Episode 75 – New Encounter

“Sorry……everyone.”

After the obstacle race was over, the atmosphere in our class was heavy. The final race ended up being painful, so it’s only natural that the expectations that we might be able to win were all at once erased.

“……Sorry for showing something unsightly”

As expected, even Yukihana left the scene with her cheeks twitching. My class is getting a lot of attention due to the current gloomy condition, so it stands out in a bad way.

(I should leave too.)

I don’t have the courage or the sense to join them, so I decide to follow Yukihanaa’s lead and leave the class waiting area. My role is only to cheer for them, not to participate in the competition. I probably should have left earlier, since I would not be asked to confirm the number of people in the class.

So I moved around the edge of the field by myself to find a place where I could be alone. At that moment, I saw the students of the sports committee hurriedly running around the entire field. They were setting up various kinds of construction paper all over the school grounds.

[The next competition is a scavenger hunt !　Students who plan to participate should go to the designated area at…….]

“Oh, the scavenger hunt is next.”

Come to think of it, I remembered that such a thing is caught between the obstacle race and the relay. However, since there were no notable people participating, this competition was completely out of my mind. I dug up memories of last year’s scavenger hunt at the sports festival.

(If I remember correctly, there were various borrowed items. Glasses, mechanical pencils, close friends, cute girls, teachers they respected, etc.)

I guess this year’s event has been upgraded with the addition of my step sister’s help. Well, I don’t really care about the competition and it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with me, so I continue my search for a place where I can be alone.

Many students are running in the opposite direction from where I’m walking. They must be students who are planning to participate in the scavenger hunt. I looked at my class from a distance and saw that several students were moving. They were students from my class who were going to participate in the scavenger hunt. They’re a collection of students with low athletic ability and poor communication skills. I wonder how it’s going to turn out….well, guess I’ll leave it at that.

(I’ll return before it starts…..no, I guess just before the end of the sports festival.)

No one in the class will care about me anyway, so I won’t get found out in the first place. Kisaragi and Hayama, who should be concerned, are also switching their mentality to prepare for the next relay. They don’t care about the number of classmates.

“The equipment room……it’s impossible.”

I thought about going to the equipment room, but since some of the equipment from the sports festival has been taken out of there, I’m scratching that. I was able to use it during the lunch break earlier because the preparations had been completed, and the students who moved the equipment were also taking a break during the lunch break.

“So, the rooftop……balcony……back of the school building……library.”

Surprisingly, there are many options. Thanks to this event called the sports festival, I can easily enter places that people normally cannot enter due to strict rules. Even if the door is locked, I can use an accessory attached to my phone to do something like picking a lock. In other words, the options are endless.

(Yes, endless. But before that…)

But first……I have to deal with whatever is stalking me from behind.

What a drag, when did this happen?)

I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t consciously searched my surroundings. It seems that I’m being followed by someone. In front of the chairman and others, I suspect various things, but as expected, the chairman should not take any action in the presence of this many people, and there’s no reason to move in the first place. So, it must be someone unrelated to that.

(I thought it was a coincidence at first, but their eyes have been on me for a long time.)

I’m sensitive to the gaze, and that’s why I noticed it. When this constitution is useful, it’s like a harbinger of trouble, I want to start running right now, but it’s going to be troublesome after that. For now, I’ll just keep walking and let it swim to see how it goes.

(……N-Nee san)

Then I saw my step sister running into the headquarters at the edge of the grounds. She’s apparently supposed to play the role of a scavenger hunt referee, and she’s moving around in a hurry. How could she possibly run in a relay after such excessive labor? Well, it’s none of my business.

“……”

I walk straight into the school building, making a steady thumping sound in the hallway. It’s neither the equipment room nor my own classroom. I run up the stairs to the fourth floor and open the steel door to a place where no one usually goes.

-Clatter

And so, enduring the large amount of wind rushing in, I continued forward and watched the sports festival taking place below. Yes, I’m on the roof of the school. It’s usually off-limits, but not many people come to the top floor of a school during a sports festival.

