Chapter 7: First Clash

Hearing this, the students started worrying about how they would get through this day, or if his exercises would kill them first.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO ROLL CALL!

SAITO!"

"Present."

"KATO!"

"Present."

"YOSHIDA!"

"Present."

. . .

. .

.

"GOOD! ROLL CALL DONE.

NOW LET'S START RIGHT AWAY. AS A WARM-UP, I WANT YOU TO DO A LITTLE JOG FOR 5 MINUTES. EASY, EASY, WITHOUT GETTING TOO TIRED.

AFTER THAT, WE'LL START WITH THE TEST."

The students began running one after another.

In total, there were eight classes present at that moment, so two hundred students running one after another. They all ran relaxed, without exhausting themselves too much, and they were doing well since soon enough their bodies would be breaking down.

Five minutes later.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! NOW LET'S START RIGHT AWAY!

FIRST OF ALL, I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME HOW FAST YOU CAN RUN! SO FROM THIS LINE, A HUNDRED METERS AWAY, WHEN I BLOW THE WHISTLE YOU MUST RUN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!" said the professor while showing them the starting and finish lines.

"I'LL CALL YOU IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER! SO GET READY, ARAGIRI!"

And yes, he was the only one whose last name started with A.

"Good luck, Aragiri-san," said Sato and Kobayashi.

"Hehehe, luck is useless if you don't put effort into it. Now you two watch and learn," said Takeru full of confidence.

"We'll see about that in the theory test," said Kobayashi.

"Don't talk about that one."

"HEY KID! HURRY UP!"

"Alright."

"GET IN POSITION."

Sato watched Takeru prepare for the start and moved closer to Kobayashi.

"You know, I think Aragiri-san will come first in our class," said Sato.

"Obviously, look at him. He has a solid build and that explosive temper of his keeps him fired up, gives him energy," Kobayashi responded.

"What about you? How do you think you'll do?"

"Me? With GOD's blessing, I hope to at least place in the upper half of the class, not among the top but not among the last either."

"I just hope I don't come in last," said Kobayashi with a bitter smile.

The other students didn't make many comments since they barely knew each other, but they watched with curiosity.

Meanwhile, Takeru got into position. Head down, legs bent, arms ready.

This should be child's play. I've run a lot in my past. In the gangs, you do nothing but run: run from the police, run from other gangs, or chase them. I'm confident.

His ears were ready for the sound of the whistle. He didn't look toward the professor, kept his mind calm.

3

2

1

PIIIIIIII ( Whistle sound )

Go!

As soon as he heard the whistle, his right foot gave an explosive push and his left was already ready for the next step. He ran fast, without fully lifting his head until the end. His pumped legs moved with precision, his breathing was controlled. He didn't feel any particular fatigue—it was a short run and he was doing fine.

He reached the finish line and gradually slowed down, not stopping abruptly.

"GOOD! 10.87 SECONDS. NEXT ONE! CHIBA!"

And so the professor called them one by one.

. . .

. .

.

"I'VE CALLED EVERYONE! AND THE FASTEST WAS ARAGIRI TAKERU! FOR HIS CLASS, BUT SECOND COMPARED TO OTHER CLASSES BECAUSE ABE HARUTO BEAT HIM WITH EXACTLY 10 SECONDS!" shouted the professor.

"What did I tell you, huh?" said Takeru full of confidence.

"Yeah yeah, good job Aragiri-san," said Sato.

"It was obvious, look at yourself and then look at us," said Kobayashi.

"Dude, you need to eat. Look at your arms, they're like dry twigs. These muscles aren't created out of nowhere, you need blood, sweat, and then—"

"THE NEXT EXERCISE IS THE RELAY! RUN FOR 15 MINUTES WITHOUT STOPPING! EVERYONE START TOGETHER."

"Already? At least let us take a break," said one student.

"THERE ARE NO BREAKS HERE! COME ON, HURRY UP!"

So the students who had taken the longest time from all the classes were placed in the front row, behind them those who had come after, all the way to the fastest ones like Takeru who was at the back.

"ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, READY!"

"GO!"

All the students started running, all two hundred of them.

Some fast, others slow. The objective was to complete as many laps around the field as possible without stopping.

