Leaving aside the chaotic Class D, the cavalry battles for the 2nd years and the 3rd years continued on smoothly. Ultimately, Horikita did not call out to Sudou but rather, her eyes were stolen away by the appearance of the brother she could not approach. 

In the end, even after the cavalry battle ended, Sudou did not return and the final universal participation event, the 200 meter dash, began. The school will continue on with the contest, paying no mind even if one or two students happened to be absent.

That’s the rule, that’s how it’ll be. Beneath us, Ryuuen approached.

“Hirata, what happened with Sudou?”.

The absentees will simply be disqualified and will not be able to obtain points. They’re following the clear rules to the letter. Perhaps Ryuuen had been observing Class D from a distance, but he spoke as though he were there close by when everything went down.

I wonder if this time he’s trying to disrupt Hirata’s mental state.

“Something came up and Sudou-kun’s taking a break. He’ll be back soon”.

“Kuku. I don’t think you should be saying baseless things like that”.

Having his named called for the second race, Ryuuen entered the course.

“More importantly, up until now, Ryuuen-kun’s taken 1st place in all the individual competitions right?”.

Behind his back, Hirata called out to him while silently displaying his fighting spirit.

“What’s wrong with that?”.

“In terms of the participants this time, you’re likely to take 1st place. It appears Ryuuen-kun’s quite lucky”.

“Luck’s on my side after all”.

“I don’t know how much longer your luck will last. Just by doing something, the current can change”.

“Ahh?”.

“What I mean by that is I know what you’re thinking”.

Ryuuen laughed scornfully as though saying he had no idea what he’s talking about. Hirata then continued.

“The fact that you’ve obtained the list on Class D’s participation table as well as the fact that you know the physical abilities of Class D’s students in detail too. And I also understand that you intend to make use of that. We’re not idiots. There are a few trump cards we’ve kept hidden”.

“That would have been interesting if it weren’t a bluff. By looking at the contests between Class C and Class D so far, you’ll inevitably stumble upon something strange. Regardless of whether you knew the truth or not, you should’ve at least tried to trick us”.

“Yeah. That’s why I’ll say this. Until this day ends, I’ll be showing you something interesting”.

“Something interesting? Then I’ll be waiting in anticipation”.

At most, Ryuuen was only half-listening to Hirata’s mysterious provocation. Seeing how he took 1st place in the 200 meter dash, the possibility that he was shaken up by it can be considered nil.

“So there’s a little over an hour until Sudou’s next match huh…….?”.

The 200 meter dashes for the 2nd years and the 3rd years followed by a 50 minute afternoon break. If Sudou fails to return by then, it’ll be checkmate. If our ace is absent, there’s no winning in the Recommended Only Participation events coming in the second half.

There’s only one person in this class capable of forcing him into action.

I wonder if that person finally understands what her role is and how vital it is? Having come in at 3rd place during my 200 meter dash, I quietly waited for Horikita to finish up with her contest and return.

“Horikita. Do you understand the gist of Sudou’s situation?”.

“His leadership was questioned and he came to realize what a disappointment he is before running away”.

“…well, roughly speaking”.

“Why are you here? Surely you won’t ask me to go bring Sudou-kun back”.

“If you already know, don’t ask. It’s almost lunch break, isn’t your power needed here?”.

“I don’t get it. There are other people you could rely on. There’s no way I could possibly bring him back, right?”.

Is she seriously saying that? Was what I thought but she’s probably being serious. She hasn’t realized at all yet that Sudou is looking at her as a member of the opposite sex.

“In the first place, I’m not exactly in a position where I can afford to look after others…..”.

Horikita, who’s currently struggling in her matches, is negatively affecting the class’s points. She probably has her hands full with her own problems. It’s not like I can’t understand those feelings of hers.

In addition to that, there aren’t many classmates who are keen to go after Sudou. They’ve abandoned Sudou after he acted selfishly despite knowing he’s capable of significantly impacting the outcome of the sports festival.

The amount of trust Sudou had accumulated becomes concretely visible here.

If it were Hirata or Kushida that had stormed off, the entire class would have been out looking for them. Kouenji is similar to him in that sense. As a matter of fact, aside from Horikita and Sudou, everyone ignores his existence. Nobody’s taking the absence of one member seriously despite its importance.

“Then let me ask you this frankly. You cannot take care of your classmates, you cannot take care of yourself, what are you even worth then? You’re just a burden”.

I was prepared to incur her wrath when I gave her the deepest cut.

“You sure are harsh…..I’m sorry I got injured but I’m also experiencing a lot of misfortune here. Aren’t there things you just can’t do anything about?”

“Misfortune, eh? So you don’t see your injury, as well as Class D’s current state, as anything more than a coincidence. Proof that you haven’t realized anything”.

“Don’t mock me. I’ve also realized more or less the strangeness of it…that the information on the participation table’s list had been leaked to Ryuuen-kun. And the fact that the fault lies with a traitor from within the class. But it can’t be helped, right? Even if it’s someone who would betray the class, I hadn’t expected them to act in a way that strangles their own class. That’s why I’m not flustered”.

