6.2

The sports festival, in which I was not present, ended in an almost ideal way. The class was excited by the final result, which was unthinkable in the past year and a half.

The gap between Horikita's class and Class A had narrowed, and Horikita's class had been able to increase their class points through the desert island exam, the unanimous special exam, and the sports festival, which was undoubtedly a great asset.

A few days later, it was the middle of October.

The ranking of the sports festival was Horikita's class in first place, Ryūen's class in second place, Ichinose's class in third place, and Sakayanagi's class in fourth place. Of course, this was not due to any one person, but to the will and power of the entire class. In the individual competition, the pair of Sudō and Onodera took first place respectively.

Kōenji also achieved first place in all ten events, but because they were all individual competitions, he ended up in second place.

That seemed to be good enough for him, and he never had any problems.

Sudō and Onodera were then given the right to move to a different class, but he chose private points without hesitation. Although Sudō was unsteady, he was making his way up the ladder to Class A.

Kei, who seemed to have an appointment with a friend, decided to drop by the Keyaki Mall on her way home.

As she was about to head home alone, I was approached by Horikita.

"I'd like to talk to you for a minute, if that's okay."

"If you don't mind, we can talk on the way back."

"That's fine."

I guess it's not something that can be overheard by a lot of people since she approached me when I was leaving.

"I've learned a great deal from the last unanimous special exam."

"Let's hear it, shall we?"

The sports festival was over, but not all of the problems had been solved, and the class was starting to move forward, although it still left a precarious situation, one that Horikita was still struggling with and learning from.

"I wasn't wrong. I made the choice to keep Kushida-san, and I was able to recognize once again that the decision was the right one."

In the face of the demand for results, Kushida also contributed to the sports festival by increasing her points.

In her daily school life, she has once again returned to being a serious honor student, and although her social contribution in OAA was lowered at the beginning of October, it is probably only a matter of time before she regains it from here.

If you want to make an unrelenting comparison, she has contributed far more as a classmate than Airi. Of course, it's not all merit.

"I know, I know. I'm leaving a few uncertainties behind. Especially with Hasebe-san, I honestly don't know what to do yet. But if there's another special exam like that, I think I'll be able to get around it better next time."

"What's your rationale for that?"

"In that exam, I made an ill-advised promise to get unanimous approval. I said I would expel the traitor, and then I reneged on that. It was an easy shortcut to get unanimity, but I didn't understand the magnitude of the risk. I knew that Kushida-san was a traitor. And that I had made that decision while I hadn't even had the courage to let her leave the school. That was a mistake."

"If there was a possibility of leaving, then surely an ill-advised promise would only hurt you later on."

It was a painful decision to make as time was running out, but if we had been able to make it unanimous at that stage, leaving open the possibility that there would be a footnote from Airi or someone who didn't have similar abilities, it would be true that the aftereffects would not have been as bad as they are now.

What will we give up and what will we take?

"We gained class points. But I also lost many things. That special exam has taught me a lot. You've shown me both sides of success and failure."

"It's better not to fail, though."

Horikita closes her eyes, exhales in a huff, then opens them again.

"I'm only a sophomore in high school. I'm a kid. It's okay to make mistakes."

"You've reopened your mind."

"It's not like me to dwell on it. I'm going to - I'm going to be me. I may not be able to do as well as the other leaders. But I have Hirata-kun, Karuizawa-san, Sudōu-kun, Onodera-san, Kushida-san and Kōenji-kun. With the support of these people, I am moving forward. Class A is waiting for me after that, that's what I've decided to think."

"I see."

"Of course, you're one of them. I don't know what you're thinking, and you're uncooperative in many ways, but... you're indispensable to the class and to me."

I'm like training wheels on a bicycle.

At first, it's indispensable, but then it comes off, falls down, and shakes repeatedly, but eventually you learn to ride it without difficulty. There is no single person who can support your back as you pedal your bike.

Even so, your classmates will support you.

And after watching you grow for a little while longer…

I'm leaving your class.

I'm not going to say why yet, but I'm sure Horikita will find out why sooner or later.

And then…

That there will come a time when the class you thought invincible will meet a reality in which you cannot win. 

I will teach you that.

For myself, and no one else.

I'm fine as long as I'm winning.

If I decide to be the enemy and defeat Horikita, that's a done deal.

But I'm leaving because I want to be defeated.

There is a future that I hope is uncertain.

The answer is already there, but there is a contradiction within me that I deeply want the answer to be different.