Real teaching, hypocritical gray life

“Finally, on behalf of all the teachers and students of the school, I wish this sports festival a complete success.”

Amidst loud applause, Senior Fujimaki concluded his opening speech.

The much-anticipated sports festival officially begins here.

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All competitions such as the 100m race are conducted in an orderly manner starting with the first grade students.

The first-year boys start and the third-year girls finish, and the event is considered complete. After a break, the first-year girls start and the third-year boys take turns.

Each class will arrange the competition based on the [Entry Form] submitted in advance.

Obviously, we won’t know the other classes’ arrangements for each event and category until the competition officially begins.

During the [100m race] event, each class needs to select two people, a total of eight people, to line up in a straight line.

There are ten groups of first-grade boys.

I took out the [Entry Form] from my portable backpack, which is a piece of paper with the order and time of the students' participation in the competition. This is a copy that Ichinose printed out this morning for our convenience, and each student has one.

At this point, even if this form is leaked, it will not cause much impact unless you are willing to bear the cost of tampering with a huge amount of points. However, in the end, it is not cost-effective, and multiple operations cannot be performed on the private points currently held by each class.

After all, it is a tampering of the rules.

At this moment, my heart was not at peace, and even my body was shaking with excitement.

If you ask me the reason, it must be because I am about to take the field - in the first lane of the first group in the 100m race.

"I hope we won't run into strong enemies from other classes..."

I took a sip of water and muttered softly while looking at the track.

As a player at the T2 level of my class, I need to try my best to pursue a higher ranking. Getting into the top three is the greatest reward for someone like me.

In that case, please give me the same luck as in rock-paper-scissors.

"Even if you meet a strong enemy, just do your best, Luo. And Kameyama-san."

Ichinose was cheering us on from behind, and at the same time I received blessings from all sides. These blessings seemed a bit heavy on me.

“I will try my best not to be the last one.”

In the end, I could only make a low-ambition speech like this without any commitment, and then walked straight to our first-year boys' competition venue.

It was not a coincidence that I was arranged in the first group of the [100m race], but the 'first lane' was definitely arranged by the school.

It is worth mentioning here that at the end of the period for submitting the [Entry Form], Class D also successfully maintained its cooperation with us, and we insisted on the arrangement of the best cooperation in strength.

Class A arranged all students in the T2 level of strength in the first group, so the players in Class D who competed in the first group were the individually strong Ken Sudo and Hideo Sotomura who served as a stepping stone.

Our mission goal is to get a higher ranking, with the second place being the best; and if Sudo and Sotomura are not unexpected, they will probably take the first and last place in the group respectively. The placement of the two extremes is the result of our discussion.

Standing on the first track, I took a closer look at the opponent I was about to face.

The result was unexpectedly smooth. I did not see any famous contestants from other classes in the first group of contestants. Most of the students were either large or thin.

In this way, there might be a chance to get the second place.

But on the other hand, this is also a loss. Sudo ran 100 meters in less than 11 seconds. This result has reached a delicate state among ordinary high school students. If we can use him to limit the faster members of other classes, our subsequent competitions may be easier.

I looked down at Sudo who was preparing for a squat start and nodded to him, then kept my eyes on the track ahead.

However, I didn't expect Sudo to talk to me at this time, and the content was to give me advice.

"Don't you need to squat? Wouldn't that be faster?"

Indeed, if the speeds of the competitors are similar, the squat position can bring greater benefits.

When the half-folded body is fully opened, the resistance is smaller and the tension is greater. The starting pedal can also make the feet push the ground more powerfully. While the center of gravity is forward, it can also ensure that the arm swing is more flexible and powerful after the start, and better drive the whole body to sprint forward.

Apart from the 'saving pre-race hassle' aspect, the squatting position has every advantage over the standing position.

"Ah, uh, I think the standing position is more familiar than that one... Look, isn't it like this when you jog normally?"

"...Can it be explained this way?"

"Hmm, can't it be explained this way...? Anyway, Sotomura-san and I used the same position, so it shouldn't be strange."

"... Never mind. It's fine no matter what you do."

I breathed a sigh of relief after finishing the questioning. Sudo also readjusted his position on the starting blocks. I could see absolute confidence emanating from his profile.

"boom--"

When the signal gun sounded, Sudo reacted perfectly and rushed out. I was a step late because of my interruption. He surpassed the rest of us boys at the starting line, and then left us behind at a speed that stood out.

You don't need to look to know that I look quite weak compared to him on the track next to me.

This is the first sports festival in my life, so maybe it would be more appropriate for me to get a higher ranking.

It is worth mentioning in this game that I could only catch the backs of Sudo and Kameyama in my field of vision, which means that I am now ranked third among the eight people.

The two people from Class B followed closely behind me. For some reason, they started slower than I did. The people from Class C did try their best to run, but their physical fitness data limited them to the last place.

It may be because the speed difference is too large, or the speeds are similar after reaction.

Anyway, we ended the game like this.

Sudo took first place with an overwhelming advantage, while Toumura took last place as we expected.

I also won one of the few third places in individual competitions in my life.

"The plan seems to be successful."

I high-fived the oncoming Guishan for victory.

The second and third places were both taken by our Class A, which is a good start.

As the groups behind started one after another, we quickly left the track and returned to the tent in order not to disturb them.

But before they could bask in the afterglow of victory, the signal gun for the next group to start rang out. The start signal rang out about every 20 seconds.

It would take about four minutes for a first-year boy to finish the whole race. Applying this to second- and third-year boys and girls, it would take about 100 minutes to finish the 30m race.

"I didn't expect you to get third place."

"I was also surprised. It was thanks to the students in Class B who were distracted at the start, otherwise it would have been difficult for me to get such a ranking easily."

