Autumn of sports

A day off.

We’d come to a multi-sport leisure facility where you could rent time to enjoy all sorts of activities—baseball, soccer, basketball, table tennis, you name it.

The last time we came here for some exercise, we played Twister, but there was no way Manami and Yuuki would be satisfied with just that. So, somehow, here we were again, the four of us.

That said, last time was rough… Manami got her way, and Aisa’s stress ended up venting in some weird direction. Manami and Yuuki had a blast, which was great and all, but I felt like I was the sacrificial lamb…

“Kouki?”

“Oh, sorry, sorry.”

Aisa’s voice snapped me back to reality.

“Here we go!”

“I’m going all out too!”

Manami and Yuuki were having a blast playing one-on-one at the basketball half-court next to us.

Thanks to Manami’s slick feints and Yuuki’s lightning-fast moves, their skills and athleticism had drawn a crowd of onlookers around the court before we knew it.

“They’re amazing, aren’t they…”

“Yeah, they are.”

We were chilling nearby, leisurely tossing a ball back and forth while keeping an eye on them.

The ball made a satisfying pop as it landed in the glove. Aisa might not be a star at PE compared to her other subjects, but being Manami’s sister clearly meant she wasn’t completely hopeless at sports either.

As for me, thanks to my dad, I’d dabbled in a bit of everything, so I could hold my own in a casual game of catch.

“Manami looks like she’s having the time of her life with Yuuki here.”

“Yeah. If it was just us, we’d probably be out of our depth at a place like this…”

Watching Manami play with Yuuki made it painfully clear just how much she’d been holding back with us. I’d played basketball with her before, but I’d never seen her pull off those dizzying spins or leap that high.

Just then, the timer on the basketball court went off. You set it before playing, and when it rang, you swapped out with the next group waiting.

Manami glanced over at us and shouted.

“Onee-chan! Kouki-nii! Let’s play soccer!”

“You heard her.”

“Hehe. Think we can keep up?”

Aisa seemed to be enjoying herself too, which was a relief.

◇

“Two-on-two might be a bit meh, so how about foot volleyball for now?”

“Foot volleyball? That’s the one where you pass without letting it touch the ground, right?”

“Yup, exactly!”

Can I even do this…? I can barely manage two or three kicks when juggling.

“No matter where Onee-chan kicks it, we’ll cover for her!”

“Wait, I’m not on Aisa’s side?”

“If Kouki-nii drops it or kicks it somewhere weird, it’s penalty game time!”

Oh boy…

“Alright, here we go!”

The ball Manami kicked floated gently toward me. This much, I could probably handle…

“Yuuki!”

“Got it!”

The ball I kicked went a bit high, but Yuuki trapped it with her chest and transitioned into juggling.

For a split second, I swear I heard a boing sound…

“Aisa-chan!”

“Uh… here goes!”

Yuuki sent the ball to an easy spot, and Aisa managed to kick it up…

“Oh, I got this!”

The ball looked like it might slip between Yuuki and Manami, but Manami darted in, controlling it with her heel.

“That’s impressive…”

“Your turn, Kouki-nii!”

The ball came at me a bit harder this time. I managed to control it and pass it to Yuuki.

Boing

The slightly high ball got caught by Yuuki’s chest again, and somehow, the ball’s momentum completely stopped. Was that her skill, or… something else?

“Kouki… you’re not just aiming for Yuuki, are you?”

“No, it’s just she’s the most likely to get it…”

“Hmph…”

Aisa’s accusing glare made me hesitate, and passing to Yuuki started feeling awkward. My indecision led to a mistake, and in the end, I landed myself a penalty game.

◇

“If it’s just buying juice, I guess it’s not so bad…”

I headed to the vending machine for my penalty game. Back at the court, Manami and Yuuki were at it again with their one-on-one, hyping up the crowd.

Huh? Where’s Aisa…?

“Carrying all that alone must be tough, right?”

“You came to help?”

Aisa wiped her sweat with a towel and held out her hand.

“You should probably drink something first.”

I handed her a sports drink fresh from the machine.

“Thanks.”

While she drank, I turned back to the vending machine to grab drinks for everyone else…

“Hey, Kouki.”

“Hm?”

Aisa, apparently done drinking, called out to me.

There was something chilling in her voice, and I couldn’t bring myself to turn around.

“You were staring at Yuuki’s chest earlier, weren’t you?”

“No, I…”

“You were…”

I couldn’t exactly deny it…

I mean, I was just following the ball’s trajectory, it was unavoidable… But I’d upset Aisa, so I figured I should apologize and started to turn around.

“Wha—”

Suddenly, she hugged me from behind.

“I mean… it’s not like I don’t have something too, you know… right?”

I was speechless.

Her heartbeat pulsed directly into me. And her sweat—my clothes were getting pretty damp… My mind was spinning, overwhelmed, and I just stood there, frozen.

“Look at me too.”

“…Okay.”

“Good! Alright, let’s head back!”

While I was still paralyzed, Aisa’s expression flipped to cheerful as she announced that.

“Hehe. Seems like I got you to notice me a little.”

“Yeah, no kidding…”

“Really? Hehe.”

For some reason, Aisa’s mood did a complete 180 as she gleefully snatched the drinks and took off running.

“Come on, let’s get back!”

“Y-Yeah.”

In the end, we played another round, and with Aisa stealing my attention the whole time, I ended up with yet another penalty game.