Tricky Track Trouble

“Lucky you, Yamaguchi,” Akemi Anmori said as I joined her on the track. “You get to party up with a couple of cuties like us.” She leaned close and took a large whiff. Seriously, how could she do that so casually? It was embarrassing to me, and I was the victim. Even worse, her stomach growled, but she just smiled.

“What are you up to now?” Kageko Anmori asked. Glad I wasn’t the only one who found it weird.

“His mana smells divine,” Akemi Anmori said. “Go on, take a sniff.”

“That doesn’t mean you can get all up in his business. Sorry, Yamaguchi, she’s always causing trouble, but she--Damn, you do smell good! You could bottle this and sell it.”

Both girls were unbearably close, and I had no idea how I should react. Should I put some physical distance between us or try to play it cool? Like the dork I was, I decided instead to complain. “Could we just focus on the practice? I can’t believe you said that in public.”

“Oh?” Akemi Anmori leaned even closer until our faces were centimeters apart. “Does that mean I can say it in private? Maybe I should invite you to dinner.”

“Uh, that’s, uh…” I swiveled my head to check if anyone had overheard us. She was just teasing me with that whole elves eat people prank, but it would sound to anyone else like she was asking me out on a date.

Wait, maybe she was?!

Thinking about it after the fact, I could have turned the tables on her right then and there by accepting. But at the time, I was too nervous to say anything. Luckily, the coach came to my rescue.

She was standing on the side of the track, alongside a woman I’d never seen before. The two made an odd pair. While the coach was tall and boisterous, the woman was short and mousy. The coach wore form-fitting athletic wear while the woman covered herself in an oversized lab coat. If she was here to supervise the coach, I doubted she could stop things from getting out of hand.

“Alright you brats, take a warm-up lap,” the coach shouted. “Anyone who comes in more than ten seconds slower than Yamaguchi takes an extra lap.”

Now that was a challenge that was more my speed. If I ran slow enough to make it easy on them, I’d be a hero to the rest of the team. But if I slacked off too much, the coach might make us all run extra laps. After taking a deep breath, I started running. The Anmori twins kept up with my moderate pace for the first leg. So far, so good.

Then Akemi Anmori stuck her foot out to trip me.

Her loose sock felt so soft and pillowy against my shin that I didn’t understand what was happening right away. Thanks to my good coordination, I was able to stop before I fell flat on my face, but the Akemi twins sped ahead of me. Just as I retained my balance, Yuumondou gave me a small shove as he passed.

They were trying to slow me down. It was dirty. It was underhanded. And I knew the coach wouldn’t care. To her, the ends justified the means. If I came in last, it would just show that they were stronger than me. And who knows how many extra laps the coach would make me run then?

Fine. If that’s the way they wanted it, I’d give them a race.

With a burst of speed, I sprinted past Yuumondou. He tried to trip me, just like Akemi Anmori had, but I jumped over his leg as if he were a hurdle and continued running.

Ahead of me, Akemi Anmori raised her above her head. “Overgrowth!” Roots and vines burst from the ground and slithered over the track in front of me. “Smell ya later, Yamaguchi!”

Some quick footwork allowed me to step between the plants like tires on an obstacle course. But I knew Akemi wouldn’t stop there. If I wanted to get past her, I’d need to counterattack. “Fireball!” I tossed the shining orb like a shotput, sending it sailing over her head and onto the track in front of her. I didn’t want to hurt her, just force her to concentrate on dodging.

“Is that the only spell you know?” Despite breathing heavily, she still felt it important to taunt me. “Water Shield.” A bubble formed around her, and she ran through the fireball without missing a beat.

“Chain Lightning!” I shouted. Of course, I couldn’t cast the spell, but she didn’t know that. And covered in water, I doubted she would be so cavalier. My deception paid off. The two Anmori sisters dove for the ground and I raced past them.

From there, it was a simple matter of putting as much distance between me and the rest of the team. I had to dodge a few more spells slung my way, but once I put enough distance between us, not even their magic could reach me.

As I crossed the finish line, I noticed a strange man standing about twenty meters behind the coach. He had spiky red hair that stood straight up and an impressive mustache of the same color. With one finger on his chin, he was conversing with Robolina.

The coach openly cackled with delight as the last stragglers finished their laps. “How does it get beat by someone who barely knows magic? You brats--” The lady in the lab coat coughed loudly. “Right, I’m not supposed to call you brats anymore. You prep-school weaklings couldn’t even win when you cheated. Take two extra laps.”

Great. They were gonna absolutely despise me after this. Maybe if I was lucky, some of their anger would be directed at Akemi Anmori for starting it.

“Yamaguchi, was it?” The lab coat woman stepped forward to greet me. “I’m Dr. Yuzuki. Rekki and I go way back, so the principal has assigned me to keep an eye on her during practice.”

“Rekki? You mean the coach? She mentioned something about supervision last night. That’s you then?”

“It is. And I’d like to assure you that as long as you’re a student here, you’ll be safe. Well, except maybe from your classmates, but you seem capable of handling them.” She forced a smile onto her face. “In addition, the principal has hired an independent investigator to review last night’s incident. If you have a few minutes, he’d like to speak with you.” She gestured with her head toward the man talking to Robolina.

Now that I was closer, I could get a better look at him. He appeared human. No long ears, no green skin, no animal parts. But he was surrounded with a faint but menacing orange aura. And there was something else strange about him.

“Dr. Yuzuki, what species is that man?” I asked. “I’ve never seen anyone like him.”

“Huh? He’s a human.”

“But humans don’t have eyes like that.”

The coach’s head snapped toward me. “Eyes like what?”

“Vertical pupils and yellow irises that glow like lava,” I replied. “Can’t you see them?”

Dr. Yuzuki reached out to grab the coach by the arm, but she was too slow. The coach was already running at the man, her long strides carrying her fast as a cheetah. She summoned her iron club and swung it down on his head.

Without even looking at her, the man reached up and blocked the club with his bare hand. The force of the blow was redirected down at the field, which buckled under the man, forming a crater. A sneer appeared on his face as he tossed the coach aside as if she weighed no more than a handful of salt.

“HE'S A DRAGON!” the coach screamed as she sailed backward through the air. “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”