Haibara’s Teenage New Game+ - Volume 5 - Chapter 3.3

The referee signaled that our break was over. Both teams stepped onto the court, and the second half began.

“All right, let’s go!” Unlike before, there was vigor behind Tatsuya’s expression.

I nudged his shoulder. “Hey.”

“What?”

“In the second half, let’s compete over who scores the most points. Loser buys drinks.”

“Huh? Where’s this coming from?”

“Are you running away? The normal Tatsuya wouldn’t run from a challenge!”

“Y... You jackass.” He scrunched up his face and groaned. “Eavesdropping is a terrible habit.”

“Everyone was worried about you.”

“Sorry,” he said awkwardly. “I didn’t think you guys would worry about me.”

“So, are you gonna run away?” I asked.

“’Course I’ll do it. You’d better not regret it.” Tatsuya grinned.

Yeah, that’s the spirit! Otherwise, you’re not yourself.

Our team started with possession of the ball. Reita threw it in, and Tatsuya caught it. Our opponents had taken up their defensive formation. As usual, marking Tatsuya was number five, Kijima-kun.

“Hey, Nagiura, the look on your face’s changed,” Kijima-kun remarked.

“Pretty much. I was trying to be considerate in my own way, but a bunch of guys told me to do whatever I want,” Tatsuya replied.

“You’ve been acting creepy lately. You used to obsess over scoring points, but then you suddenly flipped to passing in front of the goal and saying stuff like, ‘Points are points—doesn’t matter who scores.’ You weren’t always an admirable guy like that,” Kijima-kun said. “You’re supposed to be selfish and have a terrible personality. It’d put me in a tight spot if you’re not like that. If you become one of the smart kids, who’s going to lead us? Right, Nagiura?”

“Every single one of you says whatever the hell you like,” Tatsuya complained as he dribbled.

Kijima-kun faced him, bending his knees and dropping his hips low towards the floor. They went still for a split second and glared at each other.

“Come at me.”

Tatsuya scoffed. “Here I go.” He started with a crossover and stepped to his right. It wasn’t a fake, so Kijima-kun could keep up. Number three, who was nearby, also joined in to defend. However, Tatsuya used his arm to forcibly keep them at bay and pushed forward. He kept his body low until he made his way in front of the hoop, and then leaped up with all his strength. He had so much vertical lift that it looked like he was about to dunk, but he flicked the ball in.

D-Dang, that was way too forceful... The only phrase that came to mind to describe his play was “brute force.” Some referees might’ve even called a foul.

“That’s two points,” Tatsuya said, provoking me.

It’s a game, then. I’ll show him!

Class four took possession of the ball, and we switched to defense. Our personal contest is important, but we’re getting our priorities backwards if we lose the match. So I’ll give my defense a hundred percent too.

Kijima-kun passed the ball to Mei, who forwarded it to their number two.

“Ack!” yelped number two. He fumbled the catch, and the ball went rolling.

Reita scooped it up.

“Fast break!” Tatsuya immediately shouted.

I instantly dashed forward. I caught a beautiful pass from Reita right in front of the three-point line. I thought I’d shaken off all other players, opponents and teammates alike, but Mei appeared next to me.

He must’ve sprinted as fast as he could. His breathing’s a mess, but he’s frantically trying to defend. You really are serious, Mei! Overcome with delight, I felt my lips curve into a smile.

“I won’t let you!” he yelled in a determined tone.

I threw him off-balance with a dribble—he was completely at my mercy. I was the one who’d drilled the fundamentals of defense into Mei, though he’d likely practiced on his own. I struggled to shake him off and came to a stop. Searching for a way out, I scanned my surroundings. Okajima-kun and Hino had run to the hoop, but our opponents had also returned to defend. Making a pass would be hard.

So I took a shot.

“Huh?” Mei said. Wary of a drive, he’d distanced himself from me, but that made it so he couldn’t react to my shot. The ball soared from the three-point line to the hoop and dropped through the net yet again.

“Don’t stand so far away when you’re defending against a shooter,” I said.

“Y-You didn’t teach me thaaat!” Mei complained.

I patted his shoulder and returned to our side of the court. “That’s three for me,” I said, holding up three fingers to egg Tatsuya on.

“Dumbass. Who shoots a three during a fast break?” he scoffed.

“It went in, so it worked out.”

“Now, listen here...” Tatsuya said, exasperated.

A few minutes ago, he would’ve ignored any attempts to rile him up. He was griping now because he wanted to win the match, not just our little contest. After all, he was playing basketball, a sport we loved—of course winning would be more fun.

***

The final score was forty-two to twenty-two. Our first round had ended with a crushing twenty-point victory. Mei and the others of class four were eliminated here.

“We didn’t win, but it was fun... I mean it. I feel like this was the first time I helped my team in a sport. I even scored points! I owe it all to you, Natsuki.” Mei was covered in sweat as he thanked me with a bright smile.

He’s probably hiding his frustration, but those are still his honest sentiments. So I’m happy too.

