A Childhood Friend, Reunited After 10 Years Acts Deredere With Me

“From now, Tokyo Metropolitan Kaihei Senior High School will hold a school festival.”

After that announcement, classical-like music played for about three minutes, and then various calls to action began, and the festival got underway in earnest.

But our time starts at 6:00 p.m. when the festival is about to end, and the play starts at 6:30 p.m. We have a lot of time to spare. So…

“Alice, let’s go around the festival together.”

“Sure! Can we make out this time?”

“Uh…well, you know, you should know your limits, right?”

I don’t want to be one of those annoying couples you see on the train. So,

“Look…”

I said it and hold out my arm.

“Nn?”

“No…well…you see it all the time with couples and stuff. I’m fine with that…”

Alice’s face broke into a big smile and she clung to my arm as I told her this, hiding my embarrassment. A soft feeling covered my entire arm, and I involuntarily blushed.

“Well then…shall we go?”

“Yes!”

………

……

…

“NOOOOOO! I’m scared! I’m scared! I’m scared! Sora! Help me!”

“No… even if you ask me to help you, I can’t do that in a… haunted house…”

I don’t know what to do if I’m asked to help in a haunted house. It’s a second-year haunted house that’s currently circling around, and Alice’s hugs on my arms are getting more powerful.

(Oh… her chest is hitting me…)

Her chest is hitting my arm, but Alice doesn’t seem to notice it. So I’m going to enjoy it like this.

“Uoooo…”

“UGYAAAAAAAA!?”

Alice’s scream, which is not like a woman’s, spirits throughout the classroom.

………

……

…

“Fuhi… hihi… I-I’m absolutely sure it wasn’t a big deal at all!”

But her eyes are darting around and her legs are shaking.

“You’re not very convincing because your legs are wobbling. Here, I’ll buy you some juice.”

“Sorry…”

I bought Alice’s favorite melon soda from the vending machine and handed it to her, she opened it and poured it down her throat.

“Buhah! It soaks through!”

“You’re like an old man.”

“Nanu!”

While we were talking about such trivial matters, an announcement came over the air.

“The lifting competition will be hosted by the 3rd grade D class. If you wish to participate, please register.”

“Really…there is such a thing?”

Apparently, D class is going to hold a lifting competition. Well, I let it go, assuming it was of no concern to me.

“Hmmm…hmmm…”

“What’s wrong Alice?”

Alice’s voice was a bit confused.

“I’m sure Sora will win that lifting competition, right? I want to see how cool he is, but then maybe I can find someone who likes him…”

“What? You want to see me play?”

“…quite…”

What’s that about? I’m in date clothes now…? I’m dressed for a date, but it doesn’t mean I’m stuck here, so…I’ll join in.

“I’ll do it. And I’m all about Alice. Even if someone confesses her love to me with a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I’ll still reject her.”

“…You’re not shy about saying that… you’re making me fall in love with you even more.”

“I’d be more than happy to.”

………

……

…

“The lifting competition sponsored by the 3-D class has begun! A surprisingly large number of people showed up! It was a simple battle to see who could lift the most out of the 16 participants! The winner will receive a limited-edition shopping voucher worth 2,000 yen!”

After registering, things went surprisingly smoothly, and I was made to climb up on the platform. I was made to climb up on the platform. At my feet was a ball, and when I turned my head to look ahead, I saw several people watching.

As I listened to the broadcast team’s rousing music, my eyes crossed with Alice’s, who was in the audience, and she told me in a hushed tone,

“Do your best.”

“Okay, let’s get serious…”

Failure is not an option. I had done my up-doing at random, but now I carefully complete my up-doing. I rang the joints, and I was ready to go.

“Okay…”

“Now, participants, are you all ready? Then, we will start after the countdown! Everyone, together!”

Three, two, one.

“START!”

Almost at the same time as I lifted the ball into the air and started lifting it, a guy who was quite a distance away from me kicked the ball up in a big way.

“Oooh… so high…”

I was quite surprised at the power of his legs as he effortlessly kicked the ball up the five-story school building. I’m sure I could do it if I was asked to imitate him, but it’s not an easy feat to pull off.

And what’s more….

“Seriously…?”

The ball comes down and you expect it to bounce on the ground, but you don’t hear that sound at all. It’s perfectly sucked up to my foot and I’m back to lifting. I was curious about the guy’s face, but I couldn’t see it from where I was.

“Wow I couldn’t see the guy’s face because of my location! What a super play! That flashy guy with the red hair! That’s amazing!”

“Red hair…?”

Speaking of red hair…I knew a guy with red hair. And he’s a really good soccer player, and I remember losing to him a few times in junior high.

“Whoa? Wait? What are you doing, Shunya?”

Gatagatagata! I heard a sound like something falling over, and I wondered what it was. At that moment, a voice is released with such force that it seems as if my eardrums might be ruptured.

“Oooi, Sora! What are you doing? Don’t let that guy from the other school play nice! You can do that too! What are you going to do if you don’t show Alice how cool you are!”

The voice was Shunya’s. I agree with what he says.

“I know…”

I’m going to do it just like he did it. When I switched over, I first imitated what the red-haired guy would have done, and kicked the ball high in the air.

“Whoa! He did it too! That’s even higher than before!”

The ball falls at a rapid speed. I tried to trap it with my back, but I guessed that I was too blank to do it now, let alone when I was active, so I killed the impact with a chest trap and lifted it about 2 meters into the air, catching it with my back this time.

“Hmm…that worked.”

It would have been a disaster if I had missed. The atmosphere would have been ruined.

And when I then performed my lifting, which is considered by the public to be amazing, though not as good as my active years, a huge cheer erupted.