(Sudo Ken, POV)
I don't know if I can consider myself a proper human.
When I was young, I always strived to be strong and independent. Especially when my mother left my family.
I strived for the strength to carry myself through life without having to need anyone.
I never liked my father either. He was a weak and small man; who let anyone step over him.
I didn't want to live that old life anymore.
One where I relied on others and a life of weakness.
So, I sought out the only way to live my life the way I wanted to.
Through sports.
I gave up all hope in academics and completely put my all into my athletics.
I was already a gifted individual when it came to athleticism, but the training I did put my head and shoulders above the rest.
With the skill I had, I could live the life I wanted without having to look back at where I came from.
My basketball skills propelled me to the top and even got me a recommendation at one of the top high schools in the nation.
I believed that the life I wanted was within arm's length.
But... My own stupidity and failure as a person took that opportunity away from me. My problematic attitude and low grades took that chance away from me.
Maybe I was destined to be scum born from bad parents.
I can't blame that shortcoming, though, because, in the end, I was the one to blame. I was the one who turned my vision away from those aspects of life.
But another opportunity presented itself to me.
Advanced Nurturing High School.
A place that could give me the future I wanted. The future I needed.
A place that could guarantee my future: even for someone like me.
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(Fukumoto Akio, POV)
"So that's how they decided upon the VIP..." I muttered.
Currently, a rather unusual group of individuals occupied a table at the famous Pallet Cafe before classes started.
Ayanokouji, Horikita, Hirata, Kei, and I had all decided to meet up just before the first class of the second semester to discuss the more troublesome exam from our summer vacation.
"Let's take the Rabbit Group, for example," Horikita continued the explanation. "Based upon the position the Rabbit sign is in the zodiac, which is fourth. Using the last names of all the group members in alphabetical order it would go, Ayanokouji-kun, Ibuki-san, Ichinose-san, then you, Karuizawa-san. Making you the VIP."
Karuizawa sat there for a moment, trying to sift through this explanation.
Everyone else at the table understood it, but she was struggling for a bit.
"So that's how I was chosen as VIP?" Kei asked.
"Precisely," Horikita replied. "All the other groups functioned similarly. By using the position of their zodiac sign and list of surnames in alphabetical order, you could determine the VIP of any group."
"Isn't that almost too simple of a way to select the VIP," Hirata questioned.
"It most definitely is," Horikita swiftly replied. "But, only at first glance. Now that we are over with the exam, we could consciously and thoroughly analyze the results and conditions of the exam. That's what let us find this solution. But considering the conditions we were under in the exam, it made it extremely difficult for us to deduce this, as we were more preoccupied with the exam."
If we had more time or didn't just come off a grueling physical exam, the possibilities of discovering this method of finding the VIP would have been a piece of cake, but the school deliberately made that exam a little more challenging, and right after another to throw us off.
"That's why they worded the email that way," I said aloud.
Everyone at the table looked at me with a slightly confused faces.
"Remember the email at the beginning of the exam that determined if we were the VIP or not? I found the wording slightly suspicious, as instead of the school stating, 'You're not the VIP' the message went something like, 'After thorough consideration, we have decided you are not the VIP.' They were giving us a hint that there may have been a method of how they picked VIPs, but we were too ignorant to notice this."
The members at the table shook their heads in agreement as they recalled the start of that exam.
"But," Ayanokouji spoke for the first time. "Class C. More specifically, Ryuuen managed to figure this out, just based on the results of the exam."
"They managed off only 3 VIPs that were picked from Class C to figure out this method. Honestly, I only think of that as a pure gamble," Horikita mused.
"That gamble did work, though," Hirata continued. "Somehow, they managed to identify multiple VIPs and close the gap with the other classes."
It was a mystery as to how specifically Ryuuen pulled this off. But, nonetheless, it was a stroke of genius that it worked for him. If he was wrong, he could have completely thrown this exam and ruined his class ranking.
That got me thinking for a moment.
After the results of the exam were posted, Sakayanagi from Class A contacted me.
She said that she used this exam to destroy someone within her own class and pity another class.
And since my class obviously did not gain any class points from my group.
Did that mean, Sakayanagi also figured out this method of decerning the VIP but purposefully leaked the answer to someone in Class C from my group?
Considering how poorly Class A did, and from the information I gathered, they were following Katsuragi's plan of complete defense. Not uttering a single word in any meeting. Sakayanagi probably used this as an opportunity to further crush Katsuragi's ranking within Class A by purposefully not turning traitor and gaining her class points.
In all honestly, that was a genius idea to turn the tide in her favor as Class A's sole leader and possibly to spite Ryuuen too.
Class A's Sakayanagi could be a fearsome opponent for anyone if that was true.
