Chapter 93: #92 Play dirty
I came back from the track and entered our tent to "rest" a bit. When I sat down on the bench while wiping my face with my towel, someone offered me a bottle of water...more like 2 bottles. One from my right and another from my left.
When I looked up I saw Mii-chan sitting on my left and Kei on my right.
...What should I do? This is a pretty awkward situation.
Both of them also noticed this fact so they quickly retracted their hands.
Now I have nothing to drink...Which made it even more awkward.
"*cough*" I coughed aloud and got up from my seat and went to take my own drink from the nearby table filled with refreshments, towels and such.
Even though I didn't want to sit back to my seat that was right between them, I still chose to do it since it could become even more awkward if I just left like that.
"I am sorry..." Both of them said with a slightly awkward expression, which turned to even more awkward when they heard each other.
Would it be so awkward if I also made some male friends? I mean...there is Hirata, maybe Yukimura, lately I have been also talking to Miyake but none of them are here to actually help me.
"*sigh* It's okay, let's just forget about what just happened..." I said with a tired expression.
"Yes, I totally agree." Kei said while awkwardly looking at the bottle in her hand
"Same here." Mii-chan said while looking sideways, embarrassed by the situation, however, she also had a slightly puzzled expression...and I think I know why.
Kei...what is she thinking? She would normally try to ignore me if someone was near me but now she is acting all friendly right in front of Mii-chan. I am not entirely sure if I can trust Mii-chan with my and Kei's secret "relationship". She definitely doesn't strike me as a person who likes to spread rumors but that doesn't change a thing. But well, since I have already told Yukimura, I can also tell her but as long as she doesn't ask I won't take initiative. Not to mention that there are too many strings leading to Kei. Sooner or later, Ryuen will discover our relationship through Manabe and others. I imagine that he is already thinking hard about what happened to his perfect plan. It won't take too long before he will smoke out the traitor in his class. That's also one of the reasons why I requested Manabe to send me the picture of their participation table through the message, to help him a bit. Of course, I also used an anonymous account, it will only depend on her if she will tell him who it is or she will keep her mouth shut. I wonder what she will choose.
"Walker-kun, were you watching during my 100-meter dash?" Mii-chan asked with a shy expression while twirling her hair.
"Hm? Yeah, I have seen almost everyone's race" I nodded at her with a slightly puzzled expression.
"I see...There is something I would like to ask Walker-kun. Was there something I could improve? Was there something I've done wrong?" She nervously asked me.
"You obtained 1st place yet you are asking me if you have done something wrong? haha" I lightly laughed when I saw her nervous expression even though she actually won the 1st place.
She nodded with a serious expression so I stopped laughing and faced her with a slightly more serious expression with a small smile across my face.
"...Your timing at the start wasn't the best. Also, you were taking needlessly too long steps. There are a few ways how to improve your speed. One is increasing step frequency and another one is increasing step length. I hope I won't offend you by saying this but you aren't the tallest individual and your legs are quite short. You were trying to make your step length too big which slowed your step frequency. In your case, it's much better to focus on step frequency rather than step length." I explained with a smile.
"...I see, thank you for being honest with me, Walker-kun!" Mii-chan nodded in understanding with a determined expression to improve her shortcomings
"7th groups of 1st-years males, please gather at the track for the hurdle race in the next 2 minutes" Announcement came through the speakers.
"Looks like It's my turn once again" I said with a smile and got up from my seat, glad that soon I will leave this awkward atmosphere, even though it got slightly better after the small talk with Mii-chan but Kei was weirdly glaring at me the entire time.
"Are you really sure about this? Isn't this too much of a burden for you?" Mii-chan asked with a worried expression and puppy eyes.
Kei who was weirdly looking at me and Mii-chan immediately stopped once she heard her words and guilty expression appeared on her face, she began looking downward with a sad-guilty expression.
An awkward atmosphere immediately changed into a tense one.
"Heh" I chuckled hearing her words and both of them looked at me in surprise.
"Who do you think I am? I haven't been lying when I was talking about my past how I've spent a portion of my life outside of civilization in the mountains. If I wouldn't be able to take care of this simple and small sports festival then my Master would make another scar to form the letter 'X' on my back so he could make fun of me." I jokingly said with a confident smile and my chin held high together with my thumb pointing at my heart.
"Hihi, that's not a very nice joke, please don't speak about such horrible things again." Mii-chan giggled and even though she complained about the joke, it still brought the smile on her face.
"Hehe" Even Kei, whose mood wasn't the best for some reason, laughed a bit while covering her mouth with her hand.
I threw one last confident smile at them and then left the tent to get ready. At that time, I still had no idea that once I've left, a heated discussion started inside the tent.
...
"Huh? Hi Walker-kun, what's the matter? Did someone from your class withdraw from the sports festival?" Kanzaki greeted me even though he looked puzzled to see me once again on the track even though I have already competed in the hurdle race.
"Hello, Kanzaki-kun. That's right, that person wasn't feeling well so he was forced to quit." I replied while getting ready for the race.
"I see, that's unfortunate... Let's do our best!" Kanzaki said with a sympathetic expression but that quickly turned to determined one when he looked at me, perhaps he remembered how fast I am.
