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Matsubara High School
Perspective of a First-Year Male Student
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“Don’t drop your left shoulder! Focus on height!”
Back in middle school, I remember seeing her playing volleyball looking completely bored, while being shouted at by the coach right next to where we were practicing.
Even if we wanted to quit, our middle school required participation in club activities, so quitting wasn’t really an option.
I figured there was no way someone like that would stick with it long. Sure enough, right after it was announced that we didn’t have enough members to compete, she came out with:
“If we can’t play in matches, there’s no point in staying in the volleyball club. I’m tall, so I’m transferring to the basketball club for more playtime.”
Sounded reasonable enough—she even gave a good-sounding reason to quit. But now, I hear she’s playing volleyball again in high school.
Naturally, that caught my attention.
(She said I should come cheer, so I did. Nothing weird about that.)
Making up a suitable excuse for myself, I arrived at the gym in the afternoon.
(What the heck? There’s a ton of people here.)
The gym being used for the match had way more people than I expected. It wasn’t so packed you couldn’t move, but there was a huge crowd—far more than you’d expect for a local prefectural qualifier.
When I got to the arena seating, I let out a laugh.
Apparently, the morning match had just ended, and the afternoon game was about to start after the lunch break. But only one half of the spectator seats—the side for the girls’ match—was filled.
(So it’s not like Nabekawa went around calling everyone she knew.)
As I stood there puzzled, someone called out to me.
“Hey. Yamaguchi. What are you doing in a place like this?”
Different class, but I’d seen his face in PE. If I remember right—
“Yo, Togawa. Fancy seeing you here. What am I doing? A friend from middle school who came to the school festival last week asked me to come cheer. What about you?”
To be precise, it wasn’t Nabekawa herself who asked—it was the girl she was with—but it’s close enough.
“Same here. …Well, good thing they won. If the Matsubara girls had lost in the morning, you would’ve come all this way for nothing.”
“Yikes… Didn’t think of that. …Wait, you were here in the morning?”
“Yeah… My friend isn’t as easygoing as yours. They told me to come first thing in the morning, so here I am.”
“Are they ordering you around? With that kind of bossiness… wait, don’t tell me, is she your girlfriend?”
“Nope. She’s got a decent face, but her personality is way too manly. I prefer gentle, ladylike girls.”
“Now I’m curious. What kind of girl is she?”
“They’re about to start warmups. Let’s go to the arena—oh! There they are! Maejima! Tohira! Do your best out there!”
Togawa called out to two of the girls—and they weren’t just decent-looking, they were really cute. Is everyone on the Matsubara girls’ team like this? Compared to the opposing team, the difference in “face value” is kind of striking. And both girls politely responded to him.
“Sure! We’re gonna win this one too, so cheer for us, okay?”
“Thanks for cheering again, Togawa-kun, Yamaguchi-kun~!”
They seem pretty close. Kinda jealous. Wait, don’t tell me—are they both his girlfriends? Is this guy living the dream?
And of course, she was here too.
“Nabekawa! Do your best!”
She raised her hand in response.
She did respond, right?
The official warmup started. I somehow ended up joining Togawa in cheering.
“So, are the Matsubara girls actually strong?”
“Before we get into that, Yamaguchi, do you even know the rules of volleyball?”
“I was in the volleyball club for all three years of middle school, so I know the rules—at least I think I do.”
“Then you probably know more than me—I only played a bit in elementary school. …Well, you’ll see soon enough. The Matsubara girls’ team is kind of like, if they were an RPG party, they’d have all their stat points dumped into Attack and none into Defense.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just watch their spiking practice and you’ll get it.”
Before long—
“…Hey, Togawa. What was that just now? Is that foreign girl doing some kind of wire stunt or something?”
“Yamaguchi, that’s real. No wires. That’s her actual jump.”
“No way.”
Right before my eyes, that foreign girl on Matsubara’s team just jumped—must’ve been around 150 cm in the air, easy.
Unbelievable.
Gravity, do your job. Since when did this place become the moon?
And then there’s her spike.
Also unreal.
“What the heck. That girl’s a total monster.”
