210 - The Night Before the Decisive Battle

RAW

The day before the sports festival.

Classes only lasted until noon, and the afternoon was spent preparing the venue, setting up the field, and making other arrangements for the event.

After changing into his gym clothes, Haruto carried folding chairs to the field together with Tomoya.

“By the way, we need to ask someone to take pictures of the sports festival.”

Haruto remembered that when he had previously told Shuichi that he would participate in the mixed relay with Ayaka, he had promised to take pictures of the event.

“Pictures?”

“Yeah. Shuichi-san said he really wanted to see his daughter and his future son-in-law’s big moment.”

Tomoya laughed while carrying chairs just like Haruto.

“Future son-in-law, huh? But I guess that’s what it means if you’re marrying Ayaka.”

“Haruto, do you call him your father-in-law too?”

“That was one of the conditions for me to marry Ayaka.”

“What kind of condition is that? As expected, he really likes you a lot.”

“Well, I’m grateful for it. Anyway, that’s why I need someone to take pictures of the sports festival, but…”

As Haruto said that, a loud voice suddenly came from behind them.

“Leave it to me!”

When Haruto and Tomoya turned around at the same time, they saw Sato standing there with shining eyes.

“If it’s pictures of the sports festival, leave it to me!”

Sato approached Haruto with such enthusiasm that it looked like he might throw away the chair he was carrying.

“Otsuki and Tojo-san… I’ll capture your love relay perfectly on film!”

“L-love relay…”

Faced with Sato’s overflowing passion, Haruto’s cheek twitched.

“Tojo-san running with all her strength. Then Otsuki receiving the baton from her and sprinting forward… It will become a picture worthy of a world-famous masterpiece!”

“N-no, I don’t think it’s quite that…”

“To preserve the precious relationship between the two of you in the world of photography. There is no greater honor! Please let me take the pictures!”

“Uh… sure. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Overwhelmed by Sato’s burning determination like a raging flame, Haruto entrusted him with the photos of the sports festival.

Then Sato’s face lit up, and his motivation exploded.

“Thank you! I’ll definitely take the best pictures possible!”

With that, Sato ran away shouting “Uoooooh!”

Watching his back disappear, Tomoya muttered quietly.

“That guy is going to start a religion soon. The Otsuki religion.”

“Stop.”

Haruto’s cheek twitched at his friend’s joke that wasn’t entirely a joke.

The sports festival preparations were completed with the help of the entire student body, and they finished earlier than on a normal school day.

After finishing setting up the tents, Tomoya wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around.

“Huh? Once the setup is finished, are we allowed to go home?”

“The teacher said that before we started preparing.”

“Did he?”

Tomoya tilted his head while taking off his work gloves.

Haruto sighed and said,

“Listen properly when people are talking.”

While Haruto was lecturing him, Saki and Ayaka approached them.

“Are you guys already done with your work?”

Saki asked while carrying a bucket filled with stones.

“Our work is finished thanks to my amazing efforts. What about you?”

Tomoya joked.

Saki looked down at the bucket she was holding with both hands.

“Once I throw away these stones, I’m done.”

“Where are you supposed to throw those away?”

“They told us to put them near the fence at the edge of the field.”

“Isn’t that pretty far? I’ll carry it for you.”

Tomoya took the bucket from Saki’s hands effortlessly.

“Thanks. That helps.”

“This is heavier than I thought.”

“I picked up quite a lot.”

“Well, thanks to this, we won’t trip over stones during tomorrow’s relay.”

Impressed by the amount of stones Saki and the others had collected, Tomoya received a teasing remark from Haruto.

“Is that a flag?”

“No way. I have to do my best at tomorrow’s sports festival. For my reward!”

“Reward?”

Haruto questioned him.

Saki quickly interrupted the conversation.

“Hey, Tomoya! I told you it wasn’t a reward!”

“Oh, right.”

“Seriously! Don’t make people misunderstand!”

“Roger that.”

Unlike Tomoya’s usual carefree attitude, Saki looked strangely nervous and kept asking,

“Do you really understand?”

While watching the two of them, Haruto noticed Ayaka quietly moving closer beside him.

“Hey, Haruto. After the sports festival, do you want to go on a date too?”

