Autumn dusk began to descend, blanketing the main stadium of Advanced Nurturing High School in a dim golden-orange hue. The roar of cheers that had ignited the school's atmosphere since morning slowly subsided, leaving behind a thick hum of exhaustion above the sand track. In the middle of the field, a giant digital screen stood tall, displaying a string of numbers that had just undergone their final calculation.
For all first-year students, those numbers were not mere statistics. They were a new map of power, turned upside down by the storm of competition that raged throughout the day.
FINAL CLASS POINTS SCOREBOARD (1ST YEAR)
Horikita's Class (Initial 1,340) -> 1,590 Points(+250 Points Overall Champion & Relay)
Sakayanagi's Class (Initial 1,196) -> 1,296 Points(+100 Points Playing it Safe)
Ichinose's Class (Initial 1,405) -> 1,255 Points(-150 Points Penalty & Contract Impact)
Ryuen's Class (Initial 700) -> 850 Points(+150 Points Contract Injection & Relay) ============================================================
A brief silence fell over the Class B tent area, before finally shattering into an ear-piercing explosion of hysteria.
"Uwoaaaaah! We did it! We actually moved up to Class A!" Ike Kanji screamed hoarsely, jumping onto Yamauchi Haruki's back, who was screaming just as hysterically.
Sudou Ken punched the sky with both fists, roaring with unstoppable pride. Beside them, Hirata Yosuke smiled in relief, wiping the sweat from his temple with a small towel, while Karuizawa Kei led the girls in venting their elation.
Horikita Suzune stood frozen. Her sharp eyes stared at the number 1,590 at the top. The short-haired girl's hands trembled slightly. The peak she had been chasing for so long was now right beneath her feet. She turned slowly, searching for Koroizumi Seiji amidst the crowd of her class, but the young man merely offered a relaxed smile from the back row before returning to sip from his strawberry milk carton.
Not far from there, Homeroom Teacher Chabashira Sae stood leaning against a canopy pole. Her face remained as cold as ice, maintaining the indifferent expression she usually displayed in public. However, if one paid very close attention, the corner of her lips twitched ever so slightly. Her chest rumbled with emotions she had buried deep down for years.
Class A.
The dream of her youth, the ambition that had been shattered and turned her into a cynical homeroom teacher, was now materialized before her eyes through her students. Even though she knew perfectly well that this all might only be temporary in the school's cruel ecosystem, at least for tonight, that pride flowed warmly within her heart.
In stark contrast to the celebratory atmosphere in Horikita's camp, the mood in Ichinose's Class tent seemed as though it were enveloped by thick storm clouds. Several girls bowed their heads, holding back faint sobs behind their towels. Kanzaki Ryuji stood tall with a hardened jaw, staring at the scoreboard with pure disappointment he couldn't conceal.
In the midst of them, Ichinose Honami stood with slumped shoulders. The cheerful smile that usually served as the sun for her class was now completely extinguished. Her fingers gripped the edge of her sports jersey until her knuckles turned white.
-150 points. Dropping to third place.
It all happened because the calculations of her contract with Ryuen collided with the absolute dominance created by Class B's strategy in the latter half.
"This is... my fault," Ichinose whispered, her voice trembling softly, almost drowned out by the stadium's hum. "I made the decision for that contract. I failed to help you all maintain our position..."
"Honami, don't blame yourself," Kanzaki tried to interrupt, but Ichinose only shook her head weakly, her eyes staring at the sandy ground with an empty, wounded gaze. The mentality that had always supported the class's unity was beginning to show deep cracks.
In another corner of the field, Sakayanagi's Class faction merely responded to the results with a faint smile full of veiled satisfaction, completely unbothered by the fact that her class was in second place. For her, watching how the pieces on this chessboard moved was enough to provide high-quality entertainment.
Meanwhile, in Class D's camp, the atmosphere leaned toward ordinary. The students were not celebrating, but they weren't lamenting the final results either. Ryuen Kakeru sat casually in his chair, chewing on an empty plastic straw with his feral smirk blooming once again. The additional 150 points from Ichinose's contract injection were enough for him to strengthen his class's financial foundation for the next battle.
With that, the Advanced Nurturing High School Sports Festival for this year was officially declared concluded.
Night began to claim the school grounds. The park streetlamps flickered on one by one, chasing away the darkness of the quiet outer corridors. The majority of the students had returned to the dormitories to celebrate their victories or lock themselves away in disappointment.
Ichinose Honami walked alone on a footpath behind the main stadium, away from the hustle and bustle of the dorms. Her footsteps felt incredibly heavy, as if the track sand from this morning still clung to her shoes. She stopped near a row of park benches shaded by maple trees, sitting down slowly as she hugged her knees. In this quiet place, the tears she had been holding back finally fell, dampening her pale cheeks.
"Being in a dark place after a defeat can indeed provide temporary peace, Ichinose-san. But it won't change the numbers on the scoreboard."
A highly familiar voice sounded from the shadows of the trees. Ichinose gasped, quickly wiping her tears with her jersey sleeve before looking up.
Seiji Koroizumi stepped out of the darkness. He had changed into his regular school uniform, his hands tucked casually into his trouser pockets. His obsidian-black eyes looked at Ichinose not with pity, but with the warmth of a mentor facing a lost student.
"Koroizumi-kun..." Ichinose forced a small smile that looked incredibly fragile. "Why are you here? Isn't your class having a victory party at the dorms?"
