Chapter 2: Boys Hands is Really Big Isn't?
Chapter 2: Boys Hands is Really Big Isn't? 1
Mitake Nagika, she's the one whom I thought was the best for me.
She's member of tennis club which usually practice early in the morning. She's a cheerful girl but she always dozed off during class. But do note that her facial features are top notch.
Despite of that habit, fixing her bed head during lunch in rest room became her charm. Her seat is in the second from the right in the front row. Even though our class seats been changed twice since April, out of my luck, we're still seatmates.
Because of that, every morning since enrollment, I've been passing her seat and smelling the same floral scent of deodorant lingering around her desk. Well that's because she practice early in the morning and making me realize that guy's and girl's smell is completely different.
Since April, there are many first year guy's who wanted to get higher social status on their clubs or in class something like that, but she was different.
And most of the people who don't hold their heads up are the ones who were born and raised in Tokyo, while me who was born and raised at Omiya seems to not know a lot of 'common sense' here. So even if I try to get along with them, my social status will still remain same because of my countryside background.
Apparently Mitake Nagika, is also from countryside; Kagoshima. So in short, she's also not used to Tokyo common sense. But the fact she can interact with them, is just her skill who can perform friendly relationship to others.
So her social status are the one's in the funny one? I guess...?
The fact that she's not used in Tokyo also means they kinda treat her as inexperienced to things that her friends makes fun of. Not in a bad way but as a normal friendly way.
What drew me to Nagika was back in April, during long homeroom. Long homeroom is being held once a week, during the seventh period, where everyone plays game to increase class interaction. In the first long homeroom, the class representative brought up the topic of what game to play.
Each person wrote a suggestion on a piece of paper, put it in a box, shuffled it, drew one, and thus, the day's activity was decided: an 'Arm Wrestling Tournament.'
Why on earth, just two weeks into high school, did we have to arm wrestle in front of everyone? It was divided into a boys' and girls' section. But somehow, the boys' section, including myself, turned out to be a bunch of fools, making it intense.
I made it to the finals. My opponent in the final was a giant from the basketball club, and due to the physical difference, he was overconfident. Little did he know, I came from an all-boys school, and bored male middle schoolers sometimes come up with utterly useless winning techniques for arm wrestling.
So I did this useless technique, and he just wonder like an idiot why his hands are not moving. "Wa-wait! it's not moving!"
Hearing the crowd, I also got into their vibe and says "Oorraaaaa!" and boom I won the championship. It's the fruit of spending my 3 whole year with all boys school. It felt very complicated winning it.
Next is the girls section. Well, boys are really energetic in this kind of game but girls weren't. After all, there's nothing cute about being strongest among the girls so it turns into something like a "Giving Victory is Cuter" or whatever.
Can't be helped. After all, it's a new school year. It'll be awkward for both of you if you got serious and injured a classmate.
Because of that, their arm wrestling became "Giving Victory is Cuter."
But there are some girls who really dont care about their social status and some of them are from sports clubs. So they thought it's pretty pointless caring about it when they're already in the lower class, so some of them decided to beat their opponents if they can.
Nagika was pretty solid throughout the elimination and made it to finals and her final opponent was Kito a girl from Judo Club.
I can fairly guess who's gonna win on this one. After all Kito is much bigger and bulkier than Nagika. Kito is actually bigger than me and seems to weight around 80 kilograms.
Nagika who only play tennis with her average weight and height cannot possibly overturn this difference.
I thought she might be knocked down in an instant, will playfully say, 'Oh no, I lost~,' and that would be the end. But something unexpected happened.
Nagika gained the advantage.
Kito must have let his guard down. The clasped fists moved towards Kito's hand side, nearly touching the teacher's desk, which served as the arm wrestling table. Kito somehow managed to hold his ground. Even the girls who seemed indifferent until now gasped in amazement. Kito pushed Nagika's arm back to the center, and there, the match reached a temporary stalemate.
With such a difference in physique, what could make this match so evenly matched?
It's Nagika's determination.
Nagika was giving her all in this absurd arm wrestling match.
