46 Chapter 46 : If you put in effort, You can be the best in the world

The next day, the most indispensable man in Class C appeared.

"Go-Good morning... Hirata-kun."

It was Mi-chan who spoke to Hirata before anyone else.

Despite being rejected, Mi-chan showed Hirata her best smile, and Hirata closed the distance between them.

Seeing this, Hirata bowed deeply.

"Good morning, and I'm sorry. I did something terrible to Mi-chan."

"W-Well, I, I'm totally fine..."

Hirata, who had been possessed until yesterday, now appeared clear and refreshed, as if the ghost that had been haunting him had been exorcised.

"Good morning, everyone! It might be too late to apologize now, but if everyone is okay with it, I want to contribute to the class again from today."

Hirata said so while bowing his head, and there was not a single student who didn't rejoice at his return.

"Good morning, Horikita-san."

Horikita was taken aback by his straightforward dazzling smile.

It can't be helped; he's an air purifier, after all.

"U-Um, good morning."

"I don't think the way you conducted the class trial was wrong. I just didn't realize there could be different kinds of rights."

"U-Um, I-Is your head okay? Are you sure...?"

It was to be expected, but Hirata still wore an unaffected smile. The two shook hands, seeking reconciliation, and Horikita seemed to respond positively.

Then, Hirata was approached by his classmates one after another. It seemed like everything was back to normal.

At lunchtime that day, I was unexpectedly approached by Hirata.

"Horagasaki-kun, would you like to have lunch together?"

I was invited by the air purifier of all people.

But since I had no reason to refuse, I agreed, though I was a bit confused.

"...Sure."

I headed to the cafeteria with Hirata. Unlike yesterday, Hirata showed a smile, and the students from other classes seemed to notice, as they started approaching him one by one.

But some students seemed hesitant to approach, probably because I was sitting next to him. Wait, am I that shady?

"Aren't those two guys too handsome?"

"They could probably save the world by themselves, just Horagasaki-kun and Hirata-kun, right?"

"Beauty is violence."

"Seriously, Horagasaki-kun doesn't look like he's the same age as us, he's so charming."

"The top two in the handsome rankings are together. The two-shot of those two is super rare!"

"Sparkling handsome and not-so-motivated handsome. Hirata-kun is cool, but Horagasaki-kun is on another level, right?"

"Utterly dazzling."

Hmm, I heard some weird stuff, but I'll ignore it.

We bought our meal tickets and sat down. Then, Hirata immediately bowed his head.

"I'm sorry, I hit you. I don't think an apology is enough."

Hirata bowed deeply to me. I don't like it; it feels like I'm making him bow his head against his will.

"Don't worry about it too much."

I said so in a tone that made me wonder who said it, and Hirata looked surprised, then chuckled.

"At that time, you and Ayanokoji-kun spoke to me. I can't thank you enough."

"It's not that big of a deal, and I made quite a few jerk comments too."

"Even so, Mi-chan kept talking to me. That's what you were saying, right?"

"Well, now that I think about it, I've overcome my doubts, so it's all good."

I lightly chuckled and looked at Hirata, who was blushing and fidgeting, and asked if he was okay.

"Uh, um, yeah. I'm fine!"

Still, Hirata, struggling to pick up the simmered taro with his chopsticks. He looks so troubled, but his ginger pork set looks delicious.

"I'll have some ginger pork."

I said so, stabbed my chopsticks into Hirata's ginger pork, and brought it to my mouth. Hirata widened his eyes and looked at me. Did I make him angry?

"Then, I'll have some too!"

Saying that, Hirata grabbed two pieces of meat from my fried chicken set in one go.

"You're taking my chicken?! Hirata, you took two pieces!"

"Hahaha, sorry sorry, Horagaski-kun."

I felt relieved seeing Hirata, who seemed like a different person from yesterday.

Even if someone told me they were twins, I wouldn't feel surprised. With him back as the class leader, C class will be even better. I need to thank Sei Takashi for bringing Hirata back. Well, in his case, he's just a cold-hearted guy who doesn't think about anything.

.....

After a long time, the day of the main event finally arrived. Now, Kiyotaka just had to choose five events.

Shortly after, the C class selected the following five events: Archery, Basketball, Typing, Tennis, and Table Tennis. From the A class, the chosen events were Chess, English Test, Modern Literature Test, Math Test, and Flash Mental Arithmetic, making it a total of ten events.

Then, randomly selected, the first event to appear was Basketball. It required five players with a time limit of 20 minutes. The rules were based on regular basketball rules, and the team captain could swap one player at any time.

