“No problem. It was nothing. Please, raise your head,”
“Minazuki-kun, you’re so kind,”
” …… That’s not true.
Saito felt uncomfortable with her praise.
He knew she saw through his intentions long ago.
Outwardly, it seemed he helped because she was in trouble, but in reality, he felt guilty.
Unable to look Koyuki in the eye, Saito averted his gaze.
“Fufu… (Minazuki-kun is really easy to read. It’s like he’s a child. That’s probably why, even knowing his ulterior motives, I don’t feel bad. He’s a strange kid.) Is something wrong?” Koyuki asked.
“No, it’s nothing,”
Saito replied, hearing her teasing laughter and glancing at her to find her smiling joyfully.
That look confirmed it—
she was definitely enjoying seeing him flustered.
“Can I get my usual juice?”
Then there’s no need to make things up.
Saito asked, deciding to leave the classroom. She looked a bit disappointed.
“Oh, are we done already? I wanted to enjoy this a bit longer,”
“You’ve got quite the personality, Shirayuri-senpai,”
“I hear that a lot,”
Koyuki said, her sarcasm having no effect on her.
She just laughed happily.
That day, Saito deeply felt the fear of dealing with older girls.
And also learned that lying too much isn’t good.
“Well then, see you later. I’ll bring you a thank you gift at lunch,”
Saito said before leaving the classroom.
“Got it. See you,” Koyuki replied.
In that brief time, Saito felt a sudden wave of exhaustion, but thinking about the upcoming sports festival practice, it seemed somewhat bearable.
Saito pushed through the crowd and headed back to the changing room.
“Whew,” he sighed as he entered.
“Oh? Minazuki-kun. You’re late. You were the first to leave the classroom,”
When Saito entered the locker room, the boys in the class were just changing their clothes, Haruki said, already changed into his gym clothes.
“I ran into Shirayuri-senpai and helped her carry something,”
“I see. Then that’s understandable,”
“…That’s not fair. I wanted juice too,” Kai voiced his jealousy.
Explaining why he was late, Haruki understood immediately, and Kai voiced his jealousy.
“Then you can help next time you see her. I’m good for a while,”
Saito replied, If it hadn’t been for the incident, he would have boasted innocently that it was a good idea.
However, too tired to brag about it like he usually would have.
Responding half-heartedly with a tired voice, his friends looked surprised.
“…What happened?”
they asked, but explaining seriously was too bothersome for Saito.
He just said, “Well, a lot happened,” and they understood.
“Haha, well, good job,”
“…Thanks,”
They didn’t ask anything more and just offered words of encouragement.
Those kind words deeply resonated with his tired mind.
“Thanks,”
Saito briefly thanked them and started changing into his gym clothes.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“And so, today we’ll practice the three-legged race and the typhoon game. First, those in the three-legged race stay here. I’ll explain what to do. The rest of you gather over there. I’ll explain to you later,”
After the students had finished the exercises, the physical education teacher began to explain about today’s practice.
The students who weren’t practicing moved to the shade, leaving only those participating in the three-legged race.
“Alright. These are the members for the three-legged race. You’ll pair up and see who you work best with. Try pairing with different people and decide who you can cooperate with best. Got it?” the gym teacher instructed.
“Yes!!!”
“Yeee”
“I really don’t want to do this,” some grumbled.
The remaining members were tasked with choosing partners.
While everyone had somewhat anticipated this, they hadn’t expected to have to pair up with everyone, and some voices of discontent arose.
But, as expected of a veteran teacher.
[If you don’t do it, you’ll fail gym class.]
Using grades as leverage, she convinced the students.
As the students learned the harshness of adulthood, the pairing process began.
Saito and Haruki looked around for potential partners.
Saito didn’t approach Lily because she was surrounded by other boys.
He figured it would be a waste of practice time to join them.
“Haruki, let’s do this,”
said Haruki’s childhood friend,
the petite beauty Aizono Mizuki, as she pushed through the crowd of boys around her to pair up with him.
” …… Ha-ha-ha “
Naturally, the boys who were around Mizuki glared at Haruki with murderous intent.
Haruki responded with a dry laugh,
having experienced this many times before.
“Sure. But after you pair with me, make sure to practice with everyone else too,”
“…I’ll do my best,”
“Whoa, as expected of Nishizono! You understand us!” the boys exclaimed.
“Hmph. I’ll let it slide this time since Mizuki-chan agreed,” one of them said.
Haruki managed to satisfy both Mizuki and the boys.
Saito thought to himself as he admired his friend’s smooth handling of the situation.
(He’s good,)
“…Handled it well,”
“Ah. “
he heard a similar comment from beside him.
Looking over, he saw Minaka, Lily’s friend, standing a bit away.
As he kept looking at her, their eyes met, and a moment of silence passed.
Unable to bear it, Minaka frowned and spoke up, with a questioning frown on her face.
