Chapter 265: The Girls' Battle (Bonus Chapter)

The forest clearing in the early morning was filled with the moist scent of vegetation. The chill of early winter had not yet fully dispersed.

The first day’s breakfast was a simple three dishes and a soup. Since it was a clearing carved out of the forest, the boys didn’t mind. Each found a spot that looked comfortable, sat down, and began enjoying breakfast.

As for the taste, for Fuyuji Mikage, who was used to Yamamura Miki’s cooking, the food in front of him was rather bland, on par with the school’s mountain vegetable set.

After breakfast, everyone headed to an empty classroom in the school building. The entire large group, over forty people, formed a temporary class.

The morning lesson was about social skills. The teacher on the podium spoke endlessly about how to handle crises gracefully in all kinds of situations and turn enemies into friends. But Fuyuji thought that rather than this vague talk, it’d be more reliable to go find Emperor Ichinose in Class B or seek out Supreme Cha-Cha in Class D.

The voice on the podium gradually blurred into background noise. He simply gave up on the lesson and turned to look out the window. Bored out of his mind, Fuyuji, who had deliberately claimed a window seat, propped up his cheek, his thoughts drifting further and further away.

The azure sky was clear as if washed by water. A few wisps of white cloud drifted lazily past, occasionally blocking the pale winter sun, casting flowing patches of shadow across the field.

Each large group’s class schedule was different. The girls’ side seemed to be the exact reverse of the boys’.

Under the cool winter wind, several extremely familiar figures came into view. Wearing their red-and-white tracksuits, they were jogging in circles around the field for endurance training. The girls’ youthful, vibrant figures, their refreshing running form, and their lovely faces lifted Fuyuji’s previously stuffy mood in the classroom.

Among them, the most eye-catching were a blue and a white figure, leading the pack at the very front at high speed. Then, as expected, after half a lap, the two visibly slowed down, seemingly moving forward inch by inch with extreme difficulty breathing.

Watching this, Fuyuji unconsciously widened his eyes, his mouth twitching.

How did those two end up together?

“What’s wrong? Little Morishita girl, can’t keep going already?”

Kiryuin Fuka swung her arms casually, her long, straight legs slowing their pace. Her silver-white long hair streamed behind her. A wild smile bloomed on her face as she watched Morishita Ai, panting beside her, with interest.

“I abandoned my second-year group just for you, you know. Came specially to see what you’re made of.”

“Huff… huff… please shut up, huff… elder second-year Kiryuin Fuka.”

The two dark blue braids hanging over her chest drooped limply. Morishita’s palm-sized little face was flushed red. White breath kept puffing from her slightly parted lips as she wobbled forward.

“I… huff… a few days before school started, I beat… the most terrifying demon lord in the world… at running. If breakfast hadn’t limited Ai-sama’s performance, a mere Kiryuin Fuka would be no, no…”

Halfway through, Morishita glanced at Kiryuin’s full chest, then lowered her head in frustration.

And then she saw her own feet, alternating forward…

After roughly 0.05 seconds of discouragement, the world’s most perfect Ai-sama, who absolutely refused to admit defeat, silently compared their heights.

She found she could at most reach the other’s nose bridge…

“…”

After a brief silence, Ai-sama forcefully suppressed her rapid breathing, silently swallowed the words brewing in her throat back down, and expressionlessly delivered a parting shot.

“I’m not in good form today. It must be because boyfriend is thinking about me. I’ll let you off for now. Another day, I’ll definitely cut you down!”

With that, she lifted her cool little face, squeezed out her last bit of strength, and stormed forward.

To actually make Ai-sama, whose grandfather was a long-distance runner, suffer such humiliation. Next time she got the chance, she’d have boyfriend take her out.

Hmph hmph!

How clever, Morishita Ai. To defeat the famous second-year Kiryuin Fuka with a single stratagem.

As expected of me…

Unfortunately, Kiryuin didn’t seem inclined to let this amusing first-year junior off so easily. Her well-proportioned, firm thighs instantly surged with power. Her tall figure grew even more graceful under the sunlight. A few steps and she’d caught up to Morishita again.

“Don’t go, first-year junior. I’m very interested in you, you know. After all, my cute junior mentioned you the very first time we met.”

