Chapter 53

After the sports festival, I managed to recover to 16th place in the midterm exams thanks to attending remedial classes and working hard. I felt a great sense of relief. This should help restore the teachers' trust in me.

However, Daimaki and Enjo are still the stable top two. This time, Enjo was in first place.

That's it. Daimaki's second place is due to over-practicing for the horseback riding competition. I wonder what drives him to such lengths.

Since the next class was in a different room, I was walking with classmates when I saw a girl walking alone with her head down.

Hmm? I'm sure I had remedial classes with her. What was her name again?

Then a group of girls came from behind, laughing. When she heard them, she quickened her pace and left.

"What was the name of the girl we just passed?"

"I don't know. I've seen her face before."

"She's in Ayame's class. The one who messed up the long jump rope."

"Oh, that girl."

"Long jump rope? I remember someone in Ayame's class made a mistake and they were disqualified early."

"She apparently practiced a lot, and Ayame was very disappointed."

So that was the girl who made the mistake.

The girls who came from behind seemed to be in the same class. Maybe she feels uncomfortable.

"It's Mita. She's isolated in her class now."

During lunch break, I asked Ayame about the girl we saw earlier while having lunch in the cafeteria.

"Isolated? Why?"

"Because she messed up the long jump rope at the beginning and ended it, which made everyone resent her. Our class had a lot of confidence in the long jump rope."

What? Just for that?

"I was also angry with Mita right after, but I'm not angry anymore. However, Mita not only messed up the long jump rope but also fell during the three-legged race and pulled her partner down, causing an injury."

"Injury?"

"It was just a scraped knee, but the person she injured was part of Manaki's group."

Manaki Makoto, the leader of the gal group. To have injured someone from that group, that's really bad luck.

I also participated in the three-legged race, but the girl I was paired with said, "Let's cheer loudly, Reika-sama!" and pulled me along, so we were able to finish smoothly.

Indeed, I remember a class that was leading in the race fell and dropped in rank. Was that Mita's class?

"Since then, Mita has been targeted by Manaki's group."

"Is she being bullied?"

"Not exactly. They say things like 'It's all because of you' in a way that can be heard."

Isn't that bullying?

"Just a sports festival."

"That's true. We are fine as long as we can see Daimaki and Enjo's performances, but Manaki and her group are good at sports, so they get really into these events."

Ah, I see. There are people like that.

After that, everyone started enthusiastically discussing the top two performers from the sports festival.

"The dead heat in the relay!"

"Enjo in the short-distance race was so cool!"

"But the best was the emperor in the horseback riding competition. He was so strong!"

"Speaking of the horseback riding competition, the student council president was also amazing."

What?!!

"Ah, yes. I didn't know the middle school student council president was such a great person. It's Senbetsu-senpai, right?"

"Yes, Senbetsu Chizuru-senpai. She's an external student from the middle school and is always in the top three in terms of grades. She's very excellent and good at basketball."

"She seemed a bit scary when she was quiet, but she was cute when she smiled."

"I understand that feeling!"

What a surprise!

When did I get a rival? And there's even someone who knows more about the seniors than I do!

All I did was go to the student council room after the sports festival to deliver some pastries I got from Pivoine's salon.

I was captivated by the smile of the senior when she thanked me and decided to bring more. I'm worried that I might end up being a woman who gets scammed by a strange man and gives away all her money.

I met Sakura for the first time in a while to give her the photos of Aizawa in a girl's costume from the sports festival.

We had tea and chatted at a stylish open-air café. Having tea at a café feels so much like hanging out with a friend!

I often communicate with Sakura via email and phone, but we rarely get to meet in person.

I only visited her house once during the summer break.

At that time, I talked a lot about the senior, making sure to mention that it was a secret from Aizawa.

"Nothing has progressed since then? You're hopeless. You had a chance to get closer during the sports festival."

"But..."

Getting closer is actually quite difficult, isn't it?

I changed the topic to avoid Sakura's lecture on love.

"Speaking ill of someone within earshot is quite common."

"Yeah."

I told her about Mita.

After that, I observed Mita and confirmed that she was being targeted by Manaki's group.

It wasn't overt bullying, but she was being whispered about and laughed at when they passed by. She was being subtly hurt.

"I've seen that in my school too. You just have to wait for the situation to cool down."

"I see."

In my past life, I was suddenly ignored one day. No one would tell me why. But after a while, the target changed, and they started talking to me as if nothing had happened.

It seems to happen in any era and any world.

Mita is pitiful, but since we're not in the same class and not particularly close, it's hard for me to help her.

But since she's only being subtly hurt right now, it should be okay.

Sakura was very excited about the photos of Aizawa as Snow White that I gave her.

After leaving the café, Sakura and I visited a cute stationery store.

Going to stationery stores on weekends feels so much like hanging out with a friend!

Then, we saw a shrine for matchmaking nearby, and Sakura suggested we go.

I wasn't very enthusiastic, but since Sakura really wanted to draw a fortune, I went along with her.

Sakura drew a medium good fortune. I thought it was a good result, but she looked disappointed, saying, "It's not great. Takumi is also not very clear."

I drew a fortune, thinking of the senior. Come on! At least a good fortune!

"Ah!"

The fortune I drew was a bad one, a "kyo" (凶). It was the first time I drew such a bad fortune. It really exists...

Sakura peeked at my fortune from the side and stepped back. Stop it! Don't laugh at me!

"Waiting for someone to come, but they won't. Lost items will not be found. Matchmaking is far away. Hopes will not be fulfilled."

"Um, I heard that if you get a bad fortune, you should tie it to a tree with your left hand only."

"Really?"

"Y-Yes."

I folded the bad fortune into a thin strip and tried to tie it to a tree with my left hand, as Sakura suggested.

But it was much harder than I thought.

It was so difficult that it fell to the ground.

Should we go to a shrine to have it purified and then return?