Everyone else seemed nervous and unsure about us being on the same team as Class A. "Let's raise hands to speak, everyone." Hirata spoke up.
"Keep it down, guys!" Kushida stood up.
"No!" I rejected and hugged my watermelon again.
"It can stay on the desk." She reassured me.
"Are you thinking about how you will finally get a chance to see him?" Kiyotaka asked Suzune who seemed to be in awe.
"Don't talk about that here." Suzune groaned and held up her pen to threaten him.
"Okay then." I got up and went over to her. "Are you ha-" She covered my mouth while giving me a disgruntled look. "You said not there so I chose to talk here."
I laughed and went back to my seat, and Sae got everyone's attention again. "First, read through your materials." She ordered.
"Events consist of mandatory and voluntary events." Haruka started to read it out loud.
"So we get more points doing the voluntary events." I hummed. "I wanna do them all!"
"Actually, Rekka is a good example here, it's important to give all you have to every event." Sae pointed out. "The penalty for losing is severe."
"Actually, are there any advantages for Rekka this time?" Kei held up her hand.
"No." Sae answered shocking everyone. "She will be given the same points as everyone else, but won't be able to join any events that involve any kind of pushing."
"So she has fewer chances at earning points than us? I mean that's good she can do some, but still, psychically she-" Sudo went on to say how even just running will somehow kill me.
"I can do it." I retorted.
"But Rekka..." Ike went to say and I just grinned.
"I said on my first day I want to do things like healthy people do and I'm being treated like one now!" I exclaimed. "Don't get in my way."
"Cute threat." Sudo laughed as he saw me pouting. "Sorry Rekka, I will support you all the way then!"
I grinned back at him. "Teacher, what's this about bonuses for the top three placers?" Ike held up his hand.
"What's this about adding points to written exams?" Everyone was throwing questions at her.
"It's exactly what it sounds like." Sae smirked. "By placing in the top, you will receive bonus points you can add to your next written exam. It can be very helpful for your tests."
"For real?" Ike was speechless like most others, and I immediately looked to the one rule that goes with that. "And if you finish in the last ten you receive a penalty, they are weeding out the idiots." I hummed seeing it as a rule. "More risk like usual, like balancing on a watermelon."
I laughed when I felt something hit my head and I turned to see Kiyotaka had rolled up his sheet and hit my head with it.
"I didn't do it by the stairs." I pointed out a good thing.
"Teacher, what's this..." Yamauchi mumbled.
"What's this penalty?" Kei added.
"The bottom ten first-year placers will lose ten points on their next written exam." Sae explained scaring everyone.
"So we can lose points on our exams, too?!" Kei yelled.
"Gambling? Sounds fun!" I added.
"No!" Hirata yelled shocking most since he doesn't raise his voice often.
"The materials I handed out also provide a list of each of the sports festival events." Sae informed us as I was reading them all, and they look easy.
"This is pretty hardcore." Kei groaned surprising me.
"Really?" I hummed.
"There's no cheerleading or dance competition, after all." Sae informed us.
"Aww, but I'm great at being thrown." I complained.
"It will be purely a test of stamina and athleticism. Decide for yourselves who will participate and in what order." Sae looked to Hirata. "Fill in the participant sheet and submit it to me."
"How much are we allowed to decide on our own?" Hirata asked.
"Everything. You can decide everything about the event, including who is in which heat." Sae stared at Kiyotaka and I.
"Mine." I hugged my watermelon making her sigh.
After class, Kiyotaka took me to go get a drink and Sudo volunteered to look after my watermelon since I wanted to bring it along, but Suzune said she wouldn't walk with us otherwise. "When did we even invite you?" I asked her as Kiyotaka handed me my drink that he got out of the vending machine.
"We need to talk about the exam." She explained as we both sipped our drinks while staring at her.
"The island and cruise-Rekka!" Suzune grabbed my shoulder lightly and tried to pull me back around since I turned away from her, but I wasn't budging. "I'm just saying the last two exams had infinite possibilities, I just realised that."
