Classroom of the Elite Volume 15 Chapter 4 Part 3

As it would turn out, Kōenji’s objective had been the Task in area E3 after all.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the Task site and promptly completed the registration process. It was only then that he finally stopped moving.

A few minutes later, Mikitani and the rest of the Free Group caught up with him. However, somebody else had already filled up the last slot in the time it had taken them to arrive, so they were forced to sit back and wait until it was over. The Task in question was an English Test, and although the participants varied from first-years to third-years, the difficulty of the subject matter was the same across the board.

Ultimately, a student named Dōmichi, who was widely thought of as one of the brightest students in the third year, took first place, but Kōenji had taken second by a slim margin, earning himself four points as a result.

Because there were teachers and event staff around, Mikitani and the rest of the Free Group planned on closing in once Kōenji left the Task site, but Kōenji broke into a sprint before any of the teachers had a chance to disperse.

They had lost the initiative, left with no other choice but to reactively chase around a man whose speed far outmatched their own.

The next time they managed to catch up was just before 3:00 PM, right after Kōenji arrived at his third designated area.

For the third time, Mikitani and the rest of the Free Group surrounded him.

“You’re quite the persistent bunch, I’ll give you that.”

“As if we give two shits about what you think!”

For essentially the entire eleventh day of the exam, they had tried their best to anticipate the Tasks Kōenji was going for, but not even once had they been able to stop him.

It was safe to say that, by this point, their pride as third-years had been completely torn to shreds.

Nagumo would probably be extremely disappointed upon hearing about it too.

The word ‘amicable’ could hardly describe the situation anymore.

“This is your last warning, Kōenji.”

Kiriyama spoke sternly as the Free Group surrounded Kōenji for what seemed like the final time.

“Just one day. Just listen to us and stay put for one day. That’s all you have to do.”

If they could get him to halt his movements for 24 hours, then Nagumo would be practically guaranteed to hold onto first place.

All that mattered was that they prevented Kōenji from taking the top spot again.

“H-hey, Nagumo said to keep him busy for two days though…! Shouldn’t we be tellin’ him to stay put for both tomorrow and the day after?”

“We’ll lose the ability to check on the rankings by then. Although I doubt there’ll be any other groups capable of catching up to us, we should focus on improving our own score instead of trying to shut down somebody else.”

This was the conclusion Kiriyama had reached after having observed Kōenji thus far.

“Spending three full days on this simply isn’t worth it.”

“Then just leave a few of us here to make sure the dude stays put for two days! Problem solved!”

“You really think Kōenji’ll just play along with that?”

If Kōenji stayed put for only one day, he’d still have a fairly good chance of taking second or third place overall.

However, if it were two days instead, he’d run the risk of dropping off the leaderboards altogether.

“There’s no way he’ll take a defeat like that lying down.”

“Well that depends on how we handle this, now doesn’t it?”

Having been fed up with following Kiriyama’s instructions for a while now, Mikitani finally broke.

“…You really think you can do it?”

“‘Course I can, and once I do, it’s on you to get me a one-way ticket straight to Class A, got it?”

With that, Mikitani stepped forward, pushing Kiriyama aside as he spoke directly to Kōenji.

“You heard all that, right? Tomorrow and the day after, stay here.”

“Is that a request?”

“No, it’s an order.”

“How audacious. And what if I refuse?”

“Worst case scenario, you’ll be expelled.”

With those words, Mikitani and the rest of the third-years drew in even closer.

Although not explicitly stated, their intentions were perfectly clear: if they couldn’t solve this peacefully, then they’d do it by force.

But, despite their threat, Kōenji’s fearless smile never faltered. He simply watched on as the third-years approached.

“Seeing as though you’re not saying anything, can I assume that means you’ll give in and obey us?”

“I’ll not be giving in to anyone.”

“Then, you’ve left us with no other choice. We’ll have to make you submit to us. You’re fine with that, right Kiriyama?”

“I don’t care anymore as long as he gives in. It’s your decision to make.”

