Chapter 28: Second Battle Against Aoi - First Half
And so, it beca Monday. With preparations for the upcoming sports festival and other things, there are no club activities this week.
I was waiting near the entrance to the west area as planned.
(I'm still a bit anxious, though.)
Feeling a little tense, I carefully stretched my body.
Nearby, Obata-san was there, and through LINE, she said Aoi had left the school with three people.
'Three people, huh? I'll stay back and try to hold up as many of Aoi-kun's friends as possible by saying I have sothing to ask for the beautification committee's work.'
'Obata-san, thanks, I'm counting on you.'
'Don't get hurt, okay? Reina would be sad if you did.'
'Yeah, I'll try my best. Kashii-san would be sad if anyone got hurt, after all.'
Obata-san looked like she wanted to say sothing but left to take her position.
Fifteen minutes later, Aoi and three others (four in total! They increased!) approached.
The evening in September is still pretty hot. I thought, like it was soone else's problem, that it would probably get even hotter.
"Ah! Tachibana! How dare you last Friday!"
'Huh? I got hit too, so we're even, right? I let you off on Friday, so you should be thanking !'
"I'll never forgive you!!"
The instant water heater (Aoi) ca charging at ! What will his friends do?
They all followed (crying). I didn't want to fight and was hoping at least two would go back... but if I keep going straight, I'll head to the park with about a kiloter of straight road, and I can feel Aoi right behind .
(What is this? It's super scary!)
I feel like his hand almost grazed my back. If I get caught, it'll forcibly turn into a 4-on-1 battle. Isn't four people unfair?
Aoi's face looks like a demon as he chases . The three others following are from the sports club, so they can keep up.
Even though I'm sowhat confident in my endurance, if I get caught, a 4-on-1 fight ans I'll be done for in no ti.
While I'm confident in endurance, I'm not so confident in burst speed or top speed. If I don't get caught at the start, I can manage sohow! I tell myself that.
After running about 600 ters, I saw Obata-san, mouthing to .
(Please help!)
(Leave it to .)
I ran past her, followed by Aoi. Obata-san called out to the three following behind.
'Ah! About the beautification committee, just a sec—'
I heard later that the three seed to find the beautification committee's request annoying and ran past without even making eye contact with Obata-san.
(This is bad! Four people are bad!)
To begin with, the minimum plan was to lure at least Aoi alone to the underpass deep in the riverside park, but if his friends co too, there's no escape, and we'll be at a disadvantage instead.
I'm in trouble. If I run a bit more, I'll pass Kashii-san's house, but there's a chance I won't be able to reduce their numbers there either. If I can't reduce their numbers and reach the riverside park, defeat is certain.
(What do I do? What do I do?)
I thought about it, but decided I had no choice but to settle it with a stamina contest. I turned at Kashii-san's house, heading for the starting point, and picked up my pace!
'Wait! Wait, you jerk! If you don't wait, I'll beat you up!'
(You'll beat up even if I wait, right?)
I kept running silently.
"Wait, damn it. Hey, co on already...!"
After running back and forth twice, I'd covered about 1.5 kiloters. Aoi was shouting while running, so he was getting out of breath. The three others were lagging behind, but as expected of sports club mbers, they could still keep up.
This is tough. What do I do? Even if I take more ti, I can't shake them off, right? As I was racking my brain, I saw Kashii-san ahead. Maybe she got worried since I didn't show up on ti, so she ca much earlier than planned.
Mouthing to her.
(Kashii-san! The three behind!)
Kashii (??...! Dinner will be rice balls!)
I feel like my ssage didn't get through?
Aoi and I ran past Kashii-san! About ten seconds later, Aoi's three friends followed!
'Sorry, can I have a mont?'
"Kashii-san! What's up? Haa, haa."
Seems like she successfully stopped them. I found out later that when Kashii-san called out, they stopped dead in their tracks. Even when she asked if they were busy, they said, "Not at all!"
She asked them (for real) to help tomorrow with taking out headbands and happi coats from the storage for the sports festival and distributing them by color to each class. They agreed instantly. While she was briefly explaining, Aoi and I completely disappeared from sight. Kashii-san's delay tactic succeeded!
Obata-san's reaction (after being ignored) when she heard about it.
'I'm not okay with this.'
I could see Tanaka-kun at the entrance to the riverside park. With a signal, it seed preparations were ready. I'll take a little detour to tire Aoi out more before cornering him.
'What, you don't have enough spirit!'
'Haa, haa, Tachibana! Wait, damn it.'
He's pretty exhausted, but I'm afraid he'll give up halfway, so I keep the distance close while pretending to be tired myself, running another kiloter.
I'm tired too. But Aoi is starting to stagger.
Should I provoke him one last ti?
'Aoi, co at !'
'You co at !'
Aoi-kun? You're so mad, but you're telling to co at you?
I get that you don't want to move, but what do I do? Provocation... what can I do?
(!!)
That's it! That's the only way!
Embarrassed, I showed my butt with a flash to Aoi, who was so exhausted he wasn't even trying to co closer.
'!!'
Without a word, I slapped my butt.
Isn't this the wild trick Keiji used to provoke enemies in 'Hanano Keiji'?
'! You bastard! Hey!'
Even though Aoi-kun was so exhausted, he chased after with a face full of rage!
As expected of Keiji. Keiji always helps out...
Finally, Aoi and I reached the battlefield at the underpass of the riverside park.
It was just past 5 p.m. Still bright, but the riverside was starting to be dyed orange by the setting sun. Tension rose in the quiet park.
The confrontation looms.
———————————————
Later, Obata-san asked Kousuke.
'Kousuke-kun, Aoi-kun was so exhausted at the end, but he still chased you all the way to the underpass, huh?'
'Ah, at the end, Sho showed his butt...' Tell more! Tell the details!'
Obata-san has completely gone off the deep end lately.
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