Finally, the sports festival had reached its climax. The gymnasium was buzzing with a strange excitement as every team event was starting its final competition.

“Our match is starting soon, Sudo-kun. Are you ready?”

Sudou and Onodera, who had paired up to participate in many double’s competitions in this Sports festival, were proceeding to the finals of their tenth event, the mixed double’s tennis competition.

“…Yeah.”

Sudou’s response was a bit absent-minded, and so Onodera felt something was off, but she continued anyway,

“Anyway, don’t you think we make a great pairing? So far we’ve won all four pair competitions we’ve participated in. I’m sure everyone in our class will be surprised!”

In the two matches so far, they were against a second year team in one and against a third year team in the other. Sudou and Onodera effortlessly got through both, and now they were poised to win five team events in a row. Moreover, including his solo events, Sudou was currently at nine consecutive victories, going on ten. On the other hand, while Onodera had not won first place in all nine of her events, she had won something in all of them.

Sudou responded laconically to her, his eyes focused elsewhere.

“Are you worried about that first year guy? You’ve been watching him all along.”

“Eh?”

“Housen… I think? He’s so big it’s hard to imagine he’s a first year, and he has this incredible aura. But, I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like that’s why you’re watching him. Did something happen between you two?”

“Nothin’ much. Don’t worry about it.”

Housen’s pair crushed the match they were playing, and so their opponents for the finals were set. Sudou had been intently watching their match while he vacantly kept up the conversation with Onodera. Onodera stared at him as he watched. So far, Sudou had thought nothing as he went into his matches, but clearly something had shaken him.

Today wasn’t the first time they were together. They had been working together throughout almost all of the preparation period for the Sports Festival. From practice time to lunch break and even when they went to school in the morning, they kept meeting and practicing together. And that is why she was capable of understanding the change in Sudou’s expression.

While he was an outstanding athlete, Sudou still had his flaws. He had a rough personality, he got carried away easily, and he had a quick temper. When they were working together, that sometimes held them back.

“We will soon start the finals. Please get ready.”

One of the staff members called out to them where they sat.

“Alright, let’s clinch this quickly and raise the roof!”

He pretended to be calm, and Onodera, too, cleared her mind after he said that. Even if there was something between him and Housen, so long as he didn’t make it a problem it was fine.

“Okay!” Onodera said as she picked up the racket, both so Sudou and she herself could hear it.

Their classmates steadily showed up at the gymnasium and quickly started cheering for her and Sudou. Even the adults must have been very interested in the finals because many of them stopped to watch.

“Almost feels like a tournament, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. The tension and energy feel great!”

The two of them had been to tournaments for their clubs and were fine being on the big stage, so there was no concern about them being afraid of the crowd.

However…

“Didn’t think the finals would be against’cha, Sudou-paisen.”

“Housen.”

Housen gripped the net and spoke to Sudou. The atmosphere changed.

“You better not think you can beat me just ‘cus it’s tennis. I’m gonna destroy you, so you better be ready for that.”

The doubles match started. There was a time limit to the match. Four points took a game, and the match was decided by the best of three games. As a special rule to keep the finals short, the serve did not rotate with each game, and was instead given to whoever lost the point. Also, teams didn’t need to rotate the serve between themselves, so they could pick one person and have them serve again and again.

The match kicked off with a savage attack from Housen. Sudou and Onodera were rocked by the powerful serves Housen’s gigantic frame shot out, and they let them easily hit the court. On the other hand, Sudou’s serves were lacking and lifeless, and so were quickly returned inside the court again and again. Within a minute, they were cornered, and the score stood at 3 (40) - 0 (love).

“No way… he’s so fast…! He must have played tennis before!”

It was reasonable for Onodera to panic, as Housen’s balls hit the court at terrifying speeds.

“What’s the matter, Sudou? That ain’t enough to keep up with me!”

“Fuck!”

He gripped the racket hard, and he was about to raise it up and smash it into the ground.

“Sudou-kun, stop!”

“…!”

“Every time you get mad like that, you’re making a mistake. You should know that!”

“B-But!”

Now that he couldn’t take his frustration out any more, Sudou was suddenly filled with stress. When he saw Sudou across the net behave like that, Housen snorted.

“I’m not returning his shots either, so I can’t pretend to be much better, but you’re clearly not playing as well as you did in past matches?”

