I've Never Enjoyed a Three-Legged Race

As the student with the most girlfriends and ambiguous relationships in the entire Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, Miyabi Nagumo 'Kitagawa Ryo affairs had long been known among the upperclassmen. Kiryuin Fuka naturally knew about this, which is why she made such a teasing remark.

Everyone's watching.

Kitagawa Ryo was already used to such teasing, so he answered in the same way without batting an eye, but he still took the initiative to change the subject:

"Kiryuin has already secured several first-place finishes, while I've achieved four consecutive victories. Don't let me leave you behind too soon!"

"Heh, the second-grade events are a bit slower than your First Year events. Right now, we've only got three wins in a row: the 100 meters, the hurdles, and just now we won the obstacle course. We lost the tug-of-war, but there's nothing we can do about it."

At this point, Kiryuin Fuka casually sat down next to Kitagawa Ryo, and said with a helpless tone:

"It's impossible for me to beat more than a dozen people by myself. Some students in my class simply didn't intend to win. That was true for the 100-meter dash, the hurdles, and the obstacle course just now. There was even one student who kept following me and calling my name, trying to trick me into turning around and getting distracted."

"Is that so? But didn't Nagumo consider that if he targets his senior like this, even if he wins in the end, people will say it's an unfair victory?"

"Nagumo shouldn't have anything to do with this. Although he does have some personality issues, he wouldn't be this blatant. If you ask me, it's probably half of the work done by Nagumo's female fans. If it were the guys, there probably wouldn't be so much trouble."

Kiryuin Fuka crossed her legs, her well-toned calves outlined in tight-fitting sports pants, showcasing a strong and powerful curve that perfectly embodied the phrase "tall and long-legged."

"As for the other half of the reason, it's undoubtedly Kiriyama's own idea. He might be deceiving both sides at the same time, just like before. I don't know what the point is. He's Indecisive."

Although Kiryuin Fuka's words were rather vague, Kitagawa Ryo understood her meaning perfectly. After all, Kiriyama's little tricks were within their expectations from the beginning. Just as Kiryuin had just summarized, the Student Council vice president was still wavering between completely Nagumo and wanting to bring Nagumo down.

As far as Kitagawa Ryo knew, the vice president of Kiriyama had already secretly contacted those students who were dissatisfied with Nagumo's rule over the second-year students, instructing them to impersonate Nagumo's side and target Kiryuin Fuka in various ways during the Sports Festival. If something went wrong, it would be said that Nagumo was behind it; if nothing went wrong, it would be said that even if Nagumo won, it would be an unfair victory, and it would always damage the other side's reputation.

"However, this was all a scenario I had anticipated. After all, it was already considered excessive. As long as I can win first place in all the individual events, and Nagumo fails to win the last mixed relay race for the entire grade, my score will still be higher than his."

After venting all her negative emotions, Kiryuin Fuka looked much more relaxed. She casually swung her arm and gestured with her chin towards Miyabi Nagumo, who was competing in an obstacle course in the distance.

"He didn't sign up for all the projects like you did, Kitagawa. It seems he's determined to save his energy for this last project."

No matter how much the other students were asked to go easy on her, participating in sports competitions still required physical exertion. Besides, in front of the entire school, Miyabi Nagumo couldn't possibly just stroll leisurely through those track and field events. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to retaliate if someone from another grade told her, "Student Council President Miyabi Nagumo achieved an outstanding result of three minutes in the 400-meter race at the second-year Sports Festival."

Therefore, Miyabi Nagumo, who cares a lot about her image, not only has to win, but she has to win beautifully.

Under these circumstances, the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races that required a huge amount of physical exertion were naturally put aside by Miyabi Nagumo. After all, no matter how good his physique was, he really couldn't run all day to compete against the top First Year- and third-year students at the end of the Sports Festival and guarantee victory. Besides, that was the competition he valued the most.

However, Kiryuin Fuka obviously didn't have this burden. After all, just like the tug-of-war that had just ended, the last relay race for Class 2-B couldn't be saved by her alone. So she simply signed up for all the individual events before that.

"Everyone has their own considerations. After all, Kiryuin, you need to win first place in all the individual events first."

Although he was talking to Kiryuin Fuka next to him, Kitagawa Ryo's gaze remained fixed on the situation in the arena the entire time, as if he was trying to find out something.