“By the way, that foreigner has less than six months of volleyball experience, but her athleticism alone got her an invite to Japan’s national women’s team. All the people here, the TV crews—it’s all because of her. At last week’s school festival, she played 3-on-3 with us basketball guys and dunked. At her height.”
That’s nuts. In manga, there’s always a scene where scouts from strong out-of-prefecture schools show up to check out talent. I never imagined I’d actually meet someone like that in real life.
And she dunked? With her height? That kind of vertical leap is a huge advantage in volleyball.
“Looks like this’ll be a total blowout win for Matsubara.”
“You’ll see once the match starts—it won’t be that simple.”
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Once the match began, I understood what Togawa meant right away.
Matsubara Girls’ High stayed ahead for most of the game, but the other team still scored.
Why were they letting points through? Was it because they were bad?
No—it wasn’t that.
“It’s just a lack of practice.”
A loud Kansai-accented man sitting behind us said exactly what I was thinking.
Exactly.
That little foreign girl was an exception, running wild across the court. But Nabekawa had been one of the most athletic girls in middle school, excelling in every PE class regardless of the event. Her teammates didn’t seem like they were unathletic either. There’s no way a group like that would struggle only with volleyball defense.
The guy behind us kept talking to another man beside him.
“Sure, spikes are cool. Especially when you land a quick or a combo attack—must feel great. But just wanting to have fun doesn’t mean you can neglect the basics.”
“Judging by the match, it’s not that they haven’t practiced receiving at all—just that it’s lower priority. They’ve probably focused on physical training and serving first, followed by spiking. Receiving comes after that.”
“For first-years without developed bodies, it makes sense to focus on strength training. Serving’s fundamental in volleyball, and for a mostly inexperienced team, it’s the most important practical skill. But still—”
They were calling each other “Coach,” so I guess they’re coaches of some team. From what I caught, they came here specifically to scout.
Just like in manga. Coaches from other prefectures coming to scout—this is wild—WHOA!!
Right then, Matsubara blocked a spike from the opponent—but the ball flew off at a weird angle.
Normally, no one would get to it. It would just hit the wall and cost them a point.
But Matsubara’s foreign player sprinted after it, and just before it hit the wall, she did a triangle jump off the wall—yes, off the wall!—and received the ball midair, sending it back into the court.
No way. That ball was at least four meters high. Did she just… seriously?
Is she even human?
She moved like a ninja.
Not ninja—more like what foreigners imagine when they say “Japanese Ninja” in American comics.
“Whoa!!! Did you see that, Coach Onuki?! That was amazing!! That Yuuri-chan, she’s got more than just athletic ability—she’s got real athletic sense!”
“Yes! That’s the movement of someone who knows their body. No one practices moves like that.”
“Yuuri-chan’s matches are just fun to watch. But that play…”
Tweet!!
A sharp whistle blew.
“Ehh?! Why is that the opponent’s point? I sent the ball back over the net!”
“Hey Asuka, you’re the captain, right? Teach our ninja here the rules of volleyball.”
“Yuu-chan, if you catch the ball using outside things like people or walls, it counts as an assisted hit, which is a foul.”
“Well, yeah, that’d be a foul. But still, with that insane athleticism… I’m in love. Coach Onuki, if you were coaching the opposing team, how would you approach playing Matsubara?”
“Let’s see. First, I’d focus on serving. Matsubara’s—”
That huge jump turned out to be a foul. But her otherworldly athleticism—not just her looks, but her actual gameplay—captivates everyone.
She really is something else.
Even someone like me, who just dabbled in volleyball for three years in middle school, could see how impressive she is. The match didn’t even last a full hour, and they’re not perfect in every area, yet I was completely drawn in. No wonder she got called up to the national team.
Matsubara Girls’ High won that match and moved on to the third round of Spring Nationals qualifiers.
…The next match is the semifinals on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.
Somehow, I’ve already decided—I’m coming to cheer again next week.
Spring Nationals – Prefectural 2nd Qualifier Results & 3rd Qualifier Matchups
Semifinal Match 1
Himesaki High School (Block A Winner) vs. Tamaki Commercial High School (Block D Winner)
Semifinal Match 2
Youkou High School (Block B Winner) vs. Matsubara Girls’ High School (Block C Winner)
Finals
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2
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