Interlude – Ichikawa Makiko, Part 1

 A story of Yuuri seen from someone else’s perspective

 

I, Ichikawa Makiko, was bewildered by an unprecedented situation.

Apparently, on the first day of the Inter-High qualifiers last week, some idiot caused a major scandal.

A student from Nanba High School—a private boys’ school known for its excellence in both academics and athletics—allegedly groped a female student from Matsubara Girls’ High School. The girl, unable to bear it, fought back and knocked him out cold with a single blow. He was then taken to the hospital by ambulance.

First of all—why would a Nanba High student stoop to something so vulgar? Then again, with so many students, there’s bound to be a few bad apples. Still, getting knocked out with one hit by a girl? LOL.

Anyway, because of this incident, the tournament schedule got completely messed up. The coach of Nanba High is someone important in the prefectural high school volleyball federation. Since the problem came from within their own school, it seems they couldn’t just ignore it.

• Nanba High’s volleyball team has suspended club activities (though this is reportedly under reconsideration due to a petition from the victimized girl).

• To prevent a repeat incident, there’s a proposal to separate the match venues—or at least the match times—between the boys’ and girls’ teams (though this is also under reconsideration after the victim raised a very reasonable objection: “It would be far more disruptive to monopolize a shared gymnasium for multiple days over something like this.”)

Yeah… that second one is super annoying♪

Fine, reflect on your own time, but don’t drag other schools into it!

Because of this, we now have to play two matches in the afternoon today (if we keep winning, that is). Frankly, this is ridiculous. This absurd decision is making local headlines daily, called an overreaction by the federation.

I mean, sure, the girl who got groped must be cute if she attracted that kind of attention—but come on, she’s been a girl for over fifteen years, right? With that face, she should’ve known how to avoid that kind of situation before it got out of hand. Seriously.

At the word “cute,” I thought of my own face. Honestly, my face is really masculine. I get told all the time that I could play a male lead in a musical troupe even without makeup.

And just because my facial muscles don’t move much, people say I’m “cool and unshaken even in a crisis.”

Back in elementary school, I was constantly mistaken for a boy. Even in middle school, if I wasn’t in uniform and just wore a tracksuit, people would think I was a guy. My voice isn’t cute either—it’s kinda deep.

But I’ll admit this much: as a “handsome girl,” I’m pretty well put together, and while my voice is low, it’s a clear tenor. So I know I’m popular with other girls.

…Take last year’s Valentine’s Day, for example. I got over a hundred chocolates from classmates, seniors, and juniors combined. Way more than any of the guys in my class.

Still, they were probably just “friend chocolates.” Totally friend chocolates. Even if some were fancy handmade ones, or came with a red face and a “I like you”—they had to mean as a friend.

Even if they said “I like you,” they definitely meant it in a friend way. I want a guy to fall for me too, you know.

I’ve been confessed to by other girls plenty of times. But not once by a guy.

Which is why I always think:
Girls who are pretty in a way that guys like? Guilty!

And today, if all goes well for both sides, we’re supposed to play against that Matsubara girl. Hmph. If that happens, I’m aiming my spike right at her face.

We gathered at school at 11:30. After riding the microbus driven by our teacher for about an hour, we arrived at today’s venue just before 1:00 p.m. The match starts in an hour—seriously, come on――――――

 

That’s when a jolt ran through my whole body.

 

How can I describe this? At the very least—she was an ultra-beautiful girl. You know how on TV they talk about “once-in-a-century beauties” or “Miss So-and-So”? She blew all that out of the water. A true super beauty.

I don’t have a great vocabulary—my language test scores hover around 53—but all I can say is that she was unbelievably cute.

Ah—she smiled! Incredible! Girls can smile that adorably?! And her voice—so cute I could hear it clearly!

Wait. Isn’t that kind of unfair? Like, biologically unfair? Is she even human?

No way. She can’t be human. That has to be an angel! She must be a real angel who descended from the heavens!

…Hold on. That uniform she’s wearing… isn’t that the Matsubara Girls’ uniform? Then—she’s the girl from that incident last week?!

I’m going to file a mountain of complaints with Nanba High later. I mean, groping an angel?! What the hell?! What would they have done if she’d decided to go back to heaven, huh?!

