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DIVE!! (Light Novel) - Book 4 Chapter 4.5 - One Day, It’ll Come
Book 4 Chapter 4.5 - One Day, It’ll Come
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Sakai Tomoki. Okitsu Shibuki. Camel Yamada.
The finals were repeatedly centred on those three who were locked in a dead heat. The veterans, who everyone thought were going to entangle themselves with the struggle for victory, weren’t doing too well, and on the contrary, there was the unexpected incident of the strongest contender, Fujitani Youichi, being in last place.
Of course, the competition was still ongoing.
Truly strong athletes would show their power in the remaining six rounds of free-choice dives.
It surely wouldn’t end like this—.
Though everyone wished that in their hearts, they all knew full well that competitions were controlled a demon called “the flow of the game”.
In order to challenge that demon with her whole being, Kayoko, with her fierce figure, came running to the poolside immediately after the first half of the free-choice dives were over.
It was an interval before the second half of the free-choice dives began. During that brief period of cease-fire, each athlete rested in their own way, or got worked up in their own way. Those who were engrossed in their meditations on the poolside. Those who were warming their bodies up in the Jacuzzi baths. Those who were seeking guidance from their coaches for the second half. Those who relaxed with their families in the stands. Everyone spent the temporary calm visited upon the choppy sea as they preferred.
Kayoko, with an angry look, barged into that like she was singlehandedly causing a storm.
She ran straight to Youichi, grabbed his arm tightly without saying anything, and dragged him away from the venue with that fierce look on her face again. This was such quick work that Tomoki, Shibuki and Reiji couldn’t react fast enough.
But after a few seconds, the three signalled each other with their eyes, and got moving at once.
As a result, in a few seconds the three disappeared from the poolside.
It was a few more minutes later that they saw Youichi lying down on a bed in the infirmary.
_______________________________________________________________
“He has a high fever.”
From the moment Kayoko informed them of that, their faces looked like they had been hit by water: Tomoki from the ten-meter, Shibuki from the seven-meter, and Reiji from the five-meter. The level of awareness they had about Youichi’s condition transformed into a similar degree of shock that they expressed.
The changing room. The courtyard. The entrance hall. After dashing around the building, they ended up at the infirmary where the dome’s staff showed them to when they asked about those two. Kayoko was sitting on a chair next to the bed she was watching intently, where Youichi was covered with a blanket all the way up to his head and sitting with one knee upright. That knee could be seen as his barely-sustained fighting spirit, but the breathing that escaped from beneath the blanket was heavy.
He didn’t seem like the person who, until just now, climbed up the steps of the ten-meter, did somersaults as he dived from there, and then climbed up the steps again.
“I knew he was sick ever since the qualifiers. But I didn’t think it was this bad…”
Kayoko said with a stifled voice. Behind her back, Tomoki immediately headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To Coach Fujitani…”
“Don’t call him.”
“What?”
“Fujitani-kun said he should absolutely not be called.”
“But, he’s his dad.”
“He said that even if he is his father, it wasn’t like he could dive in his place.”
“That’s…”
Shibuki murmured to Tomoki, who was standing stock-still in front of the door.
“In other words, he still planning on diving.”
Not the slightest movement came from the blanket’s bulge that eight eyes were watching.
Before that stubborn silence, Kayoko shrugged her shoulders.
“It seems that it will be useless to stop him.”
“That’s—you’re making it sound like it’s someone else’s problem…if Youichi-kun dives with that body, he’ll die,” Tomoki unintentionally raised his voice.
“It’s because it’s not someone else’s problem,” Kayoko replied immediately. “I’m telling you it’s because it’s not someone else’s problem. What would you all do if you were in his position? Can you retire here right now?”
The three looked away at the same time.
“You would never be able to do it. Because the Olympics are at stake. That big stage only comes once every four years…and yet, he himself gave up the representation right already once. The pressure to take it back no matter what, for the MDC’s sake and for his own sake as well, should be stronger than anything else. Even if there were a hundred macho-men here, he would shake them off and go up the diving tower. Am I wrong?”
