Childhood Friend Heroine V1 Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Physical Fitness Test
The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue. It was neither cold nor hot—the ideal weather for exercise. On this fine day, Saito and his classmates were out on the school grounds for their physical fitness test.
“Alright!”
“Hah, ugh!”
“Holy crap, that thing’s flying!”
“Sixty meters!? That’s farther than the baseball club guys! Minazuki is insane!”
“Hah-hah! This is nothing for me.”
PE was Saito’s strong suit, and he was dominating the fitness test with his natural athletic ability. They were currently doing the handball throw, which involved hurling a ball that barely fit in one’s palm and measuring the distance. Saito had just shattered the sixty-meter barrier—a feat even the baseball club members had never achieved—and exclamations of amazement erupted from all around. Basking in the cheers, Saito grinned, ever the show-off.
“Alright, I’m gonna throw an even more amazing one, so watch this. Here goes… ah.”
“Ah, it slipped right out of his hand.”
“Zero-point-five meters. Pfft, lame.”
“I screwed uuuuup!!”
“Aw, man…”
“Well, that’s pretty typical of Saito-kun, I’d say.”
However, getting carried away was his downfall. His second throw slipped cleanly from his hand, dropping to the ground just in front of him and earning him the lowest record in the class. It was a perfect, two-panel fall from grace. Seeing Saito clutching his head in despair, the boys erupted into laughter.
“This is the worst.”
“Good work out there.”
“Nice job, that was peak entertainment.”
Haruki and Kai gently welcomed Saito back as he trudged toward them, hiding his face in his hands. But right now, their kindness only stung more. Saito plopped onto the ground and writhed in agony for a while.
“Lily-cchi’s amazing! She’s super fast!”
“Hm?”
Cheers rose from the girls’ side of the field, just a fence away. Curious, Saito glanced over and saw that Lily was apparently excelling.
That girl being good at both studying and sports is just broken, isn’t it?
When they’d first met long ago, she was so clumsy she couldn’t even do a single pull-up. But after they took judo lessons together for just two years in elementary school, something suddenly awakened in her. Lily, naturally smart and a quick learner, absorbed the instructor’s teachings at an incredible speed. In no time, she was unbeatable against all the girls her age at the dojo. Using that as a springboard, she seemed to have grasped the principles of efficient body movement and became better than average at other sports too.
They say heaven doesn’t grant two gifts, but his childhood friend was probably an exception. Sometimes, Saito envied her, wishing he could be that smart too.
“Whoa, they’re bouncing like crazy.”
“What cup size is that?”
“Man, I’m so glad we’re in the same class~”
As Lily passed nearby, the boys’ voices filled with delight. Part of it was because the popular beauty was close, but about ninety percent of the reason was the generous assets she possessed, which seemed out of place for her age. Even in a sports bra, her large chest bounced, and the boys’ gazes were completely captivated. They were genuinely moved.
Following their lead, Saito’s gaze was also drawn to his childhood friend’s chest.
Haven’t they gotten even bigger?
But his reason for looking was a little different from the others. Saito was focused on Lily’s incredible rate of development. Her chest was significantly larger than when they had gone to the beach during last year’s summer vacation. Though she had started developing around the same time as other girls her age, she now held a considerable lead.
Just what does she eat to grow that much? Saito wondered with pure curiosity. If he could figure that out, maybe he could get even taller.
As he was lost in such thoughts, his childhood friend’s eyes met his.
Oh, crap.
It wasn’t like he was thinking anything inappropriate, but an indescribable awkwardness from having been caught staring at her chest made him hastily look away. Her feet moved with a steady, efficient rhythm; he could tell she ran regularly. Yet, for some reason, Saito felt something was off. Just as he tried to focus his eyes and observe more closely to pinpoint the source of his unease, a mishap occurred.
“Fumyu!”
“Mizuki-chan! Are you okay!?”
“Oh no, what a tragedy. Our angel has fallen.”
