JSWGAS Chapter 70

——So, you have to keep a close eye on me.

The scene in my memory where this sentence appeared has been completely forgotten, and perhaps even why I had such expectations at the time can no longer be explained.

——The only thing I remember is the unwillingness to lose the game at that time.

This unwillingness still continues to this day.

At the Miyagi Prefecture Citizen’s Sports Meet, Kitagawa First Junior High School won a round against Shiratorizawa Elementary School for the first time in the finals, but in the end, they still missed the national competition.

Oikawa Tōru accepted the ‘Best Setter Award’ from the organizer, which represented his ability to maximize the abilities of all his spikers, and vowed to defeat Shiratorizawa after advancing to high school. Afterwards, while walking home with Iwaizumi Hajime after the closing ceremony, he stared at the warm-colored slanting sun dyeing the floating clouds in the sky red, and suddenly said, “——We have to make Taka wait another year.”

He realized belatedly. If his mind was full of defeating Shiratorizawa and advancing to the national competition when he was standing on the court, he suddenly remembered that agreement on the familiar road after the closing ceremony.

The agreement from four years ago until now, Oikawa Tōru swore to stand in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, welcoming the cheers of millions of people, so that his friend who left without saying goodbye could see him. And the other person also gave a response, ‘I will always be waiting for you.’ The rest of the words were tacit between the two———until you stand here.

But the door to the national competition was firmly occupied by Shiratorizawa, led by Ushijima Wakatoshi, for three years, and they did not make any progress.

Iwaizumi Hajime’s voice was as strong as ever: “What, you don’t have the confidence to defeat Shiratorizawa in high school?”

“How is that possible!” Oikawa Tōru perked up at once, shouting, “We will definitely make Shiratorizawa, make Ushiwaka, lose to us!”

“Then what are you being sentimental about.” Iwaizumi Hajime gave him a speechless glance.

“Who’s being sentimental! Koiwa has so much prejudice against me!” Oikawa Tōru said, puffing out his cheeks, “I just think that guy will definitely laugh at me…maybe he’ll even deliberately take out his trophy to show off.”

Iwaizumi Hajime’s answer was always so simple and crude: “Then just take yours and show off back, wouldn’t that be fine?”

“Ugh——”

After this, the two had no time to think about other things. Kitagawa First is a strong volleyball school and will provide certain guaranteed admission quotas for graduating third-year students. But they couldn’t relax too much until the list came out. Various exams, quizzes, and application forms filled all aspects of life, making people dizzy and unaware of the time.

Oikawa Tōru was called to the office by the teacher, and when he came back, he looked complicated and said to Iwaizumi Hajime, who was buried in writing, “——I heard that many strong schools have issued special recruitment invitations to the same person this year.”

Iwaizumi Hajime looked up, “Huh?”

Oikawa Tōru then pulled a chair and sat opposite him, “The basketball club’s supervisor said it while chatting with the supervisors of other clubs.”

“…Could it be.”

“It’s the person you’re thinking of——”

Oikawa Tōru whimpered. He had been forced to become haggard during this time, with dark circles under his eyes as heavy as panda eyes. Applying some light-colored foundation to his face would allow him to immediately take up a job in a haunted house.

“And it’s test-free and exam-free!” he wailed, “Damn it!”

Iwaizumi Hajime slapped him, telling him to be quiet: “Taka’s grades can get him into most high schools even without special recruitment, right.”

“…Don’t you think that’s even more discouraging?” Oikawa Tōru paused, “And also, Shiratorizawa has specially recruited Ushiwaka.”

It should be said that this was something the two had expected long ago. Shiratorizawa Academy’s elementary school was originally a part of selecting talents for the high school, and the volleyball club’s supervisor frequently scouted talents everywhere in Miyagi Prefecture and issued special recruitments———Oikawa had also received an invitation not long ago, but he refused without hesitation.

Oikawa Tōru and Iwaizumi Hajime had already decided on the high school they wanted to go to———Aoba Johsai, which is also a strong volleyball school in the prefecture. He would build the best team there.

In short, he absolutely did not want to be on the same team as Ushijima Wakatoshi!

Time flew by, and soon it was time for various high schools to open admissions. Oikawa Tōru walked out of an unfamiliar school, shrinking his neck and scanning the sign at the school gate with sharp lettering——‘Aoba Johsai’.

Iwaizumi Hajime hadn’t come out yet. Oikawa Tōru stood at the school gate, silently reading the name of the school that would accompany him for his three years of high school several times while waiting for him. Among the students coming and going, there were many classmates from Kitagawa First who smiled and greeted him as they passed by.

