"You really gave me a proper lesson, Yukio-kun." Even in such an awkward bind, Sakayanagi didn't get angry; her elegant, faint smile didn't change, as if she were thanking Yukio for teaching her a brand-new trick.
Back in the second event, when Sakayanagi saw Yukio ignore what might come later and send out Shiina and Kaneda, she had already had a hunch—convinced that Yukio must have arranged some unseen move she couldn't read yet. Her mental prep was solid.
She just hadn't expected that Yukio's follow-up would be this kind of move: taking advantage of the confusion and routine to spike their lunch with laxatives.
It left Sakayanagi both laughing and crying. Powerful? Sure, it was powerful—but it was hard to praise. How were you supposed to praise it? Praise Yukio for being good with laxatives? That sounded especially weird.
Seeing the plan succeed, Yukio was in a great mood, praising Ryuen's reliability in his heart while teasing Sakayanagi out loud. "Oh? Then shouldn't you change how you address me and call me teacher?"
Sakayanagi's real teacher—Mashima—rolled his eyes just then. He was her teacher, okay? What was this, poaching right to his face?
"Ahem!" At that point, Sakagami looked at the two students chatting away as if the exam didn't exist and could only remind them. "Please focus on the special exam."
He actually didn't want to remind Sakayanagi—after all, they were competing against his own class. Sakagami would have loved for Sakayanagi to waste time and lose this one.
But the command room had cameras, and proctors weren't paid to just stand around. When it was time to remind students, they had to; otherwise their pay might get docked a lot.
Faced with the reality that most of her class was stuck in the bathroom and couldn't move, Sakayanagi could only swap in others—she picked four more from those left who hadn't been hit and hadn't entered any event. "Still."
"We can't lose by too much. Even if the students who normally ace English can't make it, the others should be fine. We have to take this one—we can't let you stretch the overall score too far, Yukio-kun."
Yukio knew this was Sakayanagi's last bit of cornered resistance and didn't mind in the least. Forty dull minutes later, as expected, Yukio Class's English total still ended up lower than Sakayanagi's.
The overall score moved to 3–2.
But that was as far as it went. The next two events hardly needed comment. One was Yukio Class's karate event—never mind that Sakayanagi's class had taken laxatives.
Even without that, stepping onto the mat would still have ended in a 1-v-3 sweep by Yukio Class. The last event was even worse for morale: dodgeball, a project custom-made by Sakayanagi's class—yet they didn't have enough people.
…
The dust had settled now; Sakayanagi leaned back in her chair and let out a long breath she'd been holding in her chest this whole time. "Victory and defeat are decided."
"Actually, I don't feel any regret. To be honest, Yukio-kun, even if you hadn't used laxatives, our class probably still wouldn't beat yours."
"With your class's comprehensive strength and stability, as long as the two sides' luck on the draw is roughly the same, you would naturally win."
"So even if I learned this lesson about laxatives, this particular kind of lesson won't be of use to me going forward."
Sakayanagi's tone was still as casual and elegant as ever; she didn't sound frustrated at all. She gave the feeling of a chess player who had ended a match in a good mood, simply accepting the result calmly.
Yukio laughed. "That's exactly the feeling I wanted to give you. Get you used to it."
"So that the next time we face off, you'll feel that a loss to me isn't something to be ashamed of, nor something to get upset about. The outcome is only natural."
"Good grief." Mashima rubbed his temples. "Yukio, could you not say such unnecessary things?"
"Even among teachers, I've never met someone who likes getting under other people's skin as much as you."
Sakagami, on the contrary, found it interesting. "Isn't that fine? It's not as if Yukio's completely wrong."
Sakayanagi's mood was gentle. She was happy enough just to see Yukio talk so much to her; she didn't reject it at all. She even tilted her head slightly to watch him. "Yukio-kun, do you still have time?"
"Hmm?" Yukio glanced at the time. It wasn't late; there was still time before dismissal. "A bit."
"Then could you… carry me back to the dorm?" Sakayanagi's voice was light. "I'm not used to the cane yet. It's tiring."
Yukio blinked. "Carry you? Princess carry?"
"No." Sakayanagi shook her head with a smile. "Piggyback. I don't have the courage yet for a princess carry."
"…All right." Yukio agreed readily.
He left the command room with Sakayanagi. Outside, he crouched down with his back to her. "Come on."
"Excuse me, then." Sakayanagi set her cane aside, lightly wrapped her arms around Yukio's neck, and—carefully so as not to make his neck uncomfortable—tucked the cane into her armpit to hold it in place. Thoughtful indeed.
"Hold on tight. I'm going to stand up." Yukio gave a quick warning, set his hands to Sakayanagi's slender calves, and rose slowly.
So light—that was his first thought. Just how delicate and frail was Sakayanagi? Then again, it made sense. For someone like her, whose lunch was just a pouch of jelly, it would be unscientific if she weighed much.
"!" A flush sprang to Sakayanagi's cheeks. Even through her sheer tights she could feel the heat of Yukio's palms; with her thighs warmed like that, even Sakayanagi, who could keep her cool in any situation, found she couldn't stay calm just then.
The mood that was usually as placid as still water turned into an adorable little boat, bobbing and swaying across a lake named Yukio.
Would Yukio-kun think her legs didn't look good? Or that they didn't feel good to the touch? She felt a bit jealous of Ichinose—those legs were soft and plump, and just looking at them made you want to touch; or that Shiina in Yukio's class—she had such pretty legs too.
While Sakayanagi's thoughts were scattering, Yukio only carried her as far as the special teaching building's shoe lockers before he gratefully set her down. If he carried her any farther, he wouldn't be able to take it.
It wasn't fatigue. Sakayanagi was so light; walking a short distance like this wouldn't tire him. The reason was… something else.
They changed into their outdoor shoes. Seeing Sakayanagi poised to climb back up on his back, Yukio hurriedly asked, "Sakayanagi, how about…"
"How about I princess-carry you after all? I want to hold you. I want to look at you."
"!" Sakayanagi tightened her grip on the cane; she truly couldn't quite handle this. Whether out of composure or shy embarrassment, she gave Yukio a sidelong glance. "Yukio-kun, are you that eager to flirt with me today?"
"Is that not allowed?" A hint of regret instantly colored Yukio's expression.
"Fine~ I can't say no." In the end, Sakayanagi accepted shyly. In truth, she wanted to try Yukio's princess carry too.
With his plan successful, Yukio quietly let out a breath. He couldn't very well tell Sakayanagi that the reason for switching from back-carry to a princess carry was because carrying her on his back had made his spine ache, could he?
....
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