The last few days of summer vacation passed quietly like this.
No more accidents, no more visitors, no more dreams.
Just every day, reading books in the library with Hiyori Shiina, taking walks on the tree-lined paths, and staring blankly at the sky from the benches.
Subaru found himself beginning to get used to this rhythm.
And Subaru also realized that Hiyori's previous words seemed to hold some truth.
He had always looked at others with the preconceived notion that they had 'no color.' Perhaps, he himself could see things other than color in them.
Aside from Hiyori, Subaru also took the initiative to interact with those around him.
For example, Airi Sakura and Kei, among others.
Subaru's initiative to contact them brought them immense mental pressure. However, after spending time together, they quickly sensed that something seemed to have changed in Subaru.
Although he was still elusive, that untouchable 'sharp edge' from before was gone.
Airi Sakura, in particular, felt this clearly. Although she didn't know what had happened, her intuition was quite sharp, and she detected the change in Subaru.
Time flowed away little by little like this.
Until the first day of the new semester.
The sunlight was still good, but the air already carried a hint of early autumn coolness.
The campus became lively again, filled with students in uniforms. Some were excitedly discussing what they saw during summer vacation, some were complaining that the break was too short, and others were just walking quietly, chatting idly with friends beside them.
The events that happened before the end of the term seemed to be gradually forgotten.
Subaru walked into the classroom.
The original Class D, now Class C.
The class plate above the blackboard had been changed to a new one, but the atmosphere in the classroom was as subtle as it was at the end of the last semester.
Some people gathered together chatting, their laughter somewhat forced; some sat alone, looking down at their terminals; and others would occasionally glance in a certain direction—
Kushida's seat.
She sat by the window, wearing her customary gentle smile, talking to the girl next to her. The girl responded somewhat perfunctorily, a trace of reluctance in her smile.
Kushida seemed not to care at all.
But Subaru could see it.
Deep in those eyes, the blackness that had been suppressed for a whole summer vacation was burning slowly and patiently.
She was also waiting.
Waiting for a new stage.
Kushida's gaze quickly moved to Subaru. After just a second of eye contact, Kushida quickly looked elsewhere.
In fact, during this period, Kushida had constantly wanted to carry out further operations.
Kushida wanted to seek out Nagumo to provide her with resources to carry out further revenge against Subaru and his class.
It was just that Kushida did not succeed.
Because Nagumo did not pay her any attention.
Kushida had actually realized that Nagumo was treating her as a pawn, but she hadn't expected the other party to discard her in such a short time. This was somewhat unreasonable.
However, Kushida didn't know that it wasn't that Nagumo wouldn't reply to her messages, but that Nagumo couldn't reply—
With all his fingers injured, Nagumo couldn't play with his terminal, so naturally, it was inconvenient to reply to messages.
Moreover, Nagumo didn't want people to see his miserable state, so he basically didn't go out or contact others during this time.
After all, during this period, Nagumo had turned into Doraemon.
Soon, the class bell rang.
Chabashira walked into the classroom, holding a stack of documents in her hand. Her gaze swept across the whole class, pausing on Subaru for an instant before quickly moving away.
"Today is the first day of the new semester, and here is the first notice of the new semester."
She spoke directly without any superfluous pleasantries.
"This month, the school will hold the annual Sports Festival."
A wave of whispering arose in the classroom.
"The Sports Festival is a large-scale event for the entire school," Chabashira continued. "Various events will be competed in by class units. Placing in individual events can earn personal point rewards, while team events will directly affect class rankings."
She paused.
"Furthermore, there are some adjustments to this year's Sports Festival rules. The specific content will be sent to your terminals later."
"But what I want to remind you is—the points from the Sports Festival will directly affect this semester's class evaluation. If the performance is too poor, the position of Class C, which we just rose to, could be snatched back by the classes behind us at any time."
Her gaze swept across the class again.
"I know that among some of you... there are some problems," she said pointedly. "But during the Sports Festival, I hope you can temporarily put those problems aside. For the class, and also for yourselves."
