Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V8: Chapter 11 - Sixth Day

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

It was now the sixth day, Tuesday. On that day, I started to hear something a little odd from the guys.

They missed the opposite sex.

That was the current topic of conversation. I got the feeling that most of them were looking forward to dinnertime.

"Agh, goddamn it. I feel like I'm losin' my mind being around guys all the time."

"If I were at an all-guys' school, I'd be dead, man."

Those were just some of the opinions I heard.

"Dude, havin' only guys around stinks. Like, literally."

I supposed it was inevitable that they were buying into the cliché that all guys had bad hygiene. The truth, however, was that there weren't many sweaty or smelly people here. They should be thankful this wasn't summertime.

"Ow, my hip..."

While we were in the middle of dusting, Yukimura yelped in pain and crouched down. We had cleaning and breakfast duty to deal with, regardless of the lessons that continued at the same time, and we'd reached the point where you could see the weaker students starting to hit their limits. Yukimura was complaining about his pain.

The area we'd been assigned to clean today was pretty big, forcing everyone in our group to work harder than usual. When even one person got injured, you had to make up for it.

"Whaddya mean, your hips hurt? Do your job," Ishizaki spat.

"I know. I'll do the work," Yukimura sighed tiresomely.

"Then do it right."

Yukimura immediately tried to resume cleaning, but he just wasn't moving well. His sprained leg in particular was clearly stiff.

"Ugh."

He grunted quietly. He seemed to be enduring the pain, but if he pushed himself too hard, it'd affect him tomorrow.

"Grab a breather. I'll take your spot." There was no helping it. I'd clean Yukimura's section for him.

If Yukimura pushed himself too hard, we might pay for it later. Even if he held out today, there was no telling what tomorrow would bring. The actual exam included multiple physically demanding tests, like zazen and the long-distance relay. He might suffer even more than he did now.

"Sorry, Ayanokouji."

"Hey, we help each other out when we're in trouble."

Problem solved.

Until...

"Hey. You just said you'd do it yourself!" said Ishizaki.

Apparently he didn't like that I was lending Yukimura a hand.

"I'll handle it," I replied.

Ishizaki didn't seem satisfied.

"You're the representative, ain't you? Don't bitch about somethin' like cleaning."

"Eh? So, now, I'm the representative?!" Yukimura exploded.

"You're tryin' to push your job onto someone else right now, aren't you? I don't like that. Do it yourself."