Dodgeball and Daring Escapes

“Haa—haa——haah-hoo——Water—ah——Guk uh, gulp——”

My breath was ragged and uneven, leaving me gasping as if I had just completed a marathon. Both the scorching sweat trickling down my slightly pale face and the icy sensation in my feet clearly indicated how utterly terrible my physical stamina truly was.

‘Oh, I’m dying, and it’s only three laps…!’

“Drink slowly, be careful not to choke.”

Xiaobai gently stroked my back, helping me to regain my breath.

‘Thank you, Xiaobai.’

It was Monday morning’s PE class, and as always, I completely collapsed after finishing the warm-up laps. Now, slumped weakly against Xiaobai on the stone steps, I greedily replenished my fluids.

“Your face is so pale, you’re almost turning into Miss Sadako…” Though spoken in jest, a faint unease laced Xiaobai’s tone.

‘Was she worried about me? I’ll be fine at this level, it’s not the first time.’

“Th-then, sh-should I, I-I let my hair fall forward? Th-that way it’ll be even more like her?!” Despite not having fully recovered, I forced out a joke in return, hoping it would ease her concern.

“Talk properly once you’ve rested…” Although she turned her face away, Xiaobai’s hands did not cease their comforting ministrations.

‘Hehe, how truly kind~’

****

“In that case, you should rest here for now. By the way, I overheard that our class might be playing dodgeball today.”

“Oh? Really? Dodgeball, huh… Didn’t we just play that a while ago? Pfft—you didn’t dodge a single one back then, hahaha.” The memory of her first training session in ‘The Corridor’ made me laugh aloud, as dodgeball had been one of Xiaobai’s exercises then.

The balls thrown by Ruka sister and Brother Mingdao, who were in charge of the pitching, were impossibly fast. It was no surprise that Xiaobai got hit, but the striking point was that every ball they threw either landed squarely on Xiaobai’s voluminous, surging breasts or flew straight towards her firm, shapely buttocks.

Every single throw was like this… It was as if they were adhering to a “Xiaobai will always get hit in the chest and butt” law, which I found utterly hilarious.

“I felt like my chest and butt were almost flattened back then… I even started to suspect if Ruka sister and Brother Mingdao held some grudge against me…” As she recalled, a shadow of unease fell across Xiaobai’s face.

Although she shouldn’t have felt any physical pain at the time, had it unexpectedly caused her psychological damage?

‘Hoho~ How interesting.’

“No, they’re not flattened, they’re still very round~” While Xiaobai was momentarily distracted, I subtly pinched her butt. This particular method of improving her mood was surprisingly effective.

“You—! Don’t pinch!” Her face flushed crimson, Xiaobai shyly stood up, immediately covering her butt. Simultaneously, the voluminous breasts encased in her white sportswear began to jiggle violently.

“……”

Watching those voluminous, three-digit mounds of flesh undulate with irregular vigor, I could only blink in speechless awe.

‘This “counterattack” was quite effective on me as well…’

‘I’m only serving myself right…’

Thump——

Thump——

Thump——

Thump——

“Hm?” x2.

Hearing a strange series of thuds, Xiaobai and I simultaneously glanced to one side.

……

……

Silence descended upon us… Xiaobai and I exchanged a wordless look.

It was yet another homicide scene, drenched in crimson…

‘Hm? This time, I suppose it could also be called a “chest-cide scene”?’ [TL note: The narrator is making a pun. 凶杀 (xiōngshā) means ‘homicide’, while 胸 (xiōng) means ‘chest’ or ‘breast’. The two characters sound similar, creating a humorous ‘chest-cide’ scene.]

‘They truly didn’t have it easy… This was the fourth time… Is their human hematopoietic function still normal?’

‘Hm?’

‘Come to think of it, this time they actually lasted until *after* the laps were completed, so could it perhaps be considered progress?!’

****

“[J] Whoa hey! Watch the ball!”

“[J] Wow! Almost, almost!”

