Published at 25th of August 2019 11:23 pm

Book 4 Chapter 4 - Oh, My Jinx!

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Tomoki seemed to have dived successfully. Although it was difficult to see his aerial performance well from above the steps, the judges’ scores told all. Four of them gave 8.5 points, and two of them gave 8 points. One gave 7.5 points. It was a good performance if all those points were applied to a dive from Group 6. What’s more, Tomoki had never received anything less than 7 points from a judge today. He did accurate performances with no mistakes. Did Tomoki unnoticedly learn what was both the easiest and the hardest?

After Tomoki, who served as the anchor for the third round, Reiji, as the person in the top of the fourth round, took in three deep breaths while waiting for the whistle to signal the start of the performance.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

Other people were other people. He was himself. In less than a year, he surely had it thoroughly beaten into him that he had not one single good thing to compare with others. Regardless of Tomoki, because he did what he himself should have done, it was alright. Even at the time of the fourth round’s performance, before he got onto the platform he diligently performed bending and stretching exercises three times, stepping onto the stairs with his right foot. Stopping at the tip of the five-meter, he swallowed the word “water” that he had written on his palm with his finger. (1) He could only leave luck to heaven.

When Reiji dealt with a competition, he tended to not settle down unless he faithfully did the huge pile of jinxes that he created himself. He never told anyone about it because it seemed stupid to tell people, but to Reiji, they were sacred rites.

“Stretching three times” itself wasn’t very meaningful, and he was all too aware of that. During a competition, when he stretched three times before going up to the platform, he ended up with a good result by chance. Even though he knew it wasn’t because of the stretching, Reiji was relieved by adding it to the countless numbers of jinxes on his Jinx List.

He understood himself a little. Reiji was the type who got extremely anxious. That’s why he continued to create jinxes to preserve himself. The more jinxes he had, the more they filled his head just by performing them, and he could hold his many idle thoughts at bay.

But, on this day…only on this day of fate, it was almost impossible to only think about his jinxes.

And so, he failed. When he was waiting just some time ago, he had messed up calling out to Tomoki, who had been about to go on for his turn.

“Um, just now, Youichi-kun…”

Tomoki probably dived with the words he said in mind. If he made a mistake it would be his fault. Although, if he had finished his sentence, Tomoki definitely would have messed up his diving while dragging around a terrible shock.

Remembering that feeling, Reiji’s shoulders suddenly shook. He himself was still dragging around that shock.

The feeling of Youichi’s palm, which he placed on Reiji’s shoulder as he told him, “Yo, do your best” just before the beginning of the finals.

Like it was shivering, like it was burning.

“Um, just now, Youichi-kun…”

Felt really hot—.

_______________________________________________________________

Reiji had already noticed that Youichi wasn’t in perfect condition. Although Youichi had abstained from the springboard diving competition that took place before this high diving competition, giving the reason of poor physical health, but he didn’t think that was necessarily a lie either. However, even if he was in perfect condition, Youichi probably would have abstained from the springboard anyways in order to fight with the same conditions as Tomoki and Shibuki.

He had started his fierce training session two weeks before today’s qualifying trials. Though the sight of someone seeming to breathe fire was no longer unusual at the MDC, he didn’t think that Youichi would be desperate enough to take on a new event at the last minute.

The reverse 2½ somersaults in pike position. It was a difficult dive, but the degree of difficulty wasn’t especially high. Was it worth it to go so far as to take a break from school just to go to the pool every single day?

For Reiji, Youichi was showing an inexplicable obsession. Youichi, who was receiving intensive training from Kayoko until he was exhausted, had astonishingly managed to actualize that new event in such a short time. He said he’d do it, and he did. That was Youichi. Even though the success rate of a no-splash entry was still low, it truly was monstrous to be able to master a new event in just two weeks.

But, his body was human. As the monster rampaged more and more, the body would exhaust itself by bearing that burden. Day by day, Youichi grew more haggard, and lost more color from his skin. Even so, he never tried to rest his body. Even yesterday before the competition, after returning from sightseeing around Kobe with the others and talking about Asaki Kayoko in Reiji’s room, he must have been doing self-training by himself until the middle of the night.

