— — — — — —
Monday afternoon—
Everyone gathered once again in the Service Club room. This was probably their final eting before Wednesday's school-wide sports festival. If anyone had objections or last-minute ideas, this was the last chance to bring them up.
The first thing on the agenda was confirming the progress of each task.
Oikawa spoke first. "The sports equipnt issue's been handled. A sporting goods store agreed to lend us the equipnt for free."
Everyone had already heard the news in the group chat, so nobody reacted much.
Except Zaimokuza.
He suddenly stood up and awkwardly scratched his head.
"Oi-Oikawa... do you think you could get a signed copy of Your Lie in April from that damn fraud author... I an, Copycat-sensei?"
Oikawa looked at him with amusent.
This guy had spent plenty of ti trash-talking him online, calling him "Fraud" every other sentence.
And now he wanted an autographed copy?
The fragrance of hypocrisy truly was sweet.
Thinking about it, Zaimokuza was basically the textbook example of a fan turning into an anti.
At first, he used to fight online alongside so fan group leader, arguing with people who criticized Your Lie in April.
Then the second volu ca out. And he completely snapped.
Every day after that, he liked post after post cursing "Copycat-sensei." Oikawa himself had seen several of them personally.
Was this what people ant by "the deeper the love, the deeper the hatred"?
A faint smile curled at Oikawa's lips.
"Um... I want one too." Yui Yuigahama suddenly raised her hand, looking embarrassed. "If Oikawa-kun can still get one, I'd like a copy too. I can pay for it!"
"Get one for as well." Shizuka Hiratsuka spoke up from the side.
Unlike everyone else asking politely, however, the older woman sounded more like she was issuing a threat.
" too! too!" guri Shiroguri also raised her hand. Even though she felt a little shaless asking, she genuinely wanted one.
Yukino didn't say anything.
But the look in her eyes clearly translated to: I want one too.
Good grief.
This wasn't a sports festival committee anymore.
Oikawa turned toward Kawasaki. "Kawasaki, do you want one?"
Since he was already getting several, one more wouldn't make a difference.
"I'm fine."
Kawasaki shook her head.
She liked Your Lie in April itself, but she didn't care in the slightest about an autograph from its author.
"That makes five sets total."
Oikawa sighed dramatically and continued in a mournful tone, "After helping you all get these signed copies, Copycat-sensei probably won't want anything to do with ever again."
So things had to be said for appearances' sake.
Though admittedly, saying all this in front of Shizuka-sensei felt pretty awkward.
For now, it was better to keep the identity of "Copycat Transmigrator" a secret.
If Yukino and the others found out, he'd probably never know peace again. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to post whatever he wanted online anymore.
"Oikawa-kun, you're amazing!" Yui shouted excitedly.
guri smiled warmly, "Oikawa-kun really is reliable."
"Nicely done." Even Yukino offered rare praise.
...
Aside from that little interruption, the rest of the eting went smoothly.
The overall plan stayed the sa, with only a few small details adjusted.
"Alright, then it's settled. From this point on, we'll move into final preparations for Wednesday's sports festival."
"guri-senpai, informing each class will be handled by the student council mbers under you. Make sure everyone's notified by tomorrow."
Ti was tight.
After Yukino finalized the decisions, everyone imdiately got busy.
Once the eting ended, Oikawa leaned back in his chair, sipping the Service Club's oolong tea while letting out a long breath.
These past two weeks had been exhausting.
Thankfully... It was almost over.
...
..
Wednesday arrived.
The sunlight wasn't too harsh, and the occasional breeze carried a refreshing chill through the air.
Perfect weather for a sports festival.
Oikawa stood off to the side of the crowd, a blue armband wrapped around his arm.
Besides being a mber of Class 2-F, he was also the chairman of the Committee, aning he was technically responsible for overseeing the smooth operation of the entire event.
Though at this stage, there honestly wasn't much left for him to do.
The student council mbers were already handling most of the logistics. All Oikawa really had to do was sit back and enjoy the sight of girls running around the field in gym uniforms, covered in sweat.
Though honestly speaking...
None of the girls in gym clothes were as eye-catching as Saika Totsuka.
Unfortunately, Saika was a guy.
"A sports festival where I don't actually have to participate in sports... this is the best." Oikawa wandered into his private tent, spread a clean mat underneath himself, and laid down to bask in the sunlight.
At monts like this, all the previous hard work suddenly felt worth it.
If he hadn't beco committee chairman, he'd probably be suffering through so forced running event right now.
Just imagining it sounded exhausting.
"What perfect weather for a nap..."
