4/13

Volleyball rally started on the afternoon. As reminded by our homeroom teacher, we are required to attend so we have no choice.

As I enter the changing room, it was already filled with conversation from my schoolmates. Topics were just the typical. Although, I can still bits and pieces of the conversations about the transfer student.

Looks like the rumors are still going.

I went to my locker where I kept my gym clothes and changed. After that, I spotted Maho-chan already dressed on her gym clothes.

"Hey Maho-chan!" I greeted.

"Oh. It you, Kobayashi-san." she replied. "Sucks that we have to attend the volleyball rally huh?"

"Yeah. I don't get why we needed to attend. It's not even a part of any other classes. It's almost like the school just want to gloat how great Mr. Kamoshida is at volleyball."

Just then, we heard a conversation beside us.

"Hey, the transfer student is gonna be in the volleyball rally right?"

"Yeah, he's definitely going to be there."

"Oh man. We gotta be careful around him."

"Talks about the infamous Shujin Academy transfer student just keep on coming." Maho-chan commented. "If it wasn't for that rumor, these conversations wouldn't happen."

"Was the one who spread the rumor been determined?" I asked.

"No one knows. It was anonymously posted after all. The post wasn't fact checked but people just believed and spread it around."

Maho-chan then let out a sigh.

"Well whatever, the rumor will die out eventually, as do most trends."

"I hope so."

"In the meantime, I think that it's best that we don't have any interaction with the transfer student. Last thing we need is another rumor linking us to him."

Me and Maho-chan eventually made our way to the school gymnasium. We separated as we entered and went to our respective classes.

Mr. Kamoshida made a quick message before the rally started. He said something along the lines of using this event as a way of getting to know each other. I have to admit that I appreciate the intent of this but I can't help but still see this as the school gloating about him. You know, being the pride of the school and all.

He went on to explain the rules. The rule of the rally was to have 6 representatives from each class to play against the teacher's team for one round. Of course, with Mr. Kamoshida on the opposing team, beating them would be impossible.

Thankfully, I wasn't chosen to be the representative. It's OK, I'm not athletic anyway. I'm just gonna sit here and watch our team lose.

Our team lost. No surprise there.

And so were the other teams.

The match is currently now between the teachers and Classroom 2-D team. One of the students in the team was Yuuki Mishima. From what I've observed, Mishima-kun was a part of the volleyball team and I see him interacting a lot with Mr. Kamoshida. Maybe he's getting help to improve himself on volleyball. And I can tell he's working hard, with all the bruises on his body as proof.

Shifting my attention back to the match, I noticed that Class 2-D was handling the game pretty well. Maybe having Mishima-kun in the team helped them having even a sliver of a chance to wi-

BAM!

Everyone was in shock as we witnessed Mishima-kun got hit with the ball right on his face. That must have hurt a lot. Mr. Kamoshida instructed the other students to Mishima-kun to the infirmary. As soon as Mishima-kun and the other students were outside, the match continued with another student as a replacement.

As the match continued, I was reminded of the incident that just happened. I had this weird feeling that it was…. intentional or something. Of course, it could be because Mishima-kun wasn't paying attention but surely Mr. Kamoshida could've spiked it on a different direction.

My thoughts were interrupted with the screams of my fellow schoolmates cheering on the current student team.

Heh. Looks like it's another victory for the teacher team.

The volleyball rally finally ended with the teacher team dominating all the student teams. I mean, with Mr. Kamoshida on their team, there's no way they could lose.

As I exit the gymnasium, I noticed that Maho-chan went out first. Guess I'll talk to her later.

I decided to go back to the classroom in the meantime. I went over my desk and gather up my things. As I was doing that, I noticed at the corner of my eye Sakamoto-kun and that transfer student running around outside.

I decided not to entertain the distraction outside and continued packing my things. When I was finished, I decided to go to the changing room to change to my school uniform. As I was outside, I noticed Maho-chan standing not far with a notepad on her hand. I decided to go near and greet her.

"Hey Maho-chan! Doing club work?"

"Yes. I am currently on the lookout for any interesting topics for an article. The club's photographer is currently looking as well." she replied. "So, how did the volleyball rally go?"

"The teacher team won every round. No surprise considering who is in it."

"I''ll have to write an article about it soon as it is demanded by the school. They really wanted Mr. Kamoshida to be the main focus of the newspaper. He's the school's pride and joy, after all."

"Honestly, I think the higher ups just wanted to gloat."

"Yeah,. having an Olympic champion a part of the faculty is a pretty big deal. Speaking of, Kobayashi-san, how are the classes going?"

"Oh, it's just the usual. Although our homeroom teacher was a pretty strict one. One time, he actually threw a chalk at one of my classmates who was sleeping on this class."

"That's Mr. Ushimaru for you. Always an authoritarian."

"I know right? Good thing your homeroom teacher wasn't bad as him"

"Ms, Usami isn't that bad. But she is pretty serious in her teachings that I observed that she doesn't smile even once."

"Huh. Perhaps she's not the type."

"Yeah."

Then, a long silence between us happened. Maho-chan decided to break it off by asking.

"Say Kobayashi-san. About joining the Newspaper Club, have you decided yet?"

"Still undecided."

"Come on, Kobayashi-san. We are supposed to pass the official list of members before the faculty meeting. We needed your decision by next week so we can finalize the list."

"I'm sorry. Things are just complicated right now."

"I know. But we cannot plead for an extension. We need your decision by next week."

Maho-chan then picks up her phone from her pocket and checks it.

"Looks like I have to go back. Remember what I said, Kobayashi-san"

"Yes, Maho-chan."

And then she left. I continued my way to the changing room with the recent conversation still lingering in my head.

My tutor lessons with Amane-san and my entire evening went by typically. I could say that this day was pretty ordinary apart from the volleyball rally earlier.

Many thoughts ran through my head as I lay down on my bed.

The earlier volleyball rally incident.

That time when I saw the transfer student and Sakamoto-san running around the school.

And the reminder of Maho-chan about the Newspaper Club.

I let out a sigh.

"The day might be over but I'm still having these thoughts in my head." I said to myself. "Here's hoping these would be resolved soon."

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to sleep.