Chapter 1 Confession

Chapter 1: Confession

[Scene 1: Gymnasium]

("Bang——")

Player A: (Turning around) Wait... What was that?!

Player B: It sounds like it came from the equipment room... Did something fall?

Player A: The captain's still inside... Damn!

...

[Scene 2: Infirmary]

Player A: (Head slightly lowered, expression pained) Captain, I'm sorry... It's all my fault for not getting here in time, which is why you got hurt so badly...

Player B: (Eyes welling up) No, it's my fault... I didn't set up the equipment properly, and that's why the dumbbell fell and hit you...

(Close-up of a slight smile.)

Player A: (Suddenly looking up) C-Captain?

Captain: You guys... don't have to cry like that, you know? I'm still alive, aren't I?

Player B: B-But the match next week...

Captain: It's fine.

(A laser flashes from the back of the captain's head.)

Captain: Your captain right here... has awakened an incredible power this time!

(The players' expressions go blank.)

Player A & Player B: (Shocked) Huh?!?!

...

[Scene 3: Match Venue]

(The situation is critical. The captain leaps up, snatches the basketball from an opposing player, and moves fluidly.)

Player B: Somehow... doesn't the captain seem even stronger than before?

Player A: No, it's not just that...

(The captain dodges the opponent's block, raises the basketball with both hands, aims at the opposite basket, and shoots.)

(An earth-shattering explosion!)

(As the smoke clears, the ball remains in the net, but the backboard has shattered from the impact of the explosion!)

Player A: Th-This... could it be the legendary...

Player B: Superpowered Basketball?!?!

***

"Bang!"

In the club room of Karasuno High, a girl slammed the manuscript onto the table, glaring at the boy across from her in frustration: "What the heck is this?!"

"Huh?"

The boy scratched his head, confused by her strong reaction: "Is it really that bad? I thought it was fine..."

"You know we're supposed to be drawing a school sports manga, right?" The girl rolled the paper into a tube and smacked it into her palm. "But what's up with this script? Superpowers? The hoop exploding?"

The boy corrected her quietly: "To be precise, it was the backboard that exploded..."

The girl shot him a glare: "I don't care what exploded!"

"Alright, alright..." The boy quickly tried to calm her down. "Who would've thought the student council would suddenly dump this on us... Promoting for the sports clubs should've been the publicity department's job in the first place, right? I'm not saying we can't do it as the Manga Research Club, but..."

"But we've gotta be realistic, right?" The girl looked up at him.

"Exactly." The boy nodded. "No money, no people, no skill. That's our reality."

"That hurts even more..." The girl clutched her chest, saying nothing.

"It's okay. We've been getting by like this for two years now, haven't we?"

"Two years, huh..."

The girl murmured, then her eyes lit up as if remembering something: "Speaking of which, this year might be different!"

"Huh?"

The girl opened her uniform bag and pulled out a freshly filled-out club application form, the ink not yet completely dry, clearly filled out not long ago—

"This year, we're getting a new member!" she said cheerfully.

***

After school, Hoshino Haruna stood outside the second gymnasium at Karasuno High, taking a deep breath.

Several days had passed since high school started, but this was her first time setting foot in this area. After all, she had zero athletic ability, and her knowledge of various sports came solely from manga and games. If it weren't for certain reasons, she probably would never have come here outside of physical education class until graduation.

So why was she here?

It all started two hours ago.

Two hours ago, she handed over the freshly filled-out club application form to the club president, and gave a nearly ninety-degree bow—

"Please accept my application form, Senior Miyahara!"

Miyahara seemed startled by her actions; it took a few seconds before she took the form from Hoshino's hand. Instead of carefully examining the personal details below, her eyes focused on the "Club Name" column at the very top of the paper.

And then the words: "Manga Research Club."

"Um..."

Miyahara started to say something, but just then the bell rang. She quickly folded the form and put it away, telling Hoshino to wait after school and that she'd come find her.

So Hoshino's tryout was postponed until after school.

Ohh... a tryout!

Just thinking about it made Hoshino a little excited.

I wonder what kind of test the seniors have in store for her?

Basic drawing skills? That seems too ordinary.

Manga reading volume? That's no challenge for her.

As for other aspects...

Just as Hoshino was imagining the questions the seniors might ask, the club leader Miyahara Maki spoke first.

"Junior Hoshino," she said, "the club name you wrote on the application form... you didn't make a mistake, did you?"

Hoshino: Huh?

"No, I didn't," she answered without thinking.

What kind of question is that?

Before she could react, Miyahara nodded with satisfaction.

"Good," she said, "then..."

The next moment, Miyahara's calm voice echoed in the empty hallway—

"Congratulations, you're accepted."

Hoshino: Huh?

However, something even more unbelievable happened.

Hoshino, who had just joined the club, was immediately assigned an important task—to collaborate with the student council's publicity department to draw a promotional manga for the sports clubs.