Following Kitagawa Ryo's gaze, Kiryuin Fuka glanced at the Cavalry Battle arena ahead. She didn't really know these First Year girls, but suddenly spoke up in a playful tone:

"Speaking of which, before the betting channel officially closed yesterday, it seems that more than three million Private Points were deposited into the total prize pool for this project. About one and a half million were bet on the Red Team's victory, and another one and a half million were bet on the White Team."

"Well, it seems that the first 1.5 million was most likely bets placed by the girl from Class C who lost, but the second 1.5 million is uncertain."

Kitagawa Ryo's gaze kept shifting between Ichinose Honami, Karuizawa Kei, Sakayanagi Arisu, and Amasawa Ichika in the arena. After these few minutes of entanglement, all the groups in Class 1-C except for Shiina Hiyori had been eliminated from the arena. The remaining members of the White Team were the three groups from Class B and Shiina Hiyori's group. The Red Team of the AD Alliance still had six groups left.

The only group eliminated from Class 1-B was the group with Horikita Suzune as the rider. After all, the four members of their group didn't get along very well, so their teamwork wasn't exactly smooth. Plus, they were interfered with by Kitagawa Ryo, so it seemed like there was really nothing they could do.

However, considering that the next event is a mixed-gender three-legged race, Suzune was one of the first to prepare.

Among the remaining groups, the situation of Ichinose Honami and Sakura Airi's group didn't seem too optimistic either. The three horses beneath them were already panting heavily, constantly adjusting the riders' postures with their hands, looking like they were at their last gasp.

Because everyone's physical strength had reached its limit, everyone was desperately squeezing out the last bit of strength from their bodies, wanting to end the game in one fell swoop.

After eliminating Kushida Kikyo's team first, Amasawa Ichika Sakayanagi Arisu desperately switched three more teams. In the end, Chiaki Matsushita Chiaki her footing and the whole formation tilted to the right. She was ambushed by Kamuro Masumi from Class D and reluctantly withdrew from the competition.

Then, Kamuro Masumi took off Shiina Hiyori's headband from behind, who was still fighting Karuizawa Kei, while Karuizawa Kei's headband was taken off by Sakura Airi, who had defeated her opponent and was flanking from the side.

However, before the students supporting the White Team could cheer, Sakura Airi's team, whose stamina had reached its limit, was forced to stop after only a few steps. The three girls acting as horses announced their surrender while panting, and in the blink of an eye, only Kamuro Masumi's team and Ichinose Honami's team remained on the field.

With things having come to this point, the two groups of people collided head-on without any rhyme or reason, and the two riders seized the opportunity to reach out their hands towards each other's heads.

Standing on the sidelines taking a break, Karuizawa Kei clearly saw Ichinose Honami's hand reach for Kamuro Masumi's headscarf first. She hadn't placed any bets in this match; the 1.5 million points in the Red Team and the 1.5 million Private Points in the White Team were irrelevant to her, so she was quite relaxed, only secretly thinking that the White Team should win.

But the next second, it was Ichinose Honami's headscarf that was removed.

This also signifies that the Red Team has won the final victory in the women's Cavalry Battle event.

However, some students in Class 1-D turned pale and became short of breath upon hearing this result. They were the ones who had secretly kept the points after receiving the loan from Miyabi Nagumo and had not handed them over to Katsuragi Kohei. In this project, they had bet on the White Team, who were the opposing side, to win.

At first, everyone didn't bet much, but then suddenly someone placed Private Points bet of over a million points on the Red Team's victory, and everyone got carried away and increased their bets.

Just as the second-year students were overly confident that Miyabi Nagumo wouldn't lose, Class 1-D had no doubt about Amasawa Ichika's strength in the girls' group. In fact, that was indeed the case; with her hard work, the final situation on the field should have been a perfect two-on-one situation for the White Team.

But who could have imagined that Sakura Airi's group would withdraw from the competition so easily, Ichinose Honami would have her headband removed so easily, turning the favorable situation upside down in an instant.

"I'm so sorry, everyone, thank you for your hard work. I really apologize for my mistake."

Ichinose Honami, looking exhausted, dismounted from the girls' backs. Then, she mustered her strength to comfort the other groups of girls one by one. This made the girls in Class B, who were also somewhat disappointed by the reversal, unable to utter any words of blame. The three girls from Sakura Airi's group who were acting as horses kept apologizing, saying that if they had just held on a little longer, they might have won.

Although the situation calmed down, Kitagawa Ryo, who was observing from the nearby stands, still sensed something was off.

It seems that the 1.5 million Private Points bet on the Red Team were not entirely the work of the Class C students.

