"You… you're right," Kanade Natsukawa said with stiff movements, nodding awkwardly.
He couldn't shake the guilt that came with feeling like he had deceived Eriri.
"But none of that really matters right now. Let's hurry and get to the Test of Courage. If we drag this out any longer, we might run out of time…"
Placing a hand over his chest, Kanade tried to convince himself internally: I didn't lie to Eriri—I just presented the situation differently…
"Yeah, let's go!" Eriri nodded enthusiastically and stepped closer, naturally walking side by side with Kanade.
In response, Kanade instinctively took her hand.
"? …!!!"
What… what is going on?!
Eriri's mind was thrown into absolute chaos.
Why… why did Kanade suddenly hold her hand?!
Not that she minded, of course! But she hadn't prepared herself at all for something like this. Were her hands clean? Would they feel too cold? Oh no—what if her palms started sweating? Wouldn't he find that gross?!
Eriri's thoughts spiraled out of control.
Still, there was no way she would come up with an excuse to let go. She might never find the courage to hold his hand again. More importantly—what if Kanade misunderstood and thought she didn't want to hold hands with him? That would be a disaster! She didn't dislike this at all!
Whatever happens, I'll just have to go with it!
Resigning herself, Eriri lowered her head, her cheeks flushed red. She stole glances at their joined hands and then slowly let her gaze travel up to Kanade's face. Before she knew it, she was completely captivated by his handsome profile.
Kanade is so good-looking... (^▽^)
Meanwhile, Kanade was completely oblivious to the flurry of thoughts running through Eriri's head.
He was simply following the rules of the event: participants were required to hold hands throughout the Test of Courage.
Kaguya Shinomiya, the vice president, had explained this rule to him herself. If she said so, it had to be true.
Still, from his own experience, Kanade knew there was a loophole: as long as no staff members saw the participants letting go, it wasn't considered a violation.
Like earlier, when he and Kaguya had split up—one to distract the "monsters," the other to retrieve items.
Surely the staff must've noticed them splitting up after doing it multiple times, but none of them had mentioned it, not even the officials who reviewed their performance afterward. That clearly indicated the method was allowed.
In hindsight, Kanade had to give credit to Chika Fujiwara. Although she often seemed unreliable—a pure chaotic force of nature—her contributions, from the election campaign to organizing this Test of Courage, had consistently exceeded expectations.
Sure, the initial "morality challenge" had been a shocker, but the other segments were well-designed: fresh, engaging, and far more enjoyable than the usual "walkthrough a haunted house" experience. Kanade could already foresee this year's Test of Courage receiving rave reviews, a highlight of his time as student council president.
And on a personal level, he was grateful that the event wasn't boring. Given that he had to participate three times, a dull game would've been pure torture.
Kanade had even prepared himself to feign enthusiasm for his partners' sake, ensuring they had a perfect haunted house experience. But in reality, the event had been so fun and engaging that he didn't need to pretend at all.
The only downside? His first attempt had felt like playing on "extreme difficulty," given that he had carried Kaguya for most of it.
Thankfully, he had been working on his fitness for a while, so his stamina was decent. Otherwise, he might have collapsed halfway and failed to keep his promises to Eriri and the others.
Hand in hand, Kanade led Eriri to the entrance of the "special route" section of the Test of Courage.
The event was already halfway through, and most participants had entered the venue by now. The remaining people outside clearly had their own plans, so the two of them didn't run into anyone along the way.
For Kanade, this was ideal. As long as they didn't encounter anyone who had seen him playing with Kaguya earlier, there would be no misunderstandings—like thinking he was two-timing or some kind of time management master.
I really did accept these invitations as a friend!
And honestly… his reputation was already plagued by enough rumors. He didn't need any more strange stories circulating about him.
Of course, Kanade knew most of those rumors were his own doing. His actions had often been the root cause.
"This is the entrance to the special venue," Kanade explained as they reached the area. Eriri, wide-eyed with curiosity, was busy taking in the surroundings.
"For groups assigned by the roster, they enter through the other square's entrance. This area is specifically for students using their 'free-choice' option."
"Ohhh, I see…" Eriri nodded thoughtfully.
Kanade blinked, feeling a strange sense of unease as he observed her. Eriri seemed… a little down. Had something happened?
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"N-nothing…" Eriri shook her head quickly, then tugged on his hand, urging him forward. "A-anyway, let's hurry up and go inside…"
Of course, there was no way Eriri would reveal what she was thinking:
She was still stuck on the fact that he'd held her hand first.
