All the Illusory Dreams I Chased for You

Karuizawa Kei mechanically relayed the message to Sakayanagi Arisu, perhaps due to a lack of concentration, as her simple words contained several grammatical errors.

She pressed the delete key.

Long press until all characters are completely deleted.

"... I don't want to play against Class B anymore."

Karuizawa Kei didn't know what her mindset was when she sent that message to Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Reason."

Sakayanagi Arisu's reply was concise and swift.

"I just don't want to."

"I see."

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled, her eyes narrowed; she had a pretty good idea of why the other party had suddenly given up.

This is truly the most troublesome time of year.

"Do you remember before the Sports Festival, I said I needed your help this time?"

Karuizawa Kei stared blankly at the message sent by Sakayanagi Arisu.

Her mind couldn't quite process it for a moment.

"Actually, I didn't mean for you to help him deal with Miyabi Nagumo."

"With his abilities, Nagumo is no match for him."

What you are doing now is what truly helps him.

One message after another came from Sakayanagi Arisu:

"Fight well in this class match against Class 1-B and win."

"This is how you helped him."

Karuizawa Kei turned off her phone screen; she understood what Sakayanagi Arisu meant.

"Class 1-C will likely send Shibata and Kanzaki as reinforcements. Shibata is a member of the school's soccer club, Hirata, you should know that very well."

"Our advantage lies in the fact that the four of us practiced baton exchanges and other teamwork beforehand, so we don't need to panic if we fall behind in the middle of the race."

"This is the first time the four of them have worked together, so their teamwork might not be as good as ours, and they might even make mistakes."

Hirata Yosuke listened to Karuizawa Kei's calm analysis and instructions, as before, and nodded with relief. Apart from her slightly nasal voice, Karuizawa Kei's condition seemed to have completely improved.

"I see."

Karuizawa Kei took a deep breath.

She stood there, feeling empty and frail, her shadow cast on the wall swaying precariously, but ultimately she did not collapse and regained her footing.

Karuizawa Kei needs to beat him to prove that she can handle the school on her own even without him.

This is what truly helps him.

Help him break free from himself and forget himself.

You don't need to worry about yourself anymore.

Chapter 78: All the Phantom Dream of Doing Things for You

"Shibata Sō and Kanzaki Ryuji from Class 1-C, and Ryuen Kakeru and Ishizaki Daichi from Class B."

"Looks like we really don't have anyone else to offer. We'll have to have Ryuen, who just finished the free-fighting event, step up again."

Standing at the starting line, Hashimoto Masayoshi the first leg alongside Ryuen Kakeru, spoke with a hint of mockery and sarcasm. After all, disrupting the opponent's mindset before the race would be extremely beneficial for his team's victory.

"Beating you bunch of losers is no problem at all."

As Hashimoto Masayoshi Ryuen Kakeru did look a bit tired, but he didn't hold back in his verbal skills at all, giving Hashimoto Masayoshi a strong rebuttal.

"Especially you, you stinky fish."

Hashimoto Masayoshi's previously beaming smile vanished instantly. The incident during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam was undoubtedly a major stain on his life. Hearing Ryuen Kakeru deliberately emphasize the word "stinky," he glared at Ryuen Kakeru with some resentment.

However, Hashimoto Masayoshi, who has a strong mental fortitude, quickly composed himself and, while dramatically swinging his arms in warm-up exercises, casually remarked:

"It seems the Commander of your Class 1-B is a complete coward, too afraid to intervene in a life-or-death situation within the class."

"Or does he really think your lineup can win?"

Hashimoto Masayoshi had gathered information about Class 1-B beforehand. There were several members in Class 1-B who had good track and field results, such as Yajima and Kinoshita, but these were all girls. This was why Class 1-D deliberately chose the boys' 4x400m relay as one of the three team events they submitted.

In Karuizawa Kei's initial plan, she had already categorized both Class 2-A and Class 1-B as "rivals."

If it weren't for Ken Sudō being so physically exhausted, and Koenji Rokusuke only agreeing to participate in the match against Class 2-A, Class 1-D could have easily assembled a luxurious lineup of [Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Ken Sudō, Hirata Yosuke, and Koenji Rokusuke] without needing Class A's assistance.

