Chapter 050 Ayanokouji: ...Why Did It Turn Out Like This?!
Ayanokouji did not speak.
It wasn't that he didn't know how to refute; it was that there was nothing to refute. Because what Hasegawa said was the truth. The participation sheet was leaked by him, and Ryuen's tactical layout targeting Sudo was based on the information he provided. Sudo being surrounded, stepped on, kicked, and finally withdrawing from the tournament—the starting point for all of these events was him.
"Ayanokouji-kun, do you have anything else to say?" someone asked.
Ayanokouji looked at him, and then said, "No."
Eh?
That boy froze for a second, clearly not expecting him to admit it so straightforwardly.
The atmosphere inside the tent grew even heavier.
Kushida Kikyo sat on a folding chair in the corner of the tent, watching this scene, saying nothing at all. Her expression was very calm, and there was even a faint smile hanging on the corner of her lips. However, it wasn't a malicious joy over his misfortune, but rather the composure of "having known it would turn out like this all along."
Meanwhile, Matsushita Chiaki walked out from the crowd and approached Horikita Suzune. Horikita was currently sitting in her own spot, holding her phone in her hand. The screen was lit up, displaying a message on it. Matsushita did not look at the content of that message.
"Horikita-san," Matsushita lowered her voice, "Do you have any thoughts regarding the upcoming 1200-meter relay?"
Horikita raised her head and glanced at her. There was no expression within those burgundy eyes, but she turned the phone over, letting Matsushita take a glance at the screen.
On the screen was a message, and the sender was Hachiman.
[Horikita-senpai and Nagumo-senpai followed my advice and gave up the final anchor leg. They will be appearing in the second leg. If you want to clash with them, then you can go participate in the second leg.]
Matsushita stared at that line of words for two seconds, and then raised her head to look at Horikita.
"You're going to run the second leg?" Matsushita asked.
"Yes." Horikita put her phone away, "I will give it my absolute all."
Give it my absolute all.
Matsushita went over these words in her mind.
Suddenly, she thought of the intelligence.
Horikita Suzune was the younger sister of the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu.
And the reason Hikigaya-kun let Horikita run the second leg wasn't because she ran fast, but because her older brother was also in the second leg. It was probably some kind of ritual or a clash that was incredibly important to Horikita-san.
And Matsushita had actually guessed right, because this was the first time since Horikita Suzune entered this school that she had the opportunity to stand on the exact same running track as her brother. She had chased after her brother's footsteps to come here, wanting to obtain her brother's recognition, so what did she need to do?
She wanted to clash with her brother.
Winning was naturally impossible, but she wanted to make her brother see her progress, and her figure that was continuously chasing after him. Therefore, since Hachiman provided the leg number her brother was running, she would follow suit.
"Good luck." Although she didn't fully understand the reasons, Matsushita said.
Horikita glanced at her. Then she nodded, "Yes."
"?"
Meanwhile, Kushida watched this scene with a strange look. For some inexplicable reason, she felt that Horikita and Matsushita actually shared quite a good mutual understanding.
Inside the Class A tent, Hachiman folded the final participation sheet and put it into his pocket. Beside him, Shibata Souta was still rotating his wrists, the excited expression on his face from earlier having turned into confusion.
"Hikigaya-kun, you shifted me to the second leg?" Shibata's voice carried a hint of incomprehension, "Didn't you say before that you'd let me run the final anchor leg? I already prepared myself mentally."
"Changed it." Hachiman leaned against the folding chair, picking up the water bottle on the table to take a sip, "Adjustments were also made on Nagumo-senpai and President Horikita's end; they will be running the second leg. Therefore, the second leg is the most brilliant one, so we need you out there."
Shibata froze for a second. "Nagumo-senpai? President Horikita? Both are in the second leg?"
"Yes." Hachiman set down the water bottle, "Nagumo Miyabi of Second-Year Class A, and Horikita Manabu of Third-Year Class A, will both appear in the second leg. Three school years, three A Classes—the fastest people are all in that single leg. So, now, do you think there's any leg more worth running for you than the second leg?"
Shibata opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his words stuck in his throat.
Nagumo Miyabi, that second-year Vice President who rose from Class B to Class A, possessed top-tier physical capability and was unrivaled among the second-years. And Horikita Manabu, the man known as the "strongest Student Council President in history," was the stabilizing pillar of Third-Year Class A, having never lost any single competition since his enrollment.
For Shibata, even running into these two people normally in the hallway made him feel nervous. Now, he was going to compete against them on the exact same running track?
"I..." Shibata's voice was a bit dry, "Can I outrun them?"