As they walked without encountering anyone along the way, Eriri's mind began to wander. Coupled with her overactive imagination as a long-time doujin artist, she couldn't help but entertain ridiculous thoughts:
What if Kanade wasn't actually taking her to the Test of Courage, but to some secluded forest for a secret rendezvous?!
Of course, she'd firmly refuse! How could they skip so many steps and jump straight to that! At the very least, they should confess their feelings for each other first!
But then, reality hit her—she'd completely misunderstood the situation. Of course Kanade wasn't that kind of person!
She trusted him. She really did.
"Eh?" Kanade was slightly taken aback.
Eriri seemed even more anxious than he was.
"No need to rush. We have plenty of time…" Kanade tried to gently slow the overeager golden-haired girl down. However, after expending so much energy earlier, his stamina was nearly depleted. He couldn't even stop the supposedly "frail" Eriri.
In fact, he ended up being pulled forward by her momentum.
"!" Kanade immediately realized things were going south.
Sure enough, his next step landed awkwardly, and he fell forward.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Eriri turned her head just in time to see Kanade's face hurtling toward her, leaving her unable to look away.
"...!!!"
She didn't even have time to cry out before Kanade toppled onto her, sending them both sprawling onto the grass.
"Ouch, ouch…" Eriri grimaced, clutching her rear as the sharp pain spread from her landing spot. It felt like her tailbone had taken a direct hit.
Despite the pain from her harsh encounter with the ground, her focus remained on the "culprit" responsible for this unexpected impact.
"Kanade…" Eriri began, but stopped when she saw him propping himself up above her, arms trembling and beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere?" Eriri asked, her voice rising in concern.
She knew him well enough—normally, he'd use this opportunity to act cool and check on her. But now, his obvious weakness made it clear that he was the one who needed help.
Ignoring the pain radiating from her back, Eriri struggled to help Kanade lie down and then tried to get up to support him.
It was a good idea in theory.
Unfortunately, she overestimated her strength.
Without Kanade's cooperation, she couldn't manage to lift him. Worse, she ended up losing her balance and falling forward again.
"Ugh…"
And so, as if fate were mocking them, Kanade—who had planned to rest on the grass—suddenly felt a powerful headbutt to his stomach.
The force was so strong it nearly made him regurgitate the barbecue rice bowl he'd had for lunch.
"!!!" Eriri was horrified. Scrambling to her hands and knees, she quickly apologized.
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" Eriri was on the verge of tears.
She had only wanted to help. Why did it seem like her efforts only made Kanade suffer more?
As she sank into guilt and self-doubt, Kanade, seemingly reading her thoughts, spoke up:
"I'm not mad at you. It's my fault—I'm out of energy and couldn't help you get me up…"
"…"
"Don't worry about it. You don't need to do anything. Just let me rest here for a bit," Kanade reassured her.
He had overestimated himself.
Walking had seemed fine, so he thought he could push through. But clearly, he was so drained that he couldn't even match Eriri's strength now.
If I had to guess… right now, I probably only have about 0.5 Eriris' worth of combat power.
I need to train more. This is unacceptable, Kanade thought to himself.
Eriri, meanwhile, had no idea what was going through his head. She remained stuck in her own spiral of self-blame.
If only I were stronger! How could I be so weak? I'm worse than a hamster!
But dwelling on her shortcomings wouldn't change anything. She wanted to do something—anything—to make up for her failure.
Kanade had told her to leave him alone, that all he needed was to rest. But she refused to sit idly by.
No! I can't just stand here and do nothing!
Resolving herself, Eriri stood up, dusted off her skirt, and—carrying equal parts determination, guilt, and embarrassment—sat down beside Kanade's head.
"Eriri?" Kanade looked up at her in confusion.
"…"
Ignoring his questioning gaze, Eriri steeled herself, put on a determined expression like a soldier heading to battle, and lifted his head onto her lap.
I did it! Eriri cheered internally.
Hah! A lap pillow isn't even that big of a deal! Look at me—I pulled it off so easily!
Now, even if that smug Kasumigaoka woman tried to brag, saying things like, "I've done all sorts of intimate things with Senpai~," Eriri wouldn't be fazed.
Because she had one-upped her.
This was a lap pillow! Surely Kasumigaoka had never done this!
"Guh-hehe…"
"…?"
Kanade stared at her, puzzled by the strange giggling sound she was making.