Chapter 4 – First Match
Saturday, May 23rd.
Alisa was preparing to go home after lessons finished when she was talked to from the neighboring seat. The owner of the voice was Joui, who has been sitting next to her since the previous month.
“Juumonji-san. You’re going to play in a match tomorrow, right?”
“So you know about it, huh?”
Although it’s a competition against a different school, it’s just a practice match. It hasn’t been especially talked about around the school.
“It’s because I’m a member of the Club Activities Group.”
But when the reason was revealed, her doubts disappeared at once. Each club’s activity plans are periodically reported to the Club Activities Group. Alisa is not involved with the work of Club Activities Group so she doesn’t know the details, but this time the activities will be outside the school, so a detailed report must have been made. It was no surprise that it included even the names of the members participating in the matches.
“It’s at the Magic University, right? I’ll go cheer for you.”
“Eh, you don’t have to.”
“Why? You don’t have to be so reserved.”
“It’s not that I’m being reserved...”
Alisa’s avoided meeting his eyes as she continued mumbling,
“...I just have no confidence.”
She added with a very low voice.
“I see...?”
Understanding that Alisa seems to seriously not like it, Joui didn’t talk about cheering any more.
“By the way, Juumonji-san, I’ve heard you’re getting along with a boy from class D recently.”
“Eh?”
Alisa opened her eyes when she heard something she didn’t expect.
“...Do you mean Karatachibana-kun?”
“You were studying with him at the library, right?”
The information Joui heard is not wrong. Monday is a day with no Crowd Ball Club activities, so Alisa reads and studies until Marika’s club activities end. This Monday she went to the library to advance her general subject schoolwork. It was there that she met Mamoru by chance and he taught her things she didn’t understand. However, Alisa thinks that calling it ‘getting along’ just because of that is a little exaggerated.
“...But it was only one time, this Monday, you see?”
They weren’t even planning to meet at the library. Not counting the simple greetings when they saw each other on the corridors, this was the second time since the previous Monday that they spent some time together. If that is enough to be called ‘getting along’, then she gets along much better with Joui.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Why is there a rumor like that...?”
“Isn’t it’s because it’s unusual?”
From behind, a classmate talked to Alisa, who had her head tilted as she thought.
“Mei... What do you mean unusual?”
The voice who called out to her belonged to Mei.
“Alisa being together with a boy.”
Mei was straightforward in answering Alisa’s question.
“...I think the way I act with boys is normal though.”
“Wasn’t it just the two of you?”
“It was at the library. There was plenty of other people around.”
“I don’t think what actually happened has any relevance at this point. Alisa had a rare one-on-one conversation with a boy. That image has been strongly etched into the minds of other boys.”
The grimace on Alisa’s face could be easily understood.
“I don’t like this, it’s like I’m being watched.”
To that short comment, Mei looked at Joui and laughed with a “Fufu”.
“You stand out, Alisa. There’s nothing you can do about that. If you were a boy, you’d think about it too, right? Though I’m not saying all boys would.”
Joui turned his eyes away from Mei’s gaze and as he stood up from his seat, said somewhat unnaturally “Well, shall we go to our club activities?”.
◇ ◇ ◇
Alisa and Marika returned to the Public Morals Committee headquarters after finishing their patrol around the school and said “Good work today”.
The two looked ahead of them at Souma, who had a refreshing smile.
“Izayoi-senpai, why are you here?”
Marika asked, when she looked back at Souma’s fresh, conspicuous smile with suspicion.
“Senpai, I thought you’re not on duty today? Do you maybe have too much free time?”
“Free time... I’ve felt this for a while, Tookami-san, don’t you act a bit too unfriendly towards me?”
Obviously, he couldn’t keep his smile, as Souma’s face twitched.
“Isn’t that just your imagination?”
Contrary to him, Marika’s attitude was a perfect example of bluntness.
“Umm, we found no rule violations. Nothing out of normal. Also, where is the Chief?”
Alisa thought this attitude towards their seniors was, of course, bad, and put herself between them.
“Okay, understood. The Chief had business today so she left. If you have nothing in particular to report, it’s fine to deliver the activity journal on Monday morning, the Chief said.”
The current rules of the Public Morals Committee state that the patrol report is expected to be delivered on the morning of the day after. But Alisa and Marika are first years, so they submit the journal to the Chief right after patrols and receive guidance regarding their activities.
“Did you stay behind so you could tell us that?”
“The upperclassmen can’t all go home right away and leave the first years to do the work, right?”
Souma replied with a tone that seemed to be accompanied by a wink. — In reality, he didn’t do that kind of pretentious thing.
Marika once again looked around the room. It’s true, the only one left at the Public Moral Committee headquarters was Souma.
“Thank you for being so considerate.”
It was Alisa who sincerely thanked him. Marika dared to not give a response.
Marika didn’t believe this situation was due to Souma’s good intentions. She had no grounds to question it. Maybe she is just being tied down by her own prejudice against Souma. Maybe she is just stubborn. Either way, she was aware of those possibilities, but she had no intention to change her mind. In short, she didn’t get along with him[8].
“By the way, tomorrow is your match, right Juumonji-san?”
Souma only said ‘tomorrow’ and ‘match’, but there is no room for doubt that he’s talking about the Crowd Ball competition. Alisa interpreted it that way and replied “Yes” with a nod.
“It’s for something different, but I’m going to the Magic University tomorrow. I’ll go cheer for you if I can.”
In truth, she has no confidence so she doesn’t want to be seen. But she felt telling her upperclassman ‘don’t come’ would be too unfriendly.
“Thank you very much. But please keep it within reason.”
Alisa replied in this manner, to be polite about it.
◇ ◇ ◇
Sunday, 24th of May.
The sky was cloudy, with no indication of when rain would start to fall.
“I hope it doesn’t rain.”
On the way from the nearest station to the Magic University, Alisa muttered while looking up at the sky.
“You don’t get sunburned when it’s cloudy, so isn’t it fine?”
Alisa was talking to herself, but Marika, who was talking next to her, picked up on her mutterings and replied with a cheerful voice.
“Ultraviolet rays reach us even on cloudy days.”
Alisa responded back, with a chiding tone.
“I know that, but it is less when the clouds are thick. Ah, I put on sunscreen properly, of course.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Marika is neither an unrefined girl nor a girl who wears no makeup. Alisa knows that. She has been paying attention to skin care since they were in the first year of middle school when they lived together, and she doesn’t appear to be cutting corners recently either. If she says she is properly protected against ultraviolet rays, she probably is.
“Putting that aside, what will happen if it rains during Crowd Ball?”
“What do you mean?”
“The court isn’t weather-proof, right? If the points are counted based on the changes in electric resistance on the court’s surface, won’t it be affected by the rain? There are holes on the ceiling.”
As Marika said, Crowd Ball courts are covered by a transparent shield that has small air holes at regular intervals. It is not completely waterproof.
“Like the courts we use for our club activities, most courts are partially outdoors with a roof, so the rain doesn’t influence the matches. I guess the University’s courts are probably the same.”
“I see now. But why are there air holes in the first place? I don’t think they’re needed.”
“I don’t know. I wonder why.”
While the two were looking at each other with their heads slightly tilted, they arrived at the front of the main gate of the Magic University, their meeting place.
There was nobody at the front of the main gate. Alisa and Marika appeared to be the first ones to arrive. Alisa patted her chest in relief for not making her seniors wait.
“We arrived very early, huh.”
But Marika poured cold water on that joy — no, relief.
“You’re right... Let’s go kill time somewhere.”
The meeting time is 9:00 in the morning. Right now is 8:20. Regardless of how they see it, they are way too early.
“But... if we go away for too long, we’ll miss each other.”
What Alisa said is not correct. They are meeting, so as long as they come back in time, they will be able to meet. But she came early to ensure she won’t keep her seniors waiting. If they arrive while she isn’t there, it will have been pointless. In the sense that their arriving times would be off and she wouldn’t be able to welcome them at this spot, ‘miss each other’ was not off the mark.
“Do you want something to drink?”
Marika suggested while taking a look around. Near the Magic University there are no other universities, vocational schools, high schools, or any other kind of schools, so it can’t be called a student district, but there are a considerable number of restaurants nearby. There appear to also be some stores doing takeout. Even if she couldn’t find that kind of store, she saw several unmanned convenience stores between where they are and the station.
Speaking of drinks, Alisa brought some for the match. But they are sports drinks to supply water and minerals during the match (also, they lack sugar and have bland taste). It was an unsuitable drink to pass time.
“Sorry, could you go?”
Alisa couldn’t leave this location, so she decided to depend on Marika.