Reiji knew that because after everyone left last night, he noticed in his phone’s call history that he got a call from Ryou. Out of consideration for his roommate Sachiya, who was already sleeping soundly in his bed, he went out to the lobby from his room to try to call Ryou back, and happened to come across Youichi, who had a nylon bag in hand for practicing in the hallway.

“I thought I’d get a commemorative stamp at Tsutenkaku.” (2)

Youichi glossed it over with a lame joke, but he got on the same elevator as Reiji and pressed the button for B1 instead of the front lobby. The laundromat and the ping-pong room were in B1. As well as the heated swimming pool.

Is he going to go practice in the pool…?

The moment he had that hunch, Reiji felt a bad uneasiness. Youichi, who was so cornered that he couldn’t help but practice at the last minute, had eerie, purplish skin.

That was why on this day, Reiji wasn’t very surprised that Youichi didn’t do all that well in the preliminaries.

But, when I was touched by that hot palm…

He felt that the cogs of the day had gone wild in that one moment.

No matter how much his condition worsened, no matter how much he lost his composure, he would definitely overcome it in the end, because he was Youichi. And so, when he smiled his usual proud smile, Reiji believed in him up until right before that hot hand touched him.

However, if Youichi’s poor condition was more serious than he thought, then he couldn’t see the outcome of this important match at all. Anyhow, in order to compensate for Youichi’s poor condition today, Tomoki and Shibuki continued their faultless steady advances from the preliminaries.

Of course, the other non-MDC athletes still had a chance.

Right at the moment he was waiting for the whistle, Reiji’s gaze wandered towards the divers standing in a line at the bottom of the steps.

When it came to winning the championships, currently it was Pinky…er, Camel Yamada who was at the top. Was it human to be able to change so much just with one image color? Nakayama was also a dark horse, who, with his high difficulty dives, won’t be outdone by Youichi. Or, could it be Asama, who was the oldest and had the most mature performances, who would be laughing in the end?

As the faces of each major contender sprang up in his mind, Reiji noticed that he wasn’t including himself there even in his imagination and smiled bitterly.

It couldn’t be helped.

Other people are other people. I am myself. Just like how Tomoki has his own rivals and Camel has his own rival, I have my own rival.

What matters now is defeating that rival.

Reiji switched gears and glared at the tall diver who was waiting for his turn right behind him.

Moriya Kazuteru, who passed the preliminaries in eleventh place. No matter who he lost to in these finals, he was the only one who he definitely wouldn’t lose to. Therefore, if he didn’t dive carefully and cautiously for each round…

Reiji renewed his enthusiasm for the fourth round.

Stop focusing on Tomoki and Shibuki and get fired up by them. Don’t try to make yourself look bigger, perform calmly like in practice, and steadily go through with it. I can’t defeat Moriya by diving like I’m gambling desperately, because first, that way of diving doesn’t suit me.

_______________________________________________________________

“Reiji, your diving gives off a feeling of, like, stuffiness. It’s nice to be careful, but I mean, it’s not very impressive, and it’s missing appeal.”

Last night, that was just said to Reiji by Ryou on the phone.

“Anyways, isn’t it fun diving by yourself? For at least once, you should make yourself explode with a bang, be more extreme, and try to do things as you want to do them. Even for tomorrow’s competition, since there’s no chance you’re going to win, you should be more adventurous.”

It seems that Ryou, who had been playing nothing but basketball everyday nowadays, was encouraging his former clubmate who had his fateful battle coming up soon, in his own way.

But, honestly, what he’s saying is just unpleasant, Reiji thought. Even though Ryou can’t see the good points of people at all, he excels at finding out the things that they don’t want to see.

