Stealing Spree

Stepping into the activity area, all eyes instantly focused on us. Or rather, on me.

At this point, that’s already a normal occurrence so I shrugged it off and focused on what we had to do.

For the first round, we put Aya on the first post. Because she’s rather confident with her math skills and a little unconvinced about the lightness of her feet, that’s the best post for her.

In the second post, it would be Satsuki and me. Well, we could have taken the third post but Sakuma volunteered himself to do it. The guy was confident he could sprint finish the whole sprint in less than 10 seconds.

Given that the distance from the start to the finish line was only around 28 meters, one only needed to complete more or less 50 meters if he was going to start from the third post.

But since he had to carry a weighty cloth sack and there was a need to turn around, even I was in doubt that it could be accomplished in less than 10 seconds.

Earlier, Nami finished her sprint in 15 seconds. That’s already quick for a girl her age. And among the others who already finished the activity, none of them lowered that time to less than 10 seconds.

Anyway, since he’s trying to prove himself with quick feet, I let him do it. It’s not like I won’t have my turn anyway.

Ah. Right. We took votes on who would be the leader of our group.

And it’s no surprise that I won 4-0. Actually, I thought of voting for the idiot Sakuma but knowing Aya and Satsuki, there’s just no way that they would pick him. Due to that, I ended up shamelessly voting for myself as well.

With the leadership decided, allotting our roles for all three rounds was already done.

For the 1st round:

First Post – Ayecond Post – Satsuki and mhird Post – Sakumor the 2nd round:

First Post – Mecond Post – Sakumhird Post – Aya and Satsuki with the latter as the fourth member who can help the first or second post.

For the 3rd round:

First Post – Sakumecond Post – Satsuki and Aya agaihird Post – Mhere were four of us and the activity only consisted of three rounds. Due to that, Satsuki opted out of being put in the first post.

She openly stated how she hated problem-solving. Even when we reviewed for the long quiz back then, the girl had taken no effort in trying to understand every formula presented to her. But at least, if she understood it easily, she’d never forget about it. If I recall correctly, she barely passed on that and she’s already happy to get that score.

Anyway, aside from that, it was inevitable for Satsuki and Aya to be together during the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Only one of us could repeat a post and that was already taken by Satsuki.

"Onoda-kun, is your group ready?”

After going through everything one last time, Eguchi-sensei who should be watching from outside the activity area approached me and asked.

Yeah. That’s a clear difference in treatment compared to the other groups.

Nonetheless, no one saw that as strange. As her Student Assistant, everyone had long been used to seeing me being favored by her.

So, in a certain sense, I could possibly flirt with her even when in front during PE classes…

And with our school’s current curriculum, the swimming class will also be handled by her.

If I’m not wrong, it will be two weeks before the summer vacation and the whole month of September. Although that can only count for more or less twelve sessions, my eyes will be satisfied seeing my girls and Eguchi-sensei in a swimsuit – of course, if she’s also going to wear one…

Alright, I’m derailing and stretching that thought a lot. But thinking about it, if ever our relationship progressed from just the woman openly showing me her appreciation, getting rather intimate with me even in public might be possible.<novelnext></novelnext>

Of course, it’s not the intimacy that would be taken as the two of us having a forbidden relationship but only something along the lines of ‘being her favorite student’. For now, I’m just her Student Assistant so there are still some restrictions on it.

"Yes, sensei. We can start anytime.” I answered with a smile.

"Great, then wait for my whistle.” With an approving nod, she replied before walking back outside of the activity area.

Even though the other group at the second activity area was also about to start their third round, Eguchi-sensei’s attention was on us…

I guess I could attribute that to how she didn’t want to miss my performance. Then I should give it my best, right?

I also didn’t want to disappoint my girls cheering for me from the audience.

And so, with Satsuki on my side, the four of us prepared for the start.

Five seconds later, the sound of Eguchi-sensei’s whistle covered the whole Gymnasium.

Aya who was waiting at the starting line instantly dashed to the first post where she would draw the lots.

With her eyes shining with the same enthusiasm as everyone, my adorable girl quickly crossed the distance in a matter of seconds.

And after dunking her hand into the drawing lot, she pulled out a folded piece of paper containing the math problem.

Upon opening it and reading its contents, the girl lifted her head and looked ahead. She specifically searched for me and met my gaze before waving her hand excitedly. Her lips then stretched into a triumphant smile.

Even without words, I understood the message she was trying to convey.

"Ruki, I pulled an easy problem! We’re going to win!”

Or something like that.

? Sure enough, the girl quickly turned to the small whiteboard where she should put the answer.

If earlier, the other groups still used the whiteboard to solve it, Aya directly wrote the answer to the problem.

Yep, she solved it mentally.

"Aya’s too reliable. Can I pat her head, Ruki?” Satsuki smilingly commented at my side as we both watched the girl running to our post with the whiteboard in her hand.

"You should ask her, not me. In any case, my Aya truly deserved to be spoiled.”

Right after saying that, Aya finally reached us and handed me the whiteboard where she clearly wrote the answer.

"That’s amazing, Aya. Now watch us get the fastest time.”

"Un! Good luck, Ruki, Satsuki.”

Satsuki and I read it before running to the cart where the items we needed to load in the sack were located.

5 basketballs, 16 baseballs, and 3 soccer balls.

Yep. The downside of having whole numbers as the answer was getting a heavier load. For those with specific weights, the other groups couldn’t even fill half of their cloth sack. But with that amount… Sakuma would surely be slowed down.

At this point, the cheers from Nami and the others started growing louder. But at the same time, a mix of booing and other distracting noises started to gain louder volume.

However, that didn’t last long.

Even before Satsuki and I could start loading the items into the sack, Eguchi-sensei’s whistle rang again, silencing them. I didn’t need to glance back to check who was the source of it, they were probably either the group who was holding the current fastest record or those who were just jealous of me. Or maybe both.

"Idiots. They think they can beat you by doing that. They don’t even know Coach has already been caught by you.” Satsuki teasingly commented as she started picking up the basketballs and loading them one by one.

"Girl, as if she’s going to give me special treatment. Hurry and load it. Aya shortened the time for us but do you think he’s strong enough to carry them without slowing down?”

"Oh. Let the idiot suffer too. There are two more rounds… We’ll record quicker times with it.” Without even holding back her words, Satsuki smirked as she glanced at the guy watching from his post.

Even if he didn’t hear it, Sakuma visibly shivered as though a cold wind blew against him. I guess that's the power of Satsuki’s curse.