CH 202

Fall is the season of food, exercise, and Sports Festival!

These days, due to global warming and other factors, summer temperatures are not what they used to be.

Schools are taking into consideration the physical condition of students and are moving their athletic festivals to a later time of the year so that the events can be held in a cooler and more appropriate environment.

No, it really helps though.

In the blazing heat of midsummer, we are half forced to be involved in the students’ boisterous activities, and yet we also have to perform our activities as a student council.

Really, fall is better here.

Or even spring. Or rather, I’m beginning to think that a sports festival with voluntary participation would be fine.

At Sakuranaoka Academy, the first annual Sakura Festival, the Sports Festival, was underway to rave reviews.

The grounds were filled with students wearing red, blue, yellow, green, and purple bands hanging from their foreheads, necks, and other parts of their bodies.

Outside the field, it was filled with parents and visitors.

There are only two high schools in the local area, and the only one that is open to the public is Sakuranaoka Academy, so a wide variety of people visit the school, including local elderly people and old men and women from the shopping arcade.

I have been approached several times by people I know, but they always give me a teasing smile.

I know, I know.

It’s probably the first time for them to see me working so hard, and since I’m always in a slack-jawed state, the gap between me and everyone else is probably huge.

The owner of the Fish Shop was saying, “Do you have a fever or something?”

I will definitely buy some fish from the fish shop right across the street from him next time, just to get back at him.　

So now the 100-meter run, the overall event of the Sports festival, was ongoing.

The first-year boys were followed by the girls, then the second-year boys and girls, and finally the third-year students.

The first-year students had already finished running, and now it was the second-year students’ turn.

The boys waited for the starting signal with serious expressions on their faces and then ran through to the finish line.

Even the students who normally have no chance to play an active role in the event are popular today just because of their fast legs.

The situation, the atmosphere, and the cheers of the students were all over the place.

It is almost Yuuto’s turn to be the prince of the school.

The girls’ anticipation rose, and they were eagerly awaiting his turn.

“…Why are you standing in line as if nothing happened, senpai is not so quick on his feet, is he?”

“Don’t say it…”

Shiraishi, who was helping the student council by holding the flag for the line of third-ranked students, called out to me.

What happened with Minato-kun…?

He had already finished running and was in line for the third place in the standings.

You might think, “If I’m number three, isn’t that fast?”

However, I was third out of five.

Not all of them were in the sports club, and the conditions were not equal, and the opponents were decided only by the attendance number.

Well, I guess the objective evaluation from the people around me is that he is neither fast nor slow.

Shiraishi is not too flattering in this respect, so she points out exactly what she doesn’t like about me.

Without making eye contact, I watch the students following me as I catch my disordered breath.

I can say this because it’s over, but I can imagine a great deal about their state of mind by their expressions.

Some are relaxed, some are stern, some are sobbing from too much tension, and some are waving to someone.

Hey, the last one is totally a pattern of waving, y’know.

You’re getting hate-filled stares from the boys around you.

That guy totally made the other guys take him seriously…

As I watched him thinking this, the cheers echoed through the school a few more times.

“He’s here.”

“Well, it’s Ogiwara-senpai, after all.”

The next runner of our three groups is Yuuto.

The next student was a member of the track and field team, I believe, but the winner of this one was decided.

The girls approached the very edge of the ground to cheer, and Yuuto also waved to the students until the very last minute.

What, are you some idol?

When all the students were ready, the starting sound rang out.

The track and field team is a force to be reckoned with, and they should have made an outstanding dash for the start, but next to them, Yuuto, who is just as good as the track and field team, is running with a huge gap between them and the other students.

With his brown hair shining in the sunlight, his sweat, and a serious expression that is different from his usual, Yuuto runs through the field by a clear margin.

“…”

“…”

As Yuuto crosses the finish line and is praised by the students, Shiraishi and I watch the scene in silence.

Well, I can understand.

It’s great, I know because I visited during the student council election, but I think the track and field students were a short distance away.

He finished faster than those students, which is certainly impressive…

“Even if that guy does something great, it doesn’t impress me in any way.”

“You’re starting to get it, junior. …I thought it would go for another year.”

She has been enrolled in the school for about six months and has a moderately good sense of humor.

Shiraishi is already looking at Yuuto and the others with a faraway look in her eyes, but you should know by now that this is natural, so you won’t get your heart broken.

The boys’ gawking is over, and suddenly the girls are back in their seats.

It’s not my imagination that the next group of runners and beyond have complicated expressions on their faces.

The students, who were blatantly unmotivated, ran one after another, and it was the turn of the second-year girls.

I was the flag bearer this time, and I was standing by with the number one flag.

As the students ran one by one, I checked the first-place student, and the committee members behind me filled out the list for scoring, and then the girls left.

While this is being repeated, the boys are now cheering enthusiastically.

Of course, we know why.

It is probably because Shizuku and Kirasaka are just behind them, running next.

After I finished with the first-place girl, I turned my attention to the starting line and saw Shizuku waving shyly to the boys.

Then she gave a small wave at her chest toward the finish line where I stood before the start.

I respond with a hand lightly raised to it, and the smiling expression on her face changes to one of seriousness.

