The Guy Who Messed Up Is Gradually Doing His Best - Chapter 27

After school, I was called by the principal about the sports festival happening this Sunday.

“Gouda-kun, I’m sorry to trouble you. Oh, please put it there.”

“Yes. Excuse me.”

I came to the principal’s office with my homeroom teacher, Niiyama-sensei, but she sat next to me. I shift a little to the right to make it easier for her to sit.

“Actually, I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a predicament…”

According to the principal, there were more students than expected who wanted to dance folk dance with me. I can’t believe it.

Initially, it was supposed to be a dance with third-year students who wanted to participate, but it seems that almost all the students wanted to join because it would become a memorable part of their school life.

If that had been the end of it, it would have been fine, but the cause was my class. I had mentioned to other classes that I would be participating in the folk dance at the sports festival, and it seems that news spread from the first-year students all the way to the second-year students.

So now it seems that about two-thirds of the students in the entire school want to do folk dance with me.

But there is a proper reason for this. In this world, all school events have been conducted solely by women, and there has never been any effort to enjoy them together with men.

They only exist in manga, anime, and novels. That’s why they have become one of the situations that women admire.

But those manga and anime are things that guys normally watch too, but unfortunately, guys don’t really think much of them.

“To such an extent…”

“Yes. Since this will be the last sports festival for the third-year students, we would like Gouda-kun to participate in the folk dance as originally planned and perform, but the problem is…”

“First-year and second-year students, right?”

“Yes.”

Hmm. An ideal situation, huh… If only the other boys would come to school, it would be a bit resolved, but that seems impossible.

If I could somehow manage it, but I can’t come up with a good idea.

Even if I were to participate in other events, I don’t have the time for it.

“I’m sorry, but I think we have no choice but to give up this time.

Next year, I will do my best to be able to cooperate a bit more.”

“That’s right. That’s the only option, isn’t it?”

“Gouda-kun.”

Until now, Niiyama-sensei, who had been sitting silently with her arms crossed, suddenly called my name.

“Niiyama-sensei, is something wrong?”

“Do you have any objections to handing the merit flag to the student who comes in first place in the footrace, Gouda-kun?”

“I don’t have any resistance, but…”

I see. So that’s how it is. If all I have to do is hand the flag to the student who comes in first, then I can do that… but…

“Are you sure it’s okay? I think there might be some female students who would dislike receiving it from me.”

It’s sad, but I think there are probably some. I’ve seen on the internet that there are women who hate men, and even though I feel like I’ve apologized in my own way, I’m currently insulting the popular Sawakaze-kun.

I apologized to his fans too, but I don’t even know if they forgave me, or even if my apology reached them in the first place.

So far, I haven’t met anyone who seems to be a fan of him at this school.

If I think too much, it will only make me gloomy, so I plan to take it easy and do my best little by little.

“If there are students like that, they can participate… No, Gouda-kun, you don’t have to worry about that; I’ve got it all figured out. How about it? Can I ask you for this favor?”

Niiyama-sensei, who is sitting to my left, takes my left hand in both of hers and turns her face towards me.

——So close.

Teacher, you’re too close. Plus, you held my hand to keep me from running away, right? But, teacher, be careful, you’re touching a soft spot.

“Y-Yeah understood. If I’m okay with it.”

Since there was also the issue of the bento (I didn’t eat the bento the teacher made for me at lunch), I had no choice but to give in in the end.

“Thank you, Gouda-kun.”

“Thank you very much.”

I was very much appreciated by the Principal and Niiyama-sensei.

————————

Sports Festival Day.

If I am on standby, it will be at the tournament headquarters where the teachers are waiting, not where the first-year A-class students are waiting.

The program begins with the students’ entrance, followed by the opening ceremony and warm-up exercises.

The atmosphere of the sports festival is great. The entrance music really gets them pumped up.

The students were divided into the red team, white team, blue team, and yellow team, but soon the cheers began. By the way, I wasn’t in any team.

However, as a single man, I must stand out quite a bit. I can feel a lot of eyes on me.

“Gouda-kun, please.”

The sports festival committee member came to call me. Yes, the first event in the program is the first-year students’ relay race. It’s my job to hand over the award flag. It seems the teachers have made all the necessary arrangements, so I have to do it properly.

“Yes.”

I hold three prize flags and take my designated position. These prize flags didn’t exist until last year; they were newly created just for me.

I hand the award flag to the student who comes in first place, but a little further ahead, the sports festival staff collects the flag and it comes back to me again. There are only three award flags, after all.

The scores for each team are being properly checked by the officials at the headquarters, so there are no issues.

When the PE teacher raised the starter pistol and the bang sounded, the first group of runners took off all at once, but,

——Th-this is…

It’s extremely awkward. Everyone is running hard, but my chest is bouncing a lot. It’s even more noticeable because the gym clothes are a bit tight.

The idea that I should look firmly as a man and the idea that I should look away as a gentleman are clashing in my mind.

But in the end, if I looked away, I wouldn’t know who came in the first place, so reluctantly, I decided to watch closely.

“Y-yes! Hah, hah, I-I did it, I-I came in first place…”

The first group winner was Kimishima-san. Kimishima-san is really fast, isn’t she?

I’m very happy to have come in first place. But she must have pushed herself to the limit, breathing heavily and feeling a bit dizzy.

“Oops, Kimishima-san, are you okay?”

I caught her because she looked like she was about to fall, but is it okay? Could I be accused of sexual harassment?

“Kimishima-san came in first place. Congratulations!”

“T-thank you very much.”

That’s strange. Kimishima-san isn’t leaving me alone. Maybe she’s still struggling since she’s breathing heavily?

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

Kimishima-san’s face, which she hurriedly turned away, was bright red. She was probably trying to catch her breath. I feel a bit guilty.