She pointed out that he was preoccupied with Housen, and so his movements had become stiff and slow.

“I can’t let you serve if you’re like this, Sudou-kun.”

Onodera took the ball. She signaled to Sudou to defend, and then she served.

She shot a clean serve, so clean it was hard to believe it was by someone inexperienced in tennis, let alone a girl. However, Housen quickly caught up to it, and his technique was so good the racket seemed like an extension of his arm.

Sudou reached out to defend but it took him everything he had to just hit it with the edge of his racket, and so the first year team took the first game without letting their opponents score a single point.

“You ain’t worth sh*t, Sudou. You’re a loser.”

While Housen was enjoying the match from the bottom of his heart, his partner, in comparison, could not hide her fear. Housen was single handedly carrying the match, so it was really a 2v1 fight.

The second match. This was a do or die moment for them, and while they expected Housen to continue his relentless onslaught an unexpected development occurred.

The ball Housen shot was not as forceful as before, and Onodera adjusted to it and returned it. Just as they thought Housen was starting to get tired, he raised his arm high.

The ball he smashed was as strong and fast as a cannonball. It flew towards Onodera, who was defending the front, almost as if he was aiming for her. It grazed past her cheek, and Onodera’s expression twisted in pain. She reflexively dropped her racket, both from pain and surprise.

“You did that on purpose, you bastard!”

“Huh? ‘Course you aim at your opponent’s body in tennis. Keep shooting away from them and they’ll catch up and return it. Ya don’t even know that? Kickin’ up a fuss after just one ball!”

“Sh*t!”

Housen boldly stood his ground that he was correct. Onodera hurried to pick her racket back up.

“Don’t worry. It just grazed me… but still, isn’t he right that tennis is about aiming close to your opponents?”

“Ask someone who actually plays tennis. This is the Sports Festival!”

Sudou complained irritably, saying that only someone who usually played tennis would know.

The serve came back to Sudou, and the first one went out. The second time he played it safe, and so Housen easily returned it.

He didn’t put all that much energy into it, and Onodera closed in on it before returning it cleanly. The rally continued for two, three more strikes before Onodera once again moved to the front and returned the ball.

Just then, Housen closed in on the ball and smashed it back at them.

“Kya-!?”

The fastball reminded Onodera of the one from before, and she froze in fear, unable to move her racket. The ball grazed past her side. Sudou stopped it and returned it to the other side, but throughout the volley Housen persistently aimed close to Onodera. It was almost like he was playing around in the match.

Finally, Sudou’s team was at 3 (40), while Housen’s was at 2 (30).

Onodera was desperately trying to do something, but once again the ball went past her face. She instinctively reacted, which ended up twisting her left leg, and so she collapsed.

“Onodera!”

Onodera didn’t get up, so Sudou covered by taking the ball and returning it to Housen. The ball just barely hit inside the court, and so Sudou’s team took the second game.

But Sudou wasn’t celebrating. He exploded with anger.

“Enough of this! Can you even play fair?”

“How many times do I need to tell you? That stupid woman of yours is just bad. Worthless!”

“Stop, Sudou-kun. You’re doing it again.”

Onodera wasn’t getting up. She calmed sudou down, still lying on her back.

“I know that already! Do you think we should just let this go?”

“You’re not wrong. Even the referee is getting suspicious. But, Sudou-kun, even your own behavior is getting in our way.”

It was abundantly clear that from the moment the tennis match had started, Housen had changed his aim from winning the match to tormenting Sudou. His aim was to instill fear into Onodera, and make her mess up once in a way that would injure her.

“Anyway, just calm down, Sudou-kun.”

She was hurting, and despite that she gently but strongly admonished him.

Sudou had gotten heated, and that wasn’t enough for him to control himself, so he kept glaring at Housen. However, after seeing Onodera scowling in pain, he remembered what he should be prioritizing.

Soon, Onodera was getting aid for the injury she had suffered in her ankle.

“Sucks, I fumbled the game. But you lot are gonna have to play one more. Ain’t that just hell for you?”

Housen yawned as he watched them both, and after that he went to speak to his partner.

“That bastard… he wants to mess around with us as much as he can, he lost on purpose…”

Sudou muttered as he looked at Onodera’s left leg in concern.

“Will you be alright?”

“I think, somehow. But man, I’m so worthless. I was so scared of the ball and tried to dodge it, and I ended up falling over and spraining my leg.”

