All of our eyes turned to a girl. The girl was around the same height as Harumi and wore a blue tracksuit and a white t-shirt. Her light-blue hair swayed with the wind revealing her blue eyes.
As the girl stood in front of us, staring at Akito's perplexed face for an answer: A single thought went through both Akito's and my head, and Kaori answered it.
"Yonamine-chan!" Karoi said as she hugged the girl. I was certain Kaori had almost no idea who this girl was and only remember now because of how she reacted when we heard her call Akito's name. Kaori then let go of the supposed "Yonamine-chan". "How come you're asking for Aki-chan?"
"Aki…chan…?"
Akito grew frustrated with Kaori as she kept calling him by the name she uses.
"So what can I do for you?" Akito asked Yonamine.
"Are you free anytime in the holidays?" Yonamine asked. It was the first time I saw a genuine confession. Harumi never had feelings to that extent for me which is why that "confession" was never really one in the first place however, Yonamine is asking Akito out on a date.
"I'm sorry, Yonamine-san, but I'm going to be in the gym most of the time; I plan to work on my body." Akito answered.
I knew that he wasn't lying about working on his body but he did lie about being in the gym the whole time because Akito had promised we will finish at least ten games before the holidays ended.
Yonamine's disappointment was visible; she looked down at the ground and it almost looked as if she was crying. She then looked back up at Akito with a smile.
"It's fine. I'll ask you again." She said before she then went back to her friends.
Harumi then came to us and when she did, she saw Yonamine walking back to her friends with a face of sorrow. Harumi then walked up to us.
"What happened to that girl?" Harumi asked.
"Akito here broke a girl's heart." Kaori said.
Akito and I thought that Harumi would react more negatively but she laughed. She laughed so hard that even though everyone was looking at her she didn't even mind them and continued laughing. She had laughed so hard that she was tearing up.
"This girl does not know when to stop." Kaori said before shaking Harumi as if trying to wake her up.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Harumi said as she wiped away her tears. "It was just the fact that a girl liked Akito—" Harumi then burst out laughing.
Akito seemed to be distressed that Harumi laughed at the fact that a girl liked Akito. As Kaori tried to calm down Harumi, I did some calming down as well.
"Trust me Akito, she likes you if she does this. She's probably just jealous or something." I said.
"You sure?" Akito doubted what I said but he still wanted to believe it. If he believed in it then he wouldn't lose hope. "Also doesn't she like you?"
"Oh yeah, about that, she doesn't like me. She was just saying that because she wanted a friend." Part of it was true so I wasn't entirely lying.
Then a voice could be heard. It was quickly identified that the voice was from the speakers that were placed on the field. The speakers could be heard from anywhere on the field.
"NOW WILL BEGIN THE NEXT PART OF THE EXAM."
In this part of the exam, we will be tested on our ability to jump, this included long jumps, vertical jumps, and others to test our lower body abilities.
We were now at the place where our lower body abilities will be tested. The place had a large wooden board that was at least ten or above meters high. The was another track however this one was only 30m—this was probably the track that was going to be used for the long jump test.
"Are you good at jumping?" Akito asked.
"I've jumped a few times." I replied. Akito then laughed as he realised my sarcasm. "What about you?"
"I can jump pretty high and far so I don't think I'm failing this part of the exam." Akito said, confidently. I didn't doubt Akito's ability to jump and I think he would get a high result, probably a grade A.
The grades for the vertical jump are:
A: 150cm+
B: 100cm-149cm
C: 80cm-99cm
D: 60cm- 79cm
E: 40cm-59cm
F: <39cm
A vertical jump of 150cm is the same as jumping the same height as an average 11-year-old and for this exam, a 150cm vertical jump is a grade A. If you could jump a meter off the ground then it counts as a grade B. The average person of this day and age can jump at least 60cm off the ground and that counts as a grade D This means that this school wants world-class athletes in their school and doesn't only want academically gifted students.
I should aim for at least a grade B.
The first student was unsurprisingly Yamada. Yamada went to the wooden board. Nagasawa-sensei told Yamada to jump with everything he has and to try to touch the highest part of the board. Yamada got ready and jumped and touched the board almost. The sound that was made when Yamada touched the board almost sounded as if Yamada had slapped it. Yamada then returned to the ground and when he did, a handprint appeared exactly where Yamada had touched the board. Everyone looked with surprised faces. The board also measured how high Yamada had jumped.
"398cm!" A student yelled as everyone gasped at the score Yamada had gotten.
After Yamada was me: I scored a vertical jump of a meter and a half which barely got me a grade A and Shimoda got a vertical of three and a half meters.
Now was what I was waiting for, Akito's turn. Akito was called and when he came to the board he looked up at it almost as if he was analysing the board. There was no way Akito could beat Yamada's score but I did want to see what Akito would get as he did say he was confident in his jumping ability.
Akito then jumped and returned to the ground.
"376cm…that's…THAT'S HIGHER THAN SHIMODA-SAN!!"
It took a while for everyone to process that someone had beaten the "great" Shimoda and had gotten the closest score to Yamada, who was supposed to be unbeaten in everything. In shorter terms, Akito has the potential to beat Yamada as Yamada had trained his whole life and Akito hasn't trained as much as Yamada.
Akito then walked to me with a smug grin on his face. He didn't say anything as he then waited for me to say something. I played his game and spoke.
