The club members who had believed in me until now were looking at me with eyes full of fear.
“Eh, what’s this? Was I forced to go along with such a hard menu, Onoi?”
“Wa-wait, isn’t this menu going too far?”
“Takamori isn’t normal, huh…”
The voices of the club members criticizing me echo in my ears.
Despite being admired by them so far, why these looks now?
Onoi and I have been working hard since then, striving to improve our skills.
Even our passing has become faster.
If they moved forward with me, they should have been able to smile in the end…
I felt like something was slowly crumbling.
How can I get everyone motivated…
For Onoi, who is the only one supporting me, I wanted to do my best.
But one day, during the special training with Onoi.
All the club members called for me.
Finally, they seemed to be in the mood to aim for nationals together with me.
I was so overjoyed… but it was short-lived.
With their heads down, the club members told me.
“We can’t keep up with Takamori anymore. So we want you to quit the club.”
Onoi was among them.
“I also… agree with the club members. I’ve been patient so far… but, Takamori, you should take a break.”
Even Onoi, with a somewhat cold look, pushed me away.
Ah, I see… I felt my heart growing cold.
Come to think of it, during the recent culture festival, when I aimed to take first place, I was looked at strangely by others.
To add insult to injury, one of the club members said.
“Onoi is tired and has injured her foot! You didn’t know, did you? Always talking about nationals, nationals, nationals, dragging us along!! If you try your best, you’ll make everyone around you unhappy. And seriously trying your best is lame… Nobody follows Takamori’s way. In fact, we’ve already given up on you.”
“T-That’s too much…”
Although Onoi said with her elbow nudging,
“But, sorry. It’s true that we can’t keep up with you anymore. So, I’ll say it clearly.”
After a pause, Onoi said painfully.
“I want Takamori to distance herself from the club.”
At that moment, everything became irrelevant to me.
“Trying your best is lame?”
“My efforts only make others unhappy?”
Suddenly, an image of myself holding a ball in the gymnasium came to mind.
Running and passing, but no one receiving.
Impress with my play? Ridiculous.
Because it wasn’t reaching anyone from the start.
I thought I was advancing towards the light.
But it wasn’t light, it was a path to being alone from the beginning.
Being betrayed after giving expectations from the start.
—Ah, I hate basketball.
When I couldn’t believe in my own path anymore, this is how I abandoned myself.
**
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Yuna finished speaking in a calm tone.
She exuded a sense of despair as if she were in a world of her own.
As if she wanted to say that she was alone in her own world.
It wasn’t like Nayu at all.
It wasn’t like that admired basketball player she once was.
And Yuna’s story was eerily similar to Haruya’s past.
The story of Haruya being criticized in the track and field club…
Maybe that’s why.
the fact that she, like Haruya, had turned away from the past.
He couldn’t forgive that she was following the same path he do.
For a moment, a feeling akin to anger filled Haruya’s chest.
Trembling, he grabbed her shoulders.
“…So you quit basketball because of that? Is that why you quit basketball?”
“You heard about my past and understood, right? If I play basketball, I just make everyone around me unhappy…”
She said with a lonely smile, on the verge of tears.
“…Haru-san was charmed by my play? What nonsense…”
Yuna fixed her gaze on haruya, frozen.
This was the first time he had put so much emotion into his voice,
surprising even himself. Carried by that momentum, Haruya continued.
“Nayu-san, back then your vision was just narrowed and you couldn’t see the bigger picture. At least I was captivated by your play! …So please don’t say such sad things…”
Unable to hold back, Haruya looked down as if about to cry.
“…Huh. Haru-san was captivated by my play? Don’t spew such nonsense now.”
Against Yuna, whose shoulders were trembling with anger… Haru blurted out.
“—At the summer tournament three years ago. I just… by chance…I was in the audience watching Nayu-san’s game. The tenacious fight from an underdog school. Nayu-san was moving the team, shining brighter than anyone else, playing so joyfully.”
“…So don’t say such fa—”
Cutting off Yuna as she frowned, Haruya continued.
“Number 11. At that time, things weren’t going well for me in the club… I felt like trying hard was lame. I tried to convince myself that it was okay to just be average. But, Nayu-san’s play that raised the team’s morale changed my mind. I decided to do my best… and it made me realize that giving your all isn’t lame at all. I made it my goal to catch up to that number 11.”
She wanted to say it was a lie, but she was speechless when the topic of the number was brought up.
Then, Haruya’s serious demeanor convinced her that he wasn’t lying.