“Though, I wasn’t able to show her my cool side,” he continued.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” I said.

“Huh? But we didn’t win.” He shot me a baffled look.

I grabbed his shoulders and turned him around. Funayama-san walked up to him and bowed in our direction.

“She’ll probably tell you herself.” I made eye contact with her and then turned away. They can handle the rest. They don’t need our advice anymore.

On my way back to my class, I heard Mei scream. “Whaaat?! A-Are you really okay with me?!”

Mei, you’re way too loud. A wry smile inadvertently crept across my face. I glanced over my shoulder. Both of them were bright red and hanging their heads. Be happy.

When I returned to where my classmates were, Tatsuya shouted at me. “Hey, Natsuki! Hurry up.” Apparently, he’d been waiting for me.

“Are you buying me a drink?” I asked.

“Shut up, you know I gotta. I lost by one point,” he replied, wearing an extremely vexed expression.

I took my place next to him as we headed to the vending machine.

“Dammit. I would’ve won if I’d just made my last shot.”

He was grumbling, but to begin with, half of my points had been assists from Tatsuya. No matter how you spin it, Tatsuya won in terms of contributions. We both know that, but unfortunately it was a contest for most points scored.

We left the gym and walked to the vending machine on the side of the club building. Tatsuya bought two sports drinks and tossed one to me.

“Thanks!” I said before quenching my thirst. Ahhh, delicious! This is the best stuff after exercising.

While I was thoroughly enjoying my victory drink, Tatsuya said, “Sorry, Natsuki.”

“Where’s that coming from?” I asked.

“I lashed out at you during the school festival.”

Oh, he’s talking about when I rejected Uta. “I figured it’d just be a given if you hit me. Nothing for you to apologize over.”

“No. You were just... You just liked Hoshimiya more than Uta, right?”

I nodded wordlessly. As he’d said, I had chosen Hikari.

“Then it wasn’t something for me to butt in on. But I still did. I was selfishly bent on the idea that you’d make Uta happy. I was fine if you were the one—it gave me peace of mind and helped me give up... It was like I was entrusting her to you, so I felt betrayed.”

“It’s my fault for being uncertain. Until the very end, I was agonizing over what I wanted to do and whether I liked Hikari or Uta more. So I’m the one who gave you grief. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. That’s just what love is. Besides, I forced what I wanted on you and gave you more baggage to lug around. I regret that. It wasn’t something an outsider like me should’ve said.”

“What do you mean, ‘outsider’? You know that’s not true.”

“No way, I was an outsider. It wasn’t my stage to stand on.” Tatsuya smiled boldly. The way he radiated confidence was just like his normal self. “Don’t regret it, Natsuki. I’m gonna take Uta.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna become a man who can make her happy,” he declared. There was not a trace of hesitation in his countenance, and I genuinely thought he looked cool.

“Stop persisting in a weird direction like you’ve been doing, though.” It’s fine to change yourself, but there are parts of you I want to stay the same. Changing everything about yourself won’t go well—just like how I was that spring, when Tatsuya and I fought.

“Ah, shut it! I’m thinking a lot in my own way. Mistakes happen. But.” Tatsuya paused. “You guys like me more than I thought, so I’ll call it quits.”

This guy’s getting audacious now. “What’re you going to do concretely to become a man who can make Uta happy?”

“Well, I’ve got a pretty easy-to-see benchmark right here—you. I’ll surpass you first,” he said, oozing confidence.

“Dude, uh... That’s a grade-schooler approach.”

“Shut it. I’ll start by getting better grades than you. Your ass is grass, and I’m gonna sow it!”

“Sow it? Don’t you mean ‘mow it’?” I thoughtlessly retorted.

Tatsuya put me in a headlock. That hurts!

Reita, who had approached without us noticing, watched me flail wildly. He shrugged.

“Hey! Help me, Reita!” I yelled.

“I think it’s for the best that you get a healthy dose of suffering at least once,” he said.

“Why?! Hey, wait, it hurts! It hurts!”

Reita watched me struggle in pain with an amused smile. Hey, he’s terrifying!

***

“...apparently like that, though.”

“Not particularly... But you know what they say: just do what you want.”

“Kinda makes you happy, huh?”

“No way! But...maybe I’m a little hopeful.”

***

Tatsuya and I fist-bumped before our second game.

“Let’s win this whole thing,” I said.

He laughed. “What the heck, dude? With you and me here, ’course. We can’t lose.”

After that, we won our second round against class 2-1 in a landslide victory, forty-six points to twenty. The battle got intense in the semifinals, though. We were up against class 2-3. Their players were the current captain of the basketball club Kataoka-senpai, Iwano-senpai, and Kurano Masato from the soccer team—he was also the culprit behind the girls’ basketball team’s dispute during the rainy season.

Reita displayed a rare show of fighting spirit; the way he said, “We’re definitely going to win,” left an impression on me.

