My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 11

--Oh, I see... Irito-san, you're not good at sports either~

—Why do you seem so happy?

--I don't know...maybe it's because we have something in common that we're happy.

Regardless of the actual situation, at that time, I somewhat imagined my boyfriend as an "arrogant and all-powerful male god".

It's probably because that guy didn't want me to see his weak side. Most likely it stemmed from his so-called male pride.

--Irito-san, you're so cute.

The moment I realized this, I said this.

He lowered his head so I couldn't see his face.

Personally, I'd prefer you to say I'm "handsome" rather than "cute"...

No matter how he tried to cover his face, I could see him clearly from behind.

I noticed that his beautifully shaped ears were noticeably redder than usual.

Even this cold-blooded and expressionless man is nothing more than an ordinary boy who puts on a brave face for the sake of his incurable pride. No matter how he changes, he will never become Sherlock Holmes; he is just an ordinary, average person with the same flaws as me... who falls for someone like me.

For me at the time, that was a strangely happy thing.

The fact that she likes skinny, unfit guys who don't exercise suggests that this woman should probably correct her sexual preferences.

◆

"--Uh... 81 centimeters? Wow~"

"Looking at the measurements on the measuring tape around my chest, the nurse in the infirmary exclaimed in admiration."

"I've been measuring high school girls' bust, waist, and hip measurements for so many years, and I've never been this envious. Such perfect breasts, bless me..."

"...Um, may I leave now?"

I escaped from the school nurse who, for some reason, started bowing twice, clapping twice, and bowing once to me, and went outside the curtain.

I've always been afraid of health checkups because being short has been a long-standing insecurity for me, and even now it automatically makes me feel depressed.

I couldn't help but sigh as I picked up my sports jacket, which was placed against the wall of the infirmary.

No, I can't let this little thing put me under pressure. There are much more troublesome things waiting for me later...

I was in a hurry to put on a jacket over my gymnastics uniform, but I suddenly stopped moving.

Someone was staring at me intently.

A petite girl, about ten centimeters shorter than me and with her hair in a ponytail, stared intently at my chest from extremely close range. She looked at me from every angle, her eyes wide open like plates. She didn't blink, it was quite frightening.

If it were a stranger, even if it were another girl, I would have called the police long ago, but perhaps I should say I was lucky that I knew this girl.

"Nan...Nan-kun? W-What's wrong...?"

As I turned to cover my chest, I took a step away from the girl.

She snapped out of her daze and laughed, a little embarrassed.

"No, it's just that I think Irito-san is so thin, but her breasts are quite big~! You see, I'm only like this~"

Although it's my own body, the girl who was slapping her flat chest so roughly was rather impolite. Her name is Nan Xiaoyue, and she is one of my closest friends since I entered university.

She's cheerful, sociable, and possesses an adorable, almost animalistic charm—a naturally sunny girl. If it were me in middle school, I probably would have only gotten her to be nice to me one-sidedly, and a two-way friendship would have been impossible.

Her large, squirrel-like eyes darted around as she spoke:

"Every year, I think to myself, 'I must grow taller this year!' But I never do grow any taller~ So I feel so depressed every time I have a health checkup..."

"Exactly. Yeah, I get it. My growth period didn't finally arrive until last year..."

"Huh? Was Irito-san also part of the Little Ones Alliance before?"

"At this time last year, I was about the same height as Nan-kun, right?"

"What?! You've grown so much in just one year! ...Could I ask you what your bra size is...?"

"Why are you suddenly being so humble... Uh, actually it's not that big of a deal..."

I bent down and whispered something to Nan. When she heard this, her already big eyes widened even more.

"...D, D cup...?"

"I-I want to clarify first, I just deliberately wore a larger size...!"

"Irito-san is my hope!"

Nan suddenly lunged at me and hugged my neck, which startled me. Nan really enjoys physical contact with people. No matter how much I try to change my personality, I could never become like her.

"They say you become like the company you keep, so if I stick to Irito-san like this, maybe I'll grow taller too~?"

"Uh, sorry, that idiom doesn't mean that, so can you let go of me now?"

It made me blush.

Please don't rub your face against me like a clingy kitten.

But then again, I don't know why my growth spurt suddenly started. Was it some kind of effect of female hormones? ...After all, I think the period when I started growing taller was the time when I secreted the most hormones.

Nan and I got really into a conversation about health checkups, and after we left the health room together, we headed to the gymnasium.

Next, we need to conduct a simultaneous physical fitness test.

Nan naturally became my companion, bouncing her ponytail back and forth while observing me as I put on my tracksuit jacket.

"Your waist and legs are so slim~ Irito-san, it must be hard to maintain a figure like that, right? If you don't take care of it, you'll keep gaining weight."

"That's...that's right."

"Oh, so how do you maintain your figure? Do you exercise or something?"

"I guess so...?"

I forced a fake smile. If I said, "All the nutrition this year went to my height and bust, so I didn't do anything," people would think I was showing off and would say, "What's wrong with that girl? Does she think she's so great?"

"The physical fitness test made me feel so heavy-hearted~ I'm so envious of Irito-kun~ You must have looked so cool during the test~"

"It's...it's alright..."

"It's not just okay~! Ah-why do we still have to do physical fitness tests even after getting into a prestigious school? This world is so cruel to little ones--"

As I echoed his agreement, I was sweating profusely.

I changed my personality and my appearance.

In order to break free from my past self, I transformed everything about myself.

—There is only one exception: motor nerves.

I always had questions.

Why can't fitness tests respect individual privacy like health checkups? Why force athletes with poor athletic ability to embarrass themselves in front of everyone? It's practically public execution. Does the world want all athletes with poor athletic ability to be clowns for laughs? That kind of world might as well be destroyed.

