บท 824: Never Underestimate Them, Nakano Yotsuba

Yotsuba looked bewildered and unconcerned about her reddened complexion. Unconsciously, she grabbed the front of her clothes and moved her head to look left and right.

"Everyone is watching us! This will cause bad rumors. Asada-san, please put me down!"

"Do you mind?" Shinichi asked casually, without any hesitation in his steps. He held Yotsuba wrapped in a blanket and walked ahead amid increasingly surprised onlookers.

"It's fine for me..." Yotsuba murmured, raising her voice sharply, "But Asada-san is the student council president! If you do this in front of everyone..."

"Just carrying a sick high school girl. What's the big deal? I won't be arrested, right?"

"But Nino and the others are watching from behind..."

"I'll explain it to them later. Okay, don't worry about this." Shinichi turned around, and the girls followed behind, seeming like they wanted to ask something but didn't know how to express it.

Shinichi gave them a reassuring smile, slightly quickened his pace, and walked towards the relay competition preparation area.

The weight in his hands unconsciously made him lift his arms, reminding her, "Wrap the blanket tightly. If you catch a cold again, Nino might leave you in the intensive care unit for a week."

"Mhm..."

Yotsuba knew Shinichi was joking, but the thought of being confined to a ward full of disinfectant and unable to move made her wrap herself tighter in the blanket, fearing Nino from behind might rush in and call an ambulance.

Whether it was due to this, the cold sensation and pain finally eased a bit.

Through his upper body, Shinichi could also feel the vibrations in his body decrease, and his muscles were no longer tense.

"Um, you two..."

When they arrived at the relay team competition preparation and joined the contestants waiting behind the starting line, the physical education teacher who was the referee approached with a strange expression on his face.

Including those who chased them with curiosity along the way, eyes from all directions focused on the two, with curiosity, confusion, mockery, sighs, and amusement...

Yotsuba didn't know what emotions were in those eyes. She let down her hair to cover her reddened face, lowering her shoulders and making a sound like a kitten's whimper.

"Ugh, this is really torture... I must have offended careful Asada-san to be treated like this..."

"I'm not doing it now, but I am doing it now." Shinichi glared at her with an intimidating look, then raised his head and said to the physical education teacher with a friendly face, "Sorry for causing a bit of a commotion."

"Okay, let's put that aside for now..." The physical education teacher glanced at them a few times and didn't know what expression to show, so he awkwardly smiled.

"Asada-san and Nakano-san are both participating in the relay team competition, right?"

The final competition at Shuchi'in Academy with the highest score was the "Team Relay" – students would be divided into literary club and sports club groups to compete. Each club or committee would send their representatives to participate. The final would be played by representatives from the support groups.

The sports club team included the red cheerleading group, sports festival executive committee, baseball club, athletics club, and so on. While the literary club group included the red cheerleading team, student council, discipline committee, board game club, etc.

There seemed to be a significant gap, and there was no tension regarding the competition results. However, representatives from each club had to compete with objects representing their respective societies.

Shinichi, as the student council president, naturally represented the student council, and Yotsuba, as the newcomer to the athletics club, was the most suitable for this position.

If the accident hadn't happened, Shinichi might have gone to the track and competed with Yotsuba to see if he could run faster than her with the handicaps.

"Yes, but as you can see, Nakano-san's health is not good now and can't play anymore." Shinichi said with a natural expression.

The physical education teacher nodded subtly.

Based on what he saw, Yotsuba had a reddish complexion and a nervous expression. Besides looking fragile when wrapped in a blanket, her health seemed not bad at all.

Couldn't the teacher see that he was showing his care?

But because the student council president said so, he didn't pursue it further and then asked, "Has the athletics club found a replacement?"

"Yes, it will be here soon."

"Then..." The physical education teacher looked at him while holding the girl and didn't let go, moving the corner of his mouth and wanting to hit him.

"You're just going to hold her like this?"

Shinichi tilted his head:

"Can't I?"

"Of course not!"

Two overlapping sighs were heard.

Despite the physical education teacher saying, "You're not colluding, right?" with a bewildered expression, Yotsuba raised her reddened face.

"Asada-san, what exactly are you trying to do by bringing me here?! And when did you contact everyone in the athletics club?"

"When you fell, I did a lot of things. Among them, I helped you get out of the blanket, sent a message to the athletics club president, and..." Shinichi explained patiently, looking around, and spotted a sexy blonde girl with a side ponytail coincidentally pushing an empty wheelchair.

"President~ Bring me the wheelchair you like~"

"Thank you, Hayasaka-san."

Shinichi smiled politely, exchanged glances with her in secret, and took the wheelchair.

Unseen by everyone, at a blind spot, the palm of his hand was scratched by brightly colored nail-polished manicured nails, and she took advantage of the opportunity to draw a heart.

(You really know how to find joy)

Shinichi stared at her with a slightly wrinkled mouth, while Hayasaka blinked, looking innocent.

"Well, I'll be going now. Call me if something happens next time~ Goodbye, President."

