45 Chapter 10: The Beginning of The Sports Festival [Part 1/4]

[6th October, 7.32]

[Ayanokoji Pov]

Today was the beginning of the Sports Festival. It was certainly a very important day. Depending on which Class wins, it'd mean an increase or decrease in one's Class Points.

In case of our situation, our chances of winning weren't quite low. We had Sudo, a very athletically capable student, and Hirata, who himself was also very athletically, given the fact he's part of the Sports Club. 

As for the last person, it was our leader, Kurushima Kaoru. I've observed him in the past couple of weeks quite a lot. He was quite an athletically gifted student. Very gifted, actually. 

In terms of speed, stamina and agility, he far surpassed Sudo. As for his grip strength, it was just a couple of kilos lower than Sudo. However, unlike Sudo, he doesn't seem to play basketball. 

Basketball players tend to have a higher grip strength, as they have to practice holding the ball in one hand through their grip strength. For rebounds, dribbling and dunks, grip strength was also very important.

So there again, it was quite a surprise. 

He and Sudo are our class' Trump Cards, so utilizing these two well for the competitions was very important.

The only question was, could he still beat Ryuen and Sakayanagi in this situation, when the list of participants was already revealed? Then there's also the unknown factor of whether Sakayanagi is working together with Ryuen or not.

The losses at the Island Exam and Zodiac Exam almost completely reduced the Katsuragi Fraction, so Sakayanagi now had control over the class.

Kushida, our class traitor, might have revealed them to Ryuen. She was the only one to take pictures of our competition's list. 

If Kurushima had not realized yet if there was a traitor, he would realize it midway through the Sports Festival, for sure.

There seemed to be certainly quite a lot of problems facing us. I wonder... how the result of the Sports Festival will be like... 

"Everyone, can you come here?" Hirata said, next to him sitting Kurushima on a chair, drinking water.

The class gathered around them. Instead of Hirata, Kurushima spoke. "We all know how important this Sports Festival is, but please don't overexert yourself. If you feel like you can't participate in the next competition anymore, please say so immediately. However, that being said, let us all do our best and win this thing, Class A."

Seeing that the class got motivated, it seemed like quite an effective speech from Kurushima. 

After the speech, everyone relentlessly returned. Everyone was preparing for the beginning of the first 100-meter dash, including myself. I was stretching myself a bit currently.

--

[Kurushima Pov]

After a bit of time has passed, the first group of the first-year boys will now run the 100-meter dash. 

Sudo and Sotomoto, one of the weaker athletic students in our class, were the first ones to participate. 

As for me, I was part of the third group. It was to reinforce that impact that Sudo had left on them in the beginning, by making me have an even stronger impact on them, so we could make the following students stumble, so our weaker students could place higher.

I was our fastest runner, with Sudo coming in second and Hirata being third.

In the second group, Koenji was supposed to take part, but he didn't seem to have the intention to appear. 

Neither did I have the intention of making him appear. I could, I guess, but I'm not entirely sure, either.

"First group assemble."

Sudo and Sotomoto were in line, preparing to run.

As for my group... Kanzaki was a part of it. 

There was also Katsuragi, but I couldn't care less about him. There was only one person on whom I was focused about.

Kanzaki... 

I would be making sure to show an absolute defeat for him, even if he ends up getting second place. He'll never forget this day...

'Pang', the signal for the first group, came. It didn't take long until the race was over, with an overwhelming difference. 

As Sudo took the first place, I could see a couple of murmurs of shock. And as expected, immediately the moment the second 'Pang' came, a few people had a bad start, which gave the weaker students whom we placed in the second group a better place, but sadly, there wasn't any place within the first three positions.

I had myself prepared the moment the second group took off on the ground, preparing myself to run. 

Just like athletes, I took a crouching stance with my hands on the ground, and my gaze focused on the goal line.

I took a deep breath, until I heard the 'Pang' sound, on which I began to run immediately. 

All my focus was on defeating Kanzaki. 

There wasn't anything else that mattered. 

And before I knew it, I was already there, at the finishing line, with a large difference, having seemingly shocked the entire school, perhaps, I think?

