The tug of war was played separately for men and women. As a result, the red team won the men's team, but the white team was now ahead of the women's team.
The reason was that the white team had Yuti.
"Kuh! We can't let this happen…!"
Merl, who was participating in the tug-of-war, seemed to try to use some technology from the planet Amel, perhaps to counter the white team's Yuti, but…
"Preventing it. I'll beat you before you do!"
At that moment, Yuti's eyes glowed.
"Wha-?"
"Uwaaaaa?"
Before Merl could do anything, Yuti pulled the rope as hard as she could, and all the girls in the red group were pulled, like fish from water.
Naturally, it would have been dangerous if they had fallen, but Yuti jumped out instantly, caught them all in the air one by one, and carefully brought them down.
"Secured. Are you okay?"
"Y-yes!"
…Some of them had reddened faces and sparkling eyes for Yuti.
"It's frustrating… because I really wanted to win, but… Yuti-san did it better than me."
"W-well, Yuti is strong… but even Merl did a great job for her first athletic festival."
Yes, Merl had attracted a lot of attention from people around her because she was a transfer student, and she contributed to the victory to live up to their expectations.
In fact, even during the ball throw, most of the red group's points were scored by Merl.
"I really didn't calculate it during the ball throw… I didn't expect such a powerful attack from the white group…!"
"Ah-ahaha…"
I could only smile wryly at Merl's words.
She called it a powerful attack, but that was just a ball Kaori threw out of control, flying all over the place… but Merl was right. The power of that flying ball is extraordinary.
Kaori was usually not good at exercise, but in this respect alone, she may be one of the best in the world. I couldn't even react to it…
"More importantly, isn't Yuuya the one who did a great job? The obstacle race was amazing, wasn't it? Besides, the men's tug of war could be won only with Yuuya's help."
I am indeed much more powerful than most people now, but that didn't mean I thought I could have won on my own.
"Next up were the cheer squad and the cheerleaders, right?"
"Aside from my side, will Merl be participating in cheerleaders as well?"
"Yes. I did my best to learn it. Um… I hope you can look forward to that, okay?"
Merl's cheeks flushed a little red, and after saying so, she walked away quickly.
＊＊＊
As per my conversation with Merl, once the tug-of-war is over, there wouldl be a lunch break, followed by the cheer squad and the cheerleaders.
In previous athletic festivals, I would have eaten alone, but this time Kaori invited me to eat lunch with her.
Since I had made Yuti's lunch as well, Kaori and I were allowed to visit her and her friends together, and we had a pleasant lunch together.
Then──.
"Oh oh oh oh, the red group! Good luck to you, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
Dressed in our school uniforms, which we don't usually wear, and wrapped in red bowls, we showed off what we had practiced as a cheer squad.
We were not only supposed to cheer as a normal cheering squad but also to perform a casual dance.
To be honest, this dance was probably the most difficult part of the athletic festival.
As we managed to perform the dance, we had memorized and received applause from the parents; the girls now began their cheerleaders' performance.
Then, the boys, who had returned to the waiting tent, cheered in unison.
"Oooooooooooooooh! That's good!"
"I'm so glad I got into this school…!"
"Those raw legs are dazzling, man!"
The girls, dressed in cheerleader costumes, performed a full-fledged cheer dance as they were, cheering on their respective pairs.
The unfamiliar sight of everyone and their short skirts made me a bit nervous, and my gaze wandered all over the place.
The cheerleaders, including Kaori and Kaede, who I am used to seeing on a regular basis, also took part in the performance, and I was thrilled to see a side of them that was different from the norm.
The TV cameras were frantically following the girls as they performed.
The costumes may have caught the viewers' attention, but the cheerleaders themselves were also very accomplished and looked very good on TV.
After the cheerleaders finished their performance, an announcement was made by Shirase-san.
"Well, that was a very impressive cheer and cheerleader performance! Now I would like to start the afternoon session here! As for the current score, it appears that the white group has a slight lead."
"The red groups are winning more spectacularly in each event, but the white groups are steadily gaining points."
It seems that the red group is currently losing, and our class teacher, Sawada-sensei, issues a proclamation,
"Hey, you guys! Do your best for your teacher's bonus!"
"No, you should have more words to say to us!"
Ryo was quick to tsukkomi her, but Sawada-sensei…
＊＊＊
That's how the afternoon session begins.
Everyone tried their best to help the red group win but could not take back the lead from the white group by just one more step.
"Well, let's move on to the next event! Next up is the mixed-gender three-legged race!"
"Oh, it's our turn."
"Yeah, let's go for it!"
"Rin-chan, Yuuya-kun, good luck!"
"…Fight."
We were cheered on by Kaede and the others as we made our way to the starting point.
"Hmm… The white group seems to have a lot of track and field students."
"Is that so?"
"There are some track and field students in the red group, but there are more in the white group. How tough can this be?"
"Either way, we've been practicing, and we're going to give it our all."
With all the players once again bracing themselves, they all got together and started off at the teacher's signal.
""Huff, huff, huff, huff!""
Rin and I continued to run smoothly, breathing in unison to show the results of our practice.
However, as Rin had said before we started, there were many track and field pairs in the white group, and their three-legged speed was quite fast.
"Kuh! If we don't do something about it, we're…!"
"Ah, Rin!"
Impatient with the speed of the people around, Yuuya sensed that Rin was about to pick up the pace and quickly matched it, but perhaps because she had never run at speed like that in practice, her legs got tangled, and she almost fell over.
"Uh!?"
But I managed to prevent Rin from falling by supporting her with my hands around her waist, but she rolled her eyes and looked disappointed.
"I-I'm sorry. I was impatient…"
"No, it's fine. More importantly, is your leg okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine… Ugh!"
I was able to prevent her from falling down, but it seemed that Rin had sprained her leg, and her face was contorted.
"Rin?"
"I was in such a hurry that I tried to speed up and ended up getting hurt…"
Deciding that it was impossible to continue running, I told the teachers right then and there that we were going to forfeit from the race.
"Yuuya, I am so sorry."
Then Rin said this in a depressed tone, but it was important to carry Rin to the nursing tent for the time being.
"We have no choice in the matter. I'll carry you to the tent."
"No, I'm fine walking ── Kyaa!"
While holding Rin, who was trying to walk alone, I quickly took her in my arms and carried her to the nursing tent.
Meanwhile, Rin's face was flushed , and she was trying to say something, but in the end, no words came out. W-well, it might be embarrassing to be carried in a princess carry in front of everyone, but I hope she could bear with it.
After I finished carrying Rin and returned to the red group's waiting tent, Kaede and the others approached me with concern, but I told them that everything would be all right for the time being.
After all, once again, the gap in points with the white group was not decreasing.