“What else have you noticed?”.

“Else?…I don’t know the details of it, but Ryuuen-kun provoked Sudou-kun?”.

“That’s right. He attempted to thoroughly crush Sudou, the key player of our class. No matter how much information he’s obtained, Sudou’s still invincible as far as individual competitions go and he’s a powerful presence in the team competitions as well. That’s why he repeatedly targeted him mentally to get a rise out of him and succeeded in getting him to withdraw using elements outside the competition itself”.

Sudou ceased to be an asset and because of his rampage, Class D’s morale has plummeted.

“Yes. That’s why we’re in this current situation”.

“Is there anything else other than that you’ve noticed?”.

“You, it can’t be…..you want me to tell you my conjectures? That Ryuuen-kun’s the one who set that trap so I would get injured? Certainly I did think of it. That he incited Kinoshita-san to make me fall. But, it’s not realistic to blatantly attempt to cause injury under the public eye. Even if they were able to make me fall, I don’t think they would intentionally cause an injury to the extent that I would no longer be able to satisfactorily continue on with the competition”.

Off the mark.

If I felt like it, I could have offered her evidence that it was indeed intentional. But that’s not important.

“How long do you intend on being useless, Horikita?”.

I said as such. Unless I take drastic measures like that, the girl known as Horikita Suzune will not open her eyes.

“…what basis do you have to call me useless?”.

“I called you useless because you are useless”.

“How unpleasant…..I’m confident that in both written exams and physical abilities, I’m superior to those worthless people over there. In the first place, since the information leaked, isn’t it already too late? Not just me, but just about anyone would be left unable to do anything in this situation. Would you mind giving some basis?”.

“If you’re a run-of-the-mill student then that’s fine. But that’s not the case, right? If you’re aiming for Class A and intend to raise your comrades up to the same then it’s about time I tell you about the necessity of cultivating a mindset that can see the bigger picture”.

“That’s why I’m telling you to show your basis!”.

Horikita said so with a bit of fierce anger showing. The classmates around us turned to look for a moment to see what’s going on.

“‘I’ve realized that the information on the participation table has been leaked’, ‘Ryuuen provoked Sudou’, ‘It might have been that the injury was intentionally caused’. Certainly, just like you said, it’s a situation where you cannot do anything about it. As for why, it’s because you didn’t do anything about it. And as long as you don’t do anything about it, it’ll continue on forever. Do you intend to complain again when Ryuuen pulls something off brilliantly once more? Surely that’s not it, right?”.

“That’s—but, what could possibly be—“.

“A situation where you prioritize improving your own rank while Sudou is absent or a situation where your rank plummets while Sudou gets called back and pulls the class along. Which one would be in the best interests of Class D? There’s no need to even answer that right? Right now you don’t even hold a candle to Sudou. Get a hint already that you’re an absolutely useless student. Sudou’s methods are clumsy but he’s contributed more during this sports festival than anyone else. And he had been eagerly trying to win. Can you afford to leave him be just because he couldn’t afford to worry about others? Leave him be as it is? Isn’t that the same as allowing your own valuable asset to perish?”.

If I say this much, Horikita should be able to understand too. Even as she gets annoyed by it she should become aware of it. What I want her to realize is ‘what I ought to do from now on’.

“It’s something obvious even an elementary school student should be able to answer right? That this one act would lead to the start of our counterattack”.

Ryuuen strategically crushed Sudou. Then all we have to do is strategically call Sudou back. It’s a simple matter.

“You’re throwing away a chance to get a weapon that belongs to you and you alone”.

“A weapon for me alone……?”.

“From here on out, if you’re aiming for the upper classes there’s a limit to what you can do on your own. As a matter of fact, right now you’re in a situation where you cannot do anything on your own. You’ll surely encounter more and more of such exams. At such a time, the man known as Sudou Ken will definitely become a valuable asset. In order to make use of it, what is it that you ought to be prioritizing right now? Is it to pray that your injuries heal here? That’s not it, right?”.

Just as I am using Hirata and Karuizawa as weapons, Horikita is also blessed with an opportunity to obtain a weapon of her own. If so, it’s foolish to let that go.

“I—“.

“It’s up to you to think of the rest. This is the end of the advice I can give you”.

That’s right, there’s nothing else after this. I’m neither going to offer her a strategy to win against Ryuuen nor tell her the way to pull through it. Right now, what Horikita needs is defeat and healing.

Part 11

The morning half of the sports festival ended with Class D in dire straits, and we entered the lunch break. There were those who had their lunch at the cafeteria, some who ate on the grounds, since we were notified that we could move about freely. Especially during the sports festival where a sense of solidarity could be strongly felt, regardless of whether you’re a boy or a girl, there’s plenty of opportunity to have lunch together with senior students. More so than usual. Unlike the usual, our classrooms are currently off limits and so the places where we could eat were limited.

If we’re talking about the main charms of the sports festival, then lunch would be one of them. There’s a huge mound of catered bento boxes piled up on the grounds. It appears today’s lunch was not made at the school’s cafeteria but rather luxury bentos ordered from the outside. There’s only one variety but there’s also the fact that it’s free so most of the students will likely opt for it.

