chapter02 · 061-ep55
Episode 55: The Sports Festival
In homeroom, one week before the sports festival, we were deciding our events.
"Okay, then — anyone want to run the relay anchor?"
Nishino, our class rep, raised her hand at the blackboard.
No one raised a hand.
Instead, the eyes of the entire class turned this way, all at once.
"Eh, me?"
"It's gotta be you, Ichinose-kun."
"Who else but Ichinose?"
"He's C-rank."
"No no no — wait, wait."
I waved my hands in a fluster.
"Winning off explorer stats is unfair, right? It's a normal sports festival."
"It's not unfair."
"Winning is all that matters!"
"Run for the class!"
Yano turned her whole chair toward me and pressed her hands together.
"Please, Ichinose-kun — anchor! The future of Class 1-3 is riding on this!"
"'The future' is a bit much."
"It is not!"
I was on the verge of being steamrolled into it.
Just then, the front door of the classroom opened, and our homeroom teacher came in.
A single sheet of paper in her hand.
"Ah — sorry, everyone. Got a moment?"
She came up to the blackboard and smiled, apologetic.
"Something was just decided at the staff meeting. Ichinose-kun."
"Yes."
"You won't be able to compete in the regular events this year."
"Eh?"
The classroom buzzed.
"For students with an explorer rank of C or above, the gap in physical ability compared to regular students is simply too large, so for fairness, they can't compete in the regular events. And it's not just our school — it's set down in the prefecture's sports festival guidelines."
"Eh — there's a rule like that?"
"There's never been a C-rank first-year before, so even we teachers were slow to check. Sorry about that."
She unfolded the paper in her hand.
"In exchange — Ichinose-kun, we'd like you to compete in the explorer events."
"Explorer events?"
"Events that only explorer course students and students with explorer registration can enter. All grades together, red versus white."
For an instant, the classroom fell dead silent.
Then it exploded.
"The explorer events?!"
"Wait, those are the serious ones, aren't they?"
"Did you see the explorer course senpai last year? The wall-climbing?"
"Ichinose's entering the explorer events even though he's general course?!"
General course, they said.
Mixed in with the explorer course students.
"For real..."
Yano's shoulders had slumped all the way down.
"The anchor......"
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault, Ichinose-kun, but......"
Then, all at once, her head snapped back up.
"But if it's the explorer events, I'm cheering like crazy!"
"Sure. Thanks."
There were two explorer events.
The first was the Explorer Obstacle Race. Climb a wall, crawl under a net, cross a moat on a narrow balance beam — then, at the end, slip past the teachers playing "monster" and make the goal.
The second was the Explorer Relay. Two hundred meters a leg, four runners to a color team.
Both banned skills and weapons. You competed on body alone.
"Body alone, huh."
The day before the festival, I was reading the printout in the living room when big sis leaned in over my shoulder.
"Explorer events."
"Yeah. Apparently C-ranks can't do the regular ones."
"I know."
"Did you do them in high school too, big sis?"
"I did."
"What place?"
"First."
Full smug face.
"I should probably hold back, right? The explorer course people are probably, like, D or E."
Big sis's face went thoughtful — just for a moment.
"Saku."
"Yeah?"
"Between full power and holding back."
"Between?"
"Not so much that it's rude to them. But not so much that you stand out."
She says the hard stuff like it's nothing.
"I'll do my best."
"Mm."
That was all she said, and she drank her barley tea.
Then, quietly, she added:
"I'm coming tomorrow."
"Eh — really?"
"Seina too."
Seina's voice flew in from the next room.
"I'm going! Big bro's explorer events — no way I'm missing them. Middle school's off tomorrow!"
Sports festival day dawned clear.
The June sky sat a little higher than May's.
Around the grounds, the parents' tents stood in rows. In one corner — a familiar family.
Big sis, parasol-less, silently sighted through an SLR camera. The lens was absurdly long.
Seina, beside her, waved a handmade fan.
Written large across it:
『Big bro — gross, but do your best』
"That fan's aesthetic, though."
I could read it from clear across the grounds.
Around the parents' seats, voices murmured.
"Wait — isn't that Ichinose Rinka?"
"The S-rank?"
"The real thing?"
"Huh? Is that Seina-chan next to her?"
"It really is Seina-chan! From Picsta."
"The girl who posts photos with Rinka-san all the time."
Even students from our school had started gathering around the parents' seats.
Seina, thoroughly used to it, beamed and waved. While waving the fan.
Big sis, utterly indifferent to the stares around her, was focusing her camera.
On me.
Behind them, Mom sat with a big furoshiki bundle on her knees, smiling and waving.
