Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 174: The Opening of the Yearly Sports Festival!

They obtained the information from Kushida.

Ryuen’s side will be targeting Class B, with the goal of taking down Class B.

However, it won’t be through any legitimate means; rather, they are focusing on two people from Class B: Sudo and Horikita Suzune.

“Why me, though?” Horikita Suzune felt puzzled.

This is because, aside from the competition roster, Kushida had also leaked the physical data of everyone to Ryuen.

This data was compiled into an Excel sheet by Hikigaya and handed over to Karuizawa and the others for easy reference, which also made it easier to leak. So Ryuen’s side should be able to see their trump cards.

Targeting Sudo didn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

But targeting her…

It’s worth noting that among the girls, Horikita’s physical data only ranks second, with the top spot going to Onodera, who has past experience in the athletics club.

Onodera has short hair and a fairly average appearance, but her skin is slightly dark, a healthy look from regular training.

She’s a professional.

So while Horikita is proud, she also knows she’s not as good as Onodera.

“If Sudo is taken down, then the mixed-gender two-legged race team of Sudo and Onodera from our class will fail,” Hikigaya said.

“So there’s no need to target Onodera.”

“And targeting Horikita,” Hikigaya thought for a moment and then said, “Maybe it’s because you’re wealthier.”

“?”

Horikita Suzune looked at him.

“In the preferential exam, I took Ryuen’s 10 million. You remember that, right?” Hikigaya said.

“Mm-hmm,” both Horikita and Kushida nodded simultaneously.

“Ryuen must think we still have money, so he’s probably trying to frame Horikita in hopes of reaching a private settlement, making Horikita pay him.”

“After all, Ryuen sold the A-Class leader information to an A-Class spy at a high price during the uninhabited island exam, and then didn’t earn a single penny during the preferential exam, so now he’s broke,” Hikigaya said.

“…”

Huh.

So, in the preferential exam, Ryuen didn’t actually make any money.

Although the two of them knew that Hikigaya and Sakayanagi had teamed up to trick Ryuen, they hadn’t expected Ryuen to appear so arrogant during the preferential exam, only to end up with nothing.

“Ryuen’s plan is to place a seeded athlete in the 200-meter race in the women’s competition. Halfway through, the athlete will deliberately call Horikita’s name to get her attention and intentionally make the two of them fall together. Then Ryuen will use the same method he used on Sudo, secretly worsening the injury and framing Horikita.”

Kushida shared the information she knew.

“However, she didn’t mention how Ryuen is targeting Sudo,” Kushida added.

“And if Horikita doesn’t want to take the fall, all she has to do is ignore the person Ryuen arranges,” Kushida said.

If it’s easy to get caught in a trap on the field, knowing the opponent’s tactics ahead of time makes it much easier to deal with.

At this moment, a thought from her brother suddenly appeared in Horikita’s mind.

[One day, she will understand, and she will realize.]

“…” Horikita.

She wanted to grow.

After entering the school, when her brother arranged for her to learn from Hikigaya, she thought she could learn a lot from him.

But now, only three months in, Hikigaya had already spread his wings and was about to leave for another class at any moment.

But she had only just left her spot.

In other words, she hadn’t made much progress.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Horikita Suzune said. “Since Ryuen already has a plan, exposing it immediately might raise his suspicion.”

“Also, Ryuen can target my event, the 200-meter race, and if he can use underhanded tactics against Sudo, he would need a bigger event, something like tug-of-war or the relay race,” she continued.

“These two events are scheduled after my 200-meter race, so if I expose his plan, Ryuen might become suspicious, and our strategy would fail.”

The teachers had already distributed the event schedules, including the order of appearances.

First came the mandatory events for all participants.

Among these, the simple events came first, while those requiring cooperation or involving larger groups were scheduled later.

Ryuen’s target event for Sudo was indeed the relay race.

“So, what do you plan to do?” Hikigaya asked, looking at Horikita.

Kushida remained steady in her role.

But Horikita Suzune seemed to have a different approach.

“I’ll probably act like I don’t know anything and let the plan unfold,” Suzune said.

“Is that the only option?” Hikigaya looked at her.

“No, it’s not just that,” Horikita shook her head. “I’ll keep my phone on me, recording. That way, if Ryuen tries to extort me later, I’ll have evidence to protect myself.”

“Oh.”

So, she would turn the situation into a self-sacrificial plan to protect herself.

“That method is feasible,” Hikigaya said.

After the 200-meter race, Horikita’s remaining events were the two-legged race with Karuizawa, the ball toss competition, and the 1200-meter relay.

