"The first event is tug-of-war."
"Everyone, do your best!"
"Victory is certain!"
"..."
The very first event after the opening of the Sports Festival was precisely tug-of-war, and everyone's enthusiasm was exceptionally high.
Sora went to the back of the team and grabbed the thick rope with both hands. Looking ahead, there were dozens of people on both sides combined, both male and female. The main theme was full participation.
Bang!
With the sound of the starting pistol, the tug-of-war competition officially began.
Dozens of people pulling the rope together, the scene was super lively.
After a period of back-and-forth struggling, Sora's Red Team eventually came out on top and won the victory.
Whoosh.
Anyone who has done tug-of-war knows that if one side suddenly lets go, the other side will turn into rolling gourds.
As the White Team lost, the dozens of people on the Red Team suddenly lost their balance and fell down like dominoes.
Seeing the situation turn bad, Sora wanted to dodge out of the way, but he was still too late and was knocked over by the person in front of him.
Before he could get up, someone else fell onto him with a plop.
"S-Sorry..."
A familiar apologizing voice sounded by his ear.
"Basori-san?"
"Eh, Izumi-kun?"
Basori Tiara looked up and realized she had actually fallen onto Sora. Her pretty face flushed slightly. She hurriedly reached out a hand to push herself up, but the sensation from her palm wasn't sand, but a strange touch she had never experienced before.
"What is this?"
Basori Tiara subconsciously gave it a squeeze. She curiously looked down and discovered that in the chaos just now, her right hand had somehow reached below Sora's abdomen.
The muscles at the corners of Sora's eyes twitched slightly:
"Basori-san, hurry up and move your hand."
"..."
Boom!
Basori Tiara finally reacted with hindsight. Her pretty face instantly flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye. The girl's sense of shame erupted like a volcano, exploding instantly.
"I-I-I-I..."
Basori Tiara rapidly pulled her hand back. Her pretty face was thoroughly flushed, almost ready to drip blood.
"Say no more." Sora breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his voice.
"I know it was a misunderstanding."
"T-That's right... it was just a misunderstanding..."
Basori Tiara breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
"A-Anyway, I am incredibly sorry!"
Basori Tiara scrambled up all at once, completely not daring to look at him. After a ninety-degree bow, she turned and fled in a panic.
"Basori-san, wait a minute..."
Sora's call came from behind.
Tiara paused slightly, but continued running forward without looking back.
"Tiara..."
Another familiar voice reached her ears.
Basori Tiara instinctively stopped. Turning her head, she saw Shikiya Yumeko standing not far away, her head tilted, looking over expressionlessly. Tiara instantly felt incredibly guilty:
"Yumeko-senpai, w-why are you here?"
The gyaru senpai had a special, frail constitution, even more exaggerated than Lin Daiyu. So absolutely no one dared to let her participate in the tug-of-war. Other sports events were also out of the question; slightly more intense contact sports would probably kill her.
If the exercise was too intense, she might hover between life and death...
So after some discussion, they put the gyaru senpai in charge of looking after their belongings.
Shikiya Yumeko looked up, her expression blank, her voice intermittent:
"I... just now... saw everything..."
"S-Saw it?"
Basori Tiara's body trembled slightly, her heart almost jumping out of her throat:
"W-What did Yumeko-senpai see?"
Could she have seen me and Izumi-kun...
Impossible!
There were so many people, and it was so chaotic just now. Yumeko-senpai definitely didn't see clearly!
Shikiya Yumeko's voice was weak and feeble:
"Saw... your... Izumi-kun..."
Crack.
A bolt of lightning struck right on her head.
Basori Tiara turned completely into a gray and white statue.
(S-She saw it...)
(Accidentally doing that kind of thing, I won't have the face to go to the student council ever again, will I?)
(So shameful, so shameful, so shameful, so shameful...)
Her soul drifting out of her body, Basori Tiara felt it would be better to just die directly.
"N-No! I can't give up!"
Basori Tiara bit the tip of her tongue hard, snatching her drifting soul back into her body. She brought her hands together and bowed ninety degrees:
"Yumeko-senpai, please, you absolutely must help keep this a secret!"
(Yumeko-senpai isn't a girl who likes gossip. As long as I beg her properly, she definitely won't tell anyone the secret, right?)
(As long as it's kept a secret, I can still come to the academy...)
"Mmm?"
Shikiya Yumeko tilted her head in confusion, a question mark slowly popping up above her small head.
"Secret?"
Basori Tiara's pretty face was thoroughly flushed, shouting in shame:
"As long as Yumeko-senpai helps keep the secret, after the Sports Festival ends, I will buy three bottles of Yumeko-senpai's favorite drink as a reward!"
"Secret..." Shikiya Yumeko's voice was confused.
"What's that?"
Basori Tiara bit her lower lip aggrievedly.
(T-To actually ask what the secret is... Yumeko-senpai is too mean!)
(How could I possibly say that kind of thing out loud!)
"I wanted to... remind Tiara..."
Shikiya Yumeko's voice was intermittent. Halfway through, she clutched her chest and took two breaths:
"Your ribbon... fell on Izumi-kun..."
"Meow?"
Basori Tiara blinked. She raised a hand to touch her forehead and realized her ribbon was indeed missing.
"Yumeko-senpai... is that what you wanted to say just now?"
"That's right..." Shikiya Yumeko tilted her head to look.
"Tiara's secret... what is it?"
"It's nothing! I didn't say anything just now! Yumeko-senpai heard wrong!"
Basori Tiara rapidly denied it three times. She quickly understood why Izumi Sora had called out to her earlier; it was probably to return the ribbon.
Realizing she didn't have to face social death, Basori Tiara breathed a sigh of relief, regaining the courage to live. She turned her head to look for Izumi Sora and quickly found him chatting with Elf.
The next event was about to start soon. Basori Tiara didn't dare to delay. She could only endure her shame, lower her head, and walk over to Izumi Sora's side, stammering in a small voice:
"U-Umm... Izumi-kun..."
"Perfect timing, Basori-san."
Izumi Sora's expression remained normal. He had already forgotten about what happened earlier and wouldn't dwell on it like a little girl. As he spoke, he handed over the red ribbon:
"You dropped your ribbon just now."
"Thank you, Izumi-kun..."
Basori Tiara expressed her heartfelt gratitude and hurriedly reached out to take the ribbon.
"Tiara is so weird today." Yamada Elf crossed her arms over her chest, looking over curiously.
"Why is your face super red?"
Hearing this, Basori Tiara felt incredibly ashamed and guiltily averted her gaze:
"Umm, umm... I get a red face after exercising."
I'll take the unexpected incident from earlier to my grave. No matter what, I won't let a third person know!
"I see."
Yamada Elf was easy to fool and didn't suspect anything.
"Phew..."
Basori Tiara quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to find an excuse to leave, Yamada Elf's voice rang in her ears again:
"Sora smells like girls again. It feels somewhat familiar... So many thieving cats."
Basori Tiara's body trembled violently, feeling so ashamed she wanted to explode.
T-Thieving cat?
It was just an accident! I'm not some thieving cat!