“Sure, what do you want?”
“Then, I’ll go with ice milk tea. If they don’t have it, I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Roger. I’ll be going now.”
Marika left the scene.
Alisa, all by herself, vacantly looked up at the sky as she carried a bag with both hands, containing her racket and a change of clothes.
(It kind of feels like it’s about to start. Even though it shouldn’t rain during the day today.)
A 10% chance of precipitation means that the probability of rain of 1 millimeter or more within 3 hours is between 5% and 15%, so there is always the possibility of light rainfall of less than 1 millimeter. Also, 14% is about one-sevenths, which is less than 15%, so it is not strange for it to rain on one out of seven days.
Besides, Alisa saw the weather forecast for Tokyo’s Josai area, if she had looked at the forecasts of the wards that compose it, it may have given different results.
Maybe that monologue was a flag? Before long, rain began to fall.
Alisa looked around the nearby area to look for a shelter from the rain. However, unfortunately, she couldn’t find any edges of roofs that could keep away the rain. So instead, she noticed some roadside trees. The leaves on these trees had grown more than usual for the season. It should be plenty to keep away this much light rain.
(Is this some kind of platanus?)
As she looked up at the big leaves cut similarly to maple leaves, raindrops fell from them.
“Kya”
Alisa unconsciously closed her eyes, turned her face away and let out a small scream.
“Excuse me. Did I scare you?”
A male voice could suddenly be heard from nearby.
When Alisa turned around in surprise, a young man with an apologetic look on his face stood there.
He is clearly older than Alisa. Probably even older than Yuuto.
He appears to be a student at the Magic University, since his CAD can be seen on his left sleeve. At first glance he seemed sincere, and his light jacket, which was carefully worn and made him look stylish, was a little wet. He must have rushed under this tree seeking shelter from the sudden rain, just like Alisa.
“No, I was just surprised by the raindrops and screamed without thinking... I should be the one saying sorry for making you worry about me.”
“So that was it. No, please don’t worry about it.”
After smiling a little, the young man turned his body away from Alisa. Maybe he did that so that he doesn’t give a girl the misconception that he’s staring at her. It felt a bit too formal for his age, but Alisa thought it was a gentlemanly attitude.
Though that said, there was an undeniable uncomfortable silence between the two strangers in close proximity. Alisa looked at the sky, wondering if the rain would stop soon.
“...Are you going to participate in the Crowd Ball competition?”
Just as she was thinking of some topic to talk about, as she was unable to stand the silence, the young man talked to Alisa.
“Huh? Yes, I am.”
Why does he know? For a moment, she questioned it. But right after, Alisa remembered that she was holding a sports bag with her racket inside.
“Today’s matches are against Third High, right?”
“You seem to know about it?”
Her surprise towards what the young man said was even more than when he correctly guessed her club.
Crowd Ball was an event at the Nine Schools Competition until 2095, but not counting that it was always a minor competition. Many magic competitions are derived from military training and they also make up the majority of the population in competitions. Alisa heard that since it’s a magic sport that was created independently of the military, there aren’t many students at the Magic University who have an interest in it.
“It’s a match that brought my alma matter to the university. I can’t help having an interest.”
‘Why’ had been written on Alisa’s face, so the young man gave her a modest smile and revealed his background.
“You’re an alumnus of First High?”
Alisa asked with a tone that sounded like she understood, instead of being surprised.
“Yeah. I am Hattori, a 2096 graduate.”
“I am Juumonji Alisa, I enrolled this year. Pleased to meet you.”
Alisa politely bowed about 30 degrees with her back straightened.
“Likewise.”
Hattori returned a slight bow to Alisa.
“Ah, you’re here!”
At that time, a familiar high pitched girls voice — a familiar voice that Alisa would never mistake for someone else’s — was heard.
“Mina.”
Alisa turned towards where she heard the voice coming from and raised her hand.
Marika rushed over to Alisa’s side, carrying a shopping bag at chest level.
Behind her, she could see Hatsune holding an umbrella. Apparently, they joined up in the middle of shopping or right after that.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Aaah... Geez, Mina, you really got yourself wet...”
Alisa took out a towel from her own bag, which was hanging by its shoulder strap, and put it on Marika’s head.
Alisa gently dried Marika’s hair.
And while Marika was entrusting her hair to Alisa,
“Who is that person? Was he trying to hit on you?”
She asked from under the towel.
“N-No!”
Hattori replied with a panicked voice.
“Hattori-san is an alumnus of First High.”
Alisa explained with a smile, but...
“An alumnus is hitting on his kouhai?”
Marika wasn’t convinced.
“I wasn’t hitting on anyone. We just happened to take shelter from the rain at the same place.”
Hattori regained his calm tone, but his voice was still stiff.
“Did you have a reason to purposefully choose the same place as a female kouhai?”
“It wasn’t on purpose. I’m saying it just happened to be that way.”
Alisa was dumbfounded by the aggressive attitude Marika suddenly assumed, but she recovered and interrupted the two of them.
“Mina, you’re being rude to our senpai.”
“But...”
“No buts.”
Alisa scolded Marika and turned back to Hattori.
“I’m very sorry, senpai. This girl’s rude behavior...”
“No... It just shows how important you are you her.”
After Hattori showed such a mature reaction, Marika couldn’t lash out at him anymore.
Looking frustrated, Marika groaned as she looked at Hattori.
“Gyoubu-san, did you two talk?”
She probably wasn’t deliberately choosing the time when the three stopped talking, but Hatsune stood next to Hattori and joined the conversation then.
“Hatsune?”
Alisa was surprised by the friendly tone between the two.
“President, do you know Hattori-san?”
They certainly have the same surname, ‘Hattori’, but it’s not that rare of a surname, so Alisa thought it was a coincidence.
“We’re distant relatives.”
That’s why Hatsune’s answer was unexpected, but not that surprising.
“You look really close for distant relatives though.”
Marika pointed out what Alisa was also thinking but didn’t say. Her look towards Hattori is the same kind of look she has towards Souma. She might have already classified him as a ‘man who flirts with Alisa’ in her mind.
However, to be agitated to the point that she addresses Hatsune harshly is going too far. In fact, Alisa is frowning.
“It’s because we’re legally cousins.”
Though Hatsune’s expression and tone indicate she doesn’t care one bit.
“We really were distant relatives, but I happened to become the adopted daughter of Gyoubu-san’s uncle and aunt. So legally, I am his cousin.”
“...So that’s why.”
This story seems to involve some sensitive circumstances, so naturally even Marika couldn’t press further. She vaguely nodded as a declaration of withdrawal.
“And that’s why, as his cousin, I can testify that he’s completely incapable of hitting on girls.”
“Haa...”
Marika, revealed she understood in the form of a sound, looking completely dumbfounded.
On the other hand, Hattori was saying ‘completely incapable...’ with bitter expression. — Given that he’s not denying it, he is probably aware of it himself.
“After all, he’s been holding on to the same unrequited love since his high school days, over 5 years ago.”
“Hey!”
But it seems he couldn’t stay silent here.
“She truly was out of his reach, but during his days at First High Gyoubu-san was an honor student who served as the Vice-President of the Student Council and President of the Club Activities Group, so I think he should have been braver in his offensive.”
But Hatsune wasn’t concerned about him at all.
“That’s why, Tookami-san, you can rest easy.”
Fortunately, the change in weather was only temporary and there wasn’t much rainfall. The sky also became a little brighter. Alisa and the rest left from under the platanus that had been sheltering them from the rain.
They split with the alumnus Hattori at that time. While they were taking shelter from the rain they talked a bit and learned that he stayed in the seminar room the previous night and didn’t sleep at all and was now on his way to go shopping. Despite that, he didn’t have any indication of being tired, neither on himself nor his clothes. It was in this way that his committed and meticulous personality became apparent.
10 minutes before the appointed meeting time, all six club members plus four members comprising an unofficial cheering group which included Marika, for a total of ten people from First High, entered the Magic University.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Crowd Ball courts at the Magic University were under a semi-cylindrical dome-shaped roof supported by eight pillars. The roof is thin as curtains, allowing light to pass through them, and there are no walls on either of the four sides. The matches can be watched from outside the roofed area.
There are four courts under the roof. Two for singles matches and two for doubles matches. For today’s matches, only one each will be used.
That doesn’t necessarily mean there will be one singles and one doubles match played simultaneously. The competition will have only one match at a time. They rented both courts because the rules regarding the courts are different between singles and doubles.
The length and height are the same. However, the width is different. For singles it’s 6 meters, while for doubles it’s 9 meters. Unlike tennis, the court’s sides are walled, so singles and doubles matches can’t use the same court.
