CH 71

“With this, I now declare the commencement of the sports festival. All visitors—”

The big event after the summer break, the sports festival, was finally underway. Many tents were set up around the grounds, and they were all filled to the brim by the students’ parents. Since the number of students in the school was quite large, the number of parents was also equally large. Additionally, there were also people from other schools, the neighborhood, and others who’d come to visit the school for a tour, making it very lively.

“…So hot.”

“It’s boiling out here…”

“It’s hell on earth.”

In the midst of this bustling and joyful atmosphere, Ryuichi and his usual friends were already feeling defeated by the heat. The competition hadn’t even started yet, and they hadn’t moved their bodies at all, so it was worrying to imagine what the future held for them.

“Here, have a sports drink.”

“Thanks, Shizuna.”

He took the drink from Shizuna, who was standing beside him, and chugged it down with big gulps. Shizuna laughed at his overly vigorous gulping, but perhaps she liked the sight of him doing that too as she stared at him.

“But man…they actually ended up coming, huh.”

“Yup.”

Ryuichi took his mouth off the bottle and looked in a certain direction. There, of course, was Shizuna’s mother, Sakie, but she was also accompanied by Chisa and Satsuki. 

“I didn’t know they’d come too…”

“I didn’t know about Chisa-san and Satsuki-san either. They really stand out, don’t they?”

“Of course they do.”

It went without saying for Chisa and Satsuki, but Sakie also had a very youthful and vibrant appearance that it was hard to believe that she had a child. She was probably too beautiful a woman in the eyes of the other students’ fathers who were present here. 

Although the same couldn’t be said for Sakie and Satsuki, Chisa was wearing a very revealing outfit, so she was gathering many gazes on her.

“…Ah.”

“Oh my.”

The three of them noticed Ryuichi and Shizuna and waved at them. Makoto and Kaname grinned widely, but the rest of the students snuck glances at them, seemingly wondering what kind of relationship they had with each other, which made Ryuichi uncomfortable.

“Well, I guess all we can do is simply think of them like a peanut gallery.”

“Agreed.”

It wasn’t like the girls had been trying to deliberately create a fuss, either; they had purely come to see Ryuichi and Shizuna, so they couldn’t just act indifferent toward them.

“It’s nice that Satsuki-san came like this, but it seems she’s only got eyes for you, Ryuichi-kun.”

Shizuna muttered this with a chuckle. It was only a guess, but his…Akira’s parents should also be here, so perhaps she’d already spoken to them. Under normal circumstances, Satsuki would’ve come here to see her brother, Akira, but certainly, as Shizuna had said, she was currently only looking at Ryuichi.

“But it looks like he doesn’t really care about her anymore.”

“…That’s true. He really doesn’t seem anxious or uneasy at all.”

Akira was by Sohei’s side, but he didn’t seem to care about his sister as he enjoyed conversing with his friends.

“The first event, the scavenger hunt, is about to begin. All participating students, please gather at the entrance gate.”

It seemed the competition was about to begin in earnest. For the scavenger hunt, both Ryuichi and Shizuna would be participating, so they headed for the entrance gate side by side. From there, they were escorted by a committee member to the field.

“…Fufu.”

“What…?”

While they were sitting and waiting for their turn, Shizuna suddenly burst out laughing. When Ryuichi asked her what was up, she replied with the following:

“I still remember last year. Ryuichi-kun, you didn’t participate in any of the competitions… In fact, it was like you didn’t even exist.”

“………”

“It’s cute how you, a former delinquent known by everybody, is now participating in the sports festival like this. Also, you look cute in your gym uniform.”

“…The heck does that mean?”

Shizuna uttered something unusual: how Ryuichi was cute in his gym clothes. Perhaps Ryuichi would never understand, and only Shizuna would know what she meant by that.

“It really does mean a lot for the both of us to be able to participate in this together… Let’s have fun.”

“Yeah.”

It would be a loss if he didn’t enjoy himself since it felt like he’d worked hard and helped out in many ways in preparation for this day. As he and Shizuna lapsed into their own world like that, it came time for Ryuichi to go first. 