"Well duh, anything does if you include every possibility like people dying." I turned back around happily.
"What do you think makes this test significantly different from the previous special tests?" Kiyotaka asked her.
"Use of legs." I answered and Kiyotaka patted my head as Suzune was silently thinking.
"It seems like another special test to me." Suzune admitted. "The structure and effect on points seem to be identical to previous special tests."
"That is true." Kiyotaka nodded. "On paper, it's the same, but in practice it's different."
"Yeah, legs!" I nodded.
"What about them?" She asked me.
"It's a sports festival, duh." I answered, and her look made me sigh. "Sudo is our top person to win since Koenji won't do much or even compete in a single event and everyone else can't run like you."
"I'm fast." Suzune retorted.
"Wow, our class is slow." I let out annoying her.
"You're just fast." Kiyotaka informed me. "Anyway. Rekka is right. We should assume that stamina and athletic ability are the order of the day. Sneaky tricks won't have much bearing on the results."
"Just put the right people together, and you will be fine...but then there's that." I laughed seeing Kushida nearby.
"I will, preparation is just what I'm talking about." Suzune spoke up.
"No, you weren't." I retorted.
"You're looking for quick fixes, loopholes." Kiyotaka informed her. "Like having someone be absent before the competition or forcing them to drop out partway."
"I wasn't-" She went to retort.
"In other words, you want a surefire method." Kiyotaka explained.
"I just wanna run against a swan!" I yelled.
"Are you suggesting we have to fight and win through orthodox means?" Suzune asked like we had kicked a cat.
"Yes! What else will the other team do?" I asked her. "Why are there morals in your mind? If you want to win, abandon them."
She was just looking at me shocked. "It's up to you how you take it." Kiyotaka walked off and I followed.
"It's the duck!" I freaked out.
"It lived!" Suzune screeched like the duck when it saw me running towards it.
"But I wanna find the duck." I whined as Suzune was pushing me back to class. I just let her since Kiyotaka would have just picked me up.
"C'mon, we gotta do it based on skill!" Sudo yelled when we were all sitting down in class.
Hirata was at the front taking the lead of the test, and he had asked for suggestions on how we should tackle this test. "I know myself best of all. If I win, the class wins!"
"You think so?" Kei hummed.
"Wanna test how good her influence is?" I asked Kiyotaka as I had my head on his desk and my chair turned to his desk.
Kiyotaka took out his phone, and I covered the view of it from the others.
"If you want to take in all the voluntary events, I'm okay with that." Yukimura added.
"Yeah, you are weak." I added making Yukimura stare at me for a moment, but he then smiled for some reason.
"Then it's settled!" Sudo exclaimed.
I looked at Sudo and already knew he will cause problems since he's like Suzune. They don't think about how others can actually be weak and won't be able to keep up with them without needing to have a heart attack like I used to do.
"If everyone agrees with the skill method, then the voluntary events-" Hirata went to say.
"Wait." Suzune stood up. "I have a supplementary proposal. Between the two options, I have no objections to the skill method, but there's no guarantee that we can beat the other classes through that alone."
"That's true." Hirata nodded.
"Do you have snake?" I asked Kiyotaka as I was poking at his phone.
"I don't have a snake." He answered.
"The game." I explained and he was confused so I explained it to him. "It would be like you eating Suzune since she's like coins, useful to buy food with."
Suzune moved her chair away from us. "What? You like round things, like holes, espeically lo- my fruit loops! I left the box open!" I exclaimed.
"We can buy more." Kiyotaka reassured me.
"But I was saving all the red ones to the end..." I pouted.
"While it's given that we should put our most athletic members in the voluntary events where they specialize." Suzune spoke up as Sudo came over to us to pat my head and he also gave me his phone that has snake on it.
He sat on my desk as he watched me play.
"We can also best bring out our maximum potential in the mandatory events through optimized combinations." Suzune explained to everyone and Sudo's head looked like it was smoking.
