บท 86: #85 Mii-chan
When I arrived at the track, I was already able to see Wang waving at me with a rope in her hand and a happy smile across her face.
Hm? What an absurd change of the mood...Wasn't she still feeling down just a few minutes ago?
I approached her while taking a look at how Ayanokoji and Sakura were doing. To be honest, they weren't fast but they were able to find their common rhythm and overall their synergy wasn't bad. But it would be much better if Sakura wasn't freaking out every now and then...It's pretty obvious from her behavior towards Ayanokoji that she likes him. I wonder if he knows...sometimes even I ask myself if he is just acting dense or if he truly is.
"I've got the rope already, shall we go at the start line?" She asked me in a more cheerful mood than before while showing me the rope in her hard.
"Mm" I nodded at her, however, her change of mood was really puzzling me.
...
We arrived at the starting line.
"So which leg do you want to have tied and which one you want to have free?" I asked her.
"Umm...It probably won't matter..." She answered in really low voice as if she was ashamed of something.
"What was that?" Better play it as I didn't hear her because she said that in a really low voice and I shouldn't have been able to hear it normally.
"That is...I remember your results during the 100-meter dash were pretty good and the thing is...I am not very good at athletics..." She said while looking sideways with a slightly depressed expression, ashamed of the fact that she might drag me down during the race.
So that's the problem...
"Listen-...By the way, how should I call you? Wang-san? I have heard that you have a specific nickname in our class, Mii-chan but that would be probably too intimate...What about Mii-san?" I asked with a puzzled expression, not even bothered by the words that she has said a few seconds ago.
She also noticed my calm demeanor which surprised her but my casual yet unimportant question surprised her even more as she froze staring at my puzzled face for a while before she returned to reality.
"I think we know each other for some time already, so you can call me Mii-chan or Mii-san, whatever you want...But wait, that's not the point. How come you are so much at ease even though I have just said to you that I might slow you down?" She asked me with a surprised yet confused expression while staring into my calm yet indifferent half lid open eyes.
"Okay Mii-chan, I will call you that way if you don't mind since it's a pretty cool nickname. Listen, I haven't chosen to draw my partner because I wanted to be with someone athletic. I chose to draw because I simply don't care about who will be my partner, partly because we will need to build up synergy between us anyway. Building synergy between 2 people can be sometimes very difficult task so I chose to let fate decide if I get a decent partner. You might not be fast on your legs but I bet building synergy with you will be much easier than with someone more athletic." I explained with a small smile.
"...I- thank you!" She looked to be in awe of my casual words before deeply bowing to me.
Huh?
"Stop that...let's just get started, I will tie up my right leg with your left one, is that alright with you?" I urged her to start practicing because I was slightly confused about why she was showing me such gratitude and I had no idea how to react to it.
"Fine by me!" She said aloud with much more confidence and in a cheerful mood, seeing her smile I knew that she already has some trust in me so finding the same rhythm with her will be much easier.
Of course, I could also just adapt to her speed with my superior mind and body. I would be able to run at the exact same speed after observing her for a bit but that's not what I want to do. That's something I will have to use somewhere else, here, I can build up trust between us and connect our movement together. It's a much harder task but why not try it out? I am quite curious about how will she fare in this contest.
We both crouched down and I tied up our legs together, my right leg, and her left leg.
"And...done, how about we take it easy at first?" After I was done tieing up our legs, I raise my head and looked sideways to ask her.
"Ah! Yeah, sure!" She immediately opened her eyes wide when she noticed my face being so close, she started to blush and immediately agreed to hide that fact.
Our faces were indeed extremely close to each other and unfortunately, I forgot about that fact.
I hope this event won't worsen the teamwork between us...
"Alright, let's start at a slow pace" I said and took the lead by starting the slow jog.
She was easily able to keep up without any problems, however, there were times where she almost stumbled over because she was having slight problem with keeping the same pace, she was either going too fast or too slow.
When we were halfway through the track, she actually stumbled over and almost fallen on her face if not for me catching her by her shoulder.
"I- I am sorry..." She said, not daring to look straight me in the eyes. Her expression suggested that she was feeling down, she was probably thinking of herself as nothing more than a burden.
Not good, she losing confidence and her mood is worsening...but I think it's still possible if I can cheer her up a bit...
"Don't apologize, just keep jogging while looking straight before you without any unnecessary thoughts in your mind. It seems that you have problems with your balance and keeping a steady pace, how about we put our arms over each other's shoulder? This way you can have a better balance and it might even help you keep a stable pace." Although I knew that such a gesture would be probably unacceptable for most of the girls, however, this was the best way how to improve our synergy.
Our contact was already too intimate so I wouldn't be surprised if she simply refused but in that case, I would be forced to use the other strategy.
"Huh?! W-what?" She asked with an almost horrified expression.
Figured as much, let's try to make her more comfortable with me and if that also fails then I will be forced to use the strategy I previously wanted to use.
"*sigh* Look at me..." I said while looking right into her eyes.
She looked at me, however, her eyes were avoiding mine.
*sigh* This girl...I don't know what to think about her innocent vibes she is giving off...It's slightly annoying but on the other hand, it's refreshing to see someone like her.
