Childhood Friend Heroine V2 Chapter 9
Chapter 9
TheSportsFestival and Unsettling Shadows
A Saturday near the end of May.
“We’re absolutely winning today——!”
“““““Oooohhh——!!!!””””””
The long-awaited sports festival had arrived, and the students’ excitement was at its peak.
Saito’s class was no exception. Before leaving the classroom, they formed a circle to pump themselves up, their motivation soaring. The boys, in particular, were fired up, determined to look cool for Lily and Mizuki. Their intensity alone made it seem like victory was a foregone conclusion.
Saito, who had prepared for this day more than anyone, was nodding in satisfaction when he felt a tug on his clothes.
Looking down, he saw his friend Kai holding an envelope.
“…Here. Sorry it took so long, but I finally got the number of shots you requested.”
“…Thanks, Kai. Lily said she’d like you to take more today if you have time. Can you do it?”
“…Of course. Leave it to me.”
Saito and Kai crouched down, conducting a hushed exchange like corrupt officials in a period drama.
“Hey, Ito-cchi, Kai-cchi. What are you two doing? Everyone’s already left~”
But this was a classroom. Crouching didn’t hide them—if anything, it made them stand out. Shuri, passing by, called out to them.
“I’m the one locking up, so hurry it up, Baka-zuki.”
“Don’t forget the tea and towels, alright? If you drink mine without permission today, I will never forgive you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Minaka and Lily chimed in, their words of warning interrupting the secret exchange.
Saito tucked the envelope into his desk, grabbed his towel, and left the classroom with Kai.
When they stepped outside, the school grounds were already swarming with a massive crowd.
Seira High School had about six hundred students. If both parents for each student attended, that would be eighteen hundred people. On top of that, the sports festival was open to the public. With students’ friends, significant others, and middle schoolers visiting, the total number was likely closer to two thousand.
As expected, some of Saito’s friends and club members from middle school had come to see him.
“Yo, Saito! We came to watch!”
“So you really did get into Seira High? I thought you were lying.”
“I bet you’ll mess up in the relay, so do us a favor and trip up like last year.”
“Long time no see, guys. Harsh as ever. You could at least offer some encouragement.”
“Ah, there’s that beautiful childhood friend Minazuki-kun showed us before!”
“She is. I knew she was pretty, but seeing her in person really drives home how gorgeous she is.”
“And her boobs are huge. The world is so unfair.”
“Um~, could you please not touch me while looking so dissatisfied?”
Saito was happy to see them after so long, while Lily, recognized as his childhood friend, was quickly surrounded by the girls.
“Long time, Shuri. Got a boyfriend yet?”
“Long time~! Geez, it’s only been two months since school started; there’s no way I’d have one yet. I’m the type who takes her time getting to know someone first, okay?”
“Minaka-chan, do your best and don’t get hurt, alright?”
“Thanks. I’ll do my best in moderation.”
“Wow, you take really good photos.”
“…Thanks.”
“These are amazing. The realism is beyond what you’d expect from a student. How about working for my mom’s company after you graduate?”
“That’s a great idea. If you’re interested, please contact us here.”
“…Thanks. Wait, what!? Machigane-san’s mom!?”
Meanwhile, Minaka and Shuri chatted with their own middle school friends, and Kai, for some reason, found himself being scouted by Lily’s creative-minded parents.
“Grrr, I told you not to come, didn’t I, Sis!”
“Oh my~, isn’t it normal to come support my cute little sister and her childhood friend? Don’t be so angry, sweetie.”
“Then stop pressing your ridiculously huge boobs against Haruki!”
“Uh, Mizuha-san?”
“I’m not pressing them, you know. They just happen to be touching. They got bigger again recently, and I haven’t quite adjusted to them yet. Well~, I guess you wouldn’t understand, Mizuki.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“Mizuki, calm down!? That’s your sister; you can’t say that!”
Away from Saito’s group, Haruki was enduring his own personal hell, but no one noticed, too absorbed in their own conversations.
After catching up with their old friends, Saito’s group said their goodbyes and headed to their class tent.
They placed their water bottles and towels in the designated baskets for boys and girls. When roll call was announced, they made their way to the entrance gate.
“Class Three’s group is over here!”
“Oh, Prez. How’re you holding up?”
For the opening ceremony, students from all grades flooded toward the gate. Swept up in the flow, Saito found himself next to Takumi.
“…Do I look like I’m doing well?”
“Nope. But hey, it takes time to fix old habits. That’s what you said, right? That you’d work on it steadily.”
Takumi looked utterly exhausted. He had probably tried to get closer to Koyuki again, failed to be honest, and ended up making things worse.
‘This suits you since you’re a woman. This one’s mine.’ (I can’t let a girl carry heavy things, can I?)
‘Don’t you see how inefficient that is, you idiot? Go pour some water on your head.’ (I’ll be in trouble if you collapse from heatstroke, so make sure you hydrate.)
Ever since Saito’s talk with him, Takumi had been trying to reconcile with Koyuki, but his tsundere nature kicked in every time, sabotaging his efforts. He seemed genuinely frustrated by it and had been down in the dumps lately.
