Day three of high school life as a girl.
Right now, we’re in the middle of the sports test that spans periods 1 and 2. First period just ended. For the second period, we’re heading to the gym to continue testing. The events there are probably the usual: grip strength and side-to-side jumps.
"Yuuri, you were amazing! Everyone was so surprised! Did you use to play any sports?"
The one casually calling me by name only three days after school started is Seta-san, who’s two numbers ahead of me on the attendance list—just one ahead of Hina.
Seta-san has some serious social skills. She’s been helping a weirdo like me (officially a war refugee from a country that had a civil war, and on top of that, a child born from an affair) blend into the class. Thanks to her, I’ve already spoken to a few classmates. Just three days in, and she’s already one of the central figures in Class 2. Pretty sure she’s the type who’s going to get stuck being class rep during the next homeroom period.
"I don’t really remember doing anything in particular... Oh, but after coming to Japan, Mika-nee taught me a lot."
"You mean Mika-nee, as in Tachibana Mika, who made the national volleyball team? Asuka was just talking about that earlier."
Dammit, Tohira-san. Stop spreading info about my sister to everyone.
"Hey, Tachibana-san. So, have you two changed your minds about joining the volleyball team?"
Completely ignoring my inner protest, Tohira-san is back to recruiting us again.
"Nope. And also, don’t go telling people about our sister without asking. Seta-san just said she heard about Mika-nee from you."
"Ehh~? But why not? I mean, she’s on the national team! One of the best players in Japan! For anyone who plays volleyball, she’s someone to admire! Everyone should know about her!"
Hina and I exchanged glances. Looks like she’s given up on reasoning with her too.
"If you want more members, how about recruiting someone other than us? Like that girl who did ten pull-ups earlier. She was amazing. And I think she’s about the same height as me, so over 170cm, right? Just being tall is a big advantage in volleyball."
"You mean Murai-san? I already asked her. She said 'yes'."
...That was fast. She’s already asked her? And got a 'yes'?
"That look on your face—you don’t believe me, huh? Fine, you’ll see. You’ll believe it if you hear it from her yourself. Heeey! Reiko-chaaan!"
Tohira-san waved to call Murai-san over. Wait, she’s already calling her -chan? That’s impressive in its own way.
"You called, Tohira?"
"Yep! You probably know them already since we’re in the class next door, but let me introduce you. This beauty here is Tachibana Hina-san, the older sister and a former volleyball player. And this cutie is the younger sister, Tachibana Yuuri-san. You probably noticed during the sports test earlier, but she’s a super athletic, all-around superstar!"
Then she turned back to us.
"This is Murai Reiko-san, who’s going to be on our team. She used to do gymnastics, so she’s really athletic. She didn’t stand out as much during first period because Yuuri-chan was just too good, but she scored above average on every event!"
"...Um, we never said we’re joining the volleyball club."
"More importantly—Murai-san, do you even know what Tohira-san’s aiming for?"
"I do. She said we’re going to win nationals."
"You say that so easily, but that means the training is going to be super intense, you know?"
"?? Of course it will. If we’re aiming to be number one in Japan, then it only makes sense for our training to be the toughest in Japan, right?"
"And you’re confident you can handle that?"
"Honestly, I don’t know since I’m a complete beginner at volleyball. But giving up before even trying isn’t my style. And I do have confidence in my physical ability."
"You say that so easi—WAAAH!!"
In the middle of the conversation, Tohira-san suddenly shouted.
Her gaze was fixed on a group of students wearing red first-year gym uniforms.
Our class groups (1–3) did the outdoor tests during first period and would move to the gym for second period. Groups 4–6 had the reverse schedule. So the students in front of us were probably from groups 4–6.
Among them, one girl stood out—very short, definitely under 150cm, probably around the low 140s. Tohira-san charged right at her.
"You’re Arimura-san, right? From Sunagawa Middle School?"
"Yeah, that’s me. Who are you?"
The short girl, apparently named Arimura, looked suspiciously at the suddenly-approaching Tohira-san. But Tohira-san isn’t the kind of person who backs down over something like that.
