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DIVE!! (Light Novel) - Book 4 Chapter 7 - Line
Book 4 Chapter 7 - Line
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
“DIVE!! to Sydney!! MDC”
His hand holding the cheering flag was getting damp due to sweat. It was a white flag that blurred the oil-based ink. It was the size of a lunch tray, with sketches of Tomoki, Youichi, Shibuki and Reiji drawn in the four corners that didn’t look like them at all. For a supporter, one absolutely needed to prepare a flag if nothing else, and so the day before Sachiya left for Osaka, he went to the hardware store to gather supplies for making his masterpiece.
Next to Sachiya, who never let go of the flag even once, from just a while ago Keisuke was watching the progress of the competition with a grave look. Keisuke during competitions was always like this, rarely ever opening his mouth. Making up for that, Kayoko and Ooshima were exchanging opinions on the progress up till now.
“When the sixth-round finishes, is Tomo still going to be in fourth place? Even I can place Yamada’s genius at just once glance, but I didn’t think Asama would hold out until this far.”
“The difficulties of his techniques are high and their rates of failure are low. That’s the strength of a veteran for you. But it’s alright, there isn’t much difference between the scores. Rather, Sakai-kun can keep up with that youthfulness of his. But what’s more…”
“What’s more is that Shibuki is being risky. So far he’s getting points at an incredible pace in his top form, but the degree of difficulty of his final dive is 1.6 at any rate. Even if he got perfect 10s from all the judges, that’ll only be 48 points. He has to widen his lead considerably by the ninth round. 600 points is too tough.”
“On the contrary, Sakai-kun’s last dive is the 4½ with a degree of difficulty of 3.5. If he got all perfect 10s, 105 points will roll into his lap just like that.”
“I’ve never seen all perfect 10s in my life. So, what about Youichi?”
“I can’t read him. As the degrees of difficulty of his second half are impressive, if his original condition returns, a huge turnaround won’t be just a dream for him. But, currently he’s struggling while still in pain. Even emerging into just ninth place with that body is amazing of him.”
Kayoko said, while imploring to Keisuke’s profile. After the intermission, when Kayoko reported to him about Youichi’s high fever after she returned to the stands, all he murmured was “is that so”, not even moving an eyebrow. Had he known? Or was he killing his emotions?
“Anyways, there are four more rounds to go.”
“Four more rounds…”
Kayoko and Ooshima murmured uneasily, then resumed concentrating on the competition.
It was the seventh round of the finals. The divers on the stage who were getting a little bit tired were literally unrolling the fierce battle that they devoted themselves wholeheartedly into.
For the MDC this round, only the top batter Reiji had already finished his performance. He had suddenly made some kind of breakthrough from the fourth round, and was doing unprecedented offensive performances in rapid succession, but regrettably in this round he overdid the backward somersaults that he was poor at as he made his entry, and cried at the harsh penalties in points. But even so Sachiya shouted “Rei-kun!” at Reiji as he got out of the water and continued waving his flag around.
Scores, rankings and other things like that should be left to the coaches. In this competition Sachiya decided to devote himself only to cheering. No matter who won, no matter who lost, he will wave his flag with all his strength, until the very end.
He didn’t really understand what a supporter is, but that was surely it.
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Sachiya still didn’t know why he went to a diving club in the first place, when he was afraid of heights.
“Weaknesses should be overcome only during childhood,” his mother said imperiously, taking him for the first time to the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center in fourth grade. Although he was told what diving was, the moment he looked up at that towering diving tower, Sachiya felt like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.
He didn’t need to climb up the stairs or stand on the platform. In just one moment, at just one glance, Sachiya understood it instinctually. Just like how moles can’t fly in the sky, sheep can’t hunt, and snakes can’t scratch their backs, I can’t dive.
But, his heartless mother said,
“If diving’s no good, we’ll try skydiving next.”
With that one sentence, Sachiya quickly decided to join the MDC.
Although, when she tried thinking it about it more, his mother who was only energetic at the beginning for anything quickly gave up, telling Sachiya that “you can quit if you want to quit” when he didn’t try to go on the higher than three-meters platforms even after being in the club for two years. And just recently, she went by the saying of “weaknesses might not be something to overcome, but something that goes along well with you”.
But why had he continued to go to the MDC for four years until now?
That was one of the Three Great Mysteries of Sachiya’s thirteen years of life.
Fortunately, Keisuke was an understanding coach, never forcibly dragging the unwilling Sachiya up to the platform, pretending not to see him as though he was “it” in a game of tag. Nonetheless, there was no one who took a one-way, one-hour trip to the pool every day just to become “it”.
