A Ray of Light (Nagito x Izuru fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Affirmation

-Izuru-chan~ Good morning.

A fluffy tuft of white hair appeared in front of me.

-How are you doing today?

A smile. I wonder if it's genuine. 

-... I'm fine.

His smile widened. Sparkling.

He then walked to his desk and started talking with the girl sitting next to him. Chiaki... Nanami, was it? He was still smiling. He is a strange individual. He always has a smile glued to his face. Either he is a really joyful person, or he hides his feelings. It's probably a little bit of both. Though, he is brighter when talking to me. I wonder what he finds so lovable about me. I don't do any effort to be friendly, nor to care about what the others are saying. And even though, he still tell me good morning after he arrives and goodbye before he leaves after school, and finds every opportunity to talk to me. I have no idea what is going on in his head. It's usually easy to guess, but he is a real mystery. He's quite interesting... 

*///*

-O.K class, we're going to practice for the 10KM you have to do in two weeks. So we're doing 10 turns around the running track. It's not even 4 kilometers, so it shouldn't be too hard, right? The girls will go first, and I'll register your times, so give the best you've got.

The girls in our class stood at the starting line and started running at the teacher's whistle. One of them, with brown hair, started sprinting right at the beginning. She may be athletic, but going full speed right off the start is not a smart move. I could have done it of course, but I don't see the point in putting effort into this kind of thing.

-Alright boys, you'll start when all the girls will have done 5 turns. Don's ask why, it's just easier for me to take your times that way. So be ready to go.

I stared at the runners. The brown haired girl was still in the front, running full speed. I don't know where she finds this energy. Her performance was annoying though, as a well-built guy not far from me continuously yelled her encouragements. Noisy. In second place was a girl with braids and glasses. As athletic, but smarter than the other girl, looking at the way she calculated her energy loss. The other girls were all pretty close to each other behind. 

-O.K guys, be ready. It's your turn to go.

 I sighed:

-It's pointless...

-Kamakura, you have to do it like everyone else, or you'll lose points.

It's not like I really care if I lose points or not. I don't need to be here. I averted my eyes, and came to see... Nagito next to me. He was looking at me with a mix of "I want to see it" and "but I can't ask him". I stared at him a little, causing him to look at the ground, probably embarassed by the staring. Then slowly advanced to the starting line. I could see at the corner of my eye his face illuminating. 

-O.K, everyone's ready. Aaaannnnd... go!

The well-built guy started to sprint, just like the brown-haired girl had done. Not smart. I could go faster than him, but I don't want to make efforts. I'll go at a moderate speed, and that will do. Of course, moderate is pretty fast for the other students, and before I knew it, I was far in the front. As I turned one of the curves, I had a glimpse of Nagito... going way too fast for him. Is he trying to reach me?

He arrived next to me, panting heavily. His breathing was irregular.

-To be expected... you're... really fast... Izuru-chan.

He's forcing himself too much. I sighed, and gradually slowed my pace. I don't think he noticed that I did it intentionally. I don't understand why I did either. Why do I care so much? We continued running side by side... I don't mind his presence that much, to be honest. We passed next to the girl called Chiaki, who was the last girl still running.