“Even the sound she makes when falling is adorable… No, wait, bring a stretcher! Immediately transport our angel to the nurse’s office!”
Aizono Mizuki, a petite girl and Haruki’s childhood friend, had taken a spectacular tumble. The entire class’s attention snapped to her at once. She had hit the ground with considerable force, and a fair amount of blood was already seeping from her knee. It looked deep and painful. As Mizuki crouched down, clutching her knee, a pale-faced Haruki was the first to rush to her side.
Mizuki was popular among the boys—well, the lolicon crowd—though not as much as Lily. Her petite appearance and her distinctive habit of ending her sentences with “desu” inspired a strong protective instinct in them. So, several boys followed Haruki, hoping to appeal to her in this situation.
“There’s definitely no need for that many people.”
“They could probably carry her, crowd-surfing style.”
“That would just make things worse.”
Saito and Kai looked on in exasperation as six boys, including Haruki, rushed to Mizuki’s side. Naturally, all the boys except Haruki were pushed aside, and he ended up escorting her to the nurse’s office.
“I’ll disinfect it for you, so don’t go away!”
“We shall disinfect with our tongues—”
“Gross desu.”
“Guhah! Thank you so much!”
“Haruki… save me desu.”
“Haha, well then, let’s go.”
Even so, under the pretense of being helpful, these criminal lolicon reserves voiced their disgusting desires. Mizuki shot them a thoroughly cold look and berated them, but they still seemed happy about it. Their cases were terminal; no doctor could help them. The only solution was to have the police take them away. With Mizuki genuinely scared, Haruki headed to the nurse’s office with a wry smile.
Saito turned his attention back toward Lily. Despite the brief commotion, the girls’ long-distance run had continued without stopping. Lily, having completed another lap, passed nearby again.
“Hah, hah, haah, haah…”
Looking at her time, this lap would probably be her last. He thought she’d shift into a final sprint, but Lily ran by with a pained expression, maintaining the same pace as before.
Ah, I see. She’s hurt somewhere, too.
Seeing this, the fog in Saito’s mind finally cleared. She was definitely injured. Since she hadn’t fallen as obviously as Mizuki, she had probably twisted something while running. Honestly, she was hiding it so skillfully that he hadn’t noticed at all until now.
“…Haah, can’t be helped. I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.”
“To the baaathroom~”
If she’d twisted it fairly early on, it might have gotten worse from continuing to run.
What a troublesome girl, Saito sighed and left the area.
“I think the stuff I bought yesterday should be in here. Oh, there it is.”
Returning to the classroom, he rummaged through his bag. Sticking his hand to the very bottom, he found what he was looking for: cooling patches and athletic tape. If asked why he had such things, it was purely by chance. Yesterday, on his way home, his father had complained about a sore back and asked him to buy some. But by the time he got home with them, his father had declared, “It somehow got better, so I’m fine,” and he’d missed the chance to take them out of his bag.
Much ado about nothing. He’d thought it was a pointless errand, but who knew they’d come in handy like this. You never know what life will bring. He stuffed them into his jersey pockets and headed back to the field.
“Welcome back. How was your bowel movement?”
“In perfect condition.”
“Splash Mountain level?”
“Not quite that intense. Kai, you might get canceled if you use that comparison, so you should stop.”
“Got it.”
Just as he rejoined Kai, the chime signaling the end of class rang. After lining up and bowing, Saito immediately ran toward Lily. “Kai, I’ve got something to do, so head home first.”
“Exactly five minutes, that’s seriously incredible, isn’t it? Lily-cchi’s too fast.”
“Ahaha. I’m pretty good at running. Ah, what’s up, Saito?”
“I’ve got some business to discuss. Yakumo, can I borrow Lily for a bit?”
“Go right ahead. In that case, I’ll head home with Minaka first.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Thanks. Well then, let’s go over there.”
