Part 1

I headed over to the special building and went to the designated location for the commanders. There, Sakayanagi and Ichinose, who had arrived before me, were engaged in idle chatter with each other. From the looks of it, we werent allowed to enter the multipurpose room yet.

Good morning to you, Ayanokji-kun.

Mornin, Ayanokji-kun.

They both greeted me at the same time, and I lightly raised my hand in response.

It doesnt seem like were allowed to go in just yet.

They told us to let them know once all four of us arrived.

That is to say, the school was looking to ensure that the exam was carried out in a fair manner.

If you were to enter the multipurpose room before the other commanders, youd be able to calm your mind and adjust to the atmosphere of the testing grounds before anyone else.

And, as this was a particularly special exam, there was no such thing as overdoing it when it came to ensuring fairness.

It seems were just waiting on Kaneda now.

Yep.

I took a look around. While there was still no sign of Kaneda, there was no way hed risk being late.

At any rate, you sure are lucky, Ichinose-san.

Eh? Lucky?

As they are now, Class D is no different than an infant. Their chances of beating your class are pretty much nonexistent. All you have to do now is to see just how many wins you can pile up. If you win seven events in a row, Class B might even change places with Class A. That is, depending on how Class A performs.

Oh no, theres no way to tell whats going to happen. Theyll probably be desperate, so we definitely cant let our guards down.

Upon seeing Ichinose steel her resolve like this, Sakayanagi let show an amused smile. This prompted Ichinose to speak up again.

Huh? Did I say something weird?

No. You just spoke like youre at the top, ready to take on anyone. At the very least, I understand that you dont view Class D as your equals. Just what I expected from the one who managed to protect Class B for an entire year.

Sakayanagis words were slightly mean-spirited. However, Ichinose didnt let it get to her.

Class B also came here with a strategy, ready to win. We wont lose easily, especially in an exam like this where unity and cooperation play such an important part.

I see. That was quite rude of me. It certainly is as you say, Ichinose-san.

I stared out the nearby window as I listened in on their conversation.

With April right around the corner, the weather today was bright and sunny. There wasnt a single cloud in the sky.

Like that, about five minutes or so passed. Before long, it began to dawn on us that he might be late.

Finally, we heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching from the other end of the hallway.

Well, it doesnt seem like hell be late after all. I guess he didnt lose his nerve and give up either.

Sakayanagi expressed her thoughts, amused that Kaneda would be showing up at the last possible moment.

Ichinose also seemed to be bracing herself as the exam was finally about to begin.

We each took the liberty of envisioning what was about to happen.

That is, we would join up with Kaneda after he arrived, and the four of us would enter the multipurpose room together.

However

An unexpected person showed up instead.

Upon seeing who it was, Ichinose let show a completely dumbfounded expression.

While Sakayanagi was just as surprised as Ichinose, her expression quickly changed as she narrowed her eyes in amusement.

Ryen-kun? Why Why are you here?

A clear, distinctive feeling of unrest coursed through Ichinose.

No, neither I nor Sakayanagi had seen this coming either.

Whats wrong with you? Whats got ya shaking there?

Ryen, the former leader of Class D, deliberately drew attention to Ichinoses trembling.

I see I hadnt expected this to happen. It seems I had wrongly convinced myself that the commanders for this special exam would be those of us who received protection points.

Sakayanagi was the first to put the pieces together. Indeed, this man, Ryen, had come here alone. Kaneda was nowhere to be seen.

The special exam cant even start without the commanders. In other words, if it just so happens that the commander is absent, then someone elsell naturally have to fill in for em. Aint that right?

An unforeseen absence on the very day of the exam was certainly something that could happen.

There was probably some sort of system in place where one or two people would be ready as substitutes for the commanders position.

And, of course, the substitute commander would be the one to take responsibility should their class lose the exam.

Even so, I never even considered that you might show up, Ryen-kun.

Well, duh? Considering the type of person you are, Ichinose, even if you broke out in a fever or got yourself injured, youd come crawling here on your hands and knees to prevent your classmates from having to risk getting expelled.

If they lose the exam, there would be no way to prevent the commanders expulsion other than using a protection point. Just as Sakayanagi had said, the preconceived notion that the people with protection points would end up becoming the commanders had been a critical misconception.

Ichinose nervously cleared her throat.

Back when the special exam was first announced, Ichinose naturally mustve been at least a little bit cautious about who the opposing commanders would be. However, when Kaneda showed up as the commander back when the class matchups were decided, she probably ended up dismissing this possibility altogether.

