Soul for a Girlfriend?

"What the…" I turned towards him as he gave me a sheepish smile, then I recalled that sudden jerk while he was running, "I remember it… so you sprained your ankle, I see."

"I… it\'s all my fault." Kizhashi said hesitantly, with a sense of guilt in her voice.

"Ahh… it\'s just that I forgot to warm up, to be honest…"

"Isn\'t your match tomorrow?" Reina asked, and he replied with a small nod, "Yeah… I think it\'ll heal by then."

Kizhashi was definitely apologizing genuinely, but there was nothing her apology could do about it now. She couldn\'t look him in the eyes, as she said, "I\'m really so… sorry, Gaisen."

As Koi was standing at his arm\'s reach, putting pressure on my shoulder, he reached for her head, and patted her with his usual smile, "Don\'t worry, Koi, it\'ll heal… just a small sprain."

"I know… but you\'ve got your match… what if it doesn\'t heal?" She asked, clearly nervous and scared.

"Then they\'ll just substitute me." Gaisen said casually with a shrug.

"Bu… but weren\'t you looking forward to this?" I glanced at Kizhashi as I could tell her genuine concern for him. She was actually a nice girl, just that she was kind of idiot sometimes.

"Bruh you worry too much… I have got injuries like this way too many times that I know how severe it is when I get one now." Gaisen chuckled, but he was correct and Tsūmen also commented, "He has a point."

"See…?" He just gave her an affirmative nod and smiled, "Stop worrying…alright?"

"Dude, weren\'t you in the sprint?" Tsūmen asked, and Gaisen looked at him with a surprised look, "Oh shit! I forgot about it."

"You probably can\'t run in this condition…" Kizhashi expressed her concern.

Gaisen just nodded, as he said, "I know… but they will be a participant short." Taking a slight pause, he added, "But I have nothing to do…"

"Is last minute participation allowed?" I heard Nee-chan ask this question all of a sudden as all of us turned towards her. 

"Yes, they are…" Gaisen nodded, and they stared at each other as Gaisen raised his eyebrows in realisation, "Okay… I see where you\'re getting at…"

Both of them turned towards me with a smug face, as I said, "No wait…"

"Write up his name in this too." Nee-chan ordered, but I rebelled this time, "Wait, wait, wait…"

I can\'t see myself participating in a 200m sprint and then coming in last position to humiliate myself.

"Saishi… won\'t you help your friend in need?" Nee-chan asked in an innocent voice, trying to guilt trip me, but these tricks won\'t work on me as I outright said, "No."

"Oh… rude!" She pouted as Tsumen laughed. 

"Just write up his name." She said without asking me again, as she knew I was stubborn as hell. I just had a poker face, which she changed with an idiotic smile her\'s as she said, "Yayyy!!! I can watch you at an event now!"

"Bruh…!!!"

"Even last year you didn\'t take part in any… don\'t be a chicken!" She said in a scolding tone, and how dare she call me a chicken!?

"Huh? A chicken?"

"Yes!" She nodded without hesitation, but it felt like she was trying to piss me off, so I asked, "Nee-chan… are you purposely trying to provoke me?"

Her smile bursted into a peal of laughter as she said, "No."

"Yes." I feel like if she and Lilith were to meet, they would be great friends.

"Well, actually it\'s a sprint… so I think I can do it." I said, since I\'m good at running as far as I know. Though, I may come last, that\'s another matter. And there are others who are faster than me too. 

"Yeah… that\'s more like the Saishi I know." Nee-chan gave me a pat on my shoulder with a bright smile.

"Well… let me warm up." I said, as I started stretching my leg muscles. I don\'t want to end up having my hamstring pulled mid way.

"Ahh… you don\'t have to pinch me like that." Gaisen chuckled, as I just realised what I did, "No, I didn\'t mean it that way…"

"It sounded pretty sarcastic…" Nee-chan said.

"Bruh…"

I spend the remaining few minutes stretching my legs, and my arms too, since arms play an important role in sprinting too. Though taking me in place of Gaisen was a good idea since both of us weren\'t really fast.

As I heard the announcement of the inter-year 200m sprint over the microphone, I could feel all of them gaping at me.

"All the best, Sai!!!" Nee-chan said as I walked towards the starting line. I took my jacket and threw it towards Tsūmen because it was really hot and uncomfortable. "Take this!"

It was almost an hour since the last event I took part in, so I wasn\'t very exhausted. As I stepped into the starting line, I noticed Nishimiya\'s lane was right next to me.

As I walked next to him, he turned his head towards me and asked in surprise, "Sakamaki?" 

"Hello…" I greeted him awkwardly.

"Where\'s Gaisen?" He asked in confusion as I replied, "Uhh… he sprained his ankle."

"That idiot!" His face palmed himself and was loud enough to get scolded by the PE teacher near the starting line, "Oi!"

Bowing with a sheepish smile, he continued in a lower voice, "That idiot… tomorrow is our damn match."

"Yeah… he is hoping it\'ll heal before tomorrow."

"A sprain easily takes more than a day to heal." He looked at me as if I said something stupid, which led me to add, "Yeah… he just said that to comfort Kizhashi-san."

Running his hands through his dark hairs, he sighed, "Well… nothing much we can do now…"

"You can always substitute him." I said, and he instantly replied, "But he is a good player, you know."

Of course Gaisen waa a really valuable player for the team since he was centre forward of the team and scoring goals was his speciality.

"Well… point." I nodded.

I noticed him holding his hair backwards with one of his hands as he took out a rubber band from his pocket, "Anyways… All the best for the sprint."

"Ah… same to you?" I said in confusion, but I know he doesn\'t need it since he will win anyway.

Holding the rubber hand between his teeth, as he gave me a weird look while in the process of tying his hair. Feeling awkward, I quickly said, "I know you don\'t need it… but I don\'t know what to say."

"Uh… welcome?" He said as he tied his hair in a small ponytail and chuckled.

Soon the PE teacher walked near the start line, and started, "Students, On your Mark!" As he said that, all of us got into our position and I looked straight in front of me.

"Get set!"

"GO!!!" He blew his whistle, and the race started as the crowd roared in excitement too.