When the girls arrived at the courts where the matches would be held, the members of Third High were already there. There is still plenty of time until the matches begin, so they didn’t have to feel guilty for making them wait. But the overly serious second year students appeared to feel embarrassed.
As for Alisa, she just carefreely understood it as ‘I guess they stayed over from yesterday’. Hiyori is also not any different from usual. The first-year pair appears to be mentally tougher than the second-year students.
“Uh oh, as I thought, she’s here... Well, of course she would be.”
But those words Hatsune mumbled at her side were something Alisa could not ignore.
“Umm... Who’s here...?”
“Ah...”
Looks like her mumbles were not intended for other’s ears, as ‘I’ve done it now’ was written on Hatsune’s face.
If the gaze pointed at her was only of curiosity, she might have given an adequately ambiguous response. But when she saw anxiety shaking in her junior’s eyes, Hatsune decided that hiding it would have the opposite effect.
“...There aren’t many people who compete, but there is a nationwide open tournament for Crowd Ball.”
“I see.”
Alisa showed she was following and urged her to continue with her eyes.
“Last year, there was a third-year middle school student who finished second at that tournament.”
“...And you mean that this person is in Third High?”
“Yeah. Her.”
As she said it, Hatsune led the eyes of Alisa and the others, not with her hands, but with the movement of her eyes and face.
“...That girl?”
“Right. Hiiro Hiromi-san.”
“President. She’s in her first year like us, correct?”
Hiyori, who until then had been silently listening to Hatsune’s and Alisa’s conversation, joined in with a confident tone.
“That’s right.”
“Can you let me have her?”
“You want to play against Hiiro-san?”
“Yes.”
As she looked at Hiyori who face overflowed with fighting spirit, Hatsune thought ‘This is the difference between Sengoku-san and Juumonji-san, huh’.
“I’m a beginner so I think my chances of winning are slim at the moment... but even if I lose, I will use it to get stronger.”
Though the words ‘fighting spirit’ can be misleading, Hatsune thinks that will to win and improve are important qualities in a competitor.
Hiyori has both of them.
Unfortunately, Alisa has a definite lack of will to win, and because she doesn’t have those feelings, as an observer, her desire to improve also feels unsatisfactory.
Her obsession is not being transmitted to others, it should be fine to say it like that?
(...Well, that kind of girl is more popular with the boys.)
With good looks and personality, Alisa is loaded with factors popular with the boys. She’s not an otherworldly beauty, but at this level not being exceedingly beautiful is a plus. Hatsune unintentionally thought about such unnecessary things.
“I understand how you feel. However, Sengoku-san, you’ll be disappointed to know we can’t decide the opponents in advance. We can only decide the order.”
“Is that so...”
“Instead of that, you’ll swap your doubles match with me. I think it’s highly likely that Hiiro-san will appear in the last match.”
“...Is that okay?”
These last two weeks, Hiyori has been practicing doubles, assuming that she would play doubles today. It is not just Hiyori who is affected by a change right before the match. It will also be troublesome for the senior who practiced with her as her partner.
Despite that, Hiyori didn’t decline immediately, as she had that strong of a desire to compete against Hiiro Hiromi — a strong opponent.
“Yeah. I’m used to doubles too.”
“Thank you very much.”
Hiyori looked happy and she energetically bowed to Hatsune.
Hiyori appeared a little dazzling to Alisa.
And as Alisa had her dazzled eyes — envious eyes focused on Hiyori, Marika, who was listening in silence to their conversation, looked a little worried.
“Look, I don’t think you need to mind it.”
Alisa was getting changed in a changing room she borrowed when Marika addressed her in a cheerful, somewhat fake tone. “Mind what?”
Alisa wasn’t playing dumb. Nevertheless, her expression lacks color. Alisa surely isn’t aware of it herself.
“About earlier. Every person has their own personality, and I don’t think that passion is necessarily good.”
“...Aah, that.”
Alisa understood what Marika was talking about and shook her head lightly.
“Whether it’s good or not, I don’t think about it like that either. It’s just, I really don’t have that kind of passion.”
“That’s why it’s fine for you to not be like that.”
“Yeah. Maybe it’s impossible for me. That’s probably why I’m so jealous of it. She looks really cool when she’s giving it her best.”
“Asha, you’re giving it your best too. You just have a different way to express it.”
“I wonder if that’s true?”
“It is!”
Marika became worked up and insisted on it, to which Alisa said “Thank you” with a smile.
◇ ◇ ◇
The player lists were exchanged and the opponents were finally decided.
The matches will be played in the order of singles, singles, doubles, doubles, singles. Alisa is in the second singles match, and Hiyori, who was originally due to play in the fourth match, in doubles, was changed to the last round of singles. — And Hatsune, who exchanged with Hiyori, was originally set to play in the first and last singles matches because of the number of people.
And the topic of many discussions, Third High’s Hiiro Hiromi, will appear in the court on the second round of singles.
“...I didn’t expect this.”
Hatsune sounded restless, probably because it really was unexpected.
Hiyori had a frustrated look on her face.
And Alisa was lost for words.
Hatsune walked up to Alisa.
“Uuh, we can’t change the match you’re playing in anymore.”
And she put her hand on Alisa’s shoulder.
“This is a practice match. Don’t think about it too much, it’ll be fine if you just do your best.”
“President... Yes, I’ll give it my all.”
Alisa returned a stiff smile in response to Hatsune’s encouragement.
Neither Hatsune nor Alisa talked about winning.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Juumonji, that Juumonji?”
On the Third High’s side, what was gathering all the attention was Alisa’s name on the list.
“But was there a girl named Alisa-san in the Juumonji Family?”
Alisa’s opponent Hiromi looked back at Akane with a confused expression. Akane came to the Magic University to participate in the Magic Arts Club practice, but there is a little time before it’s scheduled to start so she came to support Hiromi. Hiromi asked Akane about it, since as a member of the Ten Master Clans, Akane might know about the Juumonji Family’s state of affairs, Hiromi thought.
”Aah, she was taken in two years ago.”
Sure enough, Akane knew about Alisa’s existence and her circumstances.
But that wasn’t because she was a member of the Ten Master Clans.
When Tatsuki enrolled at Third High School, the Juumonji Family was able to bow their heads to the Ichijou Family, saying ‘If anything happens, we want you to help Tatsuki’. At that time, they also told them about Alisa. It wasn’t a question from the Ichijou Family, the Juumonji Family explained it before they asked.
“So she’s adopted?”
“No comment. Family circumstances are private.”
Akane shook her head.
“Yes, of course.”
Hiromi quickly gave up. She’s not quite as strait-laced as her wording implies, but she is reasonable. Plus, even a guess is fine. With just ‘no comment’, she understood it was a situation that shouldn’t be asked about just out of curiosity.
“I’ll tell you just one thing. This is just a maybe, but I think Juumonji-san has magic abilities matching her name.”
“Is that so?”
With those words, Hiromi realized the essence of the situation. Juumonji Alisa is a blood descendent of the Juumonji Family. Despite that, she was suddenly taken in two years ago, which means she is an illegitimate child of the current, no, the former Head of the Juumonji Family.
But that’s not what’s important here.
“I’ll be careful, just in case. Still, under the current rules, Crowd Ball can’t be won with just magic.”
This is a good chance to prove that, Hiromi thought... Perhaps she has some kind of complex towards the Ten Master Clans.
“I will win. Absolutely.”
◇ ◇ ◇
The competition has begun.
Third High’s Crowd Ball Club is also having troubles with the reduction of club members like First High, having only seven members in total. What is different from First High is the number of members per academic year. They have three third-years, one second-year and three first-years. Next year, when the third-years graduate, there might be more doubts about the club’s survival than its First High counterpart.
In the first match, Third High brought forward their only second-year.
The first player from First High, Hatsune, is also a second-year student, so it’s a confrontation between people of the same grade. Their abilities were evenly matched.
The match was heated from the start. The first set was taken by Third High, the second by First High, and the final set was in a stalemate.
Stamina has a big influence in who wins and loses in Crowd Ball. Because of that, taking the first set is considered an advantage. Hatsune lost the first set and appeared to struggle more in the final set as well. But still, the point difference wasn’t widening. They’re constantly swapping in point advantage.
The court’s lights turned off. The end of the match is not indicated by a buzzer or a whistle, but by the faint light on the surface of the court disappearing.
The point difference was 5 points.
The winner was Hatsune.
At this victory from a disadvantage, First High’s benches — not idiomatic benches, literal benches — erupted in joy.
While celebrating Hatsune’s victory with everyone, Alisa’s heart strangely calmed down.