The contents were probably all bento. For four people, it was clearly too big.
Dad had said he couldn't make the morning. Since making department head, he'd apparently been getting called into the office on Saturdays more and more.
When I got back to our class's cheering seats, Yano grabbed my shoulder, phone clutched tight in her other hand.
"Ichinose-kun!"
"Wh-what's up?"
"That girl in the parents' seats — that's Seina-chan, right?! From Picsta!"
"Ah — yeah. My little sister."
"Your little SISTER?!"
Yano's voice cracked an octave.
"Ichinose-kun's little sister is Seina-chan?! I follow her, you know. I check her every single day."
"You do?"
"'You do?' my butt! Why didn't you TELL me?!"
"Nobody asked."
"Nobody WOULD ask! Who imagines Seina-chan's big brother sits at the next desk?!"
Yano clutched her head.
"...Wait. Then those photos Seina-chan posts sometimes — 'just my big bro's hand' — that's YOUR hand...?"
"She posts stuff like that?"
"She does! 'Big bro doing some gross pose' — just the hand."
"What kind of gross pose?!"
When I got home, Seina and I were going to have words.
The morning was the regular events.
From the cheering seats, I watched everyone compete.
Kuzumi took second in the hundred-meter dash. After finishing, he looked toward our seats and raised a hand — just a little.
"Kuzumiii — nice!"
When I shouted, the corner of Kuzumi's mouth lifted, slightly.
Yano ran the three-legged race with Nishino, fell spectacularly halfway, and kept laughing from the ground.
Matoba took thirty seconds to get his bread in the bread-eating race.
Horiguchi, in the tug-of-war, was for some reason lying flat at the very back. No — maybe he was bracing.
In the class relay, a track-team boy ran anchor; we took third.
"...If only we had Ichinose."
"Don't say that."
But even at third, our cheering section was roaring.
It was fun.
Not being in it stung a little, but watching alone was plenty of fun.
Lunch, with the family at the parents' seats.
Mom's furoshiki bundle held a five-tier stacked bento box.
"Isn't that a lot?"
"Saku, you'll be moving around a lot today, won't you? I thought you'd get hungry."
"I only cheered all morning, though."
"There's the afternoon."
Still smiling, Mom piled my plate high with karaage.
Mom is a former explorer.
She quit when she married, and she's been a housewife ever since. These days there's none of that air about her at all — always smiling, a great cook, a little easygoing.
But now and then, when the talk turns to dungeons, the color of her eyes changes, just a little.
"Saku."
Mid-karaage, Mom said it while pouring the tea.
"The explorer events this afternoon — there's an obstacle course, isn't there."
"Yeah."
"The wall — jump off on your third step and your hand reaches the edge. And the net crawl — you go faster on your knees than your elbows."
"Eh?"
Still smiling — and incredibly specific.
"And of the teachers playing monsters, the first one is trying hardest, so you're better off slipping past on the side."
"Mom, how do you know all this?"
"Your mother competed in high school too."
"What place?"
"It's a secret."
Mom, smiling, held out the tea.
Beside her, big sis muttered, low:
"First."
"Rinka. Don't."
"First."
"Honestly."
They were BOTH first?
Seina, cheeks stuffed with karaage, had gone wide-eyed.
"Mom was an explorer?! I still can't believe it!"
"My. How rude."
"I mean, you're always so mellow!"
"I'm only mellow at home."
Mom, still smiling, said nothing more.
The women in my family — aren't they a little too strong?
Lunch break came and went. Afternoon.
At last — the explorer events.
Lined up at the entrance gate, I was surrounded entirely by explorer course students. The builds were clearly different. Arms and legs a size thicker than the general course's.
And in the middle of them: one first-year in a general course jersey.
I stuck out like crazy.
"...That's him. The C-rank."
"General course, though."
"Is he really fifteen?"
Whispers, from every direction.
The stares hurt.
Curiosity, doubt, and a dash of hostility, all mixed together.
Fair enough. The explorer course students study dungeons every day, do practical training too. Then a general course first-year barges in at C-rank — of course that doesn't sit right.
"—Ichinose-kun."
A voice from behind.
I turned — Tono-senpai.
Akane-senpai beside her.
"Eh — you two are competing too?"
"We're D-rank. Every student with explorer registration competes."
"...You didn't know?"
Akane-senpai gave me an exasperated look. Then leaned in, just a little, peering at my face.
"...Nervous?"
"A little. The stares hurt."
"Hmph."
Akane-senpai turned her face away.
"We're Red team. You?"
"White team."
"So we're not enemies."
"We are, though."
"...Not holding back, then."
Akane-senpai grinned.