In her head, the process of elimination had probably happened without her even realizing it.

She ended up concluding that the special exam would be a competition between the students who had gotten their hands on protection points.

Surely there must be some sort of penalty for you to participate as a substitute, right?

Yeah, Kaneda isnt allowed to participate in any events. It aint that unreasonable.

Ryen was saying that this penalty was something he had already taken into consideration.

Did you do this to throw me off? Even if you did, isnt it disadvantageous for you that Kaneda-kun cant participate?

While I didnt know the full extent of Kanedas abilities, he was most likely a vital asset for Class D.

This meant that they had come up with a clever scheme that involved giving up on Kanedas potential. Subconsciously, it would lead one to start pondering why.

When had they decided that Ryen would become the commander? If it was from the very beginning, did that mean that this had all been planned from the start? With questions like these running through her mind, Ichinose was probably terribly confused right now.

Oi, dont be so wary of me will ya? Im just their sacrifice. If my class loses, the commanderll get expelled. Its a perfect chance for those Class D guys to kick me outta here. Thats all there is to it, aight?

Then, are you saying youll go easy on me?

Kuku. Yeah, Ill ease up on ya, so just chill out and come at me.

Ryen spread his arms, welcoming her to come at him, but there was no way Ichinose was going to fall for it.

When you want to win, youre the type to pull out every trick in the book. Thats how you fight, isnt it?

If I want to win, then sure.

I wish you wouldnt. You dont have a protection point and youre fighting with your back up against the wall. Somehow I cant help but feel like this is a bad omen for Class B.

Ichinose is the type of person who prefers to build trust, confidence, and safety from the ground up. Because of that, her capacity to deal with sudden accidents was by no means one of her strong suits. While this wouldnt be much of a problem against an average opponent, it was a different story altogether against somebody like Ryen.

Perhaps the shock would soon spread from Ichinose to the entirety of Class B.

Everyone in her class would inevitably notice that Ryen had become the commander.

And, even if they didnt, Ishizaki and the others would surely make it well-known anyway.

In which case, the rest of Class B wouldnt be able to hide their distress, just like Ichinose.

If Ryen had become the commander despite having stepped down as the leader of Class D, the unpredictable nature of his instructions would be a lingering cause for alarm.

It seems the showdown between Class B and D is going to be quite intriguing as well.

It probably wasnt so much of a laughing matter for Ichinose like it was for Sakayanagi, though.

She really shouldve taken action back when Class D was repeatedly stalking her classmates.

If she had caught onto the fact that Ryen had been lurking behind the scenes earlier on, it probably wouldnt have come as this much of a shock to her now.

Well, seeing as were all here, lets go, shall we?

With Sakayanagi leading the way, we entered the multipurpose room. A wall that hadnt been there the last time we were here had been constructed, dividing the inside of the room into two distinct halves. For an improvised, temporary wall, it seemed to be quite sturdy and soundproof. The four homeroom teachers in charge of the first year had been on standby waiting for us.

Those from Class B and Class D, please move over there.

Per Mashima-senseis instructions, the two of them disappeared to the other side of the partitioning wall with Chabashira following behind them.

The facilitators for Class A and Class C were Class Ds Sakagami-sensei and Class Bs Hoshinomiya-sensei.

From the looks of it, the teachers werent in charge of proctoring the exam for their own classes.

The test will start in five minutes. Take this time to compose yourselves while you can.

Leaving us with this piece of advice, Hoshinomiya-sensei then took Sakagami-sensei aside to have what seemed to be one final talk about the preparations for the exam.

Before the exam, Sakayanagi and I had a few minutes alone together, just the two of us.

Finally The day Ive been waiting for has finally arrived. To be honest, I couldnt sleep last night, and I almost overslept this morning.

I dont remember making you wait so long. Its just a coincidence that you met me in the first place.

Are you saying that, if you hadnt come to this school, we wouldnt have met?

As I nodded in response, she laughed, promptly denying it.

Our reunion at this school was indeed a mere coincidence. But, I was confident that Id meet you again sooner or later. It was fate, decided long ago.

Fate, huh? Youre saying some pretty abstract things.

Well, I am a young lady, after all.

Sakayanagi smiled as she spoke, slowly approaching me with her cane in hand.

