The school was pumping itself up for the interclass sports events. It was divided by gender, and class A was hyped.
Amami and Hinata, two best friends who had started off the lunchtime special Gakushuu study session right before midterms, had enthusiastically pointed out that Gakushuu was their Ace and he was excellent at sports.
Gakushuu had pointed out that the sports events were team events, which did the job of bursting their bubble.
But now he had to deal with whipping his class into shape. The girls were dealing with basketball and the boys with baseball, which was ugh.
Even Ren agreed and he happened to watch sports (well, watch Gakushuu play sports) more often than Gakushuu did.
Not to mention there was an exhibition match that was between the best class in year 1 and year 2, and another exhibition match that took place between the baseball team and class E, who…basically weren't allowed to be part of any clubs and therefore had no practice.
Sometimes, Gakushuu wondered who his father thought he was fooling, then he would look around and see the students of class 3-A cheering and he would wonder if he was the only person in the world with a brain.
Gakuhou induced a very specific level of blindness in people, and Gakushuu, being the level headed, far sighted person that he was, really wanted to hand his father off to a therapist or maybe an asylum and hope he didn't burn it down.
Akabane, as he had guessed it, had almost completely disappeared from his sight and hadn't taken any part in the events. He hadn't expected otherwise but, well, it would have been nice to have someone relatively competent around.
Not that he didn't have people of his own. Ren was level-headed enough to blink in surprise but still note down all the holes Gakushuu poked through his father's education system- they'd brainstorm about if it was possible to take advantage of it later.
Araki would occasionally show his Kunugigaoka win statistics graph on a national level or which teamplays would be better suited to their respective classes.
Gakushuu was glad to see Araki had cottoned on to Gakushuu's methods after a while. His family name was good enough, but that wouldn't mean much if Teppei himself didn't have the correct mindset to use it properly.
Gakushuu liked the Amami and Hinata combination though. They were childhood friends and more often than not, in sync. Of course, being the resident basketball expert, he took over coaching the girls through basketball.
On the other hand, baseball was something quite individual. He left it to Ren to decide how to take over after him.
Ren wouldn't be a decent second or even secretary if he couldn't control a class Gakushuu already had majority control over after all.
Not to mention, Gakushuu didn't actually really care how the result ended up as. The point of the interclass was for the exhibition match that put class 3-E down after all.
Of course, he had to put on a good show, but aside from a reprimand and maybe a small punishment, Gakushuu wouldn't actually have any major problem, even if they didn't win the whole thing.
Gakushuu assigned the positions of his classmates based on build. A small problem cropped up, but after a few practice sessions, everyone was too tired to care.
It was pretty decent class bonding- that he'd give.
Gakushuu became close with the girls in his class, and Anaya- she either had a crush on him or found him useful, no one could tell through her poker face- started to regularly bring him coffee in the morning for some reason.
Then Ren apparently got handsy with her and got a slap imprint on his face that swelled up for two whole days.
(He didn't see them flirting, it was simply a misunderstanding. That's it. Yup. Definitely.)
There was Keiji Shimizu, who liked to be called by her last name on some days and first name on others. He pretended he didn't hear the pronoun change that the girls started to adapt when Shimizu went by her last name.
The most problematic of the boys was actually Tadashi Morisuke. He watched Gakushuu play like a hawk, and tried to demand his position without the confidence to actually pull it off.
It became a problem because he was actually one of the decent players. He had a level of fitness others didn't and he constantly flaunted it. If Gakushuu hadn't seen him wear glasses and study in the library, he would have thought he had bullied his way into class A.
Gakushuu had designated himself second baseman due to the high level of technical skill it required and Morisuke had persistently held the belief that he could hold onto the spot for only a day before collapsing under Gakushuu's attacks.
They switched and Morisuke took great pleasure in making Gakushuu run around in return. But they managed to prove that Gakushuu was, in fact, the better choice.
Araki took over the base running decision making when Gakushuu wasn't there (to Gakushuu's pleasant surprise) while Ren tried his best to hold on as a regular player.
Gakushuu constantly shot him amused 'see what happens when you don't listen to me' looks and Ren returned them with 'I'm not planning to be world renowned player, genius' .
He was as hilarious as always.
On the day of the inter class, one of his classmates fell sick and had to be switched out for an alternate- thank God Gakushuu had insisted on the whole class training instead of just the participating members.
The girls' event started first and most of the class crowded into the gym to watch them, along with most of the classes in their year and a few seniors.