Receiving a date invitation from his beloved fiancée, Haruto nodded instinctively.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Yay.”

Seeing her happily smile, Haruto naturally smiled as well.

“Then let’s think about our date plan together later.”

“Okay!”

Feeling healed by Ayaka’s bright smile, Haruto went with Tomoya and the others to throw away the stones.

After that, Haruto and the others finished preparing the sports festival venue.

Since they decided not to practice the relay today in preparation for tomorrow, they went home slightly earlier than usual.

Haruto ate dinner at the Tojo household, played with Ryota, took a bath with him, and as always, played one match of shogi with Shuichi before returning to his room.

“Tomorrow’s relay… I have to make sure we reach the podium…”

Remembering his plan with Minato-senpai, Haruto muttered quietly.

The pressure of having to place in the mixed relay.

And the pressure of Minato-senpai’s public confession strategy.

The two tensions combined together.

While sitting on his chair and imagining his conversation with Minato-senpai over and over, someone knocked on the door.

“Haruto, can I come in?”

Ayaka’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, come in.”

After receiving permission, Ayaka slowly entered the room wearing pajamas.

She sat down on the bed and tilted her head slightly, staring at Haruto.

Understanding what that gaze meant, he stood up from his chair and moved beside her.

“Tomorrow’s going to be nerve-racking.”

“Yeah.”

“…You know, Haruto. Tomorrow, I’m going to do my best.”

After saying that, Ayaka leaned against him and wrapped both arms around his arm.

Feeling the softness surrounding him, Haruto felt his heartbeat quicken.

“I’ll do my best too. Actually, I really want us to reach the podium in the mixed relay.”

Hearing that, Ayaka looked directly at him.

“Me too. I want to stand on the podium together with you.”

“I see. Then let’s do our best together.”

“Yeah!”

Ayaka nodded strongly while squeezing his arm tighter.

Feeling the increased softness against him, Haruto felt his face growing hot.

“A-Ayaka, um…”

The memory of when she pushed him down the other day suddenly returned.

Along with it came an overwhelming desire.

Feeling that this was dangerous, Haruto opened his mouth.

“Could you move away just a little?”

“Eh? Ah…”

Ayaka tilted her head for a moment, but soon her face turned red.

She probably remembered that moment too.

At the same time, the soft feeling around his arm weakened slightly.

Haruto felt relieved… but also strangely lonely.

Then, just as he thought that—

Ayaka, who had looked like she was about to move away, clenched her lips and leaned against him again.

This time, she didn’t just hold his arm.

She spread both arms and hugged him, completely embracing him.

“!?”

With Ayaka pressing her face against his chest and hugging him with all her strength, Haruto felt like his heart might jump out.

Then, he heard a small but passionate voice.

“I won’t move away.”

“…Ayaka?”

“Because I’m Haruto’s wife. I’ll always stay by your side.”

Ayaka lifted her face from his chest and looked up at him.

“Is that okay?”

A voice that sounded both like she was asking for affection and like she wanted to protect him.

Faced with Ayaka’s overwhelming cuteness and warmth, Haruto’s heart nearly exploded.

Yet at the same time, he felt a comfort like being surrounded by sunlight.

“…Thank you.”

Haruto thanked Ayaka for giving him so much love and gently hugged her back.

“Yeah. I’ll do my best too. So I can keep staying beside Haruto as his wife.”

Saying that, Ayaka tightened her arms around his back.

The warmth of her scent and the softness of her body caused an instinctive desire to rise within Haruto.

He desperately suppressed it and chose to respond to her sincere affection instead.

“I’ll do my best for you too, Ayaka.”

Holding his future wife in his arms, Haruto spoke as if reassuring himself.

He wanted to always be able to smile together with Ayaka.

For that reason, he would solve the problem of all the confessions she was receiving.

They would reach the podium in the mixed relay, and there, together with Minato-senpai, they would show the entire school their relationship.

Because Minato-senpai had once been called to the student guidance office after proposing, they couldn’t reveal their engagement.

But even so, for the sake of having a fulfilling school life with his future wife, Haruto swore that tomorrow he would definitely win.

“Let’s aim for the podium together.”

“Yeah. Absolutely.”

Haruto looked at Ayaka.

And she looked back at him with the same strong determination shining in her eyes.