It was now Friday after school. There was exactly one week left until sports day began, so maybe that was why everyone seemed just a little more serious during rehearsal.
"C'mon! You can do better than that!"
"Go faster!"
"Don't get tired now! We still have an hour left!"
You could hear cliché shouts like that from all over the field. I didn't judge anyone for doing things like this since they were just trying to get into the school spirit.
But for me personally, these types of things made my skin crawl. So I tried to get as far away from them as possible.
As I was walking around the field, I spotted Yu and his class practicing the relays and sprints.
I didn't care about his class, but I was curious to see how he and Sora were doing.
Yu, the student council president, and a third student—whom I recognized as the soccer team's ace—were lined up for the sprint.
Whoa. I gotta see this.
I blended in with the crowd of nearby students that had gathered to watch the race. It wasn't every day that you got to see a line-up this intense, after all.
As I looked around, I spotted both Luna and Remi nearby, watching with sparkling curiosity.
Just as I was about to walk over to them, a loud countdown pulled my attention back to the race.
"Three! Two! One! Go!"
All three of them shot forward at the same time. From the looks of it, they were almost perfectly even. And that wasn't to say they were slow. All of them were fast—faster than even some college students.
The three of them tore across the field and crossed the finish line almost simultaneously.
"Time!"
The student holding the stopwatch glanced down at it with her hand raised, holding the tension of the crowd.
"The winner is... Yu! With an impressive 10.5 seconds!"
A collective gasp and whispers rippled through the onlookers.
Both Remi and Luna turned toward each other with slight anxiousness in their eyes.
Meanwhile—I couldn't help but let out a chuckle while shaking my head.
Just how much faster have you gotten? Show off.
Yu was always good at every sport he even touched. But I didn't think he was faster than the fastest in our group—Mei—by a whole 0.5 seconds.
Of course, as his friend, I couldn't help but be both proud and amazed. I've known him since we were kids. Seeing him accomplish so much was like seeing my Brother grow up right in front of me.
But, as a rival, I felt something else. A burning desire in my chest that grew stronger by the second.
...I want to go against you.
But I knew better. Racing with all these people watching wasn't something I wanted to do.
I turned toward Yu, burning the last of my competitiveness into him.
He lifted the collar of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his forehead. I heard onlookers in the background as he did.
It was only one run, yet he was already drenched.
Yeah... that hasn't changed either.
As if feeling my gaze, Yu's eyes suddenly snapped toward the crowd. His gaze moved across the spectators one by one until it landed on me. His expression hardened—just slightly—but the smile on his face widened.
Slowly, he raised his hand and pointed directly at me.
I felt my eye twitch—but a grin crept up my face.
...You've got to be kidding me.
His mouth opened, but before he could say anything, Luna stepped forward.
"Man!" she said while scratching her head and laughing out loud. "You're a lot faster than the last time we raced!"
"Of course I am!" Yu shot back with a cocky grin. "The last time we raced was before the third year started. I'm just saying, I've become the captain of the basketball team since then."
"Whoaaa, is that so?"
Luna acted surprised, but both she and I should already have known this. He always brags about it—and rightfully so.
Suddenly, a mischievous, yet competitive smirk crept up Luna's face. "Then, do you wanna race? For old times' sake." Her eyes flickered in my direction as she asked.
My face paled, and an overwhelming urge to smack my own head surged through me.
You–
You did this on purpose.
You're forcing a race between the three of us.
Before things could get worse, I turned around and started walking away. That is—until someone grabbed the collar of my shirt from behind. Yanking me back so hard I nearly choked.
"Sorry, but Luna told me to come fetch you."
I froze. It was... Remi's voice.
Wow. Are you telling me she actually thought this far ahead?
Remi—the one who was supposed to be the rule-follower of the group—literally dragged me onto the track and shoved me toward the starting line, where Yu and Luna were waiting.
I stumbled for a moment before regaining my balance. Then, I turned to Luna. "You… set me up, didn't you?" I hissed.
