Classroom of the Elite V17: Ch 1 part 1

When I arrive at the classroom, I immediately notice that the atmosphere is different from that before the special exam.

First, there are a few students who look at me. This is a high percentage of students with whom I do not have close friendships, but it is not surprising. Considering that I had been on the sidelines and a passive observer up until this point, I was able to take a very in-depth look at the situation.

There are a lot of things they don’t understand about my relationship with Kushida, given how I used to act in public. There are not many students who can come and talk to him directly, even though they are concerned about it.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun." Matsushita happily approached me when she saw me.

"good morning" The gazes from the boys and girls turned to surprise at this unexpected action

I had seen Matsushita wave to me from afar, but this was the first time she had ever approached me on this way to school.

Is it out of concern for that other day, or is it a different aim? Matsushita appreciates my ability. The fact that I tried to get Kushida expelled and the way I stood up to Kushida may have contributed to my reputation, rather than lowering it. Matsushita was one of the students who agreed with the expulsion of Airi, saying that it was inevitable.

“Are we finally on the verge of moving up to Class A?"

“I wonder”

After avoiding a light jab and flinching, she easily backs off, as if she didn't think anything more was necessary. Then she turns her gaze only to the side.

"There may be a lot going on for a while, but I don't think you need to worry about it."

After saying that, she added this: "Since it's about Ayanokouji-kun, I'm sure you don't even care."

She lets her true thoughts of me come out

"The important things lie outside of Ayanokouji-kun and Horikita-san. Right?"

I’m not sure how I feel about that result, but it seems that Matsushita
understands my feelings better than Horikita, or at least interprets them more
accurately.

The problem is that Shinohara, Haruka, Mii-chan and Kushida can’t relate to my line of thinking. The students I just named are the ones who were particularly damaged by the unanimous special exam. Shinohara occasionally stared daggers at us, but it wasn’t directed at me, more so at Matsushita. She seems to be unconcerned, though.

“Over the weekend, I tried to make something work out, but she
canceled on me.” She mumbles in a whisper, perhaps noticing Shinohara’s gaze on her. “Girls tend to take a long time in these situations.”

“That’s tough.”

“Well, it’s us who are at fault.”
It originally started when Kei, Matsushita and the others made fun of
Shinohara and Ike as a couple. They had been badmouthing them behind their backs about their looks, so it was only natural for Shinohara to be angry.

“This is just an everyday thing. There have been times when it’s been more difficult.”

The relationship between the girls is something that the boys, who only have a superficial relationship with them, cannot know. I wanted to know, but it’s probably better if I don’t.


After that, no other student made an effort to come talk to me, and time passed by. Horikita also came to school late, but there was no sign of Kushida. Sudō and some of the other students tried to talk to Horikita, but since they arrived at school at the last minute, the chime rang and they had to take their seats.

Kushida, who hadn’t appeared in front of Horikita over the weekend, continued to stay hidden. The morning homeroom starts with many other empty seats. Chabashira-sensei came to the classroom and immediately noticed the empty seats.

“Kushida, Hasebe, and Wang are absent. That’s unusual.” We didn’t know the details of their absences, but Chabashira-sensei did. “Hasebe and Wang have notified me that they’re sick, so that’s acceptable. As for Kushida, I haven’t heard from her, so I’ll call her later to confirm. We’ll soon be able to determine if she simply overslept or if she’s too sick to get up.”

Although she used a somewhat exaggerated expression, it was probably based on the assumption that they were faking illness. It’s not unusual for someone to be absent for long periods of time, but this was the first time in the past year and a half that three students were absent at the same time. Up until now, Chabashira-sensei hadn’t made any comments when someone was absent.

This was different from the past, where teachers just went about their business. If this were a normal school, consequences for missing classes would come back to you. If you were to skip a week, it would affect your internal evaluation score, and might even result in you being left behind in class. However, in this school, one person’s responsibility is also everyone’s responsibility. They may not all say it, but I’m sure Chabashira-sensei understands what they’re worried about.

“Don’t look so anxious, a day or two of absence won’t affect your class points. It’s even possible for all three of them to be sick at the same time by pure coincidence.”


At this moment, she assures us that there will be no impact on the class.

Her students must have felt a sense of relief at her clear words.

“That said, if this break lasts longer, it won’t be limited to that. And if it turns out to be a temporary illness, problems will gradually come to the surface.” She replied, staring at Kushida’s seat since she hadn’t heard from her.

“Well, perhaps ‘temporary illness’ was a bit of an exaggeration, but there’s a limit to how much you can do when you’re sick without knowing the specific name of the illness. I’m hoping for a quick recovery if possible.”

