"So, how'd your scavenger hunt go?" I asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Kiyotaka responded.
"Ah, c'mon. It took you such a long time to finish; I know you were forced to do it because of losing rock-paper-scissors, but it should've been a little fun."
Kiyotaka sighed before responding. "My first chit was 'Bring 10 Friends'."
"Haha, probably one of the worst worse you could have gotten."
"That's not it. When I went to re-draw my chit, the second one I got was 'The Person You Love'."
"Pffffttt~. Hey, if you took any girl with you, you could've ended up with a girlfriend. I hear that you're pretty high up on the best-looking guy chart."
"That's not something I would do," Kiyotaka replied nonchalantly.
"True, so what was your final chit?"
"To bring a table clock. And by the time I had come close to finding one, the other contestants had already completed their chits."
"Wow, you were very unlucky. But I still find that 'bring the person you love' one hilarious."
"Be quiet," Kiyotaka replied.
The recommended participant's events had finally begun with that scavenger hunt. Only the elites of each class were chosen in hopes of raising their class's chance of success.
What was more concerning for me, was the lack of two individuals.
Horikita and Sudo.
It seemed like Horikita did heed my advice and sought out Sudo in hopes of convincing him to return during the lunch break.
But she hadn't returned yet. Did she fail in making Sudo return? Or did she get caught up in something and was forced to postpone trying to get Sudo back?
Having these two not participate during the recommended-participant events was also starting to become a hefty tool for Class D.
~~~
"Well, that didn't go the way I had hoped," I said.
"Yeah."
Class D was handed another resounding defeat by Class B during the four-way tug-of-war.
We tried our best to coordinate as a class, but trying to find a substitute for Sudo was no easy task. Having our ace stripped away from us became a major handicap.
And with that loss, we had been knocked down to the bottom ranking.
The biggest hit, though, was to Hirata. He took it upon himself to pay for the substitutes, and after missing two people for these events, the amount began to rack up.
"Hirata," I called out. "Are you sure you're fine with paying these substitutions?"
"I agree," Kiyotaka said. "It's starting to get hefty the amount of points you must pay."
So far, Hirata paid three times for substitutes. Twice for Sudo and once for Horikita. If this continued for the next competition, he'd be paying 500,000 points for the participants, which was no small fee.
"I know, Horikita would definitely repay you for the expenses, considering how the last exam went. As for Sudo, I'm not so sure."
"It's fine," Hirata waved us off with a weak smile. "I'm the one who decided to give the go-ahead to use substitutes. Besides 100,000 points isn't all that much... I wouldn't want to be asking for points when I made this decision."
He is truly too kind for this world.
The only competitions left were the mixed-gender three-legged race and the final one, the 1200m relay. Which both Horikita and Sudo were going to compete in.
But since neither of the two was here, Hirata was desperately trying to find substitutes to fill these gaps.
"Hirata-kun!" Kushida came running over to him. "It pains me to see you take this burden alone. And I know Horikita-san was supposed to be competing in the three-legged race. So I wanted to know if it would be fine if I paid to substitute myself in her place?"
"Huh?"
"I want to give my all for this class. For everyone's sake," Kushida pleaded.
"Well, I would appreciate the help. You're an athletic student too, it would help me a lot. Now I'd need to find you a partner."
"I volunteer," Kiyotaka said while slowly raising his hand. "I'll even pay the points. I don't know how much help I'll be... but I'll try."
I was completely shocked for a moment, this guy, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, offering to help of his own accord?
No, that's not possible.
He had to have had some intrinsic motivation to want to do this.
He wouldn't be helping out of the kindness of his heart, that's not the type of guy he is.
"I don't mind at all," Hirata replied. "Are you okay with this?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll go inform Sensei then," Hirata took off quickly to alert Chabashira-sensei of the change.
"Looks like we'll be partners for this race, Ayanokouji-kun," Kushida said, cheerfully. "I'm looking forward to it!"
"Yeah, same, but don't expect too much out of me, I'm not all that fast."
"That's fine! The key to this event is coordination and timing!"
"Well, it will be fun competing with you two," I said. "It's almost time for the event, so we should prepare."
"I agree, Fukumoto-kun! Can't wait," Kushida replied.
I left the two to make my way near the track.
I flagged down my partner, Onodera.
She was on the school's swim team and was one of the most gifted athletes in our grade, so it made sense for us to pair up.
But other than that, I didn't know much about her, so the event may not go as well as we hoped if we couldn't coordinate with each other.
"Hello, Fukumoto-kun. Ready for the race?" Onodera said.
"I am. I'm very excited about this. I hope we place well since we had almost no time to practice with each other."
"Don't worry about that. You're extremely athletic, I'm sure we will do fine."
"I'll start tying the cord now," I said to Onodera.
