Chapter 263: Teasing Horikita Suzune Together / Why Do You Think the Long-Distance Run Was Added?
Shimizu Akira carefully examined all the rules for the Sports Festival.
Reward Points for All-Participation Events Individual Matches: 1st to 4th place receive 15/12/10/8 points respectively; 5th place and below decrease by 1 point sequentially. Team Matches: The winning group receives 500 points.
Reward Points for Recommended/Selective Participation Events 1st to 4th place receive 50/30/15/10 points respectively; 5th place and below decrease by 2 points sequentially. Cross-Grade Unified Relay: Points x3. Cross-Grade Unified Long-Distance Run: Points x5.
Red vs. White Confrontation Results All classes belonging to the group with the lower overall score (six classes total) will have 100 Class Points deducted.
Grade-Level Ranking Results 1st Place: +50 Class Points. 2nd Place: No change. 3rd Place: -50 Class Points. 4th Place: -100 Class Points.
Individual Match Ranking Results (Choose one; written test points can be used for the next midterm and are non-transferable) 1st Place: 5,000 Personal Points / Written Test +3 points. 2nd Place: 3,000 Personal Points / Written Test +2 points. 3rd Place: 1,000 Personal Points / Written Test +1 point. Last Place: -1,000 Personal Points (If insufficient, Written Test -1 point).
Individual Overall Score Ranking Results Highest scoring student in all competitions: 100,000 Personal Points. Top 3 students in each grade: 10,000 Personal Points each.
Regarding Violations
Violators will be disqualified; those with malicious behavior will be forcibly removed and stripped of all personal points.
After all competitions conclude, the school will calculate the total points earned by each student within each grade and punish the ten lowest-scoring students.
To be honest, after reading the rules, Shimizu Akira's first reaction was simply that the school was being too stingy this time.
The rewards provided were pathetically small.
Putting aside the scores from the Red vs. White confrontation, both the Class Points and Personal Points reeked of a miserly attitude.
For instance, the outcome settings for the Red and White teams were completely inconsistent with the logic of the last VIP special exam. Last time, it was a zero-sum game where one lost and the other gained, meaning the total points across all classes wouldn't change out of thin air.
This time, however, the school didn't even bother with appearances; there was actually no reward for winning? Instead, the losing classes would be harshly deducted 100 Class Points.
This meant that regardless of the final result, just from the Red vs. White confrontation alone, at least six classes would lose a combined total of 600 Class Points.
The grade-level ranking rules were the same. With four classes per grade, the total points for the grade wouldn't change for the top three, but the last-place class would definitely lose 100 points.
Adding it all up, another three classes would lose a total of 300 points. Thus, after this Sports Festival, the Class Points for all grades would most likely regress.
"The risk-to-reward ratio is way too off!"
"Isn't the punishment for this special exam a bit excessive?"
"Exactly! And it feels like we have no initiative at all. What one class can do is too limited. It feels like we're just at the mercy of fate!"
Several students couldn't help but complain in low voices.
"I never said this was a special exam. How you interpret it is your own freedom," Chabashira Sae countered flatly, instantly quieting the murmurs in the classroom.
At that moment, Hirata Yosuke raised his hand. "Sensei, what exactly is the difference between All-Participation events and Recommended participation events?"
"The former requires all entry slots to be filled to be considered complete; the latter is optional, and the slots do not strictly need to be filled," Chabashira Sae answered succinctly.
"In other words, as long as the slots for the All-Participation events are filled on paper, even if a student doesn't actually participate, it's not a violation? Right?" Horikita Suzune followed up immediately.
Chabashira Sae pondered for a moment. "You can understand it that way. However, I must remind you: if a student does not participate in any event, their personal contribution for the Sports Festival will be recorded as 0, and their score will be 0. The school will punish the 10 students with the lowest scores: 10 points will be deducted from their next midterm exam. Please keep this in mind."
