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 36: Leap and Impact

Chapter 36: Leap and Impact

The break between matches ended, and the second set began.

“Huh, Hinate-kun is at center…”

“They’re pulling Amasaki back? Is that okay…?”

They swapped positions with Amasaki on the court, and the game started.

Following Nekomiya’s suggestion, they lowered their overall positions and positioned themselves to absolutely not miss the opponent’s serve.

“Ready…!”

A powerful jump serve came flying in at the same time as the cheer from the opponent’s supporters’ seats.

The serve, aimed right at the line, seemed like it would pierce the court, but Amasaki barely slid in to reach it.

“Kira-kun!”

“Yeah!”

As expected from the volleyball club, the picked-up ball floated gently right above Kira.

The instant Kira touched the ball, their eyes met. In response to the powerful gaze carrying the message that he would set it to him, I answered with my stance.

“Renji!”

The ball rose high at center. Time for a proper greeting right away.

It had been a while, but surely I could jump now.

I adjusted the timing with one step, then two in the approach run. I took off with my left foot and kicked off the ground with a full backswing.

(Here I go…!)

As I leaped, I glanced at the opponent’s court.

Until just now, Amasaki had been at center, but he couldn’t spike due to the rule that current students were prohibited from doing so.

Perhaps they hadn’t anticipated me spiking, because the block was slow to form.

“Unlike right and left, center gives you just a bit more choice in spiking courses. …You get the rest, right?”

I recalled Nekomiya’s words. I wanted to live up to his expectations, which had pushed me forward.

(Here, I’ll… break through the wall!)

The timing was perfect. I twisted my raised right hand to dodge the belated block and slammed it into the right corner.

I wrung out the air from my lungs and put my whole body and soul into that strike.

“Gh…!”

A sharp crack echoed at the same time as my swung right hand. The spiked ball pierced the opponent’s court, shaking the silence.

The referee’s whistle sounded belatedly. The venue erupted in deafening cheers.

“Whoa! What was that!?”

“That center guy’s insane! Who is he!?”

“Didn’t that guy just float in the air for a second!?”

My hand throbbed with a tingling pain. A familiar, joyful pain.

(…I can still do it, huh, me.)

“Whoa! Nice attack, Renji!”

“You did it! Spike ’em in and serve ’em hard too, you fool!”

Those hot-blooded guys slapped my back hard, and I picked up the ball and headed for the serve.

Up to now, I had been serving with stability in mind, focusing on getting it in. But that wouldn’t cut it if we wanted to win.

(…This is straight into the real thing, but can I do it?)

My heart was half anxious, half thrilled.

I bounced the ball in my hand twice against the wall. Then a long approach run. Along with the routine I used to do back then, it awakened the shape memory of this scene.

(Here I go…!)

I tossed it up with my right hand and took off right at the line. Then I smashed the ball with all my strength.

“Ngh!”

The served ball headed to the opponent’s court.

It was an all-out serve, but as expected from veterans, they barely got their arm on it and lifted the ball.

The opponent’s ace leaped in with the setter’s set. I, who had quickly returned to center, got into position.

“Nekomiya!”

“Here we go…!”

The spiked ball went to Nekomiya. Nekomiya raised the ball even as he lost his balance.

Kira dove toward the wayward ball. Another setup to me seemed to be coming… or so it seemed—

“Whoa!?”

Had he misjudged the force? The toss stretched farther left than expected.

Ryuusaki at left hadn’t even started his approach run yet. If I left it to him like this, I could see him rushing and messing up.

—…No, it’s fine.

On instinct, I switched my takeoff foot to my right and stretched my body as far left as I could.

The opponents must have thought it was a free ball, because there was no block.

This time, I would hit it with my left hand.

“Take this!!”

“Wha…!?”

The opponents faltered at the unexpected move, and we scored the second point.

“Did he just… hit it with his left…?”

“Heh, there it is. The unique skill of ambidexterity…!”

“Renren, ambidextrous…?”

“Yeah, let’s keep taking points like this!”

Buoyed by the momentum, we continued the attack centered on me afterward.

