CH 55

Act 2 - Summer Break

15-1 The right to order

"Let's play beach ball!" (Kanon)

Kanon suddenly announces to us as we are rehydrating after getting out of the sea.

In her hands is a ball, which she happily holds up to the sky.

"The four of us will rally, and whoever drops it will do one thing each of the three of us says!" (Kanon)

"Don't decide on your own......." (Rintaro)

"Eh, now what? Are you gonna run away?" (Kanon)

I'll have had a blue streak on my forehead in front of Kanon, who smirks at me in a mocking manner. But even though I'm frolicking in the sea, I have to be an adult when I have to be.

After all, I'm not one to take this kind of provocation――――.

"Fine. I'll do it." (Rintaro)

――――All those thoughts were just thoughts after saying these lines.

I was already taking the bait. No turning back.

Now, I'm regretting it a little.

"That's the way it's got to be. You guys will do too, won't you?" (Kanon)

"Of course. How can I not participate in such an interesting game?" (Mia)

Rei nods next to Mia.

And so our sandy beach death match is to be held.

Kanon first moves a little further away from the water's edge and draws a large circle on the beach with a fallen branch.

"If the rule is that the player who drops the ball loses, then the player should hit the ball as far as possible and send it to a place where the player can never catch up to it, right? So in this case, if the ball falls out of the circle without being touched, it will be the miss of the last person to touch it." (Kanon)

"I see. Then I guess the game won't end so soon." (Mia)

"You have only two lives! If you hit the ball out of the circle as I just said, you lose one life. And if the number of remaining lives reaches zero, you lose the game. And if the same player touches the ball twice in a row, he loses one live." (Kanon)

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For an impromptu game, the rules are pretty solid.

It'll have been a fun game if not for the punishment.

"Hey, what if a standoff occurs?" (Rei)

Rei's question is more than reasonable.

If the ball lands exactly between two people, they might push each other and not hit back. Then it'll be hard to tell whose mistake it is.

"When a standoff occurs, I'll chalk it up to a miss on both sides. If you don't want to miss the ball, you have to talk to each other. Also, if you say you'll take it and then intentionally don't take it, that counts as a miss." (Kanon)

"I see. Got it." (Rei)

That's another good rule.

With this rule, standoffs are unlikely to occur.

Prohibiting declarative feints was also a good decision.

For example, if I have two remaining lives and Rei has lost one, and if I say "I'll take the ball" that is about to fall between me and her and block her action, we both lose one life and I automatically win, based on the standoff rule, as I have one life left.

This is how the game ends, but it's kind of tasteless.

"Is it okay to give any kind of order for punishment?"

"Well, as long as it's within the bounds of common sense, why not? It's not like you guys are going to misuse that, right?" (Kanon)

Well, of course it is. I'm not going to throw out an order that someone will seriously dislike.

At best, I'm going to make that person feel a little embarrassed.

"Then take your positions." (Kanon)

With the peculiar tension of a punishment game, I step into the drawn circle.

It seems larger than it looks from the outside.

There is no such thing as a strategy for this game, but I think the important thing is to be able to drop the ball in the right spot. If you want to be greedy, it is best to drop the ball just short of the line. If the ball goes to a place where it is difficult to tell whether it will go out, you can create hesitation in the opponent's head. If you can induce a mistake there, you're on your way.

However――――.

(......I've never played it.)

I don't remember playing volleyball at all, except in school. I know how to pass, receive, and the like. But if I don't know what it feels like to play the ball with my body, I can't really be sure.

"I don't think there's a problem with the rules, but to be sure I'd like to check them out and practice one time. If we drop the ball here, we won't lose the remaining lives." (Kanon)

I'm relieved when Kanon tells us that.

Thank goodness. Now I can learn to feel the ball.

For practice, we pass the ball a few times.

It's still difficult to pass the ball just right, and a few times I pass it the wrong way and let it roll away, but I become a little better as I repeat it.

"This is a Translation Content of pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id. so, read only on there."

As long as I stay focused, I'm sure I wouldn't miss a single passing.

"Well then, it's time for the real thing!" (Kanon)

Finally.

A peculiar sense of tension fills the circle

Kanon floats the ball and tosses it up into the air with her fingertips.

The gently spinning ball slowly falling to under me.

(Yeah....... if only this much, then...)

I take a basic receiving stance that I often see in volleyball, joining my fingers with the tips of my outstretched hands, and passing the ball high into the air.

The ball rises to a certain height and begins its free fall just between Rei and Mia. I'm able to drop it at the perfect spot.

"Rei! I'll take it!" (Mia)

"!" (Rei)

Rei, who's about to dive down, stops and Mia takes the ball's landing spot instead. And just like Kanon did earlier, Mia tosses the ball with her fingertips.

At the destination of the toss, there is Rei who has just stopped her feet.

"Mm, perfect toss." (Rei)

Rei leaps up high and arches her body backward.

Watching her move reminds me of a scene I saw one day.

It was before summer break, I believe. During PE class.

I was leaning against the wall watching Rei leap higher than the net and launch a powerful spike into the opponent's court.

Oh no――――.

By the time I realized it, it was already too late.　

The ball, which has been launched by her hand, is coming towards me with frightening momentum.

I was naive. There is no rule against spiking the ball. It's a fine super-aggressive strategy, too.

"Damn......." (Rintaro)

I have to receive the ball.

Fortunately, unlike the ball used for volleyball, this ball is a little bigger and softer. With this ball, even if you receive it with your arm, it won't hurt you much.

――――Supposedly.

"What...... the......?" (Rintaro)

My arms that receive the ball make a creaking sound.

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I bend my knees further to kill the impact and use the spring in my body to reduce the force of the ball.

But still, the momentum of the ball does not stop.

With a heavy thud, the ball flies out of the circle with great force.

Looking at the ball rolling around, I gape open-mouthed.

"Seriously......?" (Rintaro)

"Rei! You did it!" (Kanon)

Rei sniffs with pride at Kanon's praise.

"Rintaro, now you only have one life left." (Rei)

"You......." (Rintaro)

I see it now.

Rei, you're going to aim at me, aren't you?

Looks like she really wants me to do what she orders.

"I want the right to give order to Rintaro. That's why I'm going after you." (Rei)

"Fine. Come at me!" (Rintaro)

She declared war on me, and as a man, I can't just sit back and do nothing.

I have the advantage here.

Rei wants me to lose, whereas I'm fine as long as I don't lose.

In the current battle royale situation, it'll be difficult to target one particular person.

(As long as Rei is focused on me, I can win this match......!)

With that conviction, I pick up the ball that has fallen.