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DIVE!! (Light Novel) - Book 2 Chapter 3 - The Latter Half
Book 2 Chapter 3 - The Latter Half
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Whenever his mind got noisy before something important, Shibuki always remembered that color.
The color of the restless sky.
As dark as a swirling muddy stream.
The uneasiness of that night, waiting for his grandfather and father who hadn’t come back from fishing yet.
Shibuki was still eight at the time. His grandfather, Shiraha, was a master at reading the sky, but the storm from that day was too sudden. “For generations, the Okitsu family had betted their lives by throwing themselves into the sea in order to calm the wrath of the sea god. The sea god will always protect us.” Although his mother had repeated that with pale lips, at dawn the sky was clear as if nothing had happened, but the boat that the two of them were on did not return.
There was no god in the sea. Only Death was there.
From that time on the ocean, which he had been vaguely frightened of until then, distinctly became Shibuki’s enemy. In order to fight against that enemy, in order to not lose against the sea that had swallowed up his grandfather and father, Shibuki continued to dive after that. Originally, diving was just one part of his daily life. Shiraha had taught him how to dive like how he taught him to use chopsticks. His father had become the head fisherman at a young age, so his head was always filled with planning the modernization of fishing and hunting in a neighbouring village, which had been falling behind, so he left his children to his wife and father.
The hills sprouted green. The lush, fragrant wind. The sea’s color constantly shifted from red, to orange, bright yellow, deep purple and ink black according to the time of day as it reflected the sky. That was Shibuki’s swimming pool, and the steep cliffs were his diving platform. He had never been dissatisfied with that majestic stage.
If he could soar from the one-meter tall cliff, then next was from two meters. If he could soar from the two-meter tall cliff, then he would soar from three meters. With every step he ascended, Shibuki grew a little bit. Every time he failed and struck the water, he became stronger. When his friends asked him things like “Isn’t it dangerous?” or “Aren’t you scared?”, he stuck out his chest and answered, “Only cowards stay on land for their whole lives. The sky and the sea belong to me alone.”
It was in spring when he started elementary school that his grandfather, who was the target of his aspirations, used to be an athlete for something called competitive diving. His taciturn grandfather never spoke about his past, and his family avoided that topic as though it was a taboo. When he was at the age where he was able to organize the bits and pieces of the story that came into his head from outside, that was how Shibuki learned Shiraha’s sensitive position in the village for the first time.
“Okitsu’s grandpa didn’t learn his lesson.”
He finally understood the meaning of those cynical smiles that they were met with sometimes when they were practicing. Though Okitsu Shiraha was the son of the head fisherman, he was lured by the city and threw away the sea. He went to Tokyo for his dreams of the world and the Olympics, but in the end his dreams were unsuccessful and he returned to the village…
Winners were praised thoroughly and lifted to the skies, while losers had backs turned on them coldly. Resentment grew in Shibuki’s child mind towards the sudden change in the people who started their support of Shiraha at his peak to raise the village up.
Maybe his grandfather continued to dive after coming home because he didn’t want to lose to their cold eyes. By continuing to challenge the sea, maybe he wanted to validate himself, who was still living. After Shiraha’s death, as the years passed Shibuki became driven by those thoughts.
For Shibuki, diving was the challenge to the sea, which he had inherited from Shiraha, as well as a ceremony for calming the souls of his grandfather and father, who were scattered into the sea. Even though his back felt like it was broken and in pain every time he penetrated the surface of the sea, that was why Shibuki never thought to stop diving, much less leave the sea.
A few years after that stormy night, when a man, who claimed to be the president of a sports company, came to scout him when he had heard of the story from somewhere, Shibuki did not feel like going to Tokyo at all either.
“Okitsu Shiraha was an unparalleled diver. I thought that such a genius would never appear again. But, my heart was shaking when I saw your diving. You are like Shiraha…no, you might be a diver who’s even better than Shiraha.”
Despite his old age, the man visited him frequently with enthusiasm, and endeavoured to persuade him with all sorts of words. But, Shibuki knew the whole story of the genius diver Okitsu Shiraha. Shibuki, who had grown up watching his miserable figure after returning home, thought the man was only spouting thoughtless fantasies.
“There’s the enormous sea in front of my eyes. Why should I bother diving into a pool?”
Even when Shibuki revealed his hatred for diving events, the man persevered.
“In the old days, it seemed that diving competitions used to take place at the sea, but ever since diving pools were built it became commonplace to do them there. It’s the same as the giraffe’s neck becoming long, since it would be more convenient that way.”
“The sea isn’t inconvenient.”
“But there are no referees in the sea. No spectators, or opponents to fight with.”
“I’m fighting with the sea.”
“You are brave. But, sometimes it isn’t bad to fight with people. Have you ever seen a diving competition?”
“Only once on TV. It was like little kids playing in a sandbox.”
A pool fenced in by four sides. A box where neither the sky nor the clouds could be seen. His grandfather was stuffed into that cramped place, and despite having potential, his chance was stolen away by the war, and returned to his village as only a loser.
“The sea is the only place that I’ll be diving in. I don’t feel like repeating Gramps’ mistakes all over again.”
Shibuki stubbornly refused to join. Pools and diving clubs were part of a world that had nothing to do with him, and he did not intend to have anything to do with it, ever. Until, after that man died, his granddaughter—Asaki Kayoko—suddenly appeared before him.
“So basically, you are scared?”
I’m different from my grandfather, because I don’t want to leave the sea. I never had any interest in diving events in the first place. To Shibuki, who always turned her down with the same complaints, Kayoko provoked him.
“You are scared of leaving the sea. You are scared of stepping into a new world. You are scared of destroying what you had built with your grandfather.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are the grandson of Okitsu Shiraha, the legendary genius. The phantom diver who only dives into the sea. You certainly are cool. If you stay here, you can stay a phantom forever. You would never lose to anyone or be discouraged, or suffer the ridicule of failure. You won’t be going to the pool unless you risk danger for something.”
“Gramps didn’t go to Tokyo to risk danger. He thought and expected that there would be something amazing there if he went, so he went there all excited. But there was nothing. Gramps had nothing left, and he wasn’t able leave anything either.”
“He did. Even if it wasn’t medals or records…”
“Don’t say that he survived in people’s memories.”
Shibuki laughed her off.
“Whatever you leave in a memory, unless it has a form, then it’s no good. If it couldn’t be seen, it’s a loss. You’d know that when you see that copper statue of Ninomiya Kinjirou those bastards in the village built as an insult. If it couldn’t be seen, then it’s a loss.”
To Shibuki who flatly disavowed Shiraha’s past, “Well then, let me show you.” Kayoko had declared decisively at that time. “I can show you what your grandfather left behind.”
“What?”
“However, only if you grant the wish that my grandfather left behind.”
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Shibuki was reminded of that day as he stepped onto the ten-meter platform again.
In the end, he had been successfully lured in by Kayoko. It was hook, line and sinker. The world of the pool that he had been dragged into was unexpectedly deeper than he had thought.
The qualifying trials had entered into its second half. If he won this competition and went to Beijing, would he see something even deeper?
Everyone before him who had already finished the first of their free-choice dives didn’t make any huge mistakes, and cautiously accumulated points. Meanwhile, the only one who stood out a lot was Flaming Jirou, who attempted a super dive with a degree of difficulty of 3.2, and was honourably defeated by being smashed into tiny little pieces. His unequaled super failed dive, which resembled a shrimp falling into tempura oil, was even a bit touching. Indeed, it would be rather refreshing if he failed daringly like that. Shibuki strangely admired it, and even felt a little guilty when thinking about his own first half.
Of course he might be afraid.
Of his first competition.
Of the pool.
Of the judges.
Of the spectators.
Of his rivals.
Of everything that wasn’t in the sea.
Of the unknown next step.