Even though the time was not supposed to be said, it didn't mean it wasn't measured at all. One of the teachers who stood next to the camera couldn't seem to comprehend my results and seemed to have shouted them out loudly.

I ran faster than I anticipated. I wasn't actually planning on achieving this much, though. So kind of a failure, but well, who cares?

"10.66. It's 10.66 seconds. Is this... for real?"

"Masashima-sensei, we aren't allowed to disclose the students... time." Hoshinomiya-sensei said, looking astonished and shocked at the same time, over my time.

"Please ignore what I just said."

'Like hell, we can' a majority of the students of the opposite classes shouted.

The next round started unexpectedly with a 'Pang' and my two classmates were able to use this as their advantage in that round.

I could see a decent amount of people staring at me.

"I didn't know that you were that capable, Kurushima-kun. You're on the level of a top athlete, while still being only fifteen years old. With that time, you should be easily able to participate in the World Championship. And all that without the help of a starting block." Kanzaki said, deeply in thought.

"Hahaha, I guess. I heard this year you had to run in a 200-meter dash under 20.50 seconds to be able to qualify there."

"You certainly are hiding a lot of things, Kurushima-kun. You're really the most dangerous student in the first year. I always reserved that title for Ryuen until now, but I've reconsidered it just now."

"Ahaha, I'm honored, Katsuragi-kun, that you see me this way."

Without much talk left, these two left, while I decided to sit myself on one of the chairs, looking at the sky, waiting for everyone from the boys to finish.

Suddenly, I could see someone approaching me with a cup of water. "You were amazing, Kaoru. Really amazing. I never saw someone running as fast as you."

"Thanks, Hiyori. But is it okay for you to be here?"

"Yes, it is. Don't worry."

"Here, for you, Kaoru. I brought you one cup of water."

She said, offering me the cup of water.

"Thank you." I accepted it, drinking a sip of water. 

"Would you like to sit?" I asked, offering her my seat.

She shakes her head. "No, don't worry; I can stand. It's better to have myself warmed up."

"If you would like, I could help you with the warm-up. If it's regarding these kinds of matters, I'm quite knowledgeable, actually."

She looked to the side, in the direction of my class. "Thank you for the offer, Kaoru, but I'll have to decline. I don't think your class would end up receiving it well, if you were to help me. After all, you'll be helping your opponent's class with that in the end."

"That's true; I can't deny that," I said, while touching my hair.

She looked at me, a bit embarrassed. 

"Is something wrong, Hiyori?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion to the side. 

"I never said this before, but long hair really suits you, Kaoru."

"Ah, is that so? I usually would have never kept my hair so long, but I have the tendency of not letting any strangers touch my hair, truthfully. Since I was young, I always had Aoki cut my hair for me until now, so now that he's not here, I haven't cut it since late March." 

"I can cut it for you, if you dislike it. Your hair, I mean. I'm no expert in it, but I should get the fundamental things right, I hope. If you want, of course."

"I don't dislike it, actually, Hiyori. It's just a bit strange because, until now, I always had the same hairstyle, so letting it grow now, feels quite awkward. But I guess there's a first time for everything. Besides, if you like my hair like this, there's no problem for me, having my hair long."

Strangely, it was the first time I didn't mind such changes in my body. Long hair was a bit annoying, but that's it.

In the past however, when I was younger, I didn't want to get mistaken as a girl...

Because of that, I always have cut them, even when my Mother begged me to let them grow, because she wanted to make pictures of myself having long hair.

I couldn't help but remember the conversation I had with her at that time. 

-- 

"I'm not a girl, Oka-san. Please don't ask me further about having my hair grow."

"Kaoru, my darling, you really don't want to? Really? Even when I'm already begging for it?" she asked me with puppy eyes. 

"Humph, that won't work on me. Once you ask me for one thing, you want me to do another thing, too. You didn't plan on having me wear something, like a girl's dress, did you?" 

"Hahaha... Of course, not. We would never think of doing such a thing."

"We?"

"My five-year-old son got me here," she muttered beneath her breath.