Maintaining the atmosphere of a pure and playful sexy girl, Hayasaka waved her hand and left the runway.

Shinichi sighed inwardly, brought Yotsuba to the wheelchair, and adjusted her blanket so her entire body could be wrapped in as much warmth as possible.

During this period, his breath, scent, and hair all pointed towards Yotsuba, making him whole body stiff and afraid to move. His heartbeat was so fast that much of the pain and weakness were gone.

But due to embarrassment, he, like a group of people around him, had many questions about his actions.

"Shi-kun, that girl just now seems familiar... Who is she?"

Nino frowned and approached. Although there were many things she wanted to ask, when she saw the sexy blonde girl pushing the wheelchair, a sense of familiarity and crisis completely diverted her attention. She unconsciously asked this question.

While shaking his sore arm, Shinichi answered nonchalantly:

"The student I met at the health center earlier, when I was taking the blanket, I asked her to push the wheelchair in the health room."

Nino nodded in understanding and smiled shyly at him.

Ichika on the screen spoke directly, and this time she didn't deviate from the topic: "Shinichi-kun, why didn't you take Yotsuba back to the medical center to rest? Do you have a plan?"

Shinichi shifted his gaze to the end of the track, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"You can't see the competition from the medical station."

After saying this, Fumino showed a surprised expression.

"You did it so Yotsuba could watch the competition..."

Shinichi responded with a glance. Before Yotsuba could say anything, he turned to speak to the athlete who came to replace her from the athletic club. After confirming their participation with the physical education teacher, the athlete also approached Yotsuba, expressing concern.

"It's not a big deal; I can't run at all... I'm sorry; I'll leave the competition to Asahina-san. I should be the one doing it... Well, I understand, don't worry; you can go there."

Yotsuba looked at Shinichi with a complex expression.

The contestant switch was complete, and the remaining energy in her body to run was minimal. She released the remnants of her perseverance and admitted that in this crucial competition, she could only be a spectator.

However, the bitterness, reluctance, fear, discomfort, and confusion in her heart were not things she could easily let go of.

"Asada-san, why..."

Instead of asking for the reason behind his behavior, she preferred to ask herself what she should do next. Now that she couldn't play anymore, what expression should she use to face everyone with high expectations?

Under her gaze seeking answers, Shinichi began warming up.

At the same time, he said, "Yotsuba, is your goal to let the red team win, right?"

"Uh..." Yotsuba hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Um, anyway, everyone pleaded with me..."

She didn't reveal her thoughts about proving that Rizu didn't hold her back, and she wished everyone with such thoughts would stop questioning and underestimating the strength of the Red Team. She didn't want to state selfish reasons for her actions.

But Shinichi seemed to have understood her inner thoughts. He glanced at her powerlessly and continued speaking without a pause.

"When trusted, you take all the responsibility and say things like, 'Only I can do it,' 'If you don't have me, you'll fail,' 'All my responsibility to lose'?"

"There's nothing wrong with meeting expectations, but don't you think you've gone too far?"

"[We can be proud of our own talents, but we should not be hijacked by others' expectations, or we will lose ownership of our own talents] – Didn't I say this?"

Itsuki took out a notebook, flipped through it, then interrupted seriously:

"Asada-kun, you didn't say this."

"...Well, then I'll say it now."

Shinichi didn't bother to notice Itsuki's joyful expression as she began to write. He looked at Yotsuba, who seemed bewildered, and his tone gradually became serious.

"Stop making excuses based on others' expectations; just say it directly. What is your actual opinion? Why are you insisting on participating in the competition when others can't?"

After a long silence, Yotsuba bit her lip slightly, lowered her gaze, and responded to Shinichi's question with a mumble.

"If I don't participate, the red team will lose."

She knew what Shinichi would do after saying this.

"This is too arrogant."

Yotsuba felt the same way, and she also thought so.

"If I really want to say it, Yotsuba, you're the one underestimating the members of the red team the most."

"..."

Yotsuba clenched her fists, but because she had no strength, she couldn't even feel the pain from her nails pressing into her palms.

"Shinichi-san."

Rizu took a step forward, wanting to refute Shinichi's sharp comment and also wanting to speak on behalf of Yotsuba, who had worked hard for everyone, but Shinichi extended his hand to stop her.

"I don't mean to accuse Yotsuba, and I also don't want to comment on whether this approach is right or wrong."

"But besides that, there's something else you should do, right? Yotsuba."

Shinichi looked at Yotsuba, who raised her head, showing doubt in her eyes again, and spoke with a slight smile.

"Just watch from the sidelines."

"On the track, off the track – wherever you are, there's always something you can do."

"Can't you do it if it's not you?"

"Leave behind that narrow-minded thinking and look at things from others' perspectives."

At this moment, the physical education teacher came to tell him to take his position. Shinichi left a few words at the end before turning around and leaving with the others.

"Everyone is special, you too, her too, everyone is special."

"Don't underestimate the heroes of the world... Ahem, my bad, don't underestimate your friends."