Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha

The Sports Festival of Hijirigasaka Academy. Today, the twenty-fourth, is a cloudless, clear sunny autumn day.

As the nine o’clock bell rang, Toujou Basara was currently by the school gates togather with Tachibana Nanao. They were the ones responsible for serving the reception for guests like the parents of the students and the people living nearly.

Before the reception table covered with all sorts of introduction leaflets—

“I guess most of the guests have already arrived by now…?”

Hearing Tachibana say at a time where there was no one around, Basara nodded with an ‘I guess so’. After that, while wearing sports attire and exuding a cute feminine air, Tachibana said:

“It’s about the time where the students would be entering the field, and to a parent, this would be the first opportunity to capture an excellent-timed photo; they’re probably doing the final checks on their cameras and recording equipment now.”

“Ahaha, that might really be the case, you know.”

Tavhibana smiled cutely while scratching his cheek, and—

“……Anyways, it all started smoothly.”

For the rest of the week since Donoe’s outburst, the atmosphere in the organising committee fell to an extreme low, but everyone managed to smoothly welcome the beginning of the Sports Festival.

On the day after his outburst, Donoe returned to the organising committee and apologised to Kajiura. It wasn’t clear if Sakazaki’s words at the rooftop were true, or if there were any other reasons behind Donoe’s change in att.i.tude, but even if his apology wasn’t sincere, the organising committee got back on track, and did the final sprint for the preparations for the official day.

…Surely, I had thought that Donoe-senpai would try to bring down the Sports Festival.

But ever since he apologised, Donoe never pestered Mio everytime he saw he her again; even if there seemed to be some dissatisfaction in his att.i.tude, he still fulfilled his responsibilities.

As for the matter about the fireworks he had brought up, it appears to have been completely settled by Kajiura and Sakazaki. All of the departments had hurried to complete their preparations on the day before, but no one will know what will happen after.

Thus until the Sports Festival startes, Basara will not leave the Organising Committee alone, which shows that it wasn’t necessary for take into consideration of attackers taking any chances as he tried to make the Sports Festival a success – even if it wasn’t [completely] and just [almost], t was the sight of Tachibana by his side with a shallow smile that made Basara understand there he didn’t have to suspect his new friends.

“…What’s the matter, Toujou-kun?”

When Tachibana asked him this, Basara shook his head while saying ‘It’s nothing’. At that moment, a new guest came to the reception table, and upon seeing the young girl wearing not the uniform of that of Hijirigasaka Academy—

“Hai – it appears that you didn’t lose your way here.”

Basara smiled and said while presenting some leaflets to her.

“Are you an idiot… My older sister studies here, so I can’t lose my way.”

Snappily returning a "Hmph", the young girl -- Nonaka Kurumi accepted the leaflets handed to her.

“Could it be… Toujou-kun knows this girl?”

“That’s right, she is Yuki’s – the younger sister of that Nonaka from my cla.s.s. Kurumi, this person is Tachibana, a member of the organising committee, just like me.”

“Um, I… I am Tachibana, Toujou-kun’s friend… Nice to meet you.”

“……h.e.l.lo.”

Kurumi walked towards the field after giving Tachibana a short glance.

“Could it be, that she hates me…?”

“No, no, you’re just thinking about it too much.”

Basara smiled bitterly while answering Tachibana who looked towards him worriedly – and his expression suddenly froze.

“ ? Is something the matter, Toujou-kun… Ah.”

Tachibana’s doubts did not last long, since she very quickly realised the reason behind it. Two members of the organising committee were heading this way from the field – it was the changing of the shifts for the reception staff. After Basara nodded as a greeting—

“……Time for changing shifts.”

One of them – Donoe coldly said while not looking into Basara’s eyes.

“Alright… Then I’ll be leaving the rest to you.”

After handing the reception table over to Donoe and the others, Basara and Tachibanadid not directly return to their respective cla.s.ses, but instead head towards tent a.s.sembled in the field as the headquarters of the organising committee. As they got closer to the field, the heat and noise from the crowd gathered grew bigger. Very soon, they saw many tents and equipment that have been set up – as well as the crowd that was packed into the audience area and the field that was already set up for the various events.