"Those parties get boring if they go on too long," Seiji replied lightly. He walked closer and leaned against the railing in front of Ichinose's bench. "Besides, I noticed a leader who was busy torturing herself out here."
Ichinose lowered her head again, looking at the tips of her shoes. "I'm not torturing myself. I'm just... thinking about how incompetent I am as a leader. I was too idealistic, Koroizumi-kun. I thought I could protect everyone with that deal, but the result ended up dragging the whole class down."
Seiji gazed at the silhouette of the girl before him. His old soul as Koro-sensei pulsed softly within his chest. He remembered his own past—the time when he was still the cold Reaper, and later, when he realized the true meaning of growth too late, losing the person most precious to him. He had sworn in this new life that he would not let his students or the people he cared about repeat the same mistakes due to delayed realization.
"Ichinose," Seiji called out, his voice flowing low yet carrying a weight that cut through the night wind. "Victory and defeat are part of growth. Not a single human in this world suddenly becomes strong without ever feeling the coldness of the ground after falling."
Ichinose remained silent, absorbing every word that came from the young man's mouth.
"I've been watching you for a long time," Seiji continued, crossing his arms over his chest. "You possess extraordinary natural charisma. You can make others move for your sake just through your sincerity. But your mentality is far too fragile when faced with the reality that the world is not as ideal as you imagine."
Seiji took one step closer, his shadow casting over Ichinose's body, providing a sense of safety alongside an invisible psychological pressure.
"If you can realize this weakness sooner, Ichinose... you won't just be a beloved leader. You will evolve into a leader who is terrifying to other classes. Your potential is far greater than simply being a moral shield for your classmates."
"But... how can I be?" Ichinose looked up, her tear-filled eyes staring at Seiji in utter confusion. "This school... everything is about cutthroat competition. If I disregard morality and rules, then what's the difference between me and Ryuen? I don't want to sacrifice my friends for class points."
Seiji let out a small laugh, his signature soft chuckle echoing in the quiet park.
"You misunderstand, Ichinose. I am not asking you to be like Ryuen, who uses violence and tricks, nor am I asking you to be like Sakayanagi, who views other people as pawns on a chessboard."
Seiji leaned his body down slightly, aligning his gaze with Ichinose's eyes. The glint in his eyes turned as sharp as a razor, radiating the pure wisdom of someone who had crossed the boundary between life and death.
"In this school, everything is about competition. Inside the competition arena, you must realize one thing: the rules can be very rigid, but the humans within them must be flexible. If you allow yourself to be restricted by rigid morality and idealistic rules in a pure competition, you are merely offering your neck to be slaughtered and defeated by people like Ryuen and Sakayanagi."
Ichinose held her breath. Those words pierced straight into the core of the idealism she had always revered.
"In a true competition," Seiji continued with a flat yet firm tone, "Morality must be placed second. The absolute priority is how you secure victory to protect what is precious to you. Using business schemes, tactically exploiting loopholes in the rules, or even applying veiled psychological pressure—that is not a crime. That is flexibility."
A long silence reigned over the park. Seiji's words swirled inside Ichinose's head, shattering the emotional boundary walls that had thus far shackled her tactical steps. Her idealistic side tried to reject it, but her pure logic admitted that the young man before her was right. If she continued to lead the same way, her class would merely become an easy meal in the next special exam.
"Why... why are you telling me this, Koroizumi-kun?" Ichinose asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "We are in different classes. Now your class is in Class A, and my class... even I am your rival."
Seiji straightened his posture, and instantly, the thick intimidating aura surrounding him melted away, replaced by a warm, casual friendliness. He smiled widely, patting the top of Ichinose's head with a gentle, comforting motion.
"When we are inside the official competition arena, we are indeed rivals or enemies facing each other," Seiji said with his signature cheerful tone. "But in normal times like this, just consider me your friend... as well as your teacher, who doesn't want to see his student constantly wearing a gloomy face."
Ichinose felt a strange warmth spread from the top of her head down to her chest. The tightness that had tortured her conscience since the afternoon slowly faded, replaced by a new understanding beginning to take root within her. The spark of spirit and tenacity that had been extinguished in her eyes now slowly reignited, but this time with a color that was slightly deeper and more mature.
"Rigid rules... and flexible humans," Ichinose murmured, repeating Seiji's words as if they were a new mantra for her leadership. She stood up from the park bench, straightened her jersey, and looked at Seiji with eyes that sparkled completely differently than they had just minutes ago. "Thank you, Koroizumi-kun. I think... I know what I have to do now."
"Excellent," Seiji smiled in satisfaction, waving his hand as he turned to walk back toward the dormitory area. "Go home and get a good night's sleep. The real show will only just begin in the next special exam."
Ichinose stood watching Seiji's back slowly disappear around the bend in the park path. The girl took a deep breath, letting the autumn night wind cool her face. The crack in her mentality no longer shattered her; it had been filled by a new foundation that was far more solid.
Meanwhile, Seiji walked beneath the dim light of the streetlamps. He looked up at the night sky filled with stars, smiling faintly.
The post-festival evaluation was complete, and the seed of growth had been successfully planted within one of the first-year rulers. However, Seiji knew full well that the movements behind the scenes of this school would never stop breathing.
With his class now occupying the throne of Class A, the focus of Nagumo Miyabi's attacks within the Student Council structure and the intrigues from the upperclassmen were certain to arrive with far more brutal intensity. The first step of autumn had been successfully executed, and the stage for the next special exam was now slowly drawing back its curtains in the darkness of the night.
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