The days were divided by per year. Morning had A vs B; then afternoon had C vs D then repeat for the next three days.
There was a gap of a day before the exhibition matches to allow everyone to rest.
Only the most enthusiastic class ended up in the exhibition match, and Gakushuu couldn't help giving tips to the girls as they played. He and the other boys only got to watch the first quarter, unfortunately, but he made sure to have someone record it for them.
It could capture a few good moments for his classmates, and they had worked quite hard in spite of all their constant whining.
The baseball wasn't actually too rough. B class was fired up but they made rookie mistakes just like class A, but they didn't have a Gakushuu as a stop gap.
Class C and D were more intense, because they actually had baseball players in their class, unlike class A, which was completely bereft.
Then- thank you nepotism- class A got selected for the exhibition match. Which led to the boys groaning in despair. The justification for choosing class A was another speech about the strong, and how thoroughly they managed to crush class B when compared to the hard fight between C and D.
Even Morisuke had started gaping at the bullshit his father was spewing. He was just glad most other people in class could hold a better poker face.
He heard so many nepotism jokes from Ren that he almost strangled him for staring too hard in class. Yes, there obviously seemed to be some amount of nepotism, but he liked to think his class played well too.
(Not).
They came by the next two days and watched their seniors, then Gakushuu trained his classmates into the ground while the girls tried to cheer for them.
The girls had played pretty well, but class C was filled with athletic girls so without nepotism involved, the exhibition match had gone to them.
Gakushuu had been seriously impressed by this one girl, Kiyoko from 1-C. She was head and shoulders above the rest of the girls in her class. He made plans.
Their seniors had been slightly more adjusted to the game, but 2-A had been almost completely hopeless. They had a called game even though 2-B had maybe 3 decent players.
His classmates had gotten fired up at the hopeless loss in front of their eyes, determined not to let it happen to them. He wondered if he needed to start nagging them to study now, he didn't want them to be that enthusiastic about sports.
It was a nice week long inter class competition. The exhibition match had them crushed under 2-C, though it still hadn't been a called game, to the surprise of both sides.
Gakushuu had taken time and booked a whole restaurant for his class' celebration. They had followed his, Ren's and even Araki's lead, worked hard when Gakushuu had pushed them and didn't call out Gakushuu's smooth takeover of the class leadership.
(He might have spotted red at times from the corner of his eyes while playing, but he had been too busy with his class to pay attention. Akabane had played though, not too well, but he had.)
(Class E had been excluded so naturally from all the events, it had almost slipped by, but Gakushuu was a determined child who didn't let things slip by without a word).
(Gakushuu had talked to a few seniors and had smoothly slipped in that he had created a club which welcomed all students. Someone from class E seemed to have heard.)
Not long after the baseball game, Gakushuu had his first 3-E guest.
Honestly, he had made plans for the bullying system that seemed to go on for E class and try to still keep it within the range of his father's 'ideal'.
There was no way to have an outright fight against the main campus, especially when one of their own could choose to leave the moment they got in the top 50 (a hard task, but not impossible).
The whole rank and class system created a system in which things like 'class unity' was hard to maintain. In the first place, they were a class that received special treatment because of their rank.
Rank was the hardest thing to maintain, especially the top spots. Especially for every exam.
But if you flipped it, it meant Gakushuu could gain control over a minimum of two classes. If some students did leave, Gakushuu wanted them to have a strong connection to his class. And anyone new who came, would want to stay, not just because of the privileges but because of their class unity.
But, the point was class E.
His first 3-E guests were a squinty eyed guy and a shy girl. They seemed to have gathered up their confidence to come. But it also meant, they held some amount of hope of either returning to the main campus or they were just really, really kind.
Well, that wasn't his job. He edited his speech mentally as he approached them like he did anyone new and explained the basic purpose of the club, emphasizing that all students were welcome and they didn't need to register their names either.
They gave their names to him shyly and he politely explained to them how to manipulate the hell out of the system.
As long as it wasn't defiance, most things would slip under his father's notice. Or at least, it should. Even then, Gakushuu hoped he didn't find out until it was too late.
There would be hell to pay, but he hoped he would have to pay for it when there were people already willing to pull him out of said hell.
The two students left feeling slightly lighter and Gakushuu smiled as he met the suspicious looks of the male counterpart.
He hoped he could continue to do things like this without his father's knowledge. It would be a happy ending then.