A New Masterpiece (COTE x OC)

Chapter 39 - Elites

He is truly too kind for this world.

The only competitions left were the mixed-gender three-legged race and the final one, the 1200m relay. Which both Horikita and Sudo were going to compete in.

But since neither of the two was here, Hirata was desperately trying to find substitutes to fill these gaps.

"Hirata-kun!" Kushida came running over to him. "It pains me to see you take this burden alone. And I know Horikita-san was supposed to be competing in the three-legged race. So I wanted to know if it would be fine if I paid to substitute myself in her place?"

"Huh?"

"I want to give my all for this class. For everyone's sake," Kushida pleaded.

"Well, I would appreciate the help. You're an athletic student too, it would help me a lot. Now I'd need to find you a partner."

"I volunteer," Kiyotaka said while slowly raising his hand. "I'll even pay the points. I don't know how much help I'll be... but I'll try."

I was completely shocked for a moment, this guy, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, offering to help of his own accord?

No, that's not possible.

He had to have had some intrinsic motivation to want to do this.

He wouldn't be helping out of the kindness of his heart, that's not the type of guy he is.

"I don't mind at all," Hirata replied. "Are you okay with this?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll go inform Sensei then," Hirata took off quickly to alert Chabashira-sensei of the change.

"Looks like we'll be partners for this race, Ayanokouji-kun," Kushida said, cheerfully. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"Yeah, same, but don't expect too much out of me, I'm not all that fast."

"That's fine! The key to this event is coordination and timing!"

"Well, it will be fun competing with you two," I said. "It's almost time for the event, so we should prepare."

"I agree, Fukumoto-kun! Can't wait," Kushida replied.

I left the two to make my way near the track.

I flagged down my partner, Onodera.

She was on the school's swim team and was one of the most gifted athletes in our grade, so it made sense for us to pair up.

But other than that, I didn't know much about her, so the event may not go as well as we hoped if we couldn't coordinate with each other.

"Hello, Fukumoto-kun. Ready for the race?" Onodera said.

"I am. I'm very excited about this. I hope we place well since we had almost no time to practice with each other."

"Don't worry about that. You're extremely athletic, I'm sure we will do fine."

"I'll start tying the cord now," I said to Onodera.

"Sure!"

I bent down to tie the cord, holding my right leg and Onodera's left leg together. Making sure it wasn't too tight or too low down to hinder our performance.

"If it isn't Fukumoto-kun!" a voice called out to me from close by.

I turned to my left to see Ichinose and Shibata crouching down to tie their cord.

"Wow, I didn't know I'd be facing such tough opponents," Ichinose spoke up. "Fukumoto-kun and Onodera-san."

"I could say the same to your pairing," I replied.