#103 Kibasen!

It was finally time for the last contest...at least for most of the people, Cavalry battle or Kibasen whatever you want to call it.

As I was looking around our tent, I saw a lot of exhausted faces and I wasn't really surprised because most of the people in our class aren't athletic type and even if they were, the constant contests with only little breaks between them, is pretty exhausting enough. Even Sudo who was boasting that he will participate in everything and will lead our entire class to victory is sweating like a pig.

"Haa, how can you be so fine when you are participating in twice more contests than everyone else?" Sudo took a deep breath to regulate his breathing. He just approached me after coming back from his own 200-meter dash.

"Hm? Do I look fine to you?" I asked in a sarcastic tone while moving my drenched hair to the back and only a few strands of hair have fallen back on my forehead.

"Eh...I guess not but you don't look like you are exhausted at all. I don't see you have any problems with breathing." Sudo awkwardly agreed but still explained why he thought so.

"Of course I don't, I had already finished my race some time ago so it's only natural that I would catch my breath in the meantime." I answered with a bored expression while waiting for my turn in the last universal participation contest. It also meant that after this contest, the lunch break will take place and I will have to meet up with Kushida. There is also matter with Horikita's injury-

*Bzz*

My chain of thoughts was interrupted when the phone in my pocket vibrated a few times.

I took out my phone and turned on display to look at the new message. After a few seconds of reading, a smile formed on my face.

"What is it?" Sudo asked with a curious expression when he saw my smile and tried to take a look at the name of the sender.

I quickly turned off the display before he could see anything.

"It's nothing important. Let's go prepare for the Kibasen and if I remember right we are together in the same group." I said with a small smile.

...A lunch...huh? Who would have thought that my program on the lunch break will be so stuffed? I will have to solve everything quickly, thankfully the break is a bit longer than usual due to student's extended sports activity.

"Yeah...about that...Who will be the commander and who will become a horse?" He stopped me from leaving and asked me with an uncertain expression.

Hm? ...Hahaha, Is he perhaps feeling inferior to me? I couldn't help but smirk inwardly when I saw his behavior. Before the sports festival, he would always feel like he is standing above everyone in terms of athleticism.

"Why do you ask? I thought you would try to force yourself into the commander's position without even asking us." I honestly told him what I thought and his mouth twitched a few times when he heard my harsh words.

He took a deep breath to calm down.

"...The way how the points are allocated in this event is completely different and I had heard that the commander will be the most responsible person in the team for these points. Therefore...if I can get a lot of points for our class here, I will be closer to obtaining what I want." He said while longingly glancing at Horikita who was sitting not too far away from us with her usual serious expression but I guess this time it was due to the pain she was experiencing. Still, she was unable to hear our conversation.

"What is your goal?" I asked him with a slightly interested expression.

"If I can take the first place for gaining the most points from the 1st-years, I will be allowed to call Horikita with her first name." When he said this, my curiosity immediately dispersed.

"I see...However, you wouldn't be telling all of this to me just to take pity and let you take the commander's post, right? I can't decide for everyone, there are still 2 more people who will be joining us." I said, expecting him to say more.

"Well...that's the thing. I really want to win but it might be actually impossible. If I remember correctly, you have yet to lose any event, right?" Sudo asked with a forced smile.

"Mm, luckily I haven't lost even once." I nodded to confirm his statement.

"I think there is a relatively low chance for me to win even if I was to be commander and gather all points. I also want this class to win and statistically, you should be the leader and not me, you had won more events than me. So I want to ask you...are you confident in taking this commander's position? In case you are interested...you can also take my leader's position." He frowned and serious expression appeared on his face while he asked me.

I was slightly surprised by how easily he would give up his position to me.

"Haha, I am not interested in being a leader and as for the commander's position... Let's ask others what they think and then we can all decide together. As for your wish to call Horikita-san by her first name...You should change the condition while you still can. She isn't interested in you obtaining the most points, what she is interested in is gaining the victory for this class." I laughed a bit and then replied with a calm expression.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked me with a slightly surprised expression.

"Sure about what? I am one hundred percent sure that I don't want to be a leader and if it's about the matter regarding Horikita-san...I am pretty sure that if you would have promised her to study more diligently, she would allow you to call her by her first name. So, you can try to reason with her and change it to the condition of you leading this class as a leader to the 1st place on this sports festival. And if she will refuse and it's really important to you then you can try the thing I have just told you." I explained in one breath.

I have no idea why is it so important to him but whatever...He will have to change the condition because I am not losing those bonus private points.

...

"Miyake-kun, you are here a bit earlier than we anticipated" I called out to our last partner.

"Hm? I guess I was tired of waiting... Anyway, Walker-kun, Sudo-kun, and Ike-kun huh? Pretty strange combination for the group. I wonder what was that person who wrote our participation table thinking." He turned around to look at us and commented with a thoughtful expression.

"It seems that Kanji is the weakest one here...But I think overall this team isn't that bad. Let's try to obtain as many headbands as we can!" Sudo shouted with vigor while clenching his fist.

"Haah? Why do you have to diss me even though you said that our team isn't bad?" Ike questioned Sudo with a disheartened expression.

"That doesn't matter...Guys, who do you think should become a commander?" Sudo disregarded Ike's question and asked us with a serious expression.

"Hmm, I don't really care but I definitely don't want to be one myself" Miyake replied almost instantly as if he was already expecting this kind of question.

"Same here!" Ike quickly answered with a panicked expression.

I guess he doesn't want any more responsibility.

"Alright, since you two don't want to, help us decide who should take that position. Me or Walker? And say honestly what you think, I just want to win this event. Your opinions could prove to be extremely valuable." Sudo said and both of them were surprised after hearing his words.