Shizuna saw him off, and Ryuichi stood at the starting point. The boys on either side of him were both seniors, but Ryuichi’s physique was overwhelmingly large compared to theirs.

“…So huge.”

“I ain’t gonna lose…”

It seemed like a strange rivalry was stoked in them. The sound of a pistol shot rang out with a bang, and Ryuichi and the boys made a run for the theme box.

…The specs on this body are seriously insane.

Ryuichi had no idea how many times he was reminded how strong his body was. He was reasonably fast just by running normally, and although there wasn’t that great a distance, he was still much faster than the two people running beside him.

“Let’s see… Huh?”

Incidentally, it was custom for every year’s scavenger hunt to have a few silly themes in it. It seemed that Ryuichi had drawn one of them this time.

“A person who’s emotionally supported you.”

“………”

Ryuichi froze, albeit for a moment, but then he immediately broke into a run. In truth, when he saw the theme, his body turned toward Shizuna, but it was the image of Chisa that flashed through his mind. He had met her earlier than anyone else that Ryuichi was close to, and in a way, she was the one who had supported his heart emotionally.

“My, what’s wrong?”

Ryuichi went to the place where Chisa and the others were standing and took Chisa’s hand, saying, “Come.” A woman who was watching the whole thing unfold blushed when Ryuichi, in a manner that brokered no argument, told Chisa, “Come,” and a man who was standing next to her, who appeared to be her husband, looked surprised, but Ryuichi did not pay them any heed.

“I-It’s been really long since I’ve run, though!”

“We’re almost there, hang in there.”

It was true that Chisa wasn’t the type to exercise like this, but despite that, she had an exquisite figure that was the envy of all women in the world, which was a huge deal.

Running made Chisa’s large, cleavage-revealing breasts sway, which was probably a bit too stimulating for the eyes of high school boys.

“Goal! The second-year student Shishido-kun has scored an impressive goal with a beautiful woman in tow!”

The student council president, who simultaneously acted as a play-by-play commentator and analyst, was very hyped up as well. 

When Ryuichi handed the person in charge the piece of paper with the theme written on it, they tilted their head at him, but they did not ask him about it because it was, in a sense, a private matter. However, Chisa seemed to be curious about what the theme was.

“Hey, can I have a look?”

“Sure, here you go.”

When Chisa saw the paper handed to her by the PIC, she froze for a moment and immediately jumped to her feet, looking like she was about to cry.

“Ryuichiii!! You thought of me that way? Uwaaaaaaaaah!!”

“H-Hey…”

Apparently, he’d landed a direct attack on Chisa’s heart. With Chisa in his arms, Ryuichi carried her back to where she had been and left Chisa in the care of Sakie and Satsuki.

“What was the theme?”

“…A person who emotionally supported me.”

“Ah, that’s definitely one for Chisa-san. Although it does vex me a little.”

Shizuna giggled, and then it came time for her turn. With the sound of the pistol, Shizuna started running. She read the paper with the theme written on it, then came running straight for Ryuichi.

“…I feel like I can sorta guess what you got.”

“Fufu, come on, hurry up!”

Holding hands with Shizuna, he started running again after having just run earlier. The theme she got was then read out as per her request, and the committee member’s mouth revealed the contents of the theme.

“The theme is ‘A person you love.’”

I knew it. In a way, it was just as Ryuichi had imagined. Fundamentally speaking, when a theme like this came up, if one had a lover, they would likely go to them; otherwise, some people would bring their family members with them.

As soon as the theme was read out, there was an annoying whistling noise from Makoto and Kaname, but Ryuichi just glared at them sharply.

“Don’t glare at us like that. ♪”

Ryuichi was certainly not in a bad mood, but Shizuna had an even brighter smile on her face. Thus, the sports festival had started off on a bit of a turbulent tone, and with Ryuichi’s participation, there was sure to be more chaos… But, well, since Ryuichi was well received by all but a few people, this sports festival would surely be a fun one.