The sound of the starting pistol reverberated through the blue sky as it signaled the beginning of the race.
As the participants of each group rushed off the starting line, the students who were wearing the same color headbands as the participants started cheering for their respective teammates.
{Here’s the two-person-three-legged race, the red team is still in the lead, followed by the yellow team. Meanwhile the blue and white team are behind them, side by side. Will the race end this way?!}
With the live commentary of the member of the broadcast committee, the three-legged race that Umi and I participated in, began.
Our turn will come up next.We had practiced so much, so we should be able to perform well in the race, but sadly the pair before us stumbled and our team, the blue team, ended up nearly getting the last place.
The race had just started, so we could still fix it, but because of the stumble, it put us in the position where we couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes.
…Thanks to that, I felt unnecessarily nervous.
“…Are you okay, Maki?”
“Yeah, somehow. My heart is pounding so hard right now, though…”
“Me too. Everyone is cheering for us, so we have to do our best.”
With our ankles firmly tied together, Umi and I waited quietly for our cue.“Umi!~ Maki-kun!~ Don’t worry if you fall over! Beat them all, just like how we practiced!~”
We could hear Amami-san’s cheer from the stands.
Her blonde hair shone as bright as her dazzling smile under the autumn sunlight. She raised her voice with all her strength to cheer on us.
“…My best friend had said all that, so I guess I have to do my best.”
“Mhm. We got this, Umi.”
To ease our tension, we held each other’s hands as we took a few deep breaths. This was the same method that we had always used even before we started dating.
We were still on the race track, but everyone’s attention was on the race, so it should be no problem if we were to flirt a little.
…I’ll limit myself to hand holding for now though. Anything more, people will start giving me nasty looks.
After a certain amount of tension had been released, we slowly made our ways to the starting line.
Thanks to the efforts of the first year pair, our current standing was third place. Depending on our efforts, we could still catch up to the other pairs ahead of us.
“Here goes, senpai!”
“Yes.”
After receiving the baton from the first-year pair, Umi and I looked at each other, nodded and kicked the ground as hard as we could.
There was no need to say anything loudly. We practiced so well.
{Oho~ After a great start, the blue team managed to jump into second place! They’re closing the gap with the red team little by little!}
“Go, you two, go!”
“Don’t let us down, you idiotic couple!”
We chased after the first place bearing the cheers of the crowds on our backs.
I frantically moved my feet forward, only focusing on the cheers and Umi beside me. All the nervousness and anxiety I had been feeling just before the race had been swept away.
* * *
“Oh, welcome back, idiotic couple.”
“Good work, Umi, Maki-kun! That was an amazing run! I was moved when I was cheering on you two!”
“Thanks, Yuu. As for Nina, prepare yourself, I’ll give you a beating later.”
“I-I was joking, go easy on me! …Ah, Rep, good work to you too!”
“Thank you… Too bad we didn’t get first place.”
We managed to do better than expected, but in the end, it was the red team that won the whole thing and we ended up in second place. To be fair, their team was filled with people from various sports clubs, so it was inevitable.
Nevertheless, we did better than expected and we did not fall behind in the overall score, so there was still a chance for our team to win the whole thing.
Currently, the ace of our team, Amami-san, has yet to enter the race.
“Al~ Right~ I’ll do my best! Let’s take the top spot for the scavenger hunt, Ninacchi!”
“Eh, it’ll depend on what card we’ll get… Well, if there’s a card that says ‘A good-looking student council member (male)’, I’m sure I could finish everything in a heartbeat!”
“That’s way too specific. You just want to mess with Takizawa-kun, don’t you?”
The scavenger hunt was organized by Nakamura-san and the others. In order to make sure that the hunt went smoothly, they made the item list easily accessible by the participants. (Takizawa-kun told me this).
Well, since the rule stated that you don’t need to disclose the item you needed to hunt, it was possible that something like ‘a male acquaintance’ was mixed into the list.
“Alright, that’s our cue. Cheer us on okay, Umi, Maki-kun?”
“Mm. Good luck, my dear friend.”
“Do your best, Amami-san.”
“Hehe, thank you!~”
She headed toward the gate with Nitta-san. Suddenly, she stopped and looked back at us.
“Ah, right, Umi, Maki-kun!”
“What’s wrong? Are you nervous? A kick in the butt should fix it.”
“No! I have something to tell you two!”
Then, after seeing our faces, she let out a gentle smile.
As if she was holding back her tears, she narrowed her eyes.
“…Sorry, Maki-kun, Umi. Because of me, you guys had to go through a lot of trouble. But don’t worry, from now on, I’ll be fine.”
“Yuu? What do you mean?”
“Hehe, you don’t need to worry about me anymore. I hope you two can stay together for a long time. Anyway, Amami Yuu, go forth! I’ll take first place!”
She said that with a playful look and her usual cheerful atmosphere. Without waiting for our replies, she turned around and dragged Nitta-san away with her to the place where the other participants were gathered.
If I had to guess, she was probably referring to her behavior at the pool and her behavior that led to the ongoing bad rumors about us.
She was trying to tell us that she won’t do something that would be easily misunderstood by others anymore.
“Let’s go back to the stand for now, Maki. The senpais will scold us if we loiter here.”
“…Ah, yeah, okay.”
As Umi dragged me by the hand to our stand, I could hear a faint whisper from her. Sadly, the loud cheering and the voice of the broadcaster drowned out her voice to the point that it was inaudible to me.
‘Yuu, you dummy.’
But I could tell what she was saying from the movements of her lips.
