Published at 25th of August 2019 10:16 pm

Book 1 Chapter 3 - Dear Friends

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Tomoki becomes one of those people who works out way too much.

He was waking up day after day at five in the morning to do self-training for two hours, walking around the house barefoot, and finding an empty space to focus on doing handstands. Tomoki, who also got no breaks from diving practice, faced mixed reactions from those around him.

“If you’re going to do something, you should do it thoroughly.” His father encouraged.

“But will you be able to study well for your entrance exams the year after next?” His mother worried.

“Diving’s cool, but Miu is going to feel lonelier.” Hiroya reminded.

“It feels like Tomo-kun is getting farther and farther away more quickly.” Miu sounded teary.

“Anyways, Tomo’s busy.” His middle school friends no longer invited him to play, and as everyone started to become distant from him, only Chikuwa became attached to Tomoki day by day.

Is this really okay?

Is it really okay to be a sports fanatic nowadays?

Tomoki continued on while feeling anxious occasionally, but it was as Kayoko said—he was able to actually see the results from effort alone.

There were subtle muscle changes unseen by others, and his physical strength increased.

The way his body bent during his midair performance.

The feeling of balance in his handstands.

As to what Tomoki thought about his body’s changes, he simply thought it was interesting. It was a realistic result that he had never experienced before. Plus, since Kayoko has become a full-time coach at MDC, it was obvious that his diving skills have improved.

Kayoko’s way of coaching was mysterious. She never talked much to Tomoki and the others when they got out of the water. She only pointed out one thing, and spoke Only one word of advice. However, it was always specific and right on the target.

“You’re too slow in tightening your tackle! You should be quicker. Hold your knees tightly with both your hands as soon as you start spinning. If you try to tighten them while you’re falling, you will block the centrifugal force, and if you mess up your timing, you will also mess up your form.”

“Your takeoff is slightly off. Try raising your arms zero-point-five seconds earlier.”

“During your approach (1), maintain three centimeters behind your line of sight.”

Kayoko’s advice had nothing ambiguous in it. Her instructions, such as “lower your shoulder by five millimeters”, or“raise your chin up a centimeter”, were very precise. There was never any guesswork involved, and it became known that performances became steadily better by obeying her instructions.

They couldn’t see their own performances, but they could tell whether or not their performances were good or bad, as well as if they were successful or a failure. If you failed, you’d enter the water in a strange posture, and definitely strike your body against the water. Pain would be felt everywhere, including the arms, back, buttocks and thighs.

As he received Kayoko’s guidance, the amount of times Tomoki felt pain during practice had decreased dramatically. Whenever he returned to the locker room, he didn’t rub his blood-congested skin as much as before.

“Did you know that your rotation speed has increased, thanks to the added muscle strength you got from the self-training?”

Kayoko, who looked like she had forgotten about the self-training, among other things, had called out Tomoki after practice for first time in a long while, six weeks after she first gave him the schedule.

“Since your rotation speed has increased, did you know that you have more flexibility to prepare your entry position? Not only have you felt your body subtly change, but do you know that you’re deliberately making use of it? I don’t want to make you into a bulging muscle-man. The important thing is how much are you able to make use of the results from self-training into your diving. If you’re able to enter the water with a 2½ somersault entry, our next goal will be decided naturally.”

“Next goal?”

“3½ somersaults.”

3½—

Tomoki inhaled deeply. Asking him to do 3½ somersaults when he could just barely do 2½ now was like telling a limbless tadpole to jump like a frog.

“That’s insane…I’ve never seen a middle schooler who could do 3½ somersaults. Not even any high school students.”

Towards Tomoki who had decided that it was impossible from the start, Kayoko retorted sharply, “The reason I think that there are no middle school students who could do 3½ is because FINA (International Swimming Federation) has rules that reduce that possibility.”

“FINA’s rules?”

“Middle school students and under cannot dive from a ten-meter platform at junior meets. Did you know that?”

“That’s, well…”

Worried about the adverse effects on the body during the growing years, several years ago, FINA banned middle schoolers and under from diving from the ten-meter platform at junior meets. Therefore, Tomoki and the others used the ten-meter during practice to prepare for the future, but could only use the five and seven-meter platforms at competitions.

“Ten meters and seven-point-five meters. That’s a world of difference. If the falling distance is extended by two-point-five meters, you don’t know how much room you can have for entry. In other words, moves that are impossible on the seven-point-five-meter platform can be done on the ten-meter platform. I think that it’s possible for a middle schooler to do 3½ from the ten-meter platform.”

“No…no matter how much my flight time is extended, not just anyone can do 3½. Even I could do it successfully from ten-meters, isn’t it meaningless unless I can do it in a competition?”

“But there are competitions where it’s meaningful.” While looking like she’s trying to suppress a smile, Kayoko cut their talk short at once. “Well, alright. We’ll talk about this after my business trip.”

“Business trip?”

“There’s some important business, so I’m leaving for Aomori tonight. Though, it might be extended depending on the circumstances, so please practice with Coach Fujitani until I get back.”

“Sure.”

“And, please expect a wonderful souvenir as well.”

“Souvenir?”

“Your rival.”

_______________________________________________________________

As usual, Kayoko disappeared and left cryptic words. The next day Tomoki reviewed the basics under Coach Fujitani, but the pool without Kayoko was like a rice field without a scarecrow; the impact just wasn’t the same. Without Kayoko’s voice, which stabbed at his weaknesses with the precision of a darts-throwing master, somehow, he just couldn’t get into practice.

She had appeared out of the blue, suddenly became their coach, gave him unreasonable demands, and when he had become motivated, left for Aomori for some strange reason. Though it was absurd, Tomoki had to accept her presence nonetheless. Naturally, he was convinced that Ryou and Reiji accepted it as well.

Tomo, you’re too naïve, Hiroya often told him, but it was true. At some point, something important would become missing, creating a gaping hole that he would only know the depth of after falling in.

Tomoki realized his own thick-headedness at the end of March. It was five days after Kayoko had left for Aomori.

His middle school was in the middle of spring break, but the afternoon wind was as cold as it would be during winter break. That afternoon, he put on a thick duffle coat and biked to the practice area. Because Tatsumi Swimming Center was rented out by a group that day, they were going to do dryland training at Mizuki Sports Club.

The Mizuki Sports Club was a fifteen-minute bike ride away from Tomoki’s house. It was a colorful four-story building with red stripes going around the light blue outer walls. On the first floor was a coffee shop and a Mizuki sports goods store, a tennis court on the second floor, a members-only gym on the third floor, and the MDC training room on the fourth floor.

The founder, who was the former company president, initially planned to have diving pools on the second and third floor and to make the whole building dedicated to the MDC, but he received strong opposition from the executives, who didn’t think it would be profitable, and seemed to have been forced to give up on the pools. From the start, because Youichi’s Sakuragi High School was close by, they borrowed the diving pool there during summer, and used the Tatsumi Swimming Center in the winter.

Instead, thanks to the focus on improving the dryland training facilities in place, the fourth-floor training room had mats, trampolines, dryland dive stands, spotting equipment (2), etc. When a coach from a country where diving was popular came to Japan, everyone talked about what they pointed out about the current conditions: “What’s lacking in Japan isn’t diving pools, but dryland training equipment.” With that in mind, Tomoki and the others could be said to be in a privileged environment.

But, in general, divers hated dryland training for being monotonous and for being difficult to measure achievements in it. Elementary schoolers in particular tended to skip practice, so compared to the Tatsumi Swimming Center, which always echoed with their shrill voices, this place was always quiet.

Today, there were only ten people who have gathered to practice this afternoon. Kayoko still hadn’t returned from her business trip yet, so Tomoki and the others were following the instructions of Ooshima, who was in charge of the elementary students.

For some reason, the always punctual Coach Fujitani was an hour late from the start of practice.

“I have something I’d like to tell everyone. Everyone, go to the AV room.”

Coach Fujitani, who always had a cool exterior, had deeper wrinkles between his brows then usual. Tomoki already had a bad feeling about this.

Even if you opened the blackout curtains in the AV room, which was in the corner on the fourth floor, it was still a dim room. Originally, it was a room set up to study diving using videos and other materials, but Coach Fujitani, who was not good with technology, used it exclusively as a meeting room.

Today, when he confirmed that everyone who went to dryland training was sitting in a pipe chair (3), Coach Fujitani slowly started his talk.

“As a matter of fact, today I received a phone call from the parent of a student who goes here. I will be blunt, because I hate beating around the bush, but the parent complained that Coach Asaki had been favoring a special student.”

Thump, Tomoki’s heart beat faster. When he turned around diagonally to look at Reiji and Ryou, they both looked down at the floor.

“To be honest, I was surprised. As far as I can tell, I didn’t think Coach Asaki was biased towards anyone in her coaching. Someone else might have thought that way, and so bothered their parents. So, please let me know who it is right here.”

There was no mistake. The “special student” was me. And if someone complained, it could only be Reiji or Ryou, who are also coached directly by Kayoko. Tomoki was so convinced about that, he bit his lip.

During the last few weeks, Reiji hadn’t been cheerful, and during the car ride home Ryou always seemed to fall asleep. But there was no way that they were holding a grudge…

“Isn’t it more about trust rather than coaching?” A cool voice sounded in the stuffy room. Everyone looked at the owner. It was Youichi.