…Come to think of it, there’s another weird rumor about Matsubara Girls’ High.

Apparently: “The foreign girl at Matsubara can jump 3.5 meters.”

Totally absurd, right? But if it’s about this angel, I wouldn’t even question it.

The women’s world record for vertical jump is around 3.3 meters, right? And that’s from someone nearly 2 meters tall. For angel-chan to jump 3.5 meters, she’d have to jump 1.5 meters straight up. That’s impossible for girls—or even guys.

Which means… there must be other Matsubara players hidden somewhere outside the group in front of us――――

“Hey, Ichikawa! What are you doing? We don’t have time. Let’s go!”

I heard the coach’s deep voice. Right. I need to focus on the first match for now.

==================

I seriously have more than a few things to say to the officials who made this schedule. Opening the venue at 1:00 p.m. and starting matches at 2:00? Are you kidding me?

That might be fine for the boys, but girls can’t just change out in the open like that. We have to use the locker room. And putting four schools in there at once—when we’re about to play each other—is beyond awkward.

Even though we wear our uniforms under our tracksuits, we still want to keep our stuff in a secure locker. So, we head to the girls' locker room—but it’s probably packed.

Grumbling internally, I made my way to the locker room—

And for the second time that day, a jolt ran through my whole body.

 

Pink! A pink sports bra!

 

In the girls’ locker room, angel-chan was changing.

So bold!!!

No—this is bad! That’s not allowed! You’re way too cute! A perverted lady might actually pounce on you!

And what’s with that skin?! Just because she’s a foreigner doesn’t mean she has to be that pale and perfect! As expected of angel-chan. She’s clearly not the same species as us.

Wait!! This is really bad! If I keep looking at angel-chan’s half-dressed body, I’m going to get a nosebleed!

I quickly stashed my stuff in the locker and made a beeline for the bathroom.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

After that, I washed my face in the bathroom a dozen times. I finally cooled my head. As I tried to head toward the court—

It happened for the third time that day. Once again, electricity surged through my entire body.

 

Yo-Yo-Yokota! What the hell are you doing!?

 

Not only are you hugging the angel-chan, you're stroking her hair, poking her cheeks...
And now you're touching and massaging the soft girl parts of angel-chan!?

What an outrageously enviable act!

And what's worse, even though angel-chan was saying “Geez, stop it, Saya-nee,” she looked like she was having fun with a smile on her face.

Yes, did you hear that? She called Yokota "Saya-nee" — with a cute nickname!

Ughhh!!! I want to be Yokota right now! As her senpai, I have to step in and say something!

Ah, but now I know angel-chan’s name is Yuuri-chan. Good job on that front!

"Yokota. What are you doing?"

Heh. I added a bit of anger to my tone — gave the air a little edge.

"!! Ichikawa-senpai!"

Yokota looked over in surprise. Good. Count your sins, fool!

“Yokota. Is that girl your friend?”

Start with a light jab. If things go well, maybe I can get her to introduce angel-chan to me.

"Y-yes! She's my best friend from middle school!"

Best friend? You said best friend?! Ughhh. I'm so jealous that such a cute girl is your best friend!!!

“Judging from the uniform, I’d say she’s from Matsubara Girls’ High. Getting too chummy before a match might come back to bite you.”

“It’s fine! Hina is my rival, so meeting like this just fires us up! Like, ‘I won’t go easy on you in match two!’ That kind of thing!”

Huh? So the tall one seems to know Yokota. Is angel-chan more like a mascot or something?

Looking over, angel-chan and the others are watching me with worried expressions.

Ugh, don’t look at me like that. I am kind of chewing out my junior, but if angel-chan looks at me like that, I can’t keep going!

Gotta soften the mood!

“I see. That’s fine, then.”

That’s it! This is our first meeting, so isn’t now the perfect time to introduce myself?

“It would be rude not to introduce myself now. Nice to meet you—I’m Makiko Ichikawa, third-year at Tamaki Commercial. Let’s have a good match today.”

I offered both my hands. I hoped she’d shake them.

"I-I'm Tachibana Hina, first-year at Matsubara Girls. This is my sister, Yuuri.”

"I'm Yuuri. Pleased to meet you.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. But don’t expect me to go easy on you in the match.”