She paused and added, "As for exactly how these 10 points will affect subsequent evaluations, I will explain when the written exams are closer. I will not accept questions regarding that now. Additionally, the list of the bottom ten students in overall performance will be announced alongside the written exam briefing."
Chabashira-sensei's words sounded quite ambiguous.
Having spent the last few months catching up on Literature, and with other subjects not being difficult for him, Shimizu Akira felt relatively confident about his midterm scores. Even if 10 points were deducted, it was within an acceptable range. But for the students in the class whose grades weren't good to begin with, this was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.
Students like Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji looked as if the sky was falling.
Kushida Kikyo said with a look of distress, "Will the names and the subjects for the point deduction only be announced close to the exam? If that's the case, even if we wanted to study in advance, we wouldn't know where to start."
"Yes," Chabashira Sae took over.
"Students with poor grades shouldn't think about leaving things to fate. Let me add one more thing: even if you don't earn a single point after participating, the baseline contribution recognized by the school is much higher than that of a student who doesn't participate at all."
The meaning was clear: the school wanted to encourage everyone to participate. Shimizu Akira thought this was normal. From the school's perspective—especially one that practiced "all-around development"—it naturally preferred students with both physical prowess and academic ability.
Shimizu suddenly thought of Sakayanagi Arisu. Given her physical condition, she likely couldn't participate. But on second thought, even if her contribution was 0, with her academic record, a 10-point deduction would probably be trivial to her.
"Furthermore, there is no limit on the number of events a student can enter for this festival. All competitions are not held simultaneously but will be carried out sequentially according to the schedule. It starts with the 100-meter dash, followed by the hurdles, and so on... So, theoretically, one student can sign up for multiple events." As Chabashira spoke, her gaze
drifted toward Shimizu Akira. "Also, there will be absolutely no changes to any of the Sports Festival events. Next month's festival will revolve around these items."
Sequential order?
It seemed the final 10-kilometer run would likely be scheduled at the very end.
However, what interested Shimizu more was the phrase "no changes." He had originally wondered if he could spend a large amount of points to have the school change, add, or remove an event. Now, it seemed that plan was dead in the water. But it also meant other classes couldn't pull any tricks either.
Chabashira-sensei then brought up the entry form.
The form detailed the flow of all events; the class had to decide the order of students participating in each competition themselves and must strictly follow the submitted sequence. The submission deadline was set from one week before to 5:00 PM the day before the festival. If the deadline passed without submission, the school would randomly assign the class's participation order.
If an uncontrollable situation occurred on the day of the competition and a student was forced to forfeit, it would be treated as a loss; there were no "substitutes" for All-Participation events. Substitutes were allowed for Recommended events, but the cost to activate one was 100,000 Personal Points.
Many students' faces turned sour again. Shimizu also felt the school was being incredibly predatory. Even if a student took first place in everything and got the maximum points, the reward was only 100,000 points.
Now, just to add a substitute for a recommended event, they had to pay the same amount? This wasn't a fee; it was a robbery.
'Could it be because of the last VIP exam?'
The school had paid out far more than expected—probably around 40 million personal points—so they were intentionally raising costs now to earn back the lost points. But on second thought, the school shouldn't be that desperate for 40 million.
"Oh, one final addition," Chabashira Sae said suddenly. "This matter doesn't come from the school, but from a notice by the Student Council. For this Sports Festival, the Student Council will provide an additional 3 million Personal Points as a reward."
The classroom went silent instantly, everyone's eyes focusing on her.
"The student who ranks first in overall points across all events for the entire grade will directly receive 3 million Personal Points." She explained, "It is said that the Student Council recovered a large amount of personal points from a certain student recently and is putting it out as an extra reward. For you, this is a rare opportunity. So, try your best to fight for that top reward."
Chabashira Sae scanned the room, and seeing no further questions, she continued: "The next period requires you to head to the First Gymnasium to meet with the classes of other grades. That is all."