I should help her slightly but not to appear too forceful.
I looked around us and most of the students were either doing their best not to trip over or arguing with their partner.
Heh, there is no way that anyone is paying attention to what we are doing...
"Don't be afraid, look right into my eyes" I said with a calm smile and helped her a little by slightly raising her chin to make eye contact with her.
"Huh?!!" At first, when I touched her chin, she was panicking a lot because our faces were really close to each other and she probably thought that I was trying to do something. However, when she stared into my tranquil eyes with no ill intent hidden inside them, she calmed down and continued to stare even after I let go of her chin.
Huh? Do my eyes have the power to brainwash someone? I jokingly thought when I saw her intense never-ending stare.
---
'What kind of eyes are they? It almost looks like there are no emotions within them, just a pure red color that looks threatening yet calming at the same time. I can't see any hidden intent inside them...does he truly just want to help me? I've never understood the real meaning of the "strong eyes" but seeing these eyes completely enlighted me. They don't dart nervously, they keep a strong and steady position without any wavering. He is practically letting me see what he feels yet I can't see anything except for calmness.' Mii-chan thought while being enchanted by Felix's eyes.
---
"Hey! You fine?" I gently shook her shoulder because even though I was joking with that brainwashing thing, it was slowly getting scary.
"Huh? Yeah..." She finally woke up and replied to me, still, with a slightly absent-minded expression.
"So...what do you want to do?" I asked her with a smile.
Before answering me she looked around us to see how others are faring but when she saw that disaster except for a few people, she bit her lower lip.
"I-...let's try what Walker-kun suggested!" She turned back to me and answered with a resolute expression that already told me that I succeeded.
Hearing her answer, a wide grin immediately appeared on my face.
"Good! Let's show everyone how it's done. We will set an example for everyone." I said with a confident and reassuring smile.
"Yep!" She nodded with a resolute expression and a competitive smile.
Fuu, the hardest part is behind us.
We put our arms around each other's shoulders to gain a better balance. Although it probably sounds absurd, more intimacy usually means a better connection with that person.
Both of us started to slowly jog keeping the same pace as before, however, this time she had no problem with keeping the steady pace and whenever she was slowing down a bit, I helped her by nudging her with my hand on her shoulder.
We quickly picked up the pace and we easily overtook the pairs that were faring much better than others.
"What the hell? How can they run so fast without slowing each other down?!" The pair we just overtook exclaimed in disbelief.
Well, we are not going at a particularly fast pace but I guess we are fastest among all pairs here.
We were still speeding up and finally, we even overtook the first pair, Sakura and Ayanokoji. These two were doing pretty good despite Sakura's behavior around Ayanokoji, however, it wasn't enough to overtake me and Mii-chan.
We kept running without any major problems until we arrived at the end line.
"Hihi, we did it, Walker-kun!" She shouted, showing off all the happiness she was feeling at the moment. She even went for the double high five.
This scene left me a bit baffled, her being so happy from winning one race which wasn't even officially a competition. However despite being caught off-guard by her reaction, I still quickly went for that double high five she wanted with a confident smirk on my face.
I turned to the side and saw everyone's shocked, surprised and baffled faces.
"That was amazing you two!" Hirata and Onodera immediately caught up with us and Hirata exclaimed with a still surprised face.
"Oh...thank you Hirata-kun." Mii-chan's mood worsened a bit when she saw Hirata together with Onodera, however, she still accepted his praise with a smile.
"I don't recall you two talking to each other that often yet your teamwork is otherworldly. Walker-kun, maybe you were right with your luck, haha" Hirata immediately laughed aloud, happy with this development.
He knew that this was our first try at three-legged race yet we were pretty fast...He must be imagining how fast we will become after a longer practice.
Hearing his words, Mii-chan had a bit complicated expression, it was impossible to tell what she was feeling right now.
I nudged her with my elbow to get her attention.
"*Say something in reply...You won't have a chance with him if you won't become bolder*" I whispered and Hirata looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"*...No, it's alright like this*" She whispered back while looking downward, however, I noticed that there was a genuine smile on her face so I decided against pushing her.
It's her choice...Normally, I wouldn't bother myself with this small thing but one could say that she made me...proud? Is that the right word? Simply said...she deserves some kind of reward for putting a lot of effort into our teamwork. Even if that reward is something silly like that...as long as it makes her happy then it's a good reward no matter how stupid the reward is.
"Hirata-kun, let's go back to practice." Onodera suggested with a shy smile while staring at Hirata's face.
"Alright, see you two after class. Keep up the good work!" He said with his encouraging smile and waved at us before leaving with Onodera.
"Are you okay, with this development?" I asked while both of us were watching their backs.
"...Yeah, I think I am." This time she answered with a much stronger voice.
You think?
"Shall we get back to practice too?" She stopped watching their backs and turned at me with a bright smile.
"Mm" I nodded my head and we began walking back to the starting line.
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Felix9713
Felix9713 Maybe this is an unnecessary chapter with many unnecessary things but...I simply like Mii-chan so I had to do it, this is my own wish fulfillment.
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