He was faithful to the basics. He had a sense of stability. The balance for his entire body was good. Those special qualities of Reiji could also be taken for boringness, monotony, and lack of personality if he made just one mistake. He himself knew that. To sum it up in one word, unremarkable. In place of having few failures he had no big success, and in place of being thoroughly trashed he had never been praised. He often heard the word “sparkle” in sports manga, (3) as in “I can’t stand to see the inexperience, lack of skill, roughness, and clumsiness in your performance, but there is a sparkle of light in it”. Reiji was lacking that sparkle that easily, almost unfairly converted all his negatives to positives.

But, in the end, this is my own diving.

After worrying about his troubles, it was a testament of Keisuke’s great power of being the MDC’s head coach that he came to be satisfied with that.

There is no point in asking yourself for something that isn’t within you. Develop something specific and change it into power. Keisuke encouraged Reiji by saying that at every opportunity.

In the first place, a comment from Keisuke was also the impetus for him to begin diving.

“Why don’t you join the club and try diving fully? Perhaps you can grow up to become the part of the best three in the Japanese Championships.”

The summer of second grade. Reiji had just been stamped with the mark of disqualification of the coach of the gymnastics club that he frequented until then, having been told that “your body is too big for gymnastics”. He had been somewhat hurt by the first setback in his life and became dispirited. As such, Keisuke, who called out to him in a diving try-out class he was invited to by his friends, was like a “god of picking up” (4) for Reiji.

It wasn’t just Reiji; there were quite a lot of athletes who switched from gymnastics to diving. Gymnastics fostered physical strength and flexibility, which manifested as they were in aerial performances.

At the time when Reiji started, he was much quicker to learn than Tomoki, who joined around the same time. Of course, he was scared at first, and it took time for him to get used to the feeling of landing in the water. Even so, he gradually gained experience, competed with Tomoki and Ryou, and polished his skills little by little while supporting them. Also, while priding himself on the inside for leading one step beyond Tomoki and Ryou.

That had been the story up until that lady coach appeared.

After Asaki Kayoko appeared, the MDC changed dramatically. It was like they were sparrows chirping on an electric line for all that time and getting swallowed up by turbulent air, and then crossing over towards the sea all together. Tomoki successfully spread his wings riding on that stream. Next thing they knew, Shibuki, with his strange wings, joined them, bringing about a new wind. Finally, even Youichi bared the talons that he had been hiding, and began to reveal his fighting spirit. When he wondered where exactly they were going, they said they were aiming for Sydney.

The Olympics—.

“Perhaps you can grow up to become the part of the best three in the Japanese Championships.”

For Reiji, who had adopted that sentence as his target, it seemed like an unreal, illusory stage.

Other people are other people. I am myself. It was after that that he came to repeat it over and over, like an incantation.

To be honest, he was envious of Tomoki. There were times where he was jealous of him, frustrated with him, and didn’t want to see his face. Please let me quit the MDC. He murmured that sentence many times in his mouth. But, when he thought about Keisuke’s sad-looking eyes every time a student left, he wasn’t able to discard from himself the “god” who had once picked him up.

If he kept going anyways…he could have encouraged himself to head for the Olympics against his will. However, as Reiji took one step forward, Tomoki was always advancing five and ten steps forward. No matter how much he flapped his wings he couldn’t catch up to him, and on the contrary, the distance between them was widening. Before he knew it, he had completely strayed away from the flock that was headed to Sydney. No, maybe he was the only one who thought he was flying together with everyone else, even for a moment.

While glancing sideways at the quickly overheating representative battle, in order to continue diving anyways, Reiji took a long time to make himself understand one thing.

Tomoki’s goal was different from his own goal. Therefore, their paths were different. Their paces were different.

Being different was fine.

Best three at the Japanese Championships.

Wasn’t that enough to boast to his children and grandchildren in the future?

_______________________________________________________________

To Reiji, who got to that point steadily, his breakthrough in the preliminaries of this grand stage was, without exaggeration, a wonderful, major event that was so delightful that it seemed slightly strange.

