49 The Relay, Festival's Results, Surprise, And Dealing With The Russian

~~~ With Anton ~~~

"Young Boss!" a man wearing black, burst into Anton's personal room within the hotel room. However, only after he entered, the man noticed the black-haired woman who was giving Anton a blowjob.

"You better have a good reason for interrupting me, or else, I'll blow up your head..." said Anton, glaring at the man as he reached for his gun that was laid on a small table next to the bed, while the woman didn't stop blowing him.

"I think we managed to discover the identity of the real leader of the Amasawa Industry" the man said as he came closer to Anton from the side, and showed him a picture on his phone. It was a selfie of a young couple inside a car.

"Is it this guy?" asked Anton and pointed at the guy

"No, sir"

"Then why are you showing me a picture of a random couple!?" Anton hissed in anger

"While at first look, this picture is useless. However, if you zoom in on the background..." the man said and zoomed in on the background, on the outside of the window of the couple's car, where you could see another car, with 2 young men and one young woman. Those were Shinji, Akira, and Ichika, on the day Shinji went out of the school.

"Did you find out his identity?" asked Anton

"We found only one picture of this man within the whole internet, but I don't know if it's reliable. The only match we found is a student in Advanced Nurturing High School, whose name is Shinji Ayanokoji, a first-year. He's in your sister's age"

"What else can you tell me about him?"

"That's the thing. There is absolutely no information about him in any place! No family, no address, no bank accounts, nothing at all!"

"..." Anton simply glared at the man, and then, before the man could react, Anton shot him straight in the head, killing him, while saying:

"Useless shit..."

Due to the noise from the shot, the woman who up until now kept on blowing him, raised her head, looked at him with her blue eyes, and said:

"You know that I don't like it when you do stuff like this when we are having fun..."

"I'm sorry, but I need to go anyway. I need to find the rat who has been hiding from me..." Anton said with an evil smirk on his face

~~~ With Kei ~~~

"You guys were great!" said one of the girls as the boys of class C came back

"It worked just like we practiced!" said one of the boys

"Now, the only thing that's left, is the recommended competitions!" exclaimed one of the girls

