Chapter 36

October.

Under the clear and cloudless autumn sky, the long-awaited day of the Sports Festival at Advanced Nurturing High School had finally arrived.

The athletic field was lined with neatly drawn white tracks and rows of tents for each class to gather under. A lively marching tune played from the speakers, while the entire venue buzzed with excitement and tension unique to the festival.

“Everyone, it’s finally time for the real thing! Let’s show the results of all the hard work we’ve put in together! Don’t worry about penalties—we’ll cover everything with the class funds, so don’t hold back! Give it your all!”

Inside the A-Class tent, Ichinose stood at the center as everyone formed a circle together.

“OOOH!!”

“We’ll protect our place as Class A no matter what!!”

Shibata, Kanzaki, and the others shouted back passionately, pushing the class morale to its peak.

(Whoa…! Everyone putting their arms around each other and doing a team huddle? This is insanely青春—peak youthfulness! I love this kind of thing!)

On the surface, I merely smiled calmly, but internally my excitement had skyrocketed.

At that moment, the silver-haired girl beside me—Hiyori—smiled apologetically.

“Sousuke-kun. I’m not very good at sports, so I probably won’t be much help this time… But I’ll definitely watch and cheer for your cool moments from the tent!”

(OHHHH!! If my best friend says something that cute, then I’ve gotta give this my all!! Alright! I’ll crush the 100-meter dash and show her how cool I am!)

Fired up again, I opened my mouth to respond confidently to her encouragement.

“—Do not worry. You need only watch from your safe glass castle as I ascend to the heavens.”

(WAAAAAHHHH!! Why does “Leave it to me! Watch me take first place!” turn into some demon king-level arrogant declaration!? And what the hell is a glass castle!?)

However, Hiyori perfectly understood the meaning behind my stylish nonsense and happily made little fists with both hands.

“Fufu, do your best, Sousuke-kun!”

Seriously, without this archangel, I probably would’ve been socially isolated in class by now.

Breaking from the circle, I headed toward the starting line as the first runner for the “First-Year Boys’ 100-Meter Dash.”

---

On the way there, I noticed A-Class students positioned all around the field.

Students whose events hadn’t started yet stood at various angles around the track holding smartphones and tablets.

This was the strategy I had proposed beforehand: “Suppressing sabotage and securing evidence of cheating.”

“Tch…!”

The one who clicked his tongue sharply upon seeing that was the dictator of Class C—Ryuuen Kakeru.

(That bastard… So he predicted we might use fouls or sabotage during the Sports Festival and set up surveillance beforehand?)

For this Sports Festival, Ryuuen planned to secure victory for the White Team by obtaining D-Class’s participation lists through a spy and sharing them with Sakayanagi’s B-Class to thoroughly crush D-Class.

On top of that, he intended to “accidentally” take out D-Class’s main fighters—Sudou and Horikita—and, if possible, even some of A-Class’s key players during the competitions.

(…Tch. With this much surveillance, repeatedly causing “accidents” isn’t smart. Even if we disguise it as coincidence, we only get one perfect shot. Kukuku… Aizen Sousuke really isn’t easy to deal with.)

Ryuuen raised his caution toward my invisible manipulation of the board even further.

And another person watching the same scene was Arisu Sakayanagi, leader of B-Class.

(Fufufu… My class excels academically, but our athletic abilities are mediocre overall. This time, we intended to use the leaked participation list Ryuuen-kun shared to thoroughly crush D-Class and secure victory for the White Team. Simultaneously… we had also prepared several underhanded methods to drag down the top-ranked A-Class.)

Sakayanagi slowly scanned the surveillance network surrounding the track and smiled pleasantly.

(To think you foresaw our methods and countered them this elegantly in advance… Yes, marvelous control over the battlefield. Truly, Aizen Sousuke-kun, you are the finest entertainer.)

(Kukuku, sure, now sabotage and dirty tricks are difficult… but—)

Ryuuen grinned viciously, convinced of victory.

(No matter how overwhelming Aizen-kun’s personal abilities are, there’s nothing he can do while dragging around the massive dead weight known as D-Class.)

Sakayanagi lightly tapped her cane.

(A-Class has built a solid defense centered around Ichinose. But no matter how perfect your defenses are, you can’t stop information from leaking out through the “traitor” inside D-Class. Kukuku… This time, you’ll sink together with that burden, Aizen.)

(Indeed. No matter how capable you are, you cannot control another class collapsing from within. By the time you realize the information leaked, it will already be too late. Please enjoy the taste of defeat while sinking alongside a mud boat to the very end.)

While the troublesome leaders of each class admired my perfect defensive measures and confidently anticipated my defeat—

I myself knew absolutely nothing about their schemes as I stood under the brilliant autumn sky at the starting line for the 100-meter dash.

And in the lane beside me—

“…You bastard!!”

D-Class’s ace, Sudou Ken, glared at me with burning fury.

“I’m definitely not losing to you…! I’ll crush you completely!!”