Although Horikita was second in speed among the girls, she wasn’t without alternatives.

Matsuhita Chiaki, who had hidden strength, could possibly be brought in.

In a situation where their class was behind, Matsuhita couldn’t afford to hold back her abilities.

Once she used her full strength, she could help in future exams as well.

It seemed like a win-win situation.

“Isn’t this plan acceptable?” Horikita asked, noticing Hikigaya had been silent for a while and seemed uneasy.

“It’s nothing,” Hikigaya said. “You’ve done well.”

He thought Horikita Suzune was being quite brave now.

With everything arranged, Hikigaya returned to his room.

As time passed, Class B’s training entered a grueling and intense phase.

It wasn’t just the additional physical education classes.

Even after school, they were required to train for over two hours.

This new lifestyle clearly caused some of the boys to complain.

However, the girls, knowing the pressure was on the boys, didn’t slack off and, under the encouragement of Kushida and Karuizawa, joined in the training as well.

It was partly to avoid embarrassing themselves in front of the girls, so the boys managed to grit their teeth and persevere.

“I told you, that’s not how it works!”

“Yamauchi-kun! When running, you have to focus on your breathing. It’s three steps in, three steps out. That’s how you run longer!”

“Keep going! You’re almost there, just a little more to break through your limits!”

After Koenji’s withdrawal, Sudo Ken had unsurprisingly become the most authoritative person in Class B when it came to sports, and he had been diligently guiding other students in their training.

He also had a sense of collective honor.

In the past, due to his personality, he had trouble integrating with others and even caused some people to be afraid of him.

So this time, he was determined to change his image in others’ eyes.

“Even if you say that…” Yamauchi Haruki complained while running, “Three steps in, three steps out—how could I be that strict with my breathing!”

While running, he also had to think about controlling his breathing, keep an eye on the road to avoid tripping, and figure out how to overtake the person ahead of him.

It was really a bit overwhelming for him.

“Sudo is really serious about this,” Horikita commented, watching from the side.

“Tell me about it,” Hikigaya responded. “But people need to be relied on. Sudo Ken, who had been isolated by everyone, now values this time when people depend on him even more.”

Humans are social animals, and they naturally want to be with others.

If they are admired by others, it also brings them joy.

Sudo Ken was no exception.

“Has the registration form been submitted?”

Hikigaya suddenly asked.

With less than two days until the sports festival, although the students had been informed about their event assignments a long time ago, the registration form had been kept and not submitted yet.

“Not yet,” Horikita said softly. “Although it’s unlikely the teachers would cheat, to avoid the list being leaked and targeted, I plan to submit it on the last day.”

“Alright,” Hikigaya nodded, but his gaze quietly shifted to Kushida, who was standing with the girls, cheering on the boys.

The girl wore a sweet, angelic smile that was enough to revive Yamauchi, who had been completely exhausted.

It was like he’d been injected with adrenaline, surpassing the people ahead of him.

This time, Kushida was the class spy, so she had to maintain her image.

However, the conversation between Hikigaya and Horikita was rather blatant, but it couldn’t be helped. They couldn’t act as naturally as Kushida did.

According to Kushida’s information, both Class A and Class D had been fiercely targeting students in their own class.

They wanted to plant spies in Class B.

There was nothing they could do about it. Ryuen wanted revenge, and Class A felt uneasy since Hikigaya’s class was catching up.

It seemed there were about three or four people in their class who had been bribed.

So, their actions were meant to fool these spies.

On the playground.

“Wow! Yamauchi, did you take something?”

“I… I really can’t go any further.”

The otaku, Sotomura, was bent over, gasping for air, his speed slowing down more and more.

Long-distance running was really not something for normal people.

“Sotomura-kun, keep going!”

From the sidelines, Kushida cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, loudly encouraging the boys who were pushing themselves to train.

“Ah!”

Sotomura looked in Kushida’s direction, and when he saw her encouraging gaze, it felt as though some strange force was injected into him.

“Ahhh!”

He then shouted loudly, overtaking Yamauchi.

“Sotomura! Did you take something?”

Overall, Class B seemed to be doing well.

…

Meanwhile, in Class A.

“Class B is still tricky,” Katsuragi said, with his lackey, Totsuka Yahiko, reporting the situation next to him. “Their class will submit their registration form on the last day.”

“However, it’s confirmed that Hikigaya’s class is generally weak in terms of overall strength, but they still have a chance. Hikigaya plans to have Sudo participate in the mixed-gender two-person, three-legged race to keep replacing and scoring.”

“Two-person, three-legged race,” Katsuragi shook his head.

This was Class B’s advantage.

