It was a Friday in mid-September. Our practice was going swimmingly, is what I wish I could say, but nothing is perfect in this world.
"Hmm... I really am perfect."
Kouenji would probably disagree with me then. Good for him, I guess. I walked past the relaxing Kouenji and arrived near the track.
"Hey, Hondou-kun! Stop using your phone and start practicing! You too, Miyamoto-kun!" scolded Onodera.
"A-Ah, sorry! I just had to respond to someone. I'll be right there!" he replied.
"Ehh, I'm pretty tired already..." said Miyamoto as he faced Hondou. "Hey, Ryoutarou, you've been on your phone since we started practicing. I thought you were gonna show off your hidden potential?"
"Pfft, did you seriously believe that? I know my place in this world, Soshi. I've got no hidden talents whatsoever. I was just going with the flow when Haruki and Kanji were yapping about their goals to get girls," he shrugged.
"Haha, I guess that makes sense. But who are you chatting with? I thought you were going for Kikyou-chan?"
Hey, hey... I don't think you should talk about that when there are a bunch of girls near you. Even I can understand your conversation clearly from a distance.
"I-Idiot, don't talk about that here! I'm also practicing seriously, y'know? It's just that..." He started whispering to Miyamoto.
"Ehhh?! You're asking a girl from another class for help?!"
"So much for my whispering, you moron!"
Miyamoto sprinted out of Hondou's attempt to smack him and they started chasing each other around. I wonder if this could be considered practice? It wasn't long until they reunited with Ike and Yamauchi on the field. A lot of our classmates were having the same routine of chit-chatting in between their practice sets.
"They're finally here," I muttered after seeing two figures approach my spot.
Two girls finished running as they sat down on the grass, huffing and puffing from exhaustion. I crouched to their level so I can hold a conversation.
"Please... *pant* run faster. You're holding me back."
"I don't think that's possible, Horikita-san... *pant* I'm already trying my best. Onodera-san is a faster runner than me, but even she can't keep up with you," replied Kikyou.
"Are you guys having trouble?" I asked.
"Ayanokouji-kun? I didn't notice you there," said Horikita.
Well, sorry for my thin presence.
"Kiyotaka-kun..." Kikyou smiled despite having a bad time. "It seems like we can't find a partner for Horikita-san in the three-legged race."
"Looks like it."
"None of them can keep up with me. This is really troubling..."
Horikita uttered those words without a hint of arrogance or disappointment. She looks genuinely concerned.
"How many partners have you been with? I saw you running with Onodera and Shinohara the other day."
"Oh, I've only partnered up with the two of them. And today, I'm trying things out with Kushida-san."
"I see... What happened with the other two?"
"Shinohara-san immediately wanted to pair up with someone else after one run. Onodera-san managed to barely keep up, but she gave up in the end. I tried to encourage them to train harder with me, but it didn't work..."
She tried to encourage them, huh?
"Did they say anything else?"
"Hm...? Well... They briefly apologized about not being fast enough before asking to find another partner."
"They didn't tell you to slow down?"
"Tell me to slow down...? Uh, I think Onodera-san said something like that, but she immediately took it back."
"I see... So that's the problem." I looked at the grinning Kikyou who probably understood the whole situation. "Why don't you tell her?"
"Kiyotaka-kun... You know I can't do that," she replied.
"I might not be able to hold myself back from talking out of pure spite, and it'll risk my image if anyone overhears me... again..." was the continuation I could come up with from looking at her beaming face.
"I'll just tell her now, then." I turned to Horikita once more. "You're the problem, Horikita. You should've realized that by now."
"I'm the problem...?" Horikita looked worried rather than angry which exhibits her growth.
After a quick think, she assembled the pieces together.
"You think I should slow down for my partner. Is that correct?"
"I get that your idea was to be as fast as humanly possible, but it won't work in the three-legged race."
"That much is obvious. I know that coordination between partners is key. That's why I initially wanted to train until my partner and I are of the same pace."
"Yes, but that in itself is a problem on your end. You may recognize that you need to cooperate with your partner, but you're setting the range of their labor a tad bit too high."
Horikita set the upper limit and encouraged her partner to reach it, but alas, they simply couldn't. Her idea was to practice until they can eventually do so, but it was fundamentally impossible unless there was someone with the same speed as hers or if we had months to practice. Both options don't seem to be available for us.
Even Onodera, who was innately faster at running than Horikita was having a hard time being her partner. Unlike Horikita, Onodera instinctively tries to adjust her strides to focus more on coordination rather than speed. That's why she ends up getting dragged by Horikita who goes all-out without any regard for her partner.
"I don't think you have to worry about speed, Horikita-san. It's better to think about the harmony of our movements," added Kikyou.
"Not worry about speed, is it?"
Horikita thought about our words as Kikyou looked around to see if anyone was nearby.
"In other words, you're not thinking about your partner at all. No matter how much you encourage them to run faster, they can't just magically raise their speed to match your level. Shinohara-san and Onodera-san probably chose not to say anything out of their respect for you, but your method simply won't fly. I almost tripped a bunch of times because of your thoughtlessness. Would you take responsibility if your partner gets injured in an accident?" Kikyou elaborated her honest criticism with her usual angelic veneer.
"Your words don't match your face, Kushida-san."
"Fuck off," she smiled. "Ack-!"
I grabbed Kikyou's head and ruffled her hair as I talked to Horikita.
"K-Kiyotaka-kun, you're being rough!" she complained.
"Kyah!"
"Look at them!"
"I wish she was me!"
"Ohh, good going, Ayanokouji!"
"To touch Kushida-chan like that... I'm so jealous!"
I instantly heard some squeals from girls and boys alike. I knew that the cause was my casual skinship with Kikyou, but I personally didn't really care. I continued ruffling her hair like I usually do.
"Kikyou's right, Horikita. I know you want to win, but unless you pair up with your own clone, running at your top speed without any adjustments will only harm you and your partner."
"Now that I think about it, the problem was pretty obvious. It was foolish of me to oversee such a thing... Thank you for the advice," she bowed lightly.
"Kiyotaka-kun, you're ruining my hair!"
She grabbed my hand and glared at me.
"Really? It was already ruined before you got here, though..."
"Still! Geez..." She continued fanning herself before grabbing my towel. "Ugh, I'm drenched in sweat. Lend this to me for a bit. I doubt you'd need to use them right now, anyway."
Kikyou correctly guessed that the towel around my neck was still dry and clean. I haven't really practiced much today, so I didn't have to use them for anything.
"Oh my god, that's Ayanokouji-kun's towel!"
"Kushida-san is using it!"
"Kyah~!"
I thought my careless habit was the end of it, but Kikyou's actions escalated things even more.
"You can take that towel. Just give it back after class," I said.
Kikyou jumped to my side and whispered in a bewitching manner.
"You're free to do what you want with it later."
"Idiot," I replied, flicking her forehead.
"Ow-! That was uncalled for!"
"You're making the class even rowdier. Let's stop here."
She took a step back and waved her hand.
"Done flirting?" asked Horikita.
"Yep, so let's continue practicing, Horikita-san!"
Kikyou looked cheerful and enthusiastic, but I know that practicing with Horikita was probably the last thing she'd like to do.