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.
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“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.
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"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.
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“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
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Ekstra chapter
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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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