“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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