must fade. Even glory eventually unravels. It’s astounding that such a powerful tale has existed in Japan for over 800 years.

Truly, the classics are the best.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Uesugi Masaru. At 30, I’ve finally come to appreciate the charm of classical literature. I’m a high school Japanese teacher.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

“Yes, thank you very much. As for the donation—”

Our volleyball team—where I’m acting as a “kinda-sorta” coach (though I take it seriously, I’m still just a complete novice with barely three months of experience)—was selected for Spring High three days ago. While it’s not quite the flurry of calls we got on the Monday after the match, we’re still getting plenty of messages offering support and donations. Since I’ve got a free period right now, I’m the one answering them, but to be honest, it’s getting a little overwhelming.

“Uesugi-sensei, how’s this for the poster?”

That voice came from Kobayashi-sensei, the art teacher. The poster he made is for collecting donations—it’ll be displayed around the shopping district.

It’s a bit of a harsh reality, but traveling to Tokyo costs money.

The round-trip transportation is one thing, but the more we win, the longer we have to stay, and in Tokyo, that accommodation cost hits hard. On top of that, the girls under my care are, by any measure, so good-looking that even most idol groups would be put to shame. If we stayed in a cheap inn, who knows what could happen. So we’ll need a place with solid security—which, of course, costs more and strains our budget.

And so, we’re asking for donations.

There’s nothing shady about it. I’m not sure how things work in volleyball, but in high school baseball, it’s completely normal. Back when I made it to Koshien, we relied on the support of every parent, the local shopping district, and our alumni association. We’re not going to go as far as some private baseball powerhouses who practically force donations, but the truth is, we can’t manage without some help.

So we had Kobayashi-sensei create the donation posters for us.

Originally, Saeki-sensei and I tried making them ourselves, but they were so bad that Kobayashi-sensei, who happened to be nearby, offered to take over—and thank goodness he did, because the final result is stunning.

“By the way, where are we posting them?”

“We’ve already gotten permission from the station area and shopping district.”

Actually, we’ve already received a few donations in advance. I’m sincerely grateful. Apparently, the Tachibana sisters shop in the local stores often, so a lot of people remember them. Well, those two do stand out. Their closeness and friendly demeanor made the shopkeepers want to support them. They're honestly such good kids, the kind you don’t see much these days.

Now then, where should we stay? Worst case, I could probably manage in a net café or something…

I’ve also looked into the usual places other teams stay during Spring High, but is it really okay for us to use those?

After all, we only have a total of ten people, including the coach and myself. That’s less than half the size of most other teams. While that does make us more mobile, inns probably think something like, “Normally we’d have 20 people staying (i.e., that much income), but if we host Matsujo, it’s only half.” That’s not great from their perspective…

Ah, and there’s the parking situation too.

We’ll be transporting things like balls, the water cooler, and other volleyball gear using the school’s minibus that I’ll be borrowing, but we’ll also need to figure out where we can park it...

Sigh... Seriously, what a handful this has turned into.

“Oh? For someone saying it’s such a hassle, you’re smiling, you know.”

That comment came from Kobayashi-sensei, who made the poster.

…Fine, I admit it. I’m enjoying every bit of this situation—every bit of this struggle. Not because I’m a glutton for punishment or anything.

But because I became a teacher to help students give their all to a sport, to chase their dreams on a national stage. Whether it’s baseball or volleyball, this is what I wanted from my teaching career. There’s no way I wouldn’t enjoy it.

＝＝＝＝＝＝

"Thank you for coming today."

"Thank you for having me."

We welcomed a man named Yamashita-san, who had come from some government department related to sports science.

The absurd physical abilities of the younger Tachibana sister.

It seems they’ve been regularly calling her to a specialized facility to collect various data, trying to find out where exactly those abilities come from. Apparently, even what she normally eats is part of their research.

And today, it seems he came to observe what kind of training she usually does at school. But since coming alone might raise suspicions, they arranged for it to coincide with the interview from V-Ball magazine.

"What kind of training does Tachibana-san usually do?"

"Let’s see—"

I explained what our regular practice looks like (cutting out all the weird parts). Yamashita-san held his head in his hands.

"I don’t get it. Scientifically, this doesn’t make sense. How is she able to maintain that level of physical performance with that kind of training intensity?"

I'm baffled too. If we ever figure it out, it’s probably Nobel Prize material.

＝＝＝＝＝＝

“She did it all tight!”

The girl, likely to be the reason behind that future Nobel Prize, was on the verge of tears, trying to get her point across.

"Saeki-sensei. Did something happen?"

"It’s nothing serious. We just measured Yuuri’s height earlier, and it looks like she shrank by 2 millimeters. She’s been lodging complaints ever since."

...Ah. Saeki-sensei doesn’t get it. She probably doesn't understand the frustration of losing height during a measurement—especially for someone like her, who is quite tall for a girl (honestly, she's taller than me).

As for me, I’m 171 cm tall. Pretty average for a guy, but back when I played baseball and aimed for Koshien, I was on the shorter side. That’s why I worked desperately to grow even a little taller. Even a millimeter increase made me happy back then.

“She did it all tight! I’m telling you, she tightened it!”

The younger Tachibana sister kept protesting, teary-eyed. Most of the volleyball team looked at her coldly (with one exception).

"Now, now. We’ve got time, so why not measure it again?"

Understanding where she was coming from, I tried suggesting that, but it got rejected. They said if they allowed that, someone would keep demanding re-measurements until they were satisfied. This wasn’t really about the height check, after all. Most likely it was for the running and standing jump measurements.

As expected...

“Yeeeees! Take that!”

“Nooooo!”

The running jump test—just a matter of running and jumping—turned into a loud celebration over wins and losses.

For reference, the one shouting triumphantly was Maejima. Her record: 289 cm. The one wailing in sorrow was Tohira. Her record: 288 cm.

For Maejima, who’s a full 5 cm shorter than Tohira, to beat her is impressive. Though, since Maejima’s position is setter, that jumping ability is kind of overkill...