***

……

Can all this really happen in just a few minutes?

But it did happen. When Miyahara asked Hoshino if she was willing to take on this task, the tall senior standing next to her let out a "Wah!" However, Miyahara remained calm as if she hadn't heard it, just looking at Hoshino with eager eyes.

Hoshino: ...

So this is what high school is like?!

Although she didn't quite understand, it must be a test from her senior! Thinking this, Hoshino nodded firmly in agreement, causing the senior to let out another "Wah!" This time, Miyahara finally shot him a glare.

However, before preparing for the work, Hoshino asked Miyahara for some advice, such as what style direction to take.

"There are still too many shonen manga on the market..." Miyahara sighed. "If you want to stand out, you have to go a different route, right?"

A different approach...

Hoshino mentally noted that.

As a manga otaku lacking in sports knowledge, she felt she needed to do some field research before putting pen to paper. So after school, she planned to visit the practices of several major sports clubs in the school one by one.

First, the soccer club.

Hmm... after watching for a while, neither side scored a goal. It felt so sleepy, cross that off, cross that off.

Next, the basketball club.

Hmm... come to think of it, when I mentioned basketball earlier, Senior Miyahara's expression seemed a bit strange. Although I don't know the reason, I'll cross it off the list anyway.

Then...

Hoshino blinked, looking at the list of sports clubs that Senior Miyahara put together in her hand.

Next, the volleyball club.

This club... doesn't seem to be on the school's honor wall, huh.

According to tradition at Karasuno, honors won by clubs are displayed on this wall. However, due to limited wall space, they usually only keep the top honors from recent years.

So Karasuno's volleyball club probably isn't that strong, right? At least recently.

But Hoshino didn't have much idea how strong the sports clubs were, since she hardly ever watched sports. Compared to that, she was more worried about whether she could find a good reference model before sunset today.

Hmm... I hope I can find something this time!

With this wish in mind, Hoshino took a deep breath and shoved open the door of the second gym.

"Bang—"

This was the first sound Hoshino heard after entering.

***

Even though the ball was small, the loud impact when the ball was spiked onto the court seemed to shake the entire venue, making Hoshino, who was new here, tremble inside. The members of the volleyball club were all focused on their training, and no one noticed her slip in. Hoshino quietly made her way to the seats on the second floor and sat down to observe intently.

Although it was just an intra-team practice, everyone showed as much determination as in a real match. Especially that small player with orange hair—after all that running and jumping, he still had so much energy... Is a character like that actually real? She thought only the main character of a shonen manga could do that!

Wait, male protagonist?

Hoshino suddenly realized.

Oh, she got so into watching that she almost forgot her main mission! She wasn't just here to be a spectator today; her main task was to find the protagonist for her manga!

Being well aware of her lack of sports knowledge, Hoshino decided not to create a protagonist from scratch, but to use a real person as a model. Given that, the orange-haired boy in front of her seemed like a good pick.

—After all, he had that sunny, shonen manga protagonist vibe from head to toe.

But...

"There are still too many shonen manga on the market... If you want to stand out, you have to go a different route, right?"

Senior Miyahara's words suddenly popped into her head.

A different approach...

Hoshino nervously poked her notebook with the ballpoint pen she always carried.

If that's the case... then the last person she should pick is this orange-haired classmate, right? No, not just this classmate—the bald senior next to him was taking off his shirt and shouting slogans, obviously a hot-blooded type as well... Although the other members weren't as obvious as these two, the energy they showed on the court was unmistakable.

Only...

Hoshino squinted and focused on a boy with light-colored hair and glasses.

Tsukishima Kei.

She'd heard his name from the other members.

Only this guy is different from the rest.

Among a group of athletes, standing out with his exceptional height, yet his indifferent attitude, completely unaffected by the court's atmosphere... Most importantly, his calm demeanor that contrasts with the passion of the surrounding hot-blooded high school boys...

...

That's it—she's found her reference!

Making up her mind, Hoshino put away her pen and notebook. But when she looked up again, she noticed the volleyball club members were already starting to leave the gym.

Oh no... practice is already over!

Without a second thought, Hoshino slung her bag over her shoulder and ran downstairs. Luckily, he wasn't walking fast, so she caught up quickly.

"Tsukishima-san—"

She called out loudly to him.

Hearing a voice calling him, Tsukishima Kei paused in slight surprise, as if he hadn't expected to be called out to at the school gate. But when he turned around, he was met with Hoshino bowing deeply to him—

"Tsukishima-san, would you be willing to be the male lead of my manga? I'm begging you!" she said.

...

...

...

Wait a minute.

Feeling everyone's eyes on her, Hoshino finally realized something was off.

That sounded... kind of weird, didn't it?

Meanwhile, Tsukishima's mind was racing.

Hey, no way.

A rare look of confusion crossed his face.

What's with that line that sounds just like a confession?

-TBC-

Author's Note:

*

The beginning of an ill-fated (?) connection (lol)