Bigger Is Obviously Even Better

"Students who have successfully registered for the boys' [Beach Flag Capture] competition, please assemble here."

After Kitagawa Ryo registered, the teacher in charge blew his whistle, calling over all the boys nearby.

Only then did Kitagawa Ryo have time to observe the students. Because of the participation prize, almost half of the boys were there for the 500ml of drinking water. After all, Ken Sudō had dragged Yukimura Teruhiko along, and his small frame looked even thinner next to Yamada. However, Sudo Group didn't expect him to make it into the top three.

Aside from the half of the boys who were just there to make up the numbers, the only ones who could truly threaten Kitagawa Ryo in this project seemed to be Sudo and Yamada from his own class, Shibata from Class B, Kito from Class A, and Ryuen Kakeru from Class C.

Kitagawa Ryo turned his gaze to Ryuen Kakeru. There were only three groups of individuals in this Uninhabited Island Special Exam: Karuizawa Kei's group, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's group, and the remaining group was Ryuen Kakeru.

Ryuen Kakeru seemed to notice Kitagawa Ryo's gaze as well, and smiled at him, revealing his gleaming white teeth. He then raised his eyebrows provocatively, clearly not in a friendly manner.

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't pay much attention to these things. Although he had tried to cover them up, he still noticed that the other person had various abrasions on his calves and arms. Even though the Uninhabited Island was indeed densely wooded and the path was rugged, the other person still had too many injuries. After all, it was only the second day of the exam.

"This [Beach Flag Capture Showdown] challenge will use a lottery system. Each participant will randomly draw their opponent for the current round, and the winner will advance to the next round, until the top three are determined."

The rules were quite simple and straightforward. Although there was a possibility of being eliminated right away due to drawing a strong opponent, it also meant that if you were lucky, you might be able to survive to the top three. And even if you were not lucky, you would still have a participation prize. Therefore, the boys had no objections and went forward one by one to draw lots from the teacher in charge.

After drawing lots, it was time to change clothes. The participating students were quick to do so, since they only needed to take them off and not put them back on. Soon, a large group of boys wearing swim trunks gathered on this side of the beach, swinging their arms and legs to warm up for the competition.

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at his draw number; he was the third to appear in this round, and he didn't yet know who his opponent was.

Ken Sudō from Class 1-D drew the first spot in the first round, and his opponent was a boy from Class A.

Sudo's athletic ability is among the best in his grade. The moment the referee blew the whistle, he reacted first and pounced. When his opponent had only run half the distance, Ken Sudō had already grabbed the flag in the middle of the beach.

Reaction speed and explosive power are the two abilities that are most tested in Beach Flag Capture, which was originally designed as a training program for lifeguards.

The boys were fast, and it was soon Kitagawa Ryo's turn. Kitagawa Ryo's opponent was a boy from Class B, whose physical abilities were average, so he won relatively easily.

After the first round, only ten boys remained on the field; most of the students who were just there to participate had been eliminated.

Kitagawa Ryo's luck was still good in the second round. He drew a boy from Class A who had won the previous round but had suffered leg cramps due to strenuous exercise. He easily won again and advanced to the next round.

In this round, Kito Hayato, the best in Class 1-A, clashed with Shibata from Class B. Although Kito was slightly better in terms of physical ability, Shibata was, after all, a formal member of the school's soccer club, and his short-distance sprinting ability was stronger. In the end, he won the flag by a hair's breadth and advanced into the top five.

Ryuen Kakeru Sho was quite unlucky to draw Yamada Albert. If it weren't for Kitagawa Ryo's interference, Yamada should have been assigned to Class C, but now he's become a sports star in Class D. Kitagawa Ryo watched the duel with great interest. Ryuen Kakeru's explosive power was really good. He even took the lead at the start, but unfortunately, he lost in the end because his arm length was slightly inferior.

However, he didn't show any disappointment or resentment. Without any hesitation, he received the 500ml drinking water as a participation prize from the teacher in charge, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left the area without looking back.

