The Ultimate Stride | Prince of Stride Fanfiction |

29 | Letting Go

    | {Kyouko's P.O.V.} |

    "I... refuse."

    The guy nearly tripped over his own two feet once the words left my mouth.

    "W-what did you say?"

    "Oh you heard me, old man. I said I refuse," I threw my arms into the air flippantly with the key phrase.

His expression still feigned confusion, so I dove even deeper into my rejection with some simple synonyms.

    "No. Nada. Nope. I would never leave Hônan. Not in a million years!" I yelled righteously at the older Sakurai, and his eyebrows furrowed low with angry astonishment.

    The trembling Nana standing next to me allowed a shaky sigh of relief to escape her lips.

"Thank goodness."

When I spotted the tear stains on her cheeks I felt my heart twinge with remnants of guilt, but my incinerating anger was enough to temporarily throw that feeling aside.

My attention was focused solely on the idiot who had been dumb enough to even consider offering me something as insane as a school transfer.

    I don't care if he's Nana's dad. This is ludicrous.

    "How could you possibly refuse my offer? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for your grand debut as a Stride athlete. Transferring to Kakyôin would give you some much needed exposure," he claimed irritably.

    Rolling my eyes at his reasoning, I scoffed. "If I wanted some exposure, then I could just run through downtown Tokyo stark ass naked! I don't need Kakyôin in order to win EOS, I need my teammates at Hônan."

He removed his sunglasses from his face to rub at his developing headache. It was obvious that he wasn't satisfied with my response.

"You said I would like your answer. Can you explain to me why you thought a blatant refusal would make me happy?"

"You should be overjoyed right now! If I had joined your god forsaken team, nothing good would've come out of it. I can assure you that much," I spat as my fingers naturally curled themselves around the papers within my grasp

    "I can't accept that without a proper explanation," he grunted.

    Now all of the papers were crumpled into a fist-sized ball.

    "The only reason I run the way I do is because of Hônan. Pulling me away from my friends and putting me in a place as cold and unsentimental as Kakyôin would turn me into a heartless, running zombie. Would that make you happy at all as a coach?"

    My question took him back a little bit, but I knew I had knocked some sense into him when his face notably softened.

    I crossed my arms over my chest expectedly, and he sighed.

    "No, it wouldn't. I'm sorry if I offended you, but I was only thinking of my team's well-being. With a runner like you and a hard-working person like my daughter on my side, I thought it would be a good adhesive to bring my team together."

    Nana loosened her vice-grip on my arm to face her father. Her voice came out quivery but strong.

    "That's where you went wrong, dad."

    He raised a curious brow. "What do you mean by that?"

    She shook her head with a sad chuckle following after it, and I allowed my anger to slightly subside.