If you hadnt enrolled in this school, I wouldve just postponed this for another three years or so. I was confident I could pass the time without rushing things, hiding my feelings of anticipation deep inside. But, that simply doesnt work anymore. Ever since I found out you were within my reach, every passing day has just felt so long. It has been so very difficult to subdue my feelings; To subdue my burning desire to compete with you. Thats just how much Ive been dreaming of today.

Sakayanagi spoke eloquently. Her wish was finally being granted, was it?

Arent you afraid to wake up from your dream?

Once our competition happens, there would be no going back.

Dreams have to be woken up from at some point.

She didnt seem to care. The only thing on her mind was that today was the day her dreams would finally be realized.

Normally Id ask you to go easy on me, but

The look in her eyes was not what youd expect from a young girl. It carried a certain kind of sharpness that youd see from a hunter going after its prey.

Please, face me with everything youve got.

If I were to compete with her half-heartedly, Sakayanagi wouldnt be happy with that in the slightest.

While I wasnt doing this in order to make her happy, itd be far too troublesome to get involved with her any more than this.

But, I also had my doubts as to whether or not this special exam would be enough to satisfy her.

Then, as if she had read my mind, Sakayanagi spoke up again.

Id be lying if I told you I didnt feel conflicted. This special exam is far too inadequate for us to fully demonstrate the extent of our potential. Even though were both commanders, our ability to intervene is limited.

The school would never carry out an unreasonable exam where the outcome depended solely on the actions of the commanders.

Sakayanagi was saying that, as long as there was an outcome, the inadequacy of the exam was trivial.

Be that as it may, if the commanders ability to intervene wasnt limited, wed run into a different problem. I believe its important to take your situation into consideration as well, Ayanokji-kun. You dont want your classmates to find out about your true abilities, right?

Indeed, this consideration of hers was something I was quite grateful for. If the commander were to have a large amount of influence over the outcomes of every single event, I probably wouldnt be able to make the most of it.

Okaaay, the exam will begin any second now~ Please take a seat~

As Hoshinomiya-senseis instruction came flying, we both sat down across from each other at our designated computers.

Naturally, we couldnt see each others faces with the computer screens placed between us. On my screen, there were the portrait photographs of each student in Class C.

Excluding me, there were 38 pictures in total. Once the first selected event was announced, wed be using these pictures to assign the students that we wanted to go and participate.

Next, the ten events Class C had come up with were displayed on the screen.

My name is Sakagami, and Ill be the one hosting the special exam. Without any further delay, lets begin the final special exam of the first year. Each of you, please select the five events youd like to be considered and press confirm when youre done.

I selected the five events that Horikita had in mind and pressed confirm immediately.

Before long, Sakayanagi finished making her choices as well, and a total of ten events were displayed on the large monitor in the room.

For Class Cs events, I had chosen Archery, Basketball, Table Tennis, Typing, and Tennis. I had toyed around with the idea of throwing in an interesting event like Rock Paper Scissors, but I ultimately decided against it.

I had discarded the idea of using our English event since it overlapped with Class As English Test event. Despite the fact that Hirata and Onodera specialized in Football and Swimming, I decided not to go with those events because they would most likely be useful in another event somewhere down the line.

Moreover, my strategy was for Class C to focus primarily on athletic events instead of academics.

For Class As events, Sakayanagi had chosen Chess, English, Modern Literature, Math, and Flash Mental Arithmetic. There were ten events in total. She had chosen all three of the events that Katsuragi predicted she would, and both of the events he had mentioned as a runner-up had also made it in. He had truly given Keisei and me a perfect answer.

Though, it didnt end up changing anything, and thats because I had deliberately chosen not to tell Horikita about what Keisei and I had learned.

Moving forward, well hold a completely randomized drawing to determine each of the seven events that youll be competing in.

Anywho, Ayanokji-kun~ It sure is a shame that youre gonna haveta go up against somebody like Sakayanagi-san. Sensei feels so sorry for you.

Hoshinomiya-sensei. You know the rules.

Yes, sir~ Sorry for speaking out of turn~

Upon being reprimanded by her colleague, Hoshinomiya-sensei lowered her head in apology.

The result of the drawing will be displayed on the large monitor in the center of the room, so please do take a look.

As he spoke, Sakagami-sensei motioned toward the monitor, where the screen had changed over to something else.

There was a 3D image that had all of the events in consideration displayed together.

And then, the first event was selected.

Basketball Required Participants: 5 Time Restriction: 20 Minutes Total (Two Halves with a 4 Minute Intermission)

Rules: Standard basketball rules apply.

