24 - Although it's called scavenger race, we don’t actually scavenge anything* (Patreon)

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“Red team, please do your best.”

A businesslike broadcast echoes throughout the field. Being told this would probably be very mentally damaging.

The current event is the long distance running. The one running right now is a boy, just one of them, and the whole group is cheering on him as he is unable to reach the goal.

“I wouldn’t want that—. I wonder why they say things like that.”
“Isn’t it because they’d be wasting the place if they don't say anything? The one running would probably feel like retorting ‘it’s none of their business’.”

Tadashi complained to the broadcaster after looking at the runner.

I'm also a slow runner, but I've avoided running events as much as possible, so I've never had anyone give me the “Please do your best” line.

“That’s because it’s like the fast boys are in a league of their own. It's going to be tough for someone like Kazuki.”
“I think even that person was probably chosen because he lost at rock-paper-scissors.”

At the very least, someone who is aware that they are slow would not choose to enter a running event on their own.
It's likely that he lost the rock-paper-scissors for the scavenger race, and had no choice but to enter the long distance running that had an open slot. There’s no doubt I would have been in the same situation if I had lost in the rock-paper-scissors for the scavenger race.

“Well, Kazuki's goal is the Black Thorn Princess, right?”
“...Well, I guess so.”

To be honest, cheering for Hiuri is more fun than cheering for a boy whose name I don't even know.
I know she is in the enemy team, but there should be no crime in cheering for Hiuri. Also, I'm not the type to shout, so my cheering is just watching her.

“Oh, it looks like it's her turn right away.”

After the last race of the slowly running boy, it was the girls’ turn.
It seems Hiuri is in the first race, and is already at the front doing some light stretching.

Perhaps because Hiuri is popular with boys, the rooting blatantly increases when it's Hiuri's turn. There should be even that something-senpai’s voice among them.

“I will firmly cheer for our team, so Kazuki should cheer for the princess.”
“Ahaha. Thank you.”

That doesn't necessarily mean it balances things out... but I feel much more at ease as a friend when Tadashi leaves everything to me.

“Do your best.”

Shouting it loudly is embarrassing, so I cheer in a small voice.

I feel like Hiuri is looking this way. My voice is small and she shouldn’t be able to see clearly from this distance, so it's probably just my imagination.

With the sound of the pistol, Hiuri starts running. The sight of the athletic Hiuri running is very cool.

...

Noon. Hungry students move en masse to their families.

“...Now that I think about it, there’s no way she’d remember anything about that promise since it was in the dream.”

And so, I hang my head while carrying my backpack. This is because I’m not sure if I would be able to fulfill my main purpose today, which is to have a meal with Hiuri.

Of course, since this was a promise made in the dream, the Hiuri in the dream will probably interfere with real life, but that’s not certain. At the very least, being the one to start talking to her is a high hurdle for me.

That said, Hiuri's family probably isn’t coming. And my family isn’t coming either.
If both of us are going to be eating alone at worst, it wouldn't be a problem for me to talk to her. Real life Hiuri hasn't told me about her home environment, so I'm sure she'll have questions about how I know she's going to be alone, but I'm sure it'll be fine since it’s Hiuri.

“All right.”

I put on my backpack and start moving. Hiuri is in a different tent, so I'll meet her there.

After the broadcast announcing lunch, the students began to move in unison, which made it easier to move around inside the tent.
And I was able to find Hiuri right away.

A boy who is aiming for Hiuri is inviting her to lunch. We're not the only ones whose family didn’t come, so it's only natural that things like this happen.
And Hiuri resolutely rejects his invitation. She also received invitations from girls, but she gently turned them down.

I guess she deals with boys and girls differently... it probably can't be helped though.

“Ah, Nakano-kun, hello.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Sakura-san.”

When the number of people around Hiuri had decreased, Hiuri found me.

“…Nakano-kun, are you alone?”
“Yeah. Both of my parents are busy people.”

This morning, they more or less said that they would go if they could, but unfortunately, “I'll go if I can.” is a common phrase people say when they won't go, so I don’t have high hopes for it.

“You've been invited quite a lot.”
“Yes. And they’re so desperate about it... I'm starting to dislike it.”

She seems pretty fed up. This is, would this put her in a bad mood if I invited her?

“And so, Nakano-kun”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to eat with me? There's a little special place I want to show you... what do you think?”

An unexpected invitation from Hiuri.
Even in the dream, she’s the one who usually invites me. I wonder if Hiuri is quite the proactive type when it comes to things like this. It might be a side of her that I don't know about.

“Sure. I was just thinking of inviting you too.”
“Fufu, does that mean Nakano-kun is the same as the other boys?”

I was a little taken aback by Hiuri. Since I am also trying to invite Hiuri, aren’t I the same as them...
While it may be true, she didn’t tell me no, so I’m glad for that. Guided by Hiuri, I move towards the corner of the school building.

“...Kazuki-kun.”
“Eh, ah, I see. Hiuri, what’s wrong?”

I was surprised when she suddenly called me by my name, but then I remembered that when we played together during summer vacation, we agreed to call each other by our names when we are alone.
Since summer vacation, we haven't had a chance to be alone except in the dream, so I had forgotten about it.

“We're here.”

We arrived at a small, shaded area behind the school building. What should I call it... backyard? A place like that.
It's probably an area that was left over for some reason when the school was built.

“Please sit down.”

Hiuri took out a small rug. In the dream, she told me that I didn't need to bring anything except my lunch, so I didn't bring anything.

According to Hiuri in the dream, she actually wanted to do an event where she would make a bento for me, but as expected, it seems she couldn't interfere that much.

