Chapter 18: Challenge! Stamp Rally!

Even though the rather unusual scene had just unfolded—one of our companions suddenly dropping to their knees on the classroom floor and getting scolded, something you don’t exactly see every day—Kitatsuji-san simply watched us with an amused smile, quietly giggling to herself. Was she just broad-minded, or simply the type who didn’t think too deeply about things? Honestly, it was hard to tell.

"You’re all so close."

"No, not at all—we’re not close. If anything, I’m struggling here. I just wish he’d learn a bit more common sense…"

…Right, this wasn’t the time for that. While Takahiro was still stuck kneeling and unable to move, I hurried over—pat pat pat—to the glasses-wearing girl who seemed to be in charge, sitting at the edge of the classroom. This was my chance, now that the nuisance was out of the way. And yet, even though I was acting perfectly reasonably—unlike Takahiro—for some reason, the glasses girl looked slightly frightened as I approached.

"Um! Is there any chance we can keep the exhibits as souvenirs? I mean, you’ll probably throw them away after the festival anyway, right? If it were me, I’d treasure it more than anyone and display it in my room!"

"What are you saying, Shione!? There’s no way that’s allowed if you think about it normally!"

An unfeeling voice called out from the sidelines, but I ignored it without even turning around. Common sense from someone who lacks it is, in any era, nothing but nonsense.

The glasses girl stared blankly at my face, then fell silent for a moment, clearly confused. Suddenly, her gaze slid past me. When I turned around—thinking Takahiro had come over to rub my back or something—I saw Kitatsuji-san making a pleading gesture toward her. She didn’t look like she fully understood what was going on, but she was apparently trying to back me up. So this must be the underclassman she had mentioned earlier.

"Well… since you seem to know Kitatsuji-senpai… I guess I could give it to you. You’re cute, after all."

"Yes! Yes! Thank you so much!! …See!? Told you!!"

Takahiro stared at us in disbelief. Well, that settles who lacks common sense here. I ran up to Kitatsuji-san, grabbed her hand enthusiastically, and spun around with her. When I looked back, Takahiro was grinding his teeth in frustration. Serves him right. Now it’s perfectly clear who the reasonable one is. It’s important, so I’ll say it twice.

Hand in hand, Kitatsuji-san and I twirled together. After watching us with a smile for a bit, the glasses girl raised her index finger.

"However! That’s only after the festival ends."

"Of course, that’s—"

I started to nod, then stopped mid-sentence. The awkward silence made the glasses girl look at me like, “Huh? What’s wrong?”, but I stayed quiet, trying to organize the thought forming in my mind.

…It wasn’t exactly a question. More like something that bothered me.

It connected to what I had been thinking earlier—why would someone steal an exhibit? I mean, what would they even do with it? Sure, it might hold sentimental value for the creator, but generally speaking, it has no real worth.

…No worth. Normally. But what if… there was something valuable mixed in among the exhibits? Something you could only obtain through connections—like knowing Kitatsuji—but otherwise would be difficult to get. If someone wanted it badly enough, what would they do?

…They’d probably steal it.

And if my guess is right, then by the time the festival ends… that stone won’t be here anymore.

"No, actually—give it to me now!!"

"Eh, are you serious? Oh—you are… You’re surprisingly greedy for someone who looks like you. Hmm… but even so, I can’t give you that kind of special treatment…"

"Is there… really no way…?"

I looked up at her with teary eyes, but although she flinched—"Ugh"—she still wouldn’t give in. Damn it. If it were Takahiro, he’d probably get it in one shot. Honestly, that guy could probably walk away with everything in that display case. Though I’m not sure which response is actually normal.

After thinking for a while, the glasses girl suddenly clapped her hands. Oh? Did she change her mind and go full Takahiro mode? I looked at her with sparkling eyes, but instead, she offered a different condition.

"I’ve got it. If you complete the stamp rally, I’ll give it to you. That way it’s not special treatment."

"A stamp rally?"

"Yes. The grand prize for completing it is that any stall or attraction has to grant one wish. Though… the difficulty is insane."

The stamp rally—a typical festival event where you go around completing challenges to collect stamps. Pretty standard stuff. The reason the prize is something as outrageous as “any wish granted” is simple: no one has ever completed it.

You can try it in groups, but it’s not even designed to be cleared… Honestly, even reaching halfway would probably land you third place in the all-time rankings. Even I’ve never cleared it in-game… Not even Takamiyagi-senpai could do it solo.

…Wait. Solo…?

"Got it! Then we’ll be back soon! Let’s go, Takahiro! Kitatsuji-san!"

"W-wait, Shione!"

As Kitatsuji-san stepped up beside me, I turned to her with a serious expression.

"Kitatsuji-san, I have one request."