He might have been afraid for a long time—
As soon as he admitted that to himself, his body felt lighter. All the unnecessary power in his body was pulled out, and only the essential power remained.
Now he could soar. He felt like he could soar…
Shibuki approached vigorously, kicked off the tip of the platform with all his strength, and took off.
Forward 1½ somersaults, 2 twists in free position.
It was Kayoko’s strategy to make the fifth group, which he was good at, as the first dive of the second half. When Shibuki, with his excellent muscles, carved his front-to-back somersaults, the atmosphere shook and swirled around like a whirlpool, as though it had been struck by a tornado. Only the closed-off venue had wind. A sea breeze that smelled like the wild. It was the scent of the sea of Tsugaru.
For a moment, everyone forgot about the time and space.
And then, Shibuki returned to blowing up powerful splashes again.
His entry was as fierce as ever. An earth tremor, like the sound of an explosion, sounded in the venue, and a towering column of water erupted. Shibuki still wasn’t good enough to use the saving technique to put together a full-power dive and a beautiful entry yet.
However, he was fully aware of that. Shibuki had released all of the power that he had and felt refreshed as he got out of the water. While his rivals on the poolside were astounded, it was impressive that only Flaming Jirou came and asked for a handshake.
It wasn’t only his rivals who were dumbfounded. It was probably due to the bewilderment of the judges, who got sprayed by the splashes directly that it took a while to get the scores onto the electric scoreboard. They were confused about the complete change in Shibuki’s performance from the first half, and their fingers moved across the computer’s keys without being able to sort out their heads. The results that appeared were more severe than expected.
5 points.
5.5 points.
4.5 points.
6 points.
4.5 points.
4 points.
5 points.
His score was 36.75 points.
Shibuki fell to fourth place in just one round.
There were small sighs around the venue, but when Shibuki turned around, Kayoko was smiling from ear to ear and gave him a big thumbs-up.
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That was the turbulent beginning of the free-choice dives. After that, the competition repeated its seesawing upheavals over and over again.
Diving was a competition where just momentarily carelessness could be fatal, even if you were at the top, and you didn’t when you would tumble down from there. A good example of that was Pinky Yamada.
His ability to concentrate had diminished a bit by the third round of the free-choice dives. Pinky, who was going to take on the armstand forward one somersault in pike position, grabbed the tip of the platform with both hands and tried to push his lower body up, but he lost his balance and both his feet returned to the platform. He balked (1). At that point, the athlete had two points subtracted from them as a penalty, then they would try again.
Doing the retry impatiently was a taboo. In order to correct their disturbed rhythm and to calm down enough to perform again, it was better for the athlete to go back to their standing position and cool their head. However, for some the discomposure of fumbling their start was huge, and even if they knew that, it was difficult to take this “break”. As Pinky was one of those people, he impatiently pushed his feet up from the platform immediately.
His lower body hung in the air remained in an unstable position, and he was wobbling unsteadily around his waist, but even so he still thought he could somehow aim for the top. His arms collapsed beneath him like snapped branches.
By his second retry, his performance was now zero points. The high school girls in the stands who had been cheering shrilly for him, suddenly started to boo at the judges using their natural voices.
In this way Pinky fell to the lower ranks, and instead the more cautious Matsuno and Tsuji gradually increased their scores. After all, the veterans who were used to practicing for competitions knew how to win, including Youichi, who protected first place by a wide lead.
Although Tomoki continued to do well, it was here that the differences between the degrees of difficulty gradually had a big effect. It was still only five months since he started to receive coaching from Asaki Kayoko, and furthermore his opponents were all stronger and older than him. If he managed to stay within the top five places, that would be a brilliant achievement on its own, but there was no hope of participating in the training camp unless he was within third place.
On the other hand, the feral child from Tsugaru kept on making huge splashes, fearing nothing afterwards, and surely dropped his position. But nevertheless, he was still in sixth place even after he finished his fourth performance was probably because he had that much latent strength in his aerial performances.
