Chapter 50: Men Bond Through Fighting
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 50: Men Bond Through Fighting
Sakamoto's atmosphere changed in an instant.
And as if to prove this feeling wasn't just my imagination, his movements became far faster than before.
'Was he holding back until now?'
A volleyball flew like an arrow and slammed into one of my teammates who was positioned at the front, taking him out in a flash.
"Gah!"
"Damn it! What's with that speed?!"
The members of Team A fell into disarray.
Ignoring them, Sakamoto casually stretched his limbs as if everything up to this point had been a mere warm-up.
Perhaps sensing an instinctual fear from his display, a male student on my team threw the volleyball with all his might, not at Sakamoto, but at the other players behind him.
"Too slow."
But Sakamoto, standing in the center of the court, muttered just that before snatching the ball, which had been flying toward the back of the court, out of mid-air. Not stopping there, he showcased an advanced technique by immediately launching a counterattack against the student from my team.
He was like a tyrant on the court!
"What the—!"
In the blink of an eye, Team A was reduced from five members to three.
As an awkward silence fell over the court where only Sasha, the class president, and I remained, the eliminated players from Team B, now acting as outfielders, cheered from behind us.
"Kyaaaaaah! So cool!"
"We believed in you, Sakamoto!"
As praise rained down on him, Sakamoto puffed out his chest as if it were the most natural thing in the world and declared confidently.
"Of course. For I am the strongest warrior."
The atmosphere instantly turned ice-cold, as if someone had doused it with freezing water.
"I? The strongest warrior?"
"That's a bit cringey. He's still got eighth-grade syndrome at his age."
The class's opinion of Sakamoto plummeted.
I realized something was off at this point, but I couldn't guess why the main character, Sakamoto, was suddenly acting like this.
Just then, Sasha whispered to me from behind.
"I think this is a dangerous situation."
"What? What do you mean?"
Wondering what she was talking about now, I glanced to my side. Sasha shot a look at Sakamoto, who was standing in the opposing team's court, and answered in a small voice.
"I can roughly sense an opponent's strength. And that guy, unlike before, has gotten incredibly strong. He's at least at the level of a B-rank martial artist."
"How strong is B-rank?"
"Captain Boris, the one you fought before, is A-rank."
Her explanation gave me a real sense of just how much stronger Sakamoto had become.
Is this the power of a protagonist?
The new semester had just started, and Golden Week had only recently passed, yet he had already powered up tremendously.
"To be lost in thought before me... you have quite the nerve."
As I was pondering this alone, Sakamoto suddenly spoke, staring at me with belligerent eyes.
It seemed he was burning with a desire to compete against me.
I didn't know how things had ended up like this, but it seemed I had no choice but to face him head-on.
I picked up a volleyball that was rolling on the floor.
A cool, heavy sensation.
In the past, I'd quickly given up on ball sports because I couldn't control my strength, but I felt I could handle it now.
Swallowing hard, I threw the ball high into the air.
Then, I immediately jumped up and slammed a powerful spike.
WHAM!!
With a loud noise, one of Team B's remaining players was hit by the ball and sent flying behind the line.
I'd controlled my strength enough that he shouldn't be hurt.
But it didn't seem that way to the other kids, who stared at the scene and muttered in horror.
"Are you serious...?"
"I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!"
It looked like some of them were slipping into a panic.
The person I'd actually hit rubbed his stomach and sat up, muttering with a dazed expression.
"I'm alive?"
Seriously, what are they talking about? It's just dodgeball.
In any case, the right to attack returned to Team B.
After one of his teammates was eliminated, Sakamoto picked up the volleyball that had rolled back to his feet and murmured, amused.
"So, you won't go down so easily."
His eyes burning with competitive spirit, he threw the ball once more.
This time, he targeted the class president, who was hiding in the corner.
Sasha, who was behind me, quickly threw herself in front to block it, but the volleyball suddenly curved at an unnatural angle, hitting the class president before bouncing off and striking Sasha's right arm, scoring a double kill in one fell swoop.
Now, it was a disadvantageous fight by anyone's standards.
I was the only one left.
But in a way, it was as if the restraints that had been holding me back were finally broken.
"Sorry, Yoo-Sung. I couldn't stay with you until the end."
As Sasha left the court with the class president, I shrugged my shoulders and said.
"Don't worry. I'll get revenge for you right away."
*
What started as a simple dodgeball match for ice cream gradually heated up over time.
Just when it seemed Team A was on the verge of annihilation due to Sakamoto Ryuji's fierce assault, which began after he suddenly started speaking like a chuunibyou, the last remaining member, Kim Yoo-Sung, put up a defense that was simply impossible to break.