By nature, she doesn’t have a desire to win. No, it’s not that it’s completely inexistent, she does feel a little happy when she wins, but when she thinks of having to compete with others in the process, she becomes depressed.
On top of that, she just heard from Hatsune that her next opponent is a powerhouse, so she doesn’t feel she can win at all.
All that said, it’s not like she’s pretending to be happy about Hatsune’s win. Those feelings of happiness for Hatsune’s victory are genuine.
But — she felt like there was something caught up in between those feelings of hers.
A scenery she’s looking at through a lens.
Or maybe a live broadcast projected on a display.
A feeling of alienation where she views herself objectively like an unrelated person.
(...I should go into the court soon.)
She didn’t realize it was an escape from the pressure of having to play the match.
◇ ◇ ◇
With a defeat in the first match, Hiromi fighting spirit was burning up even stronger. She justified that by connecting the reason for those feelings of ‘I can’t lose’ that she wasn’t clearly aware of with the love for her school.
“Hiiro-san, you don’t have to strain yourself too much, okay? You shouldn’t lose if you play normally, but even in the one in a millionth chance if you don’t win, it’s not an official match.”
To her Club President’s words trying to get her to relax, Hiromi shook her head with a serious expression.
“No. Even if it’s not an official match, it’s a competition against our rivals, First High. A losing streak is out of the question. First, I’ll make it to even in the next match.”
To have a match appropriate for a competition against a rival school.
That is an incentive everyone who heard it would agree with, and even Hiromi herself did not doubt that was the reason she was so excited.
“Now then, President. I’m going to win.”
Hiromi expressed her will and headed to the court.
◇ ◇ ◇
Alisa entered the court.
Slightly slower than her, Hiromi stood on the other side of the net.
They both held their rackets and assumed a stance with their hips slightly lowered at the same time.
If she faces Hiromi in this position, she will for sure be overpowered. — Alisa believed this, but her prediction was off the mark.
(I’m no good. To think I would be this unmotivated.)
She scolded herself for not having any fighting spirit.
(I’m responsible for this match...)
She averted her eyes from those feelings telling her that she can’t win and put a lid over them.
(So I’ll do my best.)
Even still, she doesn’t think ‘I’ll win’. She can’t say it, even if it’s just to herself.
It was in such half-hearted mental state that Alisa began her match.
The 3 minutes of the first set passed in a blink of the eye.
— I couldn’t even do a thing.
— What could I have done, what was I doing, I don’t understand.
— I don’t understand why, all I got out of that is fatigue.
Those were Alisa’s feelings.
The interval between sets is 1 minute.
Alisa returned to the benches but did not sit down, instead she put her hands on her knees and adjusted her breathing.
“...Asha, are you okay? Do you think you can continue?”
Marika looked worried as she stared at Alisa’s face, which was facing down to her upper body.
“Juumonji-san, it’s fine if you withdraw, okay...?”
Hatsune anxiously called out to her from the side.
Alisa raised her body after those words. She turned to Hatsune with a strong look on her face.
“No... I’ll do it. Please let me continue.”
A strong look, like she was a different person from just before the match started.
“Okay.”
Judging from what she could see, Alisa’s stamina hasn’t recovered much at all. But Hatsune didn’t tell her ‘You can’t!’ nor ‘That’s too reckless!’.
A signal turned on, urging her to return to the court.
“No matter how fast your opponent moves, the balls don’t disappear.”
Hatsune sent a word of advice to Alisa’s back as she walked away.
Hiromi was already on her stance inside the court.
Alisa gave her a small blow and apologized for being late, and then assumed the same stance.
And within her mind, she pondered what Hatsune said.
(Before, Hiiro-san was playing me like a fiddle with her speed...)
She recalled the first set and thought to herself.
In the second and third sets, the serves are received by the side who won the previous set. A ball gently sent in from the shooter using compressed air was hit back towards the ceiling.
Hiromi suddenly appeared at the spot where that ball was falling after bouncing off the ceiling and the back wall.
She understands that in theory Self-Acceleration Magic allows Hiromi to move faster than she can perceive. But even if the magic accelerates body movement, common sense dictates that Hiromi’s senses shouldn’t be able to keep up.
Acceleration beyond the speed of your perception is similar to running around in the darkness and letting your fear go. Even if an obstacle is getting closer, you will crash and self-destruct before that information reaches the brain.
Nevertheless, Hiromi moves like she can see her surroundings at such high speed that perception shouldn’t be able to follow. In the first set, Alisa was toyed with by this speed that defined even magic common sense.
(But it’s not like the balls she returns will move faster than I can perceive.)
Hiromi doesn’t use much magic to manipulate the ball directly to send it back. She also likes chasing the balls with her abnormal speed and hitting them back with the racket.
She runs to the point where the ball her opponent hit will fall and sends it back from there. If you know the trajectory of the ball you hit, the opponent’s movement won’t confuse you. That is what Alisa understood from Hatsune’s advice.
(I’m just chasing the balls. Only the balls.)
Right after the set started, Alisa’s senses were scattered, loose, spread widely. She doesn’t need any detailed information. She doesn’t need to prepare for needles as thin as hair or colorless gas. She just has to follow nine balls with a large diameter.
(I can’t match her speed, but...)
Alisa doesn’t know what kind of technique Hiromi is using to surpass her perception speed limits.
(But, in perception range, I have her beat!)
The Juumonji Family’s magic is a shield that can stop every attack. To be able to sense and respond to attacks launched from any place at any time, a wide range of perceptual ability is necessary.
But the Juumonji Family doesn’t have perception talents like remote viewing and future sight. They supplement the lack of these talents with techniques. They expanded their perception radar, which is like a passive radar, to the information dimension, and from there polished their techniques to sense ‘changes’ that are signs of attacks.
When an object or phenomenon changes, that information is recorded in the ‘world’. Reading that information is an ability common to all magicians, even if there are individual differences in precision, range, and depth. The magicians of the Juumonji Family have polished this ability. The active perception ability to ‘probe’ for specific phenomena was discarded in favor of an ability to passively locate ‘changes’ in a wide range and ‘detect’ attacks.
Before she was aware of it, Hiromi’s figure disappeared from Alisa’s ‘field of view’, and only nine balls bouncing around in a 6m x 10m x 4m space were projected on it.
One minute has already passed since the start of the second set. So far there is practically no difference in the scores.
(It’s like a completely different person from the first set...)
Hiromi was surprised by how the match has progressed.
Winning the first set doesn’t mean you conserve stamina in the second.
She came into this set seeking to decide the match at once.
But the score isn’t widening. In some moments she even allows it to be reversed.
(I thought this would be an easy victory, but it looks like it won’t go that way.)
(As expected from the Ten Master Clans’ Juumonji Family... but!)
(That being the case, I really can’t lose!)
Why ‘really’? The reason for that did not pass through Hiromi’s thoughts.
Hiromi shifted up a gear and the point difference started to slowly widen.
Six balls rained down on Alisa’s court at the same time. Normal magic can’t handle all of them.
Hiromi used the ball’s pace and bounced them on the walls and ceiling on her own side to match the timing of their return. Hiromi took the lead not by using only her speed, but also by having a good grasp of techniques unique to Crowd Ball.
Crowd Ball has various restrictions concerning the use of magic. For example, restrictions on shield size. Another example is that magic that directly manipulates the ball’s trajectory is prohibited. Outside of those, there is a ban on magic whose effect on the ball has a long duration, on successively interfering with the same ball, interfering with the court’s facilities, and so on.
It is also a violation of the rules to use magic on balls that are past the net. Players can’t reach out to balls on the opponent’s court. So, by alternatingly hitting balls to the walls on your own side, you can match the timing to return them to the opponent.
Of course, it’s easier said than done. But Hiromi has mastered this high-level technique to a very high level.
Currently, Alisa is completely relying on her magical perception by way of information dimension to recognize the balls. No matter how many balls are returned at the same time, she knows where all of them are. She just doesn’t have enough hands. Then, to overturn this situation, she should increase the number of hands.
As she isn’t following the ball with her physical vision, she has leeway to use her eyes to see other things.
Like a clock.
There are 90 seconds left in the second set.
(...Still too early.)
The rate at which the points difference is increasing is accelerating. Still 70 seconds left.
(Just a little more.)
That magic is more mentally taxing than Phalanx. It exhausts the powers of the consciousness, such as concentration, cognition, and judgement, more violently than the load on the Magic Calculation Area that exists in the unconscious. Alisa is still not proficient enough to maintain it for long periods of time.
60 seconds left. If the point difference grows any higher, it will be impossible to revert it.
