The Flying Board awards ceremony was held, and the top 5 teams, including the champion, our team, were each presented with an award and prize money.
As for the prize money, I thought I should just give it to Aoi-chan and Hina-chan, but neither of them agreed, so it was decided that the prize money would be split three ways.
Incidentally, the 2nd place went to Scarlet Blue. Black Muscat had been leading, but in the final race, Scarlet Blue had managed to overtake Black Muscat and won 2nd place.
The event itself ended with the awards ceremony, but the locals kindly organized an afterparty. Although it wasn’t compulsory, the competitors participating in the afterparty voluntarily helped with the preparations, and we decided to follow their lead and help out as well.
[……Shall we help out over there as well?][Right. This is kinda nice. Everyone doing preparations for their party, I mean. It reminds me of the afterparty for the Cultural Festival.]
[Cultural Festival huh…… Cultural Festival…… I’ve never properly participated in a Cultural Festival before.]
I thought about agreeing with Hina-chan’s words…… but I didn’t really feel like I properly participated in the Cultural Festival back in high school. My school was relatively casual with such matters. They didn’t force the students to participate in class performances, and there were many times I didn’t go to the Cultural Festival.
I did participate once in my 2nd year, but I ended up going home without going around that much, so I at least didn’t experience what the closing party was like.
[Kaito-san kinda feels like a high school delinquent huh.]
[N- No, I wasn’t so much that I could be described as a delinquent, it’s more like I’m rather negligent with such things…… Let’s not talk about that for now.]
[Ahaha, Kaito-senpai’s openly avoiding talking about his high school days~~][It’s like that’s his black history……]
In fact, my high school years…… no, including my junior high years, is such black history that when I recall it, I want to hold my head in my hands. No, it isn’t that I did things that troubled people back then…… Well, I almost did no such thing, I think.
If people were to point out how I’m troubling Akira, I certainly can’t deny it…… but I think I’m generally more like unmotivated, lethargic perhaps.
W- Well, it’s not like I cut classes, and I’ve never gotten a failing mark on my tests. When exam season began, I did stop myself from playing MMOs and studied hard…… No, well, I did that partly because I felt bad for my uncle and aunt who were paying my tuition fees…… but in any case, it’s such black history to the extent that I almost writhe in agony when I recall it.
[Speaking of which, I haven’t heard much about your side of things. How’s school like for you two, Aoi-chan, Hina-chan?]
[Aoi-senpai is like that, you know? How should I say this…… Like the unattainable flower up above the mountains. As you can see, she’s beautiful, cool and quite popular.]
[……I don’t think that was the case though?]
[Even though I also heard how you often get confessed to?]
[I did turn down people a few times, but it’s not that I’m properly confessed to. People around me said they just did it for fun.]
As Hina-chan said, I think Aoi-chan would definitely be popular. However, she really does feel like an unattainable flower, so the atmosphere around her kinda makes her feel unapproachable.
As for Hina-chan, she seemed like the type who’d get along with everyone, so it feels like she’d have lots of friends.
[What about the fact that you turned down each of those confessions, saying that you have someone you liked?]
[That’s true. That’s a common way of rejection after all.]
[Is that so? From what I heard, you apparently can’t forget your first love——— Ouch!?]
[Hina-chan, I think it’s not a good idea to invade someone’s privacy like that, you know?]
[……You actually used magic? That means, I hit the bu———–]
[Hina-chan?]
[————I said nothing!!!]
From Aoi-chan’s reaction, I think it’s certain that she has her first love and that she’s still feeling conscious of them. Indeed, Aoi-chan feels like she’d be the earnest type.
Well, since the person herself doesn’t want to talk about it, let’s just stop at that.
[How was Hina-chan like though? I kinda imagine that she’d have a lot of friends.]
[I do have a lot of friends. I hang out with the girls from the track team, but I also get along well with my classmates.]
[Even back in school, Hina-chan was as energetic as she is now. She’s loved by everyone.]
Just as Aoi-chan additionally explained, Hina-chan has a bright and friendly personality…… How should I say this…… It really feels like she’s a bundle of sunshine, so I’d bet she’d be somewhere up above the class caste.
Aoi-chan would also probably be up above in the class caste, but in Aoi-chan’s case, she’d be like the aloof, solitary type?
[Hina-chan also looked like she’d be popular……]
[Hmmm, I wonder about that? is what I’d like to say, but it hasn’t even been half a year since I entered high school, and I was focused on club activities in preparation for the first tournament, so I haven’t been confessed to by anyone.]
[I see…… Come to think of it, the first time we were summoned here was before the summer vacation, so I guess you didn’t have enough time to get along with someone of the opposite sex……]
[Right. Also, I prefer older guys anyway, so in the first place, you could say dating a high school boy would be a pass for me. I’m hoping to date someone over 20 years old.]
Hina-chan likes older men. Hina-chan does feel like she’d want to be pampered by her partner, so her liking older men is kinda understandable.
She also seems to be getting along well with her older brother, so she may be looking for someone like a dependable older brother. Well, that could just be my imagination though……
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [That’s strange? Somehow, both of them felt like they were talking about Kaito……]
? ? ? : [Putting aside Hina-san, Aoi-san really is talking about Kaito-san after all.]
