Hoshino POV:
I walked along the edge of the track, the heat from the asphalt radiating through the soles of my shoes. All of the anchors were already lined up—all except for me.
Yu scanned the competition with his hands laced casually behind his head, wearing a somewhat bored expression. That is, until he heard me approaching from behind him. He turned around, and the moment his eyes locked onto me, a bright smile split his face.
"Holy shit! What are you doing here?!"
He should've already known the answer, but I decided to entertain him for a little bit. Since I was already here, I might as well.
I gave him a lazy smirk and shrugged.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm the anchor."
Yu's grin grew even wider, reaching all the way to his eyes. He wrapped a heavy arm around my shoulder, leaning his weight into me.
"I've been waiting for this for so long!"
"I'm flattered," I said, leaning back to escape his reach. "But I can tell."
Yu frowned slightly. "C'mon, you don't have to act cool!" He started shaking me back and forth, trying to get a rise out of me—or make me laugh. It was always hard to tell with him.
Something pushed against my chest, a small spark of genuine amusement, but I clamped it down, maintaining my flat demeanour.
"Please stop doing that."
Yu sighed before reluctantly letting go. He faced forward to the finish line, and so did I. The playful air around him didn't vanish, but it did grow slightly heavier.
"Well… are you ready?" he asked.
A calm, cool breeze blew between us, brushing my hair against my face. I didn't move it.
"I don't know. Are you ready to lose?"
Yu laughed—a loud, booming sound that made the runners next to us flinch.
"Hah! You are always so cocky! But that's what makes you so fun to play against!"
While I didn't doubt that, I knew there was one—bigger—reason as to why he found it so fun to play against me. And it was because...
"...I'm your best friend."
Yu paused, staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. Anyone else would've taken this as a compliment. And yet, for the first time since I came here, his smile froze.
With a small, shuddering breath, he looked away from me and rubbed the back of his neck.
"C'mon, man, you can't just throw that at me! I'm trying to be serious right now, you know!" His voice trembled slightly as it was carried away by the wind. "But... what about me?"
I looked up at the sky. The light of the sun shone deep into my eyes, creating a burning sensation, but I didn't look away.
In fact, I couldn't help but chuckle. "Stop being stupid. You already knew the answer to that."
I brought my gaze back down to earth and looked Yu right in the eye. "You're obviously my best friend, too."
The clouds shifted then, swallowing the light and leaving the world in a monochrome, grey shadow.
There's only one thing left to do…
Yu opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of the flare gun reverberated through the field, cutting him off.
*BANG*
The race had begun.
We both turned around.
Remi and Sora had pulled away from the rest of the group and had taken the lead. Maybe it was because Sora was going easy on her, considering he was only ahead by a small margin. I guess he felt bad after what happened during the pole takedown.
Both of them reached their second runner at the same time; however, Remi's handoff to Luna was significantly cleaner, which gave Luna a good head start.
Luna's opponent was some fourth member I didn't know, and to be honest, I didn't care about. All that mattered was that she was absolutely leaving that person behind. In fact, she left the whole group behind.
Luna maintained her lead all the way through until she handed the baton to Mei. Things took a drastic turn once Mei got her hands on the baton. She tore through the field and was making her way toward me at breakneck speed.
But that wasn't her fastest. Due to the strain she'd accumulated throughout the day, the lead Luna gave her was slowly diminishing as Mikhael trailed behind her. At this rate, by the time they handed the baton to Yu and me, it'd be up to us to decide the winner.
It was better this way. Using one cheap tactic was bad enough. I didn't want to use another one like the stalling Yu and making him wait plan I offered to Luna.
There were only a couple of seconds left before they reached us.
It was only then that I turned to Yu with a cocky smile on my face.
"Wanna make a bet?"
Yu lurched back, his face full of skepticism. "Now? Of all times?"
I shrugged. "Of course. What better time to make a bet than at the last minute, am I right?"
Yu stared at me for a beat before letting out an amused sigh. "Okay, sure, what are we betting on?"
"Nothing much. Let's make it simple. Who do you think is going to win, me or you?"
Yu scoffed. "Is this supposed to be a trick question? Me, obviously."
"Yeah," I agreed. "I'd bet on you, too."
