The two classes gathered in the gymnasium once again to carry out their training for the day. Fortunately, no one had suggested anything strange, like playing tag.
Well, I had put a few pebbles in my bag just in case I needed to shut the mouth of whoever brought up that idea, but it seemed I wouldn't need them after all.
We began running laps around the field beneath the afternoon sun. With the students chatting among themselves and Sudo shouting at the top of his lungs as he led the group, it felt like something straight out of a sports anime or a classic sports manga.
I was starting to feel as though I had joined an actual athletic club.
No. This was a nightmare.
I ran, trying to keep up with the front group while observing the students, particularly those from my own class. Most of them seemed to be enjoying their run with their friends, as though this were just another ordinary activity they were accustomed to.
Perhaps things would have been perfect if I could have stayed with the front group.
I gradually slowed down until I found myself at the very back, running behind the tail end of the group, where the atmosphere was downright depressing.
Sweat poured down their faces, and their ragged breathing overlapped as though their lungs had stopped functioning properly.
The students of Class B seemed to be coping with the situation by running in groups, while those from the other class ran individually, their spirits utterly crushed.
It seemed they had already identified the students who wouldn't be of much use during the upcoming festival.
Among them was the bespectacled boy who sat in front of me in class. He seemed academically gifted, the kind of person who refused to settle for anything less than victory.
Yet, as he ran, he looked as though he were attending a torture session.
Well, there was no magical solution that could turn him into a first-class runner.
Just fall flat on your face and get it over with, man.
I gradually slowed from a jog to a leisurely trot before eventually walking away from the group. I needed to drink some water.
Wasn't rest just as important as exercise? Perhaps even more important?
That morning, I had made sure to take a bottle of cold water and put it in my bag. Unfortunately, I had forgotten where I'd placed it.
Dealing with Sakayanagi had made me lose my concentration.
"Hey, Hikigaya-kun, what are you doing...?"
I suddenly heard a voice calling out to me from the side, so I turned my tired eyes toward the speaker.
Standing before me was Yukinoshita Yukino, wearing her gym uniform and holding a blue water bottle in both hands.
"Yu..." I muttered, glancing around before taking a step toward her.
"What are you doing here...?" I asked, looking toward the area she had been watching.
The girls were running in small groups, and the situation wasn't much different from the boys' side, except that their pace was slower.
"I'm taking a short break after sorting out all the disputes among the girls..." Yukinoshita replied, rubbing her temple with one hand while holding her bottle in the other.
She genuinely seemed annoyed as she recalled their problems.
Well, girls' problems could be troublesome, and Yukinoshita didn't seem like the type who enjoyed dealing with them in the slightest.
"How are things going with the boys...?" Yukinoshita asked, shifting her gaze toward their side.
"Hmm... I think Hirata would be more useful if you wanted to know about that..."
Hirata was always running among the boys with his stupid smile, so he probably knew more about their condition than anyone else.
"Really...? But I'm asking you right now..." Yukinoshita said, letting out a light sigh before elegantly adjusting her hair.
"Well, I don't know much, but there are fewer problems on the boys' side. If they stop thinking foolishly and actually put in some effort, their performance is acceptable... except for those who were never good at sports to begin with."
Of course, I was referring to myself as one of those who weren't good at sports, but it wouldn't be wise to say that out loud right now.
"Really? So things are going relatively smoothly, at least... Well, thank you for your limited information," Yukinoshita said, making no effort to hide her sarcastic smile.
Tch... Did she expect me to write a detailed report on every student? That wasn't my job.
"So, how are things on the other side...?" I asked, casually slipping my hands into my pockets.
"Hmm...?"
Yukinoshita turned toward me with a shocked expression, as though she had just seen a ghost.
"W-What's wrong...?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just surprised. As far as I know, you're not interested in these things..."
"Really...? I'm just looking for something to help me escape the training..." I replied proudly, puffing out my chest as I stared up at the sky.
Yukinoshita clicked her tongue in boredom. She had apparently had enough of me already.
"The girls are refusing to put in any effort, with the exception of Horikita-san and Onodera-san..." Yukinoshita said, watching the ground beneath her feet.
Perhaps this was to be expected. Most girls weren't particularly fond of these kinds of activities, especially when dealing with Yukinoshita's approach, which involved pushing them to their absolute limits.
Under those circumstances, their interests were bound to clash, creating a knot that would be difficult to untangle.
"Isn't there any solution...?" I asked, glancing at her from the corner of my eye.
Yukinoshita wasn't the type to sit idly by. Without a doubt, she would pursue the most effective solution to any problem she encountered.
"Well, the prizes offered by the school could serve as a powerful incentive for them to make an effort, but they're difficult for an ordinary student to obtain..." Yukinoshita explained.
An ordinary student wasn't aiming to win prizes. They simply wanted to avoid the penalties.
For someone like that, avoiding punishment was a reward in itself.
"Then, why don't we offer prizes to the entire class to motivate them to improve...?" I suggested casually, playing with the toe of my sneaker.
"Yes, I've considered the idea of offering monetary rewards, but that's impossible at this point..." Yukinoshita replied with a sad smile.
She had managed to find a solution to her problem, but it was ultimately useless.
Where were we supposed to find enough extra money to reward the entire class?
Perhaps we'd need a cash cow that produced money.
Fortunately, we had three.
"Well, then, it's settled. We'll offer rewards to the students, provided they give it their absolute best during the competition," I said seriously, turning to face Yukinoshita directly.
"W-What are you talking about? Where are we supposed to get the money? Stop talking as though this were that easy..." Yukinoshita replied, clearly irritated by my attitude.