"Team up! It would be like you and me." I grinned.
"Thanks, Rekka." He grinned back at me. "You would lose all your stamina before I do, I will just carry you to the end."
"For instance, rather than putting two fast people in a race together, eliminating one. We should pair each with a slow person to guarantee higher placements." Suzune pointed out. "So yes, like Rekka and Sudo."
"Wait a minute!" Shinohara stood up. "Doesn't that plan reduce the chances of non-athletic people winning anything? Including people with conditions."
"And we will lose our chances of getting the bonus..." Ike mumbled.
"What a disappointment twould be! Right, Rekka?!" Sotomura called out to me.
"I lost..." I mumbled as he had distarcted me and I looked at him. "Can you just not speak? You get in the way."
"We were so close!" Sudo exclaimed as Kiyotaka restarted the game for me.
"Are either of you three paying attention?" Suzune asked us.
"To snake." I nodded. "The important thing right now is getting long."
"An ultimate class victory will benefit the individuals in the long run." Suzune informed us. "Why is this an issue?"
"But high placements get us big bonuses on our next exam!" Shinohara exclaimed. "Besides, isn't quitting unfair?"
Her argument is useless, I have seen her run for a minute, she might get last place.
"I understand why you feel that way." Suzune hummed.
"In that case-!" Shinohara screeched.
"But your priorities are misplaced. Just focus on your studies to the point where you don't have to rely on bonuses." Suzune demanded. "The bonuses are only given to the top three placers, anyway, so it's not that much of a problem, is it? Is there any event you believe you can place third or higher in?"
Kiyotaka tapped my foot with his, so I kicked his foot and he just stared at me. "Not foot wars?" I laughed as I knew it was just to tell me he had so-called convinced Kei to speak up as I mean threaten her or ordered her to.
Shinohara finally sat back down and Suzune was about to as well I swung around in my seat as I was still playing the game to get a better view.
"May I?" Kei asked. "Horikita's suggestion...sorry, but it doesn't work for me."
Everyone seemed uncomfortable with Kei speaking up showing the influence she has. "That's a very vague objection." Suzune pointed out.
"Well, I'm not as smart as you, Horikita." Kei stared at her.
"I thought it was an entirely reasonable proposal." Suzune didn't explain as Kei wanted.
"I just don't get it!" Kei stood up.
"What exactly don't you get?" Suzune asked her.
"All of it?" Kei hummed as Hirata started to frown and this was turning into an argument making me groan. "Why don't you explain it, so even an idiot can understand?"
Suzune sighed. "Oh right. You don't deal with idiots, is that why Rekka fainted that day?" Kei asked her.
Suzune flinched and everyone else was shocked while I was winning! Sudo was more concentrated on the weird argument when the words Rekka and fainted were said.
"What are you talking about?" Suzune questioned her.
"Playing dumb? I saw before that Rekka fainted right as you were around while Ayanokoji wasn't." Kei pointed out. "You seemed to always not care much for others and Rekka...she had gone somewhere with you before she fainted and looked really pale when she got back." Kei pointed out. "You even want other students to fail this time, how can you just watch that? Did you use Rekka like you will with us?"
Suzune flinched again. "I didn't use her, and they will all be rewarded in the long run."
"And you blamed people for being too stupid to pass a test on their own? How do you expect our class to unite with that attitude?" Kei picked on all of the right parts.
"That was the point of my suggestion." Suzune retorted.
"Well, that's Horikita's idea." Kei sighed. "What do you think, Kushida?"
"Huh?! Me?!" Kushida let out shocked.
I looked up at Kiyotaka since it wouldn't be useful to bring Kushida into this since she would want to keep neutral so she can have many friends and be known as the kind one.
Kiyotaka nodded showing that was part of what he ordered her to do. "It's tricky, isn't it? I feel like I understand both sides! Ideally, I think you'd combine both ideas so that the people taking first and last both feel okay about it." Kushida kept neutral as hell.
