Chapter 4: Sports test

The sports test is held early in every school year.

A dull event that involves running 50 meters, long jumps, and throwing handballs.

I hate sweating more than anything else, naturally, I skimp out.

In particular, I cut corners on the 50-meter run.

This is because if I do well, I will be chosen to run in the relay race. I seriously want to avoid that.

“Get into pairs for stretching.”

At Sakurako-sensei’s command, the class begins to pair up at once.

This is the beginning of my public execution.

As usual, one person is left out. You have one chance to guess who.

But I’m used to it. I head towards Sakurako-sense as everyone smirks at me.

“Sakurako-sensei. In a class with an odd number of students, can we stop this system?”

I spit out my usual line and turned my back to her to do back-to-back carry.

It’s a common occurrence to be paired with sensei.

“Oh. Yeah.”

What? That’s it?

Usually, she hits back with some nice, venomous line.

I tilt my head and, back-to-back, we hold hands.

“Ah..”

“Hm? Sensei, what’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.”

“Hm. Okay, here we go.”

I bent forward and supported Sakurako-sensei on my back.

“Yagami-kun. About the other day…”

“The other day…? Ah.”

Shit! I’ve completely forgotten about it.

I’ve made her mad and haven’t apologized for it yet.

“Sensei! I’m really sorry about that time!”

I apologize while being carried on her back.

I can’t just say, ‘It’s not a joke, it’s a curse.’

Telling others about the curse is a no-no.

Oh fuck.

The options that popped up are…

{ 1 「Are you kidding me? Your virginity is already mine.」}

{ 2 「What? I’m serious. I’ll fill your womb for you.」 }

{ 3 「Haha! Of course I’m serious!」(Say it with the Signature Rat of Disney’s voice) }

These are the worst options ever. The first two are especially creepy. Even the protagonist of an erotic game would never say things like that.

“Haha! Of course I’m serious!” Seriously gonna die that is.

I speak with the horrible rat’s voice.

“Mm? What’s with that tone? Are you making fun of me?”

{ 1 「Quack! That’s right!」(Say it with the Signature Duck of Disney’s voice)}

{ 2 「Gosh! Of course not!」(Say it with the Signature Dog of Disney’s voice) }

“Gosh! Of course not!”

I spoke in a goofy way.

Thud!

“Geez.”

I was on Sakurako-sensei’s back until she threw me forward.

“Hey! That’s minus 10,000 points on your teacher evaluation!”

Sensei runs towards the gym with tears in her eyes.

Damn, I made her even angrier. If I don’t do something, my future as a civil servant will be ruined!

I stand up on my lonesome as everyone in class laughs at me.

“Sensei, what did Yagami do to you?”

“That pervert must have touched her butt.”

“No way?! That’s really gross!”

Hearing their voices, I speed walked to my original spot and waited for a chance to apologize, along with doing a good job of skipping events.

The only thing left was the endurance run.

My least favorite.

It’s hard, it’s grueling, it’s long. I don’t understand people who devote themselves to this event. They’re all probably crazy.

Of course, I’m gonna slack off as much as I can. If I run at jogging pace, I won’t be out of breath and sweat less.

I make my way to Sakurako-sensei again before getting into position.

Seeing how angry she is, I better apologize right now.

“…Sensei, I’m sorry about earlier.”

She let out a small sigh.

“Don’t make fun of adults.”

“Yes, I will be careful.”

To be honest, I don’t know if I can be careful.

Cross my heart and hope for no strange ‘choices’.

{ 1 「I’ll show you my best.」(Run as serious as you can)}

{ 2 「Can you forgive me for this?」(Hug and kiss Sakurako-sensei) }

Two is a complete nut job. Say bye-bye to peaceful life and hello to jail.

If that’s the case, I have no choice but to do my best.

“I’ll show you my best.”

“Good luck.”

She smiles at me— cute. But of all the events, endurance run was the hardest to be serious about. If it had been the vertical jump or the long jump, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.

I hurry along to my starting position, cursing my bad luck.

“You’ll probably be last again, Trash Yagami!”

“Gyahaha! You’re even worse than all the girls!”

Yoshida and Shinagawa from the soccer team insult me.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.”

I’m tired of hearing this kind of dialogue. At first, it really annoyed me. Now they’re just like ants that I can’t quite get off me. I still haven’t reached enlightenment where I give no crap about them anymore, I’m still immature.

“If you beat me, I’ll crawl on all fours, squealing like a pig, and parade you around the school on my back!”

“Hahaha! That’d be great!”