Upon hearing Kiriyama’s tacit agreement, Mikitani let out a scornful laugh, his attitude as bullish as ever.

However, the moment the final designated area of the day was announced, Kōenji rose to his feet.

Panicking a bit, Mikitani quickly gave the signal for everyone to close in.

“I told you. Stay. Put.”

They were so close that there was practically no way Kōenji could get away without pushing Mikitani or one of the other third-years aside.

“Can’t say I find any beauty in how close you’re getting. I’m no sodomite do leave me out of this.”

“So what’re you gonna do about it? If you force your way past us, I’ll take that as a declaration of war.”

“Fufu, is that so?”

Kōenji smiled as he took a step forward.

Of course, that single step was enough for him to come into contact with Mikitani, who was standing right before him.

However, he didn’t take this step with the intention of pushing Mikitani out of the way.

Rather, it was just an ordinary step forward, one that resulted in nothing more than their shoulders bumping into each other.

Put simply, it was Kōenji’s attempt to force his way past Mikitani without actively raising his hand against him.

Mikitani could’ve simply been brushed aside, but thanks to his strong, well-built physique, he was fairly confident that he’d be able to hold his ground. For him, this was a golden opportunity to prove that just because Kōenji was fast didn’t mean that he was powerful, but…

“!!!”

It felt as if a boulder was slowly crashing into him, and before long he found himself with no other choice but to give in and move out of the boulder’s way.

On the other hand, Kōenji just proceeded to walk forward as if nothing had been in front of him to begin with.

“You bastard, wait!”

Mikitani desperately reached out and grabbed Kōenji by the shoulder, but such a half-hearted effort would never be able to stop him.

If he let Kōenji go now, while he was right under his very nose, then he’d be left to repeat the same, inane game of cat-and-mouse he’d been playing the entire day today.

Therefore, he chose to do what he could to resist, yet he couldn’t stop Kōenji from pushing forward.

When he realized that Kiriyama was watching him struggle, Mikitani clicked his tongue and changed gears.

He quickly called for one of his companions, Morooka, to help, and together, they tried what they could to pull Kōenji to a stop.

However, the moment Morooka placed his hand on Kōenji’s shoulder, he found himself being dragged along, overwhelmed by Kōenji’s momentum.

A split second later, he collapsed to the ground in dramatic fashion, seemingly wrought with pain.

“Aaaagh! I think my arm’s broken!”

Morooka began to scream and holler about his apparent injury, much like a professional soccer player who’d been ‘injured’ on the field.

Upon seeing what had happened to his companion, Mikitani quickly cut around Kōenji and stood directly in front of him, forcibly blocking off his path.

“Look what you’ve done now, Kōenji! You clearly hurt Morooka!”

“Looks like he’s just staged an injury if you ask me, no?”

“Yeah yeah, say whatever you want, it ain’t gonna change the fact that he’s been shoved to the ground.”

Everyone seemed to feel as though the tides had changed as they once again closed in on Kōenji, completely preventing him from making an escape.

The more moderate, amicable approach that they had been using earlier was now a thing of the past.

“So it’s gotten to the point where I can’t overlook your actions anymore, hm? What to do, what to do, I wonder?”

“By that cocky look on your face, I’d imagine you’re about ready to send us flying. But, it’ll be a big problem if you somehow manage to beat each and every one of us to a pulp, you do know that right?”

This was Mikitani’s way of giving a warning, making it clear that Kōenji wouldn’t be able to lay a single finger on any of them.

However, rather than refute Mikitani’s point, Kōenji went on to speak neutrally.

“I don’t have any intention of showing mercy to people who get in my way, much less those who bare their fangs at me whilst doing so.”

Having heard Kōenji say that he would not hesitate to use violence, Mikitani’s expression hardened for a moment.

“What if we report you to the school then?”

“What if? Wouldn’t it just put a stain on your records as a bunch of third-years who tried to sabotage one of your underclassmen?”

