I Confessed To The Crossdresser - Chapter 49

Lexley Cricket Tournament (6)

His eyes were completely different from how he had just glared at us. Those eyes were twinkling with admiration. It was disturbing because Reze’s eyes that were looking at Senior Jimbo seemed as if they would pop out. Even if people can switch, how can it be so drastic?

Reze’s two-faced appearance gave me goosebumps. However, he did not care and only concentrated on Senior Jimbo as he straightened his back. Deep down, I applaud Senior Jimbo for being able to make that Reze brat hold his discipline.

“Today, we are going to train as a team. Judithios(judgement magic), a magic for evaluation, will follow you individually and check your skills, so do your best.”

As soon as the captain’s sentence ended, the Judithios magic was cast. A light in the form of a person holding a small book and pen appeared next to each student. Beside me, a blue light Judithios was watching me. When the magic was casted, the students rose from their seats and picked up the cricket on the floor one by one.

The test started by dividing the total of 99 players into nine teams and competing. Unfortunately, Leto and I were on a different team. However, there was something even more unfortunate than that, I was on the same team as Reze. He was on the same team with one of his gang, swinging the cricket in the air and being very noisy.

As soon as Senior Jimbo left his seat to watch the other teams’ match, he became loud. Our team was going against Leto’s team. It wasn’t sure whether the team was properly arranged according to the result of the first round, but they were all formidable opponents.

Not only did I have to make sure the team wins, but I also had to do well myself to look good to the Judithios next to me. It was a team match and an individual test. As the captain said, you have to do your best to become the main player. I was already nervous, but the higher priority was Leto. If he was eliminated from the main fielders here, he would lose the bet with Kazen.

“Start the match!”

The match has begun. I was in the defensive position, while Leto’s team was the offence. Reze was a bowler(pitcher), whereas I was defending on the leg side. Taking advantage of his large body and long arms, he threw the ball at the batsman, who hit the ball with the cricket. Whenever Reze threw the ball, the Judithios next to him quickly moved its arm to record and evaluate his performance.

He was sure to get a good score. While looking at Reze, I was startled by the strong sound of the cricket hitting the ball. If the ball goes out of the field, we would lose a lot of points, so it had to be caught somehow. Along with me, the defence team around me quickly ran. I was running out of breath from moving my legs because I thought I could catch the ball in time. As I stretched my arms out and raised my legs, the ball in the air fell into my hand.

‘C-Catch it!’

Thankfully, I caught it.

“I caught it!”

“Good job!”

Words spread that I had caught the ball. The students from all around me said good job, and one by one praised me. Having gained confidence from that praise, I smiled and handed the ball to Reze. Reze caught the ball with a grim look on his face, perhaps dissatisfied with my performance before looking at the next batter.

Anyway, it was a good start. Since I caught the ball that was deemed difficult to catch, I was immediately envied by the other students and was convinced that I would be able to get a good score. I thought the road to the main players was not far away. If I perform like this from the start, I will definitely be in the starting lineup.

The match went smoothly. After I caught that ball once, I couldn’t catch it again and lost it in my haste. Some managed to score a few points, but almost all of them were out. On the field, the only remaining batsmen were Leto and another guy.

When the batsman, the runner in front of Leto, was out, Leto finally became the batter to hit Reze’s ball. It was a fight between Reze and Leto. I was nervous for some reason. It may be because I noticed Reze’s expression, who smiled slyly when Leto appeared.

He didn’t seem to have any intention to take it easy on Leto, who was currently a woman. Instead, he placed more strength on his toes to throw the ball. Leto picked up his cricket. Holding the heavy cricket, he faced Reze directly. The wicket-keeper(catcher) behind Leto was giving him instructions, but Reze threw the ball before all the instructions were finished. The speed of Reze’s ball was faster than before.

He used his entire strength to aim it between Leto’s arm and head.

“……!”

It looked like he was trying to hit the wicket. Even so, it was a direction that would hit Leto’s body. If Leto hadn’t pulled away quickly, the ball could have hit Leto’s arm. Fortunately, he was wearing protective gear but it was dangerous.

“If it moved a little further, it would have hit the wicket!”

Rather than worrying about Leto, the students on the same team were disappointed that it didn’t hit the wicket. He hit the wicket behind Leto and fell, but the defence was immediately out. The ball was thrown several times. They were all in the direction that made Leto couldn’t swing the cricket. Out of six chances, five went flying.

There was one last chance. If it had been a prank before this, now Reze would attempt to get Leto out. Leto was aware of this and remained calm. Reze shouted and threw the ball. The ball, which went flying faster than a bird could follow, was hit by the cricket Leto swung. 

There was a distinct whack sound. The ball flew in the air.

Several defenders, including myself, chased after the ball. The ball flew in the air and showed no signs of falling. No matter how much I ran, the ball travelled without falling down, and the defenders eventually stopped their steps. The ball that Leto hit went out of the field.

“Woah!”

“Leah! Leah! Leah!”

Big points were scored because of Leah, and his teammates who were watching cheered him passionately. It was amazing. Leto and the rest of us, the opposing team, also exclaimed in surprise. 

Only Reze, the pitcher, was glaring at Leto with his teeth clenched. Leto would definitely get a good score. The Judithios beside him was swiftly recording the game without looking at Leto.

Then the round ended. The seniors who were watching the other team’s match heard the rumours and kept an eye on Leto. The flow of the game had completely changed. After that, Leto’s team scored two more points. Because it was a practice match, there was a time limit for the offence, and as time passed, our team switched to offence.

There was no other player in our team that was strong and skilled as Leto. Unfortunately, if there was one, it was only Reze. I had no choice but to admit that he would be a main player,

Our team finished with 4 points. Leto’s team won by a large margin. Sadly, it doesn’t end here, we played a few more practice matches with different teams again. Thankfully, we were able to smooth out the score margin between Leto’s team after playing against other teams.

We won against all other teams except one loss to Leto’s team.

“Match ends!”

The practice match started in the afternoon and ended when it was dark and time for everyone to go to bed. The Judithios next to us disappeared after all the practice match was complete. The captain, who received the records left by the Judithios, looked at the scorecard and points before gathering us together.

“Good work, everyone. Then, I will announce the successful candidates for the second round, so those who have been called please come forward!”

The students sat in their seats with a more tense expressions.

As the captain announced, names that were not shocking that they would be the main players were called and the students applauded each time. The first student was a tall girl who showed excellent defence by catching a lot of balls during the practice match.

During the first physical fitness test, she roughly had points enough to pass the passing score, but it seemed that her performance was even better.

The second student was a big guy who threw the ball smoothly. I was familiar with that student’s face in particular as we had taken liberal arts classes together a few times. He talked in the back seat every day and received a lot of attention from the professors, but his personality was not bad, so he always had a lot of friends by his side.

“Leah Arsene!”

And finally, the long-awaited name of Leah Arsene came out of the captain’s mouth.

“Woohoo!”

I cheered and clapped even more passionately. Senior Jimbo, who was watching this, burst out laughing but I didn’t care. Leto lightly hit me on the head before standing up and going forward. It was natural for Leto to be selected, so it wasn’t surprising.

After Leto was selected, Reze’s name appeared as if it was a funny fate. Reze raised his head as if it was an obvious result and stepped forward confidently. He looked at Leto next to him and laughed, but Leto ignored him lightly.

A few more successful candidates were selected for the second round. I was nervous if I would be selected as the main player since it was a position where only a total of ten people were selected. In fact, the second round had the strongest competition rate. Leto looked at me with a worried expression when my name was not called even in the last nine successful candidates. I smiled at him, implying it would be fine, but I couldn’t hide my nervousness.

“The last successful candidate is……Jimbo, what are you doing?”

Before the final candidate was announced, Senior Jimbo, who couldn’t resist his curiosity, went next to the captain and looked at the record sheet he was holding. He got caught right away because his action stood out.

“Just curious.”

“Why? You’re never interested in this kind of thing.”

“This year’s first graders are quite competitive.”

Then, Senior Jimbo glanced at me. I became worried at that. When my eyes met Senior Jimbo, he raised the corners of his mouth slightly. What did that smile mean?

As I was pondering, the last name came out of the captain’s lips.

“Briseis Pierre!”

It was my name.