Chapter 5

Translated by KaiesV Edited by KaiesV

Finally, basketball practice was over and I was even home.

And now I am in my room.

Besides me, Yūi was also in the room.

As for Yūi, she was lying on the bed.

「Hey, Yūji-kun.」

「W–What is it?」

「Yūji-kun is in the tennis club, right?」

「Well, yeah, I haven’t been participating at all lately, though. You’re not in the club, are you?」

I believe my uncle told me before that Yūi is not in the club.

「That’s right, If you join a club, you have to wear a mask all the time, right? It’s too much hassle, that’s why I’m in the go-home club.」

You want to avoid trouble in the club…

This girl, you have not exposed your true nature to anyone at school.

I have no idea what this girl is like at school because we are in different classes.

「Is it normal for this school to have a go-home club or something…」

「Eh? Is that not normal?」

Yūi tilts her head with a curious expression.

「At my last school, we weren’t allowed to have go-home clubs.」

「Eh? Is that so?」

「Yeah, you had to be forced to join one club.」

In my case, I just took advantage of the fact that a good friend of mine was going to join the tennis club.

So I didn’t really want to join the tennis club.

「What the hell… You must’ve hate that school…」

「Not really. If you just join a club and become a ghost member, it’s not much different from going home.」

「Ah, oh well, no problem then.」

There were a lot of ghost members in my tennis club.

Here our conversation was cut short.

Yūi was reading manga in a boring way.

As for me, I was watching videos on my computer to learn basketball dribbling and shooting skills.

I use a 40 kg hand grip to strengthen my left hand grip and forearm area.

By the way, but in a sports test, my grip strength was 45 kg on the right and 40 kg on the left.

My left side is weaker, albeit slightly.

So, to strengthen my left dribbling as much as possible, I use hand grips to strengthen my grip.

My hands hurt because I’ve been doing the same thing for a while now…

「Hey, what have you been doing on the computer since a while ago?」

Yūi looks at me and the computer alternately with a curious expression.

「I’m watching a basketball video.」

「Hee, I see. But why basketball? Why not tennis or something?」

「I’m almost there, and I’m going to play for money with a certain senior. That’s why I’m watching the video, to learn a little skill.」

「Bet money? How much money are you betting?」

「If I lose, I will give him 10,000 yen. If he loses, I give him 20,000 yen because he has basketball experience.」

Yui opens her eyes and looks at me with a surprised expression.

「Do you have any basketball experience?」

「I do. It’s been about a week though…」

「Aren’t you just a beginner at this point…」

Yui says with a dumbfounded expression.

「I don’t think you should, do you?」

「I don’t think there will be a problem. I’ve got a lot of steps in place.」

「Well, if Yūji-kun says so, I won’t stop you, but…」

Yūi said in a concerned voice.

This girl, she’s worried about me…

Maybe Yūi is a nicer girl than I thought.

◇◇◇

Two weeks have passed since my appointment with Minamikawa-senpai.

In other words, today is the day to play 1-on-1 with Minamikawa-senpai.

The place where the 1-on-1 takes place is the gymnasium.

The loser becomes the laughing stock of the school and only the winner is recognized.

Interesting, I don’t care how it turns out.

It was after school and I was about to head to Hasebe’s classroom.

Then I encountered Yūi in the hallway.

When Yūi noticed my presence, she spoke to me.

「You’re really up for a fight, are you?」

Honorific?

Oh, right, she can’t reveal her true nature because she’s in school now.

This girl’s having a hard time…

「Yeah, that’s what I plan to do.」

「I’m planning to watch your game with my (fake) friends too.」

「Hmm, I see then.」

「Yes, so please don’t ever let me down, Onii-chan.」

Onii-chan…?

You’re making fun of me…

「…Yeah, alright, I’ll definitely win.」

「Fufu, I see, then I am looking forward to it. And if you really win, please give me at least 5,000 yen, okay?」

「Fuh, you greedy girl.」

「That’s not true. Well, I’ll leave you with this then.」

Yūi left after that.

5,000 yen, huh?

Well, I did a terrible thing to that girl when I first met her.

I will give her about 5,000 yen as a reminder.