"Where is Shinji-Kun?" asked Kei

"He said that he needs to go to the bathroom. He probably needs to freshen up before the recommended competitions" said Yosuke

~~~ With Mio ~~~

"I had enough of this!!!" shouted Mio in anger inside of class D's tent, and kicked a chair

"All we do is lose all the time! That useless Ryuen doesn't change a damn thing! In fact, all of his plans were backfired at us! We lost on the island, we lost on the ship, and now we're going to lose today too!"

"Even so, there's nothing we can do about it..." said one of the girls, and all of their classmates expressions turned into gloominess

"And that's where you're wrong..." said a voice from the entrance of the tent, and all of class D's students looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a smirking Shinji enter their tent

"You! What are you doing here?" asked Mio, narrowing her eyes at Shinji

"I couldn't help myself and overheard your conversation, and I'm afraid that you're wrong. There IS something you can do about it.

As Ibuki-San said, all of Ryuen's plans were backfired at you, and that's because he targeted my class. However, soon it became personal, as Ryuen tried to defeat me personally, instead of winning as a class, and that's why you keep losing all the time.

However, it doesn't have to be like this. I suggest that we keep my personal rivalry with Ryuen as personal, that it won't affect both classes"

"What exactly are you suggesting?" asked Shiho

"It's simple. All you need to do is to stop listening to Ryuen. As I said, Ryuen doesn't think of the benefit of your class and tries to defeat me no matter the consequences, and that's what hurting your class. So, logically speaking, all you have to do is to take Ryuen out of the equation and take matters into your own hands.

Additionally, if you stop listening to Ryuen, I don't see any reason for our classes to have a hostile relationship anymore. Because of Ryuen, we've been focusing almost entirely on defeating your class, which is the reason for the big loss in your class's points. However, if Ryuen won't be your leader anymore, we'll leave you alone, as we'll have no reason to set our focus on you. That way, you'll be able to regain the class points you lost, and maybe even gain some more, and you'll be able to enjoy your school life here, without the need to worry about points"

"You're saying that, but we have to compete against each other so that we can get back to class C..." said a male student with light beige hair, with purple gradient eyes, wearing glasses

"As I'm sure you've noticed, our class's points gain rate is fast, and I believe that soon, we'll overcome class B as well, and then, that won't be the case anymore. And even if we have to compete against each other, it doesn't have to be of a hostile nature. Instead of competing to harm the other class, we should compete on a friendly nature, where each class does its best, but in the end, no matter who the winner is, we'll be able to commend the other class for their win"

"What you're saying is true, but why are you telling us that? What's in it for you?" asked Mio

"You think I enjoy seeing your class's situation? Even I have friends in this class, and I'll feel bad if they won't enjoy their school life"

"He's right! I and Shinji-Kun are good friends, and I agree with him! Instead of always thinking of defeating the other classes all the time, we should just be friends with everyone and enjoy our school life!" said Hiyori

"But, if we disobey Ryuen-Kun, he'll..." said one of the girls

"He threatened you, didn't he? I was aware that he is violent, but to threaten your classmates with violence? Now that's just wrong. However, if you all, together, decide to stand up against him, he won't be able to do anything. If it were only a small number of you, he may be able to physically hurt you, to make you obey him, but if it's all of you together, he won't hurt all of the class, because you can easily go to the school and complain about him.

So if you worry that he'll hurt you, you don't need to, as long as all of you stand up to him together"

"..." the students of class D remained silent, as they all glanced at each other with hesitated expressions

"Don't worry. I don't expect you to tell me about your decision now. This is something you have to discuss among yourselves before you reach a decision. I'll wait for your decision, but if you ask me, you should try to decide before the next special test, whenever it will be, so you won't receive any more damage. Now, the recommended competitions are about to begin, so I need to take my leave..." Shinji said and turned to leave, but before he exited the tent he turned his head towards them and said:

"And just so you know, if you decide to continue and obey Ryuen, know that he'll keep coming at me, and I'll keep on defeating him, and in the end, you'll end up with 0 class points. Just another thing you should take into consideration..." Shinji said with a bright smile and exited the tent, and soon, the tent was full of students whispering among each other...

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

~~~ With Shinji ~~~

As in the individual competitions, Shinji dominated the recommended competitions as well, defeating Miyabi a few times, but strangely enough, he hadn't faced against Manabu yet, and now was the time for the final competition of the day, the joint 1200-m relay.

Shinji was standing at the anchor, next to Manabu, as they waited for their turn.

"You've performed spectacularly during the festival. You've proven that your athletic abilities are on par with your academic abilities, especially your stamina, seeing that you participated in all of the competitions and it doesn't seem that you're getting tired" Manabu said with an impressed expression

"Actually, I'm at my limit. Once I'll be done with this last competition, I'm sure that I'll collapse from exhaustion" Shinji said with a cheeky grin

"Then, maybe you shouldn't have strain yourself by participating in all of the competitions. Surely you could've done without a few competitions"

"That won't do. After all, I need to assure my class's victory. How else would I get to class A, if I won't strive to win at every chance I get?"

"I guess that you're right" Manabu stated

"You guys have been talking for a while now, but at this rate, you both are going to lose in this competition..." said Miyabi, who stood at the other side of Manabu, as he watched his classmate approaching the anchor

"It seems like it. Guess that it's to be expected from students of class A" Shinji stated

"Well, I'll see you two at the finish line!" Miyabi exclaimed, and once his classmate passed him the baton, and Miyabi started to run

"It seems that he's got the advantage" Shinji stated

"You've said that you wanted to surpass me personally, right? That's why you wanted me to participate as the anchor. Why didn't you wanted to compete against each other in one of the other recommended competitions?"

"Because this is the competition everyone is looking at. What better way to prove my worth as the new president, by defeating the old one in the most coveted competition? However, it seems that we won't have the chance to compete" Shinji said as they both saw Manabu's classmate getting closer. Then, the student gave Manabu the baton, however, Manabu didn't start to run.

