3 PM. With under an hour left, it was finally the endgame of the Sports Festival.

We continued to defend our first place standing as we entered the final stage. The point difference between us and Class D, which was closing in on us at second place, was a mere 17 points. We should operate under the assumption that their unexpected tenacity was due to some strategy Ryuuen-kun was working behind the scenes. Nevertheless, there were no difficulties among us second-year students, and our alliance continued to perform well. But if we didn’t continue to score in this hour, it was entirely possible that they could turn the tables on us…

I stood in a corner of the gymnasium, reading the schedule of the remaining events and their rules. Ibuki-san, not even trying to hide her irritation, came over and drew close to me.

“Fight me!”

“What an odd thing to say. I win, two matches to one. That was the result, wasn’t it?”

“I didn’t participate!”

“I don’t care. You didn’t come to the designated area in time, so you lost, you know?”

“Ugh…! I-I mixed up the timings.…”

Indeed. Our fated third match was a balance beam event, for which registration closed at 1:20 PM. Ibuki-san didn’t make it in time to enter and couldn’t participate in the competition. Of course, I didn’t mess up, and while I lost first place, I managed second and scored three points.

“Whether you’re satisfied or not, to the rest of the world, that’s called losing by default.”

“1 Win, 1 Loss! We haven’t settled this yet!”

She continued yelling close to my ear, and it seemed like she had no intention of giving up.

“I have already participated in nine matches total. I suppose I have one match left, but…”

“That, that! Tell me what you’re participating in!”

“If you want a rematch, you need to behave appropriately.”

“Grr…!”

“Do you want to fight? Or do you not?”

“P… Pl… e… as… e… fi… ght… me…!!”

She requested me, quivering with rage to the point where she was almost spitting flames out of her mouth.

“There, satisfied?!”

“I suppose. I feel a little better now.”

The situation was changing by the second, and participation slots in matches were filling up. Should I do what I’d planned at the outset, or should I aim for something higher scoring?

“Now, tell me what you’re participating in!”

“Can’t you keep quiet for a moment?”

“Not happening!”

She immediately retorted, holding her palm out flat before curling her fingers repeatedly in a provocative gesture. I didn’t want to go up against her, but ignoring her would only make her noisier.

“I’m considering participating in a Shuttle Run after this, as I’d planned before.”

“Shuttle Run? That thing where you continuously go back and forth until you drop?”

“Yes. You could call it a back-and-forth endurance race.”

“I think I remember doing this in middle school. Alright, let’s make it the deciding match!”

She nodded with satisfaction before preparing to run off and sign up.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“If you want to participate, go ahead!”

“No, aren’t you participating too? What’s the point if we aren’t in the same group?”

“I’m only considering it. I haven’t decided on it yet.”

“Huh?”

“To be honest, right now I’m thinking of making Volleyball my final match.”

“Volleyball? Don’t you need six people to participate in that? You look like you’ve just decided to participate, but that won’t be possible if you’re starting right now.”

Among the events announced only today were men’s and women’s volleyball competitions across all school years. I’d decided that our class should let it go as requiring six good players would be the main challenge. Still, it looked like the other classes might have also had similar thoughts, as my impression was that the teams that had signed up so far were unexpectedly weak.

“With ten minutes left for signing up, there are three empty team spots. And from what I’ve seen, the participating teams aren’t all that formidable. This competition would be worth giving up on the shuttle run if I could win. The result of a team competition for which teams are formed impromptu depends significantly on the skill of the best players. If I can find just one or two more people who are confident in their skills, I can see us winning.”

“So what about the thing I just begged you for?”

“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask you to give up.”

Ibuki-san was flabbergasted. I thought she’d get mad again, but she was dejected and gave up. Well, honestly speaking the root cause here was her getting the entry time mixed up.

“… Yeah, whatever. Then I guess this is the end of our fight…”

“You won’t participate in the Volleyball competition?”

“I’d need five people to fight you. I couldn’t even try to do that. Yeah, pass.”

“Yeah, you have no friends.”

“You’re not so different either.”

“At the very least, I think I have a few classmates who’ll help me if I ask them to.”

“How about that. I wanted to settle things, but I’ll put this on hold for another time.”

Technically speaking, I’ve won… but whatever.

“You won’t participate in the shuttle run?”

“The only thing I was interested in was settling my score with you. I have no interest in going out of my way to help Ryuuen.”

“That’s good for me. The points you won’t score help my class get so much closer to winning.”

I shouldn’t provoke her and let her leave while things remain as they are. Or so I thought, but for some reason, she wouldn’t leave.

“Is there anything else?”

“If you don’t get enough people to play volleyball, you’ll participate in the shuttle run, right?”

The deadline for the volleyball tournament was 2:20 PM. The deadline for the shuttle run was 2:25 PM. Ibuki-san had realized the one thing I deliberately didn’t mention.

“I see I’ve said too much. To think, even you have a brain that works.…”

“Shut up. So anyway, I’m going to stick around for a while longer.”

So now, if—in the worst case—I couldn’t get a team together for volleyball, I’d settle things with Ibuki in the shuttle run. Well, that wasn’t altogether a bad thing.

I scanned the girls from my class sitting in the seats reserved for cheering, searching for capable people. However, there was no way I’d find someone like that so conveniently and quickly, so the clock just kept on ticking. Before I knew it, Ibuki-san sat down where she was standing next to me, yawning as she did. She looked back at me as if saying, “Just give up already. Let’s face off in the shuttle run.”

“Oh~? If it isn’t Horikita-senpai and Ibuki-senpai~! Good work~”

While waiting for people I could invite to the event, first-year student Amasawa Ichika called out to us. Immediately, Ibuki got up and glared at her.

“Oh, no~ You’re making such a scary face… is it perhaps that time of the month?”

Amasawa-san needled Ibuki-san, but half of what she said didn’t even get through to Ibuki-san.

“If you’ve got any slots left, how about I fight you?”

“Now that you mention it, we couldn’t do it today. But I guess we can’t help it, being in different years didn’t give us many chances to compete. Don’t you think it’s about time you dropped the fight? You’ll lose, you know?”

“Don’t underestimate me. Be grateful we didn’t face off today.”

“You’re always so spirited, aren’t you~ By the way, what are you two doing here? If you aren’t participating in a competition, you have to cheer, or it’ll be bad.”

“Participate in the shuttle run, Amasawa-san. We can fight there.”

“Oh, are my seniors due to compete in the shuttle run? As for me—”

“Finally, found you.”

A person showed up where we were talking—it was Kushida-san. I thought she needed something from me, but she was looking at Amasawa-san, not me.

“I was wondering who was following me, and so it’s you, Kushida-senpai. What is it? I can hear you out, if you’re okay with Horikita-senpai and Ibuki-senpai being here.”

“Horikita… san? … Oh, you’re here.”

She seemed to have been so focused on Amasawa-san that she hadn’t even realized we were here.

“Oh, sorry, Kushida-senpai! Looks like all of my teammates are ready, so I’ve got to go!”

As she spoke, she pointed at a spot where fellow first-year Nanase-san and four other girls I’d never seen before were present.

“I came to the gymnasium to participate in volleyball. This is my first time playing volleyball, you know~”

As it happened, it looked like Amasawa-san was also due to participate in volleyball. As expected, even the first-year students were spurred into action by the weak teams who were participating.

“See you then. Best of luck at the shuttle run~!”

She came as she pleased and spoke as she pleased before leaving to join up with her group.

“She’s, in volleyball, she says.”

Ibuki-san glared at her back as she said that.

“Looks like it.”

“Then I’ll participate too. At any rate, you won’t be able to get five players.”

“Eh?”

“I’m telling you, I’ll participate too. Teaming up with you sucks, but this is a chance to beat that piece of sh*t brat of a first year!”

If Ibuki-san wants to help me, I have nothing to complain about regarding her skills. But…

“You don’t get to decide that. I haven’t said anything yet about including you in my team.”

“Huh? But you haven’t even found one person for it?”

“In a team competition, the point reward is split equally. Instead of filling spots with students from other classes, isn’t it obvious that I should try to fill them with students from my class?”

After all that effort, even if I would make a few points, Ibuki-san’s class was in second place. Therefore, the gap in points between us wouldn’t widen even a bit.

“Don’t care. If I can see Amasawa eat sh*t, that’s enough for me.”