(It’s still a little too soon, but I have to do it!)
Thought-operated CADs use a combination of two devices.
One is a device that electronically records Activation Sequences and outputs the Activation Sequence identified by sensitive switches that receive Psion signals. Many of these devices assume the form of a bracelet (generally, they are called bangles, due to their width).
The other is a single-function device for activating a Non-Systematic-Type Magic that generates a Psion signal that corresponds to the sensitive switch and transmits it to the other CAD. It is popular for these to have the form of pendants.
Alisa used this pair of CADs to activate the multi-spot shield generation magic, a variant of the defensive Phalanx, ‘Pelta’.
Since she increased the acceleration level, her lead has widened. But as she couldn’t push forward as much as she expected, Hiromi became anxious about the progress of the match.
The magicians the First Research Institute tried to develop are magicians who can interfere with living organisms. More specifically, combat magicians who use magic to inflict direct damage on enemy soldiers.
The products, the Ichijou Family, the Ichinokura Family and the Isshiki Family are each of them good at a different kinds of ‘magic that interfere with living organisms’.
The Ichijou Family’s specialty magic is interference with body fluids.
The Ichinokura Family’s specialty magic is interference with body temperature.
And the magic the Isshiki Family’s is specialized in is interference with the electricity in living organisms. Hiromi’s speed is due to the Isshiki Family’s magic that interferes with the action potential involved in nerve cells.
The five human senses are perceived when the action potentials generated by the sensory organs as they receive their corresponding stimuli are transmitted to the central nervous system, primarily the brain, through the sensory nerves. From the point of view of the field of magic, there is one more step where perception is established by transmitting the information from the brain to the mind.
However, Isshiki Family’s magic creates a shortcut in the process, transmitting the electrical signals produced by the sensory organs directly to the brain. This created perception speeds capable of handling magical acceleration.
In addition, concerning movement, a shortcut is made to bypass the motor nerves in the central nervous system that transmit orders from the brain to the muscle cells, so movement of limbs and body happens at the same time as the decision to move. This eliminates the sub-second time lag from decision to action, normally inescapable for humans, allowing people to start moving one beat faster than other people.
The Isshiki Family calls this neurotransmission process shortcutting magic ‘Lightning’. This name is also camouflage. The true nature of Isshiki Family’s magic was not ‘speed’ through the addition of lightning, but ‘quickness’ that puts them ahead of their opponent.
In fact, her opponent Juumonji Alisa has been unable to handle her quickness. She can’t even tell that it’s not speed, but quickness. — Hiromi felt it was that way. That’s why she couldn’t make sense of why the point difference wasn’t expanding in the second set.
But Hiromi was finally starting to understand. Alisa is not responding to her quickness, nor is she even seeing Hiromi. It doesn’t feel like she is even looking at the balls with her eyes.
Unlike herself, who is strengthening her physical perception abilities with magic, Juumonji Alisa must have grasped the movements of the balls directly with some kind of magic of her own, Hiromi thought.
(In that case, I just have to make an attack you can’t return even if you understand it!)
Hiromi used her sped up vision to quickly grasp the position of all the balls. Then, using her own walls and ceiling, she hit eight balls to the opponent’s court at the same time.
This is not a number that can be handled by the racket. And if you try to return them with magic, there is a high probability of committing a foul by exceeding shield size. Her returns would also probably be inadequate.
Hiromi believed this would push her opponent back.
(Eh?)
So when all the balls were bounced back to her court, Hiromi couldn’t react right away.
The eight balls from Hiromi’s saturation attack and one hit by Alisa normally. An attack with nine balls at the same time overran Hiromi’s court.
In Crowd Ball, a ball that falls on your court is not just one point. You concede as many points as the number of times the ball fell on the court. In this one play, Hiromi lost ten points. No, she somehow stopped it at 10 points.
But once the flow of the match is stolen, it’s difficult to take it back. Especially when the result is suddenly overturned at a critical point in the match, it’s impossible to not lose your composure. Even assuming there was no mental aspect, Hiromi couldn’t even begin to understand Alisa’s barrier magic counterattack, where suddenly eight shields were built at the same time and deployed in parallel with pinpoint precision on the ball’s trajectory.
Right before the end of the second set, Alisa felt the limits from continuous deployment of ‘Pelta’. Alisa wasn’t looking at the clock at that time, but her intuition told her there was still 10 seconds or more left in the second set.
And she wasn’t mistaken. The time elapsed at that point was 2 minutes and 48 seconds. There were 12 seconds remaining. And Alisa has a 17-point lead. In Crowd Ball, it is fully possible to reverse a lead like this in the remaining time.
However, Alisa didn’t strain herself and cancelled ‘Pelta’. As soon as she sensed the limits, she didn’t hesitate for a moment. She didn’t guess Hiromi was out of energy. She’s just got her priorities straight.
Naturally she didn’t cut corners on the match. She wasn’t using ‘Pelta’ anymore, but the normal shield magic was in full operation and she was running all over the court.
The three minutes of the second set were over. There was no point reversal and Alisa took the set with a point lead of 19 points, which meant it had increased slightly.
Right after the end of the second set, Hiromi didn’t move for a while.
“— Hiiro-san, what’s wrong!?”
A Third High third year student anxiously called out to her after she stood still for over 10 seconds.
Breaks are only 1 minute long. Crowd Ball, unlike tennis, is a sport that has a short length of time, but because during that short time the players move around intensively, they sweat a lot. Especially Hiromi, whose style is to run around the court. She should drink enough water to moisten her mouth. If she doesn’t drink water, she should at least wipe off the sweat.
After hearing the third-year’s voice, the solidified Hiromi regained her expression. She immediately left the court and headed to Third High’s benches. Hiromi didn’t sit down and didn’t pick up a bottle to drink either, she just wiped the sweat with a large towel.
“Hiromi, are you okay?”
It was Akane, an outsider, who asked her, sounding unconcerned.
“Yes, I’m okay. That magic surprised me, but I already see an opportunity.”
“Alright. Then I guess I don’t need to say anything.”
“Yes. I think you and I are thinking about the same thing.”
Hiromi’s voice indicated she wasn’t bluffing.
Akane left with a satisfied expression.
“Asha, good job! That was a great comeback.”
Over at First High’s benches, Marika greeted Alisa with a big smile.
“You’re saying that too soon. That was only the second set.”
Alisa’s breath was rough when she responded. She put a big towel on her face and wiped the sweat that was just about to fall with her slightly rough handwork.
“Juumonji-san, are you feeling okay? Does your head hurt?”
Hatsune asked Alisa, who put down the towel and took a sip of a drink, her voice full of concern.
“I’m fine.”
While that’s true, she didn’t misrepresent the situation.
“I stopped the parallel shield magic to make sure I didn’t overdo it. That wasn’t my real limit.”
“That’s fine then.”
Hatsune appeared convinced for now.
“Asha, are you really okay?”
On the other hand, when Marika heard Alisa’s answer, she looked like she couldn’t be as relieved as Hatsune.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I have to go now.”
Alisa headed to the court to prevent further questions.
(I said that to Mina, but...)
She certainly wasn’t suffering from serious symptoms like terrible headaches. But since a while back, Alisa has been feeling a thin haze in her consciousness.
This is a sign that the Magic Calculation Area is fatigued.
Because of the Juumonji Family’s special innate characteristics that makes them have a tendency to overheating the Magic Calculation Area, they teach the various symptoms cause by its exhaustion at home.
So Alisa understood that she was walking into a dangerous situation. Like usual, the thought that she should abandon the third set also crossed her mind.
But she still chose to continue the match.
(I’m still okay.)
One of the reasons is that this isn’t the first time she’s experienced this condition. Like intense exercise makes it difficult to breathe, exhausting the Magic Calculation Area by using high level magic is a natural phenomenon. If you stop running right when you run out of breath, no matter how much time passes, you will never have the cardiopulmonary system to finish a marathon. Magic power — Mental power is the same, it won’t improve if you always avoid putting a heavy load on it.
...That’s what she learned from the Juumoji Family. It is, so to speak, parroting what they said. Wanting to train her magic powers was not the reason why Alisa chose to not withdraw from the match.
However, even if she were to be asked ‘then why?’, she would be unable to answer.
She was not aware of why she was continuing the match herself.
The third set began.
Hiromi’s play style did not change. She lost the second set, but she didn’t feel the need to make countermoves.
(That magic really is a nuisance.)
A nuisance.
But not a threat. Nor does it bring about the fear of defeat.
(Even if she takes a temporary lead, that won’t decide the outcome of the match.)