"Oh? That’s formal. What is it?"

"Just for today—please don’t get into any fights with anyone."

"…That’s all? I mean, that’s fine…"

"Thank you!"

As I beamed, Kitatsuji-san tilted her head in confusion.

"Do I really seem that short-tempered…? I don’t think I pick fights with people…"

I scanned the gathered group. Aside from one person—Kitatsuji-san glaring intensely at Takamiyagi-senpai—the atmosphere was far less tense than I expected. Honestly, I didn’t think she’d actually hold back. Good thing I warned her in advance.

…And the two first-years came too, even though we were supposed to meet tomorrow. Yuno had just tagged along after Kaimori invited her. That said, despite standing side by side, the two avoided eye contact in a strangely deliberate way. Something to keep an eye on.

Still—with this lineup, nothing is impossible. After all, instead of the usual single heroine, we’ve got five—including me. And as expected of heroines, each of them has absurdly high specs in their specialty fields. Oh, and Takahiro… he can be there or not, it doesn’t matter.

"Alright, I’ll explain! Today’s goal is simple: complete the stamp rally! Any questions?"

"Yes!"

Kaimori raised her hand sharply, and I pointed right at her.

"…Why do we have to do this?"

"Because I want the prize."

"…What prize?"

"I asked for one of the classroom exhibits, and they told me to complete the stamp rally first."

"This is bad… I have no idea what Shione-senpai is talking about…"

Then, "Okaaay," Yuno raised her hand cutely beside her, smiling in a clearly fake way.

"I understood perfectly~"

"No way!? Yuno, that’s definitely a lie! It’s a lie!!"

"Isn’t it just Ayumi-chan who doesn’t get it?"

Shaken, Kaimori—Ayumi—looked toward Takamiyagi-senpai for help.

"Takamiyagi-san… did you understand…?"

"More or less."

"No way!? Seriously…? …M-maybe I’m just slow…"

Well, whatever. Let’s go—toward our promised tomorrow. Everyone, follow me!

Now then… first, we need to decide where to go.

We got the stamp rally sheet from the main tent on the field and huddled around it, discussing our first target. I pointed toward a noisy crowd nearby and made a suggestion.

"Since we have to clear everything anyway, why not just go in order of proximity? Let’s start there."

"As always, Shione-senpai, you’re surprisingly aggressive for how you look… Let’s see… that’s the track team… and the events are ‘400-meter race showdown’ and ‘tire-pulling race’? …Are you serious? We’re definitely going to lose."

"Is tire-pulling even a track event…?"

As we approached the crowd, it turned out to indeed be a challenge event against the track team, using a full lap around the track. There was a handicap—the track team started about thirty meters behind.

A gentle-looking first-year girl at the reception desk noticed us and waved with a bright smile.

"Waa, it’s Kaimori-san!"

"Yuki-chan, you’re in the track team, right? We want to challenge—can we?"

"You can, but maybe not right now… The next opponent is our ace—Imamiya-senpai."

Looking at the track, the male student warming up—stretching lightly with sharp, springy movements—had a lean build and clearly looked incredibly fast. Kaimori whispered into my ear.

"…So, what do we do, Shione-senpai?"

"Hmm… Well, a challenge is a challenge. They’ll just have to accept their bad luck."

The faster they are, the more it’ll hurt their pride… But no matter how fast a human runs, they can’t outrun a Tyrannosaurus. Well, Takamiyagi-senpai isn’t a giant reptile or anything, but she probably has that level of specs… Honestly, even if she got dropped into a broken-fence Jurassic Park, she’d probably just stroll out unharmed on her own.

But still… why is she the only one who’s so completely inhuman? The game never explained that part… Well, whatever. Games always have at least one absurd, out-of-scale character like that. This isn’t the time to dwell on something so trivial anyway.

…No, but seriously. Is it really okay to ask for this? Wouldn’t it mean exposing one of my senpai’s hidden sides to the public?

I separated from the group with Senpai for a moment and decided to properly confirm her intention about calling for backup. But she simply nodded without hesitation.

"I don’t think there’s any problem with that."

"But won’t it draw attention…?"

"I already told you this morning, didn’t I? I don’t mind."

Her expression didn’t change, but I could tell she genuinely meant it. I looked up at her and bowed deeply. It felt like I was a corrupt official handing everything over to a hired bodyguard.

"Then, Takamiyagi-senpai… no, Sensei. I’ll leave the rest to you."

By the way, the gazes of the four people watching her off were roughly divided into concern: three, anger: one. Obviously, who the “one” was goes without saying. …Wait, why are you angry?

A short distance away from us, at the track starting line on the school grounds, Takamiyagi-senpai stood calmly as always—expressionless. Kaimori-chan watched her nervously.

