Athletic Festival Arc
29 Title Withheld
Meru and Yuuri headed toward the gathering place and, with a large gestures, Takimoto showed them where to line up.
There were a number of representative runners for the 2nd years. The running order for this group of three was Takimoto, Meru, and lastly Yuuri as the anchor.
"Kusuhara! I'll come to you in first place, so wait patiently!"
"Ohh. That's promising."
Meru clapped lightly. Yuuri was looking at Meru worriedly, but she intentionally said nothing.
"Meru! Do your best!"
Maiko said running over. There was obvious concern written all over her face.
Because Meru was there with the results from the 100 meter race and was now in the important position of connecting with the anchor, the gazes from the representative runners were painful. The only reason they weren't raising their voices in protest was probably thanks to Takimoto who was right in front of her.
That was probably clear to Maiko as well. Meru thanked her from the bottom of her heart with a "Thanks" since Maiko had come to cheer her on knowing that.
"Then, let's begin the last event of the athletic festival, the representative relay!"
The broadcasting committee member announced cheerfully.
While the participants were rising, Meru said, "Ok," and slapped her cheeks.
"No way…"
The representative relay began, alternating between male and female runners with males running a full lap and females running a half lap.
Takimoto who was in front of Meru was unusually troubled.
"Dead last…"
As expected, Meru also had a worried face.
It was no wonder. The red team was in dead last.
They were doing well at the beginning.
However, they failed a baton pass midway and fell to last place in an instant. The distance had widened greatly.
"Seriously… If I don't pull us into at least second place… Kusuhara will run, then Aidou, too, and if it continues like this…"
Takimoto gave a timid remark in an uncharacteristically subdued voice.
Meru was dying from how humorous his current appearance was, but with the current state of things, hearing non-stop complaints was undesirable.
Meru chopped Takimoto's drooping head.
"Oww!!"
"You're not acting like yourself, Takimoto-kun."
Takimoto looked at Meru blankly with teary eyes.
"Takimoto-kun, you're going to pass me the baton in first place, right? Hm? You can't?"
Meru smiled provocatively. Looking at Takimoto who knit his brows in his simplicity, Meru burst into laughter.
"If our moodmaker falls into a slump here, what are we gonna do? Hey, buck up."
"…!"
Takimoto had a sudden realization and said "Thank you," recovering.
"Alright, come on! Raise your voices! We'll catch up soon!"
Takimoto yelled in his usual loud voice. Meru complained, saying, "You're too noisy," but she was smiling cheerfully.
But the difference only closed a little bit. Takimoto clicked his tongue and rolled his shoulders, taking his place.
When Takimoto's turn to receive the baton came around, the second years' spirit returned. As expected of Takimoto. The self-proclaimed moodmaker wasn't just for show.
Takimoto pursed his lips, tautened his back, and ran with a staggering vigor.
The distance gradually closed. Since Takimoto could run for a long distance, the rule that males ran one full lap proved fortunate.
"Kusuharaaa! Sorry! It's not first place!"
Takimoto shouted before he had even entered the takeover zone. She wanted to say that if he still had that much energy remaining, he should run a little faster, but he had done more than enough for his role.
Takimoto arrived at the same time as the first year and passed the baton to Meru.
The cheers had reached the peak.
Everything happened in an instant.
Meru took a step forward. Intense pain ran throughout her whole body.
Meru raised her face. What she saw was Toujou Kenichirou, watching the relay with a serious face.
It was a face she missed. It was a face she had wished would come see her so many times when she ran as a child.
Her wish had been granted. That person was now right in front of her, watching her.
Meru smiled thinly and moved her feet forward, forward. She didn't feel something like pain.
"Kusuharaaa!"
"Ruu-chaaan!"
"Meruuu!"
"Kusuharsaaan!"
"Meru-chaaan!"
She heard various voices.
She was still being cheered on. This might just be her own self-satisfaction.
Even if that was the case, she wanted to run. She wanted to win.
Forward, forward.
Even if her foot was torn to pieces, even if her consciousness became dim, it was irrelevant.
She moved her foot that had lost all sensation with everything she had, pushing against the ground, each time making it creak as though it was about to break.
Just a bit more.
Meru swung her arms so much it seemed as though she was about to fly.
"Kusuharsan!"
Yuuri's voice rang out.
Meru put all of her power into her hand holding the baton and passed it to Yuuri.
When she glanced to the side, the third year was passing the baton as well.
The first year was still behind them.
Meru was faster than anyone else.
Even while staggering, Meru ran after Yuuri's figure inside the white lines.
Yuuri was fast. He had already outstripped the third year.
The cheers coming from the second years' tent were the loudest of the day. Even when compared to Fuuga and Laila's dance performance, there was more excitement by far.
Yuuri broke the goal tape.
The high school division second years were the champions. They had defended their title for a second consecutive victory.
"YesssssSSSS!"
With Takimoto's joyous voice, the second years celebrated with a banzai.
Maiko and the others from Class F jumped up and down, and amidst them, Matsudsensei's stomach was shaking as well.
Fuuga and Laila high-fived and smiled.
Yuuri was being tossed into the air by the representative relay runners.
In the headquarters tent, Shoutarou let out a sigh in relief.
Meru was happy about all of it.
At the same time she lost strength in her shoulders from relief, her entire body became weak.
The one who caught Meru and supported her as she began to collapse was Hayate.
"Kamishiro-kun. We won."
When Meru smiled happily, Hayate smiled helplessly.
"Overdoing it… You really did your best."
Hayate murmured into her ear. That voice was incredibly pleasant.
Chapter title: 29 Victory and Supreme Bliss
Decided not to put it up to keep some of the drama, even though the outcome is obvious. Our girl fought hard. (This one was actually pretty short, too.)
Anyway, 2/2 for today, see you sometime next week for the wrap-up of this arc!