NOVEL SIMPLE Book 3: Chapter 5: Part3
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Part 3
“H-hey… did you catch the moment when he hit it…?”
“No, that’s impossible. I mean, I heard a sound that wouldn’t have been possible if you were playing table tennis normally, you know?”
“…More importantly, the table tennis table had been penetrated.”
Yes, I know, I did it! On a level that’s irreversible now!
The unexpected turn of events caused me to forfeit, but… on second thought, I wonder if it was a good idea to forfeit. Although the main reason for this photoshoot was to feature Ousei Gakuen, it was originally supposedly because they wanted to take my picture… so maybe it was a bad idea to abandon the photoshoot, right?
Even though such thoughts are overwhelming now, I’m more afraid of continuing on and injuring someone else, and it wouldn’t have been a mistake to forfeit the tournament, after all. Because if something with the power that could penetrate the table tennis table and the gym floor with a table tennis ball hit someone… yeah, I’d become the real “Sniper”, instead.
As I was letting out a single sigh, the president of the entertainment agency came over to me quickly.
“H-hey, Yuuya-kun! I’d be troubled if you lost in the first round! Moreover, what do you mean by forfeiting…”
“N-no, but… my opponent is a famous table tennis player, correct? So I think I knew I’d lose even if I continued like that…”
“No, you weren’t. You were able to hit your opponent’s ball back. At least you wouldn’t have been beaten to a pulp, you know?”
“…..”
President-san, you’re observing well, aren’t you?
“However, I didn’t expect you to destroy the table tennis table. You must have something to hide, don’t you?”
“H-hahaha… there’s no way that’s possible.”
T-this president has a sharp intuition! However, since I wasn’t going to talk about the other world honestly, I just laughed and fooled around.
“Well, that’s fine. Anyway, if you continue to lose here, we won’t be able to achieve our original goal, so please do something about it.”
“Eh? No, wait, what did you mean by that───.”
“So, I asked you to do something about it, okay?”
Before I could stop her, the president left quickly, accompanied by Kurosawa-san. E-eh… no way, do I have to somehow participate in another competition or something…?
I don’t know if that’s really allowed, though.
Anyway, since I decided to forfeit the game early, I’ll have to support everyone in the class that’s fighting properly until I get to do something about it.
First of all, I headed over to Shingo-kun, who was having a doubles match at a nearby table tennis table and cheered them on, but as he said before it started, his opponents were students from the P.E. class, so, unfortunately, he lost.
By the way, his opponent, who was from the P.E. class, wasn’t muscular like my opponent from earlier; he’s just a normal boy. Thank goodness for that, because I wondered what I would do if the standard body type in P.E. class was also that of a muscular guy.
Shingo-kun, who has finished his match, notices me and comes over while dropping his shoulders.
“Ugh… it was no good after all…”
“But you’ve got some points, so you shouldn’t be that pessimistic, you know?”
“W-well, if you say so, it’s true that I’m not very good at sports, but I did my best, I guess. Also, my partner has helped me so much.”
It’s unfortunate that they lost, but Shingo-kun seemed to have fun in the end, and I couldn’t help but smile too.
“O-oh, by the way, how did Yuuya-kun fare in the end?”
“Eh?”
“L-look, all the photo crew members were nearby, and I believe Yuuya-kun was able to win because of──.”
“…I forfeited.”
“…Eeh?”
Shingo-kun’s eyes widened as I said that while averting my gaze.
“F-forfeit, you said? …What happened?”
“…Uh…well… the table tennis table and the gym floor had been penetrated by the ball…”
“Penetrated!?”
Well, that will be the reaction I get. I know very well that it isn’t realistic for me to be saying it myself. But it’s the truth, so I can’t blame him!
“I-I don’t know how that happened somehow, but… thanks for your hard work!”
“Yeah…”
“R-right! What are you going to do after this, Yuuya-kun? I’m going to go watch Ryo-kun’s match outside, but…”
“Well actually, as I said before, I had to forfeit the match so they couldn’t take a proper picture of me, so they asked me to do something about it… that’s why I thought I’d try to enter another event for now…”
“Oh, another game? I wonder if that’s acceptable…?”
“Well….. To be honest, I don’t know if it’s okay with me either, but I thought I’d look for an event I could participate in while cheering for my classmates in the other events in the gym. So, after I look around the gym to a certain extent, if it looked like Ryo was still competing, so I’ll show up there as well.”
“I see… I guess we’ll have to split up for now.”
Thus, Shingo-kun and I parted ways, and I began to look around the gym. And then suddenly, a voice calls out to me.
“Yuuya-kun!”
“Hmm? Ah, Kaede!”
It was Kaede who came running up to me with a small run. As Kaede came in front of me, she tilted her head curiously.
“Yoo-hoo! What’s going on? Have you finished your game yet?”
“Ah… actually, I had to forfeit it for a variety of reasons.”
“Eh, really? But it’s unfortunate… I wanted to go and cheer you on, you know.”
“Ah… I’m sorry about that. What about Kaede? I believe you’re playing volleyball, right?”
“Yeah, you’re right! …Ah! Yuuya-kun, that means you’re free right now, right?”
“Eh? W-well, I guess?”
I couldn’t see the real meaning of Kaede’s words, so I tilted my head, and she took my hand.
“Please! Can I ask you to join volleyball?”
“Eeh?”
Kaede told me while I was surprised at the unexpected request.
