'Though it probably won't happen. It's a 1 in 30 chance after all. It's unlikely that Fumiko will get picked as 1 of the 2 participants in the relay event…' I naively thought to myself, thinking that such a coincidence would be impossible.
However, I would soon be proven wrong, as right after the afternoon classes ended, the four participants would meet up to make a schedule for practice.
Currently, I am heading to the meeting place alongside Ikeda, which will be in the school field.
After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the meeting place. Though it was still empty, so me and Ikeda had to wait for a bit.
But finally, after 15 minutes, the other 2 members arrived.
As the two walked closer, I realised that my worst nightmare had come true. Fumiko is in our team.
But that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part is the guy walking next to her. It's the school prince, Watanabe Itsuki.
"Oh? Are you two the ones that are going to be our teammates this year?" The school prince said, walking closer to us.
"Yup, that's right. My name is Ikeda Kento. Nice to meet you!" Ikeda said, extending his hand towards Itsuki.
"Likewise. My name is Watanbe Itsuki." Itsuki responded. Also extending his hands forward, they shook their hands.
"Oh, by the way, this guy right here is called Inoue Haruki. He doesn't talk much, but he's nice… I think."
"Oi, what do you mean by that?"
"Ahahaha, is that so? Quite the opposite from the past, huh?" Itsuki said while laughing.
I didn't really care much about his laughter, but there was something that he said which caught my ears.
"Inoue-kun's past?" Fumiko asked in a low voice.
That's what caught my attention. Fumiko-san also noticed what he said. Though I guess because of that, she let her guard down a little.
"Hm? 'Inoue-kun'? Are you perhaps already acquainted with him, Sakurai-san?"
It seems like Itsuki caught wind of what Fumiko said, immediately asking her about it. Thankfully, Fumiko-san was quick to respond.
"Ah, of course not. Please let me introduce myself. My name is Sakurai Fumiko, nice to meet you, Ikeda-san, Inoue-san."
"Nice to meet you too! Sakurai-san!"
"Yes, nice to meet you too, Ikeda-san. You too, Inoue-san."
"Likewise. Though, I heard something weird earlier." I said, looking towards Itsuki.
"Hm? What is it?" Itsuki asked.
"What exactly did you mean by 'my past'?"
"Oh? That? Didn't you know? I'm the son of Watanabe Ken. The guy working with your dad."
"Eh? You're Uncle Ken's son?"
"Oh? It seems like you're quite close. Yes, I am that old man's son. He talks about you a lot, you know? Also, I'm pretty sure we already met back then. You don't remember me?"
"Nope, I barely remember anything from my childhood. I'm easy to forget things."
"Really? What a shame, then. By the way, why are your bangs so long? It's hiding your face. You were pretty handsome back then. I wonder why you're not dressing up more? Your face is going to waste, you know?" Itsuki said, disappointed, as he tried reaching out to my bangs and pulling them up.
I quickly stopped his arms by holding onto it.
"Sorry, I don't like it when people touch either my hair or my face."
Itsuki, realising he made a mistake, quickly backed down, pulling his arms back, though he was unable to do so until I released it from my grasps.
"…You're quite strong, Inoue-san. That'll be helpful for our activities."
"Thanks, though I don't think my hands will be any help during a relay run. However, they have plenty of other uses too." I told him, while forming a fist with my hands.
Realising the mood around us was worsening, Ikeda took a step forward and tried to stop us.
"I think that's enough joking around, guys. We should probably start our practice soon, no?"
"Ah yes, that's right." Itsuki responded so.
As expected of Ikeda, he could calm the situation down instantly.
"But today is just the meeting day. Our true practice will start tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll be choosing the arrangement for who'll go first and so on. After that, we'll probably just keep running every day after class for 4 days."
Itsuki already took on the initiative of being the group leader. I hate those people the most, but oh well, he's qualified enough, so I won't complain.
But anyhow, after that, Itsuki quickly left as he had other matters to deal with. Soon after, Sakurai followed, until only I and Ikeda were left.
After that, me and Ikeda laid down on a patch of grass, trying to cool ourselves down from what just happened
"…That was quite the intense fight you had there with the school prince huh…"
"Yeah…"
"I won't ask you about the "past" he mentioned since I know you wouldn't like that."
"Thanks… Hey Ikeda."
"Sup?"
"…Lately, I've been calling you by your last name again…"
"Ah."
"Sorry about that."
"…No, don't worry about it. Even Hina calls me by my last name most of the time. Her reason was that it 'Sounds cooler'."
"Ahahaha, well, it's kind of true…"
"So yeah, don't worry about it dude, I'm already used to it."
"Thanks…"
"No problem…"
We laid down for a couple more minutes, just staying silent.
"Ikeda…"
"Hm?"
"We should probably go home now."
"Yeah…"
"But it's too relaxing, laying down in grass during a breezy weather."
"True…"
"Could we stay here for a couple more minutes?"
"Sure."
"Nice."
I want to relax as much as I could right now. Because Immediately after going back home, I'll have to talk to Sakurai about what happened today…