浮力限制永久地址

Chapter 232: 2.2

"Hey. Wanna go to the bathroom with me?"

Sudō called out to me while I was sitting at my desk touching my phone, waiting for my next class. An unusual invitation. He said he was going to the restroom, but his face was serious. The fact that he wanted to use the restroom was just an excuse, and he had a purpose beyond that.

It\'s the same as Yōsuke and Kei, he wants my opinion on something.

"Ah. I guess so."

There was no reason to refuse, so I left my seat and discreetly left the classroom in the flow of the two of us going to the bathroom. Thanks to my convenient seating place, it wasn\'t much of an issue. However, one student soon followed us.

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

She seemed to have some business with Sudō and was trying to time his appearance in the hallway.

"What is it, Onodera?"

Onodera stopped talking when she saw me standing next to Sudō.

"Ah, you\'re with Ayanokōji-kun. Well I needed to tell you about something so..."

It seems like my presence was an unwelcome one. However, since it was Sudō who asked me out during the break, I had no choice but to stay.

"We\'re both going to the bathroom. Can\'t this wait?"

"Well, I don\'t know." She looks a little lost, as if she doesn\'t want me to hear what he has to say.

"Can I wait here? I want to talk to you as soon as possible, if that\'s okay with you..."

Onodera decided that if we were going to the bathroom, she would just wait for us, but this time Sudō looks embarrassed. If he had something to discuss with me, it wouldn\'t take more than a minute or two.

"Well, I\'ll ask you now. Ayanokōji can keep waiting."

Just when I was ready to talk later, I was confused by Sudō\'s unexpected response.

Onodera looked somewhat resistant, but she scratched the back of her head lightly and cut to the chase.

"The individual rewards for this sports festival are evaluated by gender, right? I\'m thinking that Sudō-kun will naturally go for the first place among men, is that correct?"

"Of course. This sports festival is the biggest chance for me to shine." He answers confidently, which makes sense.

Onodera nodded in satisfaction at his powerful reply.

"Actually, I have a lot riding on this sports festival. Being first among the girls is a step towards Class A. It\'s not often that I get a chance to compete in something I\'m good at."

She is an accomplished swimmer, but she also showed her sprinter side at last year\'s sports festival. Her OAA physical ability is also near perfect, and she is a student with an extraordinary talent for sports in general.

Onodera is expected to be good enough to adapt and win in a variety of competitions.

"I think you might be able to get first place. I\'m seriously rooting for you."

"Thanks. But even if you can win some individual competitions, there\'s no guarantee that you\'ll get first place in everything, right?"

"Why not, if I keep winning first place..."

Sudō\'s idea of thinking that only taking first place would be enough wasn\'t wrong, but in reality, they might end up losing in unexpected ways.

"It\'s because of the high score of the team competition, right?"

I supplemented, and Onodera gave me another hard look, but nodded in agreement. Onodera seemed to be harboring a kind of distrust towards me.

The other day at the unanimous special exam, I cut off my own group of friends. No wonder some of the students reacted this way.

"Well, that\'s for sure. If there\'s a guy who takes first place in every team competition, he might be bad. But even so, it\'s not so easy to form a team, is it? If the teams are unbalanced, we could end up slipping and losing. I don\'t like the idea of having five or six people in a team fight.

If everyone was on the same level as him, Sudō would be satisfied. However, in reality, there are students who are dragging their feet. As a result, it is quite possible that they will lose the competition because of it.

That\'s what the struggle in a group competition is all about.

"Yeah. I\'m not thinking about a large number of people either. But... What if we can participate in a competition with two people who are sure to win? Moreover, there are some competitions that can be participated in only by pairs of men and women, right?"

At this point, Sudō also starts to guess the purpose of why Onodera was talking to him about.

"Sudō-kun and I will have no trouble cooperating with each other. If we\'re going to team up, I\'d like to choose the best partner possible, don\'t you think?"

It\'s a class take-away, and it won\'t be a detriment to trying to get first place in the gender division.

"So you\'re saying I\'m the best partner for you... I guess I am."

"That\'s what I mean. Unless, of course, you have an objection to it, Sudō-kun. The class is in a bit of a bad mood right now, isn\'t it? Sakura-san has been expelled, Hasebe-san and Wang-san are also absent." She turned her gaze to me for a moment, but then quickly turned it back to Sudō. "That\'s why we have to lead the class."