Tohira’s loss is probably due to... some heavy weights in the chest and hip area—

No, no. Calm down. Time to recall some classical literature.

In spring, the dawn... the slowly whitening ridges of the mountains begin to glow faintly, with thin, purplish clouds trailing gently...

In summer, the nights... especially when the moon is out—

...

Phew...

Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book really is a masterpiece. The changing seasons come to life in your mind.

"Haha... That’s just not possible..."

While I regained my composure, Yamashita-san stood frozen in disbelief. Well, I get it. It really is unbelievable, but based on the data, it seems the younger Tachibana sister could jump high enough to clear me standing up.

Can you believe that?

Tachibana Yuuri
Height: 155.9 cm
Standing reach: 204 cm
Maximum reach: 378 cm

 

＝＝＝＝＝＝
Ekstra chapter
＝＝＝＝＝＝

After the interview for the Spring High feature ended. Practice was over, but cleanup remained. I had just finished seeing the guests off and was about to return to the gym when—

"Uesugi-sensei. Do you have a moment?"

It was Sakakibara-sensei, the first-year math teacher, calling out to me in the hallway that led to the gym. If I recall correctly, he’s also the homeroom teacher for Tohira and the Tachibana sisters.

"Is something wrong, Sakakibara-sensei?"

"Well, it’s a bit difficult to bring up, but... it’s about the recent proficiency test..."

As he said that, he showed me a piece of paper. On it was—

"I understand the volleyball team works very hard every day, but still, the primary role of a student is to study..."

"You don’t need to say any more. Thank you. I’ll talk to them properly myself."

・
・
・
・

"Tohira!!"

I swung open the heavy metal doors of the gym (which were closed since it’s winter) and called out the name of my target.

"W-what is it, Uesugi-sensei?"

"You seriously need to ask? It’s about that proficiency test!"

Tohira made a face like, “Oh no.”

The proficiency test isn’t directly reflected in their grades, but it does serve to assess their current academic level. It can also be used for future career counseling. Honestly, it’s not that important in the first year—as long as you don’t flunk it.

"You scored an average of 23 across five subjects! Are you kidding me?!"

"T-that’s so mean! Announcing my score out loud like that is a violation of my privacy!"

"The real violation is that score of yours!"

"B-but I heard it doesn’t go on the report card! And everyone else was just as bad, right...?"

Saying that, Tohira looked around at her teammates...

"Uh, no. Failing marks are still pretty shocking..."

"Asuka. Did you forget? If we get bad grades on our regular exams, we’ll be banned from club activities."

"Looks like we’ll be heading to Spring High without our captain."

"Wa-wait a second! Huh? Did everyone else actually do well on the proficiency test?"

Tohira’s argument got zero support. Of course it did.

Tohira ranked 200th out of 216 in her year. Easily the worst among the volleyball team. Even Maejima, second worst, was 117th. On top of that—

"By the way, four of the top ten students in the grade are on the volleyball team."

They didn’t crack the top five, but still, considering how late they stay to practice every day, that’s impressive.

"Four out of eight team members in the top ten? That’s amazing."

"I’m guessing it’s Hina, Yuuri, Yuki, and Mana, right? What ranks did each of you get?"

"...Well, since it’s already out that I’m in the top ten, I’ll admit it—I was 6th."

"Oh, I was just below Mana—7th."

"Hina-oneechan is amazing! She ranked 9th in the whole grade! Isn’t that incredible? She’s pretty, athletic, and smart too!"

Ah, I messed up. I just tossed fuel on the fire.

"Wow~ My big sister is so impressive. I really admire her. Isn’t it wonderful to have a smart big sister? Don’t you think so... Rank 9?"

That was brutal. It sounded like praise at first, but given that the younger Tachibana sister ranked 8th on that test, it was drenched in sarcasm. Looking over, her older sister’s shoulders were trembling.

"Yuu-chan."

"Yeees~? My super smart big sister Hina-chan?"

The Tachibana sisters were smiling at each other. Terrifying. And I always think the same thing—these two never learn.

"Onee-chan has been disrespected! Guilty! Your sentence is a hug!"

"Stop! Don’t press your chest on me!"

"How is it? Jealous? Unlike yours, mine isn’t flat or underdeveloped!"

"It’s not underdeveloped!"

"Na-na-na-na~ Flat chest! Boxy build! Kid’s meal! Toddler body!"

Seeing high school girls play around like this might be a hit with a certain kind of troubled person, but I’m a teacher. I must be virtuous. At times like these, yes—Essays in Idleness.

While I have nothing in particular to do, I write what comes to mind...

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Chapter 74 – Toward Spring High, Part One

 

“Ha!”

With a short shout of spirit, Mirai tosses the ball. However...

Three days after the Spring High prefectural finals. It’s Wednesday, 7:30 in the morning. In other words, we’re in the middle of morning practice. It’s freezing cold since it’s November, but once you start moving, it doesn’t bother you that much.

We somehow managed to make it to Spring High, but we’ve got a lot of issues to work on. One of those is me being able to participate in the offense from every rotation—in the true sense of the word.

In the recent match against Himesaki, it became clear that I can’t do quick attacks with Mirai, and that quick attacks don’t work from the back row. Also, in the fourth set, when Reiko was subbed out and I rotated to the back row, our offensive power dropped drastically and we couldn’t keep the rotation going. That flaw got exposed too.

To fix this, I need to be able to run quick attacks with Mirai, and whether it’s Hina or Mirai setting, I need to be able to do back-row quicks. If we can manage those two things, then I’ll be able to run quick attacks from anywhere on the court and keep constant pressure on the opponent.

To eliminate that pressure, they’d need to stop us from getting A-passes, which means they’ll have to go for strong hits to break through Matsujo’s defense. But our defense has a tall block, and we’ve got Yuki the defensive specialist. Breaking through that isn’t easy. There’ll likely be times they force spikes even when it’s not ideal. And when you force it, there's a chance you'll mess up, which can become a source of points for us too.