"I'll play along with your idea, only to show you that you still have much to grow, if you want to defeat me..." Manabu said, causing Shinji to smirk. Eventually, Shinji could see Yosuke getting closer, and once he gave him the baton, both Shinji and Manabu dashed out of their positions at a terrifying speed.

They easily erased the gap between them and the others, including Miyabi, rushing past them with incredible speed, both are tied as they make their way to the finish line.

As they got closer, Shinji said:

"It was fun playing with you, Horikita-Senpai. However, I need to win, so if you'll excuse me..." he said and accelerated even more, creating a small gap between him and Manabu, shocking Manabu, and Shinji finished in the first place.

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

Everyone was gathered by their respective classes in the middle of the track field, in front of a teacher who was holding a megaphone. Then, the teacher said:

"I will now announce the results of the sports festival.

The team who won during the sports festival is the White Team. As such, classes A and D will have 100 points equally subtracted from their class points across all school years. I will now proceed to announce the results on a year-level basis.

For the first year, the class which placed in first place is class C, in second place is class B, in third place is class A and in fourth place is class D.

In the second year, the class who's placed in first place is class A, in second place is class B, in third place is class C and in fourth place is class D.

In the third year, the class who's placed in first place is class A, in second place is class C, in third place is class B and in fourth place is class D" said the teacher

"We won!!!" exclaimed some of the students in class C

"Now I will announce the MVP for each year, and the festival's MVP. Each MVP in each respective year will receive 1,000,000 points, and the festival's MVP will receive an additional 2,000,000 points"

"MVP? What is he talking about? No one mentioned an MVP..." said Teruhiko

"That is because you haven't been told about it. The school wishes to reward the students who put in effort, regardless of any individual reward, so we keep this knowledge a secret from the first years"

"I see now. It's for people like Koenji, right? He's obviously athletic, but he didn't put in an effort because he didn't see anything in it for him. Because he retired as soon as the festival started, Sudo and Hirata have been participating in his place. Luckily for us, he wasn't placed in a lot of competitions..." said Shinji, while he thought:

'Well, isn't it a pleasant surprise... now I see why the sports festival is arranged the way it is. The individual and team competitions are used to determine who the MVP in each year, while the recommended competitions are used to determine who is the festival's MVP, and If I'm correct, I just received free 3,000,000 points...'

"Among the first years, the MVP is Shinji Ayanokoji, among the second years, the MVP is Miyabi Nagumo, and among the third years, the MVP is Manabu Horikita.

The festival's MVP is Shinji Ayanokoji. I want to commend all of the students who participated in the festival today. And with that, the festival is officially over. You are free for the rest of the day" said the teacher, and everyone started to scatter

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

Shinji made his way to his room when he suddenly saw Kiyotaka going in the other direction. Curious, Shinji decided to follow him. Shinji followed him until Kiyotaka arrived at a place where there weren't any surveillance cameras, and surprisingly, Arisu waited for him there. Hiding behind the wall, Shinji eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Since you got to this school, you were overshadowed by your brother, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji-Kun. Even today, your brother won the festival's MVP, and no one noticed your accomplishments. No one but me of course" Arisu said

"What are you talking about?" Kiyotaka asked, feigning innocence

"You were placed in the rounds of all the recommended competitions in which Shinji-Kun wasn't, and won all of them, and also won in all of the individual competitions you participated in.

I have to say that manipulating all of the participation tables of all the classes was truly a magnificent executed strategy by Shinji-Kun. He made it that way, so his class will get the best matchups in all of the festival, and you were responsible to win in the rounds in which Shinji didn't participate, and by participating and winning in all of the competitions, Shinji-Kun took all the attention to himself, allowing you to perform remarkably, and remain unnoticed" stated Arisu

"What do you want? I'd like to wrap this up quickly if possible" said Kiyotaka

"After seeing your performance, I remembered something. I called you here because I wanted to share it with you"

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about"

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Ayanokoji-Kun? In fact, 8 years and 243 days past since the last time I saw you"

"I don't even know who you are"

"No, I suppose you don't. After all, it's me who knows you"

