Classroom of the Elite: An Inferior Genius(DISCONTINUED)

Volume 5: Back Off

Yasushi POV

There wasn't really any other issues with warmups and practice, so the days went by very quickly. Soon enough, only one week was left before the sports festival would begin. Right now, we needed to decide the participation table, since the entries have opened up.

Hirata stood at the podium while Kikyou faced the blackboard, recording results and such.

"Now without further ado, let's decide on the entries." Hirata said.

To choose the order for our winning strategy, Hirata consulted his notes, which contained aggregate results of our entire class's daily records. We had written down the order, everyone's roles, and the competitions they'd enter. Not a single student objected to Hirata's results, which were based on hard data and clear testing of people's abilities. Everything proceeded without a hitch.

"For the final event, the 1200-meter relay, Sudou will be our anchor." He said.

"That seems fair."

No one really objected since its Hirata. Besides, the fastest runner should be the anchor, however we need a different strategy here. Its true that in the last event, the fastest runners like Horikita and Sudou would shine brightest, but this is one of the events where we need to focus on tactics. After all, we'd be competing against senpais on this one. 

After the discussion, Horikita stood up and went straight to Sudou. 

"What's up?" He asked.

"I want to talk to you about something. Can you come with me?" Horikita replied.

"S-sure." Sudou hurriedly stood straight up at Horikita's command.

"Oh, Hirata-kun. Can I also have a moment of your time?"

Sudou, whose heart must have been pounding for a moment, immediately looked disappointed.

"I want to discuss the participation table we decided on earlier. I'd like you to give me the anchor position in the 1200-meter relay at the end of the festival," said Horikita.

Sudou looked confused. "But, well...the anchor position is normally for the fastest person, right? Do ya feel uneasy having me as the anchor?"

"No, that's not it. I know your abilities from seeing you practice," said Horikita.

"Okay. So, I can handle it, right? I mean, if the anchor is the fifth runner, then—"

"I have my reasons. You're good with the starting dash, right, Sudou-kun? I think that having you breeze past our opponents as the first runner is a viable strategy. Starting with the second runner, we'll allow everyone to take the lane they like on a first-come-first-served basis. In the event that we're overtaken, the rules state that, from the second runner onward, we're allowed to use the outer lanes to overtake other runners." Horikita explained.

"But..." Sudou didn't appear convinced.

It was certainly true that, if Sudou did well at the starting dash, our other runners would have an easier time, but the pressure would be on. Besides, Horikita appeared to agree with my thought, even if she had a different reason in doing so. 

"It's just, y'know, the anchor position goes to the fastest team member."

"This school is a meritocracy. Let's not make choices based on assumptions or preconceived notions. The other classes will be coming up with various strategies as well." Horikita reasoned.

I understood her logic, but I felt as though she was pushing a bit too hard. It didn't make much difference who the anchor was; both she and Sudou were sure to perform well. That meant there was another reason Horikita wanted to be anchor.