Although Iwano-senpai put his large frame to good use catching rebounds and Kataoka-senpai used his excellent passing skills to capitalize on his teammates while also keeping Tatsuya in check with his impressively persistent defense, we managed to scrape out a victory with my shooting accuracy and Reita completely shutting Kurano out.

The final score was twenty-six to twenty-four. It was a low-scoring game where both teams’ defenses shined. The moment we clinched the win, all the spectators exploded into roaring cheers.

Right, it’s the semis, so there’ll be more people in the audience. We’re nearing the end of the ball game competition too. The only events remaining were the soccer and basketball finals. The other events had made rapid headway and finished up. Of the three courts, two were already being used as seating areas for students. Our classmates were mainly gathered on the right side, so we moved over there.

“Oh! Good work, basketball team! You’re in the finals now!”

I responded to their acclamations as I made my way to the wall and sat down with my back against it. A wave of fatigue had suddenly hit me. Though the games were only ten-minute halves, we needed to play three matches in one day to reach the finals, which was backbreaking. The ball game competition lasted for only a day, so overexerting ourselves was unavoidable.

“Oh yeah, what’s our class’s points look like?” I asked Hikari, who sat next to me.

“Ummm... They announced the results somewhere in the middle.” She turned to our classmates. “Does anyone know how we’re doing?”

“We were in fourth. We placed second in soccer, so we should be a bit higher now,” Fujiwara answered. “We placed fourth in volleyball too, so we’ve got a decent chance, depending on how basketball goes.”

“So you’re basically telling us to win?” I questioned.

“Exactly,” she said with a laugh.

Right then, the crowd let out some especially loud cheers. The other side of the semifinals was over, meaning our next opponent was decided.

“Who won?” I asked.

“3-1. Yanagishita-senpai’s class,” Tatsuya replied.

Yanagishita-senpai’s the one standing in our way, huh? I sorta had a feeling that’s what would happen.

“I watched from the front row—they’re strong,” Tatsuya said.

“I couldn’t ask for a better opponent,” I replied. Playing matches after all this time is tons of fun! The stronger the opponent, the more my blood gets pumping. That knowledge spurred my exhausted body on, and I stood up. “Let’s go, guys.”

Tatsuya, Reita, Hino, and Okajima-kun followed behind me.

We’re gonna win so we can enjoy this competition—and our youth—to the max.

***

“Miori.”

Hearing my name, I turned around. “Reita-kun.” Standing there was the very person I’d expected to see: my first boyfriend.

Reita-kun was handsome, kind, friendly, and fun to talk with. He was a genius who could do pretty much anything with great skill, and as far I could recall, he had no faults. Ever since I’d started dating him, I’d become the envy of the girls around me. There had even been cases when they’d blatantly directed their dark, jealous feelings straight at me. That was just how popular he was.

In reality, he was wasted on someone like me. Everyone else was right, and I was fully aware of that.

“Now you just have the finals left,” I said.

“Yeah. We got this far thanks to Natsuki and Tatsuya,” he said.

“You were super important too! Your passes were spot-on!”

I was being honest. Reita-kun was proficient at passing. The moment his teammates became free, time after time he’d sent them passes that seemed like they were homing in on them. He probably had expansive court vision. It wasn’t flashy, but he was indubitably supporting his team.

“I guess my soccer background is a bit useful,” he said with a dry smile. “How did your games go?”

“You spent time teaching me soccer, but we still lost in the second round.” I laughed, but I was actually extremely frustrated. We would’ve won if I had just made that shot. Dammit... God dammit...

“Don’t force yourself to laugh when you’re frustrated,” he said.

“Reita-kun, sometimes it’s scary how sharp you are.”

“People tell me that a lot, but I pay special attention to you, so maybe you’re right to some degree.” He shrugged.

If I were serious, would that have made my heart skip? However, my heart remained calm. And Reita-kun noticed even that.

“We’re going to win. I’ll work hard so we do,” he said. “So will you root for me?”

“Of course I will. I’m watching you closely.” I nodded earnestly. Even if what I felt for him wasn’t love, I truly did like him. And my desire to cheer on the person I liked when they were doing their best was no lie.

“Do you still like Natsuki?” Reita-kun asked.

I froze. It felt like time had come to a stop. I couldn’t retort with anything. “Sorry,” was the only thing I could manage to wring out.

“I’m fine being second to Natsuki. As long as you’ll cheer for me,” he said. He turned around and began walking towards the court where the finals were to take place.

“Good luck, Reita-kun!” I yelled after him.

He looked back and shot me a sincerely elated smile. Why does he look so happy from hearing me say that? It really warms my heart. It does...but it also hurts. I’m so hopelessly sad and bitter.

How happy would I become if I grew to love him? But only the words of my childhood friend who always needed babysitting stirred my heart. I shook my head, banishing the images of him from my mind.

Hey, Reita-kun. I want to love you. So please wait a little longer...just a little bit longer.

***

“...What’s that mean?”

“She likes Natsuki? Motomiya does...?”

Two people exchanged puzzled looks.