I pretended to try my best and wiped the non-existent sweat from my forehead in response to Kanzaki's joke.

The students in Class B were not slow, and if I made even the slightest mistake I would only be ranked fourth.

"Thank you for your hard work, Kameyama-san, Luo-kun."

After the game, Ichinose’s warm greetings came again.

It might be a good idea to finish the event in the first group. This way I can rest before the next competition, and I feel relaxed unexpectedly.

Next, let's just look at a few players who need attention, such as Ryuen and Katsuragi who were active in the first two special exams, and Shinji Oda and Takumi Oda who are relatively strong in speed...

The second group did not win the first place as I expected, and Class B won the first place with a slight speed advantage. The school even used photography for the first time in this competition to confirm the accuracy of the ranking.

Kanzaki was assigned to the third group.

With his athletic ability, we plan to win first place. In addition, he was a member of the track and field club in junior high school, so we have a good chance of winning.

The other class assigned to the same group was Katsuragi from Class B, and both of them looked unusually calm.

Katsuragi is on the first lane, and Kanzaki is on the sixth lane.

The members sent by our partner Class D in this combination are students occupying the fifth and eighth lanes, just...

The fifth path is currently absent.

"Hmm, hasn't Koenji-san from Class D arrived at the track yet?"

Ichinose seemed to have clearly memorized Class D's arrangements for the [Individual Competition], and expressed her doubts about it.

On the field, the referee was about to fire the signal gun, but Koenji still did not show up. The school did not try to find Koenji, but simply treated him as absent.

"...Did anything special happen in Class D?"

I said casually while holding a bottle of mineral water.

"I don't know either... Can you come with me to check out the situation?"

"......I see."

I really want to maintain my current rest state, but I can't completely ignore the situation of our partners, Class D.

I followed closely behind Ichinose.

As soon as I arrived at the D class pavilion, I saw Koenji humming a song in the corner of the small room while holding a mirror and combing his neat hair.

Bang—the third group’s game began.

But there was no change on Koenji's face.

In contrast, Hirata noticed our arrival immediately, and after telling others a few words, he trotted towards us.

"Ichinose-san, what's going on?"

"Well, it's nothing serious... but if I remember correctly, Koenji-san should be participating in the third group, fifth lane. I didn't see him on the track... Is there any accident?"

"Kōenji-san..." Hirata scratched the back of his head with a wry smile.

Although he looked like he didn't want us to see it, he still turned his body to the side in the end.

"As you can see, Koenji-san is not feeling well. If nothing unexpected happens, he may not be able to attend all the sports events today..."

"Can't attend all sports events... Hey, is this... a physical illness...?"

At this time, Ichinose also noticed Koenji-san in the corner of the hut.

Even though my hearing was affected by the noise around me, as long as I stared at his 'elegant' posture, I could immediately recall the feeling of 'Ah, I am so beautiful.'

The thought of such auditory hallucinations made my body shudder.

"Yeah, at least that's how he explained it to me."

No matter how he tried to hide it, the helplessness in Hirata's tone was inevitably revealed to us.

"...I see. Being the leader of Class D is also a very hard job."

"I'm sorry, I'm so lucky that Ichinose can understand."

"Hmm...It seems like Horikita-san is also going to give advice?"

Just as we were about to leave, Horikita suddenly broke into the field of beauty that Koenji was sorting out. I originally thought that Koenji would be somewhat moved by this, but I seem to have underestimated his pursuit of his own beauty.

"Oh, sorry, I have to excuse myself for a moment and go check on the situation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hirata nodded and left in a hurry, probably because he was afraid that there would be unnecessary conflicts between Horikita and Koenji. In a sense, this man was also quite unfortunate.

But why was such a kind and excellent boy assigned to Class D? It would be nice to know more...

"It's hard to deal with Koenji-san's absence from all sports... Let's go back."

The withdrawal of Koenji actually has little impact on the overall competition. Although we will lose some unexpected points in the total score, the fact is that Sakayanagi from the first-year class B of the White Team does not have the ability to participate in sports competitions.

This is more like a bargain for the White Team, as the two sides just happened to make up for it.

After returning to the territory of my class, the third group's 100m race had already ended. I heard that Kanzaki won first place by a tiny step over the others, but Katsuragi also won third place.

Although the T1 players failed to get a good first place in the next few games where we didn't have T2 players participating, fortunately, the overall event was basically as expected, and so were the first place wins.

However, the team Shibata was in encountered Oda Takumi, who Class C needed to pay attention to, and the process of winning became a little more difficult, and their physical strength was instantly consumed. At the same time, Shibata's face also showed a little confusion, but he didn't care after a few seconds, so we didn't ask him what happened.

After the first-year boys finished their 100m race, we returned to Class A and quietly watched the girls’ competition.

Ichinose was placed in the third lane of the second group of the women's 100m race, and her opponent was Kamuro Masumi, a student from Class B who occupied the fifth lane. We have a deep connection with her, and this arrangement was somewhat unexpected and felt like fate.

"...Can I ask how Kamimuro's motor nerves are doing?"

I asked Kanzaki who was watching quietly on the side.

"Don't you know? You were there when Sakayanagi revealed the information, and we explained it to everyone in the class afterwards."

"When Sakayanagi revealed the information, I was so focused on not losing too badly that I didn't have the energy to pay attention to the information. As for the explanation afterwards...ah, I didn't listen..."

"You really..."

Kanzaki sighed slightly.

"Kamiro's motor skills are not bad, and he was rated B+ in the admission data sheet, while Ichinose only has a C... But it's hard to say how he runs, after all, Ichinose was a member of the track and field club in junior high school, so he should have a certain degree of speed."

In other words, there is no way to make a definitive conclusion.