Chapter 43
After a brief break.
Before they knew it, the academy's sports festival had reached its final stages.
[All right, it's about time.]
[It's time for the special events we've prepared.]
Vita's class had already risen to first place overall.
As the festival's centerpiece, the running events were worth a lot of points, and they had taken first in every running event.
“We only need to win one of the special events, right?”
“Then we'll lock it in.”
Though Vita and Sasha, her partner, chatted cheerfully at first, their expressions gradually stiffened as time passed.
‘No, wait…’
[Class 3, eliminated—!]
[Class 3 is the first to be eliminated!]
Unfortunately, Vita's class was eliminated from the next three events.
Finding candy in flour, charades, and an O/X quiz.
Only two remained.
‘We have to secure first place.’
Vita's resolve was firm.
But this was… how should she put it? An unforeseen situation.
‘Why did it have to be…’
It was quite a predicament.
Balloon snatching event.
[These specially made balloons don't burst easily, right?]
[As we explained earlier, the side holding the balloon when time runs out wins!]
But as luck would have it, their opponent was Class 2 next door, and one survivor from each class remained. And of all people, that survivor was… well, of all people.
“You were really cool earlier.”
A female student laughed softly, wearing an envious expression.
“Your combo with Carlisle. You two worked together perfectly, didn't you?”
It was none other than Emily Swan! Vita awkwardly thanked her anyway.
“Ah, thanks…”
In fact, Vita was so dizzy that her vision was spinning.
‘Where am I supposed to look?!’
Because this was none other than Emily Swan—the very girl she had a crush on—in a bloomer uniform.
Her elegant silver hair fluttered softly in the breeze, and though she looked somewhat sturdy at first glance, her impression was gentle and pure.
Even her fairly mature figure was dazzling.
Her slender calves and soft-looking thighs.
Vita swallowed hard.
Certainly, how should she put it? Emily was subtly mature—in more ways than one.
She had a fairly ideal figure with curves most men would like.
‘Calm down, me…’
Vita blinked, trying to come to her senses.
‘What am I supposed to do when she comes at me like this…?!’
With nowhere else to look, her face naturally reddened.
Emily tilted her head, but fortunately misunderstood.
“Are you nervous, Bianca? That doesn't mean I'll go easy on you.”
In truth, Emily was a little jealous.
‘If only I had been in the same class as Carlisle…’
Because her friend Bianca and her childhood friend Carlisle looked so good together.
And thanks to their joint effort, her class had been pushed down to second place.
“We have to do our best, right?”
“Yeah, that's right. It's a class competition!”
The two girls exchanged words.
Emily and Vita were, for now, simply representatives of their respective classes. So all that remained between them was friendly competition!
“Come on, Bianca.”
Emily hugged the balloon to her chest and prepared to make a run for it.
Under the rules, whoever held the balloon when time ran out won. If things continued like this, Vita would lose, so she began to move as well.
‘The boys have already won. If I do my part here…’
She could cement their overall first-place finish.
“Go, Bianca!”
“Snatch that balloon!”
At the shouts of encouragement, Vita came fully to her senses.
‘Even if it's Emily…’
A contest was a contest!
“You don't plan to go easy on me, do you?”
Emily gave a little laugh at Vita's words.
“Sorry, but probably not?”
“Can't be helped, then.”
The entire class's bonus points—and the prize money—were at stake.
Vita tensed, her face flushing slightly, and finally made the first move.
***
The balloon-snatching game had a designated area.
They had drawn a large circle and filled it with soft sand. The players had to steal the balloon from each other within that circle.
“S-sorry!”
After shouting that, Vita ran toward Emily. Emily was startled too and immediately started running.
“Eek—!”
Of course, Vita was much faster, and before long, she was right behind Emily.
“S-sorry!”
What was she so sorry for? For taking the balloon?
But Emily had no intention of losing meekly either. It was a class competition, after all.