On the other hand, a portion of the students left the grounds without laying their hands on the bentos. One of them is Horikita. Perhaps my words finally reached her, since there’s a high probability she’s heading out to look for Sudou.

And Kushida is yet another one. Telling the girls she’s close to that she’s heading out to look for Sudou, she ran off.

“Guah—I’m beat! Why do I have to do this?”.

“Because you lost”.

To avoid congestion, Yamauchi headed off to get everyone’s portion after losing at rock-paper-scissors.

“I’m starving, let’s hurry up and dig in”.

Ike and Yamauchi weren’t showing much interest towards the fact that Sudou had withdrawn. In the first place, they’ve been hanging out with Sudou ever since a while after enrollment, so they know his personality well.

Besides, in this case, even if he doesn’t participate in the contests, he won’t be hounded on the matter. At most, he’ll only lose his private points. Of course, it’ll be a loss for the Red Team, but subtract that and it may have been better to be rid of Sudou’s tyranny.

Most of the girls have witnessed Hirata getting hit. As a result, Sudou’s reputation (leaving aside the matter of if he had one to begin with) plummeted and it’s probably forfeit.

To see very little change despite losing the ace in this sports festival is also eerie, in a sense.

“For now, let’s just find someplace to eat”.

As the three of us decided to move elsewhere, Hirata appeared with a few boys and girls in tow.

“Can we tag along too?”.

He called out to Ike and Yamauchi like that. Ike and Yamauchi were momentarily startled by that. That’s understandable, there’s no way they wouldn’t feel startled if Hirata approached them despite them not being particularly close. But since the girls would also be sitting alongside them here, during this sports festival, the two of them couldn’t find any reason to turn him down.

“Of course that’s ok”.

When he answered like that, a group of boys and girls numbering about 10 was established.

Then, occupying a suitable spot, we began having our lunch. We enjoyed our lunch for a while but eventually, people finished eating here and there and with that, Hirata and Karuizawa came over.

In a place like this where fellow classmates gather, it wouldn’t be odd or unnatural for this trio including me to be formed.

“As expected, it seems Ryuuen-kun’s made his move”.

Hirata cut in with that admist the ruckus. Karuizawa then opened her mouth and interjected as though she had been waiting for this.

“So? Who’s the traitor? You know right, Yousuke-kun?”.

Karuizawa asked that but Hirata gently shook his head.

“There are several things I don’t understand myself. I wonder if we could clear up those questions?”.

“That’s right. However, I cannot answer the question of who the traitor is”.

“Huh? I don’t get it, why?”.

“Because if we aggravate the situation now, it’ll only cause the class to plunge into further chaos. There’ll be problems if we don’t deal with the traitor quietly and calmly”.

“…..I understand. I won’t interrogate you on that. But why did you submit the participation table as it is to the school despite knowing a traitor will appear? Couldn’t we have sneakily adjusted the participation table on our own? If we had done so, we wouldn’t be facing this much adversity. Not even that, we could have turned the tables and gained an advantage beyond even Class C…..”.

“That’s right”.

What I had wanted was for Horikita to discern the presence of the spy and have the ability to deal with it accordingly.

“It seems like someone else’s problem. And the traitor might be somewhere around us too right? It may even be that they’re among us….is this sort of carefreeness ok?”.

Karuizawa looks around. She appears to see even the few students here as suspects. Traitors are certainly troublesome and depending on the circumstances, it may be more convenient to just leave them be. Besides, even if we had used a strategy like what Hirata had suggested, it probably wouldn’t have worked on Ryuuen.

Even so, it would be difficult to make them understand even if I told Hirata and the others of this reason.

“I’ve measured the traitor’s moral sense. Something like that”.

Saying that, I deceived them.

“Moral sense?”.

“I thought I wanted them to reform themselves without needing to pursue them ourselves”.

Hirata, who had been listening, intently stared at me.

“All of this is according to Horikita-san’s orders, is how it is right, Ayanokouji-kun?”.

Hirata, who had already begun harboring his suspicions, may have already reached a point where he no longer trusts me but even so, I need him to believe me even if it’s only for appearance’s sake.

“Yeah. It’s all as Horikita ordered”.

Hirata did not interrogate me any further and nodding once, he appeared to have been convinced.

“So where is that Horikita-san and what is she doing right now?”.

“She’s currently doing something only she can do. Or at least it’d be good if she were”.

“Could it be about Sudou-kun?”.

Hirata, who possessed a keen intuition, looked around, and confirmed once again that the two of them weren’t anywhere to be seen.

“It’s not easy to win in the second half without Sudou, right?”.

“That’s right…..as far as we’re concerned, we’re dependent on Sudou-kun”.

Karuizawa seemed slightly dissatisfied with having to depend on Sudou but she understands that it is a fact. The outcome of this sports festival rests on Horikita’s actions.

If my words did not reach her, Sudou won’t return and it’ll be game over.