When Basara and Tachibana entered the headquarters, all of the other members of the organising committee not in charge of directing guests and reception had gathered.

Mio, Yuki, Aikawa, and Sakaki were present. Kajiura who was at the center of everyone, noticed the two of them and looked down at the list she was holding.

“Thanks for your hard work, with this, everyone is now here.”

And she began to speak while looking at everyone.

As the Sports Festival was mainly an inter-cla.s.s compet.i.tion, everyone was wearing headbands of various colours like white, red, and yellow. Of course, they were compet.i.tors while out in the field, but – the committee members gathered here were all important comrades who worked to make the Sports Festival a success. Hence—

“The time has come – let us start the Sports Festival now.”

On Kajiura’s face, there wasn’t any traces of the frustration from having too many members, as well as the worries of the humiliation caused by Donoe’s outburst; showing the dependable leadership on her face that had reunited the organising committee in the last week and managed to let the Sports Festival happen on scheldue, everyone naturally gathered into a circle with Kajiura in the center. Just then, Mio and Yuki pushed themselves to Basara’s left and right side.

“…Basara -- Kurumi?”

“She’s here, she probably reached the agreed place before I came.”

Yuki had quietly asked, to which Basara replied, and Mio also asked, a little serious:

“I see… That moment, is finally here.”

Toujou Basara nodded and answered ‘Indeed’.

“Let us begin too – our own Sports Festival (Battle).”

It was time for the students to gather in the field. Following the music, the students wearing their sports attire ran one round around the field in order of their years, and lined themselves up neatly by cla.s.ses in the field.

In the audience area, virtually everyone’s eyes and all lens were pointed towards the field—

“…………”

Except for Nonaka Kurumi, who was doing something else while in the crowd – to check on and confirm the suspects behind the attack incident on Basara that he was mentioned while explaining.

Especially the few whom he had a strong causal relationship with on an emotional level, as well as their positions.

So far, she had looked at Tachibana who was together with Basara at the school gate, Donoe Shouhei who Basara had pa.s.sed, as well as Kajiura Rikka who had stayed in the headquarters tent.

Since the Sports Festival started on time, the threat posed by Kajiura and Tachibana who wished for the Sports Festival to be a success was lower compared to Donoe who held a personal grudge against Basara – but yet Nonaka Kurumi did not relax. The hopes of the two of them not being the culprits, was due to Basara’s positive emotions amongst peers; if Basara had an obligation to believe them, then what Kurumi had to do, was to suspect them.

Right now, Maria was not allowed to leave the house because of the incident with Zolgear, and Mio and Yuki couldn’t make any big actions, so as to not give the Moderates Faction, as well as the Hero Tribe an excuse to take actions deviating from Basara’s expectations.

Hence, the only one who could move out in the open for this incident, is only Basara who had experienced an attack…

…As well me who had intervened after witnessing the scene…

Just watch as I pick you out. Kurumi thought. Not only just Yuki, Mio and Maria holds feelings for Basara, the Kurumi now was still the same as in the past, seeing Basara as someone irreplaceable. At this moment – Kurumi found the figure of Hozumi Kaiji, an avid supporter of Yuki in the headquarters tent amongst the many students.

…With this, that makes it four persons.

Making a mental note of the number, Kurumi panned her line of sight, and at the right side – she found the last two suspects in the staff tent.

One of them was Sakazaki who was looking out towards the students on the field with a hearty smile.

Next…

The other person, was the infirmary teacher who wore a white coat – Hasegawa Chisato.

That makes it six persons. The task Kurumi had taken on today, was to keep surveillance on all the suspects of the attacker who had attacked Basara. After adding on the other organising committee staff, the number would be in the thirties-zone, but that wasn’t a problem to Kurumi.