"Well, if you excuse me..." Kiyotaka said and turned to leave until Arisu said:

"White Room"

Hearing this, Kiyotaka stopped in his tracks, and while it wasn't shown on his face, Shinji could tell he was shocked

'So her father told her about the White Room? But even if he told, there is no way she would've known Kiyotaka. However, hearing what she says, it's possible that her father took her to see the White Room, where she met Kiyotaka. She doesn't know that I was there too, since I wasn't there at the time she mentioned...' Shinji thought as he continued to eavesdrop on the conversation, as Kiyotaka turned his head back to Arisu

"It's alright if you don't know me, but I know you. To reunite with you in a place like this... I never thought I'd see you again. I don't know how is Shinji-Kun related to you, because I didn't saw him the last time I saw you, which makes me wonder, if Shinji-Kun is the one who's pulling the strings, or is it you, hiding behind Shinji-Kun's shadow?"

"Shinji is the one who's done everything"

"He may be so, but it doesn't matter, now that I know you're here. But rest assured. I have no intention of revealing you at present"

"Wouldn't it be easier for you?"

"I don't want anything to get in my way. I'm the one who'll defeat the fake genius created by that room"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Please do. I'm honored to have you ask me a question. If you want to know, I'll tell you how I know you"

"I'm not interested in that. What I want to ask is... Can you defeat me?" Kiyotaka asked, looking into Arisu's eyes. Arisu then giggled and then said:

"Sorry for laughing. I didn't intend to insult you. I know just how incredible you are. I'll be able to fulfill my greatest wish by destroying your father's greatest masterpiece!"

"Even if you manage to defeat me, you won't defeat Shinji" said Kiyotaka

"And why is that?"

"Because no one can..." Kiyotaka said and left. Shinji quickly left before Arisu could notice him and waited for Kiyotaka near the dormitories. Soon, Kiyotaka arrived and Shinji said:

"Well, that was quite the surprise. I've got to say, that I'm flattered by your confidence in me. Or perhaps, you said it only because you knew I was listening?" Shinji said with a grin

"Do you know how she knows?" Kiyotaka asked

"Her father and the professor know each other. I guess that her father took her to the White Room where she saw you"

"I see. Can I count on you to take care of her?"

"You're sticking to that normal school life of yours? Well, I already planned to take her down, regardless if you asked me or not. She is my biggest obstacle within our year. I do expect you to help me though"

"As long as you'll keep taking the spotlight, I don't mind helping"

"So that settles it! Now, let's go up and celebrate our win today!" Shinji said and the two went up to Shinji's room. However, once they entered Shinji's room, they heard the sound of a phone ringing, and Shinji opened the drawer in his desk, revealing his untraceable phone, which was ringing.

Shinji answered the call and said:

"Yes?"

"You finally picked up!" said the familiar voice of Ichika

"Sorry. We had a sports festival that ended only now. Anything urgent?"

"Anton Malkovich is trying to find you! He arrived in the morning and said that he wants to meet the real leader! Akira has been following him through his phone, and it seems that he's on his way to your school!"

"Ivan's youngest son, huh? Well, there's no need to worry. I'll take care of it"

"But he's bringing a lot of people! You can't handle it without any weapon"

"Don't worry. No one will have to use any weapons. Just trust me and let me take care of it"

"...Okay. If that's what you say, I'll trust you. After all, Shinji-Nii is the best!!"

"Thank you for letting me know. I'll call you back soon to tell you what happened" Shinji said and hanged up

"Was that your siblings?"

"It was Ichika. It seems that we have a Russian visitor"

"Your blond girlfriend?" Kiyotaka said

"Not her, her little brother. Though, I wouldn't consider her my girlfriend. We're more like... friends with benefits, if you know what I mean"

"So he's coming here?"

"Yes. I need to make a call and I'll go to meet him. If you can, please make sure that no one disturbs us" Shinji said and dialed up a number.