Luna enacted an overdramatic shrug, so much so that I swore I saw a little puff of air exit her mouth. "Huhhhh? What do you mean?"
I felt a vein on my head twitch. There's no use playing dumb! I already know!
Just as I was about to lecture her, a voice cut in between the three of us.
"Okay, you guys can start at any time."
I turned around. Remi was standing at the starting line, stopwatch already in hand. There really was no more escape.
Just as I was about to sigh, Yu walked over and slapped my back lightly.
"C'mon! It's just a race for fun. It's nothing too serious."
I couldn't help but scoff.
If there was one thing I knew about this group, it was that none of us ever played just for "fun." We only played to win.
I couldn't even remember the last time we did something without a bet or some kind of competition attached to it. At the very least, our pride was always on the line. And that was far worse.
"Fine," I grumbled, turning away from him. "Just this once."
Yu's grin widened. "Perfect! I may not be able to race against you during the relay, but at least I can do it here!"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
The three of us lined up at the starting line.
Luna crouched low, both hands pressed against the ground, eyes locked onto the finish line.
Exhibit A. This is clearly not casual.
Yu stretched his arms and legs as Remi prepared the timer.
Exhibit B. This is clearly not casual.
Remi raised her arm. "Ready…"
But… I wasn't an exception either.
"Set…"
Exhibit C.
This is clearly not casual.
"G–"
Before she could even finish saying "Go," the moment she uttered the pronunciation, I had bolted toward the finish line.
Luna and Yu staggered for a fraction of a second before chasing after me. Was it cheating? No. I just reacted faster, and they knew that. It was a part of racing.
"O!"
I only had a split-second advantage—but that was enough. When it came to pure speed, I couldn't beat Yu. But reaction time and acceleration? There was hope, at the very least.
Sadly, that didn't apply to relay races. But here... I could go all out.
The field blurred as I sprinted forward.
I didn't look back, but I could already feel Yu and Luna catching up. If this kept up, I wasn't sure if I could actually win against them.
...I guess it still wasn't enough.
The entire sprint lasted barely a blink. The next moment, all three of us crossed the finish line.
Luna collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. By the looks of it, she probably wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
I couldn't help but let out a satisfied snicker.
Heh. Serves you right.
Yu, on the other hand, crouched down, bracing his hands against his knees. That was understandable; he did just run two races back-to-back.
Remi walked toward us with the stopwatch. We all stopped what we were doing and looked up.
She put a hand in front of her mouth and cleared her throat. "And the winner is… Yu. With 10.8 seconds."
It came as no surprise. There was no excuse. He was simply faster than us. That's all.
I glanced at Yu from the corner of my eye. I expected him to look proud. Instead, it seemed as though his smile had been plastered onto his face. Frozen. Unmoving. Like a doll.
He turned toward me and stared me down with a narrowed, piercing gaze.
With a quiet sigh, he walked over until he was inches away. He stopped when he was only a few inches away.
Even though I knew he was there, I kept my back to him.
"I know you slowed down, y'know. I've raced against you long enough to know that much..." He paused. "But what I want to know is... why?"
He said it jokingly. But just like how he knew I slowed down, I knew that he meant it deep down.
I sighed loudly enough for him to hear. "...Because I didn't think it was fair."
His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
I turned around and gave him a calm, steady smile. "If I'm going to beat you, I don't want you to be tired. I want to beat you at your best. That's all there is to it."
I said it with as much seriousness as I could muster.
Yu flinched slightly under the change in demeanour. But he adjusted just as quickly as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.
"Okay, I understand. Then next time, let's have a real race!"
He held out his hand. I looked at it for a brief moment before nodding. "Sure."
I grabbed his hand and gave him a firm, resolute shake. A promise for a true competition.
He smiled brightly at the mere thought of it.
While I...
Lied.
Not about racing him again. That was destined to happen. We were best friends. As long as we are, we'd always compete against each other.
And not wanting to beat him when he was tired wasn't a lie either. There's no pride in beating him when he wasn't giving it his all.
Yet, I couldn't shake off this feeling that I had just told a disgusting lie.