Airi Who Hates To Lose

"Now that we're all warmed up, let's play some volleyball."

After the four of them warmed up with a quick swim, Momose brought out a beach volleyball.

This facility had a space where they could play sports, so they decided to take advantage of it.

However, out of the four of them, there was one who was wearing the most unsuitable outfit for exercise.

"Wait, Airi's in a one-piece, are you sure about the exercise?"

"It's okay, it's got solid shoulder straps, and I made sure to choose something that would be fine for exercise."

Airi was smiling softly, so it must be really no problem.

It might be a bit of a visual distraction if she were to do intense exercise in a one-piece, but she said it was fine, so there was nothing more he could say.

She had also said that she didn't care about the stares before she swam, so maybe she was not particularly concerned about it.

"Well, it's fine if you want to do it then, but what are we going to do about team? I'm the only one who's lacking in athletic ability."

Momose, Kazuma, and Airi were all very athletic, so Minato was the only one left out of the group. To put it bluntly, he would be a liability.

This would mean that the team with Minato would lose.

Therefore, he consulted with them about the division of teams, but Kazuma gave him a dumbfounded look as if to say, "What the hell is he talking about?"

"Of course Minato will be with Ninomiya-san. And naturally, Shiori and I will be on the same team."

"…What? But I'm the worst at this? So we should switch teams as we go and–"

" Ne Minato-kun, do you know how athletic Airi is?"

"What's with the suddenness? Though I have heard that she can exercise. Also, there's a rumor that she's very athletic."

"…I'm not that great."

When Minato first asked her about it, she only said that she could do it, but the rumors that circulated about her were that she was very athletic.

Airi didn't seem to be proud of it, so he didn't ask about it in detail, but she didn't strongly deny it and her cheeks were tinted slightly, so it seemed to be true to some extent.

"To put it bluntly, out of the three of us other than Minato-kun, she's the best."

"Heh~ I've heard rumors, but I didn't know Ninomiya-san could do that much."

Kazuma hadn't heard the details from Momose, but he smiled belligerently, as if to say, "I think we're going to have a good match."

Momose also grinned as much as Kazuma next to her.

"That's right, Kazuma, let's look forward to it. I think this is probably the best way to balance things out. And I think Minato-kun is the perfect partner for Airi, because Minato-kun is–"

"Shiori, we'll have to wait and see."

"I guess that's true. Then let's get to it!"

"O-Oi!"

Kazuma and Momose went to the other side of the court without listening to Minato's restraint.

Perhaps thinking that the actions of Kazuma and Momose were unnatural, Airi asked Minato with a suspicious look on her face.

"Can you play volleyball, Minato-san?"

"No, I'm average. I don't think I can compete with Kazuma or Momose."

"But I think there's something going on here."

"Well, I don't know either. It's been a long time since I played sports with Kazuma and Momose like this."

"Is that so? Well whatever, let's just do it."

With that, the match started.

"We lost!"

At any rate, the game was over, and the result was that Minato's team had just barely won, resulting in Momose raising an eyebrow in frustration.

As expected, Airi's athletic ability was incredible. Even though she was up against the other two, she didn't seem to fall behind at all.

During the game, Minato was again worried about whether it would be okay to play beach volleyball in a one-piece type swimsuit, but there seemed to be no issues with it.

And after just one match, people started to gather to see the beautiful girl in a neat and elegant swimsuit moving so aggressively.

"As expected, Airi is really amazing. I didn't think she could win. Thanks."

"No, it was thanks to Minato-san. I now understand what Shiori-san meant."

At any rate, they took a break. As Airi was sitting down, she was thanked and she then thanked Minato with a smile.

Minato wondered what they meant by that. He had no idea what was going on, as the game he had just played was almost entirely Airi's own game.

"I didn't do anything. It was almost entirely Airi's doing."

"No, it was Minato-san who made me able to do so. Maybe Minato-san is good at that sort of thing."

"Really? I just do what I normally would. I wasn't aware of that."

"Minato is just unaware of it, but he shines as a team player. Like Ninomiya-san said, he's good at support."

"That's why I thought it would be better to pair him up with Airi."

Kazuma and Momose, who had bought drinks as punishment, joined in the conversation.

Apparently they had both known about it for sometime.

"I didn't know that at all."

"No one told you. And you don't play sports with anyone, so no one would notice. Even in PE you try not to stand out."

"I don't have the power to show off."

"Shiori and I can only exercise, but it's amazing how well you're able to do almost everything and support others."

"But it's true that Minato-kun doesn't stand out much, so it can't be helped."

"Shut up, I'm just a plain guy anyway."

Although he thought it was nice to be able to assist someone, at the end of the day, he was only a behind-the-scenes person.

Though he was not dissatisfied with the situation, he was not pleased to be told that by Kazuma and Momose who were standing in front of him.

As he turned away and sulked, he heard Airi's soft voice.

"I knew Minato-san would help me."

"…Well, we are on the same team."

" Fufu , that's right. Thank you very much."

It made him itch when Airi thanked him so happily.

