"Damn it, this is against the rules! I'm going to tell this to the teacher!"
Shortly after the match ended, Sudou wore an expression of fury.
His crucial defeat in the final moments had caused Class D to lose the cavalry battle.
Hirata Yosuke grabbed his arm to dissuade him.
"Don't do this. Right now, it's just suspicion. We don't have any solid evidence."
"But he used hair wax—that's blatant cheating! This wasn't even an equipment-based event!" Sudou couldn't let it go.
"Besides, this guy already hit me during the pole-toppling competition earlier. He's been breaking the rules from the start!"
Hirata sighed.
He understood Sudou feelings.
Anyone would be furious after taking down three cavalry units, only to lose to the opposing commander's cheating in the final showdown.
"Sudou-kun, we all feel the same way. But right now, we should stay calm and think things through—"
"Shut up! Being around you guys is so damn disappointing!"
Sudou seemed unable to contain his rage any longer.
He violently kicked a nearby chair, the loud crash drawing the attention of many classmates.
The perpetrator then stormed out of Class D's area.
Hirata thought he was heading to confront Class C and moved to stop him, but instead, Sudou left the athletic field entirely.
"My, my. It seems Class D has already fallen apart."
At this moment, Sakayanagi withdrew her gaze from Class D's direction and leisurely turned to Katsuragi.
Seated properly on a folding chair, she wore a hat that shimmered faintly white under the clear sunlight.
Her slender waist was clad in the same gym uniform as everyone else, yet despite the outfit's restrictive nature, her legs displayed healthy, vibrant contours.
For some reason, she had come down from the spectator stands to Class A's waiting area.
"Though unfortunate, the competition ultimately depends on our own efforts," Katsuragi said.
"Is that so?" Sakayanagi smiled sweetly. "That wasn't what you said earlier, was it?"
Katsuragi tensed—she was clearly about to attack his decision-making errors.
However, Sakayanagi suddenly pulled out her phone and handed it to Hashimoto Masayoshi beside her.
"These are the scoring results Mitoma-kun asked me to tally. What do you think our current ranking is, Katsuragi-kun?"
Katsuragi abruptly looked toward Kaoru, who had been observing the upperclassmen's matches nearby.
Hearing his name, Kaoru turned to face them.
Not just Kaoru—even Class A students who hadn't been paying attention began gathering around.
"Fufu, could you announce it for everyone, Hashimoto-kun?" Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled.
"Class 1-A, one thousand four hundred thirty—"
Hashimoto Masayoshi had barely started when Sakayanagi Arisu interrupted.
"Just the final rankings will do, Hashimoto-kun."
"First place: Class C. Second place: Class B. Third place: Class A. Fourth place: Class D."
After speaking, Hashimoto Masayoshi glanced around and noticed everyone's expressions had frozen.
They clearly hadn't anticipated this outcome.
"We're... third?" someone muttered in disbelief.
"That can't be right. Don't we have several exceptionally strong competitors?"
"Based on the current individual competition points, we are indeed in third place," Sakayanagi Arisu said with a smile.
"The team competition only calculates the winning groups, so I didn't include my scores in the class tally."
Even though students like Kamuro, Kito, and Hashimoto had exceptional physical abilities, they could only secure first place in individual events.
The other students were gradually dragging them down.
"Has anyone noticed something unusual?" Hashimoto spoke up.
"In today's matches, our competition order seemed to have been targeted. Students with strong physical abilities were suppressed by even stronger opponents, and the points we originally planned to secure for Class D were snatched away by our rivals."
The students of Class A exchanged glances, and soon some began to chime in.
"That's right! I could have taken first place, but a student from Class C suddenly caught up to me."
"It must be Class C—they always play dirty!"
"And also..."
Not all of these complaints were due to the leaked competition schedule, but given this rare opportunity to shift blame, they naturally attributed their failures to being sabotaged.
Katsuragi found the situation troublesome.
It was clear this was aimed at him, and the timing of the attack was deliberate.
"While I don't deny Katsuragi-kun's capabilities, at this point, we must abandon our cooperative strategy with Class D," Hashimoto Masayoshi took the lead in challenging him.
"Not only that, I suspect someone in our class leaked our information, causing us significant losses."
The mention of leaked information unsettled Class A students, and suspicious glances were cast among classmates before ultimately settling on Katsuragi.
Since he was the one who personally submitted the competition schedule, he should know who leaked it.
Sakayanagi smiled faintly.
By striking first, she ensured the suspicion wouldn't fall on her.
"Maybe it was a student from Class D who accidentally leaked it—it might not be someone from our class," Kaoru interjected unexpectedly.
"The world is unpredictable. Even a saint can't foresee everything—otherwise, there wouldn't be a word like 'accident.'"
"Fufufu, Mitoma-kun, what do you think we should do to salvage the situation now?" Sakayanagi asked with a subtly mischievous smile.
In this context, "salvage" wasn't exactly a positive term.
Once everyone accepted this phrasing, it would imply Katsuragi decisions during the sports festival had been a complete failure—effectively admitting he had made the wrong choices for Class A.
"Sometimes, effort doesn't guarantee victory," Kaoru unexpectedly voiced a rather pessimistic view.
Sakayanagi was slightly surprised. "Mitoma-kun, do you think we're already beyond saving?"
"Didn't I ask you to record the scores for the first-years only?" Kaoru countered.
"Why don't you share the upperclassmen's results with everyone?"
Hashimoto glanced at the girl beside him.
She pressed her lips together, then smiled.
"It's fine, Hashimoto-kun. Go ahead and read it."
Hashimoto continued, "For the second-years, first place is Class A, second is Class B, third is Class D, and fourth is Class C."
"Is that satisfactory?" Sakayanagi stared directly at Kaoru.
"Could you please read it again—the point differences between them," Kaoru said calmly.
"If I recall correctly, the gap between Class 2-B and Class 2-A is only about thirty points, and Class 3-B is also closely trailing Class 3-A."
Sakayanagi Arisu's smile faded as she quietly observed him.
"In other words, even if we secure first place among the first-years, we could still lose in the inter-grade competition and forfeit 100 points."
Kaoru glanced around the room.
Some seemed ready to argue but ultimately stayed silent, realizing that merely being the top first-year class might not be enough in the face of these facts.
Watching this, Sakayanagi's eyes flickered slightly, her gaze fixed solely on him.
With just this, he had effortlessly dismantled her first wave of challenges.
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