COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 6:Part 13

The final match began, and right off the bat, Amasawa-san almost scored a point against us. The only one who could react to her was Nanase-san.

Did she improve again? Or did she just get lucky? I want to win. I want to beat her.

I'll give it my all this game. Amasawa-san tried the same play not long after, and this time, I was the one to block her from scoring. She smirked at me again like she didn't care. Everything she did ticked me off.

Horikita-san seemed to be observing Amasawa-san. She was focusing on her way too much. Did she also know about her? I could use this to my advantage. If Horikita-san is more focused on Amasawa-san than winning, then that means she's the weak link of the team right now.

I aimed my shot in Horikita-san's direction, and as I expected, she couldn't react in time. She was too busy observing Amasawa-san. I scored the first point and put our team in the lead. I glanced back towards them, and Ayanokoji-kun nodded at me. Did he think I was asking for his approval? Of course not! Ugh.

"You're not so useless after all, Kushida."

Was Ibuki-san trying to compliment me? If so, then it really didn't work. Nanase-san also gave me a smile while the third year boy cheered me on. It was gross, but I smiled in his direction to keep up appearances.

I looked back to the other team and noticed Kiriyama-senpai talking to Horikita-san. Was she getting scolded? That was hilarious to think about, but I redirected my attention to the game.

"That was a really good play, Kushida-senpai. Can you teach me after this game, please? I would love to play like you!!"

Amasawa-san moved closer and grabbed onto the net while looking at me with her pleading eyes. She was mocking me. I hate her.

"Sorry, I'm a little busy."

I gave her a fake smile and basic excuse.

"Awhhh, what a bummer!!"

She pretended to be disappointed and then went back to her position.

When the match restarted, Nanase-san was in the front to attack while I was a little back near Ayanokoji-kun to defend.

Kiriyama-senpai opened with a powerful shot that I barely blocked. The ball shot up into the air, and everyone was panicking to catch it. Ibuki-san proved useful and shot the ball up into the air again before Utomiya-kun slammed it into the other team's side. That put us in the lead by two points already.

Unfortunately for us, we wouldn't keep the lead much longer as Kiriyama-senpai ended up scoring two points back to back, which locked us in a tie. He was a really impressive athlete, but he never stood out. Probably due to being in the same grade level as Nagumo-senpai. It must suck to be in his place.

Sudo-kun and Onodera-san seemed to both sit back and try to defend while the attacking left up to Kiriyama-senpai and Amasawa-san. Horikita-san was in the middle switching between both styles while their first year partner was at the very back barely doing anything.

Kiriyama-senpai almost scored a third point, but Nanase-san barely blocked it. Utomiya-kun sent the ball back, but Amasawa-san shot it into the air, then jumped to follow up and spiked it towards our field. I was the closest one to ball, so I ran to defend, but I was barely off. We lost the lead and were now about to lose the game. Ayanokoji-kun and the third year were both completely useless at this point, so we were completely outmatched.

When the game restarted, Ibuki-san tried to score a point but ended up missing, and the ball went back to Amasawa-san. She jumped up in the air once again and shot a perfect ball towards us.