"Whether our class's Commander is a coward or not, Class 1-A should know better than us."

Ryuen Kakeru grinned and said:

"But the Commander of Class 1-A seems to be the real turtle who never even considered intervening when the class was in a life-or-death situation."

Hashimoto Masayoshi, naturally, wouldn't let Ryuen Sho make up stories about his classmate Sakayanagi Arisu Ryuen Kakeru at will. Just as he was about to retort, the referee walked up to the two of them and signaled that the match was about to begin.

Half a sentence stuck in his throat. Hashimoto Masayoshi glared at Ryuen Kakeru resentfully, then bent down to get into a starting position.

[Boom]

With the sound of the starting gun, Ryuen Kakeru and Hashimoto Masayoshi instantly surged off the starting line.

Because it was match point, both players remained very composed and did not false start. After all, in a running event, being judged to have false start means being disqualified from the race, and neither wanted to become the scapegoat for their class at that moment.

As Hashimoto Masayoshi predicted before the race, Ryuen Kakeru, whose physical abilities were not as good as his, was not at his peak either. The distance between the two gradually widened after 200 meters. Even though Ryuen Kakeru had specially tied his long hair with a headband before the race and gritted his teeth to chase all the way, he could only barely maintain a gap of about 20 meters between them.

In just the first leg, Class 1-D already had the advantage.

The students in Class D didn't hold back their applause and cheers. It didn't matter whether the people on the field were from Class 1-D or not, as long as Class 1-D was the final winner.

With a burning pain in his lungs, Ryuen Kakeru, with his headband and bandages, looked completely different from his usual fierce image, even somewhat comical.

Actually, quite a few boys from Class 1-B, such as Komiya and Yamawaki, wanted to replace Ryuen Kakeru in this match. After all, Ryuen Kakeru had just fought with Ken Sudō from Class D in Freestyle Fighting, and Class D had even put Ken Sudō in the audience. How could Class B let Ryuen Kakeru, who had helped their class win a victory, go back into the ring?

However, in the end, Ryuen Kakeru insisted on having Kitagawa Ryo fill in his name.

The afternoon was a few degrees hotter than the morning, though not as hot as the sweltering heat, but Ryuen Kakeru was already drenched in sweat as he ran.

His still-healing gum wound started bleeding again, and soon his mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood, a taste he had experienced many times before, like rust.

Before he knew it, Hashimoto Masayoshi had widened the gap to five meters. Ryuen Kakeru quickly cleared his mind and stumbled after him.

Damn it, Kitagawa Ryo is clearly the Commander and Leader of Class 1-B, yet he's sending his second-in-command to risk his life here.

Normally, 400 meters would be a short distance for Ryuen Kakeru, but now it felt like an eternity.

How could he possibly entrust the life-or-death situation of Class 1-B to his underlings? There's no reason for the boss not to be the first to shoulder the burden when the sky is falling.

Although I think I'm the second oldest.

"Tsk."

He smacked his lips loudly; he had already turned off his headset before going on stage, just like when he participated in [Freestyle Fighting].

He was unwilling to let Class 1-B fail here.

Ryuen Kakeru squeezed out the last bit of strength from his body. For a long time, people had described him as a mad dog, biting someone and refusing to let go no matter how much the other person punched or kicked him. He would always secretly strike back. To put it more politely, Ryuen Kakeru was not one to admit defeat.

However, the premise of refusing to admit defeat is losing, and not just once or twice.

Therefore, all we need to do is pursue final victory.

However, this was the first time Ryuen Kakeru was frantically chasing victory. He thought he had become accustomed to failure, but this time he truly felt the will to not lose.

Hashimoto Masayoshi passed the baton to the second runner, Kito Hayato. He was about to look back to see how many meters Ryuen Kakeru was behind him, since they had already opened up a twenty-meter gap in the middle of the race.

Just as he turned around, Ryuen Kakeru's face flashed before his eyes.

It was a face so ferocious that Hashimoto Masayoshi instinctively took a half-step back.

Ishizaki Daichi quickly took over the baton; without saying a word, he simply rushed out.

