"I'll pull you out?"
Sora, half-crouched on the ground, softly suggested.
"No, pulling by force will definitely hurt super bad, right?"
Gokou Ruri's voice was panicked:
"It must be my hair or clothes caught on the bushes. No matter how you think about it, you can't just pull by force."
"Ruri, endure it for a bit."
"I can't! No matter how you think about it, I can't endure it!"
"..."
"Don't be nervous."
Sora softly comforted Kuroneko, giving his reasoning:
"The bushes are too dense. I can't see where the problem is right away. So I'll give a little pull first, Ruri tells me where it hurts, and then we prescribe the right medicine."
"This is neither your bathroom nor a utility closet. It's a public area, and someone could come by at any time." Sora paused and said in a low voice, "Ruri doesn't want her secret to be discovered either, right?"
Gokou Ruri: "..."
That's right.
The most important thing right now is to get unstuck as quickly as possible. No matter what, she doesn't want to be discovered by anyone!
Although Kuroneko is a girl in the late stages of chunibyo, she actually has a very strong sense of pride and shame. She absolutely does not want to become the subject of someone else's gossip.
"I understand..."
Gokou Ruri bit her lower lip tightly, her voice shameful and nervous:
"Sora, be gentle... Don't use too much force, otherwise it will definitely hurt a lot..."
"Sorry, it's my first time."
"Meow?"
"I have no experience pulling a radish for the first time. It's perfectly normal if I can't control my strength well." Sora said with a straight face.
"So remember to give me feedback immediately."
Gokou Ruri: "...A mere Sora, don't be too arrogant!"
I'm not a radish!
"Ruri, I'm starting?"
Sora asked softly.
"Okay..."
Gokou Ruri bit her lower lip tightly and responded in a low voice.
"Hurry up and start."
Having received permission, Sora decisively reached out his hands and placed them on Kuroneko's waist.
So thin.
The first sensation was that she was so thin.
Placing his two hands on it, he could easily span it. His thumbs and middle fingers just managed to touch each other.
Such a thin waist, a little extra force and it might snap, right?
But then again, the feel of the girl's slender waist in his hands is surprisingly good.
No wonder there's the historical allusion 'The King of Chu loved narrow waists'. It wasn't just the King of Chu, any normal male would probably like this!
"Mmm... Nn~!"
Gokou Ruri let out a low hum, her body involuntarily and abruptly tensing up.
As an internet veteran, Kuroneko naturally had exposure to things ordinary girls wouldn't, and she knew perfectly well how terrible this current posture was.
Terrible, terrible, terrible... absolutely terrible!
If I hadn't been playing on my phone while walking, the ribbon wouldn't have been blown away by the wind. I must take this as a warning!
"I'm applying force."
Sora exhaled softly, carefully pulling Kuroneko outward.
"S-S-Slower..."
The girl's shameful soft cry quickly rang out:
"I-It hurts so much..."
"Where does it hurt?"
"The hair behind my left ear..."
"That must be hair getting snagged."
"..."
As Sora spoke, he leaned in closer, carefully inspecting the hair behind Kuroneko's ear.
"Found it. A few strands of hair got tangled on a dead branch."
Having found the source of the problem, Sora decisively reached out to help.
While helping, it was inevitable that his breath would fall on the girl's neck.
With every exhale, Gokou Ruri's body would shiver slightly.
"Don't move around."
Sora reminded her helplessly.
I haven't done anything else, why are you shivering!
Gokou Ruri bit her lower lip, her pretty face almost ready to drip blood. Faint white steam rose from the top of her head:
"My knees... my knees hurt..."
"Why do your knees hurt?"
"Idiot Sora... Of course they hurt after kneeling for so long!"
"Then endure it for a little longer."
"..."
Sora exhaled softly, concentrating.
His warm breath falling on the girl's ear made Gokou Ruri's body shiver slightly again. Unfortunately, she couldn't exactly tell Sora to stop breathing, so she could only bite her lower lip in shame and endure it silently.
Hard work pays off.
Before long, Sora successfully untangled the hair from the dead branch. Then, he grasped Kuroneko's soft, slender waist again and slowly pulled backward.
This time, Kuroneko finally didn't cry out in pain, and her body was quietly pulled out of the bushes.
"I-I'm out..."
Seeing the sky again, Gokou Ruri was teary-eyed. Her body went limp, and she fell directly into Sora's embrace, rejoicing immensely at her survival.
Playing on my phone while walking, the wind blew my ribbon into the bushes, and while trying to retrieve it, I accidentally got stuck in the bushes...
"Today must be my mercury retrograde."
Gokou Ruri bit her lower lip, her eyes full of tears.
Thank goodness it was Sora. If it were anyone else, it would have been super terrible no matter how you look at it.
"The only good news is probably that I got the ribbon back..."
Gokou Ruri panted lightly for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly caught sight of two boys walking towards them in the distance. She felt a wave of immense shame and hurriedly hid in Sora's embrace.
"What are you doing?"
Sora looked down at her in confusion.
"T-There's someone coming..." Gokou Ruri's voice was full of shame.
"Let me hide for a bit."
My face is completely red and I'm teary-eyed right now. If someone sees me, they'll definitely misunderstand, right?
I've made it through the most dangerous hurdle, I can't drop the ball at the very end.
"Then thanks for the treat."
Sora complained while opening his arms, gently pulling Kuroneko into his embrace, using his back to block the line of sight.
"Mmm..."
The scent of a boy rushed into her nose. Gokou Ruri's body trembled slightly, her pretty face burning hot, but she didn't struggle or resist.
Any other boy would definitely be a no. Physical contact would make my whole body uncomfortable.
But if it's Sora... this isn't our first hug anyway, so it's completely fine.
Smelling Sora's scent, Gokou Ruri felt exceptionally secure at this moment. But she quickly realized she was wrong.
A familiar "murderous aura" quietly struck. Kuroneko's body quietly tensed up, and she tilted up her small face, both shy and angry:
"Lewd!"
"Pervert!"
"Sora's head is definitely completely filled with dirty thoughts!"
"..."
It's clearly just an ordinary hug, what on earth are you thinking about!
Sora coughed lightly twice, choosing to take the initiative:
"It's all Ruri's fault."
"Meow?"
"If you didn't hug me so tightly, nothing would have happened."
"Ptooey~ Sora is thick-skinned!"
Gokou Ruri couldn't help but spit lightly. Seeing that the two classmates had walked far away, she hurriedly bumped her head against Sora's chin. Then, she took the opportunity to escape from his embrace and bolted away like a wisp of smoke:
"I'm going to change clothes!"
"..."
After finishing in the restroom, Sora unhurriedly returned to the sports field. After chatting with the boys on his team for a moment, the Sports Festival officially began.
First, the pot-bellied principal took the stage to speak. After the monotonous, sleep-inducing speech ended, it was quickly Angel-sama's turn to take the stage.
As Mahiru, with her high ponytail tied up and seeming to sparkle all over, walked onto the podium, the sports field instantly became lively.
"It's Angel-sama!"
"Shiina-san with a high ponytail is the cutest in the world!"
"I really want to be Angel-sama's dog!"
"..."
As the school's 'top idol', flawless in both academics and athletics, Mahiru's popularity at school had always been super high.
After Mahiru's speech, it was followed by the cheerleading squad's performance.
The cheerleading squad members were all girls, youthful, beautiful, and full of energy. Anna stood in the center position, her smile bright and radiant.
After the dance ended, the Sports Festival finally officially began.