Humanity's Last Hope

Chapter 12: The School Festival

--- After the latest attack against the academy by the hands of the corrupted and also the betray of the one that the students knew well enough as their chemistry teacher, mister Kirizaki, nothing out of common happened the following days.

 Just like Dusk promised Alex and Fabio, during some of the training lessons, Dusk and Hikari convinced the principal to let the two of them take part in a mock battle to show off their strength to the new students, at their insistence.

 The fight was like nothing they saw before, and the two fighters made the corrupted look like some puppies in comparison. In the end, after a fierce battle that left even the principal with a completely astonished expression on his face, the winner was decided...

"And thus, the winner of this mock fight is... Dusk Aome!" shouted one of the normal class students that was put in the position of a referee.

 But after that day, the mock fights did not end... Day after day, during the training lessons, Hikari and Dusk fought with each other, trying their best to surpass one another...

 And now, after two whole weeks and fifteen fights between the ones that are now known as the strongest students of the academy, the score is an outstanding 8 to 7 in the favor of Dusk Aome...

 However, at the start of the next week, instead of the normal physical training lessons, the classes were told to stay inside their respective classrooms, since their homeroom teachers had to make an announcement... Some of the students instantly grasped the idea of what they would be told...

"Is it by any chance... A new special exam?" muttered Dusk after miss Aiko entered the classroom.

"As sharp as ever, mister Dusk. Yes, the announcement that we had for you kids is referring to the next and last special exam of your first year... It will be... The school festival exam!"

 After hearing this little detail, all of the students inside the classroom put on a dumbfounded look on their faces... After all, what kind of exam could take place amidst the School Festival?

"Stop staring like that... I will now explain to you the details of this special exam. During the school festival, a contest will be held that will measure the current capabilities of each first-year class. You can expect races, fights, shooting, and other sports to be the exam... And after that, each class in part will be classified according to the results. But there is more..." and after explaining everything cheerfully until this point, miss Aiko put on a stern look and continued explaining:

"Apparently, our army lacks power... And it is on a stage like it never was before. To put it bluntly, this special exam will not only classify a class, but also each individual from both the first... But also the second years... Since you will take this exam together with them. The ones with the most outstanding capabilities will skip the rest of the academy, and join the forces in a squad after a short period..." she explained.

 Everyone was astonished after hearing these words... After all, it was their best chance to shine and show their talents to many of the higher-ups in the army. And also, just the thought of skipping an entire school year might make some of the student's hearts skip a beat...

"I know it's really sudden, but this exam is going to take place at the end of the next week... Moreover, you have all this time in between today and the exam to train as a class in any possible aspect, so the regular lessons are suspended. Also, the sports and events that will happen during the school festival will be discussed this week and announced on Monday, the next week... Any question?" she said.

"I have one..." said Dusk that slowly raised his hand with a bored expression on his face.

"Please say!"

 And without any hesitation, Dusk asked the weirdest thing he could've at that moment, without even taking into consideration anything about the next special exam...

"Can I go home now?" he asked.

 Everyone fell silent... Some were quietly laughing in the back of the classroom, while miss Aiko looked at Dusk with a dumbfounded expression, and then said:

"Umm... Sure, I guess... I explained everything that you should know..." and after hearing these words, Dusk took his backpack and without anything more to say, he quietly left the classroom, leaving everyone with the eyes in the sun.

"This guy..." muttered Mizuki with a somewhat angry expression.

 After explaining some more things to the rest of the class, Aiko also left, leaving the students inside the class. As the class representative, Mizuki raised from her seat and said to the entire class:

"Now! Does anybody want to train as a group for a specific sport or activity? We can do any physical training and think of how we can get the best results as a whole!"

 Not everyone was too happy with this idea... It might've been since most of the students would have liked to go back to their cosy room and sleep just like Dusk was probably doing at that moment, so just like that, out of the nineteen students present, only six remained with Mizuki.