Haruya shook Nayu’s shoulders vigorously and said firmly,
“Hey, Nayu-san, who made me think that guys who try their best are cool… Nayu-san, who became my goal…”
After a pause, Haruya held back tears in his eyes and choked out,
“Don’t let yourself fall by lying to yourself…”
At the same time, he screamed in his heart, “Don’t follow the same path as me…”
Nayu’s eyes widened at Haruya’s continued words.
“…No matter what, hold onto basketball, even if you have to drink muddy water. There’s no reason for you, Nayu-san, to hate basketball enough to lie to yourself.”
For a while, Nayu remained silent.
Although she initially seemed confused by Haruya’s words, she eventually twisted her face and said, “─That’s just Haru-san’s ego forcing his ideas onto me! And I hate bas──”
“I won’t let you say you hate it.”
Haruya interrupted her words forcefully.
Haruya reminded Nayu of the feeling of loving to run.
Now, it was Haruya’s turn to reciprocate the realization she gave him.
Her resistance to his words was weak.
Haruya was now able to assert his opinion more strongly.
He wasn’t afraid of her rejection… because he was convinced that she was seeking help by coming here today.
Looking straight at Nayu, Haruya continued gently,
“No matter what reason you have, you were shining brightly. You were smiling so happily. You must not lie about hating basketball.”
“……”
She gasped suddenly.
She remembered the enjoyable memories of practicing in the basketball club.
///
///
Indeed, there were many unpleasant experiences in the club, but it wasn’t all bad.
There were many happy, enjoyable moments too.
“Actually, Don’t you really love basketball?”
Someone’s words suddenly echoed in her mind.
Somewhere in her heart, she knew.
But when she faced basketball, she could only pile lie upon lie, afraid of becoming alone again…
“…Is it okay for me? I kept trying, and as a result, everyone left me. I might make someone else unhappy by trying hard… That’s really scary. For me to make my friends unhappy… and then, to enjoy playing basketball again… is that okay?”
“…What I was attracted to that day was a basketball player who was genuinely enjoying playing. It’s absurd to think you’d make your friends unhappy. Nayu-san at that time made everyone on the team smile. That Nayu-san was the most radiant in that gymnasium.”
“……”
Nayu’s eyes welled up with tears, and she froze.
When she met Haruya’s gaze… he was sincerely facing her.
He was her fan.
The passion she poured into basketball was genuine, and surely that heat had reached Haruya.
There was no hint of lies in Haru’s words.
Her chest felt warm and tears threatened to spill over.
“Sorry… I’m going to cry a little, so please turn away.”
“Should I lend you my chest?”
Haruya spread his arms, and Nayu pouted and turned her face away.
“No, I don’t want things to get awkward.”
After that, she cried a little.
Haruya’s eyes were also moist.
“…Hey, what should I do from now on?”
After a while, in the humid atmosphere.
Once they both calmed down, Nayu asked Haruya.
“…I think if you’re going to face the past, joining the basketball club is the only option. Well, it’s up to Nayu-san to decide.”
“…Ah, it seems that the practice match is coming up soon… In that case, it will be a practice match with Onoi. I see, Haru-san was aiming for that from the beginning…”
“……”
She interpreted the silence as affirmation, and Nayu continued.
“You’re thorough… And now, I’m not worried about it because I’m still basking in the afterglow, but… Haru-san earlier seemed fishy. He said really embarrassing things… Like ‘shining.’ Is this because you read too much shoujo manga? Heheh…”
“……… Ugh, shut up. Nayu-san, I think it’s wrong to make fun of me at times like this, you know? Besides, in terms of shoujo manga plot developments, wouldn’t it be abnormal if I didn’t respond like that!?”
Nayu found Haruya’s flustered cheeks cute in her heart.
(Teary Haru-san is so cute…)
Thinking this, she adds a final blow.
“In a shoujo manga scene like this, I’d be crying in your arms by now, Haru-san.”
“W-well…”
Certainly, that would be a typical development in a shoujo manga.
“That’s kinda lewd. Just so you know, I’m not a girl who fits into stereotypes.”
“Huh, isn’t that a bit harsh to say!?”
“Well, since you assumed I was being hugged. It’s like that in shoujo manga, right? Any rebuttal, Haru-san?”
“…F-fine. I give up, so please spare me.”
“Ah, no, I’m sorry for teasing you. But… this part is really true.”
Saying this, Nayu looked directly at Haruya
Then, she murmured, “Thank you,” under her breath.
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