It was the first time I'd seen her smile like that — spoiling for a fight.
"And if YOU hold back, I won't forgive you!"
"Wait, seriously?"
Big sis's words drifted through my head.
Between full power and holding back.
What do I do.
The Explorer Obstacle Race.
First heat: me, Akane-senpai, and four explorer course third-years.
We lined up at the start.
Beside me, Akane-senpai was doing light squats.
"—On your marks."
The grounds went dead quiet.
"—Get set..."
The pistol cracked.
We burst forward.
The first obstacle: a three-meter wall.
The third-years took running starts and leapt at it.
I took a single step in front of the wall, got a hand on the edge, and pulled myself up in one motion.
Crap. Too fast.
Lv 160 is about mid-C-rank-dungeon level. The third-years are probably D or E. At full power, I'd have hit the goal the instant the gun fired.
Rein it in more.
Looking down from the top of the wall, the third-years were still struggling halfway up.
Only Akane-senpai was right behind me, hand on the edge.
"—Hey! Wait up, would you?!"
"Not waiting."
The net crawl.
Belly-crawling forward under a net spread along the ground.
Here, I slowed down. Just a little. Faked a snag on the net and stopped for exactly one second.
In that one second, Akane-senpai drew level.
"...You stopped just now, didn't you!"
"I snagged."
"Liar!"
Out of the net.
A narrow balance beam over the moat.
Akane-senpai stepped on first. A tank — with incredible balance. Step by step, steady and sure.
I followed behind.
Side by side, we ran for the last obstacle.
The monster-role teachers. Three PE teachers with big cushion shields, blocking the course.
"—Come on, first-year!"
The first teacher swung his cushion down overhead.
I dropped low and slid under.
Second. Jumped sideways.
The third spread both arms wide, blocking Akane-senpai and me as we arrived together.
Akane-senpai charged the teacher dead straight.
A tank's body slam.
Her shoulder hit the cushion. The teacher staggered a step.
His flank opened — just barely.
Had she opened it for me?
No. She'd opened it to get herself through. But it let me through too.
I hesitated — one instant.
Then dove into the gap.
Together with Akane-senpai, I hit the finish tape.
It snapped across both our chests.
"—Dead heat!"
The referee teacher shouted it.
The grounds erupted.
"A dead heat?"
"Red and White — they're calling it a tie!"
"A first-year and that second-year — awesome!"
Past the goal, hands on my knees, I let out a breath.
Beside me, Akane-senpai was breathing from her shoulders too.
"...Haah... haah..."
Akane-senpai lifted her face and glared at me.
"...You were holding back, weren't you."
"J-just a little."
"What do you mean, 'a little'?!"
"Going all out felt rude to you senpai... no, holding back too much is also rude... so — the middle ground."
"...The middle ground."
Akane-senpai's mouth hung open.
Then she snorted, and lost it.
"...What even is that. Weirdo."
"I get that a lot."
"...But."
Akane-senpai looked away, just a little.
"At the end — the gap I opened. You used it properly."
"I did. Gratefully."
"...Using it is the right answer. In dungeons too. When an ally opens a path, take it without hesitating."
With just that, Akane-senpai walked off toward the Red team's waiting area.
Partway, without turning, one line:
"...I-It's not like I explained that for YOUR benefit!"
A mother hen to the very end.
In the Explorer Relay, Tono-senpai ran anchor for Red.
I ran anchor for White.
When I took the baton from our third runner, Red was already thirty meters down the track.
Tono-senpai's back, in view.
Fast.
A different person from the one who'd been caught in that trap at Nanyo. Faster even than when we dove Toda together.
At full power, I could pass her in a blink. Thirty meters wouldn't take three strides.
But doing that would be rude to Tono-senpai.
Between full power and holding back.
I put just a little more strength into my legs.
With every stride, her back drew closer.
Thirty meters. Twenty. Ten.
The final straight.
Side by side.
Tono-senpai cut her eyes sideways at me.
Her eyes were smiling. Smiling like she was having the time of it.
I was probably wearing the same face.
We crossed the line together.
"—Red! Red team, by a chest!"
Tono-senpai's win.
I came up short by one chest's breadth.
No — I'd let myself come up short.
On the last stride, I eased off the drive, just a little. I knew it clearly, myself.
"Ahh — I lost!"
Hands on my knees. Then I laughed.
It didn't sting.
Those few seconds running side by side had just been too much fun.
Catching her breath, Tono-senpai walked over.
"......Ichinose-kun."
"Yes."
"That last stretch. Were you all out?"
"A little of it, I was."
"...A little of it."
Tono-senpai studied my face.
