Reiryuu Academy SC ※Episode1

As usual, please refer to the Table of Contents for the chronological order to read.

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Reiryuu Gakuen Seitokai

Prologue
※Episode1   Physical Fitness Test and Executives

　An ordinary every day life. That is extremely peaceful and yet abnormal in a sense.

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　Heaven does not create one man above or below another man.
　A certain great man[1] spoke these truly splendid words.
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　And yet, there is an unshakable fact known as『talent』in the world. It is impossible to escape from the calibre determined through talent.
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“Meru, it’s your turn to run next.”
“Heave-ho.”

　The girl who belongs to Year 2 Class F of Reiryuu Academy’s high school division, Kusuhara Meru, walks towards her assigned position on the sports ground when her name is called.

　The 2nd-years are currently in the middle of the first PE lesson in the school year. The contents is physical fitness assessment.
　Standing at the starting line of the 50m course, Meru looks at the classmate who will be running with her.

“So Kusuhara-san’s the one running with me, huh.”
“Un, I’m sorry I can’t put up a good fight.”
“Haha, I’m not that fast either so it’s fine.”

　Being encouraged like that makes Meru give a wry smile. The one competing with Meru is a girl from the Tennis Club. She is an athletic girl through and through. On the other hand, Meru is a veteran member of the Going Home Club. The outcome is plain to see.

“Kawano, Kusuhara, be on your mark.”

　Notified by the PE teacher, Meru takes a crouched start posture. The girl besides her is also fully prepared.

“Get set, piiii[2].”

　As the whistle is strongly blown, another teacher by the goal presses the button on the stopwatch.

　Compared to Meru who had a late start, the girl called Kawano has already increased the distance between herself and the start point. As the difference increases bit by bit, they reach the goal completely separately.

“Kusuhara, 9.02.”

　Hearing that, the girls of Class F went “Ohhー” with wonder. For your information, this timing is neither good nor bad. It is absolutely an ordinary time but the important point is that Meru is the one who got it.

“As expected of Miss Average.”

　The people in the class nods at Maiko’s words. Hahaha, Meru laughs when she hears that.

“Hey, there’s still time before the next assessment, right? It seems like the executives started their assessments so let’s go see!”

　However, something like Meru’s timing disappears from the students’ memory the next moment. Everyone’s attention turns to the men’s physical fitness assessment.

　The executives from each class apparently started their assessment at the same time; the uproar on the sports ground is no joke.

“Let’s go and see too, Meru.”
“Un, let’s.”

　Led by her good friend Maiko, Meru moves towards the area where girls are gathering.
　As fans of the executives have already taken up formation in the better positions, Meru and company can barely see the executives from where they are. Nonetheless, it is not like they cannot see at all.

“Kamishiro-kun is amazing… He’s already soaring so high on his own.”

　The female student looking at the high jump station mutters with a spellbound appearance. At this moment, the Student Council president Kamishiro Hayate is fighting against the record. The other male students have already been outed and the assessment area has already transformed into Hayate’s one-man show.
　As this component requires concentration, making a fuss will undoubtedly be a hindrance to Hayate’s assessment. Therefore, Hayate’s fans admire in silence and voice out their fascination.

“How long is he going to soar for, hm.”

　Meru says as she watches Hayate from far.
　Even now, he is effortlessly flying above the pole that is positioned at a rather high point. There is clearly no end to this. The only way for it to end is if the teacher interrupts him midway.

“Ah, looks like Katsuragi-kun is doing repeated lateral heidens.”

　Led by that voice, Meru shifts her gaze slightly. At the end of her sight, the bespectacled vice-president a.k.a. Katsuragi Shoutarou is lining up in the queue for repeated lateral heidens. As he places his glasses firmly on his nose so that it won’t slip, his face reveals how very troublesome he thinks it is. Even then, the way he achieves superior results in every component just like the other executives is truly as expected of an executive.

“Shou-chan, fighting!”

　Towards such a Shoutarou in his listless mode, a person who sends his support the way a girlfriend will. An adorable figure sits in the shade as long hair sways in the breeze. It is Hiiragi Raira, also a Student Council executive.
　As usual, his crossdressing does not feel out-of-place. He appears to be observing and cheering at the same time; while still clad in the school uniform[3], he merrily directs a video camera at the other executives. He is the very picture of a parent watching over his children’s athletic meet.