Reiji knew that no one expected him to advance to the finals, much less win the competition. Though he thought that was understandable since it was a battle filled with veterans, at times even he wanted to create a miracle. A miracle that people like Tomoki, Shibuki, and Youichi could create. No matter how tiny it was.

“Congratulations, Rei-kun. It’s just like a miracle!”

It was a blessing from Sachiya, so he accepted it obediently. Not only Sachiya, but all of the MDC, including Keisuke, congratulated Reiji, and they were happy that they were all together.

Reiji knew that effort wasn’t always rewarded. Nevertheless, if he pressed on, if he didn’t give up, then one day that day might come.

During the lunch break after the preliminaries, Reiji went outside the venue, feeling as though he was floating on air. Sitting on the stairs that extended from the entrance of the giant dome to the traffic roundabout, he exposed his dizzy head to the cold December wind. They weren’t the main stairs that led to front entrance, as he purposely chose a deserted, out-of-the-way corner. It was because of a jinx where other people must not step on his shadow on the day of the competition until victory or defeat was reached.

Jinx. Perhaps it was thanks to his jinxes that he was unexpectedly able to stay in the finals.

Reiji thought back quickly on the day.

The competition began in the morning from the moment you woke up. Just like what Keisuke often said, Reiji’s jinxes also began in the morning, from the moment he woke up. The very first thing was his wake-up orange juice (more than 30% fruit juice). Breakfast was mainly vegetables and fish. He didn’t eat meat. Since the hotel’s breakfast was mainly Japanese food in a buffet style, that wasn’t a problem. He drank water at breakfast, not Japanese tea. That was because the damage would be too great if the tea stalk didn’t float upright (5). And he always cut his nails after breakfast. When he went to the competition, he wore dark-coloured clothing on a clear day, and wore bright clothing on cloudy or rainy days. In other words, he prepared two sets of clothing in advance. He entered the venue with his right foot. He used an odd-numbered coin locker. He put his left foot through his swim trunks first. He ate an apple one hour before the competition started (in case he couldn’t get an apple, he could substitute with apple juice with more than 30% fruit juice). And so on…

Of course, his current ability was accumulated by working in tandem with his coaches. Whether or not he could demonstrate that ability in his performance was another problem. Reiji thought that if thanks to his jinxes he was able to preserve the calmness of his mind, then they could never be ridiculous. By upholding his jinxes, he was upheld by the jinxes.

Reiji quietly sucked in a breath and looked at the wristwatch on his left hand.

There was an hour and a half before the competition started.

The finals. He, who had passed the preliminaries in dead last, wondered how well he was going to do in them.

Best three? A thousand percent impossible.

Within fifth place? Impossible with that lineup.

Within eighth place? Still unrealistic.

Within tenth place? That’s also uncertain.

Within twelfth place? That was everyone.

He should at least escape from last place. Yes, around eleventh place would be a suitable goal for himself.

I’ll aim for eleventh place!

Reiji swiftly stood up, stepping forward with his right foot with energy. Now, he was heading into battle, and he went towards the entrance hall with bigger strides than usual.

Then, from behind Reiji, the shadow of a person running vigorously suddenly appeared and overlapped with Reiji’s shadow that was stretched out on the stairs, just as he overtook him.

…Shadow?

Reiji, turning around with a start, saw the foot of the man approaching from behind on his shadow and almost fainted.

My…my shadow was stepped on!

_______________________________________________________________

The man who had ruined in an instant the day that he had been paying such meticulous attention to—Moriya Kazuteru.

At that moment, Reiji’s goal changed from “Aim for eleventh place!” to “Beat Moriya!”.

Come hell or high water, he’ll beat Moriya Kazuteru at the very least.

At the moment he waited for the whistle to signal the start of the performance, Reiji gave another menacing look at Moriya, who was behind him.

Watch, Moriya. My careful, faithful to the basics performance.

His event was the forward 1½ somersaults and 1 twist in free position. It was the same dive that Camel Yamada dived in his third round. Though the long-limbed Camel wore a pair of camel-colored swim trunks, he still mesmerized the audience with a performance so beautiful that it was almost disappointing when he sank into the water.