“…What?”
She spun the words of question.
“You haven’t found a partner yet, huh?” Saito asked.
“Are you picking a fight?” she replied, clearly annoyed.
Saito had no intention of making her angry,
but Japanese is a difficult language.
Saito shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s not like I had any intention. I just thought that Kanzaki might have been quietly paired with someone.”
“Well, unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone like that. Most of the boys are obsessed with Lily-chan and Mizuki-chan.”
When Saito explained that he meant no harm, Minaka’s furrowed brow relaxed.
(Did her mood just soften a bit?)
Saito found her reaction unexpected.
Minaka usually hated boys, especially Saito, and often made him a target.
If it had been a while ago, she probably would have doubted his explanation and kept glaring at him.
Saito couldn’t pinpoint the change, but it was definitely better than before.
“Well, compared to those two, you do seem a bit overshadowed.”
Saito thought he might be able to have a pleasant conversation with Minaka now.
Hoping for a pleasant conversation, Saito made a joke, but Minaka kicked him mercilessly.
“Ow! I was just joking! Don’t take it seriously.”
“There are things you should and shouldn’t say to a girl, even as a joke!”
“My bad. I mean, you may not match up to those two, but you have a nice face.”
“Your compliment is too late and poorly delivered!”
“Ow! Again!”
Forget it.
Having a nice conversation seemed impossible.
Minaka’s difficult nature and Saito’s childishness just didn’t mix well.
“Sigh, shouldn’t you go to Lily-chan now?”
Growing tired of the conversation, Minaka asked if he was going to see Lily.
Saito glanced back at Lily, who was still surrounded.
“Going there now would be pointless. I’ll work with everyone eventually, so it doesn’t have to be now.”
“Are you really her childhood friend? Can’t you see she’s in trouble?”
“I can see that much. But Lily can handle it. If it gets really bad, she’ll push them away.”
Certainly, Lily was probably struggling with multiple boys approaching her now.
However, this was an unavoidable part of the class.
It would be endless if he kept trying to help her, and unlike the Lily of the past, the current her should be fine.
She should be able to handle this level of attention with ease.
Going to help her now would be a bit overprotective.
To allow her to grow, it was best to leave her alone for now.
Minaka seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Saito’s decision to deliberately distance himself from his childhood friend who was in trouble. Eventually, she let out a big sigh.
“Really, you two are childhood friends, huh? Lily-chan and you idiot Tsukizuki.”
“You still didn’t believe it even after all the talking?”
It appeared Minaka finally acknowledged Saito and Lily’s childhood friendship.
It wasn’t surprising to be mistaken for a couple given their closeness,
but it was still a bit baffling, that she didn’t believe after all the childhood friendship talk.
“Just a little. I thought maybe you had her under some kind of hypnosis.”
“What are you talking about?”
The bizarre reason for her disbelief was almost insulting, even if it was a joke.
“Just kidding.”
“Can I kick you?”
“I’m sorry! Please don’t!”
Saito swung his leg as if to kick her, making Minaka apologize in a hurry. This rare sight of her panicking satisfied him, so he refrained from kicking.
“It’s been a while; we should pair up and practice now.”
After ending the conversation with Minaka, Saito checked the clock. It had been five minutes since the pairing started.
It was about time to get practicing.
He invited the nearest person, Minaka, to pair up. She looked bewildered, as if unable to believe what she was seeing.
“Seriously? You don’t hate me?”
“Not really.”
She probably hadn’t expected an invitation from someone she thought hated her.
She looks at Saito as if she can’t believe what she heard.
Saito was dead serious, though.
Despite Minaka’s harsh words, he didn’t dislike her.
Knowing Lily chose her as a friend
meant she wasn’t a bad person.
Sure, she had been tough on him, but since Saito had heard beforehand that she hates men, he saw it as no more than a puppy barking.
So, the favorability score itself isn’t that low for Saito.
It’s just a bit lower than the initial value.
With this much, pairing up shouldn’t be a problem.
When Saito conveyed this without any pretense, Minaka responded briefly with, “……I see.”
Judging by her reaction, she seemed confused.
Well, she had thought Saito disliked her until just a moment ago.
It’s not something one can easily come to terms with.
But that doesn’t matter.
Because Saito and the others have a reason they must do this.
“What are you worrying about? If you don’t pair up with everyone, you’ll fail PE this term,”
Saito pointed at the PE teacher and smiled confidently.
“Ha, yeah, the teacher did say that. I don’t want to fail, so I’ll pair up with you,”
Minaka smiled awkwardly as she was influenced by Saito’s smile.
Thus, the two of them paired up for the three-legged race, but something unexpected happened.
“Ready?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Okay. I’ll go right foot on one, left foot on two.”
“Alright, one, two. One, two. One, two.”
“Hey, we’re doing pretty well, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, it’s frustrating, but our timing is perfect.”
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