(Dazai Crowley's POV)
Cerulean Academy, Present Day
Once the previous batch of students had returned from their race, the new ones, Ryoku included, had taken up their positions at the starting line. Looking at it from Ryoku's perspective, her situation was quite disadvantageous. The students in this particular line up consisted of mainly boys and upperclassmen, with a few exceptions in between.
Although it should be noted that I didn't necessarily see any particular faces like Saze or Gideon that could straight up threaten Ryoku's existence, these students seemed to be rather hardcore athletics that shouldn't be underestimated. It makes me wonder how Ryoku will approach this matchup.
Bang.
And the runners were off.
Aside from a couple of students, nearly everyone in the race had a perfect start.
—For Ryoku, unfortunately, there seemed to be some slight delay in her initial takeoff.
As for the ones who started successfully, their legs sprinted across the track like savage beasts that preyed on the other's positions, eventually overtaking that of their enemies.
In the midst of it all, Ryoku remained dead center in the middle of all the chaos that ensued. However, to regain lost time, she began running even faster. It was at that point few were capable of matching her pace, and even less were truly able to overcome her.
Each and every step she took was carefully placed, propelling her forward at unfathomable speed. Her breathing and figure remained calm and composed despite the sudden rush of adrenaline. It was like watching a bolt of lightning slowly moving in action.
Approaching the halfway mark, Ryoku accelerated even further, as if consuming what little energy she had left on reserve. Transforming the remainder of her stamina, she switched into pure offense and ran as if her very life depended on it. Out of the twenty and so students that were racing, from ninth, she immediately climbed her way up, overcoming that of seventh and sixth in a single dramatic instance.
The final leg approached. Only five or so meters had remained left on the track. If there was ever a time and opportunity to claim any higher on to the ranking, it had to be taken now or never. Realizing this fact, her acceleration increased ever so slightly, allowing her to suddenly pass the person of fourth.
The trail that she had blazed forward had left those who were forced to eat her dust utterly speechless.
Only one meter remained.
The person in second and first was within her reach. Just a couple steps further and the taste of victory would be all but hers. This, I have no doubts of.
—Though it was unfortunate to see that time was simply not on her side today.
Between where they had stood and the finish line ahead of them, there was hardly any space left on the track to properly pass second, let alone first.
In the end, however short as it may have been, the time, the seconds that she lost since the beginning of the race had now proven itself to be rather fatal.
The glory of first and second was stolen, leaving behind the illustrious elf of Class D to bathe in the sad limelight of what is known as "third place".
An unfortunate outcome, but even still, despite it all, the final results were clear and undeniable.
Ryoku was incredibly fast.
As the racers passed the finish line one by one, I immediately turned my attention to the crowd.
Hidden behind perfectly orchestrated shadows, various students from the upper classes had begun writing notes and jotting all sorts of data on paper.
—It appears my suspicions were correct.
We're being watched.
Around the time I realized that, Ryoku slowly walked her way back to me. Probably because of how hard she had run, her breathing was a little ragged.
"I'm back."
"You did good."
"Did I, though?"
"You got third place. Isn't that something to be happy about?"
"Not for me. I don't settle for anything less than first." she said while clenching her hand into a fist.
"—Uhuh…"
"What's that look for? You look like you got something you want to say to me."
"Do I? Well either way, at least you have good form."
"Thank you."
"Still though. Do you think it really was wise to run at full power like that?"
"Are you talking about those people over there?"
"So you noticed."
"Of course I did."
"In that case, are you fine with this? Today was just the start of the new year and yet nearly half the school now knows your true potential. Because of that, they might make you out to be a target."
"—That's fine by me."
"Hmm?"
I raised my eyebrow.
"When I fight, I hold nothing back. It makes no difference to me if people take notice of that."
"And if they come for you?"
"Then it's just a matter of knocking them down."
"...Such a straightforward way of thinking."
"You got a problem with that?"
"No. I didn't say that."
With that said, I have seen everything I needed to see.
Seeing as how this wasn't going to get us anywhere, I preemptively ended the conversation right there and walked my way to the track course.
Once cleared, the instructor on site fired his gun.
Shortly after, it was over. There was nothing about this race that was otherwise worth noting. In the end, out of the twenty students who raced, I stayed in a solid position of tenth place from start to finish.
Once the race was over, I later returned to Ryoku, who appeared to be watching me a little from afar.
"I'm back."
"—Was that it?"
"Huh?"
"Tenth place? Seriously? If I was none the wiser, it almost looked like you were holding back."
"It's not my fault if the others were faster than me."
"True, but then tell me why aren't you even the least bit tired then? Did you barely even try?"
"What can I say? I stay hydrated."
She glares at me.
…Yeah, I should've figured that wouldn't work.
Sigh.
"If every professional athlete in the world was to run a relay race with all they had only to get bent out of shape afterwards, they wouldn't be a professional athlete in the first place, now would they?"
She immediately fell silent. Now as to how she interprets my words is none of my concern.
I just wanted her to drop the subject, period.