She doesn’t wanna skimp on the competition, and I think that’s a good thing.

Well, without any need to talk about it, Shizuku, who was in first place, stops in front of me, proudly puffing out her chest.

“What do you think!”

“Well, I knew you would win.”

It was so predictable that I felt sorry for the students who were in the competition.

Many female students consider it tacky to run seriously, but she was running as fast as the boys without any restraint.

First-year students who saw her run as fast as she could for the first time were stunned with their eyes wide open.

Well, maybe the younger students were imagining her running in a cute way while giggling.

Imagining is not a bad thing, but don’t tell it to the others.

From the outside, people would rather like someone who is taking it as seriously as she is than someone who is blatantly cutting corners.

If you don’t want people to look at you that way, though, you’d have to be a slacker like me to make it difficult.

Shizuku will notice me, but I’m confident that people around me won’t notice me.

I’m a top-notch slacker, after all.

I’m good at tug of war and ball tossing.

I give off the impression that I’m pulling with all my might, but I relax appropriately, and I even throw the ball at random without setting my sights on it.

“As long as Minato-kun is watching, I can’t show him my embarrassing behavior.”

I smile at Shizuku, who stands there as if it were natural, not out of breath.

Perhaps wanting to be praised, I turned away from Shizuku, who continued to stare at me afterwards.

I’m not sure I’m up to the challenge of giving a compliment in the presence of other people’s eyes.

Just as the next runner, Kirasaka, was getting ready, I told Shizuku for that reason.

“There’s… Kirasaka.”

“…She’ll be in first place anyway.”

Her expression changed to one of disinterest and she turned her attention to the same starting line as me.

The students competing with Kirasaka seem to have a few athletes, but Kirasaka will win nine times out of ten.

There is enthusiastic cheering, mainly from the boys, but she completely ignores it and waits for the signal without even reacting.

A teacher raises his hand and a loud burst of sound rings out, and Kirasaka starts before anyone else.

Her reflexes and inherently high athleticism made her unrivaled, and near the finish line, she lightly swept by and crossed the finish line tape.

“…”

“Say something…”

Kirasaka stood in front of me and said nothing.

It’s troubling to come across someone as confident as Shizuku, but it’s also very troubling to stand in front of me as silently as she did.

Does she want to boast or be praised?

It’s difficult to read her mind from her facial expression, and she continued to be mute.

“Yes, yes, I know you’re great… so there’s no point in getting your hopes up.”

From behind, Shizuku pushes Kirasaka’s back and moves her away from the front of the banner, and they both gave me a cold stare.

I let out an involuntary sigh as I felt the eyes pierce my back like I was in the wrong.

“…Awesome, congrats.”

I mutter, small, and return my gaze to the front, waiting for the next student to arrive.

I don’t know what kind of looks the girls behind me are giving me, but at least they aren’t giving me cold stares.

The event competitions proceeded, and the third-year students also proceeded to the next, with President taking first place by a landslide.

As we watched the centipede and obstacle race progressing under the tent for the student council, Shizuku, who had naturally prepared their seats for us this time as well, opened her mouth.

“I wish Kaede could have come too.”

I thought of my sister, who was supposed to be at the opposite high school.

Today is Saturday of the weekend, and not only Sakuranaoka High School, but also the girls’ high school that Kaede attends, was holding a sports festival as well.

That’s why Kaede is not here.

My father and mother are also back home from overseas for vacation, but they have gone to Kaede’s side.

This is their daughter’s first sports festival in high school, and their priority is my sister.

Or rather than priority, they would obviously go to Kaede’s.

For me, I would just show a aweless appearance when they come.

I am tackling it with a moderate amount of effort because I am not taking it as seriously as the people around me because I don’t have my parents’ watching me.

“I’m relieved that you don’t have to see your brother’s unworthy appearance. …Well, I’m relieved that you guys aren’t getting into trouble, though.”

As you might be able to tell from the fact that both Shizuku and Kirasaka are currently sitting behind me while the event in front of me is in progress, the girls are now in the process of limiting the events to those that they wish to do.

Although there may have been a change of heart among their classmates, the fact that Yuuto said he would take over many of the events instead was a big factor.

After all, from the students’ point of view, there is no problem as long as they win, and Yuuto must have proposed the idea with that in mind.

Ogiwara Yuuto is a kind man.

Since losing the student council officer election, Yuuto has been concerned about being considerate of those around him in some way, and it seems there has been a slight change.

However, he is still a little reserved when it comes to socializing with us, perhaps because he hasn’t quite grasped the distance between us.

While the student council is doing various chores, an announcement is made by Miura.

[Next up is the scavenger hunt, and students who plan to participate are asked to move to their designated positions.]

“Oh, is it time already?”

Behind my seat, Kirasaka, who is still obsessed with books today, silently holds out a book with a bookmark.

Then she stood up and started to move without saying a word.

“…What’s that?”

“That’s…”

Kirasaka picked up the book she was half-read and looked at the cover of the book, but her words stopped there.

The next person, Shizuku, likewise stopped talking and her eyes were glued to the cover.

“How to Dominate a Man.”

…….

I am scared, is that girl finally going to turn into a S mentally.

Together with Shizuku, I could only see her off with a look of terror.