And even though she was only talking about volleyball, the way Airi said it could be misinterpreted as something else.

As he was getting restless with her attitude, Kazuma let out a sigh.

"Okay, break's over. You two, stop flirting and let's continue. This time we'll win."

"We're not going to lose!"

"We're not flirting. Airi, let's go."

"Yes."

They resumed playing volleyball with Kazuma and Momose, who smiled triumphantly, and Minato thought that this kind of thing wasn't so bad.

"Uhh~ So frustrating…"

They played one more game, but Minato and Airi kept losing at the last minute rounds, so now the two of them were sent to buy drinks as punishment.

Airi, who was next to him, swayed their linked hands to show her dissatisfaction.

Although her attitude made Minato smile, he couldn't help but chuckle because in the end, this was a result of his lack of ability.

"I'm sorry. I didn't do enough."

"No, I'm not blaming you. Let's win next time."

"Yeah."

Like when they played games at home, Airi was a very competitive person who didn't usually show it. After all, she wouldn't want to keep losing.

He wanted to do everything he could, for a smile was the best thing that suited her.

He wondered if there was anything that could make Airi try harder, and came up with one.

"Since it's a good opportunity, shall I give you a reward if we win? Cause if we want to win, Airi will have to play more actively."

"…Really?"

Suddenly the tone of Airi's voice changed and she looked at Minato intently.

Her eyes were frighteningly serious, and Minato froze in his tracks.

"Minato-san, is what you're saying true?"

"Ah, yeah. Anything in my power that is."

"I've got your word. Fufu , leave it to me, fufufu …"

As Airi smiled darkly and eerily, Minato thought, Was my decision too rash?

"We won! We did it, Minato-san!"

Since then, Airi's moves were completely different and she won the match.

Minato didn't think his reward was much of anything, but something seemed to have lit inside of her.

Perhaps because she was so overwhelmed with emotion, Airi forgot about the fact that there were people around, and grabbed both of Minato's hands and started shaking them with a big smile on her face.

"A-Airi, what are you doing!"

"We won, Minato-san! Please don't forget your promise!"

Her blue eyes, tinged with joy, stared at him.

While it was nice to see Airi smile, showing her joy with her whole body without reservation would attract a lot of attention due to her appearance.

Worried about that, Minato checked his surroundings with his eyes. Although there were no shouts of criticism, the men looked envious and the women looked at Minato and Airi as if they were looking at something amusing.

Feeling embarrassed, and also because they had to leave the court, he called out to Airi to calm her down.

"Airi, I know you're happy, but calm down."

" Fufu , what should I have you do? Minato-san told me anything was fine."

"I beg you, calm down!"

Airi was so excited that she didn't listen to Minato at all. He had no choice but to pull her hand away a little forcefully.

At that moment, she turned mushy, seeming to have no idea why Minato acted the way he did.

"What is it? Even though it was Minato-san who said so."

"No, that's not it. Just look at the current situation."

"Situation? …Ah."

She must have finally realized what was going on, because her face turned so red that it looked like steam was coming out of it.

He looked around for a place to escape, but there was no such place.

In a panic, Airi pulled Minato's hand and walked out of the court to the corner. She hid behind Minato's back, using him as a shield to escape the stares.

"O-Oi."

"I'm sorry, it's just for now, really just for now. I'm too embarrassed to appear in public…"

"Hah~ …It can't be helped."

He could clearly feel Airi's well-shaped breasts as she languidly pressed her body against his back.

Minato struggled to control himself, not wanting to react here.

Since he couldn't move, they sat still for a while until Kazuma and Momose came over to them. And apparently, they had taken over the cleanup.

When Kazuma saw Airi running away from his gaze, he smiled.

"Ninomiya-san is such an expressive person, isn't she?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

Airi, after Kazuma's remark, apologized and leaned even closer to Minato.

She was in no condition to talk, so Minato took care of it instead.

"Kazuma, don't make fun of her. And sorry for leaving the cleanup to you."

"No, that's okay. So, why was Ninomiya-san so serious? Honestly, she even looked like she was going to kill me."

"She was frustrated to lose to you guys. So then I told her I'd give her a reward if we won, and that's what happened."

"Does the reward come with any conditions?"

"Yeah, I said anything I can do."

Kazuma and Momose let out a big sigh at Minato's words.

Minato knew that something bad would happen to his heart, but he was sure that it would be a good motivation for Airi, who hated to lose, even if just a little.

Minato thought he hadn't said anything strange, but Kazuma and Momose were looking at him with grim eyes.

"Well, if you say that, of course Airi will get serious…"

"Minato, you've got some nerve…"

"Yeah, I guess that would explain it."

"This– Hah~ I feel like such a fool already. We're taking a break over there, so get Airi back to normal. Let's go, Kazuma."

"See you later."

Then, with a dumbfounded look on their faces, Kazuma and Momose abandoned Minato and headed for a break.

Since a while had passed, Minato asked Airi if it was time to go.

"Hey, Airi, have you calmed down yet?"

"…Not yet. A little longer, please."

In the end, it took quite a while for Airi to get back to normal.