The timeline is more than a year before chapter 1.
The perspective is that of the chemistry club advisor.
The pattern of the sports festival.
Before the rainy season begins, summer arrives.
These days, our school welcomes the day of the sports festival.
Being a school focused on advancement, the intention is to quickly get both the cultural festival and the sports festival out of the way so students can start preparing for their exams. This is why these two events are crammed into the same period, incidentally along with the midterm tests.
You see, it’s quite a tough schedule for the students, but they still manage to prepare and do something interesting every year, so well, it is something to look forward to.
Yes, it’s not like the teachers have it easy. The students have it tough, but the teachers are incredibly busy too!
…Amidst such events rushing by.
This year, the freshmen who joined our club are quite the unique bunch, so I’m thinking it could be fun.
…However, yeah. It’s hot, isn’t it? Wonder what’s up with that.
While the students seem more excited than bothered by the heat, for someone like me, who can’t help but be conscious of my age, it’s quite tough.
…When I mentioned this to President, he said, “Your metabolism should be slowing down with age, making it easier for you. In your case, the heat is likely due to lack of exercise and obesity.”
Yeah, no, I couldn’t help but laugh. Hahaha. I’m angry.
From first to third years, one class from each grade is chosen through a lottery to form teams.
And, the competition is based on the total points scored in the events, a fairly common rule, right?
…However, there is a separate performance award.
Every year, during the opening ceremony, each team does various interesting things. Yep.
The nine teams did something elaborate and interesting, even interrupting the principal’s speech to liven up the place thoroughly.
…Yeah, I was laughing so much that Itoigawa told me, “You’re laughing too much, teacher.”
I thought laughing was polite! Otherwise, it would be rude to the students who put out such quality.
…When I replied with that, she said, “No, it’s just that you’re laughing so loudly it’s annoying. Please be quiet.”
Harsh.
Thus began the sports festival.
The competition started with the classic 100m dash.
You see, actually, it’s more beneficial to put the fast runners in the 100m dash than in the relay in terms of scoring points.
…Thinking ahead like that. Yeah, I guess not everyone thinks that far ahead. Not every student is like President.
This time, a first-year who joined the chemistry club, Kadomi, came first among those from sports clubs, which made me somewhat happy.
I might praise him later. He’s quiet, so I still haven’t quite figured him out.
Wonder how he’ll react. We’ll see.
Next was the three-legged race.
Itoigawa was participating in this.
Her partner was a girl from her class, from the tea ceremony club, I think.
They tied their legs together, seemed to have a little chat, and then got ready at the signal.
…And as soon as the pistol fired, they sprinted at full speed.
Really, full speed.
They overtook other pairs from the start and kept up their speed without falling or slowing down, straight to first place.
She looked quite proud looking at us, so I decided to sincerely applaud.
…Yeah, it’s impressive to see such coordination, but a full-speed three-legged race looks visually off.
For a high school girls’ three-legged race, you’d expect more of a “let’s go, let’s go” vibe.
No, it’s typical of Itoigawa and it was interesting and good.
Next was the obstacle race.
Here, first-year students Hariu and Maito were participating.
These guys are also weird in their own way, so I’m looking forward to it.
The obstacle race had five obstacles: jump over a vaulting box, crawl under a net, cross a balance beam, pop a balloon, eat bread, and then the goal.
Taller individuals have an advantage at the vaulting box, but smaller ones benefit from the net.
Hariu and Maito aren’t particularly tall. Yeah, wonder how it will turn out.
Anyway, the boys are first, so Hariu’s up.
As soon as the pistol sounded, nine boys started running.
…Yeah. Physical differences really do matter. He got pushed back and started late when jumping over the vaulting box.
…But, yeah, he was quick through the net.
He slid through it in one go, closing the gap with those in front.
He jumped over the balance beam in three steps, quickly popped the balloon, and then, he was fast with the bread.
He ran, took a leap, and the bread was gone in an instant, just like that, really fast.
Ah, he chose the melon bread that was closest to him.
And then, straight to the goal.
He almost completely made up for the initial delay with the bread, securing a proud first place.
This deserves sincere praise.
Next was Maito.
Yeah, she was fast too. She got delayed at the net, but since she’s relatively fast among the girls, she was at the front before the bread. Then, she went out of her way to aim for an anpan.
And she grabbed the bread in a flash too, finishing way ahead of the second place. What is it with these kids and their love for bread?
Next was the scavenger hunt.
I think it’s nice that the school has many of these quirky events. Yeah.
It looks like Kariya and Katori are participating in this one.
They are in different classes, so it’s going to be a competition between them.
They start by running to a box 50m away to draw a lot.
Then, they have to borrow whatever is written on it and bring it back.
…Oh.
Somehow, both of them are heading this way.
Eh, what should I do? Should I run away? No, I’ll stay put.
“Teacher, the task was ‘someone you like.'”
“Teacher, the task was ‘someone over 180cm tall.'”
…
Alright.
“I’ll go with Katori because going with Kariya might lead to unnecessary misunderstandings since the task was ‘someone you like.'”
I mean, ‘someone you like,’ right?
I know it’s not meant in that way and it’s probably fine as a joke, but still.
“That’s harsh, teacher!”
Still, I prefer to avoid being teased by energetic high school girls.
By the way, Kariya ended up taking his homeroom teacher.
It was a relatively young teacher with a fresh atmosphere, so everyone ended warmly in a cozy mood.
Yep, choosing the right person is important.
The last event of the morning was the large rope jumping.
Yeah, our class kept tripping up, so I’ll skip over that.
Man, why can’t the practice show its results at times like these?
I mean, the students must be the ones who are most frustrated, but still…
…And then, the afternoon.