That magic that deploys several shields in parallel in an instant and bounces all the balls back. While she is using that, it is difficult for Hiromi to score points. But she can keep the number of points she concedes low.
She gave away a lot of points in the second set, but, frankly, she was totally confused by the unexpected magic and couldn’t deal with it properly. She doesn’t want to admit it, but she was panicking at that time. Immediately following the end of the second set, in the short time when her teammates were stunned, Hiromi completed that self-analysis.
The defensive power of that magic that bounces all balls back without violating the shield size restrictions is truly impressive. It will be hard to surpass that and score.
But the balls just come back. They don’t change course, nor does their speed change. If she plays like she intends to just hit against a wall, even if she concedes points, it won’t be a lot of them.
(Also, it looks like she has a limit in how long she can use it.)
Even if you don’t concede many points, you can’t win the set if you don’t score. If she could continuously use that magic for 3 minutes, Hiromi wouldn’t be able to do a thing. However, her opponent, Juumonji Alisa, only used that magic in the second half of the second set, and furthermore she released the parallel shield magic just before it ended.
This fact indicates that she doesn’t have the power to continuously maintain that magic through the whole set. Is it a magic that, by nature, is supposed to only be used for a short time, or is it that she’s inexperienced?
Whichever way it is, it doesn’t matter to Hiromi. The important thing is that she is guaranteed to have a gap to take the advantage during the match. If she controls the number of lost points while that magic is being used, she will win through her other abilities. Hiromi felt that was the case from the first and second sets.
(In the end, I’ll be fine if I just play how I usually do.)
There is no need for cheap tricks. Crowd Ball has always been a sport where it’s more important to reliably return the balls without making mistakes than to outwit your opponent by taking advantage of their mistakes. She just has to calmly pick them up repeatedly with her unrivalled speed, just like she’s doing now.
(I will be taking this win, Juumonji-san.)
Hiromi strongly declared in her mind, as she hit back a series of airborne balls that flew in within a short period of time.
(I knew it, I’m no match for her when I play normally.)
As the point difference between the two slowly grew apart, Alisa was fully feeling the difference in ability to her opponent, Hiiro Hiromi.
She doesn’t feel completely out of her depth. It’s not the same feeling of not knowing what she’s doing like in the first set. She’s returning balls and scoring points. But despite this, her opponent’s lead is increasing.
(A difference in experience... I’m sure that’s not just it.)
Of course, the difference in their careers has to be a big reason. But Alisa felt like it wasn’t the only reason.
This opponent has something she doesn’t know about.
Or maybe she does.
And it has become an insurmountable wall, standing right in front of Alisa.
(It’s still too early, but I have to use it.)
She decided early to use what, rather than being a trump card, is really her only weapon.
(Call 04, enter.)
In completely thought-operated CADs, the device to transmit the Psion signal using Non-Systematic-Type Magic is operated with one’s thoughts.
This device is constantly in standby mode, becoming active only when Psions are poured in.
And then, like normal for a CAD, with the process of inputting variables as images, the number of the Activation Sequence stored in the device it is paired with is specified through the image.
The format is not fixed, and there is no issue with using normal conversation styles like ‘specify number 4’. Alisa uses English over Japanese or Russian simply because a lot of magic terminology is derived from English.
The number allocation for the Activation Sequences can also be arranged freely by the magician. Some magicians assign them by groups, others do it by order of frequency of use.
In Alisa’s case, she orders them by frequency of use during practice at the Juumonji Family house. 01 is a single-layer shield magic, 02 is ‘Defensive Phalanx’, 03 is ‘Offensive Phalanx’. And 04 is ‘Pelta’.
Magic shields in standby mode are stocked inside Alisa. When the coordinates are specified they will deploy immediately. Modern magic normally specifies the target when the Magic Sequence is constructed. Shield magic changes the properties of space. The targets to specify are the coordinates. ‘Pelta’, which has the specification of the targets of phenomenon modification after the Magic Sequence is constructed, can be said to be a fairly special modern magic.
Alisa activated ‘Pelta’ and quickly stepped back and stopped at the back of the court, or using tennis terms, just in front of the center of the baseline. In Crowd Ball, this is considered to be the best position when playing only with magic.
In the second set she only used her magic senses to perceive the trajectory of the balls, but now she was using both her magic senses and her eyes.
The magic shields that were given vector reversal properties were placed on the trajectory of the balls that crossed over the net. The shields disappear right after balls bounce off them, as their termination condition was defined to be that.
At the same time, standby shields were placed inside Alisa. The shield stock is automatically restored in this way because the ‘Phalanx’ system was reused. This is what makes ‘Pelta’ a ‘subspecies of Phalanx’.
(...The pace has slowed down?)
By using ‘Pelta’, her trump card, she stopped conceding points. The opponent’s attacks were completely shut out.
But unlike the second set, she is also not scoring. The balls being hit back are clearly lacking momentum.
(She’s assuming that the vector reversal shield will catch the balls and she’s hitting the balls weakly on purpose so they are easier to deal with when they are returned...?)
Vector reversal is magic that instantly reverts the movement direction of an object. It establishes a magic forcefield, that is, a magic shield, in a space, and when an object touches it, it gives an instantaneous propulsive power in the opposite direction with the speed it had when it made contact.
There is a variation that gives and amplifies the kinetic energy, but Alisa didn’t add this energy amplification feature this time. In the case of the normal phenomenon of ‘energy amplification’, strictly speaking, it is an increase in energy. Energy is brought from elsewhere in advance, converted into the energy you want to amplify and then added in. The total amount of energy is unchanged. Contrary to this, ‘energy amplification’ by means of magic literally means increasing energy without sacrificing other energy beforehand.
There are several factors that determine the amount of stress given to a magician by a magic, but in general, the greater the divergence from the desired phenomenon and the initial state, the greater the burden is on the magician. Put in another way, the greater the burden is on the Magic Calculation Area.
Increase rn decrease in amount of energy is a factor that has an especially big effect. It is said that the smaller the deviation between the total amount of energy before and after the phenomenon modification, the smaller the burden on the magician. In other words, it isn’t just the increase in total amount of energy, the decrease in energy also increases the load on the Magic Calculation Area.
Alisa uses a simple vector reversal to keep the exhaustion of the Magic Calculation Area in check and to extend the duration of ‘Pelta’
(But if it doesn’t lead to a good result, there’s no point in doing it...)
Hiiro Hiromi deliberately lowered the speed of the balls to make it easier to pick up balls bounced back with vector reversal. At the same time, this slows down the pace of the rally, leading to reduced opportunities to score for both sides.
(Hiiro-san has probably seen through me. She knows I can’t keep using ‘Pelta’ until the end.)
And when she can’t use ‘Pelta’ anymore, Hiromi’s planning to immediately jump to the offensive. Alisa thought so.
(No matter which I choose, I can’t take the lead.)
Alisa realized her tactical mistake. Her opponent has the upper hand. She should have used ‘Pelta’ from the start, without thinking about getting tired in the middle.
(Regretting now won’t change anything!)
It is no use crying over spilled milk. Yes, the match isn’t over yet. Regretting tactical mistakes during the match doesn’t help one bit, but there are things she can do during the match.
So that she would end with no regrets, Alisa decided to try doing everything she can.
The play Alisa suddenly came out with caught Hiromi by surprise.
Alisa, while running, strongly hit a ball that Hiromi slowly sent back. Hiromi was too slow to react and managed to catch it after one bounce and kept the points conceded to a minimum.
And in the meantime, quick balls were being hit into Hiromi’s court, and she successively conceded points one after another.
Hiromi hit back the balls using magic and her racket. The weak balls bounced back midair, but the faster ones fell on her opponent’s court.
(Did she cancel the parallel shield magic?)
It was faster than Hiromi expected. Was the fatigue from the previous set still there?
(But the plan stays the same. That magic is cancelled, so I will just attack!)
Hiromi shifted up a gear, like she was venting her anger from being forced to slow her pace down.
Alisa reduced the point difference due to her surprise attack, but before she could catch up, the points began drifting apart again.
Even if she runs, extends her arms, or uses her magic with all she has, she will still concede more than she will score.
(Once again... No, that’s no good. The same thing will just happen again.)
She has enough energy to use ‘Pelta’ again. Alisa had the feeling she could maintain ‘Pelta’, probably until the same time as the second set, specifically, until about 10 seconds before the match ends.
But overturning the current point difference would probably be impossible. Her opponent can just do the same she was doing before.
(If I can’t catch up anyway, then...)
Alisa mentally crossed out reusing ‘Pelta’ as an option.
As Hiromi’s lead steadily increased, she was feeling displeased with the way the match progressed.
