Part-3 Ch-02 Ep-03

Inuino-kun’s POV

At first, I thought she was some kind of student council officer.

Since I already knew who the student council president was, I assumed she was probably the vice president, the secretary, or something along those lines.

Nagase Mari-senpai.

She was always mingling within the circle of student council members, and I even saw her helping out with preparations for committee events.

Because of that, whenever the sports committee held something, she understood the overall situation better than any other committee member and casually supported everyone.

She did it herself as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but only later did I realize just how impressive that actually was.

It was on the day of the new student welcome sports tournament, right after I had entered high school.

At the time, as a first-year, I was supposed to be one of the students being welcomed, but for some reason I ended up on the sports committee and was worked to the bone handling operations.

I had only been at school for a month or two, barely memorizing the layout of the school building, the location of the gym storage rooms used by the clubs, and even the placement of equipment inside them was still vague, yet I was somehow trying to manage everything.

No matter how many meetings we held, the arrangements and roles written on the printed materials were completely different from the actual movements on the field, and everything felt chaotic.

At times like that, there was a senpai who would casually call out to us underclassmen.

"Huh? Where am I supposed to go next again?" a girl from my class said.

I did not know either, so I looked at the printout with her and answered vaguely, "Over there, probably?"

Then suddenly, a face peeked out from behind us.

It was the girl senpai who was always talking with the student council members.

"Hmm, let me see the printout for a second. Ah, you’re on the far side of the field. There’s a second-year senpai standing over there, so go ask next to them."

The girl who had been addressed looked visibly relieved, thanked the senpai, and ran off toward the field.

"We might be short on stopwatches," someone said.

"Hmm, then I’ll go ask the student council if they have any spares," the same girl senpai said, about to dash off again.

"Nagase, I’ll run and get them, so you go take your next position first."

"Ah, Todoroki-kun, thanks."

Every time we first-years started to flounder, that girl senpai would cover for us, and in response, the other senpais also began paying closer attention.

From their conversations, I learned that she was called "Nagase," and I quickly committed the name to memory.

And on that very same day, I found out that she was not actually a student council member at all; she was just a regular sports committee member like the rest of us.

When I realized that, I thought, wow, senpais really are amazing.

But she herself did not seem to care about it in the slightest.

The way she paid attention to everyone around her, the way she acted as a bridge between the student council and the committee, I think she did all of it completely naturally, without ever stopping to think twice.

Once I realized that, the way I had been grumbling to myself just a little earlier about "getting worked to the bone handling operations" suddenly felt very childish.

"……I should do this properly."

With that thought, I straightened my back and ran across the field to referee the next event. I still remember that clearly.

And then, on the day of the sports festival, around the time I had finally gotten used to committee work.

During the mixed-gender relay, I caught sight of senpai doing her job as casually as ever, yet this time with complete seriousness.

She’s cool.

As I watched her run past, the world seemed to sparkle, and my chest burned hot.

After the relay, when she collapsed and was carried off to the infirmary, all I could do was watch from afar, and at that moment my chest ached painfully.

When the sports festival ended and I saw her lively again, I felt genuine relief from the bottom of my heart. Thank goodness.

For someone who worked so hard to keep everyone around her smiling, I wondered if there was something I could do for her. If possible, I wanted to support her from nearby.

That time, I felt it very strongly.

It was probably something like being a fan.

She is not an idol, but she is someone I admire.

This year, after advancing to the next grade, I gathered my courage and spoke to her.

From that day on, every single day has been incredibly fun, and I have even started putting more effort into club activities.

"Fifteen-minute break. Hydrate, then we start again."

During the club break, while wiping away the sweat pouring off me, I spotted Nagase-senpai walking through the school courtyard.

She was carrying a large garbage bag, so she was probably on cleaning duty or something like that.

I thought for a moment, then told my teammates, "I’ll step out for a bit," and ran toward senpai.

"Nagase-senpai."

"Ah, Inuino-kun."

When I called out to her, Nagase-senpai waved.

For just a moment, did she look a little awkward? Maybe it was just my imagination.

"That uniform, is it the soccer club?"

"Yeah. We’re on break right now."

"I see," senpai murmured softly, almost to herself.

I took the large garbage bag from senpai’s hand and said, "I’ll carry it."

"Eh, no, it’s fine."

"It’s fine. Senpai, you have several of them, right? I’ll carry them all."

I held out my hand.

I did not mind being used as an errand boy or anything like that.

I simply wanted to be useful, and if possible, rack up a few favorability points.

"Hmm, then can you take this heavy one?"

At those words, inside I shouted, "Yes!" and felt genuinely happy.

That meant I could spend a little more time with her.

Even though the distance was short, this time together felt incredibly precious.

After we finished throwing out the trash, senpai let out a "fuu" sigh, as if finishing a task, and brushed her hands off.

Then she turned toward me and said in a firm voice,

"Now then. Inuino-kun, can we talk for a bit?"

"Yes?"

The senpai who had called out to me was looking at me with a serious expression, and it seemed like it would take a little while before I could return to club practice.