The students eyes were drawn to Horikita. In the unanimous special exam, she declared that she would put her own ideas first and leave Kushida behind. Naturally, most of the blame was directed at Horikita. Even though she was receiving the brunt of the gaze, Horikita did not move an inch. We can’t tell what she’s thinking, but there’s no point for her to expose herself without purpose and risk showing weakness. After looking at the situation, Chabashira-sensei coughed once, forcibly pulling the students’ attention away from Horikita.

“I’m concerned about the absentees, but we can’t afford to dwell on that. The unanimous special exam is over, and you must now turn your attention to the next battle.”

She lightly placed her palm on the monitor behind him and brought up the screen.

“I would like to explain the details of the gymnastics competition and the special rules that will apply this year.

Please listen carefully.”

All the students assumed that the sports festival would be the same as last year

“Special rules... does that mean we’re going to have a different sports festival than last year, sensei?”

Chabashira-sensei nodded once in response to the question from Sudō, who was more enthusiastic about the sports festival than anyone else. “It means that the new way this school should be, as proposed by the student council president, is being accepted, such as the island exam. It will be an attempt that strongly incorporates the idea of emphasizing individual ability, and the sports festival will be the embodiment of that.”

In the deserted island exam, Kōenji, with his high academic ability and above all his outstanding physical ability, performed very well, and in addition to receiving class points, he also received a huge amount of private points. It was a true representation of a meritocratic school.

On the other hand, students who were not good enough were in danger of being expelled. This was a sports festival where the same emphasis was placed on individual abilities as at that time. If we were to accept only those words, it could be a tough test for students like Keisei, whose academic strength is their strong point, but who are worried about their physical abilities.

“I’m sure many students will be worried, but this sports festival has been adjusted so that no individual will be expelled for lack of individual ability, nor will any individual be the only one to suffer damage. Because not everyone is able to perfectly embody both academic ability and athleticism.” Chabashira-sensei explained gently, perhaps to avoid a mild panic. Some of the students looked at each other in surprise at her softer tone that was different from how she was last week. Cutting the chatter, the outline and rules of the sports festival were displayed on the monitor.


[Outline and Rules of the Sports Festival:]


OUTLINE:

• A sports festival for all grades, consisting of a variety of events.

• Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (with a break between noon and 1:00 p.m.)

• Students are free to participate in any event of their choice to earn points, compete against other students, and work for the class to get the highest score.



RULES:

• Each student will be given 5 points at the start.

• Each student must participate in 5 different events.

• Additional points will be given to the winners according to their events.

• Each time a student pays 1 point, he or she can participate in the 6th and subsequent events.

• The maximum number of events that can be entered is 10 per person.

• If a student does not participate or abstains from an entered event except for unavoidable reasons, he/she will lose 2 points.

• Students who have finished the events they are participating in should cheer at designated areas.



Just by reading this outline and rules, one can see that it is completely different from last year.

“This will be this year’s Sports Festival, and these are the outlines and general rules. Unlike the usual one where the whole school watches one competition, we will have parallel competitions at various locations at the same time.”

“Nah, it sounds like we’re going to be pretty busy.” Sudō was baffled by the rough image of the day in his mind.

“Participating in the competitions and aiming for high rankings is your top priority, for which you’ll need to make a meticulous schedule. It will be a busy gym day if you plan to participate in numerous competitions to win.

There are two main types of competitions; The first one is called the basic competition, which is a competition that can be participated in by one person, and all the basic competitions have a fixed reward of five points for first place, three points for second place, one point for third place, and one point for participation.

The other type of competition is called the special competition, where two or more people can participate. The rewards are higher in the team competition, and all participating teams receive equal points. While the rewards are attractive, they also have drawbacks such as the need for cooperation and longer time constraints.”

There is a clear distinction between individual and team competitions, in relativity of points. It’s a nice consideration for students who aren’t good at sports to not be at risk when they drop to the bottom of the standings. “The rewards for team competitions vary depending on the

competition, so be sure to check them out separately.”

The rules are simple enough once you understand them, but there’s a surprisingly large number of things you have to do. The initial five points and the five points for participation, a total of ten points, can be obtained by participating in the sports festival and completing the competition regardless of the grade. If any student fails to meet the minimum requirement due to some accident, the number of points will be reduced by 10 for each student.

If we assume that all the students will participate, Ichinose, a class of 40 students, currently has 400 points, and our class, with two students missing, has 38 students and 380 points. This means that we will be fighting with a handicap of 20 points. The reward for the individual competition is 5 points for taking first place, which means you need to take 4 more first places. It may not seem like much, but each person can participate in up to ten events.