Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

「Points race? The one with the prizes?」

「Yeah. I was told to participate」

After leaving the classroom, Chihiro and Aika talk about the event organized by the student council as they walk casually.

Perhaps it is meant to be as fair as possible. But the information about the backstage of the event was almost completely blocked out, so what Chihiro knows about the event is only a brief summary.

A points race organized by the student council.

Only students of Shibahou Academy are allowed to participate in this event, leaving the general public out of it. The students compete in the points race by challenging the target corners, which are part of the school festival's entertainment and attractions, and their results are calculated as the points.

The person who has the highest total points at the end of the second day is awarded a prize.

「So, should we visit such places?」

「No, don't worry about that much. But, if we enter the target area, let's challenge it together」

No formalities are required to enter the event itself.

Points are awarded using student ID cards, so if one wants points, he or she can present his or her student ID card at each corner, and if not, he or she does not need to do so.

Basically, it is a plan that it is more convenient to get the points if one participates in the race "just for the sake of joining the event".

「I see. Well, let's go to some interesting places」

While walking side by side, they look at the pamphlets and try to visit the places that catch their eyes.

Then, they chose one of the nearest exhibits.

「Arm wrestling?」

「Do you mind? It won't take too long and it'll be just right」

Participation fee: 100 yen. Participants choose the level of difficulty, and if they win, they receive sweets according to the level of difficulty. Even if they lose, they get a candy bar.

Though, it does not seem to be suitable for Chihiro at all.

However, Aika smiles at Chihiro as she analyzes the situation and says, "It seems to be profitable enough if the number of people who fail is taken into account, and".

「If you're going to do something, you have to do it without being picky, Chihiro-kun」

「...Aika is very aggressive sometimes, isn't she?」

Well, it is certainly efficient in the sense that he can get points in a short period of time.

So, he decided to give it a try and went through the entrance.

Looking around, there are no other visitors, probably because the doors had not opened yet, but he saw two students in the "Hell Mode", the highest difficulty level among the booths prepared for different difficulty levels.

One was a tall female student, who seemed to be cheering for her companion.

The other is a tall male student. He is a fresh-looking, good-looking boy with a firm body.

「Kamishiro-kun?」

「Be quiet. He's concentrating」

Chihiro walked up to him and muttered something, and but the female student nailed me him a small voice.

She was a third-year student, judging from the color of her school badge... or rather, someone he had met once before, on closer inspection. She is Shiramine Sayuki, the head of the public morals committee, who has an air of a swordsman.

Seeing this person, Aika and he bowed to her, and then suddenly he realized...

Both Sayuki and Kamishiro have matching armbands on their arms. This is the sign that they are involved in security as members of the public morals committee. It seems that they are working together as a pair for the purpose of training the newcomers.

「...Amazing」

At Aika's muttering, he shifted his gaze to Kamishiro.

The moment of decision had just arrived. Kamishiro, who was facing a muscular male student and clasping his hand, suddenly pressed the other's arm down on the desk.

The beaten male student sighs and smiles.

「Seriously. It's not a good start for me to get eliminated from the very beginning」

「...No, it was a very good match. Thank you very much」

Kamishiro smiles and holds out his right hand straight to his opponent, who responds with a firm handshake.

Finally, Kamishiro stood up and looked back at Chihiro and the others.

He was really concentrating on his work, after all, judging from the way his eyes, it seemed, were rolled up in his head. Perhaps, as Sayuki said, he was on the edge. Come to think of it, the other boy also had some kind of [Strengthening] ability. However, the difference between Kamishiro's bare specs and training made Kamishiro's performance superior to that of [Physical Enhancement].

「Izumi-kun, Takatsuki-san, are you in the race too?」

「No, we are just on a date」

Aika shakes her head at Kamishiro's question.

For a moment, Chihiro, who was late to the party, pondered what to say, but it seemed that he was not going to call the challenge "incidental" to his participation in the race.

「...I see」

The boy, who was probably the strongest in the year in terms of actual combat power, choked on his words and smiled.

Do Aika really know what he meant when he stumbled over his words or when he glanced at Chihiro?

In any case, the conversation did not go any further with him either.

It was because Sayuki, who had been watching from the sidelines, quietly urged Kamishiro to come to the table.

「If you're done, let's go, Kamishiro」

「Oh, yes? I'm sorry, Shiramine-senpai」

After hurriedly receiving the prizes and placing his student ID card on the special terminal, Kamishiro says, "Well then", and leaves the place.

「I'm sorry, I'm working on security. I can't stay too long」

「No problem. Good luck, Kamishiro-kun」

Chihiro saw Kamishiro leaving the classroom with Sayuki with somewhat mixed feelings.

He wondered if this encounter might have added extra stress to his busy schedule.

「...Is it Yuse-san? I hope she didn't get jealous seeing those two」

Aika, on the other hand, was muttering such things, seemingly at a leisurely pace.

* * *

Chihiro and Aika, who had cleared [Normal] and [Gentle] difficulty in the arm wrestling, left the classroom after receiving persimmon seeds and potato chips, respectively.

Although it may not be the same level as the [Hell mode], at least some points could have been accumulated.

「What's next, Chihiro-kun?」

「Well...in this case, I'll try as much as I can」

「Fufu. You're motivated. That's cool」

Next, they stop by a second-year class's performance of "Hot Water Endurance".

The rules are simple. Participants pay a fee to put one hand in boiling water, and if they can hold it for a specified number of seconds, they get a prize.

Since this game can burn players if they are not careful, only Chihiro tries it.

And here, the heat seems to be counted as pain, and the [Pain Reduction] worked well, and he achieved an unexpectedly good time.

Well, his hands were red and swollen after the challenge.

「Doesn't it hurt?」

「...haha. Well, sometimes I can't stand it」

「Just give me your hand, Chihiro-kun!」

Aika healed him immediately. Fortunately, it did not take much effort to restore the function of his arm, since the staff of the show was fully prepared to cool it down.

However, despite the fact that Chihiro had done his best to achieve a good result - taking first place in the provisional ranking, thanks to his efforts - the second-year students in charge of the event laughed at him.