Chapter 173: Kanda Shuichi: I Think I Can Do It… Sorry, Never Mind  

Ever since the sports festival was announced, there had been at least one hour-long PE class every day. 

The students of Class D weren't going to waste this time, of course. After all, there were plenty of events that needed practice. Besides the 100-meter and 200-meter races, there were also events like the three-legged race, which required pairs of students to work together and test their coordination. 

There were also other events, such as the hurdle race and the ball toss competition. Even though there was still a month to go, the time already felt a bit tight. 

After all, you couldn't expect students to voluntarily practice after school or on weekends, could you? 

Something interesting happened right before this PE class. 

"Uh… Suzune, can I talk to you for a sec?" 

A red-haired boy, Sudou, walked over, looking a little awkward. 

"I've warned you over and over—can you stop calling me by my name?" 

"Why? What's the big deal?" 

"It's a huge deal. I don't want people I'm not even close to calling me that," Horikita said bluntly, not caring about Sudou's feelings at all. "If you keep doing it after I've made it clear I don't like it, then I'll have to take the necessary measures." 

Oh? Now that sounds interesting. 

One of the bystanders, Kanda Shuichi, watched the scene unfold. 

Sudou opened his mouth but didn't manage to say Horikita's name again. Maybe he really wanted to, but if it ended up making her hate him, it would probably ruin whatever kind of relationship they had. 

Even Sudou wasn't dumb enough to shoot himself in the foot like that. 

But soon, he came up with a reasonable excuse. 

"Alright then, how about this—if I perform the best in Class D during the sports festival, you'll officially allow me to call you by your name." 

Tsk, tsk, tsk. How pathetic, Sudou. Too bad for you, someone like Horikita is never going to like you. 

She likes guys like her brother. You're nothing like him. 

But the fact that Sudou could even say that sentence made Kanda Shuichi think he had at least a bit of courage and self-awareness. 

What? You say he didn't confess, so it doesn't count as courage? 

Not necessarily. If Sudou confessed right now, that wouldn't be courage. That would be reckless. That would be stupid. 

Speaking of which, back in the summer, Sakura sent him a message saying Yamauchi had confessed to her. 

When Kanda Shuichi first saw the message, he was pretty worried. If that little airhead Sakura actually accepted Yamauchi's confession, wouldn't she just be jumping into a fire pit? 

But then he remembered something—Sakura liked Hasebe Haruka. The moment he recalled that, he breathed a sigh of relief. 

Sakura likes women, so there was no way Yamauchi would succeed. 

Sure enough, Sakura later told him she had rejected Yamauchi. Kanda Shuichi praised her with, "That was really brave of you." 

Horikita didn't understand Sudou's way of thinking, nor did she understand why he would bring up such a question. But to keep his motivation high, she decided to go along with it. 

"If you perform the best, I'll allow you to call me by my name. But don't stop there—you have to be first place in the entire grade." 

First place in the grade—that meant surpassing 159 other people. It was a nearly impossible goal. 

But Sudou agreed right away. "Alright! It's a deal. If I get first place, I'll call you by your name." 

Not only was he not discouraged, but he seemed even more fired up. 

Because if this guy really went all out, no one could stop him from getting first place. Not even Koenji. 

Why? Because aside from the required events, Koenji would never participate in the optional ones. That meant Sudou's victory was almost guaranteed. 

"But until the results are out, you can't. And if you don't get first place, I'll forbid you from ever calling me by my name. Compete with that in mind." 

"O-okay." 

At this point, Sudou had it in the bag. Horikita didn't see any harm in it—plenty of people already called her by her name. Even that dog from Class C, Ryuuen, did it without permission all the time. 

This was a good chance to crush Ryuuen's scheme and teach him a lesson. 

It wasn't just Sudou—Horikita herself was full of fighting spirit. 

Then, practice officially began. Whether it was the 100-meter dash or the 200-meter race, pacing was the key to performing at your best. 

"Good job, Sakura. You really gave it your all." 

Kanda Shuichi praised her without hesitation as he watched Sakura, panting heavily, struggling to keep herself from collapsing by holding onto her knees. 