Commander Intervention: The commander is allowed to perform up to one substitution at any given time.

It was a five-on-five match in an event that Class C had chosen.

In other words, it was an event we absolutely couldnt afford to lose.

Sakagami-sensei. Are we students free to speak with one another?

There are no rules against it. Do as you wish.

That is, were free to wage a war of words?

Sakayanagi directly stated what her intention was, and yet Sakagami-sensei still didnt see a problem with it.

Uwaa~ Sakayanagi-san is soooo merciless!

Hoshinomiya-sensei chimed in again. She had probably interpreted this as Sakayanagi gaining full permission to launch a merciless assault against me.

Hoshinomiya-sensei.

Eep! Im sorry! I wont speak out of turn anymore!

While the students were free to speak, it seemed that the teachers were not. Hoshinomiya-sensei had been reprimanded time and again.

Unsurprisingly, Class C ended up choosing a small number of sporting events. Although, I suppose its perfectly understandable considering how few of your classmates can study effectively. Sud-kun is probably the central figure of this basketball event too, wouldnt you say? After all, hes one of the best basketball players in this school. I dont think you stand a chance against us if you dont make proper use of him.

Sakayanagi jumped at the opportunity to speak her mind, looking to get me to engage with her, but I intentionally chose to keep quiet.

If at all possible, I wanted to avoid making too much of an impression on Hoshinomiya-sensei and Sakagami-sensei.

Did Horikita-san, the true commander of Class C, order you not talk with me unless you had to?

Upon seeing that I still wasnt going to respond, she continued.

If so, even if you say something, it shouldnt affect who you end up selecting. Do you disagree?

Sakayanagi was also well aware that I was looking to limit my words while we were in front of the teachers.

Horikita warned me not to say anything excessive to you. She said that if Im not careful with what I say, Ill just get caught up in one of your tricks and have the tables turned on me.

Fufu. Thats no good, Ayanokji-kun. Youve already gone and provided me with important information. The identity of the mastermind controlling you from the shadows is something you shouldve kept hidden. If you go ahead and confess that its Horikita-san, you do know that Ill be able to infer things based on her personality and behavioral patterns, right?

No, thats That doesnt necessarily mean that shes the one instructing me.

Didnt you just say it yourself, though? That Horikita-san told you what to do?

Upon seeing Sakayanagi let out a chuckle, Hoshinomiya-sensei put her palm on her forehead as an uh oh leaked out of her mouth.

Sakagami-sensei was also taken aback. He stood there, shaking his head, watching as Sakayanagi extracted information out of me all too easily.

No, I just said that Horikita warned me The instructions couldve come from somebody else.

Couldve? In a situation like this, you wont get yourself anywhere if you dont state definitively that it was somebody else, even if its a lie.

Not only did Sakayanagi see through what I had been trying to do, but she even spoke up to support me in doing so.

This exchange alone mustve been more than enough to convey the overwhelming difference in power between the two of us.

Now that we had worked together to trick both of the teachers who were watching over us, the special exam would truly begin.

What does it matter anyway? Class C came to face this exam after carefully thinking about what strategies you would come up with, Sakayanagi. Even if youve realized that Horikita is the one that came up with our strategy, then all thats done is level the playing field.

My goodness, youve gone and admitted to it so straightforwardly. Though, since when was I the one who came up with Class As strategy, exactly? Just like you, Ayanokouji-kun, I have as many minds to help me decide things as I do classmates. Did it ever occur to you that Class A couldve also chosen to face this exam after running through all sorts of simulations on what Class C might do?

Thats

Dozens of seconds had passed since the teachers had given her permission to engage in a war of words with me.

Unable to stand and watch this happen any longer, Sakagami-sensei pushed forward with the exam.

Do remember that time is limited. While I did say that you were free to speak with one another, please dont neglect your task at hand.

Of course, my conversation with Sakayanagi had absolutely no effect on my mental state.

The only ones who were worried here were the teachers. For me, and also Sakayanagi, this was nothing more than an idle conversation.

Once the both of us had finished making our choices, the list of students whod be participating in the basketball event was announced.

Class Cs participants were Makida Susumu, Minami Setsuya, Ike Kanji, Hond Ryotar, and Onodera Kayano. Critically, Sud was not among them. Furthermore, I had even included a girl in our lineup. The teams ace was Makida. According to Sud, as long as Makida practiced for it, he should be skilled enough to pass the exam. In addition, although Onoderas true specialty was swimming, her basketball skills didnt seem to be all that bad. From the looks of it, Horikita had decided that choosing her would be better for the team than choosing a boy who didnt have any experience. As for our opponent, Class A chose Machida Kji, Toba Shigeru, Kamuro Masumi, Shimizu Naoki, and Kit Hayato. Sakayanagi had thrown a girl into the mix as well.

