Attraction - 2

-----Yui's POV

Aki: "5.15m"

Maria: "Hahh!~ And that wasn't a foul?"

Aki: "Mhmm! You did very well, Maria."

We all went for a second try after Maria stepped over the white line previously, resulting in a foul. But since I had beaten my personal best, and especially after seeing Kaede's unbelievable first performance, I didn't try that hard on my second jump. That said-

Chiyo: "I can't even beat you when you're not even trying!"

Yui: "Haha. Looks like you still have a long way to go~"

I teasingly pinch her cheek as we all finished up. Chiyo's second jump was a bit shorter than her first attempt, but still comfortably reaching the 6m mark. Of course, Kaede put on another spectacle, reaching the 9m range like before. We weren't as speechless as the first time around, but it was still shocking to realize that what we saw the first time wasn't a hallucination. Also it seems like the crowd outside has only grown over the past hour. It's obvious now that all their eyes are on Kaede herself.

Aki: "Alright. We'll swap out with the boys. Next up is hurdles!"

...

Aki then briefed us on the simple rules of hurdles. In most iterations of hurdles, there is no real penalty when hitting one of the hurdles as the purpose for it is to slow the runner, resulting in a slower time. However, with our school's current set up, the hurdles are incredible light, making it easy to topple over. This is to ensure the runner's safety in school, but this also makes for barely any slowdown if you fail at clearing the hurdle. So-

Aki: "If you knock over a hurdle, half a second will be added to your time."

Honestly quite harsh if you ask me, but it makes for a good deterrent to not knock any of them over. Not that I even had a problem though to begin with.

Aki: "Chiyo. Could you time me? I'd like to do some running this time, hehe."

Chiyo: "Sure thing~"

And without wasting anytime, Chiyo blew the whistle, starting Aki's attempt. I guess it's her turn to demonstrate instead of me, but seeing her clear the hurdles with such finesse is always a sight for the eyes. She places her strides perfectly for the optimal clear of the hurdles before landing on the other side of it in a single motion. It's like watching a hot knife cutting through butter as she smoothly clears all the hurdles before reaching the end.

Chiyo: "13.82 seconds!"

Aki: "Hahh~ I was counting in my head and I thought I slipped into the 14 seconds, hehe."

Maria: "You looked so cool!"

Aki: "Thank you, hehe. Hurdles is actually one of my favorites."

Yeah, you can tell just by looking at her run. She's definitely honed her skills.

Kaede: "Can you beat her?"

Yui: "Eh?"

Kaede: "Aki. Can you beat her time?"

Yui: "Mmmm. Sometimes."

Aki: "I think we're tied at the moment, right?"

Yui: "Mm."

Is this her way of challenging me? It's a bit sly of her having me tire myself out on long jump while she conserves her energy. That said, if I do beat her, then it'd be an even bigger loss to her.

Aki: "So? Care to-"

Yui: "Alright. I'll go next then."

Aki: "Hehe. Good luck~"

With Chiyo still manning the stopwatch, I take my position at the start as I wait for the sound of the whistle. I take a brief moment to look to the side as Kaede and I lock eyes with one another.

Yui: "Just watch..."

And with the sound of the whistle, I took off with as much speed as I can before launching myself over the first hurdle. Just before, I was thinking about beating Aki's time, but now I feel an even stronger desire to impress Kaede. I don't want her to leave me in the dust. Even now as I clear these hurdles, I still can't get the image of her soaring through the air during long jump as I try and replicate that same feeling. I wonder if I can reach the same heights as her... With that feeling coursing through my body, I refuse to drop speed at any point as I clear every hurdle before finally making it to the finish.

Chiyo: "Oooh! 13.71 seconds!"

Just a tad over a tenth huh? How's that, Aki?

Aki: "Well done. Maybe I should've warmed up with long jump with you guys, hehe."

Wait, now she's using "that" excuse? Well, it is valid, but still...

Yui: "Haha. I'll still count it as my win."

...

The following runners ended roughly as I expected. Emi was essentially a bulldozer, nearly hitting every hurdle, resulting in a lot of time penalties. Maria was almost entirely the opposite as she slowed down before every hurdle, mostly due to her misplacing her strides. That said, she did clear every hurdle, however at quite a slow time as well. Chiyo then gave the stop watch to Aki who then times her run. From the look on Chiyo's face, she knew she couldn't beat my time, but I can tell she knew that Aki's time was up for grabs. However-

Aki: "13.88." Just short~"

Chiyo: "Ahhh! Come on!"

And so, it was now Kaede's turn. It's safe to say that all our eyes were drawn to her as even the boys that were doing long jump also took notice. The crowd outside the fence also started to grow louder in anticipation. Everyone was excited to see what was in store for us. And at the sound of Aki's whistle, Kaede took off with as much explosive power as she did during the long jump. However, as she went to jump over the first hurdle, everyone was shocked to see what was unfolding before them.

Chiyo: "S-single stride?"

Aki: "You're joking..."

Kaede was clearing the hurdles with every stride she took, essentially doing a 7m long jump with each step as she clears enough distance to make it to the next hurdle. Aki, Chiyo and I were clearing the hurdles in 3 strides, but to see Kaede do it in just a single one was nothing we could've expected. And before we knew it, Kaede crossed over the finish line.

Aki: "..."

Chiyo: "What it is! What's her time?!"

It didn't take long for all of us to crowd around Aki as we all checked to see the time displayed, everyone besides Kaede.

Emi: "10.2 seconds?"

Chiyo: "I knew it was fast, but..."

We all look to Kaede who was staring off at the crowd that's gathered, almost like she has no interest in knowing her time. I guess angels don't care about this sort of things, right?

Maria: "Kaede!~ What the hell?"

But it was Maria who went to approach Kaede, causing Kaede to focus back on us.

Maria: "Liar! You're totally into sports!"

Kaede: "Fufu. Not really. I just followed what Aki said."

Aki: "Kaede... Are you really human?"

Kaede: "Hmmm~"

She then looks over at me with a devilish smile which makes my heart stop for a brief moment. Why did she direct that smile to me?

Kaede: "Who knows~"

Emi: "Pfft! Honestly though, where did you learn to run like that?"

Maria: "Yeah. Why didn't you want to do sports until now?"

Kaede: "I wasn't lying. I've just never been a huge fan is all."

For some reason, I don't doubt her words. Even during long jump, she seemed disinterested that she might've beat a world record. And even now after clearing the hurdles, she didn't bother to check her time. It's almost like she sees all of this as one big hurdle, a chore...

...

Ken: "Well then, thank you all for your hard work. See you all tomorrow."

We all soon dispersed into our own groups, which led to Kaede and I walking back ourselves. I couldn't really talk to her that much with everyone rushing at her before, but now that we're finally alone...

Kaede: "Sorry, but could you go on ahead?"

Yui: "Huh?"

Kaede: "I just forgot something at school. I'll meet you at your place!"

Yui: "Uh, mm..."

But just like that, Kaede runs off back towards the school. I thought I could finally have a chance to talk to her alone.

Yui: "Hahh~"