JSWGAS Chapter 6

“So, what that guy said is true?”

“Huh?”

“What’s with that look on your face—’You usually hate Tōru the most, but when it comes to this kind of thing, you actually believe what he says, you guys must have a great relationship’?” Iwaizumi Hajime’s eyes were lifeless.

“Is that so?” Kokonoe Taka didn’t deny it, and smiled. “Something like trust?”

“That guy is awful, self-centered, talks to himself annoyingly all the time, so narcissistic that I want to punch his face into the ground and make him cry…” Iwaizumi Hajime became more and more annoyed as he spoke, clicking his tongue fiercely, his face full of disgust. “But that guy’s insight is amazing.”

“…You reluctantly praised Tōru, didn’t you?”

“You’re really infuriating sometimes.” Iwaizumi Hajime glared at him. “Don’t change the subject!”

“If Oikawa says so, it’s probably right.”

“Is the remaining 20% him deliberately lying?”

Kokonoe Taka chuckled a couple of times, and under Iwaizumi Hajime’s threatening gaze, he put down his lunchbox and changed his posture. “How should I put it… I myself only have a vague feeling, right? Would you get angry if I said something like that?”

Iwaizumi Hajime: “You… If you know, don’t deliberately do it again!”

The two fell silent.

“You know a bit about my family situation, right?” Kokonoe Taka rested his chin on his hand, his gray eyes gleaming with a cold light. “My father used to be a professional tennis player, and I started playing tennis because of him.”

He paused. “Although many parents want their children to inherit their lives. For example, a doctor’s child is likely to become a doctor, and a musician’s child is more likely to become an expert in the same field… That’s how genetics work.”

“My father has someone he really wants to defeat. That person is also a tennis player, Echizen Nanjirō, ‘Samurai Nanjirō’.”

Kokonoe Hikohito had once clearly said, “Taka, you have talent, you have time, and with my training, you will become a first-class tennis player.”

This wasn’t a discussion, it was a notification. He had already planned out Kokonoe Taka’s life.

Kokonoe Taka sometimes went to his acquaintance’s tennis club, the owner of which was said to be Kokonoe Hikohito’s former coach. After Kokonoe Hikohito’s demands on Kokonoe Taka became more and more strict, the owner had a quarrel with his father.

Their conversations frequently included words like ‘retirement’, ‘cultivating his son into a tennis player who surpasses him’, ‘what’s the rush’, ‘why put pressure on Taka’, and so on. The main subject referred to wasn’t Kokonoe Hikohito, but the world-renowned tennis player Echizen Nanjirō.

Kokonoe Hikohito couldn’t have imagined that Echizen Nanjirō’s reason for retiring would be—’his son’s birth made him feel that he had found a greater goal, and at the time, there were no strong players in the tennis world that he wanted to defeat or that were worth him defeating’.

How arrogant, how conceited.

This thoroughly enraged him.

…So he set his sights on Echizen Nanjirō’s son.

“If I can’t defeat you, I’ll let my child defeat your child,” Kokonoe Taka said calmly. “That’s probably what my father thinks.”

“In my father’s eyes, I’m just a tool for him to take revenge on Echizen Nanjirō.”

Kokonoe Hikohito used to be an ordinary father.

In the beginning, he was just proud of his son’s talent.

But in the increasingly strict reprimands, in Kokonoe Taka’s desire to give up being rejected, in that amazing feel for the ball, in his performance becoming more and more like the ideal Kokonoe Hikohito had in mind, in victory.

Kokonoe Taka went from ‘child’ to ‘tool’.

“It’s that simple.”

Children are very sensitive. Kokonoe Taka sensed his father’s true thoughts, that pursuit of victory and strength that was instilled into his body from someone else’s mind, turning the curiosity that initially made him feel ‘this sport is very interesting’ and ‘I want to learn more, I want to train more’ into the opposite.

“If moving forward isn’t my own idea… wouldn’t that be boring?”

Kokonoe Taka said wearily.

Iwaizumi Hajime was speechless. He had met Mr. Kokonoe, who was clearly displeased when he heard that he and Oikawa had come to play with Kokonoe Taka, and seemed to disapprove of his son playing with two volleyball players.

Kokonoe Taka stopped his movements at the time, and after a moment of looking at his father, he took the lead in speaking, and then slightly lowered his head and stated that he wouldn’t delay his tennis training. Kokonoe Hikohito’s face twitched fiercely, and after thinking of something, he reluctantly agreed.

Oikawa felt that if Kokonoe Taka hadn’t interrupted, Mr. Kokonoe would have definitely kicked them out of the Kokonoe family’s gym. So after that, the two of them rarely appeared in Mr. Kokonoe’s sight.

Oikawa Tōru believed that Mr. Kokonoe was so obsessed with tennis that he was almost deranged, and he was playing a good hand terribly. He should have been the pillar of this family, the guidepost for his children. But he could only follow his own desires and lead the future down a divergent path.