With that, she turned and left the classroom, leaving the remaining time for the students to discuss freely.
"3 million?! The Student Council is so generous! If I could get that, I'd have snack money for three years!"
"The highest scoring event must be the 10-kilometer run... I'm not great at long distance, but if I push myself..."
The massive point reward had made everyone restless. After all, 3 million points meant one wouldn't have to worry about food or clothes for almost the entire three years.
Shimizu Akira also intended to participate; this was a prime opportunity to grab 3 million points.
However, he had a pretty good guess as to why the Student Council was offering such a huge reward. This 3 million—wasn't it likely split from Nagumo Miyabi's 10 million?
Horikita Manabu had mentioned before that he had no intention of keeping the 10 million Nagumo left behind; he would use it for other purposes that benefited the students. It seemed it was being injected into this Sports Festival in the form of a reward.
There were 14 events in total. The 100-meter dash, hurdles, and pole-toppling were typical individual events. Gender-split tug-of-war, cavalry battle, and four-way tug-of-war were team events. Individual events gave specific rewards and personal scores, while team events gave no individual points but awarded 500 class points for a win. To get the top overall ranking, one would have to participate in as many individual events as possible to rake in points.
However, in Shimizu's view, after analyzing the individual events, the most critical ones were the last two: the 1,200m relay and the 10,000m long-distance run. The former tripled the points, while the latter quintupled them; the base points for recommended events were already higher than team events. At this rate, as long as he took first place in these two, he would most likely secure the 3 million points from the President.
The discussion in the classroom grew heated. Kushida Kikyo gently declined several classmates gathered at her desk, then naturally turned toward Horikita Suzune, that soft, sweet smile still on her face. "Horikita-san, which Sports Festival events are you planning to join?"
Horikita Suzune had originally thought she was looking for Shimizu. Startled, she recovered her cold expression and replied flatly, "I haven't decided yet."
"Is that so?" Kushida Kikyo smiled. "But the Student Council is really generous this time, putting out so many points. And since it's cross-grade groups, we might end up being opponents with the President—your brother. Horikita-san, how do you feel about that?"
Horikita's expression stiffened almost imperceptibly. Class C was on the White Team, and Class A was on the Red Team.
She really hadn't expected to face Horikita Manabu directly. But after a moment, she calmed down. Since they were opponents, she would simply fight with everything she had.
"There's no need to discuss it with you," she said coldly.
Kushida didn't mind her attitude. "Oh? Then... if Akira and the President were competing against each other, who would you personally prefer to win?"
"Who is 'Akira'?" Horikita Suzune frowned, clearly not realizing who the name referred to.
"Akira, of course, is Shimizu Akira." Kushida's eyes curved into crescents, her tone so natural it was as if it were the most common name.
"You two..." Horikita Suzune was stunned.
'When did these two become so close? To the point where they could drop surnames and use first names?'
Seeing her like this, the smile in Kushida's eyes deepened. She didn't say more and just waved her hand.
"Well, I have things to do, so I'll be going now. Horikita-san, Akira, see you later."
With that, Kikyo turned and left briskly, leaving a dark-faced Horikita Suzune sitting silently.
Shimizu Akira, who had been silent for a long time, shook his head and checked his phone. The screen was still on a message from ten minutes ago.
Kushida Kikyo: Akira, don't do anything extra, just sit back and watch my performance.
Kushida's words just now were intentional.
Shimizu was stuck between laughing and crying, unable to tell what his girlfriend was planning. No matter how you looked at it, her actions seemed like pure baiting of Horikita Suzune.
Her "bad taste" was a bit too thick.
While he was pondering, Horikita Suzune, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly cleared her throat and spoke up out of the blue: "From now on, you can just call me Suzune. Since you have a good relationship with my brother, always calling him 'President' to distinguish us is a bit inconvenient."
Shimizu looked up, his eyes widening slightly.
Horikita Suzune was proactively suggesting an exchange of intimate names? This was rare. After all, this was the same student who was shy about the "hug" matter this morning.
