(V4) Chapter 4: Destined Rivals (II)

I jogged over to the court, armed with a pocari sweat.

“Alright losers! Time to see which of us has real main character energy,” Akito grinned, slapping the volleyball with his palm.

He had already pulled off his shirt, revealing way more confidence than actual muscle.

The ball launched, and Saori swatted it to the other side.

The hard spike was caught on the other side, by none other than Airi-san.

The ball bounced high in the air, and a figure took flight, none other than Takamine-san. Her eyes glimmered sheer will and focus, and she smacked the ball at full speed.

The force made the ball spin like a comet, but it was caught by Ayase, who dove for the ball and rolled precisely to protect her body.

"What the heck..." I whispered. "Is that even fair for her?"

Saori nailed the spike but Takamine-san countered with a block, her athleticism clearly more dominant, and she sent it back with a greater force. With Ayase not yet recovering her position, the play gave up.

"One point for team A!" Yumi-sensei announced, and the group of Takamine-san, Airi-san and the other athletic girl Riku-san threw high-fives to each other.

Akito giggled, almost self-deprecatingly, "I'm freaking tired, man! This is like a duel between Takamine-san and Saori-chan! They're the real main characters!"

Hearing that, I turned to the scoreboard. It was tied at 22.

"Ow...ow..."

Saori helped Ayase up, even wiping the sands that stuck to her limbs.

"Just take it easy, 'kay?" Saori said with a smile at Ayase. "We'll all work together, Ayase-chan."

Ayase sighed in exhaustion.

"Sorry for being a burden..."

"You're not! We came here to have fun!"

With Saori's cheering clearly giving Ayase a positive note, she recollected herself.

"The vampire hunter takes his exit! I'm subbing out!" Akito voiced out. "Haru, take my place."

He threw me the volleyball. I didn’t even get time to stretch.

"Haru-san?" Ayase shifted to me, and her cheeks flushed before turning away.

And the sound of her calling me by my first name? Music.

“Alright, Haru! You’re on our team!” shouted Saori. "Can you guide our newbie here?"

“Maybe."

I turned to Ayase, completely overwhelmed by Takamine-san's display of skill.

I held the ball, still figuring out how this game works.

And I'm going to face experts?

I shifted my gaze towards the net, and Takamine-san shot a glance across, and it speaks that she'll not hold back.

Rude. But fair.

I passed the ball to Ayase to serve.

My game plan is on defense. I can use my reflexes and athleticism as leverage to edge them out in defense, meanwhile Saori will focus on offense.

Ayase could be our supporting cast.

But when I turned to her, she just stood there facing the opponents with determination. It wasn't her usual relaxed expression—that stare sparked competitive intent.

"Ayase? Are you okay?" I asked, but it looked like she didn't hear.

She just threw the ball and slapped it across the net.

The golden-haired gyaru received, and lobbed it to Riku-san who had already taken flight with one hand cocked back.

"Take this!" she screamed.

I planted one pivot foot on the sand and leaped.

I took the impact of her spike and the ball rolled sideways, but Saori managed to catch it by diving and hit it back up.

"Haru, now!" she commanded.

But before I could jump again, there was already a blur of pink above me.

Ayase.

She spiked the ball with all of her might, sending it bouncing to Takamine-san's position.

"A point for Team B!" Yumi-san announced.

"What in the world was that?" I turned to her. But she remained focused, barely even needing to breathe.

I never saw her play any type of sport before, nor did she ever tell me she did. If it was her first time, then she already had the hang of it.

Takamine-san, on the other hand, was a popular top athlete and intellectual at Komorebi High. If Ayase was able to keep up with her in this competition, then Ayase herself already had expertise in the short span of time.

As expected from her 'natural' talent.

"Did Ayase-chan practice volleyball before?" Saori asked, sending a skeptical glance over me. "I only instructed her the basics earlier and she's already playing at Takamine-san's level."

"Well, I don't know. Probably in the States."

The next moments turned the attention not to Saori, but to Ayase and Takamine-san that went into air combat. They were too competitive, as if we are just onlookers trying to avoid their attacks like dodgeball.

"Go, Miyamoto-chan!"

"Don't give up, Takamine-sama!"

The crowd was split, and my deal with Seungmin dissolved entirely due to their fierceness against each other.

“Crap!” I spat.

I fumbled more than I should’ve. At one point, I dove for a save and only succeeded in eating sand like it owed me money.

A spike from the other side came in hot. Too hot. From Takamine-san herself.

Ayase’s eyes narrowed in focus, ready to receive the hit.

Then—BAM!

It nailed me right in the face like a sucker punch, and I collapsed to the beach on my back.

A sharp gasp rippled through the crowd.

“HARU-KUN!” someone shouted.

Footsteps pounded through the sand. I coughed, half-sitting up. “Did we win…?”

Two shadows loomed over me—one from the right, one from the left.

Pink.

Ayase.

Black.

Takamine-san.

Both on their swimsuits and dropped to their knees beside me. I could see the wonders of mountain ranges across my position.

I feel blood rushing to my nose.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Takamine-san squealed apologetically, brushing sand off my face. She cupped both of my cheeks, checking for other injuries.

"Your nose, Haru-san! It's red!" Ayase said, her brows furrowed in genuine concern.

“That’s what you get for staring too hard,” Airi-san muttered, too unbothered.

Akito tried to hold in a laugh, "I don't know buddy could be an in-denial perv."

Saori threw me a med kit. “Congratulations, Haru. You’ve just been baptized by volleyball.”

From the other side of the net, Riku-san gave a small smirk. “Not everyone’s built for the spotlight.”

“I didn’t ask to be in the spotlight.” I snarled. “I asked to survive it.”

"Till our next meeting, bedhead."

Takamine-san grasped my right hand, Ayase on the other.

Their faces were close. Too close. I could smell Takamine-san’s floral sunscreen and Ayase’s shampoo, both mingling with salt and sea air.

“I’m fine,” I croaked, absolutely not fine. "Maybe I just need a helmet."

Then they both turned to each other. And their expressions darkened.

Smiled like enemies.

Like rivals on the brink of drawing swords.

“I'll go do first aid, I'm trained for it.” Takamine-san suggested, rummaging through the metal box.

“No, I was with him all the time. I know Haru-san's needs better.” Ayase replied, saccharine sweet.

I suddenly felt like prize money in the middle of a gladiator match.

“Girls,” I spoke slowly. “This is just a volleyball game…”

“Exactly,” they said in sync, standing up.

Ayase offered me her hand.

Takamine-san offered me hers.

And I just stared at them, feeling like I’d stepped into a dating sim where every choice would get me killed.

Guess there’s a war brewing after all.

And it had nothing to do with volleyball.