Previously, Chabashira basically ignored the affairs in the class, but ever since the class was promoted to Class C, her attitude had changed quite a bit. Since promotion was not a dream, one might as well give it a try.
"Next, I will explain the rules of the Sports Festival in detail to everyone."
"First, the grouping situation."
She stood in front of the podium, pointing at the diagram on the screen with a pointer.
"Students of all grades in the school will be divided into two groups, Red and White. The Red Team consists of Class A and Class D, and the White Team consists of Class B and Class C."
A low murmur of discussion came from below the podium.
This meant that the original class opposition was temporarily broken—Class C would have to join hands with Sakayanagi's Class B to fight against Ichinose's Class A and Ryuen's Class D.
"Secondly, the competition events."
Chabashira continued to explain.
"The Sports Festival has a total of thirteen events, including the 100-meter dash, obstacle course, scavenger hunt, cavalry battle, tug-of-war, three-legged race, and so on. All events will be completed within one day—lasting from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM."
Completing all events within a single day.
Subaru raised an eyebrow slightly. This kind of high-intensity arrangement was a stress test in itself.
"The scoring rules are relatively complex, so listen carefully. Since there were some accidents in the previous exams, the rules for this Sports Festival will also be somewhat different," Chabashira said as she flipped a page of the PPT.
"Every event will generate individual scores and team scores. The top three in individual events can receive extra rewards—you can choose to receive 1000 personal points, or receive extra points in the next written exam."
She paused.
"But conversely, the student who comes in last in each event will have 1000 personal points deducted. If there are not enough points, they will be pre-deducted from future exams."
The sound of sharp inhales filled the classroom.
"Even stricter is this," Chabashira continued. "After the Sports Festival ends, the ten students with the lowest total scores among all first-year students will have 10 points deducted from their next written exam."
"10 points?!"
Someone exclaimed. "Isn't that making it very easy to fail?"
"Correct."
Chabashira nodded expressionlessly. "So, you had better take it seriously."
Subaru's gaze swept across the classroom.
Sudo clenched his fists, fighting spirit burning in his eyes; Ike's face was pale, obviously worried that he would become one of the bottom ten; Hirata frowned slightly, already starting to calculate in his mind how to balance everyone's burden; Kei and a few girls gathered together whispering, anxiety on their faces.
And Kushida—
She narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly thinking about something.
"Besides individual events, there are also team events," Chabashira's voice continued. "The points from team events will directly affect class rankings. The winning team can obtain a large amount of Class Points."
"Finally, and most importantly—"
She paused for a moment.
"The final result of the Sports Festival will be decided based on the total scores of the Red and White teams. The losing side will have 100 Class Points deducted from all its classes."
"100 points?!"
The classroom completely exploded.
"That means," someone said with a trembling voice, "if our Red Team loses... no, wait... if we lose, our newly promoted Class C will be deducted 100 points? Wouldn't that drop us directly back to Class D?"
"Correct."
Chabashira nodded calmly. "So, you must not only fight for yourselves but also for the class. Of course, it is the same for the White Team—if the White Team loses, Class A and Class D will also be deducted 100 points."
[Correction: Chabashira likely meant 'It is the same for the opposing team'. Based on the grouping, Subaru is White Team (B+C). The student asked 'If we lose'. The text implies the stakes are high for everyone.]
Her gaze swept across the whole class.
"I know there are still some conflicts between you, but the Sports Festival is not a one-person battle. If you don't want to fall back to Class D, you had better learn to cooperate."
After speaking, she left the classroom, leaving behind a room full of students with different thoughts.
After school.
Subaru walked alone on the campus's tree-lined path.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled down, dyeing everything a warm orange-red.
His phone vibrated once.
It was a message from Hiyori:
`The rules of the Sports Festival are so complicated.`
`White Team... I have to fight against Subaru-kun together with Ichinose-san and the others.`
At the end was a frowning emoticon.