“Hiiragi-san’s way too cute.”
“Cheer me on too…”

The boys around Shoutarou brought the voices of their hearts to the surface. It seems that Raira cuteness is undeniable whether or not he is male.

　At the sports grounds which exude such a charming atmosphere, all of a sudden, PE teachers start to gather at a corner.

“Hm, I wonder what’s up?”

　Meru looks at the situation blankly with her head tilted. However, she quickly finds out why the group of teachers gathered there.

“It’s Aidou-kun. Hang in there!”

　The fangirls speak in such a manner.
　On the opposite corner of the group of teachers stands the slender Aidou Yuuri holding the handball in one hand.
　In line with the teacher’s signal, Yuuri throws that with all his strength, over the heads of the group of teachers. It slams into the fence. The distance is completely beyond the scope of measurement.

“… Is there some trick to it?”

　Meru mutters. Although she heard that the Aidou family is a famed martial arts household, no matter how one looks at Yuuri himself, it would not occur to one that he is the owner of an overpowering arm capable of throwing from one end of the sports ground to another.

　As Meru thinks of such things, it is now the female students in front who starts giving out shouts that border on screams. Both the number and intensity of those voices are of a different league compared to the cheering of the other executives.

“FUUGA-KUNNNNN!!! Go for it!”

With those words, the female students wave their hands towards the number one ikemen in the school. Truly like someone who seems like he’ll be on the other side of a television, Rengetsu Fuuga is about to begin his middle distance run. Having reached the starting line, Fuuga gives an ikemen smile and waves back with a ‘Thank you’. With that, the clamouring voices of the girls go up a notch.

“… That’s amazing.”
“Meru, your emotions are spewing out from your face, you know.”

　Beside Meru, Maiko points out with a single sentence after looking at her face. By the way, the current Meru’s face is twitching as she looks at the female students some distance in front of her. However, the female students’ endorsement towards Fuuga is so intense that they did not perceive such feelings of Meru.

　At his 5th round on the sports ground, the sweaty Fuuga wipes the perspiration on his face with his sleeve. As a result, the inevitable flashing of his stomach caused several of his fan girls to swoon.

“They sure are amazing as usual. The executives.”

Meru mutters. The class F that Meru belongs to does not have an executive. That’s why it is only during this kind of joint class that there are opportunities to witness their abilities.

　She is no longer surprised that the executives are amazing by this point. Even so, she ends up thinking that they are incredible no matter how many times she sees them. It was to the point that when she just enrolled in, she felt moved to see the ‘geniuses’ she had been hearing about in middle school, right before her eyes.

“Girls of class F, we’re going to measure your grip strength. Gatherー”

　In face of such a decree, Meru and Maiko take their leave.
　Meru turns around once more and stares at the executives for the last time.

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　The truth is that they, the「geniuses」, are always showered with the attention of their surroundings and are exceptional existences.

They, who excel in almost everything, are certainly existences of a different class.

　However, everyone in the world possesses some sort of「talent」that makes them superior and「ineptitude」that makes them inferior. And thus they maintain the equilibrium of superiority and inferiority.

　Yet, everything concerning Meru is normal. She is neither superior nor inferior. Neither does she have merits or demerits, neither is she an overachiever or an underachiever.

　In Reiryuu Academy, of the students belonging to the high school division, 95% of them are internal students advancing from the elementary and middle school divisions through the escalator system. Consequently, the existence of external students entering the school is rare. Moreover, due to the small quota, the entrance examinations serve as a huge barrier, narrowing the entries. Therefore, there are numerous fairly outstanding pupils amongst the external students.

　Nevertheless, Meru who is part of the few external students is the epitome of mediocre. As such, the nickname given to Meru in this one year since her enrollment is「Miss Average」.

Although she does not particularly like that nickname, it is not like she hates it either. It was a middle name just right for Meru to bear.

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　Such a Meru looks at the beautiful executives and mutters briefly.

“To me, they’re above and beyond… aren’t they.”

　Then, turning on her heel, Meru heads towards the grip strength measurement station.

　There, too, Meru swipes the average grip strength score for high school girls, garnering the amazement of her classmates..
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[1] The quote is from Fukuzawa Yukichi.
[2] Sound of the whistle.
[3] The others are probably in their sportswear or PE attire.

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