"Fukumoto-kun?" Hirata called out to me as I lost my train of thought.
"Sorry. I was thinking," I replied.
"That's new," Horikita commented at my remark.
"As I was saying," Hirata continued his previous discussion. "I believe since these past two exams, our class has become closer. But we are still that one step away from truly unifying."
Hirata took a short breath before continuing.
"I've tried as much as I can in unifying this class. But I believe certain people within this class have a skill set that I lack, skills that can truly unify this class."
"Who do you mean, Hirata-kun?" Kei responded.
"Horikita-san and Fukumoto-kun," Hirata turned his vision toward Horikita, then to me. "Will you help me in unifying Class D; and giving us the best chance to move forward?"
Horikita and I stayed silent for a moment. True, we did have skill sets unique compared to Hirata's. I do have a decent ranking within our class, and even Horikita's trust within the class has risen since the island exam.
Horikita was the first to speak. "While I do prefer working alone... I have come to realize if we want to reach Class A, fighting alone is not an option. I will try my best for this class, but that doesn't mean they will follow me."
"Thank you, Horikita-san. All I ask is that you try your best. I look forward to working with you."
Everyone's eyes turned toward me and awaited my response.
"I'll do what I can," I replied.
"Thank you, Fukumoto-kun," Hirata replied with a warm smile.
It was almost time for class, so we decided to pack up our things and head to our classroom.
But before we reached our destination, I pulled someone aside.
"Hey, Kei."
"What is it, Akio?"
"I couldn't help but notice; your vision during our conversation seemed to be glued to Ayanokouji. Is there any reason why?"
I had noticed the entire time that our group was at the Cafe. Whenever Karuizawa looked up, her gaze always lingered around Ayanokouji.
If it were only a couple of times, I would've dismissed the notion. But it happened multiple times throughout the whole conversation.
It can't be that she was showing a romantic interest in him since she was dating Hirata.
Could something significant have happened between the two over the summer break?
Kei's facial expression tightened for a brief moment before responding.
"Nope. No reason at all. You're just being weird, Akio. We got to go to class now."
Kei scampered off in the direction of our class to avoid any further investigation.
"I'm the weird one," I muttered before walking toward the class.
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The second semester began with its usual start as, Chabashira-sensei strode into class with her usual cold and stern expression, once again, to give us a brief overview of this semester before classes began.
"Hello, class. I hope you all enjoyed your break. Because today is the start of your second semester at ANHS. Classes will continue as regular, but from September to October, for one month. You will have a rise in your physical education classes in anticipation of the Sports Festival. The material will be distributed concerning your new schedule and material regarding the Sports Festival."
The class went into a frenzy about this new information, as the papers regarding the Sports Festival made their way to the back.
Athletically gifted students like Sudo, welcomed the change of pace and challenge the Sports Festival brought about. As this would be their time to shine in producing results for our class. While the intellectually gifted students cowered at this development. And the students who were neither intelligent nor athletic boasted the most hate for this.
I, personally, was rather excited about this exam. An exam purely focused on an individual's skill and ability regarding athletics would be a fun challenge.
"This will be tiresome," Horikita muttered to my right.
"Are you not athletic, Horikita?" I asked.
"On the contrary," she replied. "I pride myself in my athletic capability as well as my academic capability. Are you prepared, Fukumoto-kun?"
"Well, I'd say I'm a little athletic, I don't consider myself terrible," I replied. "What about you, Ayanokouji?"
The man directly in front of me turned to face me and gave me a short reply. "You could say I'm average."
What an Ayanokouji reply.
Chabashira-sensei took her place at the podium in front of the class. "Now, let me explain the rules for this exam."
I looked down at the material I was given regarding the Sports Festival.
Sports Festival Rules:
The Sports Festival's competitive system is built upon dividing all school years between the Red Team and White Team.
Classes A and D will form the Red Team.
Classes B and C will form the White Team.
1. Allocation of points for all participants in the competitions (Individual Contests):
1st place will receive 15 points, 2nd place 12 points, 3rd place 10 points, 4th place 8 points, and 1 point will be deducted for placing lower than 5th place.
2. Allocation of points for participants of recommended competitions:
1st place 50 points, 2nd place 30 points, 3rd place 15 points, 4th place 10 points. 2 points will be deducted for placing lower than 5th place.
The relay race, which will be the final contest, will award 3 times the points.
3. Impact of the outcome of Red Team vs. White Team:
From the totality of all the school years, the losing team will have 100 points equally distributed from their class points across all school years.
4. Impact of the separate ordering of school years:
The class that takes 1st place shall receive 50 Class Points.
2nd place will not have any change to their class points.
