Vol. 1 Chapter 34 – I Love You

“40-15! Please remain quiet during play.”

After announcing the current score, the umpire looked towards me and issued a warning.

“Who’s that?”
“Dunno, feel like I’ve seen him somewhere though.”
“Wasn’t he that Yama-something guy from Class B?”
“Don’t know. Did someone invite him?”
“Isn’t it messed up if he came on his own?”

The prickly gazes of classmates, some recognizing me, some not, pierced through me.

I screwed up…

So embarrassing, way too embarrassing…

I was bathing in the worst kind of attention in my entire life.

It was a breach of etiquette in the first place, and Hino-san would probably be incredibly mad at me.

Resigning myself to that, I glanced sideways, but she seemed completely oblivious, just staring at the court.

At the end of her gaze was Asahi-san, looking down at her own left foot with a surprised expression.

She stomped her left foot on the ground two, three times, as if confirming something.

Then, uttering just a single word—”Alright!”—she raised her racquet once more and faced her opponent.

Despite still being in an overwhelmingly advantageous situation, perhaps sensing something, the opponent also wore a tense expression.

The toss went up, the serve was unleashed.

A sharp shot that could have been a service ace stabbed into Asahi-san’s side of the court, but—

She easily caught up with her characteristic footwork and, planting her left foot firmly again, countered with a forehand return ace.

“Fo… 40-30!”

Not just the spectators, but even the umpire was surprised by her play, as if she’d suddenly become a different person.

After that, it was simply overwhelming.

Asahi-san, having regained her form, was so overwhelmingly strong it was almost pitiful for her opponent.

Her serves accurately hit the corners, and she mass-produced points with her strokes as well.

Her opponent could barely even touch the shots from the girl dancing dynamically on the court.

The figure I saw back then, the coolest person ever, was right there.

“Game, set, and match won by Asahi!”

In the end, after the first set, the match ended in a landslide victory where she barely allowed any points.

“Thank goodness… Really, thank goodness… I’m so glad for you, Hikaru…” (Ayaka)

Beside me, Hino-san was crying without caring who saw.

“H-Hey, Hino-san! Looks like Asahi-san is coming out, you should go meet her!” (Reiya)

Having shaken hands with her opponent and the umpire and gathered her things, Asahi-san was about to exit the court.

“Yeah… But, wait a sec… Gotta wipe my face…” (Ayaka)

Perhaps unsteady on her feet from extreme relief, I helped escort her out of the spectator seating area.

“Hikaru, congrats!”
“Asahi-san, that was seriously amazing!”
“Maybe you can win the whole thing now?”

Coming off the court, she was surrounded by classmates showering her with words of congratulation.

Naturally, I couldn’t blend into that crowd.

After seeing Hino-san off, I watched the scene from a distance.

Her complete comeback meant that my role was over.

She no longer needed to lean on me for anything.

This was the original distance between us… things had returned to how they should be.

Just this once should be fine, I thought, immersing myself in slightly sentimental feelings—

“Sorry. Let me through.” (Hikaru)

Weaving through her classmates, Asahi-san emerged from the crowd.

I wondered if she was heading to the main office first to report her victory—

Her eyes, scanning around restlessly, met mine.

Immediately after, she started running towards me at full speed.

“Hah… hah… Kageyama-kun…!” (Hikaru)

Reaching my side, she called my name, panting.

“Your voice… I heard your voice… Then somehow, my body just moved on its own…” (Hikaru)
“Ah, yeah… Sorry about that. Shouting during the match…” (Reiya)

She noticed after all, huh… I apologized, feeling awkward.

“No… Because of that, I… I could do it again… I can still love tennis…” (Hikaru)
“W-Well, that’s good then… Congratulations, that was really amazing. You were incredibly cool.” (Reiya)
“And so, during the match… I kept… kept wanting to tell you something…” (Hikaru)

Asahi-san spun her words, panting, her face flushed.

The classmates started murmuring, wondering what we were doing, leaving them behind.

Isn’t it bad if we’re seen like this…?

While I was thinking that, they quickly gathered around us.

“Not ‘thank you’… Not ‘sorry for the trouble’… Uhm… Uhm…” (Hikaru)

Meanwhile, she paid no attention to the presence of those classmates.

Perhaps still high from the excitement of the match, she searched for words, her gaze averted—

“Ah, I love… it.” (Hikaru)

As if realizing something, she uttered those two words.

“Y-You’re welco— Huh? What did you just…?” (Reiya)

Time seemed to stop as I received words I should never have received.

“That’s right! That’s it, isn’t it! Love! I love you!” (Hikaru)

Having put it into words, she repeated it as if confirming it.

“I love you! Love love love! I love you so much! I love Kageyama Reiya-kun!” (Hikaru)

She declared it multiple times in front of everyone, her shining eyes reflecting me.

“Eh? What? What’s going on?”
“Hikaru, did she say… love? About that gloomy type?”
“No way… Must’ve misheard… right?”

The classmates were simply bewildered.

The word ‘love’ uttered by the Asahi Hikaru.

The bewilderment that it was directed at an opponent who should have been impossible swirled around us.

However, please let me say that the one most bewildered was, naturally, me.

“Hikaru! Hurry up and go report!”

From afar, the voice that seemed to be Asahi-san’s mother echoed.

“Okay! …So yeah, I’m gonna start attacking aggressively from now on, so be ready!!” (Hikaru)

Declaring that, Asahi-san turned her back to me and ran off.

I stood dumbfounded, not understanding what had just happened.

The words she uttered were still having a massive brawl battlefield legends toon in my head… but even amidst that, there was just one thing I understood.

Apparently, that Light Attribute boss had an even stronger second form.

Far from falling to my curse, she had absorbed that dark power and become the strongest.

At this moment, the long, true battle between me and the Light Attribute Asahi-san had begun.