Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

（Now, what should I do?）

「Uh, Izumi, you're haven't chosen yet, right?」

「Huh? No, I haven't」

Suddenly, Maisaka asked for his choice.

And the class president, whose subtle appropriateness is favored by his classmates, smiles and says.

「Well, why don't we have a cavalry battle?」

...At that moment, probably not only Chihiro but also most of the students in the class were astonished.

Perhaps because there are so many candidates, or perhaps because of Maisaka's leadership, the decision on the events of the sports festival went off without much trouble.

And so, after clearing the limit of one person competing in at least one event, the class's "main force" was inserted into the vacant slot and the event was almost completed, with only minor adjustments remaining.

The highest number of entries in the class is Kamishiro.

He is going to take part in about five events in total, such as running, relays, and so on. Kamishiro is very strong physically and his ability is suitable for sports festivals, so it seems that he should be the only one.

「Izumi」

「Maisaka-kun」

During the lunch break after LHR, Chihiro is approached by Maisaka when he was taking his lunch out of his bag. Maisaka was holding a plastic bag from a convenience store in his hand.

Then, he sits down on the seat in front of Chihiro and takes out a yakisoba bread from the plastic bag.

He seems to be planning to have lunch with him.

「Sorry, I didn't mean to push you too hard earlier」

「...Oh. No problem」

After that, Chihiro joined the cavalry battle as Maisaka suggested. Teamwork is important and athletic ability is required, which is not something Chihiro thinks he's very good at, but he doesn't feel any resentment towards Maisaka.

「But, why me?」

He ask, opening his lunch box and picking up his chopsticks. The lunch box is homemade by Riko. Lately, she has been making lunch boxes for him.

Well, it's not always the same, and sometimes Chihiro's bento is not arranged properly so that people don't know it's the same bento, but it's still nice.

When Maisaka saw Chihiro's bento, he said "Hee" lightly, but he didn't ask any questions.

「Oh. I thought Izumi's abilities would be rather suitable」

「Suitable?」

「Well. A rider, I think you'd be pretty good at it, don't you?」

So, that's what he meant.

The heart of a cavalry battle is the game between riders. Also, since it is a melee, the enemy is likely to concentrate on the battle instead of having time to think about anything else.

If this is the case, his mind-reading will have ample opportunity to be useful.

「I see. Still, it would be more stable if Kamishiro-kun or someone else did it」

「Kamishiro is good as a horse...」

Maisaka said, taking a bite of his yakisoba bread.

Yeah. Kamishiro had been chosen to participate in the cavalry battle as well. As Maisaka said, he would be one of the horses.

「Worst case, if Izumi is the rider, Kamishiro can carry the horse by himself」

「Well, there's no problem with the rules...」

If the rider does not fall off the horse, he is not disqualified. But imagining himself being carried on Kamishiro's shoulders made Chihiro feel uncomfortable.

But then, he shook off his imagination and ate his lunch.

It consisted of sesame-seeded white rice, boiled spinach, fried egg, sausage and kinpira gobo (braised burdock root). Riko seemed to be better at Japanese food, and although the taste is simple, it gives him a sense of comfort.

「Yes, yes. Besides, you'll be popular with women if you become a rider」

「*choke*」

Chihiro choked. He then hurriedly drank a cup of tea he bought from a vending machine on the way there.

「...What are you thinking all of a sudden?」

「Geez. Even Izumi-kun with his cute face must be a man. You're interested in that too, right?」

「...Well... I guess not」

（I mean, I'm very interested）

But to tell the truth, Maisaka's tone is fishy, and he doesn't think it's a topic to be discussed in class. Incidentally, he had been having a lot of physical relationships that go beyond romance.

And when he thought of how many times he had spit out inside Maria and Riko last night, he chuckled.

Maisaka, who saw him chuckled, smiled and swallowed the rest of the yakisoba bread.

「So, you admit it. If you're honest, I can give you some of my AV recommendations」

「Ugh」

Chihiro choked on the words when he heard the whispered words.

But, as Chihiro, who has been seeing a lot of "that kind of thing" lately, he's curious. However, he was afraid that Maria, who was having dinner with a girl nearby, told him with her eyes that he should listen to it.

Really, he wondered how Maisaka interpreted this, but he nodded as Maisaka opened his second piece of yakisoba bread.

「OK, don't tell everyone. I'll tell you and we can exchange addresses」

「Oh, yeah」

With that, they exchanged contact information. Maisaka promised Chihiro that he would send him the information later, and left after eating a total of three pieces of yakisoba bread.

「...Surprisingly, Izumi is a guy I can talk to. Really, I'm surprised」

Maisaka Shuu. Rank E [Lost Item] and the top genius in the class. His ability is [Accumulation]. The ability to classify and store collected knowledge and retrieve it as needed.

It seems that this ability is also effectively used in rather unimportant ways.