Volume 17, Chapter 5 Part 1

The 100-meter race was held right after the opening ceremony; It was my first match against Ibuki-san. It resulted in a narrow victory for me. Strangely enough, I won with about the same small lead as I had last year. Ibuki-san kicked up the dirt in frustration after reaching the goal, giving the excuse that she’d dashed with all her strength before the match.

My next bout with her would be the long jump at the fourth event. The two events in between would be fought separately.

The second event was the obstacle course, in which I placed first. The third event was the tug-of-war team event, in which we placed third. The points I have gained up until now are: 5 points from the start, 10 points from getting two solo first-places, 3 points from getting third in the tug-of-war team event, and 3 points for participation - resulting in a total of 21 points. This could be called an excellent start.

Then, once 10 AM came around, my second bout with Ibuki-san, the long jump, was about to start.

I took the single jump that would decide that match, and for me, the event ended at that moment. I recorded a distance of 5 meters, 79 centimeters. Not bad. In a situation where failure was not acceptable, I might have recorded what was almost a new personal best.

Ibuki-san, who was three turns behind me, regulated her breathing as she stared at the results. There were three people left to jump. I had leapfrogged to the first place, so I was really close to scoring a lot from this event.

“Suzune! I found you!”

As I kept an eye on the next runner, I heard a voice calling out to me from behind. Looking back, I saw Sudou-kun rushing up to me with Onodera-san walking behind him. They’re the pair I have great expectations of as high-scorers for this Sports Festival.

“From how you look, things must be going well.”

“Since the start, Sudou-kun’s had three straight victories, you know. What’s more, he made it look easy. I should’ve expected that!!”

“Eh, I guess. But you know, Onodera’s taken first place in both events she’s fought. Yeah?”

“Well, in my case, I did get a bit lucky.”

Onodera, unparalleled in swimming, had fully demonstrated her talent even on land.

“I didn’t have the impression that you were that fast when we first entered school. When did you improve?”

I was curious, especially since I’ve been watching her all along in P.E. class.

“I don’t really like running, and I’m not interested in stuff other than swimming, so maybe I was just not taking it seriously…”

“Ya said you definitely won’t do long distance!”

“I get super tired; I can’t run that much-there isn’t a single good thing about it!”

It seems they have been practicing every day since deciding to team up. They’re much more natural of a combo than I had imagined.

“Well, to be honest, you know, I wanted to fight against Kouenji if I could. That dude also got first in all three events he participated in, and seems like he’ll continue that streak.”

“That’s no good. Going against your classmates is not a good idea. You understand that, right?”

Both Sudou-kun and Kouenji-kun hold the potential to take first place. I understand their desire to race against each other, but they must prioritize the class right now.

“I-I get it. It’s just a joke.”

“It’s fine. I’ll keep an eye on him for that. Don’t worry.”

“I see. The more I can trust you with, Onodera-san, the less I’ll have to worry unnecessarily.”

“Y’all don’t believe in me one bit…”

He looked unsatisfied, but he averted his gaze when I looked him in the eyes… This must be proof that he was reflecting on what he had done in the past.

“After this, you guys are scheduled to participate in successive doubles’ events, aren’t you? Good luck.”

“You bet. We’re gonna keep this winning streak rolling.”

Promising words. But then, at that moment, the last runner went up to the starting line. I stopped our conversation for a moment and turned my gaze towards Ibuki-san.

“We can’t keep bothering her. Let’s go scout out the next event.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. See you later, Horikita-san.”

“Yeah.”

I gave them a sidelong glance and looked at Ibuki-san, who had begun her running start. I understand full well that Ibuki-san’s abilities are close to my own. In other words, It’s reasonable to think that she could surpass my record. I’m wavering between wanting her to lose and wanting to have a good match against her at full strength.

She should have been under a lot of pressure, but her movements were sharp and refined. After she jumped and landed, she leaned forwards and fell. Though she had dirt on her face, she quickly turned towards the record keeper. 5 meters 81 centimeters. It was just 2 centimeters, but even so, mine being 2 centimeters short had settled my defeat.

“I did it!”

Ibuki-san struck a victory pose and made a big fuss like a child. She was one down and had no second chances, but she still made a splendid jump.

“Did you see? I won! You lose!!”

I can understand she felt so happy she wanted to bug me, but I must admit she was being a bit irritating.

“As I thought, you might’ve had the advantage because you don’t have as much air resistance…”

If we assume that there was no difference in skill between Ibuki-san and me, then the gap between us could be explained by that…

“Huh? Air resistance?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t be a sore loser. Just honestly admit you lost!”

“Don’t get carried away. This means I have one win, one loss. All this means is that we’re back to being tied.”

I tried warning her to keep her from flying off, but she kept her smirk throughout. I should feel bad for losing first place, but if she’s so happy I guess it’s alright…

“I won! I won! I won!”

… No, it isn’t.

If anything, it made my mental stress jump up. With this, I was at one win, one loss. I wanted to get to our third match as soon as possible. Still, after this, I was looking out for a few high-scoring team events, so my showdown with her would have to wait for the balance beam competition in the afternoon.