"Kamuro! Kamuro! Kamuro!"
"First place! We worship you!"
"Kamuro-san, p-please give your autograph! Right here!"
Faced with her class's cheers, Kamuro Masumi clearly felt overwheld, her hands fidgeting helplessly.
She desperately wanted to explain that even she didn't understand what had happened.
After reconsidering it, since she herself didn't know the circumstances, she might as well ignore them all.
Despite this resolution, Kamuro found herself completely surrounded by female students, with even upperclasswon joining the growing crowd.
Thus, Kamuro beca entirely engulfed by the crowds, drawing envious glances from many male students.
"I didn't expect you to run so fast at the end."
No sooner had Kaoru sat down than a drink was handed to him.
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled playfully at him.
Had he not caught up to Class 2-A at the last mont, Kamuro might not have secured first place, and Nagumo wouldn't have worn that stunned expression.
"I wouldn't have taken the fifth leg if I lacked confidence." Kaoru glanced toward the second-year contingent, now in disarray.
"Well then, what performance do you have planned now?"
"Shouldn't you praise first?" Sakayanagi pouted, eyes shimring with pretend tears.
"Today, I never once disrupted Mitoma-kun's plans, did I?"
Individuals like Kito, Hashimoto and Kamuro were all her people.
Had she truly intended to interfere, Kaoru would have been powerless against her.
After brief consideration, Kaoru reached out and lightly scratched under Sakayanagi's chin, his voice completely flat.
"ow ow ow."
In that mont, Sakayanagi genuinely felt like she'd transford into a cat, with him gently stroking her chin as if expecting her to respond with contented purring.
"What are you doing?"
"Exactly what you see—I'm petting Sakayanagi-san."
"Sotis I want to crack open your skull to see what's inside." Sakayanagi sighed dramatically, imdiately capturing Kaoru's mischievous hand.
"I'm not a kitten, and you're certainly not my owner."
"Sooner or later it'll." Kaoru remained unfazed.
Sakayanagi smiled as a ray of twilight fell upon her, setting her silver hair ablaze with golden flas.
Her slightly upturned lips carried a hint of cunning, while her exposed calves glead pristine white, smooth as cream.
"Attention, please. The results of this year's sports festival will now be announced—"
At that mont, the school broadcast signaling the official conclusion of the sports festival rang out.
The students who had been gathered around Kamuro instinctively looked up toward the electronic display on the high platform, where the overall scores for each grade and the points for the Red and White teams flickered into view.
Seizing the opportunity, Kamuro quickly slipped out of the crowd.
She couldn't understand why she had suddenly beco so popular—all she had done was chase down a few boys.
Kaoru turned his gaze to the screen, where the first result to appear was the outco between the Red and White teams.
"White Team wins!"
Instantly, murmurs of unrest rippled through the surroundings—this was likely the first ti Class A had suffered defeat.
But there was no ti to dwell on it, as the rankings for each grade were announced next.
First-year Class C, First-year Class A, First-year Class B, First-year Class D;
Second-year Class B, Second-year Class A, Second-year Class C, Second-year Class D;
Class 3-A, Class 3-B, Class 3-D, Class 3-C.
...
In the rankings above, both Class 1-A and Class 2-A lost their first-place positions.
Although the exact point values couldn't be seen, this ranking alone was enough to explain the situation.
As teammates in the Red Group, Class D's poor performance dragged down the overall score.
As punishnt for this failure, all mbers of the Red Group would have 100 points deducted.
On top of this, with the exception of Class 1-C which gained so points, all other classes received point deductions.
Class 1-A: 1656
Class 1-B: 966
Class 1-C: 522
Class 1-D: 0
After this sports festival, Class 1-D had returned to the era of zero points.
Fortunately, negative points weren't possible.
Upon hearing this news, Ike Kanji and the others next door had already started wailing in despair, with so even beginning to bla and argue with each other.
Hirata Yosuke didn't know how to calm them down.
While Class 1-D was certainly in a pitiful state, there wasn't a single smile to be found in Class 1-A either.
"Damn it, why did we lose?" Totsuka Yahiko grumbled angrily.
"If we knew that, we wouldn't have lost in the first place," Hashimoto Masayoshi replied with so exasperation.
"In my opinion, it's probably because our competition roster got leaked. The plan to ally with Class D from the start was flawed to begin with. Maybe they didn't keep things confidential properly, which is why we ended up at the bottom."
Totsuka Yahiko couldn't refute this because he suspected Class 1-D as well.
"Well, there's nothing to be done about it now. Ultimately, it was a mistake in judgnt at the ti."
