"Did you just record a video?"
Manabu asked.
"Mm, I recorded the whole last leg. President, you were seriously amazing!"
On Tachibana Akane's face bloomed a dazzlingly bright smile.
"Let me see that video."
Manabu took Tachibana Akane's phone and carefully watched the recording of the match that had just taken place.
His gaze focused on Saiki.
At the very start of the race, Saiki had kept exactly the same pace as himself. Because Tachibana was standing at quite a distance, he could clearly see on the video that the gap between himself and Saiki had neither widened nor shrunk.
"This guy… was he deliberately keeping the same speed as me?"
The video continued playing. After Saiki reached fourth place, he began to slow down. After all, he kept exactly the same pace as the third-place runner, Shibata Sō.
"Interesting. Looks like he was intentionally keeping a fourth-place finish."
"Intentionally keeping a fourth-place finish?"
Tachibana Akane's face was full of doubt.
"In a competition at this level, that seems unlikely, doesn't it?"
"No… this guy is a very unusual one…"
Manabu narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone turning meaningful.
"After this semester, we're going to graduate. At that point, if Nagumo completely takes control of the student council, then I suspect those weaker students in the school might even have their last bit of space to survive stripped away."
"First-years like Ichika and Katsuragi both applied to join the student council earlier, but I refused. Even though they're excellent, they're not enough. Nowhere near the level needed to oppose Nagumo."
"But if it's Saiki… maybe he could do it."
———
Once the final relay ended, the sports festival at last came to a close, and the school quickly announced the results.
Two massive electronic bulletin boards stood tall on the field. The Red Team's score was ahead of the White Team.
Red Team wins.
The Red Team's victory, however, brought no obvious gain to their classes, but for the losing White Team, each class would be deducted 100 class points.
The ranking order of each year's classes was also revealed.
Class B was first, earning 50 class points.
Class C was second, but because they were in the losing White Team, their class lost 100 points.
Class A was third, losing 50 points.
And Class D was utterly miserable in every respect, ultimately losing 200 points.
The gap between Class B and Class A narrowed further, while Class D already showed signs of falling far behind.
"Next, we announce the best athletes of each year."
"First Year, "
"First Year, Class B, Sudo Ken!"
"Yeah!!"
Hearing the school broadcast, Sudo shouted with excitement. As best athlete, he would receive a hefty amount of personal points as a reward.
"Nice job, Sudo!"
"Not bad at all!"
"You've really impressed us!"
The students of Class B one after another congratulated Sudo. Indeed, in this sports festival he had put on an outstanding performance.
[So in the end, does this mean our class won big this time?]
Ayanokoji listened to the broadcast, seeming lost in thought.
———
After the closing ceremony, the utterly exhausted students returned to their classrooms, then dispersed freely.
Some just wanted to go home and rest. Some wanted to celebrate. One way or another, Class B had achieved a massive victory.
But, the uproar of this sports festival wasn't over yet.
After packing her things, Suzune sent a message to someone, then headed to the empty space behind the school building.
She had agreed to meet someone there.
"Horikita-san! You asked me to meet, what's the matter?"
Standing there was Kushida.
Her face at that moment carried a radiant smile, looking curiously at Suzune.
After the sports festival ended, Suzune had arranged this meeting with Kushida.
"You can keep pretending to be the nice girl if you want, but what's the purpose? In this sports festival, you're the one who leaked our class's roster to Ryuen, right."
Suzune frowned, her sharp gaze locked firmly on Kushida.
"…Don't say that, how could such a thing be possible? Didn't our class just win big?"
Kushida still put on her innocent and harmless act.
"Ryuen targeted our class's competitors with careful strategy, but for various reasons all of it failed. If not for those accidents, our class would probably have suffered a crushing defeat."
Suzune's expression did not change.
Even though Class B had won, she believed too many things were strange.
Ryuen initially had made elaborate strategic plans, but every one failed. Was that coincidence?
And in the end, Ryuen had practically given up on the festival altogether. Suzune could not make sense of it.
Ryuen had said this sports festival was his chance to crush Suzune. He wasn't the type to change his mind halfway through.
Unless, Ryuen already knew the outcome could not be changed.
