Class Tournament (3)
"You two..."
Alice's voice trailed off in sheer disbelief.
"What is this?! What is this?!"
She gave the thing a vigorous shake — a glossy black sculpture slathered in saliva, gleaming wetly under the lights.
Damn. So that's how big I get when I'm hard.
Seeing the size of my dick laid out so objectively like that, I felt a swell of genuine pride.
"Th-that's..."
Bianca stammered, hanging her head.
"Re… Rebecca said she would teach me..."
Her face flushed a deep, burning red as she timidly pointed a finger at Rebecca.
"It was you?!"
Alice swung the black sculpture toward Rebecca. The glistening serpent thrashed through the air.
"...It was not."
Rebecca contradicted Alice's accusation without so much as a change in expression.
Huh? What's this, then? Did Bianca just lie?
"The conversation happened to turn to the intimate acts I had performed with Jojun, and the President asked me where I had learned the hand technique I used the first time."
"Eek! Rebecca!"
Ah. That hand technique.
To be fair, the handjob Rebecca had given me last time had been extraordinary. True to her nature as an ice-ability user, those cold fingers gliding over the head of my cock had been simultaneously bone-chilling and electrifying.
"I told her I had learned it from a certain website, and that I had recently picked up a new technique worth using. The President then asked me to teach her... mmph!"
Bianca shot to her feet and clamped a hand over Rebecca's mouth.
"I-I was wrong! Rebeccaaa!"
Her cheeks blazing, Bianca fully confessed her guilt. For someone as kind as her to resort to lying — she must have been mortified beyond words.
"Okay, and where did you even get this thing?"
Alice clamped down hard on the shaft of the black sculpture. The column swelled under her grip as if it might burst, and I swallowed involuntarily at the sight.
"That... I made it... with my ability..."
Bianca confessed with her head bowed low.
As expected of Yongan. An ability versatile enough to encroach even on the domain of creation itself. Absolutely perfect.
"Alice, that's enough. The President and Vice President were practicing with good intentions. Sort of."
Alice was coming down on the two of them a little too hard, so I stepped in to mediate.
"No, Jojun, we came here to help them! And they were in here sucking and licking on that?!"
Alice sloshed the serpent through the air again, looking thoroughly appalled.
She wasn't wrong. But I couldn't exactly throw stones. These were lovely women honing their sexual techniques for my sake. How could I possibly condemn them?
"No! No! We actually pulled an all-nighter last night, so there's no work left!"
Bianca waved both hands wildly, denying Alice's accusation.
"That is correct. The only reason we were here today was to finish a small amount of remaining work. There is nothing left now."
Rebecca, who had just thrown Bianca under the bus moments ago, now came to her defense.
"This only came up while we were chatting after finishing everything. Absolutely! Absolutely not what you think!"
Bianca declared it with exaggerated gestures. Alice made a complicated face, then reluctantly conceded.
"Haa... well, I guess I can't really say anything, then."
She sighed and set the black sculpture down on the table. It wobbled cheerfully at even that slight impact, swaying this way and that.
"...."
Every pair of eyes in the room drifted toward it of its own accord. A peculiar silence settled over us.
"Want a chicken skewer?"
If I stayed in this silence any longer, I was going to keep staring at that thing, so I broke it however I could.
"Oh, yes!"
Bianca accepted the skewer with an adorable smile. Rebecca took one as well, murmuring a polite "Thank you."
"I'm gonna hit the bathroom real quick."
I'd needed to go for a while, but the bloodthirsty atmosphere had kept me glued to my seat. Now that things had calmed down and everyone was stuck in that awkward stare-down with the serpent, I figured this was my window and bolted out of the student council room.
Click.
The moment I shut the door behind me, Alice's voice slipped through the crack — tiny, almost inaudible.
"But Rebecca. What exactly is this technique?"
Anyone else would have missed it. But with my senses sharpened by Gigan, I caught every word.
"Are you curious?"
Huh? What's going on in there?
I pressed myself against the door and strained to listen to the fascinating conversation unfolding among the women inside.
"Alice, I'm telling you, Rebecca is no joke! You have to learn this!"
Bianca's voice, bright with excitement, came through as well.
