When Kaoru returned, he happened to see Nagumo take first place.
The other's physical prowess was equally strong.
"Hey, what were you doing just now?" Totsuka Yahiko looked at him with dissatisfaction.
He had actually sneaked off to meet Sakayanagi while no one was paying attention.
Due to Sakayanagi Arisu's health condition, the school considered her absent.
She had no ranking to speak of—no points deducted, but none added either.
"I asked her to help keep score," Kaoru gave a reasonable explanation. "Although the school calculates the points, they don't disclose the specific scores of each class, only the totals for the Red and White teams. So, I wanted her to help us tally our points."
For convenience during the competition, no one had brought their phones, making it impossible to calculate the scores themselves.
"Hmph, we're definitely in first place. There's no need to calculate anything," Totsuka Yahiko said, hands on his hips.
Even as the sixth-place finisher, he puffed out his chest when speaking of Class A's glory.
Kaoru ignored him.
The situation for the second-year students was roughly as expected.
After careful adjustments, most students from Class 2-B could secure decent rankings as long as they performed normally.
But that was the extent of it.
Catching up to Class 2-A would require more than just this.
As the boys' events concluded, the second-year girls began to take the stage.
Among them, the most striking figure was undoubtedly Kiryuin Fuka.
It was Kaoru's first time seeing her run—nimble and agile, like a hunting cheetah.
With a single explosive start, she left the others behind, crossing the finish line with wild, unrestrained laughter.
Clearly, Kiryuin Fuka was worth every bit of her 'friend fees'.
After about half an hour, the 100-meter dash finally ended, and the school promptly announced the scores for the Red and White teams.
Red Team: 2,110 points. White Team: 2,006 points.
Although the Red Team was in the lead, the gap between the two sides wasn't too wide.
The next event was the hurdles race.
According to the school's rules, knocking over or touching a hurdle would incur time penalties—0.5 seconds for the former and 0.3 seconds for the latter.
These penalties would be added to the participant's final time.
Ten hurdles were already set up on the track.
Accidentally knocking one over meant a 0.5-second penalty; two would cost a full second.
Without careful attention, running too fast would be pointless.
Among the girls competing, Kaoru spotted Horikita Suzune and Airi Sakura.
The former wore a stern expression, as if someone owed her millions, while the latter was visibly nervous and uneasy—an idol with the personality of a social recluse.
For some reason, when Airi Sakura met Kaoru's gaze, she seemed to calm down a little.
The race began quickly.
Unsurprisingly, Airi Sakura fell behind early, while Horikita Suzune battled a student from Class C for first place.
The opponent was faster, clearly a trained athlete, and crossed the finish line just ahead of Horikita Suzune.
Kaoru observed the entire process calmly.
If the previous event was just a warm-up, the real competition was now beginning to take shape.
As expected, Class C consistently secured higher rankings than Class A or Class D in the subsequent events, even snatching away the originally planned feeding targets from the other classes.
The third event was the pole-toppling competition.
Like warriors from the Warring States period, the first-year classes gathered on the field, each forming their own battle formations.
The rules were simple: the first team to topple two poles would win.
Katsuragi and Hirata strategized, alternating between offense and defense.
Class A would defend their high pole to prevent it from being knocked over by the boys from Classes B and C.
Meanwhile, Class D would charge at the opposing team's high pole, aiming to secure the first victory.
"We absolutely have to win! With that idiot Koenji gone, we can only rely on ourselves!" Sudou roared before leading the charge.
"Woo-hoo!"
"Let's soar to victory!"
The boys of Class D followed him, surging forward like a tidal wave toward the White Team's formation.
The White Team's defense was handled by Class B, who stood firm like an immovable mountain near their high pole, while Class C took on the offensive.
Since attacking teams weren't allowed to collide with each other, nor were they permitted to throw punches or kicks, Class D and Class C naturally split their vanguards, each charging toward the opposing base.
Kaoru, stationed near the high pole, caught sight of Ryuuen sinister grin and instinctively took a step back.
The next moment, Class C's vanguard crashed violently into Class A's defensive wall.
The two classes pushed against each other, creating a momentary stalemate.
But soon, someone shattered the deadlock.
Albert Yamada.
The towering black man said nothing, charging forward like a cannonball and slamming into Class A's defensive line.
Kaoru immediately felt their formation waver, the high pole swaying precariously.
"W-Wait a minute! It's totally unfair to have that guy in this event!" Totsuka Yahiko panicked.
"Get him off the field! He's stronger than a wild boar from my hometown!"
"Stay calm! Hold the line, and we'll find a way!" Katsuragi shouted.
While Class C was attacking them, their own teammates were also assaulting Class B's formation.
If they could just hold out against Class C, they could still win.
However, Albert Yamada was like an armored tank, effortlessly tearing through Class A's defenses as if they were nothing.
Soon after, Class C's violent members broke through Class A's line.
Then, someone suddenly kicked towards Kaoru.
Kaoru reacted swiftly, dodging to the side and narrowly avoiding the sneak attack.
But before he could identify the culprit, a heavy thud sounded from behind.
Thud!
The students guarding the high pole finally gave way.
Their strength was no match for Albert's—after just a few collisions, the Red Team's high pole toppled to the ground.
"Hahaha! Looks like I've got this in the bag today, Mitoma!" Ryuuen Kakeru taunted before leading Class C back to the White Team's base.
Kaoru frowned.
He wasn't exactly skilled in brawling.
"Dammit, this is so unfair!" Totsuka Yahiko fumed.
Katsuragi offered a few words of encouragement—the second round was about to begin.
Sudou and the others grumbled as they returned to defend their high pole, while Class A took on the offensive this time.
The White Team's defense remained Class B, with Ryuuen leading Class C in an assault against Class D.
As the attacking side, Kaoru followed behind the group as they charged forward, only to be blocked by Kanzaki, among others.
Although Kaoru had intended to slack off, Class B still sent four or five students after him, surrounding him the moment they met and leaving him almost completely immobilized.
"Charge! Damn it, this useless body—move already!"
No matter how much Totsuka Yahiko shouted, Class A clearly lacked a breakthrough player.
Only Kito managed to push close to Class B's pole, but with no backup from his classmates, he was quickly forced back by Class B's counterattack.
"It's over! Look, Class D's defense is collapsing!" someone yelled in panic.
"What do we do?!"
Katsuragi turned his head just in time to see the pole creak and crash to the ground.
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