After being brought by Haru to the infirmary, Cecilia and Rin received treatment for their injuries.
Haru, Ichika, Charlotte, and Houki were waiting outside the infirmary and sighed in relief when they learned that Cecilia and Rin were alright from the doctor.
Haru asked whether he could visit both Cecilia and Rin and the doctor gave him permission.
Charlotte, Ichika, and Houki also joined.
Being visited by the four of them, Cecilia and Rin were happy. Neither of them cared much about Charlotte or Houki and talked with either Haru or Ichika.
Houki was annoyed and decided to go out.
"I'm hurt, Haru..." Cecilia wanted Haru to pamper her.
"Isn't it because you fought too hard before? If you don't see a chance to win, it isn't shameful to escape, and when you've got enough strength, you can win it back later. No matter how much you've lost, if you become the winner in the end, then it's all good," Haru said while patting Cecilia's head tenderly.
Cecilia, who had heard Haru's words, nodded. If she could win against Laura in the tournament then she could wash away the humiliation she had received.
"I'll peel you an apple," Haru said and took an apple out of nowhere.
"U - Uh, I want a rabbit cut," Cecilia said and thought that it wasn't bad being wounded when she had someone to take care of her.
Looking at Cecilia who was being pampered by Haru, Rin and Charlotte couldn't help but feel jealous.
"Ichika, I also want an apple!" Rin said.
"Ha? I don't have one. You can ask Haru for it," Ichika said.
"Y - You bastard?!" Rin complained.
Charlotte and Cecilia looked at Haru's cutting skill and couldn't help but marvel since he had created various animals from apples such as swans and rabbits. He also created other designs such as apple leaf, checker patterns, apple boat, etc.
"T - This is...." Charlotte didn't expect Haru to be this good at cooking.
"Here, open your mouth."
"Ahh..."
Cecilia opened her mouth and felt very happy being fed by him. Eating her apple, she couldn't help but feel that it was good. She looked at Haru and asked, "Haru, who are you going to partner up with for the competition?"
"I'm going to partner with Charles," Haru said.
"Eh? You're going to partner up with Charles, Haru?" Ichika was surprised.
Charlotte was surprised, but she nodded. "Yes, I'll partner up with Haru."
"Eh, you guys! How can you leave me behind!" Ichika complained.
Haru and Charlotte could only laugh weakly since their situation was a bit special.
Rin was about to ask Ichika whether he wanted to partner up with her. She ignored Cecilia's invitation and decided to partner up with Ichika, but she was told by the teacher that her IS was in a critical state. It was the same as Cecilia, and neither of them could perform in the tournament.
"No way...."
Rin and Cecilia were sad when they heard it.
But at that very moment, suddenly there was an earthquake and the door of the infirmary was opened forcefully.
The group of girls suddenly entered the infirmary with excitement on their faces.
"Orimura-kun, please be our partner!"
"Yeah, we can partner up together, Orimura-kun!"
Being surrounded by a lot of young girls, Ichika was overwhelmed and couldn't help but cry out in distress. It wasn't because he was attracted by them, but rather because he felt that it was too much trouble.
"Wait! Wait! Don't pull me!"
The group of girls was just like a storm came so suddenly and went out so quickly while catching Ichika in process.
"......"
The four of them were speechless.
"Rin, good luck."
It was the words of the three of them to Rin who was being left alone.
"D - Dammit! I won't lose!"
Rin was annoyed and wanted to get Ichika back, but her body was hurt. She could only grit her teeth and lay on the bed while screaming, "ICHIKA, COME BACK!!!"
---
After taking care of Cecilia for a bit, Haru decided to go back to his room together with Charlotte.
Inside their room, Charlotte said, "Haru, thank you."
"What's wrong?" Haru asked.
"It's about partnering for the tournament. I'm happy that you've asked me to be your partner," Charlotte said with a smile.
"It's alright. It'll be troublesome if someone knows your gender too early," Haru said.
Charlotte nodded and felt happy. "Right, do you like Cecilia?"
"What's wrong with this question?" Haru asked.
"You seem to care about her," Charlotte said, clearly showing that she was quite jealous.
"........"
Haru was speechless and said, "You know, we have been sleeping together, seeing each other naked bodies, and a lot more; while on the other hand, Cecilia is just simply normal interaction...." He was about to continue, but Charlotte closed his mouth with her hands.
"Y - You!!"
Charlotte was very embarrassed since this guy could say such a thing without a problem. She sighed and said, "Anyway, I can be sure that you're going to make a harem, right?"
"..........."
Haru flicked Charlotte's forehead.
"Ouch!"
"Don't think too much. Let's change our clothes first."
"U - Umm...." Charlotte looked at Haru who didn't get out but changed his clothes directly. She didn't really mind, but she was embarrassed to look at his body. She turned and started to change her uniform while saying, "P - Please don't peek at me."
"If I peek, what happens?" Haru asked.
"W - Well....." Charlotte pouted since this guy teased her. "T - Then just watch, I don't mind!" She braved herself and changed her uniform, but as expected she was quite nervous and she slipped.
"Ahh!"
Charlotte was about to fall, but her waist was caught by Haru.
"You alright?"
Haru looked at Charlotte who wore pink underwear and looked away.
Charlotte sighed in relief, but her face was hot when she touched Haru's stomach.
"T - Thank you...." She looked at Haru who was looking away and felt a bit surprised. "Why are you looking away? Don't you want to peek at me?"
"Sorry. I was just teasing you before. But Char, you're so charming. I might not be able to stop myself from you."
Haru was wondering whether he had a sex addiction and realized that it wasn't good. He needed to control his little brother better in the future. However, he felt that the prospect of that plan was very low since he remembered that he had said this kind of things several times before.
"......."
Charlotte blushed and said, "I - I don't mind....."
"......."
Hearing those words, Haru sighed and flicked Charlotte's forehead.
"Ouch!"
Holding her forehead, Charlotte wanted to complain to Haru.
"I'm going to take a shower."
Haru needed to calm himself and had better self-control.
Looking at his back, Charlotte smiled but was also disappointed since he didn't do anything to her.
---
After a few days, it was the day of the Inter-Class tournament that had started once again.
Haru, Charlotte, and Ichika were in the locker room while looking at the number of people who had come to this tournament. They could also see various high ranking people from various countries and organizations come to watch their match.
Haru looked at Ichika and it seemed that Ichika wanted to have a fight with Laura since the matter was in the classroom in the past. He thought that something might happen between the two of them, but he didn't know what it was, and he also didn't care much.
Ichika didn't have a partner and decided to have his partner by lottery since there were a lot of people who invited him which made him very confused about who he should choose.
"What about Houki?" Haru asked.
"I've invited her, but it seems that she wants to have her partner decide by lottery," Ichika answered.
Haru felt a bit weird, but he didn't think too much.
They were waiting for a while and saw the schedule of the tournament.
Haru thought that he might see Laura at the final battle or something, but he didn't expect to meet her this early and he also didn't expect Laura's partner to be Houki.
"Let's do our best, Char."
"Yeah."
Charlotte had confidence in Haru and Haru also had confidence in Charlotte.
Both of them looked at each other before saying goodbye to Ichika since they would need to prepare for their battle.