According to the information I had gathered from Hirata, Kei, and Kushida, the team I had chosen should be more than ready to take home the win.

Sakagami-sensei was standing over near Sakayanagi, so I couldnt see his face very clearly. However, Hoshinomiya-sensei was standing near me, and I could easily see hers. At a glance, I could tell that she had her doubts about the participants I had chosen.

After all, Sud Ken, the man considered to be the main focus of the basketball event, was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, this was a strategy that Horikita and the rest of Class C had decided upon, not me.

Though, its only natural that Sakayanagi would see through a strategy like this.

So youre looking to win without using Sud-kun, is that it? With reflexes like his, it wouldnt be all that unusual for him to succeed at both tennis and table tennis as well. Well, either way, its all within the realm of my expectations.

With Sud in the lead, we wouldve been able to safely guarantee ourselves the win. Meanwhile, Class A wouldnt be very happy about seeing basketball get selected. After all, Sud is the first person who comes to mind the moment anyone thinks of the basketball event. Class As chances of winning would be quite a lot lower if they were to take on a basketball team led by Sud, and they knew that.

In which case, the next logical conclusion for Class A would be to avoid making the mistake of wasting any of their skilled students on the basketball event.

Then, with Sud out of the way, Class A might have the upper hand in the sporting events that would come later on.

In light of this, Class C intentionally made the decision to not use Sud in the basketball event. If at all possible, we wanted to preserve his valuable potential that could shine in the remaining sporting events.

Whether or not Sud had already participated in an event would also be a deciding factor in case the tennis or table tennis events were to get chosen later on.

However, based on the people in Class As lineup, it seems that Sakayanagi had seen through this short-sighted plan of ours.

By the way, who was it that came up with these rules regarding commander intervention? Was this also Horikita-sans idea? You do realize that it completely exposed what your goal was, right?

Sorry, but I cant answer that.

Is that right? If you cant answer, then I suppose it cant be helped.

On the other side of the monitor, we watched as the preparations for the event went underway. The match would be starting soon.

In the meantime, the only thing wed be able to do is sit and watch the event unfold.

As the commanders, our only means of influencing this event was our ability to substitute one of the players.

But, that one, single decision could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

At the sound of a whistle, a strenuous 10-minute match of basketball began.

At first, even though they didnt have Sud on the team, Class C was almost equally matched with Class A.

The moment one team scored a lead, the other would come right back and equalize it. It was truly a neck-and-neck match.

Even the teachers found their eyes being drawn to the fierce battle unfolding on the monitor, completely unsure of who exactly would win.

As the one chosen to take Suds place, Makida wasnt bad at all. Even though he was nowhere near as good as Sud, his above-average skills allowed him to carry out the role of the teams ace quite well. On the other hand, Class As ace was none other than Kit, who was proving himself to be an equal match for Makida every step of the way.

By the point halftime came around, there was only a one-point gap in the score at 12 to 11.

Class C had only just barely taken the lead.

An interesting match, this one.

Sakayanagi expressed her thoughts on the match. It would be hard to say which team would win during the second half.

The second half of the match was set to begin after a brief four-minute intermission. However, Sakayanagi still didnt make her move. Even though Class C was leading by one point, she still seemed to think that the two teams were equal in strength, and was instead looking to see how the match would play out. I, however, reached out for the keyboard in front of me without the slightest bit of hesitation. I made the decision and called for Sud to swap out with Ike.

Its certainly true that, at a glance, the two teams seemed to be evenly matched. It seemed like there was no way to tell how the game would play out.

For the last ten minutes, I had been quite torn over whether or not I should substitute Sud into the match.

Fufu.

Sakayanagi let out a faint chuckle. It didnt seem like she had any intention of letting me preserve Suds potential.

Before long, Sud arrived on the other side of the monitor, warmed up and ready to go.

Even though it wouldnt be surprising if he had his doubts about being called in at this point, his expression was still extremely serious.

From the looks of it, Sud inevitably seemed to realize the same thing that I had.

Both teams are evenly matched. Or, no, Class C is winning right now. Isnt your decision to call in Sud a bit premature?

