Chapter 14 Physical Education

Chapter 14: Physical Education Class

With the final exams approaching, Hoshino had another reason to visit the volleyball club besides gathering material for her manga—studying together with Hinata and Kageyama at Tsukishima's tutoring sessions.

Though it was supposed to be the three of them, Kageyama had barely shown up after the first few sessions. Hoshino suspected he couldn't stand Sharp-tongued Tsukki's barbs.

But for now, dealing with Sharp-tongued Tsukki was only the second biggest worry on her list, because the next class was—

"Ugh, another PE class." Hoshino slumped back in her seat in despair.

"Yeah, another PE class!" Yamazaki dashed out of the classroom in excitement.

...

How can people be so different?!

Although her time with the volleyball club had gradually made Hoshino appreciate sports, her own athletic abilities hadn't improved at all. In other words, after watching so many practices and matches, her athletic cell count was still exactly the same—

Zero! As in, zero percent!

What does a zero percent athletic cell count mean? It means any random classmate could crush her in any sport, no matter what. Sure, she'd felt similar things in other subjects, but those only hit her mentally. PE class, on the other hand, gave her both mental and physical beatings! That made her feel way more complicated about PE than about any other class.

Well, as reluctant as she was, skipping class wasn't her thing. Hoshino took her time changing into her gym clothes, then casually made her way to the gymnasium where Class 1-3 was assembling. She slipped into the lineup a second before the bell rang.

"Okay, everyone here?" The PE teacher gave the students a quick glance, couldn't be bothered to call roll. "If everyone's here, let's start! Today's activity is—"

Hoshino, hiding in the back row, immediately tensed.

What activity? Please don't let it be long-distance running. Not again! She couldn't stand that feeling like her throat was on fire!

Soccer? No way! Back in middle school, during a dribbling test, she tried to weave around poles and tripped over herself three times—and that precious video still lives on in Yamazaki's and a few other friends' phones.

Basketball? Even worse! Whenever there was someone playing basketball nearby, the ball would 100% hit her head. For her own safety, she didn't want to go anywhere near a basketball court either!

While Hoshino was still imagining disasters, the PE teacher announced the activity—

"Volleyball," he said.

Hoshino: What?

Volleyball!

Thanks to her friends in the volleyball club, this was probably the only sport Hoshino actually liked.

But liking something and being good at it are two different things. And the partner she was paired with turned out to be—

"Kazami-san."

Hoshino looked at Kazami Kaoru, a student who had aced almost every subject, and said in a serious, formal tone—

"I'm warning you, my performance is going to be so bad it'll totally redefine what you think is possible. Prepare yourself mentally."

Kazami: ?

Huh?

***

Practice started.

First up: serving.

Beginners usually start with underhand serves, and they were no different. But...

Hoshino recalled the few times she had tried serving with the volleyball club. At the end of practice, Hinata and Yamaguchi had encouraged her to give it a try.

And as expected, her serve success rate over the net matched her athletic cell count—

Zero! As in, zero percent!

Accepting her fate, Hoshino grabbed a volleyball from the basket and slowly walked to the area outside the court's end line. She placed the ball in her left palm, angled her body sideways toward the net, and made a fist with her right hand, ready to serve.

...

Hoshino could almost see the Volleyball God descending in front of her with a perfect customer-service smile.

"Dear customer! This is your pre-ordered serve service. Would you like to lose a point by hitting the net, lose a point by sending it out of bounds, or miss the ball entirely and have it drop outside the court, forcing you to give the teacher an awkward but polite smile and say, 'Can I please get some points?'"

Hoshino: ...

Wasn't there an option to send the ball over the net and have it land perfectly on the other side?! she raged internally.

The Volleyball God's smile remained flawless.

"I'm sorry, dear, your athletic stats are too low to unlock that option."

Hoshino: ...

She gave up.

"Kazami-san," she turned and handed the ball to Kazami Kaoru beside her. "How about you go first?"

There was no way she could reveal her terrible athletic skills in front of this nearly perfect honor student!

"'Sure, no problem.' Kazami agreed easily."

She took the ball from Hoshino and served it in one clean motion—

"Thud."

The ball didn't even touch the net; it dropped right around the three-meter line on the opponent's side.

...

…………

..................

Hoshino watched the ball roll a couple of times before it stopped.

Huh?

No way.

You're kidding.

Kazami-san's serve was even worse than her own?!?!

***

"Oh, too bad, didn't make it over the net."

Unlike Hoshino, who was stunned, Kazami took it in stride. She picked up the ball and handed it back to Hoshino.

"Your turn now," she reminded.

"Huh? Oh, uh..."

Still dazed, Hoshino took the ball and went to serve—

"Bam!"

This time the ball flew a bit farther than before, but unfortunately it hit the net and still didn't land on the opposite side of the court.

"Hey, that's amazing, it went a lot farther than mine!" Kazami called out from the sidelines.

Hoshino stared at her in disbelief.

Are you serious?! For real, Kazami-san?! She didn't even get it over the net!! It totally hit the net!!

Seeing the genuine praise on Kazami's face, Hoshino had to consider the possibility—

"Um, Kazami-san," she asked hesitantly, "so that serve earlier... you weren't going easy on me, right?"

Kazami: ?

"Why would I?" she said, confused.

Hoshino: ...

No way!! That three-meter-line serve was Kazami-san's actual skill!!

"Pfft, you caught me," Kazami chuckled. "I'm honestly terrible at sports."

Hoshino: Huh—

"Me too!!" she said, eyes lighting up.

Kazami: ?

"No, not like not being able to join a club..." as if worried she might misunderstand, Kazami hurriedly explained, "I'm really completely incompetent at sports, the type who barely scrapes by in gym class..."

—and that's with being excused from some events.

Before she could finish that thought, she saw Hoshino nodding even harder: "Me too!!"

Kazami: ...?

Wait, why's Hoshino-san looking so pumped...?

"'Cause I'm super stoked! Super stoked!" Hoshino explained. "Honestly, I've been surrounded by a bunch of meathead jocks my whole life. Everyone my age—classmates, friends, cousins, neighbors—is in a sports club. I've started wondering if I accidentally walked into a sports anime world!"

Kazami: ...?

What sports anime? What world is she talking about?

"But meeting you today, Kazami-san, I finally realized I'm not alone!"

With that, Hoshino ran to the net, picked up the fallen ball, and solemnly offered it to Kazami—

"Kazami-san, would you be willing to sign a contract with me and become a magical girl— no, become one of the few humans with normal physical stats in this sports anime world?!"

Kazami blinked, trying to process what she just heard.

"Um, sure. We can partner up in PE class and stuff," she said, taking the volleyball.

Hoshino: !!!

She got it right away! Just what you'd expect from a contract partner!

"Great, Kazami-san—" She lunged and hugged Kazami with the volleyball still sandwiched between them, "We're allies now! We can go save the world together! Let's start by taking down that evil Sharp-tongued Tsukki!"

"Eh, eh?!"

Kazami, still clutching the volleyball, staggered to keep from falling.

What is this feeling of being mauled by a golden retriever (okay, not that big)! She can't breathe!

And most importantly—

Who is this so-called "Sharp-tongued Tsukki"? Is it a new villain boss from some game or anime?

-TBC-

Author's note:

*

In a way, he really is a villain (hey).