Book 7: Chapter 3: February 16th (Tuesday) – Asamura Yuuta
The sounds of balls slamming against the wooden gym hall floor reverberated inside my head. Each time, I could hear the ear-splitting screeches of the students’ shoes as they slid along the ground. And despite this being the 5th period of the day, a voice energetic enough to shatter all the tension set itself apart from these sounds.
“Give it to me!”
A single boy ran towards the basket. At first glance, his body may have seemed dull in movement because he wasn’t slim-built. Still, as if to betray this first impression, the boy wearing glasses dashed as fast as the wind, wearing armor made of muscle as impressive as you’d expect from the catcher of the baseball club despite only being in his second year.
“Maru, carry it home!”
With my shout, Maru accepted the orange ball I threw towards him, swiftly making it past the opponent’s defense, bending his knees to crouch down. However, like a spring that was finally free after being pushed down, his legs stretched out and he jumped high into the air. The ball he held in both hands quickly moved to only his right, as he went for a layup, the ball leaving his hand—
“Like hell I’ll let you do that!”
Right before the ball departed from Maru’s hand, another hand appeared and slammed down against his. Immediately after, a sharp whistling sound filled the air.
“Foul!”
Landing on the ground, Maru made a devilish grin, and the boy who caused the foul could only grit his teeth in anger. With the free throw given to him, Maru secured the victory for us and walked to the outside of the court as he gasped for air.