"Aahh!! I really want to beat that PE teacher in his face!"
After venting out the frustration that has been building up in my head, I resumed walking on the rocky terrains alongside Kinoshita and Aki.
"Calm down Kaburagi. It's not like screaming is gonna help us now."
Kinoshita tried to calm me down while simultaneously, giving me a water bottle to refresh myself. I gulped down about a quarter of the content of the bottle as I was really tired.
"Yeah. I'm just reducing the frustration in my mind, that's all."
Aki joined in by saying,
"Don't worry Tenma. I'm holding the same grudge as you in my heart."
Aki's face was becoming scary as she said that. Even Kinoshita seems to agree with Aki. Well, time to lighten up the mood.
"Kinoshita, how much more do we have to walk?"
"About...1 km."
Kinoshita regularly do some jogging in the morning so he had a good gauge about the distance.
Us three were in the middle of the scattered group. Some students went a bit far as they used Mr Komori's punishment as motivation. But the ones who couldn't keep up with them were behind us.
We were neither fast nor slow. We decided to stay in the middle as it is a safe position for us. As long as we weren't last, we didn't have to worry about nothing.
But since we won't gain anything when we will arrive there in the middle position, might as well get something doing this stupid meaningless hiking activity. And I am also wondering, what kind of reward will we get from Mr Komori.
"Hey, how about we do a race?"
"A race? Why?"
"Why? Because it sounds fun."
Aki was worrying over the suggestion I gave. Kinoshita was unfazed but I could see a tinge of happiness from the look of his face. He really wants to do it. Now the problem is Aki.
"What's wrong Aki? Not confident?"
"It's not about that I'm confident but, aren't you guys tired."
Kinoshita shook his head to deny Aki's question. I supported Kinoshita by replying,
"What, did you already run out of gas? Not only do you lack in the academic department, you also lack physical strength."
"Oi! Want me to beat you up right here, right now!"
"Beat me in this race and I'll acknowledge you for having the strength to overcome me."
"Overcome you? I don't see a reason to do that cause I already did it."
"Hooo? You really confident now, aren't you? Then, prove it."
"Alright."
I glanced at Kinoshita who was ready to take part in this challenge. And the two of them took a stance to prepare to run.
"The one to reach the bridge first wins."
Our classmates who were passing by, walking quickly took a peek at us. They thought that we were strange but they didn't bother to stop and look at what's happening.
The ones at the behind were beginning to catch us so they didn't spare the time to know what's going to happen with us.
"On go!"
I also took my stance. Before giving the signal, I sneaked a peek at both of them. They were both pretty excited about this race, especially Kinoshita whose corner of his lips was wide till his ears.
"Three..., two..., one..., and..."
I looked forward, scanning at the path that should be taken for the least difficulty
in terms of mobility.
"Go!"
The soil was projected upwards by our shoes, and the bag containing the necessary contents started to move up and down quickly.
That was the start of the marathon. Aki bolted off ahead of us. Seeing me and Kinoshita behind her, she sneered at us. I shook my head lightly in disbelief.
'This idiot.'
....
About 400 metres left and we were panting heavily. Our clothes were drenched in sweats of our own body. Us three were sitting down on a rock. The hard surface of the rock made my butt feel uncomfortable but I didn't care about that.
"Hah...hah...hah..."
Even Kinoshita, who was used to running 1 km, was breathing heavily. The bag on our backs was making it harder for us to arrive at our destination.
But we don't have to worry about one thing. We've already passed our classmates who were in the top positions.
"Pass it to me."
The water bottle that Kinoshita was drinking, caught Aki's attention. Kinoshita gave it to her unhesitantly before she instantly finished drinking the water.
"Why didn't you left some for me?"
"I was really thirsty, that's why."
"That's your fault for using up your energy at the very start!"
"I'm sorry. Teehee."
She hit her head lightly with her hand and stuck out her tongue while saying that.
'This little...'
"Anyway,... we've got a short distance to cover."
Kinoshita intervened my thought to inform us about our goal.
"Shall we run as fast as we can on this last sprint?"
"...Hmm. Not bad. Then let's go."
"Wait for my signal. And...Go!"
We once again departed to our designated goal. But this time, from the get-go, we leapt forward at a great speed. The dust particles of the soil could be seen in the air behind us due to our shoes. And the start of the second and last race happened
....
The waterfall could be seen afar, and I'm sure that those two have already noticed it. Me and Kinoshita were side by side while Aki was a little bit behind us.
"OORAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
A howl could be heard coming from my mouth. I mustered all of my strength in my legs and sprinted as fast as I could.
Aki and Kinoshita saw me getting a little bit ahead of them. So they also made a last-minute effort to catch up to me.
"Where do you think you are going Tenma!!!!!!"
"You're not escaping from me!!"
Each of them screamed at me as if I'm a criminal and they are trying to catch me. Did they develop a mutual understanding between them about beating me?
"Catch me if you can losers!!"
That one sentence provoked both of them. Their eyes were looking at me with murderous intent.
'Scary!!!'
"You've really gone and said it now!"
Those two were beginning to close the gap steadily. But the bridge was getting closer and closer, meaning the goal is pretty near.
Time was running out for those two. Slowly but surely, they caught up to me. But I won't give up yet. I kept my position consistently until we were like 10 metres from arriving at the bridge.
While running, I caught a glimpse of Kinoshita's face, who was really trying hard to run. His face, covered in sweat, and his eyes focused on his goals.
'...Kinoshita...Really now...'
The bridge was 3 steps from us. After those 3 steps, I stopped with great difficulty as I was running without brake. I sat down and inhaled a great amount of oxygen, and exhaled.
I had to take my time to calm my breathing. After I did that, I then looked at those two. They were pretty much in the same state as me.
We all looked at each other and Aki broke the silence.
"Who...won?"
No one answered her question. Kinoshita didn't know. While we were thinking about it,
"That guy over there won."
A rough voice made our attention turn towards it. The owner of the voice was the one standing near me. And that was Mr Komori Todoh.