Pole-Tipping Melee

The hurdles were the second event. Like the hundred-meter dash, they mostly came down to running ability, but with hurdles added.

The rules were simple: knocking down a hurdle added half a second, and touching one added three-tenths of a second. So running fast alone was no use; you also had to clear them cleanly.

Takahashi Ren did not touch a single hurdle, but he was not particularly fast and finished fifth.

Next came the pole-tipping competition. Simple, brutal, and a little dangerous.

"You guys had better win! That idiot Koenji isn't here, so put your backs into it!"

Class D's Sudo shouted at all the boys from Class D and Class A, his voice loud enough to grate on their ears.

Takahashi Ren stood toward the back and looked across at the other side.

Facing them were the students from Class B and Class C. Several of the Class C boys stood out for their size, especially the mixed-race student named Albert, who had Black ancestry and was a whole size bigger than Sudo.

Takahashi Ren took one look, then looked away. In a competition like this, someone like him would most likely just get knocked flying.

The rules were not complicated: the first team to bring down two poles won. Punching and kicking were forbidden, but the school largely ignored shoving and grappling.

Put simply, a crowd of people squeezed together and pushed against one another, and whoever brought down the other side's pole won.

Katsuragi and Hirata had agreed before the match that their classes would alternate between attack and defense. If the initial setup worked, they would keep it and stop switching their offensive and defensive positions.

Sudo had insisted on attacking, so Class A naturally became the side defending the pole.

It was the same on the White Team's side. Class B and Class C had already divided up attack and defense.

In the first round, Class B guarded the pole. Takahashi Ren saw them form an arc in front of it, waiting for the Red Team to charge.

Under the rules, attackers could only go after defenders. The attackers on the two sides were not allowed to collide with each other. Attackers could only attack the defending side.

"This competition feels kind of scary," Toba Shigeru muttered as he watched their opponents already poised to attack. "This is my first time in a pole-tipping competition."

"Didn't your middle school hold one?" Ishida asked.

Toba Shigeru shook his head.

"What about you, Takahashi?" Ishida asked next.

"No," Takahashi Ren said. "This is my first time too."

Toba Shigeru turned to Ishida. "Have you actually done this before?"

"Once," Ishida said. "In this kind of competition, don't focus too much on winning. Protecting yourself comes first."

"That's what I was thinking too," Takahashi Ren said.

The three stood behind the pole, waiting for the whistle.

The moment the starting signal sounded, the attackers on both sides charged.

The students from Class D and Class C surged toward their opponents like water through opened floodgates. Dust rose, and the field instantly descended into chaos.

Class C's Albert led the charge, big and strong. Several Class A students guarding the pole had barely stepped forward before his sweeping shove and collision sent them staggering, with some falling straight to the ground.

Hayato Kito stepped up to hold him off. He took two hits head-on but was forced back two steps himself.

Standing toward the back, Takahashi Ren could see clearly. Class C was not playing around. Those guys charged as though they were in a fight, with no regard for where the boundaries of the rules lay.

On Class A's side, Kito was the only one who could hold his ground. The others either lacked the build or, like Takahashi Ren, wanted to avoid collisions. Reaching out to block a couple of times already counted as doing their best.

Meanwhile, Class C's Ryuuen was not even taking part. He merely watched from the sidelines.

The gap was plain to see. Never mind defending the pole; they could not even hold their positions.

Class D was not doing much better. Sudo had been stopped halfway, and Class B's defense was like a wall he could not break through.

Albert knocked another two students aside, and the pole tilted.

The whistle sounded soon afterward. The White Team took the first round.

Takahashi Ren withdrew from the crowd and brushed the dust off himself. Ishida walked over too, with some dirt on his face. Only Toba Shigeru was baring his teeth as he rubbed his right arm.

"Are you guys okay?" Ishida asked.

"I'm fine," Takahashi Ren said.

Toba Shigeru hissed. "My arm got hit. Luckily, it's nothing serious."

Ishida glanced at him. "Don't rush so far forward next time."

"I know."

Sudo took all his anger out on Class D, then shouted over and over, "Let Class C attack! Let Class C attack!"

Takahashi Ren wondered why he was asking for that. As far as defending went, facing Class B would have been easier.

For the second round, the Red Team changed its formation. Class D defended, and Class A attacked.

As Sudo had wished, the White Team stayed the same: Class C attacked, and Class B defended.

The Class C students were already glaring at them. It was not an empty show of intimidation; they looked as though they had already locked onto their targets.

Ryuuen stood in front of them with his arms folded and the corners of his mouth lifted. He did not look especially excited, but he seemed very confident.

As soon as the whistle blew, the scene dissolved into chaos again.

Sudo roared in front of the pole, "Grab their feet! Drag them down!" His voice was loud, but the shouting and footsteps drowned it out almost as soon as it emerged.

Class D had already been thrown into disarray. Some students retreated, while others were knocked off balance, and their defensive line shrank tighter and tighter.

Class C kept their elbows raised the whole time, every move skirting the edge of a foul.

Takahashi Ren charged toward Class B's pole with the other Class A students. Katsuragi was up front, and two other Class A boys had already torn an opening in Class B's defense. A few more meters, and they could reach the pole.

Just then, a dull thud came from Class D's side.

Two students grabbed Sudo from the front and held his arms apart as Albert slammed into him from the side.

His body lurched sideways and his knees buckled, but his hands still clung tightly to the pole.

Then Ryuuen appeared.

He squeezed out from somewhere and stepped onto Sudo's back in two strides. One foot came down, using him as a foothold. Sudo crumpled, his hands slipping off the pole. Without looking back, Ryuuen added another kick, striking Sudo in the lower back.

The pole fell.

The whistle blew.

Sudo lay facedown on the ground, his voice sounding as though it had been squeezed out of the sand. "Foul-you bastard... that was a foul!"

Ryuuen showed no remorse and did not even turn around. "You were there? I didn't notice."

Class A was only a few steps from Class B's pole, but the match was already over.

Takahashi Ren stood where he was, took a couple of breaths, and instinctively glanced toward the head referee.

The head referee did not move. Neither did the teachers beside him.

Ryuuen had already returned to the crowd of Class C students as though nothing had happened.

Takahashi Ren looked away.

In that melee just now, dust had flown everywhere. From outside, all anyone could see was a crowd packed in front of the pole. There was no way to tell who had stepped on whom or who had kicked whom.

Ryuuen's timing had been precise.

Since the referee had not seen it, it was as good as never having happened.

With nowhere to vent his anger, Sudo turned on Class D and Class A, everything he said amounting to, "Not one of you is any use."

Some Class A students heard him and glared right back. Others wanted to retort, but Katsuragi raised a hand to stop them, preventing an argument.

"Sorry we weren't any help," Hirata said.

"We couldn't hold our defense either. Let's try harder next time," Katsuragi said calmly.

The two nodded to each other and said nothing more.