"Well, since Walker-kun has yet to lose any event, maybe we can try out his 'luck'." Miyake quickly recovered from his shock and suggested with a light smile.

"Mm, what about you, Kenji?" Sudo nodded and turned at Ike.

"Umm, well...you know-"

"Stop it. Just tell me your honest thoughts. I won't get angry." Sudo interrupted him with an annoyed expression.

"Eek! I think that Walker-kun should be the commander" Ike took a step back from Sudo and quickly blurted out.

Sudo kept glaring at him when he heard his answer and Ike was slowly moving away from Sudo with a panicked expression.

"*sigh* Fine." Sudo finally stopped glaring at Ike and agreed.

I wonder if he did that only for fun.

...

We discussed some strategies for the next 5 minutes and the last contest finally arrived.

This was one of the bigger events where each class had 3 groups. It's event where we can cooperate with Class A. As for rules...they were quite easy. The commander was given the headband and enemy commanders in our case from Class B and C are trying to snatch it from your head. This time, there is a time limit of 5 minutes and when 5 minutes pass by, points will be allocated based on the number of stolen enemy headbands and by the number of allies still with the headband on. Therefore, even running was allowed here and that group would still be able to get some points. Of course, the school doesn't want to encourage such tactic so the points for stealing the enemy commander's headband are much juicier.

It's much better to risk it and snatch a few headbands instead of just running and protecting your own headband.

I was already on my "horse", waiting for the start while observing who is in the enemy team.

"Uff, thankfully we chose Walker-kun to be commander...he isn't that heavy." Ike muttered but all of us were able to hear it.

"?! You shithead! Did you choose him just because he is lighter than me?!" Sudo immediately snapped at him.

"Whoa, calm down. A horse doesn't talk." I almost lost my balance because of Sudo's sudden move so I lightly chopped him into his neck.

"Ouch!" Sudo groaned and realized his fault so he didn't snap at me but he kept on glaring at Ike with an unfriendly expression.

"Stop it guys and get ready..." Miyake reprimanded both of them and they stopped playing around and focused their gaze in front of them.

"Once you hear the whistle you can start moving. You can do whatever you want as long as it is within the rules. You also can't leave the highlighted "battlefield" area otherwise you will be disqualified and your class will lose points." The referee gathered our attention and everyone started to focus on him.

The referee brought his whistle close to his mouth and everyone tensed up, waiting to move out.

"...*Whistle!!!*" The loud whistling sound signaled for the start of the "battle" and everyone quickly moved out.

"What should we do?" Miyake asked me with a calm expression while watching everyone running around, creating chaos. We still had yet to move out.

"You can slowly move to the middle of the "battlefield", no need to waste your stamina and run, just walk there. The warm greeting will most likely be already waiting for us there." I said mysteriously and although they were a bit confused, they still did what I told them to do.

...

"Hello there!" The commander from Class C stopped us from moving any further and another 2 teams from Class C immediately surrounded us from the sides.

"Hm? Well, well...it's really nice that you think of us so highly."

"Don't flatter yourself, we just want to be done quickly and this is the easiest way." The one who stopped in front of us and also greeted us replied to me.

"Oho? I already expected such despicable strategy from you lot students of Class C but to think that even Class B would join in, hehe" I chuckled and glanced from the corner of my eye behind us.

"Hey, this is not fair!" Ike immediately complained but it's the fact that being fair doesn't always win you a battle.

"Sorry but as 'they' had already said...It's the easiest way how to get rid of your team." The guy from Class B replied.

"Hm? Hey! Aren't you the one from the 200-meter dash?! Sup!" When I recognized his face I immediately waved at him with a smile but instead of smiling back or waving back at me, his expression darkened.

"Huh? Don't tell me you are still upset for miserably losing against me...It's not your fault. You don't have to blame yourself, you couldn't do anything..." I said in regretting tone with a pity visible in my eyes while shrugging my shoulders and shaking my head.

"You!" He shouted and moved towards us at great speed. And since he was the part of the horse, he forced his entire team to move so they wouldn't crumble.

"Wait! Don't be-" His commander immediately tried to calm him down while focusing on him but the distance between us wasn't that big to begin with.

"Look out!" Another guy who was the front part of the horse shouted at his commander, trying to make him focus on what's in front of him but it was already too late.

I swiftly moved my hand towards that guy's forehead and snatched his headband before he could even react.

"Hehe, I guess you are out now, guys. Next time try to focus more. On the battlefield, once you lose your focus, you will be instantly killed. Thankfully you experienced it on this kind of battlefield, hehe." I chuckled while waving back and forth with their headband in front of them.

The commander just glanced at the stolen headband and then he looked at the guy I taunted with a slightly angry expression.

"...I am sorry everyone" He hanged his head and apologized to his teammates who weren't looking especially happy.

"Don't be angry at him. He is your horse and general should know how to tame his horse and in case he can't tame his horse, he has to become wild together with him. Maybe if you actually paid attention to me, your headband wouldn't be snatched..." I "covered" for the guy.

"..." They no longer said anything and slowly started to leave but I noticed that they were thinking hard about my words instead of blaming that guy. Not like I wanted to especially cover for him but I felt like educating them.

I continued watching their backs for a few seconds without moving an inch.

"To be honest...from someone like you, I would have at least expected some sneak attack." I finally gave up and turned back at the guy in front and told him with a slightly disappointed expression.

"...No need for that, we aren't as useless as those idiots from Class B" He replied with a confident smile.

"Not sure if you should call them idiots considering your own intelligence." I added with an uncertain expression.