Classroom of the Elite, Kusuo Saiki

"No, that's true... but I just want more opportunities..."

"You can't do it, Kanji."

Ken Sudo rejected Kanji Ike's idea without hesitation.

“I am planning to consider your desire to participate in all competitions, but I can’t just let you participate in all events without any guidance.”

Horikita Suzune, who had just expressed her approval of Sudo Ken's proposal, also voiced her opposition this time.

"why?"

Sudo Ken's face was full of confusion; he didn't know why Horikita Suzune was against him.

"Because physical strength is limited, continuously participating in various events will inevitably deplete physical strength, and it is very difficult to maintain a winning streak."

"Even so, it's still better than leaving it to an athletic idiot! Even if he's tired, he can still contribute more than these guys."

As he spoke, Sudo Ken glanced at the boys around him with disdain.

This also includes Kusuo Saiki.

'Oh dear, I guess I've been categorized as a sports idiot.'

Kusuo Saiki was not surprised by this; on the contrary, he thought it was a good thing, as being considered a sports idiot might prevent him from participating in more events.

Ike Kanji and the others felt displeased with Sudo Ken's words, but they couldn't refute him for the time being. Horikita Suzune felt that the group couldn't reach a consensus on the matter, so she gave up on participating in the debate.

......

In the second period, the whole class went to the gymnasium, where they met for the first time among all the students from all three grades in the school.

The stadium was very spacious, but the dense crowd made Saiki Kusuo feel a bit noisy, as if he were in a vegetable market.

However, Kusuo Saiki could still faintly hear the thoughts of the people around him.

[Brother...is brother there?]

[At the sports festival, I want to do my best in front of the whole school.]

I don't want to participate... I don't want to participate...

Just then, a boy walked to the center of the podium and said loudly in a clear voice:

"I'm Fujimaki from Class 3-A, and I'm the overall commander of the Red Team this time."

"First, I have a piece of advice for the first-year students. Some of you may think it's unnecessary, but remember this: the Sports Festival is very important. The experience you gain at the Sports Festival will definitely be useful in other areas. Many of the exams that follow may seem like games, but each one will be a crucial battle for your survival at school."

"Perhaps right now everyone doesn't feel it or have much motivation—but since we're participating, we have to win. We must remember this feeling and make this a consensus."

Fujimaki shouted something that sounded like a pep talk, but it wasn't very enthusiastic.

'Is a high school really going to risk its very existence?'

Kusuo Saiki shook his head.

"The only event that concerns all students is the final 1200-meter relay. All other events are separate by academic year. From now on, students in the same group from each academic year should gather together and start discussing them individually."

As soon as Fujimaki finished speaking, the students of Class A in the first year began to move closer to Class B.

Kohei Katsuragi and Yosuke Hirata also had a brief exchange and confirmed their cooperative relationship.

Class A and Class B are, on the surface, the classes with the highest scores in the school, but this is related to the previous written tests and special exams, and cannot be directly linked to the results of the upcoming sports festival.

Most importantly, the score gap between Class A and Class B has become increasingly smaller, and to some extent, the two classes are also competitors.

Cooperation is also an opportunity to obtain information from each other.

On the other side, Ryuen Sho led Class D away from the gymnasium, showing no intention of cooperating with Class C, where Ichinose Honami was.

Even so, Long Yuanxiang wore an incredibly confident smile, as if victory was already assured.

The key to this sports festival isn't the competition itself, but rather the personnel arrangements.

Kusuo Saiki could vaguely hear Sho Ryuen's inner thoughts.

After Ryuen Sho left, Katsuragi Kohei shook his head, then stretched out his hand and pointed to the side:

"Her name is Sakayanagi Arisu. Due to physical limitations, she can only sit in a chair. Please forgive her."

'Is she Sakayanagi Arisu?'

Kusuo Saiki turned to look at the other person. Whether it was the rumors or the thoughts he had heard from Ryuen Sho earlier, Sakayanagi Arisu was someone they cared about a lot.

Class A was divided into two camps, with Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kohei as the leaders of the two camps, respectively.

Sakayanagi Arisu sat on a chair, wearing a hat, with her silver-white hair hanging down, below which was a cute, doll-like face, and a very petite figure.