"Really?"
What the hell is happening in there?
"I learned it recently, and I am certain Jojun will enjoy it. Now, open your mouth like this and wrap it with your tongue..."
Rebecca's instructional tone drifted out — and then, almost immediately:
Slurp. Shhhlurp.
It was an obscenely wet sound. Just hearing it made my cock stand at full attention.
"Like thith... thcrape the underthide gently..."
Rebecca's pronunciation leaked around whatever she had in her mouth — clearly the black sculpture.
I listened to the sounds from behind the door for a few more minutes, a satisfied smile spreading across my face, then headed for the bathroom. My dick had swollen so much inside my pants that I had to walk slightly hunched over, and as I trudged along I pictured it: Alice, using the technique she'd just learned from Rebecca, ravaging a replica of me.
I was already looking forward to it.
Grinning, I waddled awkwardly into the restroom.
The smell of food designed to provoke hunger drifted from every direction with each step I took. Laughter and chatter blended together along the packed main street. Just standing in the middle of it was enough to send a current of excitement through me. This scenario really was a festival — you could feel it in the air.
"Jojun! Let's do that one, that one!"
Alice tugged on my arm beside me, beaming. She'd just gotten her face painted, and the cat whiskers drawn across the bridge of her nose and over her cheeks made her look almost painfully adorable.
"Yeah, let's go!"
A day like this was meant to be enjoyed. A laid-back scenario like this one called for some healing.
Pulled along by Alice's hand, I approached one of the street game stalls that had been set up along the road.
"You can do it~!"
While Alice and I played the stall games, Bianca and Rebecca watched from the side, eating the street food they'd just bought. Rebecca chewed with her usual blank expression; Bianca took each bite with a blissful little smile. The contrast was striking, and yet they somehow looked perfect together. Bianca and Rebecca really were at their best when they were side by side.
"Ah!"
Thwack!
I snapped my wrist and ricocheted the ball straight into Alice's goal, winning the round. Alice or not, a game was a game. The world of competition was ruthless. I wasn't about to throw a match.
"One more! One more!"
She'd lost, and she was still grinning, already demanding a rematch. I accepted with the easy smile of a winner.
"Hey? Junior!"
A familiar voice called out from behind me. I turned, and two men in hats pulled low over their faces were walking toward us.
"Who are you?"
The voice rang a bell, but I couldn't see their faces at all, so I asked.
"Me?"
As if he'd been waiting for that, the man flicked up the brim of his hat. A glimpse of his eyes and the bridge of his nose appeared — and even from that sliver, I was certain he was handsome.
Damn it.
A sudden flare of irritation made me ask again, more bluntly this time.
"I said, who are you?"
The man looked incredulous and flipped the hat back entirely, revealing his face.
"Me! Me! Kim Subin! I gave you my business card last time!"
Now that I could see the whole face, the memory came back in fragments. He was the S-Class hunter who'd shown up at school on the first day of afternoon classes.
The moment he said his name, nearby heads started turning, and Kim Subin hurriedly yanked the hat back down over his face.
"You remember me, at least?"
A gruff voice came from the man beside him. That one I remembered. Kim Jin — the S-Class shooter Alice had been so crazy about.
I nodded in recognition, and Kim Jin let out a short laugh, glancing over at Kim Subin.
"Come on, junior, that's just cold!"
Kim Subin grumbled, looking thoroughly put out. Not that it mattered. A guy acting like that didn't deal me any damage whatsoever.
"Wooow~!"
Behind me, Alice was staring at the two hunters with sparkling eyes. Bianca and Rebecca already seemed to know them to some degree, and exchanged brief greetings.
"What do you want?"
I asked flatly. The second these guys' identities got out, a crowd would form and it would become a massive pain — and I did not like Alice looking at other men like that. The sooner I drove them off, the better.
"Wow, junior. 'What do you want?' That's harsh."
Kim Subin grinned and casually reached a hand toward me.
Thwack.
I lifted the wooden sword Alice had bought me at a stall earlier and knocked his hand away.
"Senior. You're not going to pull that memory-reading stunt again, are you?"
