This is mostly a filler chapter
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May 2nd
"Stern Love with an incredible 2:05!" The sound of cheers accompanied the announcer's voice.
On the track, the brown haired Stern was looking at the timer with a slight grimace, it was an all time record in the race track yet it wasn't enough. It was equal to the time Hayate North had gotten, add on that this was a 2100 meter race compared to the 2200 meter race they had together.
The pressure of not being enough was starting to creep in on her, a silent weight that was becoming a part of her everyday life. Everything around was being creeped on by an approaching darkness that wanted to envelop her sight.
Stern quickly shook her head, ridding the thoughts that were piling up in her head. 'It was only one loss against him, I'll beat him next time.'
"You doing alright Stern?"
Turning around, she turned around to her trainer who was leaning against the rails of the stadium. "I'm doing fine Trainer Katsuo."
Katsuo's eyes slightly squinted, his black eyes not believing her for a second. "I've known you for a while and you don't call me Trainer Katsuo unless something is wrong, so tell me what is the problem?"
With a sigh, Stern walked over to him, leaning against the railings. Her eyes trailed off to the sky, the clouds helping her with calming down her breathing.
"Is the race against the North still affecting you?"
She glanced towards her trainer, the thoughts coming back as soon as she looked away from the clouds. "..yeah"
Katsuo looked at his trainee, eyes filled with worry. "I…." he tried to speak but he didn't know how to comfort her, the problem she was dealing with was different from the things he knew.
Seeing the look of his trainee and the inability to do anything, it was a direct hit to his pride as her trainer and as someone that was supposed to be there for her. Katsuo let out a sigh, his eyes looking up to the sky Stern was looking at.
Time would pass, the pair would return to their respective places of residence, Katsuo returning to his apartment and Stern going to her dorm. The both brought heavy weights to their homes, both being crushed by the feeling of inadequacy.
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In the shared dorm of North and Araki, North was laying on his bed reading a book titled 'Running Styles Throughout The Years'. The book was given to him by his trainer, told to learn the minute difference between the styles shown in the book and how they were changed.
His eyes were focused onto the book, the details and history of the styles something he found interesting but this focus was destroyed by the sound of something crunching entering his ears.
"Can you stop biting the f#(king jolly ranchers!" North yelled at his dormmate, throwing the book at him.
Araki was also in the room, eating from a large bag of jolly ranchers when he heard North yell at him. He turned towards North just to see his view being covered by a hard covered book.
THUNK
"AgH!"
The force of the book was enough to bounce off Araki's head and hit the wall, creating a dent in it before falling to the bed. Araki was laying on the bed pressing his hands on the spot that was hit, squirming around in pain.
"Ugh~, was that really necessary?" Araki looked over to North who was grabbing a different book on his nightstand.
"Absolutely." He answered instantly.
Araki just rolled his eyes, slightly glaring at North before getting up to put away his bag of jolly ranchers. North didn't care for the look that was given to him, taking the time to fully absorb the knowledge of the book in hand.
Araki walked over to his closet, opened to see the feminine clothing in it. He pushed the clothing away, putting the bag at the back of the closet.
His eyes did a quick glance of the closet, bright feminine clothes took over most of the closet, with one or two plain black shirts that he owned.
'I forgot this was here…' Araki looked at the picture that was taped onto the backboard. A young Araki could be seen playing in the dirt while a girl similar in age was standing away from him, wearing bright clothing, and despite being away from the dirt, the girl was smiling along with him.
Araki stood there for a while before turning his eyes away from it, closing the closet along with the memories that were surfacing.
Araki looked over at North for a second before walking over to the bathroom, his footsteps being slightly rushed and uneven.
North looked over to Araki as he was walking over to the bathroom, the sound of his heavy footsteps catching his attention.
"You good Araki?" North asked, his voice slightly worried.
Araki was caught off guard by North's question, a smile appeared on face as he turned around to North. "I'm fine, just the pain of the book you threw at me."
He glared at North, he acted completely normal and the sight of him looking fine which almost made North believe him. The sight of his feet constantly in action being the thing that broke the image of health.
'should I..?' North was tempted to bring the restlessness that Araki was showing but decided not to, bringing it up might just make things worse.
North nodded his head, "alright", he said, watching as Araki walked into the bathroom before letting out a sigh.
'What is wrong with him.' He thought to himself before shaking his head and going back to reading. 'I won't dig for now.'
The sound of running water entered his ears, the sound was accompanied by water splashing and heavy breathing.
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I didn't fell like updating so I forgot to, sorry.
Anyhow, have a good day, next part might not be updated on schedule but I'll see if I can get done.