"You can't." Hachiman's answer was very blunt, so blunt that Shibata's expression stiffened for a moment. But Hachiman continued, "Even if you can't outrun them, you still have to run. You are the fastest runner in Class A. If you don't run, who will?"
Shibata looked at him, falling silent for two seconds. Kanzaki Ryuji, who had been listening quietly beside them, suddenly spoke up at this moment.
"Hikigaya-kun, the reason you let Shibata run the second leg isn't just because of Nagumo and President Horikita, right?" Kanzaki added in supplement, "It's because Ayanokouji is in the final anchor leg."
Yes.
As someone who knew Ayanokouji in the past, Kanzaki-kun indeed knew more information.
Shibata also hurriedly turned his head to look at Kanzaki. Ichinose also stopped her hand movements from writing, raising her head. Hachiman glanced at Kanzaki, not denying it.
"We all saw Ayanokouji's speed during the scavenger hunt." Kanzaki's voice was very calm, "That kind of explosive power is not something a normal high school student can run. For the final anchor leg, no matter who faces off against him, they will lose with a high probability. It's not a question of strength, it's a question of mentality. When you see a person chasing up from behind and overtaking you right by your side, that kind of feeling—not just anyone can withstand it."
Shibata's expression shifted slightly.
He recalled that image of Ayanokouji starting to run during the scavenger hunt—that speed that exploded in an instant, leaving everyone behind like an arrow released from a bowstring. If he ran the same leg as Ayanokouji, he would be overtaken with a high probability. And the moment he was overtaken, his rhythm would get messed up, his mentality would collapse, and then he would run slower and slower, growing more and more panicked as he ran.
"So," Shibata's voice was a bit dry, "You shifted me to the second leg because you didn't want me to face off against Ayanokouji?"
Hachiman looked at him. "Do you want to face off against him?"
Shibata fell silent for a second, but still answered honestly, "No."
"Then that's that." Hachiman withdrew his gaze, making another stroke on the participation sheet, "I've arranged Himeno Yuki for the final anchor leg. She's a girl, so facing off against Ayanokouji won't cause her any psychological pressure. Since there's absolutely no way to outrun him anyway, she just needs to do her best."
Ichinose Honami stood to the side, watching this scene, and closed the notebook in her hand.
She knew that layer of meaning Hachiman hadn't spoken aloud—it wasn't just "can't outrun him," it was "no need to win." Ayanokouji would definitely give his absolute all in the final leg, because he no longer had any retreat left. All the hopes of Class D were pressed onto him; he had to win.
And this kind of pressure would make him run even faster than usual.
The boys facing off against him would be influenced by his speed, suppressed by his momentum, and shaken when he caught up from behind. But a girl wouldn't. A girl would know from the very beginning that she couldn't outrun him, so there would be no expectations, no disparity, and her mentality wouldn't collapse when being overtaken by him. She just needed to run her own race and finish it.
Himeno Yuki stood in the corner of the tent holding her number plate. Hearing her own name, she raised her head. She looked at Hachiman, her lips moving slightly as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately didn't voice it out.
She complained a bit in her heart: "So because the final leg has pressure, nobody cares about me, huh? Since I can't outrun him anyway, just doing my best is enough—saying those words sure sounds easy."
But she didn't say it aloud. She knew Hikigaya-kun's arrangement had his reasons. She wasn't the fastest runner, but she was the most suitable person. She wouldn't grow panicked from being overtaken, nor would she collapse because her opponent was too strong. She only needed to run her own leg well and hand the baton over to the next person. That was enough.
Furthermore, she had just gone to the sports field to check, and the anchor for Class B was Kamuro Masumi. Therefore, she wasn't the only girl. Even among the upperclassmen, there were other girls in the final anchor leg.
"Himeno-san." Ichinose walked over to her side, lowering her voice, "Good luck."
Himeno glanced at her. "Yeah."
Ichinose smiled, saying nothing more.
And at this moment, the broadcast on the sports field rang out, announcing that the 1200-meter relay race was about to begin, and requesting the contestants of each class to report to the registration area for check-in.
Shibata stood up from his folding chair, pinned his number plate to his chest, and took a deep breath.
"The second leg—leave it to me." His voice carried a sort of grim determination like going onto a battlefield.
Hachiman looked at him. "Don't trip."
Shibata froze for a second, and then smiled. "I won't."
He turned around and walked out of the tent, his pace a bit faster than usual.
The other contestants also walked out one after another. Kanzaki Ryuji walked in front, his expression steady. Himeno Yuki walked at the very end, still holding that bottle of un-drunk water in her hand. The people inside the tent gradually thinned out, leaving only Hachiman and Ichinose.
