The night passed without words.
The next day.
The long-awaited Sports Festival officially arrived.
"Sora, Sora~ Just waiting for you."
As soon as Sora stepped out his door in the morning, he saw Elf standing at the door next door waving. The girl's golden hair sparkled dazzlingly in the sunlight, exceptionally brilliant.
As the first major event she encountered after enrolling, Elf was quite looking forward to the Sports Festival.
"Sora-kun, good morning."
Angel-sama held her schoolbag with both hands, her voice sweet and her gaze gentle.
"Good morning..."
Sora greeted them one by one, and then the three of them walked toward the train station, facing the morning sun.
"Idiot Sora, did you invite Sagiri to come watch the Sports Festival?"
Yamada Elf tilted her head and asked.
"I didn't mention it."
"What? Sora didn't even say anything?"
"Unless the world ends today, Sagiri definitely won't leave the house."
"That's not necessarily true... What if the house catches fire?"
"Go away, don't jinx it."
"..."
The three arrived at the school and saw that a giant banner had already been hung at the entrance, tied with various balloons and colorful ribbons. It looked festively decorated and quite lively.
"Let's put our things in our shoe lockers first, and then go get our ribbons."
Angel-sama softly suggested.
Japanese sports festivals are not divided by class, but rather focus more on teams and collectives. The entire high school student body is scrambled and mixed, divided into teams by tying different colored strips of cloth around their foreheads. The most common colors are red and white.
The teams had already been assigned yesterday. Upon arriving today, students first go change into their P.E. uniforms, and after changing, they go to the designated location to get their cloth strips. Even things as important as university entrance exam admission tickets are lost by people every year, let alone an ordinary strip of cloth. If they were handed out in advance, it's inevitable that some people would lose them.
It's worth mentioning that Sora, Anna, Elf, Mahiru, and Ruri were all assigned to the same team, which was quite a coincidence.
The three put their schoolbags into their shoe lockers and then headed to the sports field. On the way, they happened to run into a certain gluttonous girl.
"Sora, good morning."
The girl's crisp, bright shout rang out, as if capable of dispelling all gloom.
The ahoge on Anna's head bobbed gently as she trotted over, full of energy:
"Wait for me, let's go get our ribbons together."
The group walked together to the sports field and quickly received a red cloth strip, which they just needed to tie around their foreheads later.
Because there were only red and white teams, there were surprisingly many acquaintances on the same team.
Sora swept his gaze around and spotted several familiar faces.
For example, the zombie-like Shikiya-senpai, whose arms dangled limply as if she had worked overtime for twenty-four hours straight; Tiara with her thick eyebrows; and Komari Chika, hiding in a corner with a thin presence. The only one missing was Kuroneko.
After getting their ribbons, the girls quickly dispersed.
"Sora-kun, I'm going to prepare for my speech first."
Angel-sama waved gently and left first.
The Sports Festival is a major school event, held once a year, so naturally, speeches from the school leadership are indispensable. Mahiru, as the student representative, also had to give a speech on stage later.
"Sora, I have to go to the club room to change clothes too." Anna put her hands on her hips, her voice full of energy and vigor.
"Remember to watch my performance later."
"Got it."
"You're not allowed to blink even once."
"Understood, I'll go get some glue and glue my eyelids open right now."
"..."
While they were talking, two other girls from their class came over, and Elf happily went to chat with them.
Although Elf was a super narcissistic chunibyo girl, she was cute enough and didn't have any malicious intentions. She had already made new friends in the class, which was a cause for celebration.
"The Sports Festival is about to start, I should take care of my bathroom needs first..."
Sora casually stuffed his ribbon into his pocket and turned to head to the restroom. When he arrived at a deserted garden, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure seemingly crouching behind some bushes not far away.
No, wait.
Not crouching, but with her upper body squeezed into the gap in the bushes, leaving only her butt sticking out... The posture was super terrible!
After looking for a couple of seconds, Sora was preparing to withdraw his gaze, but he suddenly noticed the beautiful black hair slipping down from the girl's waist.
There are many girls with black hair in the school, but such beautiful, long, straight black hair is rare.
"Could it be..."
A strange look appeared on Sora's face, and he curiously walked over.
The sports field and the club rooms were the liveliest places right now. In comparison, the garden was exceptionally quiet.
Sora didn't intentionally mask his approach, so his footsteps were quite clear.
"W-Who is it?"
Hearing the approaching footsteps, the girl's nervous voice quickly rang out.
Sora: "..."
With such a familiar voice, it really is Kuroneko!
Although your online handle is Kuroneko (Black Cat), there's no need to actually drill into the bushes!
"Excuse me... could you please help call a teacher?"
Gokou Ruri's voice was tense and full of shame. She sounded incredibly weak right now, but unfortunately, her expression couldn't be seen:
"I-I accidentally got stuck..."
Sora was genuinely curious:
"Why did Ruri get stuck?"
"Eh?"
Hearing the incredibly familiar boy's voice behind her, Gokou Ruri was instantly both surprised and delighted. The panic and helplessness from a moment ago quickly vanished into thin air. Of course, the overflowing sense of shame still remained.
"It's Pervert Sora?!"
Ever since hiding in the utility closet a few days ago, when Sora was unable to calm down, Kuroneko had taken to calling him 'Pervert Sora' whenever they were alone.
Sora took his time, standing behind Kuroneko:
"In the past, when you called me a pervert, I didn't nitpick. What should Ruri call me now?"
"Call you what?"
"Call me Lord Sora."
Gokou Ruri: "..."
A mere Sora, don't be too arrogant!
"L-Lord Sora..."
"Didn't hear clearly, say it again."
Gokou Ruri's voice was filled with shame:
"Lord Sora, hurry up and help me, ahhhh."
A person under the eaves has to bow their head.
Clearly, although Kuroneko was a girl in the late stages of chunibyo, she understood very well what it meant to submit to circumstances.
"Did a cat run into the bushes?"
Sora guessed curiously.
"Of course not." Gokou Ruri explained shamefully.
"Last night, while traversing endless worlds, I provoked an invisible and intangible, detestable phantom. That guy took advantage of a moment of carelessness and threw my ribbon into the bushes! While trying to retrieve my ribbon, I was carelessly grabbed by a tree spirit, and now I'm stuck and can't get out!"
"Phantom?"
Sora didn't understand for a moment. Just then, a cool breeze howled past, blowing the impulsive girl's skirt, faintly revealing ordinary blue and white stripes.
"Meow—"
Gokou Ruri let out a shameful soft cry, her legs suddenly tensing up. She hurriedly reached her right hand behind her back to cover her skirt:
"That detestable phantom is teasing me again!"
Good heavens, the so-called phantom is actually the cool breeze.
"Pervert Sora, don't look!"
Sora's expression remained composed: "I didn't look."
Gokou Ruri's voice was angry and embarrassed: "Liar, I can feel your lewd gaze."
"..."
The breeze soon died down.
Sora took two steps forward and crouched down halfway beside Kuroneko:
"People could pass by here at any moment. You can't just stay stuck in the bushes... Do you want me to pull you out?"