After briefly considering Ryuen Kakeru's plan, Kitagawa Ryo looked up again. The second round of the boys' group had already ended, and the top five were Kitagawa Ryo, Shibata Sō, Yamada Albert, Ken Sudō, and Miyake Akito.

It's unusual that Class 1-D has four spots, and three of them are from the same group.

Ken Sudō finally found an opportunity to come up and greet Kitagawa Ryo:

"I'm so lucky, I haven't drawn you yet."

"You'll have to draw one eventually. How's your group doing?"

"If we could come across a few more sports-related topics today that have no limit on the number of participants, we should be able to get points and rewards all at once."

Ken Sudō scratched the back of his head; he was well aware of the advantages of his team members.

Due to time constraints, the two didn't have much time to chat before the third round of the competition began.

Among the five, Miyake Akito had the worst physical strength, was quite lucky to draw a bye and directly entered the top three.

The remaining two matchups are Ken Sudō vs. Yamada, Kitagawa Ryo vs. Shibata.

"Thank you for taking care of our class monitor last night."

As Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward, he suddenly heard Shibata, who had a sunny disposition, say something like that.

"It's what I should do."

After nodding and exchanging a brief greeting, Kitagawa Ryo and Shibata Sō arrived at the starting point together.

After a slightly sharp whistle, to Shibata's bewildered and shocked gaze, Kitagawa Ryo unleashed an even more astonishing speed than in the previous two rounds, quickly widening the gap and taking the flag.

"You have really good core strength."

Although he was only a little short of the top three, Shibata did not show any discouragement. Instead, he sincerely praised Shibata:

"Your explosive power and endurance are unmatched in the entire grade."

"Thanks."

Kitagawa Ryo expressed his gratitude while letting out a barely perceptible sigh. After all, having made such a grand vow, he naturally needed to improve his core strength.

Meanwhile, Ken Sudō also won easily. To allow Sudo to conserve more energy in the final round, Yamada even deliberately lost, since they were in the same group.

Because the top three teams needed to be determined, the final round of Beach Flag Capture was a double-elimination game.

After failing to defeat Takeru Sudo Ken Sudō, Miyake Akito had a bye, faced Kitagawa Ryo.

"I'll go slower later. Sudo told you to save your energy for a peak showdown with him."

Before the match started, Miyake Akito gave Kitagawa Ryo a heads-up. After all, they were classmates in Class 1-D and had already taken the top three spots, so his tone was quite relaxed.

Kitagawa Ryo then easily defeated Miyake, successfully advancing to the finals to face Ken Sudō.

"If you want to take first place, defeat me first!"

Ken Sudō seemed quite looking forward to his duel with Kitagawa Ryo, patting his chest and making a rather chuunibyou-esque and passionate statement.

"Let's go then!"

Kitagawa Ryo's own emotions were also affected by the other person's, and he also raised his voice to give a loud response.

The teacher in charge quickly fired the signal gun, and the two men stood up almost simultaneously the instant the gunshot echoed across the beach.

Judging from their initial reaction speed alone, Kitagawa Ryo and Ken Sudō seemed evenly matched at the start, but that was the end of their evenly matched situation.

Kitagawa Ryo was far superior in terms of the initial step after getting up and the power of his footwork in pushing off the sand. Almost instantly, he lightly jumped into the sand and successfully captured the flag.

Ken Sudō, who won all the way to the finals but was swept aside by Kitagawa Ryo, was undoubtedly the one who felt the gap in strength the most on the court. The gap was so large that he didn't even have time to feel resentful and could only stand there dumbfounded and smile bitterly.

"I'm going to check on the girls' situation. What do you guys think?"

After taking first place, Kitagawa Ryo glanced at his watch to confirm that the reward points had been reached, then looked up again and asked Ken Sudō.

We'll be going now.