(Geeeeh!? It’s the violent guy from the disciplinary hearing!! Scary!! What’s with that murderous aura!? Is he STILL pissed about the two-week suspension!? But you were the one who beat people half to death!!)

Internally trembling, I tried to calm him down with a casual “Come on, it’s just sports, let’s race fair and square.”

But what came out instead was that infamous line.

“—Don’t use such strong words. …You’ll appear weak.”

(THERE IT IS AGAINNNN!!! Why do I keep saying this line!? Also, why are there SO MANY situations in this school where it fits perfectly!?)

“…!! You bastard… I’ll kill you!!”

Veins bulged on Sudou’s forehead as he nearly lunged at me.

(SEE!? I completely poured gasoline on the fire!! Help!! Someone fire the starting pistol already!!)

“—On your marks. Ready…”

BANG!!

The instant the pistol sounded, I unleashed the overwhelming physical ability granted by this vessel known as “Aizen Sousuke” and kicked off the ground.

It was acceleration on an entirely different dimension—as though using Flash Step itself.

With every stride, the scenery flew backward.

“Wha—!? Fast!!”

Even Sudou, who had launched perfectly beside me, widened his eyes in shock.

Even D-Class’s fastest runner couldn’t catch my back.

The difference in speed was overwhelming. Absolute.

Without allowing anyone to follow, I casually crossed the finish line first.

“Damn it…! DAMN IT!!”

Sudou arrived late, slamming his foot into the ground in frustration.

“How the hell did I lose… to some skinny honor student bastard…!”

(Y-Yes, I won! Better get back to the tent before he tries to kill me.)

I tried to leave immediately—

But my Stylish System activated automatically.

“—Those fangs are disappointingly dull. …Did a mad dog crawling on the ground truly believe it could catch a dragon soaring through the heavens?”

(WAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! WHY DOES MY MOUTH ALWAYS MAXIMALLY PROVOKE PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY ANGRY!? DOESN’T IT KNOW THE PHRASE ‘LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE’!?)

“You bastard…! Say that again…!”

Sudou approached with terrifying rage.

Inside, I screamed “I’M SORRY I’M SORRY,” while outwardly maintaining a cold gaze of absolute superiority.

Perhaps intimidated by my “absolute powerhouse aura,” or perhaps realizing he couldn’t cause more trouble, Sudou barely restrained himself.

“…Next time I’ll crush you for sure.”

Throwing those words behind him, he returned to D-Class’s tent.

(I survived… I seriously thought he was gonna punch me.)

Shortening my lifespan from stress, I returned to the A-Class tent.

“Awesome, Aizen-kun!! You won by a landslide!”

“As expected of Aizen. To beat Sudou by that much…”

Ichinose, Kanzaki, and the others welcomed me with applause.

“—Victory is merely a process. Just as the sun rises in the east, my triumph is simply the natural law of this world.”

(Translation: “Thanks! Let’s all keep this momentum going!”)

“‘Winning was only natural. Let’s all continue doing our best together!’ …is what he says. Great job, Sousuke-kun!”

Thanks to Hiyori’s flawless translation, the class got even more fired up.

Encouraged by their warmth, I tried to enthusiastically rally everyone further with something like “Alright everyone, let’s push toward victory together!”

But once again, the merciless Stylish System hijacked my mouth.

“—Now then, shall we proceed… to the ends of reason itself?”

(WAAAAAHHHH!! I JUST WANTED TO HYPE EVERYONE UP!!)

“““...The ends of reason? Where’s that?”””

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion at the sudden mysterious destination.

But then our greatest archangel smiled brightly.

“‘Let’s all push forward toward victory in the Sports Festival together!’ …is what he means!”

“““OOOOHHHHHH!!! WE’RE GONNA WINNNN!!!”””

Thanks to Hiyori’s perfect translation, everyone’s morale instantly reached maximum again.

Watching my classmates run off toward their next events full of fighting spirit, I silently pressed my hands together toward Hiyori in gratitude.

(Hiyori… thank you so much…!)

---

However—

There was someone silently observing all of this from the shadows near D-Class’s tent.

(…Aizen Sousuke. He truly is unfathomable.)

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji stared at my back with emotionless eyes.

(Even if we’re on the same Red Team, the true objective of this Sports Festival is class points by grade. In the very first event, he intentionally crushed D-Class’s ace, Sudou, completely and then verbally provoked him. By destabilizing Sudou mentally, he aims to lower D-Class’s overall performance in later events as well. On top of that, his anti-sabotage camera setup was perfect. He controls every piece on the board and harvests only certain victory…)

Inside Ayanokouji’s mind, the image of Aizen Sousuke as a “cold and absolute ruler” was once again escalating in a terrifying direction.

(…To think he’d deploy such advanced psychological warfare behind the Sports Festival. I may need to change my approach as well.)

Thus, beneath the excitement of the Sports Festival, the endless chain of misunderstandings surrounding the artificial genius accelerated even further.