Classroom of the elite: The upheaval of my ordinary life(Reaction)

Defeat and rebirth

"There's a little over an hour left until Sudou's turn, huh?"

The dash continued for the second and third-year students, followed by a fifty-minute break. If Sudou didn't return before the break ended, it'd be checkmate. With our ace in the hole gone, we'd never win. 

Matsushita POV

I was always curious as to what made Sudo return. It has something to do with Horikita-san of course, but it looks like Ayanokouji-kun is involved in this too. 

Only one person in our class could get to him. I wondered if Horikita understood just how vital her role was. After I placed third in the 200-meter dash, I waited for her to finish her own race.

"Horikita, do you know what happened with Sudou?"

"I saw it. He realized what a disappointment he was, then ran away."

Sudo-kun cringes as he hears those words. It must be especially painful coming from her. It also seems like Ayanokouji-kun is the one pushing for Sudo-Kun's comeback. Horikita-san wants to let him be. 

"Well...yeah, I guess that's true."

"Why are you here? You're not going to request that I bring Sudou-Kun back, are you?"

"If you already know, then don't ask. Do you understand you're the only one who can help?" I inquired.

"I don't think so. Other people can do something. There's no way I possibly could," she said.

She was really oblivious like that? I guess it's unsurprising. From what I understand, she is a very goal-oriented individual. More than most, she wants to reach class A. I didn't know before, but it's because of her brother. 

Was she serious? Yeah, she probably was. She had no idea that Sudouv had a crush on her.

"Besides, I'm not exactly in a position to worry about other people right now," Horikita added.

She was indeed suffering. She had a lot to deal with on her own. I understood her feelings. Besides, pretty much no one wanted to go find Sudou. They'd abandoned him, although they knew that he could save us in the sports festival. Everyone's trust in him had evaporated. If Hirata or Kushida had stormed off, the entire class would've gone looking for them.

Indeed, the correct move would have been to go after Sudo-kun, for everyone in our class. The problem was his draconian way of leading. It was such a contrast to what Hirata-kun or Horikita-san practiced, people couldn't or wouldn't adapt. So they were relieved to be free of his leadership. The fact that he struck Hirata of all people also didn't help. It is a bit hypocritical, but no one cared when he dished out his "punishment" on Ike-kun and the like. 

"Here's how I see it," I said.

 "You can't take care of your classmates, and you can't control yourself. What's the point of you, then? You're nothing but a burden."

My class looked at Ayanokouji-kun. Some wanted to protest but looks like they are catching on with the way he operates. Though, their self-control doesn't seem like it will hold out much if he keeps being this harsh on her. 

I hope I am wrong though. I might well be since my classmates should have realized how important Ayanokouji-kun is by now. Alienating him over a thing like this would be unwise, especially since it happened almost a year ago.