"Sure!"
I bent down to tie the cord, holding my right leg and Onodera's left leg together. Making sure it wasn't too tight or too low down to hinder our performance.
"If it isn't Fukumoto-kun!" a voice called out to me from close by.
I turned to my left to see Ichinose and Shibata crouching down to tie their cord.
"Wow, I didn't know I'd be facing such tough opponents," Ichinose spoke up. "Fukumoto-kun and Onodera-san."
"I could say the same to your pairing," I replied.
"For Shibata-kun, yes. As for myself, I haven't placed first once," Ichinose laughed a little bitterly. "Highest I've placed was second. Other than that, I've mostly placed fourth or fifth."
"As long as it's fun, right?"
"Yes! That's the main goal. Have fun with your friends as you compete. But truth be told, I wasn't supposed to compete in this event, the girl who was supposed to compete twisted her ankle during lunch, so I'm taking her place."
Wow, I guess everyone was dealing with their own problems. But I don't think Class B's injury was part of someone else's plan to destroy their class.
"That's unfortunate for your classmate," I responded. "Well, I guess it was fate for us to be together then."
A light shade of pink flushed Ichinose's face after my response, and her hands came up to block her face from embarrassment.
But something caught my eye as she did that.
Neither of her wrists had the bracelet I gave her for her birthday. I was certain she liked it, but was that just an act she put on for me?
"Hey, Ichinose, where's the brac-."
"Fukumoto-kun, I hope you don't hold back during this race," Shibata interrupted. "I'm still trying to win that best-performing student award from you."
"Oh, I'm sure that award is yours, Shibata. I haven't done the greatest," I replied.
"I've been watching your performance. Actually, a lot of people have watched your performance. And it's almost hands down your award. But I'm still going to give it my all."
"Well, I'll do my best," I said as I stood back up, finishing tying the cord.
As I watched Ichinose and Shibata leave to take their position in their designated lane, I noticed a strange sighting between Ayanokouji and Kushida.
I couldn't quite make out what they were saying to each other no matter how hard I tried to read their lips.
But a strange presence was radiating off Kushida their entire conversation. From a normal person's perspective, she seemed to be her happy, go lucky, angel type of vibe. If you paid close enough attention, though, all her actions seemed to be laced with something far darker and more threatening.
It wouldn't be easy to notice unless you truly knew who this person was.
"Does it have to do with that," I mumbled.
"Huh? Did you say something, Fukumoto-kun?" Onodera asked, slightly confused.
"Oh, sorry. I was saying we should take our positions. The race will start soon."
~~~
After Onodera and I took a comfortable first place in the three-legged race. It was time for the pinnacle of events.
The joint 1200m relay. A competition between all school years and classes. This event was definitely one that everyone would be looking forward to.
As students like Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President, and Nagumo Miyabi, the Student Council Vice President, would be competing against each other. Which was an amazing sight to behold.
Other individuals like myself and Shibata had made ourselves more famous in the school due to our performances.
But it was without a doubt that the main focus was the two Student Council members.
Almost an hour had passed since Sudo had left us. And nearly the same amount of time passed since Horikita left.
If they weren't here within a few minutes, we would have to find more substitutes again.
I imagined that Hirata would probably do his best to put up a fight, but that probably wouldn't help much in the end.
Looking around the track, you could see everyone in the school was amped about this event - well, except for Class D.
Most of us were physically or mentally drained, and with the prospect of Horikita and Sudo not returning to the fight, most of them had given up hope.
"Fukumoto-kun," Hirata approached me. "I guess we'll have to pick some substitutes for this event too..."
"Hah... phhh... did we still make it in time? The relay hasn't started yet, right?" Sudo's hands pressed against his knees as he tried to regain his breath from running.
Horikita also stood beside him, breathing heavily as she gingerly touched her injured ankle.
"Sudo-kun..." Hirata said.
"Yeah, sorry! That dump took way longer than I thought!" Sudo replied with a cheerful mood.
But those emotions were not reciprocated by the class. Many people shot him ice-cold glares and dared not to even speak to him.
Sudo sensing the resentment towards him took a deep bow before speaking.
"I'm sorry, everyone. I let my emotions get the better of me. I truly just wanted to see our class succeed. And when we were losing, it made me extremely mad, and I lashed out at our friends." Sudo looked Hirata and me in the eyes. "I'm sorry for pushing and punching you two. It was extremely uncalled for, and I fully expect to be punished. Because of my moral judgment, I think it would be best for myself to sit out of the relay race," he finished.
No one responded. They were either too shocked about the sincerity behind his apology. Or too bewildered that Sudo could actually apologize like that.
"Sudo," I replied. "I appreciate the apology. And I appreciate your honesty with us all. We all wanted to win, so I'm sure we're all frustrated about our current standing. That being said, I don't think sitting out of the relay race would be the right punishment for you. Now more than ever, Class D needs an extra boost, a motivation to continue forward."
