In the PE gymnasium
"Ok, it's quite simple. There are 72 first years here, and there are 72 second years here. Since there are only three volleyball courts, we would need to have three groups of six. The first years and second years, we would call them Group A. We would have Group B of three groups of six first years and second years go against each other when Group A is finally complete," Mr. Tsubasa explained.
Hmph. I didn't even realize my surroundings because I was too focused on Daiki, but I also realized that there are other first years from different classes here too.
"So now you will need to create your team of six and decide if you want to be Group A or Group B. One more fact: you can also choose to challenge a team of six directly. If they agree, you can play each other," Mr. Tsubasa said.
"Oh, and also, my fellow colleague forgot to tell you, these are special physical tests, which are held the first week of the semester," Ms. Riko said.
A student from another class who is a first year raised his hand.
"What is it?" Ms. Riko asked.
"So, if these physical tests are the first week of every semester, what will we do next class?" the student asked.
"Simply, whatever you want to do," Ms. Riko said.
There was a slight pause before she spoke again.
"After today, you don't have to worry about anything, to be honest. All you have to do is show up for attendance, and after that, you can do whatever you want. You can leave to go home, you can play any activity. We've got the hugest gym in the world—basketball, volleyball, pickleball, netball—you can name it. Anything that can be indoors is here. After all, this is like one-fifth of the gym you're seeing. So after today, do whatever you like."
"Alright, you've got two minutes to come up with a group of six and decide if you want to go Group A or B," Mr. Tsubasa said.
"So we're definitely together, right?" Takashi asked.
"Yeah," we all said.
"So all we need is two more people, right?" Youske said.
"Yeah, but let's definitely go Group A to get this over with," I said.
"Yeah, makes sense. If we do this, we can go home since this is the last class of the day," Takashi said.
"If you all don't mind, I've got a particular person I would like to ask to join our group," I said.
"Who?" they all said together.
"Hey, excuse me, Marasu, do you mind joining our team? We plan to go Group A and we need some members," I said.
"Umm, sure, I'll join your team," Marasu said.
"Ok, that's good," Takashi said.
"All we need is one more member and we're set," Yoru said.
"Yeah, but who?" I asked. Then Akira came up to me.
"Umm, Ren, do you think I can join your group?" Akira asked.
"Yeah, duh. This makes six, and we're ready to go," Youske said.
"Are you fine with that, Ren?" Akira asked me.
"Yeah, I'm fine with that. Serious question: do any of you have experience playing volleyball?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. I played some in middle school just for fun. The sport was always easy," Takashi said.
"Yeah, me too, definitely when I go to the beach," Yoru said.
"Yeah, I played my second year of middle school for my team. Almost went to the National Championship," Youske said.
"Well, yeah. I played a lot in middle school but never really played for a team," Marasu said.
"Yep, played my last year in middle school too," Akira said.
"Well then, no need to explain the rules since you all know how to play. Well then, let's get going," I said, walking toward the coaches.
On the opposite side from us were the second years.
"See, now look. My boys are going to crush them no matter what. You get me?" Daiki asked.
His group shook their heads, agreeing.
"Well, let's get out there because we're going Group A," Daiki said, smiling hard.
"Ok, so your group wants to go Group A?" Mr. Tsubasa asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Well, ok. Please give me your names."
"Ren Aokami, Takashi Komi, Soru Sazaki, Youske Hamachi, Akira Fujimoto, Marasu Koichi."
"Well, ok. Go to the locker room, look for your name, and your change of clothes should be in there. Girls, go to the girls' locker, and it should be the same," Mr. Tsubasa said.
Then we walked inside the locker room, and it was huge.
"Yo, this locker room is so big," Yoru said.
"Yeah, man, tell me about it," Takashi said, amazed by how big the locker room is.
"Well, it should be simple. It's in alphabetical order," Youske said.
"Well, let's get our clothes and change," I said.
We managed to find our names and get our gym clothes. We started changing.
"Yo, Ren, wow, you've got a six-pack," Youske said.
"Well, it's from all the exercise and sports I used to do," I said with a smile.
"Ok, does your group wish to go Group A?" Ms. Riko asked.
"Yes, we sure do," Daiki said.
"Ok, you know the protocol. You've all been here before," Ms. Riko said.
"Well, me, I've got an eight-pack, I guess, from all the running I do in soccer," Takashi said.
"And look at me, I've got nothing—just a plain belly," Yoru said, sad.
Everybody laughed.
"Wait, Youske, why are you laughing? I bet you've got a plain belly too," Yoru said.
"Oh really?" Youske said, before taking off his shirt and showing his four-pack.
"Nooo! I'm the only one with a plain belly!" Yoru said, on his knees, crying.
"Man, it's alright. Just change, and if you play well in volleyball, your pack might start to grow," Takashi said.