No one could declare that she was wrong.
Youichi, who was placed in the role of Olympic representative for an unsatisfying reason. That place was arranged for him, but he was unable to content himself with it no matter what, and gave it up himself. There was only one way to get back the Olympics of his dreams with his own power. Marking over 600 points or over at today’s competition, and winning—.
He can’t be stopped.
“Shit, if we’d had notice it sooner…”
Shibuki twisted his lips.
“I knew that Fujitani wasn’t putting in one hundred percent of his power at yesterday’s practice. But, I thought that was just an adjustment before the competition. If only we hadn’t gone to Kobe when he had a fever.”
“If only I hadn’t said stuff like wanting to see the ships or the night view.”
“If I had stopped Youichi-kun last night when he was going to practice…”
Right when Reiji tried to follow Shibuki and Tomoki, a sharp voice cut him off.
“Reiji, don’t.”
It was Youichi’s voice.
Six eyes were fixed on the blanket’s bulge again.
However, the remaining two eyes were still staring at Reiji.
“Maruyama-kun, what was that just now?”
“No, it was nothing.”
“What happened last night?”
“I said, nothing…”
“There’s no way it’s nothing!”
Kayoko’s voice was agitated.
“Certainly, Fujitani-kun’s condition hasn’t been well lately. He was near his limit due to accumulated fatigue. That was why I cut practice short yesterday so that he could refresh himself. But, a fever…I would have noticed if he was getting that bad. Hey, what happened last night?”
Kayoko’s interrogation and Youichi’s silent pressure.
Reiji, who was caught between the two of them, teared up.
It was Youichi himself who bailed him out.
“I was practicing in the hotel’s pool last night. I intended on finishing it up lightly, but I overdid it a bit. That’s all.”
“You practiced in the pool at night…?”
Kayoko’s colour changed completely,
“Why do such a stupid thing? At such an important time, no less.”
“Doing stupid things at important times is my hobby.”
“Stop joking around!”
Enraged, Kayoko flung off Youichi’s blanket with all her strength. The white blanket fluttered in the air like a cheering flag, then gently sank to the floor.
“Practicing the night before the competition…Fujitani-kun, you should have known how suicidal that act was, how much the pool at night could exhaust your body. That’s not like you, who until now took care of yourself more thoroughly than anyone else. You became like this at very last minute because of that… For what reason are you working so hard? What were those two weeks where it seemed like you were about to cough up blood for? Boasting about definitely succeeding with the SS Special ’99 and going to Sydney…”
Kayoko, who lost control and kept talking on and on, suddenly shut her mouth. That was because she saw Youichi’s furious expression, as though he was burning, from beneath the blanket.
Pale lips. Chalk-white skin. The red mixed into the whites of his eyes. But, that wasn’t all. Kayoko realized for the first time that it wasn’t just the high fever that was keeping Youichi far from his usual self today.
“Well, how about you?”
“Me?”
“You said those things to me. That when you looked at Tomo and Okitsu and Reiji, you understood that a coach didn’t need goals, but athletes. That you wanted to completely burn up precious time with those people. Were those lies?”
“They weren’t lies.”
“So, by completely burning up, did you mean just sending any one person from the MDC to the Olympics?”
“Any one person?”
“If there was even just one Olympic representative sent, the MDC would be saved. Wasn’t that the purpose after all? If you achieve that purpose, then you can return to America with a peace of mind. Just leaving the rest to other people, thanking everyone, and leaving behind the legend of the genius coach who saved the MDC. Wow, she’s so cool, really. Just like the Seven Samurai.* But after that, the remaining losers have to face the much more ugly reality.”
Youichi lifted his upper body up in order to challenge her, and confronted Kayoko.