I hung my hand on the railing and watched the scavenger hunt going on below me, waiting for the right moment.

-Slam

Then I heard a heavy door open behind me. It seemed that the person who had been following me had entered. I guessed that the person who was following me made up his mind, since he wasn’t hiding or looking around. Then I turned around and saw the person.

(This is……unexpected indeed.)

When I see the person, I cover up the turmoil that’s taking over my emotions. I didn’t expect this person to come after me. I mean, we never talked or had any connection. Why would this person take the trouble to follow me……

“Um, you’re Haruka chan’s brother, right?”

“……That’s right.”

I lamely return the reply. I’ve tried to put a lot of thought into it in the present moment, but it’s completely unpredictable and incomprehensible. Why, this person is……no, I can understand if I ask him.

But first, I have to confirm it. I know about this person at least by rumor, but let’s start by following his example and asking him his name.

Yes, I believe you are……

“You are……vice president Miura, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

He’s a person who’s one of the two biggest third-year students along with my step sister and the vice president of the student council led by my step sister alongside Shinkai Sakura. Miura Haruto is standing in front of me. If I remember correctly, he’s also a student who’s in charge of running this sports festival, and he’s supposed to be busy to do something like this like taking a walk.

I raised my alert level for Miura Haruto. He approached me. I was sure that he had some kind of intention at that point.

“What does a vice president want with someone like me?”

“You don’t have to be so vigilant……but I don’t think you’ll let your guard down at all.”

Miura clearly has an aura different from an ordinary student. I had a glimpse of him swearing the oath of the sports festival at the opening ceremony, but he has changed since then and I sense a somewhat dusky aura about him. I could have just screwed him over and left, but I felt like I shouldn’t do that now.

“I followed you here. Did you notice?”

“No, not at al.”

I responded to his question with a deliberate and belittling response. The reason why I responded in this way is because I have no intention to play a game with him. Even if I lied here, that senior is convinced that I came to this place on purpose after realizing that he was following me. In other words, I would only lose my cover if I said something strange here. If that’s the case, it may be more convenient for me to be blatant from the beginning.

“Fufufu, I don’t mind the deliberate but open attitude.”

I don’t know if this was convenient for me, but it seemed to have been accepted by the senior in front of me. I put my hand on the railing so that I can escape at any time and don’t look away from him. Then the senior asks an interesting question.

“Hm? Are you making it so that you can jump off at any time to escape?”

“No way. I don’t have the guts to do that, and I have never thought about killing myself since I was born.”

“As I recall, the balcony of the library is directly below where you are. Perhaps you’ve been checking for an escape route since you arrived here?”

“It’s just a coincidence. A coincidence.”

He’s not easy to fool. Usually, the idea of jumping off the roof and running away from here does not come to mind. Unless they knew there was a balcony underneath. As expected of a member of the student council.

Normally, I would have flinched at the unfamiliar atmosphere, but for some reason, I have no desire to run away at the moment. As I recall, this person is good friends with Hayama, who’s in my class, and is also the vice president of the soccer club.

But that aside, why did this senior appear to me, with whom I have no connection at all?

“So, are you the helper man I’ve heard so much about?”

“…….What’s this about?”

“Oh, you don’t have to play dumb. I heard from Shinya before that Tachibana Kanata is a hero.”

“!?”

I tried not to change my expression, but when an unexpected name came up, my expression involuntarily stiffened. Why did Miura say his name? I can solve most questions by making predictions and guesses (and I’m usually right), but this one I had no idea about and I froze. Miura nods in satisfaction and hurriedly adds,

“Don’t worry. I’ve already cut ties with him. I approached you today because I wanted to talk to you about that. The sports festival was the perfect place for us to be alone without being conspicuous.”

Then he asked me.

“Aren’t you going to kill that father and son?”

–

–

If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate 🙂 Thank you in advance !

https://ko-fi.com/dasuitl

https://saweria.co/dasuitl