Sato was walking through the school corridors when her eyes met those of a boy.
His unusual dark golden eyes stood out beneath his medium-length dark hair.
Tall and lean, he raised a hand in greeting as he walked over to her.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, Inoue!"
The two began walking together.
"I saw you training yesterday afternoon while I was practising... you set a new personal best. Congratulations!"
"Thank you! Every day, I feel like I can do even better."
Inoue smiled and looked ahead.
"Same here. Out of all the first-years, I recorded the best long jump."
Sato smiled back.
"Great job!"
"Though I doubt it'll be enough to make it through the selection trials..."
"I think so too. Our senpai are really strong."
"Yeah... they're practically professional athletes by now."
Inoue fell silent for a few moments.
"Speaking of senpai... I heard one of yours suffered a serious injury."
Sato turned to him.
"You mean Senpai Ito?"
"Exactly. She completely ruptured her Achilles tendon, right?"
"Yes. During a start training session, she must've pushed too hard under load... then, all of a sudden, her tendon gave way."
A worried look spread across Inoue's face.
"That must've been awful..."
Sato's expression darkened as well.
"It was... She screamed in pain for several minutes. We were all in shock."
"Where is she now?"
"I'm not sure. Probably at one of the hospitals affiliated with the school, where she'll have surgery."
"It usually takes at least six months to recover... but in sports like ours, it can easily take as long as twelve."
Sato nodded firmly.
"I know. But Senpai is strong. She's the best 100-metre sprinter this school has had in the last ten years. I'm sure this injury won't be the end of her career."
"I really hope so..."
The two stopped in front of a classroom door.
"This is my class. Are you training with us today?"
"Yep. See you later!"
"See you!"
Inoue stepped into the classroom, while Sato continued down the corridor.
[After class]
Sato was in the middle of her training session.
She slowly lowered her hips into the "set" position.
Her fingers dug into the red track as her breathing grew shallow.
Every muscle in her body trembled, suspended between tension and the explosive start to come.
Then came the coach's whistle.
Sato exploded out of the starting blocks and sprinted as fast as she could, crossing the finish line moments later.
She came to a stop, bent over as she caught her breath, before looking up.
A short distance ahead, a girl in training gear lowered the stopwatch in her hand as she checked the time.
"12.50 seconds!"
The girls from the athletics club broke into applause.
"Great job!"
"Keep it up!"
The coach walked over to Sato.
"Excellent run. You were only a fraction away from beating yesterday's personal best."
Sato smiled at her.
"Thank you, Coach!"
"Just one thing... I noticed you looked a little fatigued over the final metres. Are you getting enough rest? Or have you been pushing yourself too hard in training?"
Sato gave a sheepish smile, fully aware that she had overdone it.
"I'll be more careful..."
The coach gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You're incredibly talented. You have a bright future ahead of you, but don't try to rush the process."
"Okay..."
"I'm glad you understand."
She then turned away.
"Next!"
As she walked, she noticed four boys entering the athletics area, looking around as if they were searching for someone.
"Can I help you?"
They were Riccardo, Kaneko, Noguchi, and Aoyama.
Kaneko stepped forward, followed by the others.
"Good morning. We're here on behalf of Coach Ishii. He asked us to borrow two of your weighted training sleds."
The coach's eyes widened slightly.
"Coach Ishii..."
The girls from the athletics club also turned to look at the group.
"Who are those guys?"
"No idea, but that boy..."
One of them pointed at Riccardo.
"He's really handsome!"
"He's not from around here... could he be that Italian-Japanese boy who got in through a recommendation?"
Sato recognized him immediately.
It's him...
"Recommendation or not, he's seriously good-looking... I'm almost tempted to ask him out!"
The other girls burst into laughter.
Noguchi and Aoyama noticed the scene and shot Riccardo an unenthusiastic look.
He noticed it too and simply shrugged, as if to say there was nothing he could do about it.
The coach let out a sigh.
"Alright, I understand. The sleds are over there—we were using them just a little while ago."
She pointed toward the equipment.
The four boys gave a small bow.
"Thank you!"
They walked over to the sleds.
"Are you sure you can carry them all the way to the football pitch by yourselves?" the coach asked.
Kaneko gave her a confident smile.
"Don't worry. We've got it."
Noguchi and Aoyama evenly distributed the weight plates between the two sleds.
Then Noguchi and Kaneko lifted the first one, while Aoyama and Riccardo picked up the second as though it weighed almost nothing.
The coach and the girls could only stare in amazement.
What kind of strength do they have...?
"Thanks again! We'll bring them back as soon as we're done!"
Sato watched them walk away with the equipment.
I wonder what kind of training they're about to do...
[After hours]
On the football pitch, the players were taking turns in an exercise that was pushing them to their limits.
They had to drag a sled loaded with weights from the halfway line to the edge of the penalty area, then immediately sprint to meet a cross from a teammate and finish on goal.
Riccardo pulled the sled all the way to the target point with enormous effort, then burst into the box as Ueno delivered a precise cross.
He jumped and met the ball with his head, sending it into the net.
But, completely drained, instead of landing on his feet, he crashed heavily onto the ground.
Coach Ishii clapped in satisfaction.
"Good! Now go and take the next cross!"
Riccardo forced himself back up and walked over to the ball set by Coach Suzuki.
What kind of training is this...?
Coach Ishii turned his attention to Tanaka.
"Last one!"
Tanaka began dragging the sled, but after only a few metres he stopped, dropping to his knees.
It's the tenth time we've done this exercise... I can't go on anymore!
Coach Ishii's whistle cut sharply through the air.
"Tanaka, keep going!"
"I can't!"
The coach shot him a piercing look.
"Either you finish the drill, or you run ten laps around the pitch!"
Tanaka somehow found a second wind.
Ten laps of the field no!
He dragged the sled all the way to the edge of the box, then threw himself forward as Riccardo delivered the cross.
He tried to reach the ball with a sliding finish but missed it by just a few centimetres.
He remained lying on the ground, gasping for air.
Not far away, Riccardo also let himself drop into a seated position on the grass.
Coach Ishii observed his players, all completely exhausted.
"Good. You all look suitably fatigued. That's enough for today. Put everything away!"
Then he pointed at Riccardo, Kaneko, Noguchi, and Aoyama.
"You four, return the sleds and weights to the athletics area."
The four of them visibly stiffened.
They walked over to the sleds.
Riccardo and Kaneko reached for the same one at the same time.
Kaneko shot him a hostile look.
"I'd rather carry it myself."
Riccardo gave him a forced smile.
"Fine."
He stepped back without saying anything else, while Kaneko continued to glare at him.
Noguchi walked over.
"I'll give you a hand."
Moments later, Kinoshita also arrived and began removing the weights from the sled.
"We'll help too."
On the other side, Riccardo and Aoyama lifted the second sled, while Aoki took charge of the weights.
With the sun now almost set, the group slowly crossed the school courtyard.