Or he had found something more important.
"Who told you that, anyway? Hirata? Or was it… Yamauchi?"
"Yamauchi?"
Suzune froze, completely not expecting that name to come from Kushida's lips. But she continued, "No. I felt it myself. I just couldn't erase the sense of wrongness."
"Only you could pull it off. Before we enrolled, on the bus, I saw you persuade Koenji to give up his seat."
"Honestly, at the time I didn't realize it was you, but soon I remembered. I recalled that in middle school, there was a student just like you, Kushida."
Kushida's expression shifted.
She still wore a smile, but the innocent, adorable act twisted into a cunning, even slightly feral face.
"So you remembered right away. Well, I was always a problem child in every sense."
"That's not the right word. You weren't a 'problem child.' Right now in Class B, you're a student trusted by everyone. But..."
"Could you not bring up the past any further?"
Kushida directly cut her off. Since the other had exposed her identity, there was no need to keep pretending.
"You want to drive me out of this school, don't you."
"That's right. Since you know my past, you must leave this school, and not just you. Others will be dragged down with you."
From Kushida's eyes gleamed a dangerous killing intent.
"But if I expose the truth, won't you be troubled? Even if not a single person believes me, doubts will remain. At the very least, the fact that we went to the same middle school can't be denied."
"In that case, I'll push you into a corner, and drag your beloved brother down with you."
Kushida spoke her threat outright.
For the first time, Suzune's face showed a shaken expression.
For her, no one was more important than her brother, Manabu.
"Just wait and see. You, and the one pulling your strings from behind, you'll both be dealt with. Haven't you realized you're being used like a chess piece? But I've already found traces of him."
Throwing down those words, Kushida turned and left.
Leaving behind a dumbstruck Suzune, who muttered to herself, "Someone pulling my strings…?"
———
The Special Teaching Building, an almost deserted place, one of the few areas of the school without cameras.
After the festival ended, Ayanokoji had been invited here by a certain girl from Class A.
"Thanks for your trouble, Masumi-san. I'll be in your care from now on."
With that familiar clear voice, the girl named Kamuro Masumi, who had just led Ayanokoji there, nodded and quickly left.
Ayanokoji looked toward the voice's owner. The figure was petite, leaning on a cane.
Sakayanagi Arisu.
"So you're the one who called me here?"
Ayanokoji asked, observing her closely. He didn't know her.
"That's right. Long time no see, Ayanokoji-kun. It's been eight years and two hundred and forty-three days."
Arisu smiled as she spoke. Ayanokoji knew she wasn't just saying a random number.
"You're joking. I don't even know you."
"True. Because I was the one who knew you one-sidedly."
Ayanokoji shook his head, turned, and was about to leave.
"White Room."
At that instant, Arisu spoke a name he hadn't heard in a long time. That made Ayanokoji stop.
His mind raced. He turned back toward her, confirming he had never seen her before.
"I didn't expect to meet you here. But now, all mysteries are solved. The deserted island, the cruise ship, and your class's earlier mess with Ryuen, all of it was orchestrated by you from the shadows, wasn't it."
Arisu's face kept its smile, her eyes narrowing as she studied him.
"Sorry. None of that had anything to do with me." Ayanokoji immediately replied.
"At this point, I know your past. Keeping up the act isn't wise, you know."
Though she said so, doubt flickered in her eyes. Since she had declared she knew his past, surely he wouldn't bother telling a meaningless lie.
"I'm not lying." Ayanokoji said slowly.
"Your class has Horikita Suzune, has Hirata Yosuke, but with you around, none of them matter."
Arisu spoke with utmost seriousness.
Arisu, she was none other than the biological daughter of the school's Chairman Sakayanagi.
Chairman Sakayanagi, Sakayanagi Narimori, had once known Ayanokoji's father, Ayanokoji Atsuomi, and knew of the White Room. But Sakayanagi Narimori had not supported the White Room project, that was precisely why he had given special permission for Ayanokoji to enroll here.
When Arisu was little, she had followed her father to the White Room, and through the glass had seen Ayanokoji.
From that moment, Arisu had kept a strong interest in him.
"Seems you really do know me well. But, aren't you going to tell the others about this?"
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