【so cute! 】

The moment they saw Sakayanagi Arisu, almost everyone present felt the same way.

This made the dissenting voices of some people more apparent.

Kusuo Saiki narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that the girl in front of him, who looked like a doll, was completely different inside from outside.

"I regret that I cannot be used as a fighting force. I have lost all competitions without a fight, which will probably cause a lot of trouble for both classes. Please allow me to apologize to everyone at the beginning regarding this."

Sakayanagi Arisu immediately apologized to the others present.

"No, it's okay!"

"Honestly, the school is so heartless. They know someone has mobility issues, but they can't even give them a special pardon."

Don't worry about it!

Not a single person present blamed Sakayanagi Arisu.

Even Sudo Ken, who had just thought that someone who was bad at sports would drag the class down, had a smile on his face as he comforted the other person.

'Oh dear, does being cute mean you can do whatever you want?'

Kusuo Saiki sighed inwardly. If he or anyone else had refused the sports festival for the same reason, even if they apologized sincerely, they would definitely have been attacked by those people.

Kusuo Saiki also noticed that the students in Class A were divided into two groups, one group behind Kohei Katsuragi and the other group next to Arisu Sakayanagi.

However, the number of people next to Sakayanagi Arisu was far greater than that of Katsuragi Kohei.

The balance within Class A has long been completely broken.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji and Suzune Horikita seemed to be talking about something, but Kusuo Saiki didn't care. He only had one thought in his mind: when to leave this place immediately.

.....

After a forty-minute discussion, the afternoon classes came to an end, and everyone left the gymnasium to make their own arrangements.

But just as Kusuo Saiki was about to head to the coffee shop, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji called out to him.

"Qi Mu, can we talk for a bit?"

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's face showed no change in expression.

"Excuse me, I have something to take care of."

Kusuo Saiki answered immediately.

"Today is the first day of school, but they've released limited-edition pudding flavors! I bet a lot of students will rush to buy them."

"Are you planning to go to the coffee shop to buy the new pudding? If so, I've already asked another classmate to buy it for me."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka replied.

[Saiki seems to value sweets a lot, which might be a persona he's deliberately cultivating, but it could also serve as a reason for further interaction. When Class D left early, I asked Manabe to 'help' buy some and leave them somewhere on campus. To prevent others from noticing, I also asked Yamauchi to retrieve them.]

'Ask Manabe for help...does that mean threatening her with the video? Threatening Manabe to buy pudding...and then having Yamauchi pick it up?'

Kusuo Saiki pursed his lips, feeling a pang of sadness for the fate of these people. However, since Kiyotaka Ayanokouji had helped him buy the limited-edition pudding, he could consider it a good deed done.

"Row."

"Qi Mu, who do you think is the mole in our class?"

"Kushida, I guess."

Kusuo Saiki blurted out the name without thinking.

[As expected, Qi Mu had already seen through the existence of a mole within the class, perhaps even earlier than I had.]

'Oh dear, I completely forgot about that.'

It was only then that Kusuo Saiki realized that he had not told anyone else about the mole in the class.

However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's knowledge of this matter did not have much of an impact.

"Is it because of the previous preferential treatment exam results?"

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka asked.

"Ah."

Kusuo Saiki nodded.

Actually, I already knew last semester.

"This sports festival is not only about the students' physical fitness, but more importantly, it's about the allocation of participants."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka continued,

"If we could know the personnel allocation of other classes, we would have a huge advantage in this sports festival."

"Indeed."

“Ryuen said after the last exam that the next exam would target our class, so he will probably take action during this sports festival. His early departure from this meeting must be because he made plans in advance.”

As Ayanokouji Kiyotaka spoke, he shifted his gaze to the doorway.

"But Horikita doesn't seem to realize this problem at all. Her vision is too narrow. Although she has grown compared to before, she is still far from enough to be promoted to Class A. I'm sure you think so too, Saiki. She is not handy enough as a tool."

Your misunderstanding of me is getting deeper and deeper....

Kusuo Saiki thought to himself, but still responded calmly.

"Um....."

“I want Horikita to grow. She needs to experience setbacks to realize her shortcomings, so I have some ideas. I hope you can cooperate with me, Saiki.”

"Cooperate?"

"I'd like to borrow your Karuizawa for a bit, during the class meeting..."