Now let's return to the main subject.

“What do you think? It's summer, but it's cool, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, surprisingly, there is a breeze here.”

In fact, I felt cold, probably due to the dry sweat.
So that I don’t catch a cold, I wear the school's designated jersey over my gym uniform. The jersey has long sleeves, so it's a bit hot, but I should be able to manage it if it’s here.

“Let’s eat.”
“Yeah.”

Hiuri and I open our lunch boxes at the same time.
A month ago, I never thought we would be able to eat lunch together at the sports festival like this. Or rather, when I was a first year student, I never thought Hiuri and I would become this close in the first place.

“Kazuki-kun, when is Kazuki-kun's turn?”
“I already participated in the tug of war, so it’s just the scavenger race left.”

We talk about trivial things while eating lunch.

“Ara... if the topic specifies a girl, you can bring me along, you know?”
“Ahaha, I'll do that if that happens.”

Hiuri in front of me said the same thing as in the dream.
As expected, even though her memories in the dream don't carry over, they are still the same person. There should be research showing that the same person behaves in the same way even if they don't have their memories, and I think the same thing can be said when comparing her to her dream self.

“...Kazuki-kun.”
“What’s wrong, Hiuri?”

Hiuri has been calling my name many times since a while ago.
And every time she does, we talk about trivial things. It feels like Hiuri has something to say, but if she doesn't want to talk about it, I won't ask her.

It’s the same with the way I got closer to Hiuri before we became lovers, I make sure that even if something like this happened, I don’t step into it too much.

“Kazuki-kun, do you know about my family?”
“...I guess I don't. As you’d expect.”

I more or less heard it from the person herself in the dream, but there's no way for me to find out about it in real life, so I'll just pretend that I don't know.

“...I see.”

After that, Hiuri didn’t bring up her family again.

As for Hiuri's family, it might be a delicate topic since I heard about it after we became lovers, so it might be hard to talk about it in our current relationship.

If I could learn about Hiuri's situation in real life, I might be able to do more than give her advice in the dream...

...

The afternoon events have begun.

The first event in the afternoon is a kind of endurance contest for first-year students. It has simple rules where you keep lifting a heavy package, and if you remain until the end, you win. There is no interference or anything like that, so all you have to do is just keep lifting.

Personally, I think it's an event that's hard to get excited about, but perhaps because it's an event with a strong masculine feel, the boys’ cheer is really amazing. Thanks to this, it has become one of the events without any lack of excitement.

“Can Kazuki lift that?”
“Impossible. I can't hold it for even a second.”

Tadashi and I mutter these thoughts as we watch the event.
For people who don't cheer on them, it's a rather boring event. It can easily become a chatting time.

“Well, I'm looking forward to Kazuki's turn next.”
“I’ll do my best.”

What follows this endurance contest is the scavenger race. I'm feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety about what will come out.

“Then, go!”
“I'm going.”

The endurance contest is over, and it is finally my turn.
We line up, go out to the field, and wait for our own race.

During the practice, our task was to [run to the goal while dribbling a rugby ball]. Rugby balls bounce in strange directions, so the fact that we ran in a way that could hardly be called dribbling was impressive.

Now then, I wonder what will come out in the actual event... I'm a little anxious because it seems there are some items that weren't included in the practice mixed in. What's important is not to panic.

First race, six runners.
One of them apparently got an item of [use the broadcast microphone, and shout your love], which wasn’t there during practice. He shouted his love for yakiniku.

Second race, also six runners.
One of them seemed to have drawn the ‘no item’ card, and as soon as he read the card, he ran as fast as he could to the goal. There is only one ‘no item’ card in all races, this means that after this, we won’t get any option of bringing nothing.
Another person seemed to have drawn the item of [go to the goal with 20 people holding hands] and he ran with a total of 20 people from various colors, it was a spectacular sight to behold.

And then the third race, it’s my turn. There are five runners due to one absentee.

“Kazuki—! Do your best—!”

I heard Tadashi's voice, so I wave at him.
I think this event has a strong factor that no one can do anything about with just effort.

Pan!!

The sound of a pistol rings out and it starts. I pick up the nearest card.

[Go to the goal with 5 boys and 5 girls]

“...This is, another...”

The person from earlier had a designation of 20 people, which was larger than this, but there is no distinction between genders. I feel like it was mostly made up of boys.
This one has a total of 10 people. However, gathering them is a little difficult because there is a distinction between boys and girls.

“Boys and girls, five each, please!”

I called out to the tent as loudly as I could. Tadashi was the first to come out.
And then, Kanda-kun, whom I had made contact with at the beach, also comes out. However, the requirements are still not met.

I look at Hiuri. Since she had said as much, I thought she would definitely come.

“I guess it can’t be helped.”

And as expected, Hiuri comes. Together with her friends Hayashi-san and Kannazuki-san.
Then, once Hiuri came, we reached the required number of both boys and girls in one go. Apparently everyone wanted to hold hands with Hiuri.

However, those wishes never come true, because Hiuri holds my hands on one hand and Kannazuki-san’s on the other. It’s not like I’m the one asking we hold hands, so please don't look at me like that, boys.

Once we gather the required number, we start running to the goal. Since there are 10 people and we are of different genders, it is quite difficult for us to run, but we manage to finish in second place.

“You called me properly, didn't you?”

When we parted ways after the goal, Hiuri winked at me.
I wish she’d stop that because I don't know how they'll react when she does it in a place like this.

――――

(T/N: title; 借り物競争といいつつも、本当に何か借りることは少ない - Although it’s called borrowed item competition, actually borrowing anything is rare.)

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