And why was he watching her? It wasn't hard to guess—she was quite a sight to behold, even in a tracksuit. 

"Ah… Kanda… haah… thank you." 

Intense exercise caused the body to produce a lot of lactic acid. For someone like Sakura, who wasn't athletic, running a full-speed 200 meters must have been tough on her body. 

"Take a short break. Pushing too hard isn't good for you." 

"Haa… I'm fine." 

Even though Sakura wasn't good at sports, she was doing her best for the class. 

Except for Koenji, every other student in the class was practicing hard, even Yukimura and Wang Meiyu, who had already decided to take the fall for the class by placing in the bottom ten. 

Kanda Shuichi was no exception, though he wasn't interested in the 100-meter or 200-meter sprints. Instead, he was more drawn to the three-legged race. 

His partner for the race was Yukimura, who, like him, wasn't athletic and had agreed to be part of the safety net for the class. 

After saying hello to Sakura, Kanda Shuichi headed to the finish line to wait for Yukimura, who was currently running the 100-meter dash. 

"Huff... huff..." 

Yukimura's stamina was about as poor as Sakura's. Among the boys, he was at the bottom. His grip strength was even weaker than Ike's 42 kilograms—something like 40.6 kilograms, if Kanda Shuichi remembered right. 

"Yukimura, want to practice the three-legged race? I'm actually kind of interested in it." 

"Give... give me a minute. Let me catch my breath." 

Yukimura, bent over with his hands on his knees, was breathing heavily. Kanda Shuichi didn't rush him and instead went to grab the equipment for the race. 

It was just a rope—after all, they'd need to tie their legs together. 

After about a minute of rest, Yukimura straightened up. He still looked a little dazed from the lack of oxygen, but at least he seemed steady enough to move. 

"Man, sports really are tough." 

Yukimura sighed and glanced at Sudou, who was full of energy on the field. 

"Tell me about it. This is the kind of moment that really makes you jealous of someone like Sudou." 

They watched Sudou for a while, both thinking the same thing—this guy didn't seem like a normal high schooler. 

"Still, it's not like we're completely useless." 

Yukimura was probably referring to their decision to be the safety net for the class, judging by the bitter smile on his face. 

"Someone's gotta do it," Kanda Shuichi said casually. "Feeling rested enough? Want to give the three-legged race a try?" 

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's do it." 

Yukimura had recovered, so they stood side by side, pressing Yukimura's right leg against Kanda Shuichi's left. 

They both crouched down as Kanda Shuichi tied the rope around their ankles. Then they stood back up and rested an arm on each other's shoulders for balance. 

"Start with the tied leg first. Listen to my count—we'll go slow and then pick up the pace." 

"Got it. Let's go." 

Yukimura nodded, showing he was ready. 

"Three, two, one... Ready—one, two, one, two..." 

With Kanda Shuichi calling out the rhythm, they began moving. 

As the count sped up, their pace increased too, and soon they were moving surprisingly fast. 

After a while, Kanda Shuichi slowed the count, and they gradually came to a stop. 

The two exchanged looks, both surprised by what they saw in each other's eyes. 

In a three-legged race, the key was trust and rhythm. 

Neither of them was physically strong, but they had good coordination. So while they couldn't run fast alone, together they could perform surprisingly well—better than many other pairs. 

"Well, looks like we won't be finishing last in this event, at least." Kanda Shuichi said with a smug grin, glancing at the other pairs on the field. 

"Don't jinx it. Saying stuff like that might just give me false hope," Yukimura replied, adjusting his glasses with a serious expression. 

But their newfound confidence didn't last long.

Sudou suddenly grabbed Ike and, with a loud scream from Ike, dashed from the starting line to the finish line at an unbelievable speed. 

No ordinary person could keep up with that pace. 

Kanda Shuichi and Yukimura glanced at each other, quietly untied the ropes around their ankles, and acted like nothing had happened. 

"You saw that, right?" 

"Who wouldn't?" 

They both looked at Sudou, who was proudly grinning, and Ike, who still looked terrified. 

"Is something like that even allowed?" 

"Who knows." 

Not far away, Hirata gave a helpless smile and headed toward the PE teacher, probably to confirm if it was really okay. 

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