"Miyahito, wanna play basketball?"
"Let's go!"
After physics class, during lunch break, Kasumigaoka Utaha was walking down the first-year hallway, textbooks in hand, planning to head back to her classroom to rest.
Hearing voices from Class 1-B ahead, she instinctively looked up.
Her gaze fell on the back of Aragaki Miyahito as he walked out of Class B, arm around the shoulder of a Class A guy, heading toward the gym.
A trace of disappointment flickered deep within her wine-red eyes.
It had been over a week since school started, and even now, Utaha hadn't found a single opportunity to speak to Aragaki Miyahito. Not even during the shared classes between the two sections.
She hadn't even properly introduced herself to him.
At school, they were completely like two parallel lines that never intersected.
"Sigh..." Letting out a quiet sigh, Utaha slid open the Class C door. After a glance at the various cliques forming in the room, she quietly looked away and returned to her seat alone.
Resting her chin on her folded hands, she turned to look out the window at the campus scenery.
Aragaki-kun is playing basketball with the Class A boys again.
It's nice... having so many friends.
Unlike Utaha, who had been solitary since day one, in less than half a month, Miyahito's social network had expanded from Class B to the entire freshman grade.
He even had friends in her own Class C.
Every afternoon during free period, it was either Class A guys calling him for basketball, or Class D guys dragging him to play tennis... To anyone looking, Miyahito's school life was incredibly fulfilling.
And Kasumigaoka Utaha? Still completely alone.
Feeling a wave of drowsiness, she slowly laid her head down on the desk. Her smooth hair spread across the surface. When did those red eyes, reflecting the blue sky, shift to fixate on the gymnasium in the distance?
Right now... there's probably a crowd of girls gathered at the entrance again.
Her lips pressed together tightly. Remembering the time she'd secretly gone to the gym and seen a bunch of girls loudly cheering for Miyahito, Utaha couldn't help but feel a spark of irritation.
A bunch of love-struck idiots. Standing at the door in 27 or 28 degree weather just to cheer for him.
Aren't these girls worried about heatstroke? The infirmary doesn't have enough beds for all of them!
"Hey, Shin'i, wanna go to the gym?"
"Miyahito-kun is playing basketball with the Class A guys right now!"
Hearing the excited whispers of her classmates behind her, Utaha's lazy expression unconsciously tightened.
Miyahito-kun? Calling a boy by his first name so casually... doesn't she think that's improper?
"Really! Let's hurry then!"
"Wait, should we buy some sports drinks first?"
Hmph, bringing him drinks... why don't you just deliver yourself over while you're at it? Shameless!
For some reason, the drowsiness that had just been creeping up vanished, replaced by inexplicable irritation. The more she thought about it, the more impossible it became to sleep. She stood up.
The sudden movement was probably loud enough to draw the attention of the boys and girls resting in the classroom. Ignoring their stares, Utaha looked down at the schoolbag hanging beside her desk and lightly bit her lip.
Should I... bring a towel?
After agonizing over it for ages, she ultimately decided against grabbing the towel she'd been secretly carrying in her bag for days.
Instead, she just took a novel and a "gradient-red Tritan" sports bottle she'd bought on a whim yesterday, and left the classroom.
The weather is so nice today. I'll just go read in the courtyard.
Hmm. Actually, the courtyard looks really sunny right now.
Maybe I'll go near the gym? The benches there are shaded by trees. It'll probably be much cooler.
.....
Inside the gymnasium.
"Hahaha..."
Standing just outside the three-point line on the opponent's side, Miyahito dribbled the ball, breathing slightly hard.
The Class A guy guarding him had a look on his face like, "I'd rather die than let you pass," gritting his teeth fiercely.
Honestly, facing an opponent who looked ready to drink his blood and eat his flesh raw, Miyahito felt a slight chill.
What did I even do? Why do you guys hate me so much?
Giving up on figuring it out, Miyahito lowered his stance, preparing to test their defense.
The moment he pulled off a flashy crossover to shake off one guy, before he could even approach the paint, the other four Class A players completely abandoned their marks and swarmed him.
This gave Miyahito a genuine fright.
He quickly spun, dribbled back out past the three-point line, adjusted his breathing, and asked Tooru beside him:
"Hey, Tooru, don't you think the Class A guys are acting kinda weird?"
Hearing this, Tooru turned and gave Miyahito a deeply complicated look, saying nothing.
"Why are you looking at me like that too?"
Noticing his friend's expression matched the Class A guys, Miyahito grew even more confused.
"What exactly did I do?"
"Just listen to yourself, and you'll figure out why we're all looking at you that way," replied a Class A guy.
Miyahito paused, instinctively tuning into the surrounding noise.
"Miyahito-sama! Ganbare! Ganbare!"
"Kyaaa! Miyahito-sama is so cool!!"
"Over here! Miyahito-kouhai! Your senpais have refreshments ready for you!"
"Miyahito-sama!!!"
Alright. It was supposed to be a standard 5v5.
But the entire gym, aside from the ten players on the court and the Class D referee, was cheering exclusively for Aragaki Miyahito.
And the terrifying part was, the majority of these screaming fans were Toyogasaki girls, spanning from first to third years.
"It's not like I asked them to do this."
Shrugging helplessly, Miyahito smiled bitterly.
"Besides, I haven't even done anything."
"Yeah, yeah. You 'haven't done anything'," Tooru finally snapped, even as a teammate. "Except for dunking twice, running fifteen fast breaks, and hitting game-winning threes in multiple quarters."
"You 'haven't done anything.'"
"Hey, hey." Hearing that, Miyahito's composure nearly broke. "You were the one yelling at me to dunk!"
"Oh."
"Damn it!"
"Shut up! Even if we die today, we won't let you pass! Take this, you damn sporty pretty boy!"
Rolling his eyes at the Class A opponent's dramatic threats, Miyahito, already prepared, drove right past his defense.
Moving swiftly, he charged straight for the paint.
"Don't even think about getting past me!"
"Aragaki! Today is your death sentence!"
"You'll have to step over my corpse!"
"Damn you, jock pretty boy!"
Dodging one Class A guy after another who threw themselves at him, Miyahito, now just a step from the rim, took a deep breath.
"Gotcha!"
His left foot slammed into the floor. He bent his waist, lowered his head, and jumped with all his might.
"Final blow!"
Chuunibyou spirit blazing, Miyahito roared, raising both hands high to slam the ball through the hoop.
Beep——! Winner, Class B!
"Miyahito-sama!!!"
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