CH 203

I was watching over Kirasaka as she headed off to the scavenger hunt, Shizuku was observing the grounds and I was counting backwards with the progress chart in my hand.

For the most part, the events are on schedule, but since there have been so many individual events so far, the upcoming group competitions will be accompanied by plenty of preparation and mistakes.

I had a lot of free time on my hands anyway, so I was thinking about getting the equipment ready first, when the president returned to the student council tent.

Since she had competed in the third-year student’s sprint, she was a bit sweaty.

The gym uniform designated by Sakuranaoka Academy is just a shirt with a simple cherry blossom school emblem painted on the chest and bright lines on the sleeves, neck, and other parts.

Over this, a pale blue jersey can be worn for individual adjustments in body temperature.

Both Shizuku and I wore shirts during the competition and jerseys during the standby period to keep our bodies cool from sweating.

“How are things going?”

“It’s going well. …If things go smoothly in the events after this, I’ll have no complaints.”

President smiles as I hand her a drink that was on the desk while she accepts it.

Wiping her sweat off with a towel and moistening her throat, her gaze turns to the ground.

“Next up is the scavenger hunt… I heard Rei and Hino say they’re going to participate.”

“I don’t know about Hino-kun, but Kirasaka went to the waiting area a while ago.”

Without moving my gaze from the document, I replied to President’s words.

Hino-kun, a scavenger …yeah, it doesn’t suit him at all.

To begin with, it is not something that suits Kirasaka either.

It doesn’t suit her on a level that makes me wonder why she was even participating in this.

At the opposite end of the waiting area, Koizumi and Miura had set up several boxes in the middle of the course.

In those boxes were the themes that were thought up by the student council and the committee members.

Naturally, there were a few ideas that I thought of as well, but I didn’t put anything unreasonable in them.

Glasses, plastic bottles, tapioca milk tea…

What a naughty and trendy selection.

I don’t think I may have included some subjects that will never be found, but oh well, it’s too late now.

I put in quite a bit, so I’m fine with the low probability.

After Koizumi and the others finished their preparations, the students formed a line near the starting line.

“How many events are left for Shinra?”

“The last one is the three-legged race with Shizuku, and the rest of them are basically substitutes or not even named in the first place.”

“I see… that’s boring.”

President’s gaze fell on me as she uttered an unusually childish line.

At first glance, it would appear as if …she is lamenting the fact that I don’t compete in events.

But if you’re like me, it’s easy enough to read what’s behind President’s words.

Yes, I always think I am reading behind the words and fail to do so, but this time, I was really scared.

That has already scared me at least as much as the morning news shows.

President must have secretly wanted to enjoy seeing my disappointment.

It must have already occurred to her to say something like, “Hang in there Shinra, lol,” while only looking at me with a motherly gaze.

I completely understood and turned my hostile gaze to President and glared at her, then the President muttered.

“If it was a joint event, there was a chance we could have competed together.”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry for everything.”

Profoundly, I bow my head and express my apologies to the President.

President and Shizuku looked at me curiously, wondering what I was talking about, but I was ashamed of myself for some reason.

Before they realized why I started apologizing, I changed the direction of the topic.

I forced their eyes to look in the direction of the students, just as the first group of students was about to start running.

Among them, I thought I saw a student with an unusual red hair color, but I was probably mistaken.

The red-haired boy pulls out a sheet of paper from the box, opens the four-fold and is astonished.

He is the only one standing still while the other students look around and head off to get what they are looking for.

We wondered if the topic was that difficult, and as we watched, the boy started running toward the student council tent, as if he had an idea.

“Senpai, who do you think has tapioca milk tea!”

“They sell it at the convenience store.”

There was no doubt, he was Hino-kun.

It was Hino-kun without a doubt, and it was my suggestion that he pulled out, just as I had hoped.

While I felt sorry for my junior, I was overflowing with relief that no ordinary student had pulled it off.

I point to a convenience store outside the school that is slightly visible from behind the back nets used by the baseball team.

I took out 500 yen from my pocket and handed it to Hino-kun with a flick of my finger.

“That’s my senpai! Thank you!

Saying this, Hino-kun ran as fast as he could in the direction of the back gate and disappeared.

…Well, I wrote that one, so it’s on the house this time.

Shizuku and President, who had been watching the series of events quietly, let out a laugh in the tent, which had regained its serenity.

“Shinra has become much more rounded, hasn’t he?”

“Externally?”

“Internally…”

I was worried for a moment that she might have gained weight even though I wasn’t snacking, but that worry was quickly dispelled.

But, does it look like I’m getting rounder on the inside from the outside?

If so, that means there has been some change in me.

“…Not that my way of thinking itself hasn’t changed even now.”

I sat deeper in my chair and looked forward.

Without making eye contact with either Shizuku or the chairman, I just gazed vaguely at the schoolyard.

If you ask me if the view I see now looks different than it did at the beginning of the two years, I would say no.

Nothing has changed. I do not mingle with the students smiling happily in front of me.

I am still in a place where a line has been drawn.

“The first part of the Sakura Festival, affirming the bonds between the students through the Sports Festival, and hoping to bring them together as one for the Cultural Festival… were the words the President said at the opening ceremony?”

I picked up a sheet of paper from the desk under the student council tent.

It is an information leaflet made for parents about this athletic festival.

The names of the school president, the student council, and the teacher in charge of the athletic festival are listed, and the words are pleasant to the ears.

Developing students’ independence, connecting students through sports, friendship, and uniting the school as a whole.

All of these are pretty words.

“The only thing they are doing is knocking down others to score points… and even if they value the bonds between students, it seems that it is only deepening the gap between the students in the end.”

