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Volume 8, Chapter 5: Ubiquitous Things Part 2

Leaving Kouenji behind in the forest, I made my way back to the course. I\'ve only been gone for less than 10 minutes but we\'re probably in last place right now. I didn\'t see any students from my group either in front of me or behind and so I decided to skip ahead and chase them down. After a while, I spotted Keisei and the others walking. Tokitou noticed me first with the rest turning to look at me after that.

"For the record, I did find him but.......".

"As I thought, it didn\'t work, did it?".

Hashimoto, who predicted this would happen, smiled bitterly. The other students too, didn\'t blame me but rather complained about the absent Kouenji. While insulting Kouenji the whole way, we somehow managed to reach the turnaround point where Chabashira is waiting for us with her arms crossed. I hadn\'t seen her in a few days but it looks like she\'s been helping out with various lessons here on the regular.

"The 2nd years and 3rd years have all turned back. Now\'s your turn".

"What time is it, sensei?".

"Approximately 11 o\'clock".

This means there\'s still one hour left to go until our afternoon break.

If this had been a flat, even road then it wouldn\'t have been difficult. There\'d be plenty of time left to spare. But this is a winding nine kilometers long road with a sudden and steep incline. We\'ll be exhausting ourselves quite a bit.

If we don\'t run at the proper pace, this is going to take a chunk out of our lunch break.

"I\'m going ahead. I don\'t want to be late for my lunch".

"Wait. We already decided there\'s got to be a rollcall before you do that. Each person states their class and name".

A board was brought out. Students who have successfully made it to the turnaround point will probably be recorded on it. Once that\'s done, Ishizaki left the group behind and ran off.

Looks like this is going to be every man for himself rather than a group effort. Albert also followed him.

"Let\'s go, Kiyotaka".

"Please go ahead. I\'d like to wait and see if Kouenji\'s coming back or not".

"That\'s fine but.....we only have one hour, you know?".

"I\'m confident I\'m fast enough. It\'ll be fine".

"Short distance running and long distance running are two different things, you know.....well, I guess it\'s not my place to say though".

Laughing derisively at himself, Keisei started running awkwardly.

"Then I\'m going ahead".

"Sure".

The last one left, Hashimoto, stretched and ran off too. Chabashira and I are the only ones left here now.

"I don\'t suppose you have something you\'d like to discuss with me".

"I\'m just waiting for Kouenji. And besides, it\'ll be problematic if I don\'t go soon since I\'m already last in line".

"Problematic, you say?".

It\'s not a big deal. If a student as fit as Ishizaki went ahead and finishes it, the students who seem like they\'d withdraw halfway through won\'t even notice it. We\'re not being timed. We just have to finish it within the time allocated to us. It doesn\'t matter whether we finish this in an hour or in four hours, we will still be evaluated the same way.

Keisei isn\'t the fittest person around but he pushes himself so as to not be a liability. And then, roughly 20 minutes later, that man came back.

"This looks like the turnaround point".

He\'s got leaves and dirt stuck to his jersey. Evidence that he had been moving around quite a bit.

"You\'re the last one, Kouenji. You\'ve got 40 minutes left".

"That seems to be the case. I should\'ve taken my time but my encounter with the wild boar ended sooner than I had expected, you see".

"Wild boar?".

Chabashira questioned that sudden, absurd word but Kouenji quickly turned around and ran off.

"Kouenji. Rollcall. You\'ll be disqualified otherwise".

As Chabashira called out to him, Kouenji named himself without looking back.

"My name is Kouenji Rokusuke. Make sure to remember it, Teacher".

A majestic laughter echoes through the hills.

"Are you fine with that, sensei? He didn\'t state his class though".

"Since he\'s named himself, let\'s just overlook the rest".

"Then I\'ll also be heading back".

Since I left late, I wonder how much time\'s passed.

I saw the signboard warning us of wild boars again and around that point, I saw the backs of two male students. One of them is Keisei, who\'s within the range of expectation.

Rather than having exhausted himself past his limits, he\'s walking while holding onto the student beside him with his left leg seemingly in pain.

And the other is Hashimoto, who I expected to have already overtaken Keisei from the start. As I ran over to them, the situation became clear.

"Did you sprain it?".

"Ayanokouji, huh? Yeah, looks like it. The turnaround point was the limit for his legs".

Hashimoto explained in place of Keisei.

It must be a burden on him having to hold up another person, but he showed no sign of minding it. He walked slowly while supporting him without any displeasure.

"This is pathetic......why can\'t I even do something like this.......?".

He seems frustrated, but he\'s already thinking differently from the old Keisei. I thought he found it difficult to understand sports and other miscellaneous exams since he believed academics to be the focus for a student.

Looks like his reason for stretching and running last is the same as mine.

"I\'ll help too".

Two\'s better than one. I went around to the other side opposite of Hashimoto and supported Keisei.

"...please wait. If you do something like this, both of you will be late for lunch".

"If we left you alone, you\'d run recklessly, wouldn\'t you? You\'d injure your legs even further and that\'s a problem for the rest of us in this exam. If we can lessen the extent of your injury by missing one lunch break then that\'s a cheap price to pay, isn\'t that right, Ayanokouji?".

"That\'s right, that might be true".

"But......".

"It\'s a coincidence that the two of us ran behind, so don\'t hold back".

After I said that, Hashimoto corrected something.

"Make that three. That Kouenji\'s also descending insanely fast. That guy\'s a monster".

"I get the image he\'s got limitless physical strength. No doubt he\'s number one in our school year".

It\'s not like I\'m flattering him. I\'m just speaking honestly of Kouenji\'s potential.

"Maybe our Class A got spared from Kouenji because of his terrible attitude. Rather than making himself useful, this exam made it clear to me he\'s a hindrance for Class C".

Certainly, if Kouenji utilizes his potential to its fullest he\'d be a menace. I can\'t say whether it\'s a good thing to count him as a secret weapon or not if we can\'t make use of him though.

Ultimately, we brought the injured Keisei back to the outdoor school at around 12:40. After that, Keisei received treatment in the infirmary.

Hashimoto and I waited in the corridor. After about 10 minutes, Keisei came back.

"How did it go?".

As Hashimoto asked him that, Keisei smiled bitterly and replied.

"It\'s just a light sprain. It wasn\'t a big deal, thanks to the two of you helping me".

He seems to be compensating for his left leg a bit but it does seem like he can walk normally.

"There\'s not much time left until the exam. You need to be careful to not let it get any worse".

Hashimoto said that and tapped Keisei lightly on the shoulder.

"I know you helped me and all but.....".

After hearing that, Hashimoto immediately got the message.

"Don\'t worry about it. I\'ll keep it a secret. That\'s more convenient for you, right?".

Hashimoto seems to have understood even without having to hear what he had to say and so Keisei patted himself on the chest.