"I’m Tohira Asuka from Shirasawa Middle School. I’m looking for people to join the volleyball club."
"Oh, then it’s fine. I already submitted my application. Glad you know who I am—then you must know, I’m aiming to be a libero..."
Upon realizing she was talking to a fellow volleyball player, Arimura let her guard down instantly. That was fast.
"You need six players besides the libero to form a team, right? But don’t worry. Including myself, I’ve already got four others. That makes five first-years. If we count the upperclassmen too, we’ve got enough for a match!"
Heeey. You’re getting all excited over there, but just so we’re clear—we never said we were joining!
"Why don't you give up on recruiting us already?"
"I won’t."
"Tohira-san, why are you only so persistent with us? You give up right away when others turn you down, don't you?"
The scene changes to the gymnasium. The events here are grip strength, sit-ups, seated forward bend, side-to-side jumps, and vertical jumps. As usual, there are only a few pieces of equipment, so we end up waiting around more than actually doing anything. And when there’s more waiting time, there’s more time to kill by chatting.
"That’s because the two of you turn me down differently. It’s not just, ‘Practice is hard, so I can’t do it.’ It’s, ‘Practice is hard, and no one else can keep up with it, so we won’t do it.’ That’s a big difference. That’s why I won’t give up. I know full well that putting in effort is tough. And you two understand that too, right? You’re saying you won’t do it because no one else can keep up—flip that around, and it means you two can."
"I wouldn’t go so far as to say we can, but yeah, we do understand how hard it is to put in real effort. But still… after all that effort, then what?"
"I can’t let that one slide."
When I turned around, Murai-san was standing there.
"Tachibana, are you saying you can’t put in the effort unless there’s something in it for you? That effort that isn’t rewarded has no value? In sports, only a tiny handful of people make it to the very end. Most people never get the results they wanted and end up losing. So what, then? Should those people just never bother in the first place and spend their time doing something else? Why do you hate the idea of effort so much?"
"It’s not that I hate effort, but…"
Now what? The real reason Hina hates volleyball—or rather, the effort involved—is because back in elementary school, she was so good that the team became reliant on her alone, turning it into a one-girl show. But it’s not my place to say that out loud…
While I hesitated, Hina started speaking herself.
"Back then, I did a little volleyball myself. Just a bit—from the fall of fourth grade to the summer of sixth. The team I was on had Mika-nee in it before me, and during her time, they even made it to the National Elementary School Tournament once."
"Wow! So your big sister was amazing even back in elementary school!"
"Yeah, she really was. Mika-nee was amazing from the start. And people started expecting the same from me. To get stronger, you need a lot of practice. But… well, I think you can guess the rest. That’s the kind of situation it was—so—"
"Then that’s no problem at all! Because I’ll definitely practice more than you—"
"You two, stop chatting and get into position! We can’t start the side-to-side jumps until you do!"
Before Tohira-san could finish her passionate speech, she was cut off by the P.E. teacher (not Tajima-sensei from outside, but a young female teacher).
By the way, I scored 84 on the side-to-side jumps. Most classmates got around 40, so I more or less doubled their scores. Naturally, everyone was stunned.
"Tachibana-san, we didn’t finish talking earlier—but let’s play volleyball together. I swear I’ll work harder than you!"
"Tachibana, I think I get what you were trying to say earlier. But don’t worry. In my dictionary, the word ‘relying on others’ doesn’t exist."
"Sigh… Fine. If you’re going to go that far, I can’t say for sure that I’ll meet your expectations, but I’ll join. But let me be clear: If I’m doing this, I’m doing it properly. You said you want to aim for the top, right? Then I’ll train for that—and everyone else better be ready to do the same."
"Absolutely. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear!"
"And what about you, Yuu-chan? Your onee-chan decided to join, but you should make your own choice. Practice is going to be pretty tough, you know?"
Now then, what should I do?
"…If I don’t join some club, the recruitment hounding will never stop, so I’ll join the volleyball club with Hina-nee."
I went too far during the sports tests. Not just the track and field club, even the basketball and softball clubs have been trying to recruit me. If I don’t join some club, they won’t let up. I guess this is fate—I’ll join the volleyball club.
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