Saito felt a pang of impatience himself, but knowing Takumi was trying his best for Koyuki’s sake, he patted him on the shoulder encouragingly.
“…You’re right. Anyway, Minazuki, enjoy yourself today. You’ve been itching for this for a week, haven’t you? Don’t overthink things and just go wild.”
“Yessir. You do your best too, Prez. Well, my spot’s over here, so see ya.”
Seeing Takumi’s dark expression lighten just a little, Saito went to line up with his class.
“‘Oath: We, the students, swear to compete fairly and squarely in accordance with the spirit of sportsmanship! May ○, 20○○, Tanaka Shunta, Hamano Minami.’”
After the opening ceremony, the upperclassman PE committee chairs delivered the oath, and the sports festival officially began.
The first event for the first-years was the typhoon roll. It was scheduled right after the second-years’ pole-toppling event, so participants like Saito and Shuri had to head back to the entrance gate almost as soon as they returned to their tent.
“Well, I’m heading out.”
“Me too, see ya~”
“…Good luck.”
“Yeah, do your best, Minazuki-kun and Yakumo-san.”
“Shuri, don’t get hurt, okay? Worrying about Baka-zuki is pointless, though.”
“You’d better not lose, Saito.”
“That’s right. If you lose, I’m storming the other classes’ tents to raise hell.”
“That works too. But I’m gonna win anyway, so just sit back and cheer for us.”
The two announced their departure, and their friends sent them off with their own unique forms of encouragement. With their friends’ words at their backs, Saito and Shuri started walking.
“Hey, hey, Ito-cchi? You’ve been acting all secretive lately. What’s up?”
Once they were a short distance away, Shuri brought up the morning’s exchange, clearly unable to let it go.
“It’s nothing major. Just helping a couple of people make up.”
Lily had warned him, ‘Don’t say too much about what we’re doing, okay? If it leaks, Shirayuri-senpai will probably figure it out,’ so Saito kept his explanation vague.
“Huh, so the student council president and vice president still haven’t made up. Well, they’re both so complicated, I guess it can’t be helped.”
But since he had consulted her about it once before, Shuri saw through his vagueness instantly.
“Just don’t go spreading it around, alright? And for the record, your theory was wrong.”
“For real!? I was so sure about that one! I’m super bummed!”
Knowing Shuri was surprisingly tight-lipped, Saito gave her a light warning and left it at that. When he corrected her misunderstanding, Shuri’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. Apparently, she had been quite confident in her guess. Lily had thought the same thing, so it couldn’t be helped. After all, no one would imagine someone actively trying to make the person they like hate them. It was only natural to assume there was some other reason.
“Tough luck.”
“Thanks. But it’s not like I’m really bothered by it.”
That said, Shuri was like Saito—the type who didn’t sweat the small stuff. She bounced back immediately, her usual cheerful self again.
“But speaking of making up, I was surprised that you and Mina-cchi became friends. She’s the type to completely shut out anyone she dislikes. What kind of magic trick did you use? Hypnosis?”
“…Why do you two always jump to that conclusion?”
The topic shifted to his relationship with Minaka. The two had been at odds right after school started, but recently they had become friendlier. Though Minaka’s tone was still rough, they were definitely getting along better. That seemed to have struck Shuri as odd, making her suspect he’d done something strange.
First Minaka, and now Shuri. Why did his friends always assume the worst? He felt a little uneasy about his childhood friend’s criteria for choosing friends.
“We just became friends normally. Kanzaki’s not a bad person at heart, right?”
When Saito explained that he hadn’t done anything special, Shuri looked unconvinced.
“True, but that doesn’t mean she’d just warm up to you. Well, I guess she decided you were harmless since you’re an idiot.”
Her doubt only lasted a moment, however. She reached her own conclusion and accepted it, but there was a word in there Saito couldn’t just let slide.
“Oi, hold on—what do you mean, ‘idiot’?”
“Don’t get so mad. I’m complimenting you.”
“Oh, then it’s fine.”
“…I’m kind of the same, but your mood swings are pretty fast too, Ito-cchi.”
When he pressed her, Shuri revealed she’d meant it as a compliment, and Saito’s anger instantly vanished. Shuri looked exasperated, but he had genuinely held a grudge just a moment ago. It was just that lately, he’d been called an idiot in a good way so often that he’d grown numb to it—the same way years of standing next to Lily had made him immune to others’ stares.
“Anyway, I want you to keep getting along with Mina-cchi. Besides me and Lily-chan, she doesn’t have many people to talk to. As her best friend, I think connections like this are important.”
Shuri’s usual smile returned as she asked Saito to look after her friend.
“That’s a given. We’re classmates. I’d do that even if you didn’t ask.”
To Saito, however, that was just common sense. When he accepted without a second thought, Shuri looked satisfied. Her expression alone made it clear how much she treasured Minaka.
“Yep, I know. But just in case, you know? It’s the worried old lady in me.”
“Your thinking’s like an old person’s.”
“Hey!? You can’t call a girl a hag! Ito-cchi, that lack of tact is one of your biggest flaws.”
“I didn’t say that! That’s your persecution complex, Yakumo.”
