The Sports Festival Comes to an End

"Aaaaaah! I don't care how big the advantage is, I just want to see Kitagawa cross the finish line in first place! Charge—charge your ass!"

"Nagumo, you're a complete idiot! Give me back my Private Points, I'm not playing anymore!"

Everyone's emotions exploded at this final moment, but the center of the storm seemed unaffected. The top three groups were too preoccupied to care about anything else, each of them gritting their teeth and accelerating relentlessly.

The last time Miyabi Nagumo ran at full speed was more than a year ago when he joined the Soccer Club of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School as a freshman and successfully led them to win the championship in the summer tournament that year. It was precisely because of such a brilliant record that the Soccer Club still welcomes him to this day.

Perhaps because of the 15 million, or perhaps because he had given up some projects and conserved his energy, Miyabi Nagumo felt that he was in better shape than before, and might even be able to run his fastest 400-meter record here.

But this momentary pleasure was immediately destroyed by Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. After entering the second half of the 200-meter stretch, the two on his left and right accelerated once again, leaving Miyabi Nagumo several body lengths behind in a few seconds, and imprinting their backs on his vision in a rather domineering manner.

The cheers and curses around them rose to a fever pitch. A large number of students, mainly second-year students who had already lost their temper, began to hurl even more rude and direct insults at Miyabi Nagumo, who had fallen behind.

If Miyabi Nagumo fails to reach first place, it means that their bets on both the second-year top scorer and the overall top scorer have gone down the drain.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh--"

Overwhelmed by this humiliation and the unthinkable consequences, Miyabi Nagumo's face contorted in rage as she forced out the last of her strength from her already exhausted legs.

As long as Kitagawa Ryo doesn't get first place.

But the next second, his foot slipped on something sliding from behind him, causing him to stumble and completely lose his last chance to catch up with the other person.

That's because they didn't interfere with others or get interfered with, so their progress is also good. Currently, they are in fourth place, Leader of Class 3-B Ishikura.

"Sorry, my hand slipped. Oh well, my palms are always sweaty. This just happens sometimes."

Ishikura simply responded with a grin. Although he Nagumo had been partners in the past, after this Sports Festival, he had found a better partner among the First Year students Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

In order to cooperate in the future, he must fulfill his promise to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Don't let anyone ruin my duel with Kitagawa Ryo from Class 1-B."

That's why he took the initiative to interrupt Miyabi Nagumo, who was pouncing like a Kitagawa Ryo from behind.

However, the surrounding audience had already stopped paying attention to their bickering. From the moment Miyabi Nagumo fell behind, most people's eyes were fixed on Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and their minds were quickly filled with a simple thought:

"So fast--"

The two players on the field are rapidly approaching the finish line at a speed that exceeds all the expectations of the audience, and the level they are displaying has visibly surpassed the scope of a high school Sports Festival.

"When it comes to the actual competition on the track, I might be even faster."

As it turns out, what Kitagawa Ryo said to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka during training was not just a consolation; the two of them were practically honing each other, constantly stimulating their physical functions through each other's presence.

In that instant, the whole world seemed to blur. All the noise and clamor around me disappeared. Only the fight with the man running beside me was the only thing that mattered about being alive, the very essence of being alive.

In fact, at the moment when he and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka took over the baton, Kitagawa Ryo heard the other say something to him.

"Run with all your might, we all do."

Although it was only for a short time, as his legs instinctively moved and he rushed out of the starting line, Kitagawa Ryo vaguely saw Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was also taking the baton, smile slightly, which made him subconsciously think, 'This guy can actually smile.'

However, Kitagawa Ryo's determination to win will not waver, especially since the other party did say "run at full speed".

It was almost like a replay of the first race of the first event at today's Sports Festival. This year's Sports Festival at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School began with the competition between Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in the 100-meter race, and ended with the two of them crossing the finish line almost simultaneously in the final event.

