Volume 4 Chapter 4 Shirogane Aqua, Cheering for Everyone’s Efforts!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
One week after the pool opening, our school held its sports festival. In Otomezaki, we have ball game tournaments and a school festival during the autumn and winter seasons, so the sports festival takes place around this time.
Unfortunately, I didn’t participate in any events during the sports festival. Most boys don’t participate in the sports festival, and being the only boy in a field full of girls felt a bit unfair. However, I didn’t want to waste this opportunity, and more importantly, I wanted to do something for my class.
So, I discussed it with my friend Mayuzumi, and we came up with a plan to support our A class’s victory.
”Shirogane… Mayuzumi… Are you serious?”
When Sugita-sensei heard our proposal more than two weeks before the sports festival, she was taken aback.
”Yes! We want to do our best for everyone in our class!”
”I-I see. Well, that’s appreciated, but… are the girls in our class okay with it…?”
Sugita-sensei’s voice grew smaller and smaller, and in the end, she muttered something under her breath.
”Alright, I understand. I don’t think there will be any major issues, but I’ll inform the organizing committee myself.”
Our proposal was approved by the organizing committee through Sugita-sensei. However, it seemed that some people in the organizing committee thought it was unfair for it to be limited to Class A. As a result, not only our class, but somehow we ended up supporting the entire sports festival.
And now, it’s the day of the sports festival.
Mayuzumi and I were dressed in cheerleading outfits made with the help of the drama club.
[The next event is the bread-eating contest!]
As the announcement echoed through the venue, students participating in the event entered. Mayuzumi and I raised our voices.
”Wishing everyone the best of luck! Hooray! Hooray! Go, Otomezaki!”
”Hooray! Hooray! Go, Otomezaki!”
”Do your best! Do your best! Go, Otomezaki!!”
”Do your best! Do your best! Go, Otomezaki!!”
I led the cheer, and Mayuzumi followed with well-timed responses. The choreography was quite impressive, considering we practiced it in front of mirrors at the dance studio.
”So, those rumors were true…”
”Yes, I didn’t believe it at first, but these two first-year students, Shirogane-kun and Mayuzumi-kun, leading the cheerleading squad for Otomezaki… I initially doubted the source of the information.”
”At first, it seemed like a sneaky move, with only the girls of Class A, but… it was worth bribing the committee members. Sugita-sensei can be quite cunning. Trying to monopolize this only for her class is an outrageous move.”
”But I must say, the drama club did an excellent job. We should consider giving them some special treatment with our budget… I mean, show some leniency.”
”Indeed… the high-collared long school uniforms, sashes draped over them, and the long headbands wrapped around their foreheads. Everything looks fantastic, I must say.”
For some reason, the teachers under the tent were leaning their elbows on the table, exuding an atmosphere reminiscent of a commander with some kind of secret plan.
”Phew… it seems the time has come for us to give it our all!”
”I’ll show everyone the jumping power I’ve honed by sticking bread to Aqua-sama’s photo on the ceiling!”
”Hah! Jumping power? You all don’t get it. What’s important is speed, agility, and explosive power. Yes, speed is everything, and I’ll demonstrate that!”
”No, what’s truly important is how to run the curves. My incredible speed will ignite at the final corner.”
Huh? This is strange. Wasn’t the sports festival supposed to have a more lively atmosphere? Or maybe everyone just wants the free meal tickets for the cafeteria that comes with winning? The girls had faces like warriors heading into the final battle.
”D*mn it… Those girls from the other classes! How unfair!”
”Aqua-kun and Shintaro-kun are our classmates, after all.”
”Tsu-chan, don’t lose!!”
”That’s right, if we lose, the real prize will go to another class…”
”We absolutely must prevent that from happening.”
When I looked at the girls in my class, they were all cheering with determined expressions. I heard they practiced until late at night, so they must have trained hard for the sports festival.
[Please line up in your designated lanes, athletes.]
With the announcement, the girls from each class lined up in a row. Their starting postures were just like track and field athletes. Wait, is this a sports festival or the Olympics? As I pondered over that, the sound of a starting gun filled the air.
