It turns out, Kōenji's goal was to participate in an event at E3. He reached the location of the subject in the blink of an eye, stopped, and entered the event.
After a few minutes, Mikitani and his team were able to catch up with Kōenji. But the event was already full, so they had to wait for Kōenji to finish. The event was an English test. There were first-year students to third-year students taking it, but the difficulty was the same for all.
Dodo Michimichi, one of the most gifted third-year students, took first place, but Kōenji came in a close second and was awarded four points.
With the teachers' eyes on him, Mikitani and his team planned to approach him as soon as he left the event area, but Kōenji while stil in sight of the instructor, ran off. Since Kōenji's speed was hard to match, they panicked and ran right behind him.
They didn't meet Kōenji until just before 3:00 P.M., where they circled him for the third time.
"You lot seem to be working quite hard." Kōenji said.
"We can't afford to lose here."
On the eleventh day, they had tried to anticipate his tasks in advance but had failed to stop him even once.
It's no exaggeration to say that the pride of these third-year students had been shattered. When Nagumo finds out about what happened, he's going to be extremely disappointed.
Calm is no longer a word that has any meaning in this situation.
"This is your last warning, Kōenji." Kiriyama said.
"Just tomorrow will be fine. Tomorrow you will obey us and do nothing. That's all we ask."
As long as he's inactive for even one day, Nagumo will definitely take first place. The important thing is not to let Kōenji take back first place again.
"Hey, hey, didn't Nagumo say we need to supress him for two days?"
"The day after tomorrow, we won't be able to see the top ten groups. I don't think there's any group that's going to come after us strongly, but we should concentrate on improving our own score instead of retaining the others."
This is the judgment of Kiriyama, who has observed Kōenji from close up.
"It's not a good idea to dedicate a total of three days to Kōenji."
Kiriyama adds.
"Why don't you just use the minimum number of guards to monitor Kōenji's movements for the next two days?"
"Do you think Kōenji will accept that?"
If we stop him for just one day, there's a chance that Kōenji will still come in second or third. But if we stop for two days, there's a chance we won't be able to get on the podium.
"It depends on how you go about doing it."
Mikitani, who had been holding a grudge against Kiriyama, finally turned on him.
"... can you do it?"
"I can. And then I'll get a ticket to Class A," Mikitani said as he pushed away Kiriyama and walked towards Kōenji.
"You heard us, right? Please stay here tomorrow and the day after."
"Are you asking me for a favour?"
"No, I'm giving you an order."
"What an arrogant request. What will happen if I refuse?"
"In the worst-case scenario, you'll drop out of school." Mikitani said as he beckoned his partners to come closer.
Their intention was clear: if they couldn't talk it out, they would have to resort to violence.
Even though he was threatened, Kōenji continued to wear a fearless smile and waited to see what the third-years would do next.
"If you aren't answering, does that mean you're going to listen to me?"
"I don't listen to anyone."
"Then I'm going to make you listen. You understand? Kiriyama?"
Mikitani said as he turned around to face Kiriyama.
"As long as you can get Kōenji to obey, I'll leave it up to you."
Mikitani maintained a tough stance, but as soon as the last designated area of the eleventh day was released, Kōenji stood up.
Before Kōenji could escape once again, Mikitani gave instructions to surround him.
"I told you to stay here."
At this point, the third-years were so close that they were practically touching each other. The only way for Kōenji to move would be to forcefully shove the third-years.
"I don't know if you know, but I don't like male sexuality."
"What are you going to do Kōenji? If you push any of us, we'll consider you to have started this fight."
"Fufu~ Is that so?" Kōenji said as he took a big step forward.
Of course, it was a step big enough to touch Mikitani, who was in front of him. Because it was just an ordinary walk, at most, it was just a shoulder bump. In other words, he was going to try to break through forcibly with his body instead of using his hands.
Mikitani had considerable confidence in his physique. Now was the time to prove that being fast and being strong was not equal.
