Sports Day (Part 2)

Chapter 11 - Sports Day (Part 2)

The event after the VR dodgeball was the VR obstacle course, but since no one took part in it whom Keisuke, Noa, Cho or Sakura particularly knew, they decided to take a lunch break together. Each team’s tent outside had free sandwiches that they decided to take. Like one would at a picnic, Keisuke laid out a blanket on the rubber floor of the track. 

Everyone took three sandwiches since they were comparably small, except for Noa, who took just one sandwich, probably to avoid becoming sluggish before the relay race. They chatted away about their days up until that point, about what will come after, and about random everyday things. 

Finishing their food, everyone relaxed on the blanket until they heard more and more people coming their way, probably because the obstacle course event was done and the relay race was soon coming up. Noa stood up from all the commotion.

“I’ll go prepare and warm up a little bit. Make sure to cheer me on, okay?”

“We’ll make sure. I’ll buy you blueberries if you win.” Keisuke tried motivating Noa.

“Oooh, now that’s more like my language! I’ll bring home the bluebe- I mean victory!”

“Take care, Noa!” Sakura added

“I’ll be watching, Noa-chan!” Cho-chan said with a soft voice.

“I’ll give it my all!” Noa said with a determined gaze as she took off.

Everyone looked at Noa’s back as she ran; however, Cho’s gaze lingered for longer with a hint of loneliness, perhaps, and Keisuke noticed it.

That’s the same look as in the gym hall during the dodgeball game. Just why does it look so familiar?

Although unbeknownst to Keisuke, Sakura also noticed something herself.

As far as the eye could see, there were students everywhere around the track and field, the reason probably being that the relay race was the most anticipated event amongst all. 

The participants all gathered at their own starting position, and with Noa being the anchor of the black team, she was at the fourth and last checkpoint of the field. Everyone eagerly awaited the start when the announcer girl, Rin, made her return.

“Thanks for waiting, everyone! Let the relay race begin! To all the competitors: get ready at your position, set your sights on the goal and victory, and finally… GO!”

The starters from each team took off. The gray team got an early lead since Giichi was their starter. When the first runners passed the baton to the seconds in line, the black team’s member fell behind to last place, and with the third member getting the baton soon after, that distance only grew. Both of the opposing teams got past Noa-chan as she still waited for the baton. 

It was only a couple of seconds later that she finally got it, but as soon as she did, she sprinted with all her might. Keisuke watched Noa quickly catching up to second place and then becoming first at the last second, just before the finish line. As Noa was about to pass the finish line and end the race, time seemed to slow down for Keisuke, like someone suddenly pressed the playback speed button and changed it to 0.25 speed.

Noa-chan looked pretty cool there. And if even I think that…

He looked at Cho’s expression. A soft, longing look in her eyes, a gentle but strong smile, and a slightly tinted red face. It was the same as the other times. It was that familiar expression he couldn’t quite understand, up until that moment. Keisuke finally realized what the meaning was behind those eyes. And there was a reason he knew it.

Those are the eyes of someone who’s in love. I just know it. I constantly had the same look, after all. My memories aren’t fully complete yet, but even without them, I think now I can guess why I didn’t confess. It was probably because I realized that Cho-chan liked Noa-chan, and I didn’t want to get in between them.

After that recognition, time turned back to normal. Noa won first place in the end. Everyone ran up to her to congratulate her, Cho included. Even the opponents amicably recognized and complimented her. Keisuke wanted to praise her as well, but at that moment, he decided to take a walk instead.

******

Sakura saw Keisuke go behind the tents to reach the school’s garden, where he stopped to gaze at the plants. Sakura decided to follow him, and less than a minute later, her slender hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Keisuke, are you okay?” She stood beside him.

“Yeah, I just realized why I didn’t confess in our original timeline,” Keisuke said, looking over the flower incubator.

“Why?”

“Cho-chan likes Noa-chan.”

“And? Even if you confess, that much won’t destroy your guys’ friendship.”

“Maybe, but it will still trouble her.”

