Since Nitori-san and Houjou-san agreed to dig up some information about Arae-san for me, all I needed to do was observe the situation.
The next practice was scheduled to be held on Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, same time and place. I felt bad for inconveniencing them, but they said that they got to practice while coaching us, so it was fine. Apparently there were certain days that they couldn't use the gym at their school and they had to practice on their own during those days. They could do that while coaching us, so it was a win-win situation.
The matter of our special training had been decided, but there was still a problem that we had to face…
"…Ow… My arms… My legs…"
The next day after our first day of training, my whole body started to hurt.
Yes, I got sore muscles.
Since yesterday was the first day, it was supposed to be a light practice… For the other three, maybe. It was still a rigorous one for me. After all, it had been a while since I last moved around this much. I had to run around the court to help Umi, do push-ups and sit-ups together with Umi and the likes. Getting sore muscles after all that was just a matter of course.
Umi gave me a full-body massage before we went to school so my body felt way better than when I first woke up, but I was still hurting. I really should've exercised more…
"Good morning, Maki-kun~ …Wait, are you okay? You're trembling all over… And you smell like an old man!"
"I exercised a little yesterday… I rubbed poultice all over my body…"
"Ah, I see~ …Poke poke~"
"Uwah!"
Since I was unable to resist, Amami-san took advantage of it and poked my armpit.
My body was all sore, so the slightest touch would make me jumpy.
"Hahaha~ Sorry! I have the urge to do that, y'see~ My bad~"
"It's fine. Umi also did it to me this morning… No wonder you two are friends…"
Umi on the other hand, was fine. No sore muscles whatsoever, completely fit.
They said that the training yesterday was light, which made me wonder what the heavy training session would look like. Could I survive?
…In any case, I wouldn't be able to get away from the poultice for a while.
"Was the special training you guys did tough?"
"Mm… I can't believe that those girls have that much stamina– Wait, you know about it, Amami-san?"
"Of course! Mine will start today, we'll be taking turns."
I see, so that was why they decided to do practice with Umi every other day. Nitori-san and Houjou-san were Amami-san's friends after all, so it wasn't surprising that she would ask them for their help too.
Amami-san and Umi's personalities were different, but since they've been close for years now, it couldn't be helped that they became similar in one way or another.
Anyway, both of them had started practicing for the class match, but this wasn't enough to prepare for it.
This wasn't something that I could talk about openly with Amami-san inside the classroom, so I decided to text her about it instead.
Amami-san went to talk with her classmates while I remained alone in my seat.
[Maehara: The special training is good and all, but don't you guys still need to practice as a team?]
[Amami: Yeah.]
[Amami: I tried to talk to her, but she just nodded her head without saying anything.]
[Amami: She didn't reject me, but she and her friends are being uncooperative…]
[Maehara: I see… I knew this would happen, but, ugh, this is annoying…]
No matter how much effort Amami-san put into practicing, in the end, basketball was a team sport. She couldn't carry the whole team alone, they had to cooperate to win.
Everyone had their own business to deal with, but they really should try to spare some time to practice. It didn't have to be after school, practicing during P.E should be enough.
We stopped texting for a while and looked around at the class.
A month had passed since the class change, most of the students had formed their own groups already. The girls in particular were divided into two groups.
Amami-san's group and Arae-san's group.
"Amami-san, they said that we can do whatever we want on today's P.E because of the class match! Do you mind coaching us?"
"Mm! I don't mind, but…"
"Ah… Don't mind them, Amami-san, we should just do our best to make up for them, okay?"
"…Alright…"
The tension between the two of them somehow spread to the rest of the girls in the class.
The atmosphere in the class wasn't particularly good nowadays. Everyone was divided, you were either on Amami-san's side or Arae-san's side.
The tension between the two groups would subside if the two people involved got along better, but as long as the other side was uncooperative, that would be impossible.
As I was thinking about this, Umi suddenly messaged us.
[Asanagi: I can imagine your sour faces now.]
[Amami: Hahaha… I have a feeling that I'll get along with Arae-san though…]
[Asanagi: Huh, really?]
[Asanagi: I can't get along with that kind of person.]
[Asanagi: She's annoying to deal with as a foe, but if you befriend her, she'll only drag you down.]
[Maehara: I could see that.]
[Asanagi: Right?]
[Amami: Eh, is that so? I have a feeling that she's a good girl, though?]
[Asanagi: Yuu, you should just stop trying to understand her. You'll just get hurt.]
[Amami: Sure…]
That was a lackadaisical response, unlike the usual Amami-san.
Honestly, I thought she should stop getting involved with Arae-san since that would just annoy her more than anything, but Amami-san seemed hell-bent on getting along with her.
Well, whatever, let's just change the subject for now.
[Maehara: By the way, Umi…]
[Asanagi: 'Sup, buddy?]
[Maehara: …We were talking about practicing as a team for the class match, how is it going on your side?]
[Asanagi: Ah… We're doing fine… I guess…]
[Maehara: I guess?]
[Asanagi: Yeah…]
[Asanagi: We don't have any major problems, so don't worry about it.]
[Maehara: Uh, okay?]
[Asanagi: Yeah.]
[Asanagi: Our class isn't divided by factions like yours, don't worry.]
[Maehara: If you say so…]
I knew that she wouldn't lie to me, but I still felt that something was off.
Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about her class aside from the fact that it was Umi's class. Well, I've been busy dealing with Arae-san's problem, this thing just slipped my mind.
There shouldn't be anything strange happening in that class though, since it was made up of only honor students.
…But I was still worried, so I should do some recon.