{Shoya Sasaki's POV:}
14th of October came and it was finally time for our school sports festival.
"Hey, Shoya, what are you doing again?"
My friend, Kachi, asked.
"I'm doing three events. Tug of war, hurdles and 4x100 mixed relay. What about you?"
"Wow, three events? I'm doing only the Tug of war."
"Hey, at least we can assist each other."
Kachi smiled.
"Yeah."
We high-fived each other.
First up was single events.
Things like tug of war and the mixed relay would be after lunch.
I was in the second class, Anastasia and Kuro were in the third class and Akane was in the first class.
My hurdles event is the fourth event.
Long jump is first, then the 100m run, 200m run, shotput and hurdles. There are some more like javelin but they're for after.
Oh, Kuro's up first. I thought she was doing javelin.
Or was that Akane?
Anyway, it seemed like first-years go first for single events.
She began running and in a matter of seconds, she reached the end of the runway and leapt into the air. Kuro landed a little more than halfway into the sand pit.
I could tell she held back.
Kuro repeated this two more times and the last one was her best score. She clearly didn't want anyone to beat her score.
When she finishes up, she came over to me.
"Shoya!"
She waved.
I waved back.
"Hey, Kuroika."
Kachi said.
"Yo!"
The girl greeted him back.
"So, you didn't want anyone beating you, huh?"
"You know me. Of course, I could've gone the whole length..."
"The whole length?!"
Kachi repeated, surprised.
His reaction didn't surprise me that much.
"This is the exact sandpit they use in the Olympics! Just getting anywhere near an Olympic score is amazing but no high schooler has jumped the whole length..."
"Kachi."
I called out.
"I think she's exaggerating."
He stared at me blankly.
"Y-yeah, right. You're right. There's no way you could actually jump the whole length, right, Kuroika?"
Kuro looked at me before answering.
"Yeah, sorry for scaring you, a total joke."
She lied, sticking her tongue out and scratching her head.
After a few more events, my time doing hurdles came.
I began doing static stretches on my arms and legs. Soon enough, the guy with the gun told up that we had to get ready.
"Today!"
"Hm?"
Hearing a shout, I turned to my left. A guy was pointing at me for some reason.
"I shall defeat you, Shoya Sasaki!"
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
When I asked that, he froze. Surprisingly, the guy recovered quickly.
He cleared his throat.
"Of course, ever since we got into middle school, we've been in different classes! That's why my name has temporarily exited your mind!"
Why is he talking like that?
I began stretching my foot with my hand.
"I am Kakeru Fuyutsuki! Your rival since kindergarten!"
The guy with the gun came to us.
"Runners, get in your positions."
I crouched down into an initial running phase.
Kakeru Fuyutsuki? Did I know such a guy? My memory is slightly fuzzy. Perhaps there was such a person. Though...
"I'm sorry, Kakeru Fuyutsuki."
"What is it, rival?"
"You have no chance of winning."
He smiled.
"I'd have it no other way, my rival!"
What a weird guy.
"Ready!"
The guy put the gun into the air.
"Set!"
We all lifted ourselves slightly off of the ground.
There was a sharp PANG and the race started.
Surprisingly, I wasn't the one in first. It was Kakeru Fuyutsuki.
Guess he wasn't all talk. Better pick up the pace.
As I did, I skipped over the hurdles with ease. With the short interval between landing and leaping, it felt like I was constantly floating.
Soon enough, I passed Fuyutsuki and when the final hurdle came, I jumped from the middle of the hurdle before and after me. It was too early for anyone to be able to jump over the hurdle from that distance.
Not me, though.
I made the distance and still finished first.
Then, when everyone also finished, Fuyutsuki came up to me.
"As expected of my rival. Being able to jump over a hurdle from a long distance. I guess I'm beaten."
He said with a satisfied smile.
Fuyutsuki stuck his hand out.
That was when I had a short flashback.
"Ah!"
I made a sound upon the shock of remembering.
"I remember you now! You'd always be in the races I was in. You never told me your name though."
"I'm happy you remembered."
I would always beat him. The only time he beat me was when I was in my second year of middle school and I didn't care too much for the school sports festival.
I still did my best but he beat me.
"Thank you for racing me earnestly, my rival."
I shook his hand.
"Yeah."
---
Single events passed and now it's the first-years' tug-of-war tournament.
First, it's gender-specific until we face all the classes. Then, the two best classes, overall with the boys and girls, go head to head in a mixed tug-of-war event and whoever wins that is the winner.
That's how our school does it, anyway.
First, it's 1-2 versus 1-1.
Both sides had 16 people pulling on each side. I was at the front.
To be honest, in tug of war, I believe that the person nearest to the line is the most important person. Since I'm definitely the strongest out of everyone, if I can just keep my feet from crossing the line, then our class wins.
"Start!"
The war began.
"Hyaaaa!"
"Pull!"
Many people were groaning and yelling as they used all their strength to tug. I gripped the rope tightly and dug the soles of my feet into the ground.
Now, it was time to pull!
"Heave ho!"
And with a single pull from me and my classmates combined, the first guy on the other side crossed the line and the rope fell toward us.
"Class 1-2 wins!"
And now, we'll be winning all the rest of them.