So basically, what I’m saying is—we’ve got a month until Spring High, so let’s get to a point where we can pull off quicks by then, yeah?

Incidentally, I didn’t just start practicing quicks with Mirai after the match against Himesaki. We actually started working it into practice seriously around the end of summer break. But it’s still not accurate enough to use in a match. The reason for that is—

The ball Mirai tosses with all that energy comes flying right at my face. I’d like it to be about 30 cm higher. For now, I spike it next to my face anyway.

“Mirai. The toss was low. Do it again.”

I complain to Mirai.

“Ugh! So annoying! Just hit the spike instead of being picky!”

For some reason, Mirai snaps back at my perfectly reasonable request. This is why we can’t get the precision needed to use it in a match. Her tosses rarely come at the height I want. If I had to put it into numbers, about 20% of her tosses are either too high or too low. So the success rate is around 80%. For comparison, with Hina, the toss comes to the exact spot I want with more than 99% accuracy.

But that’s only in practice—specifically, when the ball comes back on an A-pass and I’m going for a front-row quick. If the first touch is even a little off, both of them drop to around a 70% success rate.

And when it comes to back attacks, it’s even worse. In drills where we go straight from the first touch, we barely have a 50/50 success rate. No way we can use that in a match. This also shows that Hina can put the ball where the spiker wants it if the pass is clean, but if it’s even slightly off, the accuracy drops sharply.

...That said, because we also practice together on our days off, she can still get it to me even if it’s a bit off. On the other hand, with Mirai, her toss doesn’t change much even when things are a little off.

Well, I suppose that’s just part of their setter styles. But still, we need to get to a match-ready level in a month and a half. And yet...

“Geez. If it were Hina-nee, she’d always give me the perfect toss.”

“I’m not your big sister, you know!!”

This is what I’m dealing with. If she could just show a bit of honest effort and reflection, I wouldn’t be nagging like some fussy aunt...

“Haa... Mirai, you’re really small-minded.”

“Huh!?! ‘Also’ small-minded!? You’re the short one here!”

Pfft. And who said anything about height?

I can’t help but crack a smile, but I have to hold it in. Endure it, me.

Doing my best to keep a serious face, I give Mirai a couple light pats on the shoulder, puff out my chest, and say:

“I am she.”

“What the heck did you just say!?”

Grab! Mirai grabs my chest in one swift motion. Hey now.

“Whoa! That’s... big!”

And then she starts messing with it.

“Doesn’t feel like there’s anything in there, so... it’s real!?”

“Ha ha ha. Of course it’s the real deal, darling.”

Incidentally, in our house, there's a rule against using unseemly things like pads, so I’ve never used one.

“Gah! Hey, Hina!”

“That was like, what, two weeks ago? Yuu-chan was acting all smug saying, ‘My bra’s gotten tight lately,’ so we went to the store to get her measured, and, well... you know.”

Smug, huh. And what about you? You’re always going, “Ugh, my chest grew again so I have to get a new bra. Lucky you, Yuu-chan, not having to change sizes,” or whatever!

“Oh ho ho. Jealousy is so unbecoming, flat-chest.”

That said, I’ve got a more delicate build overall, so if we’re talking about pure bust size, Mirai might still have me beat. Probably.

“W-Who are you calling flat!? I’m average! You tiny thing!”

“I’m not tiny! I’m average too! Right in the middle!”

Y-You! You said the one thing that mustn’t be said! I am not tiny!

Just as we’re hurling “short” and “flat” back and forth at each other, Asuka drops the forbidden line.

“Cut it out, you two. We’re in the middle of practice. Honestly, from where I’m standing, you’re both the same—like two acorns comparing height.”

...

You really said it, huh, Asuka. Sure, from someone like her—standing at 168 cm and so... well-endowed—we must look like the tiniest little squabblers.

“Chubby.” (mumble)

“Big-butt alien.” (mumble)

“W-What!? Who are you calling chubby!? And what’s a big-butt alien supposed to be!?”

Just as things were about to escalate into a full-on catfight with Asuka joining the fray—

“Enough already! You’re in the middle of practice!”

Coach Saeki shouts, and we’re forced to get back to training.

“Haa... Please, at least behave in the afternoon. I don’t want any outsiders seeing you like this... it’s embarrassing...”

Coach Saeki mutters to herself. Nearby, Coach Uesugi is grumbling about something under his breath.

Even if you tell us to get it together...

This is us being together, isn’t it? This is what we consider “normal,” so how about it?

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

Now then, there’s a reason why Coach Saeki told us during morning practice to “make sure you behave properly this afternoon.” In the afternoon, a reporter from V-Ball, a monthly volleyball magazine that probably only Asuka reads at this school, was scheduled to come for an interview.

Apparently, the December issue will feature a special on Spring High, and they’ve decided to include us, Matsujo.

Well, we are a bit of a hot topic. First, there's me, who jumps like it’s some kind of joke, and then there’s our team—not even hitting the player registration cap, heck, not even reaching ten members. Yet every member is a beautiful girl (saying that myself is kind of embarrassing…).

Along with that, we’re also scheduled to do some physical measurements for the tournament pamphlet in the afternoon.

It’s a volleyball-specific set of measurements: height, reach (measuring from the floor to fingertip with your arm straight up), running jump (with a run-up), and standing jump (without a run-up). Just four things.

For reference, the running jump represents how high you reach when spiking, and the standing jump represents your block height. Or to put it another way, the running jump is your maximum reach.

So I was taking classes seriously (final exams are coming up and if I don’t put in the effort, Hina might beat me—no way I’m letting that happen), and before I knew it, it was after school.

I changed in the clubroom as usual and headed to the gym, where not only the magazine staff were waiting, but someone I knew quite well was also there.

“Yamashita-san. It’s been a while. What brings you here?”

