novelAn Important Number for Volleyball
| ← Ch.29 | Ch.31 → |
The end-of-term game tournament had arrived.
It was a sunny day and everyone was excited enough to forget the rumors from a few days before about seeing an incredible light, feeling an earthquake, or seeing people flying through the sky.
The biggest crowds gathered for the teacher team's games. Whether they wanted to see a self-important teacher get beaten or a normally plain teacher's unexpected skills, more students than normal showed up for those games.
Currently, spectators were surrounding the volleyball court's fence.
The teacher team's game began in fifteen minutes. The anticipation was hardly surprising when the game would include Daima-sensei, known as the Demon God and the most well-known of the school's teachers due to her appearance.
This placed a lot of pressure on the opposing team.
"Phew."
Mutsuki took a deep breath on the bench as he watched the previous team raking the court.
He had grown accustomed to dangerous incidents lately, but he was a coward at heart.
Lucia clung to him from behind and rubbed his chin against Mutsuki's back.
The embrace only gathered more attention, so Mutsuki smiled bitterly and moved away while realizing that had distracted him from his nerves a little.
"Thanks."
"Eh heh heh."
Lucia grinned back.
The demon boy had only acted oddly for that one day a few days before. Afterwards, he had been back to normal. Being with him was fun and a little troublesome, but...
"Uuh..."
Mutsuki looked away when the boy smiled right at him.
Ever since that day, Mutsuki was the one not acting his usual self. The cute boy seemed even cuter now and it tended to set his heart racing when the boy approached him like this.
"I have heard..."
Suddenly, Machina walked up next to him.
"You can calm your nerves by writing the character for 'person' on your hand and swallowing it."
"Wah, wah... Y-yeah. Thanks."
She took his hand and traced the two lines of the character.
The unexpected touch from her soft hands caused his heart to beat even faster.
He was now nervous in a different way and he brought his palm to his mouth as instructed. He sensed a feminine floral scent mixed in with his own sweat.
While that day had not created a sudden change, he still felt like the distance between him and Machina was shrinking every day. She had never been interested in others, but that attitude was clearly different when it came to him. They had already had sex several times, but he felt like they were finally getting along.
And...
"Ange."
"..."
"Ange?"
"! Wh-what is it?"
Ange was zoning out while stretching.
She had been acting odd since that day. She seemed to have trouble focusing on anything and often zoned out like this.
However, he did not remember anything happening in the battle with Black Cat and she had also acted weird for a while after Black Cat's attack two weeks before, so he decided not to worry too much about it.
He had regained his normal life, but the relationships between the four of them were gradually changing.
"Sigh..."
One other person had undergone a change that day, but Mutsuki was unaware of that one.
A short distance away, Kurikara Saya was staring intently at the four of them.
Sakae noticed.
"What is it? The match is gonna start soon, so don't you need to get ready?"
"Oh, right. I'm about to."
Her response was noticeably low in energy.
The two of them were the biggest eternal optimists in their class, so this bothered Sakae and he tilted his head.
"Is something the matter?"
Saya paused for a moment before hesitantly opening her mouth.
"Tomono-kun...what do you think about homosexuality?"
Sakae's vision seemed to blur and his mind briefly went blank, but he finally held his head with a grim look on his face.
"Um...is this what they call a fujoshi? Are you the kind of girl that enjoys imagining her male friends and classmates as couples?"
"Yup."
"Well, as long as it's all in your head. You're free to pair up Mutsuki and Satowa if you want. You're free to get so lost in your delusions you barely get any sleep for days on end if you want. But. Don't expect me to understand."
"Oh, c'mon! Fujita-kun and Satowa-kun is great! They're both boys, so it's simply beautiful!"
"You've already lost me on that one."
"And in my mind it isn't Fujita-kun x Satowa-kun, it's Satowa-kun x Fujita-kun. The order is important, so don't get it wrong."
"I don't care. Can you just get to the point?"
"...Ange-chan confessed to me."
"What!?"
Thanks to this unexpected shift in the conversation, his mind went blank a second time.
"For real?"
"For real."
Both of them looked over at the other four. Specifically, at Ange who did not seem to have much energy.
"She confessed to me a few days ago. She was mad I had made Fujita-kun and her look like a couple and then she said she likes me better than him."
"W-w-w-w-w-w-wait, wait, wait. Um, are you serious? So Jiyuuni is a l-l-lesbian?"