Oikawa closed his eyes, fully intending to sneak in a quick rest while nobody was paying attention.
"The Committee chairman is really planning to watch everyone else work while he naps over here? That seems a little irresponsible, doesn't it?"
Yukino's cool voice suddenly drifted over.
Oikawa cracked one eye open and glanced at her.
It was his first ti seeing Yukino in gym clothes.
Unfortunately, after studying her for a few seconds, he failed to discover anything particularly noteworthy and simply closed his eyes again.
After another look or two, he lazily replied, "Why are you yelling at ? If you've got a complaint, go file it with managent."
Yukino stayed silent for a mont, then sat down beside him on a folding chair, sipping black tea she'd apparently acquired from sowhere. Before long, she too began peacefully enjoying the sunlight.
"So everyone's slacking off after all. I thought I'd be the only one." guri walked over cheerfully, grabbed a mat with practiced ease, and laid down beside them.
Ah. A fellow professional.
Oikawa sat back up and moved closer to Yukino, "Where'd you get the tea?"
"The Service Club. If you want so, you can go get it yourself."
That answer instantly killed any desire Oikawa had for tea.
The athletic field was nearly a full kiloter away from the club building.
Could he go get so? Sure.
Was it worth the effort? Absolutely not.
"You two seem pretty close." guri's voice sounded lazy and casual, like she was only making idle conversation.
But sohow... Her words landed with the destructive power of the bullet that sparked World War I.
"I'm not close with her at all."
"As if I'd ever get along with this pervert."
The two of them spoke at the exact sa ti before instantly glaring at each other.
"Alright, alright. My bad for saying anything. I'm going to nap now, so sobody wake later, okay?" guri snickered mischievously.
After successfully starting trouble, she imdiately chose to retreat and hide her achievents.
Oikawa and Yukino continued staring at each other without backing down.
Then, at almost the exact sa mont, both of them turned their heads away.
Looks like he'd need to drag her to the rooftop for an apology session soday.
Though... Not now.
Bringing it up at the mont would make him seem petty.
Oikawa decided to save his revenge for later.
…
..
The sports festival smoothly continued until two in the afternoon.
Everywhere across the field, there were loud cheers and carefree laughter.
By all appearances, the event had been a huge success. Especially the giant bumper-ball event.
The sight of students crashing into each other like oversized go-karts had pushed the excitent of the entire festival to its peak.
The collisions on the field. The uncontrollable shouting and laughter.
Even Oikawa, just watching from the sidelines, felt his blood heating up a little.
As for Zaimokuza, he'd long since joined the battle for Class F. With his massive fra, he was basically mowing people down left and right.
...
Soon, it was ti for the final event.
"Crossing the River Together."
Teams of four had to carry an inflatable raft across a designated fifty-ter course without allowing it to touch the ground.
Originally, the course had only been planned as twenty ters.
But after discussing it, Oikawa and the others felt ending the grand finale that quickly would be too underwhelming. So they extended it to fifty ters instead.
And for the final event, even the sports festival executive committee mbers were allowed to participate.
The teachers would temporarily take over organizational duties.
After all, if the committee mbers spent all that ti planning the entire festival only to never join a single event themselves, that would just be depressing.
The teams had already been decided beforehand.
Since they were all committee mbers, Oikawa, Kawasaki, and Yui naturally ended up together as the Blue Team.
As for their fourth mber... It was Yukino.
Apparently Shizuka-sensei had arranged it that way after hearing Yukino's class happened to have one extra person, and she was the only committee mber there.
For once, Oikawa didn't tease Yukino about being lonely.
Lonely people needed warmth too.
Before long, the students gathered on the athletic field for Class 2-F had all lined up and were ready to begin.
"Feeling confident?" Oikawa asked.
Only Yui looked genuinely excited.
Kawasaki and Yukino both remained perfectly calm.
"Answer , will we win?" Oikawa said in a mock military tone, God knows where he picked that up.
"We'll win." Yukino said calmly, without hesitation, as if it were already decided.
"Yukino's right! We're definitely going to win!" Yui added with bright confidence, pumping her fist like she was trying to will it into reality.
"I never planned on losing." Kawasaki said quietly, but firmly, her eyes sharp with quiet determination.
The unwavering confidence in all three girls' voices left Oikawa oddly embarrassed.
Could it be that he was the only one who thought they were dood?
Co on. Confidence had limits, alright?
The three certified sports monsters were all on the sa team. And they even had Hayato with them.
That lineup was absurdly overpowered.
anwhile, Oikawa looked at his own group and concluded that Kawasaki was the only one with any real ability.
