The Heroines Want to Confess.

Chapter 140: Saki-kun's thing—I swallowed it all down~

Amidst a chorus of audible sighs from the melon-eating crowd, the referee declared the volleyball match officially started.

"Which side are you leaning toward this time?"

Sakurai Saki casually replied, "If we're going by ability, probably Hayasaka-san's side."

On the court, Fujiwara Chika served the first ball.

The volleyball soared into the air, and then—pop!—was spiked straight into position 5 in the back row.

Volleyball court positions are as follows:

4 3 25 6 1

Position 1 is the service spot, 4 is the outside hitter, 3 is the setter, 2 is the middle blocker. The back row cannot step ahead of the front row.

Just a few seconds later.

"Huh?" Toyosaki Saburo noticed something odd about Sakurai Saki's expression.

"Volleyballs can catch fire too? That's news to me," Sakurai Saki remarked in awe.

Just now, Fujiwara Chika had launched a spike that seemed to make the ball ignite—Sakurai Saki even thought he saw a scorched streak on the court.

Super Volleyball?

"Did you catch chuunibyou today or something? But yeah, that last spike by Fujiwara-san really was fast."

Class 2-B scored the first point.

The referee flipped the scoreboard to a new page. This volleyball match would be played in a single set—whoever reached 15 points first would win.

"Chika-chan!!! Go for it!!"

"Hayasaka-san!!! You got this!!"

A few seconds later, the crowd erupted in cheers for both sides.

Some people even went over the top——

"Shinomiya-san!!! Go!!!"

That shout briefly froze the mood for a few seconds… but the noise quickly returned——

"Shinomiya-san!! Go!!" × N

Sakurai Saki couldn't help but think this crowd was really just here to watch drama—what did this battle have to do with Shinomiya Kaguya?

Oh, right—technically this was an inter-class match, but sorry, the audience had long since stopped caring about volleyball. They were here for Shurafield.

Twenty minutes later, after many rallies, the score was now 13:12. The girls on the court were starting to pant heavily.

Except for Hayasaka Ai and Fujiwara Chika.

"Ai-chan, aren't you tired? That last dig you did… super difficult."

'Like hell it wasn't your fault!' Hayasaka Ai cursed internally, but her expression stayed cheerful: "Not tired at all! Playing volleyball with Chika-chan is so fun. I don't feel tired one bit~"

ᕙ( ˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ )ᕗ ✧

"How about you?"

"I'm doing fine too!"

٩( ˃▿˂ )۶

...Lies! All lies!

Both girls were utterly exhausted. For some reason, their stamina was abnormally high today, so neither had held back during the rallies. Now their arms and legs were aching all over.

But… they could still push through!

Right now, this court was their battlefield!

The speed of the ball was way beyond normal—getting hit in the head might send someone straight to the infirmary. So the other players were noticeably cautious.

Another serve!

The volleyball flew back and forth between the two of them like a ping-pong ball—it didn't even resemble the rules of volleyball anymore!

Suddenly, a mishit—Chika failed to block at the net, and the ball's trajectory changed, flying straight into the crowd. One male student took the ball square in the crotch, clutched his lower half, and collapsed to the floor.

(っ'-')╮ =͟͟͞͞🏀ूाीू

The pain was clearly visible.

"Hsss~" Many male students sucked in cold air.

Moments later, a few classmates helped carry him off.

The match continued for the next few minutes, but the crowd had shifted back to create more space.

Until the score became 13:14.

"Final ball," Sakurai Saki muttered.

Toyosaki: "If Fujiwara-san wins this point, they'll go into overtime."

If it reached 14:14, a two-point difference would be required to win.

Meaning whoever reached 16 points first would be the victor.

But… things didn't go that way.

The duo of Hayasaka Ai and Shinomiya Kaguya proved too strong—they pulled a comeback and scored three consecutive points!

Cheers erupted again from the court!

Only, the cheer target was kind of strange——

"Shinomiya-san!! Shinomiya-san!!" × N

"You were right on the mark," Toyosaki Saburo sighed.

Sakurai Saki was just about to reply when he noticed something off with Fujiwara Chika's condition.

She looked like she was about to faint, currently leaning on another teammate's shoulder, her face strained and pale.

However, Sakurai Saki didn't walk over right away.

He glanced at Ai-chan—in contrast, she and Shinomiya Kaguya still seemed fine. Ai-chan even pulled out her phone.

Seeing that, Sakurai Saki also took out his phone.

Opened LINE.

A message had just come in.

Ai-chan: Hmph hmph, I won.

Sakurai Saki gave a helpless chuckle.

He sent a reply:

Sakurai: ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧[Orca like.jpg]

He looked up and around, realizing that everyone was waiting for him to do something.

