Follow Through

"Oh, man!" Ecstatic cheers erupted from Taiga, catapulting him from his assigned perch. His fist punched the air in triumph. "That was amazing! Did you see how that ball took off as if it had a mind of its own?"

"Yeah, that was truly remarkable, I have to admit," Akemi tore her gaze from the lane, the surprise of the unexpected turn almost causing her to neglect her scorekeeping duties. Swiftly recording the score, she rose from her seat and approached Kōsuke. "What did you just do?"

"Oh, that?" Kōsuke, still beaming, pointed down the lane as his ball emerged from the return. An infectious grin spread across his face. "I mentioned it earlier. Instead of using the typical bowling stroke, I changed my approach. These lanes respond better to crank bowlers."

"Crank style?" Akemi raised an intrigued eyebrow, trying to reconcile what she had expected with the extreme performance she had just witnessed. "It's not what I imagined at all."

"Yeah, it does demand a lot more energy to bowl like that," Kōsuke admitted, a bead of sweat tracing down his cheek. "But it might just be the game-changer we need."

"So why the sudden change?" Akemi demanded, her eyes narrowing. Meanwhile, Kōsuke's opponent, Isao, stepped up to the lane, ball in hand, ready for his turn.

The bespectacled teen adjusted his glasses on his nose while he observed the upperclassman getting into position. "I'll explain after Senpai's turn. I want to see what he does now."

Both Akemi and Taiga turned to watch Isao take his turn, their curiosity piqued by the mysterious secret the two bowlers were keeping from them at this moment. Isao, on the other hand, was all smiles as he approached the foul line. Graceful movements accompanied pure joy as he sent the azure orb gliding down the lane. The ball flirted with the edge of the gutter, soared toward the pins, creating a chaotic symphony of clashing and bouncing.

One pin seemed defiant, on the verge of standing tall, but a rogue pin rolled across the lane, colliding just before the sweeper descended. It was a messy strike, yet a strike nonetheless.

Isao stood tall as the sweeper cleared the lane. He hummed to himself, a slightly perplexed expression on his face, hands on his hips.

"Looks like you got lucky with that messenger pin, didn't you?" Kōsuke had sidled up beside the blond upperclassman, his arms crossed as he scrutinized the lane with Isao.

"Hm?" Isao glanced at the younger bowler, then back down the lane. "Appears so. A bit too close for my liking, if I'm being honest."

"Agreed," Kōsuke nodded, delving into contemplation. After a moment, a sly grin crept onto his lips. He cut his eyes at Isao, peering over the temples of his glasses.

"Why not switch to tweener style, then?"

A tense stillness settled, broken only by the distant hum of motors at the far end of the lanes. With curious eyes fixed on his opponent, Isao pondered Kōsuke's implication. Then, a devious grin, full of teeth, spread across his face.

"Oh, I'm sure you're well aware why I wouldn't do that, Kiyota."

Akemi and Taiga exchanged surprised looks, trying to unravel the unfolding drama. "Know what?" They asked in unison.

Kōsuke's smug expression persisted as he adjusted his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "It's quite simple. These lanes... are warped."

With a sharply pointed finger, he leveled this accusation at the elder bowler in the room, who stood there with a wide grin on his lips. Gasps fluttered about as onlookers processed the sight before them. The only thing missing from this image was a red bowtie on Kōsuke.

"Uh, OK..." Akemi finally broke the tension, raising her hand with an annoyingly tired look. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Heh," Isao shrugged and shook his head with a sigh. "Well, since you have this all figured out, great detective, I'll let you explain to the peanut gallery what that means."

"It's quite simple, really," Kōsuke explained, raising his still pointing finger like their homeroom teacher constantly did. "There's a divot of some sort on the lane, in the wood itself. As the balls roll over that spot, due to the extra oil collected and the change in elevation on the surface, the ball loses its normal trajectory and veers off in random directions. I thought I saw something strange the first time I laid eyes down the lanes, but I just assumed it was a trick of the lights or something."

"Huh?" Taiga squinted down the lane, attempting to discern what his friend was talking about "I don't know what you're talking about, man. There's nothing like that I can see."

"It does blend in pretty well, I must admit," Kōsuke moved to Taiga's side and pointed at the lane. "Right there, about halfway down on the right side of the lane. See all those rough patches in the boards? About 5 over, yeah? It's quite large, don't you think?"

The taller of the two friends narrowed his gaze at the pointed-out spot. A rough patch indeed adorned the wood of the lane, but then again...

"Uh, yeah, but the whole lane is kinda worn down looking." Taiga grimaced, finally noticing the alley's condition. The surprise of discovering the room had distracted him from the dust and the wear and tear on the lanes, chairs, and tables. The entire room bore the marks of age and constant use.

