Stealing Spree

"Alright. I heard how Eguchi-sensei put you all to endurance classes. For your PE Class today, let's all put your bodies to rest."

This teacher... Putting our bodies to rest. That sounds like she's going to kill all of us.

After splitting us between boys and girls, the PE teacher brought us to the field where we ran before and lined us up by class. Luckily, the sun wasn't as blazing as earlier when I called Aoi.

This other PE teacher is someone originally in charge of the 2nd-years. Though this is the first time I met her, her appearance looked gentler than Eguchi-sensei. However, that smile that she flashed just now sent shivers down everybody's spine.

If I remember correctly, her name is Orimura-sensei.

I guess the girls dodged the bullet on this one. With that one sentence, she's giving off worse vibes than Eguchi-sensei.

Now that I think of it, why are the PE teachers in this school this terrible? If not for her good looks, she would probably become one of the most hated. The same could be said for Eguchi-sensei.

"Hey, stop trembling. Do you want to be put down first?"

After we organized ourselves neatly, Orimura-sensei pointed at a meek-looking guy at the front. Someone from Class 3.

"No, ma'am!"

He shouted as an answer and instantly stood straight like a matchstick. A little force and he could probably be broken into two. At least, by doing that, his trembling stopped.

"Well then, come here at the front and become the representative for your class."

"Uhm... I don't think I'm cut out to be a representative, ma'am."

"Is that so? Give me 20 laps... Right now."

Upon hearing his answer, Orimura-sensei's gentle voice turned cold. With her half-squinted eyes, she gave the poor guy a death sentence.

To escape from that faith the meek-looking guy tried to take the position but he was ignored by Orimura-sensei and picked another guy from their class.

Helpless, he could only start running on the tracks.

See. If it was Eguchi-sensei, she would give that guy a second chance and she would use her favorite collective punishment.

Now I don't know who's worse among the two. Who hurts them that they turned like this?

Due to that precedence, the guy that was picked after him bravely stepped forward and acknowledged the position given to him. Afraid that she would bestow him the same punishment.

And the same thing happened to the other class. She handpicked anyone that took her interest to become the representative. For what activity she would put us into, it's still a mystery.

At this kind of chance selection, I could proudly say that I've never once picked thanks to my identity as the Classmate A, however, everything has precedence.

Contrary to what I wanted to happen, I'm most likely one of the most popular guys during this point in my life.

As soon as her eyes met mine, Orimura-sensei smiled meaningfully and called out to me with a nickname I never heard before.

"Shiori-sensei's pet, step forward."

That nickname...

It's clear as day where that came from. With my continuous trips to the Administration Building to see Shio, the teachers who saw me surely gave me a nickname they used among themselves.

Shio probably knew about this but she's too embarrassed to tell me since she's the reason why it was made.

"Sensei, what's up with that nickname?"

I tried acting oblivious but due to that nickname, everyone's eyes were already on me.

Fukuda was laughing further at the back and Sakuma who's been awkward to me these past few days was also laughing his ass off.

Ogawa and Tadano at one side both had a serious expression on their faces but it's too obvious that they were trying to hold back from laughing.

Most of the students were also amused but there were also others who were envious; those boys who wanted to become Shio's pet. Too bad for them.

Shio always had that commanding side in front of other students after all. Only to me will she show those other adorable sides of her. If they found out that I'm not just her pet, these virgins would surely puke out blood from extreme envy.

Ah, well. There's no point telling them. I have to protect my Shio's image, at least. Even if I became dubbed as her pet, that's better than rumors of me as her lover.

"You don't need to ask. You're a bright student, aren't you? We all know that you're her favorite errand boy. Step forward or run 20 laps, choose."

Amidst the snickering of the other students, I stepped forward and took the position. At the same time as I did, my eyes scanned everyone. Even if my eyes weren't that intimidating, when I met the gazes of some, they promptly stopped their snickering.

Once the four representatives were decided, Orimura-sensei called back the guy she sent to run 20 laps and had him rejoin his class.

So she's not as heartless after all. He's only in his second lap.

"I said I'll put all your bodies to rest so all of you sit down – except for you representatives."

-

-

Four representatives, one from each class. The way she picked us was all on her whim and because of the fate of the first one, none dared to turn down the position.

But now that we're the only ones left standing in front of her, the other three were regretting why they got scared of running.

"Cheer up, will you? Let's see... I'm not some demon, what I said, I will uphold it. None of you will get tired today. Oh. Only those who disobey me will, of course. So you four better listen to me."

Orimura-sensei started. There's a wide grin on her face as if she's talking about something really interesting.

Upon hearing that, the other three were elated that they instantly stepped forward to hear what Orimura-sensei will have us do.

"For your activity, since I called you representatives, you all represent your class. If you fail, they will also fail. That's easy to understand, right? However, the activity will not depend on your performances."

"Well then, let me explain the content of the activity. Right about now, Eguchi-sensei has also finished picking the girls' representative. This will just be a simple game of Capture the Flag and Tag. Whoever was picked from your class is your ally and everyone else is your enemy. Well, you four have simple roles anyway."

Orimura-sensei continued to explain what she called a simple game.

Our role in this simple Capture the Flag is to become the Flag. We will only be able to stand in one place. And whoever touches the flag that will be held in our hand will be able to lead us back to their base. We have to follow whoever it is even if it will to the other class gaining a point. If we don't, then our class will instantly fail the game.

Unlike us, there will be two girl representatives for each class. One is a Captor and the other is the Rescuer. So the game will not really depend on us but the girls.

The Captor is the one responsible to get another class' flag and lead him back to our Class Base. Once the Captor touches a Flag, they can only walk back to the base for the Flags to follow them, otherwise, the Flag won't move or go back to their original place.

The Rescuer's role is to stop the enemy Captor from leading the Class Flag to their base by tagging them. If a Captor is stopped, she has to go back to their base before attempting to get a Flag again.

The Rescuer only has one chance to stop a Captor. She needs to go back to their base whether their attempt to tag was successful or not. Only then will the Rescuer get another chance. The Rescuer also has the ability to rescue another class' Flag to hinder them but by doing so, their Flag will become vulnerable and they might lose the chance to rescue it.

The Flags will be put in the middle of the play area and if they were successfully brought to another class' base, that class will earn a point. The Flag will then need to move back in the middle. To prevent a class from being ganged up, a Flag can't be consecutively captured by the same class, he needed to be captured by another class first.

The game will last for two rounds of 15 minutes each and they will be ranked by points earned. No one will get a failing mark though, the class that will place last will get the minimum passing grade.

The rules are quite clear but upon hearing it, I'm already trying to find loopholes which we can take advantage of. I just wonder who will be our Captor and Rescuer. If Eguchi-sensei picked them randomly as well then it's all based on luck.

After explaining the rules of the game to us, Orimura-sensei led us back to the Gymnasium.

By then, the other girls who were not picked as representatives were leaving. Like the other boys that weren't picked as representatives, they were given the free time.

When we entered the Gymnasium, I instantly saw who were chosen as representatives for our class.

Chii and the Class President, Kanzaki.