"So you're confident?" I said. Akito instantly recognised the sarcasm.
"I'm a bit confident in my abilities." Akito said with a prideful smile on his face.
Just as I had predicted, Yonamine approached us. I made up an excuse and left Akito but at a distance where I could hear them.
"Kishimoto-san." Yonamine called. Akito instantly looked at her. "You're a good jumper."
"I'm sorry Yonamine-san, I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment." Akito said. Yonamine didn't seem affected by it almost as if she knew he would say that.
"Who said anything about a relationship?" Akito looked confused and when he processed what she had said he realised that it could go in two ways. "We could start as friends, can't we Kishimoto-san?"
Akito gave it some thought and after a few seconds, he replied. "In that case, you can call me by my first name."
"Kishi...Akito-san!" Yonamine said. Akito then laughed and Yonamine scolded him for laughing. They looked like a new couple however the eyes that watched them didn't want them to look like it.
Harumi watched them and Kaori tried to distract her however she didn't look anywhere apart from Akito with hateful eyes filled with jealousy.
Yonamine was then called for the vertical jump test and she left after saying her goodbyes to Akito. I had predicted all of the possible outcomes that would come out of this. Regardless of what would happen, there would still be some impact. Judging from how Harumi was looking at the two, something may happen between Harumi and Akito that will impact their relationship. This will help me achieve my current goals faster.
As Yonamine went to her examination, Harumi walked off. She seemed annoyed and jealous which would benefit me so I had to use this opportunity. I then walked to Akito and told him the news.
"Akito." I called and Akito instantly looked toward me. "You've got some love rivals fighting for you."
Akito didn't seem confused and understood what I said. He then panicked. "WHAT! Crap! This can't be happening! After all, I've done…my progress…"
"Yeah, everything you've dreamed about…they're not happening anymore." I said. Although it seemed harsh it was the truth. If Akito did anything like this again he could end everything as quickly as it started. Without my help he would be hated by now, however, I have a plan.
"Please help me Tadashi!" Akito pleaded.
"You don't need to ask me; I was going to help you anyways." Akito's face lit up with hope. "To fix this situation you'd have to…"
"Have to do what!?"
"Fake your death and see her reaction." Akito's rays of hope were then destroyed.
"I'm not doing anything like that!"
"That was sarcasm, Akito."
"Please be serious." Akito looked desperate to fix this situation. He had realised his mistake and desperately wants to salvage his relationship with Harumi.
"I have a plan but you have to follow my orders all the time."
Akito reluctantly agreed after asking many questions and made sure that the orders were related to the situation and not unnecessary commands that will embarrass him.
Now was the long jump test. A group of five students will jump three times each and the average will be the final score. Nagasawa-sensei called a few students. The first five students were different from the ones who were the first for the running speed test.
The first students had gotten average scores; they were nothing out of the ordinary in the first place. The next set of students was also average however, the ones that followed were nothing like the ones before. These students were anything but average with an average jump of 263cm. An average score would be around 200cm however these students have gone past that: they score at least above average if they were in any athletic tournaments.
The set of students after the above-average ones was a mix of above-average students and average students however, what made this group stand out was the incredibly popular Yamada. It was almost certain that Yamada would score much higher than the students who were with him however it would be true if Uehara was not also with Yamada.
Uehara is extremely fast and has a high vertical jump and long jump. If I recall correctly he broke his middle school's records and participated in many tournaments and competed against world-class athletes. Although Uehara was gifted with abnormal speed and jumping abilities, he wouldn't be able to beat someone who's been training their physical body since they could walk.
Yamada had gotten a high score, like the previous times. In the long jump, he got an average score of 476cm while Uehara fell shortly behind Yamada with a long jump of 423cm and a vertical jump of 312cm.
Students of this school were extremely talented in many things whether it was academics or athletics; this school was where the gifted were and in this school, they should grow more.
"How did you know?" A familiar female voice spoke. The voice was almost brittle; on the brink of tears.
"Kaori, I know many things." Kaori tried to speak but I stopped her from saying anything. "Kaori, I know how it is."
Kaori looked at me with mixed emotions that disrupted her natural expression. She didn't believe me but she also wanted to believe that I was saying the truth.
"What do you mean?" Kaori asked. Her voice was broken as she struggled to speak.
"I don't think you want to hear what I have to say but you do need it at a time like this. Even in the school, I could help you with your situation." Kaori's eyes glimmered with hope. She had found someone who could help her. "You can talk to me whenever you want: I'll be waiting for you."
I then left her alone and went to Akito. Akito was waiting for his turn while also talking to a group of students—the extraversion that Akito had was what I needed.
The next set of students was called and fortunately, it was me and Akito. We were both called out together which also meant that my subconscious mind wanted to compete with Akito and I was sure that Akito felt the same. We jumped as soon as the whistle was blown. Everyone looked at our position.
"493cm! A NEW RECORD!"
Akito had beaten both of me and Yamada at the long jump. I was a little behind Akito and got a score of 455cm. It would've been more impressive if Akito had passed five meters but I'm sure it was enough for Akito.
After many more students, the long jump test ended and Nagasawa-sensei told us that the exams have ended. All we needed to wait for now was the results which weren't going to be announced until after the holidays.
More to look forward to then.