Kitagawa Ryo watched as Ichinose Honami smiled and offered words of encouragement to the other girls not far away, while tidying her slightly disheveled pink-gold hair, which had become a little messy because of this project, and finally pinned it back with the Ichinose Honami he had given her. He made this judgment in his heart.

Chapter 303: I've never felt happy about a three-legged race (4k5)

Without a moment's mourning for the White Team girls' defeat in the Cavalry Battle event, the Men's Team immediately rushed to the Cavalry Battle.

The boys in Class 1-B could only form four teams, just like the girls. The two extra spots that weren't needed were given to two boys in the class who were less athletic. In the end, the four riders selected, apart from Kitagawa Ryo, were all boys in the class who were relatively small and agile.

Ken Sudō, Yamada Albert, and others were quite self-aware and volunteered to be the horses, since very few boys could carry them as riders. Therefore, in the end, they joined forces with Miyake Akito, who was close to them and had good physical fitness, and Kitagawa Ryo to form the Galactic Battleship of Class B.

Compared to the girls' group, which was so relaxed that it was almost indistinguishable from a fixed match, the boys' group of Class C, thanks to Ryuen Kakeru's personal presence, did not dare to openly rebel against the Heavenly Gang. After joining forces with Class B, they went straight to face the Red Team of the AD Alliance.

But a few minutes before the match officially started, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the players from Class D.

Because Class B and Class D have always trained together, they have practiced team activities such as Cavalry Battle many times, so both classes are very clear about each other's personnel configuration.

There are 21 boys in Class 1-D, so they can form five groups with one extra person. The one who was squeezed out is naturally Totsuka Yahiko was scapegoated on the Uninhabited Island with the spy and the mole. But now, he is seen warming up on the field, looking ready to go on the field.

"Wait, where's Sanada? How did he turn into Totsuka?"

Ken Sudō, who was standing next to him, also saw Totsuka Yahiko. After scanning around, he immediately confirmed that the person missing was Sanada Kō from Class D.

"I heard that he was injured during the Bo-taoshi just now, and he can't participate in any of the subsequent matches, including this one. According to the rules of Cavalry Battle, it seems that the extra Totsuka should play, otherwise they should just give up on the group."

Miyake Akito, being more well-informed, quickly explained the situation, then smiled with relief.

"But this is also a good thing for our White Team. After all, Totsuka has never participated in Cavalry Battle training. He's just filling in as a rider. We can just charge at him in a bit."

"Too."

Seeing that Miyake Akito's words made sense, the group didn't pay too much attention to this little incident. They quickly set up their formation as they usually did during training, adjusting their posture to a state where three people could bear the weight at the same time, thus conserving their energy. Then, at the referee's whistle, they charged at full speed toward Class D's camp.

Although the game of Cavalry Battle seems to give the rider the initiative, since only he has the right to reach out and remove other people's headscarves to score points, in reality, when the horse's strength becomes so terrifying that it almost crushes the opponent, it turns into a situation where the rider only needs to passively collect points.

Ken Sudō and Yamada Albert's explosive power is undeniable. Right from the start of the match, they directly overpowered a group of riders from Class D, causing them to lose their balance. Kitagawa Ryo easily snatched the headband from the unsteady rider.

However, the riders in the Red Team quickly spotted the weakness of Kitagawa Ryo's team, with Miyake Akito on the left wing being slightly weaker. They quickly seized on this weakness and began to relentlessly attack. The constant collisions made Miyake Akito dizzy and unable to hold on, forcing Kitagawa Ryo to shift his focus and main attack direction to Ken Sudō Ryo seized another opportunity to remove the headband of the rider from Class D, reducing the pressure on Miyake Akito's team as much as possible.

If it were simply a match between Class B and Class D, at this pace, the final result would still be the same as in regular training, with the former emerging victorious.

However, this was a two-on-two event, and in terms of teammates, the students in Class C were inferior to those in Class A in both individual ability and teamwork, and were almost a disorganized bunch fighting their own battles.

In a sense, this can be seen as a lingering effect of the selection process before Kitagawa Ryo enrolled, since he had taken Yamada Albert, who originally belonged to Class C, into his own class, and now the physical education students in Class C are indeed not strong enough.

"Ryuen, you two deal with Class D!"

In this situation, Kitagawa Ryo decisively switched opponents, giving the already weakened Class D students to Class C, while he himself led the other Class B students to actively confront Class A.

"Good."

