Score:
Red Team: 2913 Points
White Team: 2810 Points
I absentmindedly stared at the score that was displayed after the end of the hurdling round. The Red Team was still in the lead, but we were slowly being caught up to. The Second Years, barring Nagumo, had a rather abysmal performance, which probably dropped our score a bit, and we ended up gaining lesser than points than expected.
"Alright, we've got capture-the-flag next!" Sudo screamed into the assembled crowd of boys from Class A and D. "We're definitely winning, you guys!"
Even though I am the de facto leader of this Sports Festival, I felt it would be optimal to hand over the reins to Sudo. He was experienced in these sort of situations, and even though he had a short fuse, he could very well lead and encourage the team.
I looked over at the other side of the field. We would be facing off against Class B and C, who were led by Kanzaki and Shibata, and Ryuuen for Class C respectively. I could make out Ishizaki, Komiya and Kondo, who were involved in a brawl alongside Sudo. There was also a tall African-American student who I was informed went by the name Albert Yamada, from Class C. He looked like he would be a strong opponent.
"Alright, Class D will go on offense first, and Class A will defend," I said. "It's better to stay separated Class-wise. It makes coordination easier among teammates. We'll flip the roles in the next round, yeah?"
The flags were hoisted by Class A and Class B on the other side. It looked like Class B would be doing the defending, while Class C would attack our side. It was an iron-clad rule that the attacking portion of one team cannot interfere with the attacking portion of the other team. The same holds true for the defending team as well. Hence, this would be a simple battle of strength between Class B and D.
"I've never done this before," Ayanokoji walked up to me.
"Neither have I," I shrugged. "Sports Festival wasn't really a big thing back in middle school. I pretty much used to skip it all the time."
The signal indicating the start of the match sounded, and Sudo charged ahead of everyone else. The more proactive members followed suit. Ike and Yamauchi were staring and running around in all directions, unsure of what to do.
"Don't kill anyone," Ayanokoji gave me a useless warning.
"That's rich coming from you," I snapped back.
"Stop Sudo at all costs!", the boys of Class B shouted out. Sudo rammed into their defense, which reminded me of a medieval age battering ram being thrown into the castle's walls. No one in Class B was a match for Sudo's overwhelming strength, and he picked the Class B boys off one by one and pushed his way forward towards the pole alone.
"I've made a way for you weaklings! Come and help me!" Sudo screamed back at the rest of the class.
Soon, 4 students grappled Sudo at once, and even Sudo's strength was subdued to an extent. I pushed my way through the throng, and managed to get somewhere around the center before a hand grabbed my shoulder, threatening to pull me away. I slapped it away with minimal force, and stretched out my left hand.
I just barely managed to scrape the flag. I needed to get closer.
I ducked into the crowd.
"!?"
It was harder to move around this way, and there was a good chance that I would get kicked in the face. I slowly crawled into the crowd, and pushed on one of the students who had held Sudo captive. He fumbled in his grip, and Sudo wasted no time in overpowering one of the individuals.
"Grab hold of Sudo and Takeyama as well!" Kanzaki shouted out his orders.
"Sudo, push forward!"
I managed to grab hold of the pole this time, and I had a firm unforgiving grip this time. Slowly, I pulled the pole in my direction, but it didn't budge even an inch. Their defenses were well organized.
We may have a powerhouse in Sudo, but the overall average strength of Class B was higher than that of Class D's. It meant that every person in their Class required a good amount of strength to pass through, which made it impossible for the weaker ones in our class to actually get a break-through.
"Takeyama, I got it!" Sudo bellowed, as he managed to latch onto the pole as well. "We'll pull together! Put your entire body weight into it!"
We pulled together at the signal.
The flag tilted a bit in our direction.
"Yeah, that's it, that's it!" Sudo screamed. "Once more!"
There was a loud screech of whistle, signaling the round to a halt.
"Wait, what happened?!" Sudo said, pushing everyone in his way.
Class C on the other side had managed to bring down our flag before we could. This round had ended in the White Team's victory.
"Tch, damn it! Put your back into it, you losers!" Sudo screamed at his fellow classmates. "We've got to protect the flag against Class C this time! Takeyama, you're the only one who actually helped me! We'll put up a solid front against Class C!"