By discovering the hobby of watching the synchro moms, it was also a fact that he was able to remarkably fill up the practice time that had been unmanageable free time. But, at the Sakuragi High School’s pool which served as their practice venue in the summer, there were neither shape nor form of the synchro moms.
It was obvious that if he went to practice, he could meet his MDC clubmates, but they, who were older, were all busy with practice unlike Sachiya, so they couldn’t exactly keep him company. Even though he had a mountain of things he wanted to talk to and consult them about.
Yes, Sachiya was always anxious to talk to them, who were like his big brothers.
For example, the summer of fifth grade. There were cases of paranormal activity happening one after the other at Sachiya’s elementary school. For several days, any phenomenon that happened in school was taken as the deed of a ghost. If there were smudges floating on someone’s desk, they were the tears of a woman who had committed suicide a long time ago. If the water in the toilets didn’t flow, it was the grudge of a man who had drowned to die a long time ago. And finally, the hands of evil extended to Sachiya. During class, a bug that came in through the window had unfortunately landed on Sachiya’s hair whorl. Needless to say, that was the ghost of a man who had killed a bug a long time ago. “Sacchin got possessed by a ghost!” everyone screamed as they left their desks.
After school, Sachiya went to the Sakuragi High pool, on the verge of tears. Until now, though humans and animals and insects lived in harmony with each other, in just a few days everything was dominated by those that cannot be seen. The world suddenly transformed, becoming too complex for Sachiya. He wanted Tomoki to say, “Those are all just lies.” He wanted Reiji to say, “Bugs are just bugs.” But when he arrived there, they had already began practicing quietly. Definitely not an atmosphere for proposing a discussion on ghosts.
Reluctantly, Sachiya sat down at the poolside, watching everyone’s practice.
Tomoki dived from the seven-meter platform. Reiji dived. Ryou dived. Every time the water splashed up, it got illuminated by the setting sun. Youichi dived from the ten-meter platform. A higher splash got illuminated by the setting sun. A constant repetition. Before long the water brilliantly reflected the evening sun, and the dim light that held the scent of summer embraced everyone’s shadows as well. A usual snapshot of summer.
When Keisuke said, “That’ll be all for today,” even though he didn’t discuss with anyone, for some reason Sachiya felt like being silent. It’s alright. The stars are turning properly, and I’m not possessed by a ghost…
This was also the case in the winter of sixth grade, when Sachiya’s parents had a huge fight in front of him for the first time.
He had never, ever seen such a fierce quarrel between his parents, who were usually so close, before. The reason was that his father, who worked in an appliance shop in Akihabara, and his mother, who also worked in Akihabara as a personal computer instructor, both had stubborn disagreements on “the Akihabara outlook”.
“So then, are you saying that amateurs who don’t know anything about the products shouldn’t come to Akihabara?”
“I’m saying that if you come, then come as armed as you can. Akihabara is a battlefield. Whether you sell or buy, it’s a real, all or nothing battle. It’s not a child’s land where such a lack of self-reliance where you keep saying to make it cheaper without knowing the quality or model of a product can be accepted.”
“But, it’s also the consumption of those amateurs help support Akihabara. If they stop coming here, then Akihabara will only be occupied by electronics nuts.”
They both loved Akihabara from the bottom of their hearts, nothing more than that, but both his father and mother refused to give way, and when the next morning came, they turned their faces away.
What do I do. Are they going to divorce like this? It’s all Akihabara’s fault. Would Akihabara be occupied by nuts someday?
Finishing the day with uneasy feelings, Sachiya headed for the Tatsumi pool after class. His father, mother, little sister and himself had lived happily like usual until then, but maybe that was something that didn’t come easily and naturally. He wanted to ask about those feelings, but since he knew nobody was up for that right now, he quietly watched practice.
Tomoki dived from the ten-meter platform. Reiji dived. Ryou dived. And then Youichi. Every time, their limbs carved vivid, solid, perpendicular lines into the sky. Many, many times over.
When practice was over, Sachiya still came to feel like being silent. It’s alright. Mom and Dad aren’t going to divorce. Even Akihabara can’t steal away anyone.
This summer, he faced his biggest crisis. In July of 1999, the destruction of mankind was predicted. As the original evidence was that famous Nostradamus this tine, and the target comprised of all of humankind only, the sense of impending crisis encompassed all of Japan, not just limited to schools and homes. As expected, it was only this time that Sachiya wasn’t able to reach the conviction of “everything will be alright” even when he was watching everyone practice.
And so after practice, he waited for everyone at the locker room to try to ask them.
“Well, everyone, what do you think of Nostradamus?”