Yu's eyes narrowed as he studied my face, his own full of suspicion. "What are you–"
Before he could even finish that sentence, I lightly kicked him on the shin. "I'm joking. Of course I'd win."
I paused, letting the silence hang in the air for a bit before speaking again.
A howling wind blew between us. All sound was swallowed by that gale—leaving only Yu and me.
I opened my mouth—and spoke without a single trace of sarcasm. "I'm serious."
Yu's face softened ever so slightly as he heard my change in tone. "You…"
I glanced back. Mei was only about a second away from me.
Everything is ready.
I didn't wait for her, and I didn't wait for the baton. I simply faced forward—and ran.
The wind grew still, and with it, the cheers flooded my ears once more. And within the symphony of the cheers was a single gasp directly behind me.
Sorry, but a relay is a team-based sport.
Usually, you'd wait for your teammate to pass you the baton before you begin running, but if I were going to beat Yu, I needed to take risks. This was one of them.
If I ran too early and gained too much speed, Mei would never catch up to me, and it wouldn't even be a relay. But if I were too late, I'd never beat Yu.
So, I needed to time it just right.
I stuck my hand out behind me. Time seemed to slow as the seconds passed, waiting for the baton to reach my hand.
But I didn't worry. I still didn't know much about Mei, and I could barely even say I was closer to her than I was to Remi. But if there was one thing I learned about Mei after spending all this time with her, it was that...
When it comes to things like this, we work awfully well together.
As if on cue, a cold cylindrical object pressed against my palm.
"You're crazy, you know that?" a cheery voice said from behind me.
I wasn't given a chance to respond as time resumed, and I bolted forward at top speed. I ran faster and faster. Yet—I knew it wasn't enough. I could already see Yu's shadow looming over me, inching closer and closer.
I glanced back. Yu was still a little bit behind me, but he was catching up. It was hard to say whether he'd catch up before I crossed the finish line, but I wasn't going to take any chances.
I waited until Yu was only a few feet away from me. It was only then that I took a massive gulp of air, made eye contact with him, and screamed: "YU! REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME IN MIDDLE SCHOOL WHEN YOU–"
My words streaked through the air, reaching into his ear and digging out countless memories. The instant it did, he brought both his hands up and clamped them shut, cutting himself off from the world, causing him to lose his balance slightly.
"AHHHHH! STOP! STOPPPPP!"
I spared him a small, humoured chuckle before turning back around and sprinting for the finish line.
That alone slowed his momentum. After all, your hands and balance were important for running. While it wasn't a grave setback, it was enough to kill his acceleration and protect my lead.
This is the upside of being his childhood friend. I know all your secrets.
I couldn't have pulled this on Luna. Not because she didn't have any secrets, but because she wouldn't care. Yu, meanwhile—god bless his soul—was a gentle giant. He didn't care about much, but an embarrassing secret for him was sacred.
Was I a bad friend? Maybe. Was it playing dirty? Maybe. But did I care?
...No.
As I ran, the crowd's cheering blended into the background, leaving me with nothing but the echo of my own footsteps.
It was at that moment that I glanced towards the tents. Lily and Yuka had their hands cupped around their mouths as they cheered for me.
Then, I glanced at the bleachers. Dad was standing with his fist in the air like a beacon, screaming at the top of his lungs—probably.
Then… I glanced back. Mei was resting on the grass, watching me with a look of support—and disbelief.
And finally—I crossed the finish line. Sound resumed, and the cheers rained into my ears.
"We have a winner! Hoshino is the first one to cross the finish line! Bringing his class back into contention!"
The crowd roared.
I turned back. Yu had just crossed the finish line. He wiped the sweat off his forehead before looking up at me.
Yu didn't say anything; he just continued to stare at me, stiff as a statue. That is—until he let out a long sigh and lowered his head, scratching the back of his neck.
When he looked up at me again, he gave me a happy and proud smile.
"You… won. I can make excuses all I want, but you won the moment you ran. I wasn't catching up regardless."
That was a lie. There was a world where he caught up to me, but there was no point in thinking about hypotheticals—because we will never know.
He stuck his hand out. "You did well. And... I'm glad that you didn't stop."
"I told you, I was serious," I said, looking at the side of his face instead of making eye contact.
