Part-2 Ch-02 Ep-03

On the day of the freshman welcome ball game tournament, the weather was completely different from last year, and it was clear and sunny. With the player’s oath delivered by a third-year physical education committee member, the tournament began. From here on, matches for each ball game event would start, with students from first year through third year all mixed together.

“Nagase, we’re over there doing dodgeball refereeing and scorekeeping.”

“Okay, okay.”

Together with Todoriki-kun, I went near the court and began preparing for the start of the match.

“Come to think of it, you’re not joining the cheering squad this year?”

The image of him acting as the cheering squad captain at last year’s ball game tournament surfaced in my mind.

“I could have, I guess. But I was satisfied after doing it last year. And I also got some weird resentment from the upperclassmen. So I figured I’d skip it this year.”

That “weird resentment” was probably from those upperclassmen whose voices I had overheard behind the gym last year.

“…Was that okay?”

“Yeah, no problem. You remember that accident where the tent collapsed back then, right? One of the seniors was nearby at the time. After that, they apologized and even thanked me. Since then, even when we say what we want to say to each other, it doesn’t get that tense anymore. I trust them now.”

“I see.”

Come to think of it, one of the seniors who had been talking behind his back had also been nearby at the time, frozen in fear.

It seemed they were not such a bad person after all, at least enough to feel indebted for having been helped.

“I really was picking fights with anyone and saying whatever came to mind right after I enrolled, so I get why people wouldn’t like that. I understand it now.”

“You’ve grown up, huh.”

“Yeah. Well, back in my first year of high school, I was kind of carried away by the excitement of moving up from middle school. Anyway, it’s about time to start the match.”

Once again, I thought that Todoriki-kun really was a good man.

“Okaaay,” I replied and took my assigned position.

Todoriki-kun would act as the referee if anything happened, and I was in charge of recording the scores. The signal to begin the match sounded, and the dodgeball game started.

It seemed that the class participating in dodgeball was Ranjishi-kun’s class. Among the mixed-gender team on the court, I spotted him.

Maybe he was nervous, because his face looked a little stiff, and I found myself worrying again about whether someone as bad with words as him was managing to fit in with his newly advanced class.

The match quickly heated up, with both sides throwing aggressively from the very start. Since dodgeball is a game where you directly throw the ball at opponents to decide the outcome, it tends to get surprisingly intense. And I think it is also a sport where injuries and disputes can easily happen.

“Ah! …Wa-wait, ahh—”

Just then, a boy from the opposing class threw a fairly strong ball, and a girl from Ranjishi-kun’s class fell over from the impact of being hit.

The merciless way the ball had been thrown at a girl drew boos from the surrounding students. Even the one who threw it looked a little awkward. Just as I was thinking, Is she okay?, Ranjishi-kun rushed over to the fallen girl and crouched down beside her.

“Are you okay?”

From the tone of his voice, it was clear that although he was clumsy, he was genuinely worried.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, even though we don’t have many people left, I got hit…”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. …I’ll do my best from here on.”

“…!”

After helping the fallen girl to her feet, Ranjishi-kun muttered those words. In an instant, the girl’s cheeks flushed red.

--Ranjishi-kun you too?

I had just witnessed the moment someone fell in love. I did not know how Ranjishi-kun himself felt, but that girl had probably felt her heart skip a beat.

I had a feeling that it would not be long before rumors like “Ranjishi-kun has a girlfriend now” started circulating, probably from someone like Asahina-kun.

“Damn it…”

Even so, things seemed to be turning out well for him, so I decided to cheer him on quietly from the sidelines. After that, thanks to his efforts, Ranjishi-kun’s class claimed victory.

“Good work, Todoriki-kun.”

After several matches ended, we temporarily wrapped up our committee duties and were allowed to rejoin our own class.

“Good work. There’s nothing until cleanup this afternoon, so I’ll focus on my own events too.”

“I guess I’ll take it easy again this year.”

As I said that, I searched for Maki, who should be somewhere on the grounds.

“Ah, there she is.”

On the opposite side of the field, I spotted Maki walking together with her classmates.

Wearing her tracksuit jacket, smiling and chatting cheerfully with those around her, my childhood friend looked cuter than anyone else, and I felt confident I could find her no matter where she was.

Well, in reality, there’s a map function, so I can find her anywhere anyway.

“…Hey, Nagase.”

When he called out to me, I tilted my head and looked up, and he asked, “You haven’t been plotting something again lately, have you?” which made me instinctively avert my gaze from Todoriki-kun.

“N-no, I’m not plotting anything.”

“Then why did you look away?”

Todoriki-kun continued, staring steadily at me.

“At first, I thought you were just enthusiastic about committee work. But before I knew it, you got close to the student council, and it feels like you’ve been sending Ichinose over there a lot too.”

“Ah, well, um… not really.”

“That’s a pretty half-hearted answer.”

Todoriki-kun could be quite sharp about things like this.

“Is there something going on?”

“…Not really.”

When I fell silent, he sighed as if giving up and said, “Well, fine.”

“Ichinose is over there.”

“…Yeah. Then, see you later, during cleanup.”

I waved goodbye to Todoriki-kun and parted ways with him. I walked quickly toward where Maki was, as if running away from him. Maki did not seem to have noticed me, and she was walking along the edge of the field.

Suddenly, as if she had noticed something, she broke into a light jog. Ahead of her was the operations tent where student council members were stationed, and I could see Godaiin-kun and several other students there.

Seeing that, my legs stiffened for a moment.

---Today really feels like it is going to pass without any trouble, with everything going smoothly, I thought as I looked up at the clear blue sky.