Whoa—angel-chan’s hands are so soft……

 

Huh?

 

"Hina, Yuuri! What are you doing?! Warm-ups are starting!"

“Coming! See you later, Sayaka!”

“Later, Saya-nee!”

Angel-chan and the others were called by their teammates and ran off.

Once they were out of sight, I asked Yokota to confirm something.

 

“Yokota. Was that the rumored foreigner from Matsujo (Matsubara Girls')?”

“Probably. Hina—the taller one—said, ‘Yuuri’s the only halfie, the rest are all Japanese.’”

“I see.”

"Senpai, do you believe in that urban legend?"

That rumor about someone who can jump over 3 meters, right? Seeing it in person... Impossible. No way those skinny legs could manage that.

Even considering the possibility of doping—no. Drugs might enhance existing muscle, but they can’t create it from nothing.

“I thought it might be worth considering, but with that height and those legs? Definitely an urban legend.”

“Her height aside—what about her legs?”

“Well, it’s obvious, but to jump high, you need strong leg muscles. Did you see that little girl’s legs? No way she’s jumping high with those skinny legs.”

“Senpai, you notice everything…”

If it were the older sister, it might be a little more believable. Her limbs at least looked like those of an athlete. Most likely, some disgruntled kids from Nanba High spread fake rumors about Yuuri-chan. But there’s something else bothering me.

“…By the way, senpai. What are you doing?"

“Just comparing. The thickness of my skin with that little girl’s—Yuuri-chan, was it? I’m comparing her palms to mine.”

Yuuri-chan’s arms and legs were thin. Not quite enough to be called an athlete yet, but enough to say “she plays sports.” And her palms—only slightly, but her right hand was rougher.

“When I shook hands earlier, her older sister felt normal. But the younger one—her right and left palms felt different. I’m guessing she’s been doing intense training with her dominant right hand.

Given her height and build, she’s not suited for ace spiker. Probably a big server. Her arms were thin too, so it’s unlikely she hits with raw power. Maybe a jump float server?”

That’s the most reasonable guess. Angel-chan is probably a pinch server.

==========

The fourth shock didn’t come with electricity.

Instead, a cold sweat trickled down my back.

Angel-chan wasn’t an angel—she was a monster.

During the open practice, the rumor proved true—reality confirmed it before my eyes.

 

BOOOM!!!

 

Every time the monster-chan spiked, the ball slammed into the court with an unbelievable crash. Not just the power, but the height—it defied the laws of physics. No block could stop that.

How the hell are we supposed to deal with that…?

“Hey, Asakura! Take this and go buy a smartphone battery pack from the nearest convenience store. Then record the whole Matsubara Girls’ match from the stands!”

The coach handed Asakura, the assistant manager, a 10,000 yen bill. But seriously, will recording it even help?

“You guys, I know there’s a lot of noise from the court next door, but focus on the match in front of you!”

Easier said than done. That wasn’t just noise—it was a battle cry. Each spike shattered the enemy's will and sharpened her team’s resolve.

“Damn. A public school using foreign mercenary students? That’s messed up.”

Even the coach couldn’t focus on our match. Or rather, maybe he couldn't focus.

Now Matsubara Girls was moving on to serving practice. They were standing unusually far from the end line. Don’t tell me—

 

BOOOM!!!

 

Another thunderous sound. Tamaki Commercial has a men’s volleyball team—not very strong, but still. I’ve watched their practices. Let me just say this: that spike serve was stronger than the boys’. At least at the prefectural level, that girl’s serve packs more punch.

The match between Matsubara Girls and Tsurudome High was, from my perspective, a complete slaughter. Honestly, Tsurudome deserves praise for not losing their will to fight and lasting until the end.

Meanwhile, our team had trouble focusing due to the constant rumbling next door and kept making mistakes. Well, so did the opponents...

It turned into a messy match, but in the end, we won.

Still anxious about the next match, we wiped off our sweat in the locker room and regrouped with the coach.

There, the coach had a fearless grin.

“Ku ku ku… So they’re pulling out the big guns, huh? That thing can’t be stopped.”

He was complaining with his words, but his expression was like a wild predator—hungry and excited.

Which means: Matsubara Girls are his prey, and he sees a way to win.

But still…

Where the hell is the weakness in that monster?

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