I reached out and firmly shook his hand. His eyes glistened slightly as I did.
"Yeah…" he murmured. "You did..."
Suddenly, a voice brimming with energy cut in between us.
"Oh my god, Hoshino! You did it!"
Yu and I both turned. Luna, Remi, and Mei all ran up to me with relieved expressions on their faces. Mei and Remi both stopped when they were a few feet away, but Luna kept going with her arms out wide.
I quickly let go of Yu's hand and took retreating steps back, but his hand shot forward and gripped mine, holding me in place.
I snapped my head to the side, giving him a reproachful glare. But he snapped his own away from me, letting out an ignorant, yet melodic whistle.
That was all Luna needed to close the distance between us and pull me into a tight hug.
"I'm so proud of you! I can't believe you actually did it! I'll never doubt you ever again!"
Luna pressed her body against me. I reeled.
You're sweating like crazy. Please go away.
I reached around, ready to pull her away from me by the hair if I needed to, but my hand twitched.
Seeing her so happy... I couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes, yes, I'm amazing," I said, echoing her praise. "Now, can you please let go?"
Luna flinched before grabbing me by the shoulders and pulling back.
"Oops, sorry about that! I forgot I was sweating."
She laughed sheepishly.
I rolled my eyes. "It's fine. If I wanted to make you stop, I would've pulled you by the hair or something."
Luna dramatically slapped me on the shoulder, as if brushing off my threat. "Oh, don't be like that. I know you'd never do that to me."
Remi suddenly pushed Luna aside. "Stop hogging Hoshino! I want to talk to him too, you know!"
Luna jumped at Remi and grabbed her by the cheek. "Oh shut up! All you do is shit-talk him anyway!"
Remi swatted her hand away, face reddening. "What?! I can be supportive too, you know?!"
The two of them began bickering in the middle of the field.
Yu pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched their quarrel before going up to them and dragging them both to a more private area.
A soft giggle came from my right. I turned. It was Mei.
"Those two never change, do they?"
"Yeah, probably not," I said, watching them get dragged along by Yu. "But... they are more fun this way."
Both Mei and I gazed in the direction where Luna and Remi had taken their fight. Even through all of this, they didn't stop. It even looked like they were about to fight before Yu stepped in between them, warding them off from one another.
Mei and I both shared a small laugh before our usual silence ensued.
Suddenly, she brought her hand to her wrist and grabbed it as she adjusted her posture.
"By the way…" she paused for half a breath, as if gathering what she wanted to say, "Good job on winning!"
She then turned to me with the same cheery smile as ever. "I don't think we would've won without you… You're amazing!"
I shook my head. "Don't sweat it. I didn't win because I'm better than him or anything."
Mei tilted her head. "Hm? Then how did you win?"
The bead of sweat rolling down my forehead caught on my chin. It didn't drop; it simply stayed there, hanging.
Meeting Mei's purple eyes with streaks of pink, I said unseriously: "I cheated."
Her eyes widened slightly. In their very depths, there was a flicker of something unbelievably dark—almost like an all-enveloping black.
But the next time she blinked, it was gone, and she giggled. "Is that so? You must be a good cheater then."
I laughed along with her. But my own laughter fell flat in my ears. In fact, it didn't even sound like a laugh at all.
A good cheater? I guess I am.
Suddenly, my hand was plagued with a strange discomfort, as if the muscles were constricting against themselves. I rubbed my fingers against each other—hoping to alleviate whatever it was, but that only made it even worse.
Annoyed, I glanced down at my hand. My palm looked exactly as it should have... except for the faint glistens of sweat that lingered on the corners.
It wasn't mine—I didn't have sweaty palms. Which meant it could have belonged to only one person—Yu. It could have only happened after we exchanged that little handshake after the game.
It utterly disgusted me. I had every right to be.
Except... I wasn't disgusted with him.
I clicked my tongue.
...This is why I hate myself.
Irritated, I rubbed my palm against the side of my pants, wiping off his sweat. Yet, the discomfort didn't go away. It continued to plague me, like an invisible curse.
I sighed and looked in the direction of Yu, Luna, and Remi. By this point, they were all completely worn out from the fighting, huddled together in the corner of the tent, laughing.
While I remained out here, watching them from afar.
...But I can never stop.