3rd place will be deducted 50 Class Points.
4th place will be deducted 100 Class Points.
"If you want to succeed in this school," Chabashira-sensei spoke up. "You must go all out, even during festivals like these. Keeping up a constant effort with no slacking off."
The class did not seem to like this. From reading the rules, compared to the last Special Exams, the demerits were usually countered by the merits. But it seemed like in this exam, the only point was to stay away from the bottom.
"Even if Class A and Team Red as a whole perform well, and you do not and rank the lowest. You will incur the 100-point penalty, even while being on the winning team. It is of utmost importance to give it your all."
Even if we were to 'win' this exam as Team Red, that would mean nothing to us. We would still have to outperform the other classes within our year to not receive any penalty. But if we were to come out on top but fall to Team White, we could still incur a penalty.
I flipped the page over as there were more rules regarding the Sports Festival.
5. Individual Competition Rewards (May be used on the next midterm exam):
For students placing 1st in the individual competitions, 5000 Private Points or the equivalent of 3 marks in a written exam will be awarded. (In the case that the marks are chosen, endowing another individual with them will not be permitted.)
Students who place 2nd in individual competitions receive 3000 Private Points or 2 marks will be awarded. Placing 3rd in individual competitions receive 1000 Private Points or 1 mark will be awarded. For students who rank the lowest in individual competitions 1000 Private Points will be deducted. (In case the individual cannot provide 1000 points, they will incur a loss of 1 mark in a written exam instead.)
6. Foul Play:
Comply with the rules of each individual competition in addition to the overall rules.
Violators will be treated the same as 'disqualified'. Those who act with malicious intent will be withdrawn. The deduction of points acquired to that point will be considered as well.
7. Best Performing Student Award:
For the student who receives the highest score across all competitions, 100,000 Private Points will be awarded.
8. Best Performing Student Reward for Individual Classes:
The 3 students of each school year who received the highest scores across all competitions will receive 10,000 Private Points individually.
That's quite a lot of rules. They were pretty simple rules to avoid any malpractice like any other Sports Festival, but there were some loopholes present within them.
A thought occurred to me. Aren't Sports Festivals typically open to the public. Why would a school that closes off any outside contact allow for this? Having a Sports Festival just to be seen by the staff and students didn't seem too exciting.
"Yes, Hirata," Chabashira-sensei said.
"Sensei, I was wondering. Will this event be open to the public?"
Looks like the man Hirata read my mind.
"No. This event will not be open to the public. The title Sports Festival may be misleading, consider it more like a Special Exam than a festival."
I continued to flip through the pages given to us to see if there was anything I was missing.
Events:
Individual Events:
- 100 m sprint
- 200 m sprint
- Hurdle Race
- Obstacle Course
- 3-legged Race
- Pole Toppling
- Tamaire
- Tug of war
- Cavalry Fight
Team Events:
- Scavenger Hunt Race
- 4-way tug of war
- 3-legged Race
- Joint 1200 m relay
Overall these were fairly basic events that primarily revolved around someone's speed. Some events tested strength and coordination, but the main focus was on an individual's speed.
Some events were specific for only girls and for only boys within this too.
After reading through all the material, it got me thinking.
How should I proceed during this Sports Festival?
If I am speaking objectively, I could have a clear chance of winning the Best Performing Student award and gaining some more private points. Even though this is a 'Sports Festival' most of these events come down to overall individual ability, not tactics, or coordination, that sports like basketball and baseball test. This is all about your physical fitness, so someone like me could easily dominate the competition, objectively speaking.
Then again, if I did go full throttle. My performance may raise some red flags with some people. I could reign myself in and perform on a more; high-school level.
From what I've heard, the best athletes in the first year are Sudo and Hirata from my class and Shibata Sho from Class B.
That isn't too much competition.
But there were always the wildcards. Ones like Kouenji, whose abilities still remained a mystery to me. Ayanokouji could possibly be put into this category, considering I don't have a complete picture of who he is yet.
Then again, if I do even perform slightly well, competing against the other years will be tiresome, especially with someone like Nagumo watching me constantly. My performance could only spike more curiosity in someone like him, and personally, I wouldn't like to make him more interested in me.
I will probably watch how the events are proceeding; and coordinate my results from there.
If our class wants to succeed, though, we need unity. Not some half-baked friendship plan where three people are appointed leaders like Hirata suggested. We need a decisive individual who can lead the class by themselves, even during the hard times, if we want to succeed.
Maybe, this test will bring about a strong leader for Class D.
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AN's:
HELLO I"M BACK!
sorry this took so long i've been travelling a bit and even though i'm on reading break i still gotta study :/
but i also did plan out like the next 7 chapters lol
have a great day!