(I wonder why Juumonji-san isn’t using that magic? Even though she shouldn’t be at her limit yet...)
Hiromi thought Alisa should know she wouldn’t be able to fight on par with Hiromi without using that parallel shield magic.
Is she not trying to use it, despite having energy left, because she doesn’t want to try winning...?
(Then you should just withdraw immediately!)
In Hiromi’s mind, her dissatisfaction turned into irritation.
(If this is how it’s going to be, I will completely crush you!)
And she turned that irritation into a violent will to fight.
Alisa couldn’t respond to Hiromi’s increasingly fierce attacks. The rate at which the point difference is increasing is going up. At last, Alisa stopped moving in the middle of the court.
Third High’s benches were full of smiles, while First High’s was covered in resignation.
However, when less than 1 minute remained, the flow of the match changed. Surprisingly for First High’s side, Alisa began making a comeback.
Alisa, her feet still unmoving, returned balls only using magic.
It wasn’t ‘Pelta’. It wasn’t a magic shield installed in a space, she’s actively invoking Acceleration-Type Magic on each of the balls to launch them towards the opponent’s court.
This magic is ‘Reverse Accel’. This magic gives an object acceleration in roughly the opposite direction of its movement direction. Instead of reversing the vector accurately, the movement direction can be arbitrarily determined by the magician within a range perceived to be ‘the opposite direction’. The acceleration can also be freely changed.
Because they can be arbitrarily defined, there are more things for the magician to decide, which at first glance seems like it would increase the burden on the magician. But the Magic Sequence itself is simpler than vector reversal, which must modify each object according to its angle and acceleration.
If the same values for direction and acceleration are used, it can be semi-automated with Loop Cast so that it is not necessary to decide on the values for each ball. Applying the same values for direction and acceleration means that the same balls will be returned to the opponent, just with a different position. For Hiromi, the difficult of returning the ball would decrease.
However, the Magic Sequence is simple and no decisions are required, so the magic can be activated quickly. Also, by choosing to only react with magic, thinking whether to hit with the racket or magic is no longer needed. As a result, Alisa was once again able to return the balls at a speed not inferior to Hiromi. Sometimes she even surpassed Hiromi.
It was a high-speed, hectic exchange.
If Hiromi adjusted the pace like in her strategy against ‘Pelta’, she might have abused the flaw in Alisa’s ‘only return the same kind of balls’ strategy.
But Hiromi got worked up and responded with a high-pace rally. The result was that, unlike what happened until then, Alisa was scoring more points than she conceded and gradually closed the difference in points.
The First High and Third High benches fell completely silent. Rather than cheering, they watched over the two players while holding their breaths.
First High’s benches, in their hearts, were yelling ‘Just a little more’,
Third High’s benches hoped for it to ‘End already’.
The lights on the court’s surface went out.
The set was over.
The score difference is one digit. By a narrow margin of 7 points, Hiromi took the set and the match ended with her victory.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Asha, that was so close!”
After shaking hands with Hiromi and returning, the first to greet Alisa was Marika, who was cheering with the uniformed members of the club on her school uniform.
“No, it was a complete defeat. The difference in our abilities was more than the score suggests.”
Alisa looked tired, but there was not much frustration on her face.
Instead, there is an impression that she played to the end. Or maybe the impression that she did her best. Alisa had an expression that said she did everything in her power, regardless of whether she achieved something.
“Juumonji-san, good work out there.”
Hatsune gave her some words of appreciation. There were no further words, not to criticize nor to console her for her defeat.
“...I apologize, President.”
The one to reference the defeat was Alisa.
“As expected, I ended up losing.”
To this remark lacking in fighting spirit, Hatsune just replied “It’s okay”.
“More importantly, Juumonji-san, do you want to take a shower?”
“No, please let me cheer for you right here.”
“Alright, but don’t push yourself.”
Hatsune said, and Alisa, who was still standing, sat down on the bench.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Congratulations, Hiromi.”
On the other benches, Akane was the first to talk to Hiromi.
“Thank you very much.”
As she responded, the smile on Hiromi’s face didn’t don’t very happy at all.
“I wondered if it was going to be an easy win when the first set ended. Though it didn’t go as one-sidedly as I expected, huh?”
“...”
“Are you perchance frustrated that it was a close game?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.”
Hiromi indifferently answered Akane’s unreserved question.
Her Third High teammates felt anxious watching these two.
“But you didn’t expect it, right?”
“Right. It is as you said before the match, Akane-san, I suppose she really is a Juumonji Family member.”
“...If you feel like she was cutting corners, I think it’s something different.”
Hiromi’s eyelashes twitched.
“Rather than not being used to Crowd Ball, it felt she didn’t have experience with matches.”
“...It certainly felt like she couldn’t read the flow of the match.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t know where to put in effort, or when she should try harder.”
Hiromi didn’t agree nor disagree with Akane’s conjecture.
“...I’m very sorry. May I go take a shower?”
That line was directed to the third-year Club President.
Hiromi announced “I’ll be back soon” to the awkwardly nodding Club President and headed towards the shower booths attached to the nearby changing rooms.
◇ ◇ ◇
Marika turned towards Third High’s benches, an action with no meaning.
Before Alisa’s match started, Marika was worrying about Alisa, who must have been nervous before her first match outside the school, and during the match she focused on it. When Marika understood that Alisa wasn’t very shocked by her defeat after the match ended, Marika finally took a breather. Because of that, it was only now that Marika had time to look around.
Alisa’s opponent, Hiiro, is speaking with a girl in Third High uniform. She must be supporting her, just like Marika is. Unlike First High in the Tokyo area, Third High is not at a distance where they can freely come and cheer, so it could be that there was something she had to do in Tokyo, maybe at the Magic University.
Hiiro had her back turned to Marika, so she couldn’t tell what kind of expression she’s making, but the supporter girl was talking with an indifferent expression. She didn’t seem to be taking the topic that seriously.
Maybe the conversation reached its end, as Hiiro left the benches. She’s heading to the front of the shower booths, so she’s probably going to wash away her sweat.
After that, the supporting female student who was sending Hiromi off suddenly turned her face towards Marika. Did she perceive Marika looking at her?
When their eyes met, Marika felt electricity running through her spine. There was no murder intent nor threat in her eyes. The true form of that hallucination that ran along Marika’s back wasn’t fear nor a sense of caution either.
It was joy.
It was a feeling of expectation.
It’s a premonition that ‘she’s not just an ordinary person’.
She felt that girl was a person who would fight on the same stage as her.
She instinctively felt that girl was a person who would fight with her.
Marika was sure, without any basis, that she and this girl would eventually fight in a Martial Magic Arts ring.
“...Mina, is something wrong? You look a bit scary.”
When Alisa called to her attention, Marika realized she was ecstatic, excited.
“It’s nothing.”
Marika gave Alisa a smile. By making a smile, her growing belligerence subconsciously dispersed.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Akane, is something on your mind?”
A delighted-looking smile suddenly appeared on Akane’s face and Liú Lìlěi asked her why.
“Smiling while thinking about the past is creepy, you know.”
Liú Lìlěi defected from the Great Asian Union to Japan two years ago in July. She met Akane right after that.
These two were quick to hit it off from the start. And over these last two years, they have completely stopped holding back on each other.
“You’re awful! You’re terrible for calling me a creeper, Rei-chan!”
‘Rei-chan’ is the nickname for Liú Lìlěi that only Akane uses. Akane has called Liú Lìlěi that ever since she had just defected.
“I didn’t call you anything of the sort though. From which era is that outdated slang from?”
“It really is old-fashioned, huh? But there’s nothing creepy about it. I wasn’t laughing at my old memories.”
“Then what is it?”
“Hmm, so there is this girl that looks pretty interesting.”
Akane said and then guided Liú Lìlěi’s look with her eyes.
“That supporter student from First High? Do you know her, Akane?”
“I might.”
Akane nodded slightly while looking at the girl at the First High benches.
“I’ve only seen her in photos, but I think she’s ‘Hokkaido’s champion’, Tookami Marika.”
“Champion? Is she a Magic Arts fighter?”
“Yes. So she’s attending First High...”
With the corners of Akane’s mouth raised, her face had ‘I can’t control my excitement’ written on it.
“When we return to Kanazawa, I’ll ask them to set up a bout with First High...”
◇ ◇ ◇
In the third match, Third High’s Club President’s pair won, and the fourth match was won by Hatsune’s pair.
With a score of 2 to 2 until now, the fifth match with Hiyori arrived.
The opponent is a third-year in Third High.
The match became increasingly intense, turning into a close fight for the lead.
“Sengoku-san really is skilled at setting the pace of the match. She has complete control of the game.”
