Vol. 2 Chapter 34 – Wind vs. Fire [Boost End]

The game started again, and the two dropped from the aircraft onto the battlefield.

“Okay, this time let’s play it a bit safer—” (Hikaru)
“I’m concentrating right now, so please be quiet for a bit.” (Ayaka)
“Yes, ma’am.” (Reiya)

Scary…

Doing as I was told, I kept quiet and just watched them play.

After that, as the second and third matches ended—

“One more time!!” (Ayaka)

She would say that, continuing to demand rematches even as the sun began to set.

Seeing Hino Ayaka, the school’s top honor student, like this was surely rarer than a UR in a mobile game.

However, I also worried that this might be an unhealthy type of obsession.

And then, the fifth match.

In a complete turnaround from before, she started showing movements adapted to the game.

Why so suddenly…?

Could it be, she was hiding behind Hikaru all that time just to observe her movements…!?

As if proving that fact, her movements improved further and further—

“Yes!!” (Ayaka)

Finally, albeit with Hikaru’s assist, she scored her first kill.

“Nice one, Ayaka!” (Hikaru)
“Whoa… Amazing! Getting your first kill this quickly… Smart people really do get used to games fast.” (Reiya)

I clapped lightly, offering sincere words of admiration.

“This is nothing special… It’s not like we’ve won yet…” (Ayaka)

She replied curtly, but I could tell even from her profile that she was suppressing a smile.

‘Th-That felt good~~~!!’

Her inner voice seemed to be leaking out.

She had completely fallen captive to the game’s addictive nature.

From there, the combat area shrank further, leaving only 4 teams remaining.

At this stage, initiating combat carries a significant disadvantage, so even someone like Hikaru couldn’t move too aggressively.

They secured a position as a team and waited for the other teams to make a move.

And so, the battlefield began to shrink again, revealing a certain fact.

The combat log displayed when the number of remaining teams dropped from 4 to 3.

There, the kill log for that ‘NoobMaster69’ appeared.

Hino-san stared intently at the screen, whether she realized the fact or not.

If she suffered a second humiliation, this room would undoubtedly go up in flames.

Please win, I prayed, but the goddess of fortune did not smile upon them.

The final area shrinkage heavily favored the ‘NoobMaster69’ team.

“Ah~… This is going to be tough…” (Hikaru)

Even Hikaru held her head in her hands at the bad luck.

However, the damage pulse closing in from behind wouldn’t wait.

After holding out until the last possible moment, Hikaru led the charge out from cover.

Despite the overwhelming disadvantage, she suppressed the team in the more advantageous position while dealing with the closer team, thanks to her extraordinary aim and character control.

From behind her, Hino-san provided covering fire with a rifle.

As expected of long-time best friends.

They were so in sync it made me slightly jealous.

“Ah~… I got taken out!! Ayaka, do your best!!” (Hikaru)

However, after taking down three opponents with her, Hikaru finally went down too.

Now it was just Hino-san and her fated rival, NoobMaster69.

The combat area had almost completely converged, and the final battle began on flat, open ground with nothing else around.

In an even fight, Hino-san, still a beginner, was at an overwhelming disadvantage technically.

By the time she emptied her first weapon, the difference in remaining health was already significant.

If she switched to her second weapon now, she would almost certainly lose due to the health difference.

However, it was then that I noticed the opponent’s baffling action.

As Hino-san switched from her emptied weapon, the opponent began reloading their existing weapon.

Yes, basking in their overwhelming positional advantage… the fool had kept hold of a sniper rifle, completely useless in close combat this late in the game.

Complacency that filled half their precious weapon slots with a useless weapon.

In contrast, Hino-san had switched her rifle to a shotgun before this fight.

Believing that Hikaru would definitely create this situation for her.

Reloading versus switching weapons.

Due to the difference in time required, Hino-san’s shotgun fired first, hitting the opponent.

The word VICTORY flashed largely across the screen.