"Yeah, we will," I said. "Watch out for the big guy in Class C, Yamada. He's really strong."
"Yeah, I will. Leave that bastard to me!"
Me and Sudo positioned ourselves around the flag, and we were the ones in charge of making sure the flag doesn't topple over, along with Yosuke and Kiyotaka. Our outer line defense was scattered with the medium strong students, and the weaker ones were in the middle.
"Uraaaaa!"
Class C viciously dashed forward into our group, and the stark difference in strength was apparent. Ryuuen stayed behind in the rear, laughing like a maniac and ordering his class to drag us down.
Class C was very clearly using foul play.
There were several instances of elbow pushing, which just bordered into the territory of foul play.
"OW! Who the hell just punched me!" Sudo screamed in agony, as the flag swayed a bit. "Stop punching me, goddamn it! It hurts!"
It seems Class C were brazenly and openly using foul play tactics, and several students from our class were suddenly giving up on the defense due to the pain.
Suddenly, I felt an immense pressure in my arms, and I realized that Sudo had fallen down, or more like, had been pushed down by some bloke from Class C, and a student I did not recognize mercilessly stamped his foot on his back. The entire weight that Sudo had been holding up until now was suddenly thrown onto Kiyotaka, Yosuke and I. We stumbled a bit under the sudden loss of a man.
"U-Urgh!"
Wait, did he die? Or break his spine? He twitched a bit, and slowly folded his back up. He must be in pain.
"Kiyotaka, can you cover for me?"
"Cover for you? Don't tell me....." Ayanokoji looked at me suspiciously.
I left my position to Ayanokoji, and the flag tilted dangerously forward. I pushed my way forward towards the large black man, who seemed to have injured most of the students in Class D.
"!?"
I held back and landed a direct surreptitious punch onto the solar plexus. It was a part of the body that could not be trained very well, so it was always vulnerable to physical attacks. I wasn't sure if my punch would have had much effect if I had just thrown it without any aim. I also had to make sure I made myself as small as possible to avoid being noticed.
The large man faltered a bit, and knelt down, clutching his diaphragm, and gasped for air. I felt sorry for him. I did what I had to do to win; I had nothing against him.
I noticed Ryuuen's smile falter as he noticed the tall presence go down. Everyone in Class C was engrossed in the tussle, so Ryuuen was the only one who noticed the loss of a man. I calmly headed over to Ishizaki, who was currently picking on Yukimura, and delivered a sharp cross chop to his shoulder pressure point.
"Gah--- !" His body stiffened for a second, and he held his right shoulder in pain, and fell to the ground like his counterpart. I quickly moved away from the scene, before Yukimura could notice my presence.
It was inevitable that someone would have seen me use foul play against Class C. But in my defense, Class C was doing it as well. If they reported me to the school, I could simply deny all their statements, and also turn in pretty much half of my Class as proof that Class C had been using foul play as well.
I was sure Ryuuen wouldn't pull off such a cheap move.
I walked over to Sudo, and helped him up among the fierce throng. It wasn't easy, but Kiyotaka and Yosuke were doing their best not to let the flag topple.
"You alright, buddy?" I asked, as I shouldered his body weight.
"Urgh..... I'm gonna kill those bastards..... thanks, Takeyama," Sudo mumbled sincere words of gratitude. "I'm fine, I'll go ahead and push the pole up."
"It's alright, we won."
"?"
Just then, a whistle sounded, signaling the end of the second round. Class A had managed to break through the solid Class B defense, and their flag was cruelly toppled over onto the ground.
"Hehe, nice, Ken!" Ike ran up to the 2 of us. "Did you see how I held back those musclemen? They stood no chance!"
"Don't waste time now!" Sudo bellowed, and Ike flinched. "We've got a tiebreaker round now, and we're supposed to be the ones attacking!"
After Ike scurried away in fear, I slowly talked to Sudo. "I saw what happened. You were trampled over by someone from Class C. Your back must be hurting."
"It's no big deal. I can manage this much pain. It doesn't make any difference."
"I want you to go and apply a muscle relief spray over at the teacher's tent. You can skip this round. It's important that you stay fit."
"Skip this round!?" Sudo said, taken aback. "You won't stand a chance if I pull out! Besides, I'm fine!"