"Hmm... Horikita has..."
"Horikita-san... That doesn't mean we can take money from the other students! Hikigaya-kun, that's theft..." Yukinoshita said, stepping backward as she finally gave up on the plan.
Well, technically, the points belonged to whoever possessed them, and they were free to do whatever they wanted with them.
However, Horikita had certain points that she had no right to use for herself.
I calmly looked around, as though my eyes were searching for anyone who might be listening to our conversation.
Perhaps this had been a secret shared among just three people, but I didn't want it to become a secret shared by more than four.
"Yukinoshita, do you remember the day we went to the swimming pool...?"
I tried to explain everything that had happened that day at the pool while keeping an eye on my surroundings, checking whether there were any large rocks nearby that I could use to smash my head with before attacking everyone else to finish the job.
However, Yukinoshita froze in place as she listened to me until the very end, showing no signs of an aggressive reaction.
"So... you're saying that the boys tried to spy on the girls' changing room, and you stopped them...?"
"Y-Yes..."
"And afterward, you tricked them into signing a contract under Chabashira-sensei's supervision, and you began extracting their private points every month...?"
"S-Something like that..."
Well, it wasn't exactly a trick. It was punishment they deserved.
Perhaps if they had succeeded in carrying out their plan, I would have helped them pack their belongings before they were expelled from the school.
"Hikigaya-kun... Are you absolutely certain that no one managed to sneak inside...?" Yukinoshita asked, fixing me with a glare as though my answer would determine her entire reaction.
"I-I swear on Komachi that no one managed to get inside..." I replied seriously, looking directly at her.
Yukinoshita even stepped backward, as though she were looking at something disgusting.
"Well... at least you stopped them. That's good," she said in resignation.
"I suppose they wouldn't have succeeded even if I hadn't been there..." she muttered under her breath.
I still didn't understand why Ayanokouji had told me about it back then. I knew he could have stopped them without making a scene, and everything would have ended without me even noticing.
Yet something had happened that changed his mind and dragged me into the whole affair.
I still couldn't figure out what it was.
"All right, then, Hikigaya-kun. We'll use that money..." Yukinoshita said, renewing her determination now that she had found the perfect bait to lure the herd forward.
"Fine. I'll talk to Horikita about it..." I replied, walking away.
I needed to drink some water before I dried up completely.
"Hikigaya-kun..."
However, Yukinoshita's quiet voice stopped me.
"What is it...?" I asked, turning my head toward her.
"Are you certain that's everything...?" she asked cautiously, cradling her water bottle between her hands.
I lowered my head slightly toward the green grass beneath our feet.
At this rate, I suspected it would wither just like my eyes had, unless it received the water it needed.
"Yes... That's everything," I replied before walking away, since there was nothing else I could tell her for now.
It was finally time to enjoy a bottle of cold water.
"Hey, Hikigaya! What are you doing...?"
Suddenly, a loud voice exploded in my ears from a distance. A red-haired boy came running toward me in his gym uniform, his massive shoulders exposed.
"Hikigaya! Who gave you permission to stop running like that...?" Sudo shouted angrily.
"Uh... I just wanted to get a little water..."
Sudo didn't even let me finish my excuse. He shoved me forward from behind, forcing me back toward the field.
"You're going to run ten laps around the field as punishment!" Sudo declared, pointing his finger at me.
"Listen, I didn't even—"
"Get moving now, or I'll double the number!"
Sudo's annoying voice forced me to start moving my legs and run.
What the hell? Who had appointed this guy our leader? Where had all this enthusiasm come from, and why was he suddenly picking on me?
Damn it...
Damn it...
I hadn't even had a drink.
I was running like an idiot under the gazes of students from both classes when I noticed a shadow running ahead of me at a slower pace.
It was Ayanokouji, running around the field with his usual calm expression, seemingly unable to understand what was happening.
"What are you doing...?" I asked, running beside him.
"I was standing off to the side for a moment, and Sudo saw me and made me run ten laps around the field..." Ayanokouji replied calmly, maintaining his pace.
"What the hell? Were you trying to skip the training...?" I asked angrily, looking at him.
I hated people who tried to blend into the background while everyone else was putting in the effort. He deserved Sudo's punishment.
"I was just trying to tie my shoelaces..." Ayanokouji said with a puzzled expression.
"What a pathetic excuse..."
"What about you...? Why are you running?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Uh, I..."
"It's not as though I was trying to skip the training. I simply decided that running around the field with everyone else wasn't enough for me, so I went off to run around the entire school instead, and Sudo misunderstood the situation..." I replied casually as I ran.
"R-Really...?"
"Yeah. But seriously, has he turned into some kind of monster? Someone needs to stop that idiot!" I said, growing increasingly annoyed by his behavior.
"He seems particularly enthusiastic today..." Ayanokouji remarked.
"Yeah, because he's an idiot..."
Ayanokouji stared at me as though he didn't quite understand what I meant.
"Look at that..."
I turned toward Sudo, who was doing some warm-up exercises on his own.
"Great job, Sudo!" I shouted, raising my arm.
Sudo looked at me in confusion, glancing around as though he couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Then he smiled stupidly at me and gave me a thumbs-up.
"See...?"
Perhaps the truth was obvious, but an idiot on his own would never be able to see it.
___
Nonsense :
It seems I've been updating so late that people are starting to think I've dropped the story.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to upload chapters as regularly as before because I've been slacking off lately. I hope I can get back to updating daily.
At the very least, I promise I won't abandon this story, no matter how long the delays may be.