March 8th.
The Advanced Nurturing High School Baseball Stadium.
The weather was clear.
Occasional gentle breezes blew past, like a young girl's slender hand lightly stroking the skin, bringing a sense of comfort. It was perfect weather for sports.
Time passed.
The final special exam of the second year officially began.
At this time.
The members of Class B were cheering in the dugout, while the study group had set up a tent beside the dugout, ready to take the exams at any time.
There was also a manager group responsible for handing out water and towels.
This was Ichinose's consideration.
Nine formal members, three managers, five substitutes, and twenty-four members of the study group specializing in various subjects.
As for tactics.
Matters such as whether to conserve strength to deceive the opponent.
There weren't many people who were good at baseball, so there was no choice.
The Class B tradition: just go all out.
During this period.
Everyone had trained hard.
Sumida gradually regained his feel, and Hikigaya was finally able to steadily catch the opponent's balls and accurately throw them back into the glove.
He barely managed to reach the passing line for a catcher.
On the other side.
Class C's dugout was in a similar situation.
Although Hikigaya felt Horikita Suzune was very foolish, she did have a good point: she wouldn't actively use despicable or underhanded means.
During this time.
The two sides only scouted each other for information.
Although Hikigaya had encouraged Class C members to betray their class, Class C had done the same, essentially taking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
In short.
It could be considered an upright and honorable battle.
There would be no complaints upon losing.
In terms of paper strength, Class B was in a state of overwhelming disadvantage.
At this time, high spirits could also be seen in Class C's positions.
Soon.
Under the guidance of the main referee, Instructor Mashima, and 16 staff members.
The two sides walked to the center of the field.
At the same time.
12 specialized cameras were set up around them.
Originally, it didn't need to be so exaggerated, but it was mainly Katsuragi's suggestion to the student council.
Since underhanded tricks were strictly forbidden, it would be better to set up more cameras for supervision to facilitate post-event evidence collection.
Hikigaya naturally didn't take it to heart.
He simply went along with the suggestion to the school; after all, whether to agree was the school's business.
After all.
It was very obvious.
The suggestion was made to guard against Ryuen.
When facing good people, there's no need for such caution, but when facing Ryuen, one must naturally be strictly on guard.
Katsuragi similarly used his status as a student council member.
To seek some benefits for Class A.
In short.
On the other side of the field, the situation was likely the same.
It wasn't impossible to try some tricks, but the risk was extremely high.
It's worth mentioning.
The project for the duel between Class A and Class D was rugby, selected by Class D.
As for why it wasn't a project like Karate, which was more advantageous for Class C's combat faction.
Hikigaya wasn't very clear.
He only guessed that it was mainly because the opponent was Class A.
Unlike Class B's "goody-two-shoes," if Class A made up their minds, they could likely also handle a real fight; Ryuen probably made such a judgment.
Fighting doesn't necessarily depend entirely on strength.
More important is the victory of will.
Therefore, they chose rugby—a project that could leverage Class D's physical advantage and the numerical advantage of their combat faction.
...
Soon.
The two captains decided who would attack first by a coin toss.
At the same time.
The screen in the stands displayed the participating personnel and positions for both sides.
Class C's pitcher was indeed Sudo Ken, the catcher Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, the shortstop Hirata Yousuke, the first baseman Miyake Akito, the second baseman Ike Kanji, and the third baseman Horikita Suzune.
The left and right outfielders were Kushida Kikyou and Onodera Kayano, respectively.
Unexpectedly, Koenji also participated in the match as an outfielder.
Just seeing this participant list, Hikigaya felt a surge of inexplicable pressure.
The paper strength of these people was simply too strong.
There were as many as three people with a physical ability evaluation of A+.
Except for Ike Kanji.
Everyone else's physical ability evaluation was basically above B.
Of course, the physical structures of females and males are different and cannot be treated the same way.
However.
On his side.
People with an evaluation of B or above.
Consisted only of Shibata, Sumida, Kanzaki, Yonezu Haruto, Beppu Ryota, and himself—six people. The other three were below B.
Only Shibata could barely reach the threshold of A-.
The paper strength was being completely crushed.
Hikigaya turned his head again toward Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, just as their gazes met.
He hadn't expected.
The catcher for Class C would actually be this guy, and he was positioned directly opposite himself.
He wondered how this guy would perform today.
Since he grew up in the White Room, Ayanokouji should also be experiencing baseball for the first time.
Hikigaya also didn't know if he could win against the opponent.
Most people on the field only had slight contact with baseball.
It probably wouldn't be a high-quality match... maybe?
The most important thing.
Was to see how much they could learn in these two months...
As Hikigaya felt.
No matter how much of a monster or how talented one was, two months shouldn't lead to too large a gap...
Looking at the unfathomable Ayanokouji was indeed somewhat unsettling.
There was also the hard-to-predict Koenji.
In Hikigaya's view.
This guy might have been more suitable as a pitcher.
For some unknown reason.
Despite possessing the strength to take first place on the uninhabited island single-handedly, and having joined the match, Koenji actually only chose to be an outfielder.
It was truly unknown what was going on in that guy's head.
However.
From the observations over this period.
Although Koenji had been maintaining his fitness, he simply hadn't participated in practice and didn't seem like the type to play baseball with others.
Forget it.
Better not to consider Koenji's thoughts; nobody knew what was in his head.
At this moment.
The two sides settled the order.
"Then we will attack first."
"Yeah, it seems your luck has always been good, Ichinose."
Looking at Ichinose's brilliant smile, Horikita Suzune was slightly dissatisfied.
She had lost the draw to Ichinose twice in a row.
This guy's luck was indeed good.
"Then, the match begins!"
"Please give us your guidance!"
The two sides bowed to each other.
Sudo punched his glove with his right hand, a defiant smile appearing on his face.
"Perfect, watch me beat you guys to a pulp."
The gazes with which Ike Kanji and the others looked at Class B were also full of hostility, but most of their attention fell on Hikigaya.
It was likely a battle for Class C to vent their feelings.
After all, Hikigaya had employed Ryuen, which expanded the impact, and Ryuen, seeing that the move was effective, had continued it further.
If not for Hikigaya, how would things have turned out this way?
From the expressions of Ike Kanji and the others.
Such thoughts could easily be seen.
Hikigaya and the others ignored them and walked toward the dugout. Kanzaki said with a cold expression:
"We're really being looked down upon..."
"Yeah, being looked down upon to this extent, we should at least make them pay some price."
"That's right, let them know the consequences of looking down on us."
Hearing Hikigaya's words, Shibata and the others wore cold expressions.
The personnel list was only released today.
Although only in the outfield, as many as three girls were participating.
There are fundamental differences in the physical structures of males and females.
In serious competition.
As long as an extremely wide gap hasn't opened up.
Even if their physical evaluation is the same, males hold an enormous advantage in competitive sports.
Based on Class C's choice in the unanimous special exam.
As long as the three girls completed six innings.
The reward coefficient would be multiplied by three, plus the baseline reward.
That would be at least four hundred Class Points.
They probably intended to rise to Class A in one breath.
After all, the paper strength was right there.
They were truly being looked down upon to such a degree.