[Note: The text implies Hiyori is on the opposite team? Wait. Source text earlier said: 'White Team: Class B and Class C'. Subaru is Class C. Hiyori is Class C? No, in canon Hiyori is Class C (Ryuen's class). But earlier the text said 'Subaru's original D Class, now C Class'. That means Ryuen's class must be D now. If Hiyori is in Ryuen's class, she is Class D. The text says: 'Red Team: A and D'. 'White Team: B and C'. So Subaru (C) is White. Hiyori (D) is Red. Hiyori says: 'I have to fight against Subaru-kun'. Correct. She is an opponent.]
Subaru looked at that message, the corners of his mouth rising slightly.
He replied:
`Mn.`
`It will be very intense.`
Hiyori replied almost instantly:
`I know!`
`So I will do my best.`
`However... if I meet Subaru-kun during the competition, I will give it my all!`
`Our class won't go easy on you!`
Subaru looked at the words "give it my all" and fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, he replied:
`Okay.`
`I won't either.`
Hiyori sent a smiley face.
`Then it's a promise.`
`See you tomorrow, Subaru-kun.`
Subaru put away his phone.
He stood on the tree-lined path, watching the sun slowly sink.
Sports Festival.
Red Team and White Team.
He and she would be on the same field, becoming opponents.
This was their first "duel" in the true sense.
Not the undercurrents between classes, not the secret observation and being observed, but—under the same rules, using all their strength to determine a winner.
What would she do?
What would he do?
He didn't know.
But he suddenly felt that this upcoming Sports Festival seemed to be... a little more interesting than he had imagined.
Just at this moment, a familiar figure appeared in front of him.
Arisu Sakayanagi.
"Natsuki-kun, what a coincidence."
"Sakayanagi."
"You should know about the Sports Festival by now."
"Mn."
"It's a pity, we aren't opponents but teammates. The opportunity for a duel will have to be left for next time."
"If you want to determine a winner this time, I don't care either," Subaru said expressionlessly.
Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly thinking about something, but soon revealed a smile.
"No, wait until later; naturally, there will be opportunities for a duel."
"Oh."
"I feel like you've changed a bit, Natsuki-kun."
"What?"
"I thought if it were the previous you, you would say something like 'boring' conversation, but this time it's different."
"There's no difference."
"Perhaps. Good luck to you later, Natsuki-kun."
Subaru did not answer the other party with the same words, but just silently walked past her.
Good luck.
It was never on his side.
Over the next few days, the entire campus was immersed in the atmosphere of preparation for the Sports Festival.
The training on the playground continued from morning till night, filled with students in sportswear everywhere.
Class A and Class D began to organize joint training, and Class B and Class C were also competing in secret.
But Subaru did not participate in any training.
He just appeared in the library on time every afternoon, reading books with Hiyori.
"Subaru-kun, you're not training?"
One day, Hiyori asked curiously.
"Not needed."
"But the Sports Festival is very important, right?"
"Mn."
"Then why..."
Subaru was silent for a few seconds.
"Training is for winning."
He said.
"But I am not in it to win, so there is no need to train, and I don't know the class arrangements for the Sports Festival."
Hiyori tilted her head slightly, a trace of thought flashing through her clear eyes.
"Subaru-kun is doing it to... look?"
"Mn."
"Look at what?"
"Look at color—and some other things. I don't know what they are, nor do I know if they exist, but consider it a pending observation target."
Hiyori did not continue to ask, simply nodding. The other party's response was indeed within her expectations.
However, she still asked.
Perhaps because she wanted to talk more with Subaru?
Hiyori thought in her heart that perhaps that was the reason.
"I see."
Hiyori looked at Subaru, a smile appearing on her face.
"I feel like the recent Subaru-kun is a little more relaxed."
"Perhaps."
And just at this moment, Subaru's terminal vibrated slightly.
It was a message from Horikita.
`If you have time, come find me. I'll wait for you in my dorm room.`
After parting ways with Hiyori, Subaru returned to the dormitory building and soon arrived at Horikita's room.
He knocked on the door, and the door was quickly pushed open.
Horikita's head poked out from inside.
"Just you alone, right?"
"Just me."
Subaru answered simply.
"That's good, come in."
Horikita quickly let Subaru into the room.
And Horikita's hand attracted Subaru's attention.
A water kettle was stuck on Horikita's hand.
____
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