Wait...
He suddenly realized something and opened his messages again.
Kushida Kikyo: That Horikita woman, if I'm not mistaken, should be exchanging names with you next!
Kushida Kikyo: Hehe! If I'm right, please reply with a '1'~
Shimizu instinctively looked toward Kushida. She was looking back with those seemingly innocent large eyes, though they held a spark of smugness she couldn't hide.
Fine, it wasn't just bad taste; she was giving him an assist? Shimizu quickly replied with a '1'.
Kushida Kikyo: As expected!
Kushida Kikyo: During the summer, she personally stood in front of the fortune-telling shop more than ten times, yet she never once walked in.
Shimizu looked at his screen and rubbed his forehead, feeling speechless.
Now he knew another embarrassing secret about Horikita Suzune. His seatmate's embarrassing stories were coming out one after another.
Shimizu Akira: Didn't you say I should handle it?!
Kushida Kikyo: Mm-hm... that was my plan! But I seem to have underestimated how awkward that woman is.
Kushida Kikyo: At this rate, let alone a month, even after a year, her conservative and twisted personality wouldn't let her speak up!
Kushida Kikyo: I don't care about that woman! I definitely don't want her delaying the progress between you and me!
Kushida Kikyo: So, I plan to intervene a bit this month and "stimulate" her a little~
Kushida Kikyo: ...Seeing her look clearly bothered yet stubborn and awkward, mm-hm, it's actually quite fun!
'Too much bad taste!'
So, the last sentence was her true feeling after all!
"Ahem... Shimizu-kun, you haven't answered me yet." Horikita Suzune noticed his long silence, her tone carrying a rare, subtle trace of urgency.
Shimizu put his phone away and looked at her, responding to her earlier request: "Sure, Suzune. From now on, you can just call me Akira."
Hearing the word "Suzune," Horikita's body stiffened for a moment. From childhood to now, other than her father and brother, this was the first time a male had called her by her first name. She opened her mouth, wanting to say the name back, but she paused awkwardly before finally saying softly, "...Akira... ahem, Akira-kun."
Thinking about it, her relationship with Shimizu Akira had indeed made significant progress. The corners of Horikita's mouth unconsciously curled up.
Shimizu took in the whole scene.
'She's too simple; she's this happy just from being called by her first name. President, oh President, your sister is really a bit embarrassing.'
To be toyed with by Kikyo like that and not realize it at all, while being submerged in her own little happiness... she was a bit "clumsily cute."
Seeing her completely oblivious, Shimizu instinctively reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Don't... rub my head here!" Horikita frowned, but her dissatisfaction was light, and her expression wasn't as angry as one might imagine.
The moment his fingers touched those soft strands of hair, Shimizu finally understood.
He finally understood why Kushida Kikyo loved teasing Horikita Suzune so much. Seeing this person get angry but not truly mad, being awkward yet cute, really made one want to tease her more.
'President, your sister really is cute.'
.
.
.
Inside the spacious gymnasium, students from all twelve classes had arrived. In the Third-Year Class A group, Student Council President Horikita Manabu's phone vibrated. He pulled it out to check.
Shimizu Akira: President Horikita, are you free tonight?
Shimizu Akira: I plan to invite you, Tachibana-Senpai , and Suzune out for a meal.
When his eyes landed on the name "Suzune," a very faint smile appeared on Horikita Manabu's usually calm face. He had always thought his sister was the conservative, non-proactive type.
He didn't expect that after one summer vacation, such a change would occur—to the point where Shimizu Akira would call her "Suzune" directly.
Clearly, their relationship was much closer than before.
Horikita Manabu put his phone away and turned to Tachibana Akane, who was standing beside him. "Tachibana, are you free tonight? Shimizu invited the two of us and Suzune for dinner."
"I'm free!" Tachibana Akane was stunned at first, but she couldn't hide her joy as she nodded repeatedly.