"Father didn't coincidentally cooperate with your plan, did he?"

"Hahaha..." 

She took her phone out. " What? You mean I have to go now? Ah, if it's like that, there can't be anything done about it."

"The phone didn't even ring, Oka-san..."

Unable to hold themselves, both of them laughed. 

She gave him a sudden hug.

"I heard from a couple of female friends—I mean, Mothers from kindergarten—that you rejected their daughters? How many has it been now, Kaoru?"

"The eleventh... If the other two do it too, then every girl there has confessed to me. As for the boys, they won't let me even read in quiet... They always challenge me."

"Hahaha, if it goes further like that, my son will surely become a womanizer in the future. Kaoru, always remember that if you have someone confess to you, make sure to be kind and considerate towards that person. They're mustering up their courage to confess to you, so an appropriate reply is the least one can do."

"Okay..."

"Perhaps one time, you'll be in the same spot as them." 

At that time, I didn't quite believe her. 

But seeing how things have unfolded themselves, I found it quite ironic. 

"Kaoru, is everything alright?" she asked, interrupting me out of my thoughts.

"Ah, yes, don't worry. I just spaced out. But it seems like I've got to go now. My class needs me right now. I'll be back later. Good luck, Hiyori. I'm cheering for you."

"You too, Kaoru."

Seeing how Hirata was signaling me with gestures that I should come to the tent's back, something must have happened there. 

It's probably something regarding Koenji... 

Once I arrived, I suddenly saw Sudo, throwing a punch at Koenji's face. 

But Koenji blocked it with his left fist easily, while still looking at his nails, and remaining in his posture. 

"Sudo, stop it. What do you think you're doing?" I said.

"He isn't participating, bro. Because of him, we are ending up losing points."

"Although it might be true, it doesn't mean we can't win this still. We just have to do in particular well in the following competitions." 

"Tch, perhaps you can convince him. If I stay here any longer, I don't think I can restrain myself from beating him up."

Sudo left out of frustration, with Hirata and Ayanokoji following him.

"Kurushima-boy, were you perhaps worried about me? By now, you should already know that Red hair-kun cannot do me any harm."

"Worried? Not in particular. That aside, I'd appreciate it if you helped the class. But I cannot, in particular, force you to do so. It's up to you, Koenji."

"My, my, first Horikita-girl, then Red hair-kun, and now you, Kurushima-boy. You all certainly seem to rely on me. But you should know by now that I have no intention of participating at all. But I think I can make an exception today, I suppose. I'm feeling quite generous today." 

"But only under the condition that we do a race between the two of us to see who has the better time in the 200-meter dash. I have heard quite a lot of things about you when I was a child, but it truly seems to be the truth what my father told me that day."

"... Seeing how you even held back slightly at the end of the race, by becoming a bit slower at the last 10 meters, I must say, you're certainly a very impressive opponent."

"Although X-kun wasn't able to see that, you cannot deceive my eyes any longer, Kurushima-boy. First the swimming competition; now this race. You certainly have the right to be called my opponent. If you win, I don't mind participating in one of the competitions you suggest."

"And what do you want?"

"Nothing. I'm merely doing this to prove my superiority." 

What Koenji suggested wasn't too bad. 

But in the end, he was just composing to participate in a competition. Whether he would take part seriously or not wasn't ensured. 

"Hmm... It certainly sounds like a promising offer. However, can I count on it, that you'd take the competition in which you might have to partake seriously?"

"I wonder... I'll do as I like. If I feel like it, I'll score as high or as low as I want. After all, you do know, there's no need for me to think about the one-point deduction for the next written midterm exam."

As long as his pride isn't on the line, he probably wouldn't take any of these contests seriously. Besides, since the 200-meter dash was the last individual participation contest, there was only one of the four Team Participation Contests Koenji could participate in my case of winning.

The Scavenger Hunt, the 1200-meter joint relay where all classes participate, and the three-legged race—it was quite risky for him to participate in any of these competitions, since no one knows if he were to take it seriously.

If he were to stop suddenly, no one could force him to do otherwise. So the only reasonable option that remained was the 4-way tug of war, where our opponents have quite the advantage over us. 

If there's a competition he would help us with, it'd be this.

Hah, but why am I even thinking about this currently...

It's not like I particularly care. I am trying to make my class independent of me, yet I feel like it doesn't happen at all. 

If I keep on suggesting things, of course it doesn't happen.

"The 100-meter dash for the girls is going to start soon," someone shouted from the back, informing the class.

"Kurushima-boy, what is your decision?" Koenji asked, polishing his nails.

"Sure, I accept."

"Hahaha, then I shall show you my superiority in the 200-meter race. We will see each other, then."

Koenji remained sitting, polishing his nails.

I walked out of the tent. Suddenly Hirata, who was just next to Sudo, calming him down, came to me and asked me something. 

"And? Were you able to achieve anything?"

"Partially. At the last individual contest, the 200-meter dash, Koenji and I will race to see who has among us the better time. If I win, he'll take part in one other competition, whichever it is. Since the 200-meter dash is the last individual participation contest—"

"The only contest where Koenji-kun would participate would be the team participation contests. But the Scavenger Hunt, the 1200-meter joint relay, and the three-legged race are quite risky to have him there to participate. The best choice is the 4-tug of war, isn't that right, Kurushima-kun."

I nodded in agreement. 

"It certainly is. Koenji should have a grip strength similar or higher than Sudo, so he would be a great help. But if he doesn't feel like it, he won't take it seriously. So it'll be a great risk either way, but considering our opponents, with Koenji we do have a higher chance of winning." 

"I see. But it is at least progress... I think. That aside, in the 100-meter race previously, you were really amazing, Kurushima-kun. I never saw someone as fast as you. You're definitely amazing."

"It's nothing special. Anyway, I'll have to go now, Hirata. I'll be soon back. It seems like my girlfriend is participating in this race against Sakura."

"Sure. We'll be waiting in the other tent."

I nodded.

I looked at the race from an appropriate distance, not trying to get Hiyori out of her focus, distracted for the race.

Even though Sakura is my classmate, my girlfriend means naturally far more to me than her. I wouldn't even think of something like sabotaging her, by making her focus on me. 

After the signal was shown, the race started among the girls. No one in particular seemed to have an athletic starting position among them. However, the rest of the girls were still faster than both Hiyori and Sakura.

I could see how Hiyori was giving her all; likewise, with Sakura, both were at the last places, running with all they had.

But I could see Sakura getting slightly ahead during the last couple of meters before the finish line, finishing in seventh place, while Hiyori finished in 8th place.

I had brought a cup of water and was walking towards Hiyori.

Meanwhile, Sakura immediately walked towards Ayanokoji, it seems. 

"Good race, Hiyori."

"Thanks. Is that perhaps for me?"

"Yes, it is. Here you go," I said, handing it over to her.

"Thank you, Kaoru." 

"No problem," I replied with a casual shrug. 

She took a sip from the cup, the cool water providing a refreshing break from the intensity of the competition. "I feel much better now."

"Glad to be a help." I replied with a happy smile.

Slightly embarrassed, she nodded. "Kaoru, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"The necklace you're wearing. Is it something important for you?"

"Yes, it's very important to me. Why do you ask?"

"I never saw you taking it off until now. Not when you were sick or, even currently, during the Sports Festival."

I took it off and showed her what was inside. "That's one of the few pictures I have left of them. It's also something my little sister used to wear. She forgot it at home that day, so ever since then, I've been wearing it."

"Oh..." she said, looking on the ground.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. Anyway, I have to go back to my class tent. I'm being called, again. Goodbye, Hiyori." 

"Until later, Kaoru."

Heading out to Hirata and the group of my classmates, it seemed like we were currently reporting our results. 

"Kurushima-kun, did you really..." Horikita looked at me in disbelief, unable to continue her sentence. "... Score a time of 10.66 seconds in the 100-meter dash."

"I did, I guess." 

"Were you until now holding yourself back at the class training? I remember that your time for the 100-meter dash was 11.17 seconds. And if so, why?"

"No, I didn't, Horikita; what'd I gain from that? You might not have seen it, but I think a couple of people noticed how I started, differently, right?"

Hirata nodded his head. "In the training, you always used the standing stance. Today, however, you used a crouching stance."

"That's right, Hirata. Depending on how you start, you also get a more explosive start. Since the school doesn't allow starting blocks, the crouch stance is the next best option for gaining a good explosive start. However, it's very difficult to master this alone perfectly, so I tried my best to not getting anyone's hopes high. Training for this stance for only three competitions alone would be too hard."

"It was the better option for everyone to improve their comfortable stance, practice, and improve themselves, than teaching this stance, where the guarantee that you might slip a bit is also considerably high. It takes a decent amount of time for this to master, so I hide the fact, and instead showed the standing stance. I hope nobody takes it against me, to have hidden this."

"I see..." Horikita murmured.

"But in the end, you didn't practice it?"

I shook my head. "I do it every morning, technically. I'm doing mornings always one-hour sport, including this too, so don't worry, I was able to practice it."

Horikita nodded her head. "Good to know."

As the conversation with Horikita was over, people surrounded me, and someone asked me something. "Kurushima-kun, you know quite a lot. Were you perhaps an athlete in middle school?"

"Athlete? I guess you could formulate it like that, somehow."

I was training alone, though. Not once was I in a athletic club. Since I had a very large property, I could run there. 

The talk continues, but I was focused on something entirely else: my girlfriend. I couldn't help but think of myself being lucky to have met her.

Did I even deserve this kind of... luck?

I don't know, but I shouldn't think of that...

"The next competition seems to start. We should better go to our groups."

The one who spoke was Hirata, someone who seems to be greatly affected by his past, just like myself. There were several instances of that already that I could observe, but I do wonder what happened.

But then again, I'm also someone who keeps quiet about my past, so I do understand if he doesn't have the intention of telling it. 

"Kurushima-kun, you're in the first group this time, right?" Hirata asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. Koenji would be in the second group, but well, we can't bring him to forcefully participate." 

"Yeah... If Koenji-kun doesn't want to participate, we can't force him. But anyway, good luck, Kurushima-kun. I have to go now to my respective group." 

"Sure."

Hirata walked away, going to the fifth group. In the meantime, I saw a familiar person in my group.

"So you're in my group, Ryuen."

"Kurushima, you're also here. What a coincidence!"

"A coincidence, heh? Well, I hope we have a good race. Also, I'm just saying this in advance, but if you try to sabotage me, you'll regret it. I don't care what you do in this Sports Festival or whatever plans you have ready for it, but I don't intend on receiving an 'injury' or something else. I don't want her to look guilty at me, because she didn't warn me of something that might come."

"Haha, you seem to have a grasp of what I might do already, heh? You certainly are really as good as I thought. But even if I'm not challenging you today, there's someone else who certainly does."

I looked to the left, to Class B's tents, and to Sakayanagi's, who was looking at me with a slight smirk on her face. 

My face slightly changed.

"You don't seem to particularly like her, Kurushima."

"Is it strange not to like her? I just don't like the aura surrounding her."

"But I feel the same aura she gives off when I'm talking with you. Both of you seem to think that you're invincible, don't you?"

"Invincible, huh? Not in particular. I'm still human, after all."

He looked at me with a blunt face. "Quite the humorous guy, ain't you? For someone who always looks serious, it sure is surprising."

The last two people arrived, while the hurdle would start in a matter of seconds. 

"Try not to be last, Ryuen-kun."

Although I had said that, two people from Class B were next to me in line. Since Kushida had obviously betrayed us by giving the list Ryuen, he seems to have shown them Sakayanagi, or at least in certain competitions, like this one.

I was at line 2, while the other two were between me, in Line 1 and 3. 

Although cheating and foul sportsmanship weren't allowed, it didn't mean you couldn't hold a person off. If you were to abandon your chances of winning, there were naturally ways to sabotage your opponent. 

I took the crouching stance, but naturally, I made a slight difference—not to burst immediately from the start when running, like the previous stance. 

The moment the signal was shown, everyone began to run, aside from me. As expected, the person next to me in Line 3 made it seem like he had a false start and had fallen on the ground at my line.