“No, it’s fine. There’s nothing for me to gain.”

Not only Yoshida, but I will also be humiliated being associated with him. It’s a lose-lose situation.

“Let’s bet, If I win, you buy me ten packs of juice. Okay?”

{ 1 Accept Yoshida’s bet (loser must pay) }

{ 2 Get down on your knees, naked }

2 is of course rejected. There was no way I could pay such a high price just to void the bet.

Naturally, I would have chosen 1, but Yoshida, as I recall, was third in his grade in endurance running last year. There was no way I could win. In other words, I would buy him 10 bottles of juice. It’s really annoying.

“……I understand. All right.”

“Yes!　I’m getting ten bottles of juice!”

“Oh, I like that!　Hey Yagami, you want to bet me ten bottles of juice too?”

{ 1 (Accept Shinagawa’s bet (loser must pay) }

{ 2 (Get down on your knees, naked) }

I nodded to Shinagawa.

He must have been pretty good at endurance running, too.

In other words, I had lost the equivalent of 20 bottles of juice.

That’s more than half of my part-time job. It really want to cry.

“Now then, let’s get to the …… position. …… get ready, go!”

At Sakurako-sensei’s signal, all the boys started at once.

“Good luck, Ichijo!”

“I’m sure you’ll get first place!

As the girls cheered, Ichijo smiled and took his place at the top of the race.

He was second in his class in the endurance race. I really don’t like this guy.

“Now, ……, how fast should I run?”

There are two things that trouble me.

The first is that I’ve never been a serious endurance runner, so I have no idea how to pace myself.

Second, I don’t really understand the definition of being serious.

“No way, it doesn’t mean I have to run as fast as I can right from the start, does it?”

I guess I’ll have to trust the conscience and common sense of the fortune teller who put a curse on me.

I’d like to think that I’ll be OK as long as I run for the fastest time.

“So, I’ll stick with the lead group for the first part of the race. ……”

I picked up my pace and ran to the lead group led by Kinomura of the track and field team.

Kinomura is a dedicated athlete on the track and field team.

Of course, last year he came in first in the endurance run. I’m sure he’ll take first place again this year.

“Na?!　Yagami!”

“Are you serious!?”

“Oh.”

Yoshida and Shinagawa looked at me with a shock.

They thought I was a beginner, but then I came to this position. It was natural for them to be surprised.

“Kuku, don’t push yourself!　Just keep running your ass off!

“At this pace, you won’t last a minute!　Hahaha!”

Hmm?　If it’s as hard as this, I can still go all the way, can’t I?

Shouldn’t I increase my pace?

An endurance run is only 1,500 meters long.

Unlike a full marathon, I don’t think I need to conserve my stamina so carefully, do I?

“Let’s give it a shot. ……”

Maybe there’s some kind of strategy.

To find out, I increased my pace.

I passed Shinagawa and Yoshida first, followed by Ichijo and Kinomura. I’m in the lead.

“What the hell?”

“Eh!?　Yagami-kun!?”

Kinomura and Ichijo looked astonished.

The two of them increased their pace and closed in right behind me.

Yoshida and Shinagawa did not pick up the pace and were left behind.

I wondered what they were planning to do.　Are they planning to make a breakthrough in the last lap?　I couldn’t understand their strategy.

“—Well, I guess I’ll increase my speed.”

I increased my speed even more.

It was indeed a little difficult at this point.

I could probably run for about 1,500 meters without much trouble, but I was starting to get out of breath.

I looked back.

The only person following me was Kinomura.

Yoshida and Shinagawa were already far behind. I don’t think there’s any way to catch up at this distance, right?　Do they have absolute confidence in their last sprint?

“Now, there’s only one lap left. …… I’ll probably have to push it to the limit to get a real judgment. Let’s go all out ……!”

I increased my pace even more.

“Oi?! You’re kidding right!?”

I heard Kinomura’s voice.

I had no time to look back.

Run. I’m running as fast as I can.

By now, the last four people behind me should be making a last spurt to pass me.

About 100 meters to go.

I pick up my pace to that of a short-distance runner and sprint.

The rest of the pack still hasn’t passed me. It was strange.

Rather, I’m overtaking a group of lapdogs. What the hell is going on?

I see a group of girls huddled together in front of the finish line, looking at me with stunned faces.

Yeah, I’m surprised, too.

Oi oi, If you don’t surpass me, I’m going to win first place. Are you okay with that, sports team?

I’ve always been in the home coming cl—.

“First place, Yagami-kun. Wow.”

I heard Sakurako-sensei’s voice very clearly.