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

~~~ With Anton ~~~

"So this is the place?" Anton said as he went out of the limousine he was in, looking at the entrance of the Advanced Nurturing High School. In front and behind the limousine were two armored cars, from which 8 Russian men wearing suits and each holding a rifle came out.

"Men! We're going to find this Shinji guy! Bring him alive to me. I need to have a little talk with him..." Anton said as he turned around, facing the men, with his back towards the school

"If you wanted to talk, you could've just asked..." Anton heard someone says from behind him, and turned around, to see Shinji coming out of the entrance.

"So you're him? The leader of Amasawa Industries?" Anton asked

"The one and only. I was surprised to hear that you refused to speak with Ichika. That hasn't been an issue until now"

"But now there is. My father is sick of doing business with someone who's afraid to show his face!!"

"Your father is sick of it or is it you, I wonder?" Shinji asked with a smirk

"It doesn't matter. You're going to come with me now, or else I'll order my men to slaughter the people inside of this school" Anton said with an evil smirk

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen. Neither me coming with you or your men killing the other students" Shinji said

"And what makes you say that?"

"In five seconds, you'll get your answer. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." Shinji said, and as soon as he finished counting, Anton's phone started ringing. Anton narrowed his eyes and took his phone out of his pocket, to see that he receives a video call. Once he saw who the caller is, he sighed and answered the call.

Once he did, the face of a blond girl with emerald-colored eyes appeared on his screen. Once the girl saw him, she smiled brightly and said:

"What's up, little bro!"

"What do you want, Lisa? I'm busy right now"

"Oh, I know exactly what are you doing. You're harassing Shinji!" the girl said with a frown

"You know him?"

"Of course I do! Who do you think suggested father to do business with the Amasawa Industries in the first place!? Shinji and I are best friends!" the Lisa exclaimed

"What? Since when?"

"It doesn't matter! You are going to apologize to Shinji, and get your ass back home!!"

"But sis, father-"

"I've already lectured father, and now that he understands, he also thinks that you should come back"

"But sis-"

"Listen to me, young man! If you're not here in the next 10 hours, I'll come to Japan to kick your ass myself!! Am I clear!?" the girl shouted in anger

"But-"

"AM! I! CLEAR!?"

"Yes, sister..." Anton said in a defeated tone

"Good. Now apologize to Shinji. And be polite"

"I'm sorry, Shinji Ayankoji-San. It seems that I've disturbed you..." Anton said and bowed

"Don't worry about it" Shinji said as he got closer to Anton. Once he was close enough, he bent and whispered to Anton's ear:

"Next time you step in Japan, acting like you own the place, I'll make sure that nothing is left of your body..." Shinji whispered in a cold tone, sending shivers down Anton's spine, and when he raised his head all he saw was Shinji with a bright smile

"Now, if you don't mind, why don't you let me talk to your sister? I'll calm her down, so she won't castrate you once you get back" Shinji said and took the phone out of Anton's hand. Once she saw his face, the angry expression that was on Lisa's face until now, immediately disappeared, replaced by a bright expression

"Shinji! It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Lisa. I haven't met you since I came back to Japan"

"You should be grateful that I'm still talking to you. You didn't call once since you left..." Lisa said with a pout

"Sorry about that. I'm sure you've heard about the Advanced Nurturing High School, right? Well, I've started to attend the school, and you're not allowed to make contact with the outside world"

"Is that so? Then, I guess I can forgive you... So? How is the school so far? Is it living up to its reputation?"

"It's quite enjoyable. I've met a lot of interesting people, and there are a lot of entertaining events"

"Really? Too bad I didn't come with you then... That way, I could've stopped what happened today from happening. Speaking of which, I'm sorry for what my brother did. While he's only 1 year younger than us, he's still inexperienced, and my father also spoiled him too much"

"Says the one which her father simply worships"

"That's because I'm way too perfect. Only you can understand me, as you are perfect as me"

"I guess that I'll take that as a compliment. And don't worry about your brother. I'm sure he'll learn from what happened today. Anyway, it was good to talk to you again, but I need to go. I have school tomorrow"

"Okay. I'll see you soon~~" Lisa said and hanged up

' "I'll see you soon?" I have a bad feeling about it...' Shinji thought and made his way back to his room...