At Sobu High, the Annual Winter Event Marathon Race arrived in the blink of an eye.
Before it began, Oikawa was once again summoned to the faculty office by Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Her face was full of exhaustion, and the dark circles under her eyes were especially noticeable. Several bottles of highly concentrated coffee were sitting on her desk as well.
Oikawa asked with concern, "Shizuka-sensei, what happened to you? You look completely exhausted. Didn't sleep well?"
Shizuka was marking an exam.
At his words, the pen she was using suddenly stopped.
Then she raised her head and glanced at Oikawa.
Her bloodshot eyes and icy stare made her look a little like Kaneki after he'd completely snapped.
"I'm fine. Never better."
Her voice was hoarse, as though she'd spent the entire night smoking.
She continued staring at Oikawa until his scalp began to tingle.
"Sh-Shizuka-sensei... you called me here for something, right?"
Only then did she slowly look away as she spoke, "Why didn't you sign up for the marathon?"
"I haven't been feeling well," Oikawa answered without even taking a second to think.
The marathon was dozens of kilometers long. Although his physical condition had improved considerably compared to before, the laziness in his bones hadn't changed much.
Something like bringing glory to the class could be left to his other classmates.
Hayato Hayama, for example, seemed like an excellent candidate.
"Mhm. I signed you up. Go get first place. It'll bring honor to the class, and winning comes with extra points from the school."
Shizuka wasn't negotiating. She had already made the decision for him.
"Um... Shizuka-sensei, I said I'm not feeling well."
Faced with Oikawa's attempt to get out of it, Shizuka simply stared at him expressionlessly without saying another word.
The two of them seemed to enter some kind of bizarre standoff.
Unfortunately for him, Oikawa was the first to crack.
With a troubled expression, he tried again. "Shizuka-sensei, I really don't feel well. I honestly can't participate in tomorrow's marathon."
"Is that so?" Shizuka adjusted her reading glasses.
A faint, amused curve appeared at the corner of her mouth. "When you say 'not feeling well,' do you mean sleeping through two periods, then secretly playing on your phone under your desk?"
"Oh, and during fourth period, you were also secretly squeezing Kawasaki's thigh under the desk. If that little incident somehow ended up being announced to the entire school..."
Oikawa's expression instantly changed.
He immediately thrust out a hand and declared with absolute righteousness, "Shizuka-sensei, it would be my honor to contribute to the class! For the glory of Class 2-F, I'd brave mountains of blades and seas of fire without hesitation! Don't worry. This marathon championship is mine. I, Oikawa Tōru, hereby guarantee that Class 2-F will take first place!"
The faculty office fell silent in an instant.
The math teacher watching from nearby had the corner of his mouth twitching as he struggled desperately not to laugh.
Shizuka looked at Oikawa's performance with a teasing smile. "Oikawa-kun, I thought you weren't feeling well?"
"I can overcome it," Oikawa said quietly, a determined smile appearing on his face.
"Really? You think you can?" Shizuka asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just don't push yourself too hard, okay?"
Oikawa absolutely hated hearing that. But he had to reply in a voice full of conviction, "How could this possibly count as pushing myself? For the honor of Class 2-F, what does a little hardship or exhaustion matter? Shizuka-sensei, rest assured, I have that kind of resolve! I'm willing to sweat for this class! I'm willing to bleed for this class!"
Shizuka stared at him calmly for a moment.
Then she broke into a brilliant smile, like the first hint of spring after a long, bitter winter. "Good. Then I'll entrust this important task to you. Don't disappoint me."
"Shizuka-sensei, you have my word!" Oikawa's eyes were filled with determination as he declared, as though swearing a military oath, "The winds are rising, and the sky is calling. How can I remain idle? I'm taking that marathon championship, whether it likes it or not! Don't worry. I won't betray your expectations!"
"Then I'm counting on you."
Shizuka was smiling happily.
It felt like she had finally gotten some long-awaited revenge.
She waved at Oikawa and said with a smile, "All right, go get yourself ready."
"Then, Shizuka-sensei, I'll head back and prepare."
The moment he turned around, Oikawa's expression changed completely.
"Damn it. That old woman actually threatened me. No wonder she's still single. Hmph! Just you wait!" Oikawa muttered under his breath, his face twisted with indignation.
"Oikawa, you're not talking about me, are you?" Shizuka asked, narrowing her eyes.
"How could I?" Oikawa spun around without missing a beat, his expression instantly turning innocent. "Shizuka-sensei, you're my most, most, most beloved teacher. Why would I ever say anything bad about you?"
"Um... that makes sense. Okay, you can go."
Once Oikawa left the office, looking thoroughly aggrieved, Shizuka could no longer hold back her laugh.
The math teacher beside her shook his head. "If he doesn't want to participate, just let him be. Why make things so difficult for him?"
"That kid's like a donkey. If you try to lead him forward, he digs his heels in and walks backward. He's seventeen going on seventy. Getting him to exercise a little is good for him. Otherwise, he spends all day looking half-asleep."
Shizuka had certainly gotten some revenge out of the whole thing, but more than anything, she wanted Oikawa to shake off his laziness. Even if he was the top student in his year, sleeping through class every day was hardly appropriate.
"True. The kid really is a bit much. But how did you know he was touching Kawasaki's thigh? His seat is behind the window. You shouldn't have been able to see anything from there." The math teacher asked curiously.
Shizuka adjusted her glasses and smiled. "Oh, I was bluffing."
The math teacher was left completely speechless.
