Chapter 213: "The Battle of Wits Among Class D Girls"
"How is this personal interest?
If we get a high ranking, the class gets points too!" Horikita Suzune explained, sounding quite justified.
"That may be so, but the class points brought by rankings are too few—only a measly 50 points.
Therefore, I believe that instead of chasing bonus points, we should prioritize a strategy of 'point preservation.'" Kushida Kikyo's counter-argument was well-reasoned.
"Yeah, yeah!"
"Kushida-san is right!"
"I also feel Kushida-san's strategy is more reasonable!" Karuizawa and the other girls nodded in unison.
It wasn't that they necessarily agreed with Kushida's preservation strategy. It was purely that they found Horikita Suzune annoying, or rather, they didn't want her to have her way!
Seeing that she couldn't persuade the crowd, Horikita Suzune threw the problem to Hikigaya. "Hachiman, you say it!!
Who are you going to choose as your partner?"
Stare— Stare— Stare— Stare— Stare—
Pairs of sharp eyes were locked firmly onto Hikigaya!
"..."
"Can I choose a boy as my partner?" Hikigaya was sweating profusely, speaking frankly: "I mean, for the two-legged race, isn't it usually male-male and female-female pairs?"
Although the rules didn't explicitly state gender requirements for teams, based on the height difference and the gap in physical fitness, it was obviously more reasonable to have same-sex pairs.
"..." The girls were momentarily dumbfounded. They had been fighting over him, and if he ended up choosing a guy as a partner, wasn't all this effort for nothing?
"My speed is not inferior to the boys!" Horikita Suzune was still holding her ground.
"No, Horikita-san isn't tall enough, right?" "The two-legged race is all about coordination. It would be hard for you and Hachiman to sync your steps." Hasabe Haruka voiced her opposition.
Horikita Suzune was 156cm tall, while Hikigaya was 174cm. The difference in their stride length was obvious; it would indeed be difficult to coordinate.
In contrast, Hasabe Haruka was 164cm, making her quite tall among the Class D girls.
This argument conveniently excluded Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei as well—both were a centimeter or two shorter than Horikita.
"Wait a minute!
Hasabe-san's athletic marks aren't very good, right?
In that case, even if you're perfectly coordinated with Hikigaya-kun, you won't be fast!" Matsushita Chiaki hit the nail on the head, piercing through Hasabe Haruka's weakness.
"Then who do you think is more suitable?"
"Me."
"You?"
"Matsushita-san..."
"Chiaki, what are you doing?"
Karuizawa Kei cast a surprised look; she seemingly hadn't expected her closest best friend to join the fray!
"I can't help it, Kei.
I'm not trying to steal him from you on purpose."
Matsushita Chiaki explained patiently: "My athletic marks are decent, and I'm 162cm tall. I should be the most suitable female partner for Hikigaya-kun in this class."
The girls were speechless for a moment.
"Can I choose a male partner?" Hikigaya reiterated his stance.
"Theoretically yes, but in reality, you can't, right?" Matsushita Chiaki calmly dealt him a critical blow: "Or rather, can Hikigaya-kun find a male partner willing to team up with you?"
'Is... is there really no one?!'
Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes scanned the class. He found that the gazes of the boys in class were mostly filled with thick, envious flames! A partner? They probably wanted to "partner" him into an early grave!
"Ayanokouji... buddy?" Hikigaya's mouth twitched into a fake smile. In his view, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's reputation in class was terrible; it would likely be hard for him to find someone willing to be his partner for a team event either.
"Sorry, I'm not very good at sports." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka refused expressionlessly.
Those words were as ridiculous as Mike Tyson saying he wasn't good at fighting!
Hikigaya was so angry he laughed. This guy would rather suffer himself than let Hikigaya have an easy time!
'...And you call yourself the masterpiece of the White Room? Are you really this petty?'
"Oh right, there's also... Koenji!"
Hikigaya looked toward his last hope: the beautiful man currently combing his hair in a mirror. His relationship with Koenji wasn't bad; they had even collaborated during the deserted island exam.
"Knowing to come to the beautiful me—that is worth praising.
Being tied to 'Fish-eye Boy' wouldn't exactly disgrace me."
Koenji Rokusuke smiled. Just as Hikigaya thought he was going to agree, his attitude did a 180-degree turn: "But, I refuse!"
"Why?!" Hikigaya asked almost instinctively!
"Because it's not interesting enough...
I'd much rather watch the story of 'The Battle of Wits Among Class D Girls.'
That is far more interesting than the sports festival itself!" Koenji Rokusuke flashed a very delighted smile.
"What 'battle of wits'? Where is there a battle of wits?" Hikigaya looked utterly speechless, finding it all nonsensical.
"Hikigaya."
"Hachiman-kun!"
"Hachiman!"
"Who are you choosing?!"
"You're always like this, going silent when you hit a hard question."
The girls on the scene pressed Hikigaya once again. Just as he was feeling the sweat soak through his shirt, the school bell saved his life!
"Cough cough!
This period is PE. We should go change."
.
.
.
Gathering at the gymnasium. Surprisingly, he saw students from other classes and even other grades gathering in the gym as well.
"This PE class is for an explanation regarding the sports festival.
All classes in the Red Group from every grade will gather here."
The PE teacher gave a brief explanation before stepping to the sidelines, seemingly intending to hand the floor over to the students. A moment later, over two hundred students from six classes were gathered in the gym.
"Quiet, everyone.
I am Fujimaki Akira from 3rd Year Class A, serving as the Commander-in-Chief for the Red Group.
Since the first-years are participating in the sports festival for the first time, I will explain the details."
The one who stepped out to speak was a tall, muscular man.
'Huh? The Red Group Commander isn't Horikita Manabu?'
This caught Hikigaya by surprise.
Was it because his status as Student Council President made it inappropriate to interfere, to maintain fairness? If that was the case, Horikita Manabu was far too upright! In other places, being upright is a virtue, but in Advanced Nurturing, it's not very suitable!
"That Fujimaki-senpai seems to be the sports representative for 3rd Year Class A and my brother's right-hand man," Horikita Suzune explained to herself.
"You sure know a lot..." Hikigaya shot her a sidelong glance, thinking that this girl didn't even know her own Class D classmates well enough, yet she had the mind to pay attention to information about senpais.
He really didn't know how to evaluate her.
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