“Don’t stop! Run!”

An angry shout echoed through the municipal gymnasium.

Students admitted through sports recommendations were exempt from Seikadan.

In exchange, those students, as designated athletes, are required to take part in regional block training.

Kaminari Nene was no exception. Once classes ended, she headed to the municipal sports association almost every day.

“Don’t get complacent. At this rate, you won’t beat the British Empire—hell, you wouldn’t even beat the Soviets.”

Nene played as a middle blocker, a crucial position in the team’s defense.

Responding to balls the coach sent to her left and right, she did nothing but jump, over and over again.

“You’re falling behind!”

From the speakers came a steady electronic beep, like a metronome.

Matching her jumps to the fixed rhythm of the sound, she kept leaping as sweat poured off her like rain.

Her knees trembled violently as the coach’s shouts rang out again.

“Keep your contact high!”

“Yes!”

She clenched her teeth and forced herself to keep going.

She could feel herself gradually falling out of sync with the electronic beeps, and it caused her to panic.

Sweat ran into her eyes, blurring her vision.

“That’s enough. Next.”

“Yes!”

Fighting the urge to stagger, she hurried over to the wall.

Watching the next player run onto the court, Nene dropped down onto the floor with a soft thud. As she caught her breath, she reached for the drink she had prepared.

“Hey, Kaminari… why’d you skip practice yesterday?”

One of the girls stepped out from the waiting line, approaching her with a mean-spirited smile.

“If you don’t have the motivation, why don’t you just quit?”

“……”

She was another middle blocker.

Ever since middle school, she’d had a habit of picking fights with Nene, who played the same position. And ever since Nene had put on the red ring marking a pairing, the harassment had only grown worse.

“You only made it onto Team B because of your height. You know you’re not growing anymore, right?”

“……”

“What, hit a nerve?”

Letting out a breath, Nene turned her gaze back to the court. The other middle blockers were still jumping left and right in sync with the electronic beeps.

“Kaminari, don’t let it get to you.”

She looked up to see a senior from two years above her standing there.

“Early bloomers always end up getting resented.”

“…Yes.”

“So then—why’d you take yesterday off?”

She sat down beside her, grinning.

“Is it a boy?”

“……”

“…You’re serious?”

Reading Nene’s reaction, the senior stared at her in disbelief.

“You mean that kid you told me about before—the one who stopped going to school? Did it actually work out?”

“During his first gene donation… he chose me.”

“Huh. That’s impressive. Is he a good boy?”

“He’s very kind to me. But…”

“But?”

“…He’s kind to other people too.”

The senior let out a small laugh.

“What’s that supposed to mean? That’s a pretty luxurious problem to have.”

“…I think so too.”

“In my case, there’s this intimidating girl who’s been close to him since middle school. She keeps everyone else in check—it’s hopeless.”

“An intimidating girl…?”

“Yeah. Apparently they ended up at the same high school by coincidence. And on top of that, she’s the daughter of a prominent local family. No way I can even get close.”

“That’s… rough.”

Seeing Nene struggle to respond, the senior continued.

“Honestly, the whole ‘he stopped going to school’ thing is kind of a blessing, you know. It means there weren’t any girls he was close to back in middle school.”

As Nene nodded, appreciating the perspective, the senior added in an ominous tone,

“Especially if there’s a childhood friend from elementary school. Those are tough.”

“…A childhood friend?”

“That’s nine years of shared experience. When you’ve shared memories from when you were little, the way you’re treated changes completely. And with that much time, the girl’s attachment can get pretty intense.”

“I guess that’s true…”

“But given the situation, you’ve got a real shot, Kaminari. So don’t give up.”

“Yes.”

Hearing that, she felt a little more energized.

It still bothered her that there’d been no talk of gene donation when she stayed over, but it was only mid-May.

For now, the only clear rival was his aide, Mikado Rei.

Realizing just how fortunate it was that she didn’t have any competitors outside of school, Nene steeled herself and slapped her own cheeks to psych herself up.

“Alright… I’ll do my best!”

 ◇◆◇

“So in other words, that makes this an extremely valuable example of a rare waka left behind by a man.”
TN: waka (和歌) is a classic Japanese poem.

Minaki Suzu listened without really paying attention, looking bored as she took notes.

During Seikadan activities, which were held several times a week, students were encouraged to take part not only in volunteer and service work, but also in cultural pursuits outside the regular school curriculum.

That day, a lecture on waka was being held.

“Alright, let’s take a ten-minute break.”

As the lecturer left the room, Suzu ignored the looks around her and slumped forward onto her desk.

The slightly early dinner she’d had was already making her sleepy.

“This time slot’s brutal…”

She muttered without thinking, and the girl sitting beside her, Koito Tsubaki, tilted her head in curiosity.

“Really? I thought today’s lecture was quite interesting.”

“…You like books and stuff, don’t you, Koito?”

“There’s something romantic about waka written by men from so long ago.”

“Well… I guess…”

Since Seikadan operated under the Party, its activities naturally tended to carry political undertones.

In that sense, today’s lecture was one of the better ones, all things considered.

“Besides, I don’t need to daydream about boys from the Heian period. If I go to school, you can see real boys there.”

“Is that supposed to be a boast? Are things going well for you?”

“More or less. I talk to the boy in my class, at least.”

“Minaki-san, you’re in the bottom-ranked class, right? Getting too close might just make things harder for you.”

What Koito Tsubaki was saying made sense.

Among first-years, many students deliberately kept a certain distance from boys, keeping future class transfers in mind.

“Yeah… I’m not really thinking about changing classes anymore, so I don’t mind.”

“Is he really that special?”

“Yeah… apparently he stopped going to school for a while, and his social score is ridiculously low. But aside from that, I think he’s genuinely a good guy. More than anything, he’s ridiculously good-looking—like, unreal.”

The previously disinterested look on Tsubaki’s face stiffened in an instant.

But Suzu, glancing away to hide her embarrassment, didn’t notice the change.

The previously disinterested look on Tsubaki’s face stiffened in an instant.

But Suzu, glancing away to hide her embarrassment, didn’t notice the change.

“And he doesn’t seem that interested in women’s scores either. For me, he’s basically the perfect hit.”

“……”

Because of the noise around them, Suzu didn’t think much of the sudden silence.

She let out a big yawn and slumped back onto her desk.

“That person… why did he stop going to school for a while?”

“Mmh… ah. I don’t really know the details.”

“…Anything else? What kind of person is he?”

“Anything else? Uh… he’s never changed his aide, not even once. And according to the data, he was listed as having a fear of women. But he talks normally, he’s gone through gene donation too. And it doesn’t seem like a falsified diagnosis either.”

After saying everything that came to mind, Suzu finally lifted her head.

She found herself meeting Tsubaki’s unusually serious gaze.

“…Is he attending school normally now?”

“Yeah. To the point that he hasn’t missed a single day.”

“……”

Only then did Suzu sense something was off.

There was a strange intensity in Tsubaki’s eyes.

“By the way, Shirayuki has a school festival, right?”

“…Yeah, but that’s in the fall.”

“Right. And students get invitation tickets, don’t they?”

Tsubaki leaned forward slightly.

“When the time comes… could you give me one?”