“Please wait, what do you mean ‘your’?” Morishita tightened her little face, slowed her pace, and argued while gasping for breath. “Boyfriend-kun is mine! He stole something important from me the very first time we met (referring to her seat).”

“That’s not right, little girl.” The playful smile on Kiryuin’s face faded slightly. Her tone took on a rare seriousness. Her wine-red eyes looked straight at Morishita. “Junior is mine. And mine only.”

“Please don’t be delusional. He’s mine!”

“That line should be returned to you. Mine!”

“Mine!”

“Mine!”

…

The stubborn, somewhat childish argument spread across the empty field and reached Sakayanagi Arisu’s ears as she sat under the sunshade.

“Ara~ So full of energy, Kamuro-san.” Sakayanagi gazed at the two facing off in the distance, narrowed her eyes, and elegantly covered the corner of her mouth. “Your classmate, and that second-year senpai too.”

“I say,” Kamuro Masumi, standing with arms crossed near the starting point outside the shade, couldn’t help but curl her lip, “instead of sitting here leisurely watching others run and making snide comments, how about worrying about yourself?”

She turned to Sakayanagi. “Even though the school specially exempted you from the wilderness relay exam a week from now, your score for that subject will definitely be zero. Once our group unfortunately falls to last place, your expulsion is a done deal. They won’t even need to investigate.”

For other students, the school might still investigate whether they were one of the causes of the group’s lagging behind. But Sakayanagi didn’t even need to be looked at. A zero on the relay exam absolutely qualified her.

“If I were in a normally configured team, my situation would indeed be precarious. However,” Sakayanagi’s gaze quickly swept across the students on the field, and she curved her lips with confidence, “in our group, I judge that threat doesn’t hold.”

She suddenly changed tack. “Of course, if he made up his mind to pay the price of one person to take me down with him, I could only accept it.”

“Don’t delude yourself.” Kamuro rolled her eyes and sneered. “You’re not worth him paying that kind of price.”

“Then based on Kamuro-san’s understanding of him… may I ask what kind of price he would be willing to pay?” Sakayanagi blinked, asking with a bit of expectation.

“That, well…”

Finger against her chin, Kamuro furrowed her brows and thought for a moment. She muttered to herself. “I figure if it costs him more than the time of one meal, he’ll decisively turn around and go home.”

“Is that so…” The smile on Sakayanagi’s face faded, and she seemed a little unhappy.

“Tch!”

Kamuro clicked her tongue, raised her head in displeasure, and glared at Sakayanagi.

“Is something wrong with you? Do you want him to go after you that badly?”

“I do think about him one day personally eliminating me.” Sakayanagi raised a slender hand and gently covered her chest, with a touch of shyness. “Ideally in a special exam with the whole school watching, losing spectacularly~”

“Eww~”

Kamuro was so revolted by this speech that her whole body shuddered. Her face instantly filled with an expression of disgust. She jerked back several steps and rubbed her arms with both hands.

“I’ve got goosebumps. You really are a nasty pervert.”

“Hehe… Saying that about a lady isn’t very nice. I’ll take it as a compliment.” Sakayanagi’s elegant smile hung on her face.

“Go die!”

Crisply tossing out those words, Kamuro’s thighs surged with power. Her purple side ponytail swung past, and in the blink of an eye she’d run several meters away.

“Please do your best, Kamuro-san. Run for both of us.”

“Get lost!”

Kamuro ran even faster.

Watching Kamuro’s shrinking figure in a daze, a few seconds later, the smile on Sakayanagi’s face receded like the tide. A barely audible sigh escaped her lips. She took the cane beside her and stood up, heading toward the distant water station.

Getting water was something she had never done in her life.

“Yahoo, Sakayanagi-san, where are you going? Need any help?”

Passing by the track, Ichinose Honami waved briskly at Sakayanagi with full energy, her face brimming with an extremely friendly, familiar smile. Fine beads of sweat glistened on her forehead in the sunlight.

“Thank you for your concern. It’s just a small matter.” Sakayanagi gave a formulaic smile and nodded.

“If you need help, just tell me anytime. No need to be polite.”

“I will.”