Mrs. Oikawa had talked about the neighbors at home more than once, and each time she was left with a complicated sigh. The Kokonoe family had once had a fierce argument about their son’s future, the man’s roar echoed through the street, and the woman’s tearful questions were carried away by the wind. After that, Mr. Kokonoe returned home less and less often. He was rarely seen there except during Kokonoe Taka’s training.

The only thing Mrs. Oikawa was thankful for was that the child had gone to another place for the competition, and didn’t run into the scene of the Kokonoe couple’s argument.

Iwaizumi Hajime asked, “Why don’t you refuse?”

His brow furrowed fiercely, as if he had encountered something difficult to deal with, showing his own entanglement. Kokonoe Taka wanted to laugh a little, and he shrugged helplessly.

“Habit? Or I’m just afraid to bring it up again.”

Iwaizumi Hajime revealed an expression of incomprehension, and then saw his friend roll up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing his arm with a sports wristband. He calmly took off the wristband, revealing a three or four centimeter long scar next to the pale wrist bone.

“I told my father I didn’t want to play tennis, and he got very angry and accidentally broke a vase,” Kokonoe Taka said calmly. “The splattered fragments unintentionally cut my wrist, leaving such a scar.”

Iwaizumi Hajime opened his mouth, his face blank. He felt that he needed to say something, but was interrupted by his friend. “No, don’t say anything, Iwaizumi.”

Kokonoe Taka rubbed the scar. “He said how could I not listen to him, he was doing it all for my own good, I was using his money, living in his house, what qualifications did I have to refuse.”

Iwaizumi Hajime listened to the other party’s words in silence. “My mother has been a housewife for almost ten years, she’s already very tired, and I didn’t want her to be sad about this again, so I didn’t tell her.”

“I’m looking forward to someone defeating me, he must be very annoyed if his work is defeated by someone unknown, right?” Kokonoe Taka smiled. “Even just thinking about this possibility makes me very excited. But unfortunately, I haven’t met such a person…”

“As for tennis…”

“I liked it at first.”

“But there are too many other things mixed in here, and I can’t tell whether it’s ‘like’ or ‘dislike’…”

“That’s all.”

Iwaizumi Hajime: “…You…”

“Don’t force yourself to think, Iwaizumi, overloading your brain will make you stupid.” Kokonoe Taka put on the wristband again, and said with a smile while holding his chin, “Don’t worry about me—at least don’t worry about me now.”

Iwaizumi Hajime: “…Damn it, even if you say that…”

—I still want to do something for you.

However, when Iwaizumi Hajime saw his friend’s eyes, he couldn’t say this.

Kokonoe Taka has very beautiful gray eyes, and the color is different from his parents. That grayish color seems to be some kind of hard metal, or more like heavy dark clouds. After layers of unrecognizable emotions, a cluster of flames is burning in the center of his pupils.

These gray eyes began to look like rocks, and later like fire.

Iwaizumi Hajime thought like that.

Fire that burns everything.

He realized that his friend wasn’t as indifferent as his tone suggested. On the contrary, he was very cunning in hiding all his emotions under his words, and then wrapped them in layers of hard shells, creating the illusion that he didn’t care about anything.

That Oikawa guy is really sharp. Even if he doesn’t know anything, he touches the essence of Kokonoe and reveals it nakedly.

“You bastard…” This term has always been used to describe the troublesome Oikawa, but at this time, the lack of cursing vocabulary made Iwaizumi Hajime only able to use the same word to scold another person.

He suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Kokonoe Taka’s collar fiercely. Gray eyes finally showed a little surprise as if they had lost control, he stared at those eyes, looking directly at the flames inside: “You won’t go to an adult for things you can’t solve yourself?!”

He roared: “You’re just a kid yourself, do you think you’re omnipotent?! Since you say it so easily, don’t make people worry about you?! I thought you were a little better than The Trash River, but aren’t you still a jerk like him?!”

“Where did all your usual cleverness go? Refuse what you don’t like, and seek help for what you can’t solve! Do I still need to teach you such a simple principle?!”

Iwaizumi Hajime shouted deafeningly: “Idiot! Idiot Eagle!”

Kokonoe Taka was shaken dizzy, and almost fainted. He barely said, “…Iwaizumi, do you only know this one word to scold people?”

“What did you say?”

“…I didn’t say anything.”

Kokonoe Taka surrendered quickly.

“The answer?”

“Eh?”

“Your answer!”

Kokonoe Taka raised his hand in a deflated manner, “Sorry, Iwaizumi, I admit my mistake.”

Iwaizumi Hajime pursued relentlessly: “What was wrong?”

“…”

Iwaizumi Hajime was furious: “You’re perfunctory again!!!”

“It hurts! Why is your head so hard?!”

“Because you’re an idiot!!”

Iwaizumi Hajime glared at him and slowly let go of his hand. As his hand completely drooped, Kokonoe Taka unexpectedly grabbed it tightly.

“Iwaizumi, don’t be angry.”

His hand was very cold. Iwaizumi Hajime silently grasped his hand back, so hard that his palm, which was worn by calluses, was sore!