Well, I have to beat Minamikawa-senpai first.

As I was thinking this, I saw Hasebe’s figure in my field of vision.

「Sakada-chan, you must win today!」

「Ahh, I know that.」

「And that video I showed you yesterday and that guy’s habits, you must have them drilled into your head, right?」

「Yeah.」

「Fufu, Sakada-chan may won then. Perhaps.」

I had this guy record Minamikawa-senpai having a 1-on-1 with another student.

He showed me the footage.

He also taught me all the other habits, weaknesses, and things to be aware of when fighting against Minamikawa senpai.

The weaknesses and habits were also noticeable in the video, and Hasebe’s information was worth trusting.

This guy is really competent.

It was quite helpful.

While I was conversing with Hasebe, he even came to the gymnasium.

Today is Wednesday, which means that all activities are closed.

So it seems that many students came to watch the 1-on-1 between me and Minamikawa-senpai.

Once inside the gymnasium, I saw a large number of students on the walls and on the stage.

In the middle of the court was Minamikawa-senpai, who was dressed in comfortable clothing and looking at me.

「Hello, it’s been a while.」

「It’s been while, right. I’ve got a lot of students here to expose you to defeat.」

「That’s great. Even a man of leisure can make it this far if he works hard.」

「What did you say…?」

Minamikawa-senpai even came up to me, directing his anger at me.

But he did not hit me.

「Just kidding, I’m just kidding around.」

「Tch, get into your gym clothes as soon as possible. Then we’ll play right away.」

「Okay, okay, I understand. But first, let’s show each other the money.」

「Right.」

Senpai and I take money out of our wallets.

「You brought a solid 10,000 yen.」

「Yeah, well. It looks like Senpai was the ones who brought the 20,000 yen.」

Senpai had 20,000 yen firmly in his hand.

「I just brought it. I’m the one who wins anyway.」

You sound as if you insist that you will never lose 20,000 yen.

「I see, it’s a given that I’m going to lose.」

「You know exactly what I’m talking about, you’re going to lose 10,000 yen, and you’re going to be exposed to the students in this gymnasium in a very unsightly way. Hahahahaha! I’m looking forward to it!」

Minamikawa-senpai has a really pleasant smile on his face.

He must feel like a complete winner.

「Hahaha, I’m also looking forward onto it.」

「What are you smiling at…」

Seeing me laughing, Minamikawa-senpai is puzzled.

「W–Well, whatever… You, get your ass in gear.」

「I understand.」

When I took off all of my uniform, my gym clothes were exposed.

Since I was wearing my gym clothes under my uniform, I was able to change quickly.

While I was in the middle of my upsets, Minamikawa-senpai was talking to Hasebe while poking the ball.

「Hey, Hasebe, if I beat him, you have to play 1-on-1 with me. And if you lose, you quit the basketball team.」

Hasebe sighed「haah～」then opened his mouth.

「I don’t mind. I guess he’s the one who wins anyway.」

「S–Shut up!? This time I’ll win for sure!」

「Oh, my–my, I see then. Good luck with that♡」

Hasebe smiles coldly.

「But you will fight me only after you win against Sawada-chan. I wonder if senpai can beat him.」

「You’re stupid, aren’t you? He can’t beat me after two weeks of practice.」

「Who knows～ You won’t know that until you fight him.」

「You… Are you licking your chops, huh?」

「I’m not licking my chops. But I don’t think you can beat Sawada-chan.」

「Tch, you’re still licking your chops, aren’t you? Well, I’ll beat that first-year brat, and next time I’ll beat you.」

When Minamikawa-senpai said this, Hasebe opened his mouth with a wry smile on his face.

「Nhn? Eh? Hah……?」

Hasebe suddenly started to say something unintelligible, and Minamikawa-senpai was puzzled.

「Well, sure, you might burp.」

「So what I’m trying to say is that I’m as sure of my victory as it gets. So don’t play games with me. Minamikawa-senpai loses anyway.」

「Tch, shut it! I’ll definitely win today!」

Apparently, those two don’t get along quite well…

According to Hasebe, he has been in a fistfight many times.

Scary, that’s scary.

Read only at Travis Translations