“[J] Haha, you can’t hit me~”

……

Sitting on the grass beneath the shade of a tree, I watched with amusement as Xiaobai and the other girls played dodgeball. Originally, the boys would have joined in too, but now they were likely gritting their teeth in the infirmary, biting their handkerchiefs in frustration, haha.

“[J] Ugh! Almost again!”

“[J] Why is Xiaobai so agile?!”

Aki and Ami, picking up the ball again, stomped their feet in frustration, their ponytails bouncing playfully. It was quite amusing.

“[J] We’re three people throwing together! How can we not hit her?!” Over here, Takagi adjusted her glasses with a touch of panic, which seemed to have gotten crooked during the game.

“Hehe~”

‘Smiling with such ease, aren’t you, Xiaobai?’

‘But then again, you’re the only one left on the field, so a little smugness isn’t entirely unreasonable.’

Actually, if you want to hit Xiaobai, you can’t throw the ball so directly. Her athletic ability was excellent even when she was still male, so you have to constantly set up feint traps for her. How about at least three consecutive feints? Yes, that’s right! Without three, there’s no hope!

“[J] Let me join in!”

“[J] I’ll join too!”

“[J] Count me in as well!”

……

One after another, everyone eventually used all the balls this time—ten of them! But did they truly believe that merely increasing the number of balls would allow them to hit Xiaobai?

‘They were far too naive.’

Watching from under the tree, the curve of my lips widened involuntarily.

“[J] Start!”

“Hmph hmph hmph~”

Unlike their high spirits, Xiaobai hummed a little tune with complete ease. Then, with a subtle side-step, she dodged two balls that attacked her from both front and back.

“[J] Our turn now!”

Without giving her fluttering light-brown hair a moment to settle, two more balls flew towards Xiaobai.

However,

“Ehehe~” Xiaobai gave a playful smile.

Then, with a small hop, she effortlessly dodged a ball thrown towards her feet.

“[J] Yah! Watch this!”

‘They’re probably just throwing randomly…’

‘I won’t even try to guess their intention of throwing it at her face…’

‘But, were they trying to hit Xiaobai in mid-air where she couldn’t move freely? Not a bad idea~’

‘But alas, one ball isn’t enough~’

“Hehe——”

As if to confirm my thoughts, Xiaobai laughed and tilted her head, dodging the ball, which merely brushed against her tied-up ponytail, a rather regrettable miss.

“[J] Gah! Never mind! Throw all the rest!”

“[J] Understood!” x4.

‘Were they exasperated?’ The moment Xiaobai’s foot touched the ground, the remaining five balls flew at her from various directions in quick succession!

“You won’t hit me~”

Grinning, Xiaobai uttered words in Chinese that were unintelligible to them. She quickly lowered her body, supported herself with her left hand on the ground, and executed an acrobatic side-roll, dodging three balls! Then, with a nimble twist of her body, she evaded the remaining two with a graceful, S-shaped posture!

Game over!

“Clap, clap, clap——” A thunderous applause erupted.

Not only the classmates who hadn’t participated, but even the first and second-year A-class students who were observing from the sidelines clapped excitedly. Cheers and whistles could even be heard. Although communication was supposedly impossible (a pretense, of course), everyone still surrounded Xiaobai, as if they had discovered an idol among the crowd!

‘My Xiaobai is amazing, isn’t she~’ I smiled proudly.

At this moment, most of the students’ attention had been drawn to Xiaobai.

‘It’s about time——’

‘No point wasting an opportunity.’

Thinking this, I stood up. Gently patting the fine grass from my clothes, I walked towards the person who was not amidst the crowd.

“[J] Let’s go, you were waiting for this chance too, weren’t you, Prince Aoyama?” I offered him a faint smile.

“[J] Whether it’s beauty or wisdom, Colt, you truly shine like a black diamond.” He returned my faint smile.

‘Hmph, though it’s been a few days, he’s still as smooth-tongued as ever.’