Episode 69 – Ball Toss～First Battle～

And so the opening ceremony ended without any incident. The rumored Miura gave the oath to the principal, and I stood there for a total of 15 minutes listening to the faculty members and the sports committee chairman. I thought my legs were going to turn into sticks, and at this point I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t stand out any more than I had to with that guy there.

(……First of all, I had to do the pole topple safely.)

The order of competition is ball toss, pole topple, obstacle race, scavenger hunt, and relay. In other words, I’m participating in the second event in the overall order. The first event is the ball toss, and I believe that Yukihana is the representative for this event.

“……”

I looked at Yukihana and saw that she was warming up her upper body by bending her arms and rotating her shoulders. The lower half of the body must also move, otherwise the preparatory workout would be meaningless, but I guess she intends to achieve the best results with the least amount of movement.

[Well then, ladies and gentlemen ! The ball toss will begin in five minutes. Players, please take your designated positions, while the rest of the students will cheer you on in their designated areas.]

The announcer at the venue announced that the competition was finally about to begin. Preparations are being made at a rapid pace, with attendants bringing in poles with ball baskets attached and countless balls. The players of the ball toss, including Yukihana, were getting ready to throw the balls into the basket.

The ball tossing competition is held for each of the three classes, and the class with the most balls in their basket will advance to the semi-finals, and the class with the most balls in their basket in the semi-finals will advance to the finals. By the way, the winner gets 20 points.

“Good luck, Ruri chan !”

Kisaragi and the rest of the class began cheering and encouraging their classmates who were competing in the ball toss. Yes, our class was going to participate in the first round of the ball toss. Our opponents were second-year students and third-year students. Some of the students had shaved heads like the members of the baseball team.

(Come to think of it, this sports festival is not fair in many ways.)

Originally, in order to ensure fairness, sports festivals are supposed to prohibit the participation of students who belong to the same type of club activities as the event. However, in this sports festival, there are no such restrictions. In other words, there are cases where the games are unfair. There are probably a lot of students who are used to playing with a ball, not only in the baseball team, but also in the handball and basketball teams. So why did this happen?

(Something happened inside the student council, or was it an outside influence……)

But not many students wonder about that. In fact, they’re even excited to be able to play an active role in a sport they are good at. An example of this is Kisaragi, who boasted that she would show her skills in the relay race by utilizing her legs, which are the pride of the track team. Hayama is probably similar.

(This battle in the sports festival……individual competitiveness makes the difference between winner and loser.)

It’s overwhelmingly stronger and more efficient to have one person who is by far the strongest than a half-hearted person. In some cases, it preserves other players. The strongest player in our ball tossing team is probably Yukihana. There are baseball players and others, but Yukihana has better control. This game will depend on how far she can go.

“…..And here.”

I was walking around thinking about it so much that I almost passed the waiting area. I decided to enter an empty space and stand there to watch the game. There were no chairs, so I had to stand the whole time.

“Now, let’s see what you can do.”

[Now let’s start the first event, the ball tossing !]

And finally, the sports festival began. There were a total of ten students who participated in the ball tossing. It’s no exaggeration to say that they will be the best spearheads of the sports festival, and this game will determine whether they can control the momentum of the festival for later. We’ll see how this match turns out……

[Let’s get started !]

The curtain rose on the first competition of the sports festival with a loud call. At the same time, the cheering calls were so loud that you wanted to close your ears, and countless balls flew through the air. Yukihana quickly picked up the ball and threw it into a beautiful arch.

“Hmph….”

Surprisingly, every single ball thrown by Yukihana went into the basket with precision. The pace at which she puts them in is not fast, but I’m afraid that her shooting percentage is one hundred percent. Well, she’s not going to get involved in those sports because she says it’s too much trouble

“……Okay.”

Apparently, Yukihana threw all the balls around her and put them all in. The other classmates also struggled, and as a result, quite a few of them are in the basket. If that’s the case……

[The winner of the first round of ball tossing is Class 2-1 !]

“Yay ! As expected of Ruri chan ! Nice job everyone ! ! !”

The cheers went up from everyone around us as our class won the first round. This meant that our class got 10 points. We were the first class to get 10 points, the fastest of any class. This must’ve been a good start.

Then Yukihana and the others came to the cheering section. They were going to wait here until the next match, the semifinals, started.

“Everyone is amazing !”

“Hehe, no big deal !”

“We worked really hard.”

“Let’s keep up the pace and win this thing !”

「「「「「「 Alright ! ! !」」」」」」

Kisaragi’s exertion made the boys even more enthusiastic. It seems that they are really going to win this sports festival. In contrast, Yukihana was calm, staring at her hands and holding her shoulders. I’m gonna talk to her on a whim.

“Are you at your limit?”

“……Shut up.”

“You’re not used to throwing the ball, are you?”

“……Sigh.”

It seems I was right on the money. Even if the ball is palm-sized, throwing the ball continuously will hurt your shoulder and put a strain on your arm if you are not used to throwing it. In Yukihana’s case, it must’ve been a burden on her wrist. I only saw her from afar, but even when she was playing tennis, she frequently turned her wrists and changed the handle of the racket. After all, Yukihana is not suited for long-term competition, where physical strength is crucial. The fact that she chose quality over quantity of balls thrown was proof of this.

I moved away from Yukihana, but Kisaragi moved toward her at the same time. And she hugged her.

“Ruri chan ! Keep up the good work.”

“……”

Yukihana does not answer anything. No, of course she wouldn’t. Yukihana is short and has to look up at the basket higher than the others. She also has to throw the ball higher up, which requires more strength. Even more so if she wants to put control on it. In other words, she was beginning to see the limits of her arms, shoulders, and wrists.

(I was wondering if he was going to be able to handle it this early in the season.)

Yukihana is also in charge of the final relay. If her body were to fail, it would hinder her in the final match. Probably, Yukihana will start saving energy from this point on. She will probably throw about half as many balls as before.

It’s a shame because she has more than enough sense. If she were serious about sports, she would be able to do quite well. Is there some reason why she can’t get involved in sports? For example, is her family stopping her?

While I was thinking about that, the game went on and finally moved on to the semi-finals. The opponents were a class of first-year students and a class of third-year students. And if I look closely……

(Is that……my step sister’s class?)

Among them, there were a lot of guys mixed in who looked like they could do sports, although she wasn’t there. Of course, there’s also a baseball team and so on. The first-year team is similarly composed.

[Well then, the first game of the semi-finals ! Start ! !]

As if on cue, the ball and the cheering crowd went wild once again. Our class was in the lead at the beginning of the game, but it quickly stalled in the second half.

The boys around them started to get impatient, and the success rate of their shots dropped dramatically. The other two classes were not going to miss that opportunity, and they quickly fell behind by a wide margin

And then…..

[In the first semifinal game, the winner was the third grade class 1 !]

The third-year students overtook them and defeated them. The classmates around me dropped their shoulders in disappointment, and Kisaragi put her hand on her forehead in a puzzled look. Well, there were a lot of people who were originally not good at exercising, so I think they did well.

And just like that, my step sister’s class won the ball toss and took a big lead. It was an unfair competition, as one win was enough to give them a 40-point lead over a class that had never won a single game. The difference between our class and the first-place winner was 30 points. How will we turn things around from here?

And so, the sports festival continues…….