—Bang!

That exhilarating sound echoed in the playground under the blue sky.

Immediately after, the smell of gunpowder wafted faintly around the area.

“… Good.”

Kashiwagi test-fired the starter pistol that I had just robbed and graciously gave it to her in a challenge, and muttered quietly.

“Kashiwagi-san! It’s my turn next!”

“Let me linger on it a little longer! What the h**l! These landlubbers are cheating to be able to bang out something this wonderful!”

—Never let Kashiwagi-san near any firearms.

I strongly believed that.

Even after asking, she didn’t give it to me, so I decided to let her shoot the starter pistol until she was satisfied.

—It’s something I got, though.

I mutter to myself as I watch enviously as Kashiwagi-san shoots repeatedly with a bang.

“I wonder why the landlubbers bother to use such a thing. It’s better to use a machine that just makes a normal sound. I wonder if it’s just because it feels good to shoot a gun?”

When I mentioned the question I somehow felt, Kashiwagi-san laughed.

“The starter pistol is intended for use by those at the finish line. With sound alone, it takes time for the runner to hear it because of the distance. This pistol, on the other hand, emits smoke immediately after it is fired, so it can be seen even at a distance.”

“I see. It’s true that it produces both smoke and sound, so you can see it from a distance at first glance.”

While we were talking about this, Kashiwagi-san finally handed me the pistol.

“Okay, I made sure it was safe. You can shoot now too.”

“… thank you very much for that.”

I sarcastically thanked Kashiwagi-san for what she said.

I loaded gunpowder into the pistol, pointed it upward, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

“… This–! It sure feels good! Alright, I’m going to shoot like Kashiwagi-san—”

“How long are you going to play with it, Yamamoto? Let’s measure the rest of your athletic ability now. We only have a limited amount of time to use this place.”

“How could you?”

While I was once again caught up in Kashiwagi-san’s tricks, I changed into the athletic shoes and ran around the ground 10 times.

◇◇◇

“How was it..?”

I came back and asked Kashiwagi-san, who had a stopwatch.

“Mm. Yes…”

Kashiwagi-san took out a Ramune and put it in her mouth.

“ —Tomorrow you might get caught if you don’t start running with license plates on though.”

There she is with her American jokes.

My legs are really fast, apparently.