It was a 5-on-5 sport, and the C class had chosen basketball. The members for the basketball team were Ace Makita Shin, Ike Kanji, Hondou Ryotaro, Minami Setsuya, and Onodera Kayano, deliberately excluding Sudo. From the A class, the team consisted of Toba Shigeru, Tanaka Yuujiro, Kamuro Masumi, Kitou Hayabusa, and Shimizu Naoki. There was also one female member on each team.

Makita, who was the ace of the basketball team, seemed quite skilled in sports from what could be observed. While not at Sudo's level, he could move more than the average person. On the A class side, Kito seemed to be the ace. They were evenly matched and engaged in a fierce battle.

At the end of the first half, with a four-minute interval, Sudo was substituted for Makita. In the second half, Kito, who had been marking Makita, seemed even sharper than before.

"You're still holding back, aren't you?! You're a basketball player, aren't you!"

"No, you're just being pressured by an amateur."

"Liar!"

"I don't think there's any need to lie."

From what could be seen, Kito was undoubtedly experienced in basketball, likely at an advanced level. Kito seemed to be intentionally holding back, conserving his strength in response to Sudo's delayed entry. Sudo also seemed to have miscalculated Kito's abilities, causing mental turmoil and leading to a disadvantageous situation.

However, Sudo was definitely not as childish as he was in April.

"Take this!"

"Ugh!"

Sudo bypassed Kito and dunked the ball into the basket. It was like watching Slam Dunk.

"Until the end of the world--"

"What are you singing, Jin?"

Oops, I inadvertently hummed a tune. I must have looked strange to Akihito, who was looking at me with a weird expression.

Soon, the buzzer sounded, and Sudo struck a victorious pose. They won with a score of 24 to 16.

"We did it, Suzune!"

I thought he'd say that, it's Horikita, right? Yep. When I looked at Horikita, who was watching the monitor, she was quietly applauding.

The next event was Typing Skill. Our representative from class was Tonomura, also known as the Doctor. His skill was undeniably unparalleled, and he led Class C to a glorious victory.

The following third and fourth events were the Math Test and English Test from the A class. While the Math Test was more of a throwaway match for us, the English Test saw Class C represented by Hirata Yosuke, Yukimura Teruhiko, Ishikura Kayoko, Wang Mei Yu, Karuizawa, Kushida Kikyou, and Matsushita Chiaki, against the A class represented by Matoba Shinji, Shimazaki Ikkei, Shijou Taiga, Yamamura Miki, Nishikawa Ryoko, Ishida Yusuke, and Morishige Takuro. In the end, we fell short with only 11 points, losing both the Math and English Tests.

The fifth event, Table Tennis, was chosen by Class C, but we couldn't match up to the A class. With the current score at 2 wins and 3 losses, losing the next event to the A class would be quite tough.

As the students watched the battles between the B and D classes, voices rose in anticipation. 「What? Ryuen from Class D is the captain?」

The classroom stirred at the words of one of the boys in the class. Even Horikita seemed surprised.

"Why him?"

It seemed that Class B was struggling quite a bit. Currently, they had four wins and two losses, and instead of using Kaneda, who could secure Protect Points, they chose Ryuen. Perhaps Class B underestimated the situation, especially after what happened with Shibata and the others. It seemed to be Ryuen's style.

However, there was no time for us to dwell on Class B's situation. The sixth event was Flash Mental Arithmetic, and it was my turn to participate.

"Okay, here I go."

"Yes, good luck."

"Got it."

I waved my hand and walked up, feeling a bit unsteady.

"Is he going to do it properly?"

I heard Horikita's worried muttering from behind me, but I decided not to pay it any mind.

For Class C, losing this would be quite detrimental. But for me, I just wanted to finish quickly and go home. My partner was Koenji. Knowing that he wouldn't do anything, Kiyotaka deliberately chose me to cover for him.

From the A class, Katsuragi and Tamiya were selected. According to Kiyotaka, Tamiya's abilities weren't particularly high, but Katsuragi provided enough cover.

"Ten questions in total, with the score increasing for later questions. In the event of a tie for first place, an extension will be held."

The captain could only intervene for one minute, so it would likely be for the later questions. But Koenji...

"Hehehe, it's time for you to shine, Rich Boy."

"You can solve these without me, you know."

"Having that confidence is splendid."

Koenji crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and chuckled. Then the test began. A single-digit, three-digit problem with a five-second timer appeared. It was extremely easy, especially since it was the first question.

Without much thought, I rested my elbow on the desk and casually wrote down the answer. Koenji's answer sheet remained blank.

"Ayanokoji-kun... Those two seem very unenthusiastic and unmotivated. Are they okay?"

