#89 100-meter dash!
"What's the problem?" Sae-chan asked with a confused expression when she saw us approach the teacher's tent right off the bat. Although the sports festival officially already began, there was still more than 30 minutes before the 1st group would compete in the first contest, yet here we are, with anxiety visible on our faces.
"I would like to ask if there isn't any mistake with our participation table..." Horikita said with a serious expression.
"No, there can't be a problem. The participation table you have in your tent is the first participation table I have received." Sae-chan mercilessly said.
"What? But...then who was the person that gave sensei that participation table?" Hirata asked, still with a slightly shocked expression even though he already calmed himself down by a lot.
Hearing his question, Sae-chan shook her head.
"I can't tell you, I was permitted to only accept the participation table from a 1st-year student of Class D, therefore, it's impossible for someone else to change your participation table. It seems that you have some kind of misunderstanding within your class..." Sae-chan replied with her usual poker face, completely unfazed by what was happening within our class.
"...That's..." Horikita wanted to say something but she closed her mouth and only glared at the direction of our tent.
"Sensei, is there any reason why you can't tell us?" Hirata didn't want to give up, he at least wanted to know who was it.
"Privacy" One simple word came out of Sae-chan's mouth.
"...Privacy?" Hirata muttered with a confused expression.
"That's right, privacy. Your class decided to change the rule that you can't let anyone inside your class view your participation table but you never wanted to change the rule regarding the person who will be submitting it. Such small rules can be changed if your entire class agrees but you forgot to change it. The default rule says that I must respect privacy of the student who submitted the participation table unless changed by the entire class." Sae-chan explained with a small smile as if she was ridiculing our class's incompetence.
"Let's go back, we need to talk this through with everyone." Horikita said and was the first one to leave, everyone else followed right after her.
Hirata caught up with Horikita and started to walk beside her
"Do you think it was Matsushita?" Hirata asked with an uncertain expression.
"...Even though it was her idea to change the rule, I don't think so." Horikita thought for a while before answering with a resolute voice and furrowed brows.
"I see..." Hirata answered with a thoughtful expression, he was also doubting that Matsushita was the one who did this. But if not her then who?
...
"Are you saying that someone in our class betrayed us?" Shinohara asked with an angry expression.
"Let's not jump to conclusions. First of all, let's read aloud our groups, we will see if there are any big problems with it." Hirata said with a calm smile, trying to set an example for everyone.
"Who is within the first group that is the first to compete in the 100-meter dash?" Ike asked with a curious expression.
"Let me see..." Hirata said and took a look at the paper in his hand.
"...Sotomura-kun, Koenji-kun and you...Ike-kun" Hirata looked at Ike with a helpless expression and readout the names of the first group that was the first to compete. The groups were totally different from what we agreed on and everyone was still surprised by this, however, there was one person who was much more surprised than anyone inside our tent...Kikyo Kushida. She had completely shocked yet puzzled expression on her face, seeing this I buried my face in my hands and an evil smile immediately formed on my face. I can't help but feel extremely good when I see someone's expression whose expectations were shattered, hehe.
"Tch! Koenji, you better try your hardest since you are the only fast person within that group!" Sudo immediately yelled at Koenji who sitting alone, adjusting his hairstyle without any worries of what was happening around him.
"I don't know, I am not feeling well today..." Koenji answered with a smile that definitely didn't belong to a person who was feeling sick.
"You-!" Sudo clenched his fist and when he was about to lose it...
"Sudo-kun!" Horikita called out his name while glaring at him.
"Fine..." Sudo replied with an irritated tone and snapped his head to the side.
"...I am sorry everyone, I shouldn't have suggested changing that rule" Everyone looked at Matsushita who started to speak with a guilty expression on her face.
"Nonsense...even if you hadn't suggested that and we could view it, ultimately we wouldn't be able to do anything with this change. This would have happened anyway, the only change would be that we wouldn't be as much surprised as now." Horikita interrupted her with a thoughtful expression.
"...Horikita-san...than-" Hearing her words, Matsushita was shocked, however, when she was about to thank her...
"1st groups of 1st-years please gather on the starting line of the track!" Mashima-sensei's voice came through the speakers installed on our table inside the tent.
"Shit, shit, shit! What do I do? I am not mentally ready for this, I can't go first!" Ike started panicking as if the world was ending.
"Ike-kun, calm down! Just run for fun, no one will blame you for the bad results" Hirata immediately tried to calm him down and it worked a bit but Ike still looked uncertain.
"Kanji!" Yamauchi called out his name and approached him, he put his hands on his shoulders and started to whisper something.
No one was able to clearly hear their conversation...of course except for me.
"*Kanji, remember what you have to do!*"
"*What I have to do?*" Ike asked with a confused expression.
"*Kikyo-chan is waiting for you, expecting from you to do your best!*"
"*...You are right! Thank you, my brother!*" Ike replied with almost tears in his eyes.
...Idiots. I thought while watching and hearing this exchange between them.
Guessing from how most of the students were looking at them, they also had an idea that they were talking about some stupid things like they always do.
Ike and Sotomura left the tent, even Koenji walked out of the tent, however, he didn't go immediately to the track.
"What the hell are you doing Koenji?! Don't tell me you won't compete!" Sudo immediately yelled at Koenji who seemed to be looking at the people gathered on the starting line.
"Haha, don't worry. This time I will make you happy so I will participate." Koenji said with an arrogant laugh.
Hearing his reply, even I was slightly surprised. I placed him into this group on purpose because I knew about his lazy nature and expected him to drop out but it seems that even he will take an opportunity to take easy private points. He is after all, on par with Sudo if not better when it comes to athleticism. In the group he is...he can practically jog and still win the 1st place.
All of us went to look at them compete and to cheer them on.
Results were shocking for entire Class D.
1st place was effortlessly taken by Koenji, 2nd place was taken by some guy from Class B and the 3rd place was taken by Ike.
...
"I did it!!!" When Ike entered the tent he immediately started shouting with a happy expression.
"We ask students to keep order inside their tents." Voice was immediately heard from speakers after Ike's shout.
"Oops, I am sorry" Ike said while looking at the speaker with a scared expression.
... I probably lost a few brain cells from this...I only shook my head and went as far away as I could from him.
"Who would have thought that we would be this lucky, haha." Hirata said with a heartfelt laugh.
"...Maybe this participation table might not be the worst." Ike who has just won and was feeling happy said aloud but no one could agree with him because all of this could be just small luck.
"2nd groups of 1st-years please gather on the starting line of the track!" It was less than 2 minutes after the 1st race was finished and another announcement came through.
"*sigh* I guess it's my turn" I said with a sigh and stood up from my seat.
"Good luck, Walker-kun! We will be watching you all from here!" Almost everyone wished me and my other 2 teammates luck with a smile
I noticed that Matsushita, Kei, and Mii-chan were especially smiling at me. Their smiles were enough for me to know what they meant...
Show them what you've got...huh?
I gave them a reassuring smile before walking off.
...
"Walker-kun! It seems that we are competing against each other, let's have fun!" Shibata immediately approached me when he spotted me on the starting line and greeted me with a smile.
"Yo, Shibata-kun, I hope you have warmed up your body before this race." I raised my hand as a casual greeting with a confident smile.
"Of course!" He said with a determined smile while moving his arms in a wide circle, showing that he was eager to start.
-----
While I was talking to Shibata...
"Oh no..." Ike exclaimed in a shocked expression.
Everyone heard him but no one paid any attention to him because they thought that he will just say that he forgot to close the game he was playing or some stupid thing like that, only Hirata knew what he meant when he looked at the people on the starting line.
"What is it?" Yamauchi immediately asked his friend.
"They are up against Shibata-kun..." In Ike's stead, Hirata said with an anxious expression and this gathered most of the people's attention.
"Who is he? Is he that fast?" Horikita frowned and asked with a serious expression when she noticed Hirata's expression.
"He is in our school's soccer club and if I am to compare him with me then...in pure speed he is most likely faster than me." Hirata said with a helpless smile.
"What?!" Everyone was surprised by this information however the ones who were the most disheartened by this information were Matsushita, Kei, and Mii-chan.
"I knew it was too good to be true with that participation table..." Sudo said while grinding his teeth in anger and frustration.
On the 2nd-years side...
"Why do we need to wait until the 1st-years finish all races." A guy complained aloud.
"Shut up, at least we have more time to get ready...huh?" The other guy seemed annoyed by his friend's constant complaining but he stopped talking when he noticed someone on the starting line.
"Hm? What is it? Isn't that Shibata-kun? I guess the winner is already decided, haha" The guy also noticed who was about to run and proudly laughed.
"Not him, you idiot. Do you remember that guy I told you about? The one who came during our practice and played with us when you were absent." These two guys were both part of the soccer club.
"You mean the one who got past by Nagumo with a ball? Of course I remember, Nagumo is the best player in our club, yet you claim that someone who isn't even part of our club got past by him. There is no way I wouldn't remember such an absurd thing."
"The white-haired guy next to Shibata...that's him. I didn't know that he is from Class D..." He said with an absentminded expression.
"What did you just say?!" The other guy was surprised by his friend's words so he stared at the white-haired boy with an expectation.
-----
The referee signaled to us to get ready.
"Good luck, Walker-kun!" Shibata turned at me when he was getting into his position and wished me luck.
He will be running right next to me...huh?
"Thank you, good luck to you too (you will need it)." I said while coldly staring right in front of me.
"Ready!" All of us got into position and waited for the other signals
"Set!" All of us tensed up and waited for the final signal.
"Go!" When the referee shouted this word, all of us started running and everyone else started cheering their class on.
I had no idea how fast Shibata is so I started a bit slower and there was around 3 meters distance between us. Behind me, the gap was only widening so I stopped to care about who will take the 3rd place and focused on what was in front of me.
We were already halfway through and I started to speed up until I caught up with Shibata. This scene immediately made most of the people who were cheering silent from the shock because most of the people already knew who Shibata was.
---
'He caught up with me?' Shibata thought with a surprised expression when he noticed Felix out of the corner of his eye.
'However, I was already expecting this, thanks to Ichinose-san's advice!' Shibata's determination immediately returned and serious expression appeared on his face as he speeded up even more and shocking all the spectators'
---
Quite quick on our legs, aren't we?
I thought with a smile when I saw him accelerate even further.
Last 20 meters! I opened my eyes wide and then narrowed them.
I accelerated even more than him, catching up to him in the last 10 meters.
---
'What?! How is he so fast?! I can't go any faster than this!' Shibata thought when he noticed that Felix caught up to him. He ground his teeth and tried to push himself even further.
---
However, I didn't only catch up to him...I was still accelerating my speed making a small gap between us.
When I run past the finish line, there was already more than a 1-meter gap between us. Making me a clear winner of this race.
I slowly stopped running and Shibata approached me with a smile and ragged breathing.
"Fuu...I- I didn't expect that Walker-kun is so fast...That was a good race!" He said with a smile, even though he lost, he still looks like he had fun.
I turned at him and smiled.
"It was a good race, you are fast too" I went for a friendly handshake and he immediately took hold of my hand.
After that, I left for my class's tent.
---
'?! WAIT...I didn't realize it earlier due to being out of breath but his breathing wasn't even fast or uneven! He looked like he didn't even run...if it wasn't for his sweaty shirt, I would have thought that he never run a sprint race in the first place!' Shibata thought while looking at Felix's back with a horrified expression.
---
When I came back to the tent, everyone was looking at me with completely wide eyes, even Hirata wasn't an exception. Maybe it was due to him being perfectly aware of how exactly fast Shibata is.