Chapter 40

August 8. Second day of the competition.

Yuuji sat on a bench near a grassy court with a net that stretched across its width, dividing the court in two. Its appearance resembled that of a tennis court, but it was a court for one of the Nine School Competition's events, Crowd Ball.

It was a game where two players competed by using a racket or magic to force 6 diameter foam balls, that are shot into the court by compressed air, to hit the opponent's court. Each set lasted three minutes, and a ball was shot into the court, which was covered in a transparent box, every 20 seconds, leading to 9 balls being on the court simultaneously.

This game might seem simple at first, but it would quickly become chaotic the moment it started. And only the one who could stay calm in the midst of this chaos and control their magic activation with precision and accuracy would be able to win.

Sitting on the bench, Yuuji was doing the final calibration for Mayumi's gun-shaped CAD, which was currently connected by cable to the laptop on his lap.

Despite just having learned about CADs and magical technology for a few months, he was already perfectly capable of calibrating and building programs for CADs from the ground up with quality on par with even the best third-year engineers that participated in this competition.

This was the reason why he was given the opportunity of becoming Mayumi's, one of the greatest to represent their school, engineer, albeit temporarily. That, and also Mayumi requested for him personally when Izumi Rika, her original engineer, was busy.

A few moments later, he could hear light footsteps against the grass approaching him. And without even turning back, he recognized who it was from her scent due to his enhanced senses.

Ugh… To think I can recognize her through scent alone… I'm slowly becoming a pervert just like Aika, huh…?

He continued to type on his laptop, feeling a bit embarrassed at the thought and didn't dare to look at her before calming down.

Then suddenly, a pair of hands went over his eyes and covered it. And immediately, he could feel the heavenly softness of a woman's body and the familiar fragrance of flowers.

"Guess who it is~?"

She whispered right into his ears, her voice ever so enchanting, and the air she blew when she did sent shivers down his spine.

And right after experiencing pleasure, shock came to Yuuji.

While Mayumi would occasionally tease him, she had been quite shy with him in the last few days, especially during the competition.

He was, honestly, quite happy about it since it meant they had grown closer and further confirmed his suspicions about her thoughts and feelings regarding him. But for her to do such an intimate, lovey-dovey act that stupid couples would often do truly surprised him.

He admitted it, his heart skipped a beat the moment she touched him. But, she was underestimating him.

As a man who had done numerous lewd stuff with both of his girlfriends, this level of teasing won't fluster him for longer than a moment. And he knew that Mayumi must be more embarrassed doing it to him than he was receiving it.

Hm~ Should I play along or tease her back~?

He contemplated for a moment. His mind raced at tremendous speed in a single moment. And in the end, he chose the latter.

"Ah, who could it be~? Judging by your flowery fragrant, beautiful voice, and the soft hands covering my eyes… Could it be, Mayumi-senpai?"

"E-Eh?!"

Shocked at the compliments Yuuji threw at her one after another, she retreated back in a fluster. Her face was already blushing red when she was doing it. In fact, her heart had also been pounding.

She didn't know what took over her, but when she saw his defenseless back, she just couldn't stop the urge to play a prank on him. Moreover, it was a chance to touch him! She couldn't let go of this chance!

But she truly didn't expect him to say such embarrassing things and compliment her all of a sudden!

Yuuji turned around and saw Mayumi's beautiful countenance became absolutely stunning and adorable as her face blushed even redder.

Wearing a green tennis shirt and an extremely short pair of white skirt, she looked at him surprised and flustered, and quickly retreated back like a little animal, alighting his urge to further corner her until she had nowhere else to escape but his embrace.

The desire to see her become even more flustered and embarrassed filled his entire being. Perhaps it was the sadistic side to him that was awakened because of his relationship with Aika and Erika.

With Aika, he would always tease her by edging her constantly, sometimes for more than an hour, and make her beg him to let him cum. He loved seeing her beautiful face turned absolutely debauched and lewd, and hearing her moan while begging him.

Meanwhile, with Erika, he would also tease her by edging her occasionally when they're being intimate. He would have her sit on his lap and began kneading her C-Cup sized breasts, teasing her nipples on occasion, and whispering sweet, loving words to her ears while nibbling on it. The sensation of her wriggling on his lap, in his embrace, and moaning his name as he gave her pleasure filled his heart with happiness and desire to make her feel even more pleasure.

It was a side of him he didn't know of before coming to this world. But it quickly became a part of him that he embraced. After all, his lovers seemed to love this side of him as well.

He stood up, placing the laptop and Mayumi's to his side, and approached her slowly. A dazzling smile, ever present on his magnificently handsome face.

With every step he took forward, Mayumi retreated a step backward. A step forward, a step backward, until Mayumi's back hit a wall that separated the court from the spectators' seats.

"!!!"

She looked back in a panic for a moment, before she quickly turned back towards Yuuji. Her gaze gravitated towards him, unable to avert it despite how embarrassed she was.

And with every step he took, he became closer and closer, and her heart beated quicker and quicker.

