6.10
The morning half of the sports festival ended with Class D stuck in the worst-possible position. Since we were free to do what we wanted during the break, some people ate lunch in the cafeteria as usual, while others ate at a designated space on the field. The festival seemed to afford more opportunities to eat together with upperclassmen regardless of gender.
If we were asked what we liked best about the sports festival, it would probably be the lunch. A mountain of bento boxes had been provided. The meals weren't made in the school cafeteria, but were high-quality catering brought in from outside campus. Only one type of lunch was free, so nearly everyone chose that option. Some students left the field without touching the lunchboxes, though, and Horikita was among them. Perhaps my words had finally reached her, and she was looking for Sudou.
Kushida also abstained. After telling some other girls that she was going to look for Sudou, she took off.
"Gah! God, I'm so tired! Why do I gotta suffer through this, dude?!" Ike cried.
"Because you lost!"
After losing at rock-paper-scissors, Yamauchi went off to grab everyone's lunches. "Man, I'm starving. I'm gonna inhale this!"
Ike and Yamauchi showed no real interest in Sudou's whereabouts.
Since they'd known Sudou since day one, they understood his personality all too well. They weren't going to chase after him.
Sudou's absence would be bad for the Red Team. Then again, some people probably felt grateful that his reign of terror had ended. Most of the girls had seen him punch Hirata. Any minor goodwill people might have developed for Sudou had gone completely out the window.
"Let's just find someplace to eat for now."
As the three of us decided to move, Hirata showed up with several guys and girls in tow. "Is it okay if we come along, too?" he asked Ike and Yamauchi.
Yamauchi and Ike were momentarily shocked that Hirata was reaching out to them, since the three weren't normally close friends. However, with cute girls in Hirata's group, they had no reason to object.
"Yeah, dude."
Our group now contained ten people, including both guys and girls.
After finding a suitable spot, we started eating. As people finished up, Hirata and Karuizawa approached me. Smartly done; with a bunch of classmates around, it wouldn't look odd or unnatural for such a trio to form.
"Looks like Ryuuen-kun's making his move, as expected," said Hirata. "So, who's the traitor? You know, don't you, Yousuke-kun?" asked
Karuizawa.
Hirata just gently shook his head. "There are several things I don't understand."
"Well, I can't say who the traitor is," I told them. "Huh? Why?" asked Karuizawa.
"Because, right now, we'd only throw the class into even more turmoil by identifying them. We need to deal with the traitor quietly and calmly," I told them.
"Okay. I won't hound you. But why did you submit the participation table to the school when you knew there was a traitor? Couldn't we have adjusted the table ourselves? We could have flipped the script on Class C," said Hirata.
"Probably," I said. In truth, I'd wanted Horikita to discover the spy and deal with it appropriately.
"Wait. The traitor might be someone nearby, right? It might even be someone among us right now. Can we afford to take it this easy?" asked Karuizawa.
She scanned her surroundings, suspecting everyone at the gathering. Traitors were certainly troublesome, but depending on the circumstances, it could be more convenient just to leave them alone.
Besides, even if we'd used Hirata's strategy, it probably wouldn't have worked against Ryuuen. Right now, it would be difficult to make Hirata and Karuizawa understand why, so I lied instead.
"I've taken stock of the traitor's moral fiber," I said. "Moral fiber?"
"I think they want to reform without being cornered."
Hirata stared at me intently. "And this is all on Horikita's orders, right, Ayanokouji-kun?"
If Hirata was already suspicious of me, then he would soon no longer trust me. Even so, I needed him to believe me right now, if only for appearances' sake.
said.
"Yeah. Everything is going according to Horikita's plan." Hirata didn't question me any further. He seemed convinced.
"So, where is Horikita-san? What's she doing?" asked Karuizawa. "Something only she can do. At least, I hope that's what she's doing," I
"Wait. Are you talking about Sudou-kun?" Hirata glanced around,
noticing that Horikita and Sudou were nowhere in sight.
"Without Sudou, it won't be easy for us to win the second half of the sports festival, right?" I asked.
"Yeah. We're relying on Sudou-kun," said Hirata.
Karuizawa looked a little dissatisfied by the prospect, but she understood. The sports festival's outcome now depended on Horikita. If my words hadn't reached her, it was game over.