—I stepped into the stadium while repeatedly cursing the world.

"Oh! There are boys taking the test too."

As Nan said this, she lightly jumped over the threshold of the gymnasium.

Health checkups and fitness tests are conducted separately for boys and girls, and at different times. The first-grade boys were ahead of us first-grade girls in line. The group that had finished the outdoor tests earlier seemed to be taking the indoor tests at this time.

Among them I saw familiar faces—faces I see every day in my own home, but I pretended not to notice.

"Well then, Irito-san, the sooner you finish, the sooner you'll be free~"

"Hmm, that's true..."

Before the other girls arrived.

...I am Yui Irito. I am a perfect high school girl, known to everyone in my grade for my beauty and talent.

I couldn't ruin the image I'd worked so hard to build—I secretly did extra training in order to at least meet the required standards.

Of course, my athletic ability, which is worse than a ten-year-old non-smartphone, can't suddenly become stronger through last-minute cramming. However, if it's just a few fitness events, then I can manage to train. Even if I can't be number one in the whole grade, I should at least be able to achieve a record that isn't embarrassing for a girl.

Then I can only hope that there are others like me who are sports-challenged. In that respect, it's truly fortunate to be able to team up with Nan, who claims to be bad at sports—

That's what I originally thought.

"Hey, look at that!" "Nan? He's amazing!" "His movements are unbelievably agile!" "He's like a rabbit!" "He jumped sideways fifty-five times?" "Whoa, I give up!"

"Damn it! I thought I could jump even more!"

I greeted Nan, who returned without batting an eye, with complete silence.

—You lied to me!

How can you say you're not good at sports! How dare you brag to me like that! You're using your exceptional athletic ability to spout nonsense in front of a complete sports idiot like me!

"Nan...Nan-kun? Didn't you say you weren't good at sports...?"

As I tried to hide the raging storm in my heart, I asked, and Nan tilted her head blankly.

"I only said I felt heavy-hearted, not that I wasn't good at it, okay? You see, someone like me, who's both small and a girl, would be laughed at if I were more athletic than the boys, wouldn't I?"

It turned out to be a narrative trick.

Who said "no" to you?! Don't try to argue with me using some common sense from another world!

No doubt about it. This girl named Nan Xiaoyue is definitely the type who, during a marathon, would suggest, "Let's run together!" and then abandon the person behind! How awful... I knew people with innate social skills weren't trustworthy...!

"It's Irito's turn again! Good luck!"

I wonder what ulterior motive lies behind that animalistic smile. Did she already know I'm a complete klutz when it comes to sports? Waaaaah… this is terrifying… being a social butterfly is so scary…

I was even more terrified than she was, like a little animal, but I still stood on the three lines that kept bobbing back and forth. At that moment, I saw my stepson (and the boy who had been hanging out with that guy a lot lately) in the sit-up group at the front of the class.

"Let's begin, Irito! Ready—one—"

"I surrender."

"There's no such rule!"

...That guy is so unmotivated.

Of course, the students around him were whispering and laughing at him, and the PE teacher in charge was glaring at him. But he lay on the ground, seemingly unfazed. The boy who was holding his feet down (I think his surname was Kawanami?) couldn't stand it anymore and pulled his arm, forcing him to sit up. Not sit-ups, but pull-ups. That would probably only test Kawanami's physical strength.

...I never want to be like him.

I made a firm vow to myself. For the past few weeks, I've been diligently doing unfamiliar strength training and studying books on exercise science. I also studied until midnight last night, so honestly, I'm exhausted and sleepy, and my mind is a little foggy.

it is good!

Seeing my stepson's embarrassing performance rekindled my motivation, and I achieved good results in the repetitive side jumps, seated forward bends, and sit-ups. However, grip strength is a matter of muscle strength, so my results weren't ideal...

"Wow! Irito-san, you're amazing!"

"It's...it's alright, oh well..."

Nan's frank praise made me feel ashamed of my earlier unfounded suspicions about her. I could only offer an awkward smile, feeling extremely guilty.

...I'm so tired...

Perhaps due to lack of sleep and constant mental strain, my physical strength was severely depleted. Next, I have to participate in outdoor tests; I don't know if I'll be up to the task.

Just hang in there a little longer, and I'll go home and sleep as soon as the test is over...

As I staggered out of the gymnasium, my stepson, who still had to retake the sit-up test, seemed to glance at me.

Standing long jump, softball throw, and then the 50-meter race. These are outdoor events.

Although there's still the "progressive shuttle run" test, that's scheduled for a later date. As for that project, just hearing its cold, ruthless electronic sound effects makes me want to vomit, so I know it'll be eliminated very quickly.

For the standing long jump, all you need to do is avoid falling flat on your backside. The softball throw utilizes centrifugal force, and you can get a decent score. Nan achieved excellent records in both events, leaving the boys in awe. I can't imagine what it felt like to receive cheers from everyone during the fitness test.

Having been sleep-deprived and walking around in the spring sunshine, I was nearing my peak fatigue. All I wanted to do was collapse into bed and sleep. I queued up with water from the dispenser to satisfy this urge, then headed to line up for the main event—the 50-meter race.

"Well... I'm off to run!"

The girl in front of me, Nan, took her first steps at the starting line with a lightness that contrasted sharply with mine. With a masterful crouch start, she instantly left all the other runners far behind and crossed the finish line alone.

"Seven, seven, three seconds—!"

The girl in charge of the test shouted, and a burst of cheers erupted from the crowd. Nan had rightfully earned the highest score. Seriously, how could she have the nerve to say she was feeling down? Women really can't be trusted…

As I watched Nan being surrounded by what appeared to be upperclassmen from the track and field club behind the finish line, I took my position.

"call……"