Heroine Life

Chapter 3: Troublesome and Meddling

"That's all for today's lesson. Make sure to review."

The teacher signals the end of third period.
I spent the whole period pretending to study and looking out the window, so I close the notebook I haven't written anything in.
I finally notice I had my math textbook open the whole time for English class. I didn't get in trouble, so I guess things worked out in the end.
As I was putting everything back into my desk, Oosuga... no, Yuzuha paces toward me like an excited puppy.

"Chiharu, Chiharu! Next is P.E., so let's quickly go to the locker room."
"I get it already, so stop pulling on my uniform. It's going to get wrinkled."

Is she this excited about P.E.? She happily tugs at my shirt to hurry me along.
I hate P.E. since the classes are so intense and tedious. My motor skills are deplorable, so my grades are also bad.
Dejected, I stand up, grab my bag containing my gym clothes, and leave the classroom with Yuzuha. There, I find Misora waiting in the hallway leaning against the wall.

'Who are you waiting for?'
"Oosuga, of course. It's her first P.E. class since she transferred, so I figured she wouldn't know where the locker room is."
"Ah, that's perfect. Yuzuha, Misora will take you to the locker room."
"You're not coming with us, Chiharu?"
"I'm going to change in the washroom. Misora, take care of the rest."
"Leave it to me."

Yuzuha looks at me curiously for a while, but she seems to have guessed my reasons. She nods her head without saying anything and follows Misora.
It would have been a hassle to explain things myself, so I'm grateful she understood. Even if I didn't say anything, Misora would probably tell her later.

"Oops, I have to hurry."

The break between classes is short, so if I don't hurry and change, I'll be late for class.
Anyone not lined up on the field when the bell chimes will be forced to run around the track as punishment. I want to at least avoid that.
I enter the nearby girls' washroom and hurriedly change into my gym clothes. Finally, I put on the school's jersey and finish changing.
It's a little hard changing in this cramped stall, but it's comforting knowing that I did not have to worry about my surroundings.

The reason I change in the washroom is to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.
Actually, I have changed in the locker room a few times, but the sexual harassment incidents get triggered there quite often.
Being in a room filled with half-dressed girls is like being in a minefield for me. After several incidents, I decided to stop changing there.
The other kids in my class never actually banned me from using the locker room, but they view me as a pervert.
If I change in the same room as them, they'll send scornful gazes my way and hate it.
I didn't care about their gazes, but if that continued, it probably wouldn't be long before someone complained.
I decided to change in the washroom to avoid that. It's a bit of a hassle, but it's better than that happening.

After I finish changing, I head for the locker room.
After confirming no one else was inside, I put my bags in my locker and hurry to the meeting place on the field.

"Chiharu!"
"Hey, Chiharu~! This way~!"

When I put on my shoes and stepped outside, Misora and Yuzuha were waving and loudly calling out to me.
Misora's wearing her jersey only on the bottom and Yuzuha's wearing hers only on the top.
By the way, our school uses shorts for the gym uniform, but I wonder if there are schools that still use bloomers?

"Gah! Looks like today's class is hurdle running."

I run up to them and look at the hurdles prepared on the field.
Several hurdles are set up even acrosss a section of the track to form a 100m obstacle course. Looks like we need to run while jumping over them.
I look at the opposite side and see the boys doing the pole vaults. That seems easier, so I would have preferred to do that instead.

After a while, the P.E. teacher arrived, so we all form a line and start warming up.
After that, we line up for the hurdle run. We're lined up in order of our last names, so I'm up first since my last name is Amabuki.
Our class's athletics committee representative is standing at the finish line with a stopwatch in her hand for measuring our times.

My name is called first and I line up at the starting line.


"Ready... go!"

At the teacher's signal, I start running.
I jump right as I approach the first hurdle, raising both my legs to avoid getting caught. I clear the first obstacle successfully.
After that, I clear the second and third hurdles without incident, maintaining my speed the whole time.
Even though it's only 100 meters, the finish line feels so distant. Maybe it's because I have to clear the obstacles while running.
As I approach the last hurdle, I try to jump over it in the same way, but my hind leg got stupidly caught on the black and white bar.
I had let my guard down just before the finish line and that was my undoing.

(Oh cra...!)

I try to free my foot from the bar, but my foot didn't move as well I wanted it to.
I'm completely helpless as the hurdle collapses while the rest of the class just watches the scene unfold.

THUD

I'm dragged down. A cloud of dust rises on impact.
Ah...... right now I'm lying on the ground in the most embarrassing pose possible. This is so shameful and it's difficult to get up.

"Chiharu!"

I hear a panicked voice and turn towards it while I lay sprawled on the ground to see Yuzuha rushing over to me with Misora and Uehara trailing behind her.
I couldn't lie on the ground forever, so I slowly sit back up.
Yuzuha brushes the sand off my jersey and helps me get back on my feet.

"Amabuki, you're not  hurt, are you!?"
"...Chiharu, you alright?"

The three of them are so concerned about me that I hurried to check my own body.
I walk around a bit and swing my arms around. I didn't have any trouble, so there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.

"Yup, I'm totally fine."
"You idiot! You're not fine at all! You hurt your knee, didn't you!?"
"My knee?"

Upon closer inspection, I scrapped my left knee and blood is seeping through my jersey.
The dark red blood stained the jersey into a dark brownish color.

"This is just a scratch. It will heal quickly if I leave it alone."
'That's not just a scratch! Look how much you're bleeding!"

I roll up my jersey and sure enough, my left knee is completely bloodstained and looks terrible.
It's probably best to wash it off with water and get it patched up as soon as possible, but I think it would heal even if I left it alone.
When I told this to Misora and the others, all three of them got mad at me.

(............)

I feel eyes on me, so I turn around and see the rest of the class watching me.
After my ears stop ringing, their voices become audible. Some are laughing at me and others are badmouthing me.
Those voices are so irritating. The least they could do is be a bit quieter so I don't hear them.
If I let my emotions show, Misora and other meddlers will get worried, so I try to put on a poker face.

"Amabuki, are you okay?"

After seeing the wound, the teacher finally got concerned and rushed over to me.
She's now squatting down to check my injury... This is kind of embarrassing.
The teacher stands up and gives me a pitiful look.

"This is terrible."
"There's a lot of blood, but it doesn't seem to be deep, so it should be fine."
"But it would be better for you to go to the school infirmary and get some proper care. Let's see..."
"I'll accompany her."

Yuzuha, who was supporting my body, quickly volunteered.
I'm glad she's willing to help, but I wonder why I'm feeling a sense of dread.
Speaking of the infirmary, didn't they say during homeroom that the school doctor was out this morning and there would be no one in the infirmary?