Ken's athletic talent was extraordinary, like a character with superhuman abilities.
In terms of physical prowess alone, he could compete with Class A students, potentially ranking among the top three males there.
Yet his situation was unfortunate — while he excelled, his classmates fell short.
"Sudō—"
Yōsuke attempted to help but was blocked.
"Sorry, but we're your opponents—"
Satoru, the glasses-wearing student from Class D, and Daichi cut off his path.
Class D had clearly identified their athletic threats and assigned specific markers to contain them.
Meanwhile, less athletic students like Kanji and Haruki went completely unguarded.
"Heh heh—"
Kakeru and Albert charged toward the white team's territory, surrounded by a protective circle of Class D boys.
Their strategy was clear: Albert would lead the assault on the white team's pole with Kakeru following close behind.
Recognizing Kakeru's offensive capabilities, the Class A boys mobilized — ten remained to guard their base while another ten moved to provide support.
"Get out of my way—" With a surge of strength, Ken broke free from his four pursuers and rushed toward the red team's pole.
"Here he comes—"
Hashimoto moved to intercept without waiting for Houtarou's command.
However, at that moment.
Whistle!
The match-ending whistle blew. The red team's pole still stood firmly before Ken, which could only mean one thing — the white team's pole had fallen.
"No way—"
Ken had barely freed himself from Class D's defenders when he realized the Class B boys guarding their base had already lost.
They had lost. The first match ended with the white team's pole being knocked down.
"Ken, your individual strength is impressive." Kakeru said with a mocking smile, "But what good is that? This is a team match — if you can't protect your base, you lose. You're nothing but trash!"
He led his team away to prepare for the break.
A 5-minute rest period would follow. Since the pole knocking competition used a best-of-three format, the white team needed two straight wins to survive.
From a distance, Houtarou observed Kakeru's performance. With Class A and Kakeru's class now united as the red team, Kakeru's excellence was earning them valuable points. They were clearly riding on his success.
Of course — Kakeru wouldn't compete any other way.
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The white team's spirits plummeted.
"How did we lose so quickly?" Ken demanded during the break, standing with his hands on his hips in fury.
His rage was aimed at the Class B students who had been guarding their base.
"Is studying all you Class B people can do? You couldn't even defend one pole, you weaklings!" His frustration was evident.
Sō and Ryūji, who had failed to stop Albert from knocking down their pole, were troubled by the situation.
While they weren't poor athletes, they lacked experience in the rough physical contact of pole knocking.
They were actually Class B's secret weapons, intended to exploit a scoring advantage in the upcoming mixed three-legged race. Getting injured in this melee would jeopardize that strategy.
A twisted ankle or similar injury wouldn't just hurt their class — it would prevent them from earning crucial points later. Ryūji felt that such an injury would effectively end his participation.
So naturally, they had held back while defending.
"Um, Sudō, calm down a bit." Yōsuke hurried to mediate, "No one could have predicted Ryūen's group would come at us so aggressively—"
"What about you all?" Ken turned to look at him, "When I was surrounded, not one of you came to help!"
This was clearly a case of emotions running high.
He had started the day well but ended up surrounded. Though he knew Kakeru was targeting him, he couldn't understand why his teammates hadn't helped.
"What could we do—" Kanji said after being glared at, "They were so aggressive... Besides, I wanted to help, but I fell and scraped my hand..."
"Yeah, yeah... I got knocked down too." Yamauchi quickly chimed in.
Many of Kakeru's classmates were former delinquents and fighting experts from various middle schools. This rough pole knocking competition suited them perfectly.
But for Class B and the recently promoted Class C students, resistance was impossible.
When they saw Kakeru's group charging aggressively, they immediately backed away.
"What if we get injured? What about the later events?" Kanji said, "We're only at the third individual event."
All students had to participate in nine events, with gender-separated tug of war coming next.
Being only at the third event was significant since most of their classmates hadn't participated in the recommended events yet. They could only earn individual points in these events.
Their athletic abilities were already inferior to other students, so their individual points wouldn't be high. If they got injured, they would certainly finish last in all remaining events — even with Class B students going easy on them.
Unwilling to risk injury, many male students held back. As a result, no one came to Ken's aid.
"Ah—" Ken wanted to shout.
He had thought his athletic talent would make a big impact at the sports festival. Instead, he was being overwhelmed while his useless classmates stood by.
"Next round, I'm guarding the base!" Ken declared, "I'll guard the pole — I don't trust any of you anymore!"
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After the 5-minute break ended, the sides switched positions. Normally, the two classes within a team would also switch between offense and defense.
"Class A will continue to defend." Kōhei said steadily, having discussed this with Kakeru beforehand.
"Heh heh—" Kakeru glanced at Houtarou without objecting. Having that troublemaker stay at the base might actually work in their favor by applying pressure.
Class A maintained their defensive formation, with some members guarding the base while others helped block the white team. Meanwhile, Kakeru's class remained on offense, gathering all their male students for an all-out attack.
The pole knocking competition played perfectly to his class's strengths. With Kakeru himself, the fighting expert Daichi, and even the bodyguard Albert, they were all extraordinarily powerful — like characters with cheat codes.
Their approach this time was unusual: twenty male students charged straight toward the white team's base at full speed. Their rapid advance kicked up clouds of dust on the sandy field, reducing visibility.
On the white team's side, Ken's distrust of Class B led him to guard the pole himself, forcing the Class B students to take offensive positions.
Kakeru's strategy proved unexpected. When Class B students spread out to block them, his team simply ignored them. Instead, upon reaching the white team's base, they quickly formed a human wall that isolated the Class B students while surrounding Ken and the few Class C boys guarding the pole.
The plan seemed solid — until suddenly...
"Who's kicking me?!" Ken's voice cut through the dust cloud.
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