“Today’s competition will create more losers than winners. That would have been obvious. I believed that even if you had accomplished your purpose, you would have stayed here for the sakes of the losers rather than the winners. If the MDC was destroyed without the purpose being achieved, then that’s even better. Because, you’ll know your own talent as a coach. Because you’ll know that talent is what’s necessary for the Japanese diving world. Because you’ll know that you are the only one who could open the way to Athens five years later before those who had lost completely.”
The shouders of Youichi, whose voice had become hoarse as he finished, lurched violently. His eyes were wet with heat, however, they strongly and accurately appealed to what he was requesting.
What he—they—were requesting of Kayoko.
What had been smoldering in their chests continuously since last night.
“So basically,” Shibuki said, “Fujitani said as much as he could by hinting at it. He meant that the MDC needs Asaki Kayako. So don’t go to America.”
“I agree,” Tomoki immediately continued after him. “I’m still following the self-training schedule that Coach Asaki gave me. At first I felt like throwing up in the middle of it, but now I’m having the problem of it not being enough. I wanted to tell you after the competition’s over that I would like you to upgrade it soon.”
“…”
“Oi.”
“Oi.”
“Oi.”
“I also…” Pestered by the surrounding three people, Reiji agreed in a low voice. “I also want to learn more new things from Coach Asaki.”
After saying only what they said, they closed their mouths and the small room sank into a pit of silence without any other sound source. From above the pit, the cheers from the stands shone down thinly, like sunlight filtering through trees. During the middle of the competition, it was an irritating cheering battle for the swimming match. But within the walls they were stained in the chemical smell, even that tumult became a gentle sound that was reminiscent of the warmth of human skin.
While bathing in her students’ honest gazes, Kayoko breathed in like she was storing up on that warmth, and then spoke as though it was difficult to.
“Thank you. It’s wonderful to know everyone’s feelings. But…”
“But?”
“But, I never said a word about going to America.”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
The four turned rigid all at once.
“You didn’t…say that?”
The even deeper bottom of the pit of silence. As though they were about to reach that end, a perfect silence dominated the place.
But, those young people were quick to crawl away from there with their own inherent, high power.
“But what…in that fancy restaurant, Reiji…right?”
“He heard that conversation with the American, right?”
“Reiji, do you actually understand English?”
Reiji’s face turned red as the three turned towards him with suspicious eyes.
“I do. I really did hear Coach Asaki talk about going to America.”
“It is true that you’ve heard me talk about going to America at the restaurant in the city last night.”
Kayoko readily admitted.
“But, I am not the one going to America.”
For a moment, no one could infer her true meaning.
“It’s not Coach Asaki?”
“If that’s the case…”
“Then…”
“Who?”
The four stared at each other blankly.
Kayoko looked around at each of them hesitantly.
Should I tell the truth here now? Or should I hold it back?
No, if this goes on for any longer, it would be inexcusable if I didn’t say anything now.
“The one going to America is…”
Kayoko took in a deep breath, and fixed her gaze on one of them.
“You.”
_______________________________________________________________
You.
At first when he was told that, Shibuki didn’t understand at all why Kayoko was looking at him.
Nevertheless, he felt that the word “America”, which was only one of the many words up to that point, was suddenly accompanied by a brilliant luster, approaching like a pop-up picture book.
America.
Country of success stories.
Multiethnic country.
The Statue of Liberty.
Coca Cola at McDonald’s.
…So, why him?
“I’ll explain it briefly because we don’t have enough time. There is a coach who is said to be an expert in sports injuries in America. His name is Ben Bradley and he coaches diving in Florida. He is a specialist who runs a unique program that couples body improvement through muscle training and scientific treatment, and has brought back many athletes who had been given up on by doctors to the top stage of the world. He is even well-known among those in the know in Japan, and there’s talk about how he’s constantly requested to come lecture at many DCs. And so, this time his arrival in Japan has finally been realized.”
Once she opened her mouth, Kayoko was no longer hesitant. In a light-hearted tone, she proudly talked about how “I began the appointment so quickly”, how “negotiating with Ben was very difficult”, how “to be able to adjust the schedule in Osaka was amazing”, and so on.