“Waiting for Iwaizumi?”

“Yeah.”

In late December, Miyagi had several cold rains intermittently. It had not yet snowed, but the air that followed had already become piercingly cold. Oikawa Tōru had never been tolerant of the cold since he was a child, and he would definitely stay in the quilt every winter, procrastinating until the sun was high before he was willing to get up. And he had been in a hurry when he went out today. Oikawa Tōru had specially prepared a coat the day before yesterday, but he forgot to bring the scarf hanging on the hat rack when he went out this morning——

“It’s so cold.” He stared at the students coming out of the Aoba Johsai gate in twos and threes, feeling so cold that he hoped for Iwaizumi Hajime to appear for the first time in his life. But the more he hoped for something, the less likely it was to happen———the cell phone in his pocket vibrated weakly. Iwaizumi Hajime sent a short message saying that he had to stay a little longer.

He lowered his head and replied grumpily, his fingers trembling. Just as he had finished typing a few sentences, a shadow suddenly fell in front of him. Oikawa Tōru thought he was blocking the way and moved to the side without raising his head: “Sorry.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a muffled laugh, a very familiar voice that shouldn’t have appeared in Miyagi no matter how he thought about it. Oikawa Tōru, whose brain was crashed by the cold wind, blinked slowly, and just as he raised his head, a warm and soft scarf was hung around his neck.

Mouse-gray in color, with a faint scent of softener, and a very familiar style and weave. In fact, the scarf that Oikawa Tōru had forgotten on his hat rack was the same style but a different color from the one in front of him. Both scarves were made by his mother.

“…Taka…?”

The person who was bowing his head and tying his scarf looked up and saw his dazed expression, raising his eyebrows and teasingly laughing: “Frozen stupid?”

Oikawa Tōru: “…Wait, why are you here?!”

He reacted and jumped back several steps, grabbing the soft scarf and stammering. The person who was treating him with an attitude as if he was facing a formidable enemy was taken aback and helplessly let him tie the scarf properly, “I’m here to see the school.” he said, “——Miyagi’s schools are open for visits and applications these days, right?”

That was indeed the case, otherwise Oikawa Tōru wouldn’t have given up the beautiful time of lying in bed and stood outside freezing. But even so——

“Aren’t you studying in Tokyo?” he asked incredulously, “Many schools invited you, right?”

He was right. In fact, the Kokonoe family’s mailbox had been filled with special recruitment invitations from various schools for several days in a row, almost covering half of Tokyo’s high schools, including many first-class schools with extremely high deviation values.

However, they all had one thing in common: join the school’s basketball club and achieve results.

Kokonoe Taka was clearly staying in the cold wind as well and had given his scarf to Oikawa Tōru, but his figure was as upright as a cedar, “Well, I don’t really want to go.”

Oikawa Tōru didn’t believe such a statement at all: “Huh?” His mind sparked, and he suddenly discovered a blind spot, “I say, you came to Miyagi,” he glanced at the school sign next to the two of them, “Which school are you going to visit?”

Kokonoe Taka’s expression didn’t change, and he even showed a hint of mischievous expectation: “Aoba Johsai,” he deliberately paused, “——And Shiratorizawa.”

When Iwaizumi Hajime finally walked out of the Aoba Johsai school gate, he was startled by the troublesome guy who was standing there blankly, “What are you doing?” He walked over and patted Oikawa’s shoulder, and the latter suddenly turned his head as if he had found a backer and rekindled his arrogant arrogance, “Koiwa!”

Oikawa Tōru said something indignantly, and Iwaizumi Hajime didn’t hear a single word. He looked in the direction of Oikawa Tōru’s finger and saw a long-lost person standing quietly in the familiar scenery of Miyagi, curving his lips slightly as before.

“Taka!” He called out the name of his childhood friend in surprise, walked over in large strides, and incidentally shook off Oikawa’s endless chatter, “When did you come back?”

“Last night.” Kokonoe Taka replied, “It was too late, so I didn’t tell you. But when I came back, I met Uncle Oikawa, and he said that you two would come to Aoba Johsai today——” His voice stopped abruptly, and Iwaizumi Hajime generously gave him a solid hug.

“…Welcome back.” he said.

“…”

They were both wearing thick clothes, and the surface of their clothes was even frozen cold, but Kokonoe Taka inexplicably felt the warmth of another person. It was as if time had never moved forward, stopping at the time when he went to watch their game, and Iwaizumi Hajime rushed into his arms sullenly after losing.