“Oh, long time no see, Yuuri-kun. I happened to hear you were doing physical tests here today, so I asked the school if I could join in and take measurements as well. Ah, right! You said before that you were looking for volleyball shoes. I think these would be a perfect fit for you—what do you think?”

This Yamashita-san is someone I should probably call my part-time boss.

I got half-tricked by Mika-nee into joining the All-Japan Women’s Volleyball training camp. Apparently, I put up some kind of “off-the-charts” records there, and the staff at the time took an interest in me.

Since then, about once a month, I get called up to Tokyo to run and jump and such. Of course, it’s not unpaid—each day I go, I get a daily wage of 20,000 yen. On top of that, they cover transportation, lodging if needed, and I can eat whatever I want at the in-house cafeteria for free.

They even give me stuff like shoes. Once, they gave me a running watch that cost over 50,000 yen for free. Honestly, it’s such a cushy part-time job that I feel kind of guilty about it.

That Yamashita-san from this amazing job made the trip all the way out here just to watch me play volleyball.

Kind of eccentric, huh...

Later on, once all the members had gathered, the V-Ball magazine photographer introduced himself properly.

“Thanks for having us today. Please don’t worry about me—just practice like you normally would. I’d appreciate it if we could do brief interviews with each of you, around 5 to 10 minutes each.”

That’s what he said, but the other seven—no, all eight including Coach Saeki—already don’t have their usual expressions at all.

You guys, you think you’re being subtle, but aren't you a little too fired up about your makeup?

Back when I was still a guy, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. But now that I’m a girl, it’s painfully obvious.

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Chapter 73 – VS Himesaki High – Part 11: Conclusion

The Spring Nationals qualifiers have finally reached their final stage.

The set count is 2–2.

The score in the fifth set is 12–14. We’re two points behind.

In volleyball, the fifth set is different from the others. If you don’t consider deuce, reaching 15 points first wins the set. In other words, they’re at match point right now.

And at this extremely tense moment, it’s my turn to serve. I get the urge to just lob it in and play it safe, but if I do that, it’ll likely turn into a lost point for us anyway. The memory of the Tamaki Commercial match from the Inter-High qualifiers flashes through my mind—how we won in the end thanks to a serve error on their part.

Fuuuuuh...

Calm down. This is exactly what routines are for.

Treat practice as seriously as a real game, and think of real games as casually as practice.

I take a deep breath. The whistle blows.

Second step—toss...

Ugh! The toss drifted forward. Still, I can’t just not swing. Since the ball went forward, I can’t transfer as much power from my arms. The serve hits the white tape on the net—

For a second, I thought it was over—match lost on a self-inflicted error—but it just barely rolls over the net.

And that surprise drop-in earns us a point.

13–14.

“Yuu-chan, that was way too stressful on the heart...”

“Hina, don’t be like that. Ninja, nice serve under pressure.”

“Mirai’s right. If it were me, I’d probably have thrown up from nerves...”

“Asuka, if you’re gonna puke, please do it off the court.”

“Ugh... now I’m getting nervous too...”

Just a few seconds before the next serve. My teammates call out to me. Right... now that I think about it, am I nervous?

Now that it’s been said...

No, no—focus on the game.

I go through my routine again and steady my breathing. Second step, toss. This time it’s a floater serve. It goes to a good spot. The opponents’ serve-receive is disrupted, but their first-year setter, who came in from the fifth set, recovers it well.

Where will the attack come from? Their ace is in the back row, but they might use a back attack. Got to be on guard. The setter is in the front row, so that leaves left or center as options.

The middle comes charging in. The toss goes up—but it’s a fake. This is...

Back attack!

Their ace fires off a powerful back attack, but I manage to dig it.

...It was powerful, so the fact that I couldn’t return it perfectly with an A-pass isn’t really on me.

“Cover! Hina!”

Asuka calls out to Hina to cover the ball.

“Yuu-chan, hit it back!”

Hina sends an open toss just ahead of the attack line. That call-out was an order. With the ball's height and position, I take three steps for my approach. I’ll decide where to aim after I jump.

“Back attack! It’s fast!”

Everyone on Himesaki’s side, including their front row, drops into a defensive formation. But it won’t be that easy. Even if they’re set to receive, I’ll break through with no hesitation.

I spike with everything I’ve got. They react—but the ball doesn’t touch anyone. It goes straight in. That makes it 14–14. We’re at deuce. We need two more points to win.

The same goes for them. They must be feeling the pressure too, but there’s no sign of their fighting spirit fading. Honestly, they’ve made things tough to the very end.

For my third serve this rotation, it’s the spike serve—probably what they’re expecting. It heads to a good spot, but they manage to receive it. However, the trajectory is bringing it straight back to our side.

“Chanbo!” (short for “chance ball”)

Asuka calls it out, but there's no need to return it with a textbook three-touch play.

The returning ball is just over 3 meters high. Normally, you'd wait for it to drop and spike it from the ground, but for me, this height is just right.

“Everyone, move!”

I take a run-up, jump from behind the attack line, and meet the ball mid-air at about 3.5 meters up.

And then—

BASH!!

A direct back attack, spiked straight into the opponent's court.

Even they are stunned. Well, yeah—no one usually slams a back attack like that. If someone could, the front row would’ve done it by now.

It’s worth noting—I can do quick attacks from the back. It’s just that the ball doesn’t usually come to the right height for me to pull it off.

(For Hina and Mirai’s sake, let me clarify—it’s not that they never get it there. But to use it in a match, we’d need more practice and better accuracy.)

15–14.

My fourth serve in this rotation, unfortunately, goes out of bounds.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

“Nice serve. That was a bold one.”

“It’s okay, the momentum’s still with us.”

“Alright, now we stop them right here.”

I get encouragement after the miss.

So once again, we’re back to needing two points.

After a while—

Reiko jumps. Her form is so perfect, it could be in a volleyball textbook. And her contact point—especially for a girl—is really high.