“So last night, I finally met Ben face-to-face. Of course, it was all for the sake of discussing your back, Okitsu-kun. When I mentioned your upbringing and grandfather in the conversation, he showed more interest than I had expected. Oriental elements like the Sea of Japan and the blood of fishermen seem to grab his heart tightly. He promised that as long as you felt like doing it, then he would help you. He also says that you should come to Florida right away.”
“Awesome!”
Though Youichi, who was the first to grasp the situation, raised his voice, Shibuki still remained puzzled.
It was too big, too amazing for his head to keep up with.
America.
Country of the American Dream.
Police of the world.
From slums to skyscrapers.
From Bill Gates to Mickey Mouse.
Even as the disconnected images overflowed in his mind, he still had no idea where exactly Florida was…
“However,” Kayoko’s voice pulled Shibuki back to the present day in Japan. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t any problems. Ben is a remarkable, famous coach, but he isn’t running a charity. If you are to join his DC, it will cost you a certain amount of money. If you seriously plan to conquer your back injury, it seems that you will need to stay in Florida for at least a year, and when you include a variety of things, it would be a heavy cost for ordinary families. And so, I tried to directly talk to Chairman Maebara of the JASF.”
“To Chairman Maebara?”
“I told him that it would be a prior investment for nurturing the medalists of the future. I thought that it wouldn’t contradict his cherished opinion that even if we wait, medals wouldn’t come rolling to us. In fact, depending on certain circumstances, he promised me that I could make Okitsu-kun Japan’s first diving international student.”
“Certain circumstances?”
“Do you want to let me to finish?”
An inciting smile appeared on Kayoko’s lips. It was a blissful smile from thrusting an unreasonable demand to her students.
“It’s the Olympics.”
“Olympics…”
“I didn’t want to put misguided pressure on you, so I kept silent, but I can’t do that now. In other words, it depends on the results of today’s competition. In order for you to go to Sydney, you must first win this competition and go to Sydney. That chairman would not give money to anything unrelated to the Olympics.”
“…”
“Of course, whether or not you go to Florida is up to you.”
Kayoko softened her voice a little in response to Shibuki’s dull reaction.
Youichi, Tomoki and Reiji were surprised by this development, and excitedly waited for Shibuki’s response.
“Florida…”
Finally, Shibuki’s mouth moved.
“Are there koalas there?”
“There are none. But, there are facilities and a coach that you need there.”
“If I heal my back there, will I still be able to compete on the big stages of the world?”
“Not just compete. You can win, and make those stupidly big stages yours. Your diving has that much power.”
“Could I still hang out with everyone for years in the future?”
“You are still seventeen years old. You can hang out with everyone for decades if you do well.”
“…”
Shibuki still felt puzzled, but he felt like something was rising up from the bottom of his stomach.
Something hot.
Something that made the underside of his skin itchy.
Something that awakened his sleeping anticipation.
He had always needed it, he had always been searching for it—.
“Got it,” Shibuki said. “I’ll go to Florida. I don’t know where that is, but I’ll go anyways. For that, I’d have to win this competition first.”
“That’s right. You’ll have to win this competition first. But, you are not the only one who is betting big dreams on this competition.”
“I know. I have no complaints about my rivals.”
At that moment, Shibuki turned his burning eyes towards those rivals.
Suddenly from Kayoko’s jacket pocket, her phone’s ringtone played—a verse of “Some Day My Prince Will Come”.
“Some Day My Prince Will Come”?
It was a complete reversal from “Rocky’s Theme”, and as everyone felt bewildered by this extremely romantic song, Kayoko picked up her phone without missing a beat and dealt with it in brisk words.
“…Yes. Understood. We’re coming.”
She hung up, and turned towards the four with the agility of a beast.
“The second half of the free-choice dives will start in five minutes.”
The four’s relaxed faces tightened.
“Fujitani-kun, are you coming?”
“Of course.”
Youichi replied immediately, and promptly dropped his feet onto the floor.