Ichinose walked over to Hachiman's side, watching those figures walking toward the starting line on the sports field together with him. The red running track looked exceptionally piercing under the sunlight, and the white starting lines were drawn perfectly straight. The contestants walked out from various tents like streams merging into a river, surging toward that red running track from all directions.
"Hikigaya-kun," Ichinose spoke.
"Yeah."
"For you to arrange classmate Shibata to avoid clashing together with classmate Ayanokouji, is there some sort of explanation for that?"
"It seems you noticed." Hachiman didn't hide it either, "In the original work, Ayanokouji ran second place in the 1200-meter relay. And classmate Shibata, because he was overtaken by him, got startled and directly tripped onto the track, ultimately failing to get a ranking and feeling very guilty."
"So..."
Ichinose turned her head, looking at him, "You shifting Shibata to the second leg isn't just because Nagumo-senpai and President Horikita are over there. It's because you wanted to protect him. You didn't want him to trip, you didn't want him to feel guilty, and you didn't want him to experience that 'image that would happen in the original work'."
Hachiman remained silent for a second. Then he nodded, "He only did what he was supposed to do. He shouldn't be left with a shadow because of this kind of thing."
Ichinose looked at him, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly. That smile was very faint, but her eyes crinkled into beautiful crescent shapes.
And this time, she didn't say "you're really gentle," nor did she say "you're really amazing." She just stood there quietly, looking at the sports field together with him.
Shibata had already walked onto the starting line of the second leg, currently rotating his ankles.
And right beside him was Nagumo Miyabi who had already arrived. His short blonde hair sparkled under the sunlight, and he was currently saying something to the contestant next to him, wearing that confident smile of a model child on his face. Further over was Horikita Manabu, a straight, motionless figure.
Moreover, at the position of the second leg, there were some new developments.
That was, Ichinose noticed that the second leg for Class D was Horikita Suzune. Perhaps due to the 1200-meter distance, Horikita-san had her hair tied up in a ponytail. Her dark red hair tie shimmered faintly under the sunlight. Her expression was very calm, but her hands were trembling slightly. It wasn't nervousness, it was excitement.
"Ichinose." Hachiman spoke.
"Hm?"
"Aren't you going to go cheer them on?"
Ichinose shook her head. "It's fine for me to watch from here."
She paused for a moment, and added another sentence. "To watch together with you."
Hachiman glanced at her, not picking up the topic. He withdrew his gaze and continued to look at the sports field.
The referee raised the starter pistol.
The contestants of the first leg squatted before the starting line, leaning their bodies forward, pressing their center of gravity onto their hands. Their gazes stared at the running track ahead, staring at the person they needed to hand the baton off to next.
That is to say.
The final event of the Sports Festival, the 1200-meter relay race, had begun.
However, the students didn't fully take the field; instead, there was a slight delay, and then over on Class D's side, Hirata Yosuke came to the position of the first leg. Obviously, he hadn't managed to invite Sudo back.
Thus.
Bang—!
The gunshot exploded across the sky above the sports field.
For the first leg, 12 students dashed out simultaneously.
The red running track extended under the sunlight; the finish line was in the distance, unable to be seen clearly. But everyone knew that was the place they had to go.
Meanwhile, on the starting line of the second leg, Nagumo Miyabi stood on the innermost lane with his hands on his hips, his short blonde hair sparkling under the sunlight. He glanced left and right—to his left was Horikita Manabu, and to his right were the first-years.
However, there were both males and females here.
For instance, Shibata Souta was rotating his ankles, while Horikita Suzune of First-Year Class D stood on the outermost lane, her long black hair tied into a ponytail, her expression calm, but her fingers trembling slightly.
Nagumo withdrew his gaze, turned his head, and said a sentence to Horikita Manabu beside him. "It seems Hikigaya-kouhai didn't participate."
Horikita Manabu's gaze fell ahead, not looking at him. "His physical capability has a minor flaw. Not participating is correct."
The corner of Nagumo's mouth turned up slightly.
A flaw in physical capability.
He couldn't help but run this sentence over in his mind.
Hikigaya Hachiman, the man who devised strategies within the Student Council, played Class A and Class C like fools during the examinations, and wore glasses at the opening ceremony to let Asahina take photos, had a flaw in his physical capability.
He suddenly felt in a pretty good mood.
He felt that he had finally found a place where he was stronger than that underclassman. For instance, physical capability, speed, and explosive power. These things Hikigaya-kouhai did not possess, but he did.
He hadn't lost, had he.
Thinking like this.
"President Horikita," Nagumo's voice carried a hint of pleasure.
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