Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V8: Chapter 10 - The Long Walk

Kanzaki Ryuuji POV

We eventually made it to the turnaround point. Chabashira, Class C's homeroom teacher, was waiting for us there, arms crossed.

"The second and third years have turned back. You guys are all that's left," she said.

"What time is it, sensei?" Sou asked.

"It's almost eleven o'clock now."

That meant we still had an hour to go until our lunch break. If this were a flat road, it wouldn't be too hard to make it back in time. However, we had already trudged nine kilometres up an incredibly steep, winding slope. Our stamina had been depleted considerably. If we didn't run at a solid pace, this exercise was going to take a bite out of our lunch break... and considering most of the Class C students, and Tetsuya could barely stand, I was convinced we would miss lunch.

The twelve of us had decided to stay in one group, adapting to the pace of the slower runners, even if we walked most of the time.

"Agh! At this rate we're gonna miss lunch," Sou and Ryouta complained.

"Before you leave," Chabashira spoke to us. "We'll be taking roll call before you head back down. Each person has to state their class and name."

A board was brought out, probably for the purposes of recorded students who'd made it to the turnaround point. Sou and Ryouta were the first ones to sign.

After making sure everyone gave their name and class, I did the same, and we ran off from the turnaround point.

"Let's go," I told the group who followed suit.

A while later, coming up on the sign warning us about wild boars again, I noticed one of the Class C students had fallen behind the group.

I slowed down and joined him to run, or jog by his side.

The one losing speed was Sotomura from Class C.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He was drenched in sweat and was panting heavily as if he had trouble breathing.

"... Yeahh..." he nodded. "Just... Just... a bit—a bit tired."

"Are you sure? We can walk for a while. We will miss lunch anyhow, so it doesn't really matter..." I trailed off.

Once again, he nodded more frenetically than I would have liked.

"You don't have to push yourself that much. I understand you don't want to drag us down, but— Sotomura?"

I stopped talking as I noticed he began to wobble. The next second, he fell face first on the floor. I moved quickly, trying to catch him mid-air but failed to.

I called for the others to stop and calmly, laid Sotomura on his back, then, I made sure there were no injuries and checked his breathing and pulse before raising his legs to restore the flow of blood to the brain.

"What happened?" Eiichiro asked as soon as he joined me.

The others arrived but were smart enough to keep some distance so Sotomura could have fresh air and not be obstructed by the number of people around him.

"What does it look like?!" I uttered. "Sou, you're the fastest, go back and inform Chabashira-sensei about this."

Sou nodded and immediately stormed off back to the turnaround point. Hopefully, Chabashira would still be there.