Chapter 40: This Woman Is Very Vindictive (Patreon)

Next, the silent commander-in-chief kept scanning the dense crowd of onlookers, and caught sight of an unusually familiar figure.

Huh? Why was Ramsay here? Could he be joining the tug-of-war showdown too?

By now, the mood at the edge of the tug-of-war field was strung tight as a bowstring.

Kazuko Minami, president of the Local Cuisine Society, had her members lined up in formation. Every face was tense, everyone ready for the match.

Kazuko swept her gaze across the hulking opponents opposite them, then turned back to her own members and rallied them.

"Everyone see that? Today, let's show them what we're made of! Those of you going out there, give it everything you've got. And those who aren't, don't let up. Cheer your hearts out. We can't let our morale fall behind!"

In the ranks stood a sweet-faced, soft-spoken girl. She glanced up instinctively and timidly looked across at the Chanko Research Society's side.

At the very front, a burly, heavyset member was grinning broadly. Paired with his huge frame, that goofy, rough-hewn smile made him look like a fierce gorilla.

In an instant, her heart clenched and her eyes nearly welled up. She put on a woeful face and whispered to Kazuko, her voice trembling slightly.

"President... are we really going to have a tug-of-war against these... these opponents?"

"Do we really have a chance?"

"Maybe... we should just give up."

"Huh? What kind of defeatist talk is that!"

Kazuko shot the dejected little junior a fierce glare, then pumped her fist to rally her. "Listen up. We have to win today, and we will win!"

The junior shrank her neck, her voice still thin as a mosquito's whine.

"But Senior, that bunch of big guys looks so scary. Just standing there, they make it hard to breathe."

"What's there to be afraid of? We have our ace outside help on our side!"

Kazuko Minami turned to Gin Dojima, Joichiro Saiba, and Ramsay, her eyes full of expectation. "Seniors, and Ramsay, you're all totally confident about today's tug-of-war, right?"

Faced with her hopeful gaze, Gin Dojima was at a loss for words and secretly groaned inwardly.

When it came to a cooking contest, he was confident he could crush everyone across from them with one hand tied behind his back. But the draw for this contest over the right to use the new Activity Building had landed on tug-of-war.

He looked down at his own lean, sturdy build, then compared it with the mountainous sumo wrestlers opposite. The gap was plain as day. On top of that, most of their team were slight girls. Going head to head gave them no advantage at all, yet he couldn't bring himself to puncture Kazuko's soaring spirits.

Joichiro, on the other hand, didn't seem to care in the slightest. He flashed a bright, carefree grin and thumped his chest, guaranteeing it.

"Relax. With me here, it's a sure win."

"It's just a tug-of-war, right?"

"Watch me. I'll teach those arrogant jerks a lesson for you!"

Kazuko eyed Joichiro's not-particularly-bulky frame. The confidence that had just flared up in her vanished almost entirely, and a trace of despair crept onto her face.

Then, just as the whole team's morale hit rock bottom, Ramsay stepped forward and spoke calmly.

"Don't worry. With me here, it'll be fine!"

"Really?"

Kazuko Minami's eyes lit up like she'd grabbed a lifeline. She rushed over to Ramsay and excitedly clutched his sleeve. "Ramsay, if we win today, I'll treat you to milk tea for a whole week!"

"Heh!"

"No need for milk tea."

Ramsay shook his head lightly, his eyes falling on the tail end of the thick tug-of-war rope. "Later, save the last position on the rope for me."

"The Anchor position?"

"I almost forgot. That's the most crucial position on the whole team!"

Kazuko nodded at once, her fighting spirit rekindled. "I'm entrusting that job to you. Whether we can turn this around and come from behind depends entirely on you all!"

Just then, a coarse, arrogant laugh rang out abruptly from beyond the noisy crowd.

Hiroshi Nakamori, captain of the Chanko Research Society, strode over with several burly teammates. Muscles strained against their uniforms, and his face wore an unabashed look of smug satisfaction.

"Kazuko Minami."

"I never thought you'd actually dare to show up."

"Heh heh, I thought you'd chickened out and run away long ago."

Nakamori folded his arms and sneered. "You really don't cry until you see the coffin. Thirty contest themes, and you just happened to draw tug-of-war. Even heaven has decided the new Activity Building belongs to the Chanko Research Society."

"If you ask me, you should just concede."

"Why waste your strength struggling for nothing?"

The taunt set Kazuko's temper completely ablaze. She gritted her teeth and drew her back up ramrod straight. "Hmph, you fat jerk, don't celebrate too early. Who wins is still anyone's guess!"

"When you lose, don't forget the stakes: crawling backward around the entire Totsuki Academy!"

"Crawling backward?"

"I can't wait."

Nakamori burst into loud laughter, his face full of scorn.

"If it were a sprint, or a cooking contest, then of course we'd bow to you."

"But when it comes to pure strength, you girls are nowhere near our level... And so what if you brought in Seniors Dojima and Saiba as outside help?"

"Cooking."

"I can't match the two of them."

"But when it comes to tug-of-war, we of the Chanko Research Society fear no one!"

"Look at him."

"Look how arrogant he is!"

Kazuko turned to Ramsay, her cheeks flushed with fury. "You have to give it everything and win back my pride!"

"I've never been humiliated like this since I came to Totsuki. I won't be able to vent this frustration unless I make him honor that crawl-backward bet!"

Gin Dojima quietly sidled up beside Ramsay and lowered his voice in warning.

"Ramsay, you'd better be careful."

"She carries a little notebook everywhere. Whoever offends her, she writes it all down: the time, the place, the cause of the conflict, every last detail. She holds a grudge like nobody's business."

Looking at Kazuko Minami, puffed up with anger and biting her lower lip, Ramsay sighed inwardly.

Sure enough, you should never offend a girl. Especially a serious, pretty one like this. She could remember even the smallest slight for a very long time.