I now should not have been able to utilize my crouching stance, which was naturally solely focused on speed, if it were like the previous one. Since it wasn't like that, I could jump immediately over him, but it didn't prevent me from clearly getting off to a very bad start. 

In other words, it was what Sakayanagi clearly intended to do. 

If I had intended to run immediately, the two of us would have collided, and I might have gotten an injury. 

Of course, knowing her, she knew I might come to realize this, so there was naturally someone else next to me in Line 1.

If it wasn't me, it'd certainly be a good tactic to immediately take out one of the more athletic students' permanently. 

The condition for this is for someone to know the opponent's participant list, which Ryuen partially should have provided to her at the very least. With partially, I exactly also mean partially. 

The difference between Ryuen's and Sakayanagi's classes is low in Class Points, with just a difference of 52 Class Points, which easily could become a larger or smaller amount depending on who wins the Sports Festival. 

Naturally, he won't be stupid enough to provide Sakayanagi with the list of participants for everyone in my class. It should just be the list of my competitions that he gave her.

If she were to successfully 'injure' me, he'd have it easier for the coming competitions, as well as a higher chance of winning the Sports Festival. Since he guessed Koenji's attitude correctly, probably two people in our class would have not been able to participate, which itself would make our class as one of the last places, surely. 

The Red Team itself would have plenty of difficulties, so the White Team should have a higher probability of winning. It definitely is a good tactic to have Sakayanagi target me, while he is after something entirely else.

In the end, the first part of her plan failed, as I easily jumped over him. Of course, I didn't have the explosive start or anything else anymore, but there was still the possibility of me getting 3rd Place, even with great difficulty. 

At the same time, she had intentionally placed someone next to me, who looks athletically weak but is in fact quite good, to make me believe that another person would try to sabotage me but is in fact aiming for the 1st Place. At this state, I surely cannot get the 1st or 2nd Place anymore. 

Ryuen has intentionally also placed someone good athletically, so they can ensure themselves 2nd and 3rd Place, but I don't like being looked down upon. I will at least get a better place than Ryuen. 

Despite the difficulties, I was able to fairly manage it well since I took a different stance, so I could immediately jump over the student, and run further.

As for the reason why I didn't know these students to my left and right, Class A keeps quiet about their classes' abilities, so it was hard to assess whether someone from these two was athletically fit or not. 

In the end, it was just one of them. I knew the person who fell down, because he was in last place in one of the 100-meter races, so evidently to her, he had no use aside from doing this.

I glanced over to Sakayanagi, who had a delightful smirk, knowing I realized it, and was able to prevent colliding with the student on the left. 

While running and jumping over the hurdles, I was able to overtake Ryuen and take, in the end, 3rd Place, while he was the 4th Place.

Neither one of us had touched nor knocked down the hurdles, because it'd mean a punishment of 0.3 seconds or 0.5 seconds depending on it, so it was just a simple matter that I was still faster than him, even in this situation.

Once we were at an appropriate distance from the teacher's away, Ryuen spoke. 

"So you realized it, huh? It seems like it's not that easy to get you out."

"It wasn't a bad move at all. You could ensure the majority of the Points for this round after all. But you weren't able to eliminate me." 

Although it might look suspicious, nobody can prove whether it was done deliberately or not in Class B. Sacrificing one student who's athletically unfit, to hold me off, that is. 

In the end, it also wasn't regarded as foul play, but just as an unfortunate start, from that student, and bad luck in my case. There were no consequences, which was something she should have anticipated already. 

She wants to challenge me? 

She'll regret that soon enough...

Just wait, Sakayanagi.

Soon your life will become a living hell...

--

A/N: And this concludes the chapter. 

I hope you liked it. Unlike the Novel, the Sports Festival will be different.

You'll see soon enough. 

To be honest, I don't have really much to say in the Author Notes, so I'll end them right here now. 

The only thing that happened is that I have fallen ill, but hopefully, I'll recover soon. It's really annoying. 

But well, that'll be all from me. 

Goodbye. 

Have a great day.