He felt a burst of inexplicable blockage in his throat, reached back and hugged Iwaizumi Hajime’s back, and gently pressed it, “I’m back.”

Iwaizumi Hajime let go of him and looked at him for a moment, “Speaking of which, how tall are you now?”

The most important thing for teenagers in adolescence is this. Even Iwaizumi, who is usually stable, couldn’t help but feel a little indignant———he had been suppressed by Kokonoe Taka and Oikawa Tōru from the beginning, and it seemed that the trend would continue.

“It seems to be 181cm now?” Kokonoe Taka replied, seeing the two of them simultaneously showing highly similar resentful expressions.

Iwaizumi Hajime then remembered Oikawa and turned his head: “What did you want to say just now?”

Oikawa Tōru: “…Koiwa is so mean! You must have treated my words as wind in your ears just now!”

That being said, he still had to complain, “He actually said he was going to Shiratorizawa High School——” His tone was deliberately drawn out, even if he didn’t make sense, he could make it sound very reasonable, “He clearly knows that we and Shiratorizawa are mortal enemies! And what’s so good about Shiratorizawa!”

Iwaizumi Hajime coldly corrected him: “You’re just being emotional because Ushiwaka is also going to Shiratorizawa, right. Shiratorizawa is originally a first-class school in the prefecture, it’s just that the deviation value is a bit high——” The last sentence was said by Iwaizumi to Kokonoe Taka. But he suddenly remembered that a high deviation value was nothing to Kokonoe Taka, and changed his words, “But it’s not a bad choice either.”

What he said was fair, which made Oikawa Tōru seem to be making trouble unreasonably instead.

The most taboo thing in interpersonal relationships is getting too close, especially when it comes to making major choices. After all, it wasn’t Oikawa Tōru who was making the decision, and he had no reason to demand anything forcefully.

He has high emotional intelligence and always maintains a distance that is neither too close nor too far from others on weekdays. But perhaps because Kokonoe Taka had seen his initial embarrassment when facing Shiratorizawa and Ushiwaka; or perhaps because of the agreement the two had made, Shiratorizawa was the obstacle that had always blocked him, making him more resistant to this matter than he had imagined.

He himself quickly discovered this and suddenly fell silent. The road home that followed was walked absentmindedly, only following behind the two people who were chatting in front. As soon as Kokonoe Taka stopped, Oikawa bumped into his back solidly.

Oikawa Tōru covered his nose, looking as if Kokonoe Taka had bumped into him instead. “What are you spacing out for?” Kokonoe Taka looked at Oikawa helplessly. Next to him, Iwaizumi Hajime’s tone was cool, “Who cares about him, it’s all Trash River’s fault anyway.”

Oikawa Tōru: “…Koiwa! You’ve been getting more and more impolite to me lately!”

Iwaizumi Hajime snorted coldly, “Be polite to you? You’re bound to take an inch if you’re given an inch.”

No one mentioned school matters afterwards. Iwaizumi Hajime followed him to the entrance of Oikawa’s house, looked at the slightly tidied-up courtyard next door, and finally felt relieved. Before leaving, he also instructed him to ask for his help if he needed anything. Kokonoe Taka was still a little unaccustomed———since junior high school, he was generally the one being relied on, and few people would explicitly express the subtext of ‘It’s okay for you to rely on me too’.

But thinking that the person who said this was Iwaizumi, it became a matter of course———after all, it was Iwaizumi Hajime.

Kokonoe Taka watched Iwaizumi Hajime’s back gradually disappear and turned his head to look at Oikawa, who was stomping his feet silently.

“——I watched your game.” He dropped this sentence, not caring at all about Oikawa Tōru’s expression, which instantly became colorful, and after saying that, he brushed past him to open the rusty iron fence that hadn’t been opened for several years.

Oikawa Tōru looked at his back, his lips tightly pursed. The unwillingness and coldness that had been boiling in his chest finally shook the brain that had been in a daze ever since he saw this person.

“——You.” He opened his mouth, “Don’t you have anything to say?”

My failure, my struggle, my unwillingness———after seeing all of this, don’t you have anything to say?

He saw the person who had left without saying goodbye several years ago opening the always closed door of the Kokonoe family, without turning his head, his voice deep and slightly hoarse from puberty, with a hint of surprise and incomprehension.

“Nothing to say.” He paused, his slightly long broken hair falling by his ears, swaying slightly as the owner turned his head, “After all, the Oikawa Tōru I know will never give up.”