“It’s been quite a long time since that coach came, but we still don’t know anything about her. Don’t they usually introduce themselves a little bit, like talking about their career or diving history?”

“Normally. But that was Coach Asaki’s wish, so I wouldn’t dare to talk about her.”

“Is talking about her too dangerous?”

“No, nothing like that. Her identity is guaranteed by me.”

“If that’s the case, then please tell us. Who is that person?”

“That is…”

“I think we have the right to know. Diving is a risky sport, and if you do it wrong, your life is in danger, so shouldn’t you tell me the background of the coach who I’m entrusting my life to?”

Even with his reasonable appeal, Youichi wasn’t actually thinking about those troublesome things that much. Even a little kid would know that he was just curious about the woman named Kayoko. Only one person, Coach Fujitani, his father, could always accept all of his directness.

“Right to know, huh? You do have a point there.” Coach Fujitani said, as though he was trying to look gracious. “All right. If you want to know something about Coach Asaki, I will take on the responsibility and try to answer. I will explain to her later.”

Youichi was silent at once upon hearing this, as though he had lost interest. There was only an awkward silence in the AV room.

“Well, can you please tell us about her career?” It was Ryou who broke the silence. “I’ve never heard of a competitor named Asaki Kayoko, but was she a former diver?”

“Ah, it seemed that she was quite the promising athlete when she was a junior. You’ve never heard of her, because she was in America.”

“America?”

“She’s what they call a ‘returnee child’ (4). She spent eight years in New York since she was six years old, and left when she was fourteen.”

“New York…”

The eyes of the elementary schoolers, who weren’t paying attention until then, shone all at once. They loved words like “America” and “New York” and “White House”.

“She started to dive around eight years old. Though she quit after she returned to Japan, after she graduated high school, she decided to study diving again and went to America alone that time. However, that time she wasn’t studying it as a diver, but as a future diving coach. Why do you think?”

To everyone racking their minds for the answer, Coach Fujitani looked at the floor and said, “It’s this place.”

“It’s so that one day she’d return to Japan and become an MDC coach here.”

“So, it’s because she wants to be a coach here?”

“Yes. Anyways, she wanted to learn about techniques that weren’t in Japan. She’s been learning about coaching diving for six years over there.”

“But why would she go through all that for just this…”

“Why would she go that far for this tiny club? No one can read another’s mind, but I think that Coach Asaki wanted to succeed her grandfather’s dying wish. The president never stopped wishing for the development of the Japanese diving world.”

“President?”

“Coach Asaki is the granddaughter of the passed-away president of Mizuki.”

“!”

The cramped room erupted into noise at once.

Asaki Kayoko is the granddaughter of the former president of Mizuki. To this sudden reveal, the elementary schoolers, who also loved words like “Princess” and “Heiress” (5), became increasingly excited. Tomoki, of course, was also surprised, but on the other hand, somewhere in his heart he strangely accepted it.

That rather imposing attitude despite being new. How she’d coach her own way without caring about whether it was troubling everyone. An ojou-sama’s temperament of saying whatever she wanted to say. And, going to Aomori as soon as she wanted to go—

Everything pointed towards her being the granddaughter of the MDC founder.

“Even though she learned diving in America, it’s true that it’s still too early for Coach Asaki to become a mentor. She’s young, and she’s not perfect at everything. But, I can guarantee her diving intuition. Her enthusiasm about rebuilding the MDC is also genuine. Firstly, she is a benefactor who persuaded the executives who wanted to close down this club to keep it open on a condition. Can you please see this from the long-term for a little while?”

Though Coach Fujitani tried to end the talk there, Youichi did not miss that small opening.

“What is the condition for keeping the club open?”

He hit an unpleasant topic. Coach Fujitani’s face clearly said so.

“What is it, that condition?”

“That’s…”

Coach Fujitani, who seemed to be at a loss for words again, looked like his stomach hurt too much and prevented him from speaking any more.

“It’s the Olympics.”

He said it while looking at all of them again.

“Our club will send a member who will represent Japan to the next Olympics in Sydney. That is the condition to keep MDC open.”

“…”

The dark room got quiet enough to hear water drip. Nothing made a sound. Of course, the elementary schoolers loved words like “Olympics” and “champion”, but those were distant words that will never happen to them. For the middle schoolers like Tomoki and the others, and the high-schooler Youichi, they were supposed to have been distant.

_______________________________________________________________

It was about a year and a half until the next Olympics.

It will be more than a year until the representative qualifying trials that will be held in either April or May.

Does Kayoko intend to train the athlete who will get a ticket to Sydney at the qualifying trials herself? “What we are aiming for are the Olympics.” Was that not just lip service…?

