The next few events passed by in the blink of an eye. For the first and second years, it was still anyone's game. For the third-years, however, there were only two real competitors: Yu's class and Mei's.
In every event Yu participated in, he dominated the competition. For every event he didn't participate in, the student council president and the soccer club's captain did in his place—and they dominated as well.
Mei didn't catch a single break. She participated in every single event, just like she said she would, and won each one.
It was now time for the third-year mixed three-legged race.
I approached Mei, who was sitting on a bench holding a water bottle while talking to her friends. When she noticed me, she politely excused herself and jogged over.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said with her usual cheeriness. As she stood, she would shift her weight between her legs every so often.
"It's fine," I replied flatly. "The game doesn't start until five minutes anyway. You could've continued talking to your friends."
And used that time to take a longer break while you're at it.
Mei stubbornly, but respectfully, shook her head. "No, we're partners after all! If anything, I should have been the one to approach you. Sorry about that."
Despite the fact that she had participated in every event, she wasn't out of breath in the slightest and was still able to carry on conversations as usual. It almost made you forget that drops of sweat hadn't stopped running down her face.
Just almost.
With a quiet sigh, I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. She stared at it for a moment, then looked back at me with a questioning gaze.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I said as bluntly as ever. "You should at least wipe off your sweat before we go."
There was no point in asking if she was okay or whether she could continue. Her answer was going to be the same. Which meant that all I could do was support her decision.
"Are you sure?" she asked, thinking I was doing it to be polite.
I scoffed softly. "I wouldn't be offering if I wasn't sure. I know we aren't best friends, but we've known each other since kindergarten. If you wanna put it that way, we're basically childhood friends—kinda."
Mei giggled, enough to make her shoulder shake a single time. "Hehehe, I guess that's true."
She reached out and grabbed the handkerchief out of my hand. There was no rush in her movements—only quiet grace.
She gazed at the handkerchief as if studying its patterns before lightly clenching it in her fingers.
"Thank you."
I shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Just wash it for me and give it back when you have time."
She gave me a quick nod and brought the handkerchief close to her forehead. I turned away instantly. It felt rude to just stare at her while she wiped her face, so I walked to the starting point of the three-legged race.
She joined me shortly after.
"Well, are you ready?" she asked, looking toward the track.
"Of course I am," I replied with a blunt, cocky tone.
Mei chuckled. "Hehehe. Then let's win."
A teacher stood at the starting line of the field and called out loudly. "The third-year three-legged race is about to begin! Participants, please line up!"
Without another word, Mei and I approached the starting line. The teacher handed each pair a strip of cloth to bind our legs together.
I took it out of Mei's hand. She opened her mouth to protest, but I had already crouched down by that point. After tying our legs together, I stood back up and stared toward the finish line.
"Thank you," Mei whispered again.
"No need," I muttered. "This is what partners do. If you feel that bad about it, get me a drink later."
Mei let out a quiet giggle. "You're always so funny."
"Of course I am. I'm the funniest man alive."
Mei giggled a little louder, but it was drowned out by the teacher's booming voice. "Participants, get ready!"
Both Mei and I straightened at the same time. The teacher raised the flare gun into the air... then shot it. Green smoke burst from its barrel, signalling the start of the race. Mei and I lifted our legs together and began to run.
By the time we passed the ten-meter mark, Mei and I were already falling behind.
That's strange…
During practice, coordinating with her had always been easy. I didn't even need to think much of it by the end of it. Yet this time, it felt like we were just barely out of sync, always a step behind the other.
Maybe she's just tired, I thought.
But that didn't make sense either. We had practiced for hours before, but our coordination never failed.
So… what could it be?
Just before I could delve further into it, however, a loud, childish, obnoxious voice boomed from the stands.
"You can do it, Son!"
At that moment, the muscles in my legs convulsed, almost causing me to lose my footing, before I quickly regained it.
But I didn't pay attention to that. All I could think of was the sound of that voice.
There's no way…
It could have been Yu, Luna, or even Lily. But the voice… came from the stands. And most of all...
It called me "Son."
The race seemed to slow as I turned toward the spectators' seats. And that's when I saw it—saw him.
That's… impossible.
There sat my Dad, screaming my name with the same childish, obnoxious smile on his face.
I blinked once. Then twice. But he didn't disappear. He was actually there.
And when the realization finally dawned on me, the world didn't just fade—it deleted itself.
Leaving me to wallow in the cold trenches of my own thoughts.
...
Dad was supposed to be at work.
Work was his life.
No matter what happened, he always worked.
I've hoped and prayed that he would come support me when I was a kid, but I always heard the same response.
"I have work."
And that was okay. I knew he needed to provide for us. It's not like Mom worked. So he didn't have a choice.
So… why now?
Why... when I didn't ask—when I finally accepted that this was how things were… did he show up?
But most of all...
Why don't I feel anything about this?
Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder, the sensation pulling me back to the world.
I flinched and snapped my head to the side.
Mei took a surprised step back and stared at me with wide eyes. I stared right back.
Neither of us moved for a moment. We simply continued to stare.
That is—until she took a deep breath. Before I could even react, she grabbed my hand with a bright smile, her face flush with a mixture of shock and exhilaration.
"Hoshino! We did it! We won!"
Her words snapped me out of my daze, and I glanced back at the track. We were the only ones who stood at the finish line. Everyone else was only halfway down the track.
What...?
The last time I checked, we were dead last. And partway through the race, I stopped focusing on it entirely. In fact, I had no recollection whatsoever of the last couple of seconds.
The only way we could've won… was if Mei and I had been moving perfectly in sync.
I turned back to Mei. She had the same smile as always. The same gentle presence as always. And yet... deep within her purple eyes, streaked with pink... was an all-enveloping black.
Mei tugged on my hand.
"C'mon, Hoshino! Let's celebrate!"
My body moved on its own. "Sure. Lead the way, miss."
Mei giggled before turning and pulling me toward our class. Once we arrived, everyone surrounded us with loud cheers.
Luna and Remi rushed and smacked me on the back.
"What was that for?!" I snapped.
Luna and Remi glanced at each other and burst out laughing.
"You had us worried there for a second, you know!" Luna said with a grin.
Remi nodded quickly. "Yeah! I thought you were going to be the reason Mei lost her first game!"
I rolled my eyes. "Please, there's no way I'd lose. If we lost, it would've been Mei's fault."
Mei stepped closer and joined the conversation. "Don't say that, Remi. If we lost, it would've been on me. Actually, the only reason we won was that Hoshino managed to sync up with me at the last moment! Even though I was really tired."
Mei nudged me on the elbow. "That really was impressive! Good job."
"What can I say? It's hard being a quadra-elemental athlete and being good at everything I do."
Remi's face twisted as she struggled to refute my overconfidence. Since I had won, if she started berating me now, she'd only look bad.
Realizing this, Luna giggled and slung her arm around Remi's shoulder.
"I guess you should be thanking Hoshino instead~."
Remi clenched her teeth, as if forcing herself to keep the words in her throat. "I…. you…"
I provocatively leaned closer and cupped my hand around my ear. "What was that? I can't hear you."
Remi clicked her tongue. "I said—You! Were! Good! Thank you!"
Mei, Luna, and I all turned to each other, paused for a moment, then laughed together. Our laughter reverberated through the grass of the field, prompting even our classmates to join in on the Remi slander.
Throughout all of it, my gaze drifted back toward the stands. Toward where Dad sat. And then... toward Mei. Who was standing right beside me.