…

…………

After the unified exam in February, the third-year graduates were finally liberated from the sea of ​​suffering. Oikawa Tōru threw all the books filled with dense notes into the farthest corner of the room as soon as possible, turned around and excitedly hugged the volleyball to find Iwaizumi Hajime. The stairs of the Oikawa family were echoing with his footsteps. Mrs. Oikawa poked her head out of the kitchen, “Don’t run on the stairs!”

Oikawa Tōru lightened his footsteps and honestly went down the last step, “I’m going to find Koiwa to play ball!” he shouted. After hearing his mother’s response, he put on his clothes and prepared to go out.

Mrs. Oikawa walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands, “The admission letter from Aoba Johsai has arrived. It’s on the table.” She glanced at her son, who quickly picked up the envelope, and chuckled, “So happy?”

Oikawa Tōru hummed twice and looked at it again twice before finally being willing to go out. Halfway through putting on his shoes, Mrs. Oikawa suddenly remembered something and stopped him, “Speaking of which, Taka is back.” she said, “Your father ran into him when he went out this morning. Go and ask him to come to our house for dinner tonight——”

The last time he saw Kokonoe Taka was in December. Oikawa Tōru was stunned, remembering the other party’s last seemingly real but fake statement about considering going to Shiratorizawa, and the last sentence, ‘The Oikawa Tōru I know will never give up’.

Mrs. Oikawa smiled happily, “Oh, that child likes sweets the most. I’m going to buy some ingredients later…”

Oikawa Tōru couldn’t help but feel quite resentful: “…Mom, why are you so nice to Taka? You even make me buy my own breakfast…”

Mrs. Oikawa smiled sweetly, but the words she said were very cold, “That child is well-behaved and sensible and is much more likable than you.”

Oikawa Tōru: “…”

He wanted to refute, but seeing Mrs. Oikawa’s dangerous gaze, he didn’t dare to say anything again. Just as he walked out of the house, his cell phone rang———it was the person who had just appeared in their conversation. Oikawa Tōru stared at the name on the cell phone screen, glanced at the quiet courtyard next door, answered the phone, “Hello?”

“…Tōru.” The voice called his name from a distant distance and then fell into a strange silence. Oikawa Tōru almost thought the connection had been interrupted, “What’s up?” he asked, keenly realizing the embarrassment and embarrassment hidden in the other party’s silence, and was not in a hurry to find Iwaizumi. He squatted leisurely at the entrance of his house waiting for a response.

A light exhalation came from the microphone, “…I.” That person said with difficulty, “…I’m lost.”

Not to mention that Oikawa Tōru’s wild laughter caused his mother to open the window and scold him, getting lost shouldn’t have happened to Kokonoe Taka no matter how he thought about it. Although the latter argued that it was because he had accidentally fallen asleep on the bus and didn’t remember the way along the way, which led to him finally standing in a sparsely populated area and calling for help. But it was rare to catch his handle, and Oikawa Tōru couldn’t help but laugh for a while.

The person himself seemed to be unable to believe this and decided to make it one of the black histories he never wanted to mention again. But Oikawa Tōru didn’t care about his black face. The first thing he did when he found Kokonoe Taka by car was laugh, especially arrogantly: “How come I didn’t know you could get lost?” he said deliberately.

Kokonoe Taka: “…I don’t get lost.” He glared at Oikawa, “I just fell asleep on the bus——”

“Oh, I didn’t say anything yet?” Oikawa Tōru just shrugged innocently. In Iwaizumi’s words, it was a smile that deserved a beating.

After pulling and tugging like this.

“——So,” Oikawa Tōru asked leisurely, but his eyes were as sharp as if they could hurt people, “What are you doing here?”

When he asked this, the two had just circled back to a slightly busier street from the place where Kokonoe Taka had gotten lost. The scenery became more and more familiar, and after seeing the wide gate and the words written on it, he finally couldn’t help it.

Kokonoe Taka’s gaze withdrew from ‘Shiratorizawa Private Academy’, “I came to get something.” He frankly took an envelope from his bag. Oikawa Tōru had just seen something so similar before he went out, “And also, I’m meeting the famous Ushijima-kun.” he added.

Oikawa Tōru glanced at it and then withdrew his gaze, “Decided to go to Shiratorizawa?” he asked, looking directly at Kokonoe Taka, unable to tell what his emotions were.

Kokonoe Taka didn’t answer his question, but instead brought up another unrelated topic, “Tōru.” He said gently, slowly blinking his eyes, “That agreement———after thinking about it, I think we shouldn’t continue it anymore, right?”