Takeru wasn't among those who started fast. He didn't have anyone specific in mind to overtake; he went steady. He knew this was a race more about endurance than aggression. His pace was quick, almost more of a fast walk than a run. He didn't put weight on his legs from the beginning; he increased it gradually.

The first five minutes went like this.

Even with that pace, after just three minutes he started overtaking various students. He saw that besides him, there was a blond boy who was going at a similar pace to his, but further ahead. It was Haruto.

Takeru didn't count the laps. He didn't want to put too much pressure on the run. He thought about a song he had once heard when he was skipping school and they had passed by a kindergarten. He had liked it.

how was it?

( Clap, clap, little hands,

jump around and wiggle, stand!
Smile, smile, sunny day,
hello friends, let’s laugh and play! ...  )

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In the following minutes, he started to increase his speed a bit.

The fatigue began to set in. His muscles heated up, his feet hurt, but his breathing wasn't struggling too much.

The other students were already starting to collapse from the beginning. Some tried to go as far as possible with all their strength, while others didn't even try and stopped right away. Those who tried managed to go a bit further, but then they collapsed too.

Kobayashi tried but stopped among the first ones.

Sato, on the other hand, went steady and managed to place in the top twenty out of the two hundred students.

The girls obviously didn't do much either, but some were so athletic they overtook almost everyone. In the top ten, there were four girls.

In the last five minutes, Takeru gave his full sprint. He ran fast, furious. Here he didn't waste his mind thinking; he only saw ahead, as fast as possible. He overtook everyone who had been in front of him.

He came in second.

Only Haruto was ahead.

He tried but couldn't catch up to him. Haruto's fast initial sprint had saved him compared to Takeru who had started slow.

"ALRIGHT, HERE ARE THE RESULTS! ARAGIRI TAKERU! YOU'RE FIRST IN YOUR CLASS BUT SECOND COMPARED TO OTHER CLASSES BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN ABE HARUTO!

YOU DID ELEVEN AND A HALF LAPS, HE DID TWELVE.

NOW TAKE A 15-MINUTE BREAK!"

Takeru couldn't stay calm. It was as if his pride had been hurt when he saw that guy surpass him.

Not because someone had beaten him, but because... well, there was no explanation.

I need to calm down. It's nothing if someone beat you. Stay calm!

Takeru went to freshen up his face.

When he got there, he opened the faucet and put his head under the cold water. He stayed like that for a few seconds when he heard a heavy, deep voice.

"What's wrong? Can't find peace?"

Takeru lifted his head and turned around.

He saw a boy as tall as him, muscular, blond with green eyes.

"What do you want? And who are you?" asked Takeru.

"Nothing, I don't want anything, because I don't need anything. I'm number one."

Takeru looked at him from his feet up to his head.

"Then you must be Abe Haruto. Congratulations, you beat me. It was shocking but it was good."

Takeru extended his hand for a handshake, but the guy didn't return it and continued talking.

"Trying to be humble?"

"What do you mean?" asked Takeru.

"Accept the reality that you lost to a guy who's three years younger than you."

Word after word, Takeru's patience was running out.

"Hey kid! Stay calm. As long as I stay calm, there's no need to create unnecessary trouble. You won and I lost. Period!"

Takeru returned to washing his face, trying to ignore him.

Haruto continued. "I'm in my third year of high school. You, on the other hand... you've been held back three times, right?"

Takeru didn't respond, continued washing his face.

"I thought I could maybe have some fun competing against you, but you weren't up to my expectations."

Silence.

"I heard you were an ex-gangster. Now I see why you have all those tattoos covering your body."

Takeru stopped. He lifted his head, looked Haruto straight in the eyes.

"Never join a gang. They'd eat you alive there," said Takeru calmly.

Haruto's ego was hurt by those words.

"What do you mean? Anyway, I'm better than you. You, held back three times, you have a criminal's face. Nobody feels comfortable around you. Everyone knows about you and your past. I've heard the teachers talk about you and you don't want to hear what words they use."

Takeru remained silent for a few seconds. The veins in his neck pulsed, his hands clenched, but his face stayed calm.

"I know. It's not new."

Heavy silence.

Haruto looked at Takeru, expecting a reaction, but none came.

Then, with a provocative smile, he said: "Let's see who wins more from now on."

A smile appeared on Takeru's face. Not one of anger, but of excitement.

"Now you're talking, kid. I'm in!"