"Definitely. She even attacked me while saying she's an angel and that I'm actually a cat. She looked so serious too."
"An angel? A cat?"
"They're slang for futanari and uke!"
Saya seemed mad he did not know that, but Sakae's mind went blank a third time because he did not know what futanari meant either.
"What do I do~? I love homosexuality in my fantasies, but I'm not so sure about it in the real world~"
She held her head in her hands and really did seem troubled, but...
"But, but. If Ange-chan really does have one of those... Ahhh, ahhh! I just imagined it! I just imagined it!"
She seemed somewhat happy.
"So how did you respond?"
"I didn't. I was so shocked and sleep-deprived that I fainted....Oh, right. I think I saw the flames of love just before I passed out. They were blue, though."
Talking about it must have only increased her worries because she blushed and somewhat happily turned a heated look Ange's way.
Oblivious, Ange continued her stretches.
The volleyball game betrayed most everyone's expectations.
"Ibekusa!"
"Angle of incidence and speed are both excellent....Jiyuuni-san."
"Teyah!"
Ange made a perfect spike right into the center of the opposite court. She had been worried about it touching the net, but the whistle did not blow and the score changed to 20-17.
In a betrayal of expectations, it was a close match and the teacher team as actually behind a bit.
"Yes!! Great combo play!"
"All right!"
Sakae and Mutsuki had not done anything, but they both jumped for joy.
Lucia had beautifully received a powerful spike and Machina had accurately passed it along. Mutsuki looked especially delighted and satisfied.
As for Ange, their attacker...
"Eh heh heh. You can just go for it, Ange-chan. If you think you're going to miss, I'll help you out."
"O-okay. Thanks, Saya."
"Eh heh heh heh heh heh."
Ange looked troubled by how Saya creepily followed her around with a smile.
Ange had mistakenly questioned the girl a few days before, but she had concluded the girl did not remember since she had said nothing about it. However, she had grown even more attached to Ange since that day.
Ange also glanced over at Machina and Lucia.
They did not exchange high fives or smiles. They were enemies, after all. But...
"Leave the next one to me too."
"Positive."
"Sure, sure. You really are full of yourself."
Lucia would catch the ball, Machina would accurately pass it along, and Ange would send it back. At least in that series of actions, they were the ultimate combo.
They had synchronized their timing while fighting with their lives on the line, so of course they could apply that to mere sports.
And while Mutsuki's team was in top form...
"Honestly! How could you miss that one, Katsue-sensei!? You should have had that!"
"Kh..."
It had fallen right in the center of the court, so the blame fell squarely on the receiver. The angry attacker was Daima-sensei. Receiver Katsue Subaru was frustrated, but there was nothing she could say.
The teacher team was doing poorly. The other five were fine, but Katsue-sensei, the setter, was moving poorly. She was the key to their defense, so they could not shift to offense and could not make use of Daima-sensei's great height.
"Yes! It's working! Everyone! Let's kick the Demon God team's ass!"
Sakae was great at working up excitement, so even the spectators cheered.
Daima-sensei's face stiffened as she was called the Demon God in front of the entire student body.
She glared at Katsue-sensei, telling her to do her job this time, and then returned to her position.
However, the setter's problem was not one of motivation.
"Here goes."
Mutsuki, the server, gently sent the ball in from outside the court.
It had no speed and its path was straight. The serve was only meant to get inside the enemy court, but...
"How did that do?"
After finishing his serve, Mutsuki looked to where the ball was falling. Katsue-sensei happened to be there and their eyes met.
"Uuh..."
His teacher blushed and looked away.
The ball fell right next to her.
"Gyaaaaaaaaahhhhh! I can't believe youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
Daima shouted because there was no excuse for that one. The other woman could only avert her gaze.
But even as she looked down, she kept glancing over to the other team's court.
"Yesss! An ace!"
She saw Mutsuki celebrating by high-fiving Sakae and Lucia.
"~~"
Her mouth relaxed in gentle happiness.
"Okay, time for the next one, Ange, Ibekusa-san, Lucia-kun."
Mutsuki seemed to have grown a little cocky after scoring that point. He spun the next ball in his fingertips and gave instructions.
"Sure, sure."
"Understood."
"Ready when you are?"
Ange shrugged, Machina's face tensed, and Lucia looked delighted to be ordered around.
They were all working together. They were nothing more than perfectly normal teammates.