“The point was that there’s a switch problem. Now, I’ve turned on Battle Mode. Listening to the Florida story, even I got motivated.”
“OK. Well then, let’s finally get to the main subject now.”
“Main subject?”
“A simple explanation about your condition. I didn’t bring you here just to make you rest. I just wanted to tell you this before the second half.”
Kayoko took in her hand the entry table that had some scribbles added to it.
“Fujitani-kun’s total is presently at 139 points. There’s a gap of more than 50 points between you and the top divers. But in reality, you’re not actually that separated from them as much as you are in numbers.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have the advantage of the degree of difficulty. Anyways, the average degree of difficulty for your six free-choice dives is 3 points. Of course, among the participants that is by far the highest, with a gap of 0.2 with Sakai-kun’s average degree of difficulty, 0.35 with Okitsu-kun’s, and 0.5 with Maruyama-kun’s. This gap will slowly reveal its hidden power in the second half. In other words, it is still possible to reverse the situation.”
Her brilliantly shining cat’s eyes indicated that she still hadn’t given up on a thing.
Youichi’s colorless lips lifted, returning a fearless smile to her.
“Thanks for that. But I had never thought for even a second that I couldn’t reverse it.”
“And thanks for that. However, don’t forget for even a second that diving with that body is a dangerous bet.”
“That makes two of us when it comes to dangerous bets,” Youichi said, his eyes going to Shibuki. “I was surprised when I saw the entry table. Okitsu’s tenth dive…is it really just a forward somersault straight? You’re just going to dive that at the very end? I have no idea what you’re thinking, but I’m looking forward to it anyways.”
“I’m only betting on my individuality to dive,” Shibuki said without the slightest perturbance. “And to begin with, Sakai’s probably the star of dangerous bets. He has some guts to dive the 4½ with a success rate of just five percent as his last dive.”
“It’s not five percent, sorry,” Tomoki pouted. “It increased to six percent.”
“Six percent…that’s what they call desperation.”
“Youichi-kun is the desperate one, since he dived even though he had a fever.”
“Reiji too, since he ate a rotten apple before the competition.”
“It was just a little wilted!”
They stared at each other, probed at each other, before finally laughing. A boyish light dwelled in their eyes.
No one knew what was going to happen a moment into the future.
Even just 1.4 seconds later.
That’s why they were excited, and they wanted hurry up to ascertain it.
“Okay, it’s time.”
Kayoko’s voice sprang up behind them.
“Go, and please play to your heart’s content.”
They all nodded, and walked towards the door. Reiji, Shibuki and Youichi flapped their wings to their respective stages. Tomoki, following behind them, turned to Kayoko right before he left the room and said, “I just remembered…”
“Coach Asaki, you aren’t quitting the MDC after all.”
The footsteps of the three who had already disappeared down the hallway stopped.
“Yes, of course. For the Olympics that will come in five years, I have the important role of putting all of you onto the dragon next time. Five years will surely pass before we know it.”
“But then, why are you getting so lost in your thoughts lately?”
“Ah…that.”
Kayoko’s eyes twitched down.
“I was just a little worried about something.”
“Worried?”
“Before I went to Osaka, I’d heard that there was a very accurate fortune-teller in Harajuku, and I went there. I don’t care who exactly is going to Sydney. But, when push came to shove, well…I knew it was foolish to rely on fortune-telling. And so, I hurriedly had my love fortune told.”
“Love fortune…”
“For my love fortune, I was told that it had passed by in August of this year. The next new wave of love will come in five years.”
“…”
“Five years later isn’t a big future that I don’t whether I’d be alive or dead. The feeling I have is roughly, how old would I be? I was a bit down because of that, but if I think positively, I can say this as well. My new love will be waiting in Athens in five years!”
“Everyone, shall we go?”
“Whoo—”
When Kayoko reverted her eyes that were racing towards five years later, the four were already gone, and between the white walls, only she, the bed, and the music of “Some Day My Prince Will Come” that started playing again, were left.
