A Case in Which My House Is a Gathering Place for Girls

“Damn it! Are you a monster, Itsuki!?”

Wada spoke and looked furious when I was taking a break after finishing the 50-meter run, long jump, and handball throw measurements.

“What a terrible thing to say to call a man a monster. This is just so normal for me.”

“Did I do something? That’s a line that’s only allowed in a fantasy world! You can’t do it in real life! Look at the record you set!”

“Umm… the 50-meter dash was 5.7 seconds and the handball throw was 60 meters?”

“Don’t be silly! If this is normal, your countryside will be an out-of-the-way world!”

Wada stomps on the ground with a heavy sigh. Calling my hometown a place like that is extremely rude. My countryside is a quiet place where everyone is kind and nature is abundant.

“The 50-meter dash isn’t a competitive measurement, so even if there’s a certain amount of error, throwing a handball is too much!”

“…Is that so?”

The basketball team’s ace record is a little over 40 meters. This number can be thrown the ball across the entire basketball court. I flew further than that, so it might be great for a record, but I don’t think it’s anything to make such a fuss about. Everyone else, except Wada, hadn’t said anything.

“No one else is saying anything, so I’ll say it on their behalf. The record you set─”

“─As expected of Jinpei-kun. You have definitely shown that you are a prodigy.”

There is one person who intrudes into our conversation as if to interrupt us before Wada says it to the end. The person looked as proud as if it were her own business.

“You’re exaggerating, Kanna. There must be a lot of people in this school who are better than me.”

“Hehe. Well, if Jinpei-kun wants to think so, you can do as you please.”

Kanna says that and smiles meaningfully. I’m not sure, but my motto is to live humbly and steadily, so let’s not pursue her. What I’m more curious about is…

“Why is Kanna here? You haven’t finished the measurement yet, have you?”

“The endurance run we’re doing next is for both genders together. Didn’t you hear Misuta-sensei tell you to measure the time in pairs?”

“Oh… Come to think of it, she has said that.”

“That’s why I’m here!”

My heart fluttered, but at that moment her two fruits bounced and I looked away without thinking. It felt even more indecent than when she had tried to seduce me earlier by wearing my shirt, probably because we were at school and in gym uniforms.

“Now Jinpei-kun, let’s pair up with me! I’m going to show everyone that Jinpei-kun is a genius!”

“I told you not to use such strong words. On the contrary, I look weak─eh?”

Suddenly, my jacket sleeve was tugged sharply from behind. I looked back and saw Sasazuki standing there with a tearful face.

“Umm… Do you need something, Sasazuki-san?”

“Itsuki, please choose me.”

“…Yes?”

She said it in a pleading tone, and I couldn’t help but let out a dumbfounded voice. She doesn’t look like she’s joking, but her words were so vague it could easily lead to misunderstandings.

“What!? W-what are you saying all of a sudden, Sasazuki-san!? Or how long have you been there!?”

See? I knew something like this was coming. I was curious as to how long she’s been here, but that’s not what I want to know now.

“I’ve been behind you since I watched for the chance to approach Itsuki.”

“You mean for quite a while!?”

She had been using her low profile to stay close to Kanna. It seemed unnecessary, and I thought she could have just come over and talked to me directly. But before I could say anything else, Sasazuki tugged my sleeve again, this time more urgently.

“More than that, Itsuki. Hurry up and choose me. Or else─”

“…Or else?”

“─Misuta-sensei will get mad.”

“Sasazuki-san is right.”

Before I could say, I heard Misuta-sensei’s voice from behind with a rumbling sound effect of anger. I turned around cautiously and saw him smiling, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all. That was the scariest expression I’d ever seen.

“How long do you think you can keep flirting around during class? Or is this a jab at teachers who don’t have any chance to meet someone?”

The reason for getting angry is too unreasonable. I don’t think it’s a good idea to confuse public and private matters.

“I don’t think we’re flirting at all. I was just chatting with my classmates.”

“Jinpei-kun is right! We were just chatting during the break!”

“I came to ask Itsuki to measure the time. I didn’t think anyone else could measure my time.”

We each expressed our own perspectives. None of us were lying, but in Sasazuki’s case, I couldn’t help but mentally criticize her for not saying so earlier.

“I see… Sasazuki-san, are you all right with Itsuki-kun?”

“Yes, I think Itsuki will handle it perfectly.”

“All right. If that’s the case, I won’t say any more. Sasazuki-san has Itsuki-kun to measure the time. Everyone else is waiting, so hurry up and move along.”

Misuta-sensei said while shrugging her shoulders and she left us. I was about to follow her to avoid being left behind but someone tugged at my sleeve for the third time. This time, it was my childhood friend.

“What’s the matter, Kanna?”

“Why, no! Don’t act so careless! Who’s going to measure my time if Jinpei-kun measures Sasazuki-san!?”

It’s not like there weren’t other people she could ask, but based on how things had gone since we started high school, I understood that there wasn’t anyone else she felt comfortable asking. Still, I couldn’t just brush her off as her childhood friend…

“I’ll measure Kanna’s time, too. There’s nothing wrong with this, is there?”

A simple, unscathed compromise. There are no rules that must be done in pairs, and since the number of students in our class is odd in the first place, there would always be one left out anyway. Perhaps the extra students will be measured by Misuta-sensei, but no matter how beautiful they were, no one wants to pair them up with sensei.

“That’s an acceptable compromise. Understood. Then, Sasazuki-san, we’ll run first─what? Where’s Sasazuki-san?”

Kanna looked around in surprise when she realized Sasazuki had vanished, even though she had been hiding behind me just moments ago.

“Ah… Sasazuki-san seems to have already joined the group that’s running first. Kanna, you should hurry, too. Misuta-sensei is staring at you.”

“What!? Leaving on her own like that is so sneaky! And why didn’t you tell me when Jinpei-kun noticed!”

“I’m sorry. But are you sure you want to keep complaining to me? The longer you do, the angrier Misuta-sensei is going to get?”

I pointed out that the ominous presence of a demon-like spirit was forming behind Misuta-sensei as she gestured for us to hurry up. Kanna ran to the starting point with a fierce dash as if she were an Olympic athlete. I followed after her while picking up a stopwatch to prepare for timing. Now everything was ready for the measurements.

“If you want to aim for a record, do your best. If you’re not, don’t push yourself too hard and run at your own pace. Then… Ready, go!”