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Chapter 75 Part 1

Inter-class Ball game Competition (3) ~Kiss Me Here~

It was Friday, June 8th, near the beginning of the rainy season.

It was the day when the June intramural event of Sairyou Academy, the inter-class ball game competition, was held.

There were a lot of clouds, but in between, they could see that the sky was clear blue, and according to the weather forecast, the weather was expected to remain the same through the day.

The wind was also blowing, so it still felt cool in the morning, but the temperature during the day was expected to reach 25 degrees Celsius, and the players moving around on the fields and in the gymnasium would probably feel hot.

There was no opening ceremony as in the case of new students orienteering. After a brief opening speech by the chairperson of the executive committee was read over the school’s broadcast, the players participating in each event moved according to the instructions.

The schedule and venues of the matches for each event had been posted in advance, football on the first field by the administration building, volleyball in front of the gymnasium, and dodgeball at the entrance to the courtyard.

The matches were played in a tournament format separated by grade.

Since there were six classes in each grade, two classes were seeded and needed only to win once to advance to the finals.

Looking at the booklet that had been distributed to each class in advance, the volleyball team of class 1-5 that Yuu’s group would be cheering for was lucky enough to obtain the seed privilege.

『The first match of each event will begin at 9:15.

For the girls that will be competing as well as the boys that will be cheering for them, please follow the instructions and head to the corresponding match venue.

First field, first third-year football match, class 3-1 vs. class 3-3.

Second field, first first-year football match, class 1-4 vs. class 1-5.

……. 』

「Alright, looks the first up is football, shall we get going?」

「Yes!」

「Yeah!」

As Yuu, the group leader, called out to them, Rei, Masaya, and other members of group 1-5 stood up.

It was not like they would play too, but the boys who were going to cheer for the girls had also changed into their gym uniforms.

The top was the same as the girls’, a white short-sleeved gym uniform with a dark-red line on the sleeves, and the bottom was a pair of dark red half pants.

Unlike the girls’ bloomers, their thighs were almost completely hidden, but apparently the girls found the boys’ kneecaps and the glimpse of their thighs above the knees irresistible.

Perhaps because of this, there were also some boys who put up with the heat and wore jersey pants.

When Yuu and his group arrived at the second field, the players from classes 1-4 and 1-5 that would be playing in the first match were doing their warm-up exercises.

Both classes wore color-coded numbers on top of their gym uniforms, pink for Class 1-5 and green for Class 1-4.

They could immediately recognize the tall Risa and Miyoko.

Risa was a goalkeeper, so instead of gym clothes, she was wearing a black long-sleeved tee shirt and gloves.

When Yuu and the other boys, who had come to cheer for them, waved and called out to them, the players immediately smiled and waved back.

For the football match, they would play for 10 minutes each in the first and second half, for a total of 20 minutes. If the match was not decided within the allotted time, it seemed it would be decided by penalty kicks.

Also, unless injured or ill, the two substitute players were obliged to sub-in and play in the second half.

Presently, the 11 players from both teams, excluding the substitutes, had gathered at the center line.

It looked like the match was about to begin.

The first ball was decided by rock-paper-scissors, and the players dispersed to their respective positions.

「One, two!」

「「「「「Class 1-5, fight on!」」」」」

As they boys cheered in unison with the chant they had agreed upon beforehand, their voices echoed through the air.

The effect was apparent, as the moment they heard it, the players from class 1-5 became high in spirits.

As the boys cheering for the class 1-4, the opposing team, refused to be outdone and started to loudly root for them as well, the whistle for the kickoff of the match rang.

「Over here, I’m free.」

「Pass, pass!」

「Nice cut!」

Passing the black-and-white ball around, the girls wearing pink and green numbers were shouting as they ran around the large field.

Perhaps it was because they had done it in P.E. class.

As opposed to crowding the ball like elementary school students, they were moving with a proper awareness of their positions.