"That last stride. You eased off, didn't you."
"Eh?"
"I can tell. I was running right next to you."
Tono-senpai wasn't angry.
Just a little frustrated — and smiling anyway, having fun.
"Then next time, I'll work hard enough that you run the whole thing at full power."
With just that, she went back to the Red side.
The sports festival ended with White's loss.
But when I got back to the cheering seats, everyone crowded around.
"Ichinose! That obstacle dead heat was incredible!"
"The relay was so close too!"
"You were running right beside Tono Akari!"
"Got a picture. It's SO good."
Matoba held out his phone. Tono-senpai and me, sprinting across the finish line side by side.
Both of us smiling.
Toward the parents' seats, Seina was whipping her handmade fan through the air.
『Big bro — gross, but do your best』
The back of it was turned my way.
『You were cool!』
She'd written on the back too?
Damn. That's just — genuinely great.
Beside her, big sis had lowered her camera and was looking this way.
A small thumbs-up.
Next to her, Mom applauded, smiling.
And then.
Beside Mom — at some point — stood Dad in his suit.
Tie loosened a little, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. He'd rushed over from the office, it seemed.
When Dad's eyes met mine, he nodded. Once, lightly.
That was all.
And that was plenty.
After cleanup, I walked the sunset-gold grounds.
My legs were a little heavy.
But a good kind of heavy.
Between full power and holding back.
All day today, I'd been turning it over.
Running while searching for that middle.
It was hard.
But fun.
At the gate, Yano was waving.
"Ichinose-kuuun! After-party time!"
The after-party was an okonomiyaki place in front of the station.
More than half the class had come; the tatami room in the back was filled floor to ceiling with Class 1-3.
"And so — Class 1-3, sports festival — great work, everyone!"
Nishino, our class rep, raised her glass of oolong tea.
"Cheers!"
"Cheers."
Glasses clinked all around.
On the griddle, okonomiyaki sizzled away. The smell of sauce filled the whole room.
"Ichinose — can you flip one?"
Matoba held out a spatula.
"Eh. Never have."
"And you're C-rank?!"
"What does C-rank have to do with it?"
I gave it a try: half flipped over; the other half collapsed on the griddle.
"You're terrible!"
"It's my first time!"
"You TIED in the obstacle race!"
"That's got nothing to do with it!"
The whole room roared.
In the end, the best flipper present was Kuzumi. Wordlessly turning out perfect circles.
"Kuzumi, how are you THAT good?"
"...Family runs an okonomiyaki place."
"Eh — really?"
"...Never came up."
Same class since April, harmonized on three songs at karaoke, studied together — and I never knew.
The corner of Kuzumi's mouth lifted, a little.
"But man — today's Ichinose-kun was amazing, right?!"
Yano said it with her cheeks stuffed.
Horiguchi, embarking on his third okonomiyaki, muttered:
"...Ichinose. The pride of the general course."
"Eh?"
"...General course, in among the explorer course — and a dead heat.... Amazing."
"Horiguchi talked. Like, actual sentences."
"...I talk."
Sipping her oolong tea, Yano went just a little serious.
"...But you know, Ichinose-kun. At the start — when they said you couldn't be in the regular events — you looked a little lonely."
"It showed?"
"It showed. You wanted to run with everybody."
It showed, huh.
"So, listen."
Yano broke into a grin.
"The after-party is everyone together. In here, C-rank, general course — none of it counts!"
"Yeah."
Something in my chest went soft and warm.
"Thanks, Yano."
"You're welcome. Ah — that okonomiyaki's MINE, by the way!"
"Eh?!"
The warm feeling beat a full retreat.
The after-party ran about two hours.
Horiguchi, six okonomiyaki deep, slept in the corner of the room. Matoba made the rounds photographing the whole class. Nishino tallied the bill at the end.
Outside the shop, it was already dark.
"That was so fun!"
"Let's do another one."
"After finals."
"Do NOT bring up tests!"
In front of the station, we all waved and split up.
Kuzumi was part of the way in my direction.
We walked in silence.
"...Ichinose."
"Hm?"
"...It was fun."
"Yeah. It was."
"...Next time, come to our place."
"I will. Absolutely!"
Kuzumi smiled, just a bit, and turned the corner.
Home, I lay down on my bed.
Today was a good day.
The obstacle race, the relay, Mom's bento, Dad's nod, the after-party okonomiyaki.
"Next week — Shidami, finally."
I murmured it, and closed my eyes.
A C-rank dungeon with a burial mound for its door.
This time — a place I can dive all-out.
There, probably, I'll be calling someone.
Someone waiting outside the universe.
My mouth curled up on its own.