You Will Regret This Ichinose! [140]

“Haa… haa…”

Horikita Manabu braced his hands on his knees, lifting his gaze. Uesugi Gen’s breathing remained steady, and the sweat glistening on his skin—it wouldn’t have surprised Horikita if that was just from standing under the sun.

“…You weren’t even running seriously, were you?”

Uesugi Gen stretched out his arms smugly, basking in the cheers from the former Class B students. With a grin, he called out to them, “From today onward, I’m the strongest athlete in all of first-year! Whenever you guys bet on cricket fights, I’m claiming the T0 spot!”

Former Class B students: “Oh! From now on, Uesugi will always beat Shibata!”

Shibata Sō’s face darkened. “You guys, enough already!”

Horikita Manabu: “…”

“Running seriously is exhausting. As long as everyone finds it entertaining, isn’t that what matters?”

Uesugi Gen responded to Horikita Manabu while waving to the crowd.

“Well, regardless of how it happened, you’re the one who won this race.”

Horikita Manabu steadied his breathing, straightened his posture, and began walking toward his class’s camp. “Maybe I should be the one feeling regretful… that I couldn’t push you to go all out.”

[Attention all students, the sports festival has officially concluded. Please gather in your designated areas for the closing ceremony.]

The announcement echoed throughout the venue, and the cheers around them gradually quieted. Like birds returning to their nests, students began moving toward the designated areas.

“That’s quite the shame. After all, this was your last sports festival.”

“…Yeah.”

Horikita Manabu sighed in response.

After Senior Fujimaki finished droning on at the podium, the results of the sports festival were finally revealed. The entire student body turned their attention to the massive electronic scoreboard.

Fujimaki cleared his throat and began, “Now, we will announce the results of the sports festival—”

Simultaneously, the scoreboard started a countdown.

3…
2…
1…

[Red Team vs. White Team]
[12,511 : 9,312]
[Victory: Red Team]

The Red Team, which included Uesugi Gen, erupted into cheers. Students waved their arms wildly, shouting and hugging each other in celebration, releasing all their emotions without restraint.

Once the excitement settled, another announcement followed.

[Next, we will announce the overall class rankings.]

Unlike the team results, the former Class B students weren’t particularly anxious about this ranking. With the Red Team securing victory, and considering that Class B was only missing one participant, Class C had a player banned and suffered a 300-point deduction, and Class D had several injured students due to Class C’s interference—it was highly unlikely that Class A’s ranking would suffer.

[First place: Class 1-A]
[Second place: Class 1-B]
[Third place: Class 1-D]
[Fourth place: Class 1-C]

“Yay! We won!”

Ichinose Honami immediately threw her arms around Uesugi Gen’s neck, bouncing with excitement.

“Yes, we won. You all worked really hard this time.”

Uesugi Gen ruffled Ichinose’s hair as he spoke.

“We all worked really hard.”

Ichinose corrected him with a bright smile.

Unlike previous exams, where victory had relied entirely on Uesugi Gen dragging the entire class forward with his personal ability, this time was different. Every single classmate had pushed themselves to earn points, and the victory was built from their combined efforts—it was a triumph that truly belonged to the class.

According to the competition’s rules, the losing White Team’s classes, Class B and Class C, would each lose 100 class points as a penalty. Additionally, Class A, as the first-place winner, would gain 50 points, while Class D, in third place, would lose 50 points, and Class C, in last place, would lose 100 points.

As a result, the updated class point standings were as follows:

• Class A: 1,480 CP

• Class B: 942 CP

• Class C: 249 CP

• Class D: 43 CP

The gap between classes had widened even further. The path to class promotion had become even steeper.

As for the individual points and bonuses awarded based on ranking… for Class A, which already had close to fifty million private points, it barely made a difference. There was no need to dwell on it.

—

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in hues of orange and red. A cool breeze carried a faint chill as it swept across the school grounds.

After a full day of intense competition, everyone was thoroughly exhausted. As a result, Ichinose postponed their customary celebration party for a few days. Once the festival concluded, students returned to their dorms to rest.

“Yo, Horikita-san, all alone? Want me to carry you back?”

Uesugi Gen leaned against a wall, feigning an air of mystery.

Having already returned to his dorm, Uesugi had noticed on his GPS that Horikita Suzune was moving at a snail’s pace across the map. Knowing her personality all too well, he quickly made his way over and, sure enough, found the stubborn girl limping her way back.

Horikita Suzune shot him a glare. “Are you an idiot? Who else would be with me?”

“So you’re really planning to make your way back to the dorms like this? At this rate, you won’t get there before dark.”

Uesugi Gen chuckled.

“I just injured my leg, I’m not crippled. The doctor said I should be able to walk normally again in a week.”

Horikita Suzune spoke as she slowly inched forward.

Uesugi Gen’s lips twitched. Is she implying someone else took longer to recover?

Still, this time, he had no intention of forcing Horikita onto his back. She didn’t care about what others thought of her, but at the same time, she was incredibly self-conscious. If he carried her again, it wouldn’t just end with two red handprints on his back—he had a feeling she’d turn him into a training dummy for all the martial arts techniques she’d picked up from her brother.

So instead, Uesugi Gen slowed his pace and walked alongside her down the school path.

“…Hey.”

Horikita Suzune lowered her gaze, the soft glow of the evening sun casting a warm light on her delicate features. It gave her normally cool demeanor an almost ethereal beauty.

“…Thank you.”

“Huh? Say it louder, I didn’t catch that.”

Uesugi Gen cupped his hand over his ear, leaning in closer to Horikita Suzune.

“#%!”

Horikita’s fists clenched. This guy is infuriating!

“Haha, just kidding, just kidding. It’s just that Horikita-san looks really cute when she’s mad.”

There was something about seeing this normally composed and aloof girl flustered that made Uesugi Gen want to tease her even more.

“…By the way, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

His playful grin faded slightly as he looked into Horikita Suzune’s calm yet piercing eyes.

“If I were to face Horikita Manabu in another competition… who would you want to win?”

His gaze was deep yet gentle, as if he could see straight through her.

Horikita Suzune’s heart skipped a beat. The golden light of sunset illuminated her face, making her cheeks feel a little too warm. She instinctively turned her head away.

“…Do you even need to ask? Of course, I’d want my brother to win.”

“…I see.”

Uesugi Gen withdrew his gaze, his tone lighthearted as if he wasn’t the least bit hurt.

“…That’s kinda disappointing.”

—

T/N: Ouch…

This is a fan translation of 人在实教，一之濑你会后悔的 by 作者：白良. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!