Because other classes would have a hard time finding someone like Sudo, who was at that level of athleticism.

So they would have to watch how things developed.

This was probably also the reason why Sakayanagi hadn’t participated in directing this sports festival.

Exactly.

Although Sakayanagi’s physical condition didn’t allow her to participate in sports, she was still able to be a director.

However, she gave it up.

This made the people Sakayanagi had assigned feel regretful, but Yahiko on this side felt that this was Katsuragi’s opportunity to redeem himself.

“However,”

Totsuka Yahiko continued, “This morning I saw Kamuro helping a girl from Class B train.”

“What’s she thinking? She’s from Class B!”

“Don’t worry about her,” Katsuragi said. “Maybe she’s just friends with that girl from Class B.”

So, it’s just friends helping each other?

Of course, that’s not the case.

Kamuro had already gotten up early for 18 days in a row. Finally, it felt like the torment would end.

“But you’ve gotten used to getting up early by now, haven’t you?” Sakayanagi Arisu, sitting next to her, spoke to her.

“…” Kamuro replied. “I’m not a masochist. I can’t get used to it.”

“Oh.”

Sakayanagi nodded, clearly unconvinced.

“Anyway, the sports festival is about to start,” she said. “So, accompany me later, let’s go to the shopping street.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Buy a camera,” Sakayanagi Arisu said. “It would be nice to capture some interesting moments.”

Oh.

So, this is Sakayanagi Arisu’s way of showing her participation.

…

As for Class C.

The students in Class C had quietly accepted the fact that they might lose by 200 points in the red and white team competition.

However.

“This time, just do your best at the sports festival,”

They still had their enthusiasm.

Thus, the day of the sports festival arrived.

But, before heading to the opening ceremony, Hikigaya went to the staff room first, where he made a deal with Chabashira-sensei.

However, it wasn’t anything shady, just a legitimate transaction.

“Hikigaya, you should know that if you’re not careful with the items you’ve purchased with your points this time, they might be considered dangerous items.”

“I just don’t trust the school,” Hikigaya replied. “And the school can totally inspect where I’m using them.”

“So, you’re concerned about this sports festival—” Chabashira-sensei hesitated. She thought that since Hikigaya was making these preparations, it must be important to him.

“I’m just trying to ensure fairness. Also, if my prediction is correct, Chabashira-sensei, you might want to prepare yourself mentally.”

Prepare myself… mentally?

Chabashira furrowed her brows, feeling that Hikigaya’s words seemed to have a hidden meaning.

However, after Hikigaya received the items he had asked Chabashira-sensei to buy, he turned and left.

In his hands were three voice recorders—items that could be bought at the shopping street like cameras, but things that could be suspected of being used for inappropriate purposes had to be reported to the teachers.

When he returned to the stadium, it was already 7:30 AM. All the students were dressed in sports uniforms, lined up as if for practice, and entering the large stadium. It seemed like it was going to be a long day.

Hikigaya blended into the Class 1B student group. In front of him was Kushida Kikyo, and Horikita was standing behind him.

While walking with the group, Hikigaya observed the stands outside the field. There were some people there.

They were probably teachers or employees from the shopping center.

It seemed the school didn’t have any specific rules for this part. It appeared that anyone could watch if they wanted, and they could see the staff smiling or even waving.

On the other hand, the teachers’ side didn’t smile, but what caught Hikigaya’s attention was that there were quite a few adults in white coats, presumably medical staff.

Additionally, the school had built small houses to accommodate around twenty people, equipped with air conditioning and water dispensers. This was probably to ensure they were fully prepared, just like during the uninhabited island incident. It’s worth noting that the red and white teams, who were competing, were separated by the running tracks, each facing their own tents. So, it would be hard for them to interact with each other except during the competition.

Every student in Class B had a recognizable white headband on, while students from Class A and D wore red ones.

“As expected, everything is well-prepared, even cameras for determining the results.”

“So, little tricks won’t work.”

Hikigaya spoke suddenly after observing his surroundings.

He was looking at the preparations made for the 100-meter race. Cameras could be seen at the finish line, likely to help identify the winner in case someone was too fast for the naked eye.

But they also served as a deterrent.

It was to prevent anyone from trying to cheat.

Just like other exams, the sports festival had rules.

Any intentional interference with someone else’s race or actions like fighting would result in losing their qualification for the competition.

Students with poor character might be expelled from the event, and the school would also consider stripping them of any points they had accumulated so far.

Of course, that’s what they say.

“And Ryuen, the competition is about to start. Aren’t you going back?” Hikigaya said.

“…” Ryuen.

Hmph!