Sports Festival - Part 3
Being a member of the sports festival"s organizing committee, I was already aware of the many details related to the bread-eating compet.i.tion that I am competing in. To be exact, it"s more of an obstacle course, that has the aspect of bread eating imbrued into it.
The first stage of the compet.i.tion is looking for marshmallows. The goal is to stick your face in a vat of flour, find a marshmallow, and then eat it. The second stage involves drinking a can of milk as quickly as possible. Lastly, the final stage is eating bread that is tied to a string.
Compared to the relay race and other such serious compet.i.tions, the bread-eating race was a relatively low-profile and relaxing compet.i.tion. During the race, there"s usually lots of laughing and a nice and light-hearted atmosphere.
After a bit of waiting, it was finally the time for my group"s turn to depart.
Fujimoto has been doing the role of commentaring for quite a while. He"s doing it pretty seriously as well—just as I was thinking of such things, a mysterious shadow appeared on the course, and then it momentarily disappeared.
Rather, I am certain it was Hiiragi-chan. Did she tamper with something again?
I casually tried to whisper into Fujimoto"s ear. But he kept saying, too close, too close, and showed a lewd face.
After taking my position, the pistol"s sound reverberated throughout the field. Four people, including me, ran out towards the first stage and started looking for the marshmallows.
"Everyone had a nice clean start to the race. Now, let"s see who will be the first one to overcome the first stage!"
The moment I was going to stick my face into the vat, I noticed a note placed on the side.
"Make sure to put on a lot of flour!"
The person who placed it was Hiiragi-chan, right? What does she mean? It should be over after eating a marshmallow though. It is also true that my face would turn white from the flour.
As I continued to look for marshmallows, I finally found one. Gunyuu, somehow, it has a certain flesh like feel to it…
"Haah?"
Giving in, I unconsciously placed my hand on it.
"W-what is thiiiiisssss!?"
It was chicken meat, carefully dusted with flour. It was probably thigh meat.
"Today"s special course! Exclusively for the 4th outside lane, a special course has been prepared with other stages!"
Fujimoto started reading off from the notes in his hand.
"With the chicken meat that you found in the first stage, please proceed to the second stage!"
I would have been fine with a normal marshmallow though.
"Yaaah! Sei… You"re face is white! It"s covered in flour. It"s so cute~!"
She was barely able to stop herself from calling out my name. Hiiragi-chan was jumping up and down with a video camera in her hand.
Dammit. I should finish this quickly…!
Ending up a bit delayed, I took the mysterious chicken meat, and hurried towards the second stage. Various things were prepared on top of a long table. From the inside lane out, there was milk, milk, milk, and hot oil on top of a portable stove.
This fourth lane on the outside, is clearly weird! The set of objects prepared are definitely the things I see when my mom is making fried food at home!
"Now then, for lane four—Contestant Sanada, please put the chicken meat that"s in your hand, in to the hot salad oil!"
… I don"t think it"s possible, but is this…
I add in chicken thigh meat that I had. Pachi pachi, it started making a crispy sound.
It looks good…
Looking at the three other people, they were still drinking the milk by sucking it from a straw.
"Alright, so I"m good to go with just this, right!?"
"Contestant Sanada, there are a few other finishing touches you have to add, so please refrain from leaving your current location."
"Isn"t this weird!? It"s not even a compet.i.tion at this point!? I"m on a way too different of a course!"
"Ummm, according to the materials I have in hand, you shouldn"t depend just on your eyes. Use a thermometer to make sure the temperature at the center is about 65 degrees and you should be able to make tasty karaage."
That"s what I thought!
"What are you making me do this bread-eating compet.i.tion?!"
You guys made sure to prepare a thermometer, chopsticks, and even plates!!
Everyone else finished drinking their milk and started running away, and yet I was the only one left staring at the chicken being fried.
Ummm, using the thermometer… 65 degrees… Ah, it"s still too low.
Pachi pachi…
People in the area began to cause a ruckus. They were most likely the people who couldn"t hear the explanations very well.
"""H-he"s frying karaage in a bread-eating compet.i.tion!?"""
It"s not like I"m frying it because I want to, okay!?
Dammit… Ah, it"s done.
"Ummm, Contestant Sanada, please bring that hot karaage with you and proceed to the third stage."
"Hasn"t this already turned into something completely unrelated to a bread-eating compet.i.tion!?"
"Please stop making these random claims, Contestant Sanada."
What"s with this? Geez…
Placing the karaage on a plate, I ran without dropping it. The other three people were in the midst of jumping in order to reach the anpans that were hung up in a bag. [1]
"Ummm, aren"t there are only three anpans?"
With dissatisfaction on full display, I turned back towards the announcer booth.
"Who said the anpans were the only bread there!? Please have a look over to the side."
Being told that, I looked over to the side of where the anpans were hung. On top of a desk typically seen inside cla.s.srooms, there was a hot dog bun and a container with a spoon in it.
"Contestant Sanada, please make some sort of a combination with the karaage and the hot dog bun!"
I have no clue. Anyways, I sat down on the chair, and looked at the hot dog bun. There was already a cut on its surface.
"So that"s how it is!"
I insert the hot karaage into the crescent cut. Hot dog bun and karaage… but, this can"t really be called a tasty karaage sandwich.
"Dammit! If it"s only this, after eating that one piece, the only thing that will remain will be the hot dog bun…!"
"Ummm, according to the materials on hand, today is tartar sauce ♪"
Peeking into the container with the spoon stuck in it, it really was tartar sauce.
"With this, it could work!"
I pour all the tartar sauce into the cut. Alright, now then.
"T-the kkkaaaaaaaaraage sandwich is doooooooooonnnnneeeee!"
Why are you the one that"s most excited?
"Yay ☆!"
Hiiragi-chan, who was also filled with excitement, made a fist and jumped. A bread-eating compet.i.tion isn"t supposed to have someone making their own sandwich and eating it, okay!?!? She"s cute, so I"ll forgive her though.
The people around the area once again got noisy.
"""He"s making his own sandwich in a bread-eating compet.i.tion!?"""
Thanks to the tartar sauce that Hiiragi-chan had prepared, I gradually proceeded through the hot dog bun.
"Contestant Sanada, while eating the sandwich, turn into a heroine who is experiencing her first day transferring into the school! Imagine turning the corner and running into a boy and accidentally showing him your panties! Please aim for the goal like that!"
Just like I was told, I pa.s.sed through the goal tape. I did it while thinking like a heroine transferring into the protagonist"s cla.s.s. Of course, I came in last place.
"Sanadkun, how was the sandwich?"
Hiiragi-chan, acting optimistic yet shy, approached me.
"The tartar sauce was the best. It was really good."
"Right? I had a lot of confidence ♪"
"I wish you didn"t tamper with things so weirdly though.
"But, compared to the normal store bought anpan, a freshly made warm sandwich tastes better, right? If you were going to eat it, I just thought that this one would definitely be better ♡"
I"m quite amazed that she put so much effort into this.
"Sensei, is it possible that you are the type to devote yourself to one person?
"It"s not a possibility, I already am."
Just like this, for my high school second year sports festival (the second one), I didn"t have anywhere to show off, but it ended up with a happy ending.
TN:
Anpan is bread filled with red bean paste.