Kōenji’s confidence stemmed from the fact that he knew all of the third-years’ watches were operating properly. If they weren’t, their strategy of trying to predict the Tasks Kōenji went for and registering for them ahead of time would never get them anywhere. After all, you needed a working wristwatch to register for Tasks.

“So are we done here? Thanks to all of you, I’ll be hard-pressed to get to my Early Bird Bonus in time.”

It had been more than ten minutes since the final designated area of the day was announced, so opposing groups were probably already well on their way to it by now.

There was a decent chance that Kōenji would miss out on the first-place Early Bird Bonus, but there was no telling exactly how it’d end up playing out.

“Sorry, but… we ain’t lettin’ you go.”

Mikitani spoke with certainty, making it clear that he and his friends would never stop coming after Kōenji.

“We’re also not gonna play nice with you forever, you got that?”

“So you’re saying you intend to continue to bare your fangs at me?”

Although many of the third-years had been at a loss due to Kōenji’s bizarre atmosphere until now, they soon recalled their original purpose. They knew very well how shameful a sight it was for so many people to surround a lone underclassman, but since it was the only option they had to survive, they didn’t care.

Under more usual circumstances, their opponent would’ve given in once they realized how truly desperate they were, but Kōenji was different.

A young man who held no interest in anyone but himself. A man who only cared about dealing with the current situation in a way that would appease his sense of beauty. His long, blond hair was in no way inferior to a woman’s, and it was clear that he had been taking care of it even during his time on the island.

Kōenji brushed his slightly messy bangs to the side and smiled a daring smile.

Seeing that, Mikitani felt momentarily overwhelmed with a mix of awe and fear and subconsciously took a half-step back.

“Time is money, so by all means, do come at me.”

Saying that, Kōenji spread out his arms, seemingly inviting the third-years to strike the first blow.

“You sure about this Mikitani? Like 100% sure?”

One of his companions tentatively asked for confirmation, and after a moment of silence, Mikitani steeled his resolve once more and issued the inevitable command.

“…Yeah. Worse comes to worst, we’ll just have to take Kōenji down with us. Get him!”

With Mikitani’s words acting as their battle cry, three third-year students simultaneously charged Kōenji.

One approached from behind to try and restrain his arms while the other two moved in from the front and left.

At a glance, it might seem like dealing with three oncoming attackers would be difficult, but the three students in question weren’t exactly experienced when it came to fighting.

Their movements lacked a sense of teamwork as well, so it was more like they had all just pounced at Kōenji with roughly similar timing than executed a planned, coordinated assault.

None of them were seriously trying to injure him either. If anything, they each seemed to be thinking that someone else would throw the actual punches.

As such, Kōenji avoided everything with one single, grandiose step off to the side, causing the oncoming third-years to accidentally collide head-first with one another.

“Dude! Attack him, not me!”

“I should be saying that to you!”

The third-years began to squabble with each other over who was at fault, and needless to say, it was anything but the beautiful scenario Kōenji had been hoping for.

“Don’t you guys lose sight of why we came here in the first place. Our target is Kōenji and Kōenji alone.”

Mikitani, the most experienced fighter out of all of them, called out to his bickering companions to try and stop them from self-destructing.

TL Notes:

Hello everyone! It’s been a while, but I think I’m pretty happy to say that I’m back. I took a break for a month, did a lot of gaming, a lot of work, and a lot general just life-improvement stuff and now I think I feel the spark of motivation within me to continue translating again. Hopefully you all didn’t lose interest entirely, and thanks for waiting nonetheless.

Anyway, this part really really sucked. The whole Mikitani chasing Kouenji thing has been so overwhelmingly painful to translate and I’m so happy to say that it seems to get resolved in the next part, and then we’re back to our good old Kiyotaka. I’m really looking forward to it and I hope all of you are too. I don’t expect the next part to take very long, so expect it in 2 days or so. (But as always, take my ETA’s with a grain of salt.) Thank you for reading and I’ll see you again soon.

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