Then…

*Bam!*

Yuuji slammed his right hand to the wall, right beside her head, and leaned forward until they were eye to eye.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Yuuji…"

"Mayumi-senpai…"

Yuuji approached her face closer and closer. But just as he was about to shift direction and whisper to her right ear, Mayumi closed her eyes, raised her chin, and pursed her lips.

His eyes widened in shock and he immediately froze.

Mayumi was trembling, but this expression… She was readying for a kiss. She thought he was about to kiss her, and readied herself for it!

I-I can take this as a yes, right? She's in love with me, right?!?!

His lips curled into a brilliant smile as happiness filled his heart. He wanted to take those lips right now and confirm their feelings right away!

But…

"Mayumi-senpai, you look absolutely gorgeous in that outfit. Enough that I might not want you to be seen by other guys in it."

"!!!"

Her eyes instantly opened wide and looked at him in shock as he smiled lovingly at her.

Yuuji didn't want to have their first kiss in this situation. He wanted their kiss to be by choice, not because they were swept by the situation.

He leaned back, standing up straight, and placed the left fringe of her hair that had fallen to the side of her face back behind her left ear that had turned red as well.

Now that he could take a good look at her, Mayumi truly looks extremely stunning. Her soft, light-colored skin, free of any blemishes. Her beautiful, soft, crimson eyes. Her beautiful, long, slender legs and lithe arms that appeared fragile, but powerful in reality. Her feminine figure. And her absolutely beautiful face. In addition to her personality, character, and principle, everything about her had truly stolen his heart.

And as Yuuji admired her, Mayumi also fell into a daze as she gazed at him.

There was a sinking feeling of disappointment when the kiss she expected didn't come. But his words that kept repeating over and over in her mind quickly erased her previous disappointment.

While not direct, Yuuji telling her that he didn't want other men to see her in this outfit meant that… He would feel jealous. And if he felt jealous, that meant…

Happiness filled her heart once again, so much that she would've jumped up and down or rolled around her bed if she could. But since Yuuji was before her, she had to escape from him before she failed to contain her excitement and happiness.

"I-I-Is that so?! T-T-T-Thank you! T-Then, I-I'll go and stretch!"

Mayumi quickly ran away towards the court in a fluster, and began stretching and warming up her body to prepare for her competition. But even from just looking at her back, it was clear that she simply using it as a reason to escape her embarrassment as she simply went through the motions of stretching with a rapid pace.

She's so adorable…

She was two years older than him, but perhaps because she was older that it made her even more adorable in his eyes.

He returned to his bench and sat down, watching her "stretch" for a while, before taking his phone from his pocket.

He unlocked it and immediately went to the Chat Group to message Aika. He needed to tell her and Erika about his relationship with Mayumi.

Tsubakihara Yuuji: "Hey, Aika. There's something I'd like to talk about. Are you free for a short call?"

Kiryuu Aika: "Hm? Sure~? What's wrong?"

Tsubakihara Yuuji: "It's about Mayumi-senpai."

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Yuuji sighed with a breath of relief as he put his phone back into his pocket.

Even though he knew Aika and Erika were already accepting of him having a harem, he still felt a bit tense whenever he talked about it…

But fortunately, Aika quickly accepted the progress of his relationship with Mayumi. She even complimented him, saying "Good job!!!" and told him to leave the rest to her. She said she will definitely convince her to enter his harem.

Then after Aika, he contacted Erika and told her the same.

There were a few moments of silence after he finished, and Erika did let out a sigh. But she didn't seem upset. In fact, she already had a feeling that it'd progress this way after seeing how close Yuuji was to her. She also accepted Mayumi to enter his harem.

And with their acceptance, Yuuji felt the weight on his chest disappear and continued his work on calibrating Mayumi's CAD.

"Y-Y-Yuuji…"

He looked up and saw the still blushing Mayumi before him, fidgeting with her hands behind her and averting her gaze from him in pure embarrassment.

"Yes, Mayumi-senpai?"

"A-Are you done with the CAD?"

"Ah, just a few more minutes. I was distracted by… what we did just now, so please wait a moment."

"I-I-It's fine! T-Then, I'll wait."

"Mm. Please take a seat while you wait. I will be done soon."

"Eh?! A-Ah, alright…"

Mayumi sat down nervously and began fidgeting, stealing glances to her side as Yuuji's fingers began typing at tremendous speed. Then as he promised, he finished calibrating her CAD in a few minutes.

He unplugged the gun-shaped CAD from his laptop and handed it to her.

"Here you go, senpai. Please tell me if something feels off. I will adjust it right away."

Mayumi took it and began casting a few spells to test it, and nodded in satisfaction.

"I-It's perfect. T-Thank you, Yuuji."

"Mm. You are very welcome, Mayumi-senpai. Good luck on the match. I will be rooting for you."

"U-Uhn! I'll do my best."

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Without much of a surprise or drama, Mayumi won her Crowd Ball match by a landslide.

Despite still visibly flustered from Yuuji's approach until just before the start of the match, she was able to regain her calm and focus, and completely destroyed her opponent.

Though… When she returned, she immediately flustered the moment she saw him.

