When I Told the Most Beautiful Girl in the School That My Confession Had Failed, She Suddenly Started Coming at Me With Unbearably Heavy Feelings

Chapter 35: Revival and Counterattack

≪Hinate side≫

Volleyball had actually been the one thing I kept up with since elementary school, something like an identity for me. I spent both the tough times and the fun times alongside volleyball.

Even on the day Mom died, I chased after the ball. Chasing that ball led to that tragedy.

I lost someone precious, yet I did not quit because I think I had unconsciously become dependent on volleyball.

Mom encouraged me, friends praised me, and that affirmed who I was.

You could only touch the ball three times. You must not hold it, and sometimes you gently pass it to a teammate, other times you smash it into the opponent’s court.

It was a sport where you stupidly jumped and stupidly chased the ball. When I thought about it that way, I figured it was a strange sport.

Even so, it was the only way for me to affirm myself.

On that day, during the finals that decided our entry into nationals, I stood on the court.

I struggled and struggled to finally reach those finals. Amid the continuing rally, confusion stirred in my mind.

The volleyball I had kept up until then. I believed it was the reason I lived, affirmed myself, and trained hard.

However, some things still remained out of reach.

Innate talent. Faced with that, I fell to my knees.

It was a sport where you looked up, yet I ended up looking down.

Suddenly, my own existence felt insignificant, and vague terror and anxiety assailed me.

It was then that I finally realized it. The one holding me back was myself.

From that point on, I could no longer jump.

Various things clung to my feet, making them heavy like lead, so I could not leap. Faced with the glory of making nationals, a dream come true, I broke down.

“Your… It’s your fault…!”

The guilt of shattering my own dream with my own hands.

The pathetic version of myself who collapsed without even managing jealousy.

The hostility and stares directed at me from the teammates I once shared dreams with.

I could no longer endure it.

▼▽

≪Nekomiya side≫

I had always been a timid person.

Even if something bad happened right in front of me, all I could do was pretend not to see it, and when someone hurled undeserved abuse at me, all I could do was stay silent.

I was weak in fights, and my athletic ability was nothing special. I did not even like studying.

For someone as plain—or rather, as deficient—as me, the one thing I could take pride in was my sole childhood friend.

Nanami, who lived next door and had the complete opposite personality from mine, always protected me.

If I got bullied, she stepped in to mediate and hit back for me, and if someone badmouthed me, she would retort in my place.

I hated myself for always being the one protected.

And even more, I hated myself for just standing still despite thinking that way.

The trigger for me to change came from witnessing a certain fight.

After classes ended one day.

I casually thought about stopping by the arcade on my way home as usual when the sight that jumped into my view was a single boy trampling several upperclassmen.

From what I heard later, he had gotten fed up with the upperclassmen who were bullying someone and finally snapped, laying hands on them.

Something I could never do. To fight several upperclassmen in a brawl for the sake of protecting someone. Honestly, even thinking about it now, I thought it was stupid.

But I was drawn to that passion.

Hinate Renji. The name of a foolish man.

In his figure fighting for someone else, in his back leaping high on the court, I saw hope.

I wanted to become someone who could fight for my precious person, for Nanami. Hinate-kun lit a fire in my jaded heart; he was my hero.

That was why this time, I wanted to support Hinate-kun. We would all repair those broken wings of his.

▼▽

≪Hinate side≫

On that day, the wings on my back broke.

Since that day, I had not jumped even once. I could not jump.

“…Renji, do you like volleyball?”

“…Huh?”

“I’m askin’ if you like it. Answer already.”

“…Maybe I do.”

“Then there’s no time to hesitate. Failures and successes, they’re all in your own muscles. If you’re too scared of failure to move, you won’t get success either.”

Sendou’s words made my heart waver for a moment.

The me who wanted to jump and the me who could not. Amid the two mes clashing in my heart, a ray of light pierced through. Did that mean I could still grasp hope?

“You won’t get girls either!”

“That’s an extra word you didn’t need…”

“…But.”

The one who patted my trembling shoulder was Ryuusaki.

“Renren.”

“Ryuusaki…”

“Jump.”

A short phrase. To an outsider, it probably would not make sense.

But between Ryuusaki and me, those words carried heavy meaning.

“…The words Renren said to me. Those feet aren’t for fighting, they’re for the people who wish for my leaps.”

“…That’s nostalgic.”

“So I wish for it. For Renren to jump. You can definitely do it.”

Ryuusaki’s gaze, laden with strong trust, ignited my resolve.

The footprints of my past self guided me as a glowing path.

However, my hands still trembled. The resurfacing trauma bound me to the ground and would not let go.

The one who turned a gentle smile toward me, as if to wipe away that anxiety, was Amasaki.

“Hinate-kun.”

“…Amasaki.”

“The things you’ve saved are far more than you think. You haven’t lost everything, have you? …There are people who place absolute trust in you, right there.”

My gaze turned toward Kisaragi in the stands. Her expression wavered with anxiety, her hands clasped tightly as she sent a praying gaze my way.

People who believed in me and waited. To say I had nothing was arrogant thinking.

“You have many things to protect and carry. …So, don’t say such distant things.”

“All right, it’s decided! …Hey, Renji, you know? Volleyball is a game where six people being strong makes the team stronger. You can’t win with a one-man show. You can’t win if even one person is missing. It’s the same as basketball.”

Kira grinned broadly with his sun-like brightness. The persuasiveness I felt in those words might have come from his experience.

In the depths of the eyes in that open and bold smile, I sensed a quiet fighting spirit, something close to killing intent.

“We’ve gotten stronger these past few weeks. As individuals and as a team. …It’s natural to get scared of something. But it’s okay. If you mess up, we’ll support you as a team!”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Kira’s words.

I had been mistaken until now. In this battle, I was no longer alone. If I looked beside me, there were five reliable people.

“Well, now that we’ve come this far, we have no choice but to do it. …For our sakes, will you jump one more time, hero?”

Nekomiya’s sharp gaze pierced me. What I felt was trust bordering on coercion.

“…If we stay like this, we’ll lose, right? We’re carrying everyone’s feelings. …You don’t want to show an uncool side, do you? We have to win, right?”

If everyone else was motivated, all I had to do was support them.

I did not need to stand out.

The passion I once lost would never return.

Somewhere in my heart, I had given myself a leeway, an escape.

Nekomiya shattered such complacent thinking.

I wanted to win for everyone.

I wanted to fight for everyone.

To become someone who could fight for others.

The shackles on my feet came off.

I slapped my cheek for trying to run and psyched myself up.

“…Okay. Let’s hit back.”

“I figured you’d say that. Let’s go, hero.”