Most of the people in the two classes stood near their designated poles, forming a massive wall of defence. Only a handful of people in either class actually ran to the opposing pole.
Only about ten people in our class engaged—four of them being Luna, Remi, Mei, and me. From Yu's class, there were about a dozen. Among them were Sora, Yu, and Mikhael.
The two classes met in the middle and froze in an awkward standoff, waiting for the other side to make the first move. Not that it changed anything.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the enemy crowd. Of course, it was none other than Yu. He was a terrifying blur of speed and agility as he dashed toward our class with zero hesitation. Two people from our class tried to intercept him, but he weaved past one and jumped over the other.
I couldn't help but grin watching all this happen. What a damn showoff!
Before he could go any further, Luna stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop.
"What? You're not going to keep running?" Luna probed.
Yu stared at her flatly. "Bro, it's a team game. I'm not crazy."
As if on cue, two more figures burst out from behind him like dark shadows. One of them—Sora—circled to Yu's left, while the other—Mikhael—circled to his right.
They slipped past our defenders and headed straight for the pole—until Remi and Mei blocked their paths.
Sora sighed, looking a bit dejected. "Of all people, it had to be you…"
Remi shrugged smugly. "I hope you go easy on me, Sora~. You know that I've never beaten you in anything before, so can't you just give me one pass?"
Sora calmly shook his head. "I don't want to make light of your feelings, Remi, but I promised Yu I'd do my best. Besides…" The light of the sun reflected off his glasses, shining into Remi's eyes, causing her to cover her eyes.
"I NEED TO WIN THIS BET!"
Using that opening, Sora dashed past her.
"I told you this wasn't going to work out!" Remi shouted spitefully.
Not wanting to give up just yet, she reached out her arm to grab him, but he slipped past her and sprinted forward.
Goddammit, Remi, you had one job. Looks like there's a change of plans now. Thanks a lot.
Before he could get any closer, I stepped into his path. He shifted left—then suddenly spun right. I reacted instantly, stretched out my arm, grabbed him, and shoved him back.
He staggered slightly before regaining his footing, staring at me, clearly impressed.
"Whoa! You're a lot stronger than you look!"
"I'm flattered," I replied unseriously.
Personally, I didn't think I was that strong. I'm probably just average. I think what he called strength is me not holding back. Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. Yu was the same way. Call it a form of love—or something.
While my standoff with the president was happening, Mei was in the middle of facing off against Mikhael. The two of them were currently in a standoff, neither of them moving a single muscle.
He shifted his foot to the right for a fake, but Mei didn't move, maintaining her balance.
Seeing this, he let out a hollow chuckle.
"I didn't think we'd play together again. The last time we shared a field was when we did that mixed soccer team thing in middle school."
Mei nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah, except we were teammates last time. I think it's interesting now that we are enemies!"
"...I guess so."
A chilly breeze passed between them, lifting strands of his blonde hair across his face and obscuring his expression.
"Hey…" he forced out. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
Mei tilted her head. "Hmm? What is it?"
Mikhael opened his mouth—but nothing came out.
Mei didn't rush him. She just waited with the same encouraging, cheery smile as always.
Seeing that, Mikhael clenched his fists and looked away. "Why… did you break up with me?"
The crowd's cheers, the class's cries, even the wind itself, faded into the background.
Mikhael let out a shaky breath, then continued. "I thought… we were good together. I thought—"
"I'm sorry, Mikhael."
Mikhael flinched and slowly returned his gaze to Mei. He gasped. Mei wasn't mad, she wasn't sad, she just… smiled like she always did.
"There's really no hard feelings. I think you're a great guy. I just stopped liking you, that's all."
Mikhael's fists fell limp, unclenching themselves from balls of tension to flat resignation.
His posture slouched ever so slightly, but he still managed to give Mei one last faint, fragile smile.
"Then… I hope you can find someone who makes you happy. Truly."
Before waiting for her to respond, as if trying to get away from the past, he ran. Mei blocked his path. He leaned left before spinning to the right. Mei stood before him once more. Right, left, back, forward, jump, fake out, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape Mei.
He couldn't move forward for the remainder of the match.
***
We were in a stalemate. Mei had Mikhael completely locked down, so there was nothing to worry about over there. Sora and I were kind of even for now. The more he moved, the more out of breath he got, which was good for me, since I wasn't anywhere close to being tired. The one point of contention was Luna and Yu. She and I were supposed to guard Yu together. Clearly, that didn't work out as we wanted it to.