After the princ.i.p.al began on his speech in the stage, Kurumi closed both her eyes, and—

“————————”

Gathering her consciousness, she opened a magic circle with herself as the centre, and in the glow of the magic circle that couldn’t be seen by ordinary people—

…Please, everyone…

Calling out to the spirits in the surrounding area in her heart, asking them to watch over the entire school grounds and report to her of any suspicious things. Sensing the spirit’s agreement[1], Kurumi then opened her eyes, and her sight unexpectedly met with Basara’s. It was probably because Kurumi had used magic that allowed Basara to locate her within the crowd.

Also – this also meant that the culprit lurking on the school grounds to sense Kurumi’s prescence and magic.

Once the other party makes any moves, she and Basara will immediately move to take that person down.

Under Kurumi’s and the spirits’ sights, the princ.i.p.al ended his speech in stage, and next up was the athlete’s oath.

A female student walked up onto the stage, and said out loud after raising her right hand up towards the sky:

“—oath. We, the students, hereby pledge to use all the knowledge and experience we have gained at school, along with the healthy bodies and minds cultivated at school, to compete fairly and honourably with each other. On behalf of the entire student body, student representative – Kajiura Rikka.”

When the speech ended, applause immediately covered the entire field.

With everyone having being that of the same mind, Hijirigasaka Academy’s Sports Festival started.

To the organising committee as a whole, with sports as the stage, today was a war.

First, they had to prepare the equipment for the various trach and field events, and guide the partic.i.p.ating students. Next, they had to record down the current progression and results, and report it back to the headquarters. When the event ends, they had to immediately prepare and change the equipment for the next event.

Other than preparations for the various events, there was also the need to co-operate with the broadcasting club, with the playing of music and commentating during the events. If there were any injuries or anyone feeling unwell, there was a need to help send them to the first aid tent; if there was any malfunctioning with the equipment or delays in the events, they had to follow the instructions Kajiura gives them through the walkie-talkie, and rush to sort out the abnormalities.

Also, no matter if it was the audience or the contestants, they could become agitated due to the results and have an outburst, so there was also the need to send out a warning and suppress it at the suitable times. If there were any situations the students couldn’t deal with, they would request for the teacher’s a.s.sistance – that, encompa.s.ses all of the organising committee’s responsibilities, thus—

“The tallying of the preliminary results for the Hundred Meter Dash is almost done, so the ranking for the first round will be announced soon!”

“Has that Cla.s.s 2A boy still not reported yet? Send out the announcement one more time!”

"What’s up with the PA system!? There"s no sound from the equipment at the north side!”

“The pace of the shot put event slowed down? But all they have to do is just throw an object!”

Even if the events for the first half of the Sports Festival had went smoothly, the headquarters tent became very busy after one hour into the Festival, and the various department ran around working hard according to the constantly-changing situations.

“Are there any free hands in the General Auxiliary Department, someone seemed to have been injured at the high jump event.

Hearing Kajiura accept the request for help and give out an order—

“—I’ll go and take a look.”

Basara who was beside Yuki helping her tallying the numbers immediately took the task.

Right now, the only ones doing their tasks in the headquarters tent were the second year female students of the General Auxiliary Department, and tasks like these that were like errands were usually done by the first year students. Additionally, males would generally be more suited to have the task of sending an injured person to the sick bay.

“…Be careful, Basara.”

While leaving, Basara answered the Yuki reminding him with [I know]. With that, he then went to the high jump area while going around the track.

“Ah, Toujou-kun… Over here!”

Tachibana was beside the male student who seemed to be injuried, and shouted while raising a hand.

“He was too enthusiastic when jumping, and he landed on an area that was not cushioned… I wanted to help him to the sick bay, but this event still needs my help, so I can’t leave. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, you have the things which you need to do, so leave things like this to me.”

At any rate, the male crouching by the mat is a third year student, so his physique is even bigger than Basara’s, so the thin and small Tachibana probably can’t help him move.

“Hold on to me… Are you able to stand?”

