While Houtarou was looking around, he noticed a blonde-haired boy walking toward him from a nearby bench.
"Yo! If it isn't Oreki, and Ichinose-kouhai too?" Miyabi looked presentable in his soccer club uniform, radiating energy.
This was Miyabi, a regular player and vice-captain of the soccer team.
He had initially joined the soccer club believing girls in his class would be attracted to soccer players. When they showed interest only in looks, regardless of athletic ability, he quit attending.
Now that he'd lost his Vice President position and felt his influence diminishing, he had returned to the field to rebuild his image as an athletic heartthrob.
As luck would have it, he'd just arrived to find Honami, who had previously spurned him.
Though she was his junior who had rejected him, he couldn't help but consider her his ideal type. Her beauty made it easy for him to be forgiving.
He worried that Honami might fall under Houtarou's influence, just as Suzune had.
More concerning was why they had arrived together.
So...
"Oreki-kun, where are Horikita and Kushida-san? Aren't they usually inseparable from you?" Miyabi said.
He'd deliberately greeted Houtarou first, making sure to mention the girls.
He watched Honami's expression carefully, trying to detect if there was anything between them by gauging her reaction to hearing about Houtarou's female companions.
And... perfect. No reaction at all.
It seemed Honami hadn't fallen for Houtarou yet.
"Nagumo-senpai is still the same." Houtarou said, "Your constant focus on the girls around me is rather peculiar."
Miyabi: "..."
He suddenly realized his attempt to test Honami had backfired.
She took half a step back, distancing herself as if she now saw him as rather unpleasant.
"So, are you planning to join the soccer club today?" Miyabi said, changing the subject, "As vice-captain, I can arrange a tryout for you."
Though he believed soccer made him look attractive to girls, he was genuinely skilled at the sport.
Even with Houtarou's good physical condition, he wouldn't be able to play well immediately. This could work in Miyabi's favor.
Making Honami watch Houtarou fumble around inexperienced would be a small victory.
But…
"I'm not interested in sweaty sports like soccer — you have to wash your clothes too often." Houtarou said.
Miyabi: "..."
He noticed Honami take another half step back, as if he were already sweaty and smelly.
'Hey, he hadn't even played yet — he wasn't sweating! Honami-kouhai, don't be like that!'
Miyabi felt deflated.
"Then why did you come here?" He asked, "Don't tell me you're scouting Class B's athletes for the sports festival?"
He was still sharp as ever, and this attempt to create suspicion was clever.
As a soccer club member, Miyabi knew Class B's first-years were exceptional athletes, and Honami was from Class B.
He hoped to make her suspicious of Houtarou's motives.
Unfortunately, Houtarou had already explained his purpose to her earlier, having fallen for her charming demeanor.
Miyabi was disappointed to see she showed no wariness toward Houtarou at all.
"You could say I'm here to issue a challenge." Houtarou said, "If I'm not mistaken, Nagumo-senpai, you're probably running in the 1200-meter all-grade relay race. Which leg are you running?"
Miyabi, "The anchor leg. Are you planning to run it too?"
{T/N: The anchor leg is the final leg of the relay race, where the third and last runner, usually the fastest or most experienced, tries to secure the victory.}
"Something like that." Houtarou nodded, "Someone I can't really refuse has expectations."
Oh. Which girl could it be? Angel Kikyō? Suzune? Or perhaps another pretty first-year?
"Interesting." Miyabi said, "I'll accept your challenge, but I won't go down easily."
He used to run every morning before starting high school, though he'd stopped after enrolling.
But now he'd made up his mind — he would rather die than lose.
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"I feel like you're trying to provoke Nagumo-senpai, Oreki-kun."
After leaving the soccer club, Houtarou noticed that Honami was still following him.
She revealed that she knew about Miyabi. For a first-year student to know about him suggested he had likely approached her first. The reason was obvious...
Houtarou studied Honami. With her beautiful pink hair, delicate features, and excellent figure — combined with her gentle personality, strong sense of justice, and lively character — she was like an archangel.
Indeed, no man could resist such an ethereal presence.
"I suppose we've had some conflicts." Houtarou said, "Nagumo-senpai's goal is to become Student Council President, and so is mine. Some antagonism is natural."
Oh. Eh?
Wait, becoming Student Council President is your goal?
Honami: "..."
"Ichinose-san?" Houtarou noticed the archangel beside him suddenly deflate.