I slammed serves in, sometimes enduring stubbornly, and spiked to break the opponents’ spirits.

“Center’s coming!”

“Not Renji—Takayan!”

“Charge!!!”

If they focused on me, then Sendou and Ryuusaki’s powerful spikes would come flying.

Amasaki and Nekomiya picked up the opponent’s spikes. In that way, we piled up points and somehow managed to hold the lead.

However, the opponents were a team that had made it to the finals. They weren’t going to let us win easily.

“Take this!”

“Gah… damn it.”

“You okay, Nekomiya!?”

“I’m fine… The lead isn’t widening much, huh.”

We were ahead, but the score difference was just three points. The opponents clung to our plays tenaciously.

“But we’re still leading. Let’s keep at it without slacking off.”

“…Yeah. Your back is as reliable as ever.”

We continued the back-and-forth battle, and though the difference narrowed to one point, we somehow reached match point.

“I can’t lose either!”

Sendou’s jump serve exploded. But the opponents clung on and picked it up.

In kind, the opponent’s ace leaped. A powerful spike slammed in with a sharp crack, but Amasaki barely lifted it.

However, the ball that bounced high went over to the opponent’s court.

“Damn…!”

“Spike incoming! Drop back—”

It was the moment we lowered our positions.

The opponent’s hand, thought to be swinging through, slowed at the last second, and the ball dropped short. They had used the fear built up from the spikes so far for a feint.

“Whoa…!”

The ball wobbled toward the ground. The instant I tried to move my feet, it was too late.

It seemed all was lost in that next moment.

“…Hah!!”

Kira, reaching out his hand, lifted the ball. But that effort was in vain as the ball flew out of bounds.

We had to connect the ball.

For everyone who had kept it going this far, we couldn’t drop it here.

Move, my feet.

The instant I desperately tried to move my feet, a shadow crossed my vision and looked at me.

“Jump!”

Reacting instinctively to those words, I trusted Nekomiya and jumped.

Nekomiya slipped under the ball with cat-like agility and, despite it being something he was bad at, tossed it to me overhand.

It stretched toward my hand in the air like an arrow. A perfect toss.

“Slam it!”

I swung my left hand through and pierced the block.

The spike went in like threading a needle.

In an instant of silence, the venue was enveloped in deafening cheers. We had finally taken the second set.

“Whoa! What was that!? Nekomiya, fast!”

“No way! We took a set back!”

“Phew… Nice toss, Nekomiya.”

“Hah… hah… Your spikes are as good as ever, Hinate-kun.”

Nekomiya, sweat streaming down his forehead, grinned happily. Seeing that smile made me feel a bit more confident in what I’d done.

“Alright, let’s take the next one at this pace!”

“Take the next, and we win.”

“It’s finally in sight! We can do this!”

“No getting complacent. Let’s stay sharp.”

The five who supported my back. With them, we could seize victory.

With that conviction, we challenged the fateful third set.

▼▽

<<Rinne side>>

A sharp crack echoed across the court.

For an instant, I couldn’t grasp what had happened. The head referee’s whistle sounded, and the venue was wrapped in cheers.

Hinate-kun had jumped.

Back in middle school, the boy who had given up on volleyball was jumping right in front of me today.

I knew about his挫折, so when I heard he was playing volleyball, I had felt some unease.

But now, how was it? Though not quite at his peak, Hinate-kun, showing performance close to it, seemed somehow enjoying himself.

“Hinate-kun’s amazing… He was someone who could do sports like that.”

“Yeah… Whoa, he’s kinda cool.”

I felt a bit miffed at the voices coming from somewhere. Amane-san, sitting next to me, looked smug.

The Hinate-kun who had stubbornly refused to jump had jumped. Surely, something had changed within him.

And whether I had anything to do with it, I didn’t know. Seeing him grow in ways I wasn’t aware of made me happy to watch, yet a little sad.

I ended up feeling groundless anxiety, like he might fly off somewhere away from me.

…I want him to show this side only to me.

Tossed by such base emotions, my chest felt all tangled up with anxiety and anticipation.