She chucked derisively at herself, tapping the tape on her ankle.

“I don’t blame you. He’s annoying as all hell, but he’s a top class athlete.”

Even Sudou was afraid of the extremely powerful volleys Housen’s excellent physique effortlessly pumped out. Anyone who was not an experienced tennis player or a member of the tennis club would not be able to shake that fear so quickly.

“I… Ever since I came to this school, I have had a good opinion of you, Sudou-kun.”

“Huh? Where’d that come from? Just stay calm and let them treat you.”

“No, it’s fine! This wound paid off. It bought us just a little bit of time to calm down.”

“You sure are keeping it cool… Anyway, you had a good opinion of me back then?”

“Yes. But you are also the person I least wanted to have anything to do with. You were so thorny!”

“Oof…”

“The people around you attacked you because you didn’t study and your behavior was terrible, but I’ll support anybody who puts effort into their club. Sudou-kun, you had the talent, and you also put in the work, didn’t you?”

“How would you know!”

“I know. When I go home after practicing until late, I pass by the gymnasium. Every time I think nobody will be around any more, and every time I see you, Sudou-kun, still practicing alone after everyone’s left. You even clean up properly, you really take it seriously.”

“W-Wait, you were watching… that’s, embarrassing.”

“But—in the end, if you stay like this I can’t truly think highly of you, Sudou-kun.”

“… Huh?”

“You got mad for my sake. I don’t hate that, but you still have a short temper. If you stay like this, someday, you will cause a fight worse than you’ve ever before.”

“… That’s …”

“I think you should stop getting so mad!”

“I-I know…!”

“Even in sports, if you lose your cool, don’t you lose more often than not?”

“Hmm… you’re right. Even the accuracy of my shots drops…”

“Me too. When I lose my cool, I get desperate for time, but it only makes me get slower than usual. There’s very little good about it, right?”

“You too, huh?”

“One time, after I lost an important match, I was so frustrated, I was in the changing rooms and I even forgot to change and… in my rage, I hurt my hand. All it did was make it worse for me afterwards.”

She remembered her past, and feeling slightly ashamed, stuck out her tongue just a little.

“Ughh. So that’s when I learned. Getting mad is no good, and it’ll come back to bite me later.”

“How’d you manage to control it and not get angry?”

“About that. A senior taught me some magic.”

“M-Magic?”

“Yes. I’ll teach it to you, Sudou-kun. A spell that controls your anger.”

“W-What do I do?”

“The peak of your anger, you see, is actually surprisingly short, and doesn’t last more than a few seconds. So when you want to scream in anger, do that once inside your head, and then take ten deep breaths.”

“So you mean… when I get angry, I should take ten seconds, that’s it?”

“Yes. I’m sure that’ll be enough to make a difference, so try it out.”

“… I get it.”

He wasn’t fully convinced, but Sudou committed this conversation to his memory.

“I wanted to pair up with you because I had a good opinion of you, Sudou-kun. Please don’t betray my expectations.”

“Onodera…”

They were done treating her, so Onodera checked herself once and stood up again.

“I’m fine. Whether we like it or not, this one game will settle the match. If we fumble, we lose. But if we take it, we win.”

“—Yeah!”

The third game started. Housen doggedly aimed at Onodera, even though her movements had become slower due to the injury on her left leg. He overdid it, and so he ended up losing points, but he showed no signs of stopping.

Sudou’s team led with 3 (40) to 1 (15).

Even though he would lose the match if he messed up, Housen once again shot a fast ball at Onodera. This time, she couldn’t dodge it, and the ball hit her right arm. Onodera squatted in pain.

“This isn’t even how you treat a match… you playing aro—!”

His blood was boiling, but he remembered the spell Onodera had taught him just some time ago. He glared at Housen, who was still being provocative, but inside his heart he screamed in anger.

Ten seconds of anger. He had to control it for just ten seconds.

1, 2, 3; he counted, breathing deeply to let his emotions go.

8… 9… 10… The angry insults he had in mind for Housen receded into his throat.

Of course, not all of his irritation had disappeared, but he succeeded in analyzing the situation calmly and objectively. The suspicious looks of the referees. Onodera looking at him. The match that they had to win. The amount of time they had left. If he let Housen needle them now, of course it would hold them back.

“Onodera, do you trust my strength?”