Her spike hits the tips of the blocker’s fingers. That was on purpose. The ball, unable to be stopped completely, flies out of bounds on the opponent’s side.

Piiip!

The final whistle blows.

Phew... That match was exhausting—not just because it was five sets. If we’d lost, it would've felt twice as bad.

Spring Nationals Prefectural Final – Girls’ Division

Matsubara Girls’ High School vs. Himesaki High School

  16–25
  25–20
  25–23
  14–25
  17–15

Set Count: 3–2

Matsubara Girls’ High School advances to the All-Japan High School Volleyball Championship

Individual Awards (All selected from third-round qualifiers onward) ※1

Best Spiker
 1st: Tachibana Yuuri – Matsubara Girls’ HS, 1st Year
 2nd: Tokumoto Masami – Himesaki HS, 1st Year

Best Setter ※2
 Nishimura Saori – Himesaki HS, 3rd Year

Best Blocker
 1st: Henmi Akari – Himesaki HS, 2nd Year
 2nd: Tanabe Ayumi – Himesaki HS, 2nd Year

Best Server
 Tachibana Yuuri – Matsubara Girls’ HS, 1st Year

Best Libero
 Arimura Yukiko – Matsubara Girls’ HS, 1st Year

Best Six
 S – Setter: Nishimura Saori – Himesaki HS, 3rd Year
 WS – Wing Spiker: Tachibana Yuuri – Matsubara Girls’ HS, 1st Year
 WS – Wing Spiker: Tokumoto Masami – Himesaki HS, 1st Year
 WS – Wing Spiker: Kohryogawa Nozomi – Youkou HS, 3rd Year
 MB – Middle Blocker: Henmi Akari – Himesaki HS, 2nd Year
 MB – Middle Blocker: Murai Reiko – Matsubara Girls’ HS, 1st Year

Most Valuable Player ※3
 Tachibana Yuuri – Matsubara Girls’ HS, 1st Year

Notes:

※1
Individual awards aren’t commonly given at the prefectural level in recent tournaments, but this is fiction, so let’s roll with it...

※2
The Best Setter award is typically based on how well the setter delivers tosses that lead to successful spikes.
Normally, a higher spike success rate = good setter for spreading out blockers. But in this story, the protagonist is someone who can spike through blockers.
So, if you went by spike percentage alone, Hina would win, but since that’s due to Yuuri’s strength, not Hina’s skill, both Hina and Mirai were excluded from the selection.
Factually speaking, their technique is still behind Nishimura’s.

※3
Whether she was truly the most skilled is debatable. But when they tried to consider other candidates, Yuuri’s impact was simply too overwhelming to ignore.
She’s more of an MIP (Most Impressive Player) than an MVP (Most Valuable Player), to be honest.

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Chapter 72 – VS Himesaki High – Part 10: Not Bad

 

Himesaki High’s super rookies, Chika Okino and Masami Tokumoto, were known as cheerful, talented sports girls blessed with natural ability in volleyball, who worked hard and never lost heart in the face of adversity.

That was the public image, at least—but in reality, for the two of them, volleyball was simply a means to fulfill their desire for external validation.

They started playing volleyball in April of their fourth year in elementary school. A small local boys' volleyball club, which they would later join, distributed flyers to nearby elementary schools in an effort to recruit new members. That’s how the two of them, from different schools, ended up meeting.

At that volleyball club, they were pampered from the start. The coach and manager refrained from being too strict at first, not wanting to scare off the new recruits.

Before long, the two of them displayed exceptional natural ability. In no time at all, they were on par with or even surpassed the older fifth- and sixth-year players. Since they were outstandingly skilled, well-behaved, and exemplary in attitude, there was never a reason to scold them.

By the time they reached fifth grade, both had overtaken the sixth-years and secured spots as regulars on the team. In sixth grade, they powered through even the strongest teams in the prefecture and made it all the way to nationals.

However, while they were indeed remarkably skilled, they were also the only ones on the team who were. Whatever their personalities, their teammates simply didn’t have the same level of talent when it came to volleyball.

At the prefectural level, that might have been enough—but at the national level, winning with just two players was no longer feasible.

And yet, this actually worked out well for the two of them.

“Ahh, what a shame about that team. The setter and the ace are amazing, but the other four just can’t keep up.”

“Right? That last match—putting three blockers on the ace? That’s not something you usually see in an elementary school match. If they’d had just one more decent spiker…”

“No, what they really needed was a tall blocker…”

“No, first and foremost, they needed a good receiver. If you can’t get the ball to the setter properly, the game falls apart.”

Every time they heard people say things like that, the two of them felt like tragic heroines—and in that, they found a twisted sort of satisfaction.

By the way, in sixth grade, Okino was 157 cm and Tokumoto was 159 cm. No matter how talented they were, without even reaching 160 cm, their prospects as future volleyball players weren’t exactly promising.

“Man, those girls are really good. Though they’re just a little on the short side.”

“Exactly. If they were just five centimeters taller…”

Even those kinds of whispered remarks gave them fuel. After all, they never seriously expected to make a career out of volleyball—and even now, their height was still above average. So really, what was there to complain about?

Although they did receive offers from top private volleyball schools, they didn’t take them. Instead, the two of them went on to attend the same local public middle school—unlike in elementary school, this time together.

Their middle school volleyball experience was, in some ways, less than ideal—but in other ways, it was quite fortunate.

First, the advisor. Claiming to value “student initiative,” they didn’t provide much active coaching. However, to avoid being seen as negligent, they extended practice hours considerably.

Next, the teammates. Unsurprisingly, such a club didn’t attract many strong players, and the roster remained small.

Despite that, with what felt like the passion of a character out of a low-budget drama, the two girls inspired those around them, gradually revised training routines, strengthened the team step by step, and over three years, turned it into a squad that could actually win matches.

Even so, the stigma of being a weak team stuck around, and new members were scarce. By their third year, there were only six players total—and one of them had only started volleyball the previous fall. Yet even in such a precarious state, they managed to fight their way to the national middle school tournament.

