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“Lately, Asuto-kun and Omae have been studying really hard.”
“Haven’t you heard? Apparently, the volleyball club is holding a training camp during the summer holidays. But if they don’t get good enough final exam scores, they won’t be allowed to participate in it.”
“Huh? Seriously?”
“Of course it’s true. I heard they equaled the Volleyball Club’s best-ever record. This summer training camp is preparation for competing in the national championships.”
“Ooh, Nationals! That’s amazing!”
…
Several girls in Class 3 of the third year whispered to each other enviously.
Whether it was the summer training camp or competing at Nationals, both were dreams shared by almost every student at Sengoku Junior High School. The latter in particular was a goal longed for by middle school students all across Japan.
Asuto paid no attention to the discussions around him, or rather, he simply hadn’t heard them at all.
Recently, he had found that he was studying surprisingly well. He even felt somewhat ‘addicted to studying’, unable to pull himself away.
Meanwhile, beside him, Omae Masato quietly pricked up his ears.
The emotions of adolescence came quickly and faded quickly as well. Just yesterday, he had still been upset about losing the match, but now that he had heard the girls praising the volleyball club, he had started to feel smug again immediately.
The volleyball club’s activities had already been suspended.
With less than two weeks remaining, the most important thing wasn’t training but ensuring that every member could qualify to participate later.
However, Asuto had not completely stopped training.
This was the perfect opportunity for ‘competitive grinding’. If everyone else stopped practicing, every extra day he trained would mean he would make more progress than them.
How could he possibly give up such a rare chance?
…
In the blink of an eye… Two weeks passed.
Since Sengoku Junior High School had an average of around three hundred students per year group, the final exam results were usually posted the day after the exams ended, or the day after that.
The moment the scores were posted on the noticeboard, the volleyball club members were the first to rush over.
“Yo! Oda, Mishita, Kazama… You guys are all here already! Long time no see!” Omae Masato walked over beside Asuto, waving enthusiastically and grinning broadly.
“We literally saw each other yesterday,” Oda Miki replied speechlessly.
“Uh… don’t sweat the small details. So, how did you guys do in the exams?”
Oda Miki shrugged. “So-so.”
Mishita Ryuhei scratched his cheek. “I don’t think I did very well this time.”
Kazama Jujirō sighed. “Same here. I had stomach problems during the exams yesterday. What about you two?”
Asuto rubbed his nose and said: “Mm~ I should probably pass the line.”
“Hahahaha… sounds like all of you are doomed then!”
The moment Asuto finished speaking, Omae Masato put his hands on his hips, lifted his chin proudly and declared,
“This time, I was in absolutely top condition during the exams. You guys better watch out! There’s a chance my scores might even surpass yours.”
“Ooh, Omae, you’re feeling pretty confident this time?” Mishita Ryuhei spoke with a surprised look on his face.
“Of course! I haven’t touched video games for two whole weeks for the sake of the Summer Training Camp.”
Omae Masato gave a thumbs-up, his face overflowing with confidence.
A short while later… The group arrived in front of the noticeboard.
They discovered that someone had beaten them there. It was none other than the volleyball club’s libero, Kurata Mao.
“You’re here early, Kurata. So, how did the exams go?”
“Not bad. About what I normally expect.” Kurata spoke while pointing to a spot on the noticeboard.
There, clearly displayed in one of the rows, was the name of Kurata Mao.
Kurata Mao: Total score: 307 (out of 500). Grade rank: 135.
“Ooh, pretty impressive! Then let me see how much I scored.”
Mishita Ryuhei stepped forward to look for his name, and the others gathered around him.
Soon enough, everyone’s results were revealed.
Kazama Jujirō: Total Score: 311; Grade Rank: 133.
Mishita Ryuhei: total score 345, grade rank 99.
Oda Miki: Total score: 386; grade rank: 54.
…
“That’s amazing, Oda! Your ranking has improved again since last time, hasn’t it?” Mishita Ryuhei commented after seeing Oda Miki’s results.
“Aren’t you the same? This is the only Summer Training Camp we’ll have in junior high, so of course I had to work hard for it,” replied Oda calmly.
“That’s true.” Mishita Ryuhei nodded in agreement.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly added: “Right, how did Asuto and Omae do? If we want to beat Kitagawa Daiichi, we definitely can’t afford to lose them from the training camp.”
“Omae’s results are over here!”
The moment Mishita Ryuhei had finished speaking, Kurata Mao appeared beside them and waved.
Pointing to the board, he showed them where to look:
Omae Masato: Total Score 209, Grade Rank 261.
“Ooh, that’s actually amazing, Omae! You barely passed in every single subject. Looks like you can attend the training camp after all.”
(In Japanese middle schools, the passing score is usually 40 or 50 points.)
Mishita Ryuhei praised him sincerely.
Yet after he had finished speaking, there was no response.
Confused, Mishita Ryuhei turned around, only to see that Omae Masato had already turned into a grey-white statue. A few imaginary gusts of dark wind seemed to swirl around him as he muttered to himself continuously:
“Impossible… absolutely impossible! There’s no way. Why did I only score this much? I clearly studied so hard this time. Impossible… impossible…”
Mishita Ryuhei and the others: “……”
“Forget it. As long as he passes, that’s all that matters. Let’s go and check on Asuto instead. After all, he’s the Volleyball Club’s star player now. He has to attend the training camp no matter what.”
After silently staring at the ‘withered’ Omae Masato for about a quarter of a second, the group left him behind and walked towards Asuto.
“How’s it over there? Everything okay on your side?” Mishita Ryuhei called out to Asuto and Kazama Jujirō.
But he received no response from Kazama.
At that moment, he was staring vacantly at the bulletin board, as if he had just witnessed something unbelievable.
Meanwhile, Asuto turned around and said gently, “No problem. It’s about the same as I predicted. I passed everything.”
Mishita Ryuhei instantly relaxed and smiled.
“That’s great! In that case, we can all participate in this summer training…”
But before he could say the word ‘camp,’ Mishita Ryuhei suddenly caught sight of the bulletin board in front of Asuto out of the corner of his eye.
The next second, he looked as though he had been struck by lightning, freezing completely on the spot.
Right there, in second place on the board, was Asuto’s name:
Asuto: Total Score 459, Grade Rank 2.
…
(End of Chapter)
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