Bizarre Love Triangle - Chapter 3.7
[Really?… I didn’t know that]
[That’s why you don’t need to work hard here. Just do it as if you were relaxing yourself. You must be tired, right?]
[I see. You’re right…]
With that said, Haruka exhaled.
[In that case, I will just do it without getting too worked up about it…]
With a nod, I also started batting half-heartedly.
As I pressed the switch on the pitching machine and struck out a few times… I also observed Haruka’s current condition.
The first, second and third pitches she striked out are pretty much the same until now.
But then, at the fourth pitch,
[Woah!]
For the first time, the ball grazed the bat and flew in the opposite direction.
[Are you okay? It didn’t hit your face or anything, right?]
[No, I’m fine. But did you see it? I just hit it!]
[Yeah, you did.]
Saying that, I smiled at her and, pretending to be nonchalant about it, returned to my batting centre.
From that point on, Haruka’s growth was remarkable.
In the blink of an eye, her hit rate increased and so did the distance the actual ball covered.
And then,
[Ah, I hit it! Yano-kun! I hit the board for double the points!]
In less than fifteen minutes, she was able to hit long shot distances consistently.
[That’s amazing…]
To be honest, it was far beyond my expectations.
I had thought that she might improve a little bit, but… I didn’t expect her to reach this high of a level.
I think she’s already more of a pro than me now, no doubt about that..
It’s time to reveal the truth now.
[…Hey, Haruka]
I asked Haruka, who was smiling and pointing at the double base hit board.
[How is it? Are you feeling a little more confident now?]
[Yes, I’m really happy releasing this, I can hit it so far and it’s really fun!]
[I see, then I’m glad. And I have something I want to apologise for]
[Yes?]
[Earlier, I said that Akiha didn’t like baseball, that was a lie.]
[…Huh? Really?]
With a bat in her hand, Haruka looked puzzled at my words.
[Yeah. I have never heard Akiha talk about this before. I think she can play baseball just fine. But then I thought, “Maybe Haruka can’t do well because she has a high hurdle set against her from the beginning.” And so, I thought, if I could remove those hurdles burdened on you and you play with an ease mind, maybe it could bring out your true potential.]
It’s like the royal road in Novels, movies and manga.
——–A rare genius composer and an earnest court music director.
———A honor student brother and an inferior brother.
———-A legendary hero and a mediocre sorcerer for a sibling.
When faced with a hurdle too high, no human being can help but be affected by it.
They can’t help but be jealous, go astray, and lose confidence in themselves.
That is true even if the person has superior talent within them.
Haruka probably has something similar to that.
Because Akiha can handle anything dexterously, it was a high hurdle imposed on her who had to cross it to release her potential.
Then——-what if you remove those shackles, even if it’s temporary.
If you can’t see it, even if it’s a lie, Haruka can show her true power without any issue.
[…Indeed]
While saying this, Haruka stared at her palm.
[I feel like I can do it more normally now.]
[I see. Then as an experiment, try batting again. You probably can already reach the same level as Akiha, so take it easy.]
[Ok… I’ll try it out]
Saying that, Haruka returned to her batting box and pushed the button for the pitcher machine to begin.
She missed the first two strikes.
However, it seems that she has regained her instinct already.
The next pitch was a sharp second liner, followed by a fly to left field.
The next one was a long shot to the third base board.
And that’s when I heard someone’s voice coming from behind…
[Akiha is amazing…]
It was Sudo’s voice, coming from next to me.
I looked over to see that Shuji and him had already finished batting, returned their bats and helmets, and came over to check on us.
[That hit just now was amazing!!! It was Akiha doing that, right?]
[I didn’t know you could even hit that long with such dainty hands.]
Sudo and Shuji seemed to be really impressed with Haruka.
Haruka looked at the situation here with a fleeting glance.
——–Now then, what’s gonna happen next?
The problem is definitely, beginning here onwards.
In front of me, Haruka was able to overcome her lack of self-confidence with no issue.
Then… how about in front of her classmates?
Can you hit such shots in front of Sudo and the others who represent them?
The first pitch—-Bad, she made a tsk sound and grazed the ball.
Foul.
The second hit——It was slightly off.
Strike. With this, it’s now two strikes.
Now then, the third strike.