Vita's small hands lightly grabbed the balloon.
“N-no…”
Emily hugged the balloon and threw herself facedown onto the ground, leaving Vita flustered.
‘Ah, if this happens…’
The only way to steal the balloon now was to grapple with Emily on the ground, and Vita's face instantly turned bright red.
But it couldn't be helped, could it? This was a proper contest.
‘Darn—!’
Vita eventually took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around Emily's body.
‘S-sorry! I really can't help it!’
Vita could swear she had no ulterior motives. Emily was holding onto the balloon, so she simply had no choice.
But even though she'd steeled herself, she couldn't handle it.
‘S-so soft…!’
Vita's vision began to swim.
‘H-her breasts…! Did I just…?’
Vita froze in shock.
She really wanted to win, but Emily was the girl she'd had a crush on.
In fact, this was the first time Vita had ever been in such close contact with Emily, so she had no defenses against it and was thrown into a panic.
Seeing the two girls tangled up together, several of the boys watching blushed slightly.
“Oh…”
“Ah—”
It was an undeniably striking sight.
Both of them were wearing bloomers, which showed quite a bit of skin.
Besides, Emily Swan was the academy's idol, while Bianca Shamal was a rising star.
If not for the rumor that she was Carlisle Schultz's girlfriend, Bianca Shamal would have received confessions every day.
“Eek, that tickles!”
How could a sight like two girls tangled up together not be striking?
“I-I got it—!”
Vita let out a cheer.
“Where do you think you're going, Bianca!”
“Ah, ahh…”
When Emily tickled her, Vita let out a strange sound and covered her mouth.
Moreover, still caught in Emily's embrace, Vita's body stiffened. In other words, right behind her was a soft, yielding sensation…
‘No, aaah—!’
How was she supposed to endure this—how?!
This was truly an extremely flustering experience.
[I-I like you—!]
Before she had confessed. Before she'd been rejected.
The feel of Emily Swan that she'd imagined only in her fantasies. If she looked at it objectively, it was a fairly lewd thought.
But Vita was still a robust young man at the height of his vigor, too.
Or at least, that had certainly been true before.
“Sorry, I'm taking it.”
Even when Emily, having spotted her opening, took the balloon back, Vita was still spacing out.
Unfortunately for Vita, while she was briefly dazed by the unfamiliar contact, the end whistle blew.
Peeep—peeep!
[The balloon-snatching game ends with Class 2 victorious!]
[That was more anticlimactic than expected, wasn't it?]
[We don't know the cause, but it looks like Bianca Shamal made a mistake, doesn't it?]
‘N-no.’
Vita was utterly crushed.
‘…I really wanted to win. It wasn't some mistake.’
But this was completely beyond anything she could have anticipated.
In the end, Vita's face burning bright red, she trudged out of the circle, consoling herself as best she could.
‘It just happened that my opponent was Emily, and I got unlucky.’
Emily, the girl Vita liked, was there with her classmates. If Emily was happy, that alone was enough.
“Good job, Emily.”
“I knew I could count on you!”
“I'm glad you won.”
Emily smiled.
Vita felt a little aggrieved, but the contest was already over.
And as the sun sank toward the horizon, the sports festival would soon come to an end.
***
[Then we'll announce the overall class rankings.]
The sports festival was over. Everyone held their breath.
Emily's Class 2 and Vita's Class 3 had been fiercely competing until the very end.
[First place goes to Class 3!]
“Waaah, amazing!”
“We're having an after-party!”
Cheers rang out, while sighs of disappointment came from Class 2.
“It was really that close. Seriously.”
“It was so close.”
Vita chatted and laughed with Sasha.
Since they'd gone to the trouble, first place was definitely nice.
Fortunately, the events Vita and Carlisle had competed in had been worth the most points, which proved the decisive factor in their ranking.
“It's amazing that you took first place!”
The smiling teacher addressed everyone.