He didn’t have Camel’s beauty, Tomoki’s lightness, Youichi’s skill, or Shibuki’s strength. So, at the very least, he could show a steady, stable performance.

Approach. Take-off. Jump. Rotations. Entry. Reiji rehearsed the series of performances on his mind, and for some reason at that moment, Kayoko’s voice suddenly floated through his head.

“Congratulations, truly, on advancing the finals. So now I have one request for you: in the finals, I hope that you can do a bold performance because it’s okay to fail. When I look at you, Maruyama-kun, how do I say this—it feels like you’re restricting yourself too much. Certainly, it’s important to look at your current self. But, don’t label it as your future self. If you summon your courage and break out of your shell, you would surely burst open a new future from there on out.”

What had she wanted to say? Even though diving cautiously isn’t a bad thing. Does it seem like I don’t have any courage?

Originally, Reiji hadn’t liked Kayoko, who had chosen Tomoki rather than him. It was because of that lady coach that the MDC became chaotic, and it was a little sad that Keisuke faded into the background thanks to her. Therefore, as for the story was that she was going to return to America, deep down Reiji still hadn’t seriously accepted that either.

Stuff like being more extreme, and diving boldly.

Both Ryou and that woman can say whatever they like, because it has nothing to do with them.

But I have my own strategies and chances.

Number one, be cautious; number two, be cautious; there is no three and four, and number five, be cautious!

Right at the moment Reiji renewed his determination, the whistle signalling the start of the performance resounded, and like a needle being stuck into the top of his head, his nervousness ran through his head.

It had been six years. His daily, repeated practices. His numerous, self-created bruises. His tears of frustration. The struggles of trying to balance practice with his studies. His decreasing number of friends. The love letter that he didn’t know how to reply to.

He concentrated all of his nerves to his chest on those things, as he stepped one step forward in his approach.

For a moment, he felt like he was about to faint again.

“Uuh..”

Oh no, I stepped forward with my left foot…!

But his body was already moving.

He wasn’t allowed to stop.

The tip of the platform was coming closer.

Dammit, if it’s like this, then I’m already desperate!

Before the eyes of Reiji, who raised his arms overhead with more force than usual and threw his body out with all his strength, a new future burst open brightly at that moment.

_______________________________________________________________

Rankings as of the Fourth Round (Cumulative)

① Yamada Atsuhiko (197.64 points)

② Okitsu Shibuki (196.86 points)

③ Sakai Tomoki (186.15 points)

④ Ogawa Shinobu (182.97 points)

⑤ Kaburagi Shinji (180.6 points)

⑥ Matsuno Kiyotaka (179.01 points)

⑦ Asama Takashi (177.9 points)

⑧ Nakayama Masahiko (176.1 points)

⑨ Maruyama Reiji (166.02 points)

⑩ Moriya Kazuteru (160.2 points)

⑪ Tsuji Toshihiko (153.51 points)

⑫ Fujitani Youichi (139.11 points)

_______________________________________________________________

Translation Notes

1. You might have seen this in anime or somewhere else, but swallowing a word written on your palm is believed to help you overcome that thing

2. Tsutenkaku Tower is a famous landmark in Osaka where I think you can get stamps and other souvenirs

3. The word used here is “スポ根漫画” which literally means “fighting spirit manga”. “スポ根” (supo-kon or spokon) refers to a Japanese manga, anime, and drama genre from the 1960s where the protagonist overcomes the obstacles in his chosen sport through sheer perseverance and hard work. Titles that helped pioneer this genre include Ashita no Joe and Attack No.1. Many of the shonen sports manga and anime we have today still have many influences from these old works (got all this from wikipedia jp)

4. “God of picking-up” (拾う神) comes from the Japanese idiom “ 捨てる神あれば拾う神あり “ which literally means “when one god abandons you, another one picks you up”, which basically means “when one door is shut, another door is open”

5. A superstition/fortune-telling thing where an upright-floating tea stalk means good luck

Share