"It's an order."
".....?"
"As the leader, I'm ordering you to skip this round and get your back treated. We'll try to hold up. In case you get more injured and are unable to participate in the subsequent events, it could be disastrous. Your presence is highly needed, Sudo. So please listen to me, and head over to the infirmary. I'll come along."
"Tch. Fine, I'll go. You worry too much, Takeyama. But thanks. You don't need to come along. I'll apply some relief and be back soon."
Saying so, Sudo waved me off and jogged over to the infirmary. I watched him go, and I turned around to meet Ryuuen face-to-face, and his usual smile had been replaced with a frown.
"Kuku, I thought you were the goody two-shoes type, but it looks like you're just as evil as me," Ryuuen snickered as he combed back his hair. His hair was unnaturally shiny (?)
"I did what was needed to win," I replied. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I didn't hamper your underlings. They should still be able to participate in the competition."
"Yeah, that's that. I'm not worried about Albert. He'll be fine soon enough. But Ishizaki's acting as though he had the soul pulled off him. You're really sneaky, Takeyama. Pulling off such violent actions without thinking twice. I thought you were just smart, but you brought down Albert in one hit. You're a demon."
"Think about it any way you want. I'll be grateful if you keep yourself dignified throughout the event, and not engage in such meaningless tactics. Come at me like a man, Ryuuen. Don't be a pussy."
"Says the person who enacted said pussy's strategy," Ryuuen sneered. "I'll have both my eyes on you, Takeyama. Your words are gonna come and bite you back in your ass." Leaving me with wholesome parting words, Ryuuen turned his back on me, and walked back to the other side.
I turned to face the Class, who had witnessed the altercation between me and Ryuuen happen from afar. Chiaki was the first one to approach me.
"Keisuke, did he say something? Ryuuen, I mean," she asked, with a concerned look in her eyes.
"No, nothing important. Just his usual attitude of how he's gonna come and crush us like cockroaches and stuff," I deadpanned.
"We'll have to make through this round without Sudo," I announced to the entire class. "I know it's gonna be hard, but we'll do what we have to do to win. We cannot rely solely on Sudo. We all must contribute to winning."
Without Sudo in the lead, the mantle fell upon me and Hirata to lead the class into the battlefield. The last round would start any minute now.
Fweep!
The whistle sounded, and we slowly made our way to the enemy side. Class B would be a tough nut to crack. They rely on their unity and motivation to give them strength. I would definitely refrain from using violent tactics against Class B. They were too nice for me to even think about raising my hands on them.
We would have to win this game fair and square. Since Class B's defense is much better, and Class C will obviously not hesitate to use underhanded methods against Class A, we need to act fast.
I quickly and deftly lowered myself to knee level, and proceeded to squeeze in between the confused and surprised Class B.
"Wait, Takeyama sneaked in between our legs!" a random student from Class B called out, and Hirata took advantage of the sudden mayhem to dislodge Class B's defense by concentrating the attack on just one spot.
Class B had a well-mapped out overall defense, but they falter in terms of individuality.
Which means by concentrating the attack on just one portion of the defensive circle, we'll force them to abandon their positions from the sides and join in to the middle tussle as well. This will be enough to break their unity.
"Kiyotaka, Yosuke, lend me a hand here!" I cried out. It was hard to break in alone. Moreover, Class B was wary of me, and 3 people had already latched themselves onto me, preventing me from going forward without expending more energy that I already used. I did not want to show my full strength.
The 3 people on me were Shibata, Kanzaki and a boy who I was not acquainted with. However, judging by the strength of their holds, they had almost definitely sent the 3 strongest students in their class to deal with me.
"Phew, Takeyama-kun, you're really strong!" Shibata mused, as he caught me in a friendly grapple. "It's 3 on 1, and you're still pushing through!"
"Well, I'm finding it hard to push through, you know?" I joked.
Soon, Miyake managed to get hold of the flag, and latched onto it for dear life. Miyamoto and Hondo followed suit, and even Ike managed to grab the pole. The flag descended a bit, and I finally freed myself from their grips by ducking into the crowd once again. I gripped the pole as well, but I was being pulled back with great force by the 3 of them.