"True." Ike hummed. "What about you, Rekka?"
"...I won!" I exclaimed and Sudo high-fived me as everyone else laughed. "Oh yeah, I just want to run! Do whatever you want! Just don't argue."
"Yeah, we shouldn't argue." Hirata added.
"I have thought of a way for both sides to be satisfied." Suzune spoke up. "Have students who don't need test points take the top places, then average out the private points they gain with the ones the students in the bottom ranks lose. We will share gains and losses among the class."
"Great idea!" Sudo exclaimed.
"But that's just for the points." Kei pointed out. "It also lowers our chances of winning. What do you guys think?"
"If Karuizawa is against it, I am, too." Sato held up her hand.
"So am I." Chiaki added and some more of the other girls did to.
"Are you people stupid? You're against it because she is?" Suzune started to act like a fridge again. "That's not logical! The other classes can't possibly have members as stupid as you all."
"How do you know? Point is, I'm against it." Kei retorted. "And plenty of others are clearly against it, too. Horikita, you are just cruel."
"Yeah." Some of the others started to mumble.
"Poor Rekka has to deal with her." I was getting sympathy for some reason again confusing me.
I liked the little look of pain on Suzune's face when she saw her words have backfired on herself, but she was going to argue again. "Aahhhh!" I yelled scaring many then I looked over at Hirata and he took the message.
"Thanks, Rekka, how about we all calm down?" Hirata asked as I went back to snake. "If we can't agree we can settle this with a vote."
"If Yosuke says it, I'm in!" Kei exclaimed.
"Horikita's idea is to focus entirely on skill, while Karuisawa's is to allow personal opinion into discussion." Hirata explained. "Let's have a show of hands. First, who agrees with Horikita's idea?"
Suzune looked pissed that neither of us put our hands up. "Hey." She hissed.
"Hi." I waved at her and she sighed.
"We are abstaining." Kiyotaka reassured her.
"I just don't care." I added.
"Next, Karuizawa's combined plan." Hirata looked around at everyone. "Thank you, the results of the votes. Ten votes for Horikita's idea and eight votes for Karuizawa's idea."
Suzune was still staring at us, so I stretched out my foot and kicked her chair a little making her turn away. She just froze for a second like I had done something awful.
"Heck yeah!" Sudo cheered at the results.
"Now, regarding participation for each event." Hirata spoke up.
"Running!" I held up my hand.
"You will be in one." He reassured me.
"I'm in for all the events!" Sudo stood up. "Just leave it all to me!"
I grinned. "We will fail this test well."
Kiyotaka nodded and at some point, I was being shaken. "Hmm?" I let out as I looked at Sudo and my vision was a little blurry.
"You okay?" He asked me. "You weren't responding for a couple minutes there."
Everyone else looked concerned as well and I knew exactly what that was meaning it's going to happen soon. "Can a snake eat itself?" I asked him and he laughed.
"You were just thinking." He sighed in relief and so did some others while Kiyotaka was staring at me.
After that, I was going on about how cool the Sports Festival is going to be to Kiyotaka as we got ready to leave the classroom for lunch. "I'm gonna run like I'm on speed! Or I am speed? Or is it dash?" I mumbled.
"You can't do your best in the race." Kiyotaka informed me and I paused. "Bec-"
"No!" I yelled at him making everyone look at us. "I will throw away your pudding along with me with it!"
"You two okay?" Hirata asked us surprised since I'm never mad at Kiyotaka.
"We are." Kiyotaka nodded and picked me up making me fight against him. "She needs the nurse's office. You will get something in exchange Rekka."
I crossed my arms and stopped moving. "Well, take me away." I demanded making some laugh and Sudo handed me my umbrella.
"You really okay?" Ike asked.
"He might not be." I pointed at Kiyotaka.
"I have a good offer." He reassured me.
"Death might be a response." I informed him as he walked out of the classroom with me still in his arms.