"I agree," Hirata continued. "You're needed now more than ever. Right, everyone?"
The classmates that once ostracized a fellow comrade spoke up in admiration and joy at his arrival now. This was the ideal boost that Class D needed.
"If we are continuing on the topic of honesty," Horikita, spoke up. "I think it would be in the class's best interest that I do not participate in this event. My injury hasn't got any better, and I fear I would be a greater hindrance than anything."
"Thank you for your concern about the class, I'm sure we can find you a substitute," Hirata replied. "And in all honesty, it might be best that I sit this event out too. I don't think I've fully recovered from earlier."
Sudo looked away sheepishly, as Hirata was obviously alluding to when Sudo pushed him over.
"Hirata-kun! I'd be happy to take Horikita's spot!" Kushida replied immediately.
"That's great, now we need someone to fill my position."
One hand raised from the crowd.
"I can."
Everyone turned to face the individual who would run in place of Hirata.
Ayanokouji, by himself, offered to fill in someone's spot.
"What's with this guy today," I uttered under my breath.
"That's fantastic!" Hirata beamed. "I'll go confirm the final roster with Sensei."
"Look at Mr. Goody-Twoshoes today," I said as I made my way to Ayanokouji.
"I agree, this is very out of character for him. I always believed he tried to stay out of conflicts," Horikita replied.
"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision," Ayanokouji replied nonchalantly. "Happens a lot."
Hirata rushed back immediately from speaking to Chabashira-sensei.
"Alright, I gave Chabashira-sensei the new lineup. I made a few tweaks since new people are joining us. But the lineup starts with Sudo-kun as the first runner, followed by Onodera-san, then Fukumoto-kun, Maezono-san, Kushida-san, and, finally Ayanokouji-kun! Give it your best shot!"
~~~
This was it. The pinnacle of the Sports Festival. Nothing truly mattered before this moment, all those other events were fodder compared to this.
All participants had filled out the track. There were quite a few students clustered at certain points on the track, which made it fairly cramped, but none of that would matter after the race started.
I was in the third spot in the race. Onodera would be handing me the baton, and I would pass it off to Maezono. Simple enough.
Everyone was giddy with excitement for this event.
From where I was standing, I looked toward the anchor position, the final position. Ayanokouji was through into the fire as he now had the toughest spot. I was kind of curious as to why Hirata did not give that spot to Sudo, but it wasn't my choice.
Alongside Ayanokouji were the two most popular people in ANHS. Horikita and Nagumo-senpai. Most eyes would be on them, no one else would care about a performance from someone like myself or Ayanokouji.
"Oh, if it isn't my precious Kouhai-kun. It's been a while."
I instantly remembered that voice it was a hard one to forget.
"Hello, Kiryuuin-senpai. It has been quite some time since we last spoke."
Other than briefly catching her gaze earlier this festival, Kiryuuin-senpai and I hadn't talked since the end of summer break. I couldn't say if I was excited or not about this reunion.
"Were you staring at some of the final runners?" she asked.
"Well, I was curious as to who the anchors would be for each relay team. But it was to be expected that those two would be there."
"Yes, most people would fan over those two. But I chose to run in the third position. Do you know why?"
"That's the position you were given. If it's because of myself I wouldn't have expected you to figure out in what position I was running. Our class did make two last-minute substitutions that switched the lineup. There's no way you could've known."
"If you say so, I guess it was fate for us to run together then," Kiryuuin-senpai said. "I'm also here because I heard a certain Vice President was very conflicted on whether to race against his current rival or his up-and-coming rival."
Did Kiryuuin-senpai mean that Nagumo was debating between race me or Horikita-senpai?
"I'm sure those are just rumors. I'm not someone who could garner the attention of the Vice President."
"You're selling yourself short, Akio-kun-."
"Akio-kun?" I muttered.
"You are far more interesting than most people. And I only care about those that spark my interest," Kiryuuin said.
"Thanks, I guess."
"That's why, in this race I want you to prove my interest right. Show me a fraction of what you truly are. Don't hold back; run as fast as you can, just as I will."
Suddenly, a sound like the crack of a whip went off. The race had started.
I looked back to see Sudo creating an enormous lead ahead of his competition. Students were in awe of his sheer speed as he barrelled down the track.
"Kiryuuin-senpai, you say interesting things. But you should've sat back and been content with yourself being an audience member the entire time."
I turned to look down the track as I prepared for the inevitable race. Kiryuuin, whose face I could see out of my peripheral vision, broke out into a smile.
By this time, the baton had already been passed to Onodera as she made her way toward me. We had lost a bit of the lead that Sudo gave us, but that was alright.
