The time is 4:05 pm. Me and Kento arrived 5 minutes later than the decided meeting time because of our class going overtime. So as we walked towards the decided meeting place, which is placed on the right side of the School Field, we noticed Fumiko and Itsuki sitting on different benches…
'Uwaa… that looks awkward…' I thought to myself, as we continued approaching the two.
As you would expect, Kento was the one who kick-started the conversation.
"Yo! What's up everyone."
"Oh, Ikeda right?"
"Yup! Sorry we're late, our teacher ended the class late."
"Yeah, no problem."
Ignoring the exchange between the two, I looked at Fumiko, who stayed silent the whole time since we came here.
While using her phone, she took a quick glance at me, only to turn away after our eyes met.
'I kinda feel bad for her now...'
"Well then, shall we start?"
Itsuki said, looking towards me and Sakurai.
"Start what?"
"Picking the order in the relay race."
Itsuki responded to my question, elaborating further on his plans.
He wants the order to be from the slowest to the fastest. Meaning, the fastest should be the one doing the final sprint.
I didn't really think the order matters, but I just agreed since he's the leader now.
Luckily, there already is a mark for a 100-meter run in the school field since the school holds some actual competition sometimes, so we decided to use it to test our speed.
We proceeded to head towards the 100-meter sprint area.
"Alright then, let's start."
Itsuki took the initial and was the first one to try the 100 meter race.
He finished the track in 14 seconds. Pretty good, I thought.
Next was Ikeda, who finished the track in 17 seconds. He looked quite disappointed when he found out his time...
Third was Fumiko-san. She ran a total of 20 seconds before finishing the track…
Well, I guess that's average… probably.
In any case, it's now my turn to run. Itsuki set up time timer and—
"Go!"
I put as much strength as I could into my foot to get a good start.
I actually competed to something like this in my first grade of middle school, so I have a good idea on how to do a decent sprint start.
The longer I ran, the more it feels like time is slowing down.
At last, I reached the finish line, feeling that it had taken me an eternity to finish such a small distance, but in reality…
"No way! 10.5 seconds!"
"Isn't that only a few milliseconds longer than the current world record? …"
Ikeda and Fumiko said, respectively.
Of course, I was also surprised by this. My record in middle school was 11 seconds after all. But if 11 seconds is that close to the world record… Perhaps that was the reason they wanted to recruit me into the track and field team so badly…
Oh well, not my problem anymore.
"You're pretty amazing, Inoue-kun."
Itsuki declared, approaching me.
"Thanks, I guess you never really saw my speed since we were only classmates in elementary school."
Overhearing our conversation, Ikeda joined in, asking a question.
"Hm? You guys were classmates?"
"Yeah, we were friends in elementary. Though that was such a long time ago, you can barely call us friends nowadays."
Itsuki replied, laughing it off.
"Also, about the past, Inoue-san. I was wondering if we can talk about that later?"
"Hm? Sure."
Confused, I just said yes to Itsuki's request. I was also hoping to talk to him, so it's not really a bother.
While the two of us talked, I heard Ikeda making a joking with Fumiko.
"Seems like we're the only ones not acquainted to more than one in this group, huh?"
"Ah… yes."
Fumiko awkwardly replied to Ikeda's joke, as you would expect.
'Ironic isn't it.'
Later on that day, Itsuki proposed the order we'll be running in the actual event. First will be Ikeda, next will be Itsuki, third is Fumiko and I'll be the last one.
I asked him about the order and why he changed it from slowest to fastest to the order he chose now.
"Well, if me and Sakurai somehow don't make contact, some girls will go crazy."
"Eh? Why?"
"Shippers dude. They go too far, I just want to avoid that hell again…"
Itsuki shivered, remembering past events I have no knowledge of… Well, I can imagine it though.
"Sounds tough."
"Yeah."
He said, walking past me, whispering something to my ears at the last second.
"I can see why you chose to be a loner now."
Stunned by what he said, I took a glance towards him. But he didn't care as he walked straight, not moving his head a bit.
After that, we practiced for a few more minutes till Sakurai ran out of stamina.
"Seems like Sakurai isn't doing very well physically, huh."
Ikeda muttered, while looking at the light-headed Fumiko.
Soon, Itsuki spoke up about Fumiko too.
"Hey Inoue, can you help Sakurai go home?"
"Eh? Why me?"
"Well… she seems most comfortable around you, perhaps because you don't really gather any attention. She sticks close to you too, no? She's been doing that every time we get a break from jogging."
"Ah…"
'So he noticed…'
"…Alright then, I'll make sure she gets home safely."
"Great."
Itsuki then walked to Fumiko.
"Sakurai-san, please tell Inoue about your home. He may look unreliable, but he's actually pretty trustworthy."
Itsuki told Fumiko, but Fumiko dizzily responded with-
"Yeah… I know…"
"You know?"
"Ahahaha, let's go now, shall we, Sakurai?"
"Eh?"
Hurriedly, I cut the conversation between Itsuki and Fumiko before it got any worse.
'He's totally suspicious now.' I thought, while me and Fumiko walked towards the school gate as I order a taxi on my phone.
5 minutes after I called for one, the taxi arrives. Me and Sakurai enters, and I told the driver the location of our home.
"Wah, another tiring day." I exhaled, not minding Fumiko, who's sitting to my left.
Though, it didn't seem like I had to mind, since right after we entered the car, Sakurai fell asleep.
Can't really blame her, though. She probably hasn't exercised much, having a sudden exercise must be tiring.
Thinking nothing of it, I opened my phone and browsed the web.
But as I was occupying myself with my phone, I felt something soft touching my shoulder.
It was Fumiko's cheeks; she has fallen asleep on my shoulders.
I tried not minding it, but I couldn't help myself but to take a glance.
She was still sweating from the practice, so her blouse was slightly see through.
Her blazers were in her bag since she took it off for the practice.
As expected, her sweat made her clothes heavy, showing her figure better. Naturally, that also included her chests.
I could hear her heavy breathing from such a small distance, so I couldn't not be conscious of her.
Seeing a sight like this, no high school boy could refuse such a scene.
But I'm not a normal high school boy.
I cleared my mind from such impure thoughts, taking off my blazers and covering Sakurai with it.
I noticed the taxi driver taking glances at Sakurai from time to time, so I had to hide her body, and most importantly, a sudden temperature can impact your immune system, so I made sure to cover her with something.
But after that, the trip ended smoothly.
After arriving home, Fumiko headed straight to her room where she took a rest for 30 minutes.
But as she headed upstairs, I heard her say something in a low voice.
"Thanks, Haruki-kun."