Ryuen Kakeru knew that if things continued like this, before Class B could defeat Class D, all the lousy guys in his class would be wiped out by Class A. So he quickly agreed and had Ishizaki Daichi turn around and head straight for Totsuka Yahiko's group.

As everyone knows, no matter how pathetic Ryuen Kakeru's situation was, his mouth was still as foul as ever. He immediately launched into a few sarcastic remarks at Totsuka Yahiko, which quickly angered Totsuka Yahiko was already in a bad mood. As if he had lost his mind, Totsuka Yahiko ordered his three classmates to rush forward, only to be easily outmaneuvered and have their headscarves snatched away by Ryuen Kakeru.

After Totsuka Yahiko left, Katsuragi Kohei had just dealt with a group of Class C members, rushed over without stopping.

Although Katsuragi Kohei should have been the horse based on his physique, perhaps because it would be unsightly for him to ride on the head of the class Leader, he was ultimately made the rider. Like Kitagawa Ryo, he was also ridden by an elite team consisting of Hirata Yosuke, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Hashimoto Masayoshi.

Taking advantage of the moment when the attack was abrupt, and just as Ryuen Kakeru had removed Totsuka Yahiko's headscarf, Katsuragi Kohei reached out and grabbed Ryuen Kakeru's headscarf, which had finally given in, with some difficulty. Then he frantically tried to pull the headscarf off by twisting his fingertips.

"Ugh... Ugh!"

But the next second, Katsuragi Kohei let out a sound of resentment. Ryuen Kakeru's headscarf slipped between his fingers and finally slipped out of his hand.

"What are you doing, Katsuragi! I can't take it anymore!"

Seeing Katsuragi Kohei fail, Hashimoto Masayoshi also complained a bit. In the close combat just now, he was thoroughly outmaneuvered by Ishizaki Daichi, who was riding Ryuen Kakeru's horse. After all, Ishizaki Daichi had seen his little tricks on Ryuen Sho during the Ryuen Kakeru -Bo-taoshi and naturally wanted to take the opportunity to retaliate.

"Sorry... my hand slipped!"

"Ha, all you can do is sneak attacks?"

When Katsuragi Kohei's first attack failed, Ryuen Kakeru immediately launched into a berserk taunting mode, throwing out all sorts of provocative remarks as if they were free. But every time Katsuragi Kohei rushed over again to try to snatch his headscarf, Ryuen Sho always managed to nimbly dodge. Even when he finally managed to grab the edge of the headscarf, he couldn't pull it off no matter how hard he tried.

After several rounds, Hashimoto Masayoshi, the weakest of the three who served as horses, began to tremble slightly in the knees and was panting heavily with sweat on his face.

"Katsuragi, this can't go on. There are other projects."

Although Hirata Yosuke can hold on for now, as he said, the rounds of the Sports Festival come one after another, and if he continues to drag this out, it will definitely affect the later matches.

"Okay, let's try one last time. If it doesn't work, then forget it."

Upon hearing this, Katsuragi Kohei took several deep breaths, rubbed his palms together, and tried his best to focus his attention on Ryuen Kakeru's headscarf, but unconsciously shouted out again.

"Ayanokoji, please!"

After saying this, Katsuragi Kohei did not choose to continue attacking Hirata Yosuke's right flank as the main direction. Instead, he had Ayanokoji Kiyotaka use a sideways iron lean to knock down Komiya Yogo, who was under Ryuen Kakeru. Taking advantage of this golden opportunity, he once again reached out his hand:

"No problem!"

As Katsuragi Kohei excitedly uttered his words, his outstretched arm once again successfully grasped Ryuen Kakeru's headscarf, but before he could react, the headscarf slipped out of his hand again.

"Varied--!"

Because of a momentary lapse in judgment and a complacency stemming from a belief that victory was assured, Katsuragi Kohei's posture also became completely unguarded. Ryuen Kakeru seized this opportunity, grabbing Katsuragi Kohei's headscarf for the first time, and then forcefully pulling it off Katsuragi Kohei's shiny bald head.

As Katsuragi Kohei's bandana was raised high as a trophy by Ryuen Kakeru, the referee, noticing this, simultaneously issued a warning, demanding that his team immediately leave the field.

"What a pity."

After leaving behind that mocking remark, Ryuen Kakeru stopped looking at Katsuragi Kohei and his group, immediately turned around, and went to help Kitagawa Ryo without hesitation.

Although it was called helping, Kitagawa Ryo had actually led the other students in Class B to handle Class A's group quite well. Their training with Class D was indeed very effective. Most of the students had made progress in the month or so before the Sports Festival, and their overall quality had improved considerably compared to when they entered school, which made Kitagawa Ryo quite gratified.

