In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 43

Chapter 43: Their Respective Valentine’s Day at Eika Shuuei Academy

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Valentine’s Day had finally arrived. It was also the day of the “Joyful Valentine” event. And great news—our class’s girls had decided to make fondant chocolate and treat us to it.

Yes!

Since this was an official school event, the female students would be spending half the day in the cooking class. So, what would we male students be doing in the meantime?

“Takeda! Go for itttttttt!”

Alright! I swung my leg with all my might toward the perfectly positioned ball.

“SHOOOOOOOT!”

“YESSSSSS!”

Peeeeeeep!

Yes! It went in! I scored a perfect goal.

As for us guys, we were in the middle of a soccer match. And not just any match—we were playing against a team from another school. Our opponents were from the private “Azuchi Momoyama Academy,” a rare all-boys school in this world. So that was why our gym classes had been doing soccer practice for the entire grade ever since the New Year. And an “all-boys school”… The fact that such a thing even existed in this world was a huge surprise to me.

“IS THAT HOW IT IS?! IS THAT HOW IT IS?! IS THAT HOW IT IS?!”

The guy shouting incomprehensible war cries was apparently Oda-kun, the captain of the opposing team. If he just stayed quiet, he’d have a sharp, handsome look, but… He seemed a little eccentric.

Azuchi Momoyama Academy was an elite institution for boys from prestigious families—a sort of garden where sheltered young men were carefully raised to perfection. That information came from Imagawa. Apparently, he himself had attended Azuchi Momoyama Academy until elementary school.

“Takeda! Nice shot! Let’s keep pushing for the lead!”

“Oh, yeah!”

The one cheering me on enthusiastically was Okita from Class B. I hadn’t interacted with him much before, but playing soccer together had made us fairly close. Okita was a sports-loving, passionate guy. He was easygoing and fun to talk to. Azuchi Momoyama Academy’s team seemed to be a one-man show centered around Oda, relying on an aggressive power-play style.

On the other hand, our Eika Shuuei Academy team was built around our captain, Okita, who focused on teamwork and structured playmaking. At the start, we were overwhelmed by the opponent’s momentum and ended up conceding a goal, putting us behind 1-2. But with that last goal, we tied the game at 2-2. And with that, the first half of the match ended.

“Man, with you and Saitou scoring, I can control the midfield more freely. Things are really coming together.”

Okita looked absolutely thrilled. He included me in his praise, but Saitou was definitely the better soccer player. He’d mentioned before that he was good at ball games, but his ball control was seriously impressive. As for me, my role was to receive the ball from Okita and Saitou’s coordinated plays and push it into the goal. It was a huge responsibility.

I couldn’t remember everything clearly from my past, but I didn’t think I had played soccer that much… And yet, for some reason, my body seemed to move on its own so naturally like I was born to play soccer.

《It’s the Protagonist Buff.》

Huh? What’s that?

《Due to divine protection, Protagonist Buff has been activated.》

A voice came from the heavens, or to be precise, from my diary. It had been a while since I heard it. But a protagonist buff? …Come to think of it, I had wondered before. Could this place be the world of some kind of story?

《That question violates the Preservation Guidelines. It exceeds the scope of authorized information.》

So it wouldn’t answer that question for me.

…Alright then, how about this… If I eat a lot of pudding, will I become better at soccer?

《Protagonist Buff is in effect. Your contribution to the widespread popularity of pudding has resulted in a skill enhancement.》

Popularity of pudding? Had I really done that?

《Your cumulative influence across the school, cafés, cultural festivals, shopping malls, and food stalls has been evaluated comprehensively.》

Huh. I didn’t really get it, but whatever. Right now, I needed to focus on the soccer game.

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We won.

This was the first time since coming to this world that I’d played a full-on sports match with just guys. It was incredibly fun. I even got to bond with the guys from Class B. I’d say it was a great experience. But man, I was drenched in sweat.

I needed to hit the showers in the locker room and change into my uniform. After all, we were about to meet the girls. I’d rather not have them thinking, “Ugh, he stinks!”

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〈Joyful Valentine!〉

That was the adorable sign welcoming us as we entered the tasting room.

Since our class had decided on making fondant chocolate, we were allowed to use this room next to the cooking class.

“Whoa, it smells super sweet.”

“It’s almost suffocating.”

The entire school had been filled with a sweet aroma, but inside the tasting room, it was even more intense. I personally liked the smell, but Saitou, who wasn’t a fan of sweets, had a complicated expression on his face. The room had five separate tables set up.

“Takeda-kun, over here~!”

Following the voice, I found myself at a table with Kobayakawa-san, Arima-san, Takahashi-san, and a few other girls I talked to fairly often. I see. They had arranged it so that each guy was surrounded by certain girls and the fondant chocolate was absolutely delicious.

They served it fresh out of the oven—crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside. The melting chocolate cream was pure bliss.

“This is amazing!”

“I’m glad to hear that! We all worked hard and experimented to get it just right.”

Apparently, they had done multiple trial runs to perfect it. I was seriously grateful for all their efforts. It tasted like something straight from a café. The girls in our class had serious skills in cooking. And they were smart on top of that—truly admirable.

“And actually, Takeda-kun, we have a separate chocolate just for you.”

“Huh? Really?”

They had prepared something extra on top of this? That must have required a lot of work to do.

“Of course. But, um… It’s a little embarrassing to give it to you here. So we’d like to do it one-on-one in the prep room. We will take turns in giving the chocolate… Would that be okay with you?”

Wait… Is this… A confession time?!

“Is that a problem?”

“No, I was just surprised. It’s not a problem.”

I had never imagined receiving chocolate in a one-on-one setting.

“Great! Then, shall we head over there?”

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