“If he could get his entry together, second place would be a cinch for him. He would be able to leave behind good memories, but…”
Towards Ooshima, who was dragging out his regrets in the stands, Kayoko retorted back sharply.
“That kid doesn’t want memories.”
“He’ll remain in the records too.”
“He doesn’t believe in scores on paper. See, it’s more than that…”
Contrary to Ooshima’s sullen voice, Kayoko’s face shone like a child waiting impatiently for a show that will start after this.
“Didn’t you notice? From a little while ago, every time Okitsu-kun does a somersault, this noisy place gets quiet for a moment. The people in the main pool stop moving and stare at him. They are captivated by him.”
As if they had been flicked, his eyes moved to the main pool during Shibuki’s fifth performance, and he found that it was true that more than half of the people there were looking up at Shibuki as he performed.
“It was from the time that he started the free-choice dives. The attention for him is infectious, and the eyes that are watching him are steadily increasing in number. The second round more than the first round. The third round more than the second round. Okitsu Shibuki…he’s a terrifying child after all.”
Then, Coach Fujitani, who rarely talked during the competition, murmured from the side, “There are athletes who shine in the water. It’s as if the water particles were putting the spotlight on that person alone, and no one would be able to keep their eyes off of them. Is that like being loved by the water…?”
It was the fifth round for the boy who was loved by the water.
When Shibuki’s body caused huge wave to arise on the water surface once again, a huge stir came from the patrons in the main pool.
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That stir might have ignited Youichi’s fighting spirit.
The sixth round. The last of the free-choice dives. Youichi, who showed no excess flesh anywhere on his body as he stood on the platform, despite being the type who would takeoff as soon as the whistle sounded, spent an unusually long time to psych himself up.
Perhaps he had noticed them. The people who were watching Shibuki from the main pool. The gazes that weren’t directed to himself, who was at the top.
However, it was to the greatness of Youichi that he did not feel discouraged here. Jealousy and humiliation, those that assailed in waves, Youichi repelled with his mental strength. He transformed that bitterness into pure energy, and then at the very end showed off his best performance.
“Rip clean entry!” (2)
Reverse forward 2½ somersault in tuck position. That dive had a degree of difficulty of 2.8, and when Youichi’s body carried it out easily and then disappeared into the water, even the usually cool Coach Fujitani unintentionally let slip his surprise.
“He…when was he able to do such a thing…”
A rip clean entry referred to an entry that was like cleaving through the dark night, where not even the slightest bit of sound was made. It was the best technique that went beyond the rip entry. Even the top divers overseas seldom displayed it, but now Youichi successfully pulled it off for the first time on center stage.
9 points.
9 points.
10 points.
9.5 points.
10 points.
9.5 points.
10 points.
There were three full scores shining on the scoreboard. At this point, Youichi was immoveable from first place.
After that, although each diver faced their last dives, perhaps because they were after Youichi’s performance, it was followed by unsatisfying scores that weren’t quite as good.
By the time the eleventh person finished their final performance, the top three were as followed.
Fujitani Youichi-550.23 points.
Tsuji Toshihiko-439.91 points.
Matsuno Kiyotaka-438.59 points.
Matsuno had made a painful mistake at the last minute, so Tsuji surpassed him by cheaply carrying himself up.
Incidentally, Shibuki’s total score after the fifth round was 337.61 points, while Tomoki’s was 378.73 points. Shibuki was already out, but if Tomoki was able to get more than 59.86 points in his final dive, he would be able to catch up with Matsuno, and if he got more than 61.18 points, he would be able to catch up with Tsuji, and thus encroach into the top three.
That was the high stakes competition that Tomoki carried into the end.
The forward 3½ somersaults in tuck position—
With this dive with a degree of difficulty of 2.7, Tomoki needed his average score to be about 7.4 if he was going to fall within third place.