"Is she going to be okay…? I mean, that’s the ace, right? She looks insanely fast… What if she gets hurt because she loses by too much? That’d be awful…"

"Hey, Kaimori-chan… in monster movies, when Godzilla fights the Self-Defense Forces, are you the type who worries about Godzilla?"

"No, I don’t think I’ve ever done that. Why are you suddenly talking about that?"

"You’ll understand soon enough."

Despite Kaimori-chan’s worries, the race mercilessly began.

The signal official gave the start command, and Takamiyagi-senpai stood motionless at the line. Then she gently tilted her face upward, closing her eyes quietly.

Oh. That’s her rare serious mode. So today, she’s actually motivated.

"On your marks… ready… GO!"

BANG!

At the signal, Takamiyagi-senpai and the track club sprinter kicked off almost simultaneously.

And in the next instant, Takamiyagi-senpai shot forward like something out of a manga, kicking up a cloud of dust as she tore down the straightaway in seconds. The boy behind her scrambled desperately to catch up, but the gap never shrank.

Honestly, it was less like a race and more like a shark swimming through the ocean while a human desperately tries to escape by swimming after it. No exaggeration.

I mean… what is her body made of?

"She can win! She can win! Go!"

"…W-what… what is that…?"

"T-that’s way too fast, isn’t it…?"

Takahiro was excitedly cheering, while Kaimori-chan and Yuno-chan were more disturbed than impressed.

As murmurs spread through the crowd, Takamiyagi-senpai completed a full lap and crossed the finish line effortlessly. At that point, her opponent had barely just finished the first curve.

She returned without even breaking a sweat, surrounded by track club members eagerly trying to recruit her with passionate pleas. In this school, it seemed that being “within normal human limits” or “fast enough to be valuable” were equally important criteria.

By the time she returned to us, the opponent finally crossed the finish line and collapsed onto his knees. I silently respected his determination to finish to the end.

"I won."

"W-what… was that…?"

"W-what on earth just happened…?"

Kaimori-chan and Yuno-chan instinctively huddled closer to Takamiyagi-senpai, both looking strangely united in confusion.

"Good work! …So, right after this, can we ask Takamiyagi-senpai again? For the tire-pulling event."

"Shione-senpai, aren’t you kind of heartless!? Well… after seeing that, it feels like we might actually win…"

"No, wait!"

Kitatsuji-san suddenly stepped forward, spreading her arms dramatically like she was wearing a cape—though there was no cape, so nothing actually moved.

"Why are you only relying on Takamiyagi!? This time, I’m going!"

She stormed off toward the track, and I watched her anxiously from behind.

…Is she going to be okay? Kitatsuji-san is capable, sure, but still within the realm of normal humans… In dinosaur movie terms, she’s the reliable veteran who seems fine in the middle of the story, saying things like “Good kid,” right before getting eaten by the parent dinosaur from behind…

Our gaze followed her with concern: three parts worry, one part unreadable expression. Obviously, who the “one” was didn’t need to be said.

And as far as I could tell, Takamiyagi-senpai didn’t direct any emotion at Kitatsuji-san at all. Maybe she just wasn’t interested?

"Is she going to be okay…? That tire looks super heavy… I heard each one is 30 kg, and there are three of them… That’s clearly impossible for a woman, right?"

"Well… Kitatsuji-san is basically Takamiyagi-senpai’s rival…"

"Sure, we were shocked earlier, but there’s no way more than one person like that exists in the world—huh?"

"OOOOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAA!!!"

With a roar like a demon, Kitatsuji-san charged forward. A rope was tied around her waist, and behind her, three massive tires were dragged along the ground at incredible speed, kicking up dust.

The track club’s opponent followed behind… but their tires numbered four.

And the gap didn’t close. Kitatsuji-san crossed the finish line with overwhelming force.

After returning, she caught her breath with her hands on her knees, then suddenly lifted her head and glared at Takamiyagi-senpai.

"See!? I won!! That settles it, right!?"

Takamiyagi-senpai tilted her head slightly, as if genuinely puzzled.

"…What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean what!? Isn’t that obvious!?"

"No. I never doubted that Kitatsuji-senpai would win from the beginning."

She said it flatly, expression unchanged.

Kitatsuji-san froze for a moment, caught off guard. Then her cheeks turned slightly red as she looked away.

"I-I see… Well, if you knew that, fine."

Watching all this from a little distance, I, Kaimori-chan, and Yuno-chan formed a small circle and leaned in to whisper.

"Kitatsuji-san definitely likes Takamiyagi-san, right?"

"Not even ‘definitely,’ it’s obvious. That’s full-blown love."

"…Hey, you two, shut up! I can hear you!"