Remi quickly recovered and went to aid Luna, but I doubted the two of them together could stall him for long.
Almost as if Lady Luck heard my calls, Yu managed to break past them and dash for our pole.
Wow. What terrible timing.
I shot a glance at Luna, and she gave a quick nod. I sprinted away from the student council president and ran straight into Yu's path. He glanced to the side, making eye contact with me, and as if he had a sudden burst of energy—he began to run even faster.
Were you really saving that just for me? You are so insufferable.
He was just a few feet away from the pole before I managed to intercept him.
Sweat dripped down his face and onto the floor, dotting the ground beneath him. He was a bit out of breath, but he began to regulate his breathing. After settling down, a competitive grin crossed his face.
"This is what I was waiting for!" he shouted.
Just what the hell am I supposed to say to that? Shout back? I can't do that.
I let out a wry chuckle, stalling for time. Not like there was anything to stall for.
"How about you try to take it easy on me?"
Yu laughed. "Yeah—no."
"Well, at least I tried…"
Yu crouched down, ready to charge in. I placed my right foot back, ready to propel myself forward.
My eyes travelled behind him until they reached Mei. Mikhael was currently clutching his knees in exhaustion, unable to take another step.
It seems like she did a number on him.
She turned back and saw the situation we were in. Just as she took a step toward us, I flickered my gaze toward the opposing class's pole.
Even if she came, it's not like she could change anything on our side of the field. They were already too close. And she seemed to realize that, too.
Mei gave me a small nod before turning around and running to the opposing class's pole.
Now all I have to do is stall.
Then, I turned my attention back to Yu. He and I locked eyes with each other for a moment, neither of us daring to make the first move—until his eyes suddenly darted to his left. I followed his gaze.
Sora was running to our pole with Luna closing the gap on him, and Remi a bit further behind. In that split second that I shifted my attention, Yu flashed forward.
I reacted a bit slower, but I did as well. He leaned his body to his right and stopped. I thought he was going to fake, so I prepared to turn the opposite direction, but he committed right and broke through.
Tsk.
I had fallen right for his bait, but it was still too early to give up.
My hand shot forward and grabbed him by the arm. I didn't have enough time to catch up to him normally, so I jumped onto his back. With the sudden weight of a full-grown body on him, he was forced to slow down or collapse under the change in mass.
He turned his head to the side, confused about what had just happened. When his eyes locked onto my body, he stopped completely and stared at me in complete shock.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"What does it look like? I'm trying to win."
I landed on the ground, pulled him back while propelling myself forward. I was hoping he would stagger for a bit longer, but he shook off my hand and ran. Since my acceleration was higher than his, I was able to catch up to him. But it wouldn't stay this way for long. In only a few seconds, because he was overall faster than me, he would pull away at any moment.
So, as a last-ditch effort, I closed the distance between us and bumped my shoulder against his in hopes of breaking his footing.
He didn't budge. In fact, I was the one who lost my footing, causing my speed to decline. With that opportunity, Yu finally managed to pull away from me.
I could have tried to catch up to him, I could have run until the end, but my legs slowed down... until I stopped dead in my tracks.
Yu was getting closer and closer to our pole.
Seeing that, I let out a long sigh.
Well, it is what it is.
I turned around to see how Mei was doing. She was weaving through the whole class, but she was moving much more slowly than she did at the beginning of the day, and there was still quite a bit of distance between her and the pole. She had been participating in every event. So, of course, she would never make it before Yu in this state.
...Yeah, this game was over the moment it started.
Their class was just that much better suited for this game. But more than anything—I just wasn't better than him. It was that simple.
It was still fun playing, though.
I turned toward our pole. Yu was climbing past my classmates until he reached the top. Using all his strength, he pushed the pole, causing it to tumble to the ground.
A loud whistle blew, freezing the students in the field along with the cheers in the bleachers.
"A winner has been decided! Game over!"
Yu raised his fist high and let out a loud, victorious scream. Everyone in his class ran towards him and lifted him in the air, celebrating their victory. As he was carried in the air, his eyes darted around the field until they locked onto me.
For a split second, his face hardened, as if he were unsure about whether he should continue celebrating or come and talk to me.
But I simply shook my head. He deserved to celebrate this win. He deserved it, after all.
So—he did. He returned to his classmates with his usual happy smile.
While I watched from a distance. My finger twitched, but that was all that happened.
There was no helping the outcome.
And there was no point in lamenting about it any further.
I had lost.