*Bang!*
To put it simply, it was amazing. Perfect crouching starts followed by sharp turns. Everyone desperately grabbed onto the bread dangling from strings. The momentum from their jumps made their breasts sway, and right in front of me, my classmate Tsu-chan (real name Tsushima-san) had her gym uniform lifted, revealing a pink bra.
Even so, the girls were completely focused on the competition, not caring about such things. That’s why our cheers grew even more passionate.
”Do your best! Do your best! Just a little more!”
Did our cheering have some effect? The heated girls showed a dead heat at the final corner. The girl with the faster turn at the corner managed to break away. However, right after the corner, she was overtaken by the girl next to her in terms of straight-line speed and ended up in second place.
The winner was a girl from Class C, who emphasized that speed was everything. Unfortunately, our class’s A team finished third. The victorious girl celebrated with joy, while the defeated girls pounded the ground with expressions of frustration, like players eliminated in the World Cup. Some of them even shed tears.
I see… I didn’t know, but Otomezaki is a school that takes its sports festival quite seriously.
[Next up, we will begin the medal ceremony for the winner of the bread-eating contest.]
After each event, there was an award ceremony. I was asked by the organizing committee to present the medals, an honorable role I was bestowed upon.
”Congratulations on your victory, Sakura-san!”
I said that and put the medal around the neck of Sakura-san from Class C, who had won.
”Th-thank you very much. Ehehe.”
Sakura-san, who received the medal, had blond hair and tanned skin, giving her the appearance of a gyaru, but she was actually a member of the boxing club and had trained her body rigorously. She had a relaxed smile on her face and was pleased with receiving the medal. She must have been happy to have won after practicing so much.
[Next up, we have the long rope skipping contest.]
The long rope skipping was even more visually appealing than the bread-eating contest. Not only were their breasts swaying, but seeing their exposed navels from their rolled-up gym uniforms made my heart skip a beat. Our class won first place in this event. I put medals around the necks of all the participants.
”Congratulations, everyone.”
Everyone was crying as if they had won. The long rope skipping team had struggled to synchronize their movements, even practicing early in the morning, so I’m glad they were able to win.
[Next up is the kibasen (cavalry battle).]
The cavalry battle was intense. Gym uniforms stretching and tearing, and some girls even had their pants pulled down, exposing their underwear. One girl had her bra exposed and her bare breasts were exposed, and she was unfortunately disqualified. This was no longer the cavalry battle I knew. I looked at Mayuzumi next to me, who had a twisted expression on his face and was completely repulsed.
”C-congratulations on winning…”
Our class came in second place. Class D, the winners, were happily celebrating like typical high school girls, but from my perspective, knowing their fierce expressions during the cavalry battle, the contrast was bewildering.
[Next up is the three-legged race.]
In the three-legged race, all the girls somehow gathered around me and Mayuzumi. I wondered what kind of challenges they had to face. By the way, the person they were tied to had the following challenges: classmate, underclassman, member of the drama club, someone who’s sweet like a biscuit, and someone who seems to like eggplants.
I do like eggplants, but what was the last challenge about? By the way, Washimiya-san, who ran with me, had a bright red face for some reason. After a lunch break, the contest continued with traditional events like ball tossing and the two-legged race. By the end, I was exhausted, probably from shouting and cheering with all my might since the morning.
[The final event will be the relay race. Athletes, please enter the field.]
Finally, the last event of the sports festival began. Our Class A was currently in second place, but the gap with the first-place Class B was just one point. If we won the final event, we could easily turn things around.
The relay race would involve one student from each year level (first-year, second-year, third-year), and the homeroom teacher, making a total of four participants. Surprisingly, Tsukimachi-san and Sugita-sensei were selected to represent our class in the relay race.
”Hooray! Hooray! Tsu-ki-ma-chi!”
”Do your best! Do your best! Su-gi-ta!”
At this point, everyone was so focused on winning that they didn’t even care about the cheering. So, as planned, Mayuzumi and I cheered for Class A. We wanted our own team to win! It seemed like everyone had the same desire, as first to third-year students from Class A, as well as the homeroom teacher who didn’t participate in the events, joined in the cheers.