I just thought I should guarantee that we pick up the win.

This is quite an important first match, so I understand how you feel. After all, theres no way to be sure that tennis or table tennis will get chosen after this. Theres no reason to hold onto Sud-kun if theres no event that can make proper use of him.

Shouldnt you be swapping out one of your players as well?

Theres no need for that. I chose a winning lineup from the very beginning.

Kit, who had been marking Makida, switched over to marking Sud.

From the main classroom, Sud shouldve been watching over the entire match since it first started.

Furthermore, Sud shouldve already noticed the difference in their abilities.

After the 4-minute intermission was over, the second half of the match started.

Kit guarded against Sud tightly, and his movements were about twice as sharp as they were earlier.

[I knew it! You bastard, so you were holding back, eh!?]

We could hear Suds voice yelling through the monitor.

I knew from the beginning that Class A had been holding back in order to drag Sud out onto the court.

However, there was no way to tell just how much of their potential they had been hiding until Sud tried his hand against them.

Kit fought fiercely, but Sud was still a level above him.

He shook off Kits defense and forced his way into Class As territory.

In order to stop him, Class As entire team desperately tried to hold back Suds advances.

Despite the fact that Sud was a head and shoulders above the rest, Class As players still seemed to be a step above his teammates.

The score was 17 to 13. While the point difference had grown wider, instead of slowing down, the opposing teams movements gradually began to pick up pace.

[Oi Kit, you son of a bitch, you know what youre doin, dont you!?]

[Nah. Youre just being pressured by a bunch of amateurs.]

[You liar!]

[Why would I be lying? My friends and I have only been practicing for less than a week now. It seems youve got a lot of confidence in your basketball skills, but youre not all that impressive.]

[You bastard!]

Since there was no cheering going on in the background, we could just barely make out the exchange going on between Sud and Kit over the monitor.

Instigated by the fact that he was struggling against supposed amateurs, Suds performance slowly began to lose some of its color.

Fufu, that was a lie. Kit-kun is an experienced basketball player.

Having Kit incite Sud like this was most likely also part of Sakayanagis plan.

By messing with his mentality like this, Sud-kun will inevitably collapse. No matter how superior ones technique really is, if the mind is still immature, it will give rise to an opportunity for someone to take advantage of you.

The student named Kit seemed to be quite skilled at playing basketball. He intentionally hid his abilities and played at an equal skill level as the students from Class C for the first half of the match. His goal was to stage a comeback once Sud got on the court and steal the win.

And, if that didnt work, hed look to win by instigating a fight with Sud to break his concentration.

It would be fair to say that Sakayanagis two-part strategy had completely poked a hole in our own.

My team will be catching up with yours soon enough.

Kit cleanly sent the basketball flying straight into the basket. The score was now 17 to 15. Class A was definitely putting the pressure on.

Suds mental turmoil had indeed nearly evened out the playing field.

However

You said that Suds mind is still immature, but When exactly did you hear that?

What do you mean?

Sud had grown up a lot over this past year. Now, his willpower wouldnt crumble because of something like this. He knew that there was no way that Horikita would care about how cool he was during the match. That would only come for carrying his team to victory.

[Oraa!]

[Nngh!?]

Although his tone of voice was rough, the smoothness of his play returned. He overtook Kit and made his way to the basket, and nobody was able to stop him. He finished off his run down the court with a dunk, once again extending the lead for Class C.

[Heh I got a little bit heated there, but theres no way youre beating me.]

Even though Kit was a skilled player, with a calm mind, Sud was easily a step or two above him.

I see. So hes done some growing up of his own?

After that, Suds mind didnt waver again, and he brilliantly led the team until the end.

Eventually, the sound of the whistle rang out, signifying the end of the match.

[Hell yeah! I did it Suzune!]

Sud struck a triumphant pose. He looked so excited that youd think he had just won a basketball tournament.

It was only one win, but his excitement was well deserved given everything he had just accomplished.

I thought we had a chance, but his skills really were on another level after all.

Apparently, Sakayanagi had seriously set her sights on picking up the win, with or without Sud on the court.

The final score was 24 to 16. The first event had come to an end with a splendid victory for Class C.

Who wouldve thought that Class C would win first! You never really know when it comes to these things huh?

Hoshinomiya-sensei mumbled her thoughts to herself, impressed with what had happened.

Though, despite our win, we had conceded one of our strongest assets in return.

It had been an event that literally required our victory from the moment he stepped out onto the court.