"Look at that!" a girl voiced, grabbing the attention of Yuto and the others.
"Was it a collision?"
Yuto didn't say anything and began running towards Horikita while Sudo said, "I'll go get the first aid kit!"
Kneeling beside her, Yuto gently lifted Horikita by the shoulder. "Are you okay, Suzune?" he said in a worried tone. "I might have gotten a minor sprain, nothing much," she said while being supported by Yuto, who looked at Kinoshita, the girl who collided with Horikita, with a grimace.
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Horikita sat on a bench, looking down at her slightly swollen leg. She turned to her right to see Yuto bringing the first aid kit. He knelt on Horikita's level with a small smile as he sprayed a sterilizer. "I can do it myself," Horikita said with a tinge of pain due to the sterilizer. "I insist," Yuto replied calmly. Horikita nodded hesitantly.
Her attention inadvertently turned to Yuto. His azure eyes, focused on her leg, framed by long, attractive lashes. A single auburn bang fell across his forehead. These details, unnoticed before, became apparent now. 'Too close,' she thought as he continued to stare at Yuto.
"It's done!" Yuto announced softly, looking up at Horikita.
'Eh?'
A faint pink hue tinged Horikita's features as Yuto's face flushed slightly. Their prolonged gaze broke, and Horikita cleared her throat. "Thank you," she managed. Yuto snapped out of his reverie, rising with a warm smile. "My pleasure."
Horikita silently looked at her bandaged leg, but her attention was cut when Yuto sat down next to her. She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak but didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Her thoughts were interrupted when Yuto spoke while looking up at the tent, "Don't push yourself."
Horikita leaned down as she said, "I'm surprised you aren't trying to stop me." Yuto shrugged while looking at Horikita, who in turn looked at him as well. "Telling you is futile. I know you better than anyone, even better than your brother, I dare say." Horikita was immediately going to oppose this but stopped, struck by Yuto's comforting smile, who added, "I just have to make sure to take care of you so that you don't hurt yourself even more."
Horikita's face turned red as her widened eyes gazed at Yuto's infectious smile. Her heart began pounding a bit faster as she continued to stare at him with an expressionless facade. She got up and began walking away. "I need to get ready for the piggybank joust. See you later," she said as she walked away, leaving a confused Yuto behind.
Ayanokoji, who saw all this, sighed as he thought, 'I really do wonder how he can be so dense with Horikita.' He then narrowed his eyes as he looked at Yuto, who was looking down at the ground with a smile and thought, 'So my timer has started, I see... Within this limited time, I need to make Kazuki Yuto my tool. This may be what people call 'a once in a lifetime' opportunity.'
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"I see that they all targeted you," Yuto said as he sat down next to Horikita, who looked grim, and unresponsive. Yuto let out an audible sigh as he relaxed his body.
There was silence.
Glancing sideways at Horikita, Yuto's grin broke through the quiet. "You owe me a nice cold ice coffee if I win the piggyback joust," he declared, teasingly. With that, he rose to his feet, ready to depart. A faint smile appeared on Horikita's lips as she muttered under her breath, "You're impossible, idiot...."
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"Tsk!" Ryuen gritted his teeth as he looked at Yuto smiling at the crowd. "Team Red may beat us at this rate," he muttered to himself but then grinned. "Looks like I have to crush Suzune after all..."
"Ahhhh! Arigato!!" Yuto exclaimed with delight as he grabbed the coffee can Horikita had beside her. Downing the contents eagerly, he glanced at Horikita, who observed him intently. "Want some?" he offered, holding out the can with a neutral expression.
Horikita blushed slightly as she declined, prompting a nod from Yuto. As she took a sip of water, Yuto changed the subject abruptly. "There's a traitor in our class," he stated matter-of-factly, causing Horikita to almost choke on the water by how random the statement was. "I know. It's Kushida-san, right? Ayanokoji-kun told me," she replied. Yuto nodded, rising to his feet.
"Anyway, I have urgent matters to attend to. We'll meet after lunch," he declared, waving a casual farewell before Horikita could respond—though she wasn't exactly eager to engage in small talk anyway. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she pondered, 'Why do I always rely on him and Ayanokoji...'
An hour or so passed... Horikita was still sitting in the same position, looking down. That's when she heard a voice.
"Oiii, Horikita-san!" Kushida yelled as she came running to the tents.
"Can I help you, Kushida-san?"
"You see, Kinoshita-san got hurt real bad!" Horikita's eyes widened momentarily as Kushida continued, "Now they want you to come to the nurse's office!"
"Very well."
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"So, who is the traitor anyway?" Kei asked Ayanokoji, who was eating his food.
"I'm afraid I can't tell."
"Eh?! How come?" Kei shouted.
Ayanokoji simply ignored the question as Hirata asked, "If you knew who the traitor was, then why did you submit the leaked submission form?"
Ayanokoji looked at Hirata with a 'what do you mean?' expression as he replied calmly, "We didn't, though." Kei immediately spat out her food as she snarled at Ayanokoji, "Then how the hell are we losing from the girls' side?!"
Ayanokoji looked at her with a deadpan tone as he said, "Two reasons."
Hirata and Kei looked at him intently as he continued, "Firstly, we didn't change anything from the girls' side so that the traitor didn't know we changed the boys' sets."
"So the traitor is a girl then?"
Ayanokoji ignored the question as he continued, "Secondly, the girls don't have a Yuto." Hirata chuckled softly, understanding Ayanokoji's point, while Kei scowled. "It's not our fault Horikita-san got injured!" she protested, feeling unfairly targeted. Ayanokoji simply nodded, which made Kei even more pissed!
"But then, did you change the sets randomly?" Kei asked knowing that the original sets were carefully optimized.
Ayanokoji shook his head. "No, we based our changes on Class C's leaked submission form," This time, Hirata was the one to spit his food as Kei started to choke on water.
"WAIT! There is a traitor in Class C?!" Kei was the first to respond.
"No, there are 6 traitors in Class C," Ayanokoji said in a straight voice, causing Kei and Hirata to look at him with a 'WTF' expression
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[A/N: If anyone is wondering who the 6 traitors are. 3 of them from the special annex and the 3 who bullied Kei.]