The Mighty French Man

As I mentioned before, most of our school’s clubs are excellent, frequently winning national competitions, and each club has a strong sense of community. Take the airsoft club, for example. Even though it was banned a long time ago, there are still remnants disguised as sword saints, lurking in the shade of trees, in the bushes of green belts, and under girls’ skirts.

In this campus culture that values club activities, the brightly lit gymnasium was currently packed with students. The huge space was bustling with noise and excitement. Most people were gathered around the central area, watching a duel.

I took the small hand that Exusiai had secretly offered me. Feeling that just holding hands was a bit lacking, I caressed her smooth, soft fingers with the pads of my own, and then quietly slipped my fingertips between them.

Of course, “quietly” was a relative term. There was no way Exusiai wouldn’t have felt it. As I was still squeezing my way in, I felt the gaps between each of her five fingers suddenly open, creating a convenient path for my fingers to slide in. Then, her delicate fingers, where you could feel the fine, beautiful bones, gently tightened, clamping my fingers in her smooth grip, as if to never let go.

The determination transmitted through the soft skin on either side of my fingers made me blush a little. I nonchalantly turned my head to look at the other people and things in the gymnasium, but my fingers obediently curled, tightly clasping the back of Exusiai’s thin hand. Her fingers, slightly damp with sweet sweat from excitement, were also pressed against the back of my hand. Not a sliver of air could get between our equally soft palms.

Entering the gymnasium, enveloped by the bright lights and the roar of the crowd, I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see the empty space in the middle.

The brawny man, the captain of the martial arts club, was facing off against a male student in a tracksuit. It seemed the boy had challenged him.

After turning into Kiriko, I was a bit shorter, and now I could somewhat understand how many girls feel. Even on my tiptoes, it was hard to see over the crowd to what was happening in the distance.

Just then, I heard Exusiai’s crisp voice from beside me. Perhaps because it was so noisy, she leaned close to my ear and said, “Do you want to ride on my shoulders? You’ll be able to see clearly then.”

I froze, first considering the possibility of this working. After turning into Kiriko, my figure was slender even among girls, and Exusiai had gained one percent of her original character’s combat power. In terms of strength, as long as I kept my balance and didn’t sway, riding on her shoulders would definitely not be a problem. But I imagined the scene, me, like a little daughter riding on her father’s shoulders… The image was too beautiful, and it reminded me of the Alchemist from DOTA.

#Boss! Don’t you think this is a bit inappropriate for you to wear?#

Imagining that scene, I of course knew why the very thirsty Exusiai wanted me to ride on her shoulders. It was definitely not just a fatherly feeling. Although I certainly wouldn’t be losing out, my heart of shame had already been touched by Killer Queen. I didn’t want to explode into a different kind of firework from too much excitement.

So I lowered my head and, in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, said to Exusiai who was so close to me I could feel her body temperature, “N-not this time, maybe next time…”

The moment I said it, I had a feeling of déjà vu. Hadn’t I already promised Exusiai “next time” a lot? The first time was during the livestream in the abandoned dormitory, when we saved our kiss for next time. Then there was the time in the dance studio when we were changing clothes. And now another promise… at this rate, at some point, won’t I have to… do it all?

While I was mentally calculating how long it would be until that… rising… moment, the duel in the center of the arena erupted.

The boy in the tracksuit was the first to attack. He seemed to be a practitioner of Taekwondo. After a few agile steps to close the distance with the brawny man, he spun gracefully and delivered a clean and crisp high kick.

However, cool doesn’t equal powerful. The brawny man ducked under his high kick and, at the same time, raised his hands, twisted the boy’s lower leg, and threw him onto the carpeted floor.

A collective “Whoa—” of amazement rose from the entire gymnasium, followed by a burst of applause and cheers.

The brawny man, the captain of the martial arts club, was nothing like he had been when he stole Yukino’s girlfriend and provoked her. He put on the magnanimous air of a senior martial artist, ostentatiously helping the tracksuit boy up and saying something to him. The tracksuit boy then ran to the club’s registration desk at the edge of the gymnasium to sign up.

I heard many girls cheering, screaming for the martial arts club captain’s victory. These infatuated fans who only knew his face but not his heart were also whispering to each other, their thirst no less than that of the boys and girls in my class today when they heard I was going to play Snow White.

I heard the girls in the gymnasium whispering to each other, “The club captain is so handsome! Look at those muscles, I’m really prprprprprprpr…”

“Yeah, that hormonal scent… this might sound a little crude, but I wanna sniff his…”

“Aren’t you a girl? How can you say something crude?? Could it be that you’re actually…”

“Get her out of here!”

“What are you thinking? Why can’t girls do it too?! Seriously, I really want to become a muscular man too, join the martial arts club, and have a fist-to-flesh ♂ fight with the captain!”

“I can see it now! I suggest you two compete in ♂ wrestling techniques!”

The captain clearly had no idea that many girls already wanted to transform into muscular men and compete with him in ♂ length. He was still preening, raising his hands like a mighty French man, accepting the crowd’s cheers.

A male student in a suit holding a microphone, who looked like a host, came to the front of the empty space. His clear voice boomed from the speakers hanging around the gymnasium. “The second challenger’s high-level spinning kick was very beautiful. Our captain also appreciates him very much and has accepted him into our martial arts club. Now, are there any other challengers who want to come up?”

Although Exusiai didn’t let me ride on her shoulders, she wrapped her arms around my slender waist and gave me a lift, allowing me to stand on my tiptoes even higher. It was just her restless fingers that were tickling me.

I saw Coco standing by the side of the empty space, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the brawny boy, as if she were looking at the one and only prince in her life.

Because I lived in the same dorm as Yukino, I knew how well Yukino had treated Coco. A father’s love for his daughter is probably something like that. I couldn’t imagine if there would ever be another man in this world who would treat Coco so well. But perhaps Coco didn’t care about that. All she liked was being with a handsome, muscular man. As for whether the other person truly loved her or treated her well, she probably didn’t care at all. All she cared about was the fact that he was a super-hot, muscular guy. As long as that was true, it was enough.

The decision of her own life, her own standards for a partner, and who she wanted to be with was up to Coco herself. At least, I had no right to say anything.

But I saw Yukino lift her pretty face, which was as proud and beautiful as a snow lotus blooming on a high mountain. Her long black hair flew, and like a descended spirit, she effortlessly parted the crowded crowd and walked towards the fighting arena, which was the center of attention.

She didn’t care about the thousands of eyes on her; she only cared about the gaze of one person, Coco.

No, perhaps now, she didn’t even care about Coco’s gaze anymore.