“I will be participating in the mixed-match division, but… One of our members got hurt earlier, so we have to play with only a small group of players. But our next match will be in a class with a lot of students from the volleyball club, and honestly, if we don’t have enough people, it’s going to be tough… what do you think? Will you join us?”
Kaede looked up at me anxiously.
“For me, it’s not a problem to participate… but is it okay for non-registered members to participate?”
“Oh, don’t worry, it’s okay!”
“I-is that so? Well, I’m going to give it a try then.”
“Really? Thank you, Yuuya-kun!”
Kaede laughed, looking really happy. As for me, I was grateful for Kaede’s offer because I had to participate in some kind of competition again due to the president’s absurdity.
Kaede took me to the volleyball team, and I saw Rin there as well.
“Ooh, isn’t that Yuuya? Could it be that you are a helper?”
“Yeah, Kaede asked me to join her. Is that okay?”
“Of course. Right?”
When Rin called out to the other members, they all nodded with motivation.
“W-well, I didn’t expect to be able to fight with Yuuya-kun…!”
“Eh, by the way, if Yuuya is here, does that mean we’re going to have our picture taken?”
“Wow! This will make me not want to lose even more!”
As everyone was motivated for the next game, the photographers who followed me started to get ready for the next game.
“Looks like volleyball is next.”
“And it’s mixed gender. This is going to make for some great pictures.”
“Besides, all the girls at Ousei Gakuen are high class. They’ll look even more picturesque alongside Yuuya-kun.”
“This is a good target.”
And as expected, or rather, because the photographers talked about it, my classmates… especially the girls for some reason, had a fire in their eyes.
“This… makes me feel so motivated!”
“We might be able to get a picture with Yuuya-kun, right?”
“I definitely won’t show him my ugly self!”
Each of them were prepared for the conditions, and when the match started, they scored one point after another, despite Kaede saying that their opponents were mostly students from the volleyball club.
“Here, Kaede!”
“Alright! I’m coming!”
Kaede jumped up vigorously to the ball that Rin tossed and decided to spike it beautifully just like that. Then I called out to Kaede with a smile.
“That’s good, Kaede! Excellent!”
“Wawa, Yuuya-kun is praising me…!”
“Kaede, you have a big grin on your face, you know.”
“N-no way!”
As I watched Kaede hold her own face, Rin approached me with a grin.
“So, how was it? Yuuya.”
“Hmm? It was amazing. Rin also tossed at the perfect time…”
“No, no, it’s about Kaede’s breasts!”
“Bufuuhh!”
“Ueeehh! R-Rin-chan!”
Rin suddenly walked around behind Kaede and grabbed her chest directly.
“You see, when she hit that spike earlier, it was super shaky, right? Hmm?”
“No, I’m not looking at it like that!”
“Eeh? Isn’t that weird? This girl’s breasts are so amazing…”
“Hiyauu! Hey, wait, Rin-chan! I’ll get angry if you do this any further!”
In front of Rin, who continues to rub Kaede’s chest without hesitation, I activated the [Mind-Body Unification] and [Mental Enhancement] skills with all my might and desperately removed my gaze. Thanks, my skills!
It’s not the way it is supposed to be used somehow, but I quieted down Kaede’s anger at Rin.
Even though we were having such a loose exchange, we were steadily gaining points, and we were steadily getting closer to victory. However, the president, who was watching the development of the game, called out to me.
“Hey, Yuuya-kun! Don’t just support all the time! You need to decide, spike it!”
“Eeh…”
The president was right, I continued to be mostly supporting my team, blocking the opponent’s spikes and collecting balls that everyone else couldn’t reach while trying not to spike during this match.
That’s because, as you can see from the table tennis matches, it would be a hell of a lot of work for me to compete in a normal game. That’s why, as I was pondering what to do about the president’s request, Rin and Kaede approached me.
“That’s right… then next time, we’ll support Yuuya so that it’s easier for him to strike, okay?”
“What? No, no… you don’t have to do that to accommodate me…”
“It’s okay! Besides, Yuuya-kun has supported us a lot, hasn’t he? So, we’ll support Yuuya-kun this time!”
It’s hard for me to refuse when they say that as a pure favor. That’s why I was extraordinarily worried about what to do, but time never waited, and the game continued.
And then, Rin picked up the opponent’s spike and Kaede tossed it, but…
“Ah, sorry! That was too high!”
Kaede’s toss was raised farther than expected, and if I waited until it fell into a hitting position, the opponent would be able to get the timing of the block perfectly.
However──.
“Fuh!”
“Eeehh!?”
I reflexively kick the ground and jump up at Kaede’s ball. My leg strength has increased due to my training with Usagi-san, and even if the ball reaches the ceiling of the gymnasium, I’m confident that I can jump up there and get the ball.
I thought about it a lot, so I desperately tried to control my power, then I spiked the ball, which was raised high and aimed at the opponent’s court.
“Haah!”
As I heard such a grand bursting sound, the wind pressure created by my spikes’ momentum tore down the volleyball court net. My spike, which I was supposed to have controlled, caused the ball to explode, blowing the volleyball net off.
Luckily, no one was injured, but the students were silent as they looked at the volleyball court that had been turned to nothing.
“…..”
“Uh, I’m sorry.”
While the photographers, and even the president, who had requested the spike, were stunned, I could only apologize. I knew I shouldn’t have spiked it…
As I was worrying about what they were going to do for the rest of the game, one of the opponent’s team raised his hand.
“I’m going to forfeit.”
──Thus, the victory was secured, this time due to the opponent’s surrender.