Even though they were all amateurs, they seemed to be playing pretty well.

Maybe because they were having their back pushed by the cheering from Yuu and the others or maybe not, the match seemed to be dominated by class 1-5 from the very beginning.

However, they failed to convert the good chances they had into goals, and the time passed frustratingly.

Class 1-4, the defending side, occasionally kicked the ball far to the front, but were unable to connect it until the front of the goal, and the first half ended with a score of 0-0.

As soon as the second half started, class 1-5 attacked incessantly making good use of the two sides of the field.

On a set play from a corner kick, a player from class 1-5 kicked the ball that happened to fall in front of her with the inside of her foot and it rolled into the goal.

Class 1-5 finally managed to score their first goal.

「We did it!」

「Well done! Keep it up, guys!」

It was by no means a beautiful play, but a goal was a goal.

Not only the players from class 1-5, Yuu and the others, who were cheering for them, were also overjoyed.

Having conceded the goal first, class 1-4 became desperate and switched to attacking this time, but faced with the good defense of Miyoko, the defender, and Risa, the goalkeeper, they were unable to convert the few chances they had into goals, and eventually, the match ended with class 1-5’s victory with a score of 1-0.

「It’s great that we won, right?!」

「Everyone worked so hard, didn’t they?」

「Yeah, as expected, the cheering is worth it when you win.」

After expressing their joy, Yuu and the other boys gave applause to the players and praised them for their good work.

「Let’s see, looks like we have a dodgeball match next.」

「I hope we can win again.」

「Let’s put our spirits into it and cheer for them!」

After confirming the schedule in the booklet, Yuu and his group headed to the tennis court where the dodgeball match was held.

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Speaking of the result, it was a close game, but unfortunately, class 1-5 ended up losing.

「Uu… Even though… you had taken the trouble… to come… and cheer for us… Sob… I’m zorry….」

「C, c’mon, don’t cry, Aramaki-san. I think you did well.」

「U, ueeeeee…Hi, Hirose-ku~n!」

Yuu was comforting Yoshie, who had started to cry.

Yoshie was so overcome with emotion that she did not realize that Yuu was holding her shoulders.

However, upon seeing that, a number of girls suddenly gathered around Yuu and pretended to cry in order to have him comfort them, so in the blink of an eye, Yuu ended up getting surrounded by girls.

On the other hand, girls also gathered around Haruto, who had played with them during the practice period.

「Since we lost in the first round, it’ll drag down the other events, won’t it?」

「Yeah, the competition is by class, I believe?」

「Yes! If we win first place overall, we get to have a celebratory party with the boys!」

「P, party?」

In the inter-class ball game competition, points were awarded to each class according to their result in each of the three events. Eight points for first place, six points for second place… and only one point if you were defeated in the first round.

And then, at the end of the competition, the results were announced, and the classes that placed first through third in their grade were awarded, the same as in previous years.

After that, while there were some classes that went out to the city to have a celebratory party, there were also some that did nothing and dispersed, apparently.

This year, however, since it was the first time that the event was held jointly for boys and girls, the student council would provide a budget for the classes that took first place, and they would be able to have a small congratulatory party in the classroom with the boys who had been cheering for them.

Incidentally, even if their classes failed to take first place, it had been arranged that each team for each event would take a group photo with the boys.

Yuu was a member of the student council, so he knew about the congratulatory party, and it was also mentioned in the booklet.

Of course, the ones who were in high spirits and looking forward to it very much were the girls.

「Next, we are going to go around cheering for the volleyball and football teams.」

「Um, I wonder, if we can come and cheer with you too?」

「Ah, yes, sure.」

「「「Yay!」」」

However, when he took a look at the booklet, he noticed that the second round of the volleyball and football competitions took place at the same time.

Therefore, the boys split into two groups, Yuu and Masaya, Rei and Haruto, plus the girls that participated in the dodgeball competition, who had also split in half, and headed off to cheer for both teams.

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