“Ayaka, that was amaz—” (Hikaru)
“Incredible, Hino-sa—” (Reiya)

A beginner, touching a controller for the first time, had led her team to victory in her fifth match.

Just as I was about to praise her great achievement for the record—

“Ahaha!! Take that, loser!!” (Ayaka)

Hino-san roared at the screen.

“You messed with me earlier!! Eat this!!” (Ayaka)

Carried by that momentum, she unloaded all her remaining ammunition into the corpse of ‘NoobMaster69’.

“Ahhh, that feels good!! This really is the best stress relief!!” (Ayaka)

Seeing her face contorted in joyous laughter, Hikaru and I both recoiled. Don hiki.

Indeed, competitive games revealed one’s true nature.

The true nature of Hino Ayaka was that she was an incredibly sore loser who held grudges fiercely.

“Come on, Hikaru! One more time!!” (Ayaka)
“O-Okay…” (Hikaru)

“…Well then, why don’t you give it a try too, Hino-san? As a break.”

Perhaps my casual suggestion had twisted the course of her life.

＊＊＊＊＊

—The Friday of the weekend after final exams.

“Hey, Reiya-kun… Don’t you think posting exam results in front of the entire student body like this nowadays is a serious human rights violation?” (Yuuma)

As a sense of liberation spread throughout the school with summer vacation just around the corner, Yuuma beside me spoke up while we were on our way to check the exam results.

“Give it up and accept reality.” (Reiya)
“That confidence of yours, Reiya-kun, does it mean you think you did well?” (Yuuma)
“Well, decent enough, I guess.” (Reiya)
“Uwah… Betraying me in studies too, after romance…” (Yuuma)
“What’s that supposed to mean…?” (Reiya)

I retorted, but decided to keep quiet about the fact that it was actually thanks to the study session with Hikaru.

“Yo. You guys going to check the finals results too?” (Hayato)
“Ah, Hayato-kun. Yeah. I was planning to go check with Reiya-kun and wallow in misery together, but he betrayed me.” (Yuuma)
“Seriously, what’s with that accusation…?” (Reiya)

Hayato joined us then, and we arrived at our destination.

The exam results were posted all around the second-floor lounge area with its round tables and chairs.

A large crowd of classmates had already gathered to check them.

As we started looking through them from the end, we spotted Hikaru and the others in the crowd.

“Ah, Reiya-kun, you came to look too?” (Hikaru)
“Oh, Kageyama-kun! Morning!” (Akane)

Following Hikaru, whose eyes met mine first, Ogata-san next to her greeted me too.

“Morning.” (Reiya)
“Huh? Reiya-kun, you knew Akane?” (Hikaru)
“Yeah, we’re friends! Right? Kageyama-kun.” (Akane)
“Ah, uh… yeah. Friends, I guess, we met a little while ago…” (Reiya)

Even though there was nothing shady going on, I found myself hesitating for some reason.

“Hmm…” (Hikaru)

Perhaps because of that, I received a suspicious look tinged with jealousy.

“G-Good morning, Hino-san too…” (Reiya)

Feeling awkward, I tried to deflect by greeting Hino-san, but this time I was startled by her face when she turned around.

Underneath her usually cool, sharp eyes, large dark circles had appeared.

“…Morning.” (Ayaka)

A listless voice matching her expression returned the greeting.

As I stood speechless, wondering what had happened but hesitant to ask, Hikaru whispered in my ear from the side.

“Apparently, she bought her own game console after that and has been playing Ape at home.” (Hikaru)
“…Seriously?” (Reiya)
“Yeah, seems like she’s sleep-deprived from playing late into the night.” (Hikaru)

Looking at Hino-san’s face again after hearing that, she indeed looked just like I did when I foolishly pulled an all-nighter and faced Monday.

The fact that the Hino Ayaka was hooked on a competitive game was as shocking as finding out Asahi Hikaru was a gamer.

Moreover, if her grades had plummeted because of it, the responsibility would finally fall on me for suggesting it.

…Or so I thought, but that was a major unfounded worry.

