There were only five of us inside the classroom and the air was unusually tense.
The two people at the center of everything, Amami-san and Arae-san, were staring at each other in silence. Amami-san looked serious while Arae-san didn't even try to hide her hostility.
"So?"
Arae-san was the one who broke the silence.
"What was it about my teammates? You know something about them? How?"
"I'll be the one explaining that. I was the one who asked someone to look it up. May I, Amami-san?"
"…Mm… Sorry for the trouble, Maki-kun."
After receiving Amami-san's permission, I explained to Arae-san about the information I got from Nitori-san and Houjou-san.
The other day, I asked them to lend me the footage and notes they've previously shown me and I was able to learn the results of the matches that Arae-san's middle school were involved in.
It was a loss, but not an ordinary one. Rather, it was a complete blowout. I didn't remember the exact score, but their opponent had around triple their score.
In basketball, close games would have a point difference in the single digits, while matches with a double digit or greater difference showed how big the gap between the two teams' were.
Even to my untrained eye, that match was completely one-sided. Only Arae-san herself fought until the very end.
Everyone probably expected the match to be a heated one, yet that one-sided massacre happened. I couldn't imagine how devastated Arae-san felt back then. Her teammates were completely crushed and demoralized.
"Tch… I see, you are from Tachibana All-Girls… I guess it wouldn't be surprising that you'd have some acquaintances from their basketball club… But still, you guys are really nosy if you're digging into someone's past."
"It isn't our fault that you can't move on from that pitiful past of yours. Also, you were the one who picked a fight first, stop being petty."
"You fuck–"
"Now, now, no need to use violence, Araecchi. Yuuchin too, calm down. You two know that you'll get suspended if you guys actually fight, right?"
Nitta-san stopped Arae-san, who looked as if she was about to pounce on Amami-san at any moment. I heard that Nitta-san was used to dealing with situations like this because of her past relationships. I felt sorry for her when I heard that, but that experience was helping us now.
I didn't want to be like her, but I could learn a few things from her.
*Sigh.* "So what? You've taken your time to look up my past, so you should know everything by now. The past me who worked hard like an idiot, who thought that I was a manga character who could do whatever I wanted as long as I worked hard. I shed blood, sweat, and tears while the other kids were enjoying their lives, but what did all that hard work amount to? Nothing! Now you know that I'm a pitiful person, so stop bothering me. Being a tryhard is annoying, especially when it's just some stupid inter-class event, it's nothing more than a larger scale P.E."
'It's just the class match', a lot of students should share the same sentiments as her, including me from the past.
After all, nothing would change even if we worked hard for it. No point in getting all worked up about it.
I looked around me.
At Umi, Amami-san and Nitta-san.
After knowing them and becoming lovers with Umi, I could feel my way of thinking change.
I understood where she was coming from. But at the same time, I could also understand how Amami-san felt. If it was her, there was no way that she would brush everything off just like that.
"…Oh shut it…"
Said Amami-san.
"If you're oh so concerned about your pitiful past, why didn't you say so from the beginning? If basketball traumatized you so, why didn't you just tell me about it secretly? I could switch the members around and assign you to the volleyball team."
"…W-Weren't you guys the ones who said that we shouldn't be selfish? That would make it harder for us to decide on the team members, no?"
"Just stop lying to yourself. You want to play basketball, don't you? If you didn't, then you wouldn't have acted all bossy during the practice match…"
"I-It was Asanagi who provoked me, I was just trying to put her in her place—"
"Stop. Lying. Why do you keep lying? Say, which one is the one you actually hate? Yourself who sacrificed everything for basketball or your teammates who trampled over all your effort?"
"…Amami, you…"
After hearing those words, Arae-san showed a dismayed expression for the first time.
There was a bit more to her past.
It was part of her past that wasn't in the footage that I watched. It was something Nitori-san and Houjou-san happened to witness.
From her reaction, it seemed like that information I received was true after all.
"Fine, I'll do this. Since you won't answer me, I'll refuse to do anything that you want me to do. If you give the ball to me later, I'll just give it back to you. Let's embarrass ourselves in front of everyone."
"Amami!…"
"Sorry for the trouble, everyone. Time's running short, so I gotta go. See you at the gym later, Arae-san."
After saying that, Amami-san stormed out of the class immediately. I was about to follow her, but Nakamura-san gave me an 'X' symbol with her hands. Our time was up and I had to attend homeroom now since my match started later in the afternoon.
"I'll catch up with her, you two should go back to your classroom, Maki, Nina. Sorry for the trouble, Nakamura-san. Let's go."
"Got it~ Things became a little messy, huh? But don't slack off and don't let it bother your mental state, everyone~ Especially you, wheat gyaru."
"…I know… Wait, what did you just call me?"
"Hehe, don't give me that look, you'll ruin your pretty face~"
The rest of class 11 and Arae-san followed Umi to the gym, leaving Nitta-san and I alone.
"…Well, I gotta go back to my class, so I'll leave it to you, Rep."
"Mm, I'll send you updates as soon as I can…"
I returned to the classroom for homeroom. I recalled the story that Nitori-san and Houjou-san had told me.
About what had happened after the game between Tachibana Middle High and Joto Higashi Middle High concluded.