"Congratulations, Mayumi-senpai."

"U-Uhn! T-Thank you! I-I'll be going first!!!"

Immediately after thaning Yuuji, Mayumi quickly ran back inside, leaving him and Izumi Rika behind.

"...What happened to her?"

"..."

Izumi mumbled in confusion, and Yuuji simply stayed silent with a helpless smile on his face.

After Mayumi's Crowd ball event, Yuuji went to watch the Pillars Break event with Aika and Erika in a private room. Honoka, Shizuku, Mizuki, Miyuki, Tatsuya, and Isori, the boyfriend and engineer of Kanon, who's competing, were also there to watch.

Pillars Break, or more formally known as Ice Pillar Break, was a game where two players stood on a tower measuring four meters in height on opposite sides. Players would be defending the twelve pillars in their twelve-meter-square field while attacking the twelve pillars in their opposition's field.

The players compete to destroy the opponent's pillars with magic before their own are broken. Even A-ranked spells were presumably allowed, given it is directed towards the ice pillars and not the other participants.

And since players compete remotely using magic, they are allowed to wear whatever they wish with the only restriction being that "it must not offend public order or morals".

Honestly, when Yuuji heard about the players' freedom to wear anything they want, his heart skipped a beat.

He was stunned for a moment because Aika… His girlfriend would be participating in that event. And if he recalled the kind of outfits she would wear while they're at home made his heart skip a few beats.

But, after thinking about it for a moment, he quickly regained his calm. Although Aika likes wearing revealing stuff, it was only when she was at home and with him. She was, in her words, his "personal slut", and she wasn't the type to show off her body unnecessarily to the world.

Yuuji didn't know what kind of outfit she would wear for the event since she was keeping it a secret from him on purpose. But with that restriction, he doubted she'll wear anything outrageous. Moreover, she seemed to have consulted with Erika about her outfit before the competition, further decreasing the chance that she'll wear something that would be too much "fanservice".

Sitting in between Aika and Erika, Yuuji watched Chiyoda Kanon's match with his lovers and friends all together in the private booth.

And the moment the match started, Kanon immediately placed several magic activation sequences right under several of her opponent's ice pillars.

"Hm? Were those… landmines?"

Yuuji guessed upon reading the activation sequence in that brief instant.

"That's right. The Chiyoda family is known to be skilled in Long-ranged Solid Matter Vibration Type magic, and especially in spells that caused the earth to vibrate."

Isori Kei, Kanon's lover and engineer, explained from behind Yuuji.

And as they speak, two of her opponent's ice pillars break down and fall. They immediately tried to reinforce their ice pillars, but Kanon's magic persisted, cracking their ice pillars regardless.

Several more ice pillars break and fall. And this time, her opponent decided to abandon defense and go on the offense, casting a light spell that quickly shattered one of Kanon's ice pillars.

"I guess it's the end."

Isori giggled at Yuuji's words.

"I guess it is."

Isori then turned his gaze back at his girlfriend out in the field as she destroyed the last one of her opponent's ice pillars.

"Either she's decisive or her methods are slipshod… Take them out before you get taken out yourself… That's Kanon for you."

"No… I think it is a valid strategy. It plays well into her strength."

"I guess it does."

Isori smiled and waved his hand at his girlfriend, who turned to look at him from her stand with a beaming smile.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

After watching the Ice Pillars Break event, Yuuji returned to the First High School's tent along with Aika, Miyuki, Tatsuya, Shizuku, Isori, and Kanon.

It was a massive military tent where the inside has been completely turned into First High's headquarters with rows of tables, whiteboards, lockers, and a large TV where they could watch the matches that were currently held and broadcasted. And currently, there were only a few students as well as Shizune in there.

But the moment they entered, they could immediately sense the solemn and tense atmosphere within.

The students, who were part of the engineering staff of their school, were all looking worried at their laptop screens.

"What's going on?"

Isori asked with a concerned expression.

"Since the Men's Crowd Ball results weren't what we hoped for, we've been recalculating our projections for winning the overall title."

Shizune answered before the male student seated by her side added.

"Considering our current lead, if we win the Official Women's Battle Board, Men's Pillars Break, Mirage Bat, and Monolith Code events, it should be safely within reach."

"In other words, of the six remaining official matches, we have to win at least four of them?"

"..."

Tatsuya asked, but inside, he, Yuuji, and Aika already knew what would happen.

The No-Head Dragon syndicate targeting them… If they didn't want First High to win, then they'll try to sabotage the six remaining official matches as well as the rookie matches.

The Ice Pillars Break event would be difficult to sabotage so they won't be targeting it. Meanwhile, First High's team for the main Monolith Code event was led by Juumonji Kaito.

Not only would sabotaging his match be difficult given his prowess, even if they succeed, they would essentially be painting a target on themselves for the Juumonji clan.

Meaning, the only two left were Mirage Bat and the Women's Battle Board Event, both of which they knew were sabotaged in the anime.

"They may only be worth half points, but it looks like our results in the rookie matches will sway our chances for the overall title."

Shizune said before turning her gaze towards Yuuji.

"..."