214 — Preparing for the Semifinals

RAW

After finishing their race, Haruto and the others returned to the waiting area in the center of the track.

While they celebrated making it through the preliminaries, preparations for the second race had been underway. By the time they returned, the school grounds were already buzzing with cheers and excited commentary.

Apparently, the broadcasting committee member who had been commentating so enthusiastically on Ayaka that a female student had to take over had managed to reclaim his position as commentator.

“Looks like Class E is in first place in the second race?”

Tomoya remarked as he watched the race unfold.

“Maybe.”

Haruto replied, keeping his eyes on the baton as it was passed to the anchor runner.

Just then, Shizuku approached them from the first-years’ waiting area.

“Congratulations on making it through the preliminaries, senpai!”

“Thanks. And congratulations to you too, Shizuku.”

When Haruto returned her congratulations, she gave a small nod and turned her gaze toward Ayaka.

“Aya-senpai was incredible too. I never expected you to take down the commentator instead of your rivals. Truly an indiscriminate attack.”

“Huh? They changed commentators halfway through?”

Ayaka had been so focused on the race that she hadn't even noticed the commentator switch from a boy to a girl.

She stared blankly for a moment before turning to Saki beside her, as if asking for confirmation. But Saki had apparently been just as absorbed in the race.

“I didn't notice either.”

“Hmm. Well, Aya-senpai absolutely has to make it onto the podium, after all. You need to focus entirely on the race without worrying about what's happening around you.”

“Yeah. You're right.”

Shizuku held out a fist in a determined, expressionless gesture, and Ayaka responded with a fist pump of her own.

Watching the two of them burn with enthusiasm, Saki made an unusually relaxed comment.

“Well, if we can run like we did just now, I think we've got a pretty good shot at the podium. Right, Tomoya?”

Saki gave Tomoya a light pat on the back.

She seemed genuinely pleased that their baton pass had gone smoothly in the preliminaries and helped secure their victory. She'd been in a particularly good mood ever since.

“Huh? O-oh, yeah!”

Tomoya took a beat to react before nodding awkwardly.

“We're gonna crush it in both the semifinals and the finals! First place, all the way!”

“That's probably a bit much to ask, but there's nothing wrong with being motivated.”

“I'm gonna sprint with everything I've got, fueled by the reward Saki promised me!”

“I told you, it's not a reward!”

A short distance away, Shizuku watched the two of them with great interest.

“Three minutes until love begins. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say it's already begun. Hmm, hmm.”

Hearing her mutter under her breath, Haruto gave her an exasperated look.

“Don't tease them too much, okay? You're going to get scolded.”

“Hehehe. Saki-senpai can't scold me.”

Shizuku sounded strangely confident, making Haruto tilt his head in confusion.

Before he could ask her what she meant, however, the third-years' preliminary race began, drawing his attention back to the track.

Since this was their final sports festival, the third-years were showing even more enthusiasm than the first- and second-years.

The runners were giving it their all, of course, but their classmates were just as fired up as they cheered them on.

Meanwhile, Class 3-A, led by Minato-senpai, who had declared that he would absolutely make it onto the podium, cleared the preliminaries without any trouble.

As Haruto watched Minato celebrating with his teammates from a distance, Tomoya came over and spoke in a low voice.

“So far, the plan's going smoothly.”

“Yeah. Next up is the semifinals.”

“By the way, have you decided what you're going to say on the podium yet?”

“Well... not exactly.”

Haruto still hadn't figured out how to respond to Minato's confession. He couldn't decide how to tell him off and make it clear that his confession would be a nuisance.

“If Minato-senpai were a jerk, this would be easy...”

“Yeah, but he's a genuinely good guy.”

“I'd feel guilty getting angry at someone like that.”

Minato was willing to help put an end to the trend of boys confessing to Ayaka, even knowing that he would embarrass himself in the process.

He claimed he was doing it to finally put his lingering feelings behind him, but Haruto couldn't simply shrug and think, Well, in that case, I'll have no qualms about it.

“For now, I'll just focus on getting through the semifinals. If we don't make it onto the podium, I won't be able to face Minato-senpai.”

“Pass-Taro is going all out in the semis too!”

“Come to think of it, that baton pass between you and Saki was perfect.”

“O-oh, you bet! Of course it was! That's the power of the friendship between me and Saki!”

When Haruto praised his baton pass, Tomoya stumbled over his words for a moment, seemingly caught off guard. But he quickly recovered and went back to his usual confident bluster.

“Got it. I'm counting on you.”

“Leave it to me!”

Haruto figured it would be a bad idea to say anything that might throw his best friend's mental state off before the next race, so he deliberately ignored Tomoya's reaction.

Once the mixed-gender relay preliminaries had finished, the triple jump competition began.

The relay semifinals would take place after that event.

While the triple jump was underway, the teams that had qualified for the semifinals prepared by doing light warm-ups around the edge of the field.

Haruto and the others were taking it easy, jogging a little to stay loose, when a member of the sports committee came over to inform them of the semifinal lineup.

“Class 2-C is in the first race. Please move to the waiting area in the center of the track in a little while.”

After delivering the message, the committee member left. Ayaka then spoke up, her expression serious.

“If we finish in the top two, we make it to the finals, right?”

“That's right. But even if we lose here, we can still qualify through a wild card. As long as our time is among the two fastest times of the teams that lose in the first and second races.”

Haruto explained, partly to make sure everyone was on the same page.

Saki turned toward Tomoya with a slightly teasing smile.

“Don't deliberately hold back just because you think getting a wild card sounds cooler, okay?”

“Don't worry! I'll nail the semifinals too!”

Tomoya answered in a brighter voice than usual.

Just then, Shizuku returned, leading her teammates.

“Looks like we're in the same semifinal heat as you, senpai.”

As she spoke, she pointed a finger at them with a sharp, confident gesture.

“We won't go easy on you! We'll show you the absolutely ultra-super strength of Class 1-B!”

“Yeah, yeah. You don't have to go around picking fights with everyone.”

Maeda, one of her teammates, grabbed Shizuku's pointing finger and pulled her back.

“Hmph. The battle starts long before the race itself. Aya-senpai's fragile mental state is the perfect target.”

“My mental state isn't fragile!”

Ayaka immediately reacted to Shizuku's teasing.

“Honestly, Shizuku-chan, you're always going on about Aya-senpai this and Aya-senpai that. Just how much do you like her?”

Maeda spoke with an exasperated expression.

Shizuku's otherwise expressionless face twitched ever so slightly.

Seeing that, Ayaka's expression softened into a delighted smile.

“Huh? Shizuku-chan, do you talk about me all the time?”

“...It's not like I like Aya-senpai even a tiny bit.”

With a sharp “Hmph!”, Shizuku turned on her heel and walked away with her teammates.

Watching her retreating figure, Tomoya chuckled wryly.

“Now that's a textbook tsundere.”

“The problem with Shizuku is that you can never tell whether she's doing it as a joke or if she actually means it.”

Haruto wore the same wry smile as Tomoya.

Eventually, the triple jump competition ended, and the mixed-gender relay semifinals began.

As the team in the first heat, Haruto and the others were promptly guided by a member of the sports committee to their respective starting positions.

Having already run once in the preliminaries, their nerves had eased a little. At the same time, however, the pressure to advance to the finals had grown.

Haruto placed his right hand against his chest and took a deep breath, trying to calm his heartbeat, which was faster than usual.

“Here we go! The semifinal of the mixed-gender relay, where the teams that survived the preliminaries will face off against one another!”

The announcement signaling the start of the semifinals rang out, and a wave of cheers rose in response.

“The semifinals consist of two races, with six teams competing in each! The top two teams from each heat will advance to the finals, along with two more teams qualifying through the wild-card slots—for a total of six teams!”

The broadcasting committee member delivered the announcement with enough enthusiasm to get the crowd fired up.

Loud cheers poured continuously from the tents where the classes were waiting, and the entire school grounds were filled with excitement.

“Which teams will earn their place in the finals? The first race is about to begin!”

The energetic announcement seemed to spur the spectators on.

“Let's gooo!”

“Give 'em everything you've got!”

Cheers rang out toward the runners as the first competitors began preparing to start.

From his own starting position as the fourth runner, Haruto watched Saki's back as she adjusted her starting blocks.

She'd run brilliantly in the preliminaries, and that had helped ease the tension. Surely, she'd be able to hand off the baton in a good position again this time.

As Haruto watched his dependable first runner, Shizuku, standing in the neighboring lane, folded her arms and spoke.

“Yoshida-kun, our first runner, is a tough opponent, you know?”

“Wasn't he a natural sprinter?”

“No, that's Yamamoto-kun.”

“Huh? Isn't Yamamoto-kun the one who's crazy about running shoes?”

“...Oh, right. He is.”

Shizuku fell silent for a moment, resting a hand on her chin after Haruto pointed that out.

Then she lightly tapped herself on the head with her fist.

“My mistake. Teehee, oops!”

Haruto gave a wry smile at the incongruity between her expressionless face and her exaggerated gesture.

“You really don't think things through, do you?”

At that moment, a command rang out across the track.

“On your marks!”

Last year, they'd simply said, “Take your marks,” in Japanese. But this year, they'd switched to English.

Between the term “wild-card slot” and now “on your marks,” perhaps someone on the student council organizing this year's sports festival was particularly particular about terminology.

Thinking about that, Haruto watched Saki place her feet against the starting blocks at the next command.

“Set!”

The semifinals were finally about to begin.

Haruto took a deep breath to steady himself.

Then the starting gun rang out across the track.

Propelled forward by the roar of the crowd, Saki shot off the starting line.