Chapter 20

I originally thought running around the track was only the warm up for the rest of the class. This would have been exhausting on its own and I don’t think I would have survived the lesson if it would have turned out to be even worse after. However, it wasn’t like that:

We kept running. And we just kept running. More and more and more and we did not stop at all: The whole lesson was just us running around the goddamn track! 30 minutes in I genuinely just had to stop or I would throw up. Mister Kazuki looked at me a bit meanly… but I did not care at all. At this very moment I did not have the strength to stand up and thus I did not. I can fight on once my life is in danger for all I care, but this was too much. After he started yelling at me I began running again though…

which was a mistake.

Just 2 minutes in, my sight abruptly changed. Everything around me was completely black and I saw the hearts of each of my peers glowing red. As soon as I realized that I was genuinely about to die of exhaustion, I stopped and sat down next to the track, gasping for air hopelessly. I think Mister Kazuki did not react to this since he saw just how bad I was feeling but then again, I don’t think I would be able to notice it if he would’ve said anything.

I can’t imagine just how crazy my peers had to be to actually survive running around the track for a full 60 minutes, but they somehow were able to.

While I was sitting there each one of the 12 other students passed by.

“Hey Isuri! What’s up? Feeling comfortable here yet?” Aki smiled as she easily ran by me. Just a few minutes Hibiki ran after her. She did not say anything though I think she secretly laughed at me… at least her face did look like that. When Muraoka Minoru - the guy who is, supposedly, part of Kida’s gang, passed me, he showed some sympathy:
“I understand how you’re feeling, Isuri. That’s how everyone starts out, don’t worry…”

I really hope so, because that would mean that I will soon enough be able to easily run around the track as well.

When the lessons only had like 5 minutes left, Mister Kazuki was whistling loudly and everyone stopped.

“Everyone, go change! You will come late to Blessing-Praxis-class otherwise!” His voice was booming and blasting across the entire track and everyone could hear him without problems.

As everyone else left I slowly stood up as well. However, Mister Kazuki suddenly stood behind me. He probably used his weird way of traversering distance by first jumping and then running again… Anyway: he looks at me. “Isuri Bankoku! Your stamina is far from good, that much I can promise you! You will from now on run until you are close to breaking down every evening, understood?! If you need a coach who will motivate you, just inform me. I sincerely hope that you will catch up to the rest of the student body soon enough… Else I will need to teach you using even harsher methods!”

This really sounds like hell itself. I nodded and promised to train on my own but I did not tell him how much I was going to train… Obviously. I think if I were to follow the routine he just told me I would die in no less than 3 days!

I enter the changing room and start undressing. My shirt soaked in sweat despite me sitting around for the second half of the lesson.

“Exhausting, huh?” One of them had just finished changing. Like the cherry on top of his character design which consists of grey hair which is stuffed into some sort of messy bun, some kind of silver earring, a small goatee and a little smirk on his face, he puts on some glasses. “The name’s Iwata Shuji.” He extends his hand. I look at it, then I grab it and shake it firmly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Isuri Bankoku.”

He nods one time - “I know. You introduced yourself earlier.” - then he walks past me, out of the room.

“I wouldn’t get too close with him.” Some guy with a buzzcut who is in the middle of changing clothes looks at me. His eyebrows have two different colors: Blue and red. It looks really odd, but who am I to judge? Also, I am pretty sure he is the one who was hurt yesterday. “Iwata isn’t half as nice as he appears to be.”

“Come on, don’t scare the new guy, Itoh.” Behind the one with two different eyebrows another person emerged. He had long green hair which could only be described with one word: Chaotic. He also had two different eye colors: The left one is yellow, the right one is blue. I once again do not want to judge, but he looks absolutely crazy. He was applying some sort of make up.

“My name is Sir Nagano Ayumi. Every name you can think of is just fine. My friend who was just spouting nonsense is called Itoh Koichi.”

Itoh looks at me again. “Nah, I’m serious. Iwata really is some kind of weird guy. He’s got a massive superiority complex and thinks he knows everything better. He thinks he’s number one and the best at everything, but he’s just a little bitch.”

“Woah, chill with the language.” Aomade starts speaking. “Don’t worry, Isuri. What Itoh says is true, yeah, but it’s not like Iwata is some bad guy or something like that.”

I slowly nod. I then keep on changing. I now look at the last guy in the changing room. He is the only one I do not know yet. Besides him I know each of the guys, at least a little bit.

He just put a purple hat onto his head and now flips it a bit into the air, then catches it and puts it on dramatically yet again. He looks at me, smiling. “So?”
“Uhh… I’m Isuri Bankoku… What’s your name?”

“Hah! Remember my name for it is grand and exquisite: Call me Grand Magician Sherlock, GMS for short!”

Yikes.

“Uhh… Nice to meet you.” His blue pupils contain little yellow stars. His hair is blonde and stands out beneath his hat. He does seem like a weird guy as well but at this point I’m not even surprised anymore…

Soon enough, I’ve fully changed and leave the changing room, rushing to follow my peers since I have no idea where I have to go.