Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Episode 16: Practice

「Um… well, please take care of me.」

Sakaki-san lowers her head awkwardly.

「…Sure.」

Saying that, I avert my gaze as if trying to escape the awkward atmosphere.

Our high school doesn’t put much effort into the sports festival. Naturally, the practice feels more like an extension of goofing around. Among all the events, the three-legged race is the most laid-back of them.

All the participants are running shoulder-to-shoulder, talking cheerfully as if they’re couples. …There are some guys watching from afar with jealous looks, but none of the participants seem to mind.

「…」

「…」

And in the midst of all that, only Sakaki-san and I stand out.

…Well, that’s understandable. None of our classmates know yet, but Sakaki-san and I just broke up a few days ago. In a situation like this, trying to run while happily linking shoulders is out of the question.

「…But it’s too late to drop out now, right?」

Part of this happened because I skipped homeroom. The timing is awful, but saying “I don’t want to do this, please change partners” is a bit difficult.

I resign myself and look over at Sakaki-san.

「So… Sakaki-san, is it okay if I at least tie our legs together? If we just stand around spacing out, we’ll draw even more attention. Of course, I’ll try not to touch you more than necessary.」

「Understood. Then… please go ahead.」

She extends her leg toward me. Her skin is flawless—snowy white and beautiful. For a moment, my eyes are drawn to it, but staring too much would be rude. As quickly and carefully as possible, I tie our legs together, making sure to avoid unnecessary contact.

「Is that okay? It’s not too tight?」

「It’s fine. …But you might want to tie it a little tighter, or it could come undone while we’re running.」

「…Well, it’s just practice, so it should be fine. Even if it does come undone, we can just retie it. Besides, no one here seems to be taking this very seriously.」

「…You’re right.」

From what I can see, most people in the three-legged race are just flirting as if they’re couples. …Though the ones doing tug-of-war or cavalry battles look like they’re giving it their all, nobody here is really serious about the three-legged race.

So if we slack off, probably no one will notice or care. …But I’m sure Sakaki-san would hate that. She’s always diligent in class, never slacks on cleaning, and I’ve never seen her skip out on anything.

Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean I can force her to slack off with me.

「Let’s at least try running once?」

「…Yes. We should practice a little, or we might trip and embarrass ourselves during the actual event…」

「Then let’s do a light run.」

With that, I move to put my arm around her shoulder… then stop.

「What’s wrong?」

She tilts her head. I reply,

「Well, you’re not really fond of being touched casually, right? It can’t be helped that our legs are tied, but linking shoulders would probably bother you, wouldn’t it?」

「That’s…」

Even when we were dating, she hardly let me hold her hand. Now that we’ve broken up, being that familiar would definitely make her uncomfortable.

「Let’s try running without linking shoulders once, okay? I’m decent at sports, so I can adjust to your pace.」

「…Yes. That might be… better.」

TL: gurl just speak your mind…

She answers quietly without looking at me. …As expected, she really doesn’t like physical contact. She won’t even glance my way.

「…Alright, let’s just jog lightly and get this over with.」

Having decided that, I call out, “Ready, and…” and start to run—

「Hey…!」

「…!」

I almost topple over, desperately grabbing onto Sakaki-san to keep her from falling.

「Sorry, Sakaki-san… Are you okay?」

「No, I should apologize. I ended up running at a weird pace… I’m sorry.」

She lowers her gaze awkwardly. I lightly tap my own forehead.

…This might be harder than I thought. She’s tall for a girl, but I’m still about ten centimeters taller than she is. Our strides differ, our running pace differs, and to top it off, we can’t sync our breathing because we’re both trying too hard not to make things awkward. It’s making it even tougher.

「Let’s try again, okay? This time I’ll match your pace properly.」

「…Yes, I’ll be more careful too.」

We give it a few tries, but we can’t make it past the tenth step. Each time, one of us almost trips, and we come to a stop. Turns out we have no natural talent for the three-legged race.

「…This kind of reminds me of when I used to play soccer.」

I can’t help letting out a small laugh.

「…You used to play soccer?」

Without looking at me, Sakaki-san murmurs that. I take a short breath and speak.

「Didn’t I tell you? My dad was kind of famous as a soccer player. Ever since I could walk, he taught me all sorts of things, but I… didn’t have any talent. I’d always fail, just like I’m doing now, and get yelled at a lot.」

「That must have been… tough.」

「I never really thought so while I was doing it. …But when they finally said, ‘I give up on you,’ that hurt.」

「I see…」

She grips her hands together as if she’s in pain. …I shouldn’t have brought that up.

I force my thoughts in another direction.

「Anyway, let’s run a bit more. Even if you’re not gifted, if you keep at it little by little, you’ll manage somehow—I’ve proven that already.」

「…Yes. Let’s run a little more, then.」

Again, we go “Ready, and…” but for some reason, Sakaki-san doesn’t move.

「What’s wrong?」

I ask, and she still doesn’t meet my eyes as she answers,

「…You can put your arm around my shoulder if you want. No… actually, can you let me touch your shoulder a bit? It’s hard for me to run otherwise…」

Now she looks at me. …It’s a face I’ve never seen her make before. Her cheeks are slightly red, her eyes a bit teary, almost like a girl about to confess to someone she likes.

…No, that must be my imagination.

She has no reason to make that kind of expression now. I guess I’m just overly sensitive because I was confessed to earlier.

I give her my usual forced smile and reply,

「If you’re okay with it, then I don’t mind… but you’re not pushing yourself, right? If you really hate it, I can still—」

「No, I don’t hate it. I don’t… hate it at all.」

「…Alright, then.」

I’m not even sure what we’re doing anymore. We’re already broken up, so I shouldn’t have to worry about this stuff. But problems keep cropping up.

「…Seriously, what are we doing here?」

I swallow a sigh and put my arm around Sakaki-san’s shoulder.

「…」

She’s so delicate that if I applied any force, she might break. Even though I used to want so badly to touch her, now I feel like I should pull away before she shatters.

「…Sakaki-san, you don’t have to force yourself to touch my shoulder. Since I’m taller, it might actually be easier if you put your hand around my waist.」

「Right. …Then, excuse me.」

「…」

Her hand, resting at my waist, trembles slightly. She really is trying too hard, isn’t she? …But as soon as I think that, she shakes her head.

「I’m okay. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t hate it…」

「You sure? …Alright, let’s try running again.」

「…Yes, please.」

We run together for a while. Linking shoulders doesn’t magically make us run perfectly, of course, but being closer stabilizes our center of gravity, so we don’t nearly trip as often.

「I guess we really do run better like this, don’t we?」

She looks up at me, and I end up looking away.

「…Yeah. But if my grip hurts you, tell me right away. I don’t want you to get injured just because of this.」

「No need to worry that much. I’m… really fine.」

「If you say so…」

After a few more tries, we decide to run the actual distance we’ll have on the day of the event. Standing at the starting line marked on the ground, just the two of us, I speak.

「Alright, ready when you are, Sakaki-san.」

「…Yes. I’ll do my best.」

「On three… one, two…」

Together we say,「Go!」and start running. I can feel Sakaki-san’s rhythm more clearly now than before. She can probably sense my pace, too.

Compared to the first attempt, we’re moving much more smoothly. …Honestly, being this close still feels awkward, but when I glance at her profile, I see she’s very focused.

「…」

That’s why I stop overthinking and just run. …We stumble a bit at times, but we manage to reach the end of the course without falling.

「Yes! We made it!」

I end up giving a triumphant fist pump. Sakaki-san—

「Heh, I’m glad.」

—smiles. Only for a moment, but her cheeks definitely relaxed. …When she smiles, she looks younger somehow. I find myself thinking that for just a second.

For some reason, my chest hurts.

「…Was this the right choice?」

I don’t really regret anything, but I can’t help wondering if things could have been different, maybe a bit more… No, forget it. It’s all over now.

I look up at the sky and let out a small breath.

「Alright, we can probably stop here. We might not get first place, but at least we won’t embarrass ourselves.」

「…Yes, that’s true.」

We finally made it through one successful run, so I figure practice is over. But for some reason, Sakaki-san looks a bit dissatisfied—or rather… wistful. She lightly tugs on my gym uniform.

「…Huh? What is it, Sakaki-san? Did you still want to practice?」

「No… class is almost over, so let’s untie our legs, shall we?」

Saying that, she crouches down to undo the rope around our legs.

「Ah.」

But maybe her legs are numb from the strange way she’s been moving. She loses her balance and falls into me, practically clinging to me.

「…!」

Her soft chest presses against me, warmth seeping through her gym clothes. A faint citrus scent drifts over, and my heart starts pounding.

「…You alright, Sakaki-san?」

I try to keep my voice as neutral as possible. She stays against my chest and replies,

「…I’m sorry. It seems my feet got a bit numb, and when I move, it hurts…」

「Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want to go to the nurse’s office?」

「No, it’s really not that bad. …But could you just support me like this for a little while longer? I still can’t quite walk properly yet… it hurts to move my legs.」

「…I don’t mind, but…」

「I’m sorry. …I’m really sorry.」

Her face is buried in my chest, so I can’t see her expression. …She just keeps apologizing over and over. I don’t think she has anything to be sorry about, but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to tell her that.

In the end, I neither push her away nor hold her tighter. I just keep looking up at the sky until the bell rings.