“You two especially worked hard, didn't you? Shall we give them a round of applause?”
As applause rang out, Vita giggled, while Carlisle scratched his head.
Since it was Friday, midterm exams would begin as soon as the weekend was over.
“All right, good work, everyone. I don't have any other announcements, so we'll wrap up here today. Go home, get plenty of rest, and prepare for your exams, all right?”
“Huh…”
“Aww…”
Groans spread through the room.
And so homeroom ended, and everyone got up from their seats.
“Today was fun.”
“Good work, Sasha.”
“Hey, Bianca. Do you want to go to karaoke?”
At her partner Sasha's suggestion, several friends behind her looked expectant, but Vita shook her head.
“Ah, sorry. I'm too tired today.”
In fact, Vita had absolutely no confidence in her singing. She was embarrassed at the thought of others finding that out, too.
‘Besides, I'm stuck as a woman right now.’
There was simply no way she could go to karaoke and sing women's songs, after all.
“Can't be helped, then. Too bad, but maybe next time?”
“Yeah, next time.”
“…You look like you'd sing well.”
Sasha looked disappointed, then slowly left with her friends.
After saying goodbye to Sasha, Vita slowly walked out of the field.
Along the way, she also said goodbye to Emily, who was surrounded by friends.
“I'll message you tonight!”
“Okay, got it!”
Today felt like she'd had a truly full day.
“Ah, I forgot…”
Come to think of it, she hadn't returned Carlisle's jacket. They hadn't said goodbye separately either, but that wasn't strange.
In fact, the two of them tacitly avoided acknowledging each other in front of others—in other words, while at the academy. Neither of them had asked for it, but Vita liked it that way.
If Carlisle had actively approached her at the academy too, it would have been burdensome. She might even have felt uncomfortable.
In a way, he was quite shrewd. He understood things like this without her needing to say anything.
Really, sometimes.
‘He does seem considerate in unexpected ways…’
After all, he'd given her his jacket after they finished running earlier.
Again. Again.
Vita shook her head.
“…Let's not think useless thoughts.”
She'd return the jacket next week.
Feeling as though her thoughts were about to stray somewhere strange again, Vita let out a shallow sigh.
Then, as she trudged along the road alone, it began to rain.
Tap—drip—
Autumn rain usually comes without warning.
“Why is it raining all of a sudden…?”
Just as Vita, slightly flustered, raised her bag to cover her head, a long shadow fell beside her.
“I was headed this way anyway.”
The raindrops above her head were completely blocked off. He had naturally come up beside her.
Carlisle Schultz, that was.
“I'll walk you home for a bit.”
He was always well prepared, somehow having an umbrella on hand.
His words were always so glib.
But Vita wasn't particularly displeased, so she gave a slight nod.
There weren't any other students around, anyway.
Neither of them spoke on the way home. Somehow, the silence felt more comfortable.
After walking Vita home, Carlisle gave her a light hug, as he had been doing lately.
“It's a shame to part.”
Vita's face reddened.
“Why do you keep doing this for no reason…”
She was about to demand why he kept doing this, but Carlisle, realizing what she meant, cut in:
“You said you'd reward me earlier.”
At his chuckle, Vita's face grew sullen.
“What reward? You're not a child.”
“But I did work hard.”
There was no way to refute Carlisle's answer.
So Vita simply stayed quietly in his arms.
“Then let this make up for it.”
“Okay, sure.”
She was squeezed tightly in the arms of someone much larger.
‘Ngh, ngh…’
Vita felt strange whenever this happened.
Carlisle treated her as if she were a precious, fragile glass marble.
What was this, exactly?
When she was held like this, it felt different from when she hugged Emily.
She still couldn't say exactly what was different, or which felt better.
And there Vita remained in his arms amid the strange atmosphere and strange emotions.
“W-what…?”
With an extremely flustered voice, Vita turned her gaze and was horrified to find her own mother, Mrs. Emma.