So I Was the One Who Knelt? Well, That's Fine

"No, it's not that I can't accept that my brother will lose, it's that I can't accept that he lost to Ayanokoji."

So, just how much do you look down on Kiyotaka Ayanokoji?

As soon as the 1200m Relay Race ended, the school immediately announced the results.

The students' attention was temporarily focused on the huge LCD screen above the stadium stands.

Now, let's announce the results of this year's Sports Festival.

The numbers on the electronic display screen, divided into red and White Team, begin to count. The values gradually increase until the numbers in the White Team stop counting while the numbers in the Red Team continue to scroll.

Seeing this, you should know that the Red Team, represented by the AD Alliance, has won the final victory.

Next came the rankings for each grade, with all twelve classes divided into three groups, displayed sequentially on the screen.

The students in Class 1-D are naturally focused on their rankings in the first grade.

First place, Class 1-A; second place, Class 1-B; third Class 1-D; fourth place, Class 1-C.

Seeing this result, the students in Class D felt frustrated, but they didn't make a fuss; some were even a little pleased.

"Wow! We're not in fourth place?"

"So, we only need to deduct fifty Class Points?"

Although Koenji withdrew, and although Sudo didn't participate in any of the mandatory events after Tug of War, and although many things happened... Class D still managed to overtake Class C thanks to the recommended events in the afternoon.

While Ryuen obtained the competition order list for Class D, he could basically only obtain points from the weaker members of Class D.

Even if you get the list of participants for the afternoon's recommended events, it won't be of much use, because almost every class will send students with good athletic ability.

At this point, it becomes a contest of raw strength, and of course, luck as well.

Class D, blessed by Lady Luck all afternoon, not only won first place in several Scavenger Hunt, but also achieved good results in the boys' and girls' three-legged races.

They won the championship in the Four-Way Tug-of-War and the 1200m Relay Race, which are two events that are big pluses.

However, thanks to Ayanokoji's outstanding performance, Class D' s results quickly surpassed those of Class C, who also had players absent from the competition.

However, due to the large number of games they missed, they were still unable to surpass Class B.

As for Class A, they performed exceptionally well in this Sports Festival.

If this had happened before the Sports Festival, the students of Class D probably wouldn't have been satisfied with the result, but given everything that has happened, it's truly exhilarating.

"Finally, we will announce the best student from each grade."

Unfortunately, Sudo was not selected. Although he achieved first place in all the events he participated in, his absence from several competitions greatly lowered his evaluation.

The recipient of this honor is Shibata Hayato from Class A.

"Ugh! I knew it!"

Chapter 189 So it was me kneeling? Never mind then.

Sudo, who was initially frustrated by losing the MVP award, immediately cheered up after Horikita said something to him.

At that moment, Kamuro suddenly appeared on Class D's side.

"Is there something you need, Masumi?"

"Yes, it was Sakayanagi who sent me to find someone named Ayanokoji."

Upon hearing this, Shuichi Kanda aback. Sakayanagi had been offline for so long, and the first person he looked for upon logging back in was Ayanokoji?

"Did you hear that, Ayanokoji? Looks like your show-off moment has been remembered."

Following Shuichi Kanda's gaze, Kamuro recognized Ayanokoji.

"Are you Kiyotaka Ayanokoji? I need you to come to the entrance at five o'clock because I have something to discuss."

Hey Kamuro, what do you mean by 'You're Kiyotaka Ayanokoji?' We've met before, haven't we?

Why me?

"You should ask Sakayanagi about that; he didn't tell me the reason." Kamuro bluntly rejected Ayanokoji's question, then looked at Shuichi Kanda, "Shuichi, thank you for your hard work in the Scavenger Hunt."

"Fortunately, my health has been recovering well recently."

After Shuichi Kanda, Kamuro left, since this area still belonged to Class D.

As soon as Kamuro left, chaos erupted in Class D.

"Ayanokoji, she said it was Sakayanagi who called you!"

"Isn't Sakayanagi that cute girl from Class B that I saw in the Gymnasium before?"

"What? Spring has arrived for you too?"

Unmoved by the teasing and envy from the students in Class D, Ayanokoji simply went back to the locker room to change her clothes and then returned to the classroom.

After changing his clothes, Shuichi Kanda patted Miyake on the shoulder. "Let's go."

"Um."

Clearly, Miyake was somewhat disappointed at not being able to participate in the final relay race.

The students returned to the classroom, listened to a long, nonsensical lecture by Chabashira-sensei, and then dispersed to go back to their dormitories to rest.

Shuichi Kanda also stood up, preparing to leave.

"We've truly lost completely this time," Horikita remarked, but her expression remained untroubled. "However, this defeat has taught me a lot, and it has given me the confidence to keep going."

"Really? Well, congratulations then." Shuichi Kanda smiled. "So, what are you planning to do next?"

"Next? I'm afraid we'll have to kowtow and apologize." Horikita sighed, then left his seat.

Kneeling and apologizing? Is it to Ryuen?

Although he was looking forward to seeing Horikita kneel in humiliation, Shuichi Kanda felt inexplicably uncomfortable when he thought about the fact that the person kneeling was Ryuen.

Hmm, I just can't accept it. If you're going to kneel, kneel before me!

If all else fails, why not kneel Kushida?