 After all, they wouldn't want to train for some random sport and then hear that it was not included in the program... So for them, it was for the better to relax or do individual training until further instructions regarding the subjects of the exam.

 --- Meanwhile, in Hikari's Class D, things did not go as smoothly as one would have thought, because that class's homeroom teacher was none other than... The Principal...

"This is the explanation! Any questions, kids!?" asked the principal

"Yeah, I have one..." said Hikari after raising from his sleeping position from the desk,

"Hikari... Say!"

"Can I go home now?" he asked, his question having the same impact as Dusk's on his classmates. However, it did not click too well with the principal...

"You lazy kid... No, you can't go home, but instead... I want this class to be first during the next exam! So Hikari! You take your responsibility as the class representative and grow those weaklings into real men!" he shouted.

"Crap...I might have overdone it already without doing anything specific..." thought Hikari upon hearing the principal's remark.

 And then, without asking anyone else anything, he took his leave as fast as he entered... One could bet that he was enjoying free time, away from the class...

 After this, all the students from that class started going to Hikari's desk for advice and requesting a training program for the whole collective... It won't be easy for Hikari these days...

 This is how all the classes started their preparations for the new special exam knew as the School Festival. Dusk was sleeping all day until the last moment, Hikari was acting like he was doing his best to teach and train his fellow classmates, and Class B had some thought time training with only 7 people... However, among those seven, there was one that stood out and managed to help Mizuki fulfil her duties as a class representative. He was none other than Alex...

 And then, after some long days of training... Or laziness... The next week started... Once again, all the classes were inside their classrooms, with their homeroom teachers present. On the electronic whiteboard, a list of 5 events appeared...

  The School Festival's Events: 

1. 100 metres Relay Race. ( 2 Participants from a Class )

2. 500 metres Target Shooting ( 1 Participant from a Class )

3. Thug of War ( 5 participants from a Class )

4. Basketball ( For Boys ) Volleyball ( For Girls )

5. One on one fights  - Tournament Format ( 2 participants from a Class )

 Many were sad after seeing these, but also, there were many that were not sad at all... There were many boys that enjoyed basketball as an event, so they didn't complain... Also, Class B had no problem with the Fighting event, since they had Dusk on their side... But then, Aiko said one more detail about the exam...

"A person can only participate at one event... You have to think well..." 

 Many were now wondering what they should do... Of course, the basketball or volleyball exams were not going to help a lot on the individual side, so if you were to participate in those, you might miss the chance to skip a year... But there were not many talented students that could manage to do well at any of the other events...

 After miss Aiko left the classroom, Mizuki rose from her seat once again and said:

"Okay everyone~! Let's make the pairs for the events!"

 And even though there were many shortcomings, in the end... It was decided...

"So I participate in the fights, huh? Well, I guess we'll see each other there..." muttered Dusk while looking out the window, seemingly thinking about Hikari...

 Meanwhile, in Class D, many happy voices could be heard...

"With Hikari's training, we are going to take first place!" shouted one of the students.

"They even forgot about the year-skipping thing, huh? Just look at them... They want to win as a collective..." said Fabio while talking with Hikari

"Well, I guess we've got really good chances... After all, we have you at the shooting contest... " said Hikari while looking out the window.

"Sure!"

"Let's see if I can settle the scores for now... Dusk..." thought Hikari

"We can't lose with Hikari and Fabio on our side! So let's win the rest of the events, everyone!" shouted another student

"Yeah!" answered all the others, as pumped up as ever.

But they didn't think about the other obstacles that were standing in their way...

"Hey, miss Tohka! What do you think...? Does our class stand any chance in this exam?" asked a girl that rushed to Tohka's side on the corridor, on their way home.

"Well, we have solid teamwork so we might do fine... But there is still a real problem..."

"The second years?" asked the girl

"That's not the biggest threat... You'll see... When we face them again..." she said while continuing to walk towards her home.