"Sure...It seems that even Katsuragi-kun is in this group, hello there" I replied to Kazuki and when I noticed Katsuragi who just arrived at the track, I greeted him with pity in my eyes. Not because he is against me but because he still has no idea how badly he is losing to Sakayanagi.
He is an extremely cautious individual who always proceeds after thinking through everything but that's also his shortcoming. Him being too careful is keeping him away from any risks. There are no real profits without any risks. Pretty funny how I am "praising" him yet he got outsmarted by Ryuen.
"Greetings. It seems that your class is facing a few problems since you are already here for the second time." Katsuragi replied with an apathetic smile, clueless of my pity in my eyes.
It seems that he was feeling indifferent about my presence, maybe even slightly glad since me substituting for someone means less stamina for me in the next contests.
"Well, good luck you two!" Kanzaki said and got ready on the course right next to me while Katsuragi was 2 courses away from me.
Well, by what I have observed, Kanzaki should be faster than Katsuragi and his body is also more fit for the hurdle race than Katsuragi's large body.
I looked around at people who were with us in this group. I seems that Class B once again take 2nd place...That's not good.
Although everything goes according to my expectations, I don't want Class B to be so close to us. I guess I will use those things I have stuffed in my pockets before joining the other students at the dawn. This was more like an assurance if someone tried to play dirty but I guess I will be the one who starts, haha. Oopsie.
"Ready!" The referee shouted through the megaphone and we got into positions
There are no actual cameras directed at the track, there are only 2 cameras directed at the finish line. This will be easier than I thought.
"Set!"
...
"Go!" When the referee signaled the start of the race, all of us darted off and it quickly became 3 men battle. Consisting of me, Katsuragi and Kanzaki. This time, I ran much slower to actually see what was happening and how much faster Kanzaki was compared to Katsuragi. The gap between them wasn't much but it was visible that Katsuragi had no chance of catching up if nothing happened on Kanzaki's side...hehe.
I will have to time it well...Although there are no cameras directed on us, I still don't want to appear too suspicious plus it can also be used as a sort of training. I thought while jumping over the hurdle and observing those two in front of me.
Last 40 meters...
The next hurdle is probably my last chance to do this, thankfully the timing will be perfect, now it only depends on my capability.
I focused portion of my mind solely on my eyes and when I blinked, a yellow glittering circle appeared around my pupils.
Let's test how precise these eyes can be. I thought with an amused expression.
When I prepared myself to jump over the next hurdle, something small and glittering has "fallen" out of my pocket during my flight and when I was about to take next step to continue running, I have "accidentally" kicked into that thing which was still in the air when I have jumped over the hurdle.
The thing flew away from me towards Kazuki's direction in a pretty fast motion, too fast for anyone to notice it, at most they could see glittering light.
"?! Ugh!" Kazuki who was about to jump over the hurdle in front of him felt a sudden pain or discomfort in his Achilles tendon, completely changing his expression. He still tried to jump over the hurdle even though he was slowed down by the sudden discomfort. Unfortunately, this small interruption slowed him too much and the space between him and the hurdle also wasn't a perfect one, resulting in him tripping over the hurdle with his second leg.
Katsuragi noticed the strange situation, however, this was the competition and there was no place for sympathy so he pushed himself even further to accelerate his speed even more. Not to mention that he probably thought that it was Kanzaki's own fault that caused him to trip over.
I also passed Kanzaki and accelerated to catch up with Katsuragi.
I spared a quick glance behind me and saw Kanzaki with a surprised and confused expression at the same time. Nevertheless, he still quickly got up and chased after us, leaving no chance for others to take advantage of his misfortune.
Sorry Kanzaki, I have nothing against you personally, it was simply your misfortune to in the same group as me while being an athletic person. You can also blame Katsuragi for not being fast enough, hehe. I inwardly apologized to him out of respect since he has never done anything bad to me or anyone close to me.
I also made sure not to cause him any agonizing pain. I doubt that it even hurt him, he probably just felt a pain similar to small sting or discomfort but that was enough to slow him down.
When we were 10 meters away from the finishing line, I overtook Katsuragi and snatched the first place in front of his eyes.
Kanzaki arrived soon after us, obtaining the 3rd place for his class.
"A- are you alright?" Katsuragi asked with a ragged breath.
"Y- yeah, I think I am fine. I just felt a sudden and small pain but it was enough to interrupt the entire momentum I built during the run.
"You should go and let yourself be checked by medics" I advised him after taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, I will do that. Nevertheless, it was a good race, you two! See you later!" Kanzaki waved at us and left the track towards his tent. I guess he will first report to Ichinose although I doubt he needs to do that, she must have been watching the entire time.
I said my goodbyes to Katsuragi too and left for my own tent with slightly more tired expression than before the race.
I am sweating a bit after such a small race but I guess it's due to using my eyes the way I am not experienced. Maybe it was also due to this unusually uncomfortable hot weather. Although I am much more resistant and tolerant to the weather than other people, it definitely doesn't mean that it doesn't make me uncomfortable. Not to mention my fairly long hair compared to the other boys.
The next event is the Capture-the-Flag, I guess that will be much more fun than running on the track, hehe.
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Felix9713 Sorry guys for the delay but my school resumed and there are simply days when I have absolutely no time to write.
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