Everyone praised them as volleyball prodigies, the driving force behind this miracle.

Around that time, Okino had grown to 170 cm and Tokumoto to 176 cm.

Now that their one apparent weakness—height—had been resolved, it was only natural that invitations from higher-level stages began to arrive. One such invitation was from the U-16 national team.

Unfortunately, they didn’t achieve much success with the U-16s. But the fact that they had gone “from a no-name public middle school to representing Japan” gave their pride all the validation it needed.

Afterward, with strong encouragement from those around them, they enrolled at Himesaki High, renowned as the strongest girls' volleyball school in the prefecture.

As you can probably tell from the gap between their mindset and their resume, Okino and Tokumoto weren’t exactly your model, wholesome sports girls.

They didn’t perform well on the U-16 team because they were overwhelmed by the difference in mindset between themselves and the others. Even now, what they truly loved was being admired—not volleyball itself.

And no one understood that better than the two of them.

It didn’t have to be volleyball. As long as they had a place where they could be the center of attention, where they could feel like queens, that was enough.

That’s why the kind of match where everything depended on their performance—where whether they won or lost came down to them—was something they’d normally want no part of. Ideally, they’d prefer a more relaxed setting, where they could look good on the surface and that would be enough.

And yet—

For some reason…

They couldn’t help but enjoy this situation—

 

Where they were being pushed to their limits.

 

Set 5. Matsubara Girls' made a major rotation change. Standing across the net from their ace Tokumoto was a petite, Eastern European-looking girl, not even 160 cm tall.

Up to the 4th set, Matsubara Girls’ rotation had been set up to ensure their monster No. 6 could serve as much as possible, but now they’d adjusted it so that No. 6 would be in the front row at the same time as Tokumoto.

There was only one meaning to this: it was the anti-ace shift that Matsubara Girls had shown as a test in the Spring Nationals Prefecture 2nd Qualifiers, and then used against Youkou High in the Prefecture 3rd Qualifiers—a tight man-marking block by the monster No. 6 on the opposing ace.

Usually in volleyball, multiple blockers are assigned to powerful spikers. But Matsubara Girls' strategy was the complete opposite.

It was a one-on-one mark by the monster No. 6, who boasted overwhelming height and reflexes. Other blockers were positioned slightly to the right of center so as not to get in the way, allowing No. 6 to move freely side-to-side when jumping for a block. Moreover, they completely ignored any ball that didn’t go to the ace—an absolute commitment to their strategy.

And to top it off, unlike the Youkou High match, they even altered their rotation just to match up with Tokumoto’s. Letting her score 14 points in the 4th set must’ve really hit them hard.

This was a tactic that only worked because of No. 6’s exceptional blocking ability—and indeed, her blocking skill was extremely high.

Even the off-timing spikes that Tokumoto had been using since the second half of Set 3 couldn’t get past her. With such a tall block, even if the ball dropped a few centimeters below its peak, it still couldn’t clear. While No. 6 was on her, Tokumoto’s kill rate dropped significantly.

Of course, Himesaki didn’t just sit back and let it happen without a plan.

First was the decoy strategy to confuse the blocker. It was useless—No. 6 stuck to Tokumoto without taking the bait.

Next was a quick attack with a first-tempo spike. No. 6 easily reacted and blocked it.

Then came a strategy to shake her side to side during the spike. But the opponent was too quick—no matter where she jumped, Tokumoto couldn’t shake her off.

A delayed attack. Back in June, that would’ve worked, but now, it didn’t fool her at all.

Varying the spike course left and right. Even though complaints came from the other team—“Don’t wave your arms around so much when you block!”—it was still stopped. Despite being a solo block, she always managed to get a hand on the ball.

Currently, the most effective strategy was—

“I figured out how to deal with No. 6’s block. If she’s going to stop the ball no matter where I hit it, then I might as well aim for her block. The trick is to hit the tips of her fingers—around the first joint of her middle finger. If you hit any lower, she’ll just push the spike back using finger strength alone. Honestly, with a face that cute, she’s got power like a gorilla.”

The current score was 4–3. They had a one-point lead, but now it was No. 6’s turn to serve. Then again, that also meant she would be in the back row for the next three rotations.

A timeout was called to emphasize that point, but that’s when Himesaki’s ace said something incredible.

“No, seriously, we’re going to aim for—”
“Ah, yeah, I figured that’s our only real option,”

The one who casually agreed with that outrageous idea was the setter, Okino.

“But you know, aiming for the fingertips takes a lot of focus.”
“Right? And if your control is even slightly off, instead of a block-out, your spike might not even touch the block and go wildly out of bounds. That’s why we don’t usually go for it.”
“That’s so you, Masami. Always playing it safe instead of taking risks.”
“I’d prefer you call it ‘being steady,’ thank you very much…”

Just casually dropping bombs, both the ace and the backup setter.

“Wait, Masami… are you saying you can aim for the first joint of the fingers when you spike?”
“??? Of course, senpai. You all can too, right? We’ve always been taught to aim for the fingertips during block-out drills.”
““““No no no no.””””

That’s not something most players can do. The time between jumping and hitting the ball isn’t even a full second. Aiming cleanly for the tip of someone’s finger in that brief moment? That’s not something ordinary players can pull off.

When coaches say “aim for the fingertips,” they mean it as a general goal—not literally hit that exact spot. Players who can actually do it are extremely rare.

“??? Chika? Did I say something weird? You can do it too, right?”
“If the toss is good, yeah. But not if it’s a second ball or too far from the net.”
“Well, obviously even I can’t do it in that case.”

...Looks like Himesaki’s first-years are quite the monsters themselves.

“Also, I think we don’t need to force a showdown with No. 6. Our center line is taller than theirs, so we should let Henmi-senpai and the others take some swings too. So I’m counting on good receives. They don’t need to be perfect—just get the ball to me, the setter, and I’ll make sure to set it up right.”