It would be my turn to run.
As fate would have it. Kiryuuin's partner passed along the baton to her, at the same moment, Onodera passed the baton to me.
I tore down the track at full speed.
I hadn't run like this in a long time.
It felt so good.
Nothing could ever fulfill me like this. The feeling of winning. Of being the best. It was irreplaceable.
Ever since that cold and dark past of mine burned this sensation into my being. I haven't felt this satisfied in a long time.
No one was close to me, I could've cared less about Kiryuuin-senpai now. I was winning.
The cheers erupted even more, as I continued to race down the track.
I'll go even faster now.
~~~
"You were so fast!" Kei said as she averted her eyes from Ayanokouji.
"Maybe my opponents were slow?"
A crowd of Class D students had gathered at our tent. Everyone was in shock and awe about our performance. Namely, Ayanokouji.
For some reason, the Student Council President waited to race with Ayanokouji for the final leg. Even though he had already received the baton. But the race that ensued was nothing short of fantastic.
They bolted down the track at incredible speeds.
Unfortunately, Class D did not finish well despite our best efforts. Moments before Ayanokouji was about to pass the President across the finish line.
A third-year Class D student fell in front of him. Putting us in last place. Befitting a Class D performance.
"He certainly was fast," Horikita said beside me. "Even during your leg. You reached a speed that seemed inhuman. You were probably faster than Ayanokouji-kun."
"That's fine. He can shine in the limelight anyways."
I was bitter inside about Ayanokouji's performance outshining my own. But I was also excited about the prospect of something else.
"Ayanokouji!" Sudo yelled as he tightened his arm around Ayanokouji's neck. "I didn't know you were that fast! Have you been holding out on us?"
"You could say running's my only specialty," he replied.
Still, to this moment, despite everyone's reactions, he tried to seem normal.
"We'll now announce the results of this year's Sports Festival!" a voice rang across all the speakers around the field.
Every student turned their attention to the electronic scoreboard. The words "Red Team" and "White Team" were displayed on the board. Below each was a set of numbers, the tallies rose rapidly, and these were the points each team had acquired through all 13 events.
"Red Team Wins" appeared on the board, along with each team's scores. Seems that despite the harsh competition, the Class A/D coalition came out on top.
"Next, all class's overall points would be announced."
Class D collectively held their breath. We constantly had mixed results throughout the festival. We were hoping the other classes somehow did worse.
1st place: 1st year, Class B
2nd place: 1st year, Class C
3rd place: 1st year, Class A
4th place: 1st year, Class D
"Oh, c'mon!" Ike yelled in disappointment because of the loss.
"Things could've gone better, but we can't change the outcome now."
The Red team had won, but it seems Class A and D of the first years brought us down significantly. Having two absentees in Kouenji and Sakayanagai, played a major factor in the results. And with Sudo's and Horikita's disappearance greatly lowered our scores.
That meant after considering all the rules, Class A was hit with a 50-class point deduction. Class D would lose 100 points, along with Class C. The only real winner was Class B in overall points, but the white team did lose, meaning they would lose 50 points too.
"Lastly, we will announce the MVP for each school year."
Sudo was probably looking forward to this part the most. Considering the bet he made with Horikita.
However...
"First-Year MVP: Fukumoto Akio" appeared on the screen.
Sudo let out an agonized cry. He had placed first in every one of his individual events, but missing out on so many participation requirement events hurt his score.
Class D swarmed me as they realized my name was the one displayed on the board.
"You're the best, Fukumoto-kun!"
"What an athlete!"
"Marry me!"
I was grateful for the admiration from my fellow classmates.
"Akio! I told you!" Chiaki shouted at me.
"I guess you were right."
Along with winning this title came a nice little bonus of 100,000 Private Points, and my placement in the Individual competitions meant I had quite a few Private Points to my name now.
"I'm sorry, Horikita," I heard Sudo say. "I didn't win MVP, so I won't use your first name."
"That is true, that was the bet. But I never got to make my own request for the bet," Horikita replied.
"I guess," Sudo scratched his head.
"First, you'll be given a penalty for not reaching your goal. You are to never use violence again without a justifiable cause. Alright?"
"I can agree with that."
"And since I could not live up to my goal during this festival. I believe I deserve punishment too."
Sudo looked at Horikita, confused for a moment.
"As my punishment, if you want to call me by my first name, I don't mind giving you permission."
"HUH?!"
"It is my punishment."
Sudo jumped in the air many times in celebration, even going so far as to grab Ike and use him as a rag-doll in celebration.
I guess we all had our own types of victories in the end.
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AN's:
WOW
sports festival: complete
there is still some of those other strings that will be tied up in the coming chapters, but the main part of the festival is finally over lol, big W
thank you all for your support on this book it means alot to me!
until next time, readers