Just as Basara was about to leave the place while helping the injuried move, he suddenly said, as if suddenly remembering something:

“—ah, that’s right, Tachibana. If I remember correctly, you have to take part in the 400 meter race in a while, right?”

No matter how busy one was with the organising committee, they can’t not partic.i.p.ate in the events; the members had to find time with doing their tasks and be present at the meeting place before the event starts like the other students.

“After I send this person to the sick bay, I’ll help you ask Kajiura-senpai to find someone to take over your shift.”

Though Basara himself doing it would be an easier way, he can’t do so, as the event he was partic.i.p.ating in was immediately right after the 400 meters race.

“………Umm, Toujou-kun.”

“ ? What’s wrong…?”

Tachibana called Basara in a low voice, but—

“…Nevermind. I’m sorry, it’s nothing.”

After Tachibana said that, he continued: [See you later], while smiling and waving at him.

After Basara returned with a nod and ‘Oh’, he brought the injured student to the sick bay.

There was still quite some time before his event would start, so other than Basara who was helping the third year student, there were still quite a number of students in the headquarters tent. Upon seeing basara, a female student manning the station asked:

“Disinfection? Or would treatment be needed?”

Broadly speaking, disinfection is also a part of Treatment, but this question was distinguish the nature of the work needed. If it was only just scratches requiring disinfection, then the female student at the station could do it; if it was problems requiring treatment like bruises or physical discomfort, then Hasegawa would be taking care of it. After Basara said that it was the latter, the senior was then sent to Hasegawa who was currently treating other students.

“..Alright, then I’ll be leaving the rest to you.”

Basara slightly bowed respectfully as he got ready to leave, but he unwittingly stopped, and took a look at Hasegawa’s appearance. He gazed at the side of Hasegawa’s face as she wrapped the injury on the senior’s knee with a bandage. Soon—

“What’s wrong, Toujou… Are you injuried too?”

Hasegawa asked without turning around. After Basara shook his and and replied with ‘No’—

“……Please excuse me.”

He said that and left the place, taking the same route as just now. The bell also rang at this moment – normally, this would signal the start of the third period.

…For now, everything seems to be going smoothly, with nothing big happening.

As he recalled the schedule for the compet.i.tions lined up, he thought about the current status.

Everything was still so busy despite the number of members in the organising committee being almost double from that of last year. The reason for that was probably because the compet.i.tions they were partic.i.p.ating in were all scheduled in the morning. In order to ensure the partic.i.p.ants and events go smoothly, they had to frequently account for the organising committee members changing shifts, and even organising the data from the various compet.i.tions was also quite labour-intensive; and as the event in the afternoon was the compet.i.tions by cla.s.ses and groups, everyone’s workload was generally lower. It would be the current time where everyone was tight – as long as just one detail was overlooked, the success of the Sports Festival would disappear from everyone’s eyes.

“………”

Basara suddenly stopped, and looked around the whole field. It was an area that was in a frenzy. The partic.i.p.ants, the audience, the teachers, the students… All of them had gathered and were enjoying the Sports Festival Basara and the others had prepared.

As one of the members of the organising committee, this was something that made him feel proud.

But…

The enemy who was instantly cause all of it to disappear, was somewhere in this crowd of people. There was also the possibility of the person being an acquaintance of Basara’s. Thinging about this again, caused Basara to tightly clench his right fist.

Perhaps due to Kurumi"s spirit magic, the other person still hasn’t made any moves yet.

But still, Basara never forgot to keep his guard up, and began walking back towards the field.

It seems that deciding factor in almost all the compet.i.tions was one’s physical fitness. Amongst all of compet.i.tions, there was only one event, where there wasn"t any objections in having Basara, Mio and Yuki partic.i.p.ate.

That event, was one where a strong bond between partic.i.p.ants was also required in addition to luck – the three-legged obstacle race.

『Now, we have come to the Grand Finale Event for the morning – the unis.e.x three-legged Obstacle Race! 』

The excited voice screamed from the loudspeaker. Basara was quite familiar with this voice, since after all, the one doing the announcements is Shimada Taichi of the broadcasting club, from the same cla.s.s as Basara.