“Keisuke!” Sakura raised her voice. “Doubt begets regrets. You should know that better than anyone!” She grabbed Keisuke’s face so he looked her in the eye. “You don’t want to have regrets, right? You don’t want to have those ‘what if’ or ‘what could have been’ questions, right? We came back here for those reasons, right? You might not have another chance soon.”

“You’re right… I’m sorry. I need to get myself together and actually do it this time.” He slapped his own cheeks to set his mind straight.

“Good. And even if she were to reject you, at least you’ll be able to get it off your chest and move on.”

“Thanks for always being there for me, Sakura! Both in the original timeline and even here.”

“I don’t deserve your thanks. You’ve done way more for me in comparison, and you didn’t have ulterior motives.”

“Hmmm. Even if you only helped me because you love me, you still helped me, for which I’m grateful regardless.”

“I made it pretty obvious in the original timeline, so it was time you realized and addressed it,” she said, wryly smiling.

“There was no official confession though, so I didn’t have to answer hitherto.” Keisuke said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

“You cheeky little…”

Dummy. Well, it’s true.

The blooming hydrangeas’ petals fluttered in the wind, a few occasionally taking flight. Keisuke and Sakura watched the scene for a little longer before Keisuke spoke up. 

With a determined smile, he said:

“Thanks, Sakura! We’ll talk after, but right now, I need to get going.”

“Yeah, I know. Do your best!”

Sakura watched Keisuke run off as she sat down next to the beautiful blue, purple and pink hydrangeas.

So pretty... Someone must’ve cared for these flowers dearly.

Tears started dropping from Sakura’s eyes, making her take off her glasses.

She looked up at the clouds and the clear sky, wishing for rain deep down.

******

Noa was still being surrounded by impressed people who wanted to either ask her a question or congratulate her. Cho was the first to run up to her and congratulate her while even hugging her, but after the crowd gathered, Cho’s presence kind of fizzled out. 

On top of that, Noa hasn’t seen Keisuke or Sakura, so she wondered where all three of them might’ve gone. Excusing herself, saying that she needed to go to the toilet, Noa sneaked off to look for her friends. She went around outside of the school, and when she reached the garden, she found a sitting Sakura.

“Sakura-chan, are you okay?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

“Have you seen Kei-kun and Cho-chan?”

“No, but if you see them, please don’t interrupt them.”

“What do you mean?”

Don’t tell me…!

Reading Noa’s expression, Sakura nodded with a bitter smile.

“Don’t interrupt them, but please make sure to come back in time for the tug of war.”

“Okay,” said Noa as she ran off.

Noa made her way up the school’s stairs to the rooftop. She thought that could be the only spot they were at since she wasn’t able to find them anywhere outside. As soon as she reached the door to the rooftop, Noa heard familiar voices, so she peeked through the window of the door and slightly opened it to hear them better. Keisuke and Cho were leaning against the tall nijistonic grates.

“So the reason I wanted to bring you here is because I want to say something when I still have the courage to do so.” Noa heard Keisuke.

“Okay. I’m listening.” Cho replied.

“Remember the first time we met?”

“Yes. When you first moved here, you got lost and bumped into me on a corner.”

“I apologized over and over, then told you that I couldn’t find my way back home, so you took me to your parents.”

“Yeah, and it turned out they knew your parents, so they let you sleep over.”

“Exactly. We drew a lot and played video games all day.”

Both of them smiled from reminiscing.

“But to get to my point,” Keisuke started, “Cho-chan, you’re like a star for me, always shining brightly, and I’ve always wanted to protect your light.”

Noa’s eyes widened alongside Cho’s as Keisuke paused, then he continued with a brief but resolute sentence.

“I love you!”

He actually did it… And before me at that. Noa thought.

“Kei-kun…” Cho tried muttering in a flustered tone, with her face blushing.

“Wait, I know your answer, so you don’t have to force it. I just wanted to get this weight off of my heart. I know it’s selfish, sorry.” After saying that, Keisuke tried to quickly escape, but Cho stopped him by the hand.

