Chapter 233: Timeout

During the 30 minutes of break time for the activity, we spent it thinking of a strategy to win the activity and occasional banter between me and Chii which lighten up the depressed mood of Kanzaki.

Well, everyone's grade depended on us and playing to win will always be better for others. Not for me though.

In any case, even if I won't be involved in the strategy, I helped them think about what to do. Especially, Kanzaki, our Captor.

There's actually some kind of loophole to the rules and when I told them about it, Chii's excitement went through the roof. It will involve her after all.

The loophole is… There's no mention of tagging out someone who captured the other class' Flag.

If we worked through it, then it's possible for Chii to stop the Class 2 from scoring more as long as it will not jeopardize her rescue attempt to me.

She needs to tag Yanagi out when she's about to score for their team even if the Flag isn't me and when she��s least expecting it,

However, once she showed it once and the other classes caught on that loophole, the already chaotic playfield will be even more chaotic when the Rescuers start interrupting anyone close to scoring.

Consequently, it will also become hectic for the Captors to not only dodge the Rescuer for the Class' Flag they captured but also the Rescuers of other classes.

In that same note, as long as the Captor uses the opportunity when all the Rescuers are attempting to stop another class to score, she can sneakily score behind them.

In any case, that loophole will not really benefit us but it will help them stop the growing gap of Class 2.

"Alright. Flags, go back to your position. This time, stand on the circle nearest to your Class' base."

Eguchi-sensei said after whistling louder that everyone's attention was caught.

When we positioned ourselves back to the playfield with what Eguchi-sensei intended, the 2nd round immediately started.

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"Go Class President!"

Someone from our class shouted from above.

It's already five minutes into the game and the playfield was put into a stalemate with no one being able to score again.

At one point Chii finally showed the loophole when Yanagi from Class 2 was about to score from Class 4 again. Tagging her out when the Flag was 3 steps away from their base.

When that happened, the Class 2 called her out, including those at the audience stands.

However, neither Eguchi-sensei nor Orimura-sensei said anything about it which meant that it was really intended to be like that.

And just like I predicted, the other classes started employing the same tactic. When someone's near their base, all Rescuers would target the Captor which led to no one scoring after five minutes into the 2nd round.

"Class Rep, run for it! They were busy stopping Class 2!"

Another one shouted from above.

Like they shouted, the other two Rescuers had just run out to help Chii stop Yanagi from taking me back to their base.

Halfway through that point, Chii acted clumsily and intentionally missed Yanagi. With how fast the event was happening, they took it as her really missing the target.

Because of that, the other Rescuer tagged Yanagi out in Chii's place.

And Chii who had just run back to the base switched her target to Itou who was a few steps ahead of Kanzaki to the base.

After weighing out the option, the SC Treasurer of Class 2 also ran out to stop Itou.

"Huh?! Stop Class 1! Why did you also run to Class 3?"

Someone that most possibly saw that lapse in judgement shouted to the SC Treasurer.

However, it's already too late.

"One point for Class 1."

With that one decision, Kanzaki managed to bring back the Class 3's Flag. The other two Rescuers had just gone back to their base so even when they ran out to stop the Class President, it's already too late.

That one point made by Kanzaki became the start of an even more chaotic playfield that even us who were just standing and waiting to be captured or saved were feeling the increasing fatigue that was being shown by the girl representatives.

The short girl from Class 4 was already sweating bullets due to constant running.

The forehead Ojou-sama from Class 3 threw out her paper fan and her fringes that were held in place by her hairband fell back and started covering her eyes.

The SC Treasurer from Class 2 was also panting not only due to the fatigue but also to the blame she got from her own class for letting Kanzaki take a point.

And Chii who was utilizing the strategy I've given her started to show signs of fatigue from all the misses she got.

It might be a relaxed game at first but due to that one thing I brought up, the girls started running ceaselessly. Even the Captors are in no better shape, especially Kanzaki and Itou who didn't have athletic backgrounds like Yanagi and the Volleyball Club girl.

That's why after Class 4 managed to take a point from Class 3, I raised my hand.

"Ma'am! May I ask for a time out?"