Still, her nagging felt like that of a nosy aunt. When he voiced that thought honestly, Shuri got angry and started yelling, sparking an argument between them.
It continued until the typhoon roll began. By the time they grabbed the pole, sprinted at full speed, and somehow managed to take first place, Shuri was out of energy, and the argument fizzled out.
“So, you’re up next, huh.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing at all.”
After the typhoon roll, the next event was the three-legged race. This was another paired event, and this time, the girl next to him was Minaka.
Considering compatibility, speed, and overall ease of running, his childhood friend Lily would have been the best partner. However, since Minaka didn’t get along with any of the other boys, she ended up with Saito out of necessity.
And who did Lily pair with? Haruki. Their compatibility and times were better than any other pair’s. Lily had protested until the last minute, wanting to be with Mizuki, but the PE teacher had threatened her with her grades, and she’d reluctantly agreed. Haruki had looked utterly depressed about it, a truly pitiful sight.
“Hah, my muscles have been killing me up until today, all thanks to Baka-zuki.”
As they tied the rope around their legs, Minaka let out an exhausted sigh, recalling their practice sessions.
“That’s just because you’re terrible at sports. The fact that you could barely run a single lap after all that practice is seriously bad.”
Since they were using the precious resource that was Saito, he expected results. Minaka needed to at least be able to sprint one full lap, or all his effort would be for nothing. So, in the days leading up to the festival, he had trained her. She had barely managed to run the full distance, but it had been a close call.
‘…My legs hurt. I can’t do it anymore.’
‘We’ve only run twice and you’re already saying that!? You’re hopeless!’
Minaka was even weaker than he had imagined. If he pushed her even slightly, she’d complain about muscle pain, making progress five times slower than expected. He remembered panicking quite a bit.
Well, they’d managed to make it in time somehow, so it was a good memory now.
“Well, thanks to your hard work, you’ll blow your middle school friends’ minds. Not so bad, right?”
“…You’re right. Thinking of it that way, it’s not bad at all.”
When Saito grinned roguishly and held out his fist, Minaka smiled back and gently bumped it with her own. The gesture made Saito feel they’d grown a little closer, and he glanced back to see if Lily and Haruki had managed a similar feat.
“…………”
“Uh, should we do that too?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Guh.”
But Lily was as harsh as ever, flatly rejecting Haruki’s suggestion and sending him into a spiral of depression. He wished she wouldn’t do things to lower their morale, but expecting anything different from his childhood friend at this point was pointless.
(At least run properly, will you?)
Praying that much would happen, Saito faced forward.
One minute later.
“Three-legged race, start!”
Bang!
At the announcer’s cue, the starting pistol fired, and the race began.
“Run, run!”
“…F-Fight~”
“Take your time!”
“Don’t rush, and definitely don’t fall!”
Once the race started, the participants focused solely on winning, and the classes united in a desperate cheer.
“Sorry, I’m counting on you.”
“Do your best!”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
“Right, let’s go.”
By the time Saito’s turn came, the race was heated. Their class was in a dead heat for first place with two others.
The moment Saito and Minaka received the sash, they took off, moving as one without a single word.
“Whoa——! That’s insane——!”
“They’re perfectly in sync!”
Their brilliant start drew cheers from the crowd, and Saito couldn’t help but grin. Since Minaka was slow, they had practiced starting with a powerful dash to build an early lead. Thanks to that, they had jumped into first place, and Saito was thrilled.
“This is bad. They’re catching up.”
But the lead was short-lived. Immediately, pairs from the other classes began closing in at an even faster pace, and a cold sweat broke out on Saito’s brow.
“Oi, Kanzaki, you wanna win?” Saito called out to her as they ran.
“Hah, hah… after all that practice, of course I wanna win!”
Though out of breath, Minaka quickened her pace without him even needing to ask, as if the question itself was foolish.
“Knew it. At least we’re in sync there.”
A happy grin spread across Saito’s face as he squeezed out the words, then pushed their pace even faster.
“Wait, that’s fast!?”
Minaka yelped in surprise but matched his speed, and they somehow managed to keep pace with the other classes.
“Please, Lily-chan!”
“Lily, Haruki, we’re counting on you for the final stretch!”
With a slim lead, they passed the sash in first place.
“Leave it to me. I’ll blow ’em away.”
“Yeah, let’s go, Lily.”
“Don’t call me by my first name! Idiot.”
The anchors, Lily and Haruki, responded energetically and took off at a speed that was practically an all-out sprint.
“Haha, those two get along terribly, but they’re perfectly in sync.”
“Hah, hah… You’re right.”
Watching their receding backs, Saito laughed in amusement, and Minaka, though struggling to breathe, agreed.
“Whooaaa——! First place!”
“We did it——!”
“Machigane-san and Nishizono-kun are the best!”
“Since it’s first place, I’ll forgive you this one time, you damn harem bastard!”
Just as Lily had declared, the two crossed the finish line with a huge lead. Loud cheers erupted from their classmates under the tent and the participating athletes alike.
“Tch, unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable.”
A certain student glared at the scene with pure loathing.
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