The midday Library work returned to the comfortable atmosphere that made Xiao Chun Miura feel at ease.
“Miura-san, I’ll leave this part to you too.”
“Okay, I’ll record the information.”
Such exchanges were the same as many days before.
She understood now.
The reason she had felt Kanzaki Sou’s attitude towards her was a bit subtle was because of her own state of mind.
Kanzaki Sou hadn’t changed at all.
She had just assumed his attitude had shifted.
In fact, he was still the same Kanzaki Sou—someone who wouldn’t change his opinion of others because of a few words.
That was Kanzaki Sou.
He had his own standards, his own methods of judgment.
“……”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Miura-san?”
“—Ah, sorry… it’s nothing.”
Snapped out of her thoughts by Kanzaki Sou calling her name, Xiao Chun Miura realized she had been staring at his profile the whole time.
“……”
Perhaps sensing she was distracted, Kanzaki Sou didn’t ask any more questions.
He simply took on more work in silence, giving her time to space out and think.
This silent consideration made Xiao Chun Miura feel even worse.
She felt like a despicable schemer, plotting against someone who treated her sincerely.
…But she knew she had no way out.
“Um… Kanzaki-kun.”
As the midday work was about to end, Xiao Chun Miura finally gathered her courage and called out to Kanzaki Sou, who was about to leave.
“Hmm? What is it, Miura-san?”
Kanzaki Sou stopped, looking at her gently.
“About the Sports Day… do you know what specific events there are?”
She tried to make her tone sound casual.
“After the Midterm Exams, isn’t it almost time for Sports Day?”
…She had already confirmed that the Sports Day would take place after the Midterm Exams.
That was how the game plot developed.
Although the timeline had shifted a bit because Kanzaki Sou was a Library Committee member, this was something the system and she had confirmed.
[No matter what it is now, after the Sports Day, things will escalate to an unbelievable level.]
This sentence hung over her heart like a stone, preventing Xiao Chun Miura from relaxing.
The matter with Kondo Haruka, and the Sports Day—these were her two biggest worries right now.
She still had other ways to investigate Kondo Haruka, but as for the Sports Day…
If Kanzaki Sou had any connection to the Student Council, he might also know about the organization of the Sports Day.
Since she could obtain the information she needed from someone nearby, there was no need to go out of her way.
As long as the answer was correct, even asking a teacher wouldn’t provide a better answer than what Kanzaki Sou could give.
If she could find out about the Sports Day events… and even which events Kanzaki Sou planned to participate in…
Then maybe she could find a breakthrough.
“……Hmmm.”
Kanzaki Sou seemed a little surprised by her question, but after looking at Xiao Chun Miura for a moment, he answered patiently.
“The specific sports events should be announced soon by the Athletics Committee. I haven’t participated before either, but it seems that besides the usual track and field events, the Academy also holds some fun group events every year… and the details seem to change annually.”
“Then… are there any events that require two-person teams?”
Xiao Chun Miura’s heart jumped to her throat as she casually followed up.
…This was the question she cared about most.
—”If there’s any Sports Day event that’s best for creating opportunities for two people to be together, it’s this one, right?”
Two-person team events that force two participants to act as partners.
Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka were in the same class.
If there really were two-person events, and Kanzaki Sou planned to participate…
Kondo Haruka would definitely do her best to become his partner.
That was the development Xiao Chun Miura feared most.
She was from a different class.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t interfere with Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka’s class-based registration and pairing.
So she needed to confirm this first.
“Two-person teams?”
Kanzaki Sou thought for a moment.
“Hmm… I think there are.”
“But this year, it’s not certain, since it’s a fun event.”
He answered, recalling the details.
“Last year, there was the ‘Three-Legged Race’, and four years ago there was a ‘Borrowed Item Relay’… both required two people per team.”
“Why? Do you want to participate in a two-person event, Miura-san?”
“N-no, it’s nothing, I was just asking…”
Xiao Chun Miura waved her hands, but her heart pounded wildly at Kanzaki Sou’s answer.
…Trouble.
What should she do?
***
In the afternoon, Xiao Chun Miura didn’t go home right away.
Instead, she returned to the Library.
But this time, it wasn’t for Committee Work—it was as a regular Student.
She walked to the innermost area of the Library—the Archive Room.
This was where the school kept its annual records, the School Newspaper, and various activity albums.
She applied to Sakura-sensei for permission to review the materials, using the excuse of wanting to do a practical activity for the School Newspaper.
Sakura-sensei didn’t suspect a thing and agreed readily.
In the Archive Room filled with the scent of old paper, Xiao Chun Miura began her needle-in-a-haystack search.
She flipped through thick Yearbooks and event albums, trying to find more clues about two-person events at the Sports Day.
Finally, in a Sports Day special edition of the School Newspaper from three years ago, she found the information she wanted.
The School Newspaper listed all the so-called fun events from past Sports Days in detail, including their rules and how they were run.
Among them, the rules for the “Borrowed Item Relay” caught her attention.
[Borrowed Item Relay: Two-person team. One person draws a command card, the other must find the specified item or complete the assigned task within a designated area (usually the audience seats), and then return to the finish line together.]
The registration section read:
[Registration is by class, with a limit of two teams per class. In addition, each school club and committee may recommend one group of ‘special invitees’ to participate, which does not count towards the class quota.]
“…Committees can recommend one group…”
Xiao Chun Miura stared at this line, her heart pounding.
—If that’s the case, then Librarians… count as members of the Library Committee, right?
A bold plan began to form in her mind.
If she could register for this event with Kanzaki Sou…
She could monopolize his time during the Sports Day.
Even if he still participated in other events with Kondo Haruka, at least for this event, she would have time alone with him.
…Besides, Kanzaki Sou himself had mentioned the Borrowed Item Relay.
As long as the registration rules still allowed it, she could participate together with him this time as well.