...
..
The marathon arrived right on schedule.
It was a clear Friday, with only the occasional cold gust of wind.
The starting line for the marathon was at the entrance to Sobu High. Almost all the first- and second-year students had gathered there, including Zaimokuza and Hachiman.
People's enthusiasm for marathons was far beyond anything Oikawa had imagined.
The men's race was the standard 42.195 kilometers. Apparently, the distance originated from a battle known as the Battle of Marathon.
Iroha had told Oikawa about it.
He wasn't particularly interested, so he hadn't bothered looking into the details.
The student council was supposed to provide support along the route today, handing out water and so on. Oikawa had originally planned to join them as a way of escaping the marathon.
Unfortunately... A certain old woman had ruined that plan.
The men's course started at the school gates, went all the way to Mihama Bridge behind the Kaihin Sougou High School campus, and then came back.
Just looking at the length of the course gave Oikawa a headache.
But with Shizuka's gaze burning into his back, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and run.
After hearing the call to line up, Oikawa quickly followed the others to the starting line. With quick eyes, he picked out a relatively good position.
There were familiar faces all around him.
Hayama, Tobe, Ooka, and Yamato.
"Oikawa, don't go too fast at the beginning. Otherwise, you won't have enough stamina left for the rest." Tobe gave him a friendly warning.
But Oikawa could see the flames of competitiveness rising in his eyes.
The guy clearly didn't want Oikawa getting eliminated right at the start. He had an intense desire to win.
Maybe it was because of Ebina?
Oikawa's headache grew worse.
Sports idiots really could be difficult to deal with sometimes.
"Thanks." Oikawa gave him a casual reply and began warming up.
Hayato Hayama was taking things seriously too.
He had won the previous year's marathon, and everyone was expecting him to defend his title this year. Naturally, he had been given a position right at the front.
It was obvious just how popular Hayama was.
Even while doing nothing more than a few simple stretches, he was met with thunderous cheers from the girls watching nearby.
"Hayama-senpai, you look so cool!"
"Hayama-senpai, you're going to win again!"
"You're the best, Hayama-senpai! You're definitely coming in first! Definitely!"
The girls' cheers made Oikawa a little jealous.
They were all handsome guys, so why was Hayama the only one getting cheered for?
...
The women's race didn't begin until thirty minutes after the men set off.
During that interval, the girls could cheer on the boys. Sobu High could practically be accused of going out of its way to encourage teenage romance.
In previous years, quite a few boys had made declarations before the marathon that they would confess to the girl they liked if they finished in whatever position they had promised.
It was less a marathon and more a confession festival.
And this year looked like it would be no different.
"I'm going to finish in the top three, then confess to the girl I like!" Tobe was already shouting at the top of his lungs.
As he said it, he deliberately glanced in Ebina's direction.
His intentions could not have been more obvious if he'd put up a neon sign.
Just as Oikawa was feeling a little gloomy because nobody was cheering for him, Iroha suddenly walked over.
She stood beside the course with a bright smile and waved enthusiastically at him.
Oikawa wasn't particularly excited.
He assumed Iroha had come to cheer for Hayama too.
But in the next second, Iroha cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Oikawa-senpai, good luck! You're definitely going to win!!"
Oikawa froze for a moment.
He looked at Iroha, not quite knowing how to react.
But inside, he was absolutely delighted.
He nodded at her.
Iroha seemed a little dissatisfied with his reaction and puffed out her cheeks. Apparently, she thought his response had been far too lukewarm.
Yui and Yukino came over around then too.
Yui had probably heard Iroha's shout. She waved at Oikawa and cheered for him as well.
"G... good luck!"
Well compared with Iroha, Yui's voice was much quieter.
There were simply too many people around. She couldn't bring herself to shout without a care in the world the way Iroha did.
Oikawa smiled and raised a hand in response.
Then his eyes met Yukino's.
Her lips moved slightly.
She seemed to say Good luck, but no sound came out.
It wasn't because the surrounding crowd was too loud. It wasn't because Yukino's voice was too quiet.
She simply hadn't made a sound at all.
Oikawa smiled.
That was perfectly in character for Yukino.
He nodded at her, letting her know he'd received her silent encouragement.
A smile appeared on Yukino's face. But it vanished almost instantly.
Sadly, Oikawa hadn't seen Kawasaki anywhere. She was the one person he really wanted to see, the one person who could always cheer him up.
He wondered where she had gone, and felt a little disappointed that he couldn't spot her.
Then, at a certain moment, something strange happened.
The noisy conversations around them, the overlapping cheers from the girls nearby, even the sound of the wind, all gradually seemed to fade away.
A familiar figure slowly stepped up to the starting line.
"Is everyone ready?" Shizuka Hiratsuka was dressed in a sharp-looking tracksuit, a starting pistol in her hand. She looked almost like a female assassin straight out of a movie.
That damn woman.
She'd probably pulled some strings just so she could look cool, somehow managing to convince the PE teacher to hand the job over to her.
Still, she really did look pretty cool.
Shizuka curled one finger around the trigger and slowly raised the pistol.
Oikawa immediately leaned forward, ready to run.
The girls around them held their breath as well, watching the scene nervously.
A few seconds later, Shizuka spoke again. "On your marks... get rea..."
Bang!
The gunshot rang out.
Every runner exploded forward from the starting line at once.
A delighted smile spread across Shizuka's face as she watched the runners race past her.
She seemed to be enjoying every second of it.
.
.
.