As we got out of the track, the boys took their seats and focused without making any noise. Their eyes were serious. They planned on watching the girls run with an insane amount of concentration.
"The runners are getting more attention than what your exam papers will ever receive," I said.
"Oh shut it, Ayanokouji. Just sit down and watch with us. It'll be great!"
"We couldn't watch properly during practice, but none of the girls are here to police us right now!"
"A rare chance, I tell you! Rare!"
"Yeah, dude. It's about time we witness some amazing physics."
This group was led by Ike and Yamauchi, to no one's surprise. They said something about this being a once-in-a-school-year opportunity. Most of the guys were trying to play it cool, but they were also paying close attention.
Ken cracked his knuckles and warned everyone.
"If I ever see any of you ogling Airi or Haruka, I won't show any mercy. I'll gouge the eyes of any pervert."
Everyone trembled in fear. However, the shameless Yamauchi asked a shameless question.
"As long as it's not Sakura or Hasebe, then it's fine, right?" he asked.
"Whatever, dude." Ken narrowed his eyes and turned to spectate with everyone.
Everyone sighed in relief.
I mean, they can have whatever motives they want, honestly. At the end of the day, we're just watching the girls run. Of course, I can understand some of the guys' desire to prevent their friends or crushes from getting looked at with malicious eyes.
"Kiyotaka, I'm sure you've noticed it, too..." said Akito.
"Yeah. It seems like our female runners will suffer the same fate."
Just by looking at the line-up, it certainly looks like a repeat of what happened earlier.
"Horikita and Nishimura... You said something about a fixed competition between Horikita and Ibuki from Class D, right? Isn't the 100-meter dash too fast-paced for them to decide a real winner?"
"I don't know anything about the specifics of their competition. I don't even know if they only chose one event."
"I see. If Horikita is the one being challenged, then I'll have to assume that Ibuki can put up a fight." Akito turned her eyes to Ryuuko. "Do you think Nishimura can make the top four? She's one of the more athletic girls in the class but..."
"Yeah... Isoyama Nagisa from Class D and Motodoi Chikako from Class B. Both of them are really athletic, especially Motodoi since she's in the Tennis Club."
Akito must've been paying close attention if he could remember how athletic other students were. We only had a limited number of days when we could freely watch the other classes practice, after all.
"You can do it, Horikita-san!"
"Go, go, Ryuuko!"
"Take this home, you two!"
Cheers could be heard from the boys in the spectators' area and the girls on standby. We may have been stationed in different places, but we supported our classmates with the same amount of enthusiasm.
When the signal sounded, Ibuki instantly took the lead.
"Wha-?! Ibuki-chan is fast!" said Ike.
Horikita's reaction was delayed, so she had the worse start. However, she slowly started to gain on her. Ibuki kept glancing at Horikita who was right behind her, and in a matter of seconds, the two were nipped and tucked. Ibuki became panicked while Horikita looked a bit chuffed about such a development. She managed to grab a tiny lead over Ibuki near the end of the race. Ibuki tried to push harder, but the 100-meter dash was as short as it could've gotten. Before she could turn the tides back in her favor, Horikita already crossed the finish line first.
"Woohoo! Let's go Horikita-san!"
"That's our leader!"
The other runners also finished, but as if fate was making fun of us, Ryuuko placed fifth by a small margin.
"Ahh, so close!"
"Nishimura-chan almost had it!"
We could see Ryuuko making apologetic gestures, but the other girls were just smiling at her, probably saying not to mind it.
The second group came along with Onodera as our other ace. When the race finished, she easily took first place. However, Ishikura, her partner, came in last. Well, everyone probably expected it since she was one of the most unathletic girls in our class. The only frustrating fact about her loss was the fact that it was actually pretty close. Ishikura performed better than ever before and she could've at least gotten sixth if her opponents were any slower.
"Welp, first place is definitely going to Class C's Minamikata Kozue for this group."
Karuizawa and Shinohara were the next pair to go. They were similar in terms of athleticism and that's a huge gamble. It'd be ideal if a two-person package like them could take both top four spots. But if they happen to go against faster runners, then it'd be an instant loss.
"Whaaa! 'The heck was that?! Shinohara definitely got into the top four! That was so unlucky!" cried Ike.
Minamikata cleanly finished in first place, followed by Class B's Nishikawa Ryouko and Class D's Mineshima Eru. The spot for fourth place was hotly contested by Shinohara and the other Class D runner, but in the end, she lost. Karuizawa followed right behind her, placing sixth.
The next five groups were grouped with the same strategy in mind-- that one of them places in the top two while the other places in the top four. However, this tactic was unfortunately shattered by a continuous strain of unlucky match-ups.
"Haruka only placed fourth even though she's one of our faster runners... The same could be said for Azuma-san in the next group, but she only placed third..." muttered Akito.
