The peeping storm that erupted on the eve of the new term had swept all the way up to the top echelons of the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.
Inside the school's administrative building, the scene at this moment could only be described as utter chaos, every light blazing.
The ringing of internal communication lines rose and fell one after another, and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridors.
After all, the nature of this incident was simply far too vile—it had long since exceeded the bounds of an ordinary campus disciplinary matter.
Inside the office of Chairman Sakayanagi Narumori, the atmosphere was thoroughly oppressive. Several technicians responsible for the school's network security and equipment maintenance stood before the desk, drenched in sweat as they reported the results of their investigation.
"Chairman, we've already sent people to inspect the scene thoroughly."
"Based on the camera angle of that video going viral across the internet, we conducted a carpet search of the women's changing room and that specific spot in the external ventilation duct, but... we found nothing at all."
Upon hearing this report, the brow on Sakayanagi Narumori's composed face furrowed deeply.
That video had been remarkably steady while it was being filmed—not as though someone had been holding a phone, but rather as though it had been shot by a fixed camera. And yet now nothing could be found?
"That's not all, Chairman."
Another technician swallowed a gulp of saliva and continued.
"As for how the video broke through our local area network and was uploaded directly to the outside world—we have no clue about that either."
As for suspecting a student, the thought had certainly occurred to them, but the phones the school issued to students had been specially configured for precisely this; it was impossible for anything inside the school to be uploaded to the outside.
Of course, none of that was the main issue. In the ten minutes during which the incident unfolded, across the entirety of Neon society, the smartphone screens of countless people had been forcibly fed this footage.
A network intrusion and information hijacking on this level was utterly beyond anything an ordinary high schooler could accomplish.
Even the very highest-tier elite hackers employed within the Neon Ministry of Defense would find it nothing but a pipe dream to paralyze and hijack the electronic screens of an entire nation, in so short a span of time, without leaving a single trace.
Behind all of this, it was as though an unseen great hand were pushing everything along.
However, no matter how the school continued to investigate, public opinion in the real world would grant them no respite.
Denunciation and condemnation from outside came flying in like snowflakes, and the media's attacks grew fiercer by the day.
Under tremendous social pressure, the school's upper management had no choice but to opt for the swiftest and most severe form of handling the matter, so as to pacify the public's fury.
...
And yet, compared to that frenzied outside opinion that seemed about to tear a hole in the very sky, the interior of the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School at the center of the storm appeared, by contrast, somewhat calm and tranquil.
At the very least, all that uproar outside had no way of affecting these students who were still savoring the last lingering traces of the holiday.
When the time arrived at September first—the day the second semester officially began.
Students walked in twos and threes along the tree-lined paths leading to the school buildings, and the topic they discussed most among themselves was, without exception, all about the expulsion of those four people from Class D—Yamauchi Haruki and the rest—and the colossally idiotic things they had done.
These four idiots hadn't even managed to remain at this school until the morning of September first.
On the night of August thirty-first, mere hours after the affair came to light, they hadn't even been given the chance to gather their personal belongings before security staff handed them directly over to the police who had rushed to the scene, and they were taken straight out of this school.
Inside the Class 1-D classroom.
The four seats that should have been occupied by Yamauchi Haruki, Ike Kanji, Sudou Ken, and Sotomura Hideo were now empty and bare; even the desks and chairs had been carted off by the logistics staff, leaving behind nothing but four glaringly empty patches of floor.
Homeroom teacher Chabashira Sae walked up onto the podium in her high heels, her face expressionless.
She picked up a piece of chalk and, in the column for class points on the blackboard, wrote down a single number with great force.
"0"
Because of what Yamauchi Haruki and the other three had done, the class points that Class D had so painstakingly accumulated had been completely wiped out.
Class D's class points had been reset to 0 once again.
Yukimura Teruhiko sat in his seat, his expression exceedingly ugly.
You had to understand—although, after going through the first semester's Deserted Island and preferential person exams, the gap between their Class D and the classes above them hadn't narrowed by much, at the very least it hadn't been widened any further either!
What's more, if they had played it safe and steady, they had originally accumulated a fairly considerable sum of points in hand; as long as they had that capital, there was still hope of turning things around.
But now, all because of those four fools and their little stunt, the entire class's efforts had been reduced to nothing!
Meanwhile, in the Class 1-A classroom.
Shikime Natsu propped his chin in one hand, his gaze calmly resting on the small birds that occasionally flitted past outside the window. "Clatter—"
The classroom's sliding door was pulled open, and Class A's homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya, walked into the room with steady, composed strides.
His squarish face looked exceptionally grave.
Mashima Tomoya walked up to the front of the podium, set down the lesson plan in his hand, and swept his gaze in a circle across the students below.
"Good morning, everyone."
Mashima Tomoya's voice was low and forceful.
"I imagine you've all already heard about what happened at the pool yesterday, and about those four students who were dealt with by expulsion."
The classroom was dead silent; no one spoke up.
Mashima Tomoya continued addressing them all.
"I might as well make this perfectly clear here. Yamauchi Haruki and the other three—it isn't simply a matter of having their enrollment at this school revoked. What they did has already crossed the bottom line of the law. Just yesterday, they were formally taken into police custody, and next, they will face the law's judgment within a juvenile detention center."
His gaze swept across the face of every single student, carrying a note of admonition.
"As the homeroom teacher of Class A, I'll say personally that I believe all of you sitting here possess sufficient reason and moral standards, and would never do something that foolish."
"However, as is my duty as a teacher, I must still emphasize one point here."
Mashima Tomoya weighted his tone.
"I hope that every one of you can always keep a clear head and conduct yourselves with integrity. Whatever you do, never let a moment's impulse or a sense of getting away with it lead you to commit any act that violates school rules—or even breaks the law."
"Otherwise, what awaits you will be not only the loss of your qualification to continue studying at this school, but also the cold judgment of the law. Is that understood?"
"Understood."
The students of Class A responded in unison, their voices perfectly aligned, without the slightest hesitation.
Hearing the students' crisp reply, the gravity on Mashima Tomoya's face faded somewhat, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Very good."
Having finished with these heavy topics of discipline and warning, the expression on Mashima Tomoya's face softened.
"Now then, setting aside those unpleasant matters."
Mashima Tomoya addressed them all once more.
"First, I'd like to congratulate you all here—congratulations on successfully making it through your first semester, on holding on to Class A's position, and on maintaining the most outstanding results of the entire grade."
Mashima Tomoya reached out and tapped the blackboard, pulling everyone's attention back.
"However, past results can only represent the past. Starting today, we officially step into the new second semester."
He took out from beneath the podium a stack of documents that had long since been printed.
"According to the arrangements made by the school's academic affairs office, starting today—that is, this September of the semester—up until early October."
Mashima Tomoya paused, then announced a piece of news that came as a surprise to quite a few people.
"The school will be making rather large-scale adjustments to the class schedule. We will be increasing the proportion of daily physical education hours in coordination with the upcoming Sports Festival."
Upon hearing the words "Sports Festival" and "increasing physical education hours."
The students of Class A seated below quickly understood that this so-called Sports Festival must surely fall under the category of a special exam—otherwise, the school wouldn't go to such great lengths to increase the amount of physical education time.
Last semester had been almost entirely academic classes, with comparatively little physical education time. Increasing the physical education time now was surely also out of consideration for the students' bodies. As for it actually helping students drastically improve their physical fitness or anything of the sort—that was impossible; it was merely to keep students from developing some physical problem when high-intensity exercise came around.
This school had requirements for students in both theoretical knowledge and physical fitness, and this Sports Festival could, for those students with decent physical fitness, be counted as a fine opportunity to show off their talents and contribute to their class.
Looking at the varied expressions of the students below, Mashima Tomoya offered no further explanation.
He waved his hand, having the students in the front row help distribute the materials in his hand.
"Next, I'll be handing out the new semester's class schedule to you. At the same time, the specific rules and related materials for this Sports Festival have all been printed on it as well—you may study it carefully."
As the materials were being passed along, Mashima Tomoya stood at the podium and tossed out a piece of news ahead of time.
"While I'm at it, let me remind you of one thing. In this Sports Festival special exam, the grade's competition format will no longer be each of the four classes fighting on its own."
"According to the school's draw, in this Sports Festival, our Class A is bound together in cooperation with Class D."
The moment those words dropped.
The students of Class A, who had still been earnestly leafing through the materials, found their expressions instantly turning somewhat peculiar.
Cooperating with that Class D—the one that had just been docked down to zero points and stirred up a scandal on top of it?
Shikime Natsu sat in his seat by the window, holding the materials that had just been distributed.
When he heard Mashima Tomoya announce the result of this grouping.
A flicker of profound meaning couldn't help but pass through Shikime Natsu's pale golden eyes. After all, Class D's Sudou Ken had already been expelled in yesterday's peeping incident. In terms of physical fitness, Sudou Ken might not necessarily have been number one, but he was definitely among Class D's top tier of athletic ability.
Now, with one Sudou Ken gone, it could be counted as no small trouble for Class D. Of course, given Sudou Ken's personality, whether he'd have cooperated properly was also a question in itself.
Of course, it wasn't as though Class D had no good combat strength. Take Kouenji Rokusuke, for instance—this fellow with his explosive musculature looked, at a glance, like prime material for athletics.
It was just that... this fellow was even harder to control than Sudou Ken. He was a person with an excess of self-awareness. Trying to get Kouenji Rokusuke to pour out his sweat and struggle valiantly for Class D—that felt even more difficult than getting Chabashira Sae to put on a bunny-girl outfit and dance.
The moment Kouenji Rokusuke felt bored, he might, at any time, simply forfeit and walk off right in the middle of a match.
All in all, Class D basically had no boys with any particularly outstanding athletic ability. As for the girls, Shikime Natsu's two girlfriends—Sakura Airi and Karuizawa Kei—both had decent physical fitness.
After all, as his girlfriends, simply by kissing him, their physical fitness could be improved by no small amount. They could kiss ten times a day, gaining an improvement each time, so by now, the physical fitness of these girlfriends of his was quite good.
