The night passed quietly. Even Yukio's SUV teams, who had basically been joyriding all day on the island's rutted roads, were exhausted from the bumpy driving. They fell asleep the instant they lay down and woke at dim dawn. After a quick wash, they climbed back in and drove to the last-command areas to wait for the next move command.
But this morning Yukio felt something off. It seemed like both first-years and third-years didn't want to go into the forest; they were all on the open road. Looking at the light outside, was it because it was cooler in the morning? Or was this deliberate—an attempt to intercept, to slow their speed?
He eased the car along slowly for two minutes—basically coasting in an automatic with no throttle—and confirmed it. The students ahead were coordinating a blockade to interfere.
They were standing directly in front of the cars, not yielding. Yukio rested his right arm on the console as usual, not touching the wheel; his left index finger tapped the rim of the steering wheel.
He chuckled. "So they've finally teamed up to obstruct us."
Fine. Yukio decided not to be polite. He floored it, swung the wheel, and the SUV let out a deep, beastly roar as it surged forward, startling the students in front.
They turned and watched what you normally only see in touge scenes: Yukio's SUV accelerated and made a sweeping right turn, driving up the gentle slope along the edge of the plain.
Luckily it wasn't steep—just enough to surprise them. None of those students had licenses; most had never even touched a steering wheel, so Yukio pulling that move was beyond their expectations.
Under Yukio's command the SUV gripped the slope like it was meant to, thundered past the students, and re-entered the open road. He stomped the gas again and whipped the wheel back. The exhaust hit the students full-on.
The disgusting smell of car fumes made the other-grade students' faces go purple. They covered their noses and coughed, wildly waving their hands to disperse the smell.
"Ryuen, why won't those underclassmen just get out of the way?" Nomura sat in Ryuen's car—Ryuen's whole team was the class's brawling faction.
Albert, the heavy-hitter, rode with them. Another tough fighter, Ishizaki, had listened to Yukio and joined Shiina's team instead, so he wasn't there.
Ryuen glanced, tested driving a bit, and read the first-years' intent.
He sneered. "So they finally saw our class as a threat and united?"
"How could they move us? Their whole mission today is probably to obstruct our scoring—standing in front of the cars to stop us."
"Huh?" Albert, usually taciturn, stayed quiet. Nomura poked his head out from the backseat. "So what do we do? Just let them box us in?"
"Box us in? As if they could!" Ryuen grinned wickedly, eyes bright with pleasure, and stomped the gas.
The engine roared and the tires screeched as the SUV launched like an arrow. The stunned first-years turned in panic and saw the SUV bearing straight at them, with no sign of slowing.
"He's crazy! This senior driving is insane! Get out, get out of the way!"
"Move! Move!"
No one expected Ryuen's brand of driving. Seeing him barreling toward them like he intended to plow through, the first-years panicked. They scattered to the road's sides in movie-like dives, terrified that a hair slower and they'd be hit.
Ryuen blasted through with a disdainful look. "That's it? You dare block us? I thought you first-years were fearless! Hahaha!"
Nomura and the rest in the car whooped and praised him. The first-years who'd dived aside picked themselves up, dusted off the mud, checked scraped knees, still breathing hard from the scare.
They exchanged glances and silently agreed: never block a car again. It was far too dangerous.
"Kaneda? Speed up—push them off!" Ishizaki, in the usual seat-by-seat role, sat in the passenger and urged Kaneda to floor it to force the third-years ahead to clear out.
...
Kaneda wouldn't dare, right? This was only his second time driving—his first was yesterday. Start flooring it to force people off the road? He couldn't do that.
Behind him, Shiina, Ibuki, and Nishino all wore complicated expressions, as if they'd realized the third-years were starting to intervene, trying to stop their class from continuing to rack up points.
Shiina closed his eyes, thought for a moment, then opened them and rolled down her window a little. Quietly she said, "Kaneda, accelerate."
"Huh? Oh!" Kaneda froze for a beat. Accelerate? Ishizaki's idiot self was one thing, but Shiina—Shiina-sama—had turned this ruthless? Spending time around Yukio must've rubbed off on her and hardened her up?
Well, better just obey. Kaneda knew Shiina's status in the class; he bit his lip and shoved the slow SUV up to forty miles an hour.
The third-years stayed calm—at least steadier than the first-years. Even seeing the car speed up, they didn't dodge. "Relax. They're just putting on a show. They wouldn't actually ram us."
"Yeah. Yukio's class is already an A class in second year, and they're way ahead. I heard they're over the B class by like 3 thousand class points—pretty likely they'll graduate out of A smoothly. They wouldn't risk turning themselves into murderers. Don't worry."
But then Shiina suddenly waved from her rear window, calling out. "People up ahead! Move aside! Please Move! Our—our brakes failed!"
What the—brakes failed?
The third-years exchanged looks, big beads of sweat forming on their brows as they muttered in unison, "Apparently—apparently those SUVs are pretty old."
"You don't need to 'apparently' it. Just look at the exterior—it's a wreck!"
"Then the brakes could really be busted...stop discussing and get out of the way!!"
So the steady third-years copied the first-years' move, leaping to the sides, letting Shiina's team drive off smoothly and leaving the third-years trembling.