By A Slight Mistake 23

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「23」

The game began with the break.

In one smooth motion, the neat arrangement of b.a.l.l.s was scattered.

For professional players, the break’s result could determine the outcome of the entire game.

We were playing a game of nine-ball pool.

That’s because Uncle was only able to teach Ariwara the basics of this game.

He might’ve done so because the rules were easy to remember.

I a.s.sembled my cue stick and rubbed chalk on the tip.

Uncle had taught me proper cue handling.

You had to wipe off the cue stick after each rubbing to make sure that no powder was left behind.

Once I was prepared I faced the table.

“Then, shall we begin?”

I asked the inexperienced Ariwara.

Although it was nine-ball, it still carried its own, unique tension.

Ariwara expression stiffened as the tension took hold of him.

“Y-Yes.”

Sure enough, Ariwara stuttered in his reply and awkwardly nodded his head.

I the corner of my eye I caught uncle and Tachibana smiling wryly.

He was a burden to Hayate.

“It’s okay. You never had a chance.”

Ariwara shoulders straightened and his expression did a complete reversal.

“Huh? Hey! Is that so, Mizu-chan?”

It was impossible for my expression to change so quickly.

His tension lessened.

“Then, I’ll begin.”

I leaned over the table. Positioned my left hand a slight distance away from the cueball. Made a ring with my index finger and slid the cue stick through the hole. I repeated the action several times until I found the right position. Finally, I lowered the stick from along the table and struck the cueball from a low angle.

After the initial impact, a cascade of cracking sounds occurred as the b.a.l.l.s scattered along the table.

Some of the b.a.l.l.s gentility falling into several of the pockets.

“……Good……”

Ariwara looked back and forth between the table and Hayate in utter amazement.

“Okabe! Why didn’t you tell me Mizuki was so good?!”

He grasped at empty air as he started complaining.

“Don’t you understand the meaning behind Otomo-sama’s teachings? I already told you!? She doesn’t need any further instruction!!”

Hayate immediately corrected Ariwara’s misinformed conjecture.

Even Hayate could be at a loss for words.

“1, 2, 4, 6!”

Uncle called out the number of the b.a.l.l.s that fell in.

“Since 9 didn’t fall, the game continues. Mizuki-chan.”

“Yes. Then, I’ll aim for the no. 3 ball.”

I verified the positions of b.a.l.l.s relative to number three.

I was aiming at the cueball, but it wasn’t my actual target.

There were nine ways to strike a cueball.

The most basic one is the center shot.

The ball wouldn’t go straight unless you hit it horizontally.

If the center shot it performed correctly, you could gain an early lead by banking shots.

Once you mastered the center shot, you could accurately learn the other eight shots.

I still remembered the cramps I got from repeated making a bridge with my index finger.

“Isn’t that impossible? The no. 7 ball is blocking your way.”

No. 3 was near the right-center pocket, but the no.7 sat between it and the cueball.

Usually, you would try and bounce the cueball off the cus.h.i.+on to easily bank no.3, but the ball was too far away from the buffer for that to work.

If I tried a cus.h.i.+on shot, the cueball would bounce off the cus.h.i.+on and send the no. 3 rolling off in a different direction.

Ariwara simply couldn’t read the table.

If I somehow missed the shot and Ariwara was allowed to take his turn, my fear of losing continued to drop.

Even though Ariwara was treating this as a compet.i.tion, a level head was the key to victory.

If Tachibana or I were in his place, we would already be mapping out the cueball’s course and thinking about how it would fall into the pocket.

I doubted that Hayate was lacking in that regard either.

He was leisurely watching things unfold.

“Which way are you going Mizuki, left or right?”

“Mmm…… right!”

I moved into position after answering Tachibana’s question.

A shot from the right would send the ball clockwise, while a shot from the left would send it counter-clockwise.

Once the thrust strength was calculated, you needed to decide the point of contact.

Say, for example, I were to strike the cueball from the top of the center then it would roll straight, but if I hit it from below the center, the ball would pop back on my hand.

You could add a spin to the cueball by s.h.i.+fting the contact point along the left and right axis.

It’s impossible to add spin when thrusting from a corner.

Attempting a spin from the corner would result in a popup.

A thrust like that would be a frame-freeze moment in movies.

In any case, the shot following the break was called the serve.