Even the result was the same as before. It was probably due to the slight advantage accumulated by the first three batters of Class 1-B. Kitagawa Ryo participated in all the events of the Sports Festival all day. Although he was not in his best condition in all aspects, he once again defeated Ayanokoji Kiyotaka by a millisecond after the 100-meter race in the morning, and achieved a perfect victory that is probably unprecedented and will probably never be repeated.

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't want to play this crazy game a second time. Since he entered Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, there was probably no other day that could compare to today's Sports Festival. After finishing the final event, Kitagawa Ryo simply lay down on the grass next to him, not wanting to move a single finger.

Although he was quickly surrounded by the students from Class 1-B who rushed over, Yamada Albert and Ken Sudō even joined forces to lift Kitagawa Ryo up, and with his blank expression of exhaustion, he had a subtle charm reminiscent of the Black Coffin Dance.

The noise was deafening, making Kitagawa Ryo feel dizzy. He eventually closed his eyes and imagined himself as a small boat drifting in a sea of people, being tossed up and down by the boys in his class as a celebration.

This was probably the most unforgettable Sports Festival ever held by the entire faculty and students of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, although most of the deep impressions came from the unprecedented prediction games organized by the school.

Some people were going crazy with joy, some were crying with Regret, but most people were just staring blankly at their phone screens, and no one even cared about the results of the red and white teams' competition, which the school had not yet announced, or the total scores of each grade and class.

Instead of worrying about the dozens or hundreds of Class Points, please send us the Private Points we guessed first; those are the real ones.

The school seemed to have noticed the students' thoughts, and just a few minutes later, after calculating and collecting the handling fees, the Private Points were transferred one after another into the personal accounts of the students who had guessed correctly, making many people smile with joy.

"Ding--Your bet on 'Who will be the top scorer in the entire grade' has been successfully placed, and you have received 12,098,625 Private Points."

A short while later, Ryuen Kakeru's phone also received a notification that his Private Points had been credited to his account. Of the 12 million, 5 million was the principal he had returned, and the remaining 7 million was the bonus he earned after deducting handling fees.

Even though he already had over twelve million Private Points, Ryuen Kakeru's expression remained somewhat somber. The reorganization of Class 1-C was now urgent, but how to minimize its harm to the class and how to maintain the class's stability as much as possible to participate in the Special Exam were the issues he needed to consider.

Just as Ryuen Kakeru was pondering his future strategy, a girl's voice suddenly came from behind him:

"Are you thinking about Class C's situation after the Sports Festival, Ryuen? I think I can help you."

The one who showed up was Matsushita Chiaki from Class 1-B, but Ryuen Kakeru knew very well that the other party was Sakayanagi Arisu's person, and that his appearance here was probably on Sakayanagi's orders. As for Sakayanagi Arisu, Ryuen Kakeru was still willing to give him face.

Tell me about it.

Matsushita Chiaki took a deep breath, and then repeated what Ichinose Honami had told Sakayanagi Arisu, and what Sakayanagi Arisu had relayed to her:

"I know you bet on Kitagawa from our class in the all-grade scoring champion prediction contest. Your initial bet was probably five million, and the final prize was a little over seven million. That means Ryuen now has over twelve million Private Points, right?"

"So what if it is?"

Ryuen Kakeru narrowed his eyes, but he wasn't surprised that Sakayanagi Arisu could see through his little scheme of four million back then.

"I want to make a deal with Ryuen."

Matsushita Chiaki calmly continued the negotiations, and then proposed a suggestion that even Ryuen Kakeru hadn't expected:

"The loan agreement, which involves some students from Class 1-C borrowing a total of 12 million Private Points from Nagumo, including principal and interest, is currently in our possession. If Ryuen is willing to pay us 12 million Private Points, in exchange, we can transfer the creditor's rights to this loan agreement to you, Ryuen."

"So, you'll be one of the most troublesome students in Class C..."

"The actual creditor."

"Uh, so now not only do Ichinose not have to return the 5.5 million Private Points to our class, but our Class D also has to return another 500,000 Private Points to you?"

Katsuragi Kohei stared at the loan agreement in black and white, feeling a chill run down his spine. He swallowed hard, and even the ever-gentle Ichinose Honami appeared somewhat terrifying to him.

What exactly did they do during this Sports Festival?

Why did half of the loan agreement between Class 1-D Miyabi Nagumo end up in her hands?

"Yes, that's right. It's great that Katsuragi understands. 500,000 points isn't a lot, and I hope your students can settle their accounts as soon as possible."

Ichinose Honami smiled and spoke, while simultaneously returning in full the five million points she had borrowed from her two homeroom teachers Hoshinomiya Chie and Chabashira Sae, thus successfully settling her debts.

"Okay, I'll send it to you first."

Seemingly having also profited handsomely from the betting, Katsuragi Kohei readily paid the 500,000 yen shortfall on behalf of his students after confirming the loan agreement.

"I have a celebration party for our class tonight, so I'll have to take my leave now."

"Okay, sure."

After saying goodbye to the still bewildered Katsuragi Kohei, Ichinose Honami Sakayanagi Arisu Ryuen Kakeru smoothly.

A few minutes later, with a notification from the school, a total of twelve million Private Points were transferred into her personal account.

This was obtained from Ryuen Kakeru.

In addition, there was the 5.5 million yen that he received from Katsuragi Kohei.

Then there's her own principal and the more than two million Private Points she earned through manipulating the women's Cavalry Battle project.

As if to confirm, Ichinose Honami opened her account balance page once again.

The first digit of that eight-digit number has finally changed to a reassuring two.

Ichinose Honami turned off the screen again, and the completely black phone display clearly reflected the relieved smile on her face.

That way... I can finally keep you here.

Cold.

Chapter 316: The Sports Festival Comes to a Close (5k)

"Please calm your excitement for a moment and proceed to the vicinity of the stage in an orderly manner according to your class and grade. The closing ceremony of this Sports Festival and the handover ceremony of the Student Council President are about to take place. I'll repeat it again..."

After giving the students another ten minutes to vent their emotions, the loudspeaker near the playground soon broadcast the following announcement. This forced many students who were planning to go to the Keyaki Mall with their friends to temporarily suppress their plans. They loosely formed a queue, enthusiastically discussing the Sports Festival with their classmates as they slowly walked towards the podium.

The closing ceremony was once again Tsukishiro, the Acting Chairman of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. He maintained his usual friendly, smiling expression, and after all the students had arrived and were standing in formation, he casually tapped the microphone and offered some platitudes such as "Thank you to every student, teacher, and staff for their hard work" and "This Sports Festival was a great success." He then slightly turned to the side and pointed to the large electronic screen projected behind him.

"Furthermore, the total scores for each grade and class in this Sports Festival have been tallied."

Although most students had almost forgotten the original rewards and punishments for this Sports Festival, it still involved Class Points, so they all followed Tsukishiro and looked at the screen.

"Now, the first thing to announce is the result of this year's Sports Festival's Red and White team competition--"

It's unclear whether he had experience filming variety shows in the past, but Tsukishiro even humorously dragged out the last syllable.

As he spoke, the numbers on the big screen, marked in red and white to represent the red and white groups, began to be calculated and increased rapidly. After the total scores for all events were tallied, the final total score was announced along with the words "[White Team Wins]", which drew a commotion and cheers from the students below the stage.

It has to be said that before this Sports Festival, this was probably an outcome that no one could have predicted. After all, Class A, belonging to the Red Team, was the dominant force in the second and third years, and the AD Alliance of the First Year was clearly stronger than the BC Alliance on paper. However, due to a series of coincidences, it was the White Team that ultimately succeeded in making a comeback.

The outstanding performances of Class 1-B and Class 2-B (mainly Kiryuin Fuka) actually brought the strength of the Red and White teams to a fairly balanced stage. However, no one expected that Class A would be defeated one after another. With several key players missing, they barely managed to retain the title of third-year scoring champion only thanks to Horikita Manabu's individual ability. In terms of total score, they were even overtaken by Class B, which ultimately caused the balance of victory to tilt towards the White Team of the BC Union.

However, the winning White Team didn't receive any reward. After all, according to the school's Sports Festival rules, only the losing team in the all-grade red and white team competition would be penalized by having 100 points deducted from their Class Points.

"Then came the results of the competition between the red and white teams from each grade."

[Grade 3: White Team Wins]

[Grade 2: Red Team Wins]

[First Year: Red Team Wins]

The result wasn't too surprising for Kitagawa Ryo. After all, their White Team was dragging along Class C, an almost useless ally, which put them at a disadvantage in the Red vs. White rivalry within the grade. In the end, they lost to the Red Team by a narrow margin.

To put it simply, if the third-grade students hadn't launched such a blatant and unsportsmanlike sneak attack on the Red Team (which included Class A), the Red Team would have undoubtedly won this all-grade red-white confrontation.

Similar to the previous red-white competition, the winner receives no reward, while the losing class loses fifty Class Points.

"Next, we'll look at each class's score and their ranking within the grade."

The twelve classes were divided into three groups on the screen according to their grade level, and the scores of each class were displayed one by one. Finally, the classes were ranked in ascending order.

Kitagawa Ryo immediately turned his attention to the direction of the First Year.

[First Place: Class 1-B]

[Second Place: Class 1-D]

[Third Place: Class 1-A]

[Fourth Place: Class 1-C]

Unlike the previous red-white competition, the class ranked first in the grade will receive a reward of fifty Class Points, the second place will receive no increase or decrease, the third place will have fifty Class Points deducted, and the fourth place will have one hundred points deducted as a penalty.

It was only natural that Class 1-C came in last place, as they basically messed things up during this Sports Festival. It was a bit of a pity that Class A lost to Class D. The score difference between the two classes was actually quite close, but Class 1-D benefited from their second place in the grade-wide mixed 1600-meter relay race, which had a generous final score reward, and thus managed to overtake Class A in the overall score.

Although Class 1-B won first place, they ultimately broke even due to their loss in the Red vs. White match, with no increase or decrease in Class Points. Considering the huge gains in Private Points, this Sports Festival was generally quite successful.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo also casually recalled the Class Points rankings of the First Year classes before the Sports Festival, Gaga and subtracting in his mind:

"Class 1-A: 451 (formerly 601)."

"Class 1-B: 550 points (originally 550 points)."

"Class 1-C: 172 points (originally 322 points)."

"Class 1-D: 148 points (originally 248 points)."

If you calculate it this way, it seems like Class B has quietly climbed up to Class A's position?

The other students in Class B seemed to have realized this as well, so when the ranking list for the grade was released, they cheered like a tidal wave, and the enthusiastic applause drew some attention from the older students in other grades.

Standing at the front of the line Mashima Tomoya gestured for his students to be quiet so as not to disturb the ongoing closing ceremony of the Sports Festival, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face. After all, just four months ago, their Class D was at the bottom of the Class Points, but after only one summer vacation and the start of the new semester, they had been promoted to Class A.

And Mashima Tomoya will once again become the homeroom teacher of a class called Class 1-A after more than half a year.

On stage, Tsukishiro didn't seem to care much about the noise from the audience. He even politely waited a minute or two for the celebrating students to calm down before continuing the closing ceremony.

"Finally, here are the three players who performed the best in this Sports Festival."

[First Year top scorer: Kitagawa Ryo]

[Second-Year Top Scorer: Kiryuin Fuka]

[Top Scorer in Third Grade: Horikita Manabu]

[Top Scorer of the Entire Grade: Kitagawa Ryo]

As the winners of these awards were announced one by one, the students of Class 1-B —no, it should be said that Class 1-A, who had just stopped clapping for a while—exploded into applause that was no less powerful than before. This time, students from other grades and classes joined in the cheers, making the atmosphere even more enthusiastic than before. This caused Miyabi Nagumo, who was waiting backstage to give her speech as the new Student Council President, to darken her already unpleasant expression even further.

After announcing all the awards for the Sports Festival, the closing ceremony of this year's Sports Festival came to a successful end. According to the schedule, the next step is the handover ceremony for the Student Council president.