And the longer they spent together with him, the stronger their physical fitness naturally became. By now, the physical fitness of these girlfriends of his was basically far stronger than that of an average high schooler—no, it would be more accurate to say it was considerably stronger than that of an ordinary star athlete.
As for this collaboration between Class A and Class D, victory or defeat—Shikime Natsu honestly didn't care, since this sort of competition held no meaning whatsoever for him.
Especially this particular Sports Festival, which could basically be crushed through sheer raw stats. Of course, for the others in the class, it still had to be taken seriously.
Shikime Natsu, for his part, treated this Sports Festival as a fun bit of interaction with the girls—just like back during the Deserted Island.
Shikime Natsu's gaze continued to fall on the printed paper in his hand as he began carefully scrutinizing the detailed rules of this Sports Festival.
[This Sports Festival will adopt a grade-wide, cross-class cooperative competition format.]
[All first-year students will be divided into a "Red" group and a "White" group to compete against each other.]
[The Red Team will be composed of: all the students of Class A and Class D.]
[The White Team will be composed of: all the students of Class B and Class C.]
Following that came an explanation of the competitive events and the reward mechanism.
[The competitive events of this Sports Festival are primarily divided into two major categories: "Individual Events" and "Team Events."]
[Individual events include: the 100-meter sprint, hurdles, the scavenger-hunt borrowing race, and so on.]
[Team events include: tug-of-war, the three-legged race, the cavalry battle, and finally the grade relay race, and so on.]
Shikime Natsu skipped straight past those tedious event descriptions, his gaze locking precisely onto the calculation rules concerning the "increase and decrease of class points" at the very end.
A single glance was enough for Shikime Natsu to completely grasp the school's intentions.
[Grade Ranking Rewards:]
[After the Sports Festival concludes, the total scores of the Red and White groups will be combined to produce a final ranking of the four classes.]
[First place (the class with the highest contributing score within the winning group): will receive a reward of 50 class points.]
[Second place (the class with the lower contributing score within the winning group): class points remain unchanged—neither gained nor lost.]
[Third place (the class with the higher contributing score within the losing group): will be forcibly docked 50 class points.]
[Fourth place (the class with the lowest contributing score within the losing group): will be forcibly docked 100 class points.]
Looking at this rather harsh reward-and-punishment mechanism, Shikime Natsu shook his head.
It had to be said—with the conclusion of the first semester, this school had grown increasingly stingy in its bestowing of points; you could even call it downright miserly.
In the earlier Deserted Island and preferential person exams, although the risk had been great, at least there had been the possibility of multiple gains, and the preferential person could even personally claim a huge sum of individual points.
But what about this Sports Festival?
The four classes would compete with their lives on the line, and in the end only the single class that took first place in total score could claim a measly 50-class-point reward!
As for the remaining three classes, not only did they receive no benefit whatsoever, but third and fourth place even had to face the severe penalty of having points deducted.
This sort of assessment, where reward and risk were utterly disproportionate, was simply a brazen, undisguised attempt to reclaim the points that the various classes had been hoarding.
Beyond that.
The rules also stated explicitly that, within each event, students who placed would receive additional rewards.
[A student who takes first place in an individual competitive event will receive a reward of bonus points to their personal exam scores, equivalent to the privilege of three extra points on the next written test.]
Looking at this so-called individual reward, Shikime Natsu simply ignored it.
Three bonus points on a written exam?
This trash-tier little reward might be a lifesaving straw for those poor students hovering on the edge of the passing line, who could be expelled at any moment (the likes of Sudou Ken, for example). And if Sudou Ken seized the chance while he and Kouenji Rokusuke weren't exerting themselves, he might even be able to snag this reward.
But for the students of Class A, whose average academic results sat firmly atop the entire grade and almost none of whom would ever fail, this reward held no substantive use whatsoever—utterly useless, nothing but a chicken rib.
Shikime Natsu casually skimmed once more over the specific roster of competitive events and the participation requirements.
The arrangement of the various events and the limits on how many times male and female students could compete were, as it turned out, more or less the same as the sports-meet rules he'd been familiar with before, without any particularly inhumane innovations.
Standing at the podium, Mashima Tomoya kept his gaze fixed on the students below.
Once he estimated that roughly enough time had passed and confirmed that everyone had basically finished reading the rules in their hands.
He cleared his throat and once again opened his mouth to issue an instruction to them all.
"Alright, you've all got the rules clear now."
Mashima Tomoya pointed at the last form that had been handed out.
"For this Sports Festival, the school side will not be making any mandatory designations of who competes in each event—it's all to be decided through internal discussion within each class."
"If anyone is skilled at a particular event and intends to sign up for it, then fill out that last sign-up form after class."
"Over these next few days, everyone, get your competition rosters filled out as soon as possible. The class representative will collect them all and then hand them in to me. Of course, if there are subsequent changes to the personnel roster, you may communicate with me in a timely manner to make adjustments. And of course, barring any special reason, the roster you initially submit will be the final roster."
Mashima Tomoya's gaze once again swept over the students of Class A present, and finally came to rest on Shikime Natsu, as if to indicate that this was being left to Shikime Natsu.
Shikime Natsu nodded to show that he understood.
____
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