Thus, unlike the girls' team's fierce battle that went down to the final one-on-one, after exchanging opponents, the White Team defeated the Red Team with relative ease, thus redeeming themselves from the girls' Matoba.

Temporarily ignoring the fact that after winning the match, Ryuen Kakeru Kitagawa Ryo just finished high-fiving with the other classmates when Horikita Suzune, who had been waiting there early because she was eliminated quickly, took his hand and pulled him over.

After all, the next event is a mixed-gender three-legged race.

Understanding this, Kitagawa Ryo was led to the competition area by Horikita Suzune. Without saying a word, she took the leg binding straps from the referee next to her and squatted down next to Kitagawa Ryo like a little quail, concentrating on tying the straps and knotting them.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy about losing the Cavalry Battle just now?"

Seeing Horikita Suzune pursing her lips and looking somewhat worried, Kitagawa Ryo also squatted down, their heads touching, shoulders touching, and legs touching as Suzune whispered something to each other.

"Yeah, a little. If I had coordinated better with the others back then, the White Team probably wouldn't have lost."

Horikita Suzune nodded. Her performance in the individual event was indeed outstanding, which made the loss in the Cavalry Battle all the more regrettable.

Although she and Sakayanagi Arisu were always teased for being completely unsocial, Sakayanagi Arisu Matsushita Chiaki as a friend in the class, who could be considered a good friend. Horikita Suzune's social circle, apart from Kitagawa Ryo's and the Student Council's, seemed to only consist of Ibuki Mio, whom she had only recently become somewhat familiar with because of their conversation about cooking.

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't surprised by Horikita Suzune's current predicament. After all, he had always been clear about one fact: the four girls who had gone through the simulation were not going to be perfect people forever.

People encounter difficulties and troubles in this world. Overcoming past weaknesses doesn't mean these girls won't develop new ones. This is true of the underhanded competition between Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami over Private Points at this Sports Festival, as is true of Sakayanagi Arisu who wants to train her body to a normal level, and now it's true of Horikita Suzune.

"The Cultural Festival is next month, and there will definitely be many Matoba and opportunities for teamwork among the class members. If Suzune wants to make a change, she can try using this as an opportunity."

After giving Horikita Suzune this suggestion, Kitagawa Ryo patted Suzune's shoulder encouragingly. Since the ties between their legs were already tied, they stood up together and wiggled their tied legs back and forth to get used to it.

Meanwhile, students from other classes participating in the project gradually gathered around. Kitagawa Ryo glanced over and saw that the other three groups in their group were Kanzaki Ryuji & Shibata Sō from Class A, Ishizaki Daichi & Komiya Yogo from Class C, and Morishita Ai & Kamuro Masumi from Class D.

Although the project states that it allows mixed genders, it seems that apart from him and Horikita Suzune, all the other partners are of the same sex.

This is understandable, since there is likely to be a height difference between boys and girls, and their centers of gravity are naturally different. This means that it will take a lot of time for the two to cooperate and get along, and it may even be counterproductive.

Then, even if you find a boy and a girl of similar height, it will feel quite awkward if they are not close enough. The three-legged race is inherently a rather ambiguous and romantic sport, and there will inevitably be physical contact between the two people. If you feel uncomfortable about this, it will be impossible to cooperate.

Whenever students simplistically think that it's enough to just let couples with good relationships participate, the upperclassmen will tell them about a couple from a previous year who lost a three-legged race due to a lack of teamwork. As a result, they argued, and the conversation quickly veered towards how their zodiac signs were incompatible and their compatibility was really bad. In the end, the girl said, "I've had enough, let's break up," which ended their legendary relationship.

It is precisely for this reason that many upperclassmen are quite interested in the pairing of Kitagawa Ryo and Horikita Suzune. In addition, some students have posted that they saw the two kissing while practicing on the playground. The attention this event has received is not low, and the Private Points invested have exceeded one million.

Karuizawa Kei sat in the stands, resting her chin on her hand, watching Kitagawa Ryo and Horikita Suzune warm up near the starting line. The last time she saw a similar scene, Kitagawa was accompanied by Shiina Hiyori, and her partner was Horikita Suzune.

At that time, Kitagawa Ryo was in Class C, and she was in Class D.

At this time, Kitagawa Ryo was in Class D, and she went to Class B.

Thinking of this, Karuizawa Kei also lowered her eyes.