No, the first event of the afternoon was the “Club Activity Relay.”
The rules are simple.
Divided into three groups: boys from sports clubs, girls from sports clubs, and cultural clubs, each group competes for rankings and a performance award.
This is a completely fun category, unrelated to the overall score of the sports festival.
However, the first place and the performance award winner each receive a 500 yen book voucher, so yeah, they’re pretty enthusiastic.
…A 500 yen book voucher, is that really such a motivating prize?
Watching the sports clubs, they’re incredibly fast.
As expected, really. Some students from my class were also performing well, which satisfies me.
…And then.
It was finally the cultural club’s turn, but until last year, we couldn’t aim for first place or the performance award.
Because… there wasn’t anyone who was good at sports, and there aren’t many experiments that look impressive outdoors and are safe.
So, naturally, this club was at a disadvantage.
There’s a rule that cultural clubs must include at least one girl, which was a bottleneck since the girls in the chemistry club weren’t exactly athletic.
But, the members who joined this year. They’re quite fast.
Naturally, or should I say, Kadomi led the pack. Then, in order of speed, we selected President, Suzumoto, and Hariu. Maito was the fastest among the girls.
These five ran… in laboratory style with safety glasses and white coats.
Holding a model of a fullerene as a baton.
…Yeah. It seems the fullerene was the easiest to grasp and pass, according to them.
Well, among molecular models, it’s pretty durable. Yeah. No complaints there.
So, it was decided they would run in this style, which sufficiently advertised the club without hindering their run too much.
Maito was the first runner. It seems she was going for a come-from-behind strategy.
Right from the start, the band club, with an equal number of boys, took the lead easily.
Art club and others were going for performance from the get-go.
It’s inevitable for cultural clubs to aim more for performance.
The band club had waiting players playing recorders, the art club was carrying a huge brush made specifically for this day instead of a baton, and the tea ceremony club was carrying a tea bowl and whisk (apparently, those were their batons).
It’s entertaining to watch. Yeah.
Maito did her best, but the gap started to widen soon, and it was clear she was being left behind by the lead.
She wasn’t slow, but it was impossible to win against the boys. She was in 4th place when she passed the fullerene… to Hariu.
The way they sped up before passing shows their seriousness.
Hariu was quite fast, too. He overtook one person.
He maintained that position and passed the fullerene to President. They were in provisional 3rd place then.
And then, President was surprisingly fast.
Was he always this fast? Yeah, I was surprised.
He said later, “I’m suited for short distances,” which was true; he was out of breath after running 250m.
So, when Suzumoto received the fullerene, they were in 2nd place.
Hmm, nice. It’s getting exciting. I can’t help but get absorbed in it.
Well, his rise was a bit different in excitement… Yeah, never mind.
With the first place switching to a girl, the gap with the lead began to close noticeably. Oh, come on, keep it up.
And then, the moment Kadomi received the fullerene, his speed increased.
Ah, as expected, that guy really has the legs of someone from a sports club.
He caught up to and passed the others from the cultural clubs, ultimately securing first place for the chemistry club.
Wow, unbelievable.
I thought they were practicing with the fullerene pass and all, but to actually win first place? My apologies for underestimating.
“Exactly as expected of my juniors! Absolutely brilliant!”
I could understand why Itoigawa next to me was so excited.
Yeah, it’s lucky for a cultural club to have such talented members.
By the way, the performance award went to the band club’s quartet of recorders.
So, as the advisor, I was quite pleased with the outcome, and then we moved on to the most dangerous event of the sports festival.
Yep. The cavalry battle.
The one that results in injuries every year.
Girls don’t participate, so it’s just the boys. Only those who want to participate in the cavalry battle, about 6 from each class.
Meaning, it’s usually the physically larger and more athletic students who participate, so I didn’t expect anyone from the chemistry club… I thought I’d just cheer for my class.
But Toriumi and Hagasaki were participating.
…Why?! I was genuinely surprised. Why? Really, why this selection?
…I heard later that no one wanted to do the cavalry battle, so they decided with rock-paper-scissors, and they lost. Well, I’m glad there was a proper reason. Yeah.
By the way, those two surprisingly held their own.
Toriumi was the horse, and Hagasaki was the rider.
See, Toriumi is good at observing the surroundings and has leadership skills, and Hagasaki has a long reach and is smart.
As a result, they managed to snatch two headbands from the enemy team. Wow, what an achievement. I’ll praise them later.
The freshmen did well, but with the seniors… the current president of the chemistry club managed to collapse the horse formation in just three steps, causing quite a hilarious scene.
Then, during the tug-of-war for girls, Itoigawa turned into a warrior, and in the boys’ pole toppling, President was used as a stepping stone, providing more amusing scenes to enjoy.
Finally, the sports festival concluded with a tug-of-war.
My class’s team secured a respectable third place, and the club did quite well too. It was a good day. Yeah.
Now, onto the cultural festival.
It’s one of the few special days for cultural clubs, meaning it’s time to go all out. This year seems like it’ll be more fun than usual. Yeah. I’m looking forward to it.
“Teacher! Part of the fullerene model broke! Is super glue okay?”
…Yeah.
“Teacher, how about doing a thermite reaction at the finish line next year?”
“That would be dangerous. How about running while scattering soap bubbles?”
“That sounds messy…”
“We’ll definitely get complaints from the other clubs for that.”
“It’s the fault of whoever decides to run behind the chemistry club!”
“Why are you trying to pick a fight, stop it, please!”
“Like this year’s band club, maybe it’s okay if only the people waiting with the baton do it?”
“…Eh, I don’t wanna do that…”
…Yeah. I’m really looking forward to it.