Epilogue

RAW

In this world, there are said to be two kinds of people: those who play basketball and those who don't.

So, as someone who belongs to the category of those who play basketball, I found myself once again on the usual street basketball court, along with Shinji and Sato-kun, for some reason.

Well, "for some reason" might not be the best way to put it.

I had received a message just the other day that explained it.

"I think it’s fine since Sato’s already figured it out, but Yuko sent me a video the other day of Aizawa and Sato playing basketball, and man, I really wanna join in. How should I go about participating?"

This was only a few days ago. The fact that Sato-kun and I had a match quickly spread, and someone must have filmed it because there was a video uploaded to the school bulletin board. At the same time, there was a completely unflattering shot of Chinatsu hugging me, but well, that wasn’t so bad.

Afterwards, I found myself constantly being nagged by the basketball club’s seniors, who were trying to recruit me in exchange for my "right" to not be called second place anymore. Whether or not it balanced out was unclear, but it was definitely troublesome.

Still, considering how much closer I had become to Sato-kun through our chats and how the jealousy I used to feel about being with Chinatsu had mostly disappeared, I felt like I was moving forward properly.

One of the stranger events that happened recently was that I was confessed to by a girl for the first time in my life. Of course, I turned her down, and she quickly explained that she just wanted to get it off her chest before leaving. But the hardest part was calming Chinatsu down afterwards.

Despite Chinatsu being the one who should have received more confessions, pointing that out would’ve been a bit rude. I promised her that I wouldn't go to any more confessions in the future, and she made sure to get that point across. Sakura-san, Todo-san, and Hōjōin-san had just been laughing the whole time and didn’t help at all.

By the way, Chinatsu was here today too, along with Todo-san, who came to see Sato-kun, and Sakura-san and Hōjōin-san, who knew about our complicated situation, but I decided it was better not to think too much about it.

Todo-san, having been upset the last time, came dressed in clothes that were comfortable for playing.

Today, Misaki-san was also here, and when I introduced everyone, she let out a deep sigh while looking at me and Chinatsu. I felt a little guilty for causing her concern.

"Wow, this is a proper court!"

"Well, yeah. What did you expect?"

"I thought it'd be a street court, with a rough ground, some people smoking, and tough-looking guys hanging around."

"Well, that's true for some places, but here the upper court is well-maintained, so it’s pretty comfortable."

After greeting everyone, Shinji was already explaining things to Sato-kun, who was checking out the court and the hoops. It was amusing to see two different types of handsome guys chatting like that.

Since it was the weekend, there were a lot of working adults like Gen-san and Makoto-san, but the college students usually showed up during weekdays.

Gen-san had unexpectedly brought his wife and daughter with him, and to my surprise, they were both very beautiful. It seemed like he was also surprisingly thoughtful toward his family, something that Makoto-san noticed when he saw my surprised expression.

"Hey, Hajime."

"…What is it, Gen-san?"

Gen-san came onto the court and gave Sato-kun a serious look.

I had a feeling I knew what he was getting at, so I reluctantly answered.

"You really only hang around good-looking people, don’t you?"

"I denied it when you said that at school, but looking at myself now, I can't really deny it."

The people around me were Chinatsu, her friends, Shinji, and of course, Sato-kun, who I had exchanged contacts with after the last match.

So, it wasn’t that strange for Gen-san to say that.

"Well, whatever. When it comes to basketball, it's just about individuals. Age doesn’t matter here."

"…Even though you were talking about bringing girls with you last time," I muttered.

"I don’t dwell on the past."

That didn’t sound cool at all.

It was embarrassing, especially in front of his wife and daughter.

"Anyway, Hajime’s friend, what's your name? I’m called Gen. Just call me Gen-san. But if you touch my daughter, I’ll kill you."

"Uhh… You’re saying that out loud."

I couldn’t help but laugh at the familiar atmosphere.

"Nice to meet you, Gen-san! I’m, uh, Sato Hajime," Sato-kun said.

"…Hmm?"

Gen-san gave Sato-kun a curious look, then glanced at me.

"It’s a pretty common name."

"…I see. Well, that’s kind of inconvenient, huh?"

I shrugged and responded. Gen-san muttered something about sometimes meeting clients who shared the name, and then he looked at both of us and continued.

"Well, then how should we call you guys?"

I felt a little uneasy.

In this place, I was just Sato Hajime, not compared to anyone else, just a normal person. But, now that I thought about it, even when I was called second place at school, it was just a name, nothing more.

Before I could overthink it, Gen-san casually dropped a name for Sato-kun.

"Well, how about ‘Icchi’ since he’s number one? If you don’t like it, we can change it."

"Icchi?" Sato-kun repeated.

"Yeah, I don’t mind. I’m not attached to it, but it’s easy to call you like that. As for you, Hajime, I’m calling you that first because you’re already mine."

Sato-kun repeated the name, and I found it amusing. That was a funny coincidence.

I was reminded of something important. It was about my name. I had once asked my parents what my name meant when I was a child. My father had explained that I was the only "Hajime" in the world.

"Your mother and I named you 'Hajime' because we wanted you to be unique, the only 'Hajime' in this world," he had said, gently patting my head.

As time went on, I realized that my name was unique, and it wasn’t about being first place—it was about being who I was.

---

"Hey, can I call you Icchi too?"

"Of course. I’ll call you Hajime, then."

Sato-kun smiled at me as we agreed.

We might not have known each other for long, but I felt like we would get closer as time passed.

Shinji was watching us with a slightly envious look, and Chinatsu, the most important person to me, was staring at us with a face that almost looked like she was about to cry.

Todo-san and the others smiled warmly, watching us.

It felt like everything was falling into place.

I thought about how happy I was, and even if our future had many more steps, right now, I was perfectly content.

That day, when I called out to Chinatsu who was crouched down, I realized that was the beginning of everything.

Autumn passed, winter arrived, a new year came, and my world began to change in every way.

My name is Sato Hajime.

And there is another Sato Hajime at my school, with the same name, written the same way.

Before we met, we were both the first and second Sato Hajime.

I used to think that people had rankings, that there was a first and second.

But I was wrong.

Sometimes, we’re first, sometimes second, and sometimes neither.

And it’s in those moments, with our own unique traits, that we exist, and it’s irreplaceable.

We stood in the same place, not compared to anyone else, but as ourselves.

---

The Number Two Me and The Number One Girl (End)...

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TN

Yes, this is the end... I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you can, please rate it on Novel Updates (here) and leave a great review to help others discover it and experience this story too. That would mean a lot!