Chapter 14

Sendai Gym, nestled between low-riding mountains and it is made up of multiple halls that spread across a few hectares of land, thus according to the name of the place; it has been dedicated to being used for official matches between schools in the district. It does not matter what sport it was, most sports matches are held there and it was a terrifyingly crowded place whenever a favorite match was bound to be played.

Thus why, I find myself being herded along by a crowd of eager people who have come down to watch our school match against a neighboring school. I overheard that this school had lost to us in the Inter-High Preliminary rounds and had bounced back to play a "revenge" match in this tournament.

I guess this match will be very meaningful to Hajime-san.

I was quite late, so the front rows were fully occupied and I slid by the back rows where I had an unobstructed view of the match. Seeing the scoreboard by the side, it was the second set with 21 vs 15. Our school was winning, and if we win this set, we will win this match.

The crowd was restless, and they were cheering their might for the team. The volleyball team, the entirety of the team, was seated on the opposite side of where I sat, cheering and bellowing their mightiest through the cones while there were a few supporters seated next to them.

I think they were there for Hajime-san, like I was.

Embarrassed, I hunched my shoulders a little and kept an eye on the match. I had seen plenty of their practice matches but I was blown away at the ferocity of their strength when they were serious, after all this is a tournament and their drive to excel was apparent in each of their play and movement.

Each of the third years, Iwaizumi-san, Victor-san, Makoto-san and Kenta-san were all on court including Hajime-san. All five of them held serious faces, but they were calm and made the sport look easy. They gelled well with the rest of the second years and first years who were on the court; and Hajime-san had the uncanny ability to bring out the strength of his players well.

He can partner with anyone easily, and is able to use them like a game of chess.

Putting my legs up so I could hug them, I watched the match with earnest and concentration. I was suddenly very eager to watch them play, and to see their strength shining in the sky. I was impressed by their dedication, skill and trust with each other.

Especially Hajime-san and Iwaizumi-san.

In that match, I could see how much trust they had with each other that Hajime-san was able to serve the ball to him from outside the boundary court even before Iwaizumi-san reached the exact location. The distance between Hajime-san and Iwaizumi-san was so far apart, that everyone was taken aback by it and mightily impressed at how skilful and strong Hajime-san was.

It was amazing.

He was amazing.

The match ended soon enough, with us scoring by a large margin. The entire hall erupted in cheers as they won, screaming and clapping. I watched as our team celebrated the moment, while seeing the losing team suffer from their loss. It was a decisive moment for them, each winning team or the losing team.

They exchanged thanks, shook hands and bowed to the supporters who came.

I stayed in my seat as some left to watch other matches. I think this will be their final match for the day, before they resume a few days later. I heard this was their second match, held in the afternoon and I watched as they did some stretches while listening to the debrief by their coach.

Once they were done, they wore their uniform jerseys and prepared to leave.

That was when I stood up and left.

I climbed down the staircase, hearing the ruckus below where the crowd must have waited for the players to leave the hall. I didn't think they were waiting for them, their popularity must have increased three-fold with this match. I entered the mess with a frown on my face. Looking around, I located a free space and headed there while I waited for Hajime-san and the rest to arrive.

Seeing them coming caused the noise to double, deafening my ears and I waited by the side of the wall, watching them walk across the mass of pulsing people. They were entertaining the supporters and fans, eagerly taking photos with them or signing on papers held out by blushing girls.

While they were busy signing their autographs, and taking a million photos with their supporters, Hajime-san spotted me leaning by the wall and he immediately broke off from the rest to come towards me almost eagerly. I couldn't help the grin curling on my lips as I watched him come near me.

"Izumi, you came!"

I grin. "I made a promise."

"How was it? Were you impressed by the match?"

I nodded. "You were amazing," I said and leaned slightly to the side so I could look at the rest of the team. "You boys did amazing."

They thanked me for coming down to watch their match and they began to crowd around me too, asking me about which parts of the match that I liked, which parts that I didn't like. Soon enough, we were discussing the opponent's skills and their play, and it looked to everyone that we were a bunch of crazy kids blocking everyone's way.

"Hey! Let's head somewhere to eat!"

"We're blocking the way!"

"Okay! Let's go!"

…