Brotherly Hatred | ✔️ | Blue Exorcist

Teammates

"Group six! You're up!" The gym instructor barked, pointing his finger to the black tarred oval. The students got to their feet, some of them stretching a bit before getting into a lane. "Ready... go!" A blank shot was fired into the air and the kids took off, I watched them carefully, very interested at how this was working out. Everyone was different, but there seemed to be three main categories I could place each student in.

There was the majority that had a powerful amount of speed at the start, but then most wouldn't even make it passed a hundred meters before slowing down exponentially, or in some cases, stopping completely. Then, there were the kids that maintained a steady pace the entire lap, but some did so much slower than the others. Lastly, there were a dozen or so kids that could do both, starting off strong and ending in a similar fashion. The difference both interested and amused me, I was curious what category I was in. Although I had the blood of a demon helping me, I was still human, and my body worked just as differently as every other person here.

When the final student finally made it full circle, albeit breathing fairly heavily, the coach blew his whistle. "Last group, you know the drill!" I hopped to my feet, taking a lane on the far end of my peers. I found a comfortable position to take off in, which was less dramatic than what some of the others were doing. "Ready..." I gritted my teeth, just to be safe, I should hold back a little, just in case I underestimated myself. "Go!" The sharp sound of a shot sprung me forward.

My feet pounded against the ground methodically and I focused on my breathing. It seems that I was able to keep pace with everyone else at this strength. It was almost sad how little my demon side helped me in speed, but then again, I enjoyed a challenge. Looking to the side, I noticed the blonde boy I had talked to earlier start to pull ahead. He must be one of the ones from my third category who I couldn't place into a fourth. The ones that started strong and ended stronger, there were only two or so of them, well, now three including him.

I smiled, huffing a bit harder and pushing myself to my limit. Blondie and I were neck and neck for about fifty meters before I was able to pull ahead. I wasn't going to lose this, not against someone I didn't even know! Hell, he was completely human and yet he was almost as fast as me, for some reason, that unsettled my ego. I pushed myself even harder, adrenaline pumped in my veins and the sounds of multiple feet hitting the track invigorated me. There were two girls on the side of the track taking notes and holding stopwatches, they marked the end of the lap and I gave myself one last push to end it.

"Done!" One of the girls cheered. I slowed down my pace and leaned my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. "Woah! You ran a quarter mile in just over a minute! That's pretty good!" I huffed, not able to speak normally at the moment. The sounds of pounding feet behind me made me realize just how far ahead I had pushed myself. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might find its way out of my chest.

"Alright students! Wonderful job! I'll let you know who has made the team as soon as possible. Have a wonderful rest the night!" The kids immediately started talking together, chatting about this and that, who did a good job and who made the team for sure. I felt someone nudge me and I looked up to see blondie looking at me with a smirk on my face.

"You're pretty awesome, dude, I've never met anyone like you, and only a few people I know can surpass me."

I laughed breathlessly, "that's a bit conceited, don't you think?" He laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I like you, what's your name?"

"Okumura Rin, but my friends just call me asshole."  My words from earlier echoed again.

He laughed even harder, "Maeda Katsu, but my friends call me anything they want. I have a feeling I'll see you next practice." I finally stood straight, getting a better look at him than the last time. He looked only slightly older than me, maybe a sophomore. He had ice blue eyes and a devilish smile, he actually seemed like the rich boy type. However, the piercings in his right ear told me a different story.