“I guess you guys really didn’t notice it, huh?” Isao shook his head with a hint of disappointment, his devious grin persisting. Tossing his hand to the side, he continued, “Yes, it's true. This alley is quite old. Built roughly a decade ago, it hasn't seen an update since then. It was in regular use until the start of last year. The lanes were already deteriorating, but luckily we struck a deal with a nearby alley.”

As he let his story conclude, Isao's gaze shifted across the specially allocated space for the bowling team. The other students couldn't decipher the emotions behind his sharp and cunning eyes. “It would be nice to get this place cleaned up and updated with better equipment, but we need to win something special for the school board to consider another grant.”

The air thickened as the room fell into silence, broken only by the soft humming of old machines in the background. The three friends exchanged glances filled with concern and mixed emotions, contemplating their next move.

Suddenly, a loud pop echoed through the room, making everyone jump. Standing next to the ball return, Kōsuke pressed both palms tightly against his cheeks. Lowering his arms to reveal his reddening face, he shot a provocative glance at his opponent, chin tucked in, ready for the next move.

“The game isn’t over yet,” he declared, grabbing his bowling ball once more, raising it challengingly towards Isao.

For the first time, Isao's eyes widened, a shocked expression briefly replacing his usual composed demeanor. But excitement quickly took over, transforming his face into an enthusiastic, toothy grin. “Show me what you got, then.”

Once again, Kōsuke nodded at his upperclassman, taking his position on the lane. With pride in each movement, he launched the ball forcefully down the lane, and the cascade of pins revealed a perfect strike.

A surge of excitement swept through the room, casting smiles across everyone's faces as they eagerly anticipated the continuation of the game. Turning with determined nods, Taiga and Akemi hurried back to their assigned spots, ready to support the energized competitors in any way they could.

The game unfolded with a series of powerful strikes and well-placed spare throws. Akemi's perception shifted; Kōsuke, once burdened by invisible weights, now broke free, rapidly gaining ground on his opponent. Isao, initially strolling towards an easy victory, now anxiously glanced over his shoulder, hastening his pace.

Neck and neck, each player vied to gain a step ahead of the other. Their competition was fierce, yet the elation on their faces fueled their determination.

As the match neared its end, Kōsuke, overcoming his initial struggle, closed the gap. Both players, drenched in sweat in the unventilated room, awaited Akemi to tally the points and declare the winner of the first game, exchanging intense stares, sizing their opponent up.

“I think this one goes to me, Kiyota,” Isao snickered, wiping sweat from his brow with a towel from his ball bag. Despite a strong start, he began to falter, missing strikes and easy spares.

Kōsuke, hands on his knees, wearied from the change in bowling styles, acknowledged, “Really? I thought I pulled ahead with that last strike.”

“OK!” Akemi jumped from her seat, moving between the two with her paper. Nervously contemplating the best way to announce the winner, she opted to turn the paper around, allowing them to inspect the scores themselves.

“Uh, Akemi?” Kōsuke scratched his temple nervously, carefully choosing his words, while Isao struggled to contain his laughter with a hand over his mouth. “That’s the pin total, not our scores…”

“Huh?” She turned the paper around, inspecting the scores. Both were around 110 points, with Isao slightly in the lead. “Is that not how you count scores in bowling…?”

After a brief lesson on calculating bowling scores, including the impact of strikes and spares on the counts, Akemi sheepishly read off the new scores. “Ishinabe got 183, and Kōsuke got… 173. First point goes to Ishinabe.” Remorse tinted her voice towards the end of her announcement.

Isao nodded, as if the outcome was a foregone conclusion from the match's inception. “Time to sweep this and start the next game.”

“I am right behind you, Senpai,” Kōsuke eagerly took his spot on the opposite lane from Isao. Each harbored a spark of determination to outdo the other.

Almost an hour later, the games concluded. Isao had triumphed 3-1, though the point count in the end was much closer than the scores suggested — 519-504, with just 15 pins separating the two.

“Man, I thought I had this one.” Kōsuke reclined in his chair, sweat streaming down his forehead. Taiga, done with his duties, lent a hand by fanning his friend with a textbook to stave off overheating.

“That second game had me worried there. But I won that last match handily. So you know what that means.” Isao asserted his dominance with a strong stance in front of his opponent while he too was soaked with sweat.

Adjusting his glasses with a sigh of frustration, Kōsuke acknowledged the inevitable. “I have to join the team, right, Senpai?”

The competitive grin on Isao's face shifted. Returning to his devious expression, he answered mysteriously. “Not quite yet. Also, it’s Vice-Captain to you now, Kiyota.”