When he said he had something to talk about, Shuri considerately created a situation where they could be alone. Saito thanked her and led Lily behind a prefab building where there weren’t many people around.
“So, where’d you hurt yourself?”
“Ah! …How did… you figure it out?” Lily’s eyes widened, wondering how he’d known.
“How many years do you think we’ve known each other? I can tell when my childhood friend is acting weird. Well, it seems like the other guys didn’t notice, so you can feel reassured about that.”
“…I see.”
As Saito explained with an exasperated expression, she let out a sigh of relief and patted her chest.
“The base of my right leg. I twisted it while running. It wasn’t much at first, but it gradually started hurting more.”
Probably because no one else was around, Lily confessed that her leg was hurting.
“Don’t push yourself so hard. Come on, take off your shoe. I brought cooling patches and tape.”
“Why do you have those?”
“Dad asked me to buy them by chance yesterday on my way home. But when I got back, he was perfectly fine. It was a complete waste of a trip.”
“Hehe, that’s so like You-san.”
As he explained how he happened to have them, she smiled gently and took off her shoe and sock, presenting her pure white, slender legs. It was a sight that would make most guys drool, but Saito reached out his hand without a second thought.
“…Ah!”
“Oh, sorry. Did that hurt?”
When Saito touched her leg, Lily’s body jumped with a start. He reflexively let go and looked up at her, but for some reason, she was facing completely the other way.
“I-I’m fine. Don’t worry about me and just do it in one go. Come on.”
“…Are you the type of character who hugs an enemy from behind and takes the protagonist’s finishing move to die together?”
Saito was puzzled by Lily’s slightly strange behavior, but he proceeded with the treatment as she wished.
“There, all done. Try moving around a bit.”
“Y-yeah.”
After finishing wrapping the tape, Saito offered Lily her shoe. She nodded, put it on, and walked around a little as instructed.
“Ow.”
“Huh? I thought I did it right. You pushed yourself too hard. If it hurts, want me to carry you on my back? I’ll take you to the nurse’s office.”
Even though he should have treated it properly, Lily grimaced in pain after just three steps. Maybe he really should take her to the nurse’s office. Thinking this, Saito offered her a piggyback ride.
“It’s not bad enough to go to the nurse’s office… But, yeah, that’s right. I’ll take you up on your offer and have you carry me to the school building. But make sure you’re mindful of people watching, okay?”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
Though Lily was reluctant at first, after a brief moment of hesitation, she accepted his offer. At that moment, she wore a strangely beautiful smile, but Saito didn’t notice as he crouched down. After her hands were on his shoulders, he grabbed her legs and stood up.
“…Hey, hey, Saito.”
As they walked, looking for a route with few people, Lily suddenly whispered in his ear.
“Mm? What’s up?”
“How did you like my chest that you were looking at earlier?”
As he asked what was wrong, something soft pressed against his back, and Lily dropped her bombshell.
“What!? You noticed!? N-no, it wasn’t like that! I was just thinking they’d gotten bigger. Ah, no! I meant you’d grown, that’s all! Nothing inappropriate!”
In an instant, unpleasant sweat burst out from his back. Saito scrambled to clear up the misunderstanding, but in his flustered state, he only ended up saying things that could be misunderstood even more.
“Yeah, yeah. I understand. Saito’s a boy too, after all. It can’t be helped. Since you helped me this time, I’ll specially forgive you. Ah, don’t try to put me down. If you’re a man, take proper responsibility for your words.”
“Shut up! It’s because you’re saying weird stuff!”
And so, Lily’s misunderstanding remained unresolved.
Even though he couldn’t see her face from his back, he could tell from her tone that she was grinning mischievously. Unable to bear it anymore, Saito tried to put her down, but she clung to him tightly, making it impossible.
“Get dooown!”
“I won’t get dooown!”
“Cut it oooout!!”
“I don’t wanna!!”
Like children, the two went back and forth, their argument about getting down or not getting down continuing all the way to the school building.
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