I hadn't remembered his voice all that clearly, but I distinctly remembered him grabbing my armband last time and reading my memories. That unpleasant sensation of someone peering into me — his psychometry — was not something I ever wanted to feel again.
"Heh heh heh! Ah, this is new! You really are fun, junior."
Kim Subin dusted off the hand I'd swatted away, laughing.
"No real business, honestly. Just curious how well you'll do in this class tournament."
He looked me over with a sly, lingering gaze.
"So? Think you'll win?"
"We'll win. No question."
I answered with absolute conviction. Losing wasn't an option. Our class didn't just have me — it had Violet and Alice, both of whom had obtained opportunities in the hidden dungeon. And then there was me, with my absurd specs. Victory was already locked in.
No matter what happened.
"Ooooh~? That so~?"
Kim Subin cocked his head, snickering, gave me one more long look, then spun on his heel and started walking away.
"Well then, junior. I'll be watching the match this afternoon. Do well."
He tossed the words over his shoulder with a wave, and he and Kim Jin disappeared into the crowd.
"What?! What?! Jojun, are you friends with those two?!"
The instant they were gone, Alice grabbed my wrist, practically vibrating with excitement.
"No. Like I told you before, that first meeting was the only time I'd ever seen them."
"Really? And they still came all the way over to talk to you? That's so you, Jojun! I have to give it my all this time too!"
I couldn't stand the sight of those two S-Class hunters, but if it got Alice this fired up, the result wasn't bad at all.
I looked up at the large clock hanging on campus. While we'd been laughing and playing, the time for our class tournament match had crept right up on us.
About an hour and ten minutes left. Which meant we needed to enjoy this festival at full throttle until then. There was no point dwelling on a class tournament we'd already as good as won.
"Alright! Let's go do something else, everyone!"
I waved energetically and charged toward the next stall.
"Okaaay~!"
"Understood."
Bianca and Rebecca followed at a leisurely pace behind me, while Alice had already overtaken me and was sprinting toward the stall up ahead.
Ah, this happy festival atmosphere. This fresh, sweet feeling in the air — I was enjoying it so much.
I pushed through the crowd packed around the stalls, and at the edge of my vision a color leapt out at me.
Purple hair.
Our class secretary, Violet. She would be commanding the rear line in the upcoming class tournament, and as class president I figured I at least owed her a word of encouragement. I left Bianca and Alice at the stall for a moment and headed toward her.
"Violet!"
I broke through the last of the crowd and there she was. I walked up with a bright smile.
"Ah."
Violet turned her head toward me, her violet hair swaying. Those intelligent, captivating eyes settled on mine.
"You."
The moment she saw me, she addressed me in a low tone that sounded almost like an accusation.
"Hm?"
I asked back, wondering what I'd done wrong, but Violet just stared at me for a moment and then sighed.
"Never mind. Just take this."
She stretched out one arm and handed me something. I took it and looked — a small, sword-shaped charm that could hang from a phone.
"Thanks. I'll take good care of it."
Is this a return gift for the accessory I gave her in the hidden dungeon last time?
I smiled as I thanked her, and Violet sighed again.
"That is not from me, so don't get the wrong idea."
"Huh? What do you—"
She cut me off and placed something else on top of my hand.
"This is the one that's actually from me."
A chocolate cookie, wrapped in pretty packaging, settled onto the sword-shaped charm.
"...."
Violet stared at me intently after handing over the cookie. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something more, then stilled. She spoke at last.
"I'll be going, then. See you at the class tournament."
And with only those words, Violet left.
"What was that?"
I looked down at the chocolate cookie and the sword-shaped charm sitting forlornly in my palm.
Was she just embarrassed? Like giving me both would make it look like she was trying too hard?
"This is a green light, right?"
I grinned, turning the charm and the cookie over in my hands. A gift from Violet. Precious stuff.
I tucked the chocolate cookie and the charm carefully against my chest and headed back to the others.
And in that moment — I should have realized.
Just a little more. If I had pressed her a little more insistently about how Violet had gotten that charm. And from whom she had gotten it.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
I should have thought it through.
If I had — could I have stopped what happened next?
No. I wouldn't have been able to stop it.
But it could have been just a little better.