The serve could be considered the deciding factor between victory and defeat.

A missed shot would be called a foul ball.

A foul occurred when the cue ball didn’t hit anything, or it struck an unmarked ball.

Players switch when a foul occurs.

After lining up my contact point, I thrust my cue with gusto.

“Eh!? It turned!? Eh? Oh!?”

While I enjoyed listening to Ariwara honest reactions, I mainly focused on no. 3 falling into the center pocket.

The cue ball bounced off the wall and came to a stop near the center of the table.

“Mizuki.”

Tachibana held up one hand.

“Best regards.”

“Understood.”

The two of us smiled at each other as I handed the cue stick to him.

“Now, where is no. 5?”

After playing up his obviously fake search for the no. 5 ball, which was sitting next to the cueball. Tachibana easily sunk the shot into the center pocket.

He handed me the cue stick, and I sunk the no. 7 ball.

“That’s a lie… when do we get a turn?”

An utterance escaped Ariwara lips as he watches us sink ball after ball.

“…… Mizuki, it is alright?”

After taking in the table arrangement, Tachibana asks if I could take care of things.

“Yes, I don’t mind.”

I understood what Tachibana meant and responded with a nod.

It was impossible for him not to sink the 8 ball.

However, Ariwara wasn’t having any fun.

It was okay to let the control of the cue ball change once.

Of course, with this arrangement, it was impossible for Ariwara to sink anything.

Instead of sinking the 8 ball, Tachibana  would only alter its position slightly and place the cue ball in a favorable spot for Ariwara.

That must have been what Tachibana was thinking.

Once Ariwara’s turn pa.s.sed and we regained control of the table, I would sink the 8 and no. 9 b.a.l.l.s.

Rather than allowing absolute failure, if he hit a ball even once then Ariwara’s personality would lead him to challenge us to another game.

Tachibana was the type to put others before himself.

He wanted Ariwara, who was a beginner, to enjoy himself.

I didn’t think in such a way.

In games and beyond, you had to defeat your opponent without pulling punches.

However, when I sunk the no.3 ball, I gave Ariwara an easily observable demonstration of my skill, if he was mindful of what he had seen he should have no problem learning from my example.

If he understood my thought process, Tachibana would place the cueball in a position where Ariawara could demonstrate his skill.

On this occasion, I would go along with Tachibana’s idea.

“Thank you.”

With a smile on his face, Tachibana struck the cue ball so that the 8 ball was positioned near the no. 9 ball.

The cueball stopped on the break line.

“Ow!! It’s a foul!! It’s a legitimate foul. Yes!!”

Uncle wryly smiled in response to Ariwara spirited display.

Hayate just had a bitter expression on his face.

He was about to explain to Ariwara that Tachibana practically handed them a free shot.

“Hayate.”

I called out to Hayate and slowly shook my head.

“Understood.”

Hayate relaxed his shoulders and said nothing more.

“What? Okabe?”

“Ariwara, it’s your turn.”

Ariwara looked back and asked Hayate what was going on.

However, Hayate immediately dodged the question.

“Is that alright?”

“I don’t mind. If you sink it, I’ll go next.”

Hayate proceeded to walk him through what should’ve been an easy shot.

Hayate was a good person.

His overly doting tendencies notwithstanding, he was one of the few people I recognized as a true friend.

While he could be overbearing at times, when he saw someone in need of help, he would lend a hand without being asked.

Tachibana judged the atmosphere before acting on behalf of an acquaintance, but Hayate would help regardless of his standing with that person.

Tachibana cherished the moment, while Hayate cherished his friends.

There was no point in deciding who was right.

It was a matter of different viewpoints.

Under these circ.u.mstances, Ariwara wouldn’t act because he wouldn’t notice what was going on and I wouldn’t act even if I understood what was going on.

If I acted, it would only be an inconvenience to others. Such was the burden of Sagara house.

The reason the original Mizuki hadn’t made many friends ‘til now was that she’d been taught, and had first-hand experience of, the dangers of befriending those that lacked the means to defend themselves.

The childish desire to make friends had been crushed by the time I entered kindergarten.

As a child born to a prestigious family who headed a significant conglomerate, I wasn’t allowed to have a normal childhood.

I wouldn’t allow my selfishness to lead to the injury or death of other children.

However, a child raised in solitude would almost certainly to grow up twisted.