Looking down once more——

Ai-chan: Take Chika-chan to the infirmary. She doesn't look too good.

Sakurai Saki considered whether she was testing him, but after thinking it through… it didn't seem like that.

Without further hesitation, he stepped toward Chika under the watchful eyes of everyone present.

The gossip-hungry crowd was stunned!

The winning side of the volleyball match didn't get the reward? How was that fair?

Shouldn't the beauty (Sakurai) belong to the victor?

"What's wrong? Saki-kun?"

Chika looked up, her vision a little blurry.

"I'll take you to the infirmary." Sakurai Saki noticed she might've caught a cold. After all that intense activity, she had sweated a lot.

"But Ai-chan was the one who won…"

"I'm not the prize for this match. Besides, she's the one who told me to come here." Sakurai Saki explained.

Eh? Why?

Chika had already been a bit dizzy earlier, but now she felt even more light-headed.

...

Not far away.

Shinomiya Kaguya saw the scene and turned to Hayasaka Ai.

Kaguya: "Hayasaka, why did you let Sakurai-san take the initiative like that?"

"Testing your boyfriend? Seeing whether Sakurai-san still has feelings for Secretary Fujiwara?"

That was the only conclusion Shinomiya Kaguya could draw.

But clearly, they had already won—was doing all this still necessary?

Just hold onto Sakurai-san. And if you can't keep his heart, then lock him up in the basement. There's always a way.

"Something like that." Hayasaka Ai didn't elaborate.

She understood the relationship between Sakurai Saki and Fujiwara Chika very well. Even if she was currently dating Sakurai, that wouldn't ruin what those two had. Most likely, their bond would remain unchanged.

Just earlier, Hayasaka Ai had noticed something.

When Sakurai Saki realized Fujiwara Chika didn't look well, he didn't rush to her immediately—but instead looked toward her.

That was enough for Hayasaka Ai.

In his heart, she ranked a step above Fujiwara Chika. Hayasaka Ai had come to understand that.

Official girlfriend and close friend—those were two very different positions, and Sakurai Saki understood that distinction clearly.

Besides, Ai-chan still felt guilty about her confession—that was also why she let go this time.

No matter what, it was thanks to Chika's encouragement that she had the courage to confess to Sakurai Saki in the first place—that fact couldn't be changed.

"Hayasaka, Secretary Fujiwara hasn't given up yet," Shinomiya Kaguya reminded her.

"I know." Hayasaka Ai replied.

Just yesterday, Chika had gone to the game center with Sakurai Saki.

And Chika most likely knew she was dating Sakurai—otherwise, she wouldn't have said those provocative lines earlier.

"Confidence is good, but overconfidence will get you into trouble." Shinomiya Kaguya said with some concern.

"Sakurai-san is exceptional, not bad-looking either. Especially his ability to quickly catch inconsistencies in what others say—I quite like that about him."

Shinomiya Kaguya used her handkerchief to wipe sweat from her forehead, then lifted her ponytail, exposing her fair white neck. A few glistening drops of sweat rolled from her cheeks down into her sportswear.

"If you don't hold on tight, someone might just steal him away."

Hayasaka: (≖ - ≖)

Steal him? Kaguya-sama, who are you referring to?

Hayasaka Ai glanced at her mistress.

Lately, Kaguya's hostility toward Sakurai Saki had been slowly fading—and that made Ai-chan feel a sense of danger.

"Kaguya-sama, what do you think of Sakurai?"

"He's kind of annoying… but a good person."

Beside them, the other team members from earlier gathered around.

"We won!!"

"That was awesome!" Ai-chan switched into gyaru mode and ran over to hug her teammates.

Everyone started high-fiving in celebration.

...

A few minutes later.

Sakurai Saki and Fujiwara Chika arrived at the infirmary.

No one else was inside. It was very quiet.

Sakurai Saki helped Chika sit down on the bed to rest.

Then he got up, planning to find cold medicine.

"Saki-kun, I feel all sticky and gross..." Chika's voice called out softly from behind.

Sakurai Saki found the medicine and poured her a glass of water.

Then he grabbed a towel from the cabinet, rinsed it clean, and sat down beside Chika.

"Take your medicine."

"Feed me~"

Chika tilted her head slightly, parting her lips, her face flushed from the fever.

Sakurai Saki brought the pill to her mouth, and Chika took in both the pill and his finger, before slowly letting it go.

"Ah~" Chika opened her small mouth again, flaunting the wet interior with a teasing tone: "Saki-kun's thing—I swallowed it all down~"

Chika: (๑>؂•̀๑)

Sakurai Saki: (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

Chika when she's sick… is really weird.