Chapter 200: Lunch Break Fantasy Time!

Beneath the shade of the trees during the lunch break, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, scattering dappled spots of light. The cicadas droned noisily.

After completing the final all-participant event—the 200-meter dash—all nine events requiring full class participation in the morning had been finished. The Sports Festival thus temporarily came to a pause, entering the lunch break phase.

"Lo, the yellow dust parted like clouds, then gathered once more. Hoofbeat crashed against hoofbeat, iron armor ground against iron armor, the neighing of horses entangled with the shouts of men—all sounds were swallowed by the vast curtain of dust."

Beneath the ginkgo tree, the leader of Class A's oddballs, Morishita-sama, sat upright with her back straight. Her athletic shoes were neatly placed to the side. Seated properly on the picnic mat, upon that pretty face utterly devoid of emotional fluctuation, her small lips parted slightly. In a drifting, airy tone, she spoke:

"Morishita-sama burst forth from the throng upon her treasured steed. With a single command, Yamamura Miki, Shiraishi Asuka, and Kamuro Masumi responded in unison and surged forward. The long blades in their hands rose at a slant, their edges tearing a dazzling, piercing line of cold light through the dust and haze."

"The enemy rider, Ichinose Honami, likewise emerged from the dust. The two horses charged toward each other, sparks flying from their iron-shod hooves. The blade in the rider's hand flashed once, cleaving through the empty air."

"Blades crossed and intertwined. Sparks scattered in all directions. The armor plates rang and clattered. Morishita-sama followed through with a backswing, and an arc of crimson burst open amidst the dust and fog. The enemy rider crumpled and fell. Where the hooves trampled past, naught remained but a patch of dark red, soon covered by the dust, as though it had never existed..."

She let out a soft, gentle breath, as though having just endured a fierce, desperate slaughter. Her gaze refocused, carrying a trace of serene detachment—as though having wiped the blood from her blade and vanished into the shadows. She summarized:

"The enemy general... has been vanquished by my hand..."

Cavalry Battle—a team-based composite competition event.

Four people formed a single horse. Each class selected four groups of riders, creating an eight-versus-eight situation. One person served as the rider, while the other three served as the horse's head and body, carrying the rider as they moved. Within the allotted time, the team that seized the opposing rider's headband would earn points.

Since each class had to field sixteen girls for the match, practically every first-year girl had to take the field.

At that very moment, Fuyuji Mikage—his survival instincts flaring to their absolute maximum—had, in the span of a mere zero-point-one seconds, vividly imagined the scene of himself running over to cheer them on. He then instantly deployed the tactical bathroom escape at the speed of light, narrowly avoiding disaster. As a result, he had not witnessed the specifics of the match.

Of course, that wasn't what Fuyuji was concerned about. The real question was—

Was his girlfriend really that formidable?

She had displayed such divine might and single-handedly defeated Ichinose?

A ginkgo leaf, its edges tinged with yellow, slowly drifted down from the branch above. Neither too far nor too close—it landed precisely within the tiny gap between Fuyuji and Morishita Ai.

After a long while without hearing the anticipated praise and admiration, Morishita's little face—still steeped in the glory of her fantasy—slowly turned toward Fuyuji, who was clearly wandering through distant realms of thought beside her.

"Boyfriend-kun, why aren't you praising me?"

"..."

Can I say... I simply can't imagine you displaying divine might?

One cannot imagine something one has never seen.

After a moment of thought, Fuyuji—holding a lacquered bento box in hand—narrowed his eyes. He scooted his rear two steps closer to Yamamura Miki's side and whispered directly into her ear.

"Did she imagine all this? I recall she wasn't the rider in the cavalry battle, was she? Why didn't you stop her?"

Yamamura's pretty face flushed red. She glanced at Morishita, whose fury was already visibly beginning to boil, and spoke in a small voice. "Actually... Morishita-san was originally assigned to the horse-body position. But due to... certain reasons, Kamuro-san gave up the rider position to her and took the horse-body role herself..."