Winning wouldn't gain her anything significant, and she might even end up as the subject of teasing, like being called a "Gorilla." With red face, she gazed at Kito with a seriously determined expression, sweat beads seemed poised to roll down her forehead. (She later told me somewhat embarrassed, "I couldn't hold back in a competition...")
It was a rare sight to see Nagika, usually sleephead, taking things so seriously.
Yup, someone's determination can indeed change the atmosphere of the moment.
Starting with a cheer from one confident guy, it escalated into a lively atmosphere resembling a martial arts arena, with jeers and cheers flying back and forth.
Nagika had more supporters. Bluntly put, it was probably because Nagika was cuter. Many were hoping for an underdog victory.
But in this kind of deadlock, wouldn't the difference in pure physical strength eventually come into play? That's what I thought.
As my speculation suggested, Nagika began to struggle. Gradually, her hand moved closer to the teacher's desk.
Yet, Nagika always managed to defy my expectations.
There was a slapping sound, like a loud smack, as Kito's fist hit the teacher's desk.
It was such a fleeting moment that the audience couldn't react immediately. But soon, a burst of cheers erupted.
What just happened?
Kito quietly muttered something like, "Oops, slipped. My elbow slipped, and I lost my strength," but of course, no one paid attention to such excuses.
However, later on, I couldn't help but think that maybe that was indeed the case.
Perhaps, I thought afterward, there was a tiny opening that only the competitors could understand, and Nagika keenly sensed it, pouring all her energy into that moment.
Competitions aren't always determined by inherent strength but sometimes it's the persistence. It's like when a powerhouse baseball team in the Koshien tournament occasionally gets knocked out by an underdog.
In terms of odds, it ended with a surprising result, about twenty times the unexpected.
It was Nagika's victory.
For some reason, winning the championship in arm wrestling in girls actually make it charming points to Nagika. I kinda heard one of the girls from higher status saying something sarcastic but in the face of Nagika's refreshing smile as the winner, those remarks melted away as easily as vanilla ice cream under the sunlight.
Then our classmates started talking like making us battle for the most strongest student in the class. But putting aside that idea, I'm more concern if it's really okay for me to tightly grip other girls hand.
As a man, Nagika's hands looks like pale yogurt-color. Just imagining myself holding it made my heart pound, and I started sweating awkwardly.
Well, in conclusion arm wrestling between a boy and a girl is out of question. I'm not sure if I'm relieved or felt dissatisfied with it though.
In the end, the talk about strongest subsided and got decided to hold a ceremony for the champions for each category.
So Me and Nagika stand in front and got standing ovation. While the extroverts asked for prize or something with teacher.
"Sensei~ Give em some prize~" well getting is something is good but Nagika and I were left standing there, somewhat neglected during all this.
"Makino-kun, your hands are big." Nagika suddenly grabbed my hands.
"Is it?" I asked back, but internally my mind was preoccupied with Nagika's touch.
We were holding hands behind the teacher's desk so nobody really seeing it right now.
Nagika's hands were smooth that it's makes me hard to believe that she really did defeat Kito. Roughness on her hands is inexistent that it feels like I'm holding a tail of marshmallow and my hands just slipping through it.
I heard somewhere that in tennis, as you become more skilled, you don't exert unnecessary force on the hand holding the racket, which might prevent calluses from forming. I don't know how accurate my knowledge is, but Nagika's hand seemed to match that description.
Nagika used her right index finger and thumb to gently grasp my fingers, as if picking up a macaron, before saying, "Boys hands is really big isn't? Or is it just because it's Makino-kun?"
There was bit sweat in her hands. Well, mine as well but I wondered if it's really okay to combine our sweats like this.
"I guess. Maybe." Wait, what am I talking about?
Then suddenly our teacher said, "Nope, no prize." Then we suddenly let our hands in unison.
Only I and Nagika knew that we touched our hands behind the table. For some reason the sensation earlier feels like illusion, maybe because we hold hands only for a moment.
"Good morning."
Good morning." I answered back.
After that event, while we sometimes greet each other in the morning, smelling her deodorant reminds of the Arm Wrestling Tournament.
Part 1 End. Can't promise can do TL every week. My translation back then is much more longer than this, but for some reason, I can't put myself to that condition again.
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