Before Ken Sudō could react, Yukimura, who had been eliminated in the first round, stuffed his prize of drinking water into his bag and answered first:

"We need to hurry up and move on to the next project."

After all, Ken Sudō's group was all boys, so there was no need for him to stay.

After waving goodbye to Ken Sudō's group, Kitagawa Ryo quickly returned to the makeshift changing room and put his clothes back on.

If you go there wearing only swim trunks, and some kind of blunder like in a light novel or romantic comedy happens, the Beach Flag Capture might turn into a beach flag raising.

So it's better to play it safe.

Although the school provided students with several different styles of swimsuits to choose from for the Beach Flag Capture activity, most of the girls changed into their own swimsuits.

After all, everyone was looking forward to a wonderful beach vacation before summer vacation, and they had carefully selected their new swimsuits for a long time. Although the vacation ended up turning into a survival trip on a deserted island, now that they finally have the opportunity, they naturally want to wear them.

To be honest, Sakayanagi Arisu a somewhat awkward position right now.

Even without comparing herself to the girls in the locker room, she could clearly recognize a certain sad reality.

Sakayanagi Arisu bought her swimsuit herself, choosing a cute style on the advice of the shop assistant.

But she only realized it now.

There's no such thing as a cute or sexy style in swimsuits; it all depends on who's wearing it.

Sakayanagi Arisu was quite certain that the swimsuit she was wearing, which the shop assistant had confidently claimed was the trendiest cute swimsuit of the year, would probably become the trendiest sexy swimsuit of the year if Ichinose Honami, who was standing next to her, wore it.

Ichinose Honami didn't notice Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze. Rather, she was already quite used to the attention from other girls in the changing room, and calmly changed into her swimsuit, which wasn't very revealing but had a strangely suggestive feel.

The delicate straps on the side of the swimsuit gently peeked into her fair skin, perfectly accentuating the girl's figure.

So Sakayanagi Arisu silently looked away, only to bump into Horikita Suzune on the other side.

The black-haired girl had already changed into her swimsuit. Holding a hair tie in her mouth, she slowly raised her arms and gently tied her hair into a simple bun behind her head—this would make it easier for her to move around in the next task.

Horikita Suzune was in a very good mood, after all, in this changing room, only her swimsuit was special, unlike Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu, it was bought for her by Kitagawa Ryo himself.

With one hand holding her hair up, Horikita Suzune took the hair tie she was holding in her mouth with the other and began to tie a simple high ponytail. With this movement, her swimsuit drew a perfect semi-circle in front of her chest, showing off her beautiful bust shape and size. Two graceful V-lines were also visible on her sides, proving that the girl had a very healthy lifestyle.

So Sakayanagi Arisu looked away again.

Although she has always considered herself to be the child of excellent parents and possessing excellent genes, she couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable at this moment.

Sakayanagi Arisu her eyes and could immediately see the two thin tulle skirts covering her lower body. She was wearing a light blue swimsuit that resembled a dress. According to the shop assistant's euphemistic explanation, the double-layered tulle skirt design of this style could give people a hazy and elusive beauty.

The kind of talk that completely avoids mentioning the upper body.

However, after a brief period of melancholy, Sakayanagi Arisu actively adjusted her mindset.

She probably hasn't worn a swimsuit in almost ten years.

Therefore, this was a rather novel experience.

Thinking of this, Sakayanagi Arisu also twirled around lightly, only to bump into Ichinose Honami had just changed into her swimsuit and was about to go out with her.

That's a foul!

"That's awful!" Sakayanagi Arisu glared at him with her beautiful eyes.

Chapter 145: Of course, a bigger one would be even better.

Similar to the rules for the men's Beach Flag Capture, the women's Beach Flag Capture also adopted a draw-based format. Kitagawa Ryo Sakayanagi Arisu was making her appearance.

Sakayanagi Arisu's hair wasn't long enough for Horikita Suzune and Ichinose Honami to need to be tied up for agility, so it was just like her usual hairstyle. Her silver-white hair and pinkish swimsuit gave her a perfect look, and her attention was easily drawn to the double-layered chiffon skirt flowing around her waist.

