Sports Festival

September.

The second term's classes began amid a rather reluctant atmosphere.

During the afternoon homeroom, Mashima walked into the classroom carrying a stack of handouts, his expression as stern as ever.

"Classes officially resume today. In addition, for the month from September to early October this term, there will be extra PE classes to prepare for the sports festival."

As he spoke, he had the students in the front row pass the handouts back.

"Keep your new timetables safe. The information on the sports festival is included as well, so read the requirements carefully yourselves."

As soon as he finished, groans filled the classroom.

"Here it comes. Here it comes."

"I hate sports festivals more than anything..."

Takahashi Ren took the handouts and leafed through them.

There was nothing unusual about a sports festival. Every school had one. But he knew that at this school, a sports festival could not possibly be as simple as just an "event."

"Sir, is this sports festival a Special Exam too?"

Katsuragi raised his hand and asked the question everyone wanted answered.

The classroom fell silent.

Mashima did not answer immediately. After several seconds of silence, he gave an ambiguous response:

"You're free to interpret it however you wish. But regardless, it will have a considerable impact on every class."

Neither confirmation nor denial. But that statement was an answer in itself.

For this sports festival, the entire year would be divided into two competing groups. Class A and Class D would form the red team, while Class B and Class C would form the white team.

"Those of you who have read the handouts should have noticed," Mashima said, looking around the classroom. "Class A has been assigned to the red team, and Class D will also compete on the red team. During the sports festival, Class D will be your teammates."

The classroom went quiet for a beat. Then someone murmured, "With Class D, huh," drawing out the last word slightly. It was hard to tell whether it was disdain or resignation.

Mashima continued explaining the rules. Scoring was divided into two categories: all-participation events and nominated-participant events.

All-participation events required every student in the class to participate.

There were nine events in total: the hundred-meter dash, hurdles, pole toppling for boys only, ball toss for girls only, separate boys' and girls' tug-of-war, the obstacle race, the three-legged race, Cavalry Battle, and the two-hundred-meter dash.

By contrast, Selection Events involved selecting students from the class to compete. Though they were called "nominated," students could volunteer as long as the class agreed, and there was no limit on how many events one person could enter. In any case, it was something they would have to settle through discussion.

The Selection Events included a scavenger hunt, four-way tug-of-war, a mixed-gender three-legged race, and an all-year combined relay.

For individual events, first place earned fifteen points, second earned twelve, third earned ten, fourth earned eight, and the points decreased with each place from fifth onward.

The winning team in team events earned five hundred points.

Selection Events awarded even more: fifty points for first, thirty for second, fifteen for third, and ten for fourth.

"The rules may look simple," Mashima said. "But you must give it your all. Because the losing team's penalty will not be light."

"Sir." Someone raised a hand. "How many Class Points does the winning team get? It doesn't seem to say in the handout."

"No points," Mashima answered calmly. "You simply won't lose any."

"So there's no benefit at all to winning."

"That's kind of ridiculous."

Murmurs rose from the back rows, low, like a tide slowly advancing from far away to their feet before receding again.

Ignoring the unrest, Mashima continued, "The school will tally each class's score separately. Even if Class D performs well and the red team wins, Class A will still lose one hundred points if its overall score ranks last in the year."

In other words, a team victory did not count as a victory. If their own class's ranking dropped, they would still be penalized.

Takahashi Ren thought silently to himself.

If the red team loses, everyone loses one hundred points. If Class A ranks last in the year, that's another hundred. If both happen, that makes two hundred.

But that was not something he could decide alone.

There was no avoiding the all-participation events. All he could do was try his best not to hold everyone back when the time came.

If he really did finish last, there would be nothing he could do about it.

Mashima continued explaining the other details.

Winners of individual events could receive five thousand Personal Points or a bonus equivalent to three points on a written exam. Second place earned three thousand points or two exam points, and third earned one thousand points or one exam point.

Last place, however-would lose one thousand Personal Points.

"Furthermore." Mashima turned a page of the handout. "Once all the events are over, the school will tally scores by year and penalize the ten lowest-ranking students."

"Sir, what exactly is the penalty?" a student asked.

"For first-years, it will be a deduction on your next written exam," Mashima said. "Each of the bottom ten students in the overall results will lose ten points."

The classroom's reaction was muted. For the students of Class A, losing ten points on a written exam was nowhere near enough to make them frown.

"Next is something very important." Mashima picked up another sheet.

"This entry form contains the details of every event. You must decide for yourselves what order you will compete in for each event and fill it in on the form, which I will then submit. Once submitted, no changes will be permitted for any reason."

"In other words," Katsuragi confirmed, "we have to arrange all our event entries ourselves before the deadline?"

"Correct."

"What happens if someone is absent on the day?" Katsuragi pressed.

"For all-participation events, if your numbers fall below the minimum requirement, you will be deemed unable to compete in that event and disqualified. In Cavalry Battle, losing one person means forming one fewer horse, and you will have to compete shorthanded."

"Substitutes are permitted in Selection Events. But there is a cost—one hundred thousand Personal Points per event."

"I see." Katsuragi sat down.

A brief silence fell over the classroom.

One hundred thousand points. It was not an unaffordable amount, but it was by no means a small sum either. Still, it was too early to worry about that now.

"If there are no other questions, that concludes our discussion."

Mashima looked around the classroom. A few students still seemed uncertain and whispered among themselves, but none raised their hands. He did not make a point of stopping to wait, either. Just like that, the question period ended.

"For your next class, go to the First Gymnasium to meet with classes from the other years."

He glanced at the clock. "You have twenty minutes left to use as you please. Chat or discuss things-whatever you like."

With those words, the pent-up tension dispersed all at once.

As though someone had flipped a switch, students clustered in twos and threes around the classroom and began talking over one another about the sports festival.