Athletic Festival Arc
23 Resolve and a Visit

 Alone and immersed in the lingering memory, Fuuga was making a blissful face.

"Fuu-chan…"

At the sudden voice, Fuuga"s eyes widened and he turned around.

"LLaila! Since when were you there!?"
"From around the time you and Ruu-chan appeared from the bathroom"s shadow… Trying to pacify the girls in the cheer squad who were making a fuss since you weren"t there was stupid of me. I got caught up in it even though I wasn"t involved."

Laila said with a tired face. Fuuga had seen Laila"s real hair a number of times at the student council"s summer training camp, so he wasn"t particularly surprised. That said, he was surprised that Laila would come to the athletic festival with this appearance. Fuuga too recognized the beauty of Laila"s male appearance. He was probably surrounded by a lot of girls.

"Sorry, Laila."

Looking at Fuuga who was grinning even though he was giving an apology, Laila heaved a heavy sigh.

"Anyway, was it ok not to tell Ruu-chan? The reason you stopped the system of going out with the fans in turns each month."

Laila was the only person Fuuga had told the true reason behind his abolition of the "Fuugkun"s girlfriend reservation system." That being said, the other three executives didn"t have any interested in that system, but they probably knew the reason.

The "Fuugkun"s girlfriend reservation system"–It was a system that had been created at the same time he advanced to the junior high school section. It was a contract with the fan club that Fuuga acknowledged, too. Each month, he would go out with the fangirls in turn. Yuuri and Laila entered the school in junior high, so there was no point of reference for them but Hayate and Shoutarou who had been there since elementary school had had fans as well. However, compared to Fuuga"s fans, they were several times quieter. It might have been due to Hayate"s personality and Shoutarou"s women hating. At any rate, Fuuga"s fans could basically be called extremists and that was the best way to handle them.

However, the day after Meru had picked up his student handbook, he broke up with with the fan he had been going out with. It was the first time Fuuga had broken up with someone after less than a month. Then, Fuuga told the main members of the fan club that he was abolishing the system. For the fan club, that was something devastating because there were still many reservations. Of course, it was said that Fuuga had rethought it, but they firmly denied it with single-mindedness saying "He doesn"t seem to be going out with anyone right now."

Laila was also surprised by Fuuga"s sudden action. Fuuga never showed a happy face in regard to his monthly girlfriend, but he didn"t complain. No matter how much Laila advised him to stop the system, he didn"t. For that reason, Laila asked Fuuga about the reason. He had nothing to lose by asking, but unexpectedly, Fuuga was readily frank with Laila.

"I have someone I like now," he said.

As might be expected, he didn"t tell Laila who that person was, but he soon found the answer without thinking too hard after reviewing Fuuga"s daily life.

"Ruu-chan. She might misunderstand and think you"re just a womanizer, you know, Fuu-chan?"
"If Meru-chan thinks that, then I"m fine with being that kind of man."

Laila had expected Fuuga to object with a tearful voice. However, the Fuuga who said that was looking straight forward refreshingly. It was to the extent that Laila also agreed with Meru"s previous words that he was a "straightforward person."

"Laila. You said it before, didn"t you? "When you find someone you truly like, you"ll regret that kind of thing." It"s just like you said. I regretted it until just a bit ago, a ton."

Fuuga"s red headband swayed in the wind. His fluttering hair was glittering in the sunlight.

"But now is different. There"s no point in regretting. I will turn myself toward becoming a better man. That is what I can do right now…right?"

Fuuga smiled shyly. Laila saw Fuuga"s true smile for the first time in a while.

"I fell in love with you just now, Fuu-chan."
"Eh… I might not want to hear that from you in your current appearance."
"It was a joke."

When Laila said that in a slightly low tone, Fuuga appealed saying "Sorryyyyy."

"Learning something from Fuu-chan, I"m dissatisfied."
"Eh?"
"It"s nothing. Let"s go."

Laila quickly made his way to the sports ground, leaving Fuuga to chase after him.

On the sports ground, the shrill voices of the girls were revived.

"Sorry I"m late."

Meru returned to the tent near the headquarters post and apologized to the sullen Shoutarou. Meru"s job was a.s.sisting Shoutarou, but because one event had already finished, it couldn"t be helped that Shoutarou was mad.

"Geez, where were you dawdling until the first event finished?
"I was caught by a dog."

Meru sat next to him after saying just that. Shoutarou directed an inquisitive gaze her way, but he didn"t pursue it further.

"There were no problems seeing the ranking order for the thousand meter race so it"s fine, but the boys hundred meter race ends in an instant."
"Ok, ok. It"s fine if I watch, right."

What was starting now was the boy"s hundred meter race. The partic.i.p.ants crossed the goal around the same time each year, so it seemed that deciding first place was one problem.
However, this year there was Meru. Meru"s memory was photographic. She could output even a single moment at any time, so she was the perfect person to make judgment calls.

"3, 1, 9, 8, 6, 4, 2, 5, 7."

Meru murmured the course number of those who crossed the finish line. Hearing that, Shoutarou immediately made a memo and tapped on the calculator. It wasn"t quite to the extent of Hayate, but as might be expected from the vice president, Shoutarou"s work had no waste.

"Neeext. 2, 7, 8, 1, 9…"
"Kusuhara! Did you see!? I got first place! Respect me!"

When she turned her gaze over upon hearing that voice, she saw the first place Takimoto from the second running course who had broken the goal tape waving his hand at Meru boastfully.

"Don"t get in the way of my job. 6, 3, 5, 4."

Mer soon took her eyes off of Takimoto and continued with her work. However, Takimoto was noisy by himself as usual. Shoutarou lost his last strand of patience and drove him away, so he somehow became obedient.
This kind of thing seemed somehow similar to Fuuga. If she were to say that, she would be crushed by the eyes of many girls, so she stubbornly kept that in her mind.

"Ahh, it"s finally over. My eyes are tired."

Meru laid down on the desk. Seeing her like that, Shoutarou casually pa.s.sed her a paper cup filled with water.

"Next is the two thousand meter race. Well, let"s take a break."

Shoutarou said while looking somewhere else. "You"re as blunt as usual, huh," Meru said with a smile, but because he took the paper cup away, she meekly apologized and stretched out her hand to take it back.

"Katsuragi-kun, Kusuharsan. Is now a good ti…ah…"

Yuuri who had come running up looked alternately between Meru and Shoutarou, his eyes finally falling on Shoutarou and narrowing.

"…Are you in the middle of something?"
"Aidou… Were you someone who holds a grudge to that extent?"

Shoutarou sighed. As expected, having gone too far, Yuuri lightly apologized and moved to business.

"Can I borrow Kusuharsan from the next onward?"
"Me?"

Meru asked, pointing at herself. Next to her, Shoutarou scowled and pushed his gla.s.ses up with his middle finger.

"Aidou, you and Kamishiro are welcoming visitors, right? It"s impossible that you don"t have enough manpower."
"If it went as planned at first, just Kamishiro-kun would be sufficient, but…"

Yuuri"s face was a little nervous.

"Suddenly, that Toujou group"s company president, Toujou Kenichirou arrived."

No one noticed Meru"s face when she heard that name.

Sorry again for the delay. I didn"t quite have time to edit this since I woke up early to finish it because I was too dead even yesterday to do it…but yeah. Also, look who is gonna make an appearance. Funnily enough, Toujou has the same p.r.o.nunciation as an appearance (like on stage), so my first thought went to a pun. Anyway, enjoy. Next week will be back to normal!