I grinned.
"Wait Shibata, Beppu, don't pull anymore!" Kanzaki shouted, and the 3 of them released their grasps on me. "He's caught the pole! If we pull him now, we'll just help in bringing down our flag!"
But it was already too late. The flag tilted downwards dangerously, and with one last heave-ho from all Class D students, the flag was pulled down to the ground with great difficulty.
Fweep!
The round ended in Class D's victory. I looked at the other side. It seems we won by just a narrow margin — our pole was also tilted by almost 40 degrees, and we had just barely managed to scrape the win.
"Nice going, Takeyama!" Sudo shouted from the tent. "We won!"
"Ahh, Takeyama-kun is so strong!"
"Hirata-kun is so strong as well!"
"Takeyama-kun, marry me!!"
I headed back to the tent, and was greeted by ecstatic cheers from both Class A and D.
"Good job, everyone," I said, after chugging down a bottle of water. "I want everyone to apply some sort of ointment on any external injury that they received. I'm sure many of you will have a few, considering that Class C was pretty rough when we were defending. It'll be a shame if anyone ends up falling sick due to their injuries."
The class murmured in approval, and Chabashira-sensei dropped in 3 first-aid kits with us, and wordlessly returned to the stands. I watched her back as she left.
"It looks like we're on a roll," Katsuragi chimed in. "It'll be good to keep up the momentum in the following matches as well."
The girls had already started the ball-toss game, or known as Tamaire, or something. I wasn't really sure, so I decided to stick to 'ball-toss game'.
"Hopefully they'll win as well....."
After the round was completed, a teacher came into the center and counted out the balls in the basket.
"..... 54 balls. Red Teams wins."
2 consecutive wins. This was surely going to be a morale booster for everyone in the AD coalition. Without giving us any time to think, the boy's tug-of-war event was starting.
"They can't use any underhanded tactics this time," Hirata said to the assembled gathering. "Since we're separated by Class, Class C will have to rely on brute strength only to win this event. It's a simple strength vs strength."
Everyone nodded along with Hirata's words, and we headed out to the field.
"Arrange yourselves according to your heights," Katsuragi commanded his class. "It'll help us bring out the maximum force that is possible in our class."
"Hey Katsuragi, I'd rather you not arrogantly take charge of the class forever," a mocking voice descended over the gathering.
"I don't see what you imply, Hashimoto," Katsuragi narrowed his eyes. Was this the real face of the civil strafe within Class A?
"Exactly what I mean. Class A is stalling and is falling behind because of your leadership. Can you say for certain that your strategy will work this time?"
Our class was completely focused on the word-war between Katsuragi and Hashimoto, but I reverted my eyes and scanned through the camp.
Sakayanagi, who had been sitting and watching us as a visitor the entire time, had a small smile form on her face. She could see the boys quarreling even from that distance.
It was clear that this was not Hashimoto's plan, but in fact Sakayanagi's doing.
"So what's it going to be Katsuragi-kun? Can we really win with this strategy?" Hashimoto further pressed for a sign of immaturity.
"We're agitating even the students from Class D. We should proceed with this contest calmly."
"That's not the answer..... ?"
It seems Hashimoto wasn't going to back down. There was no need for me to insert myself into Class A's internal affairs; in the long run, this could evidently dismantle their class unity and will help in ascending to Class A sooner.
"Hey, Katsuragi-san is telling you lot to do it, so hurry it up! Don't give us this shameful act!" Yahiko was the one who voiced his support for Katsuragi.
"I have no intentions of refuting the doubts you feel towards my leadership. But if we lose here due to meaningless squabbling, before things like cooperation and skill come up, the blame will fall on Sakayanagi, you don't mind that then?"
"You don't see anything, do you, Katsuragi?" Hashimoto sniggered as he held onto the rope. "Then, shall we? It'd peeve me if we make them think we're lacking in unity as you said."
For now, Class A's civil war seemed to have simmered down, and everyone took their positions on the rope.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho!" Sudo shouted, and the match started. The BC coalition was not cooperating at all, it seems they had merely separated themselves by class.
The rope was tight, and it seemed that Class C was not going to give up. I was half expecting Ryuuen to let go of the first round, and hit back in the second, but he seems to be going all out right from the beginning.