『This event, where every cla.s.s will be sending out a male and two females, and they will have to break through three obstacles while racing against other cla.s.ses around the track with only three legs, is known as the event most antic.i.p.ated by all the male students! However, the lucky guy will only be the one chosen by the two partic.i.p.ating female representatives! First up, will be the first years, and everyone’s attention will of course be on lane six, Cla.s.s B, the two girls who had captivated all of the males in the school upon their admissions, Naruse Mio and Nonaka Yuki! 』

The males in the audience also cheered with the pace of Shimada’s speech, but—

『As for the lucky guy chosen to compete with the two idols of our school – Toujou Basara! 』

With his left leg being tied to Mio, and right to Yuki, Basara then lined up at the starting line while being showered in boos. This was something that couldn’t be helped, though. Since after all, this was an event which would earn the jealousy of the males who did not partic.i.p.ate; and now, even the males from the same cla.s.s as him was also booing along with the others—

…Huh?

Is it me, or are they booing at just me only…? Um, do your best, give your all, Toujou Basara! While completely showered in boos, Basara could only attempt to give himself encouragement in such a way.

As members of the organising committee, Basara and the others had priority in the evens they chose to partic.i.p.ate in; and what Mio and Yuki had chosen, was this event, that was the three-legged obstacle race.

Thus – they would naturally nominate Basara to partic.i.p.ate with them.

—to tell the truth, it was Maria’s idea to have Mio and Yuki join such an event. However, this was not a result from consulting with the loli-ero-succubus whose instincts liberated her imagination about the events that they should chose. The reason why the three of them had chosen this event, was to deal with that attacker. That person’s target is Basara, and the easiest way to lure out the attack by exposing Basara was the compet.i.tion events.

If, Mio and Yuki came along with Basara and helped him in observing their surroundings, the attacker would have a hard time to be able to make a move on him; if the person still decided to attack, the three of them present would probably make the attacker easier to deal with.

…But

Donoe and Hozumi was also amongst the list of suspects, so he had originally planned to not join an event as intimate like this to avoid stimulating them – but if either one of them is the culprit, they probably wouldn’t want to hurt either Mio or Yuki. Since there was such an advantage, attracting the ire and jealousy of the other male students would be fine, all he had to do was just bear with it. Just then—

“Don’t think too much about it, just treat those was incomprehensible hollering.”

“Don’t worry – I will definitely protect Basara.”

Saying that, Mio and Yuki when pressed closer against Basara on purpose, letting the others see.

“……Well, everything’s fine.”

Basara put his hands around the waist of the two persons pressing against him, and sensed the warmth and softness of their bodies in his hands, in a situation of embracing the girls clinging to him[2]; despite the amount of boos skyrocketing now, Toujou Basara didn’t care – because he had just realised something new.

“To be able to be with you like this, I’m – already very blessed.”

After Basara said that, the crisp sound signalling the start of the race rang out.

『The race started, and all the contestants dashed out from the starting line – Oh! Cla.s.s D already fell down with their first step, and they dragged Cla.s.s C and E down too! Seems like the other cla.s.ses managed to dodge a bullet… Oohh! Amazing, the highly antic.i.p.ated Cla.s.s B already managed to draw distance from the other cla.s.ses, and they’re only getting faster and faster!』

Hearing Shimada’s voice commentating, Naruse Mio and Nonaka Yuki thought that three of them taking first place was something that was supposed to be natural. That said, ever since the three of them decided to take part in this race, they have been spending their time in the house and even the bath in a three-legged state, and the bounds were only undone during bedtime or going to the toilet.

Originally the two of them had restrained themselves and had decided to not go into the bath together with Basara, they lifted that ban on the night Kurumi begun to stay with them. At the start, bathing together with their legs tied caused them much confusion. But gradually, the need for them to coordinate and work together became fun, they they soon got used to it; Mio and Yuki had split the job of helping Basara wash his body, and Basara would also help them wash some hard-to-reach areas.