Yamamura didn't continue, but Fuyuji could already picture it—Morishita-sama, at the very start, bearing Bro upon her shoulders, her little face flushed bright red, her legs trembling and quivering as she struggled to move. And then Bro, unable to bear the sight any longer, had tsundere-relinquished the rider position to her.

As for what happened once they reached the competition field—how the utterly airheaded Morishita-sama would command them—that went without saying.

"I see..." Fuyuji nodded in understanding, then asked with renewed puzzlement. "Our class didn't end up taking last place, did it?"

"Mere boyfriend-kun! You actually don't believe in me!"

Morishita flew into a towering rage. With a tiger's pounce, she threw herself into Fuyuji's embrace. Propping up her upper body, she unleashed a furious barrage of Ora Ora upon Fuyuji's chest.

"W-wait, wait!" Fuyuji leaned back to steady himself and swiftly set the bento box in his hand onto the picnic mat. Grabbing Morishita's shoulders, he said, "How could I possibly not believe in Ai? It's just..."

"Liar boyfriend-kun! Morishita-sama can see at a single glance that you don't believe!" Morishita's volume rose a fraction.

"Alright, alright. I surrender. I surrender."

Savoring the massage-like kitten punches, Fuyuji wrapped his arms around Morishita and pulled her into his embrace, pressing his cheek against the hollow of her neck.

"Morishita-sama definitely won. Happy now?"

"What do you mean, 'Morishita-sama definitely won'? I clearly did win."

Huffing and puffing, Morishita sat in Fuyuji's lap. She reached out, grabbed the bento box printed with a forest design, and picked up a piece of tonkatsu, stuffing it straight into Fuyuji's mouth.

His teeth bit through the golden, crispy outer shell. The rich, intense, roasted aroma of the fat—mingled with the coarse, grainy, fire-toasted scent of the panko breadcrumbs—instantly flooded his mouth. Warm, rich, succulent meat juices, seeping through the torn, shredded gaps of the meat, gushed forth in an unending stream.

Mm... clearly Miki's cooking. Morishita-sama, like himself, could only manage the simplest rice balls.

"So," Fuyuji faced the other three girls, "who actually won the cavalry battle?"

"Our class, you know."

Shiraishi Asuka wore a gentle smile. With delicate grace, she picked up a piece of shrimp tempura and placed it into Fuyuji's bento.

"Really?" Fuyuji's eyes flew wide.

"I told you I won. And Yamamura Miki too."

Morishita smugly bumped the crown of her head twice against the side of Fuyuji's neck. Her two little braids brushed and tickled faintly against his skin, carrying the delicate fragrance of a young girl—utterly, irresistibly endearing.

"Ah... Miki, huh."

Fuyuji instantly understood. He turned to look at the other three girls, and at the same time, transferred half of his own food onto Kamuro Masumi's bento, then picked a few pieces back onto his own.

Her meal was rather modest and plain—simple rice balls, tamagoyaki, and a few pieces of karaage. She had probably scrambled to throw it together early this morning upon learning she'd need to bring a bento today. He couldn't let Bro go hungry and lose weight.

"Was it what I think it was?"

"You guessed right." A flush of crimson surfaced on Kamuro's cheeks. With a sharp slap, she smacked Fuyuji's chopsticks away, preventing him from continuing to pile food into her bento box. "Morishita temporarily swapped Yamamura into the rider position. Then, while Class B and Class C were tangled up fighting each other, she circled straight around behind them and snatched their headbands off."

"As expected of Miki!" Fuyuji voiced his heartfelt admiration, then tightened his arms around the girl in his embrace. "And of course, Morishita-sama too."

"N-no, it was nothing. Just good luck."

"Hmph hmph. I told you long ago—I'm very formidable." Morishita lifted her chin smugly and turned around, raising a piece of broccoli to Fuyuji's lips. "However—before that, please help me eliminate this."

"Alri—"

In the blink of an eye, three more pairs of chopsticks appeared beside Fuyuji's mouth.

"Please eliminate mine too." x3

Half an hour later.

Fuyuji braced a hand against a tree trunk and stumbled out of the grove. He felt that he... probably, maybe, perhaps... needed to grow an extra stomach.

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50 [Power Stones] = Bonus Chapter!