Just a month ago, while he kept making troubled faces about not being able to do the 3½ no matter what, Shibuki had looked up at Tomoki on the platform. He looked just like a normal middle schooler, and indeed, although he was also a normal middle schooler on the inside, once he threw himself into the air, he sparkled with brightly with something extraordinary. Tomoki’s biggest weakness is that he wasn’t able to be aware of that extraordinariness, but now that he was on the ten-meter, he stood proudly there with an unusual confidence. He might have accepted his talent at last…
Tomoki raised his chin up a little, approached like a cat chasing a bird, and floated into the air lightly. He jumped as though he couldn’t feel gravity. His flexible movements were brought about by his double-jointedness. Compared to many divers, who pushed their bodies with power when somersaulting, as Tomoki’s somersaults descended from up high, there was a natural lightness to them as though he had simply just rotated around somehow. It was largely due to his excellent kinetic vision, but Tomoki demonstrated his talents so much that everyone watching felt that his 3½ was splendid, like he was floating through the air.
His final water entry was a bit shaky.
Because of that, a small splash went up.
However, in any case the middle school second year Tomoki succeeded at the 3½ at an official competition.
Tomoki, who got out of the water, turned to Kayoko in the stands with a face that exclaimed, “I did it!”
While his rivals made a stir for the brilliant accomplishment of that unknown middle school student, the scoreboard eventually displayed the scores of his fate.
8 points.
7 points.
7 points.
6.5 points.
7.5 points.
8 points.
6 points.
Total score, 58.32 points.
The sleeping lion had not yet awakened. Despite feeling a momentum that seemed like it could charge anywhere once awakened, Tomoki was still missing 1.54 points.
And then it was number fifteen, Shibuki’s final performance—
Shibuki had thrown away the right to participate at the joint training camp a long time ago. He was no longer interested in rankings. His commitment to the competition disappeared along with his desire for first place, and now within Shibuki, there was only the swelling in his chest left as he was trying exhaustively to burn everything that he had.
Soothing his almost paralyzed back from the latter half of the competition, he walked up the steps of the ten-meter while telling himself that this was the very last one. When he reached the top, Shibuki looked down at the unexpected scenery below.
The patrons of the main pool were welcoming him with applause.
The little kids.
The young couples.
The high school group.
The ladies on diets.
The avid swimmers with goggles on.
The elderly couples doing underwater walking.
Even the lifeguards on the poolside.
Those who had come for their hobbies, fun or making up for their lack of exercise had forgotten their original goal, or were driven off to somewhere for the time being, and were looking at him on the platform. Curiosity, anticipation and longing intermingled in their gazes. Something that was scattered until just a while ago—and something that will fall apart again, had now become one and were going towards him.
He was trembling.
It was like looking at the sea burning in the red tide.
And therefore, something unusual would occur. It was he who would make it occur. When he thought that, the center of his body grew hot. An urge that he could not put into words welled up within him, until he could no longer wait for the whistle that started the beginning of the performance.
“It’s when the blood in your vessels begins to grow restless, as if it’s at high tide. Your body gets hot, you become filled with power, and now you feel like you can do anything.”
He recalled the words that Kayoko had confronted him with on his first day at the MDC.
It was true, he felt like he could do anything right now…
He took a deep breath, and spread his arms. He bent his knees and sprang like a bow. With the ardent attention of the people behind him, Shibuki sent his huge body flying into midair.
Reverse backward 2½ somersaults in pike position.
Above the twenty-five square meters pool, his brown limbs flashed like lightning.
That size. That height. That power—
The venue illuminated by the afternoon sun fell silent, and the patrons turned into spectators held their breaths, not moving even the slightest bit.
He had completely burned up.
With that astounding leg strength, he was the boy who approached closest to the ceiling today, and as he steeply dropped to the water surface after finishing his somersaults, he thought about his grandfather.
Gramps hated experiencing this thrill…
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Translation Notes:
1. A balk is when a diver begins the motions for a dive but discontinues it before leaving the diving board.
2. A rip entry is the ideal perfect entry where a diver enters the water with no splashes, and they make a ripping sound as they do so.