The rope was currently in equilibrium, but it soon turned into their favor and the match was won by the BC coalition.
"Ah, what the hell!?" Sudo shouted. "They beat us that easy! Is someone holding back?"
"It's alright, Sudo-kun, we'll get them back in the next round," Yosuke assured the short fuse.
"Can I have everyone's attention for a second?" All heads turned to me again.
"No offence, Katsuragi, but I think we should change our strategy. It didn't work because we couldn't bring out our whole power."
"Are you saying you have a better strategy?" Katsuragi said, as he eyed me skeptically.
"Let the man speak, Katsuragi," Hashimoto echoed the Sakayanagi Faction's sentiments. "I'm willing to follow through with his idea."
"Well, it's a simple one. Instead of arranging yourselves according to your heights, arrange yourselves according to your strengths. This could get a bit awry, so I suggest splitting classes this time, and place yourselves alternatingly. No part of the rope should have only weak people on it. The strongest stay at the back."
"Woah, I lost you somewhere in between, Takeyama," Ike scratched his head in confusion. Yosuke chimed in.
"I think Keisuke's strategy could work. It's a really simple method — distribute the strong and the weak in ascending order throughout the rope. With this method, the front of the rope starts out with strong people, the weak ones stay in the middle, and the strong ones again stay at the back."
The group murmured in approval of my plan, and we spread ourselves out in the best way that we could to carry out the plan. I was placed at the front alongside Yosuke and Miyake, and Kiyotaka and Sudo were the ones at the back, along with Hashimoto and Kito from Class A. Katsuragi was in the front along with me as well. His calm face did not show any sign of discomfort as I had shot down his idea in front of his own class.
Now that I think about it, having berated Katsuragi in front of his own class was bound to have repercussions on his credibility. I had unknowingly helped and fortified Sakayanagi's position as the class leader this way.
Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, I'm not sure yet.
Fweep!
The whistle sounded once again, and we pulled with all our might. Even I put all my strength into this, and so did Kiyotaka (hopefully). If we ended up losing this round, then the blame would be shared by me as well, since the idea was mine.
The equilibrium was slowly shifting towards the right, in the direction of the AD alliance. With fervent shouting and cheers, I tilted my entire body, tightened my grip, and pulled on the rope one last time.
The BC coalition gave in, and we won ourselves the second round.
"Haha, way to go, Takeyama!" Hashimoto shouted from the back. "It seems your plan was much more effective than Katsuragi's. Good thing we listened to you."
What was the reply to that sort of praise? I couldn't just say, 'yeah thanks, but Katsuragi was being an asshole' or something of that sort. I decided to just nod along with Hashimoto's vigor.
The last round of tug-of-war started without any delay, with the staff probably impatient with the number of tiebreakers that the First Years are going through this year. The rope was currently moving in our favor, and suddenly it felt light.
The rope felt extremely light, and I quickly released my grip on the rope. Everyone behind me fell backwards like dominoes, and I was the only one left standing right at the beginning of the line. I looked towards the other side. Even Class B had fallen forward in the process.
We've won, but at what cost?
"Yo, what the hell?" Sudo and a few of the others clearly voiced their displeasure. "Class C just blatantly left the rope!"
Ryuuen laughed at us from the other side. "Kuku, I just left it because I knew we weren't going to win anyways. What's the point of wasting time and energy?" Saying so, he and Class C headed back to the camp without even apologizing to their Class B counterparts for abandoning them.
"Class B's sure got it rough," Yosuke said, as I helped pull him up. "They're completely lacking in coordination."
I nodded once, and stared at Ryuuen's back, as he jovially left the field.
Just what are you planning to do, Ryuuen Kakeru?
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A/N's:
I just realized that I did not specify which character inspired my OC's looks.
And it's Izumi Miyamura, from Horimiya. Keisuke Takeyama basically looks like Izumi Miyamura. So you know how hot we're talking about.
Like fire stuff.
Maybe not the piercings. Or maybe there are piercings.
You know what, Keisuke has piercings. Because it looks cooler. His physique isn't as scrawny as Miyamura, he's a little well built, but looks exactly like him.
Alright, thank you for reading! Please vote for the chappie! Cheers.
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