How should I put it? It gives off a feeling that makes me want to put a pink children's swimming ring on her.

However, Kitagawa Ryo naturally couldn't voice his true feelings; he simply waved to Sakayanagi Arisu to cheer her on.

From an objective physics perspective, the resistance that Sakayanagi Arisu up and pushing off the sand should be much less than that of her opponent, and she doesn't seem to have any trouble getting sand in.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was lost in thought, the competition finally began after the teacher in charge blew the whistle. Sakayanagi Arisu once again found herself in the awkward situation where her mind was ready but her body wasn't. However, it seemed that her opponent was also a girl who was focused on participation. The two of them were a beat slower than usual, and then they got up together and rushed towards the flag not far away.

The once turbulent sea was now relatively calm under the morning sun, reflecting a jewel-like blue hue.

White waves crashed against the rocks on the beach and then shattered.

Against this backdrop, Sakayanagi Arisu mustered all her strength, calculated the distance, and then pushed off with both feet towards the flag in front of her, trying to grab it directly.

But her opponent also jumped at the same time, but she perfectly utilized her height and arm length advantage, and won by a small margin in the final struggle. The edge of the flag brushed past Sakayanagi Arisu's fingertips and finally fell into her opponent's hands.

With another whistle from the teacher in charge, Sakayanagi Arisu's [Beach Flag Capture Showdown] came to an end.

It probably didn't take longer than she changed her swimsuit.

Although Sakayanagi Arisu was a little depressed after losing the match, she still ran over to Kitagawa Ryo and left a series of small footprints on the beach.

Upon closer inspection, Kitagawa Ryo noticed more details about Sakayanagi Arisu's swimsuit. Although it was a one-piece swimsuit similar to a dress, the abdomen was covered by a nearly transparent gauze, revealing her delicate navel, and below that were her ivory-white calves.

Of course, it's the ivory of a baby elephant.

"Is Liang's situation over?"

Sakayanagi Arisu was naturally unaware of Kitagawa Ryo's current thoughts. On the contrary, she felt that being eliminated first actually gave her time to be alone with him, so her tone rose slightly.

"Hmm, first place! I got 800 points and 2 liters of drinking water. I shouldn't have to worry about water today."

Kitagawa Ryo withdrew his gaze and nodded in reply.

After all, everyone in the [Beach Flag Capture] event receives a participation prize of 500ml of drinking water, plus the extra 2L of drinking water he already received. Even if Horikita Suzune and her group don't get good results, this amount of water should be enough to meet their group's needs for the whole day.

Moreover, today is just the beginning, and we'll be able to get drinking water from other projects later on, so we probably won't need to use points to exchange for drinking water like we did on our first day on the island yesterday.

The first two days of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam are probably the two days when the group spends the most points, because sometimes it is necessary to exchange for some survival necessities. This also makes the current group rankings not very stable and not very indicative of anything.

How's my swimsuit?

Sure enough, before they could even exchange two sentences, Sakayanagi Arisu steered the conversation to this topic.

She leaned forward slightly with her hands behind her back, and looked up at Kitagawa Ryo with an expectant expression, asking him a question.

If it were Ichinose Honami —no, Horikita Suzune would probably be enough— Kitagawa Ryo would probably have to look away if she were to do this pose. But now he can look directly into Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes without any hesitation.

This should also increase the credibility of the statement.

"I think it's a perfect fit for Arisu, giving off a refreshing and eye-catching vibe."

Fortunately, he had done his homework beforehand, and Kitagawa Ryo answered calmly:

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be one of the trendiest swimsuit styles this year. Just like what Sakamoto Yuji once wrote in 'Quartet,' the three ways to make people care about themselves are nothing more than becoming a cat, a tiger, or a dog getting soaked in the rain. This swimsuit perfectly embodies the cat aspect, which is mysticism."