"You're right. I must play at my full potential and take this seriously," Yoru said.
Then Daiki and his group heard us talking, then approached us.
"Would you look at that. We've got some measly first years here, ready to get crushed," Daiki said.
Oh great. Daiki is here.
"Yeah, I think so too, boss Daiki," one of his men said.
"Tch, just leave us alone already. We want no trouble," Yoru said.
Then one of his men dashed quickly, grabbed Yoru by the neck, and pushed him against the lockers.
"You don't decide that, boss Daiki does," his men said.
"Hey, what's your problem, you damn second year?" Takashi said.
"Do you want issues, you dumb ball?" his men said, choking Yoru.
"You know, just for your friend, you deserve a punch in the gut," his men said. He went for a punch, I dashed and caught it.
"How about we settle this on the court and calm down?" I said.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" his men said.
"Let's go. We will handle it on the court. I hope to play you, Ren," Daiki said.
His men dropped Yoru. Yoru was coughing.
"Oh, we will personally challenge your group, and I mean it. We will beat you," Takashi said.
Daiki and his group walked away.
"Are you ok, Yoru?" Youske asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's beat them now," Yoru said.
"Let's say this to nobody. We don't need any more trouble or confusion that can cause our team to lose this match," I said.
They agreed.
And we left the locker room. The girls were waiting for us outside the locker room.
"What took you guys so long?" Akira asked.
"Nothing, we just had something to talk about," I said.
"You guys ready to play?" Mr. Tsubasa asked.
We all said, "Yeah," together.
"Do you have a particular team you want to challenge?" Mr. Tsubasa asked.
"Yes, sir, that team," Yoru said, pointing at Daiki's team.
Mr. Tsubasa called Daiki's team over.
"This team would like to challenge you. Do you accept?" Mr. Tsubasa said.
"Yes, we gladly accept this challenge," Daiki said with a smile.
"Ok, heads or tails to decide who serves first."
"Heads," Daiki said. He flipped the coin, and it landed on heads.
"Alright, your team serves first. Walk to the court; the refs are already there," Mr. Tsubasa said.
We walked to the courts. Daiki's team went to one side; my team went to the other side.
"I'm going to beat you every chance I get, and this includes today," Daiki said.
"Bring it on," I said.
Takashi came.
"Hey, I don't care who you are, how old you are, or your reputation at this school. If you ever lay a hand on my friend again, I swear to the Lord Almighty I will beat you," Takashi said angrily.
"Yeah, yeah, you talk big, but when my men were choking your friend, all you did was speak. Ren had to come in and help," Daiki said.
"You said what, you bastard?" Takashi said, trying to go under the net, but I held him back.
"Stop this now. Use this anger to beat them in volleyball," I said, trying to calm Takashi down.
"Alright, Ren, if you say so," Takashi said, walking away.
"What happened?" Marasu asked.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it—just a little friendly beef," Youske said.
You can't tell them, like Ren said, Youske thought.
The ref blew his whistle.
"Get in your position now. The match is starting," the ref said.
Everybody got in their position, and Daiki was starting up the serve. The ref blew the whistle. Daiki jumped up and served the ball. Marasu hit it back over the net. One of Daiki's men set the ball for Daiki to spike it. Luckily, I realized it and saved it. The ball was in the air.
"I'll set this one," Youske said.
"Alright," Takashi screamed. He jumped high and spiked it right to the ground.
Our team celebrated.
"Take that, you damn bastard," Takashi said to Daiki.
"It's only one point; that's nothing," Daiki said.
It was our turn to serve, and Marasu was up. She served the ball. They hit the ball over to us. Akira set it, and Yoru tried to spike it over the net, but two of Daiki's men jumped up and blocked it to get their point. We were going back and forth—point to us, point to them. We were tied 11-11 before things went downhill.
"Ok, we're tied. We still got this," Takashi said.
"Why didn't you have that same energy when your friend was getting choked?" Daiki said.
"What! You dirty li—" Takashi was cut off when the ball hit his head and went out of bounds.
"Next time, pay attention, you scary cat," Daiki said, laughing.
"I'm going to beat you!" Takashi screamed.
He was angry, hitting the ball too hard. He was arguing with the teammates. Daiki got into Yoru's head.
"Next time when we choke you, we will make sure to livestream it and send it to your crush and your mom," Daiki said, and his whole team was laughing.
"You cunt!! I will kill you if you do that," Yoru said angrily.
Then Yoru just made it worse. They were arguing with each other, with teammates, even at me. And I was just watching my team fall apart. They were enraged; it felt like I couldn't do anything to save this team. I tried covering for both, moving fast, thinking, but it didn't help us. Our team lost their motivation.
The final score for this set: 21-13. Daiki's team wins this set.
We got demolished. We were losing.
To Be Continued