But it was as if a boulder was pushing him over, and before he knew it, he was forced to move to the side.
Kōenji acted like nothing had happened and kept on walking silently.
"Hey, wait!" Mikitani said as he rushed and grabbed Kōenji's shoulders.
But, as Mikitani should have realized by now, it's impossible to stop Kōenji with half-assed force.
If Kōenji is al owed to escape now, it would be a repeat of the stupidity they had experienced twice today.
Mikitani wanted desperately to avoid this, but he simply could not stop Kōenji from walking.
Mikitani yelled to the group for assistance.
One of them got in front of Kōenji, and of course, they were pushed backwards.
Morooka, who had been pushed over, exaggeratedly fell to the ground and pretended to look like he was seriously injured.
"Shit! I think I broke my arm!" Morooka yelled like he was a soccer player.
"You have done something terrible Kōenji."
"How disgraceful." Kōenji said as he turned around.
"No matter what you say, the fact that you knocked down Morooka doesn't change."
The soft strategy the third years had decided to implement had disappeared. The third-years were slowly getting more and more desperate every minute.
"Now it has become an unfolding of events that I can't ignore either, so where do we go from here?" Kōenji asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
"It seems that you're willing to hit us, your senpai's. But if you did, you'd be in big trouble, right?"
Mikitani and the others emphasise that they didn't do anything, implying Kōenji is the wrong one in this situation.
But Kōenji's attitude didn't change one bit.
"I don't intend to spare those who stand in my way, let alone those of you who deliberately showed your fangs to me."
Mikitani's expression froze for a moment after hearing the statement that Kōenji was willing to resort to violence.
"What happens if we report it to the school?"
"Why do you ask such silly questions? The school will only punish you, the third-year students, who tried to sink a lone kouhai, right?"
There was no need to check if Mikitani's watch was working properly; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to adopt the strategy of filling up the events before Kōenji.
"Are we finished here? It's evident that you and your group have put a damper on my chances of earning placement points."
More than ten minutes had already passed since the announcement of the designated area. It's clear that Kōenji's rivals have gotten a head start. It's not entirely impossible for him to regain pace, but what will happen now is unclear.
"I'm sorry, but we won't let you go."
In other words, Mikitani would not hesitate to retaliate if Kōenji used violent means.
"We can only be gentle with you for so long."
"Is that a declaration of war?"
The third-year students had been confused by Kōenji's attitude up to that point, but they remembered their role. They knew it was an embarrassing situation for so many older students to surround a single kouhai. Still, if this was the only way to survive, they didn't have any other choice.
Normally the opponent would realize this desperate atmosphere, but Kōenji was different. This man, who has no interest in anything other than himself, will only consider how to settle things here that will fit his aesthetic.
Kōenji stroked his stunning blonde hair, which he had not forgotten to groom even on the uninhabited island, with a smile on his face.
Mikitani, who felt fear for a moment, pulled away from him.
"Well... if you insist. Time is money, come quickly." Kōenji said as he slowly spread his arms and gestured to come at him.
"Do you think it's possible to beat him?" Whispered one of the third-years to Mikitani.
"Even if we can't beat him, I'm going to go down with Kōenji in my arms. Fuck him."
At the same time, three third-year students rushed at Kōenji at once.
One tried to grab Kōenji's arm from behind, while the other two would get him from both sides.
At first glance, this was a difficult situation to deal with. Still, even if all three were particularly good fighters, it could not be said that they had good coordination.
It was just a matter of rushing towards Kōenji at the same time. No one had any intention of actually doing anything, and they were each thinking of leaving it to someone else.
Kōenji dodged them all with one spectacular stride, causing the surprised third-year students to collide head-on.
"Shit! What are you doing? Watch out!"
"You too!"
The third years continued to shift the blame on each other. This wasn't a pretty sight to behold.
"You idiots, stop arguing! The target is Kōenji!" Mikitani yelled.
With that, they got up and rushed at Kōenji once more.