Hashimoto Masayoshi stared blankly at Ryuen Kakeru, who was standing there bent over, panting like an old-fashioned tractor.

In the end, he seemed to have only managed to pull within ten meters of his opponent.

That's a bit scary.

Ishizaki Daichi did not participate in any matches today. The only match he played resulted in Class 2-A automatically forfeiting due to the absence of a participant, thanks to Ryuen Kakeru's prior arrangements.

Therefore, he should be considered the main player in Class 1-B with the best physical condition.

Kito Hayato participated in both wrestling and soccer, and his stamina had not fully recovered. In addition, running is not his forte. As a result, the slight distance between the two was gradually closing.

Ishizaki Daichi ran like his life depended on it. As an ordinary student in Class 1-B who was closest to Ryuen Kakeru and Kitagawa Ryo, he knew very well where the changes in Class B this semester came from.

In fact, throughout the past semester, most of the students in Class B only needed to follow the decisions and actions of the two individuals, or even not take any action at all, such as during the Uninhabited Island Exam, to easily accumulate Class Points and Private Points.

This Sports Festival should be one of the few places where they can play their part.

In fact, Class 1-B submitted a group project called "[Pole Reversing]", which is a project that relies on the whole class, but so far we haven't drawn it.

Swinging his arms vigorously, Ishizaki Daichi didn't care about physical strength; all he had to do now was run the 400 meters as fast as he could.

Yamada secured a point for Class 1-B from Class 2-A, so he certainly wouldn't want to fall behind.

With this mindset, Ishizaki Daichi ran even better than he usually did in training, not only preventing Kito Hayato from pulling further ahead, but almost erasing the previous slight gap between the two.

"Then!"

Because they hadn't coordinated beforehand, Ishizaki Daichi could only shout as he passed the baton to Kanzaki Ryuji.

Fortunately Kanzaki Ryuji reacted quickly and caught the baton steadily.

He started running almost simultaneously with Hirata Yosuke.

"Ha ha."

Ishizaki Daichi looked at Ryuen Kakeru, who was lying on the lawn beside him, and forced a smile.

"There's still no chance."

Hashimoto Masayoshi was also resting there, scoffed at the interaction between the two.

"Shibata and Kanzaki are definitely no match for Hirata and Ayanokoji, especially since Ayanokoji was the last one to leave the batter."

After the morning's Sports Festival, no one could ignore Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who suddenly appeared in Class 1-D and ran incredibly fast.

Class 1-D placed him as the last batter, treating him as an insurance policy for victory.

"That constant whining is so annoying."

Ryuen Kakeru seemed to have rested enough, and he sprang to his feet on the lawn:

"Ishizaki, let's go."

"It seems you, Ryuen, are unwilling to see your class lose."

Hashimoto Masayoshi retorted without hesitation, which could be seen as a response to Ryuen Kakeru's words before the race started.

However, Ryuen Kakeru seemed completely uninterested in paying attention to them, and left the venue with Ishizaki Daichi first. But instead of returning to the Class 1-B audience seats, he found a corner in the venue and sat down cross-legged.

Hirata Yosuke, the third runner, was evenly matched with Kanzaki Ryuji due to stamina issues. However, it was clear to everyone that Class 1-B was increasingly likely to lose. After all, if they started on equal footing, Shibata Sō, who was in the last position, had no chance of beating Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Brother Ryuen."

Even someone as slow-witted as Ishizaki Daichi could see the situation. He looked with some concern at Ryuen Kakeru seemed equally downcast and had his head bowed.

"We won."

But at this moment, Ryuen Kakeru raised his head, his lips slightly upturned, though the expression on his face at that moment looked somewhat ferocious.

"Ah?"

Ishizaki Daichi exclaimed in confusion, and for a moment he even wondered if Ryuen was hallucinating because he was unwilling to accept the reality of failure.

Ryuen Kakeru showed no intention of explaining at this moment; instead, he turned his gaze to the playground.

Kitagawa Ryo was right about one thing: he did indeed always consider Class 1-D as his hypothetical enemy.

Just like Karuizawa Kei's operation plan in Class 1-D included both Class 1-B and Class 2-A.