As Team B's members also began to fall one by one, the stage was finally set for a one-on-one showdown.
The eliminated students of Class 2-B watched the epic battle unfolding between the two with tense expressions.
Would it be Sakamoto Ryuji, the 'spear'?
Or Kim Yoo-Sung, the 'shield'?
Just as the male students were heatedly debating this topic, the class president, who had been intermittently checking the time on her wristwatch throughout the match, shouted.
"Three minutes until the end of recess! There are only three minutes left!"
Hearing her words, Mahes thought.
'Is it about time to end this?'
It was a shame.
If he had his way, he would have loved to spar with the warrior before him until the sun went down.
Although he was currently borrowing his contractor's body to fight, facing a strong opponent like Kim Yoo-Sung made him feel as if he had returned to his life before death.
Ragged breaths, heaving chest.
Though not a single word was exchanged, they had already acknowledged each other.
Therefore, as a warrior, Mahes decided to put everything into this next throw, filled with the highest respect.
"Here I go!!"
He threw the ball high into the sky.
Simultaneously, he dashed forward and leaped high.
A recreation of the technique his contractor had used earlier.
But added to this attack was another application of Tutra, which he had honed as a warrior of Atum-Ra.
Fwoosh!
The white volleyball, backlit by the sun, burst into flames.
The spectators watching cried out in shock, but Mahes, who had already entered a state of hyper-focus, heard nothing.
BOOM!!
He slammed a powerful spike using his entire palm.
The flame-wreathed volleyball shot forward like a comet.
And Kim Yoo-Sung caught it with his 'bare hands'.
"Hngh!"
The spin, the flames, and the incredible force packed into the ball sent Kim Yoo-Sung's massive body sliding backward helplessly.
But because he endured without falling, the fiery, all-or-nothing shot ended in failure.
Mahes was disappointed that he couldn't break through Kim Yoo-Sung's defense, but he decided to think positively, as it was now his turn to block an attack.
"Now, it's your turn."
At that, Kim Yoo-Sung began to assume a proper throwing form.
Sakamoto Ryuji, who had lent his body to Mahes and was watching the situation from within, cried out in a horrified voice.
「Wait! Can you even block that?!」
"No problem. Not if my Pharaoh Martial Arts and your karate are combined."
「What I learned is jujutsu, not karate! And stop saying such cringey things!」
Letting his contractor's screams go in one ear and out the other, Mahes spread his arms and slightly lowered his upper body to receive Kim Yoo-Sung's final attack.
And then—
Piiiek!
"Foul."
"Huh?"
Hearing the sudden interruption from Mr. Oonuma, Mahes stared at him with a blank expression.
But Mr. Oonuma, who had intervened while scratching his head with an annoyed look, simply handed a red card to the dumbfounded Mahes.
"No matter what, setting school property on fire is taking the joke too far. Come to the gym office when this is over, Sakamoto."
"......"
Team A's victory was decided in an instant.
It was entirely Mahes's fault for not being familiar with the rules of the game.
Thus, the first clash of force between the two came to an anticlimactic end due to a completely unexpected variable.
*
After 6th period, Sakamoto, who had been called to the gym office, came up to me as soon as he returned to the classroom.
"Uh... I'm sorry!"
I stared blankly at the back of the protagonist's head as he apologized out of nowhere, his palms pressed together.
What was he sorry about? Had he done something to me that required an apology?
As I was trying to figure out the reason for his sudden apology, like a game of twenty questions, Sakamoto, now back to his usual self unlike during the match, scratched his cheek awkwardly and said.
"I got so fired up with my competitive spirit that I committed a foul without realizing it. I wanted to apologize for that first."
Was he talking about the flame shot from before?
The very idea that you could set a ball on fire just by wanting to was questionable, but I decided to accept his apology for now.
If I didn't, it felt like the curious gazes directed at us would never disappear.
"It's fine, so you don't have to be so sorry about it."
At that, Sakamoto looked at me with a moved expression.
"Kim, you're actually a really good guy."
"What?"
I had no idea how the conversation had taken such a turn.
But regardless of my bewildered expression, Sakamoto thanked me for forgiving him, then smiled brightly and held out his fist.
"Today was fun! Let's do it again sometime when you're free!"
"S-Sure."
I felt like I was being overwhelmed by his sheer energy.
But since I couldn't say anything mean to his face, I hesitantly bumped his fist. Sakamoto returned to his designated seat by the window, looking somewhat pleased.
Is this... okay?
That was my automatic first worry.
Because I had a feeling that, thanks to today's events, he would start approaching me on his own from now on.