The Future Me Will Definitely 'Thank' the Current Me

After helping Karuizawa sit down, Chiba Yu began to check her injuries.

There were no obvious wounds on her body, her face had been spared, and there were only a few minor abrasions on her arms.

The most severe injury was undoubtedly on her knee.

As Chiba Yu placed his hand on her pant leg, he felt Karuizawa's body shudder visibly the moment he made contact, and her leg instinctively recoiled.

"Don't move, or you'll aggravate the wound, and that will make it much harder to move later."

Hearing this, Karuizawa did her best to suppress her inner shyness, turning her head away to avoid looking at him.

Seeing her reaction, Chiba Yu simply attributed it to the typical bashfulness and reserve of a girl.

He gently rolled up the leg of her sweatpants, instantly revealing her knee to him.

Perhaps because Karuizawa had focused too much on protecting her upper body during the fall, her legs had received little protection, and her knee was in significantly worse condition than the rest of her.

It was covered in a light layer of dirt, the skin was scraped raw, and traces of blood remained on the surface; it was no wonder she had reacted so strongly.

"Rest for a moment. We don't have any medical supplies on hand, so we'll just treat it simply for now and decide on the next step once we get back."

Chiba Yu carefully wiped away the fine dust and grit from her knee to prevent a deep infection, then stayed quietly by her side to ensure nothing else went wrong.

As for Karuizawa, the moment Chiba Yu had touched her earlier, her mind had already drifted to the clouds. It wasn't until he touched her wound again that the sharp, stinging pain finally pulled her back to reality.

Staring blankly at the wound on her knee, she snuck a glance at Chiba Yu, who was sitting beside her looking up at something in the sky, and felt a strange sensation.

When this guy gets serious, he's actually quite reliable.

"...Are you done looking?"

"Cough, cough!!!"

Chiba Yu had sensed someone watching him for a while. He had expected it to be just a few quick glances, but he hadn't imagined Karuizawa would stare at him so intently for so long.

There was no help for it; the awkwardness washing over him was simply too much to bear, forcing him to break the strange atmosphere.

"Can you stand? We need to get back quickly, or Hirata might start causing unnecessary panic."

"I'll try," Karuizawa said, sounding unsure of herself.

With that, she controlled her body and slowly rose to her feet. Though it wasn't smooth, she managed to stand, albeit shakily.

Chiba Yu sighed. "If you really can't manage, I'll carry you back."

"Huh?!"

Karuizawa let out an incredulous gasp. She had imagined many outcomes, but never that Chiba Yu would offer to carry her.

Ignoring her gasp, Chiba Yu looked at her with an unchanging expression, as if he were stating a trivial matter.

"Don't worry, I'll put you down before we reach the camp so you don't have to worry about others misunderstanding."

"N-no, that's not what I meant, I just think..."

"Compared to you forcing yourself to walk, me carrying you is the most efficient way that wastes the least amount of time."

"I... I'm afraid I'm too heavy and will be a burden to you..."

Chiba Yu spoke with a hint of surprise, as if he were meeting Karuizawa for the first time. "Oh? So you actually know how to worry about being a burden to others?"

"...Go to hell!"

As Karuizawa said this with a flushed face, Chiba Yu was already crouching in front of her.

"Get on. You'd better hurry; crouching like this is a waste of energy."

"Y-you're the one who said you'd carry me. If anything happens later, don't you dare blame me."

Karuizawa pressed her body against Chiba Yu's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her chin on his left shoulder.

Chiba Yu reached back to support her thighs, exerting force in one fluid motion to lift her steadily.

Noticing that Chiba Yu hadn't said a word since lifting her, Karuizawa asked uneasily, "W-what's wrong?"

"...You need to lose some weight."

???

Karuizawa's eyes widened instantly, her cheeks puffing out. "What is that supposed to mean? I've been managing my figure, and my weight has always stayed in the perfect range!"

"...Is anything uncomfortable?"

Seeing that Chiba Yu didn't continue the topic, Karuizawa turned her head away in a huff. "No."

Like a child.

"If there's no problem, then we're off. By my count, quite a bit of time has passed."

Chiba Yu took a few test steps, and after ensuring everything was fine, he headed toward the camp.

After walking for a while, Karuizawa's tense body gradually relaxed, no longer as stiff as it had been at the start.

While Karuizawa began to relax, Chiba Yu was having a much harder time than he had anticipated.

The soft sensation pressing against his back constantly assaulted his consciousness. To avoid showing any signs of distress, he had shut down his verbal system from the very beginning, trying his best to keep his mind focused.

After walking for several dozen minutes in this detached silence, Karuizawa, who had been quiet on his back, suddenly spoke up:

"Hey, Chiba, just who exactly are you?"

"As you can see, just an ordinary high school student. If you really had to label me, I'm just an ordinary person who's a bit lazier than the average."

"...Do I look that easy to fool?"

So, she actually has a bit of self-awareness.

"Ordinary people don't manage to get the exact same score on every single subject."

"That's just luck."

"Ordinary people don't manage to discover the school's hidden rules regarding Class Points ahead of time."

"...It's just a different way of thinking about problems."

"Ordinary people don't manage to take a punch from Sudo head-on without even changing their expression."

"I used to practice piano and the tea ceremony."

"...Is there any connection between those two things?"

"You're actually... really amazing, aren't you?"

Chiba Yu's pace didn't change in the slightest, and he maintained his usual indifferent expression. "If I were truly amazing, I wouldn't have been placed in Class D."

Karuizawa shook her head. "Even though everyone in class treats you like a mascot who just happens to have better grades, or at most thinks you might have decent athletic reflexes, the real reason is that you don't want to expose yourself, right? I have to say, this way you have of desperately hiding your true self has left everyone without a proper understanding of who you are."

What the hell is a mascot? How did my status change again?

"I'm not as amazing as you think. My only wish is to spend these three years of high school in peace."

"...You're clearly amazing."

"..."

"Ugh, fine, fine. I'll reluctantly keep your secret for you. But in exchange, if I run into any trouble, you have to help me out appropriately, okay?"

"...What is this? All I see is 'capital' exploiting me."

"Hmph! I don't care! Either way, I have leverage over you now." Karuizawa turned her head away with a huff, even though Chiba Yu couldn't see it.

To this day, whenever he thinks back on what happened today, Chiba Yu can't help but feel a sense of regret...