When half of the first set had passed, Hatsune, who was sitting next to Alisa, muttered full of admiration.
Alisa, who was cheering for Hiyori, shifted her attention to Hatsune. Feeling her look, Hatsune began answering her silent questions while still facing the court.
“Sengoku-san chooses the balls so that her points scored are higher than the points she concedes. That ability to make instant decisions is her weapon.”
“So it’s not good enough to just send back the balls that were hit?”
Alisa asked while also keeping her eyes on the match.
“Of course, it would be best if you can return all of them. But if you can’t avoid losing points, you need to make decisions. Which balls to return with the racket and which to return with magic. Which balls to send back directly and how many times to allow the others to bounce. By factoring in the loss of some points, you can be more flexible in your use of magic. With this flexibility, you can use magic more effectively. This is what Sengoku-san is doing.”
“...That’s something I can’t do. My playstyle is just brute force...”
“Up until now, yeah. But what about from now on, Juumonji-san. Starting now, it would be best for you to learn technique. And besides...”
Hatsune intentionally stopped talking and shifted her eyes that were fixed on the court to look at Alisa.
“...Quite often, overwhelming power demolishes technique.”
Hatsune’s remark had a nuance like it was inciting her.
The fifth match was won by Hiyori. It was 2 to 0 in set count. The points were close in both the first and second set, but judging by the end result, it was a straight-sets victory.
She didn’t feel overpowering with her abilities. Maybe this is what Hatsune meant by ‘skilled at setting the pace of the match’, Alisa thought.
With Hiyori’s victory, First High won three matches and Third High won two. The competition reached its end with a First High victory.
At the end, everyone shook hands once again. During that, Hiyori was spoken to by Hiromi.
“That was a good match. I would like to play against you some day.”
Alisa was next to Hiyori. Therefore Alisa could hear those words from Hiromi.
Hiromi didn’t say anything when she shook hands with Alisa. That doesn’t mean she had a particularly unfriendly attitude towards Alisa. This way was more normal. She just did it mechanically, which might not be appropriate word to use, as a formality to wrap up the competition. Alisa also just gave small bows to the people she shook hands with, not saying anything in particular.
That is why Hiyori’s response to Hiromi, “Me too. If the chance presents itself, I’d love to”, got stuck in Alisa’s mind and didn’t disappear.
Alisa did not realize what she was feeling was a form of jealousy.
◇ ◇ ◇
Crowd Ball matches are short. Even matches where all sets are played last only 11 minutes, including the breaks. Counting the preparation time, a full match ends within 15 minutes. Even after spending time doing various things like greeting the other school’s players and changing clothes, it wasn’t noon yet.
Alisa and the rest of the First High team, along with Marika and the other people who accompanied them to the Magic University to support them, went to a nearby restaurant to have lunch together. The Third High students didn’t go with them. They were invited (called?) by a female graduate of Third High who attends the Magic University.
Compared to First High, which is in Tokyo like the Magic University, the other affiliated Magic High Schools tend to have strong ties with their alumni. Maybe it is fitting to call them more caring. The frequency of dinner parties and drinking parties are definitely higher than First High graduates.
Among them, that trend is particularly strong with Third High. Alisa and the rest of the first years don’t know, but when Third High students visit the Magic University, their seniors will always call out to them, so it’s unlikely they had plans for post-competition social gathering from the start.
With lunch over, they left the area. Alisa didn’t go straight home, instead she went to Marika’s apartment. They also made plans to prepare for the practical exams at Mei’s house after the match, but Alisa didn’t have the energy for it.
And from the get-go there is no option in Marika’s mind to have her special training alone or maybe together with Mei. At the start of the month Marika asked Mei ‘If Asha can’t, can I go by myself?’, but whether she would put that into practice or not was a different story.
She’s trying hard to prepare for the exams because she wants to be with Alisa in class, but she wants to spend time with Alisa even more, so doing something separately from Alisa during a precious day off would be, for Marika, getting her priorities backwards.
“You’re not hungry yet, right? Are you good with just something to drink?”
Alisa sat down on a dining chair and Marika asked her from across the table.
“...Rather than that, can you lend me your bath?”
The matches are short, but she got quite dirty from the heavy workout. So Alisa wanted to refresh herself by washing up properly. She used the shower at the Magic University, but because she had limited time she just gave herself a quick wash.
But it seems that no matter how long their relationship was, she was still hesitant to say ‘I want to take a bath’, so the voice in her request was very reserved.
“Of course you can.”
Marika gladly agreed to Alisa’s request. She did so, while thinking ‘I wish you weren’t so reserved about it’. As she saw it, ‘can you lend me’ is a little too formal. Given their relationship, just ‘lend me’ would be sufficient, so she felt mildly displeased.
“Should I fill it with hot water?”
This meddlesome agreement is maybe a reflection of her dissatisfaction. Marika encouraged Alisa to not just take a shower, but also to soak in the bathtub.
“Sure... Please do.”
Alisa didn’t hesitate anymore, maybe because Marika’s feelings that she was being too ‘distant’ were being transmitted to her.
After Alisa carefully washed her body she was relaxing in the bathtub when suddenly the bathroom door opened.
Alisa reflexively let out a little yelp.
“Eheh, sorry for disturbing.”
“Mina... Don’t startle me like that.”
Marika was the one to come in. Though the possibility of being anyone other than her were next to zero, Alisa breathed a sigh of relief when she actually confirmed it with her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Marika picked up the showerhead while apologizing with a light-hearted tone. She washed the sweat and dirt off her body and then dipped her feet in the bathtub. — The micro-nanobubble bathing equipment that started spreading in the beginning of this century has had its efficiency improved to the point where, by the end of the century, body soap is not required unless one is extremely dirty.
So she’s not being negligent by just using the shower and then entering the bathtub. But —.
“...Mina, this is too cramped.”
The bathtub in this apartment is a bit too small for two people. The two of them were side-by-side, soaking in the water, almost, no, completely sticking to each other.
“Is it really?”
But Marika didn’t seem to care at all.
“I like feeling Asha’s warmth like this.”
“The water you’re soaking in is 40 degrees[9], which is more than the temperature of the body, so there will be no warmth or anything. Also, your body temperature is higher than mine, isn’t it?”
Alisa looked dumbfounded at Marika, who was pressing against Alisa’s skin with an ecstatic expression.
Marika wasn’t discouraged by Alisa’s cold attitude.
“Doesn’t it feel good when our bodies are this close?”
“...I don’t like the way you said that, it felt kind of dirty.”
“EEH?”
But when this heartless remark was given to her, Marika let out an exaggerated scream.
“Asha, you’re so cold...”
“I’m getting off now, okay?”
Alisa didn’t listen to Marika’s dramatic lamentations and stood up as she said she would.
Alisa was standing in front of the mirror, having wrapped herself with only a bath towel and picked up a cordless drier to dry her hair. Apartments of higher grade are equipped with automatic hair driers, but in houses without them, the tool called hair drier is still used now at the end of the 21st century. Naturally, the efficiency of the drier has improved immensely.
Within 3 minutes of Alisa starting to use the drier, Marika got out of the bathroom.
“You’re done already? Did you get properly warmed up?”
Alisa kept looking into the mirror and spoke to Marika’s reflection.
“I’ll do that for you.”
What Marika replied from behind her was not an answer to her question.
Marika, who didn’t get her hair wet, took the drier off Alisa’s hands a bit forcibly. Then she brought Alisa out of the changing room.
Alisa was sat down on a dining chair.
Standing behind her was Marika, using the drier on Alisa’s hair.
As of yet, neither of them had put on clothes. The only thing hiding their naked bodies is a bath towel.
“Hey, Asha.”
“Hm, what is it?”
The drier isn’t just better at hair care, it is also quieter. The sounds of the motor and the fan did not drown out their voices.
“Good work today.”
Marika suddenly showed appreciation for Alisa’s efforts. Her voice was very gentle.
“Why are you saying that out of nowhere?”
Alisa wasn’t confused by the words, but by the voice, and she replied back in a deliberately light tone. Though her response was a question that didn’t have any meaning, it was closer to just hiding her embarrassment.
“You aren’t very good at matches, and yet you tried your best to the very end.”
“...Yeah.”
But this time she couldn’t gloss over it.
“I think it’s great that you tried so hard, despite not really caring about winning.”
“Did I really try my best?”
Alisa worriedly asked.
“You really were giving it your all.”
Marika gently, clearly, confirmed it for Alisa.
“I see. I’m glad...”
A weight Alisa was unaware of disappeared from her shoulders.
For Alisa, this was the moment the match finally ended.
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