Our runners kept getting overtaken by opponents who were just a bit faster than them. Of course, some spectacles were seen in groups five and six where Class D's Yajima Mariko and Kinoshita Minori placed first by a wide margin. The same also happened in group seven where Class B's Yano Koharu led the charge.
"Ahh... Hahh... I-It hurts..."
"Here you go, Airi. Have some water."
"T-Thank you, Haruka-chan..."
Airi and Haruka, who were done competing, started walking toward us.
"Ohh, good job out there, Haruka, Airi." Akito waved at them with a smile.
"Yahh, Kinoshita-san from Class D was too fast. I was left in the dust."
"Can't be helped. At least you got fourth," shrugged Akito.
"Nice running, Airi!" Ken gave her a thumbs-up.
"We were watching you go all-out. That was a fantastic result," said Akito.
Airi turned to me for some feedback.
"You did well. You finally beat someone."
She smiled and nodded repeatedly.
"Yes... This is the first time that I didn't finish in last place..."
Even against unathletic girls like Inogashira, Ishikura, or Rino, Airi would still fall short during practice. The student she passed was very similar to her in terms of physical abilities, but she managed to grab the victory in the end and placed seventh. From the position Airi was at, this was the best possible result. Our classmates knew that, as well.
"Go! Mii-chan!"
"Go, go, Satou!"
"You can do it!"
Group eight had Mii-chan and Satou. Satou miraculously placed fourth with Mii-chan finishing seventh. We were finally down to the last two groups.
"Hey, Makida, stop foolin' around. Matsushita's about to run!" called Ken.
"W-Wha-?! Don't be loud about it, Sudou!"
The other guys started nudging their elbows at him. Most of the boys were already aware of his feelings for Matsushita. Anyway, her partner would be Maezono who was fairly fast when it comes to running but had a bad fall this morning.
"Go, go, Sayo-chan!"
"You can do this, Mako-chan!"
Ichinose and Class C's cheers could be heard from the other side of the track. Andou Sayo and Amikura Mako-- both of them are fast runners, too. When the signal sounded, the difference was instantly made clear. Andou and Matsushita were practically running shoulder to shoulder. A Class B girl was behind them competing with Amikura. The rest were left fighting for fifth place.
"Ahh, so close!"
In the end, Andou got the win, but Matsushita got second place. Maezono finished in sixth place after beating the last two girls who were contesting her. She would've easily gotten third if she wasn't feeling pain.
"Final group! We finally get to see Kikyou-chan compete!" celebrated Ike.
"Stop ogling her you pervert," said Hondou.
"What, you think you can act like Sudou now, Ryoutarou?" Ike bit back with a smirk.
"Yeah, that's right! What, you think you can beat me in a fight with your lanky ass?" Of course, Hondou wouldn't let that slide.
"Stop it, you morons. Both of you are lanky as shit anyways. Just sit tight and enjoy the view, for fuck's sake." Miyamoto smacked the back of their heads.
"The hell wuzzat for?!"
"Just look at Haruki. Don't you see how focused he is?" Miyamoto put his arms around them and asked.
The two of them looked at Yamauchi who was so focused that he looked like he was in a trance.
"Tits... Jiggly tits..."
"H-His concentration is insane!" commented Ike.
"Buncha perverts," scoffed Ken who gave them a side-eye.
Most of the girls were already staying near us as the event progressed. They were either cheering for the remaining runners or rehydrating themselves. Hondou and the others were lucky that none of the girls heard what they were talking about.
"Ohh, it's Kyou-chan and Kokoro-chan!" said Haruka.
"I hope the two of them run well." Airi clasped her hands as if to pray.
Kikyou was currently exchanging pleasantries with one of her opponents, Ichinose Honami.
"They'll be up against Ichinose, of all people. Well, no one is really worth the mention apart from her. Kushida might have the chance to win this." Akito's evaluation was fairly accurate, but due to the lack of data, there was one girl that bypassed his radar.
When the signal sounded, everyone's jaws instantly dropped. It wasn't Ichinose or Kikyou who took the lead. It was Class B's Kamuro Masumi.
"S-She's fast!"
With clean and long strides, Kamuro easily got the victory. The battle for second place was fierce, but Kikyou managed to win against Ichinose by a tiny margin. Her partner, Inogashira, placed seventh, which was honestly not too bad.
And just like that, the 100-meter dash event for the freshmen was finally done and over. While the second-years were preparing, the current scores were tallied and shown on the screen.
"Gahh! The gap just widened!"
"Class B's lead is insane!"
"Even Class D got so many points!"
Red Team: 264 points
- Class 1-A: 99 points
- Class 1-D: 165 points
White Team: 437 points
- Class 1-B: 245 points
- Class 1-C: 192 points
At this point, Horikita stopped getting surprised. The result was just a byproduct of what was really going on. She asked for Hirata, Kikyou, Karuizawa, and me. It's about time we discuss this development.
Author's Notes: