"And with that, this year's Sports Festival has completed its final event! Let us come together one last time and decide our winners, shall we!?"
Shuhei announces. Shiori gets her elbow and knee cleaned and bandaged before joining the front of her class along with the other two leads. Mr. Goda then steps next to her, leaning down to speak softly to her.
"I'm so proud of you and the rest of the class. You did well today, regardless of the outcome."
He says gently, giving her a genuine smile as she smiles at the gesture.
"We all know the score prior to that wonderful finale moments ago! Class 4-1 with 137 points, class 3-2 with 133 points and class 2-1 with 144 points! But with the conclusion of the final event, that all changed! With careful consideration, we judges have come to a conclusion! Coming in third, we have class 3-2! Tom, please step forward and take your place on the winner's podium!"
Shuhei cheers. Tom does as told with a smile on his face and stands on the third position on the podium. A referee approaches Tom with a bronze medal and hangs it around his neck. The third years cheer for him.
"We love you Tom!"
"We don't care if it's third, we loved working with you!" The students cheer.
"In second place, we have…"
The main group all prepare themselves with hopes that they won like they planned.
"Class 2-1! Shiori, please take your place on the podium!"
They sigh, kind of expecting this outcome, as Shiori shakes her head with a smile.
"Ah, oh well. That was awesome either way! All thanks to you Shiori!" Haru says happily.
"You were amazing out there!" Suiyoubi smiles widely.
"Way to show real power, Commander!"
Sky salutes with a big smile. They cheer for Shiori with smiles on their faces as she receives a silver medal. She grabs it and looks at it for a moment before looking around at the crowd around her. The smiling faces of her friends and the supportive cheers of her family. She smiles warmly and blushes at all the cheers for her.
"And finally, without further ado, we have our first place winner, and three time champion, class 4-1! Emiko, come on up!"
Shuhei shouts. Emiko steps onto the first place position on the podium and receives her gold medal as everyone cheers. Emiko takes a moment and looks down at Shiori while they cheer.
"Hey, Shiori?"
She calls softly. Shiori looks up, a bit surprised. Emiko smiles at her.
"Thanks."
Shiori smiles back and nods. Emiko gets a bigger, more playful smile on her face and gives her an intense look.
"But next time, when it's just me and you, I'm definitely gonna beat you again!" Emiko says excitedly.
"Oh yeah? You're on!"
Shiori says back, just as excited. They smile intensely at each other.
"Let's hear it one last time for our champions!"
Shuhei cheers. Everyone cheers one last time as Amy, Hina and Ichika sit under a canopy towards the edge of the class crowd to get less attention.
"Did you bring me what I asked for?" Amy asks as she glares at Shiori.
"I mean, yeah we did but are you sure you want to do this?" Ichika asks with an uncertain look.
"It is kinda in front of the whole school…" Hina says nervously.
"Don't worry, trust me. I'll make it look nice and convincing. Just a little victory splash, no harm, right?"
Amy says with an evil smile as they pull out a large water cooler filled with sports drink. Hina and Ichika both look concerned for the events that are to come.
"Yeah, well, good luck with that. I think we did enough so we're just gonna…" Ichika says as she slowly turns away.
"Yeah, go get some Sports Festival snacks! Hehe…"
Hina agrees nervously. Amy looks at them a little shocked by their words but gets an angry look instead.
"Fine, whatever, you cowards. Leaving me now after all we said. Go on, but don't come back."
Amy says aggressively to them as they look hurt by her words but continue to walk away. Amy shifts her attention back to Shiori as she holds the water cooler.
"It's all coming together. Now's my moment! To finally get revenge!"
She gets up and picks up the water cooler. She then approaches Shiori from her side. Some students begin to notice her and whisper amongst themselves. Amy stares intently at Shiori, paying attention to nothing else, as everyone cheers and she smiles. Amy passes Mr. Goda and he looks down at her with a confused look.
Amy then lifts up the cooler as Shiori looks in the opposite direction, waving her hand, and dumps it out onto Shiori, drenching her in sticky sports drink. Mr. Goda and Hikigaya step forward as Takanou and Asami shout and push to rush to Shiori. Tsuki rushes over the tape from the crowd section as Principal Ai's eyes open wide.
"There she is! Our number one second place! Let's hear it for the flop everybody, one last time!" Amy shouts. 'That should be more than enough!'
Amy thinks as she smirks. Shiori is stunned for a moment before looking at Amy with fury in her eyes. She clenches her fist tightly, having finally been pushed over the edge by her actions. Shiori raises her right fist a bit, preparing to full send it.
'That's right. Do it. Hit me!'
Amy thinks as she gets ready to play up the attack. Before anything else can happen though, before she can fake an attack or anyone can rush to Shiori's aid, suddenly Amy is shoved to the ground hard. Her back hits the ground first, stunning her for a moment as she looks up. Kitaro had rushed faster than anyone else and shoved her to the ground with an angry look on his face.
"The fuck is your problem?"
He asks aggressively. Amy is too stunned to speak and just looks around. She sees everyone staring at them with looks of shock and disgust at her actions.
"You're… you're not…" Amy stutters.
"Pick her up and take her to my office, now!" Principal Ai commands.
"With pleasure."
Goda says as he grabs Amy by the arm and pulls her up hard before pulling her away.
"You, Kitaro, you come with me too. Get Shiori some towels and wrap things up."
Principal Ai says, keeping things in order. She points at Kitaro and motions for him to follow Mr. Goda so he does, a little upset that he has to go with. Shiori watches as they walk away, a complex combination of emotions running through her. The referees and staff wrap around some towels on Shiori, snapping her out of it, as everyone stares awkwardly.
"Uhh… So yeah, that'll be all for this year's Sports Festival. I hope everyone enjoyed and uh… Yeah, that's it."
Shuhei announces. He puts the mic down as staff start to escort families out of the school and students to get changed.
Shiori stands under a shower faucet washing her hair in the locker room from the sports drink. Hikigaya sits around the corner on a bench waiting for her.
"Why didn't you help her?"
Hikigaya thinks to himself as he bounces his leg ever so slightly. Hikigaya squints his eyes and clenches his fists at his voice in his head.
"You were right there, why didn't you help her?!"
He shouts at himself in his head before he stands up sharply, sweating anxiously. He looks around, trying to level his thoughts as a deep, dull feeling rises in his chest. Shiori then comes around the corner, rubbing her hair dry with a towel. She stops when she sees Hikigaya.
"Hikigaya? What are you doing here?"
Hikigaya turns and looks at her, surprised. He looks around a bit more, trying to keep his emotions in check as he speaks to her.
"Oh, uh, Ms. Samuel told me to keep you company, probation and all. Also, with what happened, she didn't want you to feel hurt." He says softly.
"Oh, well don't worry about it. I'm fine. It's not the first time she's tried to hurt me. I just wish I knew what her problem was." Shiori says casually, looking down.
"This has happened before?" Hikigaya asks, concerned.
"Not this big but she's had her mean things to say." Shiori shakes her head gently.
"Hm… Well, try not to listen. Besides, I'm sure Principal Ai is tearing her a new one right now."
Hikigaya says supportively. Shiori chuckles a bit.
"Yeah, probably."
"What were you thinking? Or were you not thinking at all?"
Principal Ai asks rhetorically. Amy clicks her tongue at her and looks away.
"Please, enlighten me. Educate me on what made you think that was okay to do." Principal Ai continues.
"Look, I get it. You don't approve of what I did. Can't you just give me detention or something and get it over with?" Amy scoffs.
"I don't think you understand. You still think you're gonna get away with this. Well, not here. You're a third year, an upperclassman. You should know by now that we take acts of violence like this very seriously."
"What violence? It's not like I beat her up or something. Besides, she's the violent one. You should have a serious talk with her." Amy says, rolling her eyes at every word.
"I already have, a long time ago. And as far as I'm concerned, she's done a great job of keeping herself in check. You on the other hand have only gotten more of an attitude and more harmful tendencies. Don't think I didn't notice."
Amy rolls her eyes and looks away again. Principal Ai stares at her for a moment before speaking.
"How about this? I'll cut you a deal. Instead of expelling you, as I honestly should, I'll simply suspend you. On the condition that you tell me who else was involved and you take a better hand in your future."
Principal Ai says a bit softer than a moment ago. Amy looks at her in disbelief and annoyance.
"What does that even mean? 'A better hand in your future.' Just sounds like a bunch of bullshit." Amy mocks her.
"Watch your tone with me. We do our best here to give our students the proper tools to build a future with, and I will not have you sit here wasting the time and resources other students could be using. Believe it or not, your life does go on past highschool. You have to start figuring it out or you'll be left behind."
Principal Ai stares at Amy intently as she looks away. After a moment of silence, Amy rolls her eyes again and sighs.
"Fine, whatever. I'll take a more active role in our school and in my future or whatever you want me to say."
Amy says sarcastically. Principal Ai smiles a bit.
"Great. Now, as for the other students who were involved?"
She asks. Amy thinks for a moment back to the looks on Hina and Ichika's faces. The look of concern and judgement. Amy squints her eyes a bit, a hint of pain behind them.
"No one helped me. I did this all on my own.."
She says quietly. Principal Ai examines her for a moment before moving on.
"Fine, I'll trust you. Unlike what you've been doing thus far. Your suspension starts today. Go get changed and get your belongings. I will call your parents when your suspension is up."
Amy looks shocked for a moment as she leans forward in her chair.
"Wait, no. You can't tell my parents! It's almost the end of the year! That'll ruin all of my plans!"
"Oh, I sure hope it does then."
She gives Amy a smile before motioning for her to leave. Amy sighs in frustration and stomps off. Principal Ai then calls Kitaro into her office from where he was waiting outside.