Up until now, for Okino Chika and Tokumoto Masami, volleyball had been a game where their overwhelming talent carried the fight.

But that wasn’t the case anymore.

Now, every court player was fulfilling their role at a high level. And from that, a higher-level style of volleyball was being born.

It wasn’t just the two of them. It was six players, thinking creatively and working together—and that kind of volleyball wasn’t bad at all.

After that, no matter how careful they were, No. 6’s serve was intense, and they gave up the lead during that rotation.

But once that passed, it was No. 6’s turn in the back row.

With the opponent’s offensive power reduced, they took the lead again—until No. 6 returned to the front row, and then...

The first to reach match point was Himesaki High.

But Matsubara Girls added one more point, making it 14–12.

And then—monster No. 6 came up to serve for the second time in the 5th set.

Everyone, both on and off the court, thought the same thing:

This rotation will decide the match.

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Chapter 71 – VS Himesaki High – Part 9: The Skillful Spiker

  

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Spring High – Prefectural Final Qualifiers – Girls’ Finals
During the 4th Set
From the Girls' Locker Room Attached to the Gymnasium
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

While the girls’ final match was underway in the arena with the 4th set in progress, Himesaki High’s girls’ volleyball team captain, Nishimura, was in the girls’ locker room with the team manager, Higashide.

Earlier, when she showed her left hand to the doctor in the medical room:

“We can’t do anything beyond first-aid here. Please head to the hospital as soon as possible.”

That’s what she was told.

Indeed, without even being able to take an X-ray here, it was impossible to know whether it was broken or dislocated. On the other hand, while she was told to hurry, it wasn’t an injury where every second counted. It did hurt, though.

Even though it was mid-November, with a proper warm-up and having played the full match up to the third set, she had worked up quite a sweat.

Going to the hospital in her sweat-soaked uniform felt inappropriate, so Nishimura and the manager decided to change clothes in the locker room before heading out. Her left hand hurt terribly, though.

The injury was to her left pinky, not her dominant hand, so changing clothes wasn’t too difficult. In the meantime, the coach would bring the car around to the venue entrance. Rather than calling an ambulance or a taxi, it would be quicker to go in a car already here at the venue.

Knock knock

“Excuse me.”

Someone politely knocked and spoke before entering the locker room. A janitor? Though the voice sounded too young for that—

“I’m terribly sorry!”

The person who came in and bowed deeply was the No. 3 ace-class player from Matsubara Girls, still in uniform.

“...? You’re from Matsubara Girls…”

She thought for a moment about why she was being apologized to.

“Oh, you mean that thing at the end of the third set? Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t on purpose, right?”

She tried to lighten the mood by adding, “If you could do that on purpose, that’d be really something,” and laughed, but the girl only looked more distressed.

“Seriously, I’m joking. Things like that are bound to happen somewhere, sometime, when you play volleyball. So don’t freeze up like that!”

And then, the one who had come to apologize ended up being the one who was consoled.

“Um… Murai-san, was it? It’s fine, really. This was just an accident. More importantly, get back to the court. If you don’t go now, you’ll regret it later.”

“But I hurt you—”

“I once injured a teammate, too.”

Cutting off Murai, who was still trying to apologize, Nishimura began telling her own story.

“April of my second year. I hadn’t made a single appearance in an official match, and I was desperate. I got into high school on a recommendation, so I really felt the pressure. So during a practice match, I tried to stand out by being aggressive and went for a ball that was supposed to be someone else’s. The other person thought it was hers, too, so we both went in at full speed—and collided. I was fine, but she ended up with a concussion and couldn’t practice for about three days. That ended up traumatizing me, and I couldn’t chase the ball for a while after that. As a result, I didn’t appear in a single official match that whole year.”

“….”

“I finally got back to chasing the ball because the teammate I injured got mad at me. When I kept moping and saying it was my fault, she told me to stop making excuses and just play volleyball. She said it couldn’t be helped because we were both giving it our all, and that’s just how accidents happen. She was in the same year as me, also recommended into the school, also hadn’t played in matches. Just like she forgave me back then, I forgive you now, Murai-san. Now go back to the court. I couldn’t bounce back right away, and I missed my chance to play. This injury isn’t life-threatening or anything. But if you lose today, Murai-san, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. You’ll wonder if you’d been on the court, maybe your team could’ve won.”

“….”

Murai fell silent, her expression different than before.

“Oh, you’re thinking, ‘Would the team really lose just because I’m not out there?’ aren’t you? Let me be clear: yes. That’s right. Murai-san, you might not know this, but our ace Masami—when she’s in top form, she’s incredible. You’re either the only one who can stop her by height, or… maybe someone else from Matsubara—”

“Oi, Nishimura. Are you still changing? The car’s ready.”

A man’s voice called from outside the locker room—it was Himesaki’s coach.

“Sorry! I’m coming! …Anyway, I’ll be fine. What I don’t want is for you to say later, ‘If I had been out there, we wouldn’t have lost.’ So go back out there.”

At this moment, Murai had no idea—
That Matsubara Girls had already fallen behind by a wide margin in the 4th set…

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Point of View Change
Same Time – Arena
Yuuri Tachibana's Perspective
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

"Chika! One last set for me!"

"Alright! Masami!"

Tch… here it comes again.

I didn’t know this before, but when someone blatantly uses an open toss, it’s like they’re saying, “Your block is so flimsy, I’m not scared at all.” It really gets under your skin.

The reason they’re going with an open toss is because just before that, Asuka had fired off a razor-sharp straight spike. It was received, but rather than a clean receive, it was more like they just barely managed to pop it up. Then their setter used a two-step toss to set up their ace.

And then—

Piiip!

Another lost point. Now we're down by six.

What’s frustrating is that the opponent truly doesn’t care about our block and just smashes it through. And our block doesn’t even graze the ball.

The fourth set started without Reiko.

Well, that’s what happens when you injure someone...

Back when I sent someone to the infirmary during our match with Tamaki Commercial, I was beside myself. And this time, the injury is visibly serious—either a fracture or a dislocation, something fairly severe.