”Don’t lose! Don’t you dare lose to Class B!”
”We won’t lose to them! We won’t lose to them, damn it!”
”We mustn’t lose, we mustn’t lose, we mustn’t lose.”
The other teams were just as determined. Some girls strained their temples as they shouted, while others cheered as if praying. The intensity reached a whole new level, heating up the climax of the sports festival.
[On your marks, get set, go!]
The first runner was Sugita-sensei. Having shown off her well-toned body in swimming class, Sugita-sensei took the lead with a splendid run that left no room for others to catch up. She handed the baton to the second runner while still in the lead, but unfortunately, they dropped to second and then third place. Finally, the fourth runner, Tsukimachi-san, received the baton, slightly behind the final runner.
”Go! Do your best!”
”Ayana-chan, fight!”
”There! Break through!”
”Leave them in the dust!”
The cheering from our Class A members was filled with enthusiasm.
”Hooray! Hooray! Tsuki-ma-chi!”
”Push! Push! Tsuki-ma-chi! You can do it!”
In sync with Mayuzumi’s calls, I added my own voice to the cheers. The passion of Class A ignited Tsukimachi-san’s run, and she accelerated rapidly, overtaking the previous runner at the corner. In the final straightaway, it became a neck-and-neck battle between Tsukimachi-san and the final runner from Class B, who were side by side. Everyone watched with bated breath as Tsukimachi-san took a slight lead just a step ahead.
”We did itttt!”
Everyone in Class A jumped with joy. I hugged Mayuzumi next to me, sharing in the celebration.
”We did it, Mayuzumi!”
”Yeah! Thank you, Shirogane. If you hadn’t invited me to join the cheerleading squad, I wouldn’t have experienced this incredible moment.”
Mayuzumi took off his glasses and tears streamed down his face. I patted his back gently.
[Now, let’s begin the medal ceremony for the relay race!]
I received the medals from Mayuzumi, and one by one, I placed them around the necks of the relay team members. Sugita-sensei received her medal first.
”Congratulations, Sugita-sensei.”
”Shirogane and Mayuzumi, you both did a great job supporting us until the end!”
Sugita-sensei smiled, seemingly overjoyed. I proceeded to place medals around the necks of the second and third runners, the seniors from the second and third years. Finally, I placed the medal around Tsukimachi-san’s neck.
”Congratulations, Tsukimachi-san.”
”Thank you, Shirogane-kun.”
Tsukimachi-san displayed a natural smile. Since that day, our relationship had improved slightly. While our conversations were still limited, there was no longer the awkward distance we had before.
”Lastly, on behalf of the cheerleading squad from Class A, Shirogane Aqua-kun will present certificates of commendation to each grade level. Mayuzumi Shintaro-kun will present the Fighting Spirit Award to representatives from the other participating classes.”
I filled in the class name for the winning class on each certificate and handed them to the class representatives for each grade level. Washimiya-san, our class representative, received the certificates. With the certificate presentation over, the lively sports festival finally came to an end. However, a surprise awaited us.
”Finally, we will present medals to the two cheerleaders who brought energy to today’s sports festival, representing the winning Class A.”
Huh? Surprised, Mayuzumi and I exchanged glances. Then, Kurogami-san, holding a tray with medals, and Kurumi-san, who had been watching the sports festival from inside the tent, appeared before us.
”Great job with the cheerleading, Aqua-kun, Mayuzumi-kun.”
Kurumi-san, who received the medals from Kurogami-san, placed them around our necks. At that moment, applause and words of gratitude filled the air from all the students and teachers. Mayuzumi and I felt a surge of happiness, our eyes welling up with tears. In that harmonious atmosphere, the sports festival at Otomezaki came to a close.
Author note:
Actually, I wanted to include a scene where they run the relay race and show off their abdominal muscles, but considering the events leading up to this point, the sports festival took a different turn. By the way, I wonder what will happen to the cheerleading costumes they wore after using them?
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.