"Regarding Koenji, he's just exuding an unenthusiastic aura, but he'll do it properly. No need to worry about him."

"Hehe, it seems like you really trust him."

As the questions progressed, they remained relatively easy. However, around the halfway mark, Tamiya from the A class started to calculate frantically. The next question was a three-digit, twelve-digit problem with a 4.5-second time limit. The eighth question was a fifteen-digit problem with a 3.5-second time limit. The ninth question was a three-digit, fifteen-digit problem with a 2.5-second time limit. Koenjni continued to cross his arms and smirk while I wrote down the answers, and Katsuragi stopped at the eighth question, so our victory was assured.

Then came the final question, a Flash Mental Arithmetic with a three-digit, fifteen-digit problem and a 1.6-second time limit. The numbers flashed and disappeared 15 times in an instant. While Katsuragi and Tamiya were dumbfounded without holding pens, I gripped mine and continued writing while resting my elbow on the desk. Those around me couldn't hide their surprise, but Koenji, watching from the command room, nodded as if he understood what I had realized and didn't say anything as a commander.

After collecting everyone's answer sheets, Koenji laughed and said, "Hehe, quite an interesting game. It's my first time trying it. But to me, it's not much. The answer to the final question was 7619, right?"

And then the results were announced.

"After tallying the scores, the winner with a perfect score of 10 out of 10 is Jin Horagasaki, securing victory for Class C."

Jin stretched his neck by placing his hands on it and cracking it from side to side. Along with the closing words from Professor Sakagami, the Flash Mental Arithmetic, the fifth match, came to a close.

"What... Who is he, Ayanokoji-kun?"

Sakayanagi asked with half surprise and half caution, looking at me. They must have been caught off guard by Jin's abilities, and the result was unexpected.

"To be honest, I don't even know."

I was quite surprised. I never expected that he would excel not only in physical abilities but also in intelligence. After the incident at the pool during summer vacation, I realized that even with about 80% of my strength, I couldn't inflict any damage on him. And when he attacked me with that roundhouse kick, he probably wasn't even serious, but my right arm swelled up and took a while to recover afterward. His strength would be more than enough even in the White Room... No, it would be too much. Even now, I haven't fully grasped his abilities, but what was definitive was the killing intent he directed at Yamauchi. I had never seen such killing intent in my life. He's probably on par with me in overall abilities. I never expected to have someone like him so close to me... Jin Horagasaki is an unknown quantity. He's reliable as an ally, but troublesome as an enemy.

I was overwhelmed by an incredible sense of excitement.

Jin, keep entertaining me in the future.

As for the seventh and final match of fate, the event was chess.

Horikita was nominated. They probably saved her as the last trump card.

From the A class, Hashimoto came forward. It seemed that he hadn't had a chance to participate until now.

I watched the two of them play through the monitor. They bowed to each other before starting the match.

I've never played chess, but I've seen it before. There are six types of pieces, and the strongest piece is not the king but the queen.

In the opening, Hashimoto launched an attack, and Horikita calmly dealt with it. But before the middle game, Sakayanagi joined in, and it was decided that Horikita would switch with me. Perhaps Horikita had a chance to win, but Sakayanagi's intervention sealed it. It should have been a desperate situation for her, facing the difference in strength and the looming pressure. She couldn't move anymore, and that's when I joined the game. It was a battle between commanders.

The time limit was 30 minutes, which was enough until the end. But it was an extraordinary battle. The strongest against the strongest is amazing. In this game, where a slight mistake could lead to defeat, Sakayanagi didn't give Kiyotaka any chance. Without giving Kiyotaka a chance to make a move, Sakayanagi relentlessly attacked. With only five minutes left, Kiyotaka's movements stopped, and with less than two minutes remaining, our side made a checkmate move.

It would surely be extremely urgent for Class A. However, Sakayanagi was strong. Class C was cornered by Class A, who saw an opportunity for victory. Time was running out, with only a few tens of seconds left. Despite Kiyotaka's struggle, Class A launched an unexpected attack, sacrificing the queen for checkmate. If this happened, the victory for Class C would be completely crushed.

By the way, Class B had five wins and two losses, losing to Class D. As a result, we, Class C, were demoted to Class D, and Class D, including Ryuen, was promoted to Class C.

But that last game of chess... there's something strange about it, but I'll just chalk it up to my imagination.

=================================

Want to read advanced chapter?

Give me your stone to this novel to reach the milestone that will give you bonus chapter per day!!!

50-100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter / Day

100-200 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters / Day

200-300 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters / Day

Want to support me? 

You can join as member in my P4TR30N

p4treon.com/ShirooYuki ( Change 4 to a)

See ya!!