Since I tried shouting it a bit louder, everyone's focus fell on me.

"Why are you the one asking for that? Are you tired standing around?"

Instead of Eguchi-sensei, Orimura-sensei from the scoreboard answered me.

"No. It's not for me, sensei. The girls are exhausted. I thought you mentioned about not tiring us?"

Using her words this time, Orimura-sensei was taken aback but she didn't respond back and instead passed it to the referee, Eguchi-sensei.

"Let's see. What do you girls think? Do you need time to rest?"

Eguchi-sensei turned to the girls who all stopped in place after I raised my voice.

Even the audience watching upstairs fell silent. They're all heated up with how chaotic the activity is and for them it was exciting.

"He's right. That girl from Class 4 might collapse at this rate, look."

Someone commented.

"That girl from Class 3 as well, her elegance has been reduced due to her constant running. But she looks better this way, with her forehead covered."

Oi. Set your priorities straight.

"Chizuru's makeup will start to wear off from her sweat. It will be catastrophic if someone sees her face without any makeup."

One of Chii's gyaru friends also commented.

"Is she originally ugly?"

And a guy part of the delinquent group curiously asked.

"It's the opposite… she's more beautiful without it. You guys might drool."

Eh? From my memory, I remember her to be somewhat ordinary… Is my eyesight bad back then? Or is it because she carried herself plainly back then? Now that sparked my curiosity to see her without that thin make up she was wearing to appear as a gyaru.

Ah. Wait. Why am I listening to them? And why are the girls not answering?

"Thank you..."

Before someone answered, I heard a whisper behind me. When I turned to look who it was, I was met with the Class 4 Rescuer. Her gym clothes were already soaked with her sweat that it's starting to stick to her body.

Right. That's also a problem. If they sweat too much, their clothes would stick to their bodies. That would surely spark more fervent response from the boys watching above but it would embarrass these girls.

"Yes. Can we have a time-out? Watanabe-san is tired and might collapse if we continued."

Unexpectedly, it was Yanagi who answered first. Among all the girls here, she's the one that was the least tired along with the Volleyball Club girl. Her stamina was already high due to her constant training to shorten her 100-m sprint time.

Watanabe is the SC Treasurer's surname. I guess she also saw how the others were blaming her.

"What about you?"

Eguchi-sensei nodded before turning to the other girls and one by one they all agreed. The score was almost tied anyway. With only the Class 2 still ahead of one point

"Alright. As per the request of every representative, we'll resume this activity 15 minutes later. Rest well."

After gaining their agreement, Eguchi-sensei declared which instantly earned sighs of relief from the girls.

Not everyone was happy though, especially those audiences who were too excited at watching the activity.

In any case, there's still a lot of time for the PE Class anyway. 15 minutes will pass by instantly.

Before going back to our corner, the girls went to me one by one and expressed their thanks.

"Thank you for calling for time-out. I forgot to check on my teammate, she's not as athletic as me."

The Volleyball Club girl's voice was filled with guilt as she thanked me for the short girl.

"I can finally fix this hair. Thank you, whatever your name is."

The forehead girl also stepped forward as she held onto her fringes that were covering her forehead.

"… Don't think this will be enough for what you did."

Itou also left a word before following the forehead girl to their corner.

"Hey, thanks for pointing that out."

And of course, Class 2 also expressed their gratitude. Yanagi specifically held out her hand for me to shake. With a smile on her face, she thanked me on behalf of the SC Treasurer that was still a bit down.

When I finally got freed from them, the two at our corner were looking at me with silly smiles on their faces.

"Onoda-chi can be this shameless. He's the one who made the activity chaotic and in the end, he's also the one who stepped up to call for a timeout. Tell me, are you guilty of your sins?"

Chii smirked while Kanzaki was giggling at her side.

"I see. You saw right through me as always, eh?"

I smiled wryly and didn't refute her. I'm really guilty for causing that situation but instead of being blamed, I even got their gratitude.

"Of course. I'm always watching you."

Chii smiled meaningfully forgetting the fact that Kanzaki was with us.

Like I expected, Kanzaki was surprised at what she said.

"Harada-san, that's…"