That was one of the reasons the Okabe family paired a child of the same age with a young Sagara.

Because I had Hayate, I learned how to interact with children my own age, and I wasn’t lonely despite the distance I put between myself and others.

Children of the Okabe family could protect themselves and the Sagara children if the need arose.

Therefore, we could play and quarrel with one another without worry.

When they were really young, the original Mizuki and Hayate got into a big fight which had left her in tears.

The cause of the fight was a trifling thing.

After we stopped crying, we immediately forgot about the reason for the fight and started playing again.

The bare minimum requirements for those who become my friends were that they could protect themselves from the malice that was aimed at the Sagara.

I am the only minor remaining in the Sagara family.

In other words, from the outside, I was the Sagara house’s weak link.

Moreover, the near-fatal wounds I suffered two years ago were common knowledge at this point.

Furthermore, my siblings’ dotting behavior was known throughout high society.

It was easier to target my friends than it was to go after me, who was well protected.

Those facts were also considered when choosing my friends.

It was essential to publicly treat close friends as if they weren’t important.

In that regards, Ariwara and Tachibana had cleared the first bar.

Hayate had already verified them, and I trusted his judgment.

I wanted a female friend as well, but Chiaki hadn’t pa.s.sed that bar yet.

I wasn’t in a position where I could make childish demands because I was lonely.

Besides, because Hayate was always there, I never felt lonely in the first place.

The way people were raised depended on where they were born, the time period, and the financial strength of their family.

Therefore, I was taught that you should never hold anyone to your own standards.

It was important to measure their standards and judge them accordingly.

In this case, the critical standard is financial power.

My family has maintained its wealth by imposing responsibilities equivalent to that wealth upon ourselves.

Nothing could be obtained without fulfilling your responsibilities.

Everyone should have responsibilities that matched their status.

That was the rule my family’s common sense was based upon.

It was a rule that could never be broken.

Never be arrogant, value yourself, and refine your body through training.

To perform our duty and protect our people, martial arts and higher knowledge were crucial parts of our upbringing.

The Suwa were located on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The Suwa was a G.o.d clan.

In the olden days, people wors.h.i.+ped the Suwa as the servants of the G.o.ds.

There had been a time where the clan arrogantly acted as if they were G.o.ds.

However, the time of the G.o.ds was a distant memory now.

While the Suwa clan chose to descend from the G.o.dly realm to join humanity, they still behaved as if they still lived in that mythical time.

That was why Suwa’s thought pattern was sweet an a strange way.

Even so, it wasn’t justifiable.

I had my own reasons for not acting when I could have.

I’ll only watch over his growth for now.

The original Mizuki may return someday.

After listening to Hayate’s advice, Ariwara readied his cue stick.

His form looked pretty good.

It was probably uncle’s training at work.

Even uncle looked pleased as he watched Ariwara.

Of course, I was aware of his potential.

“Alright, let’s go,”

The energized Ariwara tightened his grip before thrusting the cue stick.

Although he struck the cue ball, the point of contact was way off center which caused the ball to slowly spin away without any of the power Ariwara had put behind his thrust.

“What? Why?”

Ariwara was confused by the unexpected result.

The cue stop in front of the 8 ball for a superb foul.

“Your thrust was off center. Because you didn’t strike the cue ball at its center, the power wasn’t properly transmitted. Didn’t I tell you to aim carefully?”

Ariware’s shoulder’s slumped in response to Hayate’s gentle talking down.

“Then, it’s your turn Mizuki.”

Tachibana said uttered that with a wry smile.

“Yes.”

I nodded without hesitation.

With one casual thrust, the cue ball struck both the 8 and no. 9 ball.

“Eh!?”

Ariware watched with a surprised expression as the two ball rolled into their respective pockets.

Silence descended upon the table.

“Mizuki!! Once more!! Another game, please!”

Ariwara grab both of my shoulders and practically shook me as he pleaded for another game.

“O-Okay.”

“Yes! Thank you, Mizuki!”

He began pulling the b.a.l.l.s out of the pockets with a gleeful expression.

“Well, it’s quite rare to perform a break shot.”

If he was this happy now, I couldn’t imagine how he’d feel when he started dating.

It wouldn’t be the first time Ariwara’s intense personality left me dumbfounded.

After that point, I lost count of how many times I heard “Once more.” over the course of the evening.