So she really was the Feathered Serpent God.
Sato looked at Lucoa with a somewhat complicated gaze. Judging only from the brief records of human history, the Feathered Serpent God sounded like a grand and sacred existence, lofty and divine. But now that image had been completely overturned.
"But… you said your first visit here was five or six thousand years ago. Does that mean you can cross between worlds?"
"Yes!"
"This time I came as Shouta's familiar!" Lucoa said with a bright smile.
"Familiar?"
Sato and Tohru exchanged looks.
"Mhm! Oh… there's Shouta!"
"Shouta!!"
Suddenly, as if she had spotted something, Lucoa excitedly waved toward a formation lined up on the sports field. Her loud voice and bouncing world-class balls instantly attracted countless gazes from the surroundings.
Faintly, someone swallowed hard…
Sato and Tohru turned to look. Then they saw that nearly everyone in the fifth-grade lineup had turned their heads this way, except for one purple-haired boy whose face was completely red as he desperately tried to hide himself.
But at this moment, those actions only made him stand out even more.
"Well…"
Sato's eyes flickered as he sighed quietly, looking sympathetically toward the distant boy.
This was public execution.
Still… the looks from the surrounding people seemed more envious than anything.
Sato thoughtfully glanced around before remembering what Lucoa had said about familiars.
Wait a second!
What exactly was this familiar thing about?
Could this little boy be some undiscovered esper?
Sato narrowed his eyes and observed Shouta carefully before quickly rejecting that theory because he could not sense any energy fluctuations from him at all.
So then…
Sato suddenly thought of Takanashi Rikka.
Could it be that Lucoa had literally appeared while someone was playing pretend?
He immediately asked Lucoa to confirm it, and the dragon girl really did scratch her head somewhat embarrassedly as she explained,
"That day I had just crossed through the dimensional barrier and came here. Then I heard Shouta's voice and wanted to prank him a little, but he actually believed I was a familiar and hid me in the attic."
So that really was what happened?
Sato looked at Lucoa strangely. If he told Hiratsuka Shizuka about this, would she start wailing again?
Thinking carefully about it, Tohru had been picked up by Kobayashi while drunk in the mountains, Kanna had been picked up by him off the roadside, and Lucoa had been summoned through Shouta's "familiar summoning circle." Somehow, these contracts all came ridiculously easily…
"Sato! Sato! Look, it's Kanna!"
Suddenly, Tohru excitedly grabbed Sato's arm and pointed toward one of the assembling groups.
Snapping back to reality, Sato looked toward the field and quickly spotted Kanna.
He waved toward her and loudly encouraged the little dragon.
"Kanna, do your best!!!"
In the distance, Kanna heard him and nodded calmly.
Sometimes, Kanna's composure felt completely mismatched with her childish appearance.
The spectator stands were filled with endless cheers as parents spared no effort encouraging their children.
Once all the classes had assembled, the opening ceremony began. The school leaders delivered passionate speeches, and after the announcement of "The Oborozuka Elementary School Autumn Sports Festival officially begins…" rang out through the broadcast speakers, two student representatives delivered their oath before the entrance procession officially started.
The assembled classes marched neatly around the sports field to display their spirit to the parents around them. At the front of every class stood a child holding a class sign, followed by the participating students marching in step.
"It's exactly the same…"
Sato suddenly sighed with emotion.
If he remembered correctly, aside from parents not attending to watch, sports festivals from childhood through adulthood basically followed this exact same process.
First the school leaders gave speeches, then came the entrance ceremony.
Especially the school leaders' speech segment. It was just as painfully long and boring as ever, enough to make people want to throw rotten eggs at the stage.
…
"Next is the third-grade two-person three-legged race!"
"Oh! Kanna's up!"
Tohru's eyes lit up as she immediately stood to watch.
Sato helplessly glanced at the dragon girl beside him and tugged at her apron.
"Sit down. You're blocking the people behind us."
"Oh! Oh!"
After Tohru sat back down, the two of them watched Kanna's race. Unsurprisingly, Kanna's partner was Saikawa Riko.
But… why did this feel kind of strange?
Sato rubbed his chin while watching the distant scene.
…
"Saikawa, let's do our best together."
Kanna spoke earnestly to Saikawa Riko.
"Ah… okay!"
Saikawa Riko nodded absentmindedly while watching Kanna bend down to tie the strap binding their legs together.
The instant Kanna's soft little hand brushed against her calf, Saikawa Riko's legs instantly went weak, and she melted limply against Kanna.
K… Kanna-san's hands are so soft!
"Saikawa, are you okay?"
Kanna looked worriedly at Saikawa Riko's flushed face before reaching out to touch her forehead.
"Ah… I-I'm fine."
Kanna-san touched my head!
Saikawa Riko's face turned bright red, so excited she looked ready to explode.
…
Sato silently watched the entire scene from afar, gradually sensing that something was not quite right.
This atmosphere felt strangely… yuri.
"I say, Tohru…"
Sato suddenly turned toward Tohru.
"Huh?"
Tohru looked back at him in confusion, her crimson eyes full of puzzlement.
"Don't you think Saikawa kind of resembles you?"
Sato rubbed his chin while watching the distant interactions.
"Nani?"
The dragon girl blinked her crimson eyes at him, her face filled with incomprehension.
"You know, like when you cling to Kobayashi-san. Or when you try to get Kobayashi-san to eat your tail."
"To put it simply… she really looks like a pervert."
Tohru: "..."