Looking through the posted exam results from the left end—

First, under National Language I, the name ‘Hino Ayaka’ shone brilliantly in first place.

Furthermore, she was also first in ‘Classical Japanese/Chinese,’
‘English,’
‘World History,’
‘Civics,’
‘Chemistry,’
‘Biology,’ and ‘Information Technology.’

“As expected of Hino-san…” (Reiya)
“Thanks. Though I feel like I did a bit too well this time.” (Ayaka)

Despite such otherworldly results, she showed no signs of conceit whatsoever.

It felt like being lectured that slacking off on studies because of games is just making excuses.

“Ah~… I guess I really can’t beat Ayaka~…” (Hikaru)
“No, no… You’re mostly in the single digits too, Hikaru, and tied for first in English, that’s plenty amazing…” (Reiya)
“Muu… How about you, Reiya-kun?” (Hikaru)
“Well, I did pretty well… by my standards, anyway.” (Reiya)

All the subjects I’d checked so far were above average, with zero triple-digit rankings.

Especially in English, which I’d focused on, I achieved my personal best rank in the 30s.

Still, the battle between the two I studied with was on such a high level that it was hard to rejoice.

“So, does that mean the study session paid off?” (Hikaru)
“Thanks to you two, yes.” (Reiya)
“…Then, starting tomorrow, we can properly flirt as a couple again, just the two of us.” (Hikaru)

Her cheeks slightly flushed, she whispered close to my ear so only I could hear.

…Girls are amazing.

Just that alone made me forget we were at school and almost flipped a weird switch.

“Uwah… I’m gonna get beaten with a stupa when I get home~…” (Yuuma)
“Barely avoided supplementary lessons—!! Yes!!” (Akane)

Elsewhere, Yuuma and Ogata-san were also checking their results and reacting with their respective impressions.

“…Well, that might depend on the final math results.” (Hikaru)
“Is math your weakest subject?” (Reiya)
“Yeah, if these results are good… I think I can do it without reservation.” (Hikaru)

And so, seeing a gap in the crowd, we finally went to check the math results.

My personal weakest subject.

Only by achieving a double-digit rank in this could I truly say my studying had paid off.

Steeling myself, I checked upwards from the bottom with a prayerful heart.

I passed the average score line, passed the triple-digit rank line, and found my name in the 70s.

A wave of relief washed over me, followed a beat later by joy.

This was thanks to them too, I thought, turning to express my gratitude, but—

“…Huh? What’s wrong?” (Reiya)

Hino-san was staring up at the very top of the posted sheet with eyes as if seeing something unbelievable.

Wondering what on earth she was looking at, I followed her gaze—

Mathematics II B 1st Kazama Hayato 2nd Hino Ayaka

Words I wanted to doubt my eyes were lined up there.

“Eh? H-Hayato is first…? A printing error?” (Reiya)
“It’s not an error. You’re kinda rude, you know…?” (Hayato)

As I floundered at seeing the name of my former fellow dropout where it shouldn’t be, the person himself spoke up from beside me.

“N-No, but you’re first…? Were you always that smart…?” (Reiya)

I remembered him being the best among us three, but only by a tiny margin.

For him to suddenly rank first in math for the entire grade was nothing short of astonishing.

What’s more, looking closely, he ranked quite high in other subjects too.

“Well, this is what happens when I get a little serious. It’s not that surprising, is it?” (Hayato)
“No, it’s definitely surprising… I mean, higher than Hino-san…” (Reiya)
“Higher, maybe, but it’s still just one subject, nothing to brag about. And it’s just beating someone aiming for humanities in math, right? For now, anyway…” (Hayato)

His words contradicted his tone, which was filled with provocation aimed at a specific individual.

This is really bad, I thought, looking towards her…

As expected, Hino Ayaka, true to her name ‘brilliant fire’, had the flames of competitiveness burning fiercely in her eyes. Mera mera.

Like a great fire fanned by a strong wind, its intensity only grew.