Sudō didn\'t feel bad about the invitation based on the recognition of his abilities, but he wasn\'t very crisp.

"Am I not strong enough?"

"No, that\'s not it. I\'m not gonna deny that you have game."

Even though he had absolute faith in her physical abilities, there seemed to be something else that bothered him.

"You don\'t want to be paired with anyone other than Horikita-san?"

"W-what? No no, that\'s not true..." He looked uncomfortable at Onodera\'s point.

Pairing up with a partner you like. It\'s true that this may be very important to Sudō in addition to his ability. As long as he can\'t participate in swimming competitions, there won\'t be much difference between Horikita and Onodera.

"You know, there\'s Kōenji. I hate to admit it, but he\'s better than me."

"That may be true about your ability. But I don\'t trust Kōenji-kun. I hate him more than anything."

Onodera clearly rejects Kōenji. Her appeal to Sudō is genuine, but how will Sudō respond?

"What are you going to do... if I say no?"

"If there\'s anyone else in the class who has the ability and seems trustworthy, it\'s... well, only Hirata-kun, but I\'m not going to ask him to be a pair, you know? I don\'t want to be misunderstood in any way.

Being paired with Yōsuke, who was immensely popular with the girls, would be more than just one or two teases.

"So, if Sudō-kun says no, then it\'s like you\'re going to go as far as you can on your own?" She doesn\'t threaten him in the slightest, but simply states the facts.

The first place of the school year is in jeopardy, but I can imagine her earning a solid amount of points.

The decision between Onodera and Horikita upset Sudō, but when he saw Onodera\'s determination, he immediately regained his composure. It was because he realized that he had been trying to refuse Onodera\'s invitation for some silly reason.

"I\'m down for it. Let\'s pair up, and win this thing, yeah?"

"Really?"

"For sure. Let\'s use our power to carry this class."

With that, Sudō immediately extended his arm and asked Onodera to shake his hand. After staring at it, Onodera also responded to the handshake strongly.

"I like your style, Sudō-kun. Let\'s definitely take first place in the male and female categories together."

Satisfied with the conclusion of the contract, Onodera heads back to the classroom.

"It turned out kind of unexpectedly, but it\'s okay, right?"

"I think so. I\'m sure you wanted to team up with Horikita, but it\'s better to work with Onodera and show 100% of your strength than to have a bad distraction."

"That\'s..."

There were only about five minutes left, but I headed to the bathroom as originally planned.

"Hey, by the way. I wanted to talk about Kanji, Shinohara, and the related stuff..."

"Is it related to the revelations of Kushida?"

"Honestly, I don\'t think it\'s a good idea, their relationship is so awkward now."

"Wouldn\'t it be more interesting if the two of them broke up?"

"I hope that\'s a joke. I\'m really hoping that the two of them can work it out."

I asked him as a test, but he seemed to be genuinely worried.

"But unfortunately, I don\'t have much of a relationship with them. There\'s nothing I can do for you."

"Can you at least give me some advice?"

"We can\'t solve the problem without talking about it. Whether what Kushida said is true or false is a separate issue at this point, and you may need to expose each other\'s feelings."

"Isn\'t that a bad idea? It could make things even worse than they already are."

"That\'s right. That\'s why we need someone who can control the situation. You have to be able to listen to both sides of the conversation and calm the flow of the conversation that\'s about to get disrupted."

"Oh, I can\'t do that, can I?"

"Then you\'ll have to ask someone who can do that."

I won\'t give an answer here, but let Sudō think about it.

"If that\'s true, this kind of role would be done by Kushida, right..?"

"Correct, but that\'s not available now. If we can\'t rely on Kushida, then we\'ll have to use another student."

The answer is so simple that it doesn\'t even take him a second to guess it"

"So, Hirata?" Sudō has an immediate idea.

Although Sudō doesn\'t get along with Yōsuke, this isn\'t the situation to be talking about that.

"Alright then, I\'ll go ask for his help."

Sudō and Yōsuke have a distant relationship, but that may change after this incident.

"Thanks, Ayanokōji."

"I didn\'t do anything. You just thought about it and came up with the answer on your own."

That\'s how it seems to be these days.