Maybe I just think that because of my twisted and prejudiced way of thinking and perceiving things.

It is possible that everyone is having fun and is happy.

But I don’t see the ideal student unity that the school claims to have at this athletic festival.

“…Just made me aware that as a student council member, I shouldn’t put these words in my mouth.”

Yes, I’ve became aware.

I ran for the position of a student council member myself, and I was elected.

I didn’t make any promises, and I wasn’t asked to do anything.

However, it is true that I have to protect the brand image of the student council.

I was going to make negative remarks only in front of people who know me.

“Minato-kun…”

I apologetically smiled back at Shizuku, who turned sad eyes on me.

I am sure she wants them to have fun.

They may want to enjoy the event of the athletic festival together and share it as a memory.

It’s what everyone thinks of as a memory of school life.

“Is that what your position in the student council makes you do?”

I was a little bit nervous about this because my relationship with the President was short compared to Shizuku’s, but I was able to get the message across to her.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve known her for only a short time or because I’ve known her for a long time.

“No, it don’t. …I’ve joined the student council, so now I think it’s a better sports festival than before.”

When I said those words back to her, President’s face relaxed a little, as if she was relieved.

Then she sat down on a nearby chair and listened with her eyes on the ground only, and her attention directed towards me.

“…”

A moment of silence follows.

As I watch the students run hard in front of me, a feeling envelops my body as if the cheers are getting further and further away.

It is difficult to put into words what I am feeling.

Moreover, I am not sure if she will understand what I have to say.

Even so, I mumbled the best I could with the words I had at the moment.

“What does it feel like to really have fun…?”

I still couldn’t understand the feelings that I had forgotten because I hadn’t felt them for a long time, even though there had been some changes in my surroundings and in my way of thinking.

I was aware that just by saying a few words, the atmosphere under the tent had turned completely gloomy, so I decided to change their mindset immediately, quiet as it may be.

“There.”

Pointing ahead, Kirasaka was running down the straight line of the ground, completely relaxed.

Well, this is all about getting the task done as quickly as possible, so at first everyone around her was taking it easy to some extent, without exception.

Kirasaka puts her thin white hand inside the box and pulls out a piece of paper.

Next to her, the other students have various expressions on their faces.

Among them, she is the only one who steps toward me, as if she had an idea as soon as she saw the paper.

Without hesitation, she walked straight to the student council tent and stood in front of me.

She stood in front of me, looking down on me.

I was looking over at her, waiting to see what she would say, when she silently grabbed my arm in her white hand.

“Kirasaka-san, what does this mean?”

It was Shizuku who refused to let me be pulled away.

She grabbed me by the collar of my clothes and pulled me from the opposite side and asked Kirasaka.

“It’s the theme… Well, maybe you should be the one instead of him. …Can I ask you to come too, Kanazaki-san?”

“Yes?”

The first time I saw her, she looked at me and Shizuku and then grabbed Shizuku’s arm as well and pulled us both along with her hands.

I was annoyed that President was waving me off under the tent, but now I was concerned about the theme.

“What was the theme?”

“It would be boring if I told you, so just wait until we get to the finish line.”

Kirasaka, who shook her head and refused to accept my words, was moving toward the finish line faster than the other students.

Shizuku is also following me with an expression of what is going on, but her puzzled expression is still on her face.

The three of us together, and the two of them, Shizuku and Kirasaka, are popular with the boys, so naturally the stares from the male students were painful.

However, the other students looked at the three of us curiously.

After going around half the ground and reaching the finish line, I was freed for the first time.

Kirasaka handed the paper she had drawn to the referee.

The student acting as the referee opened the paper to check the subject, and Kirasaka pointed her hands at us with a small motion, as if to emphasize the point.

“Well, the subject is …’Disproportionate things’…?

The student looked very uncomfortable saying this.

Well, …it must be hard to say.

I would never want to say anything in this situation.

Kirasaka, however, puts her hands on her hips with her big breasts outstretched as if to say how she feels.

…I can’t deny it myself, so I’m in trouble.

When I looked fearfully next to me, I saw that Shizuku was shaking.

I couldn’t make out her expression as she was looking down, but I could tell that something was on the verge of exploding.

Immediately, I took a few steps away from the scene and watched them from a place where I could safely escape, and Shizuku and Kirasaka turned to face each other.

“Who’s out of proportion… It would have been better if you took just Minato.”

“The judge didn’t say no, so isn’t this the correct?”

“He didn’t say it was right either, which means we need to deliberate on this.”

As their expressions gradually disappear, the referee, who cannot move, looks on in horror.

…I know, it’s scary.

I silently threw words of support in my chest to the student who, due to his position, could not move from the spot.

…Good luck!

The two of them, Shizuku and Kirasaka, continued to exchange words with each other, not caring that other students were finishing one after another and there were more people around.

I quietly disappeared behind them and walked back to the student council tent.

But, before I could take my second step to the ground, someone grabbed me by the neck, probably both of them at the same time, and dragged me back to the finish line.

“I’ll have to ask Minato-kun to review this one.”

“As you wish, I will leave it to Shinra-kun this time.”

I don’t have any say in this matter, do I…?

Thus, until all the students in the scavenger hunt had finished running, the scene on the field was anything but peaceful as the girls argued with each other.

According to the president, the festive atmosphere of the gymnasium may have encouraged the students to think more flexibly, and surprisingly, their arguments were watched with great excitement by those around them.

<TL> : Sorry, forgor that this existed.*ded*

Was busy with college. Dunno what will be the upload rate, but hey… well atleast it’s started.