"Shuichi, aren't you going back?"

Just as he thought of Kushida, Kushida appeared directly in front of Shuichi Kanda.

"Um, I have something to do. Can you keep me company for a while?"

"Sure."

Without any hesitation, Kushida immediately agreed, and after explaining the situation to her friends briefly, she went to see Shuichi Kanda again.

The two then went up to the rooftop of the teaching building.

The school rooftop, a boy and a girl alone together—what a classic scene! Is Shuichi going to confess to me? Just thinking about it Kushida's heart start pounding.

Actually, it's like this...

Shuichi Kanda told Kushida that Horikita might soon kneel down and apologize to Ryuen. Kushida immediately nodded and his eyes lit up, wishing he could rush to the scene to see Horikita's humiliating state.

"However, I still find it a little hard to accept that she knelt down and apologized to Ryuen."

"Huh?" Kushida immediately frowned. "You're not planning something, are you?"

"After all, the other party is from Ryuen. If it were you, I definitely wouldn't stop them."

So you're saying you're going to stop it?

Shuichi Kanda nodded somewhat hesitantly. "Let's see how it goes first, no matter what."

The reason I came to the rooftop was to witness how things unfolded.

Horikita and Ryuen are currently located at the back of the school building. Few people pass by here, but there are security cameras, so Horikita is not worried about what Ryuen will do to her.

Shuichi Kanda came to the rooftop to see how things would develop.

Just when everyone thought Horikita would kneel before Ryuen as promised, something completely unexpected happened.

"Just swallow your pride and kowtow to apologize, Suzune."

Just as Horikita's last bit of cleverness was exposed by Ryuen watched excitedly as Horikita was about to kneel down and apologize to him. However, Horikita suddenly looked up at Ryuen.

"I'm sorry, Ryuen, I still can't kneel down to apologize to you."

Ryuen's smile froze on his face.

"If you don't kneel down, aren't you afraid of making this a big deal?"

"If it were before, I would have been scared. Because that would have inevitably attracted the intervention of the Student Council, and my brother would have been implicated as well."

Horikita spoke these words seriously.

"I've always tried my best to avoid causing my brother trouble because of my foolish sister. But now I've realized that if I were to kneel down to you because of this, it would probably disappoint you even more."

In the afternoon, Horikita wasn't idle either. While Ryuen was smugly enjoying the recommended program, Horikita had already confirmed with Chabashira-sensei.

Although the camera captured Horikita turning around twice, it did not capture Horikita kicking Kinoshita because the two were almost parallel at the time.

Moreover, both players suffered serious injuries after that match and did not participate in subsequent matches, resulting in the same outcome. Therefore, there is no question of any "helping the weak" approach.

Most importantly, although Kinoshita's feet showed obvious signs of external force, no one could prove that Horikita was the one who did it.

After all, there would be plenty of time to make a move after Kinoshita to the Infirmary.

Therefore, even if the matter is left to the school to judge, it is impossible to completely shift the blame to one party. The most likely outcome is that the matter will simply be dropped.

After all, both sides have their own version of events, and there is not enough evidence.

For Horikita, as long as he could overcome his inner hurdle, Ryuen's plan was nothing to worry about.

Ryuen knew that Horikita Manabu was Horikita Suzune's older brother, and even guessed about their relationship and how much Horikita Suzune cared about her brother's opinion, because Horikita had mentioned this in class before.

It is precisely because he knows this that he takes advantage of it.

However, Ryuen never expected that Horikita Suzune would awaken at this time, which caused his plan to fail completely.

Standing on the rooftop, Shuichi Kanda, after seeing Horikita's appearance, also felt that Horikita's transformation this time was truly significant.

But didn't this guy say he was going to kneel down?

But you didn't kneel down, did you?

Are you lying to me?

Kushida, who had expected to be confessed to by Shuichi Kanda and to witness Horikita kneeling, was in a bad mood and went to Shuichi Kanda's dormitory to give him a good scolding.

Then, that evening, Shuichi Kanda's room welcomed another guest, Horikita Suzune.

Why are you here?

Shuichi Kanda found Horikita Suzune's visit very strange, as Horikita rarely came to his place.

"I have something to say to you. Won't you invite me in?"

Horikita had said so, Shuichi Kanda had no choice but to invite him inside.

To his surprise, as soon as Horikita entered the room, she lifted her skirt, knelt down in front of Shuichi Kanda, and respectfully kowtowed.

"What are you doing?"

Horikita's sudden kneeling startled Shuichi Kanda, who then instinctively glanced at the peephole on the door.

Then, Horikita raised his head, looked at Shuichi Kanda, and extended his hand.

"Can you help me up? My foot hurts so I can't stand up."

Looking at Horikita's serious face, Shuichi Kanda was speechless, but he still extended his hand to help Horikita stand up.

"I am very sorry that you paid Ryuen 20 million yen because of Sudo."

"This has nothing to do with you, right?"

Shuichi Kanda somewhat strange.

"No, if I can calm Sudo down properly, he might not go berserk, and then you can save 20 million points."

Shuichi Kanda looked at Horikita with a strange expression. "How come you've changed after being tricked by Ryuen? You've become so good at taking responsibility."

Looking at Shuichi Kanda, Horikita Suzune felt a strange unease.