[Book of Eros] Chapter 72 - Meanwhile, in another class. (Patreon)

To Angela, school was the dullest thing in the world, and she didn’t think being in the same class with Leo and Reiko would help that. They were both too responsible and focused. So yeah, it never really bothered her that her friends were in another class. But now things had turned awkward. Valerie, the girl with the red hair, was in her class. None of the teachers could talk to her, so they threw the responsibility on Angela to help her settle in, using the logic that, since they lived together, they might as well.

Even Angela could tell that sending Valerie to Leo’s class would’ve been a much better idea, so she didn’t know why they sent her to her class. On the bright side, they had P.E. now, which meant she could at least move her body a bit. Boys and girls went to different locker rooms and got changed into their P.E. clothes consisting of white shorts and a white t-shirt, which was worth noting because Leo kept complaining they were a pain to wash.

The class gathered at the soccer court as they waited for the teacher to give the instructions. Her male classmates were trying but failing to be subtle as they ogled her big chest. It was something she used to ignore, but now it made her think of how much Leo loved to touch her and how much she liked that he did. It was bothersome in a very different kind of way than it used to be, but she far preferred it.

“Alright everyone. Like I told you last week, we’ll be doing our fitness test now,” the teacher announced. “Pick a pair for sit ups! And no, boys can’t pair up with girls. Stop asking, you horny brats.”

Angela turned to Valerie, speaking the words “Fitness test. Pair up,” in English, raising two fingers and pointing from Valerie to herself several times. The redhead nodded, but soon sighed and dropped her shoulders. Angela looked her up and down once. She looked very athletic, legs especially so. Angela doubted she would have any issues with some simple testing. She was no slouch herself, but wasn’t Valerie’s Gift to be able to control her body perfectly? That lit a light bulb in Angela’s head. “Hey. Competition?” she offered with an excited grin.

Valerie raised an eyebrow at that. It looked like she had understood, but even so her answer was a noncommittal shrug. “Yes,” she answered.

The first test was for grip strength. Using a small machine, one grips the handle and squeezes as hard as possible. Valerie went for it and got a lot of ‘ooooohs’ when the number shown was 64kg.

“Hey, what did you guys get?” a girl asked her male friends.

“…I got 52, and I was the highest,” admitted a guy, stunned by what he’d seen.

It was so surprising to everyone that the teacher herself grabbed the machine and tested it to see if it was working properly. Valerie was the only one looking unfazed and bored. Well, it was time for a wakeup call.

Angela held the machine in her hand, squeezed tightly for 15 seconds and basked proudly in the gasps of shock as everyone witnessed her number. That is, until she checked it herself and scowled. “94kg? Dammit, I haven’t gotten stronger at all since last year.” Her dad could actually do 160kg. Still, though she cared little about the shock of the rest of her classmates, she was satisfied with seeing Valerie’s eyes shooting wide open.

“I win this round.” Angela grinned smugly.

Valerie frowned and quickly moved to the spot where they’d be doing the next test: forward stretch. They sat on mattresses with a measuring box in front of them. Valerie stretched forward, the tips of her fingers on top of the box in front of her reaching a whole 55cms.

“T-The hell?” one of their classmates exclaimed. “Last year our most flexible girl barely reached 49!”

When Valerie was done, she kept her eyes on Angela next to her. Flexibility wasn’t her strong suit, so she only reached 51cms. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and looked to Valerie, ready to take her bragging head on. The redhead didn’t say anything though, getting off the mattress and leaving the spot to the next person. Somehow that annoyed her even more.

The next test was sit ups. They had to do as many as they could in 1 minute. Valerie laid on the mattress while Angela held her legs. When the whistle went off, the redhead started doing her sit ups with incredible speed without compromising a single inch on form. In a minute she’d done 54 sit ups, once more beating everyone else in class. Everyone was starting to mutter things like “she must be a sports genius” and things like that, and though they weren’t completely wrong, saying so was underselling her. No matter how great her Gift was, you couldn’t do 54 sit ups in a minute without building up your body for it. It made Angela frown and feel even more frustrated when they switched places and she only managed to reach 48. Still better than everyone else in class, but not better than Valerie.

“…” She set a hand on her stomach as she looked down at it, but the sigh of disappointment coming from Valerie annoyed her enough to light up a fire in her again. She’d been the one to start a competition. No way she was gonna lose heart after a couple of loses.

Next was something she was confident in: ball throw. Standing a couple of meters apart, Angela and Valerie threw the balls at the same time. Angela put her all into it, while Valerie’s form was flawless. The result was both balls flying far out of school grounds, resulting in a tie due to the inability to measure the distance (though they at least launched them 50 meters) and a scolding from the teacher for losing the balls.

The fifth test was the long jump. Once more, Valerie’s form, both in her running start and in her jump, was perfect to gain the most distance. Really, it was almost like watching an Olympic-level athlete. But though that usually would’ve been enough to win, this time Angela’s sheer leg strength allowed for a jump that triumphed Valerie’s 8.5 meter long jump with her own 8.7 meters.

“Yes!” The blonde fist pumped at her victory.

Valerie was now scowling, and Angela took some pride in that. At first she had been dismissed thinking there was no way she could compete, but now Angela was showing her she was up to it.

However, the last test was the 50 meter dash. Simply put, no amount of strength or fighting sense could give Angela the edge she needed to beat a flawless running form. Head, shoulders, arms, torso, legs and feet all working in perfect synchrony to reach a time of 5.60 against Angela’s 6.21.

“They’re both monsters…” said a panting student. “They completely outclass everyone in school.”

“I win,” Valerie told Angela, sounding slightly disappointed by the result. And there was nothing the blonde could say back. Out of the 6 tests, they tied on one and Valerie won three. She looked at the redhead’s back as she walked towards the lockers. She was someone who clearly worked out and actually honed her Gift, unlike Angela who so far got by without even trying.

She let out a heavy sigh. What was she doing?