"It's nothing." But defeat weighed heavy in her voice.
President Manabu had rejected her Student Council application, yet here was Houtarou casually stating his presidential ambitions.
The revelation made her realize just how far Class A truly was from her reach.
Though her mood had clearly dropped, Houtarou's attention was pulled away by an incoming message.
| Kikyō Kushida |
| Your Suzune is having problems. |
Ugh. Why "your" Horikita?
Still, the choice was clear: future Lawyer Suzune on one side, Archangel Honami on the other.
After a moment's consideration, Houtarou chose Lawyer Suzune.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
In the Class C area.
The field was crowded with training students.
Looking closer, these were the students weak at sports — those who wouldn't fit Suzune's strategy of "using the weak to defeat the strong" and would end up as pawns.
Moreover, these students were training diligently. The task of scoring points had been assigned to the athletic students like Ken, who would handle the three-legged race strategy.
The other students focused on practicing their individual events, showing genuine dedication to improving their personal performance.
Class C students had a unique advantage.
Since 80% of them weren't involved in any clubs — the "go-home club" as it was called — they had abundant free time for training.
"Hah… Hirata-kun, could we practice one more time?" Teruhiko said, panting heavily.
This highlighted a common issue with academic achievers — many of them lacked physical conditioning.
Despite Teruhiko's lean build and seemingly strong legs, his standing long jump test revealed a weak result of just 1.6 meters. His stamina was equally poor — even Yōsuke, Class C's normally exceptional achiever, had been deliberately holding back.
Yet Teruhiko still struggled to keep pace.
Eventually, Yōsuke surrendered the lead position to Teruhiko during the three-legged race. Though this slowed their pace, they managed to complete the course.
Houtarou gave them only a brief glance before turning away.
Class C had already arranged with Honami and her classmates to go easy on them, and Class B had agreed to hold back during this event. That was sufficient. However, the boys weren't his main concern.
He searched instead for Kikyō, who had reported the situation.
Her dislike for Suzune was unmistakable — both on the surface and deep down — as evidenced by her kicking the railing while cursing her.
Kikyō's decision to message him about Suzune's troubles stemmed from their superficial friendship.
She always claimed to treat all friends equally, so when she noticed Suzune in difficulty, she felt obligated to show some concern.
Yet if she truly cared, why not help Suzune herself?
The answer was clear: while Kikyō maintained a pretense of friendship with Suzune, her genuine feelings were minimal.
This became evident as Houtarou spotted Kikyō among the Class C girls.
Though she wore her usual artificial smile, it was noticeably brighter as she watched the group of girls practicing the three-legged race.
Houtarou suspected something there had particularly pleased her.
The required events included 100m sprint, 200m sprint, hurdles, pole toppling (boys only), ball throwing (girls only), tug of war by gender, obstacle course, three-legged race, and cavalry battle.
While students could safely practice individual events like running and hurdles, they had avoided training for potentially dangerous activities like the cavalry battle. The three-legged race, however, was safe enough to practice.
Most of the girls were now focusing on the three-legged race practice.
Among them, one pair particularly stood out — and they were having problems.
This pair consisted of Suzune and Kayano Onodera, who ranked second in athletic ability among the class's girls.
Suzune needed no introduction. As Manabu's sister, she excelled in multiple areas — earning A's in academics and showing considerable athletic talent.
Her initial placement in Class D had always struck her as wrong. More likely, she had been placed there as a seed student.
She had proven her athletic prowess by winning the girls' 100m test and securing a spot as one of Class C's runners for the final 1200m relay race.
Kayano, a swimming club member, was known for her impressive sprinting abilities.
With both girls being among the most athletic in their class, they should have excelled at the three-legged race. Instead, they performed below average.
"Horikita-san, couldn't you cooperate with me a bit more? This is already the third time." Kayano said, catching her breath after untying the rope.
As Houtarou approached, noting Kikyō's obvious delight, he quickly understood the situation.
"Indeed, our rhythm wasn't matched." Suzune responded, "But this isn't my fault — you're too slow. Matching the rhythm of the faster runner is only natural, right? Because it would be strange to specially take time to compromise."
She spoke with genuine bewilderment, apparently seeing nothing wrong with her logic.
The flaw in her reasoning was clear: no one could easily match Suzune's arbitrary full-speed pace. Human physical limits simply didn't work that way.
Now Houtarou understood what had made Kikyō so happy.
It was probably this.
⍟⍟⍟
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