“… Of course. I’m playing with you because I trust you.”

Sudou had controlled his breathing. He threw the ball in the air and served his best shot of the day. There were no second chances for Housen, so he received the ball and returned it. That led to a one-on-one rally between Housen and Sudou. Neither of them yielded an inch as they returned powerful shots at each other. As they continued, Housen lost out to Sudou’s persistence and returned with a weak shot. Sudou didn’t let it go and smashed the ball into their opponents’ court.

“YEAHHHHHHHHH!”

His racket still in his hand, Sudou roared so loudly it echoed across the gymnasium.

“We did it, we did it!”

Housen had an overwhelming advantage, but because he continued to underestimate his opponents until the end he ended up losing. Irritated by his loss, he threw the racket at the court so hard it broke into two.

“We won, Onodera! Thanks to you!”

Sudou was so excited he ran over to Onodera and hugged her deeply to share his excitement.

“W-W-W-W-Wh…!?”

For a moment, Onodera didn’t understand what was happening, and she panicked.

“Wa- it hurts, it hurts, Sudou-kun!”

She cried in pain, his strong arms squeezing her. Sudou quickly regained his composure.

“S-Sorry, sorry!”

Apart from winning, Sudou had managed to control his anger, and that must have made him happy because he had a broad smile, the happiest of the day.

“Congratulations on winning every event, Sudou-kun.”

“Yeah! Thanks Onodera, if you didn’t help I would definitely have lost this match.”

“That’s not true! If anything, I only dragged you down…”

“I’m not gonna say your injury paid off, but when you got hurt and I snapped, for a moment I felt like I’d lost. You snapped me out of it.”

“Really. Then, we were… good partners, right?”

“Yeah. It was super easy to work with you, and I could really depend on you. This is seriously amazing, Onodera! Ahh, if only Suzune could somehow see us do so well…”

There were more and more guests and students around, so he couldn’t quickly spot Horikita.

“Suzune… huh?”

“Ah? Where? Where is he!?”

“Uh, no~, I mean, sorry, I mistook someone for her.”

“Damn. I see, maybe she’s near the grounds…”

“Next time we’re going back from club, let’s go have dinner together.”

“Eh? Oh, sure, that’s cool. Anyway, help me find Suzune. Where are you, Suzune!?”

“Ahahaha. No. Absolutely not.”

“Oi, Sudou. Don’t let this win get to yer head, eh? If I was serious, you’d be toast. Ya know that, right?”

Even though the match was long done, Housen didn’t seem to be finished with it and drew close to them.

“Come with me, let’s play some more behind the gym.”

“Hold on, you—”

Onodera moved to intercept Housen as he tried to provoke Sudou, but Sudou quietly stopped her.

“This guy and I have some history. Well, I guess I have no choice but to face him.”

“B-But!”

Onodera was trying to protect him from getting into a fight again, but Sudou understood what she was thinking and smiled. Then he turned to face Housen.

“Sorry, but I’m not interested in taking you up on your challenge.”

“Huh? Ain’t about whether you’re interested or not. From now on, you’re my sandbag.”

“I said, not interested.”

Sudou refused to go along, so Housen squeezed his shoulders together and slammed a clench fist into his stomach. The powerful sucker punch brought Sudou to his knees.

“Sudou-kun!”

Sudou stopped Onodera with his hand and calmly got up. The teachers rushed to him, but Sudou told them nothing happened and got them to leave.

“Damn, that hurts. Ughh. I already know you’re good at fighting! That time was partly my bad, too, so I’m not gonna complain. But. Any more, and I’ll even ask the teachers to intervene.”

“Pathetic, aren’cha? You were better when you came swingin’, you know?”

“Maybe. Onodera, let’s go.”

“O-Ok.”

“Boring fool. Don’t mess with me again.”

Somehow, Sudou found those words comforting. If he wasn’t the one to get violent, the situation wouldn’t get worse.

He learned that if he didn’t let the anger consume him, the situation would drastically improve.

“I really gotta thank Housen. When I saw how he’s so bloodthirsty like that, I fully got just how lame I’ve been. Can’t really put it to words, but… when I tried that method you taught me, something just hit me. Why have I been so mad all along? Something like that. Maybe a ghost finally left me or something.”

Sudou was grateful for the ten victories he’d won, but he was just as grateful to the Sports Festival, and to Onodera.