Sakayanagi crossed the track and continued forward, quickly putting distance between herself and Ichinose. Her violet eyes flickered a few times.

After going through something like that, she could still greet her as if nothing had happened.

‘Ichinose-san, as I thought, you really are…’

At the same time, Ichinose, having just finished greeting Sakayanagi, quietly reined in her brilliant smile a few notches. She deliberately slowed her pace, pretending to adjust her breathing, and quietly locked her gaze on Yamamura, who was further back.

There was Yamamura Miki, Shiina Hiyori, and Kushida Kikyo’s close friend Wang Mei-Yu. The three of them were straggling at the very back of the group. Fine beads of sweat appeared on their smooth foreheads. Their white breath had yet to disperse before the next breath came.

“Huff… huff… feels like… my hands and feet aren’t my own anymore…” Shiina panted, raising a hand to wipe the sweat from the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. Those big eyes, always carrying a dreamlike quality, were unusually bright at this moment. “Why… do those famous detectives in novels… always manage to reach the accident scene deep in the mountains… without their faces turning red or breathing hard?”

“I don’t know, huff… this is a hundred times more tiring than cooking at home. Morishita runs so easily too.” Yamamura, her steps unsteady, managed to reply. She looked back at Morishita and Kiryuin, who were about to lap them, and smiled bitterly.

Beside them, the twin-tailed Wang Mei-Yu was already too tired to speak. She merely lifted her legs, heavy as cement, and mechanically followed behind the two.

Seeing Wang Mei-Yu about to give out, Ichinose, who had been keeping an eye on them, stopped at the right moment. She jogged back and blocked the three of them.

“Wang-san, you don’t need to push yourself so hard. The final relay only requires finishing the distance. Leave the rest to us.”

“B-but…”

Bean-sized drops of sweat fell onto the track, spreading into dark marks. Wang Mei-Yu braced both hands on her knees and spoke in fragments.

“If I drag us down… won’t the group… fall to last place?”

“As for that, Wang-san doesn’t need to worry,” Shiina reached out and removed a strand of hair stuck to the corner of her lips. Her tone took on that characteristic drifting quality. “Given our group’s current pace, and considering the physical fitness of the girls in the other groups, we shouldn’t be last.”

“Mmhm.” Ichinose nodded repeatedly, both hands clasped behind her back, a reassuring smile blooming on her face. “If you force yourself over the hurdles, you’ll just fall. We have the rest of the days to get used to each other slowly. And besides…”

Ichinose smiled slightly and turned sideways.

“Aren’t they here too?”

As the words landed, two voices whooshed past them, kicking up a small current of air that stirred their clothes and hair.

“Come on, come on, come on, Horikita Suzune, hurry up and race me!” Ibuki Mio, with her short blue hair, called out energetically to Horikita ahead of her.

“Ibuki-san, I don’t think we’re that close?” Facing the Ibuki chasing relentlessly behind her, Horikita was a little exasperated. In fact, she didn’t even know what exactly about her had drawn Ibuki’s attention.

“Huh? What nonsense are you saying? We had a fierce battle back then!”

“Ibuki-san, was there such a thing? I have no memory of it.” Horikita silently quickened her pace.

“You bastard, at the sports festival you beat me by zero point one seconds, and you forgot?”

Horikita seemed to have a faint impression. She said hesitantly, “Were you… in the same group as me back then?”

“You really are infuriating. Duel me! Horikita Suzune!”

…

The Horikita family’s succubus bloodline really is terrifying!

One Cha-Cha wasn’t enough. Now an Ibuki Mio had popped up too.

By the window of the third-floor classroom, taking in everything below, Fuyuji let out this sentiment.

He shook his head, scanned the field with his gaze, and finally settled on the pale golden hair leading the remaining students, running while engaged in “friendly conversation” with Cha-Cha.

As expected, after letting his gaze rest on her for just a moment, the owner of that pale golden hair paused with an extremely subtle motion. She slowly turned her head. Her lake-clear violet eyes rippled faintly. Her gaze locked precisely onto Fuyuji’s location, and a bright smile bloomed at her lips. Her sakura-pink lips opened and closed silently:

[I like you…]

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100 [Power Stones] = Bonus Chapter!