"Of course I'm free!"
Having received the answer, Horikita Manabu opened the chat with Shimizu again and replied concisely: Understood.
After sending it, his gaze fell on Horikita Suzune's contact in his address book. He frowned for a moment before finally typing a line and sending it.
Horikita Manabu: Good job.
Since she had made progress in her relationship with Shimizu Akira, this usually conservative and "embarrassing" sister of his had made a significant step forward, so he gave her a rare word of praise.
"President, good afternoon."
A voice suddenly came from behind. Horikita Manabu turned to see Nagumo Miyabi of Second-Year Class A approaching.
"For this Sports Festival, it seems we've been placed on the same team," Nagumo said first, wanting to know the President's thoughts.
"Yes," Horikita Manabu replied simply.
Seeing his flat reaction, Nagumo frowned and asked another question.
"The President didn't proactively volunteer for anything this time, allowing me to serve as the Overall Commander for the Red Team. I'm quite curious about the reason!"
This was a cross-grade sports festival. Usually, the commander for each group was chosen from students with more seniority and experience. By all rights, it should have been President Horikita. But for some reason, he had suddenly backed off. Thus, by rank, it fell to him, the Vice President.
"There was no need," Horikita Manabu swept his gaze over him. "I need to focus on preparing for this Sports Festival. I have a kouhai I want to compete against."
Nagumo was stunned. The reason was unexpectedly blunt—just to focus on the competition. 'A kouhai?'
He instinctively thought: 'Am I not Horikita Manabu's kouhai?'
Does that mean the President wants to compete with me? But the moment the thought appeared, he suppressed it. He knew exactly how much weight he held in the President's heart.
Nagumo's face darkened as he asked back, "Is it Shimizu Akira?"
"Yes," Horikita Manabu nodded without hesitation.
'Why him again!'
During the summer, he had inadvertently suffered several setbacks at Shimizu Akira's hands. Now, even Horikita Manabu was mentioning this name, treating him as an opponent worth focusing on. His joy at gaining the commander position vanished instantly, turned cold.
"Wait!" He suddenly remembered something else. "The 3 million personal points you put out as an extra reward... surely that wasn't prepared specifically for Shimizu Akira?"
"That is correct, but it wasn't prepared only for him." Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses. "Those points were put out to motivate all students. However, I won't deny that I believe Shimizu Akira has the highest probability of winning."
Nagumo's heart sank.
He knew all too well that this 3 million likely came from the 10 million he had given to the President back then. That was the exorbitant price he paid for those exam papers! If the President used it himself, he wouldn't feel too bad. But the thought of that money falling into another student's hands—especially Shimizu Akira's—made his heart sting like it was being pricked by needles.
"President, I will also participate in the cross-grade 1,200-meter relay and the 10,000-meter long-distance run!" Nagumo took a deep breath, a competitive smile appearing on his face.
"I am determined to get that 3 million. After all, it was originally my points, wasn't it? You seem very confident in Shimizu-kouhai. I'll see for myself just how much real ability he has."
"You won't beat Shimizu Akira, and you won't beat me."
"The President certainly has full confidence in him. But being good at boxing doesn't mean being good at running, right? In the boxing exhibition match, he KO'd that black student with one punch, but the President knows better than anyone the nature of an exhibition match. It's just for show. What does that prove?"
Even now, Nagumo remained skeptical of Shimizu Akira, feeling that those flashy performances were more like calculated acts.
"Why do you think the Chairman specifically added the long-distance run?" Horikita Manabu suddenly asked, his eyes holding a depth that Nagumo couldn't decipher.
"Hmm? Wasn't it just a coincidence?" Nagumo was stunned and replied instinctively.
Horikita Manabu spoke flatly, a sentence that completely disrupted Nagumo's thoughts: "From the very first day of school, every single morning, the Chairman has been watching Shimizu Akira go on his morning runs."
Read ahead (160 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting