195 – Getting Even Closer

RAW

“Ayaka~! You’re good to go~!”

Saki raised her hand high, signaling to Ayaka, who was standing at the starting line for the 100-meter dash.

Ayaka responded by lifting her hand, then sprinted forward at full speed.

“Oh? Isn’t Ayaka running faster than before?”

“Her form looks a lot cleaner too.”

Waiting at the finish line, Tomoya and Haruto talked about Ayaka’s run just as she dashed past them.

As her scent drifted by on the breeze, Ayaka slowly walked back toward them, breathing heavily.

“Haa… haa… how was it?”

“Yeah, I think you’ve gotten a lot better.”

When Haruto said that, Ayaka smiled happily.

“Yay.”

Watching the couple smile at each other, Tomoya glanced over at Saki.

“Aizawa-san, Ayaka’s improvement is all thanks to your coaching.”

“Well, of course. This is what a former track-and-field ace can do.”

Saki exaggerated proudly, and Tomoya bowed deeply in response.

“Wow, my apologies. I have witnessed greatness.”

Haruto, finished talking with Ayaka, stared at Tomoya.

“Why are you bowing to Aizawa-san?”

“It’s a prayer for victory in the sports festival.”

Tomoya answered with a serious face, then offered Saki another polite bow.

“Oh goddess of track, please grant us your strength.”

After clapping twice, he bowed again.

“Hey, Akagi-kun. If you’re going to pray to me, at least offer some money. I won’t give you blessings for free.”

“Oh, right. Then I’ll give you five yen—”

“I do not accept offerings under one thousand yen.”

“You’re a scammer goddess!?”

Tomoya shouted in shock as Saki demanded a high offering, then both of them burst into laughter.

“Okay, enough jokes. Let’s move on to practicing baton passes.”

Saki picked up one of the batons they had borrowed for practice.

“The running order is me, Akagi-kun, Ayaka, then Haruto. So line up in that order.”

Following her instructions, they stood in a row.

“Alright, space yourselves out a bit, and we’ll practice passing the baton one by one.”

They spread out about twenty meters apart. Saki jogged lightly and handed the baton to Tomoya.

“Wait—hey! Akagi-kun! You’re grabbing my wrist!”

“Huh? Oh—sorry—whoa!”

Mistaking Saki’s wrist for the baton, Tomoya grabbed her and slowed his pace, but Saki—being pulled forward—couldn’t slow down in time and crashed into him.

When he turned back, Saki flew right into his chest. Tomoya barely managed to keep his balance and catch her.

“Whoops. Sorry, Aizawa-san. You okay?”

“Y-yeah…”

Realizing she was being held in his arms, Saki quickly moved away, flustered.

“A-as I thought, the underhand pass is pretty difficult…”

“If that happened while running full speed, we’d definitely wipe out.”

As Saki spoke quickly and avoided eye contact, Tomoya crossed his arms with a troubled expression.

Ayaka and Haruto returned to them.

“Are you two okay?” Ayaka asked with concern.

Tomoya grinned.

“I was just sharing a passionate embrace with Aizawa-san. No problem at all!”

“That is a big problem!”

Saki snapped at him.

“I don’t think we can master the underhand pass by the sports festival.”

“So we switch to overhand?”

Saki, cheeks faintly pink, looked over at Haruto.

“Underhand is faster, but if we fall, it’s pointless,” Haruto added.

“Exactly. Doesn’t matter how fast you run if you wipe out halfway.”

Both Haruto and Saki seemed discouraged about sticking with the underhand pass.

At that moment, Ayaka, who had been quietly watching Saki and Tomoya, spoke up.

“Hey… can Haruto and I try the underhand pass too?”

“Huh? Well, sure,” Saki replied.

“Haruto, let’s try it.”

“Okay.”

Haruto felt a small question forming in his mind at Ayaka’s sudden enthusiasm, but followed her instructions.

He moved about twenty meters away. Ayaka held the baton and prepared to sprint.

“Here I go!”

Haruto raised his hand in response.

Ayaka then burst forward at full speed.

“Wait! Ayaka, if you start full speed like that, you’re going to run straight into Haruto!?”

Saki panicked, but Ayaka closed the distance instantly—and then passed the baton to Haruto with a perfect, fluid motion.

“…Huh?”

“Ohh, that was perfect.”

Saki froze, Tomoya clapped.

Haruto and Ayaka jogged back over.

“Hold on! Why can you suddenly do the underhand pass!?”

Ayaka answered shyly.

“Watching you and Akagi-kun… I kinda thought, maybe if I just leaped toward Haruto, it would work?”

Haruto continued for her.

“I guess I just understood Ayaka’s distance really well. Even without turning around, I could feel where she was.”

The two spoke casually, as though it had just happened by chance. Saki held her head.

“That doesn’t make sense… Ayaka I can understand, but Haruto sensing her without looking? That’s basically a superpower…”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I did look back to check her position right before she started.”

“Even so… how does it work on the first try…”

“Meaningless…” Saki muttered as Tomoya clapped his hands.

“Aizawa-san. I’ve figured it out!”

“What now?”

“The reason we messed up the baton pass is because of emotional distance!”

“What are you talking about?”

Tomoya puffed out his chest.

“Haruto and Ayaka succeeded because the emotional distance between them is zero—they’re basically husband and wife!”

“So…?”

“So! If you and I shrink our emotional distance to zero—we’ll succeed too!”

“…Meaning you want us to get married?”

“YES! Fall in loooove!”

“Absolutely not!!”

Saki smacked him with a perfect punchline.

“Getting married for a baton pass makes zero sense! And don’t compare me, a normal person, to these two freaks of romance!”

She pointed firmly at Haruto and Ayaka.

“Their love story isn’t realistic! Ayaka and Haruto are living in fiction! I’m nonfiction! High schoolers getting engaged is fiction! F.I.C.T.I.O.N! Clear!?”

Ayaka blushed shyly.

“Haruto, Saki says we’re like an ideal dream romance.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s not at all what she meant.”

Ignoring the comedy duo, Saki stepped toward Tomoya.

“Baton passes have nothing to do with romantic relationships! Zero! None!”

Tomoya burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Total rejection! That hurts!”

“This is not a joke…”

“My bad, my bad. It’s just a joke.”

Tomoya put his hands together in apology.

“Seriously… stop saying weird things.”

“Sorry, sorry. But actually, you do need to trust the other person in a baton pass, right? So emotional distance kinda matters?”

“Well… fine, that part makes sense…”

Saki reluctantly nodded, watching him suspiciously.

Then Tomoya leaned in curiously.

“So, Aizawa-san… what’s the emotional distance between you and me right now?”

“…from over there.”

Saki pointed at the starting line of the 100-meter dash—then slid her hand horizontally until she reached the finish line.

“Probably… somewhere around that.”

Tomoya burst out laughing again.

“That's way farther than our actual physical distance! My soul is leaving my body!”

“What are you even saying?” Saki giggled.

“Well… I guess practicing the underhand pass a little more isn’t such a bad idea.”

“Yup. And I swore to become the Underhand Pass Master.”

“You’re still on that?”

“A man never goes back on his word!”

After that, the group continued practicing for the sports festival.