As he said this, Hashimoto Masayoshi glanced at Katsuragi Kouhei—this decision had been his idea after all.
Katsuragi remained silent.
Since it was his mistake in judgnt, he should take responsibility and apologize to everyone.
"We really shouldn't have allied with Class D."
"Look, Kamuro-san got first place in the grade and won the Most Outstanding Student Award!"
"What's the use? We still lost in the end."
"Even though we tried so hard... It's so frustrating..."
"Hey, Katsuragi, why did we lose today?"
After suffering this setback, many students turned their confused gazes toward Katsuragi.
Compared to the VIP Exam, the failure in the sports festival was much more glaring. Updates are released by N0v3l.Fiɾe
The more they fell behind others on the field, the more demoralized they beca—especially when no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't catch up.
Before the results ca out, so had held onto hope that they could at least preserve their points.
But in the end, they still failed, though the loss wasn't as devastating as it could have been.
"Calm down," Sakayanagi spoke up at this mont.
"Winning and losing are both normal in competitions. The important thing is to learn from our mistakes and improve for the next test."
"The princess is right," Hashimoto Masayoshi quickly chid in.
"The issue now is to reflect on what we've done so far and see if we made any mistakes."
It was unclear how he managed to say "Princess" with a straight face.
The students exchanged glances, and soone suddenly said, "I think everyone tried their best. We practiced hard for the competitions, so I don't understand why we still lost in the end."
"Why can't Class A lose?" Sakayanagi smiled. "Why must we always be the winners?"
The student froze, clearly not knowing how to respond.
"Since childhood, your parents and teachers should have taught you this, right? Even geniuses can fail at tis. Why do you think you can keep winning indefinitely?"
"In academic ability, are any of you superior to ? In physical prowess, can I match up to you all? The answer to both is likely no. In this world, there will always be soone stronger than you. No one can be certain of continuous victory—in fact, the idea of always winning is a lie."
"Now, just because we lost one sports festival, you can't handle it? If that's the case, I think it's better to willingly give up the Class A position and let Class C or B take it instead."
"I don't understand—if we made the wrong decision back then, why not just correct it next ti?"
Faced with Sakayanagi verbal assault, the class fell silent, except for Katsuragi who sensed danger.
He realized Sakayanagi was seizing his authority by preemptively calming the class's emotions, subtly defining today's failure with a single phrase—"the wrong decision back then"—shifting the bla onto him.
The problem was, many in the class actually agreed with Sakayanagi's reasoning.
They began to show expressions of reflection, then echoed her words.
"Rushing into decisions really isn't the way."
"We should be more cautious from now on. If unnecessary, it's better to fight alone—other classes can't be trusted in the end."
"Does Class A even need allies in the first place?"
"Sigh, if only we had abandoned Class D earlier..."
These words drilled into Katsuragi ears.
Though no one directly blad him, it was close enough.
"I propose that from now on, we vote on important matters," Hashimoto Masayoshi suggested.
"If we don't deliberate carefully and consider differing opinions, we might repeat today's mistakes."
Considering differing opinions—aning he'd have to win over the entire class?
"Wouldn't that be too troubleso?"
"Not really. Since we're all on the sa side, isn't it good for the whole class to be united?"
"So decisions must be unanimous?"
"Isn't that ideal?"
Katsuragi realized Hashimoto was helping Sakayanagi strip him of his authority.
Now, the class was truly divided into only two factions, with the remaining neutrals just coasting along.
This ant that without the Sakayanagi faction's approval, he could no longer easily make decisions on behalf of the class.
"I don't oppose unanimity, but what if we can't reach a consensus? Who gets the final say?" Katsuragi asked.
"Hahaha, then we'll take a vote," Hashimoto replied with a smile. "Whoever gets the most votes, we follow."
If they voted now, Katsuragi would likely have the most support—seemingly advantageous for him, but that might not last.
Especially since Sakayanagi had planted a landmine in her earlier words, framing the failure as Katsuragi's fault.
Class 1-A would likely keep recalling today's events in the future.
"Unanimity sounds great! I agree!"
"Exactly! No more wrong decisions!"
"It's all because we were too rash back then!"
Katsuragi hesitated, then glanced at Kaoru, whose gaze was fixed on the second-year students, seemingly indifferent to the discussion here.
"Heh, having a lively discussion, Class A?"
The victor of this sports festival, Ryuuen Kakeru arrived at the territory of Class A with his followers in tow.
Upon seeing Katsuragi, he flashed a radiant smile.
"Ah, Katsuragi, is my timing inconvenient? Should I co back after your class finishes complaining?"
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