Tomoki said, “Who’s that, an American?”
Ryou said, “Stupid, he’s the great demon king who’s gonna destroy the human race.”
Reiji said, “Nostradamus and the great demon king are probably two different people.”
Youichi said, “Is the great demon king a person? It’s descending from the skies, right? If you think about it normally, you won’t be the first to get destroyed.”
Shibuki said, “Are those kinds of dramas popular in Tokyo?”
Sachiya etched it into his mind that he would never go to them for a consultation ever again. At the same time, he felt somewhat silly about his frightened self, and when he went home he became unafraid of neither Nostradamus nor the great demon king.
When he looked back in this way, they were truly his big brothers who were ignorant of things like common sense and fads of the world, and could not be relied upon on land. But once they were on the water, they were always cool, strong, shining, brimming with courage, and protecting Sachiya’s peace. Every time the world’s axis went off-kilter, it was restored by the perpendicular line of the ten-meter.
And so, one of his Three Great Mysteries might have actually been unravelled a long time ago.
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As Asama Takashi’s petite back sank into the water, power filled Sachiya’s hand that was gripping the flag.
Of all of his MDC big brothers, Tomoki, Reiji and Shibuki were competing in today’s competition with reasonable results. Sachiya didn’t know anything about the quality of their performances, but he could make a rough guess based on the way the splashes rose, the scores the judges gave, and listening to Kayoko’s and Ooshima’s conversations. Tomoki and Shibuki were equally well matched. Reiji showed an unusual assertiveness. Only one person…
Youichi, the only one who was forced to struggle, reappeared on the head of the dragon.
The alias that Tomoki gave to the diving tower, concrete dragon. Youichi tamed this beast with his natural-born talent and hard work and reigned on its head like a king, but somehow today this dragon beneath his feet was in a stormy temper.
“Youichi-kun!”
Even while waving his flag around, Sachiya couldn’t help but feel anxious deep down.
The big brother among big brothers who was always ahead of everyone else. The boss of the other side of the MDC. How could that Youichi get a fever on the day of such an important competition…
Don’t panic. You’re not an elementary school student anymore, so don’t cry. Though he told that to himself, when he heard about that from Kayoko, Sachiya still wanted to cry.
What’s more, his next event was a super dive with a degree of difficulty of 3.0.
“Forward 3½ somersaults in pike position. It’s a high-risk dive for him currently.”
Kayoko’s expression as she looked at the entry table was also dark.
“Really? But pikes are his specialty.”
“But for this dive, he’s going to dive with an approach. There’s the problem. He isn’t very good at taking in the rhythm of an approach. In addition, today he lost his perception because of his high fever. If he was unsteady during his approach and messes up the rhythm…”
“It’ll be the end of the road.”
Listening to the conversation between Kayoko and Ooshima, Sachiya wanted to cry more and more.
For four years, Youichi protected Sachiya silently, and now he was in a desperate situation. Yet he couldn’t do anything about it. That was irritating, frustrating, shameful, and he felt the tears building at the back of his eyes.
Please let Youichi-kun finish his performance without any problems.
Sachiya’s noisy, uproarious heartbeat was noticeably beating fast. The whistle signalling the beginning of the performance sounded.
One. Two. Three.
Youchi always dived out with that timing, but today he was unusually cautious, and not moving his feet quickly. He stopped at the back of the platform, and his posture, which had always been striking, felt unsteady and delicate right now.
Four. Five. Six.
Youichi was looking down in concentration, his shoulders also delicately shaking. Beside Sachiya, Keisuke’s breath was caught in his throat, Ooshima cast his eyes down from being unable to watch, and Kayoko’s hands were clasped together as though she was praying.
Seven. Eight. Nine…
Right on “ten”, Youichi began to run.
At that moment, Sachiya stood up quickly and thrust the flag in his right hand up high to the ceiling.
The tiny grip of the flag carved a perpendicular line with all of its best effort into the air.
Please, please…
Keep the axis of this world straight.
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Rankings as of the Seventh Round (Cumulative)
① Yamada Atsuhiko (403.59 points)
② Okitsu Shibuki (403.41 points)
③ Asama Takashi (381.72 points)
④ Ogawa Shinobu (373.68 points)
⑤ Sakai Tomoki (371.94 points)
⑥ Matsuno Kiyotaka (355.74 points)
⑦ Fujitani Youichi (342.99 points)
⑧ Tsuji Toshihiko (342.57 points)
⑨ Moriya Kazuteru (312.84 points)
⑩ Nakayama Masahiko (309.48 points)
⑪ Maruyama Reiji (307.02 points)
⑫ Kaburagi Shinji (294.63 points)
