Chapter 327: Mom

To save time, many events at the sports festival were held simultaneously.

While the obstacle race was taking place on the track, the shot put competition was being held at the center of the field.

A burly student with a white headband stepped forward, weighing the shot put in his hand, his face full of confidence.

He believed he could earn a great score for the white team.

When his turn came, he stepped forward and hurled the shot put with all his might.

It soared high through the air—but just when it seemed like it would keep flying, it suddenly stalled and dropped straight down into the sand.

"Five meters."

"What!? No way!"

"Next."

Ignoring the dumbfounded expression of the white team student, the teacher called up the next contestant.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Rinji was watching the games while holding a remote with a screen.

He had tampered with most of the white team's events.

The night before the festival, Rinji had snuck into the school late at night and modified the fields and facilities, even setting traps.

The goal was simple: to ensure the red team won.

Was there some benefit to the red team winning? Not really—it was just that Rinji had a strong competitive streak.

He didn't care about the spirit of sportsmanship anymore.

During the games, various issues had cropped up for the white team—shoes glued to the blocks at the start line, sand pits that swallowed runners whole during obstacle courses, and so on.

"You... you didn't rig anything, did you?"

"Don't throw accusations around without proof."

Sitting next to Rinji, Kaguya was watching the games. The white team had suffered an unusual number of mishaps. If anyone tampered with the events, she was sure it had to be Rinji.

"What's that remote for?"

"Business secret. Still in testing."

"..."

Kaguya sighed and kept watching the field.

"Where's your little girlfriend? Didn't come with you?"

"Karura went to buy ice cream. She'll be back soon," Rinji said. "What about you, Shinomiya? Your family didn't come to watch?"

"You know how my family is."

Kaguya lowered her head and gave a bitter smile.

"My father wouldn't come to something that has no benefit to him, even if I'm his daughter."

"Your old man's making the right call," Rinji said. "If the Shinomiya head shows up in Tokyo, he'd be on the banks of the Sanzu River in five minutes."

"...You're going to deal with the main family someday, aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's just a matter of time," Rinji said with a smile.

Although Rinji hadn't completely destroyed the Shinomiya family four years ago, that didn't mean he had let them off the hook.

Taking them down would be easy—it was just that he wanted his side to absorb their assets first, to maximize profit.

How to act and when to act were things worth planning carefully. Killing people was simple, but making money from corpses took strategy.

"You hate the main family so much, yet you spared me," Kaguya said with a smile. "Why?"

"Because we're comrades."

"Eh?"

"We're comrades in the student council. At least, that's how I see it," Rinji said in response to Kaguya's surprised look.

Kaguya opened her mouth slightly, then smiled.

"You really are... too free-spirited."

"That's just my way of life."

Kaguya chuckled. "You know my family situation already. Isn't it about time you told me about yours?"

"Oh, they're probably not coming to the sports festival this time. Most likely off traveling somewhere."

"I'm not talking about them, I mean..."

"But because they're not coming—especially my mom—that's exactly why I can get away with a little behind-the-scenes manipulation."

"..."

Kaguya's face instantly darkened.

"Did you just say... 'behind-the-scenes manipulation'?"

"No, I didn't."

Rinji turned his head away.

"You misheard."

"You really did mess with the competition, didn't you?"

"Alright, fine, I did mess with it. I dug traps all night yesterday, and even rigged some of the equipment."

"How strong is your need to win, exactly!?"

"Life demands victory. It's not about 'as long as I win,' it's 'I must win,'" Rinji said righteously. "And for that, anything goes."

"You can't just dress it up like that and hide the fact you're cheating! What happened to 'friendship first, competition second'?"

"No one ever said that to me. If I never agreed to it, it doesn't count."

"That's just shameless! You've completely destroyed the fairness of the games!"

"Once you're on the battlefield, your life or death is up to fate. Fairness doesn't exist. If the enemy brings an armored car, I'll bring a fighter jet. If they bring a fighter jet, I'll bring a missile. Imbalanced force is how you win. If you can't win head-on, you strike from the rear."

"This is a sports field, not a battlefield!"

Kaguya stood up abruptly and went to snatch the remote control from Rinji's hand.

"You really are using this thing to control the competition, aren't you!? Turn it off!"

"No way."

Rinji stood up too, raising the remote high above his head so Kaguya couldn't reach it.

Just as Rinji grinned at Kaguya, who was stretching on her tiptoes trying to grab the remote, the hand holding the device was suddenly grabbed.

"Huh?"

Annoyed, Rinji turned around, ready to snap at whoever dared grab his wrist.

But when he looked back, he saw a beautiful woman with golden hair—and next to her, Hayasaka blushing faintly.

Cold sweat poured from Rinji's forehead in an instant.

Kaguya, noticing Hayasaka, stepped forward and tugged her sleeve, whispering, "Hayasaka, what are you doing here? And who's this beautiful woman?"

"She's..."

"Rinji."

The beautiful woman looked at the now-frozen Rinji, her expression emotionless.

"What are you doing?"

"...Mom."

"Mom!?"

Kaguya looked between Rinji and the woman in shock, her mouth hanging open.

This was the first time anyone from Rinji's family had appeared in public.