“Let me properly say it, Kei-kun. I’m sorry! I appreciate your feelings, but I love someone else already. But I don’t want this to ruin things between us. You’re my best friend after all!” Cho started to sob. “And I want it to stay that way, if possible.”

Keisuke also teared up as Cho relaxed her grip on him.

“Thanks, Cho-chan. I’ll be happy with that. It will be more than enough for me. I want to see you guys happy too, so I’ll support your relationship when it comes to it, okay? I’ll just need some time to get used to it.”

“Thank you, Kei-kun…” Cho gave Keisuke a hug before she wiped her tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I thought you liked Sakura-san.”

“Sakura? Ah, well, it’s all right. I get how you would have interpreted it that way, but anyway, good luck wi…”

Keisuke whispered the end of his sentence to Cho, which made Noa unable to hear it.

What did he say? Did I just hear my name?

Cho’s face seemed to be redder after hearing that sentence than from Keisuke’s actual confession.

“Let’s go back! Sakura-san might be waiting for us for the tug of war match,” Cho said.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Oh, crap, they’re coming this way! I need to think about some excuses real quick. Uuuhm… I’ll just pretend I was just walking up the stairs!

Noa quickly ran down the stairs to time her walk with the moment Keisuke and Cho opened the door. When she heard them open the door, Noa slowly started walking up.

“Kei-kun, Cho-chan! I was looking for you! Tug of war is starting soon, so we gotta go.”

“Noa-chan…”

“Just so you know, I saw your horns through the window, so I know you saw us before,” Keisuke stated.

“Wait, she did!?”

“Busted, huh…” Noa sighed. “Yeah, I saw and heard stuff. Sorry!”

“No worries, not like we would’ve kept it a secret. Right, Cho-chan?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind it if you guys don’t either.”

“All right. Thanks! However, tug of war is really starting soon, so we should still get going.”

Noa, Keisuke, Cho and Sakura were able to do tug of war together, just like Sakura wished. Their final event ended up not being crucial for the final standings, as Noa’s victory in the relay race secured them first place, even if they were to lose. Because of that, they were able to take it easy and relax while also having some fun. They won one and lost one round, and their Sports Day soon came to an end with the black team winning and receiving a bunch of chocolates as their prize.

After Sports Day ended, Noa and Cho separated from Keisuke and Sakura to walk home together.

“Come to think of it, you had something you wanted to say too, right, Noa-chan?”

“Yes, but it can wait. You have a lot on your mind right now, anyway.”

“Okay, thanks! Why don’t the four of us go somewhere to relax then?”

“Sounds good. Where do you want to go?”

“A traditional onsen opened not too far away. It has modern technology, but it tries to preserve an old look akin to two hundred years ago.”

“All right. Let’s invite Kei-kun and Sakura-chan tomorrow.”

Cho nodded in response.

Cho-chan said she liked someone, but that’s for sure… me, right? It isn't pretentious of me to think so, right? I mean, who else could it be? But still, I didn’t want to rush it and dump it on her. It wasn’t the right timing or mood for me to confess as well.

After a while, they separated for the day.

******

Sakura and Keisuke reached home. Keisuke made his way to the living room and instantly collapsed on the couch, taking up more than half of it. Sakura followed shortly after and sat beside Keisuke, who was lying on his back with his legs over the handrest. 

Sakura’s hand moved towards his head, but then she stopped it and pulled back. Keisuke put his arm in front of his eyes to cover his tears, and then he let them all flow out.

“I got rejected.”

“You did well. Just let it all out. There’s no shame in crying.”

“Thanks… I really don’t deserve you.”

“Don’t say that.” Sakura leaned back and started caressing Keisuke’s hair in the end.

I’m sorry, Keisuke… I’m not that good of a person. After all, I feel more relieved right now rather than sad.

A couple of minutes passed like that when Sakura noticed that Keisuke fell asleep.

You must be exhausted. Thanks for playing along with my selfish requests. Cheerleading surprisingly suited Keisuke, though.

Sakura chuckled internally as she went to grab a blanket for Keisuke.