This time the question comes from
Shuka.
「So you weren't in a bad mood with
her?」
「Yes. It was more like she lent me her
chest rather than a fight」
「...I see」
He nodded.
Kamishiro is a freshman ace. Although
he is still developing, his fighting ability is quite impressive. Chihiro, who
has beaten Kamishiro twice, is sure of it.
The adult whom he recognizes as far
superior to him.
Chihiro, who had some idea of what
they were talking about, sighs lightly enough not to be noticed by the two.
He didn't want to think that this was
one of Kaede's errands.
**a
「If you can't win now, you can win
next time. If that doesn't work, then the next one」
「Izumi-kun?」
「...I'm sure Kamishiro-kun won't give
up. Isn't he?」
「...No, I won't」
Kamishiro huffed in reply.
He lightly lifted his moving right
hand into a fist. Chihiro rushed around to the front of him and clashed his
right fist with his right one.
「Someday, I'm going to beat that
person」
「Yeah. I hope so」
Chihiro still can't imagine a future
where he can beat his sister.
But Kamishiro would.
He is a straight-forward, strong, and
hardworking man, and he would surely beat even that Kaede with his tireless
training.
And so, after parting from the two,
who were going to the infirmary, Chihiro went back to the changing room for the
first time.
「Ah, Chihiro-kun」
「Aika」
Aika had already arrived to change.
It was getting closer and closer to
her shift change time, but it seemed that she doesn't meet up with Kamishiro
and the others.
Well, Noriko-sensei would do the
treatment, and it might be better if Aika was not around now that Shuka was
with him.
After shaking off his concerns about
Kamishiro and the others, Chihiro moved to the back of the partition to change
his clothes.
* * *
「...I'm tired」
For the third and final time, the
last shift was also quite an intense one.
Kamishiro, who was on the same shift
with Chihiro, came in late for medical treatment, but it didn't affect him too
much, still there were still quite a few onlookers and students who gathered
around, and he had to keep busy until the end of his shift.
（Maybe I should take a nap...）
But Chihiro managed to shake off the
desire for rest and left the classroom without changing his maid's uniform.
The rest of the day is spent in the
student council room.
And after he is done, he has to go on
stage for the Miss Contest. Besides, if he is going to perform as
"Chisato", it would be better to wear the maid's uniform, therefore,
he has to change his clothes twice if he changes now.
After arrived, he knocks lightly on
the door of the student council room and enters.
『Ah!』
「Eh?」
A thought arrives a moment later.
Ahead of Chihiro's eyes stood Marika,
a petite girl who looked somewhat like a doll.
She was wearing only underwear and a
light blouse on top, although her lower half of her body was fully clothed. Her
pale blue bra was peeping out from between her blouse, and although he didn't
feel much lewdness, Marika's loveliness overflowed more than ever...
『Please close the door』
「I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open
the door like that」
『Don't worry about it』
Marika replies with a thought
nonchalantly.
She looked down at her clothes and
did not even look at Chihiro. Her expression is the same as usual, and she does
not seem to really care about Chihiro.
**b
『I'm used to being watched by
Aoi-chan, so Izumi-kun is fine』
「Am I treated the same as Ayase-senpai?」
『I think you should look in the mirror
before you say it』
He seemed to be having a déjà vu.
As they talked, Marika had finished
getting dressed.
She is back in her school uniform,
and they continue their conversation.
「But why did you change your clothes?」
『Because I ate a lot of mustard and it
was too hot and I was sweating. So, I took them off and wiped my body』
「Then you should lock the door just
while you're changing」
『I didn't think anyone would come
anyway. In fact, no one came』
「Except me, huh...」
Chuckles...
In this case, which side was more
careless?
Marika was staring at Chihiro.
Her voice echoes in his brain,
sounding somewhat worried.
『Izumi-kun, are you tired?』
「Oh, yes. I've been working hard in class」
She then looked at him closely.
Now that he will perform at stage,
he'll have to be a little more careful.
『I'll be here, you can sleep for a
while』
「Eh, but...」
『I don't mind』
She smiled and patted Chihiro's
shoulder.
『I'm sure Lucille-chan would say that
she wouldn't want the members of the student council to act like a disgrace on
the Miss Contest stage...』
「...I'm sorry. Well, I'll take your
word for it」
『Un』
He quickly slumps down on the table
in his chair. But just in case, he set an alarm on his smartphone to wake his
up.
Perhaps due to fatigue, his
consciousness fades away as soon as he closes his eyes.
And after a few moments of light
sleep, his consciousness unexpectedly wakes him up.
Seeing his smartphone, the alarm has
not sounded yet.
From the degree of recovery, he could
judge that he had been asleep for about fifteen minutes at most. Then, why did
he wake up suddenly?
**c
「I'm so surprised! I didn't expect to
see Marika-chan here!」
A girl's voice came from behind him.
He doesn't recognize it. Her voice is
somewhat slow and clear.
It seems that he was woken up by a
visitor to the student council room, the girl who is the owner of the voice.
「It's been a long time. How have you
been?」
The voice comes again after a short
pause.
It sounds as if the girl is talking
by herself, but in fact Marika is probably responding.
Her message can choose whom to convey
it to.
She must be careful not to wake up
Chihiro who was sleeping, or not to let him hear her private conversation.
Well, it didn't make much sense
because the other party was talking normally.
Should he just pretend to be asleep?
It would be awkward if Chihiro
interrupts the private conversation. In that case, he should just wake himself
up after the conversation is over and the other girl has left.
Chihiro, however, decided to get up
in the end.
The reason was that he was curious to
know who the voice was.
If his guess of Marika's acquaintance
is correct, then the girl should be familiar with [Telepathy]. But she is
talking aloud.
And the volume of her voice does not
seem to be in consideration of Chihiro who is sleeping.
For instance, if they are not close
to each other, it would not be a problem if he interrupts them.
「...Senpai?」
Chihiro looks up.
Marika and a girl facing her. They
stand about a meter apart and look back at the same time.
Their
faces are somewhat troubled and amused.