Even after they returned to training room from the AV room, Tomoki practiced as though he was outside of his body. This is nuts, he thought. Youichi might one day get the right to represent at the Olympics with his talent and hard work. However, next year was just too hasty.

“Don’t think things like it’s impossible.”

Youichi’s voice came from behind him. During mat work, Tomoki had been unknowingly hugging his knees on the urethane mat.

“Don’t give up before you even start. It’s possible for anyone. For me, and for you too.”

“But, it’s…impossible. It’s only next year.”

“True, it might be impossible if it’s any other competition. But we are athletes on the lowest tier doing a minor sport, so that’s why everyone has a chance.”

Sitting down next to Tomoki, Youichi kept talking on quickly. It was the first-time Tomoki ever saw him so excited.

“Look, I can participate in the Olympics in the singles diving category, and it’s best with three people of mixed sexes. One of them will probably be Hyogo’s Teramoto Kenichirou. He’s strong, and he’s Japan’s ace who can compete with the champions overseas. But everyone else who’s trying for the remaining two spots are almost as good too. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see whoever gets the chance. Besides, diving competitions rely a lot on gambles, so the situation can change whichever way depending on how the day of the qualifying trials goes.”

“But, I’m not one of those people who are almost as good.”

“If you’re going to be one of them, you should hurry up, there’s still time. There were also divers in Japan who just started to dive and ended up at the Olympics in three years. What’s wrong with you being the representative when you’ve been diving for six years?” Youichi declared, and then added, “Besides, you also have that woman coach.”

That was also one of the reasons why he felt so depressed. He never discovered who made the complaint that she was favoring him back there…

As Youichi walked away, Tomoki looked over the training room with listless eyes. It was a bit smaller than his middle school gym, with wooden floors. Reiji and Ryou were doing takeoff practice on a dryland dive stand in the corner.

Six years ago, Reiji started to dive with him around the same time, and Ryou joined six months later. In those days, they still had a lot of teammates, and everyone had lots of noisy fun together, but, every time the water struck someone’s body too hard, they lost one person, and every time someone’s grades dropped, they lost two people…eventually, the only remaining teammates were the three of them.

They were just three people, but despite that he was able to continue until now, all the while putting up with everything and encouraging each other.

When he thought about that, he felt unbearably lonely. After hesitating, Tomoki resolutely walked towards the two of them.

“Um, look…”

Reiji, who was in front of Tomoki, looked down uncomfortably, while Ryou raised his chin up in challenge.

“It was shown to me before, that self-training schedule. I only took it from Coach Asaki, and she told me to do it if I wanted to. That’s why it’s not special treatment. That’s all it is.”

“That’s all it is?”

Ryou’s voice was lowered.

“It might be just that for you, Tomo, but for those of us who didn’t get an self-training schedule, it isn’t just that.”

“…”

“It’s always like that for you. At last year’s Kanto meet, Reiji and I performed better than you. But Coach Fujitani always fussed over you, and even Youichi-kun is always friendly with you.”

“That’s…”

“But I was always waiting. Someday, a hardworking coach with a good eye will appear and pick me over you, and they will draw out my unseen talent. I was waiting for such a long time, and when the hardworking coach finally came, of course she picked you over me.”

Ryou’s voice trembled, and he had red eyes. The braggart, prideful Ryou had exposed himself so much in this way…

To Tomoki, who was standing there not knowing what to do, Reiji said, “It’s okay, Tomo, because you’re aiming for the Olympics with Coach Asaki.”

Those certainly sounded like words of support. And yet, they were actually spat at him. Reiji’s cold eyes and twisted lips were signalling that Tomo should go somewhere else since it’s too difficult to stay here any longer.

“Alright. But I…”

But I never said that I wanted to go to the Olympics.

Swallowing the words that he wanted someone to listen to, Tomoki left the two people in front of him. He also left the training room like that, and as soon as he got home he crawled into bed.

The next day, in the still-dim early morning, the Sakai household garden resounded with the barks of Chikuwa calling for his jogging buddy. But he didn’t appear for a long time.

_______________________________________________________________

Translation Notes

1. The forward steps taken by a diver to the front of the platform before the takeoff.

2. Spotting equipment is the equpiment you see gymnasts hooked up to to perform tumbles and somersaults and stuff like that. Divers use them as well to perfect the specifics of their moves. Pics here.

3. Pics here.

4. Word used here is “ 帰国子女”, which means “child who has returned to their country of birth”. These kids had taken parts of their education overseas.

5. The words used here are “社長令嬢” and “御曹司” which mean “President’s daughter” (respectfully) and “child of noble family” respectively. It was really hard trying to find words for them…

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