Inside the venue...
The opening ceremony for the Nine Schools Competition was underway.
"Next, first-year Class A, Honoka Mitsui," Mayumi Saegusa announced.
After Honoka Mitsui stepped forward, Miyuki Shiba came up and pinned the Nine Schools Competition medal on her.
Once Miyuki Shiba had finished pinning it on Honoka Mitsui, she stepped back, and applause instantly filled the venue.
"Brother, are you nervous?" Tatsuya Shiba asked.
"Me? I'm all right, I suppose. Besides, why get nervous over a small occasion like this?" Baifeng Uesugi said.
"Could it be that you're a little nervous, Tatsuya?"
Baifeng Uesugi glanced sideways at Tatsuya Shiba.
"To be honest, Brother, I am a little nervous," Tatsuya Shiba replied.
"Relax, it's just a small occasion. Besides, I'm here too, aren't I? Take it easy," Baifeng Uesugi said with a smile.
"Look down there. Plenty of familiar faces have come to cheer us on."
After looking down from the stage and seeing that Erika Chiba, Mizuki Shibata, and the others were all there, he instantly felt supported.
"Yes, Brother," Tatsuya Shiba replied.
"First-year Class F, Baifeng Uesugi," Mayumi Saegusa announced.
Miyuki Shiba came over to Baifeng Uesugi and pinned a Nine Schools Competition medal on him as well.
"Good luck, Bai Feng," Miyuki Shiba said.
"Miyuki, I only joined the magic engineering team. I'm not competing," Baifeng Uesugi said with a smile.
"Even so, good luck," Miyuki Shiba said with a smile.
Miyuki Shiba didn't know what was wrong with her. Whenever she talked to Baifeng Uesugi, she felt completely at ease, as though she had known him for a long time.
"Next, first-year Class E, Tatsuya Shiba," Mayumi Saegusa continued.
After Mayumi Saegusa made the announcement, Miyuki Shiba walked over to Tatsuya Shiba and pinned the medal on him.
"Now, please give First High School's elites a warm round of applause," Mayumi Saegusa said.
As soon as Mayumi Saegusa finished speaking, applause filled the venue once more.
"I'm Baifeng Uesugi, a technical engineer. I'm only responsible for tuning the competitors' CADs," Baifeng Uesugi introduced himself.
"Wouldn't a girl be better as a magic engineer?"
The red-haired Eimi said in the classroom.
"As long as he can do the job effectively, I don't mind either way," Subaru, the girl with glasses, said.
"Come on, Eimi, Subaru, you're both being very rude. Bai Feng's skills are at an expert level."
Seeing the two of them act this way, Honoka Mitsui spoke up in his defense.
"You call him by his first name? Is he your boyfriend?"
Hearing this, Honoka Mitsui looked shyly at Shizuku Kitayama and asked,
"N-no, it's not like that. Right, Shizuku?"
"That's right. I call him by his first name too," Shizuku Kitayama said.
"You call him by his first name too, Shizuku? What's your relationship with him?"
"He's our owner," Shizuku Kitayama said, making a startling declaration.
"Oh~~~ Looks like there's something going on here."
"Shizuku, what are you talking about?" Honoka Mitsui said anxiously.
"Isn't that right? Bai Feng is always feeding us," Shizuku Kitayama said.
"Oh, us? Honoka too? Tsk, you're really something, Bai Feng."
"All right, it's Tatsuya's turn to introduce himself next," Baifeng Uesugi said, interrupting the pointless farce.
"I'm the assistant engineer for this competition. Along with helping tune the CADs, I'll also be responsible for some training plans and tactical strategies," Tatsuya Shiba said.
"Huh? Why is there another male engineer? Who is he?" Eimi said.
"He's my brother," Miyuki Shiba said.
"I see! No wonder he has the same surname as you, Miyuki. So he's your older brother," Eimi said, suddenly understanding.
"Brother and Bai Feng are good friends too, and they call each other by their first names, so what happened earlier was completely a misunderstanding."
Miyuki Shiba didn't know why, but she had felt the urge to explain. By the time she realized what she was doing, it was already too late.
"Huh? Miyuki, why did you feel the need to explain that again? Could there be some secret between you and Bai Feng that you can't tell anyone about?"
Eimi said with a mischievous grin.
"N-no, there's nothing like that. Stop making things up, Eimi. Bai Feng and I are just friends, and the Public Morals Committee suspended Bai Feng for a week because of us, so I'm very grateful to her."
Miyuki Shiba explained.
"Yes, we're all very grateful to Bai Feng," Honoka Mitsui chimed in, not forgetting to ask Shizuku Kitayama as well.
"Isn't that right, Shizuku?"
"Yes. To thank Bai Feng, Honoka and I even visited him at home. His Sister Maya was there at the time too."
Shizuku Kitayama replied.
"Wait, wait, wait. Are you meeting the family already? And Shizuku, you just called Uesugi's sister Sister Maya, didn't you? That should be the name of Uesugi's sister, right?
"Have you already gotten that far?" Eimi asked in surprise.
"No. Sister Maya just told us to call her that. Honoka knows too," Shizuku Kitayama said.
"Yes, Shizuku's right," Honoka Mitsui replied with a nod.
Tatsuya Shiba remained silent the entire time, watching them all discuss his brother so fervently.
He looked at Miyuki Shiba, curious about what would happen if she found out that the person they were discussing was his Brother Bai Feng.
No, Tatsuya Shiba already knew: the classroom would turn into an ice sculpture...
"Stop. All right, it's about time we discussed the training and battle plans for the competition."
Baifeng Uesugi couldn't stand watching any longer. If he let them keep fooling around, things would get bad.
Hearing that, everyone finally remembered their main reason for coming. They stopped chatting and began discussing the business at hand.
Before long, dusk arrived.
Tatsuya Shiba was on the field guiding their training, while Baifeng Uesugi watched them from the side.
Suddenly, Baifeng Uesugi spotted Mizuki Shibata not far away, so he got up and walked over.
"Good afternoon, Mizuki. What are you doing here?" Baifeng Uesugi asked when he reached her.
"Good afternoon to you too, Bai Feng. I came here to wait for you," Mizuki Shibata said.
"Wait for me? Is there something you need, Mizuki?"
Baifeng Uesugi asked in confusion.
"Bai Feng, I'm really sorry. About the thing you asked me to keep secret, Tatsuya came and asked me about it earlier, and I... I really couldn't help it, so I told him."
Mizuki Shibata bowed apologetically.
"Oh, that? It's all right, Mizuki. Tatsuya already came to see me, and I've already talked to him about it."
Baifeng Uesugi stepped forward and ruffled Mizuki Shibata's hair with a smile.
"Ah... Bai Feng, you... you..."
Mizuki Shibata said, somewhat surprised.
"Ahahaha, sorry. I really couldn't help myself. You're just so cute, Mizuki."
Baifeng Uesugi said with a smile.
"Bai Feng, that joke isn't funny at all," Mizuki Shibata said, her face bright red.
"Mizuki, I'm not joking. I'm quite serious," Baifeng Uesugi said.
"R-really?" Mizuki Shibata asked shyly.
"Yes, it's truer than true," Baifeng Uesugi replied with a nod.
"Th-that... you..."
Mizuki Shibata hadn't expected Baifeng Uesugi to be so direct. She was extremely nervous, and her face turned bright red. In the end, she shyly covered her cheeks and jogged away.
"Uh..."
Was I too direct?
Watching Mizuki Shibata leave, Baifeng Uesugi stood there feeling somewhat flustered and at a loss for what to do.
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