The Champion Who Won Without Lifting a Finger

"Can I borrow your towel?"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Sakamoto gently asked Airi.

It immediately caused a stir, and the students watching all wore expressions of eager gossip.

Airi did not dare look at Sakamoto at all.

She had always been an introverted girl, and this was exactly the sort of situation she was worst at handling.

She still had not recovered from what happened last time, and her girlish shyness made her want to avoid him.

The two had not met these past few days.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Airi had specifically come to watch the swimming competition just to catch a glimpse of Sakamoto.

She just had not expected Sakamoto to approach her directly with so many people around.

Airi froze on the spot.

Then, a hand suddenly took hold of her small one.

"This towel is very pretty."

Sakamoto naturally took the towel from Airi's hand.

Then he left with Airi, towel in hand.

The moment Sakamoto left, the gossiping students began chattering away. People's interest in juicy rumors was never in short supply.

But now was not the time for gossip.

The competition was not over yet, and the true champion had yet to emerge.

The final winner would be decided between Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Koenji Rokusuke.

"Will the two contestants please take the stage..."

"I refuse. This match has already lost all meaning for me."

To the teacher's astonishment, Beautiful Brother Koenji left the pool without another word.

His goal had been to compete with Sakamoto, and he had never cared much about the contest itself. Yet Sakamoto had deliberately held back. Such behavior was not beautiful in the slightest to him, and he had no interest in competing any further.

With his opponent absent, the referee announced the end of the match.

Ayanokoji obtained first place and the reward of ten thousand private points in an utterly baffling way. Onodera from the girls' division received the same treatment.

The scene shifted away from the pool.

Sakamoto led Airi outside by the hand.

As he dried his hair with the towel, Sakamoto spoke.

"Airi-chan, was it still too much for you with so many people watching?"

"I'm sorry. I was too timid. Even though we already have that kind of relationship, I still haven't fulfilled my role as..." Airi looked as though she was about to cry.

"Hmm..."

Sakamoto shook his head.

"I was the one who failed to consider your feelings, Airi. Airi-chan has already worked very hard.

Otherwise, you would not have brought a towel with you, right?"

Airi looked as though she might cry, yet she tried hard not to embarrass herself in front of Sakamoto.

That only made her even cuter.

Unable to resist, Sakamoto patted Airi's head again.

"Airi-chan is cute today too. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow..."

Watching Sakamoto's departing figure, the girl secretly resolved to work harder...

Unbeknownst to them, their intimate behavior had been completely witnessed by someone hiding beside the wall.

Ring, ring.

A message arrived on his phone, containing the location of a certain place.

Sakamoto wore an expression that said just as expected. What an willful thing to do.

It was 5:01, the same time as last time. In any case, he would go there first.

Chess Club.

The white-haired girl sat inside with quiet elegance.

Nearby, Yamada and Saito served her diligently.

They even thoughtfully asked whether she wanted tea or water. Only after the girl gave them a polite reply did the two finally breathe a sigh of relief.

At the same time, they exchanged a glance, and Saito spoke ingratiatingly.

"Um, Lady Sakayanagi, seeing as we've been working so hard for you, could you perhaps teach us a thing or two?"

Bang! Before he could finish, the doors of the Chess Club were thrown open.

The person who entered was Sakamoto.

The two second-year seniors immediately dropped to their knees.

"Teacher, we never intended to betray your school! We only wanted to learn a little truth! Please forgive our transgressions!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

The two seniors used the Headbutt skill on the floor. With heads as hard as theirs, they actually struck the floor with resounding thuds.

"Get up."

Ignoring the two clowns, Sakamoto looked at the main person and sat down across from her.

"Lady Sakayanagi, it seems your plan has run into quite a few problems."

"Oh, that was merely a little game I set up in my spare time. I never expected much from it."

"You deliberately chose this method, and you started the subject early in April. You must have had a purpose for both."

"As expected, nothing escapes Sakamoto-kun's eyes." Sakayanagi calmly took a sip of tea.

That was because I already knew. An experienced player was simply that confident.

But Sakayanagi seemed quite idle. Was this what she usually spent her time thinking about? Still, he had no interest in playing games with a tablet.

"I see you are quite interested in Ayanokoji. Why not look into him more?"

"I will naturally investigate Ayanokoji-kun. But someone has kept forgetting our promise. It would be a shame if I were the only one who remembered it."

Sakayanagi was indirectly criticizing someone's rude behavior. Lady Sakayanagi was clearly rather petty.

"Rather than waste your time, why not take a good look at Ayanokoji-kun? Class D's situation is not looking optimistic right now."

"You mean their midterm exams. I only need to watch quietly, and things will naturally become interesting."

So what was the purpose of all this? Were you simply bored?

Sakayanagi left the Chess Club.

Only then did Sakamoto notice the two clownish seniors standing in the corner.

"Teacher—"

"You must believe in our sincerity!"

"Yeah, yeah! We're completely sincere!"

Yamada and Saito looked at Sakamoto with utterly earnest expressions, intending to make up for their "mistake," though the teacher they kept referring to did not care in the slightest.

Second-years, huh. They could be useful.

"You two seniors..."

Sakamoto revealed a standard, courteous smile.

Slap!

"These are the answers to the midterm exams." Sakamoto tossed the materials to Hashimoto.

"Answers? Where did you get something like this?" Hashimoto looked baffled.

"I got them from some second-year seniors."

"Oh, I understand. Sakamoto, you want to give every classmate a copy, so we can create an enormous gap between ourselves and the other classes in the exams."

Hashimoto wore an expression that said he understood everything without needing another word.

"No. I need you to sell these answers to the other classes, with Class D as the priority. The sooner, the better."

"You mean we should use the answers to earn points?"

"Just assume that is the reason."

"Is there another reason?" Hashimoto shrugged.

There was nothing worth dwelling on in that explanation. Since Sakayanagi wanted to see something interesting, he would give things a little push.

As for the price, ten thousand points per copy would do. It would bring in points while helping classmates at the same time. Class D happened to have a student who had obtained some points, and surely he would be willing to buy it in order to help his classmates.

It was a willing transaction, with each side getting what it wanted. No matter how one looked at it, it was a win-win situation.

"Class D's purchase of the answers will be paid for by Young Master Ayanokoji!"