Haruka looked at me briefly, gave a small smile, and swung the bat just in time with the timing of the ball.
A pleasant sound resounded within the box.
The ball was caught in the center and flew straight towards the right side.
[Woah, amazing!]
[You really got it!]
It splendidly hit the third board.
[…Thank god, it hit.]
Haruka looked back and displayed her clenched fist. (T/N : victory pose)
[I ended up a little nervous seeing Sudo and the others watching me…]
*
After that,
We met up again and played a few more sports together.
Futsal, tennis, golf, and mini-bikes.
Haruka was only able to participate in the futsal and the mini-bike.
The time in between other sports was spent by Akiha but at least Sudo and the others didn’t suspect the boundaries between the two.
Of course, Haruka made her fair share of mistakes in each sport too.
In the beginning, she stumbled and missed quite a bit.
However, once she learned to play with confidence, she soon began to improve rapidly and play with a good sense of style.
This must be it.
From here on after, she will not be afraid to play with the others in gym class.
She might make some blunders in the beginning but she should be able to improve herself from there on.
That’s why, the goal of Haruka to get closer to Akiha in general is now clearer than before.
*
[I’ve always wanted to ride one of these!]
In the slowly ascending gondola.
Haruka said as she looked through the glass at the city of Tokyo.
[Wah! It’s my first time riding like this. I’m kind of nervous…]
Her profile was glittering with the lights of the commercial facilities below her feet.
The scenery outside the window was in the midst of transitioning from the evening to night, intricately colored with the orange of the western sky, the dark blue of the eastern sky, and the marble pattern of clouds in the air.
It was just before eighteen o’clock when we left the amusement center. [ED: 6 PM]
The sun was just about to set.
We had been there for almost six hours, and we were all exhausted.
Since we have scheduled to return before dinner, we decided to take one last ride on the Ferris Wheel.
[…I’m sorry, I’m not Akiha.]
Haruka said, as if she had suddenly realized what was going on.
[Even though it’s the most awaited romantic moment between you two, I’m the one who’s outside right now…]
[What are you saying?]
I couldn’t help but smile at her apologetic expression.
[Haruka is also an important friend of mine, so it’s okay. I had a really good time today…]
[I also had a good time toge—-ah!]
Suddenly, Haruka looked here and returned to her seat,
[Thank you very much for today! Really! Thanks to Yano-kun, I now know how to be more confident. Thanks to your support, I feel like I can do much better from now on.]
[I see… I’m glad.]
[You know, I’m really, really, really grateful!]
Squeezing her hand, Haruka insisted desperately for some reason.
[Going out with friends for the first time, having the most fun I ever had in my entire life, and on top of that I have finally resolved the issue which was troubling me for a long time… I really don’t know how to thank you]
[It’s fine. From here on, you just have to co-operate to set up a situation between Akiha and me.]
[…..I really wonder if it’s enough with just that.]
[It’s fine. See, aren’t we guys friends? We both have the same thought, we want to become ourselves, with each other.]
[Friends…]
With those words, Haruka returned back to her seat again.
Then,
[…You know, there’s one thing that’s bothering me.]
[What is it?]
[Yano-kun hates that he had to make a character, right? It’s because of that that you are concerned about me, right?]
[Well, yeah..]
[But, I…]
Haruka looked up at me with a serious face and said,
[I don’t think it’s a bad thing that Yano-kun has to create a character. It’s different from a dual personality, but I think it’s also a part of making the surrounding people happy. Or rather, both Sudo-san and Shuji-kun, the guys from the other class, all of them are having fun thanks to Yano-kun’s efforts…]
[I’m not so sure about that…]
I sighed and rubbed my head.
[I just haven’t seen it in that way. I mean, I feel like I’m lying to them, or like I’m doing something wrong…]
[That’s right… Moreover, despite what Yano-kun thinks, you continue to act as your characters. That means-]
Haruka cut her words here for once and opened her mouth timidly,
[…Is there a reason why?]
[…A reason?]
[The reason, or like, the trigger that led you to continuously create your character even though you dislike it so much…]
She suddenly look flustered,
[Ah, I’m sorry for asking such a strange question! You don’t need to reply to that, it’s okay even if you don’t answer!]
[No, that’s okay. It’s not like I mind that… but trigger, huh…]