That’s why Reiko said she was going to apologize and left the arena. We all understand how she feels. Whether or not the other team accepts the apology is another matter...

She’s not going to apologize just to be forgiven, but because she sincerely wants to say sorry. That part, we respect.

The problem is on our side.

In place of Reiko, Mana is on the court. Mana’s trained to handle multiple positions smoothly so she can step in when someone’s injured. Her average skill level is high, but she just can’t match Reiko’s impact.

And the biggest issue—height.

Currently, for our Matsubara team—

It’s not just me—even Reiko often ignores the block and spikes against shorter teams. That’s exactly why this situation feels so abnormal. Not even Reiko, let alone Asuka, Mirai, or Mana, could spike through a block without even grazing it.

And the opponent’s ace is the same height as Reiko. Reiko’s jumping ability is far beyond your average high school girl. There shouldn’t be anyone out there who can jump like Reiko…

Yet, it’s like the ball is passing straight through. What kind of trick is this? During that last timeout, Coach Saeki and Asuka were saying things like, “They’re messing with our jump timing,” but still…

While I’m lost in thought, the next rally begins. It’s their serve.

The course is a bit tough, but Mana lifts it with precision. Maybe they assumed she couldn’t receive because she’s a sub? Don’t underestimate her! Mana’s better at receiving than me, who’s been playing nonstop (self-burn).

The ball Mana lifted gets tossed by Hina. A classic A-quick. Asuka hits it—but they pick it up.

This is the hard part.

If we go by textbook strategy, we’d attack from center with a B-quick, meaning Mana would spike—but with Mana’s height, it’s tough to get it past Himesaki’s blockers without a decoy.

So Hina probably opted to go left with Asuka’s spike, but even that lacks finishing power.

We’re a team that functions because either Reiko or I draw attention as the main spiker. That’s what makes the other spikers effective.

With Reiko gone, it falls to me—but I’m in the back row. We can’t rotate unless we score. But we can’t score unless we have a solid finisher.

Asuka’s spike gets picked up by the libero. Then their setter tosses it again…

Is it just my imagination? Since the fourth set, their ace seems to be jumping just a bit higher…

If the spike goes past our block, then all we have to do is defend the course the block would’ve covered—

...And she drops a feint here!? If you’re going to fight, do it fair and square!

...

...

...

...She’s a high school girl, not a guy...

Seven points behind. The gap widens again...

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Spring High – Final Prefectural Qualifiers – Girls’ Final
Right After the End of the Fourth Set
From the Commentary Booth
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

"Looking back at the third set, which ended in a bit of disarray after the injury, and the recently concluded fourth set, what are your thoughts?"

"Volleyball has really changed—that’s my honest impression. Back when I was a player, when the balls were still solid white, things were different. Back then, it was all about underhand receives. Especially in the girls’ game, even spikes rarely led to points, and the team that controlled the rallies usually won. Serves weren’t something you could aim to ace with—it was normal for them to be returned. Then came the libero rule, and tall players who struggled with underhand receives stopped playing in the back row. The point system changed to rally scoring. And above all, volleyball has become more powerful. It’s a little frustrating to admit, but the ball moves so much faster now than in my playing days. You can’t pick it up like we used to. In the third set, Tachibana—the shorter one from Matsubara—scored seven points just off her serve. They scored thirteen in total during her serving rotation. That was thanks to her strong serve disrupting the receive and setting up easy returns for their powerful spikers to convert into points. In the fourth set, it was Tokumoto. That’s it. This is the Tokumoto I saw last year at Nationals when she was at her peak. I finally got to see the Tokumoto I know. Honestly, I took today’s commentary gig just to see her like this."

"Coach Tashiro has high praise for Tokumoto. She scored 14 points in the fourth set alone. Why do you think her performance took off in that set?"

"Part of it was probably that she was fired up after her captain, Nishimura, had to leave due to injury. But I also think it had a lot to do with the setter change to Okino. The setter is the hardest position in volleyball. They act as the playmaker—reading the opponent, evaluating teammates, and figuring out who today’s ace will be. But their main job is ‘setting the ball at the right height and position for the spiker.’ That’s incredibly tough. Every player’s ideal height is different, down to the centimeter. Plus, their condition varies from day to day. So setting the perfect toss is nearly impossible. Only a few rare talents can do that for all spikers. But in this case, Tokumoto and Okino have played together since elementary school. Probably, the person who can give Tokumoto her ideal toss better than anyone in Japan is Okino. She knows her so well that even just a few centimeters’ difference made all the difference in the fourth set."

"Excuse me, but can just a few centimeters in height really result in such a high scoring rate?"

"Good point. Of course, it’s not just about height. From the latter half of the third set, Tokumoto started varying her spike timing—sometimes hitting immediately, other times waiting a beat in the air. For Matsubara’s blockers, that’s incredibly tough. Tokumoto already spikes from an outstanding height. Normally, the blocker has to jump at the same timing to match her. But with her mixing up the timing, it throws them off. That kind of finesse comes from her years of experience."

"Now the set count is 2–2. While the numbers show an even match, what do you predict for the fifth set?"

"I want to say Himesaki has the momentum after winning the fourth set, but once Murai returned, Matsubara held their own again. Some might say this contradicts my earlier point, but the team that plays careful receives will win. Both teams have excellent spikers. The key will be how cleanly they can set up their ace, and how much they can prevent the other team from doing the same."

"I see. The finals of the Autumn Girls’ Volleyball Tournament—what a match fitting of a final. The winner will be decided in the fifth set.

Unlike the earlier sets, the fifth set is a race to 15 points. Only the winner will move on to the Spring High. It all comes down to this—heaven or heartbreak. The fifth set is about to begin."

Spring High – Final Prefectural Qualifiers – Girls’ Final

Himesaki High vs. Matsubara Girls’ High

Fourth Set: 25–14

Set Count: 2–2

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