“At any rate, it depends on the other team members. At the very least, there must be a higher proportion of students from my class in the team.”

“Then why don’t you let me join as well?”

Kushida-san said. Just like Ibuki-san, her eyes were still fixed on Amasawa-san’s back.

“What do you want, Kushida-san? I can’t imagine you’ve turned a new leaf and want to help me out.”

I was candid with her about what I was thinking, and Kushida-san too did not bother denying it. However, I was curious about the fact that her eyes were aimed squarely at Amasawa-san and not me.

“That first year, Amasawa-san. I owe her a debt.”

“You owe Amasawa-san…?”

“You too?”

“I don’t want to explain my reasons, but to repay that debt, I’m fine with helping you.”

“If so, I’ll gladly welcome you. I have nothing to complain about; you’re from my class and capable.”

They do say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. An unexpected turn of events led to an ally coming to my side.

“But, without a doubt, she will be a powerful opponent.”

“Of course.”

Ibuki-san was already starting her warm-ups, amping herself up for it. Amasawa-san watched her do so from afar and smiled oddly.

Both Ibuki-san and I had experienced first-hand how incredible Amasawa-san was. Still, I didn’t know anything about the other members of her team. I dug up my memory of their OAA scores. Judging just from that, Nanase-san’s physical ability score was relatively high, but the rest were unremarkable. I’m sure I remember the names of the students who had scores close to A, but even if I overestimate them, I’m sure they must be B and lower… But, the bigger problem was that we were still three teammates short. Analyzing our opponents before we’d met the requirements for participation was like counting your chickens before they hatch.

“Do you have any conditions for the remaining three? You want to avoid anybody from Ryuuen-kun’s class, is that all?”

Kushida-san asked me a question regarding my criteria for selection.

“Yes. Naturally, I feel like we should try to keep it to our classmates as much as possible. However, I prioritize the match itself, and talent.”

“Got it. Then, just wait for a bit.”

Kushida-san said, and she walked away from us.

“Got it? What does she mean to do? Nobody’s going to help out that easily.”

Ibuki-san was curious, so she followed Kushida with her eyes. Kushida-san was speaking to Rokkaku-san, a member of Sakayanagi-san’s class. After talking to her for a bit, she then did the same to Fukuyama-san, a member of the same class. Then she moved to the gymnasium, where the students who were cheering the other events were.

“That girl, I think she’s Himeno-san from Ichinose-san’s class, right?”

Kushida-san brought two girls from Class A and one from Class C, and they all discussed for about half a minute. Then, she brought those three girls to us.

“They say they’ll take part in volleyball. Himeno-san isn’t the best at it, but she agreed to do it if the five of us backed her up. You can leave the competition to us, so it’ll be alright.”

Kushida-san, in her antebellum mode, spoke to Himeno-san without turning to me even once. I couldn’t hide my amazement, in particular, at how she’d convinced the two girls from Class A to help us.

“We’re worried we’re going to lose, and in the worst case, even if we don’t win, we want to at least contribute to our class.”

Right? The two of them said as they nodded to each other. Especially because Class A was sinking to the button, they were desperate for any achievement. Kushida-san had understood that desire and could instantly discern the capable students from the rest. Even if she didn’t remember the exact specifics of their OAA scores, as their friend, she was deeply aware of the physical talent both Fukuyama-san and Rokkaku-san had.

“Now that’s a trick you’ll never be able to pull off, Ibuki-san.”

“Shut up. Not like you were able to find anybody.”

“There were some five, six more people I could call on in the gymnasium, but… This is probably the best lineup we can make right now, so I thought.”

At any rate, we found six people for the volleyball event that I was worried I wouldn’t be able to participate in. In terms of proportions in the team, the difference between my class and Ryuuen’s was only one in six. However, compared to facing off in the shuttle run as is and making a gap of just two or three points, the ten points we’d make from a victory in this tournament were far more rewarding. Another advantage for me was that the points gap between us wouldn’t shrink even if we lost.

Ibuki-san and I were the lead, and Kushida-san, Rokkaku-san, and Fukuyama-san were capable students. Himeno-san, whom we’d recruited just to fill a spot, was a bit of a drawback, but we had plenty of firepower.