As for the other three, himself included... A bunch of useless shrimp soldiers.
"Oikawa-kun... don't tell you've already surrendered before the match even started?" Yukino shot him a sharp look.
At that mont, she resembled the protagonist of so detective drama who could read people's thoughts just by studying their facial expressions.
For a second, Oikawa genuinely felt like she'd seen straight through him.
"What are you talking about? Seriously, what kind of nonsense is that?" Oikawa spoke with righteous confidence.
"Lose? Us? Our team has the number one student in the entire school, the number four student in the entire school, and the number thirty student in the entire school. We can absolutely crush them!"
If this were an academic competition... Then technically, he wasn't wrong.
Unfortunately, this was not an exam.
"Oikawa-kun... aren't you forgetting soone?" Yui's resentful voice suddenly drifted over.
The way she looked right now was like a neglected young wife who'd just been wronged.
Actually, scratch that. Calling her a "young wife" was underselling things. Yui was definitely more on the "well-developed wife" side.
"Yui, I honestly think it would've been better if you hadn't said anything. That way nobody would know your grades."
Naturally, that ca from Yukino.
Lies didn't hurt people. The truth was the real knife.
Yui instantly looked like she'd been stabbed directly in the heart.
"I see it differently," Oikawa said imdiately. "I think Yui has huge room for improvent. Unlike Yukino, who's already hit the ceiling."
Seeing Yui looking depressed, Oikawa quickly stepped in to comfort her.
The effect was even better than expected. Yui's eyes lit up as she stared at him excitedly. "Oikawa-kun, really?! You an that?"
"Absolutely. Certified genuine."
ntioning "genuine" reminded Oikawa that he really ought to recomnd Shizuka-sensei switch to vape products soday. Probably healthier than cigarettes.
...
While they were busy bickering, preparations up ahead finally finished.
Shizuka-sensei, acting as referee, raised her hand to signal the start.
"Let's win this!" Yui raised her fist with a bright grin.
"We're winning this!"
The three girls shouted in unison, their blood practically boiling with excitent.
Bang!
The starting pistol fired.
"Crossing the River Together" officially began.
…
..
The mont the signal gun went off, all eight teams charged forward at once.
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, black.
Eight teams with eight different colored armbands.
The field instantly erupted into chaos. People were shouting everywhere.
It was only a fifty-ter course, yet everyone was acting like they were charging through fifty kiloters of battlefield.
Nobody held back.
Collisions and physical jostling happened constantly.
Yet strangely enough, hardly anyone targeted Oikawa's team.
Partly because they'd intentionally slowed their pace.
And partly because Yukino and Kawasaki both had cold, sharp gazes. Most of the students felt too awkward to crash into them too aggressively.
"Don't rush," Oikawa said quietly from the front position. "The final ten ters are where the real match starts."
As the lead position, controlling their spacing was entirely his responsibility.
Too far behind, and they wouldn't catch up in ti. Too close, and they'd get ramd.
It wasn't an easy job.
Fortunately, Oikawa still handled it with ease. And their team had another advantage.
Back when they were in the Service Club, they'd already spent ti practicing with the inflatable raft.
Everything... Was still going according to plan.
...
anwhile, two girls' teams had already dropped their rafts onto the ground and been eliminated from contention.
Honestly, girls still got terrifyingly competitive during these things.
Especially Sagami Minami's team.
They were practically maniacs, constantly slamming into other teams' rafts.
And before long... The distance between Oikawa's team and Sagami's team kept shrinking.
Sagami had already locked eyes on them.
She even slowed down slightly, almost as if deliberately waiting for them to approach.
"Careful," Oikawa warned quietly. "The Cyan Team's coming to cause trouble."
"Got it. The mont they move in, we use Plan A." Yukino remained perfectly calm as she gave orders. "I'll count us down. On one, everyone stop and step backward together."
Since she was positioned at the very back of the raft, she was the best person to call the timing.
The two teams drew closer and closer.
Sagami's expression had beco almost twisted with excitent, like soone finally getting revenge on a lifelong enemy.
Her team suddenly accelerated toward them.
"Three."
"Two."
"One!"
The instant Yukino finished counting, Oikawa's team stopped simultaneously and stepped backward.
Before Sagami's team could even react, the Blue Team burst forward at full speed, charging straight toward Hayato's first-place group.
At that mont, only four teams remained on the field: Blue. Cyan. Red. Black.
Though from the looks of it, the Black Team was already on the verge of being eliminated by Hayato's group.
.
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