To Mio and Yuki who had deepened their understanding and bonds in this way, the very first obstacle, the balance beam, wasn’t that much of an obstacle; the three of them lined up sideways, and synchronising their footsteps, they successfully got past the obstacle. When the already begun to run, they have already left the other cla.s.ses far behind in the dust.

『Cla.s.s B arrived at the second obstacle very quickly – and this is the part that makes the males most sour – squeezing the balloons!』

“The three of you, over here~.”

Aikawa who was manning the station waved her hands, and—

“Here, these two balloons are for you.”

Mio and Yuki received the balloons from Aikawa, and squeezed the balloons against Basara, with Mio putting it between Basara’s and her belly, and Yuki putting it between their backs – but no matter what, the balloons still wouldn’t pop. As Mio and Yuki were also members of the organising committee, they would of course know why; the pink balloons Aikawa had picked for them had the [Love Pink][3] nickname, and it was the one that was the most difficult to pop. In order to cut down on the disparity on the progress between the cla.s.ses and produce a hyped mood, the Members had specially prepared both tough and easy-to-pop balloons. Hnce—

『Oh—! Cla.s.s B was originally going very smoothly, but now they are stuck! Taking the opportunity, the other cla.s.ses pa.s.sed the first obstacle and are now catching up, and the lead Cla.s.s B has is shortening! 』

Mio and Yuki felt the situation worsening and became anxious. But no matter how they squeezed, they only pressed they b.r.e.a.s.t.s and b.u.t.ts up against Basara, acting rubbing up Basara and acting sultry.

『Ooh! This is overwhelming! It as if the Sisters of Hijirigasaka Academy is using Toujou-kun’s body to dance! 』

“That idiot…!”

Basara retorted against Shimada’s provoking of the audience, and the males of Cla.s.s B glaring at him also booed. Mio’s and Yuki’s eyes met and after that—

『…………』

They nodded their heads lightly, and begun rubbing their bodies up against Basara, as if putting up a show for the audience – just like when they were in the bathroom, with Mio using her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and Yuki using her b.u.t.t to wash Basara’s body.

--before the race, Naruse Mio and Nonaka Yuki had made an agreement.

And that was to use this race, to announce to the whole school on who they belonged to. Their fan clubs would usually hara.s.s them, but they could still ignore them; but with their influence now reaching into the organising committee and affecting Basara, it is about time to make their stances clear.

They had to tell them, that Naruse Mio and Nonaka Yuki is no longer their idols – they belong to the one and only Toujou Basara.

Hence, with Mio and Yuki wrapping up Basara’s figure, the two of them expressed their message to the audience.

Basara seemed to be at a loss while embarra.s.sed at the start, but he soon realised their intention and began to smile bitterly, and while he pulled Mio’s waist towards him even more, he pushed back with his full force towards Yuki.

When two cla.s.ses behind them caught up to them, Mio and Yuki’s balloons finally popped – and the three of the once again ran forwards at full speed in unison to the last obstacle – Net Crawling[4].

The figures of Basara and other two crawling along under the net, was all captured by a certain someone’s camera.

The one operating the camera in the audience area, is the one who had requsted the spirits to keep lookout on Hijirigasaka Academy’s grounds for any suspicious figures, Kurumi.

“……Really, why do I have to do something like this?”

Kurumi helplessly sighed. The reason why she was doing this, was due to Maria who was watching the house requesting her to record down the events Basara and the others were in. Originally, Kurumi had no obligation to do as Maria wanted – but she couldn’t refuse her. Since her bickering with Maria in the past, she had grabbed a handle on her[5]. When she was. .h.i.t by the succubus baptism, her body had experienced a profound and very deep pleasure as she was put under an aphrodisiac effect; in just a single night, the values she had built up to that day was toppled over. Additionally – things did not end on that night. After Basara and the others left for school, Maria secretly ‘held’ some ‘lessons’ for Kurumi, in no small quant.i.ty no less.[6]