[Class 3 Class Representative Arasaki Mai — POV]

“One more win! Just one more win!”

“If we win the next one, that’s a straight two-win sweep!”

I watched the girls of my class cheering in a circle inside the waiting room from a short distance along the outer edge.

“No matter how you look at it, winning the intelligence division was thanks to Class Rep Arasaki!”

“Yeah! It was basically like she won it all by herself!”

“N-No, that’s not really…”

In truth, that victory only happened because everyone got burned by that sudden scene of boys flirting with each other in the male spectator seats, a sight so precious that even those of us at a co-ed school couldn’t withstand it.

But perhaps because I’d been around Toramine since childhood and had built up some tolerance to boys, I was the only one who managed to recover quickly.

This win was nothing more than picking up a victory born from trouble.

“I’m sorry… We were harsh on you because we thought, since you’re Nemuro-kun’s fiancée, you’d just throw the match…”

“We’re really sorry.”

“But the way you faced that test earlier, with that intense look, Class Rep Arasaki—you were absolutely serious.”

“Even though you’re the fiancée of Class 3’s boy, you went all out for our sake…”

My classmates thanked me tearfully.

That pure gratitude hurt a little.

Just as they said, I had originally planned to put on a listless performance during the actual match to prevent the class swap.

The reason I fought with everything I had today wasn’t for anyone else.

It was for myself.

Until yesterday, I was nothing more than a daughter of the Arasaki family, a woman who was simply assigned a man because she was born into a prestigious household.

I thought my entire life was about going with the flow and choosing what others expected of me.

But now, that’s not the case.

Yesterday, I was reborn.

I realized what it was that I truly wanted.

The boy I’d met while making apology rounds to clean up after Toramine was different from the others.

He didn’t look at me like filth and he didn’t step on my bowed head while I was prostrating myself.

He was just kind.

And because of that, I realized something about myself…

That I wanted him to completely ruin me.

It felt like my previously colorless, monochrome life had suddenly burst into vivid full color.

‘So this is what it means to awaken.’

“We’re going for the win, everyone.”

““““Yeahhh!””””

Without letting it show that I was seriously aiming for victory for the sake of my own desires, I stirred up the class’s morale.

Ah, this action is impure.

But there’s something I absolutely want to make come true.

For that, I’ll even become a false leader.

‘For Tachibana Tomoki-sama.’

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

“Huh. So Class 3 is sending their class representative into the physical division too.”

As I waited in line for the players’ entrance to the physical division venue, a girl from Class 2 spoke to me from beside.

It hadn’t even been a month since enrollment, but I knew her well—she stood out thanks to her tall height.

She was Kuruwa-san, the leader of the physical division.

“Only the class representative of a lower-ranked class is allowed to enter multiple divisions, so I merely exercised that right.”

“Even so, your entry was last-minute. We’d heard beforehand that there was friction between you and your classmates and that you weren’t being counted as a piece. Looks like we got fed a bluff. Our strategist was lamenting it.”

“I see…”

No.

In reality, my relationship with my classmates hadn’t been repaired until just minutes ago.

But saying that outright wouldn’t help here.

It’s better if they overestimate me.

“We in Class 2 will definitely win and protect Tachibana-kun. For Erina-chan, our strategist, who cried that the plan failed.”

“Oh, so Class 2 is also sending Class Rep Tatara-hama into the physical division.”

“Yes. This is the decisive moment.”

Class 2 had played their wild card as well.

They were right—this was an important turning point.

It had become an all-out battle and as opponents they were more than worthy—

“Hehehe…”

“Hihihi…”

…Hm?

Aside from Kuruwa-san and Tatara-hama-san, the other Class 2 competitors all had slack, vacant expressions despite the match being about to start.

They looked like they’d taken something dangerous.

Did they mess up their pre-match doping?

Well, either way, in this state it looked like Class 3 had more than enough chance to win the physical division too.

“…The rest is on the field.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“We’ll definitely win!”

Saying that, we stepped onto the pitch bathed in light.