Chapter 146 - Running Through The Surrealism

As I crouched down into the position, and stared straight ahead of me. I felt this strange feeling overwhelming me again. My heart was beating fast, and somehow everything in that moment felt unreal.

"GO!!!" The PE teacher blew his whistle and all of us flew onto the track. 

The crowd around us was roaring, too. A weird gut wrenching feeling fell upon me as all I could think of as winning this race. All I knew at that moment was I had to reach the finish line. All that felt really surreal.

I could see Nishimiya in front of me, running like there's no tomorrow as his pony tail was flying literally. His t-shirt was fluttering at all that speed.

There were a few people in front for a moment, but soon they were left behind too, as the only person I found in front of me was Nishimiya himself. I neither looked to my left nor to my right as my eyes were focused on the track.

My mind was empty of any thoughts at that moment. I was really enjoying the race since I was running to my heart's content after so many years. It felt really refreshing. The rhythmic movement of legs and hands as I kept pacing forward.

I could feel the speed myself as my legs were moving at speeds I didn't know were possible. Or maybe I never tried, that's why. My hair was flying all over my face, which was really uncomfortable.

I was pacing up even more, and now was almost running on par with Nishimiya, which was actually quite shocking for me. The finishing line was closing in rapidly, as in a matter of seconds, Nishimiya crossed the line with me following after him.

I was panting hard, as Nishimiya casually walked up to and patted me on the shoulder. He beat me in both; stamina and speed. Though he was panting too, but not as heavy as me.

"Damn… you're fast." He said, and it sounded like he underestimated me. Well, I wouldn't blame him. I underestimated myself too.

"Yeah, I'm surprised too." I said with an awkward laugh as I gasped for air in between my chuckles. I haven't run this fast in years, so I didn't know how much my speed had increased.

"I thought you'll overtake me for a second there." He said, and I knew he was trying to be nice, so I just shrugged it off, "Ahh… no way, man!"

"See you later though!" He walked off while waving at me. After a few seconds, he turned around with a smile on his face and yelled, "Also tell Gaisen that I'll break his other leg tomorrow."

"S...sure…" I just nodded. I walked towards my group of friends. The sprint was actually tiring, but it wasn't much for Nishimiya since he plays football. Also, the third position was taken by someone from the third year, whose name I couldn't recall.

As I walked into their vicinity, Tsūmen threw my jacket at me and my field of vision was blocked for a second there. I removed it and noticed all of them looking at me in surprise.

"Yayyy!!! Sai you came second!!!" Nee-chan came running towards me and hugged me, though she instantly pushed me away as my t-shirt was sticking to my body because of the sweat.

"The heck…!?" Kana's eyes clearly showed her astonishment as she narrowed her eyes and asked, "You're that fucking fast?"

"Seems like so…" I just nodded as she kept looking at me with a frown on her face.

"So all that, I'm bad at sports, was bulllshit?" Reina just rolled her eyes at me as I was just a traitor, according to her.

To her blunt comment, I glanced at her with an unsure look in my eyes and said, "No… I'm pretty surprised too…"

She crossed her arms, resting them on her chest, and tilted her head as she said in an out right unfazed tone, "You do understand that you're the second fastest person in the school now?"

"Yeah…" I gave her a vague nod, as I could see the clearly excited look on Nee-chan's face. And I also thought about that, but being the second fastest in school feels weird, so I didn't know what to think of it.

"And...?" She said expecting a reaction from me, but I just ended up giving her a blank, confused look which went on for a while before I broke the awkward silence with, "What? I don't know what to say."

I noticed Tsūmen and Gaisen laughing at this brief exchange of mine. Looking at Gaisen at one of those foldable metal chairs while keeping his leg in a straight posture, I remembered what Nishimiya told me to pass him.

I walked up to him, and said, "Oh by the way… Nishimiya said he'll break your other leg tomorrow."

Gaisen gave off a blank look and said, "That dude…"

Nee-chan tapped me on the shoulder and I turned as she asked, "Sai, are you taking part in another event?!"

"Did you seriously ask that?" Judging by the tone, it felt like she was really expecting there might be another event I'm in, and to my surprise he was being serious, as she gave me a strong affirmative nod, "Yes."

"Why are you stupid?" I sighed, as I asked in disappointment.

"Eh… just answer me." Narrowing her eyes, she asked to which I just gave her a direct answer, "Nah… two events are enough… I'm tired now."

I was actually tired and even if I wasn't, I wouldn't have taken part in another event. I was already exhausted from running like 300m in a single day, which for an unathletic person like me was tough.

Hearing what I said, Tsūmen commented, "Ahh… man but you're like literally flying."

To my surprise, Saki seemed quite excited too as she spoke of the first time since I came back from the sprint. Her hazel eyes shining with curiosity and innocence, "I know right… when he came out of the crowd and kept speeding up… that was so unexpected."

"I knew he could run fast but didn't expect him to be this fast…" Gaisen joined in, and to be honest I have never run in races, so I wasn't aware of my speed till now.

"Yeah, he is faster than you…" Tsūmen said with a smug, to which Gaisen instantly replied with, "Yeah, than you too."

"Well… touché!" They both laughed at the awkward outcome of trying to roast each other indirectly.

"I'm actually quite shocked since I haven't really sprinted in so long." I laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of my neck, as I did not know how to tackle compliments since I rarely got them.

"But Nishimiya-kun is another level… he barely broke a sweat in the sprint." I added, as I understood the difference between our speed may not be that much, but in the long run, he can destroy me easily

"Well, that's because he runs laps on a damn football pitch." Gaisen said with a shrug, to which I nodded lightly, "Makes sense."

"For a moment it felt like you would overtake him." Kana said, to which I just gave her a weird look and said, "Now that's just exaggerating."

"No, she isn't… you're quite close with him." Saki backed her up instantly with a pout and Tsūmen also joined them as he nodded, "True…"

Again, it came to the point where I was at a loss for words before one. I don't know if they are exaggerating it or not and two, I'm not used to directing compliments like this, which I did not know how to rebut.

As I was just looking at them and smiling, I heard my sister call out to me, "Sai! Come here for a moment."

Showing my friends a small wave of intrusion, I left the group and went over to the side where Nee-chan was standing while fiddling in her mobile.

She looked at me with a warm smile, as she started, "I'm thrilled to see you… taking part in events… talking with your friends… enjoying yourself…" 

Not knowing what to say, I stood there in silence as the noise from around me settled in and Nee-chan continued, "It's been quite a long time since I saw you this happy."

"I'm not happy in particular…" I answered, but she just chuckled and pulled my cheek with her left hand as she said, "You're so stubborn."

Retracting her hand back, the smile was still on her face as she said, "I'll be leaving for now… since my friend has come to pick me… okay?"

"You're going?" I asked, and she turned towards me with googly eyes and said, "Aww… will you miss me?"

"No… just asking…" I just gave her a nod, which made all the excitement flush away from her face as she made a pissed off face and spouted, "Oh… yeah I'm going you, idiot! See you."

With that, she waved at me and walked off towards the gates and soon vanished from my field of vision as she got devoured in the crowd.